A/N: This idea randomly formed in my head and just wouldn't leave me alone. I feel like it'll be good as my first full length story on this account. Most of this story will remain true to canon. It may have a few minor alterations. It's also gonna take a little while to get to the real action and main plotline because I like to build up relationships between characters and such before getting to the intense stuff. This is also my first New Generation story, so be nice. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The day I own Harry Potter will be the day Hermione Granger voluntarily goes on an extended hunt for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the company of Cormac McLaggen, Lavendar Brown, and Rita Skeeter.
"Oh, for the love of- Lily, will you please get down here? NOW?"
Anxious footsteps echoed down the hall before Lily Potter, her hair dripping and wearing a robe, finally made her appearance in the Potter's sitting room. Her two brothers, James and Albus, sat on the sofa, both sharing the same look of two people who had just been caught doing something they knew they shouldn't be. Their mother looked formidable, as per usual when dealing with her sons, but there was also a faint tone of amusement playing on her features under the anger.
"What did they do now?" Lily asked, her eyes searching the room for the usual signs of complete destruction associated with her brothers.
"I think they may be the best to tell you in this particular situation," Ginny said, shooting another scowling look at her sons. Lily's eyes narrowed as she shifted her gaze to her brothers. "Well?"
"Okay, Lils, don't-don't freak out," Albus started, his eyes darting frantically between his mother and sister. "But we- James and I- er we kind of…"
"Oh, for the love of Merlin, would you move it along?" James burst out impatiently. He looked far less abashed about the situation than his brother. "Lily, Al and I were bored, so I suggested we try to find out if you had a diary or something we could read, for laughs, you know. I got Dad's Cloak and-"
"You did what?"
"I know, brilliant, right? Anyway, we put the Cloak on and snuck into your room while you were in the shower and started looking around and Al found this-" he lifted a piece of folded parchment- "inside your pillowcase."
Lily's look of curious disapproval turned quickly into a full out glare of fury. She stomped over to the sofa and snatched the parchment out of James' hand. She clutched it in her fist, which was shaking and rounded on them both.
"That's private, you nosy little gits! You had no business at all to be in my room, and I swear if you ever so much as breathe on my door without my permission again I'll hex your bloody-"
"Lily, watch your mouth," her father chided as he entered the room. He took in the sight before him. James and Albus were sitting on the sofa, staring at Lily with wide, fearful eyes and sitting as far back from her as the cushions would allow. Lily was standing in front of them, face red and contorted with anger, clutching a square of parchment in her fist and Ginny was watching the entire scene with her hand over her mouth as though she were suppressing laughter. "What's going on in here? I could hear Lily screaming from two floors up."
"Your sons," Ginny said, trying in vain not to let herself smile, "raided Lily's room while she was in the shower and they seem to have found something private."
Lily's face had gone even redder than before, but it seemed to be more out of embarrassment than anything else. She was carefully avoiding her father's eyes, which had now come to focus on her.
"Oh, it's definitely private," James said, an evil grin spreading across his face. "It seems our dear little Lilykins has a bit of an admirer."
Albus let out a snort which he managed to turn into a cough and Harry's eyes widened as his gaze fixed upon the parchment still shut firmly in Lily's fist.
"Shut your mouth," Lily said, her teeth clenched. "You don't say one more word, James or I swear-"
"You'll do what, Lily? You don't even have your wand, and anyway, you're too much of a good little kid to do any magic outside of school," James said, smirking. "Anyway, it seems she's into older guys."
Lily's face was so red at this point it blended in almost perfectly with her hair and Harry looked as though he was using all his self control to keep him from tearing the parchment in Lily's hand to shreds. Ginny walked over to her husband in the doorway and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"How much older, exactly?" she asked in a calm voice.
"Oh, about seven or eight years," James said, his eyes on his mortified sister. He pointed to the parchment crumbled in her palm. "That letter's from Elatio Ingenium, the new Beater for Wimbourne? It seems dear little Lily sent him a letter confessing her undying, desperately passionate affection for him," he finished, a dreamy expression on his face and his voice airy.
Albus failed to stifle his laughter as Lily's face turned, if possible, an even deeper shade of red. If she gained anymore color, she may literally catch on fire. Harry's expression of utmost irritation gave way to one of amusement as he lifted a hand to stifle his laughter and attempt to pass it off as a violent coughing fit. James was maintaining a very taunting smirk.
"Oh, shove it, all of you," Lily whispered, attempting to regain her dignity. "It's not like I'm the first one to have a celebrity crush in this house. In fact-" a smile was slowly playing across her face, "if it weren't for celebrity crushes, James, Albus, and I wouldn't even be here."
The atmosphere in the room changed almost palpably. James and Albus had stopped laughing and were now looking quite confused. Harry's laughter had subsided and he really did start coughing. Ginny's face was redder even than Lily's had been.
"What are you talking about?" James asked loudly.
Lily smiled mischievously.
"Oh, I'm just referring to the fact that mum was crazy about dad years before they'd even met each other."
"Lily, how do you-"
"Oh, Uncle George told me," Lily said airily. "He said I may need blackmail someday. Apparently, during mum's first year and dad's second, she sent him this singing valentine that said-"
"Okay, that's enough!" Ginny said. She gestured for James and Albus to stand up and began to usher her three children out of the room. "We're all even now. Just go and- and finish packing. You all leave for Hogwarts in two days time and I know for a fact none of you have finished yet."
Grumbling to themselves, the three Potter children left the sitting room. Harry thought, for a horrifying moment, he heard Lily whisper something to James about a fresh pickled toad when they hit the hallway.
"Can you hear anything?"
"No, they're all whispering."
"Well, then move over, let me try…"
"Hey, watch it, you have really bony elbows, you know-"
"Oh, both of you, shut up. Here take these," Rose pulled out three tangles of flesh colored strings out of her pocket and held them out to James, Lily, Albus, and Hugo. "I nicked them from dad's drawer," she said in answer to all they're questioning looks. "Apparently, he and George have been working on making them slip through Imperturbable doors."
"That's brilliant!" James exclaimed, resulting in much shushing from his siblings and cousins.
The mixture of Potter and Weasley children were currently huddled around the door to the Weasley's kitchen. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, were meeting with some members of the old Order of the Phoenix from back in the days of the war. These meetings didn't happen frequently and were kept top secret whenever they took place. Their parents, much aware of the children's frequent attempts at eavesdropping, had put almost all the jinxes they could think of to prevent their children from hearing any plans or issues they happened to be discussing, but these precautions were all in vain: they're kids had learned from the best, after all.
Rose and Hugo shared one of the Extendable Ears, James and Albus took another, and Lily used the one left over. They each fed the fleshy wires under the crack at the bottom of the dark oak door and held their breath. Within moments, Hermione's voice filled their ears as though she were standing right beside them.
"Well, he can't be a worse threat than Voldemort was, can he?" she was saying. "I mean, I know he was one of his followers, but we can still catch him."
"Hermione, he's been evading capture for over twenty years now," Arthur Weasley replied. "I don't think we should underestimate him. He was one of the more dangerous Death Eaters."
"Yeah, trust me, we remember," Harry said in a grave voice. "Do we have no leads at all as to where he was headed? Kingsley told us they lost him in Clapham two nights ago."
"Who are they talking about?" Albus mouthed. Everyone shrugged.
"I don't think we should get ourselves too worked up about this," Neville Longbottom's voice interjected suddenly. "We'll get him eventually. It's only a matter of time."
"I suppose," said Ginny's voice. "Anyway, he can't do much damage on his own."
The Extendable Ears were suddenly filled with the sound of scrolls rolling up and people muttering. The meeting was ending.
"Move!" Rose whispered urgently, grabbing the neck of Hugo's shirt and dragging him away from the door. Albus and James backed up hastily and snuck into the nearby sitting room off the hall. Lily was about to sprint up the staircase to her left when the oak door began to open. She shoved her Extendable Ear into her pocket hastily before coming face to face with her father.
"Oh, er, hi Dad," she said, still stuffing wires deeper into her pocket. "I was just…I mean Rose, Hugo, and I were just coming down to see if you were all finished yet. Hugo was getting hungry, you know how he is."
Harry did not look entirely convinced, but he was not given time to question his daughter further as the rest of the people in the kitchen began to file out and he had to step aside into the hall.
"Oh, hey, kids," Ron said, stepping out into the hall after his gray-haired father. "Hermione's just started dinner in there now if anyone wants to help." He rolled his eyes. "As if she'll let you. I tried a few nights ago and she nearly tried to beat me with a saucepan."
"That's because you caught her apron on fire," Hugo said.
"Ah, well, she's better when she works on her own anyway," Ron said, checking over his shoulder to make sure Hermione hadn't heard him.
"Well, I'd best be getting on," Arthur said as the last Order members exited out the front door. "I'll see you all soon. Have a nice term, kids. Write to us or your grandmother will go completely spare."
He hugged each of the children in the hall in turn, called out a general goodbye and followed the rest of the Order out the door.
"Speaking of school," Harry said. "Lily, will you tell your brothers you'll all be staying here tonight? We're going to go to King's Cross as a group tomorrow instead of just meeting on the platform."
Ron shot Harry a quick, slightly worried, look.
"Why are we doing that?" James said as he and Albus stepped out of the sitting room. "We, er, sort of couldn't help overhearing," he added, noting his father's confused look.
"You mean you couldn't help eavesdropping when you heard everyone in the hallway," Harry said.
"Details," James said, waving his hand as though to shoo a fly. "Anyway, what're we staying here for?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other again, then Ron said, "It's just a bit easier than trying to meet up at the right place and figuring the time. Anyway, we're all already here."
"Are you two almost done in there?" Ginny's voice called from the kitchen. "Because if you'd all like to eat before breakfast, we could use a bit of assistance in here."
"Keep away from the saucepans, I'm telling you…" Ron muttered as he and Harry turned back into the kitchen and shut the door.
The Potter and Weasley children all looked at each other.
"In here," Albus said, gesturing toward the sitting room from which he and James had emerged moments before.
They all filed into the room and sat down. They were completely silent for a moment before Hugo finally spoke up.
"Do you think all of us going to King's Cross together has anything to do with, you know, the Death Eater?"
"I'd almost bet my broomstick on it," said Lily. "This guy must be really dangerous…"
Everyone looked worried.
"But he can't be that bad," said Albus. "The worst of them were killed or imprisoned right after the war."
"That doesn't mean none of them escaped, though," Rose said. "Or avoided being captured in the first place. Maybe I can find a book in the library once we're at school that mentions Death Eaters that made it out of the second war…I bet there's something about it. I could check the old newspapers too."
"You're the only person I know who plans trips to the library before they even set foot in school," said James.
"Well, I am going into O.W.L. year this year," Rose said as though she were speaking to a two-year-old. "And, unlike you, I aspire to get more than four O.W.L.s."
"Okay, guys? Not the point right now," Lily said as James opened his mouth to argue. "Look, they wouldn't even be discussing this if the guy wasn't dangerous. Dad and Ron have caught a fair few of the escaped Death Eaters and there was never all this fuss about any of them."
"Maybe there's something that makes this guy more threatening than any plain old Death Eater," James said. "You know, like some type of crazy Dark Magic or something."
"What I think," said Hugo, leaning forward in his seat. "Is that it's not so much what he can do, but what he's after."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, think about," Hugo went on. "Mum, Dad, Harry, and probably even Ginny, are top targets for any of the Death Eaters. They're the ones that destroyed You-Know-Who and over half of his little minions in the first place. The Death Eaters that managed to keep out of Azkaban are probably pretty miffed at them."
"So what you're saying," Rose said slowly. "Is that they're really afraid this Death Eater might be after…well, them? Or-" she swallowed. "us?"
The sound of something falling in the kitchen reverberated through the room, as everyone went silent. The loud clattering was quickly followed by a shout of "Ron!", a dull thunk, and a yelp of pain. James winced.
"Sounds like Uncle Ron wasn't kidding about the saucepan thing."
A/N: I'm not sure how happy with this I am. I'm in half a mind to just start from scratch and write it all over again. If you think this first chapter's alright the way it is, review and let me know and I'll keep it. If you think I should do a rewrite, review and tell me that and I'll take this one down and do another. Either way, review please!