Chapter 2: Chapter Two

Lily sighed as she sat through the Order meeting in the office of Dumbledore, listening to Mundungus' reports. The man was the best at getting information of the darker and illegal side of the world, but she still wished the man would at least learn to bathe. Even Hagrid, a half-giant used to wading in the dung of the magical beasts he cares for, sometimes had his stomach turn in the man's presence.

A quick glance around showed Lily that everyone else was likely thinking the same thing. Author and Molly Weasley were doing their best not to show it, their ginger hair quivering as they held their poker faces. Dumbledore's face was nigh unreadable as always. McGonagall, the vice-headmaster of Hogwarts and no-nonsense witch, was frowning a bit more than usual. While Sirius and Remus seemed to be the most relaxed, having... plugs in their noses? Lily should have thought of that herself.

There were a couple other new additions to the meetings as well, with only one Lily recognised. Amelia Bones, head of the department of magical law enforcement, her face was completely blank, but her pale skin seemed to be a shade paler than Lily thought it should be.

Mundungus stopped explaining the rise in black market dealings being related to Voldemort's recent need for rarer ingredients, stepping back to let Severus Snape, a former friend of Lily's, step up in unhealthy palor. The man was tall, a dark pillar with black robes that failed to hide his thinness, with a sickly pale face framed by straight black hair being the only part of him not dyed pitch-black.

Lily had mixed feelings about Snape. What once had been her best friend was now closer to a stranger, their relationship ending.... on poor notes. The fact he was technically a Death Eater, bound to the Dark Lord himself, even if actually a spy for Dumbledore and the Order, mixed up her feelings further. She knew he wasn't someone with a sound conscience, and him spying on the Dark Lord was more for his own goals than anything else. That his own goals likely included rekindling their friendship at minimum but likely wanted more just muddied the waters further. 

Snape's pitch black eyes coldly glanced around the room, pausing briefly over Lily before turning his focus to the entirety. "It has been confirmed that the Dark Lord has plans for tonight. I, nor anyone I spoke to, is privy to the specifics but he is tending to them personally." There were worried shuffles around the room. "He has not allowed anyone, not even the closest of his followers, to know where he is heading tonight."

Dumbledore frowned in thought, hand stroking his long, puffy white beard in thought. His white robes sat elegantly on his frame as he leaned forward slightly, spindly glasses resting over his aged eyes glinting slightly in the canglelight. "A raid, or do you think it is something else, Severus?"

Snape's perpetual frown deepened, "Something else. There has been no hint of people being gathered for a raid, or even scouts being sent out. Frankly, I'm more worried about this than a raid, for I think the only one actually moving is the Dark Lord."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. He didn't like Snape and made no illusions of it, nor did he trust him as far as he could throw him. But that, that was worrying. "The last time this happened the Prewetts were murdered."

A cold shiver passed down Lily's back. James must have felt something too as he snapped his eyes to Snape, "Do you think it has something to do with my kids?" 

A brief flash of disgust came and went from Snape's eyes as he looked at James. Of all the people he disliked, Snape hated James, his response being colder than before, "Perhaps, but it shouldn't matter if your kids are under a Fidelius."

Remus and Sirius nodded, that later casually waving the concern, "Voldemort won't ever find them at Godric's Hollow."

There was total silence at that. Not at the sentence but what it meant. Sirius' eyes slowly widened at his own words, while James and Lily paled. Everyone else noticed their reactions and blinked in confusion. 

Dumbledore stood up, "GO!" he shouted, James, Lily, and Sirius bolted into action, diving for the fireplace. 

"What is going on!?" Snape questioned, and several heads turned from the three grabbing floom dust to Dumbledore. 

"Sirius isn't the Keeper of their fidelius." Dumbledore echoed gravely as he quickly started making his way around the table. That sentence caused blinks of surprise to pass through most of the assembly

A spark of blue, a failed floom, pulled everyone's attention to the fireplace as Lily cried in panic. "The floo is blocked, that-"

James' face twisted into a near unrecognizable visage, one that Snape would have enjoyed seeing if not juxtaposed with Lily's despair. James growled, "Peter betrayed us."

Lily bolted from the office, heading towards the gates where the wards of Hogwarts stopped blocking apparition, James and Sirius hot on her heels with Dumbledore following closely behind despite his old age, eyes behind the glasses unreadable, more so in the dark of night with not even a moon to illuminate. 

Multiple cracks of apparition rang out in succession, the first as soon as Lily left the gate. Lily's cry of anguish rang down the street infront of their house as she bolted through the hole where the door used to be, missing the yew wand lying next to the ash covered doorway. "JASMINE! NATHAN!" She rushed towards the twins, seeing her eldest daughter collapsed on the floor causing her heart to pull itself apart on the seams, tearing further as she saw Nathan's bleeding face as he cried and shook his sister.

Dumbledore, who just arrived, quickly cast several detection spells. His eyes lightened with a glint of a paid off gamble when he sensed both twins, before he disguised it with a frown and muttered, "Dark magic, and a lot of it." Remus, standing next to him for a brief moment as he apparated in nodded before following after Sirius and James into the house, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "The stench of betrayal and vile glee is everywhere." 

Dumbledore nodded, slowly following them into the house where Lily was clutching her daughter and rocking back and forth, crying, but relieved her first thought of her daughter being dead was wrong. "Come on sweetie. Wake up sweetie. Please sweetie. Please..." She babbled to her comatose daughter. While James was carefully cleaning up the blood on Nathan's face. Sirius came back into the room with a first aid kit and quickly rushed over to James, joined by Remus who moved to check on Jasmine, his sensitive nose picking up another trace of dark-magic tainted blood from the eldest twin.

Dumbledore calmly looked at the scene. "There are no Dark auras around, so Voldemort is not present in the least, nor are any of his loyal followers." Remus and Sirius nodded, James and Lily being far too concerned with their children to pay attention. He'll tell them later that the Fidelius was broken and tainted so thoroughly that there is no chance of creating another in this spot. The sheer betrayal combined with the vile magic used made another impossible, made worse by the stench of 'death' hanging in the air, a common side effect of killing curses.

With Nathan's face bandaged up, asleep in his father's arms, and Jasmine's arms wrapped in bandages as well as the shuddering Lily just clung to her daughter with relief, Sirius and Remus started moving to fix and replace what wards they could, starting with wards against muggles as other members of the order started arriving, taking in the atmosphere with grim shock. 

Dumbledore meanwhile walked up behind Lily and James, using his passive senses to investigate the children, lest his active ones mark them irreversibly. Can't have him doing that which dark wizards are known to do without care, afterall. "Her core is weak, probably due to what happened here." He muttered, and Lily snapped her head to him, eyes puffy with tears, "What do you mean?" 

Not a lick of satisfaction at Lily's moldable state appeared on Dumbledore's face as he calmly responded, "There is residual dark magic on her, as you've no doubt noticed. It is due to being extremely near when a dark spell is cast, but it appears she was only hit secondarily by an already fading spell." He said while gesturing at her arms, "Likely trying to reach for her brother." 

His eyes traveled to said brother as he pulled out a potion from his pristine robes, dribbling a few drops into a transfigured teaspoon he handed to Lily who fed it to her unconscious child. "The brother on the other hand..."

Lily's heart shook again and James' hard eyes looked at the professor as he was handed another teaspoon to feed the sleeping Nathan. "What is it professor?" 

Dumbledore smiled, a twinkle in his eyes. "Nathan is fine, despite the scarring, infact, he may even be better than fine." It took all of his will not to laugh out loud. Perhaps this is what muggles felt when leaving the casino richer than before? "Nathan has defeated Voldemort!" He declared, to Lily and James' confusion.

"Look!" he pointed his wand with a grin, straight at the bandage covering a quarter of the boy's face. The glow of a life-spell briefly lit up the end of his wand, causing the unconscious boy to squirm slightly, and the other's to gasp as what appeared to be pale, molten gold flames glowed through the bandages. "The proof is right here! The prophecy foretold the Dark Lord would mark him his equal, and this scar was created directly by a dark spell!" He then turned and pointed at the ash and yew wand in the doorway, which was currently being investigated by a half-kneeling Amelia Bones. "And I recognise that wand. It is the wand of Voldemort himself."

Amelia's eyes flashed, "The dark spell rebounded?" She asked calmly, turning to look at the ashes. "A killing curse, no less?"

Dumbledore nodded enthusiastically. "Nathan likely took the spell head on, causing it so, his sister being hit by only remnants. He has done it." Dumbledore grinned, "He has defeated Voldemort. Voldemort is dead!" His shout woke the rest of the Order members nearby, who were still in the throws of processing events before a few cheered.

James and Lily let some stress leave their bodies, pacified by the news as they held their children. Lily planted a kiss on Jasmine's forehead, blinking in surprise as the slight taste of blood met her lips, before she quickly pulled back and lifted her daughter's bangs. A thin, near unnoticeable scar was found on her daughter's forehead that went unnoticed. Nothing compared to Nathan's, causing Lily to sigh in relief as she quickly applied ointment and a bandaid to the light wound. "It's alright. It's alright. Everything's okay now. I love you, and I promise you'll never go through pain like this again." Lily murmured, causing baby Jasmine to wiggle slightly in her sleep.

 

>>> January 5th, 1982 | Godric's Hollow 

"Is there no other way, please?" James begged Dumbledore at his side, his pained eyes taking in the sight of his near-hysteric wife strongly cuddling his youngest son, who was only confused at what was happening. His eldest daughter wiggled in his arms, little face passive as she just held onto her father and observed the happenings.

"I'm sorry James." Dumbledore gravely shook his head. Of course there isn't another  way. He made sure not to provide one. "But no. The fidelius charm cannot be recast due to what happened that night. Only the Bonds of Blood ward can work."

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After what had happened that fateful night, James and Lily had thought that the bad times were over. That they could finally have a normal life with their children, that the twins could finally go outside and play and make friends. Peter, the rat, had quickly been hunted down and captured by Sirius and Remus, before being tried and sent to Azkaban. That both his arms were missing, his face was shattered, and he was nearly dead of blood loss before being turned into the trial was of no consequence. The only reason the rat wasn't dead was because Remus barely stopped Sirius in time.

James had quickly repaired the doorway to their house while Lily and Dumbledore had set out to clean the dark magic in the air, but it proved impossible to completely clear, bound and seeped into the location. They did their best, and managed to mostly bind the dark magic away in the basement before filling it with dirt. It would clear eventually through natural processes, but it would take at minimum a decade. And till then, there would be no Fidelius around the property. Other wards could be put up, but nothing stronger than basic protection and muggle-repelling wards.

At first they thought that it would be fine. The Dark Lord was gone after all. But soon, they were bombarded by letters from across Britain, thanking Nathan, 'the boy who lived', for destroying the dark lord. Luckily a simple mail redirector was easily set up, leaving the mail to pile in a room set aside for it. Not a moment too soon, as they quickly began receiving curse mail from former Death Eaters intending to kill little Nathan. Luckily mail redirection wards are so basic and foundational they are near impossible to bypass, if one can even sense them.

But the worst news was when they heard the Longbottoms were attacked by the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr, destroying any semblance of safety the recovering family had, and since then Lily had started a downward spiral in regards to her sanity. 

James wondered how it even came to this as looked at his wife, once a strong willed woman, now a near gibbering mess as she desperately protected Nathan from threats unseen with her own body in just a few months. His own mind was taking hits as well, with the weight of the circumstances and accumulating factors shackling him with depression.

Dumbledore watched from the side with hidden satisfaction of a plan well executed, his face carefully schooled into neutrality. It was difficult to arrange things just right to destroy Lily and James' minds in such a careful way that despite their current states they could be mostly recovered with a few years of work. No need to completely destroy useful tools afterall. And thus the best of both worlds was attained, allowing him to separate the twins to make them more moldable to his needs, as well as retain two useful pawns after a short recovery, as well as further said pawns loyalty.

He glanced towards Lily, currently a shaking mess of his own creation and nodded imperceptibly. She hasn't slept in months, paranoia, coffee, and pepper-ups keeping her awake in a desperate bid to protect her child, the one who killed Voldemort. Her mental state made worse by realizing she was not giving her daughter equal attention, till a portion of it collapsed making Nathan her only current focus. A brilliant subtle manipulation of circumstance on his part. Her cultivated obsessive desire to protect Nathan at all costs, and the careful diminishing of Jasmine's importance through subtly to both parents would make what follows even easier.

His eyes travelled to said child, who was neutrally watching him from the arms of her father, and gave her a gentle smile which she didn't react to, causing him to chuckle and reach to pat her head, causing the child to frown and try to wiggle away. No matter. She'd know his importance one day. 

James was startled out of his forlorn gaze at Jasmine's wiggling, quickly and absently bouncing his daughter in an attempt at pacification as he turned to Dumbledore, both missing the flash of sad pain in the young girl's eyes. 

"Are you sure it can't handle four?" James asked, desperation and unwillingness coloring his voice. They were unable to move and re-implement a Fidelius. The traces of the last were bound up in the betrayal and dark magic, causing a pseudo-curse to descend on the family. None could gain the benefits of a Fidelius, if they tried to make a new one they would simply forget the existence of their own house and absently leave it til the Keeper told them the secret, and broke the new Fidelius. On top of that, they have nearly no money saved up in liquid funds, and their other properties long held by their family were also attacked by the Dark Lord during the war, burning dark magic into the land and making it uninhabitable for decades to come. 

Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "The bonds of blood only works for exactly three with the only exception being those born under it when already cast. If you wish to protect Nathan, Jasmine must be left in the care of others, so another bond of blood may be cast protecting her. The Dursleys are the only choice, as neither of you has other true-blood relatives alive." Not to mention that the environment young Jasmine would have at the Dursley's would make her far more receptive to the slightest positive reinforcement, making the task of molding the twins even easier.

"So we just sacrifice Jasmine!?" James cried, his face twisting in despair as he looked at his daughter, who neutrally stared back up at him. Dumbledore patted his shoulder. "There is no choice, my boy. And think, with them being muggles, the three Dursley's don't even count as one by the Bonds of Blood wards, leaving Jasmine with twice the protection. We won't be giving her up for adoption, but giving her to your relatives temporarily until the dark magic fades, she'll be much safer this way. Your step-sister Petunia's house will be the perfect place for her."

"But we won't be able to even visit." James said forlornly, struggling not to collapse to his knees as he seems to have aged years during these short few months. 

"No, you won't." Dumbledore nodded, "The two wards would conflict, trying to protect all of you at the same time once blood connection was sensed, thereby tangling and destroying both." He patted James on the back kindly, "And we can't put Nathan there either- he is the main target, and while Bonds of Blood is strong, it is not as good as a Fidelius. Not to mention Lily would become even worse if seperated from her son."

James shuddered at the thought. Lily was already near complete insanity. That would tip her over the edge. He clutched Jasmine a bit tighter to his chest, causing the little babe to squirm uncomfortably. "Not even Sirius or Remus will be able to visit her?"

Dumbledore shook his head, not that James could see it, eyes locked to his daughter as they were, but subtleties were always important. "No wizard will be able to visit young Jasmine without breaking the wards, unstable as they will be when including muggles. Luckily the knowledge of where a family of muggles live is of no importance to magical society, and the ward will disguise any and all traces that could attract another wizard. We'll simply keep Jasmine's circumstances hidden to all but a select few and she'll be fine."

A couple tears left James face as he nodded and shakily walked up to his wife. Mind set in a horrible decision he had no choice but to make. Lily stopped cooing at Nathan once James got close enough, her head snapping up to look at him, eyes red and crazed, paining James' heart. "Dear, we're gonna be making sure Jasmine is okay, so we'll be sending her away to a safe place for a while, okay?"

Lily nodded absently, near uncomprehendingly, "But Jasmine is fine. No one wants to hurt her, only my baby Nathan. Is Nathan going to be okay?"

James shuddered a sigh at how far gone his wife was. That she near completely uncared for her other child anymore... Everyone missed the pain flashing in young Jasmine's eyes again, little tears near spilling out. 

"Yes." James responded to his wife, "Nathan will be safe. So... you're okay with sending her to Petunia... your sister?"

Lily just nodded and continued observing Nathan with crazed devotion. Dumbledore smiled, making sure for it to look forlorn, as James rose to his feet and turned to face him, little Jasmine in his arms once again completely neutral. "I'm sure Lily's sister would not be so petty as to hurt Jasmine out of jealousy. She has a son Jasmine's age as well, and I'm sure she'll treat the two the same. Either way, I will research ways to expand the ward so Jasmine may return to live with you." Dumbledore assured James, the glint in his eyes unnoticed by the sad figure infront of him. 

James shakily looked down at Jasmine, who looked up at her father. Was it his imagination that he saw disappointment and hurt in her eyes? "We must hurry, so I can take advantage of the power of the New Year before it disappears." Dumbledore gently urged. It is still January, so the residual power can still be used, but it is fading fast. 

James nodded, and turned to his wife. "Lily-flower? Don't you want to say goodbye to Jasmine?"

Lily looked up for a second, clouded eyes nodding briefly as she looked at her daughter blankly, "Goodbye Jasmine. Mommy's going to be a good mommy and protect Nathan. I'll see you later."

He shuddered, realizing that was the best he was going to get from his wife, and failed to notice Jasmine closing her eyes in pain and pretending to sleep. He turned back to Dumbledore and gently but shakingly held out his daughter, his already damaged heart breaking into pieces as Dumbledore took the apparently sleeping babe from his hands, quickly wrapping her up in a baby blanket. He watched as Dumbledore exited the house, followed by the crack of apparition. Was it his own mind playing tricks on him, or were there shards of glass crawling through his chest?

 

>>> Private Drive, Surrey 

Dumbledore appeared with a quieter crack than normal apparition, the sound muffled by some quick spells he pre-casted as he looked around for any witnesses before walking over to the porch of Number 4. 

Gesturing with his wand he quickly conjured a wicker basket and placed the still sleeping Jasmine inside, then glanced at the sleeping child before quickly pulling out his wand and starting to cast spells on her. 

The first was a basic warming charm to keep the child toasty in the cold night, the second being an advanced protection spell that would last a day, teleporting her straight to his desk in Hogwarts if anyone with ill intent tried to approach the child. 

He didn't hesitate as he cast the last, long since planning to do so. A twin bond disintegration spell, a rare and nigh-unknown spell that would quietly and subtly disintegrate the bond between Jasmine and Nathan over time, and with their young age, a few years of separation would be more than enough. He couldn't have his prized pawn, Nathan, drawing even more power from his sister if by some chance he went rogue. He was already powerful enough to defeat Voldemort, or Tom Riddle as Dumbledore knew him, and he hardly needed another Tom who was even more powerful if something went wrong with Nathan's nurturing. With the prophecy saying that Nathan would kill Voldemort, it wouldn't take much for the boy to rise in the Dark Lord's place. After all, killing was something Dumbledore completely disdained, so how could he trust the child?

With a moment of thought, Dumbledore added one more spell. A simple 24-hour memory suppression spell. It wouldn't remove memories, but it would make them fuzzier and harder to remember. With Jasmine being so young, the chances of her retaining anything of this night were infinitely close to zero, but he'd rather not take chances. It would make her even easier to mold in the long run after all, unable to contextualize what may have been seen before in regards to her mother's mental health and making it much harder to reconnect with her parents, perfect for his goals, letting him easily be the bridge between the family and becoming even more irreplaceable. Who knows? He may even be able to mold her into a copy of himself, the greatest light of the world. 

The thought caused a smile to spread across his aged face as he nodded with work well done. He quickly began to set up the wards of bonds of blood and simple mail redirection- despite what he told the Potters, mail by owl would be able to find Jasmine if they put forth a little more effort than usual, but the ward, set to disintegrate just before Jasmine became eligible for Hogwarts, would prevent any mail from reaching the girl. It wouldn't be good for any early magical influence to appear before the girl after all, from her parents or anyone else. 

Satisfied, he took a pre-written letter explaining the circumstances to the Dursleys and left it in Jasmine's blanket with a sticking charm so it wouldn't fly off. It would come undone as soon as a muggle touched it. With a step back and flourish of his wand, the muffled crack of Dumbledore's apparition faded in the night.

Little Jasmine opened her eyes, clear and green with no trace of the memory suppression spell cast by Dumbledore, and began to silently cry in the night. Not a peep heard til she fell asleep in the early dawn.