*“Tom! Tom! Arms again! And warm! Nice for holding Nagini.”*

Tom petted her head *“Glad to hear you approve, my Queen, I exist only to serve you” * he replied wryly. Vermilion eyes scanned the dark figures who were forming a circle around him. After a while, the wizard seemed to accept that no more people were going to arrive. He straightened up, and addressed the crowd.

“My friends, it gladdens me to see you again, after so long.” Tom paused looking around the circle, there were as many gaps as there were people, he sighed “Though not as many are here as I might wish.”

A tall figure, who was standing beside a particularly wide gap, stepped forward “Tom, we believed you dead. By what miracle were you bought back to us?” Lucius Malfoy, Harry realised with a gasp.

“On the night of the murder, I was ripped from my body but, unlike your parents, my soul didn’t ascend. One of my earliest experiments” Tom grimaced “appeared to have worked. I was less than the meanest ghost but I was alive.” The ruby eyed wizard paused.

“I fled to the east, hoping against hope that one of those still loyal to me would realise that I might not be dead. But, as I told none of you about my horcruxes, it was no surprise that I waited in vain.”

A surprised murmur ran around the crowd, horcruxes?

Tom sighed “I killed my father in anger and, when my grandparents arrived on the scene, I killed again in panic. I ripped my soul thrice and, young fool that I was, I made two horcruxes out of the torn portions. I am not proud of what I did but I did not know how to un-do it.”

“Nevertheless, my boyhood hubris has granted a second chance of life and, I hope, the chance to undo some of the harm which has occurred to those who least deserved it.

Tom turned to Harry. “As you can see, we have been joined today by a special guest; one whom the wizarding world call their savour. A mere child whom Dumbledore, foul old queen that he is, has made King of his infernal chessboard.”

Tom strode over to where Harry sat bound. Harry stiffened, waiting for pain to assail him as it always did when Voldemort was near, but there was not a twinge, not the faintest ache.

When Tom was but meters from Harry, there was another crack of apparition and Professor Snape, his robes in disarray, his hair wild as his dark eyes, appeared between Harry and Tom.

“Avada Kedavra” Snape shrieked, aiming his wand at Tom’s chest.

“Expelliarmus!”

The jet of green light did not hit Tom, it was pulled, magnetically, onto the sword, which shot the killing curse into the ground. Tom's spell hit Severus, sending him stumbling back, and forcing his wand from his grasp. Severus threw himself bodily at Tom. Nagini drew back, hissing in alarm, but she did not strike.

*"Why you fight? Pleassse ssstop! No biting of blood! Bad! Bad! Sssstop!"* cried the little snake.

“You killed her! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!” Harry stared as Severus Snape, uptight, restrained, reserved potions master, flailed with his fists against the other man, who had easily captured the professor’s arms and was holding him against his chest, almost cradling him.

“Severus! Severus, listen to me! I did not touch her. I never laid hand nor wand against Lily in my life!”

“Liar!”

*"Sssstop! No sssshout-y! Hurtsss earsss and heart!"*

“It’s true, Sev.” Another Death Eater had approached the struggling duo. Lucius pulled back his hood and gazed at Severus with unfamiliar compassion glittering in his silver eyes. “Lily and James died in a car crash- Tom was nowhere near her.”

“How! How could a car accident kill the most gifted witch that has ever graced Hogwarts.”

“Lets ask her ourselves, Severus” Tom released Severus’s arms and stepped back sharply. He drew the pearlescent sword “Do you know what this is?”

“A sword” snarled Professor Snape.

*"Sssilly."* hissed Nagini, rolling her violet eyes.

Tom flicked his wrist, sending the sword into a glimmering arc and catching Lucius Malfoy in the chest. Harry gasped in horror: as evil as Malfoy was, Harry didn’t want to see him slaughtered.

However, Lucius remained standing, looking down dispassionately at the sword lodged in his chest. Tom withdrew it and Harry saw that the blade was white and unsullied as a unicorn’s coat.

“Tenseiga, Severus. The life giving fang.”

“The resurrection sword?” whispered Professor Snape, his face draining of colour.

“Only one whose heart is selfless and who feels compassion for the dead can use this blade. It will not bring back the dead if the bearer has selfish motives.”

Bring back the dead! “But, magic cannot raise the dead!” Harry exclaimed “Nothing can.”

Tom smiled “While wizards are incapable of raising the dead, there are other beings much more powerful than us in this world.”

Peter Pettigrew approached Tom with a small urn, decorated with calla lilies. He un-stoppered it and laid the ashes on the ground. The pale sword started to pulse and Tom’s face broke into a smile of pure, beautiful relief.

The sword cut through the ashes and there was a blinding, white light. When the aura had faded- and Harry had blinked the stars out of his eyes- Tom was holding the naked body of a young woman with long, russet-red hair. Many of the grey robed figures immediately looked away.

Tom dropped the sword and- grabbing his wand- quickly transfigured a leaf into a robe, which he charmed onto the woman’s body.

The woman opened her forest-green eyes and looked around her.

Lily Potter lived.

OoOoO

“You!” Lily screamed, her eyes fixing on Harry’s face.

“Of all the stupid, arrogant arseholes to walk the earth, you, James Algernon Potter, are the very worst. How fucking dare you lie to me! How dare you drink before driving us home. We could have been killed. Our son could have been killed. Was it worth it! Was it?”

Harry’s jaw hung open; he was literally shocked speechless. It seemed to be a common feeling, Tom and the grey-robed figures were looking at Lily in silent amazement.

“Lily!”

The angry woman turned to Severus. “What!” She suddenly took in the circle of grey robed people, the fact that ‘James’ was bound. “Oh, bloody hell”

Tom dropped his wand “Ms. Potter, do you not recognise me?”

Lily squinted, then walked up to the tall man. “You’re… You’re Sev’s uncle Tom?”

“Otherwise known as ‘Voldemort’. Do you remember the time I took you both to the county fayre? All those weekends we went to sit on the beach and ate chips, how I always had to bring a bottle of tomato sauce. The time I bought you a hamster after your goldfish died?”

“Yeah.” Lily shook her head, as if disorientated.

“Would a blood-supremacist dark lord spend forty-five minutes removing bubble-gum from a muggleborn girl’s hair?”

Lily’s breathing slowly evened out. “So, why are we here like this? Why is James tied up?”

“Where, more to the point, are your bloody glasses when you need them, girl?” Tom took Lily’s arm and steered her towards Harry. “Look, green eyes! Freckles!”

Harry gazed into the eyes of his mother: similar to his but darker, fringed with fiery eyelashes.

“Who?”

“This is your son, this is Harry.”

“Harry?! Oh, come on Uncle Tom! This boy is, what, fourteen, fifteen?”

“You have been asleep a very long time, Lily.”

“I’ve been in a coma? James put me in a coma for fourteen bloody years? Where is the bastard?! I’ll kill him.”

Tom paused but Harry, finally finding his voice, cut in, “He’s dead, Mum.”

The colour drained from Lily’s face “Dead?”

“Yeah.”

Lily turned to Tom “Why is my son tied up?”

“Harry, like Severus, was under the impression that I had… been the cause of your unfortunate accident. That I had hexed you.” Tom flicked his wand at Harry and severed the ropes.

“Don’t be daft! Who told them that?” scoffed Lily.

“Dumbledore.”

“As far as I can remember, James and I were driving home after having dinner with the Longbottoms.” Lily’s brows creased “I was tired and I shut my eyes for a bit. The next thing I knew, we were heading for a tree. I couldn’t find my wand and I tried to cast a wandless charm to stop the car but my magic felt all bunged up. The car hit the tree and after that I can’t remember anything.”

“So you weren’t at Godric’s Hollow” asked Severus, his voice tight.

“No, replied Tom, we were, Abraxus, Cappella and I. We wanted to talk to the Potters, to reassure them that I was no threat to them and to offer sanctuary. There was an explosion and the house caved in on us. Abraxus and Cappella died and I was gravely injured.”

“But, how could Dumbledore say that we were murdered?” asked Lily “Surely Frank and Alice told them that we’d just left their house?”

“Frank and Alice were, supposedly, accosted by ‘Death Eaters’” Professor Snape replied sadly. “They were tortured into insanity.”

“No!”

“Yes” replied Tom heavily. “The official story is that I murdered James and you, then turned my wand on Harry, who somehow survived the Killing Curse, which was blasted back onto me. Harry was left on your sister’s doorstep and Bella, Rudolphus and Rabastan Lestrange and Barty Crouch junior tortured Frank and Alice into insanity.”

“But, Bella? Bella used to nurse bloody butterflies back to health!” Lily exclaimed, incredulous.

“I do not doubt that she was under the imperius curse that night. Speaking of which…” Tom cast a spell which sent a circle of golden light across the death eaters. Lucius, amongst several others, glowed red.

“Finite!” snapped Tom. Those who had been surrounded by red light, shuddered; some shook their heads as if to dispel sleep, others stayed very still, one or two swore.

“So many.” Tom shook his head.

“What is going on!” demanded Harry, whose head was spinning. It felt like a dream, a hugely confusing, dream in which he was hit repeatedly with a tornado of information.

“Mr. Potter, it would seem that we’ve been living in a land of smoke and mirrors” drawled Professor Snape. “However, I would like to know why, if Mr. Potter did not survive the killing curse, he can speak in parseltongue?”

“Because, my dear Severus, so can we.”

OoOoO

Lily choked “How did you know!”

“Simple deduction, my dear” replied Tom. “But I think that, perhaps, Harry has had enough surprises for today.”

Harry’s head was in his hands. It was too much, much too much. He couldn’t take it all in. Tom- no Voldemort- no, there was no such person as Voldemort: Tom Riddle had not killed his parents, had not tried to kill him! Harry did not have to choose to kill or be killed; a weight, only discernable now that it was lifted, had vanished, leaving Harry feeling almost giddy.

Yet another threat lurked, like a grindylow amongst the weeds. So many things didn’t add up! And his Mum was alive!

“Severus, perhaps you could take Harry and his companion back to Hogwarts?” said Tom. “It would be best if you did not mention this encounter to anyone, Harry. Not yet.”

“But, wait!” Harry cried as Severus took his arm “What’s going to happen to Mum? What else haven’t you told me?”

“Mr. Potter, your mother will be quite safe” snapped Severus, taking Harry’s arm. “The situation is complicated and you already know more than is good for you.”

“Term ends in a week, Harry. You’ll have your answers, I promise” said Tom. “I am in the dark, myself, as to much of what has happened.”

Lily rushed over and grabbed Harry in an ungainly hug. “Look after him, Severus.”

Snape glared at her but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“He will be perfectly safe, provided that he tells everyone that he woke up in a field and, wisely, stayed on his backside until I found him with an unconscious Mr. Diggory.”

“Cedric’s not dead?”

“No, just sleeping.” Severus sighed, hoisting the Cedric onto his shoulder in a fireman’s lift.

“Come, Mr Potter and, if you know what is good for you, pretend that you’re half asleep if the headmaster wishes to talk to you.”

*"Goodbye, Ssssspeaker!"* hissed Nagini, cheerfully.

Severus grabbed Harry’s arm and apparated the two boys back to Hogsmeade. When the world stopped spinning, Harry was sick over his Professor’s shoes.