Chapter 23

"James..." Harry (O) whispered, tears coming to his eyes so fast he couldn't stop them. "Oh Merlin, no, no, no, no, James... Lily... Al...""Rose!" Hermione (O) seemed torn between anger and pure terror that Rose was there, and terror was winning her over."Why can't they hear us?!" a tearful Angie asked - none of the children had even looked up."S-silencing charm?" Harry (Y) suggested.Another obstacle soon came known to them - there was a kind of barrier between them, and they couldn't get to the kids in any way. Ginny (O) sank to her knees in the sand, tears streaming down her face (A/N: I realised how othen people are crying in my fan fics now, and to be honest I'm a bit concerned for my sanity). In truth, Harry (O) was more concerned for James than any of the others. James, who had always stood tall and strong, was now limp and frail, his head sagging on his shoulder and trembling visibly. Harry (O) had always been proud of his son for being a leader, and not a follower - of course, there were many things he was proud of James for, the list could go on and on. Right then, as father overlooked son, Harry (O) felt like he had truly failed. Not just at being a parent - at everything. He had failed Ginny, he had failed his nieces, he had failed his nephews, he had failed all his in-laws, he had failed everyone - most of all, he had failed his children. Things were the same with his daughter - Teddy had been right. Harry (O) had lied to her... It was his fault... He hadn't tried hard enough, maybe they would've found Lily earlier...Teddy's angry words echoed in his mind; "You said you'd come and get us, you said we'd find her, you said it'd be okay, but you lied! We haven't found her or Tonks! You let us down." Oh Lily, I'm so sorry... he thought, his head in his hands as to hide his tears, I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear, sweetheart..."Aww, Potter, such the crybaby." Voldemort was standing directly above Lily, sneering. His voice had awakened James, his eyes fluttering but he didn't lift his head... The other children saw their parents and started yelling, but of course they couldn't be heard... Harry (O) didn't look up - he didn't want to look into Voldemort's snake-like eyes... "It's good to have revenge over you, finally, Potter.""You - You'll let them go!" Ginny (O) got to her feet, her hands balled into fists and her lip trembling, but she remained determined. "You'll let them go now!""But what's the fun in that, Ginevra?" Voldemort chuckled and Harry (O) shuddered. Then Voldemort said two simple words - "Restrain them."*Lily had been only four, but she had remebered it clearly. It had been a cold December night, the kind of night where Ginny would make hot chocolate for them and she'd snuggle up in Harry's lap by the fireplace, trying to warm up. Albus and James would be playing on the carpet, and Teddy would sit next to Ginny, his head on her shoulder, watching the boys and silently sipping his hot chocolate. Lily would fall asleep on his lap, and he would carry her up to her room. He would set her in her bed and tuck her in, and before she dozed off again she would ask him to tell her a story... Lily remembered the story her father told her very clearly. "Once upon a time," Harry had whispered to her as she closed her eyes, "there was a very bad man. He couldn't love anyone, and it made him horrible. He didn't have any friends or family. Anyway, one day that man went after a family. He broke into their house, and the daddy tried to block his wife and son, but the bad man got him. "The bad man ended up getting the mummy as well, but when he tried to get the little baby - do you know what happened, sweetheart? He couldn't get the baby, because the mummy loved her son too much, and it destroyed the bad man. "Remember that, Lily. Always remember that love wins over evil, no matter what..." Harry trailed off, thinking that Lily had drifted to sleep - she really hadn't, she was listening. Harry leaned in and kissed Lily on the head, and whispered, "I'll never let anything happen to you, baby, I promise."Lily's four year-old mind couldn't wrap around what he had told her at that moment - but her eleven year-old one could, and Lily realised that her father had been talking about his family - and Voldemort...*Death Eaters came out of thin air, grabbing them at random and putting wands to their necks, taking their wands away.Harry (O) immedietly panicked, he was being forced away from Ginny (O), he couldn't leave her. Fenir Greyback had her, and she was pale, tears streaming down her face still..."GINNY!" he screamed, and instantly a silencing charm was bestowed upon him.Voldemort chuckled at his actions. "She's next, Potter," he reminded him."TOUCH HER AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS!" Harry (O) yelled back, the charm crushing under his rage."Would someone shut him up, he's giving me a headache," Voldemort drawled. "How am I supposed to kill this scum properly if I can't concentrate?""HOW DID YOU GET THAT?!" Ron (O) demanded, nodding furiously towards Voldemort's wand - Harry (O) realised with a jolt it was the Elder Wand.Voldemort did another one of this bone-chilling chuckles. "Lucky for me, Potter was so stupid as to deliberitally put it back into Albus Dumbledore's grave - it honestly didn't cross your mind for a second that someone would come for it?""We put inpenitratable wards on that!" Hermione (O) cried."Inpenitratable, eh, Weasley? I think not." Voldemort raised his voice, talking to everyone now, "I suppose you also thought Azkaban Prison was 'inpenatratable', as well? What about the Ministry?"Realization passed over Percy's face. "You killed Kingsley!" he accused."He was getting on anyway, did you expect him to remain Minister for much longer?""You... Hawthorn is a Death Eater, then!" Fred (Y) said, refering to the new Minister. "That's why he was such an idiot to Harry!""You didn't stick around to see the show, though," said Voldemort, sneering. "It was a shame. But you were on my trail - I knew it because I had Peter following you, and you never noticed." He laughed yet again. "How is it you can be so stupid?"Voldemort had taken over the Ministry... Broken everyone out of Azkaban... He had the Elder Wand... The Wizarding World was apparently in mortal peril at the moment...The same exact thing had happened about twenty years ago, when Harry was seventeen...Yes, I know it's a bit short, but oh well.Anyway, I've got over 7,000 reads on this story which is AMAZING! Thank you! Really, I know it doesn't sound like a lot but it is to me. (I have over 1K votes on all my stories combined!)If you're wondering (or if you've only seen the HP movies) Harry DID put the Elder Wand back in Dumbledore's grave after the final battle, unlike in the movies, in which he broke it and threw it into the Black Lake (I seriously think THAT was a better idea, but whatevs). Just to refresh your memory ;)Also, if this chapter was a bit confusing, this is what'd going on basically:Voldemort is back, he has Rose, Albus, James, Lily, Scorpius, Fred (two), Molly (two), and Dominique, Tonks has been rescued, Hawthorn (the new Minister, you know the real idiot one)is a Death Eater and has helped Voldemort take over the Ministry slowly, Azkaban has been emptied out and FINALLY, they are basically defenseless against him. Oh yeah, and Harry's totally depressed with himself. And Lily;'s life is flashing before her eyes... Okay, I'll stop now. Special thanks to Gaby ( @potterhead789 ) for reminding me about updating. Seriously, I don't know what the heck I woud do without her...The next update will be coming soon!