DEBILIS | draco malfoy

prologue

Godrics Hollow, October 31st 1981

. . .

IT WAS AN ODDLY CALM NIGHT IN OLD GODRICS HOLLOW. The little village was unmoving, the trees stood stiller than ever with no breeze to sway their old branches. It was silent - eerily silent.

The residents slept soundly in their cottages, completely oblivious to the history-changing event that had just taken place in their sleepy little hollow. An event that would rock the wizarding world for years to come - an event that would single handedly end the raging war.

Inside a freshly-derelict cottage, two babies sat crying in their cribs. Their peaceful slumber had been disturbed by the sound of their parents' screams and shouts, followed by, what seemed to them, nothing more than a flash of green light. They continued to stir, crying out for their 'mama' and 'dada', blissfully unaware of their new status as orphans. From that moment on they would go down in history as the infamous 'twins who lived', known by witches and wizards all over the world.

The door to the nursery was swung violently open, revealing a distraught man with pitch black hair. He fell to his knees in an instant, tears pouring from his dark eyes.

He had failed. He had failed so badly. He hadn't protected her.

The sight of her lifeless body shattered any remaining heart he had, any small slither of light left in his life was gone. She was dead. And it was his fault. Why didn't he protect her?

Her copper waves caught his tears as her cradled her limp body in his shaking arms, he held her tighter than ever before - cursed himself for letting her slip away. Cursed himself for the choices he had made.

A loud sob escaped his throat, he rocked her frail frame back and forth, "Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry."

Sorry he failed to protect her, sorry he didn't find a way to warn her, sorry he had betrayed her, sorry he ever joined that sickening group, sorry he followed that monster.

"Lily, please, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

The baby above him was staring in naive curiosity, her giant green eyes locked onto this this unfamiliar man. He looked gradually up, forcing his gaze away from the woman he so loved. The woman he fucking failed.

The baby giggled, clapping her tiny hands together, while her brother continued to cry. The man glanced from one to the other - they were almost identical. The emerald eyes of their mother paired with the midnight curls of their father made a striking combination. He gently lay the fragile body down and stepped closer to the twins, he could see now why only one was crying. He had the most curious cut etched into his forehead, it was shaped liked a lightning bolt. His sister? Not a single scratch. She had been left completely untouched.

He stood above the crib closest to him, looking down at his goddaughter through clouds of tears. Lily had reached out to him over a year ago now, asking to give him the title of godfather to her younger twin. Severus agreed. They'd even made a plan for him for come and meet his goddaughter..And then things went wrong. Very wrong. He never got to meet her. Not even once.

He was too busy plummeting further into the abyss of darkness and evil and everything cruel. He was in so deep he could see no way out, no way except Dumbledore. He pleaded with him, begged for a chance at redemption, for the opportunity to do right - to do anything - in return for Lily's safety. That worked out well, didn't it? So much for protection.