"Blaise! Greg!" Shouted Draco, trying to make his way towards the Leaky Cauldron. Right after a large piece of the wall fell on the crowd running in a panic, he lost sight of his friends. The chaos was everywhere, and the air was filled with dust clouds, through which almost nothing could be seen.

It happened so quickly—one minute, he was sitting at Florean Fortescue's, indulging in his favourite pastime of teasing the Golden Boy, and the next, he and other panicked wizards were running away from two giants who appeared on the street out of nowhere and were destroying everything in their way.

Suddenly, a spell flew right next to his head. Draco turned around, almost tripping over his own feet, and noticed several Death Eaters behind him. He had no doubts that they were attacking everybody blindly. Draco tried to run faster, but people kept pushing and shoving him out of their way. The main alley was too crowded for him to escape that way; he had to get to one of the side alleys. Once he got out of the line of fire, he could get out of Magical London through Knockturn Alley or hide somewhere until everything calmed down.

The blond covered his eyes with his hand as a wave of dust, dirt and glass shards from another explosion hit him. When he opened them again, he saw that the Madam Malkin's robe shop, which only seconds ago had been intact, had become almost a ruin. All the windows were blown out, and above the place where the door had been, there was a piece of wall that was held by only a few thick metal bars and was slowly sliding down.

Suddenly, the silhouette of a woman with a baby in her arms appeared at the entrance. The petite brunette looked around, probably wondering which way to run. Draco shouted for her to move, but she hadn't seen him, and his voice was drowned out by even more explosions. The metal bars couldn't take the weight any longer, and a piece of the wall fell down onto the woman and the child. And Draco stood frozen, not knowing how he could help her. He had never felt so terrified and helpless in his life.

“Reducto! Evanesco!” Draco heard. The spells hit the falling wall block and made the crumbling pieces disappear. The blond turned in the direction the spells came and saw Potter standing right behind him with the outstretched wand in his hand.

‘Always such a hero', he thought bitterly. Draco looked back at the woman, but she had already disappeared into the crowd. The teen breathed a sigh of relief, and, as it was the most sensible thing to do in such a situation, he decided to follow her example and finally move. At that moment, some overgrown primitive running past Potter bumped into him, and the boy fell to the ground.

Draco hesitated. Not even knowing why, he took a step back instead of saving himself and, losing precious seconds, picked up Potter's fallen wand and handed it back to him. He could see from the Gryffindor's face that Potter was as surprised by his behaviour as he was, but he nodded his thanks.

Draco eyed him. The Gryffindor's face and Muggle clothes gave the impression that the boy had been cleaning fireplaces all day. It occurred to Draco that he probably didn't look any better himself. He instinctively tried to brush off the dirt, though he doubted it would do any good.

"Er... We need to run," Potter said awkwardly, and together they moved forward. They hadn't even gone a few metres when they heard a Confringo from behind them, and it barely missed them. Looking back, Draco saw two Death Eaters less than twenty metres away.

“Stop! You don't know who you're attacking. I am Draco Mal…" he began, but his words were cut short by another poorly aimed spell.

"Shut up, Malfoy, and run!" Potter shouted, pulling the blond by his sleeve.

Potter, casting Stunning Spells behind practically blindly, somehow managed to hit one of the attackers. It gave them a moment's advantage.

The boys turned into an alley to the right, but unfortunately for them, it was a dead end. They looked at each other in horror and nodded in unison. Potter cast Alohomora on the door leading to one of the buildings. They went inside and found themselves in an old, dusty kitchen that apparently hadn't been used for a long time. Odd pieces of furniture were placed randomly around the room. However, they didn't have time to rest because a Death Eater, the one who hadn't been hit by Potter's Stunner, ran after them.

“Reducto!” They both jumped aside, avoiding the man's spell. “Avada Kedavra!" Draco froze, and the green light shot from the Death Eater's wand flew straight at him. Suddenly, he felt Potter push him to the floor, simultaneously casting Diffindo and landing on top of him. They heard the limp body hit the floor, and then there was silence.

They were both breathing heavily. Draco realised he was seconds away from death, and he was saved by the stupid Golden Boy, who had risked his life by shielding him with his own body.

After a moment, Potter got up. He walked over to the lying body and stood frozen. Draco saw all the colour drain from the Gryffindor's face.

When the Slytherin got up and walked over to him, he realised what had scared Potter so much. Their opponent's body lay motionless on the ground, but his head was almost a metre away. His mask fell off, and to Draco's horror, the Death Eater turned out to be none other than Crabbe Senior.

Harry Potter had saved his life by decapitating his friend's father. It must have been a dream. A horrible, cruel nightmare, and he was about to wake up in bed. He pinched himself as he closed his eyes, but the scene didn't change when he opened them. The blonde started to panic. Vincent couldn't find out about his involvement… their involvement in this incident. Nobody could ever know. They needed to run.

"Let's get out of here," Draco said, heading for the other room, hoping they'd find another way out. "Potter," he growled impatiently.

However, the Gryffindor didn't move. He stood like a statue, staring at the man's severed head. The boy looked like he was about to vomit. Frustrated, Draco ran over to him.

"What are you waiting for, for Merlin’s sake, for the other one to show up here?” Draco grabbed Potter's wrist and dragged him into the next room. Moments later, they heard a roar of rage, followed by a long string of curses.

The blond noticed a hanging curtain over a doorway. Unfortunately, instead of another room or an exit door, there was only a tiny, narrow walk-in-closet. With no other choice or time, Draco shoved Potter inside and pulled the curtain shut behind him.

Potter didn't resist as he pulled him close and covered his mouth with a shaking hand in case he was about to say something. Draco was trembling with fear, unlike the Gryffindor, who was probably still in shock that he had just chopped off someone's head.

When they heard heavy footsteps, Draco clung even more to the wall, pressing Potter to his chest so that they were as far away from the curtain as possible. He held his breath. After a while, the footsteps faded away. The Death Eater probably thought they had escaped through the window. But Draco decided not to move yet. Potter must have been recovering because he started breathing harder. He grabbed Draco's hand, which was still on his mouth, and pushed it away. Fortunately, he wasn't stupid enough to step away.

When the terror and panic began to subside, the blond realised that his world had turned upside down less than an hour ago. Never in his life had he imagined that he would find himself in such an absurd situation. He—Draco Malfoy, the only heir of the noble Malfoy family, one of the few whose blood was not tainted with even a drop of Muggle blood, had almost ceased to exist.

The pureblood wizard would have been murdered by his friend's father, whom he had known all his life. A member of an organisation that fought for the values in which Draco himself believed and that he would join soon. It never even crossed his mind to start questioning his plan for the future. But now he felt betrayed.

What’s more, he was saved by none other than the fucking Boy Who Lived.

The Gryffindor was now standing calmly, his back to him. Draco, on the other hand, felt his heart rate quicken and took several deep breaths. He had to stay calm. And most importantly, think about how to play this further. If they ever made it out alive. He certainly couldn't fall apart. Not now.

‘Think, Draco, think. You're a Slytherin, damn it.’

He owed Potter a life debt and felt it should be enough to save him from the possible consequences of the Diffindo spell. Until now, Draco had had no idea it was possible to cut off body parts with the spell. Anyway, he had to ensure that Potter kept quiet and didn't tell anyone what he'd done.

Poor, stupid Vincent. He was looking up to his father so much... Draco knew that if Crabbe found out it was Potter who killed his father, he would want revenge. Still, since Vincent was an idiot, he would do it without any plan, probably attacking the Gryffindor in front of witnesses and going straight to Azkaban. Besides, Draco would then be obliged to openly defend Potter to fulfill his life debt, and he couldn't afford that for his mother and father's sake. He did not want to take the side of the blood traitors.

No one could know that he was here with Potter if he intended to fight against him in the future.

Although, after today, he wasn't sure what he wanted anymore. Everything seemed romantic in Lucius’ stories—the fights of the nobles for blood purity, family, wizarding culture and traditions. Maybe it seemed funny now, but the battles were more like traditional honour duels in his mind. Only the bows were missing at the beginning.

But what was happening in Diagon Alley that day was sheer carnage. The giants, inferior beings, laid waste to a landmark of magical superiority and progress. Death Eaters were destroying everything and murdering everyone, both purebloods and mudbloods.

And when Draco saw the woman who had been nearly crushed by a piece of wall, did he even consider what her background was? To be honest, her blood status hadn't even crossed his mind. The Slytherin just wanted her to get out of there as soon as possible so that neither she nor her child would be hurt. And what about Blaise and Greg? Draco closed his eyes. He hoped they'd managed to escape through the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace.

But perhaps what terrified him most was the thought that his own parents might be among the attackers.

After a while, when it seemed that no one was around, Potter freed himself from his grip.

"I guess we can go now," he whispered.

Draco nodded stiffly.

"Yes, let’s go. Before anyone sees us near the body of… that Death Eater.” He hesitated, still wondering if his plan was the best course of action in this situation. But he knew the life debt wasn’t a lie. And he didn't feel like saving Potter in a more direct way. Draco had no intention of covering him with his own body, as the Gryffindor had done for him. It also didn't seem like a good idea to inform Potter of the man's identity. Knowing the Gryffindor, he would probably look guilty in front of Crabbe, and even worse, he might start apologising to him. "Potter, no one must know we were here. Do you understand?"

The boy just nodded, looking towards the room where the body lay. Draco wasn't sure if the Golden Boy had actually understood what he said. Potter probably still thought about taking someone’s life, even if it was in his own and Draco’s defence and was just an accident.

"Take the Sine Nuntius oath," Draco said. He had to make sure Potter wouldn't be able to tell anyone what happened. Even by an accident.

“What?” Potter asked, suddenly looking at him with clearer eyes.

"Swear you won't tell anyone you were here with me today or what you did.”

“Why?” Potter asked suspiciously.

"I can't let anyone know we were on the same side.” Draco decided not to complicate the situation further and told him part of the truth. Fortunately, this answer satisfied the other boy.

"Okay, but so do you."

Draco nodded. After a moment, one by one, they uttered the words of the oath.

They looked out the window located across the room from the closet. It overlooked one of the streets intersecting Knockturn Alley, and it was low enough that they could easily get out through it.

The noise of the fights had already died down, and it looked like it was all over. They decided that Draco would head to Diagon Alley first and start looking for Blaise and Greg while Potter waited a few minutes. No one would ever suspect that, for that one hour, they were allies.

HPHPHPHPHP

The whole day was like his worst nightmare. As soon as Severus arrived at the Dark Manor, he realised he wasn't the only one the Dark Lord had summoned. He spent half of the day brewing potions while Voldemort gave a group of Death Eaters and giants an attack plan and sent them to wreak havoc at the centre of the Wizarding World. Voldemort couldn't have picked a worse time. Because the Hogwarts letters had arrived so late, it was the day that most of the Hogwarts students went to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies.

Unfortunately, Severus had no way to warn the Order. Jenkins, a young Death Eater who had only received the Dark Mark a few days earlier, followed him everywhere with the task of helping him. And the fact that the Dark Lord didn't even mention to Severus that he had planned any attack didn't bode well. Snape hoped that his master hadn't begun to doubt his loyalty.

It wasn't until several hours later when some of the Death Eaters began to return, more or less injured, that he was allowed to leave the Dark Manor. The first thing he did was go to Grimmauld Place to assess the situation.

Black was the only one there. As soon as he arrived, the man accused Severus of deliberately withholding information about Voldemort's plans from the Order. The Potions Master, of course, started insulting the mongrel as well. The exchange of invectives was interrupted by Lupin, who suddenly appeared in the fireplace. The werewolf informed them that the Order was helping in Diagon Alley with transporting the wounded to the hospital and searching for wizards trapped in the ruins of buildings. Severus was planning to join them. He had the basic healing training required to become a Potions Master. The man was probably the most competent of them all, apart from Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore. First, however, he would get home and inform the boys of the change of plans, tell them to pack up and be ready to leave for King's Cross Station in the morning.

The Potions Master apparated straight to his bedroom, and he went downstairs to the living room, where he found Theo.

"Where's Potter?” the man asked, seeing that the Slytherin was sitting in his favourite chair with a book in his hand, and there was no sign of the Gryffindor.

"Don't be angry, Professor, please," the boy said, and something in the expression on his face made Severus shiver.

"Theo, I asked you where Potter was.”

"We didn't tell him earlier that we wanted to meet with him today," he muttered under his breath and hesitated. Still, when Severus gave him an exasperated look, Theo added something that made Severus feel the purest fear. "He went to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies."

Severus closed his eyes. He couldn't panic. He had to think straight.

"Did anything happen? Is everything alright?"

"I don't know, Theo," he sighed. He didn't want to worry the boy. Not yet. "Pack your things. I want you to be ready in the morning," he added before returning to his bedroom.

"Expecto Patronum Ad Notam," he whispered, and a beautiful silver doe emerged from the tip of his wand. "Harry, if you can, meet me outside the Muggle entrance to the Leaky Cauldron," he said in a strained voice.

The animal nodded and headed for the door. Severus groaned as it halted uneasily, spun around twice as if it didn't know where to go, and came back to him. The silver doe looked into his eyes and vanished into thin air.

The Potions Master couldn't believe what had happened, so he tried again. And once more. However, the result was the same each time. The Patronus could not deliver the message. That meant either Harry was in a place that couldn't be located, and the Dark Manor was one of those places, or… no, he couldn't think about it.

The man went to his desk, hurriedly took a piece of paper and wrote a message. Then, he tied it to the leg of a brown owl he'd bought right after he’d gotten his teaching job at Hogwarts.

"Hades, take this to Harry.”

The eagle owl flew out the open window, circled around the building and returned.

Severus pulled a vial of Calming Draught out of his robe pocket, opened it, and took a healthy swig. He had no time for thoughtless actions dictated by fear. Since that memorable Halloween night, he had not felt such paralysing fear for another person. The man decided to go to Diagon Alley, where he knew he would find Dumbledore.

For the first time since the Dark Lord's return, Severus waited impatiently for the summons while fearing what, or rather who, he might find in the Dark Manor. The Potions Master had an emergency Portkey ready to escape. Still, he had to get there first, which was only possible with the summons.

He apparated to Diagon Alley. Most of the street was destroyed entirely. There were so many wounded here who were being helped by medics and volunteers. Near the intersection of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley lay a row of mangled bodies waiting to be removed. He recognised the mother of a sixth-year-old Hufflepuff and the father of a seventh-year Gryffindor. Perhaps it was cowardice, but he had to look away when he saw the bodies of two small five, maybe six, year old children.

Thanks to Merlin, Potter wasn’t among them. It gave him hope that his brother was alive, even though the chances of finding him intact were minimal. Not when neither his owl nor his Patronus could deliver the message. The man looked around carefully.

Why didn't that stupid child listen to him? Every second, Severus was getting angrier. Hadn't he made it clear enough by repeatedly telling Potter not to leave the town? If his father's mind hadn't been so messed up by alcohol, he might have had enough brain cells to keep an eye on this thoughtless, irresponsible boy. How could the man let him go to London all by himself?!

Severus clenched his fists. Yes, the anger helped. He hurried forward to find Dumbledore. Maybe the old man would come up with something.

HPHPHPHPHP

After waiting a few minutes, Harry headed towards the Leaky Cauldron. The boy pulled his hood over his head and walked hurriedly, trying not to be conspicuous. He still felt numb thinking about what he had done. He took someone's life in the most brutal way imaginable. He cut off a human's head. Harry felt sick as he remembered the sight of the gushing blood.

The teen quickened his pace, trying not to look around. He wanted to get out of Magical London as quickly as possible so that he could move from there to the Department of Mysteries, where he would spend the night. It seemed to him the most sensible option and the safest place at the moment.

When he finally appeared in his room at the Department of Mysteries, he cast an Oscuro spell on himself, and his features changed slightly. Harry always remembered the security spell, thanks to which no one would know his true identity. Even today, although he seriously doubted anyone was here at this hour. And Harry couldn't be happier about it. He wanted to avoid talking to anyone and explaining his presence in the Department. All Harry wanted was to curl up on the couch in front of the fireplace and forget about this day. He headed towards the library.

"Oliver? What are you doing here?" Harry jumped out of his skin when he felt a large hand on his shoulder. In the blink of an eye, he turned around and drew his wand, pointing it at the opponent. It turned out it was just Riki.

"Hey, come on, kid, take it easy." The man held his hands up. "What's wrong? You look horrible.”

Harry lowered his wand.

"There was an attack on Diagon Alley…" The Gryffindor trailed off. The image of a severed head lying in a pool of blood flashed before his eyes again. He wanted to cry, and the adrenaline seemed slowly draining out of him. He sat down on the couch, pulled his legs up, and wrapped his arms around his knees.

“Thank Merlin, you're all right."

Harry nodded.

The man summoned two cups of tea with his wand, pushing one toward Harry.

“Tell me about the attack.” Riki looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

"I... don't want to talk about it. I'm sleepy." Harry said, and even to him, his voice sounded pathetic. He had no idea if he could sleep, but he didn't want to talk about today's events.

Riki raised his eyebrows and shrugged. He summoned a blanket and pillow and handed them to Harry.

“All right.”

Harry lay down, turning his back on the man, hoping he would take the hint and leave. Unfortunately, Riki had no desire to do so.

HPHPHPHPHP

Friday, first of September, 1995

“Oliver! Wake up! It's just a dream!” Harry opened his eyes. He was terrified. He was breathing so heavily as if he had sprinted two kilometres. The boy wiped the trickles of sweat with his hand and looked around the room. It was dark. Only two torches on the wall flickered slightly but gave almost no light. He was still in the Department of Mysteries' library. Harry's gaze lingered on Riki, who was staring at him.

“What time is it?” Harry asked.

“Half past three.”

"What are you still doing here?”

"Sitting," Riki replied, still watching the boy closely. There was something strange in his black eyes. Maybe it was because of the flickering torch, but Harry felt really uneasy. He pulled the blanket even tighter around himself so that only his head was visible.

"Um, why don't you go home? Go to bed? It's the middle of the night," Harry asked uncertainly.

“Why? Does my company bother you?” A shadow passed over the man's face.

“No, no. Of course not.” He replied quickly, and his eyes fell on the coffee table where he put his wand. Unfortunately, it was much closer to Riki. Harry would have to jump one and a half metres in order to take it, while Riki, who had excellent reflexes, had it within arm's reach. Harry regretted so much now that he hadn't cared where he put his wand yesterday. "I'm just wondering why you're still here?"

Another grimace appeared on Riki's face. Harry liked it less and less. 

"Why don't you tell me about the attack? Who was there? Who attacked? How many were injured? Tell me. All, from the very beginning," he demanded, and Harry thought he was having deja vu.  Barty Crouch Jr had interrogated him precisely this way at the end of the Triwizard Tournament last year. He looked at his wand, but Riki saw it.

Before Harry could even move, the man reached out, grabbed the boy's wand, and gave a hoarse laugh. "Are you afraid of me?”

Harry didn't answer, just stared at the handsome man. He was beginning to regret coming here. He got himself into something again.

"I asked you not to wander around the Department alone, and I made it perfectly clear to you that it's unsafe here, right?" Harry nodded slowly. "And yet you showed up here at a time when you knew you wouldn't find me, Diana, or Ghost.” Harry nodded again reluctantly, his heart beating faster and faster. “Why?”

"Sorry, I'll go now," Harry said, getting up slowly, knowing that sudden movements were rather inadvisable at this point.

“Sit down.” Harry plopped down on the couch at once, not wanting to annoy the man more until he found some way out of the situation. "I asked why?”

"I forgot," the boy mumbled and shrugged. "And I didn't really have a place to sleep tonight.”

“Forgot?” Riki looked at him in disbelief. "You just forgot?”

"Uh-huh, sorry.”

The man shook his head and did something Harry hadn't expected at all. He just gave him his wand back.

"I'm not the bad guy here. And I'll do everything in my power to ensure nothing happens to you here, but it would be nice if you wouldn't make it difficult for me."

As soon as Harry got his wand back, he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling at least a little safer.

"Who's the bad guy then?”

Riki opened his mouth, then closed it and sighed deeply.

"Tell me about the attack. What happened? Who attacked?”

"Voldemort. I mean, he wasn't there, but he sent his Death Eaters. And giants that destroyed buildings. Everyone was running away in panic, and a lot of people were injured…" he began. "But how… why don't you know anything about it?"

"Because I'm here..." Riki began slowly. "In the Department of Mysteries and… no one came and told me anything."

Harry didn't like the way he said it. His choice of words was quite odd, and he felt as if he should pursue the topic.

"Well… but why… uh… I mean, I told you there was an attack." Harry looked at Riki, who nodded. "Why couldn't you go upstairs and find out what happened? I don't think they talk about anything else in the ministry." Riki nodded again but didn't reply. "Merlin's pants!" Harry got annoyed. "Why can't you just answer me?"

"For the same reason that your real name is Oliver.” Riki smiled sadly.

Harry looked at him, narrowing his eyes.

"No... But… I can't tell you my name because I'm under oath. So… you can't tell me something because you're under oath, right?” Harry suddenly understood, and Riki rubbed his temples.

"You're very tanned. It must be a beautiful summer."

"And you have very pale skin as if you haven't seen the sun in years. Are you a vampire?" asked Harry in horror.

Riki grinned wider.

"No. I'm not a vampire."

"But you can't leave. You are trapped in the Department of Mysteries. You're some kind of demon attached to this place, like the ghosts at Hogwarts."

Riki laughed.

"I am the truest human being.”

"But you're a prisoner of the Department of Mysteries. Can I... Is there any way I can help you?” Riki shook his head sadly.

“Did Ghost and Diana imprison you? Are they the bad guys?

"No… It's complicated," the man sighed. But his tone of voice didn't sound confident.

"Who is Tommy?” Harry asked suddenly.

"Your name is Oliver.”

"You can't tell me anything either? He was a kid, right? You mentioned him at our first meeting. And they did something to him. They hurt him, right? Did they imprison him here too?"

Riki sighed.

"Your name is Oliver.” Harry let out a sound of frustration when he heard it again. "So, will you tell me what's going on up there?” The question seemed casual, but as Harry agreed and began to speak, he saw Riki desperately absorbing every word he said.

So Harry told him about the attack on Diagon Alley, but not only that. He also told him about other events in the wizarding world: Quidditch, the Triwizard Tournament, the Basilisk, and the teachers at Hogwarts.

When the clock showed seven in the morning, Riki interrupted him. He said it would be best to leave the Department before the Unspeakables arrived.

Harry reluctantly obeyed. He felt terribly sorry for the man who seemed so… lonely and unhappy.

The Gryffindor decided to find a way to help him.

HPHPHPHPHP

Before Harry apparated back next to the Leaky Cauldron, he deactivated the Oscuro Charm and put on the Invisibility Cloak. He arrived at King's Cross just after nine. It was still early, and no one was on Platform 9 3/4. Fortunately, the train was already there. The boy got into the last compartment and decided to spend some time going through his mother's things. He no longer just wanted to get to know her better or satisfy his curiosity. He had no idea what he would find there, but he was confident it would be related to the Department of Mysteries. And he was sure something was wrong with the place. It wasn't as simple as Ghost had told him. He decided to find out what it was and somehow free Riki.

He enlarged his trunk to its original size and opened it. It was a mess inside, but Harry didn't expect anything else.

The first book he came across was what some might call a bloated tome, but to Harry, that was definitely an understatement. Even Hermione wouldn't dare call it ‘light reading’. On the first page, he found a quote: "Magic is in all of us. Nothing happens without reason.” Below this quote were the initials RR.

He flipped the page and raised his eyebrows. The book was full of data. Line by line, there were names, dates of birth, death, and statuses. Harry raised his eyebrows. Did he have a list of all wizards, both purebloods and muggleborns, and squibs that had existed since—Harry glanced at the first date—since 968, in his hands?

Harry decided to take a closer look at the book when he had more time, so he put it back in the trunk. Then he took out several crumpled parchments, the first of which was a letter to his father, Tobias. He looked at the date. August 21st, 1980. The day after the Potters had adopted him. Harry raised his eyebrows and quickly began to read.

Dearest Tobias,

Please don't throw this letter away before you read it.

Even though I swore before God that I wouldn't leave you, I did. I beg you, forgive me for leaving you and taking your son away.

I know you're not a bad person, but alcohol is destroying you. You swore thousands of times that you'd never drink again, but it was always stronger than you. All the same, I have stood by you all these years despite what you did to me and to Severus. I am aware of how much we hurt him. You, with your actions, and I, with the fact that I allowed all this to happen. I loved you so much that I couldn't leave you, even for him.

I don't know how much Severus blames me for his childhood. Maybe he thought I was just weak and didn't leave because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to manage on my own as a single mother. And maybe he should think that because it would hurt him a lot more that I didn't want to leave because I just loved you too much. I didn't want to live without your love, and I always chose you. Not him.

Unfortunately, our son began to seek acceptance from others. And in the worst possible place. I had told you once about the Dark Lord and his followers. You can call them the Nazis of the magical world. Our son has become one of these monsters.

When I found out I was pregnant with Harry, I couldn't let history repeat itself. For Harry to live through childhood like his brother did and end up just like him. That's why I decided to leave. This time I chose our child. And even though I know you think I had no right to do this to you, not give you a chance to get to know him, I thought I did the right thing.

I was looking for a job. It didn't take me long. People from our ministry asked me to help with research. It also involved the study of potions, and you know how I love them. I thought I had succeeded in starting a new peaceful life with Harry.

When I discovered that my Department was researching the Dark Mark, something the Dark Lord uses to bind his followers to himself, I thought I had a chance to free our Severus!

Sadly, it all went wrong. It turned out I made a horrible decision to leave you, and I just made everything more complicated. The people I worked for…they aren't good at all. Tobi…they do research on people, even children. Yes, against their will. What's going on in there is terrifying. No one monitors them, and no one has any idea this is happening.

Of course, not all employees are privy to all this. However, some of them are. I found out everything just a few days ago. And my God. This is one of the few brave decisions I've made. I’ve stolen the research documents. Maybe they can be made public somehow.

Our Sev may benefit from it too. Perhaps he can use them to remove the Dark Mark if he ever wants to leave.

However, I put everyone at risk with this decision: myself, you, Sev and Harry. They suspect me, and I probably don't have much time left, Tobi.

I took steps to protect you. No one will know about this letter. It is enchanted that it will appear to you at the moment of my death and that no one will know you have received a trunk with documents and a letter. And only our boys and you could open it. You won't be able to tell anyone about it, and no one will be able to read your mind.

I must ask you again for forgiveness for deciding without you, but I want Harry to have a better childhood than Sev.

Do you remember Lily? Severus's childhood friend?

She married my cousin. My mother's brother became a father very late, and he and Dorea waited a long time for him, which is why James is Severus' age. They agreed to adopt Harry; after all, they are family.

Again, I am asking you to forgive me, Tobias.

I love you the most in the world.

I know I have hurt you a lot, and I deeply hope you will forgive me one day.

Always yours,

Eileen

Harry closed his eyes. He was probably holding his mother's last letter—the ultimate proof of his consanguinity to Tobias and Severus. The evidence that all of this wasn't just another lie made up by Dumbledore. In truth, he had stopped questioning it some time ago, but now he was sure.

Just when he thought the story and motives behind his adoption by the Potters couldn't be more complicated, this letter made it clear that it was. The letter showed that his mother had been murdered because she was in possession of the documents he was holding in his hand at this very moment.

He looked at the next parchment:

Subject #84

First name: Thomas

Last name: Nott

Date of birth: September 28th, 1973

Age: Six years and eight months

Status: Squib

Objective: Have the Subject generate a magical core by placing him under emotional duress. If that fails, transplant the magical core from Subject #85

Harry couldn't believe what he was reading. He was horrified. How could anyone do something like that to an innocent child? By the time he got to the end of the page, he was white as chalk, with tears in his eyes, and it felt like his heart was about to break into a thousand pieces.

He put all the documents back in the trunk, knowing that otherwise, he wouldn't be able to collect himself until the train left the station.

The first students had already arrived on the platform. Excited for the new year, they said goodbye to their parents and exchanged last hugs.

How he wished he could be so carefree.

END OF PART ONE