Prologue (2): Abandoned Child

October 31st, 1981, Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts

(Lily Potter POV)

Lily Potter sat at the Order meeting, already regretting even coming to this place. James might be cooped up and wanted to get out of the house as much as possible, but Lily preferred staying at home with her children. It was really odd how being a mother had changed her priorities. She didn't want to involve herself in the war at all, even with Dumbledore's prophecy putting a target on her children's heads.

James, even if he denies it, misses the action. It was just who he was. He was a man of conflict, full of energy, and having children, while having tempered his recklessness slightly, didn't change that about him.

To be honest, the redhead didn't even know why she was participating in these meetings anymore. She had told Dumbledore that neither her husband nor her, would fight on his behalf. They were parents now, and that came with a lot of responsibilities.

Making a stand was important, in an attempt to make a better future for the next generation. It would be wonderful for them to grow up in the world unafraid, without succumbing to the bigotry that she did during her years at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore started the meeting, "I have received dire news by my spies in the Dark Lord's ranks. It seems that Lord Voldemort is planning something that he personally wishes to accomplish. I have gathered this meeting as urgently as possible to attempt to figure out what his goals were."

Mundungus Fletcher snorted, "So, you gathered us today because the dark lord is planning something terrible that we don't know about. You do realize that's what Dark Lords do all the time right?"

Dumbledore didn't seem insulted at all by the man's tone and just shook his head, "The last time I received such intel and did act upon it, Voldemort killed the Prewett twins. I especially gathered you all in case he is planning on hunting any more of our numbers."

Sirius nodded, "Yeah, you even got Frank and Alice out of their hidey hole. Everyone's here except for Wormtail who's babysitting the Potter twins in Godric's Hollow."

The moment he uttered those words he blanched and so did Lily and her husband. Dumbledore shook his head looking disappointed, "Sirius, the purpose of the Fidelius charm is to not reveal the secret."

Sirius stuttered, "But, I'm not the secret keeper. It's supposed to be a ruse, a trick. I shouldn't be able to say the secret. Peter's the only one who can."

Lily didn't even bother listening to Sirius explaining the situation to Dumbledore. She just ran towards the fireplace and flooed to her home.

The Fidelius charm was broken, which means that her home was protected. Was Peter dead, or did he betray them?

Immediately, she was met with the destroyed living room of her cottage. Did Peter put up a fight or something? It wasn't the time. Lily just ran up the stairs and rushed to the twins' room. She was met with a crying and scarred Nathan and an unmoving Jasmine. She was deathly pale, and she waved her wand to use a diagnostic charm on her daughter. She sighed in relief; she seemed to just be tired. It was a superficial charm, but it was the only one she knew for now. She had never studied healing, which needed a lifetime of dedication to master properly.

Lily heard thundering footsteps behind her, revealing the headmaster and James at the front. Dumbledore kept waving his wand in patterns that she didn't recognize. Lily had given up on the chance of understanding the magical prowess of Albus Dumbledore a long time ago.

The Muggleborn tensed for a moment until Dumbledore relaxed and spoke up, "This place is drenched in dark magic, but it seems that the danger is gone, for now," he then motioned at Lily, "Can you please let me take a look at the children. I need to make sure that they are unharmed."

Trusting Dumbledore, she gave him the twin toddlers in her hand. The man pointed his wand at Nathan first, for some reason. Wasn't Jasmine the one who seemed to be most hurt? He nodded to himself and then moved on to Jasmine. He frowned slightly, "The boy is well. As for the girl, she's alright, physically, just exhausted. But there's something wrong with her. I can't put my finger on it."

He waved his wand in another complicated manner and let out a resigned sigh, "Ah. She must have been hit with a reflection of the curse, somehow, it's the only way that it would cause such an incomplete effect. I do not know how this will impact her."

James looked at the headmaster hesitantly, "What happened to her?"

"She seems to have fractured her soul, somewhat. It's very odd. My guess is that when Nathan reflected Voldemort's killing curse, he was only able to partially shield his sister who was hit with a downgraded version of the curse, which caused her soul to crack in a way. I have never seen or heard of something like this. I'll need to study her condition better to see the effects of something like this. But as far as I know of the properties of the soul, it should heal itself in time, so there doesn't seem to be anything urgent to worry about."

James nodded for a second before exclaiming, "WHAT? Did you say that Nathan killed You Know Who?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "Yes, I did. It seemed that young Nathan has defeated Lord Voldemort. I will admit that I have no idea how that happened, but I cannot argue with the effect. It seems that I was correct in my guess that he would be the child of the Prophecy."

Lily didn't like where this was going, "How do you know that it happened?"

"The residual magic shows that Voldemort was here and that he fired a killing curse which was in turn, somehow, reflected," he pointed at the floor, showing a piece of Yew wood, "He even left his wand, which he considers to be one of his most treasured possessions. The feedback must be what caused the roof to collapse in the first place. Adding in the fact that Nathan's scar was mentioned in the prophecy, I have no doubt that he is the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived."

While he was speaking, the rest of the Order had arrived at the cottage and entered the room. Lily could hear the mutterings of awe and even worship at her baby boy. She knew, now, that any chance of a quiet life with her children would be over.

But she didn't care at the moment. She was just grateful that her babies were still alive.

January 5th, 1982, Godric's Hollow

(James Potter POV)

James Potter looked at the headmaster, distraught, "Is there truly no other way?"

"I am sorry, my boy. We have tried time and time again. We cannot ward this place in any way. The magical cost of putting up a Fidelius in a place so well-known and with so much ambient dark magic is too much for even me to perform. It's why I could never use such a ward on Hogwarts. And for some reason, all other traditional wards were immediately destroyed by the dark magic from the killing curse. I will admit that it is a very interesting effect that I plan to study as much as possible. The only type of ward that I could think would surpass such malicious soul magic is with a blood ward. The only appropriate ward I could find was the Bond of Blood ward and I have told you of its requirements. It's the only way to stop the constant attacks."

James winced at the memory of these attacks. As soon as it was revealed that Nathan was the one who killed Voldemort, the Potter family was being hunted down by dark creatures and wizards who had followed him. So far, it was only Dumbledore's kindness that had allowed them to take refuge in the castle at the time, but when one of his students was put under the Imperius, the headmaster had asked them to return to the cottage in fear of further risking the lives of his charges.

Still, James wasn't willing to use the blood ward, especially with the connotations that came with it, "What about just warding a new plot of land? That could work."

Dumbledore shook his head, "Most of the higher-level wards that could work, need you to consider this place to be your home. You have labelled the cottage to be your home when you cast the Fidelius on it, that has weight, and intent, that is imperative for the ward to be cast properly. You cannot take it back and just change homes. The magic would be brittle, and any competent wizard would break the wards without too much of an issue. Your choice is to either find a different way to ward the cottage or to move to another place that already has strong wards."

Damn it. Making sure that the opponents' homes couldn't be warded was a very common tactic in wizarding warfare. Voldemort had done the same when he attacked Potter Manor, killing his parents. He had stripped the manor of its wards and burnt it into the grounds. He also cursed the land to make sure that no other wards could be put up for decades at the very least. Magicals were notorious for only having one place they called home at a time, and it was notorious that the time necessary to claim a new plot of land as their home was both very expensive, and very time consuming, taking years to be able to claim it properly. It was very old magic, and one of the few that were still practiced today.

James cursed his luck. He knew that no one, not even members of the order, would take them to their home. As celebrated as they might be, the rumors of the attacks on their person were common knowledge, and people knew that inviting them into their homes would present a very real risk to their lives.

The only person who would have the capabilities and desire to help them would be Sirius Black, but the young Black was already on thin ice with his grandfather Arcturus and was one step away from being disinherited. James wasn't willing to risk this happening by asking him to stay in one of the Blacks' households.

James never expected to make a choice like this one; Lily was supposed to be the clear headed one. The thought of his wife made him flinch even further. Lily had suffered a mental breakdown after the attacks kept happening. She was constantly fidgeting, and paranoid, she even almost killed Sirius when he was playing with Nathan. She barely left the twins' room now and slept holding into Nathan as if he would disappear at any second. The threats on Nathan's life weren't doing her any favors, and James missed his beautiful, brilliant wife now more than ever.

James shook his head, "I am not abandoning my child, Dumbledore."

"There is nothing else I can offer. It will be a temporary solution all the same. I have taken the sample from the ambient magic in your cottage, and I should be able to find a way to counteract it in time. How much do you think Lily will take before she snaps? The Bonds of Blood is the only ward that can adequately protect your family. And since it can cover either three magicals or one magical, with four muggles, giving Jasmine to Petunia's care and warding her house as well, is the only way to properly protect her."

James was resigned. It did seem to be the best way to go forward, "But why give her to Petunia? Sirius will do."

Dumbledore shook his head, "She would be recognized if she was given to someone that is known to be close to you. She could be used to get you out of the open. Plus, since young Jasmine's soul still hasn't healed, it would be better to get her away from magically dense locations until she recovers fully. Soul injuries are very serious, after all. Young Nathan would be protected here, Lily would recover in peace, and Jasmine will be protected at Petunia's. It's the only solution I found that doesn't involve too many people or complications."

James nodded, resigned, "Will she be safe?"

Dumbledore nodded and James sighed, "Will we be able to visit her?"

"The wards could recognize you as family members, and it could cause them to conflict with each other, which could result in unpredictable consequences. Your residence and young Jasmine's will be virtually unreachable by the magical world. You will be cut off completely."

"But Petunia, of all people? Lily told me that their relationship was strained."

The headmaster smiled sadly, "I believe that any decent human being would be able to forget some silly sibling rivalry for the sake of a young, vulnerable child. This will be a temporary situation either way until I figure out how to recast the proper wards"

James was conflicted for a moment and looked at his trembling wife who was looking around while holding Nathan, whispering in the boy's ear. He turned back towards the headmaster and nodded.

The man smiled sadly and grabbed the sleeping Jasmine, said goodbye and apparated away. James felt his heart shattering as he practically abandoned his own daughter. But he had very little choice in the matter. He just hoped that his daughter would hate him too much for his choices.

(Dumbledore POV)

Appearing with a silent pop, Dumbledore walked with purpose into Privet Drive, with a child in his hand. He conjured a blanket and put a warming charm on it. It should hold out until the morning at the very least.

He put the sleeping girl in the basket, but he noticed that the girl had opened her green eyes and was observing him silently. What a well-behaved child.

Now, Dumbledore had to start casting the ward, but first, he needed to make some preparations. The girl needed to consider this place to be her true home until she is retrieved and that wouldn't be possible if she had memories of her parents. He wasn't stupid enough to obliviate the girl, he just clouded a few of her memories, putting them deeper in the back of her mind, prioritizing the memories that she makes here. With a sigh, he steeled himself to do something truly horrible, breaking the twin bond between young Nathan and Jasmine. It was despicable, but should Jasmine know of the existence of a sibling, something that is possible with a twin bond, she could destroy the wards protecting her.

With that done, he cast the blood ward, protecting the girl from any outsider wanting to harm her in any way, and with a heavy heart, he left the young girl on the Dursleys' doorstep and disapparated, not truly understanding the ramifications of the actions he had just performed, and how they would shape the wizarding world in the future.