If it was ever going to happen, Theodore Morningstar supposed it was only natural that it was going to happen on Halloween night. October itself was a peculiar month in the wizarding world in that it seemed to be the night when dark magic was at its most prominent, all culminating on the last day of the month: All Hallows Eve.

A storm had blown in over the night, obscuring the figure that had appeared at the end of the long stone pathway that led up to Morningstar Manor. From the second-floor window, illuminated by candlelight, Theodore could just barely make out the hooded figure at the end of the pathway. The figure raised his head to stare down Theodore who, undeterred, stared back into the eyes of the man. His red eyes pierced the darkness like burning embers. There was no doubt in his mind who it was, for there was only one man that Theodore knew to bestow that kind of evil.

Lord Voldemort had come for him.

"Dramatic as always," Theodore said to himself as he took a wine glass off the table next to him and put it to his lips, continuing to stare down Voldemort. He couldn't be sure how long the two of them stared each other down, maybe it was only minutes, perhaps an hour. But it was only after Theodore had finished his wine that the Dark Lord finally moved. Slowly, Voldemort moved his arm up, leveling it towards Theodore's chest. Theodore snatched up his wand to defend himself, but Voldemort's wand rose higher, putting the tip of his wand to his own throat. Suddenly his voice, undeterred by the storm raging outside, echoed through the house.

"I found them."

Theodore's eyes widened. Voldemort disappeared as Theodore's wand went to work, summoning a spectral fox in the space before him. "To Lily and James Potter. Get out of the house, he's coming." The fox darted through the window, disappearing into the night sky. As the fox disappeared, Theodore rushed downstairs, quickly summoning his patronus again. "To Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort knew it was a trap. He's heading to the Potter's right now." As soon as he hit the ground floor, he sent one final patronus. "To Severus Snape. Our dear friend marches."

He rushed towards the fireplace and took a small, ceramic jar off the fireplace and snatched a handful of floo powder into his hand. "Godric's Hallow," he said as he threw the powder into the fireplace. Green flames erupted around him and before long he was spinning through the air, racing through the floo network. He landed moments later, wand drawn, in a living room of a small, quaint little house. The storm from outside echoed through the house as Theodore's gaze fell upon a corpse on the floor. Theodore rushed over to tend to it but froze when he heard screaming from upstairs.

"Avada Kedavera!"

"NO!" Theodore rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time just as a dull thud echoed throughout the house and the sounds of an infant wailing drowned it out. Theodore threw his shoulder into the door and raised his wand. "Petrificus-"

An explosion shook the house just as a green flash of light screamed towards the crib where a young, dark-haired boy lay motionless. Theodore was flung back from the blast, slamming against the wall, and falling. His head felt like lead as a sticky red liquid poured from a cut across his forehead. His eyes, blinded by the light, slowly adjusted back to the room before him. The ringing in his ears was replaced by rain from outside. He blinked before staggering to his feet and stumbling forward, using the remains of the wall to steady himself. The outline of a woman on the ground drew his attention first. He staggered over to her, "Lily." His voice was corpse as he knelt by her side. A look of horror spread across her face as her eyes stared upwards, unseeingly. Tears mixed with the blood running down Theodore's face as he closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Theodore's mourning was interrupted by something stirring. He whipped his wand around and pointed it at the source of the disruption only to be met by Lily's green eyes staring quizzically at him. They were not attached to Lily, however, as they were instead in the head of a small infant child, standing in his crib and looking down. Theodore pulled himself to his feet and, with great difficulty, walked towards the crib. He forced a thin smile. "Hey," he said weakly as he lifted the infant and held him close. "Come… this is no place for you."

Theodore only made it out of the room before he had to stop. He held the baby close to his chest as he leaned against the wall and sat down, the world around him spinning. The baby once again started crying and Theodore, his fatherly instincts kicking in, rocked the baby gently in his arms.

"It's ok Harry. You're ok." Theodore used the sleeve of his robe to wipe the blood off of Harry's face, revealing the source of the injury. A scar, shaped like a lightning bolt, was carved into his head. Though Theodore had no doubt that was where the blood had come from, the scar had already sealed itself shut and looked as if it had always been there, center of his forehead.

"You're ok," Theodore repeated as the night crept into the house. "You're… ok." His eyes closed and he felt himself fade into oblivion.

It was hours before Theodore stirred once more, but the first thing he noticed was the soft bed under him. His head, still heavy in his stupor, was wrapped up in, what felt like, cotton cloth. Something soft and smooth was in his hand, rubbing its thumb over the back of it.

"Cassandra."

The hand shuttered slightly as it was lifted up. The sounds of people getting up echoed around him as Theodore's eyes flitted open. Daylight illuminated the hospital room, revealing two people in the room with him. Next to him sat a woman his age whose brilliant grey eyes broke into a smile as her arms wrapped around him tightly. "Thank God. I thought, we thought-" She didn't finish her sentence as she shuttered and cried into his shoulder. Theodore gave a weak smile as he wrapped an arm around her, turning to the other four. The oldest of them all stood tall in purple robes at the foot of his bed, his halfmoon spectacles giving him an equally grim smile.

"The healer expects you'll make a full recovery by day's end," said Albus Dumbledore. "Nothing magical about your injuries, safe to say."

"Harry-"

"Is safe as well."

Theodore relaxed as he heard this. His expression grew painful as he looked back up at Albus. "He knew it was a trap. Lily and James are dead."

Dumbledore's smile faded. "I heard," he said sadly as he sat down at the foot of his bed. "You did everything you could Theodore."

Theodore nodded but didn't smile. "How did he know?"

"Sirius Black must've told him."

"No," Theodore said, shaking his head. "Sirius Black? Ratting out James? I have a better chance of getting a 'Get Well Soon' card from Lucius."

Dumbledore smiled grimly. "Lucius did look rather upset when he heard that you would survive your injuries," he said, pulling a small chuckle out of Theodore. "But I'm afraid he did. We both know how the Fidelius Charm works."

"Only the secret keeper knows where the object of the charm is," Cassandra said solemnly. "We all misjudged him, Theodore."

Theodore shook his head again. "No. I refuse to believe it. Sirius Black would never- "

"Theo… please," Cassandra said, looking pleadingly into his soft brown eyes with her hazel ones.

Theodore relented. "Let's move on. I suppose you want me to recount the events of the night," he said, looking at Dumbledore who nodded. Theodore looked to Cassandra before telling Dumbledore everything, from Voldemort's appearance at the manor to the explosion. Dumbledore hung onto every word with interest while Cassandra grew more and more pale as Theodore spoke.

"It's a blur after that," Theodore said as he finished. "I remember seeing Lily's body on the floor… and Harry was bleeding from his forehead."

"And you're sure it was the killing curse?" Dumbledore asked, dubiously.

Theodore nodded. "No other curse has a flash of green light like that."

"Love."

Theodore and Dumbledore both turned to Cassandra. She was ghastly white as she looked up to Dumbledore. "You were… wondering what protected Harry from that curse. I learned it at Ilvermorny, love has been well documented to work against almost all curses. There are hundreds of cases where sacrificial love has protected people from all sorts of nasty spells. Especially the killing curse."

Dumbledore nodded. "If it was love that saved Harry's life, then there would be a blood charm placed upon him. Meaning that he'd be safer with family-"

"Yes. Without question," Cassandra said immediately. "We'll take him."

Dumbledore smiled solemnly. "You two have done a wonderful job raising Alistar so far. I expect him to grow into a fine young man, an exceptional young man. But I'm afraid that I have another candidate in mind?"

"Who?" Theodore asked.

"No…" Cassandra said, her eyes widening. "You can't. Not her." She spat the last word out as if it was a very nasty thing to call someone.

"It's the safest place for him."

"She hated Lily," Cassandra protested, standing up as she fixed her eyes on Dumbledore. "With every fiber of her being. What makes you think that she won't bestow the same 'compassion' on Harry?"

Theodore's eyes widened as he finally caught onto what Cassandra was saying. "Albus, you know we trust you fully," Theodore said before Dumbledore could reply. "But that being said, Cass is right. Dursley is a straight up prick, and only a prick can love a prick the way Petunia loves Vernon Dursley."

"I'm afraid it's the best place for him," Dumbledore insisted. "The closer the blood connection is, the stronger the protection."

"What about love?" Cassandra snapped quickly. "We love him like he's our own son! Surely that has to count for something, in addition to this blood connection."

Dumbledore thought about that for a moment, then shook his head. "No. It's best for him to- "he didn't get to finish before Cassandra's hand slammed into the side of his face, the slap echoing throughout the room.

"Sorry. I wanted to slap some sense into you," Cassandra said coldly. "Petunia's not going to raise him right. We are. So as far as I'm concerned, Harry is going to stay with us."

Dumbledore blinked as he touched the side of his face. "I deserved that."

"Yeah. You did," Cassandra barked.

"But," Dumbledore said, holding up his hand to block Cassandra's second attempt to slap him. "There's also our laws."

Theodore groaned in his bed. "I forgot about the Ministry. They're going to put Harry with his aunt and uncle too."

Cassandra wheeled around on him. "Bullshit!"

"The law states that in lieu of a parent or guardian, child of deceased witches or wizards will be given to the next capable guardian, regardless of whether or not they have any magical blood," Theodore explained. He then turned to Dumbledore who wouldn't quite meet his eyes. "I don't think I need to tell you that neither of us approve of this decision of yours. Especially since you and I together can get Harry safely transferred to my care in the matter of hours."

"I want him to be happy, and I want him to be safe," Dumbledore said simply as he stood up.

"He'll be neither with Petunia."

"Then I trust you to make sure she understands the importance of proving your wrong." Dumbledore said evenly. "I've got some other matters to attend to. Until we meet again." Dumbledore headed towards the door. As soon as he stepped into the frame, the door slammed shut, catching the hold man in the back.

"Cass," Theodore said, exasperated.

"What?" Cassandra said, as her eyes fixed on him. "It's very windy in here." Theodore smiled slightly before he pulled Cassandra into the bed next to him, holding her close.

"He's going to be ok," he said softly as he held Cassandra close to him. "We'll figure it out."

"The second I so much as think they're abusing him; I'm killing both of them," Cassandra said as she sat down and put her arms around Theodore. It wasn't long before tears started pouring from her eyes, earning her a comforting pat from her husband. "We failed."

"I failed," Theodore said. "I should've met him face to face when he showed up."

"He would've killed you."

Theodore shook his head. "No, he wouldn't. Not as long as he thought I was the secret keeper."

"When I get my hands on Sirius, I'm going to wring his fucking neck."

Theodore said nothing but rubbed Cassandra's side soothingly. "Don't do anything rash dear. I've already lost my sister to it. I don't want to lose you too."

"Says the man who volunteered to be bait," she said, the slightest hint of a tease in her voice.

Theodore smiled at this and kissed the top of her head. He was ok. Everything was going to be ok.

He hoped.