Chapter 16

September 1989

Fifteen year old Charlie Weasley smiled proudly while looking at his prefect badge. Currently he was sitting in the Great Hall of Hogwarts and watching how the new first years were sorted into their houses. His brother Bill would be head boy this year. Their mother had been very happy over those news and had hugged them so tightly that their bones had nearly crushed. But due to their wish to become Aurors their marks had to be good. When they had told this their mum however, she had burst out crying. He knew very well that his mother absolutely didn't like their idea to become Aurors but nevertheless they would do it. Both had made up their minds. It was their duty to fight against the Dark Lord.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that it was the twins turn to be sorted and of course the hat called Gryffindor in both cases. It wasn't exactly a surprise that his brothers had ended up there because everyone of the Weasley family had been sorted into Gryffindor so far. Charlie looked over to his parents who were sitting on a large table near to the teachers and were clapping happily while Fred and George went to the tables.

In this summer his family had finally moved as well to Hogwarts. To stay in their village had become slowly too dangerous and in the end his parents had decided to leave their house although it had nearly broken his mother's heart. But the risk had become too great and should an attack happen his family would have been hardly able to defend themselves. Here in Hogwarts they would be safe. So many years they had had tremendous luck that the Death Eaters had never attacked their little house but you shouldn't tempt fate too long.

Due to the circumstance that nearly all students were living now in Hogwarts the Hogwarts Express hadn't travelled this year. The few students who lived in hiding with their families had arrived by port-key. Charlie sighed sadly and wondered what else would still change. He regretted it that they would never sit in the train again. Only if the war would end and only then they would be able to return to their house again, Charlie thought gloomily. Not only his parents had found it hard to leave their home. He doubted it however that the war would ever come to an end.

As long as he could remember the war had been raging, he had never known anything else. But somehow it seemed to become worse and worse. While looking up and regarding the charmed ceiling, Charlie prayed that the Dark Lord would never succeed in attacking Hogwarts. Shortly afterwards he looked down on the table and began to eat.

One week later Harry stared shocked at the ruins of Godric's Hollow. Although he had known of course that Godric's Hollow had been destroyed, he had never expected to see such chaos. It seemed so that no- one had changed something and that the place looked still the same as on Halloween 1981. The destroyed house and the now completely overgrown garden were surrounded by several huge trees and a dense hedge. Eight years ago the garden must have been beautiful but now everything grew in a total mess.

Harry felt the wards which surrounded this place but he sensed how extremely weak they were and at one spot was a huge hole. He suspected that the Dark Lord had caused this when he had come to Godric's Hollow.

"And now?" Draco asked.

"I don't know Draco. I only wanted to see it."

Harry crossed the garden and stepped nearer to the destroyed house. The area in front of him was a totally chaos. He could see broken furniture, some items he couldn't recognize, something that looked like it had been once a staircase, rather many tiles and a lot of dust and dirt. Carefully he began to wade trough this mess. His steps made crunching noises. Suddenly his gaze fell on something shiny. He went there, bent down and picked a broken photo frame up.

The glass of the frame had reflected the sunlight. He wiped the splinter of glass away and with his sleeve he tried to remove the dust. Slowly a photograph came to the surface. His parents and a little baby could be seen there. His father had put an arm around his mother while she was holding a little bundle from where a tuft of black hair peeped out. His parents were waving at him and Harry felt tears welling up in his eyes.

"Have you found something?"

Harry flinched slightly. He hadn't noticed that Caro had stepped beside him.

"Yes... I … here, I found a photograph of my parents."

Caro took it and regarded at it.

"Perhaps we should search a bit." Then she lifted her head and looked at him

"You wanted to search for things which belonged to your parents, didn't you? That's why you wanted to come here."

"I've nothing from them, Caro. Only the memory of my mum when I've seen the Dementor and the one photograph we found in the Daily Prophet but unfortunately we didn't take the damned newspaper with us."

"Okay, then let us look around a bit. Draco! Come, you can help us!"

So the three friends went carefully through the wrecked and destroyed house and searched for things which weren't completely broken. Draco did this with an unwilling expression on his face while thinking how useful it would be now to have a house-elf.

After two hours they had been really successful. They had found a golden necklace with a strange black stone, a little wooden box on which cover a golden 'P' was surrounded by a flickering ocean of flames and a little mirror which strangely had managed to stay whole as the house had collapsed.

Furthermore they had found a leather covered photo album. Though the cover was nearly destroyed and so dusty that they found a little spider in one of the corners, the pictures were in a surprisingly good state. Harry suspected that they had been probably protected against destruction by magic. All other things were broken, unidentified or buried so deeply under the crashed furniture and the destroyed house that they couldn't find anything else.

Draco, who had enough of that place, suggested to go quickly to Diagon Alley before they would return home since it would be a real pity not to use such an opportunity.

"Oh, yes. Perhaps the sweet owl is still there," Caro exclaimed who had always regretted that she hadn't had enough money with her to be able to buy the owl the last time.

Harry agreed, although he doubted that the owl would still be sitting in the window of the shop. So they set off to Diagon Alley. After they had climbed off their brooms they entered Diagon Alley and without any warning became involuntarily witnesses of a fight. Obviously Aurors and Death Eaters currently put up a fierce fight. Suddenly Draco screamed,

"Dad!" and ran right into the battle.

Harry cursed and followed his friend.

From one moment to the other the three friends found themselves entangled in a deadly trap.

Lucius Malfoy, who was currently fighting with the Auror Alastor Moody, nearly got a heart attack when he recognized his son.

"Draco! What the hell are you doing here?" the tall blond man shouted in a voice which promised nothing good, in case that Draco should survive the battle.

As his gaze fell on Harry his face lost all colour while cursing at the top of his voice. He knew that he had to bring the children out of the danger immediately. He absolutely didn't want to consider the consequences if the son of the Dark Lord should be killed. He would never been able to explain this to his master. The sudden appearance of the children hadn't gone unnoticed of course and had rattled not only the Aurors and the members of the Order of the Phoenix but also the supporters of the Dark Side, so that the fight seemed to falter for a moment.

The Death Eaters looked at Lucius Malfoy as if they would expect help from him but he didn't know exactly what to do either. Before Lucius could force himself to make a decision however, movement came into the wizards who were dressed with scarlet cloaks. One of them stormed forwards, pointed his wand directly at the children and shouted,

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Harry, Caro and Draco, who stood closely next to each other, didn't waste a thought and began to defend themselves.

When one of the higher-ranking Aurors screamed,

"Bring those children to me! But don't harm them!" the situation got worse dramatically.

Harry realized that the Aurors wanted to kidnap them. Probably they wanted to save them from the Dark Side or wanted to blackmail their parents. But to think about the exact reasons it was surely not the right time now. He had his hands full to defend himself. In the meantime Lucius Malfoy, who had slightly panicked, had sent one of the Death Eaters away to fetch help and to report to the Dark Lord that three certain children, one of them his son and his two friends had suddenly appeared in the battle. Lucius knew that his lord would understand his message while his messenger would never suspect that the raven-haired boy was the heir of the Dark Lord.

Cursing the children, he warded of a curse and tried to get an overall view about the situation. If they should come through the fight unscathed, Draco would be in for it. Shaking off his dazed feeling he screamed by far too late,

"Protect the children!" and simultaneously doing everything to get near them.

How for God's sake had they managed to sneak out of the castle? While fighting he tried to keep an eye on them. Surprisingly they fought rather well. Harry was using some spells he didn't recognize but so far they succeeded in warding off their attackers. As soon as the Aurors realized that the children defended themselves and had not at all the intention to be kidnapped by them, they had given up every consideration. Suddenly Lucius saw how Carolina was hit by a curse and sank to the ground.

"Caro!" Harry screamed.

He jumped in front of her and shouted a curse which Lucius didn't recognize once again and the Auror who had hit Bella's daughter fell to the ground as well. The Aurors meanwhile tried to separate them from the children. Lucius cursed. Why the hell didn't come any help? How long did this idiot need to inform the Dark Lord? Or had he splinched himself?

Then he saw how his son fell to his knees and held his bleeding arm. But thank goodness he was alive. Harry blocked a spell which had been meant for Draco and tried to protect his injured friends. Lucius felt how an unwilling admiration for that boy rose in him. There was no doubt that the nine year old young Lord was powerful and knew very much. For the first time Lucius could really consider this child to be the heir of his master.

Despite his lack of experience Harry was a force to be reckoned with for the Aurors. But what was much more important: he protected his two friends with a bravery Lucius hadn't expected from Harry. Lucius knew with full awareness that Harry had saved his son from a curse and was now protecting his injured son. For that he would be always grateful to Harry and Lucius knew that from now on he would respect the young Lord.

Charlotte Black couldn't believe that her colleagues were really fighting against those children and that one of them – she hadn't realized who – had even ordered them to kidnap the children. Angrily she shook her head.

She was sure that Albus would have never given such an order. It just wasn't right to be at war with children; even if they were the children of Death Eaters. They couldn't help it after all who their parents were. They couldn't be blamed after all that they were at war.

Now she witnessed how the girl fell unconscious to the ground. Shortly afterwards the silver blond boy was hit and suddenly Charlotte was standing in front of the raven-haired boy, who as only one hadn't been injured so far. He raised his wand and then a red light was shooting straight towards her. Although she didn't like it to fight against the boy, Charlotte had no other choice in that moment than to defend herself.

While fighting with him – she reckoned he was about ten years old – she wondered who he was.

In the next moment she only thought of defending herself however. He was quick and used curses she had never seen before. Bewildered she stumbled backwards. Grimly she said to herself that she would never underestimate an opponent again. Charlotte spun around and while her heart leaped, she managed to get out of the way in the last moment. So far she had held back but now she began to fight with all her might while saying to herself that she couldn't take any consideration now that he was still a child.

After all he didn't fight like one. Suddenly a dark golden light was shooting towards her with an indescribably speed. Her quickly conjured shield was too powerless and the last thing she saw before falling to the ground were emerald eyes. While she was falling, the thought flashed into her mind that she had never seen such intense eye colour before. Then she was enveloped by darkness.

Lucius Malfoy sighed relieved. Finally a few Death Eaters had managed it to break through the rows of the fighting Aurors and had formed a protecting circle around the children. At the same moment finally more Death Eaters and even the Dark Lord himself appeared. The unexpected appearance of the Dark Lord caused a turmoil among the fighters. But with the new arrived forces the battle was decided in seconds. As soon as the Order of the Phoenix had realized that they hadn't a chance against so many Death Eaters they apparated away as fast as they were able to while quickly trying to grab their injured, unconscious or dead colleagues.

"Harry!"

Lucius turned around and caught sight of Carolina who bent over Harry. So she had been only hit with a stunner, he thought relieved. Harry had probably woken her and had obviously fainted now. It seemed that the young Lord had used too much of his magic and energy at once. Lucius went to his son, grabbed his sleeve and yanked him up. His son was ashen in his face but except of his arm he was unhurt. The Dark Lord picked Harry up, grasped Carolina's arm and apparated away. Lucius followed with Draco while a whisper and murmur broke out among the remaining Death Eaters whose faces looked bewildered and shocked.

One hour later the Order of the Phoenix had assembled and Alastor Moody, a highly respected Auror and a member of the Order, told the other members who hadn't been present everything what had happened in the earlier fight. It was still a complete mystery wherefrom and why the children had suddenly emerged. What was most mysterious and puzzling however was that the Dark Lord himself had appeared in the battle zone, something that he had done so far only in important strategic battles. But today hadn't been an important one.

Now Albus Dumbledore, the leader of the Order, asked,

"And you don't know who the children were, Alastor?"

"The blond boy was obviously Malfoy's child. He called him 'Dad'. Who the girl and the other boy were, I don't have any clue. But I don't think that the girl or Malfoy's son will present a problem. It is the raven-haired boy, we have to worry about. He put seven of our people out of action in shortest time. Though he didn't use any Unforgivable Curses, he definitely used Dark Magic. Even I didn't recognize some of his curses."

Albus' gaze wandered around and ended up at Sirius and Remus. Remus noticed his questioning expression and said,

"Emily is taking care of the children but Charlotte was injured."

"Is she badly hurt?"

Sirius shook his head.

"No, Poppy has said that she'll be alright again soon."

Alastor cleared his throat and leaned forwards,

"What I wanted to say is that although the other two children were better than the average and fought not bad either , if you consider that they are probably ten years old, the raven-haired boy could develop into a serious problem when he is an adult. I've never seen something like this. He is a natural fighter and most of the time he was fighting with more than one Auror. And he held out until the end. Only then he fainted. I've charmed myself invisible by the way and stayed there still for a while and what I saw was really strange. Our Lord seemed to be really worried about the child and he even picked him up. If the boy weren't important Voldemort would have never done this."

Albus Dumbledore thought for a moment,

"That is indeed odd. Do you know who this child could be, Severus?"

"I know Draco and the girl has to be Bellatrix Lestrange's daughter. But who the other boy is, I haven't the tiniest idea," Severus answered calmly.

Alastor Moody began to speak again,

"We should teach our children and students how to defend themselves as well so early. The Death Eaters teach their children everything that could be useful in the slightest. We should think about that one day. They will have to fight anyway when they are adults. The sooner they begin the better. Furthermore we should think about our three talented magicians. Obviously they are rather important to our Lord, especially the raven-haired boy otherwise he would have hardly appeared there and that I somehow don't like at all. It's a pity that wecouldn't kidnap them. The boy could really become a disaster for us in the future, if he will fight on their side."

Thoughtfully supporting his head with his hands, Albus nodded,

"You're right, Alastor, I didn't like it as well. I don't think that we'll have still a chance to kidnap them now. I hardly think that they will let the children sneak out in the streets without supervision once more. Probably the children wanted to go to Diagon Alley and unintentionally slid into the fight. But perhaps…Severus you'll try to find out who the raven-haired boy is. I must admit that I'm rather curious as far as his identity is concerned. "

Severus nodded shortly and the Order began to speak about other topics, although that wasn't very successful since the thoughts of nearly everyone were still revolving around the earlier happenings. Those members who hadn't been present at the fight felt for the first time in their lives a slight regret that they had missed a battle.

As Harry opened his eyes he was lying in his bed and had an ice-cold cloth on his forehead. The Dark Lord sat beside him and watched him.

"Caro and Draco, are they alright?" His voice sounded hoarse and croaky.

"Yes, thanks to you they have been injured only slightly."

Suddenly the red eyes stared piercingly at him.

"So, what you were actually doing there?"

Harry shivered. He felt terrible but he knew that he had overexerted himself. His head hurt dreadfully and because the light disturbed him he closed his eyes.

"We wanted to go to Diagon Alley. I'm sorry."

"I see. I must say that I'm proud of you, Harry. You did extremely well for someone your age. Nevertheless you won't do it ever again. It is too dangerous. If you and your friends want to leave the castle you will take guards with you. And now you will rest. As soon as you have recovered, we will begin to study the remaining Unforgivable Curses. Unfortunately I had to neglect you the last weeks. Furthermore I think that it is time that you attend the Death Eater meetings. Since the fight the Death Eaters are wondering who you might be. Soon it won't be possible any longer to hide you identity."

Then the Dark Lord stood up and left the room while Harry was thinking bitterly of his identity.

Why, why that had had to happen? Why his adoptive father had to have to murder his real parents?

Harry was still torn between his feelings for his parents he didn't remember and his adoptive father. Due to his chaotic feelings he had done nothing the last months. His feeling was saying him that he actually should hate his adoptive father for what he had done to his parents but somehow he couldn't, at least not really. But sometimes he did it when he dreamed about his mum or dad and today the house. Somehow it had hit him very much to see the house in such a destroyed state. Harry sighed. In the last months, since he had discovered the truth, a great resistance had broken out in some European countries, which had become quickly rather powerful. So the Dark Lord had gone there to destroy the resistance and had left him alone for weeks.

But Harry had been rather relieved. Since Harry had found out the truth he hadn't felt comfortable in the presence of the Dark Lord any more. He hadn't known how to behave. For some time he had really considered to speak with him. To tell him that he knew the truth. Then he had however rejected the idea. Harry was afraid from the reaction when his adoptive father would discover that he knew the truth. Why everything had to be so damned complicated? So he had done nothing. But really, what could he have done? Leave the castle? But where he could have gone then? Harry carefully turned around. His head felt like it would explode in any minute. He nearly had fallen asleep when he shot up in bed. The things! Where were the things he had found in Godric's Hollow?

Frantically he looked around in his room, until he spotted his clothes which were hanging over his chair. Slowly he climbed out of his bed and stumbled to the chair. He picked his robe up and grabbed in his pocket where he fished out his snake first who curled herself promptly around his arm. Trembling he pulled out the things he had found in Godric's Hollow, immensely relieved that the Dark Lord hadn't found them.

Without any warning he had to hold onto the chair because everything was dancing in front of his eyes. Carefully he went back to his bed. He would take a closer look at the things tomorrow, when he was feeling better. Closing his eyes he was nothing but relieved that they had survived the battle – it had been really useful, he thought that he had so often leaved through the books much further that he actually should have – and that his adoptive father had believed him that they had wanted to go to Diagon Alley. Shortly afterwards he was fast asleep.

Remus Lupin was sitting on a bench near the Hogwarts Lake and was just singing softly to his daughter. He still couldn't really believe that this beautiful little baby was his daughter. She had his grey eyes and had inherited the dark brown hair of Emily; his little Meggie. She was now five weeks old and he was totally smitten by his little darling.

"Moony, what are you doing?"

Remus turned his head and saw Sirius Black standing in front of him. In his arms he was carrying his son and Lizzie. He put the whining children on the ground and sat down as well while the children began to crawl.

"I was singing a lullaby before you interrupted me, Sirius."

"You were singing? I didn't know you could that."

"Very funny, Sirius. Don't tell me that you never sing to Jamie."

His friend turned red and shrugged with his shoulders.

"How is Charlotte? Emily just wanted to visit her," said Remus.

"Yes, I know. I've met her and Alison as well who of course immediately handed Lizzie to me. She is feeling fine again. Tomorrow she can leave the hospital wing," Sirius said.

Looking at the blue water Sirius thought, how dreadful fear had seized him for a moment as he had heard that his wife had been injured in the fight and his boundless relief that it had been only a minor injury. Regarding Jamie and Lizzie Sirius felt such a strong urge to protect his family that he couldn't breathe anymore. He knew that he wasn't able to protect them. Today he had realized this with total clearness. Had this boy used the Killing Curse then he would have lost Charlotte today. Suppressing this terrible thought, he suddenly hit his fist onto the bench. Gazing at Remus with wild look in his eyes,

"I can't protect them, Remus. I can't and do you know what? Today I realized that Jamie will have to fight one day as well and that I can't prevent that!"

He saw understanding in Remus' eyes. Looking down at Meggie, he ran a hand across the baby's hair.

"Do you think that we will ever win that war that perhaps our children won't have to fight?" Sirius asked fiercely.

"I don't know. I think the chance that we'll win is as good as no existent. But we will protect our children, Sirius. Nothing will happen to them," Remus said imploringly and pressed his daughter close to himself.

"Are you sure?"

Remus didn't answer and for a moment they sat in silence and watched the children who were playing happily with each other.

"I wish they were here," Sirius said suddenly.

Remus was puzzled.

"Who?"

"James. Lily and Harry. They should be here as well. I miss them so much, Moony. I know it has been now nearly eight years but…. Harry, he would be now nine years old. Do you now this? My little godson would be nine years old. It was my fault. Everything was my fault."

"Sirius, how can you say such a thing? You didn't know that Peter was the traitor!"

"If I ever meet him again I will kill him, Moony."

"So do I. I've even sworn it. On that day, they were buried I've sworn it. One day we will have our revenge."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked once more and again he didn't receive an answer from his friend.

So Sirius and Remus sat there on the bench and remembered their friends and a little raven-haired baby.