HP: Shattered glass

Almost 15 months had passed since Harry's birth.

I was slowly starting to be happy again, due to a multitude of reasons; the main one being that I could see again, even if I couldn't control where I was looking.

Harry's senses had matured enough in that time that I could now see in a full range of colours again, though his depth perception was still somewhat lacking. His hearing too, had improved and was at a much more advanced stage than his sight.

I had met a number of new faces during this short period of time.

Remus Lupin; a tall, thin-looking man that had a gaunt, despairing look about him. His outward appearance wasn't all that eye-catching, and he looked for all the world like a normal person. A sickly person, but normal nonetheless.

But I knew he was a werewolf, and his uncanny yellow eyes confirmed it for me. There was no way that was a natural pigmentation.

Peter Pettigrew; a stout, ratlike man who was rather jumpy, but seemed well-intentioned. He was round, not too adept with a wand when compared to the rest of them; but he was dangerously quick and had an imperceptible mean streak he kept hidden from the rest of them.

But I knew he would become a traitor. That he would sell out his friends for a higher standing in a society that did not come to fruition.

And finally Albums Dumbledore; no matter when he visited us he always wore an outrageous set of long, billowing robes that somehow always seemed to look good when paired with his silver half-moon spectacles. I personally thought that his deep magenta and gold star combo was the best. His beard too was eccentric; in the sense that it was very long and very grey, stretching all the way down to his waist.

Harry was most entertained by it, as was Dumbledore by my twin brother's reaction.

And yes, I had taken to calling Harry my brother, as well as my twin. It just made sense.

In this life, we were born to the same mother and were birthed on the same night. The term 'twin brother' just made sense to me.

『 Enough. 』I thought.『 My mind is wandering again. 』

Suddenly, a yell of shocked anger reached our ears; the cry originating from the living room that was a floor below me.

I heard an explosion of some sort, and part of the floor in my nursery collapsed, sending a chunk of debris down into the living room below.

"Lily!" James roared, and I heard my mother jerk awake in the next room. "They're here, take Harry and run!"

The date was October 31st, 1981.

I knew it was happening today, and I was powerless to stop it. Not that I wanted to.

『 Wait… Did he say, 'They'? 』

A smattering of heavy-sounding impacts were heard from downstairs; after which Lily thrust the door to the nursery open running inside and hastily making to retrieve Harry from his cot, dressed only in a pale nightie.

Our mother didn't say a word, but I could see how pale she looked. I could see the tremors wracking her hands as she clutched her willow-made wand.

She picked Harry up, securing him in the bend of her free arm and stepping back from the window.

She swished her wand in a complex triangular motion, which sent a jet of curling blue light straight at the window.

It blasted outwards, sending the fragmented glass and stone flying away from the house and scattering across the front lawn. A large section of the wall was now gone, exposing us to the cold night air.

Without a second's hesitation, she jumped through the hole and swished her wand again, distorting the air close to the ground below us.

Her descent halted immediately upon making contact with the altered space and she dropped to the ground unharmed.

I saw the tears streaking down her face as she heard James' agonised yells from inside the house; coupled with a high, shrieking laugh.

"I'm sorry.' She sobbed, sprinting along the winding path that led to the edge of our front lawn. "I'm sorry."

My eyes widened as I saw a set of thick black ropes appear out of thin air and snake toward our mother's neck.

They quickly multiplied, coiling around every curve on her body, as she struggled to complete another wand motion for a counter.

A streak of pale red light hit her square in the face, sending her body flying back; which only added to the force at which the ropes bound her.

Harry was dropped to the ground in the commotion, and it was a wonder that he didn't hit his head on the way down.

Harry watched curiously as Lily's wand; our lifeline, went spinning through the air, only to be caught by a wiry dark-haired man. A nasty, arrogant grin split his tanned, unshaven face.

"Well well well." He said, staring across at our bound and unarmed mother. "And Bella was so sure that they wouldn't need my help. Tut tut. Guess I get to prove them wrong, yet again."

Lily's green eyes burned with rage, and she fought against her bindings, only to stiffen up as the magical ropes tightened even further.

"And who do we have here?" He whispered, closing down at us. "If it isn't little Harry Potter. I guess the rat wasn't lying after all."

Harry blinked confusedly as the man crouched down and picked him up.

Lily, while still enraged at him, didn't miss the man's sly insinuation. Her eyes widened in shock and denial.

He laughed loudly, every humourous breath taken an insult that beat down onto my mother. "That's right mudblood! Your location was provided to us by one Peter Pettigrew. Choose your secret keeper more carefully next time, eh?"

He walked closer and slapped her across the face, hard.

『 Bastard. 』I thought, my temper rising.

"Rabastan!" A high-pitched voice yelled from inside the house, "Tell me you caught the bitch, especially after waiting outside like a coward."

The newly named Rabastan snarled in anger, waving his wand and manipulating the ropes to manoeuvre Lily along the path and in through the open front door.

Three people stood in the living room, two nursing freshly inflicted wounds which I assumed were on account of my father's rebellion. He had put up a fight.

The walls and floor were warped, with large barbed spikes jutting from every single visible surface. Rare few of them were splattered with blood, while most others were completely destroyed.

Lily let out an involuntary sob.

Little Harry's eyes finally moved around, showing me what was lying in the corner of the room.

James Potter lay on what was left of the brown carpet, bisected. His guts had spilt onto the floor below, dark blood still oozing out from both sides of his severed torso.

Each side of the cut was a crispy black, his charred skin flaking and sprinkling down onto the array of innards on the carpet beside him.

I had never seen the like of it before. It was a horrifying sight 

"All that talk and you couldn't catch one mudblood." He drawled loudly, sending the motionless Lily into the middle of the room. "And Barty here seems to have a hole in his arm, how quaint."

The young adult in question sent Rabastan a furious glare but didn't refute his statement.

"Fucking blood traitor knew his form, I'll give him that." Muttered another, much larger man, who promptly shut up under the glare the final attacker sent his way.

"Knew his form." The woman sneered, sending a jet of yellow light toward James' head. 

The foreign spell sent a wave of acid splattering outward upon making contact with his skull; after which the liquid quickly melted through the dead man's face and disappeared into the ground below.

"Fucking Sagamore practising scum, just like his half-blood master. Look where all that Transfiguration got him. Dead at my feet." She spat on the ground nastily. "The Dark Lord will do the same to that old man too, count on it."

The desecration of James' corpse seemed to break the trance Lily had fallen into after seeing her husband's deceased body. She screamed into her gag, drawing the insane woman's attention to her.

"Quiet woman." The stocky man growled, not even waiting for a sign of compliance before sending a white-coloured spell her way. "Silencio."

The noise of muffled screaming stopped immediately, causing Lily to glare hatefully at the man in silence.

"We'll get to you soon mudblood." The woman smiled sweetly, sauntering past the woman and holding out her hands in front of Rabastan. "The child, Rabby dear."

The man gave Harry up without resistance, dropping the small infant into Bellatrix's outstretched arms.

"Harry Potter." She muttered, a wicked grin splitting her maddened face. "I have you now."

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〘 A/N: Sagamore - A duelling form based on the usage of Transfiguration and conjuration in combat. 〙