Author's note: the idea for this story popped in my head a few days ago and it has caused me to start writing something other than essays and University stuff, something which I have not done for years. I have also just uploaded a one shot starring Snape, so check that out if you have the time.

I think this will only be a short story, around five or six chapters, just to get me back into writing for fun again. I have to admit that while I love the Harry Potter books it has been quite a while since I read them last (even if I read them many times before) so hopefully my memory won't be faulty on any of the information.

Please let me know what you think about this (short) prologue. I hope to upload further chapters soon. Thanks for reading!

PROLOGUE - REMEMBRING

She remembers how she used to play with her dolls when she was young, pretending they were her children and loving them as mothers should. Her mother would lovingly stroke her hair while she babbled on about the adventures her little dolls had had during the day. She couldn't wait until those dolls where not just dolls but real and living children, hers to love and protect.

She had lived in a dream. She did not think about how men would look at her when she would be older: those lecherous eyes would almost keep her from ever experiencing something as wonderful as the love of her husband or children. Real love was not based on mindless men following her around only because of her unearthly looks and Veela magic. Their perverted ways had prevented her from ever becoming close to anyone from the other sex and she almost started to wonder whether she would ever have that opportunity, even at the tender age of seventeen.

She had also never expected a war to both bring her close to the love of her life, or impacting their personal lives to the extent that it would seem better to either wait or not even have children at all if that meant raising them in such a hostile and dangerous environment. Although during the period of war she tried to push the longing for children to the back of her mind, she often felt that all the worries of the world prohibited her from living the life she had always dreamt about. Only the unconditional love of her husband helped her during those dark times, which, unknown to her then, would not even be the darkest period of the life.

But after her being a Veela and the war, the most unexpected were the strange and dark feelings she felt when she finally held her baby in her arms. She had felt more love for her old dolls than she felt at that moment for her baby. She remembered crying and being terrified, not even knowing why, while her husband was beaming his million watt smile and showed off their daughter to anyone who would listen. She was afraid to reveal to her husband how she really felt about their child, too ashamed and consumed with self-loathing. Only when she could no longer hide it, when she almost did the most despicable, unthinkable thing, did she call for help, which came from the most unexpected person ever.

The shame would never go away, neither the fear that those feelings would ever return. Her husband, their families and professionals had helped to get her rid of the dark thoughts during those horrible months but she let herself never forget how her dreams had turned to nightmares and how her luck and suddenly turned sour. She still did not understand why everything had happened and she thought she never would. The only thing she could do now was love her children, and especially her first daughter, as wholly and completely as she did now, making up for the horrible period during those first months.

But she could never forget, she would always remember.