Chapter 2: Prologue (2): Abandoned Child

Prologue (2): Abandoned Child

Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts, same time

Lily sighed as she sat in the Order meeting in Dumbledore's office, listening to Mundungus's reports. The man was good at getting information about what was happening in the darker aspects of the world but sometimes she wished the man would learn how to bathe. Some days, the smell was strong enough to turn even Hagrid's stomach.

She wasn't the only one who had similar thoughts. Everyone else present was thinking the same thing. Currently present was Arthur and Molly Weasley, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Moody, Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, McGonagall, recent addition Amelia Bones and a few others Lily didn't recognize by sight.

Mundungus stopped explaining about the rise in black market dealings being related to Voldemort's need for rarer ingredients and Snape stood up.

Lily had mixed feelings about Severus. He had once been her best friend and part of her missed their friendship terribly. However, she could still feel the hurt of when he called her a mudblood, as well as the pain when she discovered he was a Death Eater. Part of her was relieved when she found out he had turned spy for Dumbledore and hoped that meant he had changed for the better. However, she didn't delude herself into thinking he had done it simply because he suddenly grew a conscious. He had done it for her and that made her uncomfortable, especially since she doubted his feelings were purely platonic and she was a married woman. She was willing to regain their friendship but nothing more.

Snape looked around the room and his eyes stayed a moment longer on Lily before he turned to the room at large. "It has been confirmed that the Dark Lord has plans for tonight. I'm not privy to the specifics but he is tending to them personally. That is rare as you no doubt know and he has not allowed anyone, not even his closest followers to know where he is headed tonight."

Dumbledore frowned in thought at the information. "Do you think it's a raid on an important location or something else?"

Snape frowned. "I think it's something else. There has been no hint of people being ready for a raid or even scouts being sent to scout out locations. This worries me more than if it was just a simple raid."

Sirius glared hatefully at Snape. "I bet you just love those raids, don't you?"

"Gentlemen," interrupted Dumbledore before the argument could start. "This is not the time. Severus, why does it worry you more?"

Snape glared at Sirius one more time before turning to Dumbledore. "Because the last time he did something similar was when he murdered the Prewetts. Him planning something alone is NOT good news for us since it gives us no warning."

James looked afraid for a second before he spoke. "Do you think it has anything to do with my kids?"

Snape wore a neutral look as he answered. "Perhaps, but it shouldn't matter you are protected under the Fidelius, aren't you?"

Sirius smirked before turning to James. "Yea, Voldemort will never find you in Godric's Hollow."

There was total silence to his declaration. Not to the sentence itself but what it meant.

James and Lily were pale white as they stared at Sirius who himself realized what he had said and turned white as well. Everyone else noticed their reactions and looked confused.

"James, Lily... what's wrong?" asked Dumbledore in confusion.

It was James that spoke. "He said the location of our home... he shouldn't be able to."

Snape sneered. "Why not? Isn't he your Secret Keeper and a rather poor one at that. He just blurted it out like it was nothing."

James shook his head frantically. "No! Our Secret Keeper is Peter! The only way he could say it was if Peter was dead or..."

Lily brokenly finished the sentence. "... or if he betrayed us, therefore breaking the ward."

There was total silence before James and Lily got up and ran toward the fireplace, grabbing a fistful of Floo powder on the way. James yelled his house's address and stepped into the flames only to be forcefully pushed out.

James was paler than ever. "The Floo is blocked. But that can only mean..."

"NOOO!" yelled out Lily in anguish. Without another word, Lily literally flew out of the office and toward the gates in order to apparate, James hot on her heels. Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore were not far behind them with the other Order members farther behind since it took a bit longer to realize what must have happened.

Lily was the first to leave the gates and apparate home with James a second behind her. Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus were only a few seconds behind James and they all appeared in time to hear Lily's cry of anguish.

"JASMINE! NATHAN! My babies, no!" yelled out Lily as she took in the sight of a massive hole in the wall leading toward the twins' room. James was so pale he looked whiter than a Hogwarts ghost but quickly ran after Lily as she rushed into the house and up the stairs. Dumbledore quickly took out his wand and started to use detection spells to see if there was anything around. He quickly received the results and it made him both hopeful and ill.

There were no wizards with dark auras around meaning Voldemort was not present. Another good thing was that his results showed four magical presences inside the house at the moment. Since two were James and Lily that could only mean that the other two were the twins, so that meant they were fine. However, the very area was saturated with so much dark magic that the Fidelius Charm had a cascading failure and it would be impossible to create another in this spot. The sheer depth of the betrayal as well as the dark magic used here makes it impossible to set up another. There was also a 'stench' of death in the area similar to when the Killing Curse is cast.

Sirius and Remus were setting up wards against muggles as the other order members arrived and took in the sight of the house with a hole in it in shock.

Meanwhile, Lily had rushed into the twins' room only to see Nathan crying and shaking his sister who was laying still on the floor. Quickly thinking the worst and that her beautiful eldest child was dead Lily broke down crying as she rushed to what she thought was her child's dead body. However, the moment she touched her she felt the warmth in her body and realized she was still alive and sobbed in relief as she gathered Jasmine into her arms. James had entered and gathered Nathan up in his arms before he turned to Lily with fear in his eyes.

"Jasmine, is she..."

Lily shook her head, but fear grew in her heart as Jasmine still wouldn't wake. "No, she's fine but she's so weak. Dumbledore! We need you!"

Dumbledore appeared so quickly that for a moment they thought he had apparated. He looked around the room and his eyes landed on a familiar looking wand lying next to a pile of ashes. Having his suspicions confirmed, he looked from one child to the other and spoke. "Let me see them."

Lily allowed Dumbledore to wave his wand over Jasmine's form first as he checked her health. Dumbledore muttered as he received the results. "Her core is extremely weak, probably due to what happened here. There is residual dark magic on her body but it's only due to being near an extremely dark spell when it was cast. The results say that she wasn't touched by one. Here," Dumbledore took out a blue potion from his robes and siphoned a teaspoon amount from it using his wand before gently making the unconscious Jasmine drink it. It was lucky he had taken to carrying around an emergency supply of potions or Jasmine would probably have to be hospitalized. "There we go. She should be right as rain after a good night's rest. Now, let me check Nathan."

James then let Dumbledore repeat the procedure on Nathan and watched as Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up and a twinkle entered his eyes. James couldn't help but ask. "What is it, Professor?"

Dumbledore smiled happily. "Nathan's fine, just tired. However, the results say he was touched by a weakened version of an extremely dark spell. If you'd let me check, I can confirm my suspicions."

James reluctantly let Dumbledore take Nathan and watched as Dumbledore looked him over before his eyes landed on Nathan's left cheek. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled brighter than ever as he spoke.

"Lily, James. Nathan has defeated Voldemort!"

James and Lily looked gob smacked at his declaration and Lily hesitantly spoke. "Are you sure, Professor?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, my scans show that Voldemort was here and cast the Killing curse, yet he is nowhere here now and the twins are fine, showing it must have backfired on him. The proof is the fact that his wand is right there. He would never have left it otherwise."

James and Lily took a step back as they notice the wand on the ground for the first time.

Dumbledore continued. "The final proof is this." Dumbledore showed them the flame-like scar that went from Nathan's left cheek near his mouth all the way to his neck behind his left ear. "The prophecy says he will mark him his equal and Nathan has a scar that my scans say was touched by a dark spell. Jasmine has a scar as well but it has no traces of dark magic inside it. Therefore, I could only conclude that Nathan took the spell head-on and Jasmine's scar was simply a result of being nearby at the time."

During his explanation, the other Order members had entered the room and were surprised at his declaration. Suddenly, a voice near the back said. "The Dark Lord is dead! Nathan is the Boy-Who-Lived!"

As the Order members cheered, James took back Nathan and Lily continued fussing over Jasmine, who slept on unaware. Lily laid a kiss on Jasmine's head and smiled down at her.

"Don't worry, honey. Everything's okay now. I love you and I promise you'll never have to go through pain like this again."

Baby Jasmine just yawned and cuddled closer to her mother's bosom.

January 5th 1982, Godric's Hollow

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"Is there no other way?" asked a distraught James as he watched Lily as she hugged a confused and sleepy Nathan closer to her. Beside her, James was carrying a sleeping Jasmine and looked equally distraught.

Dumbledore looked grave as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, James, but no. The Fidelius cannot be cast again due to what happened that night. Only the Bonds of Blood ward can work."

After what happened Halloween night, James and Lily had thought that the bad times were over. Peter had been quickly captured by Sirius and Remus before being quickly tried and sent to Azkaban. It was lucky Remus had been there because Sirius had been itching to kill him personally, but Remus stopped him.

James had quickly and easily repaired the hole in the twins' room and Lily and Dumbledore had set about to cleanse the dark magic in the air. However, it proved impossible to dispel without simply sending it to another person's house. Unwilling to let another innocent person be affected by the dark magic in the air they had instead caused the dark magic to transfer itself into the ground where the natural magic of the Earth would purify it over ten years. However, this had the unintended side effect of completely destroying the Fidelius around the property and preventing another from being set up. Other wards could be put up but anything stronger than simple muggle-repelling and basic protection failed.

At first, this seemed like a reasonable consequence considering Voldemort was gone. However, they were soon bombarded by letters from all across Britain thanking Nathan for destroying the Dark Lord. They had been forced to set up a ward that diverted the mail to a room set up for it. It was a good thing they had because soon after they started receiving mail from former Death Eaters filled curses intended to kill little Nathan. It was lucky that mail-redirections wards are so basic as to be almost undetectable by anything but the most intensive of detection spells.

However, the worst news was when they heard the Longbottoms were attacked by the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. That destroyed any semblance of safety they had and since then Lily started a downward spiral in regards to her sanity. The combination of being betrayed by Peter plus the almost daily attempts on Nathan's life by supposed 'Imperiused' Death eaters was slowly eating away at her mind. James had been helpless as he watched his once brilliant wife fall into a seeming madness and paranoia to the point that she no longer slept, keeping herself awake with Pepper-ups and coffee. She would constantly be watching over Nathan, afraid that if she left him for even a second, he would be taken from her. It didn't help that her paranoia actually managed to stop a few of the cleverer attempts on Nathan's life.

However, when she noticed how she seemed to favor Nathan over Jasmine, she fell further into depression, thinking herself a horrible mother and became even worse. The fact that Jasmine had become more withdrawn in the three months since that night made her think it was because she thought she loved her less than Nathan. The thought that her eldest thought that of her made her better for a time until the next attempt on Nathan's life and the cycle would begin once more. This was slowly degrading on her sanity to the point that she was now an almost gibbering wreck.  The pressures of the war she could handle, but the constant and legitimate dangers of the unknown to Nathan wore away that iron will faster than anything else. Along with her self-recrimination about her mothering towards Jasmine, it’s no wonder she was on a downward spiral.

They also couldn't move to another house for various reasons. Despite being an Ancient and Noble House, the Potters had never been extremely wealthy like the Malfoys or the Blacks. They had a tendency to only have one child, plus the habit of joining the Aurors which, while noble, didn't pay very much and had a short life expectancy, not allowing for much accumulation of money. In spite of this, the Potters had used most of what they had in the war against Voldemort until after the death of James's parents, they basically only had what they made from their jobs.

Despite this fact, they hadn't regretted it until they heard the prophecy. By that time, the only house the Potters had to their name had been the summer home in Godric's Hollow, the other having been destroyed by Voldemort in his search for them. Voldemort had gone one step further by cursing the lands they owned so to further lower the income they earned and to prevent them from using the lands as safe houses in the future. It would take decades for any of the lands to become habitable by any living being.

Now, with no alternative house and no money to buy another house, the Potters had no choice but to continue to use the one they were currently living in. The fact that they were living in a house that had already been broken into only made things worse on Lily's mind. Sirius couldn't help them because despite being a Black, he had been cast out of the House. While not disowned which meant he was still heir, this meant he was unable to access Black funds until his father died and he became Lord Black. Considering Sirius's father showed no signs of ill health, they couldn't wait on the one in a million chance of him dying within the next few days.

They also couldn't live with Remus due to his situation. As cruel as it sounded, the idea of them living in the same house as werewolf during the full moon would only make Lily more paranoid. The idea of Lily someday cracking and killing Remus to protect her children was not as far-fetched as before. The other day she had almost flayed Molly alive because Lily was convinced the food she had cooked for the twins was poisoned.

Dumbledore also couldn't help them. Despite his many titles, he had very little monetary or land wealth. His family having sold it during his childhood to care for his sick little sister. The Longbottoms had been the only other friends they had that could have helped them, but Frank's mother had had to sell most of her properties to gain the capital to get them the best treatment and because she was simply too old to manage them. She was also almost as paranoid as Lily and would not allow them to live under the same roof as her last living relative.

All this led to a very tense environment that was bad for everyone, including the children. Dumbledore had promised to look up a way to protect them from threats so that Lily could relax and get better and they had finally found one the other day. However, there was a catch.

"But..." James looked conflicted as he rocked a sleeping Jasmine while watching his almost deranged wife coo over Nathan with almost frightening devotion. "... what will happen to Jasmine? I refuse to abandon my child to the wolves. I'd rather live my life in fear than give her up for adoption or worse, leave her unprotected and away from us, thinking we didn't want her."

Dumbledore looked understanding but looked from a deranged Lily to James. "Perhaps you could. But what about Lily?"

It was a low blow but no less truthful for being it. James felt like crying as he saw his once brilliant wife be reduced to this. He HAD to give her some peace but at the same time, he had to make sure Jasmine was going to be safe. "So, we just sacrifice Jasmine?! No. I won't let Jasmine be tossed aside!"

Dumbledore raised his hands in defense. "I know but there is no other choice. The Bonds of Blood ward only protects a maximum of three magical people related by blood at any time. The only exceptions are if a child is conceived and born within the ward while it was already up. It is old enough that the cursed lands won't forbid it from being set up but powerful enough that no one could break it except the original caster. But don't worry, we won't give up Jasmine for adoption and she'll be safe. I'm going to set up another Bonds of Blood ward around your sister Petunia's house and we can leave her there. The ward can cover either three magicals or one magical, with the four muggles not drawing as much power from the ward, so she will be safe there. It has to be Jasmine since her brother is the main focus of the attacks and if we try to put Nathan there, Lily would only become worse. Nathan is the cause for her condition and the best Mind Healers guaranteed me that assurances to Nathan's safety, plus the fact that the ward won't allow any other person to enter will slowly bring her back to normal."

James looked slightly relieved at the information but had to ask one thing. "Will we be able to visit her? I mean, once Lily gets better."

Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "No, I'm sorry. The ward is constantly adapting so it could cover all threats and if you visited, it would register you as blood and try to cover you in its protection as well. The conflicting wards would cause both to fail, making the point moot. It also keeps any magical beings other than those protected or related by blood to those protected from coming near the place of residence, which is a reason why they are not used more often. Not even magical owls would be able to get to her as long as she was within a thousand yards of the house. This means NO wizard can visit either of you. You will be cut off and alone unless you visited others and that will be good for Lily."

James looked slightly unsettled. "Petunia? Are you sure? Lily always said that Petunia didn't like her and I'm afraid she might take it out on Jasmine."

Dumbledore's response was cut off as Lily stopped cooing and looked up at James and Dumbledore with red eyes and an almost crazed expression. "Is Jasmine okay? She's very quiet."

James gave her a consoling hug. "She's fine. We're... gonna make sure she's safe and no one is going to hurt her. But... that means we won't be able to see her for a while. Is that okay?"

Lily looked uncomprehendingly at James before speaking. "But Jasmine is fine. No one wants to hurt her... only my baby Nathan. Is Nathan going to be okay?"

It was a sign of how far gone she was that she barely worried over Jasmine's safety where once she was her unofficial favorite. "Yes, Nathan will be safe. So... you're okay with sending her to Petunia... your sister?"

Lily just nodded and turned back to watch over Nathan with almost crazed devotion.

Dumbledore forced a smile and turned to James. "I'm sure Lily's sister would not be so petty as to hurt Jasmine out of jealousy of Lily. She has a son her age as well and I'm sure she'll treat her just like she treats her own son. Either way, I will research ways to expand the ward so that Jasmine can return to live with you."

James looked conflicted but eventually nodded.

Dumbledore nodded and stood up. "We should do it as soon as possible. We'll do it tonight. I'll take Jasmine to her aunt's and then come back to cast the ward here."

At that, James glared at Dumbledore. "Can't you wait a few days so we can say goodbye to our daughter? Lily will never forgive me if I don't allow her to say goodbye to Jasmine."

Dumbledore sighed and looked his age. "I'm sorry but no. We can't risk someone getting wind of our plans and stopping us before it can be implemented. The ward also has to be put up tonight so it can draw on the power of the New Year before it disappears. It's still January so some residual power will be around to make it stronger. It may very well work after the residual power dissipates, but it also won’t be nearly as strong"

James looked defeated at the news and turned to Lily. "Lily-flower? Don't you want to say goodbye to Jasmine?"

Lily looked up and her eyes cleared for a second before she placed a kiss on Jasmine's sleeping head. "Goodbye, Jasmine. Mommy's going to be a good mommy and protect Nathan. I'll see you later."

James realized that was the best he could hope for and he gave Jasmine over to Dumbledore. Dumbledore said goodbye and walked out of the house before apparating.

James felt as if he had shattered his own heart and he watched his eldest disappear. He looked to Lily and only hoped this was a good decision.

Privet Drive, Surrey

Dumbledore appeared with a silent pop! in front of Number 4. Dumbledore looked around to make sure there weren't any witnesses before walking over to the porch of Number 4.

Dumbledore conjured another blanket and a wicker basket and placed the still sleeping Jasmine inside. Dumbledore hesitated for a moment before taking out his wand and starting to cast spells over Jasmine.

The first was a basic warming charm to keep Jasmine warm in the cold January night. The second was an advanced protection spell that would automatically protect Jasmine from any harm by transporting her to Hogwarts, specifically his office, if anyone with ill intent approached. Both would only last till morning but by then Petunia would have found her.

Dumbledore hesitated once more before steeling his heart for the second part. He cast a rare and almost unknown spell that would disintegrate the twin bond between Jasmine and Nathan over time. By the time morning came, it would have completely disappeared. Dumbledore did this for two reasons, one was to save both any heartache from feeling each other's presence but being unable to communicate or even understand what they were feeling. The second reason was far colder. He couldn't risk Nathan using the twin bond to draw power from Jasmine. Nathan was powerful enough as it was. If he called on Jasmine's power as well, even unconsciously, he may be too powerful to control if he went down Tom's path. The prophecy did say that he would kill, something Dumbledore was completely against. It wouldn't take much to say Nathan would rise to take Voldemort's place. It was a chance Dumbledore wasn't willing to take.

The last spell Dumbledore cast was a memory suppression charm. It didn't erase memories but rather made them fuzzy and hard to remember. It only worked for the last 24 hours but it was enough for Dumbledore's plans. She would think that her parents abandoned her, unable to contextualize what may have seen before in regards to her mother’s declining mental health, and make it that much harder when she returned for her to reconnect with her parents. Then Dumbledore would come in as the understanding grandfather and he would be able to make sure Jasmine took his place watching over the wizarding world. He would mold her into a copy of himself, one that would forgive those lost to the dark.

Dumbledore nodded his head at a job well done. Dumbledore then cast a mail redirection ward before starting to cast the Bonds of Blood ward.

Despite what he said, owls would still be able to find Jasmine if they tried hard enough. The mail-redirection ward made sure Jasmine wasn't influenced by any other magical until it came time for her to go to Hogwarts. It wouldn't due for someone else to put ideas in Jasmine's head and possibly turn her down a path Dumbledore hadn't chosen. It was for the Greater Good, after all.

Dumbledore then took a pre-written letter explaining the circumstances to the Dursleys and left it in Jasmine's blanket and putting a Sticking Charm on it so it wouldn't fly off. It would be undone the moment a muggle touched it.

His job done, Dumbledore gave Jasmine a sad smile before disappearing with a pop!.

Jasmine slept on, unaware of what the future had in store for the true Chosen One.

 

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