Disclamer: I do not own Harry Potter
October 31, 1981
Lily Potter heard the crash followed by James shouting, "Lily, take them and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" and that was exactly what she did. She ran up to their bedroom still clutching Harry in her arms. She looked down at the crib which held the sleeping figure of her three week old daughter. She reached down to pick up her daughter, her mind already calculating how far she had to go so that she could leave the wards around their house and apparate both her children to safety. She heard the door bang open behind her and she immediately dropped Harry down into the crib with his sister before turning to the man standing in her doorway. If he could still even be called a man.
As Lily looked into the soulless red eyes of Lord Voldemort, she had a moment of clarity. James was dead and she soon would be as well.
"Step aside foolish women, or I will kill you" Voldemort said this as if it would be a mere inconvenience. Taking a life seemed so insignificant to him.
"No!" Lily screamed, "Kill me, but please don't kill Harry or Violet." She knew that even though Voldemort was only there for Harry he would not hesitate in murdering an innocent infant as well.
"Very well," Voldemort replied and then there was a flash of green light and the last thing Lily Potter ever saw was her two children screaming in the crib.
Petunia Dursley was having a exhausting morning. Vernon had been late to work. Dudley had thrown another temper tantrum. On top of all that, there had been endless owl screeching the entire morning. It was becoming rather irritating. She had already phoned animal control, only to be informed that they had no explanation for the unusual behavior of the normally nocturnal animals, but were extremely busy responding to other requests and would be unable to send anyone until the following evening. Deep down, this made Petunia worried. She knew a little of the wizarding world from Lily, and that was enough to make her suspect that these owls had to do with them. She shuddered at the thought.
She heard a knock on the door and used this distraction to attempt to shake off her growing unease. She opened the door to find a very unusual man, one of them, standing before her. He had a long white beard, half-moon spectacles, and such odd clothing that Petunia secretly prayed that none of her neighbors were looking out their windows at the moment. But that was not what caught her attention. It was what he was holding. She looked down at the two children in his arms. One seemed to be Dudley's age while the other could be no more than a few weeks old.
"Mrs. Dursley, isn't it?" the man said, turning her attention back on his face. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I'm afraid that I have some bad news. Last night your sister, Lily, and her husband were murdered by an extremely powerful dark wizard named Voldemort. I am extremely sorry for your loss." Petunia saw that he meant it. Dumbledore's eyes looked like they were beginning to tear up.
She heard Dumbledore asking her something, but she couldn't process what he was saying. Her mind was spinning. Lily was dead. Her little sister who was always so fiery and fierce, was dead. How could this happen? How was it possible? In one moment, the years of resentment fell away. Her sister was dead, and they had never made amends... She finally managed to pay enough attention to hear what the man before her was saying.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Dursley, I want nothing more than to leave you to grieve but I am afraid there are a few things we still need to discuss," he gestured meaningfully to the two children he was holding in his arms.
Petunia suddenly realized that these must be Lily's children. She looked again at the little boy, he had dark hair like that Potter freak that Lily had married. She felt a wave of anger. Potter. It was all his fault. If it weren't for him, Lily wouldn't have been so caught up in all that freakish magic. If it weren't for him, Lily would still be alive. She turned her attention to the little girl, and she felt her anger melt with shame. She hadn't even known that Lily had had another child. How could she not have known? Almost as if the baby had sensed her distress, her bright green eyes snapped open and she began to scream. Instinctively, Petunia reached out and took the baby with her younger sister's eyes from the strange man. She held her niece close and rocked her back and forth until she fell back asleep. Petunia gazed down at the now peaceful child in her arms, and began to feel the emotions that had been building up inside her. She just couldn't help thinking of baby Lily when her parents first brought her home from the hospital.
Petunia looked up at Dumbledore, who was standing with a hint of a smile on his lips and a relieved twinkle in his eyes and asked him, "What did you say her name was again?"
A/N: This book is in part a demonstration of the butterfly effect. Therefore, the only major change I made was having Lily Potter's second child born a few months before they were meant to. Everything up until this point follows canon. Also the reason Dumbledore gives the children to Petunia personally instead of leaving them on the doorstep is because I don't Dumbledore would think it was safe to leave an infant outside all night.
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