Ever get one of those ideas where no matter how many times you try to put it to words, you're never happy? This is one of them, and at least my fourth attempt (on a second account) to write it. Let's see if my perfectionist tendencies will be satisfied as I procrastinate on my homework!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Harry Potter (if I did, they probably would have never made it to publishing!)

BEGIN! (Anyone remember when you could still use dashes and didn't kill them on you? Oh, horizontal ruler thingy. Let's hope it works on the third try editing.)

Prologue

Something wasn't right. Although she could not explain why, the future seemed to be changing, a new dimension forming that had not been there before. Sailor Pluto searched the time stream for the disturbance, looking for the cause of this sudden shift.

There.

Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter...but...where was Sailor Moon? The spirit of the princess had somehow not been born when she should have been. The Tsukino's had no daughter, for the infant had apparently died an unexplained death. Pluto did not understand it, but that princess was now hidden from her eyes.

Chapter 1 (because posting the prologue separately is a pain)

The Dark Lord Voldemort planned to live forever, and he had devised many safeguards to ensure that he did. First and foremost were his horcruxes, designed to immortalize his soul. They ensured that even if his body were destroyed, he would never die. But regenerating bodies, as he understood it, was a messy business best avoided. It was better, he thought, to ensure that he would never have to resort to such magic by making his body as powerful and indestructible as his soul. Over the years he had used the Dark Arts to strengthen his form, but every spell carried the same warning. The magic would not last forever.

But Lord Voldemort had never been easily put off. In the oldest scrolls, those predating even Hogwarts, he had found tales of an immortal people who were not quite human. It was their magic he would need if he wished to survive. He sent many of his best Death Eaters to find ways to access this power, but all failed him, despite knowing the consequences.

All that was, until Severus Snape.

Though young the boy was clever, and well versed in the Dark Arts. Lily Evans, his childhood crush, had wed the Potter boy, his arch-rival. Potter worked against Voldemort, and that was all the reason Severus Snape needed to work for him. His heart was cold, and he performed as ordered without so much as a flinch.

The seemingly impossible task was exactly what he needed to distract himself from thoughts of. . . her.

"You're certain?" The Lord's voice was sharp.

"I am." Snape's face was stoic.

"You know what will happen if this fails, do you not?"

"I do." Snape reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a small potion bottle. The liquid inside glowed silver. The Dark Lord eyed it critically. He could sense no deceit in the young man's mind. He reached out and took the bottle in his hand, watching it sparkle in the firelight.

"Fetch Bellatrix." Taking this for a dismissal, Snape left to do as told before heading to Hog' s Head for a well-deserved break.

The premise of Snape's ideas had been simple, really. A muggle could not use a wizard's magic, so how could a wizard expect to use the magic of these other beings who were not human and thus not really witches or wizards? They could not. Therefore, he would have to bring one of these beings to Voldemort. The magic was complex, but he was Severus Snape.

The spell he'd created was designed to call the spirit of one of those beings into the form of the child of the one who drank the potion. Voldemort would have a child, and through that child access to the power he sought. When the child was old enough, the power would have to be . . . extracted.

It wasn't long before he heard that Lily was pregnant.

The scream of an alarm wailed through Snape's house, jerking him from his dreams of Lily. Dread washed through him. Early! It was far, far too early! With a pop he vanished, appearing at the Lestrange's front door in his nightshirt. Her scream told him where to go, and Snape ran up the stairs. He kicked the house elf out of his path and tore through the door, finding himself face to face with an angry Voldemort and glaring Bellatrix. A small bundle lay on the edge of the bed, and as Snape edged closer, he could see a patch of golden hair and too-blue skin.

"Crucio!" The Dark Lord snarled.

The baby was still.

"Crucio!"

She was not breathing.

"CRUCIO!"

Had he failed? But the room was dark. The room should not be dark.

Voldemort towered over him, ready to deliver the killing blow for his failure as Snape's body seized upon the floor. In his pain he reached out, grabbed the dark curtains and pulled them down, causing the full moonlight to spill into the room. As it touched the baby's face she stirred. Abruptly, the pain stopped.

Although weak, he forced himself to his feet and pulled the child into his arms. He stumbled out the door and down the stairs, not bothering to look and see if anyone followed. He cradled the child close as he pushed open the heavy front door, stumbling outside. When he reached the lawn he collapsed, the child resting in his lap as the moonlight spilled over her face. Her clear blue eyes opened and looked at him. And for the briefest moment, Snape saw a crescent moon flash on her little forehead.

One month later, he learned that Harry James Potter had been born.

End Chapter

Other chapters should be longer, but this seemed like a good place to stop. Review and tell me what you think, please!