“Izzy? Sweetheart?” I could hear Charlie’s voice. “Wake up love!”

“Here put this on her forehead!” A soft angelic voice said.

Something cool touched me and I could feel myself gaining control of my limbs again.

“Look! She waking up!” The angel spoke again.

“Izzy! Are you alright?” Charlie was the first person I saw. His faced looked completely worried.

“What happened?” I said groggily.

“You passed out Sweetheart.” I tried to get up but Charlie held me down.

“You should really sit for a little bit.” The angelic voice came from the green eyed woman. “Here drink this.” She handed me a warm cup which I sipped.

“This was just a big shock I guess.” I said as I searched the room for the man. He was sitting in an arm chair looking worried as well. He was staring right at me.

“You must forgive Peter, it was a bit of a shock to him as well.” The green eyed woman said. “I’m Claire, your step mom I suppose.” She gave me a cheerful smile.

I stood up still feeling a little light headed. I glanced back down at my picture then to my father.

“You’re really gorgeous.” He finally spoke. His Brazilian accent was slight and almost unnoticeable. We had so many similarities it was uncanny. The eyes, the hair, the lips, even our eye brows seemed to match. The only thing different was our noses, his was larger where as mine was small and more like my mothers. “I’m glad you stopped by to see me Isabella.” I couldn’t say anything. All I could do was look at him as he spoke.

“Why don’t you sit? I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.” Said Claire escorting me to the couch. Charlie sat right next to me as Claire left to get something.

“How have you been?” My father asked.

“Good.” One worded answers were all that would come out.

“Who is this strapping young man?” He gestured to Charlie.

“Charles Weasley.” Charlie stood and shook his hand. “Izzy’s boyfriend.”

“Ah, well that’s great you’ve found someone Isabella.” He smiled shyly at me.

“Where did you get that?” I asked almost too fast pointing back at my picture.

“You’re mother had a few spare in her garage so I took one.” His tan skin darkened as he looked at the picture. “I hope you don’t mind. I only have a few of you, and there all of you very young.”

“Can I see them?” I asked quietly. He nodded is head and left the room.

“You’re doing great.” Charlie whispered in my ear putting a hand on my knee. “Just remember to breathe Sweetheart.” He kissed my cheek.

My father came back with three more picture frames. He handed them to me and sat back into his chair. The first was my father looking much younger holding a small baby with a full head of hair. I had never seen baby pictures of me this young. My mom had always told me they didn’t have a camera until I was a year old.

“You were so small when you were born.” I heard him say.

The next picture was me asleep on his chest. We both were sleeping an the couch that’s in my mom’s living room. I seem to fit perfectly onto his chest at that time.

“You were about four months old at that time.” He added.

The last picture was me at the age of two. I had pigtails and smiling up at the camera. This one was different though. I was waving up at the camera and you could see me moving around.

“That was the only magical picture I ever took of you.” His voice sounded so sad. “You were the world to me.”

“Then why did you leave?” My tone sounded angry.

I searched his face for an answer, but all he did was look down at his hands. I needed to know this part before I learned anything else about him. Finally he looked up at me and took a deep breath.

“It was to protect you.” I waited for him to finish. “When you were born things were beginning to fall apart. Voldemort had learned of the prophecy that was to end him, and he was ready to kill every last child.” He started to shake.

“How did you get mixed up in that?” Charlie asked for me.

“My brother, your uncle Andrew, who was much older than myself, became a Death Eater after he finished school. He became completely brain washed by Voldemort and thought everything they did was for the greater good, and from what he told me it sounded like it was. He said Voldemort didn’t want Witches and Wizards to hide in fear of being persecuted by muggles. Andrew wanted nothing more than to be free to perform magic whenever he wanted and in front of whoever he wanted. He was also told that family was always safe as long as they followed Voldemort.

“After I finished school Andrew told me I was to join them. I didn’t want that, but I couldn’t let down my own brother. I helped conceal people who were following the Dark Lord. Years past and Andrew was still begging me to join officially. A few months after you were born I went with him to a gathering. There were dozens of people there, some of which I knew very well, like the Black and Malfoy families. Only a few were there out of loyalty, but most were there out of fear. Andrew didn’t fear Voldemort, he looked up to him. Halfway through the meeting there was an attack. Andrew told me to hide. A lot of people died that day, including Andrew. After that day I knew you weren’t safe. I knew I had to leave you and your mother. I altered your mothers memory to hate me and to think I ran off with another woman. I would come and visit secretly, but as you got older it became to risky.”

He looked down at his hands again and began to fiddle his fingers. You could see talking about this upset him. I didn’t encourage him to go on. My chest tightened as the truth was revealed. My mother would always yell and scream if I ever mentioned my father or a boy I liked. I guess it was just my fathers spell that made her that way.

“The last time I came face to face with you was when I took that picture.” He pointed at the frame now in Charlie’s hands. “I met Claire when you turned three and had your sister a year later.”

“Sister?” I asked even though I knew about her.

“You have a younger half sister, Emily, and half brother, Jaden.” He smiled thinking about them. “They both went to the Brazilian Wizarding School, just like Andrew and I.” That made sense for his accent.

“Do they know about me?” I asked looking at my hands.

“Yes. I don’t keep you a secret from them.” His tone was kind and gentle. “I just wish the situation was different when you were born. You would have been able to be with them growing up.”

“I always wished I had siblings growing up, and my wish has sort of come true.” I smiled at him.

“Why are you being so kind to me?” His question surprised me. “I left you alone without a father or an entire family.”

“My mom did her best to raise me. One thing she taught me was to be open and understanding. Even though she’s hard headed and self-centered, she’s my mom and I’m glad I had her.” My mom often discarded my feelings, but she was my mom none the less.

“You’re mom did a good job at teaching you that.” I could see his eyes glisten over.

“Was I an accident?” My tone sounded innocent.

“Yeah you kind of were.” He laughed a little. “I had only knew your mom for a month when we found out she was pregnant with you. When we met I was in Texas hiding fugitives, not looking for a relationship, let alone a child.”

I smiled a little bit at his tone. You could tell he was a funny guy, and that’s probably what attracted my mom to him.

“I stayed with your mom until things got to risky for yours and hers safety.” He scooched closer to me and put a hand on my knee. “But please understand that I loved you very much and all I was doing was trying to protect you.”

It was like I couldn’t help myself. I threw my arms around him and broke down crying. I could hear sniffles coming from him as well. When we broke apart I saw Claire standing to the side wiping away tears.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized. “I’m not normally this emotional. It’s just good to finally know the truth. Mom never told me anything, so I always thought you never wanted me.”

“I’ve always wanted you Isabella, and I still do.” He looked straight into my eyes.

We embraced again, this time not breaking apart for a long time. The missing part of me had now been filled.