Prologue: The Girl who Lived

June, 1981

Xenophilius Lovegood was a very non-normal man, thank you very much. He lived in a perfectly non-ordinary house with vibrant greens and pinks and oranges in and out with uniquely unique decorations aplenty. He had a wonderful family of three and a job that he was more than happy to fulfill. What more could a man ask for?

No, he was perfectly happy living in this perfect little house with his wonderful wife and beautiful daughter.

But then, a knock on the door came.

Xenophilius had to wonder who it could possibly be. He or his family never got many visitors, due to their odd behaviour and beliefs, he presumed.

Perhaps it was Molly Weasley, she did have a daughter the same age as his, after all.

He got up from his writing desk, upon which he was working on the next Quibbler article. It appeared that the mating season of Gulping Plimpies had begun, causing a large increase in their population.

With some trepidation, he walked across the entrance hall of the house, painted with bright green and yellow stripes. There was always the possibility that it could be a Death Eater attack, they had been plaguing England more than ever these past few years.

Looking through the peephole, he saw... Dumbledore? That was odd. Well, relatively odd. Unpredictable, he supposed. What reason could Dumbledore be visiting him for? Surely he didn't want him to join the Order, he had a daughter to take care of! He supposed he should still listen to what he had to say, so he opened the door to not be rude.

"Ah! Philius, good to see you! I remember when you only a first year at Hogwarts, you were undoubtedly a Ravenclaw, even then!" Dumbledore said, a jovial expression on his face.

"Not to be rude, but why are you here, Professor Dumbledore?"

"Please, call me Albus," Dumbledore's jovial expression faded, "I have brought some... unsettling news. I'll need to talk to your wife as well. It concerns her too."

"Oh then, please, have a seat." Said Xenophilius, leading Albus to the living room, painted a vibrant orange, with lime green, strangely shaped furniture surrounding a table covered in pieces of parchment covered in childish scribbles.

With Albus sat down, Xenophilius headed up the stairwell, wondering what Albus' news could possibly be. Could the Death Eaters have attacked a relative? He didn't have any other relatives in England, so that couldn't be it, Could it?

"Pandora! Professor Dumbledore has paid us a visit!" He called from the upstairs hall.

The sounds of a thump, a baby crying, and a woman gasping in surprise could be heard from the last room of the hall. The sound of footsteps, and then the door opened. Out stepped the most beautiful woman Xenophilius had ever met. His wife, Pandora Lovegood.

Her hair glowed in the sunlight streaming through the windows, making the pale blonde colour glow a vibrant gold. In her arms was their five month old daughter, Luna. Even at her small age she was wonderfully perceptive, noticing everything. A Ravenclaw if he's ever seen one.

"Philly! You made me drop her lunch!" She said, playful annoyance in her voice.

"Apologies, my dear, but Dumbledore seems to have brought news. We should listen to what he has to say."

The couple headed back to the living room, hand in hand with Luna still in Pandora's free arm.

"Ah! Sit down, sit down. I'm afraid I have things to tell that you will likely not enjoy. Care for a lemon drop? They're quite delicious." Albus said, as they sat down on the large couch facing the fireplace, crackling with a pink flame.

"No, thank you, Albus. What is the news? Was someone killed?"

Luna crawled out of her mother's arms and over to the arm of the chair of the couch they sat on, tugging on Albus' magnificent beard.

"Well, you don't know this, but I was interviewing Sybil Trelawney for the position of Divination professor at Hogwarts. The interview wasn't going well, and I was about to decline when she had a prophecy, her first and only prophecy. The details I will spare you, but in essence, the prophecy stated that the magical child born in the midst of February will be... the one destined to defeat the dark lord."

"Surely you can't mean-" Pandora started, pulling Luna away from Dumbledore's beard.

"I'm sorry, but yes. When the prophecy was told, a spy of You-Know-Who heard a part of the prophecy. He will undoubtedly be coming after you."

Xenophilius and Pandora gasped in horror.

"I know of a way to keep you and your daughter hidden, the Fidelius charm. If you do not know of it, the charm is one of the strongest ways of hiding a location there is. Nobody will notice the location exists except for the people who are told it's location by the secret keeper. The main issue of the charm is that the secret keeper cannot live in the location that is hidden. Do you have anyone in mind?"

Xenophilius thought for a moment, "Yes, I think I might know someone."

Months passed, and the house had remained safely hidden from You-Know-Who and his followers. The night began like any other. Xenophilius had gone undercover with some polyjuice to get a new scoop for the Quibbler without being seen, and Pandora watched over Luna in her playroom.

In the woods not far from the home, the leaves stirred, and the woodland animals hid in their burrows and nests. With a pop, the forest atmosphere had changed instantly. Horrible darkness radiated from it.

One footstep after another. Plants surrounding the feet withered and died in a second, as if Death himself had entered the woods. Who it actually was, though, was much worse than Death.

The footsteps steadily got closer to the house, unperturbed by the Fidelius.

The door got blown to pieces. He entered, and stalked down the hall. At this moment, Pandora knew they were found. Quickly, she scrawled a letter to Xenophilius and gave it to an owl, and searched for a place to hide.

He was on the stairs now, the wooden boards creaking beneath his feet. Pandora opened a secret door in the playroom, to a secret closet in case of this exact circumstance. She quickly worked to steady her breathing.

He could feel the wretched child very close now, at the end of the hall.
He entered the room. A playroom. Disgusting. Childish toys and drawings littered the room, and a crib lay in the corner. He could feel it extremely close now, at the far corner of the room.

Then, he saw it. A door, nearly seamless to the wall. But not completely seamless. Nearly sweating with anticipation, he opened the door. Pandora screamed, "Please-"

"Avada Kedavra!" She couldn't even finish her sentence, before dropping to the floor, eyes glassy and lifeless. Falling from her arms sat Luna, bawling uncontrollably. Voldemort smirked. This child, destined to defeat him? What a joke. Savouring each syllable, he whispered the same thing he used on her mother. "Avada Kedavra."

Then, his robes fell to the floor, He was nowhere to be found.