Chapter 12: Lily's Lament

One hour later, Headmaster's office, Hogwarts; Lily's POV

Lily was working herself into a panic as she wore a ditch into the headmaster's rug with her pacing. Luckily, James knew better than to try to convince her to sit and simply stayed quiet as he and the Weasleys waited for news on their children. Rose was sitting beside James looking just as concerned as Lily but luckily, stopped herself from mimicking her mother and pacing. Professor McGonagall was also nervous but hid it behind a stern facade as she sat across from the headmaster.

It had been an hour since the headmaster returned to Hogwarts after the governors reinstated him. While glad he had returned, Lily became frantic once the ghost known as Moaning Myrtle had informed them that Nathan had entered the Chamber alone to face the Heir.

James had appeared once he heard and the Head Auror quickly interrogated the ghost on where the entrance was as well as how they entered. After a half hour of failed attempts of entering, James and Lily had followed Dumbledore to his office where the elder Weasleys were waiting for news on their missing daughter.

Lily looked in the direction of the elder Weasleys and despite her animosity with the Weasley matriarch, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her as she cried into her husband's shoulder. She knew how it felt to have one's child missing, and she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy.

Jasmine.

Lily's heart wept every time she thought of her eldest and even now, she had to stop herself from breaking into tears. Even though almost five years had passed since her disappearance, no news had been found as to her whereabouts. Her Hogwarts letter had been returned unopened with no signs of having been tampered with.

Lily had been heartbroken yet again by the news as she had at least hoped that the ancient and powerful magics that allowed Hogwarts to find its students would find her daughter, only for it to fail. The only way that could have happened would be if the recipient was dead or if they had magically changed their name. Neither option was appealing to the Potters, and they secretly feared it was the former.

Thinking of the way she lost one child made her that much more determined not to lose another and she decided to start training Nathan this summer. Rose was still too young for any real training, but Lily decided to start teaching her other things such as runes and potions. Both didn't require a lot of magic but both could be deadly in the hands of a master. Lily refused to entertain the thought that her daughter might not come back.

Lily thought back at all their attempts of finding Jasmine only to end up in failure. They had been barred entry in the U.S. due to the increasing number of attacks from dark sorcerers. There had also been rumors of muggles being born with abilities that defied even magical description that threatened the secrecy of the magical world. Until it had been resolved they couldn't risk anyone entering the country and worsening the situation.

Logically, Lily understood but the mother in her wanted to ignore all warnings and charge into the country to find her baby. It wasn't fair! She had lost so many years with her eldest in order to protect her, only to find out she was not protected at all and then find out she was missing! She had to be the worst mother in the world. What mother would leave her child where she would be abused?!

Lily looked at James to see him getting more and more distressed as time passed.

James had been a wreck since Jasmine's disappearance was made known to them. He had sometimes spent weeks on vacation with the family just to make sure they wouldn't disappear as well. Whenever a case into the States came up, he insisted (i.e., threatened) into going along. However, each time he would return alone and more depressed than before despite Lily's best efforts to keep up a brave front. Inside both parents' hearts were bleeding as the hole that their eldest once occupied laid empty. They could only hope they would someday find their eldest and explain their actions were done with her safety in mind. They would never willingly and knowingly put their child in danger.

Just then, there was a flash of fire in the center of the room and Dumbledore's phoenix appeared with a bloody Nathan carrying a sword in his right hand and a distraught Ginny holding onto his left arm. She took in his haggard appearance as well as the way he gripped the sword (which for some reason looked familiar) within a second before reacting to his presence.

Lily quickly ran forward and brought her son into a fierce hug even as she cried tears of joy. From the corner of her eye, Lily saw Molly do the same to Ginny. Then Lily stood back and started casting diagnostic charms on Nathan to see if he was fine or not. He looked as if he had gotten into a fight with a Cerberus and barely survived (and considering his adventures with Fluffy last year it was a distinct possibility).

Nathan seemed to realize what she was doing and shook his head. "I'm fine mom. The blood's mine but Fawkes healed me before bringing us here."

Lily became alarmed at his admittance of the blood being his. There was an awful lot and she couldn't imagine what wound could have caused it, especially since the majority seemed to be around his torn right sleeve. "What? How did you get wounded that Fawkes had to heal you? Phoenix tears are only for emergencies due to their rarity!"

Nathan winced and shuffled his feet a bit. "I sorta... gotbitbytheBasilisk."

Years of being around pranksters who tried to hide their deeds allowed Lily to decipher her son's fast-speech. "YOU GOT BIT BY A BASILISK?!"

Nathan winced at his mother's high pitch tone and Lily was about to demand for him to explain himself, but Dumbledore cleared his throat before speaking in a consoling tone. "Perhaps we should allow young Nathan to sit and explain it to us from the beginning. That way we can understand his reasoning better."

Lily reluctantly allowed it as she led Nathan to a conjured chair in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk while Ginny stayed with her parents. Professor McGonagall looked as if she was going to have a stroke when she took in how Nathan looked as well as the bloody sword in his grip. Lily tried to take the sword from his grip only for Nathan to grip it tighter like a lifeline and she decided to let it go for now.

For the next hour, Nathan explained everything that happened that year, from Dobby's warning to hearing voices in the walls and the clues that led to him discovering the Chamber of Secrets and its monster.

Lily had to stop herself from either hugging Nathan to assure herself that he was fine or smacking him for not coming to her once he knew where it was. She simply contented herself with hugging him while whispering in his ear that she would get him back for worrying her over the summer.

After gulping at the promise in her words, Nathan continued up till he entered the Chamber. "Well, after we entered Mordred-"

"Mordred?!" asked James interrupted forcefully. Up until now he had been quiet but it seemed the revelation of the ghost's identity was the last straw. "You mean that bloody female ghost knight was the same Mordred from Arthurian legend?!"

"Indeed."

From the doorway, Mordred floated through with a neutral look on her face, as if James' outburst was expected. Which is possible since Mordred's infamy as a traitor was well-known even a millennia later.

Lily watch James glare at the ghost as if she had personally offended him. "I don't think I like my son spending his time around a well-known traitor." He said traitor as if it was the worst insult possible and considering their history with traitors, it was to be expected. Lily would never forgive Peter for his betrayal and the effects of it. Her youngest son was cursed with a prophecy he could not escape, even if he didn't know it yet and her eldest was missing. Betrayal was now the one thing she could never forgive.

However, Mordred simply blinked as if James was an annoying fly. "And I don't care what a peasant thinks about who and what I do with my time. Especially since he knows nothing about me beyond legends and hearsay. If you follow the legends, I should be male."

Lily privately agreed with the sentiment because even after a millennium the wizarding world was still slightly anti-feminist.

James flushed red in anger and embarrassment and looked like he was about to retort before Nathan intervened. "Dad, she's a friend. I don't care about what she did in her past and I'm sure spending 1,000 years contemplating her mistakes is punishment enough. I trust her. If it wasn't for her, I would probably be in worse condition."

James seemed to bite his tongue at his son's words and Lily watched in amusement as he seemed to struggle with himself before subsiding. She was glad to see that he cared more about his son's happiness than his own bigotry. She had heard from her son about his falling out with Ron and while she wished differently if only for her son's sake, she was glad that her son didn't allow bigotry and a friend's influence to affect his decisions. Personally, she didn't like the idea of her son being friends Mordred any more than James but if Nathan trusted her then she would give Mordred the benefit of the doubt.

Deciding to take advantage of the silence Mordred turned to Nathan. "I just came by to tell you my opinion on your fight with the Basilisk."

Nathan looked up at Mordred with an embarrassed look on his face as if expecting her to praise him. If that was what he was expecting, he was about to be rudely disappointed.

"You were amateurish, sloppy and I've seen stable boys who can wield a butter knife with more skill than you do that blade." said Mordred in a deadpan tone.

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Nathan instantly deflated and despite her own outrage at her callous statement, Lily had to fight down a laugh at the look of dejection on his face. He looked so much like a kicked puppy that she just wanted to hug him to death for his cuteness alone.

"Still," continued Mordred, "you're alive while those stable boys would have died so that means you have some talent especially if this sword judge you worthy. If you want to learn how to wield a sword properly come find me next year and I'll arrange lessons to teach you."

At this, James had to interrupt. "I'll have you know that he doesn't need your help. Potters have a long history of being master fencers and I can teach him if he truly wants to learn. And what do you mean this particular sword." Lily discreetly rolled her eyes at that. She knew for a fact that James never learned how to fence and tended to poke himself with a sword more than the enemy.

Mordred just gave him a deadpan look with a hint of mischievousness in her ghostly eye. "Fencing? No matter wizards nowadays look so fat and effeminate. As for the sword, the answer lies in Godric's lineage " Ignoring James outburst of anger, Mordred turned to Nathan who was trying to hide his laughter. "If you want to learn how to wield a real sword, I'm available next year." Mordred gave a self-deprecating smile. "After all, I have nothing but time now."

With that final comment, Mordred turned and phased right through the floor.

Seeing that James was still too angry at Mordred's taunts to speak, Dumbledore spoke. "Perhaps you should continue, my boy."

Nathan nodded and continued. "As I was saying, Mordred entered first since nothing could really hurt her and if the Basilisk was there then she would just be petrified. She gave me the all-clear and I ran in to see Ginny unconscious on the floor."

At that, Molly hugged Ginny to her tighter as if assuring herself that Ginny was fine. Lily was slightly amused to see that Ginny seemed to be embarrassed about her mother's actions in front of her "hero". Unfortunately for Ginny, her hero seemed to be getting closer to his old childhood friend Tracey Davis ever since he gave Ron the boot. Before he would only talk to her occasionally since she was a Slytherin and Ron was sure she was "evil" now. Without Ron however, it seemed her dream of getting Tracey as a daughter-in-law was coming closer to fruition. Of course, they might need a bit of a push so she should invite her over the summer now that that the oppressive ward that kept them from getting visitors was down...

Lily internally cackled an evil laugh that would have caused even Voldemort to piss himself in fear as she plotted ways to get those two together.

For some reason completely unrelated to the cold, Nathan shivered as if someone had walked over his grave.

Nathan coughed and continued his story. "Then the ghost of Tom Riddle appeared and revealed he had been possessing Ginny most of the year in order to open the Chamber himself. It turned out that Tom Marvolo Riddle is none other than Lord Voldemort."

That caused gasps to come from those that didn't know about it, which was everyone but Nathan and Dumbledore. James was the first to speak what they were all probably thinking. "But... that means that the man who led the pureblood movement... was actually a half-blood?!"

Nathan shrugged and nodded as Dumbledore spoke. "Tom always hated his muggle heritage even as a teenager. It brought great shame to him to share a muggle's surname which is why he crafted his Voldemort moniker."

Lily turned to Dumbledore in surprise. "You knew?!"

Dumbledore sighed and nodded. "Yes, but I had no proof. I knew and Tom knew that I knew but by the time he had come out as Voldemort, he had physically changed so much that no one would believe me. After all, who would believe that the hero who stopped the attacks last time turned into the monster we know as Voldemort?"

Lily begrudgingly had to agree. People would never believe it without proof since Tom Riddle was so long ago that he probably slipped through their minds.

Nathan continued his story once he saw that they had finished speaking. "Anyway, Mordred then attacked Voldemort since they were ghost-like. It actually worked since her sword cut him but as time passed, he became more solid and her attacks stopped affecting him as much."

"Then he summoned the Basilisk and things got hairy. I couldn't look at it due to its eyes so I had run away. I hid behind a pillar while Mordred tried to get its attention and my spells just bounced off it hide. I prayed for help and that's when Fawkes appeared with the Sorting Hat."

From his robes, Nathan pulled out the bedraggled Sorting Hat and what could only be the journal that started this mess with a hole through its center. "I managed to pull the Sword of Gryffindor from the Hat while Fawkes managed to blind the Basilisk. With the sword, I believed I had a better chance."

Nathan winced as if from a bad memory. "I idiotically tried to charge the Basilisk only to get thrown. If Mordred hadn't distracted it, I would have been killed. That gave me an idea and while the Basilisk was distracted, I sneaked up to the top of the Salazar statue and jumped onto the Basilisk's head."

Lily let out a moan of dismay at that image.

"Then, somehow the sword was suddenly wreathed in flames and I started stabbing it. Unfortunately, it didn't do much and I was thrown off. It tried to bite down on me and I raised the sword up and managed to impale it through the roof of its mouth. In its death throes, it bit down and a fang pierced my right arm."

Nathan shivered as if remembering a bad memory. "The venom was...agonizing. Fortunately, Mordred distracted Riddle long enough for me to get the fang that bit me and impale the journal with it. Riddle sort of died once I did that and Fawkes healed me with his tears soon after. After Ginny woke up, Mordred said she would meet me here while Fawkes flamed us here. And here we are."

All was silent until Dumbledore spoke. "First, I want to tell you how proud I am of you. You must have shown remarkable courage and fortitude in the face of overwhelming odds to summon Fawkes to you. While people think he is my familiar, he really is not. He simply is my companion due to his wanting to. Phoenixes are attracted to people who resemble fire's cleansing properties. Brushfires burn away that which doesn't work, leaving only healthy and strong trees behind. In that way, phoenixes attack the corrupted and evil since it weakens the whole. That is why they are considered 'light'."

Nathan blushed at the praise and mumbled that it was nothing under his breath.

Dumbledore smiled amusedly. "Second, I wish to ask you what it is that is bothering you. I sense Tom said something that unsettles you."

Nathan bit his lip before blurting out. "He said that he and I are a lot alike. We were both parseltongues, we break the rules and we even looked somewhat alike. Strange likenesses..."

"You speak parseltongue because Voldemort, who is the last living descendant of Slytherin, speaks parseltongue. I believe that that night when he attacked you and your sister, he left you with an echo of his power. In you, it gave you the ability of parseltongue and I believe your descendants will inherit it as well."

Nathan looked thoughtful and nodded before hesitantly speaking. For some reasons, Lily sensed this was what was truly bothering him. "There's another thing. When the blade was wreathed in flames it felt...like it came from me. Not the sword. It felt the same as when I burned Quirrell last year."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful before speaking. "You could have an affinity for fire that manifests itself in stressful situations. I have even heard rumors of muggles with similar abilities appearing though I doubt it's true. Why, there are even rumors of some with the ability to read our minds despite us having Occlumency shields. No, I suspect it was simply your magic reacting to the situation and giving you the best defense possible."

Nathan looked doubtful and Lily felt the same but he nodded hesitantly. Lily was about to ask Albus more about Nathan's apparent skill with fire when Lucius barged into the room.

1st year Hufflepuff girl's dorm, Hogwarts; Rose's POV

Rose tossed and turned as she tried to get to sleep in her pink nightgown to no avail.

Her brother's latest exploit had terrified her and given her a very real fear of becoming an only child. It was bad enough that the eldest, Jasmine was missing but she couldn't bear it if something happened to her brother.

Rose never believed that Jasmine was dead like she knew her parents and brother believed even if it was subconsciously. She knew that her sister was a Potter and Potters were well-known for their stubbornness. If Nathan, who once cried when he skinned his knee, could take on and kill a Basilisk then Jasmine, who survived her horrible relatives, could survive on her own. She was the eldest after all.

Rose sighed as she gave up on trying to go to sleep and, after casting a Silencing Charm around her bed, pulled out a photo album she had made.

Her mother was always possessive of the few pictures she had of Jasmine and it had taken a lot of hard work and studying ahead to learn the Duplication Charm and make copies of the few photos she had of Jasmine. Using that, Rose had made her own photo album in order to show Jasmine when she returned. It was her way of showing her that she had thought of her even when she was missing. She knew she would probably be angry at their parents but she hoped that by showing her the album she would see that they still thought of her.

The photo album has some family photos of good times but most of them were of Jasmine when she was a baby or of Nathan's birthday parties where she made sure to highlight the fact that they always left a chair open for her. She wanted to show her that the family loved her despite whatever those...people had said to the contrary.

Don't get her wrong, she loved Nathan a lot. However, Nathan was always a prankster at heart and constantly having to watch her back whenever he was around got tiring. When he wasn't pranking her, he was too overprotective to the point that he got angry at any boy that spent too much time with her. Seriously, it was like she was the eldest at times! She didn't even try to ask him for help this year knowing he would overreact if he knew how the other kids picked on her. She didn't want him to be expelled after all.

Rose always had a bit of a fantasy image of how Jasmine would be like. She would be protective but would allow her to do things on her own. She would be smart, pretty, wise and kind to everyone. She would be just and fair to everyone regardless of her relationship with her, unlike some Potion teachers that was biased against everyone not Slytherin. She liked to think that since she was Nathan's twin and Nathan was a lot like Dad then Jasmine would be more like Mum. She wouldn't make fun of her for spending so much time in the snow and even spend hours with her if that was what she wanted. She would listen to her when she complained about being seen as the Boy-Who-Lived's baby sister and useless due to being sorted into Hufflepuff...

Rose sniffed as tears came to her eyes before she hastily wiped them away.

Rose had always been smart for her age and if she had gone to Durmstrang, would probably have tested into third year. She had known that being Nathan's sister would be hard but always hoped she would make some friends at least. She had originally made friends with her dorm mates and even Susan Bones in third year but that had changed after it came out that Nathan was a parseltongue. Even Susan had been standoffish with her since.

She loved magic in all its forms and was especially fascinated by ice elemental spells. Winter had always been her favorite season (it had nothing to do with Christmas, honest!) and she always loved to roll around in the snow. As time passed, she had found herself liking it more and more as she felt the cold less and less. She simply shrugged it off as her magic getting used to the cold and protecting her from it.

Rose was especially good with illusions and found them to be unappreciated. What does it matter if you can cast a powerful spell when you can't find your target? In that vein, Rose decided to base her dueling style around distract, flank and incapacitate.

Rose giggled as she remembered all the times she got Nathan with a prank by using those very tactics. Nathan was way too straightforward at times.

Rose had only entered Hufflepuff instead of Ravenclaw because she believed in hard work and loyalty to the family above everything. The Sorting Hat had praised her for her loyalty and told her she would need it in the coming years, especially with Nathan and Jasmine as her siblings. He had sorted her into Hufflepuff before she had a chance to ask him what he meant in regards to Jasmine.

Rose looked up when she heard the clock chime midnight and decided it was time to go to bed. Closing the album with a soft smile, Rose hid it under her strongest illusion under her bed before climbing under the covers.

Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was thoughts about Jasmine returning and wiping out the sadness behind her parent's eyes whenever they looked at her and Nathan.