'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, Born to those who have thrice defied him, Born as the seventh month dies, And the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal... But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not, And either must die at the hand of the other, For neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...'

That twice accursed prophecy set in motion a series of events that effectively altered their lives forever, Lily Potter thought bitterly as she gazed down into the crib that held her sleeping infants. They were so young, so tiny and yet there was already so much terror in their lives.

Harry James Potter had been born on July 31st at 11:56pm while his sister, Althea Lily Potter had been born mere minutes later at 12:06am, technically on August 1st.

"Oh, my little ones, I am so sorry." Lily whispered, her knuckles turning white as she clenched the side of the crib, her head bowed.

"Lily-Flower?" James Potter murmured softly as he entered the nursery, moving towards his clearly upset wife.

"James, they're so young, it's not fair." Lily wept into her husband's shoulder and he pulled her close, resting his chin atop her red head.

"I know Lily, I know. We'll protect them. The Fidelius is being cast tomorrow, then we'll be safe, our family will be safe." James whispered fiercely, clinging to the trembling woman in his arms.

"Dumbledore is so sure it will be Harry." Lily sobbed. "The prophecy specifically said 'he', but even if it isn't Harry, the Longbottoms will be targeted, my godson will be targeted! James, why? Why the children? They're innocent, they don't deserve this."

Her sobbing roused their daughter from her slumber and she in turn woke Harry, both twins looking up sleepily at their parents, neither of them crying, simply staring up at their parents.

"Ma-" Harry babbled and Lily gave a tearful laugh, hoisting her son into her arms and clutching him tightly to her chest, while Althea pulled herself to her little feet, extending a hand to her father.

"Da-"

Her father mimicked Lily, cradling his little girl to his chest and nuzzling into the downy fuzz atop her head, making little kissing noises into her pudgy cheek, eliciting a delighted giggle from her.

"I'll die before I let anyone hurt my family." James swore, his gaze fixed on his wife as he rocked his daughter back to sleep, his nose pressed against the crown of her head as he inhaled her scent deeply.

"Lily, take them and go! It's him! Go! Run, I'll hold him off!" James hollered and Lily quickly fled up the stairs, cradling the two infants to her chest.

She quickly placed the two twins in their crib and while Harry let out a small cry, Althea stared up at her mother with wide eyes. Lily leaned close to the rails of the crib, her green gaze fixated desperately on her children as she spoke tremulously.

"Harry, Althea, you are so loved, remember that. Mama loves you, Dada loves you. Be safe, be strong–"

The door suddenly splintered, a bright light illuminating the room and Lily whirled around, blocking the children from view just as the darkly cloaked figure entered the nursery. Tears began slipping down her cheeks as she realised that her husband had fallen, her beloved James was dead and that she was now the last line of defence between her children and the Dark Lord.

"Please –"

Althea let out a coo, crawling to the end of the crib furthest from her mother, babbling at the man that was pointing the white wand at them while her brother let out a babble at her, extending a hand to her.

"Not Harry, please not Harry." Lily begged.

"Stand aside," the Dark Lord spat. "Stand aside girl, only the boy need die tonight."

"Please, no!" Lily sobbed desperately. "Take me, take me, kill me instead!"

He moved closer, his red eyes narrowing and Lily knew he was fast losing his patience, not that he had much to begin with.

"I am offering you a chance to save your daughter, to take her and run. I am after all, a merciful Lord," the Dark Lord hissed softly, a mockery of care in his tone.

"Please, have mercy, have mercy!" Lily pleaded and Voldemort flicked his wand, causing Althea to suddenly zoom out of her crib and towards him, into his arms. Lily shrieked and made a grab at her daughter, freezing instantly when Voldemort levelled his wand with Althea's throat.

"Your daughter or your son. If you hand over the boy, I will let both you and your girl live. Surely you do not wish both your children to die."

"Please! Please!" Lily screamed as Voldemort bared his teeth in a terrifying grin and traced his wand over the girl's skin.

"Perhaps she needs more persuasion." Voldemort murmured to the child as his red eyes glowed, locking on the Althea's green.

The sharp squeal that escaped Althea's mouth had Lily screaming at the top of her lungs as she watched the Dark Lord brand a symbol on to the infant's neck with his wand. When he finished, Althea was wailing at the top of her lungs, only to be silenced by a quick silencing spell from the same wand while the scent of burnt flesh filled Lily's nostrils, churning her stomach.

"You truly believe your son can defeat me? So much that you would sooner let your daughter die than hand over the boy."

"You truly know nothing of love if you would think for one second that I would choose between my children!" Lily spat. "That I would choose my life over their's? You monster!"

"Monster?" the Dark Lord crooned. "I should act accordingly then."

The fight drained out of Lily and she locked an unflinching gaze with her husband's murderer.

"Please!" Lily implored him, "Have mercy, I beg of you!"

Voldemort considered the red-haired woman before him briefly and shifted his hold on the silently screaming baby in his arms.

"Mercy?" he asked almost thoughtfully, "Perhaps you do deserve mercy, perhaps your daughter does."

Lily stared straight into the crimson gaze of the Dark Lord, the barest flicker of hope in her eyes. She was a mother after all, the instinct to protect almost drowning out any sense of logic.

"Avada Kedavra!" he hissed out suddenly, bright green light illuminating the nursery as Lily Potter dropped to the ground, green eyes once filled with life were now glassy and vacant in death.

"You have my mercy Lily Potter," Voldemort whispered, a snake-like sibilance in his voice. "I will not make you watch your children die."

He glanced down at the girl in his arms, her crying had finally ceased and she looked up at him with confused eyes, tear tracks shining on her cheeks as they trailed down past the dark red brand on her neck.

"I would grant you such mercy little one. Yet I wonder what mercy would it be to let you live when your family is dead? To grow up as I did, wondering, only to be disappointed in the end..." he murmured. "And yet, to see what would become of you, you who would remain the reminder to the world of what happens to those who defy Lord Voldemort."

Lord Voldemort stepped forward and promptly dropped the little girl into the crib beside her sniffling brother, the boy whom Fate declared was to be his downfall? He, the Heir of Slytherin, the Dark Lord, He whose name was spoken with such fear, this little worm was to destroy him? Him?

He watched as the boy turned to looked at his sister before staring up at Voldemort with eyes too young to show the fear they should in his presence.

"Perhaps you would have been a worthy foe," he sneered. "Alas, you will not live to see it so."

He levelled his wand with Harry Potter's face just as his sister sat up and reached for her brother's hand, clenching it tightly in her pudgy fist.

Green light illuminated the nursery for the second time and last time that night.

So this is the opening of my first story, it is a pleasure to meet you, I do hope you'll leave me a review as I would only love to hear your opinions. I suppose this is just a prologue of sorts and I was inspired by both Morgana Deryn and Sphinxs-Legend and should there be similarities, I apologise and pray they don't view it as plagiarism. I really hope to do this story justice and give my own twist to it.

So I ask that you please give it a chance and that you are patient with my uploads, they will be somewhat erratic given that I am working quite often.

Thank you for your time.

-Fox.