Prologue

Dumbledore

When the news that Harry Potter was missing and presumed dead rocked the Wizarding world, it perhaps affected Hagrid most of all. Afterall, Hagrid was the first person coming to him after hearing the news, surpassing even Professor McGonagall. He had been in big blubbering tears, and it had taken him many tries to get Hagrid to calm himself and explain. The Potter boy had left the muggle residence he was staying with his aunt and uncle, and promptly disappeared. Professor McGonagall promptly showed up uninvited to the Dursley's house to demand answers. The Dursley's told her nonchalantly that Harry was prone to breaking the rules and would be back eventually.

That was all that they were willing to tell her. Of course, later, when she came back a week later to find that he was still gone, they had broke and told her that one of the neighborhood dogs had found the young child, only ten, and had went missing with him. They could only think that the boy had attacked the dog, and that the dog had chased him off with response. When she asked if there was any search teams out there for him, they had said no. The aunt had trembled when she said that he had a way of coming back unscathed from such things. Professor McGonagall thanked them and left.

Professor McGonagall later told him that she suspected he was still alive, but the only way to keep it that way was to keep everyone in the Press in the dark. He had of course asked if there was a way she could find him and return him home. But when she searched, she had found that another family had the child in their possession. The boy was amnesiac, they had told her, and they found him collapsed by one of the trees. The mother had gone to see what was wrong, as they had heard noises during the night, and that a whole section of the trees next to him were burned down. The mother was terrified, but saved the child anyways. There was no dog in sight.

Professor McGonagall found the dog with a tear of the boy's jeans in its mouth a while later. But with no maternal attachment to his old family, there was no telling on whether he could go back to the house with the same protections. When he went to the old house himself, he watched in dismay as he saw Dementors snooping around the neighborhood. Grateful for the dark, he called upon his Patronus to chase them out. There was no way around it. They had no choice but to put a spell on the boy to limit his magic to the best of their abilities and rely on him being 'dead' to keep the Death Eaters away. When Professor McGonagall questioned it, Dumbledore told her that the new family may be a better protector after all.

There was nothing that could be done if Voldermort came back, which Dumbledore knew was inevitable, but it was a good solution for the long run. They would have to hope his memory would come back faster. It was a gloomy morning when they told the ministry to go ahead and release the death report. Not even the ministry could know that he was alive, and they had to keep it that way. He wasn't gullible, at least as much as they thought he was, to think that the ministry was all trustworthy. Professor McGonagall shared these sentiments. The only people they had told of his survival was the family, who didn't look too stressed to never see him again, Hagrid, and eventually, Professor Snape.

Snape

"Are you dense? Try it again, this time correct. " He told his eleven year old godson, who was practicing Occlumency. Or at least he was claiming he was. He had been teaching the kid this for several months, but so far he seemed more concerned about more pressing matters like his grades or the Quidditch sign up next year. He hadn't told him what the reason he was teaching this to him for, and he didn't ask. Once a highly taboo and unstudied practice had left his lips, Draco was eager to stop 'studying' or what Snape assumed was gallivanting around Hogwarts and come to the practices.

He probably thought it was to make himself even more better than everyone else at Hogwarts. As if he would ever indulge Draco in such selfish, trivial matters. And that was why he made Draco promise to not tell anyone, even his parents, about these meetings. And surprisingly, he easily agreed. Even agreed to sign a contract for Headmaster Dumbledore, who the boy made it clear he disliked. He thought that it would take more convincing to get the spoiled and clingy child to lie to his parents, but apparently that was not in his vocabulary yet. "Fine! I was just warming up!" He told him in response.

What Draco didn't know, was that that contract would last far longer than one year. It would last until he was dead. It was a risk they had to take. He was initially against making his Godson be tricked in a magically bond contract, but once he found out the Headmaster's reasoning he was obliged to admit that the old coot was right. Draco was the best man for the job. He was smart, but not smart enough to ever suspect anything arise. And he was loyal, but not stupidly loyal to his parents as he expected he would be. An added plus was his eventual strength and magical ability if he ever got accepted into his beloved Quidditch team and grew up.

It wasn't a blood bond. Yet. But both Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore had reminded him, many many many times, to prepare for it if he ever came back. The blood bond would be between his poor Godson and the Potter boy, who he would be sworn to protect. He had never met the boy, and he had no interest in the matter either. He hoped that the boy would stay ' dead', for then they would never need to do it. And he wouldn't have to lie to Narcissa's face that he would protect her son for her. That would be up to the son of James' Potter, who he vehemently already mistrusted.

Although Draco was certainly already a brat at his young age, as he pried into Draco's mind again (again, without any protection, because Draco still had not performed it correctly yet) he still feared for the boy's wellbeing. Looking after a Potter would be taxing on his health, and who knew if both of them would even escape it alive, if he really was to emerge from the dead. But Snape was knowledgeable enough to teach Draco all he could know about how to protect the child, even if he turned out impossible. He had no doubt that Draco could be ready in time, but his social skills and charm were another story.

TBC -