Disclaimer: It is not mine

Thank you AngelAuthor14, Couldn't do it without you!

My Destiny Is My Own:

It was a dark night in Little Whinging. There was no moon, no stars, no lit windows. The only lights were the few streetlamps that had not been knocked out by some of the young hoodlums in the neighborhood.

Number 4 Privett Drive was just as dark as the rest of the houses in the community. Inside the house, if there had been light, one could observe an ordinary suburb abode. It was obviously owned by people who tried, along with the rest, to keep up with the Jones. There was no character, no original touches. It was almost a carbon copy of the interiors of the other houses on the street.

One exception to this was the small cupboard under the stairs. This cupboard had three large padlocks adorning the door. Two misty figures stood in front of the door, one of them crying in the other's arms. Green eyes looked up at the dark haired man who was holding her.

"How could they? How could they treat him like this? I knew Petunia was angry and that she hated magic but how could they treat their own nephew like this?"

"I don't know Lily, I really don't know. Come on, lets get him out of here right now."

Having said that the man turned, stooped over, and walked through the door. He appeared a moment later with a small boy in his arms. The child was asleep. He was also dirty, emaciated, and bruised. There were shadows under his eyes and he was so thin that his ribs could be counted visually.

Holding his child with one arm James Potter put his other arm around his wife and all three of them disappeared leaving the house as dark as it had been when they had first appeared.

()()()()()()()()()

Far away in Scotland, outside the small village called Hogsmeade stood an ancient, derelict castle. The people who lived in the village knew that looks were deceiving. Indeed, many people all over the country knew that the imposing castle was really an incredibly beautiful castle.

The people who realized the truth were part of a specific part of the population of the country. These people occupied the magical world of the British Isles. Wizards and witches had been coming to Hogwarts, as the castle was named, for a magical education for centuries.

While the shades of James & Lily Potter were removing their son from the muggles (non-magical people) two wizards were sitting in an office in one of the highest towers in the castle.

One of the wizards was very old with long silver hair and a long silver beard. The most notable thing about him was the twinkle in his bright blue eyes. He was dressed in a flamboyant set of red robes which were covered with gold and silver stars, planets, and moons. He had a pointed hat on his head which matched the robes perfectly. His name was Albus Dumbledore and he was the current Headmaster of the school.

The other wizard was younger and not nearly as flamboyant as the Headmaster. In fact, he was quite the opposite. Severus Snape was younger than his boss. He was tall and thin with hair as black as midnight (kind of greasy too). He had a hooked nose and dark eyes.

The two were quietly enjoying snifters of fine brandy, good cigars, and quiet conversation when suddenly one of the silver whirling gadgets in the room started whistling while red and blue sparks flew out of it.

"Severus something is wrong. The wards on the Dursley's house just went down! I've got to get the order to check it."

At the same time the younger wizard grimaced and grabbed at his left arm. "I'm being called Albus, I must go. I will check in with you as soon as I return." He immediately turned on his heel and disappeared.

Now Hogwarts did have non-apparation wards but there was an exception for Severus Snape, the potions professor. I'm not going to go into the whole history of Hogwarts and the magical community. If you need to know about it you can get a lot of it from any number of books. The History of Hogwarts is a good one. I'm sure you also know about the Dark Lord Voldemort and the small boy who survived the killing curse. Voldemort was dead, or presumed to be dead anyway and only a small handful of people knew where the child was. Although most of his followers were caught and sent to Azkaban, the magical prison, many of them still roamed the countryside under the cover of darkness.

I seem to be getting off track here. Anyway, Severus Snape was one of the Death Eaters. Everyone thought so anyway and several people had even seen the Dark Mark on his arm. Very few people however knew that Severus was a spy. He spied on Voldemort and now on the Death Eaters and reported back to Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. His mark had not summoned him since Voldmort was vanquished but somehow it had summoned his this evening.

()()()()()()()()

Privet Drive was still dark when four people suddenly appeared on the street in front of number 4. Well, Privet Driver was still dark except for the huge fire reaching out of the roof of the house into the night sky. Most of the house had been blown to smithereens and the small part that was still standing was burning. The flame was so powerful and so hot that the fire fighters could not even get to it.

As the four stood there unobserved in the dark they overheard two of the officials on the scene discussing the fact that everyone inside the house had been killed. All four could feel the powerful dark magic that permeted the property. Having found out what they came for they walked away down the street and were never seen by anyone there.

()()()()()()()()()

As the four wizards were reporting to Dumbledore Severus came stumbling out of the fireplace in the Headmaster's office. He was disheveled and looked as if he had been rolling on the ground.

"Severus, it is grave indeed. It seems that young Harry Potter may have been killed tonight. The wards were indeed down and when the Order arrived there what was left of the house was aflame. The muggle officials on the scene were overheard saying that everyone in the house was killed."

"No Albus, Harry Potter was not killed in the house. But you are right, it is indeed very grave. Voldemort is back Albus, he doesn't have a body yet, but he is back. He has been in Albania, hiding in the Black Forest since the killing curse rebounded on him. He sent Death Eaters to the house, and finding the house unprotected they attacked, hoping to capture the child. When they got into the house they found three muggles, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, and their child Dudley. They tortured and killed all three and then destroyed the house. When the slug that Voldemort is today (describing his physical appearance) found out that they had missed the target he tortured each and everyone of us. He intends to leave no stone unturned until he regains his body and finds Harry Potter."

Dumbledore looked at the potions master with a determined look on his face. "We must find Harry. He will never be safe out there without us to take care of him. We must get him to a safe place." Looking around at the others in the room, he instructed them to conduct a search and to talk to all of their informants to try to find the child.

()()()()()()()

Stepping out of the fireplace into the living room of his quarters Severus poured himself a large glass of firewhiskey and collapsed onto the sofa. "Damn Voldemort! I thought I remembered how badly the cructias hurt, but I was wrong," he thought to himself.

As he was sitting there lost in thought he was brought back to the present by a small breeze blowing through the room. Now this was quite unusual because his quarters were in the dungeon and had no windows. Looking around he noticed the air in the corner of his room was beginning to glow. As he watched, unbelieving, Lily Potter's form slowly took shape in front of him. Since she had been killed the night her son was struck by the killing curse no one could blame Severus for taking a huge swallow of his firewhiskey and shaking his head to clear his vision. He looked again, and sure enough, there she stood.

"Severus Snape, don't you dare pass out on me! I need you! I need you to come with me. I need help and you are the only one I trust to do this for me. Please come with me. I need to take you to Potter Mansion. Please Severus, I will explain everything to you when we get there."

Receiving his nod she walked closer to him and reached out and took his hand. He felt a cool sensation at the touch and with one last look at him Lily waved her hand and both disappeared.