♥ A Twist of Fate

[TOF admin Linda]

In 1980, Harry James Potter was brought into the world by Lily Potter. Lily and James were proud of their new baby boy, and were quite unaware of the threat that Pettigrew posed. They thought that he would rather die than betray them, and they were terribly wrong. However, for the time being, everything was fine. Everything was calm. Almost everything. After Lily had given birth to Harry, she had gotten depressed. It was a symptom that was sometimes felt by mothers after the birth of a child. She ended up drunk, which wasn't a good situation, at all. Because if there was one person she shouldn't have gotten drunk around it was Severus Snape. He had always loved her, and that night one thing led to another. She fell pregnant with the child of her ex-best friend. Well, wasn't that like a slap in the face to her? She couldn't believe that it had happened, and James was clearly upset when he found out. Although, would he have rather she lied? She gave birth to the child on a chilly August 3rd evening. James insisted that the child live with 'Snivellus' and Severus while clearly upset that Lily was still with James, took the child without a word. While Lily gained her husband's trust back, it was a slow process, though, she did end up having two more children in the process.

And all i know that when i'm twisted
One and two can mean the same thing
And if this stone has ever lifted
Then God knows i would have gone the distance
And by the hands i would have taken you
But due to circumstances
Get this image but i can't taste
Without knowing what this is

But what of this? What does this have to do with the story we know so well? Well, that night when Voldemort entered the Potter house to kill Harry; he planned on killing Harry first and the couple after. Why not? They had stupidly left the door open, thinking that he would never find them, but he had. He had snuck into the house like the snake that he was and he waved his wand at the boy, despite the girl's protests that he not hurt her precious Harry. However, the spell had backfired. He was nothing, he ebbed into nothingness. How could this be right? He was supposed to kill the boy and then the parents. But he was gone, gone. Some thought for good, others knew better. . .of those, Albus Dumbledore who insisted that the Dark Lord would be back. When Lily found out that Peter had betrayed them, she had been repulsed. She had always stuck up for the boy and insisted the Marauder's leave him alone in school when they were teasing their friend so horridly, and what did he have to thank her with, this?! James and Sirius seemed disgusted with the vermin, as well, and they all wrote them out of their lives refusing to give him the mercy that he begged for. Lily felt terrible, but he had betrayed she and James and even little Harry who had a scar to bare from that horrible incident with Voldemort.

Not to mention that Severus had betrayed her, too. She was angry. She confronted the dark haired man, who begged her to forgive him once more. "Severus, how can I forgive you?!" He explained his double role as a spy, but she was still angry. Why did he have to give the Dark Lord any information, at all? Why couldn't he have been brave? "I'm sorry, I wasn't the bloody Gryffindor you were! I thought what I was doing was brave. Forgive me for having a differing point of view!" he snapped. It seemed that their friendship was over, for good this time. Both were too stubborn to admit that the other was wrong and make ammends. They just wanted to hold their grudge, Lily more so. Severus was willing to forgive her, but she didn't seem willing to forgive him and perhaps he deserved that, but it didn't make him hate James Potter any less. . . He realized that he had to move on, and while he and Lily could see each other and be civil, it is quite clear that she still viewed him as an enemy and probably always would. All he had left of her was their daughter, and so he retracted his gaze from the red haired woman who he had never stopped loving and put all his time and energy into his work, his role as a spy, and taking care of their daughter. Every time he looked at the girl it seemed to break his heart, she had his fierce black eyes but her crimson locks.

Can you find the words to say
That i hate you is not an easy thing to say
Can you admit that each mistake
You ever made is just another twist of fate

Several years had passed, and there hadn't been another incident caused by Voldemort. The Wizarding World was starting to lift itself from the terror and the darkness the Dark Lord had plunged them into. Everything was going well in the world, nothing could hamper the world at all. The Dark Lord was gone and he would be gone forever. Not if Quirrell had his way. He failed in the end, though. Harry fought the man off and kept his hands off of the stone. Voldemort was not going to gain eternal life and he would be cursed by the unicorn blood that sustained him. Not that it wasn't a bad thing, though, Harry couldn't help but feel revolted that Voldemort was still alive somewhere. Where was he, what was he? Would he regain his human form? These were the questions that needed answering, but Dumbledore told him the answers. Well, not as in depth as Harry would have liked, of course, but the man had answered him all the same.

His parents came to visit him in the hospital wing and Lily had hugged him so tightly, that Harry thought he may have choked, had his father not had the sense to drag the woman off. His little brother and sister were there, too. Along with a harrassed looking Snape and his dark eyed daughter, who Harry couldn't help but scowl at . He asked why they were there, Lily smiled nervously and Dumbledore just smiled in his mysterious way. The Snape's weren't there long before they vanished, Severus dragging the girl with him, though, she didn't seem reluctant to go.

In Harry's fourth year he had to endure the horrors of Gilderoy Lockhart, the Chamber of Secrets, and the possible death of Ginny Weasley, but he scrapped through that one just fine, amazingly enough. He was lucky that Fawkes had found him and had cried on him. That way he had healed the wound, but he had found something very amazing, the sword of Godric Gryffindor. His parents were very proud of him, as were his siblings. Though, they felt that they weren't as celebrated or famous as their older brother which could be fairly annoying. They both knew, however, that they were loved and that their parents did their best to make them all feel accepted. Though, it was clear who the favorite of the family was. Well, he was the hero of the family, after all. In Harry's fifth year, they found out of the Shrieking Shack, Pettigrew disappeared into the night, and Trewlawney predicted the rise of the Dark Lord once more.

I'm never told that my difference
Will pay off in every instance
And with all this double meaning
I have doubt in my resistance
Only fame a turns a change
Seem apart of our existence
Tell me how i'm supposed to keep you
With all i've witnessed

The year is 1997, and things are getting tense. The Dark Lord has just arisen again, this summer, with the aid of his henchman; Peter Pettigrew, the blood of Harry Potter, and the death of Cedric Diggory. The Tri-Wizard Tournament of Harry's sixth year didn't turn out quite as well as some may have expected or even hoped, and so Igor Karkaroff insists to never come back to Hogwarts again, and Madame Hagrid is more keen on staying in France than England. The tensions are strong, and hatred is growing on both side's of the war. Even the neutrals are facing harsh criticism and are being pestered to pick sides sometimes. Voldemort is back. People are scared witless. The Ministry wants to calm people, but are doing a poor job of convincing people that things are fine and will be fine, the Order is racing around trying to prevent any of the Death Eater schemes from going through.

What have i heard
That's got me reaching
For every turn there's a turning point
From this eternal battle
And all of this hassle
What have i learnt

It's Harry's 7th year, and he has to try to make it out alive. Along with his siblings, who are also targets of the Dark Lord now that Voldemort has recognized his 'save the world' tactics. If he has to be a hero, Voldemort is determined to put him to the test. How could he tolerate the death of his two siblings? However, the Order is fighting frantically to keep not only the Potters alive, but the Death Eaters from taking over the Wizarding World. They don't want another war, but war is inevitable in these circumstances. All the Wizarding World is pondering now is if they can all survive this Twist of Fate.

{Plot © Linda, November 2007
Song lyrics © Twist of Fate by Siobhan Donaghy}