I. The Abduction of Persephone
In Godric's Hollow, a small wizarding town on the 31st of October, 1981 a figure suddenly seemingly popped into existence. He, for he was presumably male, was tall and his appearance completely covered by a long black cloak with its hood drawn. The figure observed the spot they were in for a moment, taking in the trees that swayed gently in the breeze and the empty houses littering the street, their owners out celebrating the date.
The figure suddenly snapped out of his stillness and began walking down the lane with confident, elegant strides, his dark power cracking the air around him.
He was here for one reason and one reason alone. This reason was contained within the house at the end of the lane, which he now stood in front of.
He opened the waist height cast iron gate with a flick of his wand and strode down the path, the white pebbles crunching together beneath his feet. With another flick of his wand, the door to the house swung open and he entered.
He stood in a lounge room, a fire dancing merrily in the hearth and large, cushy lounges huddled around it. The figure finally lowered his hood as a smirk worked its way onto his mouth.
He was handsome, greatly so, the kind of handsome that had girls swooning as he passed. He had dark hair that curled around his head in an almost boyish manner, aristocratic features and high cheekbones. His eyes were a glacial ice blue that could freeze a man in fear. There was something sinister about him, dangerous and undeniably dark. Lord Slytherin was not someone you wished to mess with.
Drawing a breath to centre himself, he let his magic unfurl, feeling for any other presences within the building and came across two.
One was pitiful and slippery, his aura a muted orange that he knew well and immediately over looked.
The second however was much more interesting though it belonged to someone who had yet to celebrate their second birthday. It was white, the purity of someone who had yet to decide whether they were light or dark, blended into violet with the barest hint of silver undertones, the only evidence of what she was destined to become.
He immediately began the climb up the stairs that led to the being, walking calmly down the hallway studiously ignoring the startled yelp of Pettigrew as he passed and into the room contained at the end of the hall.
It was a nursery, lovingly decorated and painted a soft lemon yellow. Two paintings hung on the wall depicting a forest with a stag, wolf, dog and rat loping about without a care and the second was a lily growing next to a still lake. A rocking chair was in the corner, a blanket draped over its arm and a wardrobe covered the entire left wall. The right wall contained shelves that were laden with lovingly picked toys. Straight in front of him was a window looking down onto the lane that he had just traversed and under the window was a carefully carved wooden crib. He walked towards it, laying his hands on the smooth wood, peering down at that which lied within.
Tom Marvolo Riddle gazed at the red headed infant who looked calmly back at him. Did she know she wouldn't see her parents for years? Never again, if he had his way. She reached out her tiny arms towards him expectantly and he scooped her up and held her protectively against him. She was a beautiful child, her soft ringletts the colour of blood, her almond shaped hazel eyes held a warm quality that would make a lesser being immediately do whatever she asked for, and very nearly him, too. This girl was special. He would never allow her to side with the light.
He turned suddenly, making his black robes swirl dramatically as he headed out the door. Peter, who had been snivelling uselessly in the hallway jumped out of his way with a squeak. He nodded to him pointedly as he passed, and heard him scurrying into the nursery to place the pre-prepared corpse that now looked exactly like the child in his arms strategically in the cot. Peter had made sure that the Potter's were out at an emergency order meeting which he had confounded Marlene McKinnon into calling. He didn't want to risk anything going wrong. The child's mother, after all was quite proficient in blood magic, something he refused to fall for twice.
He walked down the stairs of the cottage thinking on how it came to this. The prophecy, told to him by the aging seer Allisandra of the one who was his equal, who would rule by his side if all came to pass and help him achieve his dream. He was more than happy to wait the fourteen years for it to happen. But Dumbledore had been a problem. She had been born to a light family after all, well inside his domain. Dumbledore could have stopped it from happening.
Sybil Trelawney had the idea. She was a pre-cog, which meant she had feelings about what would occur and had occasional visions a few minutes before an event happened. Seer blood was only awoken if born under the right conditions and though Sybil had the potential, she wasn't a seer herself like her grandmother Cassandra. She was very knowledgeable on anything in divination, however, and kept a close eye on everything in the world of seers for him. Allisandra had come to her at the visions urging, and Sybil had brought her to him. Sybil was a very loyal deatheater, and her pre-cog made her the best agent he had.
Sybil's idea was simple, and a few days later she had shown up at an interview for the new Hogwart's divination professor, dressed up as a batty old lady with big glasses and smelling like sherry while sprouting nonsense that she had 'seen'.
Tom got the feeling that she was enjoying herself.
It went off better than either of them could have hoped. Just when Dumbledore had enough, Sybil 'fell into a vision' and recited the fake prophecy that she, Allisandra and Tom had devised together. Dumbledore had fallen for it hook, line and sinker; but it had gotten better than that. Serveus Snape had heard part of it and ran off to inform him of the 'prophecy' right away, giving him the perfect excuse to hunt the Potter's. Of course, then Snape joined Dumbledore, but that could be used to his advantage.
He exited the property and apparated with a muted crack outside Lestrange Manor where Bellatrix was waiting anxiously.
"My Lord?" she asked bowing quickly before springing back up to look at the child. She held out her arms and he handed her to Bella gently. Bellatrix would be a good mother. She was proud, fierce, powerful, loyal, independent; and there was the fact that she couldn't bear children. The child would be doted upon.
"My Lord, what do we call her?" Bellatrix asked reverently as her eyes drunk in the sight of the girl greedily and Voldemort considered for a moment. His handsome aristocratic features showed briefly under his hood as he tilted his head back in thought. What had the rat said her name had been? Something common… Rose Lia. That wouldn't do. She needed something as unique as she would be. Something both light and dark…
He regarded her for a little while. The being that holds your other half, who dwells in both light and dark.
"Persephone Rosalia Lyra Lestrange," he decided finally. Lyra, following the Black tradition of naming their children after a star (Bella was originally a Black, after all), Rosalia to keep her original name in a way, and Persephone, the goddess of spring and light, wife to the Lord of the dead.
It seemed appropriate.
He turned and raised his wand, preparing to apparate back to his own manor.
He would not lay eyes on Persephone until she was fifteen.
Lily and James Potter apparated to the road outside their cottage before they both froze. The door was blown off the hinges, smoke was billowing from an upstairs window and the dark mark hung tauntingly in the sky. Smoke was billowing from the smashed nursery window. Lily let out a strangled cry and sprinted into the house with James on her heels, pelting up the stairs and down the hallway.
It took them ten minutes to put out the fire as they called for help. Peter, who should have been there, never came to find them.
However, most importantly, they couldn't find their daughter.
Hey all! A couple of IMPORTANT things you may not have picked up on.
Persephone is going to appear perfect for a while but she is not. She will make mistakes, but she is also a lot further ahead of other people because of not only her position in society but she is Voldemort's equal which makes her automatically know how to manipulate people and she gained control over her magic more quickly, but this won't be explained fully until later in the story.
Sybil Trelawney is an agent and trusted advisor but not in the inner circle.
Allisandra is not a deatheater, but her visions are telling her that she need to stay around Persephone and she is going to be around Tom, so she is loyal to him.
Persephone is the opposite of Harry; she looks like her mum with her dad's eyes.
Peter didn't put the corpse in the nursery because despite everything Lily and James are his friends and he wanted to give them hope, so he set fire to the nursery so he had an excuse for his Lord as to why the body wasn't found.
Sirius doesn't go to Azkaban because Lily and James around to tell Dumbledore that he wasn't the secret keeper.
Tom, who might eventually be referred to as Marvolo, WILL be with Persephone.
Persephone is going to be dark, but she will still care for people.
Lily, James, Sirius and Remus will met Persephone eventually.
Alrighty then. No flamers, because this is just for fun when I have nothing to do in the afternoon.
There is a fourteen year skip coming up, btw.
Electra2Pandora
Updated 24/09/13