Author's Note: All characters and places belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling as well as BBC's Sherlock and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I can only take credit for my OCs and the wild ride I'm about to take them on! This is my first fanfiction, so thank you for giving it a read! Much love and don't be shy to leave a review! xx

Prologue

"Lily, look! He's walking!" James's arms reached out to the bumbling one year old boy who was giggling uncontrollably as he stumbled over to his father. The infant's chubby legs could not hold the child's weight for longer than a few moments, and the boy collapsed into his father's warm embrace. A sound of surprise and joy leapt from the throat of Lily Potter, and she rushed from her nearly boiling kettle of water for their evening tea to her husband.

"That's my boy!" Lily pressed her lips onto her son's head, not noticing her fiery red hair was falling into Harry Potter's face and managed to get entwined between his small fingers. "Oi! No Harry, don't pull Mummy's hair!" Though her voice was stern, the smile spreading across her face betrayed any authority she had over her son.

"Look at him," James stuck out his chest with pride, like the mighty lion that he was, and grinned at his mini partner-in-crime. "He's going to grow up and be the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen. You just wait, Lils. I'll bet he gets on the Gryffindor Quidditch team his first year!"

"What about me?" A tiny voice spoke up from around the corner, and a small girl stood timidly in the corner in scarlet and gold pajamas. Her raven black hair laid askew on her head, and as she held her thumb in her mouth, her brilliant emerald eyes widened. "What about me, Papa?"

"You, Miss Evalane," James extended his free arm out to the distressed toddler, and he pulled her onto his lap comfortingly. "You will also play Quidditch, but that will not be the only thing you excel at, no. You will be top of your class and be Head Girl because you are smarter and work harder than any of the other students. You will break every boy's heart because you are smart, athletic, and just like your mum, overwhelmingly beautiful. Not that I'll let you date any boys until you're at least forty years old."

Lily Potter simply watched this heartwarming scene unfold, not wanting to interrupt her husband's speech because while James Potter was a brilliant man, his intelligence clawing itself onto the surface was a rarity. However, ever since the children were born, James was growing away from his old habits of immaturity and pranks and becoming responsible and an admirable role model for Evalane and Harry. Lily's life was perfection wrapped up in a shiny red bow: a husband who would go to the ends of the earth just to see her smile, two beautiful children who had their parents' best features- James's striking black hair and her own emerald green eyes –and were growing up to have their own personalities, a house in a comfortable and safe neighborhood, and wonderful friends and family. Sometimes Lily forgot that she was only 21 years old and not in her eighties admiring how wonderful her life had been.

At least it was wonderful before the rise of Voldemort. Lily and James had only been 19 when they got married and had Evalane, and thus began Voldemort's reign of terror. Everything they all had feared for years was coming true; the number of the deaths and disappearances across Great Britain were swelling like an unnoticed tumor. People she had gone to school with were standing with her on the battlefield…and some even on the other side…

Harry was one of the most exciting moments in their marriage- not only because James was over the moon to have a son to carry the Potter name –because no one thought something so beautiful and innocent could be in the same world as the darkness surrounding them. Dumbledore had been the one to tell them about the prophecy. Lily would never forget that day for the rest of her life. They had all been outside, James playing in the yard with Evalane while Lily sat on the porch with a newborn Harry cradled in her arms, when he came to them. He had a solemn look on his old and tired face, and he peered at the giggling Evalane through his half-moon spectacles and did not even crack a smile. Instead, a wave of sadness lingered in the Headmaster's eyes when he saw their little girl playing with a golden snitch.

"Hi!" Dumbledore barely glanced at the two year old and immediately approached the once again new mother with news of a new threat to the happy family.

"So You-Know-Who thinks our son…is this…"Chosen One?" But he's barely a week old! How could he possibly be a threat?" With every word, Lily pulled her child closer to her chest. Her world was crumbling before her eyes as the elderly wizard explained the Prophecy and how Voldemort somehow heard about the consequences of its fulfillment. The Potters had now been marked for death, and precautions needed to be made.

"Dumbledore said we need to choose a Secret Keeper in order for the spell to work." James spoke to Lily later that night when the children were finally asleep. Tears were brimming in his eyes, clouding his vision. "Someone who will know where we are until the war is over. Someone we know we can trust."

"What about Sirius?" The glass of firewhiskey was shaking in Lily's hand, and she took a long swig to allow the strong drink to ease her nerves for but a moment.

"He was my first choice as well," James sat next to his wife on the sofa her parents gave them as a wedding present. "But it would be too obvious. I can't risk putting you, our children, or even Sirius in danger. We need to find someone no one would suspect. Someone we can trust, but someone no one would expect us to entrust our lives with."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"What about Wormtail?"

"Do you really think Peter could handle something this important? I mean, he's afraid of his own shadow for Merlin's sake!"

"Of course he can handle it! He's a Gryffindor! A Marauder! There is not a single person in this world, besides Padfoot and Moony of course, who I would deem worthy for the job. I promise Lils that I will do everything in my power to keep you, Evalane, Harry, and even that damn cat that you insist on keeping here safe. I love you so much my lily flower, and I would go to the ends of the earth to make you happy. Anyone who threatens to take away that beautiful smile off your face is a walking dead man." Tears were flowing freely from both halves of the young couple's eyes, and Lily's knight in shining armor pressed his lips tenderly on her head. The sweet scent of her lavender shampoo clogged his nostrils and lungs, and James prayed to one day have the chance to witness his wife grow old with him. What once had been the inevitable began to feel like a hopeless fantasy: watching as her hair gracefully changed from a blazing red to a white snow, taking slow and meaningful walks in the park, having more children and eventually grandchildren together, and best of all, falling in love every damn time those green eyes locked with his own.

The morning of All Hollow's Eve did not feel like it was a special day. The Potters did not except this day would become monumental for not only their children, but for every being in the Wizarding world. To them, it was only the day Harry James Potter took his first steps. It was just another ordinary day in complete isolation. Towards the end of the day, James sat in the living room watching Evalane try to get Harry to walk again while his wife made supper in the kitchen.

"Harry! Over here!" Evalane stood on the opposite side of the room from her little brother, who was wobbling on his thick legs. She waved her arms about like a bird trying to take flight, and once Harry had stumbled half across the room, she ran to the other side. Harry tried to turn around, but he fell over himself and began to wail.

"Oh no! I so sorry Harry!" The older sister ran to her crying brother and wrapped him in a tight embrace. When he failed to cease his tears, Evalane lightly tickled his tummy until the cries evolved into joyous laughter from both children.

"What's going on in there James?" Lily called from the kitchen in an accusing tone, but her husband could not see her grin as she could mentally picture James's jaw dropping upon hearing her voice.

"I didn't do anything Lils! Evalane and Harry are just playing I promise!" James held up his hands in surrender as Lily sat down next to him.

"Oh I'm sure," Lily rolled her eyes sarcastically, and she laughed at her husband's protesting eyes.

"Is dinner ready?"

"No, the chicken is still cooking, and I'm not your maid James Potter. Dinner will be ready when I say it's ready!"

"Hey, I made supper last night! Not my fault I'm just excited for some of your cooking! You could still wear the outfit if you want…" James wrapped his arm around his wife and gave her butt a small squeeze. "I bet you would look so sexy in that little maid's dress." His whispered softly before kissing her lightly on the lips.

"You wish," Lily smiled at the goofy grin plastered on her lover's face and could feel the burning redness flush onto her cheeks.

"Mummy look what I did!" Evalane's mother turned to see her daughter had completed a one hundred piece puzzle that she and James had done only once before.

"Wow! Great job sweetheart!" she turned to her husband questioningly. "Did you help her with that?"

"No," James wore a baffled look on his handsome face. "I mean…she watched us do it last week, but even that took us a day or two to finish!"

The little girl smiled at her parents, who were completely flabbergasted at their daughter's brilliant memory. Evalane, of course, did not think what she had done was anything out of the ordinary; all she wanted was to be just like Mummy and Daddy and make the pretty picture again. James and Lily knew their daughter was extremely gifted; they had even spoken to their old Hogwarts professors about Evalane eventually beginning Hogwarts a year or two earlier than most students. She had been able to speak in complete sentences before she could walk, which is why her parents were cautious about not speaking of Voldemort around her.

"Have you thought about what I said earlier?" Lily held her breath while watching her husband's face tense at her question. Her heart began to race at immeasurable speeds while she waited for James to reply.

"About?" James tugged Harry's shirt back in place because he had made an ambitious attempt to take it off himself, but it had gotten stuck around his head.

"You know what James," Lily stomach dropped at her husband's dismissiveness to her question, and she could feel the negative answer looming over their heads.

"Oh, you mean what you said about Snivellus Snape." James spoke with such a bitterness at the very mention of the harsh nickname for Lily's old friend and James's long time enemy from Hogwarts that it could have turned a sugar biscuit rotten.

"Yes, about Severus," Lily carefully corrected him, hoping they could have a civilized conversation. She knew deep down that James's new maturity was being put to the final test, and if it failed, he could very easily slip back down the slippery slope into the person he used to be before Lily saved him. "What were you thinking about Severus?"

"You know how I feel about him Lily, and I thought you felt the same after he called you that horrible word," James's voice was heavy yet soft, as though he were holding back tears or white hot rage.

"Things are different now, James. If this horrible war ever ends, he's going to need friends to keep his head above water. I'm really worried about him. I know I should still be angry with him for what he said—and I suppose a part of me always will be –but if we've learned anything through this whole mess isn't it that life is too precious and short to hold grudges? He needs good people in his life, and I know we can help him. James, he needs us."

James Potter had never been one for forgiveness, especially when he felt they did not deserve it. Severus Snape was the one person in this world, besides Voldemort, who James knew he would never be able to forgive. He could recall that day just as vividly as Severus could, though he never realized this because he never had the opportunity to speak to him about the incident. After their O.W.L.s, James was planning on finally asking Lily out officially. No more games, just a good old fashioned date with some possible snogging later on. Snape had to get in the way, as usual, and Lily, as always, came to his defense. Up until this point, James had only targeted Snape because he loved how passionately Lily would argue with him over it. She had a fire in her eyes that made James's heart do somersaults in his chest. That day was different; after Snivellus had uttered the most horrific word to the most magnificent being in the world, James only hated Snape because of who he was: a coward. How could he possibly forgive the devil for shattering such a delicate and pure soul? He almost protested, but the pleading look in the green eyes of his true love made the walls of hatred surrounding him crumble at his feet.

"How is it fair that one person could be so beautiful and so kind? Now I understand why there is so much darkness in this world; you are the only light we could ever need." Kissing her once more, James Potter made the decision to forgive his worst enemy for his sins. If Lily could move on from such betrayal so could he.

"Thank you, James. I love-" Before she could finish, a deafening alarm broke out in the small home in Godric's Hollow. Dumbledore had put up wards around their house once the spell was put into place in order to warn them if danger was trying to seep through the cracks and destroy what little hope they had left.

"It's him." James rose to his feet, trying to keep steady for the sake of his family, but he felt no stronger than a small child. A lump in his throat swelled, and he could see the end for him had come. "Take the children, Lily, and run." James lifted Evalane in his arms and passed her to his shaking wife, who was trying to readjust their son on her hip.

"But James-"

"I'll be fine, Lils. I love you. Now go, NOW! HURRY!" A waterfall of tears was descending from the green eyes that James's adored so much for so long, and Lily stole one last glance at her husband and sprinted up the stairs to Harry's nursery.

"Mummy what's going on," Evalane asked her mother. "Where's Daddy?" Lily did not hear her daughter while she locked the nursery door behind them. She rushed over to her son's small yellow wardrobe and opened the doors.

"Evalane, darling, Mummy needs you to stay in here for a while." Lily gently, and with such an urgency that her hands were visibly trembling. "No matter what happens, do not come out until I say. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mummy," Evalane responded quickly, thinking that perhaps they were playing a game, and her daddy was playing hide and seek with them. In actuality of course, Lily knew it was Harry that Voldemort was after, so if she had to get her daughter out of the line of fire in order to devote her full attention to protecting her little boy. She tried with all her might to push out the guilt of never telling James the secret of Evalane, but maybe someday, the truth would reveal itself.

"Mummy loves you Evalane Lily Potter," choking back tears, Lily closed the wardrobe shut.

The darkness consumed Evalane's vision, and to her own fortune, it prevented her from seeing the horrors on the other side of the wardrobe. Sounds, however, came through the wood loud and clear, and though the three-year-old could not comprehend what these sounds meant at the moment, they would haunt her for years to come. She could hear her little brother's door crash and a man's voice, not her father's, utter two horrible words that Evalane had never heard before. Whatever those words meant, her mother's screams were quickly silenced, and for a brief moment, a green light illuminated the room and made its way through the cracks in the wardrobe. Then little Harry began to cry, and the two words were spoken once more and followed by the green light. This time, however, Harry's crying continued, and Evalane began to worry. Why had her mother not comforted Harry yet? Where did the green light come from? Why hadn't Mummy tell her to get out of the wardrobe yet?

Hours passed, and Evalane sat in the wardrobe and waited to see her mother's face when the doors reopened. Different noises from the other side tempted her into leaving, but she did not want to upset her mother by disobeying. When she heard Harry's crying resumed from a brief hour of silenced, she pulled her knees to her chest and silently practiced the alphabet that her father had taught her the day before. She put her hands over her ears when Harry's cries were accompanied by those of a man but sounded like a wounded animal. Even when she heard Uncle Sirius comfort her brother to sleep, she remained unmoving and silent. Only Mummy could tell her to leave.

Evalane dozed off for what felt like a few moments when a yellow light shone through her eyelids. She eagerly jolted her head up, expecting to see her mother's face smiling with pride in her daughter's impeccable obedience. Instead, she saw a man in his early thirties staring at her and completely gob smacked to see a toddler hiding in the wardrobe.

Todd Knaggs had spent the majority of his life on the streets of London, trying to get enough cash to get by, but in the last five months, he had resorted to thievery in order to support his alcoholism. He had just finished off his fifth pint of beer when he found what was left of the Potter's home. He grinned viciously and ransacked the home of its remaining treasures, spending much of his time helping himself to James Potter's clothes and hair products to fashion himself to look like a billionaire and his scraggly beard into what he believed to be a lovely goatee. When he searched the nursery, he was searching for anything he could pawn off for money. Babies were so spoiled by their families that there must be some old family heirloom worth a couple pounds in here. Instead, he saw a tiny girl, no more than three-years-old, curled up in a ball in the wardrobe.

An idea crossed the thief's mind, and oh was it a brilliant idea. No one just leaves a child behind; surely someone would be looking for her, and when they do, Todd would be waiting patiently for an obscene amount of ransom money. He took the child, much to her displeasure, and took her to her to his "house" on the outskirts of London. Years began to slip away, and still no news had come about the girl's kidnapping. While he was furious about his failed investment, he elected to use the girl to obey his every command out of pure laziness.

Evalane never forgot that day, and no matter how many beatings she had to endure, she knew where she truly belonged. It was not until twelve years later that she was able to escape the clutches of this monster for but a while.