The Durmstrang Potter Twin

On the River Styx

It was three months into James and Lily's venture into being in hiding. Naturally, it took me two days to figure out where that was, and twelve days of scouting to find the perfect place to Apparate in order to get in and out quick when it happened. I knew, of course of the switch of the Secret Keeper, that Sirius was no longer the one that was allowed there, and it was Peter instead. This was their first mistake.

Harry had come into the world a year before Dumbledore had finally pushed them into hiding. He was such a beautiful baby, and I wished that I could remedy what was to occur every time I held him, every time I saw him. And I simply hoped that, when he was of the proper age for the return of his parents, he would be able to forgive me. After all, it would not be Dumbledore who took the blame for this. I would. Every single part would be my fault, would be blamed on me, in order for Harry to keep his blind trust in the Headmaster. It hurt me that I would not be able to be the Aunt that he needed, that I would have to take his parents away from him, that I would take his whole family away from him. 

Three weeks before Halloween, Marlene and Dorcas were killed, along with the entirety of the McKinnon family. James and Lily wrote to Sirius and I, telling us of how they reacted to the news. How Lily had stayed up all night, crying. How James now sat in quiet solitude every night before the fire, playing the guard, waiting for Voldemort to come. He knew what was coming. Lily knew what was coming. It was said from the tear stains on the letter.

Three days before Halloween, Alice and Frank Longbottom were tortured into insanity, and little Neville was left to his grandmother, Augustus Longbottom, who promised to always protect him.

It was then that I knew the day when it would happen. The day when Peter Pettigrew's betrayal would come to its foul, cruel end. Halloween day came and went and we received another letter from Lily and James, telling us of dressing Harry up as a little pumpkin, and how Peter had come over and blew little wisps of smoke out of his wand for Harry to try and catch. At ten o'clock, I kissed Sirius goodbye for the last time I would be able to in fourteen years. Fifteen, Dumbledore had said, would have developed the proper 'hero' personality in Harry. I scoffed at him. I hated him. I hated him so much that had I not had any measure of self control, he would have been dead. Once upon a time, he had been so kind, so fun loving, and now he was just another bastard at war, willing to do anything to make himself win.

So, now, I sat outside of their house, calculating. It was eleven-fifty. It was time. And so I walked into the house, kneeling silently before the door and praying to every god I knew to please, please, save Harry, and to please, please forgive me for the terrible thing I had yet to commit. I held back the tears that seemed so insistent now that the moment had come and I opened the door and walked through the hall to the living room, where I found James laying on the window seat, face pressed up against the window. Lily sat on the couch, watching him with a sad look on her face, and I shook my head.

I cleared my throat, making them jump and look at me.

Lily gave a soft, yet confused smile, "Tara, you weren't supposed to come until tomorrow."

James had whipped around and was now staring at me with a calculating look on his face before shock and betrayal came to it, "No."

Lily's brows furrowed, "James?"

"Peter's betrayed us. Hasn't he?"

I nodded slowly, "He has. Tom comes tonight."

"And you are here to protect us?" Lily asked hopefully.

I sat down on the couch and rubbed my eyes, "To protect you, yes."

James and Lily looked confused.