Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Nor will I ever. I'd like to, but that's a pipe dream - Harry Potter and everything you recognise (and in some cases a little more, I've used stuff from places like Pottermore too) is J.K. Rowling's. "Maisie Shaw" is mine. She will also be dead by the end of this as I dislike OCs. This disclaimer is for this entire fic, so this will be the last time you see this in AMG (unless you re-read this prologue...).

Summary: Lily, a half-blood witch, never loved James, the prophesy never existed and "Harry" is not the BWL. Over two years after her kidnapping, her lover returns to free her from the Order in an event that seemingly ends with the deaths of Lily, baby Harry and a certain Dark Wizard. But all three survived, and when the wizarding world crumbles at their feet, no-one will be prepared...and does anyone really care? Pretty much Grey!Everyone, character bashing, lots of pairings.

Prologue

A Bad Day for the Light.

Albus Dumbledore shifted in his seat at the front of the Great Hall. Last year's sorting had been...interesting. It had been far too unpredictable, with far too many surprises. He hated surprises; they tended to run contrary to his plans. Who would have guessed that a second Weasley would be sorted into Slytherin last year? Who would have thought that Gregory Goyle, a boy who'd entered with a Malfoy, would end up in Hufflepuff? And certainly, while the Zabini family had not declared themselves on either side, Dumbledore had not expected the boy to end up in Gryffindor.

He let his gaze wander over to the Slytherin table, where he frowned at one particular boy. Dumbledore had never heard of Colby Shaw before last year's sorting, and he usually had a good idea of who everyone was before they started – the purebloods and the half-bloods were well known of course, but he liked to keep track of the muggleborns too in case of any...incidents – but Colby? Nothing. And now there was a sister! A sister to be sorted this year too.

Sorting had once been a lovely event, full of a comforting predictability, but it had been a mess for the last few years – last year's more than any. He turned his attention to the new students, just in time to catch Minerva McGonagall call the next student up. He'd apparently missed a couple in his musing however.

"Carrow, Flora," McGonagall called. Dumbledore relaxed, definitely predictable and definitely a Slytherin. He was proven correct a few moments later, and the blonde girl went to join her house.

Her twin joined her. Colin Creevey was sorted into Gryffindor and Felicity Eastchurch went over to the Ravenclaw table. Nothing surprising as of yet. Dumbledore started to relax as the sorting went on, back in the rigid predictability he had been accustomed to in earlier years. On and on it went. And then he found his attention called back.

"Shaw, Maisie," the Deputy head called, and a redheaded girl nervously walked over to the hat and sat down. A few seconds later she stood and left to join her brother in Slytherin. Dumbledore wondered if she'd be like her brother – an unnervingly brilliant student. The worst kind of feeling crawled up his spine. He didn't like unpredictable factors. Colby Shaw was unpredictable – Dumbledore had no idea as to his allegience, and the boy always managed to slip by when Dumbledore was about to approach. And he had no idea as to whether it was intentional or not. His sister... if she was anything like him then Dumbledore could either have a dream duo for defeating You-Know-Who or a terrible pair aligned to the dark. Dumbledore hoped for the former, but feared it would be the latter. They were, after all, Slytherins.

But Voldemort had been quiet in recent years. After the murder of Lily Potter and her son, and the destruction of Godric's Hollow, the raids and attacks had almost ground to a halt. It was, Dumbledore reasoned, most probably all down to Lily. After all, her death had been of no loss to the light except at the expense of James' happiness. James had only wanted the best for Lily, who had hated him with a passion in return. Some would call it irony that she was killed by her own side in the end, but she'd been forced into a relationship with James and Voldemort...well, was a very jealous man.

Of course, that wasn't his only worry by far. The light was perhaps on the verge of losing one of its most steadfast families.

"Weasley, Ginevra." Dumbledore resisted the urge to lean forward in his seat. With two Gryffindor Weasleys and two Slytherin Weasleys currently in the school it could be awful for another Slytherin. The Weasleys were and always had been a light-aligned family. Dumbledore couldn't afford that to change. But he was powerless to decide anything. He couldn't bewitch the hat – he'd done enough research to know it would be a public nightmare to attempt it, and his private attempt had backed this up (it was times like these Dumbledore was glad for the privacy charms around his office) – and he had no way of persuading it. He just had to let it happen. Dumbledore also hated being powerless.

He watched the girl, hoping...

"SLYTHERIN!" Dumbledore squeezed his eyes shut, making an attempt not to let his hopelessness show outwardly. This truly was a bad day for the light.

A/N: First off, hello! As a first time fanfic writer I'd like to thank you for taking a look at this. You rock!

Yes, I had fun mixing a few people around Houses. No, these aren't all of the changes, you'll have to wait for the rest. After all, this is in Dumbledore's perspective – sorta – and he'd only think about the truly odd changes ;)

And who are these Shaws hmm...? And what's with my version of Lily!? This is, of course, my attempt to get you to follow this fic so you can find out :P