Author's Notes: This is my first fan fiction so please be nice. Before I begin I want you to know that Lilly and her brothers are Harry Potter and Ginny Weasely's seven children. Please review. By the way, Sirius's nickname is pronounced sears, like the store.

Prologue

Five-year-old Lilly Potter stood on the edge of a sturdy branch holding tightly onto a thick rope that was attached to an even higher branch. She was about to jump from the branch and swing down, and then let go and fall into the large net linked to surrounding trees. The children used the net as a swing and spent a fair amount of time on it.

"Come on, Lils. The rest of us want a turn!" shouted Sirius, Lilly's eight-year-old brother.

"Shut up, Sirs," James, her eldest brother sneered, defending his nervous little sister. "She's only five, and it's her first time on the swing."

"Fine, but she'd better go soon," grumbled Sirius.

Lilly nervously adjusted her grip and leapt off the branch. She screamed as she swung forward with her long, raven-colored hair tailing behind her and the skirt and short sleeves of her emerald party dress ruffling in the wind.

She shut her eyes as she let go of the rope and fell gently into the net.

"All right Lil's," cheered her second-eldest brother, Badden. "We knew you could do it!"

Lilly smiled. "I told you I could do it."

"Oh, oh. Me next," said Lilly's twin brother, Albus, as he jump up and down in excitement.

"No, me!" Shouted a little blonde boy who had just arrived with his parents for their father's party.

"I think the people here for Mum and Dad's anniversary should go first," the fourth born child, Conner, put in.

"Why should they go first?" complained Dagon, who, at seven was not very considerate of others. "It's our house!"

"Because we can go on it any day and they're only here for tonight."

"Fine," Dagon huffed, with a pout on his face.

Lilly crawled off the net and smiled as she sat under a tree, watching everyone have their turn on the swing until her mother came and got them for dinner.

Clink, clink, clink!

Lilly turned her attention to the other end of the dinner table, where her Uncle Ron, world famous Keeper for the Chudley Cannons, had stood up to make a toast.

Ron cleared his throat, " I would like toast to my sister and her husband of now thirteen years. It certainly wasn't an easy road for them. For any of us."

" Many sacrifices had to be made, but life goes on and I'm just glad that all… almost all of us could be here today. To the Minister and his wife!"

Ron sat down and sadly cast a glance at an empty chair at the end of one of the tables.

"Hey, James?" Asked Dagon, when everyone had put down his or her glasses and started eating. "Why does he look so sad?"

"Well, Dad says that Uncle Ron used to have a girlfriend named Hermione, but they broke up because she had to go and train to be an Auror and he wanted to be a Quittitch player."

"He hasn't seen her since the party we had when Mum brought Lilly and Al home. I guess he was hoping to see her again," James replied.

"Aww, do you think he still loves her, Jamee?" said Lilly, who'd been drinking in every word.

"How should I know? I'm only eleven."

Lilly simply shrugged and began digging into a large plate of spaghetti that had magically appeared in front of her.

After dinner the tables magically pushed themselves off the side and everyone got up to dance.

"Come on, Lilly, let's go dance," said Albus, and he pulled her over to the center of the dance floor.

A slow song began to play. Al took one of her hands in his and put the other on her shoulder. Lilly did the same.

The pair danced awkwardly for a while, Albus constantly stepping on Lilly's feet.

"Huh," Lilly huffed. "Al is it okay if I dance with Daddy?"

"Sure," said Al. "I'll just dance with Mum."

"Mummy, can I dance with Daddy?" Lilly asked tugging lightly on her mother's skirt. "Al has two left feet."

"Hey!"

Her mother smiled and pulled away from her husband. "Do you mind, Harry?"

"How could I turn down a dance with my little Tiger Lilly?" Harry scooped the little girl up into his arms.

Anyone could tell with even the slightest glance they were father and daughter. The little girl had her father's dark black hair, the top layer of which was bundled into a limp ponytail and the rest flowed halfway down her back. She also had her father's bone structure of high cheekbones and prominent chin. Her nose, which she had inherited from her mother, was small and slightly pointed.

The most noticeable similarity-between father and daughter was their matching emerald eyes.

Lilly giggled with delight as she put her arms around Harry's shoulders. "Hey, Daddy?"

"Yes, Lils?"

"How long 'til I can go to Hogwarts like Jamee?"

"Hmmmm," Harry thought, while doing the math in his head. His daughter always asked him questions that made him think. " -Well, James is eleven and will be starting Hogwarts in a month. So since you're five you'll be starting in James's seventh year. So that's six years, my dear Lilly."

Harry continued to dance, as Lilly went on asking him math questions and chattering on about how when she was older she would be as good at math as he was for the rest of the song.

Harry carried his daughter off the conjured dance floor on the lawn of the Potter Mansion and headed over to the large bonfire about thirty yards away. He sat down on a log and settled his baby Lilly in his lap.

"You know, Daddy, when I go to Hogwarts I'm going to be a hero just like you. "Lilly said to her daddy.

"I've no doubt of that, Lils," he replied with a smile.

Just then a group of children came running up to the pair. "Hey, Dad. The rest of us where just wondering if, since Badden and I entering my first year, that maybe you'd tell us about your first year?"

Harry beamed at his firstborn. "Sure, kids. Sit down and I'll begin."

And so the last thing Lilly heard before falling asleep was her father's soothingly deep voice telling the wonderful story she'd heard a thousand times before.

Young Lilly was awoken by screams of terror and blood curling laughter. She snapped her eyes open. People were running frantically from dark hooded figures. Bodies were scattered across the lawn and most everything was lit on fire. Lilly began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Lils," a voice to her right shouted. She turned to see her twin brother, Albus, running toward her.

"Al!" she screamed, as a rather fat woman ran past her, knocking her down.

"Lils, Uncle Ron says to hide in the woods," he said, while pulling her to her feet. "Come on, Lils, run!"

They both took off at top speed, pushing through the screaming crowd, holding hands so as not to get separated. People were dropping dead left and right, but they kept their focus strait ahead.

"Lilly! Albus!"

Just ahead of them they saw James and Badden pushing towards them. "Albus, we told you to stay with Sirs and the others."

"Sorry, Jamee," Al apologized. "But we might want to get going."

A woman with a baby dropped to the ground beside them.

"Right." Badden grabbed Al's hand and ran, while James grabbed Lilly's. "Come on, everyone's in the woods at the cavern."

"You mean Mummy and Daddy and everyone are okay?" Lilly spoke for the first time.

"Well, the grown-ups went to fight, but the rest of us are together and okay, 'cept for a cut or two," Badden replied.

Lilly remained quiet as she ran after her brothers toward the cavern. As they got closer the screams quieted slowly into silence.

When they arrived at their camp, Lilly was exhausted and sore from running. Her brothers weren't much better. Covered in cuts and bruises, they leaned against trees, doing their best to stay alert and awake.

"Jamee are Mummy and Daddy going to be okay?" Lilly asked through choking tears.

"I don't know, Lils," James said, taking his sister in his arms. "I just don't know."

Lilly Potter woke up with a start. It had been nearly seven years since the night her parents had disappeared; she still had nightmares of the chaos and horror of the night she and her brothers had spent hiding in the woods, and the morning after, when she heard the news of her parents' disappearance

She looked around the girls' dormitory. The long, narrow room housed about thirty other girls, all of whom were sleeping peacefully in metal frame beds.

At least I didn't wake the other girls, thought Lilly. Quite often "that freaky potter girl," as Lilly had been called by some of her schoolmates, awoke the other girls by crying out in her sleep.

Lilly wiped away her tears. There, now, Lils. Get a hold of yourself. There's no point in crying, she thought to herself. We'll just go see Al, and he'll make it all better.

Lilly and her brothers had been living at the London Children's Home for over six years. The only reason they hadn't been separated was because the one time the agency had taken Albus away, Lilly had simply laid in bed, crying, and had refused to eat. When Lilly's resistance had become so severe that she put herself in danger of dying, the agency had had Al shipped back as quickly as possible and hadn't dared to send any of the Potter children to a foster home for fear she would do it again.

It had been Lilly's plan all along. She was a very clever, determined, and hardened eleven-year-old girl. She would do anything to keep what was left of her family together.

As quietly as she could, so as not to wake the other girls, she got out of bed and crept out of the dormitory. She was still in her worn nightshirt, which had belonged to her eldest brother, until he had seen how small her own pajamas had become.

Ever since their parents had disappeared, James had taken up the role as the father figure in his younger siblings. And when he had gone to Hogwarts, he passed on the responsibility to the eldest of the children not going away to school.

It had been Al's turn last year, and after a speech from James, he had really stepped up to the plate. Lilly felt that she would be a wreck without him, although she would never admit it.

Al, she projected her thoughts to her brother. They had been able to use their twin telepathy since they were six years old. It had taken them a few years to perfect, but now they could easily have full conversations.

Albus Potter, I know your up so get your arse out of bed. Lilly scowled.

Merlin, Lils, you have to learn to watch your tongue, Albus replied.

Whatever, Lilly rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see her. Just get out here. I need you.

Did you have the dream again?

Yes, which means you did, too. Now please let me in.

A few seconds later, the door to the dorm opened and Albus motioned her in.

Mind if I sleep with you the rest of the night? she asked putting on her best puppy dog face, accompanied a sad smile.

Of course, thought Al, crawling into bed.

Thanks.

As Lilly hopped into bed and snuggled up to her brother, she couldn't help but think of the horrid turn her life had taken.