Chapter 2: Letter

:) HEY GUYS! I'm gonna be busy real soon. After next Monday, my schedule is gonna be PACKED. I'm going to have to start updating once a week, probably on Wednesdays or Saturdays or Sundays, I'm not sure yet. But for right now, I should be able to get one chapter out each day. :) Thanks for reading!

There is a part in this chapter that is just explanations and stuff that you already know. I'll put a notice of the parts you might want to skip, unless you want a refresher or something. :)

"Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out"

-Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

Nanda's POV:

I held the letter in my hands. After all this time from my dads saying I was a wizard, nothing had ever really set in until now. I was a wizard, and I was going to go to school with other wizards and witches to learn how to use my magic and control it. My dads had taught me a lot of things already, really simple things, like what my papa called magical clay and how to ride my broom and a wandless spell or two my dad taught me, and I knew some things by myself, like how to make the wind blow against the bark of the tree just right to make that whistling noise and the grasses whisper against itself and the birds nearby to tweet and the leaves to dance around to the music; I could do all that when I waved my hands like a conductor. And now, I was going to Hogwarts to learn.

It wasn't going to be my first time there. I had always gone there to visit Grandpa Sev, the Headmaster, and Aunt Hermione, who was a professor there (I have no idea what she teaches yet, but I'm sure I'll find out). The school, as I had learned, looks quite intimidating from the outside, but quite comforting and regal inside. I was glad that I got to go there, since I had already been there plenty of times. It would make my first day so much simpler. Now all I had to worry about was making friends, and using a wand, and which house I would be put in (since I have heard no great people came from Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, and I wanted to be as great as my dads someday, which was going to be hard to achieve in itself), and how I would do in classes, and what if I made an enemy whom I had to see every day, and what if I didn't like my roomates, and it was going to be hard to be away from my dads for so long, and I might get a teacher who doesn't like me…

My first day was going to be awful. I wasn't so sure I wanted to go.

My papa was still smiling at me, probably waiting for me to get excited or something. I wished every day I could be as great as he was. I had heard every word of his story that my dad had told me (since my papa wouldn't actually tell me himself); he had been attacked by the most evil wizard in the world when he was a baby, and he lived through it. And he went to Hogwarts and was in Gryffindor, where he made friends with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and became a seeker his first year (the only one ever). In all his years there at Hogwarts, he was so great at everything he did, and he defeated the evil wizard before his sixth year. It was an awful lot to live up to, but what choice did I have? I wanted to make my papa proud of me.

Well, I thought to myself, I have to try. And going to this school is my chance. I gave my papa a smile, mostly to try and cheer myself up. "Alright, then. When should we get my books and supplies?"

"We've already gotten your books. All we need is your wand." I loved his green eyes. If I wore just the right shirt, my eyes could be close enough to their color, but never exactly got the brightness and love they held. My eyes were always earthy, and held that chocolate undertone to them, as much as I wanted the green to come out.

My dad was at his side. He had told me stories of when he was in school; Top of his class, head boy, loved by most of his teachers, loyal friends. I always asked him about what he did after he got out of school, but he just said he went through a phase, and Papa helped him through it. I didn't quite understand what that meant, but I figured it had something to do with not getting the job he wanted at Hogwarts. Right now, he had a more serious face on, rather than a happy one. He looked to my papa and said, "Harry, when will you be taking our pup to get it?"

A look crossed Papa's face, that I barely missed to a blink, before his smile returned. "Depends on how he feels. Would you like to get it now, or tomorrow?"

I didn't want to get it now, but tomorrow seemed so far from now. "Could I get it after dinner?" That would give me enough time to calm down, but not to really get anxious.

"Of course, pup." Papa kissed my head and stood from his kneeling in front of the couch where I sat in our sitting room. "Now, if you would like to stay here, you can. Or go outside, or to the library, but your Dad and I need to talk."

"Alright," I said. What do I want to do, then? That was a foolish question. I always wanted to do one thing, all the time; it never seemed to get old, no matter if I did it a hundred times a day. "I'll be outside." I clutched my neck charm. It was a portkey to the outside, since I couldn't apparate like my dads could until later on. It was a small, grey circle, much like a coin, and on it was a howling wolf, with a half-light, half-dark moon above it.

"Stay safe." My papa said.

"We will be done before you know it" said my dad.

I smiled and petted the wolf on the charm, and I was instantly pulled into a tube and released outside a moment later. The green hills never ceased to amaze me, with its green grasses, and small patches of flowers in a few places (but only on one hill), and graceful trees that held healthy leaves and had perfect brown bark. This was my one place to get away from anything awful, like hard spells, Scorpius Malfoy, and my nightmares (mostly the last one). This was where I could really do magic.

I walked to the top of the highest hill and turned to face the trees. My arms rose up into the air to just about shoulder-level, and my face was focused. I could feel the song, always swirling around in my mind, but when I called, it drained into my veins and filled my entire body. The power was in my hands, and I loved nothing more than to set it free. Everything was still, waiting for my move to begin. Five, six. Five, six, seven, eight. My right hand counted off. I moved my arms, and everything burst into song. The leaves rustled against each other, and the wind whipped against the bark to make a whoosh sound, the grasses swayed along to the beat, and birds chirped harmonies. There was an orchestra before me, or a choir, or a band; it didn't matter, as long as the music escaped my hands. I smiled and dragged my hand across the air slowly, to act as a crescendo, and nature followed, down to the last detail, whether it was a punctuated note, or dynamic contrast, or even a staccato note; everything was just the way it played in my head. And I loved it.

Then the last note came, and my hands turned over, bringing my thumb and pointer finger together for the close. The song was over, but the feeling wasn't. It was brilliant, letting the music leave my hands, and giving it freedom; there was no feeling better in the world. I sighed and my hands fell to my side, taking on last revel in it. I probably wouldn't get much time to do this when I go to school, but I would find some time, at least, I told myself. I had to find time. I hadn't ever held in the music before, keeping it trapped inside the prison within me. What would happen? I hoped it wasn't anything drastic, like making me explode. I sat down on the grass and looked up at the perfectly puffy clouds in the sky. I had no idea where I was, but it was my home.

Harry's POV:

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. I sent a glare over at Tom, who was being too serious. I knew what we had to talk about, but that didn't excuse for him being this way. He knew exactly how I hated Nanda feeling like he wasn't wanted here. But all the same, we told him to leave. Not in those words, but that's how it felt to me. Maybe I was being too protective. It's not like he was running away and we were encouraging him (I had been there before, not too fun for self-esteem). We just told him we needed to talk, and he said he would go outside. There was nothing wrong with that…

"What?" Tom said in response to my look.

I sighed again. "Never mind. I know what we need to talk about. We've talked about this day for a while now, but I didn't except it to come so soon."

Tom grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him. I wrapped my arms around him, letting myself enjoy him, even if only for a moment. I felt our whole life was Nanda now. Not that I didn't absolutely love my pup with all my heart and soul, but he really did take up all 24 hours of my day. Little moments like this were never enough, but they would tide my appetite enough. I wanted nothing more than to push Tom on the couch and snog him senseless, but when would Nanda be back? He knew, of course, that I loved Tom just as much as I loved him, but it was odd to have him watch us. Parents were supposed to be loving, to both children and each other, but we needed to spare our child from such…displays.

I pulled away and sat down on the couch. "What are we going to do, Tom? He's never going to see us the same way. We waited too long to tell him this! We should have told him when he would barely understand what it meant, so he could gather the meaning over time, so it wasn't so abrupt."

"Harry, my love, that is not how it works." He sat right next to me, but turned my direction. "But it does not matter now. It is already too late to do that. We have to tell him now. He is going to go to school, and people are going to know who he is, and what he represents. If we don't tell him now, he is going to find out the hard way, and that will only make it worse for us."

This was so horribly familiar. I leaned back until I couldn't anymore, and looked up at the ceiling. I imagined this conversation happening between Dumbledore and Snape, or McGonagall, or even Hagrid. "Harry is going to grow up not knowing he is famous." "Yes, I know." "But Dumbledore, don't you think we should have told him earlier?" "And let him get a swelled head? Never. He will grow up just fine." "Alright, whatever you say, Dumbledore." It made me sick to my stomach. I never wanted him to be like me, in any way. Yet here we are; Nanda's 11 now and he's going to go to Hogwarts, and kids are going to know his name, and what his parents did, and who they were, but he would have no clue. He would have a horrible nickname, just as I had, that people would call him, and it would forever be attached to him whether he liked it or not. All we needed was a prophecy and an evil villain for him to destroy. And we'd be practically identical. I shook my head. I couldn't do this again; not to Nanda.

I had voiced all that to Tom several times, but even I knew he had a point. We couldn't not tell him, because finding out from other students would not be such a great thing for us to do as parents. I didn't want to tell him, but my hands were tied. I had no idea how he would take it, but he had to know. "Should we telling before or after we get his wand?" I asked, giving up all of my arguments. They were no use.

"Before, I suppose. So you have an excuse to talk to him if he has doubts about me." Tom said it so casually, but I could feel the fear seeping out of the barriers of his mind. He didn't want to tell his son who he had been, the parts of his past he wouldn't share because he was ashamed, and guilty. But nothing could ever be easy for him after that, and everything took time to heal. There would be no reason for Nanda to think Tom could ever be such a person, and he didn't want to break his heart saying that he had been.

I was scared as well, but not nearly as much as Tom. I was supposed to kill Tom, all those years ago, and I grew up in an awful home, and I had nightmares, and I was famous, and I was the Boy-Who-Lived. I hated that part of my life (it all was on my list), but I had to share it with him before others did. It was a hard decision, but it was made. "Alright then. We're really going to do this?" I was hoping he would say no, but then again, that would be terrible.

"Yes, love. And our pup will not see us any different than he already does."

I tore my eyes away from the ceiling to look into his eyes. His mask was in place, as it always was when he was like this, but his eyes gave away just a hint of how much he didn't want to do this. I needed to be the one comforting him, I realized. I leaned over and kissed him, long and passionate. Our lips parted and I looked at him again, his scarlet eyes meeting them immediately. I forced a smile onto my face. "I'll get him then." I patted his hand with my own before pulling my wand out of my back pocket. For a moment, I was with Tom outside, lying on the hills, making love on their grasses. Expecto Patronum. The white light erupted from my wand, and the familiar cobra appeared. I sent it off with the message and turned back to Tom. "This is it."

Nanda appeared back in the room, a huge smile on his face and grass in his hair. He always had so much fun outside. He really was a prodigy, but not like Tom and I; he told me he could feel the music, and he still loved to make the hills dance and say he released it. It was something you didn't see every day, even if you were a wizard. And if you listened just right, you would hear the song. I planned on getting him some instruments for his next birthday. He was too young for them now, but he would absolutely adore them now.

"I'm back." He said simply. "Did you finish your talk?"

Tom let a small sigh go. "Yes, pup. And we have something to tell you."

Nanda looked between us and sat on the floor in front of us. His smile faltered a bit at the seriousness that swirled about the room. "What is it?"

"Remember when you would ask me about what we were like in school?" Nanda nodded. "Well, we think it is time to fill in the parts I did not share. We are both going to share our parts. I will be the first to go.

(You can skip this if you want)

"I will start by saying I grew up different from you, Nanda. Shortly after I was born, my mother died, and my father was a muggle who had left long before I was due. I was sent to an orphanage, much like the one you came from, but I never was adopted. The workers there were not loving as we are, and the other children treated me like a freak, because I had magic, and they did not. When I finally went to Hogwarts, and learned what I was, I became fascinated with past. I learned about my ancestors, and my father. He was an awful man, who hadn't cared at all for my mother. Since he was the only muggle in my life, and he was so terrible, I despised anything muggle. I spent my years there gathering what I called friends, but they were more of followers, and I was there leader.

"Around that time, I became very fearful of death, and became obsessed with finding ways to prevent it. That was when I learned about horcruxes. A horcrux is a part of one's soul that is ripped off and placed in an object, that way when they die, there is another piece of them to gain life again. It is very dark magic, and is also very painful to make. With each one made, the less human one is. I never wanted to die, and so I made seven. And I can still name them all to this day. So I made several horcruxes, and lost so much of what makes me human. I was nothing more than a monster.

"I called this monster Voldemort. He was so powerful, and full of dark magic, and hated muggles, and muggle-borns, and even half-bloods, though I am one. I thought that if I got rid of them all, there would be a perfect world, of nothing but pure-blooded wizards, and I could rule over only the best. I was out of school by this time, and I had many loyal followers, of whom I cared very little for. I was rising to power, and I had immense influence, but there were still those who defied me, even some pure-blooded families. I called them blood traitors, and I made it a point to make sure they…" Tom took a breath. I had been lost in his story, and took this moment to look at Nanda. His face was confused, but he showed no understanding as to what he was talking about.

"…could not interfere in my plans. Voldemort killed them.

"And then there was a prophecy. One that said there was a child that was going to stop me, and kill me. I couldn't let this happen, and so I needed to find out whom it was, and kill them before they could even get the chance to kill me."

"And that was where I came in." I bit my lip. Nanda was still not getting it, but maybe it would work better for us that way… "My parents had been against what he was trying to do for so long…" My vision was turned off, and the words of the prophecy ghosted in my eyes. "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 ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.

"I was that child. And when Voldemort came to kill me, my parents went into hiding, only to be revealed by their best friend. The Dark Lord, as Voldemort was known since many did not want to say his name, came to our hiding place, and killed my father. He was going to spare my mother, but she refused to give me to him, and so he killed her. And when he tried to kill me, for some odd reason, his spell did not harm me at all, but bounced back and hit him.

"And then I was famous. I had defeated the Dark Lord as a baby, but at what cost? I was sent to live with my mother's sister, and her husband and child. They were really quite awful to me there. My aunt hated anything magic, and so she never told me I was a wizard. My uncle frequently beat me, and their son, Dudley, would beat me up whenever he got the chance. I grew up thinking my parents had died in a car crash, and that the scar on my forehead was just a mark from it.

"And my letter came from Hogwarts, just like it did for you today. My aunt and uncle tried everything in their power to keep them from me, but when Hagrid was sent to give me the letter, needless to say I got it. He told me everything. What my parents did, that I was famous for what I did, that they assumed the Dark Lord was gone for good. I went to school, having no idea what to do. My first year, yes, I was the youngest seeker in history, but I was also trying to find out what Dumbledore was hiding in the school, because Hermione, Ron, and I were scared Snape was trying to take it.

"In the end, I learned it was the Dark Lord who was trying to steal it, using the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell, to get the Sorcerer's Stone to use it to live forever. From that year on, I slowly learned about him and his intentions. It was just barely sixth year that I even learned he had horcruxes, and Dumbledore, before he died, told me I had to destroy them, but we had no idea how many there were. By that point, I had already destroyed one, not even knowing I had.

"Just before seventh year, one of my best friends, Luna Lovegood, was taken by Voldemort and he offered me a trade, me for her. I figured he was going to kill me, and I was alright with that. There were so many people I cared for that were risking their lives for me, I thought if I was gone, they would all be safe. But when he took me prisoner, that wasn't what he had in mind at all.

"He wanted me to help him. I took this chance to try and stop him from being evil. It was kind of like another war, but there wasn't really any fighting. And I'm sure when it really happened, but I fell in love with him." I smiled. This was a story I had always wanted to hear from my parents, and now I was sharing it with my child. I felt so…old. "But he was still Voldemort, and he refused to believe he could that way." My smile faded. "He told me he didn't love me, and I disappeared. I tried to kill myself, because I didn't see any point in living anymore, but Snape stopped me.

"He really kind of fixed us, in a way. Voldemort disappeared after I left, and all that remained was Tom. He loved me, not that horrible monster. Of course, it took some time, and maybe some forcing from Snape, but we explained everything to each other, and made up, I guess."

(Resume reading here)

Nanda seemed to be absorbing every detail we had told him so far, looking quite shocked, but I continued nevertheless. "Your dad didn't want to be evil anymore. So I guess I kind of won." I grinned. "We decided to show everyone this. I went to talk to the Ministry, and he decided to make a guest appearance there, proposing laws he wanted to pass. We made the branch in the Ministry to focus on protecting children in muggle care, and even in wizard care, and allowed gay couples to adopt.

"That's where you come in. You were the first child to be adopted after that law was passed, by us. The newspapers went crazy when we confirmed our relationship. 'Former Dark Lord has relations with Chosen One', really they awful. But people saw you as the thing to hold us together. I was, in a sense, the Light side, and he was previously, the Dark side. You are quite famous, actually. I would be surprised if you went to school and there was a child who didn't know who you were."

A moment of silence passed. Tom and I waited for Nanda to say something, hopefully good. I knew he wouldn't run away, or anything, but my fear kept telling me it was possible. I bit my lip, every second feeling just a bit longer than the last. Then he finally spoke up.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"Pup," Tom said. "We had to let you know ourselves. If we did not tell you now, you would find out at school."

"We wanted you to be ready for I went through. Everyone is going to know you, and expect so many things from you." I felt so terrible that I was letting this happen to my own son. "I want you to know that you don't have to be anything like they expect you to be. Just be yourself." I really hoped he made friends like I had. Hermione and Ron's child was a year younger, so I couldn't count on someone familiar for him there.

"Alright." He looked down at his hands. I was so incredibly nervous. Nothing mattered more to me than what Nanda felt about us.

"How are you, pup?" Tom asked gently. "I know it is a vast amount of things to take in at once."

"I'm…" he turned his head to the side. "…alright, I guess."

I released a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. It was a relief he wasn't angry, but I understood that maybe he hadn't quite absorbed it all. But I knew something that would cheer him up either way. "Well, pup, it seems we have some time to kill before dinner. I would love to show you something." I stood and reached my hand out to him. He stood and took my hand, and we disapparated, leaving Tom behind.

Did you like it? I hope so. :) Please review if you can! (By the way, I didn't answer reviews this time because there wasn't really anything to say to them other than thanks and stuff.) I'm glad you liked the first chapter. :D