~A/N Now, I must say that normally I hate stories where Harry's gender is changed, especially in the middle of the series. But this idea has been mucking about in my head for a week now, so I decided to get it out there. And I started from the beginning.

Hope you enjoy it, I'll be adding more to this story sometime, but for now my focus is on my other story: The Many Faces of Harry James Potter. However, if I get a good enough response I'll add some time to this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling does. I'm not making any money from this so there's no point in suing me.

Warnings: Mild to moderate violence and abuse incoming. Possibly some strong language. A/N~

Lily Potter was pregnant. She and her husband James had conceived their first child a few months ago, and it was getting close to the time said child would come into the world. She was as excited as any new mother is, awed by the life growing within her. Her only regret was that her sister wouldn't be there to share the wonder of this new life with her.

Her sister, Petunia Evans née Dursley, was a proud, stubborn woman, and as jealous as the sea was deep. She had cut ties with her sister years before and no matter how many letters and cards Lily sent, she wouldn't reply. This saddened Lily, since she loved her sister dearly. More than anything she wished to reconnect with her: to be sisters again.

Yet the time drew closer and closer for Lily's child to be born and it seemed her sister wanted no part in her life now, or ever. Her husband James, however, invited all his old school friends over to share this time with them, practically bursting with excitement. He paid no mind to the growing numbers in employ of the Dark Lord Voldemort. To him, life was perfect, and nothing could stop it from being so.

James knew that the child within his wife's womb was a son, even though they hadn't checked the gender (at his wife's insistence). Every firstborn child in the Potter line for the past 800 years had been a son. He pestered his wife with possible baby names, confused when she wanted to think up girls' names too. Didn't she understand that there was no possible chance of their child being a girl? The only way she could be pregnant with a girl was... no, he couldn't even think that Lily would do that to him! Lily was the perfect wife for the perfect husband, and they couldn't be happier together.

Eventually, after much cajoling, Lily agreed to name their son Harry. They named James' best friend, Sirius Black, the godfather. Lily had the nerve to suggest Snape as a second godfather, as if the Death Eater would be good for Harry! She had cut ties with the git a long time ago, he had thought. He grew suspicious. What was her relationship with the slimy Slytherin? What was Lily hiding from him?

Lily was worried. She saw the suspicious glint in her husband's eyes. She had renewed ties with Sev shortly before leaving Hogwarts, against her better judgement. She knew he loved her dearly, even if he had made wrong choices in his life. She knew he would love her child just the same. Sirius was still so immature and childish, he would be sure to only get her child into trouble! If only Sev hadn't become a Death Eater... She might have fallen for him too. But she had James, and they were happy together. He was still pigheaded and arrogant, but he was a caring husband and would be a loving father. She could only pray her child would be a son, as James insisted.

Lily came into labor on the thirty-first of July. She gave birth just before midnight, making her child truly the last born in July. She lay panting and sweating as she grasped her husband's hand anxiously. The midwife washed the child, who had started to cry already. James smiled and squeezed her hand.

The midwife exclaimed happily, "It's a girl!" presenting the child to her parents.

James' smile immediately darkened into a look of absolute loathing as he glared down at the child in her mother's arms.

"How could you..." he started, voice cracking with rage and betrayal.

Lily pleaded with her husband, "James, I swear! She's yours! I've never been with-" but she was cut off as his hand struck out, slapping her across the face.

James ripped the child from her arms in a fit of rage, muscular hand tightening around the babe's neck. The child began to choke, horrible gagging noises pouring from her throat. The midwife gasped in horror at the scene playing out before her as Lily struggled to her feet.

In a stroke of quick thinking, the midwife drew her wand, yelling, "Stupefy!"

Lily watched as James fell to the ground, unconscious. She threw herself forward, catching her daughter just before she hit the floor. Her hands fluttered helplessly around her child's neck as tears rolled down her face. Why, why did her child have to be a girl? She never thought James would react in such a way. He was always so kind...

She looked up at the midwife through tear-soaked eyes. "Please," she begged, "don't tell anyone."

The midwife still looked horrified, but nodded slowly. She took the child, spelling her to sleep before gently healing her neck.

Lily staggered to her feet, snatching her wand off the table. A look of cold determination poured from her emerald eyes as she gazed at her husband on the floor. She knew what she had to do.

Her wand moved shakily over his head as she murmured the words to the most powerful memory replacement charm she knew. James would only know his daughter as a son.

Then she moved to her daughter. "Is she well?" she asked the midwife hopefully.

The midwife nodded sadly. "She will suffer no long-term effects. She was very lucky."

Lily looked the woman in the eye. "I have to do this," she stated firmly.

The midwife looked back, understanding in her eyes. "I know," she said, voice filled with shared pain. "I will never tell."

Lily now trained her wand on her daughter. She breathed in deeply, tears spilling form her eyes as she wove a complex charm to change her child's appearance from female to male. Her desperation gave strength to her spell and though it was the first time she had cast it since school, it went perfectly. Her sleeping daughter- now son, looked peaceful, breathing deeply, no sign of the trauma just witnessed.

Lily closed her eyes for a moment, whispering, "I'm sorry, Harry. I truly am."

She did what had to be done, but was it the right thing to do? Maybe someday James could be told, but until then she would need to keep up the charm. It lasted at most a half-year, so she would have to remember to reapply it. She was already making plans in her mind.

The midwife placed her hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "You did the right thing," she said, though she sounded uncertain herself. "But we should wake your husband."

So Lily got back into bed, cradling her daughter- no, son, to her chest. And life went on for the Potter family.