Tom padded through the house quietly. It was night, and his mum was asleep already. He knew things were dangerous outside, and he knew she couldn't go out alone anymore. He overheard things that the grownups didn't want him to know. He knew that there was a bad wizard out there. He knew that bad wizard was after their family because she was helping catch his supporters.

He couldn't do anything about it.

It was all so frustrating. He was too young to go to Hogwarts. Too young to learn how to really defend his family. He didn't even have a wand. He practiced what he could anyways. At night when the house was asleep, he snuck to the secret room. He hadn't told anybody else about it. In that room were other books, books his mum probably wouldn't buy for him. Books on special kinds of magic. Different kinds of magic. Dangerous magic.

He practiced some of it in that room. He didn't have a wand, so it wasn't quite the same of course. But there were some things that he could do. Manipulate objects around himself and use them as weapons. Bind things with magic. Make people hurt if he needed to.

When he finished, he walked out to the main hallway. He knew he wasn't supposed to go to Nana and Papa's house before it was time for the whole family to go. He looked over at the box where his unfinished Christmas gifts were tucked away. It couldn't hurt that much if he just...went there, could it? It was only two days early. Two days couldn't make that much of a difference.

He grabbed the box.

He left.

Zia searched the house room by room, frantic. Tom was gone. Nobody knew where he was. None of the house's occupants had seen him. She went back to his room, searching for at least a clue to his whereabouts when she noticed that the box he was keeping his Christmas gifts in was gone. She stared at the empty space and her heart slowed. Nana Mary and Papa Charlie.

Tom had never done something like this before. He was a child of course, and still got into mischief. But he'd never outright done something he knew would scare her like this. She pulled on her coat as she half ran to the doorway. Regulus appeared shortly after, summoned by Pozey thanks to Zia's franticness.

"I think he's with Mary and Charlie," Zia said breathlessly. Regulus nodded once and they let the room do its job. Zia burst through the doorway that they'd established near the farmhouse where the elderly couple resided. In the distance flames and smoke billowed into the sky. A pit formed in Zia's stomach. It was their house.

Regulus grabbed her elbow without saying a word, and apparated them to the doorstep. Wands out, they extinguished the flames. One hand holding her wand out in front of her, the other pressed over her mouth, Zia kicked open the front door. The living room furniture was smashed and burnt. She moved into the side bedrooms. They were all in a similar state. She turned to enter the kitchen, but Regulus blocked her way.

"Zia-" he began to say something, but she shoved past him.

They clung to each other in front of the kitchen table. It was the only untouched piece of furniture in the house. No charring from the fire. Not one splinter out of place. But this was the worst room of all. Nana Mary and Papa Charlie. Both of them had expressions of determination on their faces. Their eyes were still open, faces turned against the floor. Mary was slightly behind Charlie. Their hands were linked.

On the table just behind them, was Tom's box. Zia shook as her eyes combed over the scene again and again. It was as if her brain refused to finish processing it. Regulus tugged at her arm, but she didn't move. She was trapped in that moment of horror, eyes unable to move away from the sight of the people she considered her surrogate parents in this world, lifeless in front of her.

A loud pop came from behind and she jumped and whipped around to face whatever made the sound. Dumbledore stood there, next to Pozey, who upon catching sight of the scene burst into loud sobs.

"Can you fix this?" Zia whispered. It was a plea. Dumbledore looked at her kindly, but shook his head slowly.

"Magic can't fix this."

Now the tears came. Zia couldn't do anything else but cry and stand there numbly. The Dawkins family was gone. This never should have happened. They never should have been involved in anything having to do with the wizard world. It was her fault. Worse, she wasn't even sure what had happened. Tom couldn't have done this, could he? He loved Nana Mary and Papa Charlie. She refused to believe he could do this. Still, some part of her, the one that worried, the one that knew what Tom was supposed to grow up into, wondered. What if he could do this? What if he had?

"It's obvious that this was..." Regulus lowered his voice and whispered something to Dumbledore, who nodded.

"We need to know exactly what happened here," Dumbledore said. "I'll have to look at their last memories." Zia looked over at him.

"How?" He hesitated to say anything else, and she understood.

"Legilimens."

"Tom, you aren't supposed to be here for two more days! How did you get this far without Zia knowing anyways?" Nana Mary chided her grandson fondly. She wasn't mad. Not truly. But she knew that Zia must be going insane with worry. "I'm going to call her and let her know where you are."

"Don't tell mum! I need to work on Christmas presents!" Tom exclaimed, holding the box up in front of himself. Mary shook her head and smiled.

"Your mum is worried sick I'm sure. I need to let her know where you are and that you're safe. I'm surprised at you, Tom," Charlie stepped up next to her and ruffled Tom's hair.

"I guess you're right," Tom grumbled.

"We can at least have breakfast first," Mary said next. Tom brightened and skipped inside the house. They all moved into the kitchen. Mary set to work scrambling up some eggs. Charlie sat down next to Tom at the table and they pulled out one of the would-be gifts.

Mary hummed to herself as she prepared breakfast. She smiled when a knock came at the door. It was probably Zia. Those two were so close that it was like they could read each other's minds sometimes. She was proud of Zia for raising such a smart and kind boy. Mary glanced over at Tom and smiled. It was nice having a family. Her heart still ached for her son who would never come home. That would never go away. She wished that he could be there with them all.

She dried her hands on a towel, but never made it over to open the front door. With a click, the door unlocked itself. Two tall figures she didn't recognize strode through the door as if they owned the place. Mary didn't recognize either of them. One was a man, and the other was a woman. They held sticks of wood out in front of them like a knight might carry a sword.

She didn't know what it was, but something about those sticks sent chills down her spine.

"Well look at what we have here," the woman said. Her voice was accented. "A house full of muggles. Really? This is where she goes?"

"Disgusting," the man said. Mary heard Tom stand suddenly, the chair scraped back and clattered to the ground. She reached for him, but he darted past her and stood defiantly in front of both her and Charlie.

"Get out of here!" he said. His voice was calm but cold. It sounded strange coming from her Tom.

"And what can you do to make us?" the woman laughed. Mary watched as Tom raised his hands. A flash of something shot away from him and beamed towards the two intruders. The man waved his stick around and whatever it was Tom did vanished. Understanding dawned on Mary. Magic. These people had some kind of magic. She hadn't thought it was real but...it did explain some things.

The sofa lifted next and sailed across the living room towards the intruders, but again the man waved his wand. It burst into a hundred splintered pieces. The man started to laugh.

"That's some pretty strong magic for a boy so young," he commented. More furniture sailed towards them. More blasts of light. Nothing touched the two as they continued to advance. Charlie had regained his head already, and ran forward to grab Tom. Mary moved into action just after her husband. She had a feeling this might be the end. All they could do was protect their grandson. Nothing would change the fact that he was theirs just as much as they were his.

"Run Tom!" Charlie pushed Tom behind himself. Mary caught the boy and pushed him behind her body, shielding him.

"No! Nana! Papa! You can't fight them!"

"I know. But we can give you time. Run!"

"No!"

"We're old, we've lived long lives. You still have a lot of life left in you. Go!" Mary said gently, her eyes pleading with Tom to listen. She wasn't afraid to die. They would get to see their son again, she was sure. This was okay.

Tears gathered in Tom's eyes, but he nodded once then ran.

Charlie reached for her hand. Together they ran towards the attackers two rays of bright green light illuminated the room.

Zia sobbed as she watched Dumbledore scoop the silvery memory into a small vial. They'd just watched it again using the Pensieve. She cried every time. Mary and Charlie had died to protect Tom. She, Regulus, and Dumbledore had searched the entire area for her son. All they found were the corpses of the two people who had attacked the house, left in the barn. The Aurors came next. None of them found any further clues.

"I'm sorry Zia," Theseus had said to her. "We should have protected your family. What you were doing for us put you in danger."

Zia hadn't said anything. She didn't blame the Aurors.

She blamed herself.