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Number 12 Grimmauld Palace, was quite crowdy today, everyone was cheerful except for two people, Orion Black and his son Regulus Black. The Malfoys and The Lestranges were there, to accompany Regulus on this glorious day and to take him to his doom.
"Reggie, from today you will be one of us," said Bella, and Reg nodded.
"He will bring glory to our house, he is not like that filthy son of mine," said Walburga hugging Reg, who just smiled.
"I am going to my room," said Reg and he left the dining table, walking upstairs, into his room, and closing the door behind him. He sat on the edge of his bed, his body shaking, he wanted to run away but he has important things to do, for Sirius, for Julia, for the right things.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Orion Black entered the room, closing it behind him and placing a silencing charm.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, I will help you," said Orion in a concerned voice sitting beside his son.
"I have to do it, dad, I have to make this world a better place, I will try my best that when before accepting death, I make sure this is a better place to live in," said Reg, his dad looked at his son, and nodded.
"I have something else to tell you," grimaced Orion. Reg looked up at him, "Gingivitis and Mange, I will not be alive for long, Walburga didn't want you to know it, but I wanted you to know about it."
Regulus was shocked by the information, he was not good at expressing emotions, not in this house at least, so, he just hugged his father.
"I wish I could have given both of you a better life," said Orion sadly. "Walburga misses Sirius too, but will never admit it, she is blinded by her believes regarding Blood status, I hope I would have come to my senses earlier, before Sirius left us then he might not have had such a horrible life."
Regulus' other senses were at their peak as he followed the people in front of him, he could see the pale face of Synde, who was closer to him. Soon, the group of six was standing in front of Voldemort, who was looking at each of them curiously, Reg was prepared to block his mind, and it was easier because he was focused on his father's illness, and other thoughts were sent to the back of his brain.
"Mulciber, you go in front of The Master, first," said Malfoy, and Mulciber nodded and reached in front kneeling in front of Voldemort.
"Rise, come forward," said Voldemort, Reg can see that he was reading Mulciber's mind. "Stretch your left hand."
Mulciber let out a gasp and shrieked when Voldemort, placed his wand on his arm, after that Mulciber was sent to stand beside Malfoy.
Avery was next, and then Synde and then Snape.
"Ah! Snape, you have surely proven yourself of great worth, I hope your assignment is going well," said Voldemort.
"Y. . .Yes, My Lord," replied Snape, and Reg was sure that he was afraid to stand there.
"I heard from Rosier about you being friends with a mudblood," Voldemort looked straight into Snape's eyes, Reg know that has to be Lily Evans, he didn't know her that well, but she is a crush and best friend of James Potter. Reg has heard about the incident from Lake too.
"She was nothing but a mistake My Lord, she was just a Mudblood, and I am no longer a friend of hers," replied Snape.
"Very well then, stretch your hand," and thus Snape joined death eaters too.
Next was Reg's turn, he stood in front of Voldemort, Reg saw Bellatrix looking at him and when their eyes locked she gave him a nod, and Reg kneeled before standing, he looked at the red eyes as Voldemort looked into his brain, but Reg was focused, so Voldemort saw only what Reg showed him.
"Stretch your left hand," Reg did so, the wand tip touched his skin and he felt the mark burning into his skin, when Voldemort removed his wand, Reg saw the red tattoo on his hand, and he moved and stood beside Bella who patted his back. The skin of his left hand was still burning hot and Reg saw others looked in the same discomfort as him.
"You all are now under my protection and service, you will be awarded wealth and power for your services, soon, the wizarding world will be purified, Muggleborns and muggles, will be shown their right place, and we will rule the world," said Voldemort and the death eaters cheered.
"What were you doing in the Knockturn Alley, anyways?" asked Remus, the marauders were sitting in their dorm, except Pete who was asleep, easter holidays were over and people had returned to Hogwarts today.
"Was just roaming around, but that's not the point, I think Snape is a death eater too, by now," said James.
"It's possible, have you heard from Reg?" asked Remus to Sirius who shook his head.
"Maybe we can talk tomorrow, then we will know," said Sirius.
"Let him approach, otherwise it will look suspicious," said James.
"James still, it would have been dangerous to just roam around in that place," said Remus again.
But before James could reply there were some scratching noises on the door, he got up and opened the door, Felix was standing there, she looked happy when she saw James, who picked her up.
"Hey, Felix, what you doing here? Dumped Lils have us?" said James grinning and looking at the stairway to see if Lily was there, but she wasn't there, his spirits sank, he was about to close the door when something burst against him and his spirits roared, he went inside and closed the door, and sat on his bed with Felix in his lap.
"You should have taken me along with you, I would have had some fun in Knockturn Alley," said Sirius disappointed that he was left out.
"I was doing an important thing there," said James.
"And what important thing is that?" asked Remus.
"I had to buy some books, which were not available easily or to say legally," answered James.
"You brought books illegally?!" exclaimed Sirius and Remus together, Remus looked worried whereas Sirius looked disappointed that James did something illegal just to buy books and that he was not included in it.
"Yes,"
"Are the books illegal too? What are the books about?" asked Remus.
"About Ancient Magic, and Dark Arts, Horcruxes to be precise," replied James in a low voice.
"Are you fucking out of mind?" shouted Remus, he inhaled and then whisper shouted, "Horcruxes are a banned subject at Hogwarts, I searched the entire library about them but no book was there about them. You can get in deep trouble and besides why do you even need them?"
"Stop shouting Moony," muttered Peter sitting up, he looked at Remus angrily for waking him up.
"I know they are banned, and I too searched about them, besides I needed these books to know about them, so I could know how to destroy one," replied James.
"You wanted to restrain from doing that prank, so Lily doesn't gets angry," said Remus shaking his head, "but now you are going off to dangerous places, buying illegal books, how will she react when she founds out about it, you already have one deep secret being an..."
"Shut up!" said James instantly.
"What happened to you?" asked Sirius looking alarmed now.
"Lily knows that I went to knock turn alley, in fact she helped me too, and I haven't told Lily, about the other secret because it's not my secret alone, I need permission from Padfoot and Wormy before I tell her that," said James.
"And he doesn't have to tell her, it's not like they are going to be married anytime soon, and even if they are, whose chances still look very slim, he doesn't have to tell her," said Sirius.
"No, I will tell her, but I needed both of your permission before I tell her," said James. "So, can I tell her? I trust her wholeheartedly, and she will keep it to herself."
"Yeah, she can be trusted, she could have turned me in, but she didn't, she kept my secret to herself," said Remus.
"I trust her, it's just we might end up in Azkaban, which I am worried about, I thought I was a goner when Dumbledore told me that he already knew about it," said Peter.
"I trust Evans too, she is our good friend, and I can trust her with it or even my life, go on tell her Prongs, we both trust her," said Sirius. "She is like my little sister."
"Yeah she is our little sister," said Remus and Peter nodded.
"Awww guys, I love you all," said a voice making Peter, Sirius and Remus jump, Pete even fell to the ground. James laughed clutching his stomach. "Sorry guys."
"Is Felix speaking that?" asked Sirius, trying to look at the cat but she was now behind James' back hidden from view.
Then Lily Evans suddenly appeared out of thin air, sitting beside James, trying to suppress her laughter.
The three boys were looking at her in shock.
"When did she come here? She can't have apparated," gasped Remus rubbing his eyes to make sure he was not dreaming.
"She is an animagus, that Felix, is her animagus form," said Peter.
"Don't be stupid Wormtail, we have seen both of them together, she can't be an animagus," said Sirius.
"But then how?" asked Remus.
"I was using the disillusionment charm that I have mastered recently," winked Lily.
"But how did you get in here?" asked Sirius.
"Felix helped her, she entered when Felix was scratching the door," answered James and Lily grinned.
"You gave us a heart attack," said Peter sitting back on his bed.
"Sorry Pete," apologized Lily.
"What are you doing here?" asked Remus looking at her with narrowed eyes.
"Came to test my charm, and to take my books from James," replied Lily. "And then decided to enjoy your conversation. But, I am really touched that you all think of me as your little sister."
"James doesn't think so," smirked Sirius, James glared at him.
Lily however ignored him and turned to James, "So, what's this secret that it can lend you into Azkaban according to Peter?"
James looked nervous as he ran his fingers through his hair, he was worried she might leave him if she found out about him being an illegal animagus, and that's why he was delaying it.
Lily saw the nervousness on James' face and placed her hands over his to calm him.
Remus acted wisely, "We three will leave you both to talk," and left with the other two though Sirius protested like a child.
"First I want to tell you that I have a valid reason for doing it, and I did it to help Remus, so please don't get angry at me or leave me," said James nervously.
"Relax and Just tell me,"
"We three, Sirius, Peter and I are Unregistered Animagus," said James and Lily gasped, she was looking at him with wide eyes.
"You are joking,"
"No, I am telling you the truth, when we found out about Remus' condition and how horribly hurt he used to get after the transformation, we decided to help him,"
"But you could have gotten the bite or killed during the transformations," said Lily looking horrified.
"We know about it, that's why we did research on it and found out that a werewolf is only a threat to humans, not to animals, so we became animagus and started accompanying him during his transformations so that he doesn't bites or injures himself," said James.
"So, each month you go into the Shack and transform and accompany him?" asked Lily, and James nodded. "But that's still dangerous, you could be sent to Azkaban, and Animagus transfiguration can end up really bad."
"I know Lily, we all knew it, but believe me, when we saw Remus during those time after the full moon he used to be badly hurt, he would be admitted to hospital for two days, and he used to look horrible, and I can't see my friend in that much pain and just sit here, I had to do something and then I found that there's a way, Sirius too was looking for ways to help Remus, and when I told him about it, he agreed and Peter too joined us, we all knew the risk and dangers, but it was with taking because we can't see him in pain," said James.
"When did you become one?"
"In the start of the 5th year, we started the process in our 2nd year and it took us 3 years to do it,"
"It's a really complex transfiguration, experienced witches and wizards do it and that too under guidance but then also there are failed results and even death in some cases,"
"I know, but we wanted to help Remus, and this was the only way," said James. "Are you angry at me?" he asked nervously.
Lily looked at him and then attacked him . . . . with lots of kisses.
"Wait, you are not angry with me?"
"It was dangerous and illegal, but I can't be angry at you, not when you took this much risk for your friend, instead it make me love you more," said Lily smiling at him, she was feeling proud at him, this act was illegal but the things James does for his friends just makes him more and more lovable person. "What's your animagus form?"
"You wanna see now?" asked James and Lily nodded, James stood in the middle of the room, and then he was a stag, Lily looked at the stag, she could see the hazel eyes, and the signs around the eyes looked as though he was wearing a glass. Lily approached the stag and ran her fingers through the soft fur and then to the beautiful antlers, she let out a gasp as she appreciated the beauty of the antlers, she has never seen a stag so close, and she has seen few in the zoo, but from far. Then she remembered James' nickname.
"Prongs," she said to the stag who nodded, Lily kissed the stag, and the stag started kissing her face which was more of licking with his tongue, which made Lily laugh. "Turn back to James now." Soon James was standing in his human form.
"So, you liked it?" grinned James.
"Yeah, so, that's why you said that day that you will go as a stag," said Lily and James nodded. "What are Sirius and Peter?"
James opened the door, and called the three boys in, Remus came first into the room followed by a black dog, and a rat was sitting in his head.
"So, let me guess, Sirius is Padfoot, it means the dog is Sirius and Pete is Wormtail, so he is the rat," said Lily and the dog nodded enthusiastically, which resulted in the rat falling to the ground. Soon the two boys transformed back into human form, and Peter started drumming his head with one hand and hit Sirius with the other.
"You guys are great," said Lily hugging both of them. "Really it was so noble of you to do this."
"Of course, we are great, Lily-flower," grinned Sirius.
"I am impressed and amazed by your efforts so I am not hexing you for calling me that this time, but next time, I will hex you," said Lily.
"Okay, Lily-kins," said Sirius making the boys chuckle.
"No nicknames, Padfoot," said Lily with a smirk.
"But you just called me by my nickname," said Sirius.
James moved to stand beside Lily and placed her arm around her shoulder, "She can call you that because she is The Lily Evans, right Lils?"
"Right," said Lily high fiving him.
"As you say, Red" grinned Sirius.
"He is insufferable," said Lily.
"And we have to suffer him each day," sighed Remus, and James, Lily, and Peter laughed.
"I am not insufferable, I am wanted by everyone, people beg to spend a day with me," protested Sirius.
"I am sure they do, begging to spend a day with a stinky dog," said Lily sarcastically.
"Hey! Marls loves Snuffles," said Sirius.
"Yeah whatever," said Lily. "I am tired and feeling sleepy."
"Good night, flower," snorted Sirius. Lily placed her two fingers of each hand on her each temple and gave him the 'DEATH GLARE'
"What's this?" asked Peter.
"There's this thing she does where she stares at you and tries to get your brain to explode," answered James who has seen her use it on Marls a few times when they were at his house. "This is reserved for those who irritate and annoy her the most, like Petunia and Marls, now Sirius."
"But I have never seen her use it on you," said Remus looking at Lily.
"Because she likes when I and only I annoy her," said James proudly.
"You wanna be careful there, Potter," said Lily though she was smiling.
"Answer the question, Evans," said Sirius. "Why not him?"
"Because he looks cute when he annoys me, whereas you look disgusting," smirked Lily.
Sirius was about to protest but James cut him.
"Come Lils, let's take you to your dorm," said James, and saw Felix leaving the room already. "She is very clever."
"Yeah, she is," said Lily as they left the room, "I asked her to scratch the door and she understood at once."
"Why did you come by the way, did you need any help?" asked James and Lily knew he was playing around.
"Just wanted to meet you, now I should be going back to my dorm," said Lily stepping towards the girl staircase, she heard James groaning in disapproval. She smiled and turned back to him replacing the disillusionment charm. "Let's go."
The three boys were still talking when James returned with an invisible Lily.
"What is going on between you two?" asked Remus.
"She is falling for me, told you no one can resist my charm," said James, and he received a pinch on his back. "Good night guys, see you in the morning."
"Thanks for trusting me with that James, and now we should start," said Lily once they had drawn the curtains and placed a silencing charm.
"Remove that charm first," said James, and Lily did so, "and you have to teach it to me."
"But first we have other more important things to do," said Lily.
"I am ready," said James instantly laying on his back, making Lily laugh who sat over him.
"So, I am falling for you and can't resist your charm?" pouted Lily angrily placing her hands on her hips, seeing her like this made James laugh.
"You look so cute when you do that, it melts my heart," said James making Lily blush, "and can you resist me? "
"Nope," Lily shook her head as she leaned to kiss him.
"Are you sure you are ready?" asked James.
"Yes James, I am more than ready," replied Lily.
"Good, because I can't resist you either," said James in a husky voice as he flipped their positions, Lily let out something between a shriek and a laugh.
James woke up to find his face buried in red hairs, and smiled, he placed his hand around her and pulled her closer, and placed a kiss on the back of her neck, he looked at his watch, it was 5 in the morning, so he still has time.
He felt Lily stirring slightly.
"Morning," he said softly into her ears.
"Morning," she replied as she turned to face him, her eyes still closed.
"So, did you like it?" asked James as he removed the strands of hair covering her face and tucked them behind her ear.
"Very very much, it was amazing, and it was your first time too, did you like it?" she asked finally opening her eyes.
"It was just amazing, and mindblowing too," replied James kissing her forehead. "We still have 2 hours, go back to sleep."
Lily closed her eyes again and rested her head on the crook of his neck.
"I love you, James," she said.
"Love you too, Lils," he said closing his eyes.
"What are you reading?" asked Marls making Lily jump, they were in the girls' dorm and Lily was reading an old-looking book on her bed.
"Just an old book on charms," replied Lily closing the book.
"So, you did it, then?" asked Mary as she too sat on Lily's bed along with Marls.
"Did what?" asked Lily.
"You and James, you both did it?" asked Marls more clearly, making Lily blush.
"Dunno what you are talking about," she muttered now very interested in the old filthy cover of the book.
"You very well know, and you don't have to answer, your face answers it," smirked Mary.
"Your face practically matches your hair," pointed out Marls.
"Yeah, we did it, how did you know?"
"Well, yesterday you were acting odd the whole day and James' face looked as though a grin has been pasted on his face," replied Marls, making Lily blush harder.
"So, how was it?" asked Mary.
"It was the best thing, it just felt soo good," replied Lily.
"Your face shows it," said Marls.
"Tell more Lily," said Mary.
"No need, I don't want to hear how my cousin is," said Marls screwing her face.
"I wasn't going to," said Lily.
"Good, now why are you reading such an old book?" asked Marls.
"For extracurricular," replied Lily. "And it will help in duelling too."
"You like duelling? I thought you were more into potions," said Mary.
"I like potions very much, but duelling is just great, I love duelling, you get to use new tactics and moves, and try different-different spells, it's very exciting, as you are always on the edge," grinned Lily.
"James has changed you, he thinks nothing is better than duelling and would irritate me by continually asking to do a duel over the summer, thank god Sirius now lives with him, so James leaves me, and then over easter he had you, and I was relaxed," said Marls.
"You too like duelling Marls, half of the times you were with us," pointed out Lily.
"I like duelling, but I am not in love with it like you and James," retorted Marls.
"I would rather sit back and enjoy than duel myself, though I would never say no to an invitation," said Mary. "I like peace more than action."
"But isn't Remus more of an action guy?" asked Marls.
"No, he is just like me, he doesn't want all those awful nights, he wants to live in peace, away from all that monthly transformations," said Mary.
"I feel bad for him, but at least he now has the boys to help him," sighed Marls.
"Yeah, James told me it was more horrible before but now it's less horrible," said Lily.
"Let's leave it, and talk about the next Hogsmeade visit," said Mary excitedly.
"It's still two weeks away Mary," Lily rolled her eyes but Mary ignored her.
"I promised my dad that I will send him the candies and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, so I have to get that, and. . ." Mary continued about her plans with the other two girls including the things they needed to buy.
"I talked to Amy today, she and Fiona had become girlfriends now, you should have seen the look on her face, it was priceless," said Lily happily but then sighed, "though Amy's parents were not too happy with it. James and I explained to her that they will come around but she was still sad about her parents' disagreement, so, both of us helped her write a letter to her parents so they understood it."
"What about Fiona's parents?" asked Marls.
"Her parents were okay, this is the plus point of the wizarding world, at least they are open-minded in these things," said Lily.
"Yeah, I just hope they were this open-minded regarding blood purity," sighed Mary and the conversation shifted to the foolish ideologies.
The next morning James and Lily were sitting with their friends completing their essay when a happy looking approached them and hugged them tightly.
"Thank you, for helping me with that letter, mum was still a little bit put off, but they both accepted me for who I am and have asked me to introduce them to Fiona, I am so so happy, thank you guys," said Amy.
"Congratulation, Amy," said James and Lily happily.
"I am glad they understood it," said Lily.
"It was due to the help of you two, otherwise I was panicking that my parents will always remain angry at me," said Amy.
"They are your parents, Amy and parents can never stay angry forever with their children," said Lily.
"Talk for you because my mother would be thinking of killing me, now that I have not joined her side, parents suck, take my advice Amy and don't give a shit to them," said Sirius, he was in a bad mood since yesterday and thus was spoiling the fun for others.
Lily was about to say something to Sirius but James stopped her and just shook his head, Lily looked at him questioningly and he mouthed that he will tell her later.
Amy left after talking and answering the questions about her family and her relationship.
"Why is Sirius in such a bad mood? He has been acting like this since the night I found out about your secret," asked Lily as soon as he closed the hangings around his bed and placed a silencing charm.
"I . . . well he is behaving like that because of Regulus," said James as he pulled Lily onto his lap.
Lily looked at his face, and through the little light coming from the window could tell he was sad, and his voice confirmed that.
"Why?" asked Lily. "I thought they both loved each other and care for each other despite being in different houses."
"Look Lily, I wanted to tell you this before but I couldn't gather the courage to tell you," said James making Lily nervous.
"Tell me what James? What has Regulus and Sirius got to do with me?" asked Lily.
"Not them, Sniv- Snape," said James slowly.
"What about him?"
"I saw him when I was in Knockturn Alley and heard him talking to Rosier and Nott..."
"Nott, that death eater who was involved in attacking Rakepick?" asked Lily both angry and horrified.
"Yes, well I suspected it back then, but I wasn't sure, so I waited till I confirmed it, so I didn't tell you about it, and then when we arrive here and we talked to Regulus, my suspicions were confirmed but I didn't know how to tell you, so I was avoiding it,"
"Avoiding what James?"
"Regulus has been marked along with Avery, Mulciber, Snape, Synde, and a few others we don't know the names of," said James.
"Marked?" asked Lily.
"They . . . they became a death eater, they had been given the dark mark on their hands," said James grimacing.
"Oh," was what Lily could manage to say.
"I wanted to tell you before but I wasn't able to," said James as he placed his hands around her waist.
"So, Regulus now, has become one of them, a death eater, and that's why Sirius is in a bad mood because Reg will now fight for them?"
"No, Lily, Reg is acting as a spy, and has risked his life to do it, but seeing the dark mark on his hand has made Sirius realize how dangerous the task is," replied James.
"And has Snape. . .become a . . . death eater too, he has joined him?" asked Lily though she knew the answer, she was feeling sad, angry and betrayed.
"I am afraid that it is the truth Lily, I know he was your best friend and meant a lot to you, I am sorry," said James he could see and feel Lily getting sad.
"Well, it was his choice, he has become a death eater, he is no longer the friend that I used to know, he is an enemy now and nothing else," said Lily and she felt James' hold tighten around her, she leaned into him and rested her head against his chest, and then without warning the tears started falling from her eyes as she remembered the time when he has said that being a muggleborn doesn't matter.
"Please don't cry, Lily," said James as he stroked her back with one hand while holding her tightly with the other.
"I know, it's just that I used to think that maybe he would come to his sensed one day and stop supporting them, there was still hope but now he has joined them, and all hope has died," said Lily. "He used to say it won't matter if I am a muggleborn but now. . . now he has joined the group which wants to kill me. I . . . feels like being betrayed."
"I am sorry Lils," said James his heart breaking into pieces seeing her sad like this. "I wish I could change it. This was the reason I was delaying it."
Lily clutched his t-shirt tightly, "I understand James, but you can tell me these things, better now than later."
"Okay, I will, it's just it hurts me seeing you being sad and crying," said James.
"James, please never leave me or betray me, it hurts so bad being betrayed, please James," asked Lily.
"Lily, I love you, you are my everything, I will never ever hurt you or betray you, I will be with you until the very end, you can trust me, Lily, because seeing you sad or hurt kills me," said James kissing the top her head.
"I love you, James, I know it's too early to say this, we have been together for a few months only, but I feel like I can't live without you, seriously, I want to spend my entire life with you," said Lily.
"I too want to spend my entire life with you Lily, and I am serious too," said James as he lay on his bed pulling Lily with her, she on top of him and his around her waist holding her.
"Hold me like this and don't let me go," said Lily as she rested her head in the crook of his neck and wrapped her hands around him. "You are the best cushion."
James laughed, "And you are the best person to sleep on it."
"Will you be okay with it? I mean my entire weight is rested on you," said Lily.
"I am a quidditch player, Lils, and you must have noted my muscles and abs, and besides you are very light," said James.
"I am not that light," protested Lily.
"For me, you are, now sleep," said James.
James was now standing in a graveyard, he looked around and found Tom Riddle, who was about 7 years old, kneeling on the grounds, James moved closer to him, and Tom was kneeling in front of the tombstone of her mother, James has seen her being buried here, but in that memory, Tom was a newborn baby.
"Why do you have to die, mom, why? And why you left me here of all places? The people here are all horrible, that matron is very cruel, somehow the colour of my bedsheet changed by itself and I said, I didn't do it but she didn't listen to me, and scolded me and then the next day the chair broke by itself, I cried to her that I didn't do and it broke by itself but she didn't listen to me, she closed me in a dark cupboard for an entire day and night, it was horrible, mum, I cried for help, I was scared but she didn't came and then. . . then the cupboard doors broke by themself and fell on the grounds, I don't know how but they themself broke," sobbed Tom Riddle.
And it was now that James noticed that Tom was crying, tears were freely falling from his eyes.
"The matron came running and found me standing near the broken cupboard and then . . . and then. . . she . . . she hit me. . . with a big stick, she hit me many times, now my hands hurt, it's all red and swollen," said Tom between his sobs and he stretched his hands, he was wearing a half t-shirt and James saw the bruises on his hands, the mark of the stick still clear, his small hands were swollen. "See, mum, see, it hurts, it hurts really bad."
James felt a pang in his heart, he kneeled beside the crying 7-year-old boy, he tried to put his hand around his shoulder but Tom was just smoking and James' hand passed through it, he tried again but nothing happened.
"I want you to come back and take me away from here, mom, please or send daddy, please," begged Tom. "I don't want to live here. I don't know why these things happen to me, I am different from them. So, please send daddy, to take me away and save me."
James can't bear to see the boy in pain and cursed himself for not being able to comfort the boy.
"It's okay Tom, it was just uncontrolled magic, it's okay, don't cry, I am here," said James trying to touch and comfort the boy but still failing.
Soon a girl came and comforted Tom, James recognized her, Aisha. He felt relieved that at least someone was there to help Tom.
The scene changed.
James now saw Tom standing in front of the same grave, but he was now a grown boy.
"I killed him, I killed him for abandoning me, I killed him," said Tom and then walked to a grave a few graves away, James followed him, Tom was standing in front of Aisha's grave now.
"I will make them pay, I will kill them all, I have found the way to immortality, just like we used to dream of, I would have made you immortal too if you were still alive, I was late to find the way. But don't worry I will rule both the world, kill these muggles, and their scum children too, who pollute my wizarding world," said Tom as he kneeled and touched the grounds, he took out his wand and conjured a white rose and placed it there. "I will be the strongest wizard, immortal and rule the world. I will not return here next summer. So, this is goodbye."
James could see Tom's eyes gleaming murderously, all the love, care and affection he had for Aisha died there and were replaced by anger and revenge. Tom stood up and looked at the grave a final time.
The scene changed, James was now in a dimly lit room, Tom was there, now a man in his 20s and about 5 other people were standing there too, all of the same age as Tom Riddle.
"Rodulphus Lestrage, Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, Dolohov, welcome today I have something for your loyalty toward me, I am going to reward you all," said Voldemort.
James looked at them, they were probably fathers of Nott, Rosier and Mulciber. The five men looked pleased with themselves.
"Nott, why don't you bring in our guests, they will be waiting for us," said Tom and Nott nodded and left and appeared 3 minutes later with 5 persons their hands tied magically. "Ah! look at them, Lestrange do you recognize this one?"
"He is a mudblood, was with us at Hogwarts, one of the favourites of Dumbledore, his name is Marcus Wilson," said the tallest man.
"Yes, and the others are filthy muggles, so before I award you all, I want you to prove your capability here, torture and kill them, one for each of you, and then you will be awarded, I will accept you in my inner-circle, together we will purify the wizarding world, I will rule and you all will be beside me, we will crush the Muggles and the mudbloods. They have entered into our world, they have stolen our specialities, they came and spoilt our world, but none of it will happen under my rule. Now, I offer you all the position of 'The Death Eaters,' you will now be under me, you will help me win the wizarding and muggle world and in return, you will be awarded glory, golds, and you will get power," Voldemort said and the 5 men looked tempted by the offer.
"Go on, torture and kill them, and accept the position, Lestrange why don't you begin with the mudblood,"
Lestrange moved towards one of the tied men and used the cruciatus curse on him, the man shrieked in pain and agony while Voldemort and the to-be death eaters laughed.
"Rodulphus . . . please. . . I was your classmate, please leave me," cried the man.
"Finish him," hissed Voldemort, a ray of green light erupted from Lestrange's wand and Wilson dropped dead on the floor.
Soon, one by one the other four men dropped dead on the floor, while Voldemort and his fellows laughed.
James' blood froze again as the innocents were tortured brutally and then killed, but he was not looking at them, he was looking at Tom Riddle or to say,' Voldemort.' James has just moments before been feeling sympathetic towards the boy, but now Tom has killed all those feelings, or to be true society has done it for him, but everyone is responsible for their own choices and this was Tom Riddle's choice.
"Come forward Lestrange, and receive your award," Lestrange moved towards him. "Extend your left hand."
James stood and watched as a tattoo with of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth was burned on the arm.
"This is The Dark Mark, it will be the symbol of mine and now yours too, you are now one of mine," said Voldemort, and Lestrange looked pleased with himself. And then the other four were given the dark mark.
"My fellows, now our target is one to gain power and eliminate dirty blood from our society and rule the world. Muggles are nothing but a servant of ours and yet we have to hide from them, but soon it will be all over and the entire Britain will be under my rule, wizards will no longer hide, instead they will rule. Mudbloods are the product of those filthy muggles and they will be cleaned too, just like Salazar Slytherin, my ancestor wanted it, then only the purebloods will rule," said Voldemort and the death eaters cheered in approval.
James stood there listening to Voldemort's plans against the muggles and muggleborns, about how they don't deserve to live and other nonsense. He just wonder what would have happened if Aisha, a muggle, was still alive, but she too has faced the horrors and wanted to rule just as Tom Riddle wanted, but still, James believed that if she would have been here, Tom Riddle would have been not this worst because then he would know the meaning of 'love' and thus would have been a slightly better person.
James' eyes opened to find darkness around him, a warm breath against his cheek, and a soft weight on his body, he looked and saw Lily asleep peacefully in his arms, her forehead touching his cheek. He looked at the window, it was dawn.
James' sighed as he thought about Tom Riddle, up until last year he has just thought that Voldemort was just an evil human, who is no longer a human, he was right, but now after seeing all these memories, he felt connected to him, he felt bad for him, he felt sorry for his childhood, for his loneliness, felt sorry that a talented boy never gets to know what a family is, he wished he could change that and would have been able to help the boy.
James now realized that he was an empath and full of emotions, he was an emotional person and maybe an emotional fool too, he has always felt connected to others, he could know what or how other people were feeling, this has been the reason he has got so close to Remus, because he knew what Remus is feeling, how insecure he is, James has became friend with Peter like this too, because he knew how the nervous boy was feeling, how he was afraid that he will be friendless. James' friendship with Sirius was different yet the same, Sirius was more like James, both like to enjoy life and have fun, but James was able to see the pain hidden behind Sirius' laughter, the loneliness, the sadness of not being loved by parents, the sadness of being away from Regulus. James was an empath and this was the reason he was connected with these people, and now they were his family.
But what would have happened if James would have met Tom Riddle, an 11-year-old boy or an even younger version of him, James was sure he would have felt empathy towards him and would have tried to befriend him if he would have got to know him, maybe this is what Tom was looking a friend, a family, but he never got one, the fault was of his mother alone.
Aisha has faced the same too, abused for her colour, by his killer father, and then killed by the brutal act of sin.
Lily would have seen the goodness in both of them, she would have for sure, and she has taught now James to see the goodness in others too, and James could see that there was hope for Tom Riddle, but now it's gone. If only help could have been given to him at right time, he wouldn't have become Voldemort.
James has never met Tom Riddle, but has now spent enough time inside his memories to know him, and has somehow started considering him as his friend he has never met. But he has, James has started considering Tom as one of his friends without even thinking, and how could he not, when he has stood inside the dark cupboard with him while he cried for help, when he has seen him crying in the night calling his mother and daddy, when he has seen Tom, sitting alone in Hogwarts, crying over Aisha. Tom has a heart, but he has destroyed it, and crushed all his emotions, James felt how much Tom has changed. A thought stuck to him and he realized what has happened.
Tom Riddle is to James what Snape is to Lily, this was odd, James thought, he has never talked to Tom like Lily has talked to Snape, but James had seen enough of Tom Riddle and he knew he would have hugged him and helped him he would have known about his life and would have met him at Hogwarts Express, he would have befriended Tom Riddle.
He didn't know that tears were falling from his eyes, he has always felt everything strongly, he just always had a lot of emotions, he was a very emotional person and felt weak sometimes due to it, just like he was now.
Lily felt the water drops on her face, she usually doesn't wake so early but if water drops keep falling on your face, you wake up and she thought James must be playing to wake her up, but how can he, he was under her, she could feel his heartbeat and his breath on her, and it was early in the morning as she could hear the dawn chorus of birds. She opened her eyes, and it was now that she realized that James was crying, tears were falling from his eyes as he was looking at the roof of his bed, lost in deep thoughts.
"James is everything alright? Why are you crying?" asked Lily raising her head to look at him and James snorted at his own foolishness, for being such a stupid, and weak person.
"Sorry, I am just an emotional fool," he replied stroking her back.
"You are not a fool, now tell me what happened?"
"Would you believe me, I started to see the young Tom Riddle as a friend, I felt connected to him and wanted to help him, I even tried but it was just a memory, he was not that terrible, he just wanted friends and family that he never got, he never had a place to call home, just like us he felt Hogwarts as his home too, but unlike us, he has only Hogwarts. I felt sorry for him," said James.
Lily nodded and rested her on him.
"I felt if only someone would have helped him, he might not have become what he is now," said James. "I somehow saw Snape in him," James laughed and Lily raised her head to look at his boyfriend.
"What does that mean?" asked Lily.
"I felt somehow that, Tom Riddle is to me, what Snape is to you, a friend, who has changed, and one can no longer see the same person in him, it's odd though since you were friends with Snape in real and Tom didn't even know me, yet I know a lot about him to feel connected to him," said James laughing.
Lily continued staring at him worriedly and then rested her head as she thought of what James has said, Remus has told her how James was the first one to understand Remus' problems, not just werewolf ones but also his worries and insecurities and how soon he has connected with Remus and initiated to help him, the same was with Peter and Sirius too, James could understand other peoples and their worries.
"I can know, how, it is because you are like that, it's your nature to help and befriend people who are in pain and worry because you can't see that, you want to help them, and that is what you felt for Tom Riddle too, and I am not worried about it and you should not be worried about that too, he is an evil person at present time but has goodness and innocence when he was a kid, and you can't hate that kid for what he did later, because the boy at that time was not an evil, and you being a good person felt connected to him, just like you did for Remus, Sirius and Peter,"
James smiled, "You really are great at these things, I love you so so much."
"I love you too," said Lily kissing his cheeks.
"Wanna have some morning fun?" asked James mischievously.
Lily immediately understood what he meant, and grinned too, "Let's start."
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