Infinite Shades of Grey

Ch.2 Better To Have Loved

  Without hesitation, Lily holds me tightly to her and runs up the stairs. Soon the front door breaking open was heard. Lily runs into my nursery and shuts the door behind her. She quickly sits me in my crib and then levitates the dresser in front of the door. A ward wouldn't hold him. She just wanted to buy time. She heads back over to me and waves her want around me while mumbling a spell. I could hear yelling and crashing coming from down stairs before it stopped. I went silent but tears flowed down my face. I knew this was going to happen, but I still was devastated that I was losing both my parents. Our eyes meet and Lily looks at me with a sad smile. "Mommy will always love you with all her heart my star flower. Never forget that." She whispers to me, tracing a sowilō symbol over my right brow with her wand. When she finishes, she gives me a kiss on the same place.

  The door and dresser explode. Lily covers me with her body to protect me from the debris. She then turns around hiding me behind her. Walking through the door is none other than the dark lord himself, Tom Marvolo Riddle better known as Lord Voldemort. Lily stands determined to keep me safe at all costs. "Not Aster! Please!" Lily pleads.

  "Stand aside you silly girl!" Voldemort replies.

  "Have mercy!" Lily cries.

  "Stand aside now!" Voldemort exclaims.

  "Have mercy!” Lily begs one last time before Voldemort lost his patience.

  "Avada Kedavra!"

  In a flash of sickly green light, he casts a Killing Cure at Lily instantly killing her. I watch as my mother's body falls to the floor with a thud. I look over the wall of my crib to see Voldemort walking towards me. Soon he was standing in front of my crib looking down at me. I glare at the murder of my parents straight in the eyes. I could feel my magic trying to rise to the surface. Even now, he looked grotesque in appearance. His features were warped and looked as if they had melted like wax. He still had a nose and his eyes were not yet red and slitted.

  "Such strong magic, intelligence, and fire in one so young. To bad your fate is to work for the light. You would have made a powerful follower like my Bella." He says, before holding his wand towards me.

  "Avada Kedavra!" He exclaims. I watch, almost in slow motion as the spell heads towards me.

  Just before it touches me a bright light shines creating a brilliant golden glowing dome. The curse hits it and soon everything is engulfed in blinding light. I couldn't see what happened next, but I heard an ear piercing screech, a huge boom, and felt something hurt my forehead. Then it disappears and everything goes silent. I look around to see Voldemort was gone and a hole was blow into the wall and ceiling. I feel something drip down my face from my forehead. I brush my hand on it and look to see it was blood. I only blink at my discovery. I think I was in shock. I take a shaky breath. Too much happened too quickly and I don't know how to process it.

  I heard steps coming up the stairs, before someone entered the room. I would recognize the traitor anywhere. It was Peter Pettigrew also known as Wormtail. I was silent as watched him. He was mumbling to himself about things going wrong, having to run, and the dog coming to kill him. I don't think he even noticed I was alive. He picked up Voldemort's wand and quickly left. After a few minutes I heard more step. In came someone I only recognized from my mother's photo albums, Severus Snape. As soon as he saw my mother on the ground he fell to his knees in grief. He pulls her into his arms and begins to cry. I know the two had been best friends before they got into a fight and that Severus loved my mother. I also know my mother regretted not forgiving him and blamed herself for him falling to the dark. Lily would tell me stories about the two of them when they were younger. I slowly stand up and I grab my padfoot plush I got as a gift from Sirius. I lean against the front edge of my crib. "Sevy?" I called to him. Severus looks up to see me, face full of shock.

  I tell him something he should have heard a long time ago. "Ma fogived you, Sevy."

  Tears fall down his face in rivers as a weight he seemed to be carrying was lifted. He lets out a shaky breath before laying Lily's body back down and standing up. Without another word he apparated away. I sat back down and just held my padfoot close to my chest. I'm not sure how long I sat there, until I heard loud cry from down stairs. I sat and waited to see if the next person was who I thought it was. Soon I heard rushed thumbing coming up the stairs. Sirius came through the doorway. "No! Lily, Aster!" He cried seeing my mother's body on the ground.

I pop my head up over the edge of the crib. "Da! You ere!" I exclaim. Sirius turns and quick makes it over to me.

  "Prongslette your ok! I thought I was too late!" Sirius cries pulling me into his arms. I hug him as tightly as I could.

  "Da, we urry. Bad bumble sen peple to come. We get stuff an leave. Call gampa." I tell him. Then his eyes take on a glazed look.

  "Right.... We need to hurry.... to get you somewhere safe..... so I can go after the traitorous rat." Sirius says, almost growling the last part. Oh no, he seems to be under the effects of a compulsion!

  Sirius heads over to the closet and grabs an empty bottomless diaper bag Lily made. Adjusting me in one arm, he waves his wand with the other and levitates all my things but the furnitures into the bag. He bends down and carefully takes off Lily's rings and necklace and puts them in the side pocket. He makes his way through the upstairs rooms packing any valuables like jewelry, books, and research into the bag as well. Eventually we're back downstairs. He quickly sets the bag down in the middle of the floor open and mutters an incantation. Silverware from the kitchen to toys and movies in the living room fly into the bag. Once everything was in the bag, he picked it up and strung it over his shoulder. He then went to my father's body and took his rings, putting them in the same place as my mother's. He was about to head out when I tried to get his attention.

  "No go! Ne call gampa!" I tell him. He looked at me still dazed.

  "I need.... to go after the rat.... I'll make sure your in a safe place.... while I hunt him down." Sirius says almost confused. The compulsions are strong.

  It seems he can't call for grandpa with the compulsions. I'll have to work around that. "Lev at Gingot. Lace safe. Apate." I say to him. He slowly nods his head.

  "Right.... Gringotts is safe.... I can.... apperate there." He says.

  He holds me securely to his chest, then we disappear with a loud crack. I feel as if I'm being pulled through a small tube. Then we we spat out. Sirius takes a few unsteady steps forward to regain his balance. I felt nauseous, but I hadn't eaten dinner yet so I luckily didn't puke. We landed right in front of Gringotts. The goblins in armor come running towards us. The hold spears ready to skewer us. "Halt! State your business!" One of the goblins states in a gravley. Sirius sets me and the bag down.

  "Aster..... Safe place..... Got to go..... hunt the rat." Sirius mumbles before apperating away.

  I start to sniffle. I could tell I'm starting to cry again. The goblins look confused at what to do. I try to breath evenly. "I ne elp fom Gipook. Da is compulse. " I tell them. They seem to think for a moment before one of them seems to realize what I was saying.

  "You need help from Griphook and your father is under compulsions." The goblin asks me in a gruff voice. I nod my head.

  "Alright. I'll take you to someone who can take you to him." He tells me, before speaking in growls and grunts to the other goblins. They nod and take their position once again.

  The guard picks up my bag and hold his hand out to me. I walk over to him and grab on. He leads me inside Gringotts Bank.