The Dark Lord stared at the two solemn, green-eyed children, their mother's body at his feet, and smiled. Now was the moment he had been waiting for. In just a few seconds, his greatest enemies would be vanquished, and he would be invincible- immortal. All of his dreams, of power, of control, would soon be realized! As he raised his wand, the boy opened his mouth to cry, but before he could begin to wail, Voldemort leveled his wand, and half-shouted the words he'd waited so long for- "Avada Kedavra. Avada Kedavra!"

But the second killing curse had barely left his lips before the first rebounded, hitting him full in the face. It was agony, like nothing he'd ever experienced. He was being ripped apart, bodiless, riding a wave of pain- and then the second curse hit. He could feel himself drifting away….

Kate Potter, sitting next to her brother, who had begun to cry in earnest, was overtaken by a look of terror as the man in front of her broke apart. Her simple baby's mind couldn't comprehend it, so it was scared of it. She made her feelings clear as her cries joined her brother's, her face screwed up, and then, as the spectacle in front of her hit a climax, it was as if a switch had flipped in her brain, and then she disappeared. Her brother took a moment to realize she had gone, pausing briefly in his noisemaking to survey the spot his twin sister had so recently vacated, then returning even louder.

Miles away, in a little village in the West Country called Treverva, a black-haired baby appeared out of nowhere on a doorstep, her arrival punctuated by a loud crack. Kate's little eyes darted about, saw an unfamiliar house, an unfamiliar street, car, and lawn, and settled upon the large (and unfamiliar) pumpkin sitting next to her. She must have found something comforting in the pumpkin's carved, smiling face, however, because as soon as she saw it, the worried look she had been wearing since her appearance a minute earlier slid off her face, and was replaced by a smile almost as large as the pumpkin's. She shifted in her blankets, closed her eyes, and promptly fell asleep (smile still securely in place).

Miles Garland picked up the wooden bowl sitting by his door and carried it into the kitchen, where his wife, Rose, sat reading. After tipping the last few sweets at the bottom of the bowl into a bag on the counter, he turned to his wife.

"I think that's the last of them. I'll just go turn off the porch light and snuff out the candles in the pumpkins, then we can go to bed."

"Alright," said Rose, jumping up and kissing him quickly on the cheek. "I'll be along in a moment."

Miles smiled briefly, then turned and headed back to the entryway, then flicked the switch next to the door that controlled the porch light, and opened the door to put out the candles. In the low light from the candles, he almost stepped on the little package lying just outside the door. But no, he realized as he stooped down for a closer look, it wasn't a package at all- but what was it? Then a cloud shifted, and the faint light from the just-past-new moon fell on the mysterious object. Miles stood up abruptly, and called out- "Rose! Rose, come quickly!"

There were muffled footsteps from within the house, and Rose appeared at the door. "What's so urgent?"

"It's a baby!"

"What?"

"A baby! Right here on the doorstep! Someone must've left it!"

Rose leaned over to look. "Oh my goodness, you're right! And we've woken her up, look." The young, blonde woman leaned over to pick up the child, whose worried expression had returned, and began comforting her. "Oh, Miles, she's cold- see, she's not wearing a jacket or anything. She must've wandered away from her parents somehow."

Miles make a skeptical noise. "What, here? Not many places she could've wandered away from. She wasn't here when I gave candy to the last trick-or-treaters, and no one around here has a child her age."

"Hmmm, true." said Rose, looking worried. "Perhaps we should take her down to the police station."

Miles hesitated, then nodded. "I'll go grab my keys."

At the police station, they were told that no one had reported a child matching the foundling's description as missing. While there, Rose noticed that the name "Kate" had been written on the tag of the little girl's shirt, so the couple began referring to her as such. They agreed to take care of the girl for a few days while inquiries were made.

They waited, and waited, but little Kate's parents were never found. Rose and Miles, who had grown quite fond of the little girl, decided to adopt her rather than let her enter the system. To them, Kate was their daughter, and they loved her. A few months after Kate came into their lives, Rose discovered she was pregnant. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy, named Jack. Kate and Jack grew up as siblings, and it was years before Kate found out she was adopted.

The Garlands were always curious as to Kate's beginnings, and how she came to be on their doorstep, but there was one thing that interested them most of all- the peculiar scar on her forehead, in the shape of a lightning bolt.

In a different part of the country, the day after Kate's strange appearance, another couple received a similar surprise- this one, however, was not nearly so well received.

The residents of Privet Drive had had a strange day- what with owls flying about in broad daylight, peculiar occurrences all over the country, and people in curious, robelike costumes congregating everywhere. But they missed one more such oddity- the appearance of two such people on their very street. They each appeared suddenly- one, out of thin air at the end of the street, the streetlamps flickering out one by one after his appearance. The next appeared only after the first had sat down on the stone wall surrounding number four- one moment, there was a cat sitting next to him, the next, a woman. The peculiar pair talked a moment, serious conversation by the looks on their faces, before being interrupted by a loud roar.

A massive motorbike appeared in the air at the end of the street- it seemed to be flying, and yet, somehow, not one of the exceptionally nosy and proper residents of the surrounding houses so much as peeped out their windows to see what all the ruckus was about. The motorbike touched down in front of number four, and an enormous man dismounted. He approached the two already there, who stood to greet him.

"I- I've got Harry here, Professor, but,- but,-" Hagrid seemed barely able to choke out the words, perhaps due to the torrent of tears running down his face.

"Just Harry? I thought you were supposed to get both of them!" said Professor McGonagall sharply.

"Well- y'see- that's what I was tryin' ter say, Professor. I could'n find Kate. I looked all over, high an' low, but she wasn' nowhere to ter be found. There- there was- a part of the ceiling had collapsed, y'see, an' I think- I think-" He said all this rather quickly, then seeming overwhelmed, burst into tears again.

Professor McGonagall spun around to face Dumbledore, her face full of disbelief and concern. "No! It- it can't be- it isn't true, is it?"

Dumbledore looked shocked, a rare occurrence. "I- I don't know." He paused, regaining some of his composure. "I shall have to go find out. Wait here with Harry and Hagrid. I will be back shortly." He Disapparated with the customary loud crack.

Professor McGonagall took Hagrid by the arm and guided him over to the low wall, taking Harry from him as she did so. They sat there in silence for at least ten minutes, Hagrid sobbing quietly into the tablecloth-sized handkerchief he had pulled from the depths of his coat, and Professor McGonagall sitting up very straight, staring at the sleeping child she held in her arms.

"He'll be an orphan when he wakes up." McGonagall said at last. Hagrid grunted in reply, emerging from his handkerchief. "It doesn' seem possible, does it? Firs' James an' Lily, an now, Kate…"

"Well, we don't know that for sure." she said quickly, as if to speak of Kate's possible fate was to realize it.

"Yeah, I suppose yer righ'."

Neither spoke again until Dumbledore arrived an hour later. As he approached, the look on his face said it all, but Professor McGonagall asked anyway.

"Like Hagrid, I could find no sign of Kate. It is my belief that, when the curse rebounded onto Voldemort (Professor McGonagall started and Hagrid let out a yelp), there may have been an- explosion. If Kate was too close, it is possible…."

Hagrid dove back into his handkerchief with a loud howl. It took several minutes for the two Professors to quiet him down. When they had gotten him down to a tolerable volume, Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall. "We should leave him now. Come, we'll put him just outside the door." he said heavily.

As the two walked up the front walk, Professor McGonagall found herself staring at the scar on the little boy's head. "He will carry that mark forever." said Dumbledore, noticing the focus of her attentions. "A reminder of his parent's sacrifice."

"And his sister's." said McGonagall firmly. Dumbledore nodded.

And at that they lay the sleeping boy down on his aunt's doorstep, a letter from Dumbledore tucked into his blankets, to be awoken by his aunt's scream the next morning as she went to collect the milk.

So, that's it! What do you think? A bit short, I know, but later chapters will hopefully be longer. I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but I've started a second chapter, so I'll definitely be posting more! I've officially abandoned my other story, The Bookworm and The Flame, because I realized I don't really like the story. I wrote it on a whim, without really thinking through it. As I said before, though, I will definitely be continuing this one! Thanks! -musical sphinx