Everything that doesn't belong to me probably belongs to one of the following: Harry Potter (duh), Charmed, The Secret Texts, Buffy, The Otherworld. I like mix & matching!

Another rewrite. But I think it may work better this way and it means I get to give it all a bit more depth. The next chapter will be set in 1946 from Maria's POV. For some reason it made sense to write the end of the story and stick it at the beginning...


Sarah - JUNE 1996

I heard Draco yell something behind me and whirled, for a second terrified they'd been caught, to see the hippogriff dive at the pair of them. I hesitated, I could help them - Goddammit that was my husband over there! I reached slowly into my pocket for my wand and my fingers brushed against the envelope rolled up next to it. For tonight that had to be more important. I backed up over the perimeter of the grounds and Apparated to the Manor, not to the feet of our master where I should be but to the guest room where Aiden lay sound asleep. A sign of how screwed we were.

I watched him sleep for a second lost in the sight of his tight black curls, his little fingers curled up around his face... I almost bottled right there. If I went down the hall, threw myself at his feet, begged... It would make no difference. I shook him awake gently.
"Aiden, come on Aidie, we gotta go..." His black eyes focused on me for a second before closing again. I reached under the bed where I'd hidden the baby bag earlier, full of his clothes, his favourite teddy, his firetruck, his fake wand... Tears rolled down my face unbidden and uncontrollably. I told myself again that this was his only chance of survival, his only chance of fulfilling the destiny the Fates had planned for him but at the end of the day it didn't matter how many times I told myself or how I worded it. I was abandoning my child to an uncertain fate. My strength (or cowardice) to do it came from the certainty that his parents were screwed, especially after tonight. I would die before I faced Azkaban and I would die before I let them take my husband. I pulled Aiden's jacket and sneakers from the wardrobe and lifted him gently to put them on. He awoke then, enough to realise something was wrong. I kissed the top of his head protectively and there was an almighty bang from downstairs. Shit, they were back already? I checked the contents of my pocket before scooping up both Aiden and the bag ready to Apparate away. I heard Bellatrix's triumphant screech, I could only hope that she would distract them all long enough for me to do this...

I Disapparated into a rainy street in uptown New York. Across the street, tip for the doorman and lift to the twelfth floor. The man who opened the apartment door looked at me shocked for a second then admitted me to the living room. I had an inkling then of how Narcissa must have felt, barging into our house with demands to protect her son. I shouldn't have been so hard on her maybe, this wasn't a nice position to be in. We sat down and his blue eyes met mine. God he looked rough. Joey used to pride himself on physical perfection, perfect tan, perfect hair, perfect figure... Now his hair was a dirty unkempt brown, the tan had faded, there was a slight hint of a beer gut. But those blue eyes stayed the same, sparkling with the same fire mine did. I hoped that fire would be enough to protect Aiden.
"So he's finally fucked you over then? Took him long enough." I decided to let the language pass for now. Aiden's safety was more important, was the only improtant thing left. Tears were still rolling down my face and Aiden reached up and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
"It's OK mummy." He kissed my cheek and I squeezed him back protectively.
"He hasn't done anything to us." I reached for the envelope. "Here are the deeds to the house, the apartment, the heirships and custody forms for Aiden." He looked at me shocked, the question he didn't dare ask glowing in those eyes. "I'm sorry Joe, if there was anyone else I wouldn't..." I mean my husband killed yours, why on earth would you help our son? He tilted my head up to face his.
"You're still my best friend Kait-cha no matter what he does to me." The nickname, a play on one of my middle names, reminded me of easier times. He took the forms. "How screwed are you?"
"I don't think we're going to last the year out." It came out in a whisper, my voice almost breaking. "I need to know that Aidie's safe, that he won't be left - "
"Like you were? I'd never let that happen." Reassuring words... As if anything could fix this mess. We cast the spell to protect the apartment together and then I turned to face my son, his eyes full of trust. More tears, God I was going to go back there a mess. And wouldn't that look marvelous?

"Aiden, can we talk a min?" I held both of his arms gently to let him know I needed his full attention. "Mum and Dad have to go away for a little while and you'll be safe here with Joey." I paused, waiting for understanding. He nodded, his mind already on Joey's widescreen television in all liklihood, unaware of the permanence of this. I closed my eyes for a second and let myself believe I was coming back for him. "OK baby, no matter what you hear and what people tell you remember that we love you more than anything else in the whole world. You promise you'll be a good boy? And you'll practice all your powers how Joey tells you?" Absent nodding, God letting go was so hard... I gave him one last squeeze, hugged Joey and headed back to face the music.

I made it three steps into the house before I felt it burn. So no cleaning up time then, I wished I'd had the strength to stay at Joey's that extra five minutes. Weakness would be the death of me. I bowed briefly, aware of the close proximity of some men I'd rather didn't see me bent double too long. "Where have you been?" Oh so casually asked, he knew exactly what I'd been doing, it was just a case of waiting for him to do something about it. I prayed Joey would be prepared.
"Taking Aidie to a sitter sir, I thought tonight may be a little too much for him." I prayed he was in a good enough mood not to punish me, his greatest enemy had just been taken out of the fight surely.
"Ah a mother's weakness. We will break you of it but not tonight. Your husband is cleaning himself up, I suggest you join him." A few snickers, yes I looked like shit but I was alive. Breathing, all limbs still attached and permitted a few minutes with the man I'd joyously committed the rest of my life to. I followed his scent to the top floor bathroom and slipped my hands around his waist. He had been stood in the mirror looking completely lost in thought, not a good survival trait around here.

"You OK?" I whispered. Nothing, no reaction, bloody sod all.
"Where's Aiden?"
"Safe." He was safe. When the Dark Lord took over completely we could go get him back. It was something to live for. Or try to live for anyway. "I hope you know what you're doing." I mumbled into his back. "They're gonna bring back witch burning just for you, you know that?" He turned to face me and cupped my face in his hands, forcing me to meet his gaze straight on.
"There are worse ways to go." And with that he took my arm and led me back downstairs to face whatever hell was coming next. But we might just survive it after all.