Prolog
Prologue
In a small park in London, a lone eighteen year old woman walked down the path, attempting to clear her mind. Her red hair was blown by the summer breeze. This young woman was Lily Evans, a recent graduate of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. And she was currently not in the best of moods.
For the past nine months she had dated James Potter, who had been pursuing a romantic relationship with her ever since first year, or so he claimed.
Six years to gain her affection, and only six minutes to loose it.
She thought bitterly.
While James had been extraordinarily immature for the majority of their Hogwarts years, he seemed to have grown up once he reached his seventh year.
Lily scoffed. As if. Once an immature bastard, always an immature bastard.
She couldn't believe she had actually given him a chance. Admittedly, Lily had begun to find his sense of humour kind of charming. When he wasn't harassing innocent students, primarily Slytherins, that is. She had also discovered he had a kind heart and a strong sense of loyalty towards those he cared for. Truthfully, she had probably just gotten tired of rejecting his advances. In any case, the end result was nine months of an epic romance, that had probably ended tonight.
Lily sat down on a park bench. She looked around. The aree was completely deserted. The closest stragglers were across the street. The sun was only just setting below the horizon. Lily knew it was dangerous for her to be out in such an open location by herself, at night, and in Muggle London. After all, it was witches and wizards like herself who were the main targets for Voldemort’s death eaters. But tonight, Lily could not bring herself to care.
A mere hour ago, she and James had had their biggest fight to date. Words and spells alike were thrown between the two. And What was the cause of such an argument, one might wonder?
The one and only Severus Snape.
Fresh out of Hogwarts, they had both joined The Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization dedicated to fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The Order was led by their former headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
The Order had recently faced off against Voldemort's forces during another Death Eater raid. During the fight, Lily and James had gotten separated. Lily knew that James could take care of himself. However, she was still frightened when she heard him scream. Hence why, she immediately ran to where she heard the sound.
Only to be met with a sight that chilled her to the core.
It appeared that James had somehow gotten into a fist fight with a Death Eater, which Lily found strange, as Voldemort's forces detested Muggle forms of fighting.
But alas, a worst surprise was yet to come.
In the tussle, the Death Eater's mask had fallen off. The face that was revealed underneath was the last one she had ever wanted to see under a Death Eater mask. The face of her oldest friend, Severus Snape.
Her shocked emerald eyes met his surprised black ones. Tears began to blur her vision. One single word slipped past her lips in a broken whisper.
"Sev?"
She looked down, no longer able look at the man before her.
She didn’t receive a reply as Severus had somehow freed himself from James's grasp, picked up his mask, and disapperated.
During the debriefing with the Order, Lily had kept a tight grasp on James's hand. Every time he made to speak, she would shoot him one of her deadliest glares. She knew what he desperately wanted to say. He wanted to reveal that Snape was a Death Eater. And she wasn’t going to let him.
Once they returned to their shared apartment, James had demanded why she wouldn't let him speak. Once she told him, the argument escalated from there.
James had asked why she would protect someone like Severus Snape. Lily pointed out that he had once been her closest friend. James had retorted that "The snivelling git", had not been her friend for years. That he had called her, "The M word", and that he was now "A Death Eater, for Merlin's sake!".
Lily had yelled that maybe, if James and his friends hadn't been so cruel to Severus, then he wouldn't have fallen so far. The rest was just a blur in her mind.
Lily did not know why she had defended Severus. Or even how she felt about him.
On one hand, she had known him to have interactions with students who meddled in the dark arts. She had heard of how, when he was with his fellow Slytherins, he was known to insult witches and wizards who were Muggle Born, like herself. And then there was the incident in their fifth year which Lily hated to think about.
On the other hand, the two had been extremely close friends since even before Hogwarts. Severus had only started acting cruel to Muggle Borns when he began to hang out with the other Slytherins.
Lily knew of Snape's home life. An abusive drunk for a father, and a mother who was too weak willed to protect either herself or her son. Lily knew that Severus only wanted somewhere he could be loved and respected.
Severus went to Hogwarts thinking that he could finally find a place where he would belong.
Only to be constantly harassed by an arrogant gang of Gryffindors, and to be stuck in a house full of pure-blood supremacists. It didn't help matters that his only true friend had been sorted into a house which was in constant rivalry with his own.
Lily shook her head. In the end, she felt guilty for what happened to Severus. She felt as if she were partly responsible for his decision to join the dark side.
She remembered that night, after he had accidentally called her a "Mudblood". She had known that he regretted it right away. But she let her fear control her decisions.
She had feared for a long time that her friend was falling to the dark. Her friends in Gryffindor had warned her, not to trust him. Told her that all Slytherins hated Muggle-Borns. But she hadn't listened. She had thought that her friend would be strong enough, that he wouldn’t give in to peer pressure. That he would resist the seductive pull of the dark arts.
Only to be called the worst name a witch of her status could be called.
She had been filled with anger, at both Severus and herself, that night. He had begged her, sat outside the Fat Lady's portrait for hours. Only for her to reject him.
"No - listen, I didn't mean -"
"- to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"
She remembered the final words she had said to him that horrible night. She had thought that it was the other Slytherins influencing her friend.
Maybe if she had forgiven Severus, maybe if James hadn't been so cruel towards him. Maybe, maybe...
Lily wiped tears of frustration from her eyes. It was too late for maybe’s and what if’s, her friend had chosen his path, and this time she couldn’t follow after him.
Maybe, just maybe, there was a way to save him. After all, wasn't Dumbledore always promoting the idea of redemption, forgiveness and second chances? It was the main reason why he didn't allow them to use lethal spells on missions against the Death Eaters. Maybe there was still hope for Severus Snape. Lily knew it was a long shot, but hope was one of the only things she had left these days. Her sister Petunia wasn't talking to her, and she was afraid to go to her parents, as she did not wish to make them targets for Death Eaters. And her relationship with James was most likely over.
Lily sighed. Life was not going well at the moment.
Suddenly, the teenaged witch was broken out of her thoughts by several cracks.
Around her were a dozen Death Eaters who had apperated into the deserted park.
"Well, well, well, look who it is." One of them said. "Potter's little Mudblood whore. What's wrong, your blood-traitor friends are not around to protect you?"
Lily stood up, her wand in her hand.
"Go to Hell." She snapped.
The Death Eaters laughed.
"First, we're going to ask you some questions. Like the location and plans of Dumbledores little club."
Her only answer was to fire curses, aiming to severely wound and stun the Death Eaters.
Lily was a talented and powerful witch. However, she was only eighteen years old and fresh out of Hogwarts. The Death Eaters on the other hand, had many decades of magical training under their belts. While Lily was able to take out a few, she was no match for them.
They disarmed her and held her down while their leader interrogated her.
"Now, what is Dumbledore planning?"
She spat in his face.
"Crucio."
Lily felt absolute pain course through her entire body. It seemed to go on for an eternity, but only lasted a few seconds.
It continued in a similar way for some time. The Death Eater would ask her a question, and Lily would reply by either spitting or yelling insults in his face. This would result in another round of cruciatus curse. After a while, Lily was panting and the Death Eaters looked furious.
"Forget this." The leader growled. "Let's just kill her and owl Potter her head."
This was it. She was about to die. Lily closed ⠓⠻ eyes. But before she did a glint of red entered her vision. Wait... that made no sense, the killing curse was green.
The leader's eyes widened. His body fell to one side to reveal a strange looking sword, its red blade lodged in his back.
The other Death Eaters released Lily and backed away from their fallen comrade. Their wands were pointing in every direction, attempting to see who had killed the dead Death Eater.
A few of them shot spells towards the area surrounding the body. With a flicker of red energy, the spells were deflected, much to both Lily's and the Death Eaters' surprise.
What was even more surprising, however, was the man who materialized seemingly out of nowhere.
Within the blink of an eye, the man had crouched down, retrieved the sword, and was back on his feet ready to fight. He then raced toward the Death Eaters.
The Death Eaters shot curse after curse at him, the majority of them being the killing curse. However, the man managed to either dodge, or much to the shock of everyone present, deflect all the spells with his sword. One by one, they all fell to his blade. Lily could do little more than stare, as she was still recovering from the torture.
She had no idea what to think of this man. On one hand, he had saved her from certain death. On the other hand, he was killing all of the Death Eater's, which heavily conflicted with her morals.
Soon, all the Death Eaters laid dead, leaving Lily alone with the man standing. He walked over to her, extending a hand.
"Are you alright?" He asked, his accent strange.
Lily refused his hand and got shakily to her feet.
"What the hell did you just do?" She said with as much fury as she could muster.
As she walked toward the lead Death Eater and rummaged around in his robe pockets, eventually finding her wand, the man stared at her, confusedly.
"I believe I just saved your life." He replied adamantly.
"You killed them." She retorted, gesturing toward the Death Eaters. She quickly threw up a few privacy wards.
The man gave her an exasperated look.
"Weren't they just torturing you and talking about killing you?"
"Yes, well..."
"I may not know much about the situation, but these people seemed like the type who have done such things and much worse in the past, on a regular basis and would do it again without hesitation in the future."
"Yes, but..." Lily tried to think of a reply but couldn’t for the life of her come up with one.
In truth, she did not as strongly believe in second chances as Dumbledore. While in theory, it was a nice mentality to have, it wasn't very ideal when it came to war. People died in wars. That was the reality of it. The Order was doing very poorly in the war, and many viewed it as the fault of Dumbledore's policy of non-lethal spells as the reason for it.
But this was different. It was one thing to debate about it. It was another thing to see it.
So Lily took a deep breath and stared straight at the man.
"Could you at least help me get rid of the bodies, seeing as your the one who made the mess?"
The man merely raised a hand and said in a strange language, "Brisingr."
Suddenly, all the bodies erupted in red fire.
Lily blinked in surprise. Who exactly was this stranger?
She examined him carefully. He was tall, with deep dark brown hair and mysterious grey eyes.
She cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Well, thanks for ummm..."
She glanced around at the burning bodies.
"So, I'm Lily. Can I have your name?"
The man examined her for a few seconds. Finally, he answered her.
"Murtagh."
She smiled.
"Well, seeing as you just appeared from thin air and saved me, the least we could do is talk."
As Murtagh followed the strange red-haired woman to a bench, he thought over what had led him to his current situation.
It had been three years since he and Thorn had left Alagaësia. They had soon discovered that the world was bigger than they thought. It turns out, Alagaësia was far, far behind the rest of the world. The technology and society of these new lands amazed him. Both dragon and Rider theorized that it was only due to the strong concentration of magic within Alagaësia which kept it from being discovered by the outside world.
Thorn had been ecstatic to discover the existence of multiple species of dragons. However, he was then disappointed when he realized that they were not as intelligent as Alagaësian dragons.
Another interesting discovery were the different societies of magic users, all hidden from the rest of the world. Murtagh found their magic to be both stronger and weaker than the ancient language.
On one hand, they did not have to draw energy from either their surroundings, or objects in which energy had been stored, so that they did not kill themselves from using too much of their own personal energy. However, their magic was basically useless without a wand. A fragile wooden stick.
Murtagh learnt as much of the wizarding world as he could. He believed that this would surely peak the interest of Eragon. Murtagh knew that as soon as his brother found out about this hidden world of magic, he would wish to know everything about it. And he would most likely find out when Murtagh and Thorn felt ready to return. In the meantime however, Murtagh was exploring the magical world.
It was during his and Thorn's explorations, that he learnt of the trouble in magical Britain.
Murtagh and Thorn did not wish to be in any more wars. They had had enough of conflict when they were enslaved by Galbatorix. Even after three years, the memories still filled them with sorrow, regret, and shame. They had been forced to do truly horrible things and they had no wish to participate in any more conflict.
However, they also had no desire to allow the rise of another potential Galbatorix.
So they both decided to remain out of the conflict and observe. If it looked like Voldemort was getting too powerful, and that there was little to no chance of stopping him, then they would intervene. This decision had stood strong, until tonight.
He and Thorn had been flying over London, both camouflaged by magic, when they had sensed a great magical disturbance.
They had swooped down to see several of the hooded figures whom supported the dark wizard Voldemort, torturing a young woman. It appeared as if they had stumbled upon some form of interrogation.
Murtagh had to admit, the woman was fierce. Though she appeared to be in pain, she did not break.
[She must be one of the magicians fighting the snake faced one.]
Said Thorn through their mental bond.
[The ones who are led by the old man.] Murtagh replied.
They had seen several of their battles, and he was not too impressed. It appeared that their leader's mentality was the same as that of Eragon's when they had first met. Murtagh remembered when he had slain that slaver, and how outraged Eragon had been when he killed someone in cold blood.
Murtagh shook his head and looked at the scene again. Thorn had just landed a few feet away now, and he could now hear what they were saying.
"Forget this." The cloaked figure whom Murtagh assumed to be their leader said. "Let's just kill her and owl Potter her head."
Murtagh instantly leapt into action. Still camouflaged, he jumped off of Thorn and drew Zar-Roc. He ran toward the leader and stabbed him in the back.
When the rest fired spells in his general direction, he muttered a spell to deflect them. He dropped his camouflage and quickly finished them off.
Though the woman who he now knew to be Lily was at first angry with him, she appeared to have calmed down and they were now sitting on a park bench, talking to each other.
"What was that?" The witch asked.
Murtagh shrugged.
"Magic."
"Well, that much was obvious." She replied. "But it wasn't any kind of magic I've seen before."
"I am not from around here." Murtagh answered her.
"Then what are you doing here?" She asked, suspicion lacing her tone.
"If you are wondering if I am a supporter of the dark wizard you are having a problem with, I am not. I was merely passing through, and noticed you being attacked."
He glanced at her.
"Why were you sitting out here alone, if you are in a war?"
Lily frowned.
"I got into a fight with my boyfriend... Needed to clear my head..."
Murtagh didn't push further. Thankfully, Lily changed the subject. And it went on from there.
Murtagh found himself enjoying the witch's company. She had a kind heart, a fierce temper, and was not afraid to do what it took to keep the people she cared about safe.
While he tried to avoid lying to her, he was also not about to tell her all of his secrets.
Once it got dark, they decided it was time to leave. When Murtagh asked her if she had a place to stay, Lily replied by saying she might ask if she could stay with a friend of her's. He offered to help her, just in case she got attacked again. However, Lily declined. And so they parted ways, both feeling better than they did upon arrival in the park.
During the following months, Lily and Murtagh continued to meet in the same park they had first met in. They were as open as they could be to each other. However, they still had their secrets. Lily, hid her conflicting feelings concerning Severus Snape, and Murtagh, hid his dark past. For the next few months, the two became closer. What began as a hesitant friendship quickly developed into something more than either of them could have ever dreamed for.
Lily was hesitant about beginning a new relationship, considering what had happened with James. However, Murtagh was not James. He was far more mature, and did not see things in black and white as James did. But she did not even know if he even felt the same way. He was always so guarded, it was hard to tell what he was thinking half of the time.
Murtagh was scared of getting too close to Lily. He was developing feelings towards her, and he could tell she felt the same way to some extent. However, he did not know if they would last when Lily found out about his past. He did not wish to keep secrets from her, especially if they were to become intimate.
But what would happen when she did find out? What would she think of him then? Would she hate him for all the blood that stained his hands?
It took Thorn to convince him otherwise.
[If she truly loves you, then she won't care.] Thorn argued. [And anyway, neither of us asked to be controlled by Galbatorix in the first place.]
Against his better judgement, Murtagh listened to Thorn's advice.
Once both Murtagh and Lily had confessed their feelings, they both felt as if a giant weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Murtagh had even told her details of his past. Not the fine details, only about how he had been bound by magic to the will of a tyrant king and forced to commit horrific acts, and had even been forced to fight against his own brother. He had even told her about the Dragon Riders.
She had been amazed when Murtagh revealed Thorn to her. And even more amazed when Thorn touched her mind and communicated with her.
From then, Lily and Murtagh had led a secret relationship.
After her fight with James, she had moved in with her friend Alice and her fiancé Frank Longbottom. Though Lily trusted Alice, she kept the existence of Murtagh Murtagh’s existence a secret.
At the next order meeting, Lily had bumped into James. To her amazement, he had apologized to her about the fight, and asked if they could start over.
Lily had thanked him for the apology, but had told him that she thought it best if they were just friends. James had been upset, but he accepted it and they had eventually become good friends.
Everything seemed to be going fine. Until one January, over a year and a half after they had first met.
They had met in a coffee shop in Muggle London. Lily had thrown up privacy wards around their table. She was fidgeting nervously.
"I... I need to tell you something." She stuttered out.
Murtagh glanced at her curiously. Lily was hardly ever nervous.
Lily took a deep breath.
"I'm pregnant."
The whole world stopped. Murtagh could hardly breathe. He vaguely heard Lily calling his name. But all he could hear was "Pregnant.".
She was pregnant.
How? Didn't he... Well, there might have been a time or two... But that shouldn't have been enough...
Pregnant... But that would mean... Wouldn't that mean...
[Murtagh!]
He finally heard Thorn yelling in his mind.
He looked to Lily to see her face marred with concern.
"I..." He gulped. "This is... Incredible... I am truly happy for you... But I... I don't think I could be a good father..."
Lily's eyes began to fill with tears.
"What do you mean?"
"It's not that I don't want to be a father." He quickly said. "It's just that, I think any child would be better off without me."
"Why would you say that?" Lily asked. "I mean, I get that you have a dark past, and that you've made mistakes... But haven't we all?"
Murtagh took a deep breath.
"No, it's... It's more than that."
He closed his eyes, clearing his mind so that he could properly explain the darkest part of his history.
"Do you remember the scar? The long one on my back?"
And so, Murtagh told her everything, concerning Morzan and his heritage.
By the end of it, Lily was quiet for a long time. Finally she spoke.
"Well, there are certainly a number of things I could call that... that monster you had to call a father. But I would prefer not to use such language."
Murtagh blinked.
"Is that it?" He asked, amazed. Where was the hate? The disgust? The suspicion?
Lily only reached out and grabbed his hand.
"Murtagh I love you. Just because your father was a monster, doesn't mean that you are. It doesn't matter where you came from. All that matters is what you make of your own life."
Murtagh smiled, relieved by her words.
"Oh, how I wish there was at least one person in Alagaësia who shared your sentiment."
He sighed.
"I would love nothing more than to stay with you and our child. But, I do not wish to draw attention to the child while they are still young. Both Thorn and I feel that if we don't return to Eragon soon, then he and Saphira will come looking for us. Soon we will have to return to Alagaësia, and I want any child of mine to be as far away from there as possible. I know how it feels, to be judged for the crimes of my father. If the child of Morzan was treated with such distain, imagine how the grandchild of Morzan and the child of Murtagh Kingkiller will be treated."
Lily's hand grasped his even tighter.
"Please Lily." He begged, his voice full of emotion. "I am more damaged than you could possibly imagine. Both Thorn and I are. We need to keep moving, to recover from the torture we were put through. I would want nothing more than to stop here and make a family with you. But we fear that if we remain for too long, then Eragon will decide to come looking for us, and I wish to stay as far away from the eye of Alagaësia as possible. I do not want my child, our child, to grow up being hated for who their father is. They deserve more than a damaged father and a legacy of murder and betrayal."
Lily had tears in her eyes.
"I... I understand."
And so with a heavy heart, they made plans to explain Lily's pregnancy.
After much debate, they decided to seek out James for help. While at first Murtagh was hesitant to tell him the situation, Lily seemed to trust him. Murtagh could tell that under the arrogance, James Potter had a good heart and would do anything for Lily. So it was decided that they would claim James was the father of Lily's child, and that they had secretly gotten back together, but didn't want to draw too much attention.
It turned out that the newly married Alice Longbottom was also pregnant, and expecting just before Lily. So the Longbottom couple was also invited into the secret. Another addition was Sirius Black, whom James considered a brother.
All were sworn to secrecy. Murtagh had gone as far as to make them swear an oath in the ancient language to not tell anyone unless permitted by either himself or Lily.
James had wanted to tell Remus and Peter. However, Murtagh did not trust the latter, and most of the order was suspicious of the former. Thankfully, Lily permitted that if it turned out Remus could be trusted, he could be allowed to know the secret.
The child was born at 11:59 p.m., in St Mungo's. He was approximately 3 weeks premature, but extremely strong.
After all the visitors had left, only Lily and James remained in the hospital room. Murtagh slipped in, having borrowed James's invisibility cloak. He nervously walked towards the bed, where Lily was holding the baby.
Lily placed the child into his shaking arms. Murtagh looked down at the child and smiled.
Lily was grinning exhaustedly as well.
"We've decided to name him Harry, after my father." She said.
Her parents had been attacked by Death Eaters just weeks after she found out she was pregnant. They hadn't even been the targets. Merely collateral damage during another raid. Their deaths had devastated her, as well as putting a permanent wedge between herself and her sister.
Murtagh smiled down at the child, Harry. His son. Harry Murtaghson. The thought almost brought a tear to his eye.
No. He couldn't. He couldn't be Murtaghson. Not now. Not while his scars were so fresh. He wished he could be the father his son deserved. But he couldn't. Both he and Thorn were too damaged. Eventually, Eragon would come looking for him. He would try to convince him to join the new Riders. Any new Riders would be Alagaësian. They would remember the war. They would know of Murtagh, the king killer, the son of Morzan.
No, it was best if Harry stayed here, where he would not be hated for his heritage.
He looked up at Lily and James.
"Thank you." He said. "I'm... I'm sorry that I am not able to do more..."
"Hey," James walked over to him. "I get it. You’re doing the right thing, keeping your kid safe."
Murtagh smiled at the man.
"And I hope you will keep both of them safe." He replied.
“I will. I promise."
Murtagh looked at Harry again. His hair was a deep dark brown, almost black, like his own. His eyes opened to reveal emerald coloured orbs. Lily's eyes.
Murtagh took a deep breath. He held his son close to him one last time.
"Don't worry." He whispered to the child, his child. "I will return for you."
With a heavy heart, he handed Harry back to Lily. He kissed the woman he loved one last time. Then, he took out the cloak again.
"Please," He began. "Tell him the truth when you feel the time is right. Then, give him this."
He retrieved a glowing red gemstone from his pocket.
"This will help him find me, when the time is right." He explained.
He turned to leave. Just as he was about to walk out of the door and put on the cloak, he turned one final time.
"I'll leave the cloak at your home. Lily... Thank you."
And with that, he left.
That night, after dropping the cloak off at James's home in Godric's Hollow, he and Thorn flew away from England with sorrow in their hearts. Murtagh knew it was hard. But it was the right thing to do.
James and Lily were good people. They would raise him right. They would give Harry all the love he deserved. And when the time came for Harry to learn of his heritage... Well, Murtagh could only hope Harry would forgive him.
Neither Murtagh, nor Thorn, nor James and Lily, could have known that Harry's time with his mother and adoptive father was limitedcounted. That in only fifteen months, both would be dead and Harry would be put into the care of his mother's sister and her family, from whom he would never receive the love and care he needed. And it would take until his eleventh birthday before he even discovered the existence of magic. It would take another three years before he discovered the truth of his heritage.