"... Power to vanquish the dark lord..."

"Hey!" The barkeep screamed.

The hooded person ducked his head lower in a futile attempt to hide. Albus looked up from where he was sitting and saw the barman standing over someone, who then preceded in throwing the person out. A small smirk played on Dumbledore's lips before turning back to his companion in front of him.

Twenty minutes later, Albus tightened his cloak around his neck and walked out of the small bar. Looking up at the night sky, he took a deep breath. Hearing that prophecy changed things. He could not let just anyone know of it. Though he was aware that someone overheard, he was expecting that. After obliviating both the barman and Sybil, Albus got up and left the bar.

"Did you get an excellent ear full?" Albus asked, seemingly to no one.

If someone was passing by they would have thought that the older wizard was talking to himself. What people thought of the Headmaster did not bother Albus.

"Come out, Severus," Albus ordered again. "I know you are still here."

A quiet shuffling in the shadows near the bar could be heard. The hooded person previously thrown from the bar came up to the elder wizard.

"I couldn't hear that well," Severus sighed. He didn't like this, but he had no choice.

"But you heard enough," Albus countered.

"Yes."

"Good, take it to him," Albus ordered.

Severus paled as he looked up at his former Headmaster. His lips parted ready to form his argument of how that was not a good idea, but the words died in his throat. He hated being with any of the Death Eaters, much less Voldemort himself.

"Is there a problem?" Albus asked, facing Severus.

Severus quickly swallowed trying to ease his now dry throat. Albus quirked his eyebrow at the young man in front of him, who have yet to answer him.

"You are marked, yes?" Albus asked after the long moment of silence.

Severus nodded.

"Good," Albus said. "You will move up the ranks with this information. I need a reliable spy."

Albus walked away leaving Severus standing there alone.

_0000_0000_0000

"Did you deliver the message?" Albus asked dismissively.

Severus stood in front of Albus' desk. His face was a pale color as if all the blood had drained from it. He hoped that getting this information to Albus would get him to act.

"You have to save her," Severus' voice was low. The shock was in his tone.

Albus didn't respond to that. He just continued to write on the parchment in front of him.

"Were you praised for your information?" Albus asked, still not looking up.

Severus raised his eyebrow, trying to keep what little composure he had left. Yes, he hadn't spoken to her since that dreadful afternoon all those years ago, but he didn't want any harm to her. Even though he couldn't care less about Potter or the spawn of his, it was Lily that worried him.

"You have to save her," Severus begged, his voice panicked. He had just returned at his earliest chance. Never did he think that the Dark Lord would make the leap that the one the prophecy was about would be about her.

"Save whom?"Albus asked, finally looking up from the parchments on his desk.

"Lily," Severus said.

"The prophecy didn't give a name," Albus said, standing up. Leave it to the half-blood to mess this up, Albus thought.

"But he thinks it's HER son," Severus pleaded. "You have to hide her. She cannot die."

Albus narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him.

"Just her?" Albus asked, shaking his head. "You would condemn the child."

"Fine," Severus sighed. "Hide them. Keep them safe. He will come after them."

_000_0000_0000

Severus walked out of the Headmaster's office. Walking the halls of Hogwarts now that he was no longer a student seemed a little off. He didn't have many happy times in this school, but the few times that he did enjoy, he cherished. Walking towards the stairway, he remembered looking at the grandness of the structure as a first year.

As he continued his trek to the front doors of the castle, he thought about his Minnie. Oh, how he missed his adoptive mother. How he wish he could take back the awful things he said the last time they saw each other. After all that Minerva had done for him, for her to hurt the woman as he did, still stung deep in his chest.

Severus woke up gasping. He has always plagued with nightmares. But this one seemed always to haunt him every year. He always regretted giving that prophecy to the Dark Lord. Doing that ruined so many lives. For the last fourteen years, Severus lived with that guilt and had that same dream every year. But this year was different. This year, it hurt more. His guilt seemed to multiply the more he thought about it. And now that he had Harry... Harry.

For the first time, a tear escaped the dour man's face. Harry was the reason why his guilt was eating at him so hard. Harry would not have had the hard life he had if he didn't give that maniac that damned prophecy. It had been a long time since Severus cried. The last being that fateful night fourteen years ago. For thirteen years, Harry had never been a reason for his guilt. Severus guilt only factored the loss of Lily. But this year was different. Now he had Harry. Now he had the motive for the prophecy. He loved the child. But it was all his fault. It was his fault that Harry didn't have his mother. It was his fault that he didn't know how much she loved her baby. It was all Severus' fault. Severus was in such distress that he didn't hear the popping sound in his chambers.

Tami heard her master crying, and it broke the little elf's, heart. Standing in the doorway, Tami quietly popped out of his chambers and to her mistress' rooms.

"Mistress," Tami said.

Minerva was sitting by the fireplace. There was an abandoned book in her lap. She was reading before her mind wandered to years past when she learned of the fate of the Potters. Tami bringing her out of her sad musing.

"Yes, Tami," Minerva said with a sad smile.

"It's Master Sev'us, mistress," Tami said.

Minerva quickly became alerted, moving the book off her lap and walking over to the dog sleeping on the corner of the room.

"Sirius," Minerva said, shaking the dog.

Snuffles stretched before changing into his human form.

"Minerva," Sirius yawned. "What's wrong?"

"I have to go to Severus," Minerva said. "Stay here. I'll be fine."

"Okay," Sirius said, sleepily.

Minerva walked over to the fireplace and put some powder into the flames and calling out her destination.

Minerva stepped through and was greeted by the wails of her son's cries. Tami popped into the chambers just as Minerva stepped through. Quickly, she rushed towards his room. Tami followed.

Minerva saw her adoptive son still on the bed, sobbing. Rushing to his side, Minerva went to her son to comfort him.

She grabbed Severus' shoulders and brought him towards her chest, wrapping her arms around him, whispering words of soothing comfort while rubbing circles on his back.

"Oh, my sweet boy," Minerva murmured. "I know this time of year is hard. We will get past this."

Severus just wrapped his arms around his mother squeezing as tightly as he dared. Oh, how he hated October 31st.

_0000_0000_0000

The next morning found Severus and Minerva sitting at his small dining table. Both had a cup of tea steaming in front of them.

"How are you feeling?" Minerva asked after a long silence between the two of them.

"I'll be alright," Severus said, quietly.

"Why don't you talk to Harry?"

Severus looked the woman sitting across from him. He knew she was right in that he needed to speak to Harry, but the last thing he wanted was to upset Harry. The last time he did that, Harry thought he was angry with him, and it took a long time to calm the child down. He did not want Harry to go through an emotional accidental magic episode again. Even though he would never admit it, when Harry became stuck to his person, Severus was sore for weeks afterward. It wasn't until the opening ceremony that he didn't feel like he had been run over by a herd of centaurs while being whipped by the Whomping Willow.

"I'll see him this evening," Severus said, referring to the celebration that was held on Halloween.

Minerva reached across the table and gripped her son's hand, giving a comforting squeeze.

"It was not your fault," Minerva said.

Severus looked at his mother but did not mention anything. For a while neither said anything.

"Thank you for coming," Severus said, looking down at his tea.

"You're my son," Minerva said, causing Severus to look up at her. "I will always be here for you."

She stood up and waved her hand over the teacup, disappearing it back to the kitchens. Walking over to stand next to Severus, she cupped his cheek, leaning down, she kissed him on the forehead.

"I love you, Severus," she said, looking into his onyx eyes. "I'll see you later."

Sliding her hand down his face and patting his shoulder, Minerva walked over to the fireplace, stepping back through once the flames turned green, sending her back to her chambers.

_0000_0000_0000

Harry woke up early. He had had a strange dream. It wasn't a nightmare, as he could remember what happened. Ever since Hagrid had given him a picture of his parents, Harry had dreamed of his mother and father. It would always give him comfort especially during the summer months and he would either be locked in his room or stuck doing meaningless chores.

Seeing his mother with her auburn hair and emerald eyes, brought such happiness to Harry. And seeing his dad with his unruly hair and wired-rimmed glasses made him feel loved.

When he did dream about his parents, it was never the same dream. It would be a what if dream where whatever situation he was in or dealing with, what would it be like if he had a mom and dad to talk to about the problem. But this dream was different. They were both insistent that he had an adult to talk to. That he could always wish and dream about them, but that he was no longer alone. He had someone, several someones, that he could talk to when he had a problem.

Getting ready for the day, Harry knew what day it was. And though fourteen years ago, he lost his parents, he still didn't know how he felt about this particular day. Outside of his dreams, he didn't know much about his parents. He only knew what other people told him. He felt bad that he didn't truly feel the loss he thought he was supposed to feel. Hearing Severus and Minerva and Sirius and Remus talk about his parents, he felt that they were just strangers to him. He felt bad that he just didn't feel that same thing. He hated that he was robbed of knowing his parents. Because they sounded like they were kind and loving.

After getting dressed, Harry saw that it was still early, so there weren't that many kids awake. Looking at the clock that was over the fireplace in the common room showed that it was just past seven in the morning. Since it was Saturday, there were no classes, so there was no reason for any of the children to get up early.

Harry decided he needed to clear his head, so he left the Common Room to walk the corridors. Not having a destination, Harry leisurely walked, looking at the paintings as he passed them.

As he continued on his slow trek, he had the feeling that someone was watching through the shadows, but when he would turn and see if anyone was behind him, Harry didn't see a thing. Shrugging his shoulders, Harry continued to his destination. Harry wasn't worried since he was at Hogwarts, and he always considered this place as his home. He always felt safe here.

Making his way down to the dungeons, Harry smiled to himself as his sense of calm seemed to multiply when he got closer towards the Potions Master's office and chambers.

Not wanting to disturb his da, if he was still sleeping, Harry went into his office. He just wanted the feeling of being around his da even if his da wasn't there. Being around his things seemed like the next best thing.

For the first time, Harry walked around the office. He looked at everything from the jars that held potion supplies to the many books that were everywhere. While looking at the back spine of a book, Harry saw a shimmering light. Turning towards the object, Harry slowly made his way closer to the large looking bowl. As he got closer, he saw that it looked like something was swimming in the liquid.

Harry was about to turn away from the large bowl when he felt like he was pushed from behind and he was knocked into the large bowl.

His first thought was he was going to spill the liquid all over his da's floor, but when the bowl stayed stationed, he was shocked. Then he felt himself getting closer and closer to the fluid. He tried and tried to stop his movements as he got closer and closer now fearing that he was about to drown.

With what felt like one last mighty push, Harry's face made contact with the transparent liquid. A quick intake of breath, he tried to hold his breath, but it was soon released when he felt like he was falling.

_000_0000_0000_000

Severus took a long hot shower after Minerva left. He felt a little better afterward. He didn't realize how tense he was until he got under the water and it began soothing his sore muscles.

After he got dressed, he felt his warding go off in his office. He knew that only one person had total access to his office and smiled. The thought of just a year ago, he would have rushed into his office to give detention to whoever was there without his permission, but now, knowing that his Harry was in there made it not so bad. He wasn't in a rush to go to his office. He continued his usual morning routine.

_000_000_000_000

Harry felt like he was falling for a while until, oomph, he was sitting on the floor. It was dim in the room he was in. He didn't recognize it. Out of instinct, Harry drew his knees towards his chest, wrapping his arms around him. After years of being in a small cupboard, Harry knew how to make himself smaller, so not to take up much space.

After a moment, Harry was able to look around the room. At first, the dim light made it hard to see, but not that his eyesight was adjusting, Harry was able to see more clearly.

He had heard it before he saw him. There was a whimpering in the corner not far from him. Harry looked over and saw a boy that couldn't have been much older than he was laying on the floor. For a moment, Harry was afraid to move, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. Carefully untangling his legs, Harry slowly got up and walked over to the other child.

"Hey, you okay?" Harry said, kneeling down on his knees.

He reached out to touch the boy on his shoulder and saw that his hand went right through the kid. Quickly pulling his hand away and looking at it, he looked again at the child.

The whimpering child didn't even seem like he noticed that Harry was there much less that he said anything. There was a crash in the other room, and both Harry and the whimpering boy flinched. The boy sat up and seemed like he tried to back further into the wall, which seemed impossible since he was already leaning against the wall. Harry heard footsteps coming closer and closer. The fear in the room was becoming palpable. He could feel it all over his skin. Again, old memories of his childhood flooded Harry's mind, and he unconsciously mirrored the boy on the floor.

"You ungrateful freak," the male voice boomed throughout the room.

Harry cringed at the sound and surprisingly could feel the whimpering boy next to him do the same thing.

"Look at me when I speak to you, freak!" the man said.

Harry, out of instinct, looked up and was shocked at what he was seeing. The man looked like his da, but different. Harry tilted his head as he looked up at the angry face of the man standing over him.

Harry saw that the man was holding something in his hand. He got a good look at the skillet in his hand and knew he wasn't going to like what happened next. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the whimpering boy was looking up as well. Harry turned his head and saw who was sobbing on the floor.

"Da," Harry whispered.

Looking at a young Severus, but Severus none the less, Harry could see the swollen eye almost shut. The teen's lip was busted, and his nose broken.

Hearing a change in the wind of the room, Harry's attention quickly left the boy sitting next to him on the man standing over them. When he looked up, there was horror in Harry's eyes. The man had the skillet high above his head and was in the process of bringing the heavy object down fast.

Out of habit, Harry lowered his head, wrapping his arms around his head in a futile attempt to protect from the assault. Unknown to Harry, he was mirroring young Severus' movements.

Harry felt something on the back of his neck, and he screamed. The next thing he knew he was standing in his da's office. He looked up and saw pure anger and hatred in his da's face.

"What are you doing?" Severus growled.

TBC