A/N: Hello guys! Yes, I'm alive! And here is the new update. Honestly, I'm not too late. It's just been...*checks the last update date*...ONE YEAR?! Well,*scratches head nervously* it is here now and I promise it is not as cringe-worthy as the earlier two installments of the story. Seeing them makes me wanna puke. Anyway, I will be working on completely re-writing the first and second chapters. Yay! And, to make up for this long wait, this chapter is 8k+ words. Almost 9k. My longest work. It took me months to finish and I'm finally happy with the end product. So, enjoy! And, please don't kill me. I promise that the next chapter will not keep you waiting for a whole year, right down to the day...
HAPPY NEW YEAR! MAY ALL OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES HAVE A VERY HAPPY YEAR!
"But, even if we go to America, what is to say that Voldemort won't track us down and kill Harry since he is the supposed 'prophecy' child?" James asked, making mocking air-quotes. He had never put much stock in Divination and the fact that they were being hunted because of a damn prophecy really made him mad. It was also Snape's fault but he couldn't say that in front of Lily. Even after he called her the 'M' word, Lily kept their friendship—showing how kind she can be.
Lily frowned and said, "But the Manor has the strongest wards around it imaginable. Wards that cannot be broken down. Which have been standing for thousands of years! I know that Voldemort is powerful but is he that powerful to be able to tear down thousand year old wards created by your Necromancer ancestors?"
The Manor was actually called the Peverell Castle when it was first built. It is more of a Castle than a Manor, anyways. The Peverells had been blessed by Death itself—making them the strongest Necromancers of all time. Perhaps, the most wildly known Necromancers are Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus—the Peverell brothers who are the Protagonists of the Tale of the Three Brothers. The Peverell line—at least the male one—is now extinct since Ignotus' granddaughter, Iolanthe married Henry Potter and the line continued on with the Potters. Nowadays, most if not all of them had forgotten that the Potter Line had descended from the Peverell line who were Necromancers.
"Exactly. The wards were made thousands of years ago so they must've weakened over time. Besides, only the Potter Wards would work since the Peverell ward would recognize him as family. Lily, don't look at me like that. Yes, he is descended from Cadmus Peverell which makes him my many-times-great-cousin. And, you and I both know that the Potter Wards aren't strong enough to hold him at bay," James explained.
"So what do we do?" Lily nearly shouted in frustration but remembered that Harry was sleeping and they should be keeping their voice down.
James had an idea. A very, very bad idea but an idea nonetheless.
"James, I know that look. You are thinking about something that I won't like. I swear if it is about Severus again—"
"No! I mean, yes. Partially. So, here's my plan…"
"Spinner's End!" Lily called out to the fireplace. A moment later, Severus' face showed through.
"What is it, Lily?" Severus asked although he was clearly very tired. He was shrugging off black robes from his shoulders and Lily knew that he had been back from a Death-Eater meeting.
"I'm sorry to disrupt you but this is very important," Lily said and Severus frowned. Lily always agreed to talk later when she realized that he had been back from a Death-Eater meeting since he was very sore afterwards. He was making a potion that required a lot of his time and energy and Dumbledore was trying to Legilimise him into revealing what he was making—something that he had been forbidden to tell by his Lord.
"Okay. Give me a minute. I'm coming over," Severus said before backing away from the fireplace. He went over to his potions cabinet and grabbed the stress-relief and pepper-up potions. Thankfully, he had not been tortured for quite a few days now so he didn't need a Cruciatus potion.
"What is it?" Severus asked as he came over. He looked curiously and concernedly at Lily—he still considered himself as her elder brother. He gave a short nod at Potter. Nowadays, he was at least bearable. It seemed like Lily had made Potter obedient—not that he was complaining. It was good not hearing 'Snivellous' wherever he went.
Lily directed everyone to the seats and she sat down.
She looked at him seriously and said, "Severus, I want you to give me an honest answer. Whose side are you on?"
Severus frowned. What brought this on? He thought but he wouldn't ask. If Lily wanted to tell him, then she would, given time. But, what side was he on? Severus agreed with most of the Dark side's agendas—except the Muggleborn discrimination rule. Also, his core was naturally dark alinged and the Dark Lord had immediately given him a high ranking by seeing his potential for the first time. Then, why was he also fighting for the Light? For Lily, you idiot. It all comes down to her. Said a voice inside his head. And, it was true, Severus would've never even considered spying for the Light if it weren't for Lily. He had his answer…
"I'm on whichever side you are. But, I favor the Dark more—you know this," he said frankly. Potter kept his mouth shut—thankfully.
Lily sighed happily, as though he had given her a satisfactory answer.
"I want you to see this," Lily said while shoving a piece of parchment under his nose.
His ire for the Headmaster grew by every single line he read.
"What? That man has got a little too far this time…I can't believe the nerve of him!" Severus exclaimed. He knew that he wanted nothing more to do with the Light anymore. Any respect he had for the Headmaster had vanished with the piece of parchment in his hands.
"Snape, why do you care what happened to me?" Potter asked curiously and a bit warily.
"Because, as much as I loathe to say it, you have gotten more mature since seventh year. Also, Lily has nothing but positive comments for you and Lily is my sister in all-but-blood so, forgive me if I don't want her husband to die," Severus said calmly.
"Oh."
"I want to speak to your Lord," Lily said flatly. Both of them looked at Lily as though she were insane.
"But, Lil—" James started. That hadn't been part of the plan.
"I know what I am risking, James," Lily said, "Is he sane?"
"The Dark Lord had me working on a potion for the last month. It is a potion that would make him sane. He would have to drink it tomorrow so, by the end of the month, he will be sane enough to talk to you without trying to kill you," Severus explained. He was only asked not to tell anything to Dumbledore—not the other people. Besides, he knew that Lily won't break his trust and get him killed.
"Then, by the last day of the month, we will meet him," Lily said firmly.
"We will?" James asked but then as he saw Lily's ferocious glare, he squeaked, "Of course, we will."
"The last date of this month is also the date when the Dark Lord intends to strike down your family. Pettigrew is a Death-Eater and traitor," Severus warned them.
"Don't worry, we knew about Pettigrew. And, after he is sane, he would be easier to negotiate with, right?" Lily asked.
"Maybe he will be. Or maybe it will be even harder to negotiate. I have heard stories of the Dark Lord before he became insane from Lucius' father. He was charismatic, handsome and, most of all, was very cunning. Cunning enough to gain a prize from the school by murdering a muggleborn," Severus said.
"He—what?" James asked.
"You heard me. The Special Awards and Services to the School for Tom Marvolo Riddle in the Trophy Room? It is the Dark Lord's," Severus said.
"Of course. Tom Marvolo Riddle. I am Lord Voldemort," James breathed out.
"Clever, isn't he? An anagram of his own name," Lily said but then James snorted.
"What?" Lily asked.
"No, I mean, the name Voldemort can be broken down. Vol de mort. Which is the French for Flight From Death," James explained.
"Appropriate," Severus drawled but refused to say anything else. He would not be breaking his master's trust again.
As Severus and Lily talk about what could be done, James intervened, "What about Padfoot and Moony? I mean, Wormtail's a traitor…but the others?"
"Well, we would just need to find out, won't we?" Lily asked.
"Please don't call Black in my presence," Severus said as he accepted (grudgingly, after a pointed look from Lily) the tea and biscuits.
"Okay,"
After an hour of discussing, it was agreed that Severus would propose the idea of meeting the Potters to Voldemort. If anything went wrong, the Potters would Portkey out of the cottage and into a vacation home from where they would go to the Potter Manor. If it happened, Lily would also inform everything to Severus while they were in the vacation home so that he would be able to Apparate into his own family Manor.
They also got rid of the different potions and compulsions forced upon them by Dumbledore with the help of Cleansing Potion. Thankfully, Dumbledore would not visit them and Severus had strong enough Occlumency shields to fool the old man into thinking that everything was okay. Severus would also take the Invisibility Cloak that Dumbledore had taken for 'researching'.
"Won't you at least stay for dinner?" Lily asked.
"No, sorry. But, I need to sleep first and eat later. The potion has taken a lot of my strength and I'm working on Pepper Up Potions," Severus explained.
"Oh! I'm sorry," Lily said.
"Don't be. At least now we know who the real enemy is," Severus said, offering her one of the smiles he only reserved for her.
"Okay. Sev, remember to wash your hair once in a while, okay? Also, come over sometime, you are Harry's godfather as much as Sirius," Lily demanded playfully.
"Okay. If I have time," Severus promised before flooing away.
"Now, we need to call Sirius and Remus," James said, flopping onto his couch with all the grace of an elephant.
"Should I—?" Lily started.
"No, no. You are tired. Sit down, I can do it," James said, jumping up at once.
"I'm not that tired," Lily said though, internally she was pleased.
"Yes, you are," James insisted before tossing a handful of powder into the fireplace and shouting Padfoot's Abode. Their fireplace was a private one—imported from one of the many fireplaces of the Potter Manor. Whatever is done in the fireplace is not the concern of the Ministry and hence, the Ministry doesn't keep tab on it. Also, contacts become end-to-end secure when using a private fireplace so he won't have to worry about someone realizing it from the other end.
"Yes, Prongs?" Sirius asked.
"Could you come over, mate?" James asked, "Also, is Moony here?"
"Yeah, he is. The treaties went badly as usual so he came back after half of his work was done. He wasn't making any progress either way," Sirius explained.
"Brilliant. Can you both come over. Yes, Sirius, right now. Don't look at me like that, there is something important I need to tell you," James said.
After some (mocking) groans of protest, Sirius and Remus found themselves curled up on their favorite couches in the cottage.
"Okay. What did you want to ask?" Remus asked.
"First, see this," said James, throwing the piece of parchment. Both Remus and Sirius looked at it and he could tell by Sirius' cold grey eyes and Remus' wolf-like growls that they were not at all happy.
"How? Dumbledore was…" Remus trailed off. Dumbledore was a hero to him—for inviting him at Hogwarts despite his lycanthropy. But now he didn't know what to think.
"The fucking, manipulative bastard!" Sirius burst out. He would've said much more if it weren't for Lily's look.
"Also, Wormtail is a Death-Eater," James said.
"What?" Remus asked, looking shocked.
"I should've known. The good-for-nothing rat always sticking to people who are more powerful than him. I should've never made him the Secret Keeper!" Sirius growled, not unlike his canine counterpart.
"Sirius, calm down," Remus said, sneaking his arm around Sirius' waist. Remus was angry after the shock wore off—it could be seen in his amber eyes.
"I knew that you wouldn't betray us. Don't look at me that way, Sirius, this is war. No one can be trusted. Especially with the whole Pettigrew business," Lily explained.
"We would never betray you. Not in a million years. So, what do you have in mind?" Sirius asked.
"Well…" and James explained their plan.
"We are going with you," Remus said firmly.
"Thanks mate," James replied.
Next day…
"I think we should get to Gringotts. It is twenty-fifth and six days are left till we meet, you know? Him," James said as Lily feeded Harry.
"Yes. We should take Harry with us too. I don't trust anyone and the people I do trust will be busy," Lily said.
"Yes, and maybe we should give Harry a full check. It has been a while since we took him to St. Mungo's," James muttered.
"Yeah," Lily agreed as she wiped off the oatmeal which had dribbled from Harry's mouth, because, despite being very intelligent, he can't really do things (except magic) not for his age group.
Gringotts…
"Good morning, Goblin Teller, I have some business with Account Manager Sharptooth," James said as Lily stood beside him with Harry in her arms.
The Goblin Teller looked at the family suspiciously but took them to the Potter Account Manager.
Sharptooth told the Goblin Teller to let them in.
"Hello, Lord, Lady and Heir Potter. Welcome to the Gringotts bank," said Sharptooth with a grin. The Potters were one of their favourite customers.
"Hello, Sharptooth. I want all of us to go through an Inheritence Test—yes, even Harry," Lily said warmly.
"Of course, Lady Potter. After that, I have a bit of shocking news for you," Sharptooth said as he procured three pieces of parchment and a beautiful dagger. It's handle was as black as night which contradicted with the almost-glowing-white metal inscribed with hundreds of tiny runes and even hieroglyphs from the Egyptian times.
Both of them let seven drops fall on two parchments before Lily pricked Harry with the dagger and let seven drops to fall on his parchment.
They found out that Dumbledore had put blocks on Lily's magic, which, was incredibly dangerous and should only be done by trained Goblins on extremely-powerful children who are unable to keep their magic under control. He had even put a blood-glamour on her. The Cleansing Potion cleared away all the spells and the potions from their systems but it couldn't get rid of the blocks or the blood-glamour.
It seemed that Lily was actually the daughter of the Ashwoods—an incredibly old wizarding line descended from Salazar Slytherin. However, in the recent years, the Ashwoods had turned into squibs because of intensive inbreeding. Marianne Ashwood had broken off from her family—who were still Pureblood supremacists despite the fact that they were squibs—and married a muggle. Lily—actually, Elinor, named after Marianne's twin—was the daughter of Marianne and Edward Willoughby.
The Ashwoods were killed off in a fire when Lily was just two months old. However, the Willoughby family was not with them so they were safe. The fire was not accidental—it was intended. By who, exactly? They were not sure. However, when the person(s) realized that they had missed a side-branch of the family, they attacked the Willoughby family.
The parents were killed but two-year-old Lily somehow survived—the pictures all indicate to a self-sacrificing ritual Marianne did for her daughter. A life for a life. They killed Marianne who gave her life willingly and, with the proper ingredients and runes, she was able to activate an old, forgotten, definitely dark ritual which saved Lily's life from the Killing Curse.
Then, somehow, Lily was found by Dumbledore who glamoured her and gave her to a squib family who knew about magic but didn't tell Lily and everyone thought she was a muggleborn where she was actually a half-blood.
Sharptooth got rid of her blocks and glamours instantly and James was awed to see her wife. She looked even more beautiful than before—if that could happen. Her straight auburn hair had been replaced with black hair which fell to her waist in soft waves. Her body structure was more lithe than the perfect hourglass figure she previously had. However, her eyes remained the same. Well, roughly the same. If Lily's eyes looked like emeralds before her change, then now they looked as if the Avada Kedavra Curse was stored in those eyes. Now James knew from where Harry got his eyes which was the exact same shade as Lily's.
Sharptooth explained that the Slytherin line had those eyes even before Salazar Slytherin was born. Cashmere Slytherin—Salazar's great-great-great grandmother—had done a huge favour to the high-elves who had gifted the entire line with green eyes like Cashmere's. Even though Dumbledore had used a blood glamour, he couldn't completely hide a high-elf's gifts so they looked like bright emeralds—a dull comparison to the actual color—even though no one in the Evans family had green eyes.
Sharptooth told them that Lily would have an affinity for Dark Magic but James wasn't worried. He had a werewolf—considered as dark creature—and a Black—also dark—as friends. Besides, Lily was already Grey even before the glamour, it had integrated the core magic of the Evans family—Light—since the blood glamour included giving blood and blood was a powerful factor, she gained more than just looks. She gained certain characteristics in magic and lost some.
Besides, Lily being Dark didn't bother her. He knew from experience—his mother was a Black—that Dark didn't necessarily equate to Evil. Evil was someone who needlessly murdered innocents. Evil was someone who used their magic—whether Light, Dark, Grey or something else—in a way that would hurt people.
The Killing Curse wasn't actually created to harm. It was actually created by a Healer in the Middle Ages. In those days, magical people suffered a lot from plenty of diseases which guaranteed a slow, agonizing death. To ease their pain, the spell was created so that they could die painlessly. In fact, a Healing spell was branded 'Dark'. Why? Healing is good, right? It was because the spell didn't actually 'heal' the person, it just transferred the injuries and/or maladies to a person that the caster hated (the spell needed hatred and a clear target in mind to work properly).
Besides, the old texts even say that there was no such thing such as 'light' and 'dark'. Would a person automatically become dark if they had killed a rapist in self-defence? No. However, Dumbledore seemed to think that even rapists deserved a second chance—he had witnessed it. The old texts said that there was only Ma'at and Isfet. Order and Chaos. The two forces which ruled the universe. Chaos was bad. Predominately evil. Rituals which required cannibalism, necromancy and horcruxes fell under the category. Nowadays, they are known as 'black magic'—an even more bad version of 'dark magic'.
The Magic which is labelled Dark was actually known as 'Ordered Chaos'. Chaos in order. It wasn't necessarily bad. Not unless the caster wanted the curse to do bad things. Dark Magic relied on intent and feeded on negative emotions like hatred and pain. Neutral magic—or 'Light Magic' as Dumbledore called it—only required the precise wand movements and feeded on positive emotions like happiness. So, it was known as 'Light Magic'. In fact, the Patronus Charm is considered to be the ultimate Light spell since it feeded on happy memories…which was a load of bullshit. The Patronus Charm was also a Grey spell leaning more towards Dark. In fact, the fact that the Patronus charm required true happiness was the only thing that made it remotely 'light'. The Charm also required intent to drive away the Dementors and it didn't really have any specified wand movements. However, Dumbledore refused to see it and he didn't bother to tell it.
Lily could now speak Parseltongue—a gift that Harry had also got and used liberally, giggling like mad whenever they would interpret his hisses wrong (which was most of the time).
Sharptooth explained that magical children could only have blocks on them when they were two years of age or older by a witch/wizard. This was because the child's magic was still developing—testing new areas. A child's magic was also incredibly sensitive. If a person tried to put a block on magic or did something equally longlasting thing to a child younger than two years, then, best-case scenario, the child would die. Worst-case scenario, the child would suffer horribly like the Cruciatus Curse patients. Only they would feel constant pain and no one would be able to kill them because the child's magic would form a barrier against any type of magic. It was a small mercy.
However, Sharptooth still frowned as he looked at Harry's Inheritence Test.
"What is the matter, Sharptooth?" asked Lily.
"Does Heir Potter show an abnormally sharp intelligence? Doing feats of magic more suited for adult people?" asked Sharptooth.
"Yes and yes," James said, trying to think about the direction they were going with.
"I feared as much," Sharptooth said with a sigh, "It seems that Heir Potter has a sort of problem only seen in children of extremely powerful people. It means that Heir Potter has an abnormally sharp intelligence and magic. The magic, he had gotten from Lady Potter and the intelligence was the side-effect of the magic. Lady Potter, did you feel very drained, unable to do magic or even collapsed during your pregnancy?"
"I-yes. First, it started off with me being very drained but the others assured me that it was a natural part of pregnancy. There were days when I was unable to do magic and even collapsed once or twice," Lily said.
"Just as I feared. This is a really old…disease. When a person is pregnant, the baby sucks the magic from their bearer's core. This may make the bearer dizzy but it should definitely not make them collapse. What Heir Potter did is that he siphoned more and more magic from you since you had that in abundance and his capability to store magic is quite high. It resulted in this. He has an excess of magic and intelligence. However, it is very dangerous.
"Heir Potter's intelligence is already that of an eleven-year old's. By the time he actually is eleven, his intellect level will be beyond imagination. He has something akin to eidetic memory as well as an ability to learn things almost instantly. Since he is a wizard and his mental capabilities are that of a normal human's, I'm afraid that his mind will go into a coma because of the excess information and, when his brain goes into a coma, his magic will gradually start to kill itself since it doesn't know what to do. This will render him to die painfully since he has such a huge amount of magic, he won't be able to live without it.
"That is all even before we go into the magic part. His magic is already extremely developed for a boy of his age. As he grows, the magic will grow too until he reaches seventeen and his core matures. However, his body is not made to store that much magic in him and if it continues to grow, he will die. Combine this with the intellect and he will die before he reaches his ninth birthday."
"Why have we never heard of this before?"
"Because it is extremely rare. The last case had happened thousands of years ago. The victim was Elesia Peverell, the younger sister of the Peverell brothers. Unfortunately, they learnt of it much later and weren't able to get her to Gringotts in time," Sharptooth informed in a monotone voice.
"Oh. Gringotts will be able to help us, right?" Lily implored.
"Of course. I would recommend binding Heir Potter's intelligence and magic. If you do that then Heir Potter's magic will still surpass those of his age-group and even most wizards but his body will be able to contain it. Also, his intellect will decrease. He will be able to speak a few months earlier than most and he will be an intellectually bright child since it wouldn't take much time for him to understand new things."
"He-he will still be our son, won't he?" James asked.
"Of course, we will not be ridding him of his memories!" Sharptooth said, looking a bit annoyed.
"Okay then. Harry, do you want them to perform this ritual?" Lily asked softly to her child.
After a moment or two, Harry mentally replied back, yes.
"Very well,"
Two-and-a-half-hours-later
Sharptooth held Harry as he walked out of the ritual room.
"It took longer than I expected," Sharptooth said as he gave Harry to Lily, "I've never met someone whose magic would be so sensitive. However, we were able to do it. It would probably be for the best if you did not mention this to Heir Potter at all since it may have some traumatising effects—blocking away your own magic will do that to you."
James and Lily noticed on how their child's eyes seemed to have become a bit dull, while, previously, they were shining with magic and intelligence. The mind-connection had also been cut off—presumably because Harry didn't have enough concentration or magic to keep it up on his side. Previously, the air around Harry was saturated with raw magic, it still was but to a lesser extent. They were sad because of the changes but convinced themselves that it needed to be done so that Harry didn't die prematurely.
"Okay. What did you want to discuss with us, Sharptooth?" James asked worriedly.
"Ah. Albus Dumbledore has been taking money from the Potter Vaults. He has also taken the Potter wedding bands, signet rings and everything else except the weaponry, books and some other precious things."
"What? Why weren't you able to stop it?" James asked.
"The laws regarding Gringotts were made by wizards so most if not all of them have loopholes. And, Albus Dumbledore knows them all. We can't interfere unless you give us direct permission to," Sharptooth explained.
"Maybe we should let him take the money," Lily said, shocking both of them, "I mean, the Potter wealth is vast so this isn't going to leave much of a dent on it. Also, he believes that we both are firmly under his control so, if we interfere, he could find out."
"That…makes surprising sense. However, I want him to stop taking any worldly possessions from the Potter Vaults. Maybe you can tell him it is an old, forgotten goblin law?" James asked.
"He'd like to see proof before believing it," Lily pointed out.
"There actually is an old, forgotten law made by the Peverells themselves. If you claim the Peverell Lordship—you could tell that it was Potter History, not meant for anyone's ears—then he would not be able to take any worldly jewelry or anything and even the amount he can get away with taking would be considerably reduced," Sharptooth said.
"Brilliant," James said then claimed his Peverell lorship. Just as he claimed it, a golden ring with the intricate designs of thestrals appeared on his ring finger. A similar, but more lady-like ring appeared on Lily's finger and a small ring appeared on Harry's finger.
"Sharptooth, is the Potter Manor still habitable? And the vacation home in Switzerland?" Lily asked.
"Yes. Both of them are. You would just need to check in with the head house-elves of both of the houses to inform them you would be moving in. And, of course, if you would be moving in to either of those houses, then you would have to talk to the American/Switzerland branch of Gringotts to move all of the Potter wealth to the new vaults," Sharptooth explained.
When the Peverell Manor was built, it was built more as a safe-house—a very lavish safe-house—than anything else. A place to hide in. So, it would only make sense that they didn't have any vaults in America since it would tip-off the people who were hunting the Peverells down—in those days, Peverells had a lot of enemies for being so powerful in all fields. Now, even though it had been established as the Potter Manor, the old tradition had still stayed on. The same rule was applied to the Potter safe-houses present all over the world because it kept the Peverells alive.
"OK. So, this concludes our business in Gringotts. We were glad in doing business with you, Sharptooth. We should leave now," James said formally.
"Of course. Please see yourself out. I must get to work at once," Sharptooth said.
The Potters nodded and walked out.
Meanwhile in the Riddle Manor…
"My Lord," Severus said as he bowed lowly to the serpentine, half-mad, melodramatic Dark Lord. He hoped that the potion would help his Lord regain what he had lost, "I have brought the potion."
"Very well," even his voice had a hissing quality to it, "I trust you, Severus. But, bear in mind, if this potion doesn't work, then…" He raised his wand, nothing more had to be said.
"Of course, my Lord." Severus said, bowing his head—showing that he would accept whatever punishment his Lord had in store for him if the potion failed, which it shouldn't.
He drank the potion.
The results were instantaneous. He fell to the ground with a scream of pure agony and Severus watched in wonder as five streaks of pure energy—which felt like the Dark Lord's magic. Honestly, five? He should be glad that he wasn't beyond redemption—appeared from different places and revolved around the Dark Lord who was in a crouching position. Then, one by one, the soul shards entered the Dark Lord's body, each making him scream even with more agony than the last. When the last soul shard had embedded itself into the Dark Lord, Severus softly levitated him and put him on his bed. It would take days for the transformation to be complete and the dark Lord would be unconscious throughout all of it.
Six days later; on the morning of 31st October…
The Dark Lord woke up with a groan, feeling as if he was burnt, frozen and electrocuted all at once. He reflected on his past actions and realized how utterly stupid he had been—all just for immortality and wanting to be better than other witches/wizards. He had taken his schoolboy ambitions a little too far and while he still had the fear of dying, it wasn't worth giving over his sanity and everything.
He could actually differentiate between his thoughts which was a far cry from his previous persona where he just went along with his instincts. Speaking of that, he conjured up a mirror—and marvelled how flawlessly it appeared, the past years it had been difficult doing anything wandlessly (forget wordlessly), it seemed that the horcruxes took away his magic too—and looked at himself.
The face staring back at him wasn't the serpentine face of the fearsome Lord Voldemort. It was the face of a thirty year old Tom Riddle. The same aristocratic features; elegant hands; long legs; curly dark-brown hair which could almost be mistaken for black; pale, flawless skin; a nose—he had missed it, and red eyes. It was the only thing he didn't loose from his earlier self—the only thing which could remind anyone that this person who could make angels sin—not his words, Abraxas'—was actually Lord Voldemort. He actually liked his eyes since it added a bit of dark flair to him.
He heard the sound of someone opening the door and glanced towards the door. Entering was Severus Snape, his trusted spy and potion-maker and Lucius Malfoy—his right-hand man and politician advisor. He suddenly felt guilt on how unfairly he had treated his followers—yes, he was a harsh ruler but he wasn't someone to only torture his followers and not compliment them—when he saw the fear in their eyes. However, that fear quickly turned to shock and then amazement. Lucius apparently couldn't control himself for he said, "Severus? Are you a miracle worker or something?"
Even the normally stoic Snape was shocked, "It would seem, Lucius."
He chuckled lightly, with genuine mirth and then frowned internally as both of them looked fearful. It lasted less than a second—normally, he won't even be able to notice it but he had been looking out for this kind of actions—and then they regained their stoic masks.
"My Lord," both of them said, bowing lowly.
"Severus, Lucius, rise," he said and marvelled the fact that even his voice had regained its normal silky-smooth quality.
Both of them rose.
"Severus, I'm very pleased with your work," he said and watched as a flash of surprise registered on his face.
"Thank you, my Lord. I aim to please," he said.
"Lucius, I must ask—why are you here?" Tom, for he wasn't that melodramatic old snake-faced fool, asked.
"My Lord, if I have permission to speak freely?" Lucius asked.
"Of course. You are my follower, not prisoner of war," Tom snapped. Surely he couldn't have been that bad.
Both of them looked shocked and Tom distantly wondered how many time could he make Severus show his emotions.
"Look, I know I've done many things when I was insane and I can't justify to those things. Rest assured, I will not be like that again," Tom said in a show of trust. He would never admit it so freely to anybody else but seeing that both of them were his most trusted (along with Bellatrix, of course), he could risk some things.
"Yes. Definitely a miracle worker," Snape said to himself in awe while Lucius nodded.
"Okay. So, returning back to original topic—I don't think that you have all of your soul in you. When your horcruxes joined together, Severus said that a tiny part of your soul flew out of the body and anchored itself to Nagini. Further proof was how Nagini was able to tell exactly when you would be able to wake up—translation charms."
"I think that since your body didn't house your full soul for many years, it couldn't take the stress of rejoining and maintaining the entire soul so a part of your soul broke off and flew out of your body and anchored itself to Nagini since she was the only other living thing in the room apart from Severus who had taken safety measures. This means that you are immortal and Nagini is basically your horcrux but you didn't do a ritual or kill someone to make it happen."
Well, well, well. That was brilliant. Even a small fraction of his soul would be enough to make him immortal without him feeling any adverse side affects. The reason he couldn't do it at first was because the horcrux ritual teared apart half of the soul in the body and he had made multiple to make sure that he wouldn't die even if one of his horcruxes was destroyed. Nagini was, by her own right, extremely dangerous since she was a vena python—an extremely rare snake found only in the dense forests of central Asia. Her venom could kill anyone in a second or an hour, however fast or slowly she wanted her victim to die. Even apart from that, he already had various protective spells and charms on her so that she would be virtually untouchable.
It would be enough to ease his fear of dying which he held even after losing and painfully regaining his identity. He understood now. Had he made even one more Horcrux, then he would have been destroyed beyond saving.
"That is most pleasing," he said while Lucius bowed.
"I will run a diagnostic on you to check if you need any extra medication," Severus said, slipping into 'Healer' voice he had heard so much of from Narcissa. He wanted to say that there was nothing wrong with him but he had learnt not to mess with Healers on a mission. Narcissa had fixed him with such a deadly glare that, even in his insane stage, he had been afraid of. He did not want to see what Severus would do. He liked living, thank you very much.
After running a basic diagnostic scan, Severus nodded in approval and said, "Everything is in working order. Your magic is in the height of its power. And, it also says that you won't age physically which is a side-effect of the horcrux in Nagini."
It was getting better and better, he surely didn't want to look like Dumbledore—sporting a huge beard and looking like Santa Claus. He knew that he looked good—like a dark angel, Abraxas had claimed—and he often enjoyed exploiting that when he was in school. So, having his good looks and living for eternity without any bad side-effects definitely made Tom Riddle's day.
He smiled and from the discreet gulp from Lucius—what was it with Malfoys being attracted to him?—he knew that he looked 'sin personified'.
"My Lord, may I take my leave now?" Lucius asked, still looking as though he would be hit with a Cruciatus just for asking that. He frowned internally—and he had been doing an awful lot of that—and although he knew that logically it would take them months with him to see that he had truly changed to ease their minds, unless he made an Oath which he was not willing to do. However, it would be much better for him and his plans if they understood quickly that he wouldn't harm them meaningless.
"Of course. You are only to tell the Inner Circle and your family that I am not that melodramatic old fool anymore but the Tom Riddle your parents followed," he ordered.
"Yes, my lord," Lucius bowed as he walked out of the room, no doubt to tell him family and in-laws.
"You do realize that people would come and see you just to make sure that Lucius is not joking?" Severus asked with an intense gaze in his black eyes. He had always liked that about Severus, he would not be afraid to tell him if he were going wrong. Of course, those words were met with Crucios in public but even when he was insane, he had known that what Severus was saying was right. And now that he had changed so drastically, he was sure that with time Severus would open up to him even more.
"Of course, I do," he said with faint irritation. Even though he had respect for the man, he should know better than to think that Tom hadn't thought of everything. He wanted the others to see him, to make sure that he was real. Maybe when he was insane, he would do things irrationally but those days were long gone.
"I'm sorry, my Lord. May I say something to you?" he asked quite nervously, "I only beg you to listen with an open mind."
Tom thought, the worst that could happen was for Severus to turn over to Dumbledore's side and I can't blame him for it. However, if he has already told everything to Dumbledore, then I would have to kill him.
"Of course."
And then Severus told the whole story. By the end of it, he said, "My Lord, my loyalty will always be to you but because I have spied on you, I will take any punishment you see fit to give me but I beg you to leave out the Potters."
Tom was surprised that Severus' loyalty towards him had wavered only for his sister and, even though he had no family and didn't know love, he could respect Severus for asking him to spare the Potters lives.
"I understand," he said, because he did. Abraxas, Orion, Alexander, Cygnus—they would've killed him if they realized that he had been treating their children so badly, Dark Lord be damned. And, they were his Court—his first Inner Circle, his first Death Eaters—they were the closest he would ever have to a friend, especially Abraxas and Orion. Despite what Dumbledore said, they were not only his minions and they knew it too. His bond with his first had always been strong and they could get away with practically anything as long as they weren't sabotaging his plans—not that they would ever do it. Abraxas would literally flirt with him like mad and Dumbledore would look like he had gulped a particularly sour lemon drop.
His bond with Lucius and Severus—his most trusted—was tentative at best, non-existant at worst and Bella had already assumed the role of his big sister—nevermind the fact that he was older than her. She was the only one he didn't Crucio for no reason, nor did he Crucio any women he saw even in the most stressful of times because his moral code—he understood the irony—prevented that. But Bella was his follower so that was an exception.
Sometimes he really missed Abraxas and his flirting, Orion and his bad puns, Alexander and his wild stories and Cygnus and his stoicness.
"Th-thank you, my lord," Severus said, "I must tell you something else, too."
And then he said the rest. Tom. Was. Furious. Dumbledore had really gone too far this time. How could he have done something like this? If it was continued, then best-case scenario, the Potters would've become mindless drones and worst-case scenario, they would've died, not being able to take the strain of someone else's magic. He should know, he had read up on them extensively.
Besides, why would he even do that? Lily Potter was a muggleborn and James Potter loved her more than anything else (according to reports). They would've never turned towards the Dark because they were certain that Tom's ultimate plan was to kill off all Muggleborns and Halfbloods. No reason for them to turn over to the Dark. In fact, by doing so, the Light just lost few of its most brilliant duellists. Lily and James Potter—though very much capable to fight alone—were completely invincible when they fought together. Black and Lupin too were terrifyingly brilliant duellists. He had lost many of his followers to the four of them. And, if the Potters had any hand in raising the child—which they would since he wasn't stupid enough to go after them anymore, realizing that it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, if he went along with it, then only it would happen, otherwise not—Harry Potter too, would one day become an extremely brilliant duellist.
But meeting them up? What if it were an elaborate plan to get him killed? But he couldn't be killed, he realized. There would still be a horcrux in Nagini and he would be safe. Besides, he could see that Severus was telling all of it genuinely, without a hint of deception and he doubted that the Potters—especially the woman—would make any plans without informing Severus first.
So he agreed.
Twenty-sixth of October…
"I want to see the prophecy. I want to know what is so important which could get us killed," Lily said. She had retained the blood glamours, at least, unless she was in England. She would remove the glamours if they lived in America.
"Yeah. Dumbledore didn't even tell any of it. Just the general gist that our family was in danger from Voldemort because of a prophecy regarding Harry or Neville. As if we aren't in enough danger already," James said, "But how would you even get the information? I mean, prophecies are only kept in the Hall of Prophecies and we can't just go over and demand to hear the prophecy from Dumbledore."
"Did I tell you that I collaborated with Unspeakable Croaker on one of my more obscure Charms thesis?" Lily asked. It must be when she got her Charms Mastery since gaining a Mastery in any subject requires a lot of steps so people only get one, except for a few exceptions. James got one in Transfiguration & Conjuration and Snape got one in Potions.
Dumbledore, on the other hand, got three for Alchemy, Potions and Transfiguration & Conjuration. The Masteries of latter two required to gain a Mastery in Alchemy. Tom Riddle himself got a mastery in Spell Craft and the Dark Arts even though not many people know it.
"Lily, you are utterly incredible," James breathed as he kissed her and then felt an empty feeling when Harry's voice didn't say "eeew" at the back of his head. It would take a lot of time to get used to.
"But…would he help you?" James asked.
"Unspeakable Algerion Croaker is actually Neville's uncle. If we tell him that this was concerning his family—you know that Longbottoms would do anything for their family—then, perhaps. Besides, he is one of the most lax of the Unspeakables and doesn't hold any respect for Dumbledore so those could be points for us to exploit," Lily explained.
"Wow. Times like these I wonder why you weren't sorted in Slytherin," James said, eyes wide.
Lily smirked and said, "But then I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on you, Mr Potter."
James laughed.
It took much persuasion from both of them and plenty of Oaths to make sure that they wouldn't be able to tell the contents of the prophecy to anyone. But, finally, by the thirtieth of October, they would be able to hear the Prophecy for themselves.
However, when Unspeakable Croaker appeared, he was frowning and he had no Prophecy with him.
"What is the matter, Unspeakable Croaker?" Lily asked. She knew from experience that the person was a man who kept his promises.
"I did make a few trips to the Hall of Prophecies and even got the Prophecy but here is where the confusion begins. I should've never been able to take the Prophecy, only Harry, Neville or Lord Voldemort would be able to do that. But, here I was, holding a Prophecy I shouldn't be able to hold. That was my first clue. Then, I talked with my brother—Saul Croaker—who specializes with prophecies and when he carefully examined the prophecy, he told me to take it to the Centaurs because he was having doubts about it. Then, I went to the Centaurs who confirmed my brother's suspicions—this was not a real Prophecy. It was a fake. Dumbledore's manipulation, no doubt," Croaker said.
"The Prophecy…is a fake? Dumbledore wanted us to die? Why? What could he do if he lost some of his supporters?" James asked trying to make sense of it all.
"I do not know and I don't think we'll know unless we ram into his mind which would not be possible because he has extremely strong shields. Inhuman shields. However, I think you're correct in the fact that Dumbledore wanted to kill your family. When I heard the fake prophecy from the Orb, I had a faint urge to kill you all. When I investigated a bit more, I found out that the compulsion was actually made for Voldemort and had the magical signature of Dumbledore on it. Imagine how strong it must be if it managed to affect someone who took a daily precaution against those sort of things and who wasn't even the target of the compulsion," he said.
"So the Prophecy was never meant for the Longbottoms. Why? Were we becoming a threat? Too powerful? Or were we losing our value? No. If we lost our value then he would've sent us on missions which would've gotten us killed, he would've never sent us on the front lines of war. But, still. This elaborate plan to kill us? Why? There must be something more. Maybe we're missing the obvious," Lily muttered.
"I have a question—if the compulsion is so powerful, then why hasn't Voldemort killed us already?" James asked.
"Either he had astonishing mental shields, or," Croaker hesitated to say the rest.
"Or what?"
"Or he already has so much hate in him that he couldn't distinguish it and has gotten used to it to by bothered by it anymore," he said.
"Oh"
"Maybe if we hear the Prophecy, we could understand why he wants to kill us so much," James said after a few moments, "Could we hear it?"
"Sure. It is ingrained into my head, anyways.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches
Born to those who have thrice defied him
Born as the seventh month dies
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal
But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not
And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives"
"That's a sure way to get Harry killed if he learnt of the Prophecy," James commented after a few moments which made Lily suck in a sharp breath.
"Harry! It is meant for Harry!" Lily said frantically.
"What do you mean, Lils?" James asked, holding her tightly to provide her with some comfort.
"Don't you remember that we told Dumbledore when I first started fainting when I was pregnant? He must've known. We also told him that he would be born at the end of July. He must've wanted Harry to be killed since he is too powerful—a wild card in his game of chess," Lily explained frantically.
"But then why go through such elaborate measures of making a false Prophecy and everything? He could just stage an accident and be done with it," Croaker said.
"Maybe he wanted his hands clean of murder. I've never seen him fighting any Death Eaters and when he fought Voldemort, he never killed him. He had always used others to do the dirty work. Maybe he wanted to blame Voldemort for it? So he made an elaborate plan?" James brainstormed.
"Maybe. But that still doesn't explain why would he go through the entire process of making a freaking Prophecy. Why? He could've just stayed it as an accident, blame it on Voldemort and be done with it," James said.
"I do not know. But, I must go now. The others will be wondering where I was. And, if you need help, please do let me know," Croaker said.
"Thank you, Unspeakable Croaker. Let me show you out," Lily said as she walked out with the Unspeakable.
31st October…
"Lily," called out Severus' voice from the floo place. They had been waiting anxiously for the answer, "He is going over. He will reach within half an hour. And, he has regained his sanity, looks and everything that made him Tom Riddle and not Voldemort. I saw him and talked to him and it seemed like the Tom Riddle from Mr Malfoy's stories had come to life."
"Wow, Severus. You must've been a miracle worker to revert him back to his original self so completely," Lily said, being the only one apart from Severus knowing how delicate and complicated a potion could be to revert someone back to their original selves.
"Thank you, Mrs Lily," he said teasingly. However, he frowned when he flinched.
"If I survive—" she started.
"When you survive. I can guarantee that he won't kill you," Severus said firmly.
"I've been trying to tell her that all day but she won't listen," James said from where he had been making Harry multi-colored bubbles.
"When I survive, I will tell you something interesting tomorrow, okay?" Lily asked. Internally, she felt bad that she hadn't told him anything but the past few days had been completely hectic with Sirius and Remus coming over and helping with packing everything up. And then Croaker dropped another bomb yesterday.
"Okay then. I have some potions to tend to. Talk to you later? When you are in America?" Severus asked. He had been asked repeatedly by Lily to come along but he didn't want to go to America. Besides, he knew that if he and Black stayed in one room for half-an-hour, either he would kill him or Black would kill him.
"Sure thing, Sev," Lily said as she cut the network. She looked at Harry happily. Just the other day, he had said 'mama' in Parseltongue. It was too early for wizarding kids to start speaking—they usually started from two years of age—but since Parseltongue was just hisses and snarls, they started speaking Parseltongue way earlier.
Lily had been over the moon when she could understand what he'd said. She spent the next half-an-hour trying to get him say 'dad' but to no avail. She still marvelled at the fact that Parseltongue came to her so naturally.
Speaking of which, she was Voldemort—sorry, Tom Riddle's—relative and she didn't know what he'd do when he found out. She'd tell, of course. Maybe he'd be less inclined to kill them if he found out that they were relatives—however distantly.
After half-an-hour of sitting tensely and putting Harry in the crib in the nursery—since Lily wouldn't have Harry in the same room as a murderer—they finally heard the door bell ring.
"Well, he has manners," James mumbled as he put his wand in the right sleeve of his clothes for easy access and went to open the door.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed it. Please read and review. Have a wonderful day/night! It's currently evening at my place.