The Deception

Chapter 3

January 1st,1926. London, England.

Black Flames erupted in the small dark room, it was barely past four in the morning on New Years day. A small dark hair child slept soundly in the arms of a stranger, completely oblivious to what had occurred only moments before.

Flash black:

"What?!" Merope jumped off the bed with an energy the three of them didn't know she had and grabbed her child. "You can't take him away! He is my son!"

"Merope please, its what's best for him! Can you honestly tell me you have the ability to care for him? Your so young and I know for a fact you where kicked out of your house, where would you live?" Castor desperately tried to reason with Merope. He knew what was coming, he hadn't prepared James and now regretted the fact that the shame and guilt she will be feeling from now on would be because of his careless decision in thinking he could change the future.

"Then we won't live then!" Tears and anguish filled Merope as he hugged her child fiercely to her chest. James stomach dropped.

"Are you actually willing to kill not only yourself but your child too?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but one look into Merope's eyes was all it too to confirm the madness that ran through Gaunts had taken Merope as well. With out even really thinking about it, James raised her hand toward Merope. "Imperio! Hand the baby over to Castor"

Merope obideintly handed over the child, her mind and magic so weak there wasn't even the slightest resistance. James took out the scolls and a blood quill and laid them on the bed. "Sign your name at the bottom" Merope complied and signed her name on the magical adopt paper. James rolled up the scroll and placed it back in her cloak pocket. She looked back at Merope, the gravity of what she had just done started to weigh on her, but she couldn't stop know, it would only be harder. "Get in bed and go to sleep"

Once her eyes had closed James sat on the bed next to her taking Merope's small hands in her own and delve inside her head. It was like walking through air going through Merope's mind, it was open. Finding the memory of the last hour was easy as was obliviating it completely from her mind, no legilimens in the world would be able to ever retrieve it, her mind simply didn't grab on her thoughts and memories. Their tracks where covered.

She turned to her brother her looked at her with guilt and sadness in his eyes. She shook her head it wasn't the time or the place to start an argument, he handed the baby over to her and grasped her arm as she flashed them back to the inn.

Present:

"Jamie"

"Grab our things we need to go back home, everyone is waiting for us" With a nod Castor grabbed their bags and making sure they where not leaving anything behind before he walked back over to his sister and retook her arm a dread filling his stomach.

They flashed into the living room where everyone was anxiously waiting. Billy kick Loki and Reagan awake and walked over right behind their mother. James silently passed the sleeping baby boy to her mother and began walking out of the room.

"Jamie please! I'm sorry, I thought I could change what would happen" Smack.

"You out of anyone should know that the future and past time lines are linear, time can not be completely changed, what you see will always happen, you can only change what you can't see!" and with that James stalked out of the room leaving Castor to explain what had occurred at St. Mungo's.

It wasn't until she had awoken in the late afternoon that it had occurred to her, the future Castor saw will always happen. His visions never failed to come true, no matter how many times they tried to change it. If that where true, then how was it that Castor saw Merope's child growing up in a Muggle orphanage? That thought stuck with her as she walked down to the kitchens for some food.

"You're finally awake I see" Her mother sat on the kitchen table rocking a very fussy newborn to sleep, or at least attempting to. James took the child in her arms and smiled as he immediately began to drift off. "What an absolute miracle, no one has been able to put the little tyke to sleep all day!"

"What have you decide to name him?" James gently brushed her thumb against his soft cheek, she had never really carried a baby, she was far to young to carry any of the twins when they where little and although they where close to the descendants of her aunt Helena's line, she never had the interest in holding anyone of them.

"Castor said he was to be named Tom after his father, a bit of a common name I say, but a perfectly fine nickname, don't you think?" James nodded, they all had very unique names and from the time they where able to speak they all preferred going by either their middle names or shortened versions of them. "Your father and I decided on Polaris Tommen. We've already sent the adoption scroll to the French ministry with his new name and our signature. He is officially a Flamel."

"Polaris, the north star?" James grinned catching the meaning behind the name.

"Well of course seeing as our lives will be revolving around him for a while, it only made sense."

The first six months since Tom's arrival at Flamel castle where the best and the worst. The best because the joy of having a baby in the house was unprecedented, there was always someone happily volunteering to look after him and soon he began to flourish under the care and love that each of the Flamels gave him. They where also the worst because though baby Tom was as happy as any child, two of his adopted siblings where not speaking to each other and hadn't been since the day he arrived.

James haunted by not only her actions but the way she herself had decided it was only way to turn the situation to her favor, but also rage towards her once partner in crime Castor for not warning her. Castor on the other hand was filled with guilt for what his suppressing information has done to his eldest sister. Any time they are in a room together it becomes unbearably uncomfortable to the point that they've both decided to stay in their rooms. It wasn't until her father, tired of seeing his children fight, finally cornered her in one of their Alchemy lessons.

"Jamie, when are you going to stop torturing yourself over this? Its been months, all you ever do is lock yourself in your room, you hardly ever come out for meals and you've abandoned all your projects." James shrugged as she turned the burner off and levitated the hot cauldron full of the elixir of life and set it on the table to cool. "You did nothing wrong Nixie"

James rolled her eyes at the pet name her father had given her and turned to him. "Nothing wrong? I used the imperious curse on her, a confused girl who had just woken up to two complete strangers telling her they where about to take the child she had just given birth too!" and in that moment for the first time since she was two, Phoenix James Flamel sobbed into her father's chest. "I'm just as bad as him, aren't I daddy? This is what Godric's been doing to innocent wizards and now I've gone and done it as well"

"Listen to me Nixie, you saved two lives, Merope's mental state after all that she has gone through was not well. Everyone has heard of the madness that comes with inbreeding, look at the Blacks, they also come Salazar Jr.'s line and up until now they've been fine. Will they be in the future? No one but Castor can tell you that. Besides you used the imperious curse of its intended purpose. The curse was originally made to help those with mental conditions to take their potions and to keep them from harming themselves and others. Did you not pay any attention to your mother's history lessons?"

James shook her head; history was not her favorite subject to study.

"Then maybe you should ask her for a refresher course, knowing our history is very important Nixie, knowledge is power, especially in our world, it's best to always be prepared"

From that day on James studied history like a mad woman, any and every book they had she read, she delved through old tomes and scrolls devouring the information and wishing she had her sister Billy's gift of information absorption, although organizing her mind as her parents had taught her helped her a lot. She made amends with Castor and soon the two of them became closer than before. Tom began to grow into a brilliant and powerful young boy, picking up spells and potions almost as fast as they all did when they where younger. As they years flew by it seemed as if all was well, that was until two days after Tom' s eleventh birthday. The day Albus Dumbledore came to Flamel Castle.