A/N: So, here it is, 'Across Time' 2.0. Obviously the title's changed but I assure you all that it's the same story with the same basic plot and the same cast of characters but with a few changes, a lot of embellishments and a much more complicated plot-line. I started writing 'Across Time' the first time after HBP came out but before DH so as far as the plots are concerned, there will be elements (names, places, some events) of the final book incorporated into my story line but as a whole it can really only be classified as HBP compliant. One more quick thing before you commence with your reading; I'd like to warn everyone that as of yet, none of the following chapters have been beta-ed – although if somebody would like the job (and it's a big job) please let me know – so unless it's a glaring mistake having to do with Harry Potter cannon and facts, I don't want to hear that I left out a common in any of my reviews. That having been said, I please read, review and enjoy the following story and as always, I would like to hear from all of you.

Cheers!

Chapter One: Tied for Last

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches:

Born to those that have thrice defied him

Born as the seventh month dies

And the dark Lord will mark him as his equal

But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not

And either must die at the hands 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.

Harry Potter often thought about those words, spoken so long ago by the late Sibyll Trelawney, and when he did he could not help but close his eyes and remember. Oh it was true that when he had first met her he had thought her nothing but on old fraud and had had little more than unpleasant thoughts of her throughout the remainder of his school years but, looking back on it now, he supposed he owed a great deal to the old witch. Sighing, Harry wished for the thousandth time that he could turn back the clock and fix all of this before it had even begun. Knowing what he did now he was sure that if he could just go back things would be different. Hell, if he couldn't make it back to the beginning, if he could just make it back to even his sixth year, if he could just speak to Dumbledore one more time; Harry was sure that then things would be different.

But he couldn't go back and it was useless to wish for it no matter how desperately he longed for it to be possible. The Second War against Voldemort was quickly approaching its twenty-fourth year and the resistance was slowly being eaten away as the Dark Lord killed more and more of its members. There were people alive in the world now that had known nothing but conflict and strife for all of their lives and for that, Harry vowed to continue fighting until the job was done and Voldemort had been vanquished once and for all; his evil gone forever. It would not be easy, it wasn't easy. It's amazing what you begin to miss when you've lost everything. Harry never thought he'd miss homework or detentions but he did. He missed them because of their innocence. Ever since the Order had lost the Battle of Hogwarts, the world had lost all traces of her virtue. All her light and goodness were gone; nearly extinguished. Where once the resistance had been a raging fire, it was now no more than a flickering candle in a turbulent and unforgiving wind.

Harry could remember sitting around a table in some rank old house that the order was using for a headquarters after the battle and thinking that it was all over, that there was no way to win after losing Hogwarts. If not for the support of Ron, Hermione and Ginny, Harry knew without a doubt that he would have given up. They had pulled him through then and it was them that kept him trudging on now. He couldn't fail them, wouldn't fail them. He had to go on fighting for them, for the world, but most importantly he had to go on fighting for her.

Lily Claire Potter had been born on her father's 27th birthday a little over sixteen years ago. She'd been named after her grandmother who, Harry'd found out, had also been Lily Claire Potter at the time of her death. Like her namesake, Lily had emerald eyes and dark, almost blood-red hair. She'd also inherited her grandmother's magical talent for which Harry was extremely grateful. Magic, to Lily, came easily almost effortlessly. Moody had once told him that he'd only ever known of two other individuals that had had as much talent from so early on and, when asked, Harry had gotten the names from the war battered old wizard: Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle. Harry hadn't been too thrilled about the latter but hearing his, at the time, three year old daughter compared to Dumbledore had made his day; it still did whenever he thought about it. It was a pity that she'd never get to go to Hogwarts.

Ever since the battle, Voldemort had re-invented the school and used it to corrupt the minds of its students so that they believed the Ministry – who as an entity was nothing more than a puppet with Voldemort pulling the strings – was the wizarding world's savior and that Harry, and all those that supported him, were out to bring it down. Of course, that part was true; Harry would've probably given his left arm to take the Ministry down but not because he didn't want them to fight Voldemort but because, in all reality, the Ministry was Voldemort. Each year more and more radical legislation was passed giving more power to the Ministry and taking away all of the power from the people it was supposed to be serving. Hermione had once ranted about how Hitler's Nazi party had done the same thing and how Hogwarts had been turned into Hitler's youth. Harry had gotten the reference having studied the subject in school before finding out that he was a wizard; the analogy had been lost on everyone else.

As it was, the inner circle of the Order – who, like Harry, had all been in hiding since the Battle of Hogwarts, operating in secret and with as much discretion as possible – had come up with an alternative method of schooling the next generation. Hermione, Moody, Lupin and anyone else that felt so inclined had been asked to take up the mantle of teacher so that their children could have the tools they'd need to survive in the new, Voldemort ordered world. Harry's son, James, had been one of the first students of this new program before he'd been killed. Lily attended classes with her cousins, Alice Longbottom, Teddy Lupin and the Scamander twins.

And damn were those kids scary.

When one grew up in a war, cold or otherwise, one had to learn how to fight. Schooling began as soon as you showed your first signs of magic. In Lily's case she'd been three and she'd accioed her favorite toy to her when Ginny had refused to give it to her. Hugo and Rose – Hermione and Ron's two children – had been five and six respectively; Alice – Neville and Hannah's daughter – had been seven; the twins, Lorcan and Lysander, were Luna and Rolf's sons and had both shown their first signs of magic nearly as early as Lily at four; Teddy had been born a metamorphmagus but his parents asked to wait until he was five before he started. All in all, as far as Harry was concerned, the seven teenagers ranging in age from fourteen to nineteen could duel better than most aurors, had amazing reflexes and could unarm you eight different ways with or without a wand. It was all out of necessity that they were trained this way and Harry secretly hoped they never actually saw combat but he knew, even in his mind, that that was one wish that would never come true.

Still, he could always cross his fingers and pray. Merlin only knew he did each night before he went to bed. Please, God, don't let anything happen to Lily. Please, please, don't let anything happen to any of them…

Shuddering another sigh, Harry pushed at his thoughts until they reverted back to the prophecy.

Neither can live will the other survives…

Harry played those words in his head over and over again as he drifted off to sleep next to Ginny.

~xXx~

"Again!"

Lily sighed in annoyance and brought her wand up for what had to be the twelfth time. She hated Moody, she really did. The grizzled old auror was a slave driver of a teacher who never let anyone have any rest until the whole class had mastered whatever spell it was that they were supposed to be learning at the moment. Right now, they were practicing silent deflective charms and Lily had already mastered all of them some three months ago but, since not all of her peers had as well, she was stuck doing the same thing over and over again until everyone else caught up.

It irritated her.

"Not everyone is as gifted as you are, Lils," her cousin, Hugo, whispered aside to her, catching the look on her face. "Some of us actually have to try before we get things."

Lily tried and failed to look affronted. "I have to try."

To her right Teddy, whose hair was bright blue today, snorted. "Yeah right, since when?"

Lily opened her mouth.

"Potter, Weasley, Lupin! Unless you lot have managed to master today's objective I see no reason why you should be talking!"

Abashedly, the two boys faced front and went back to their practice. Lily, on the other hand, crossed her arms and stubbornly refused to back down. Five seconds later, she found herself face to face with one Mad-Eye Moody which would've terrified anyone else but which didn't have the same effect on her. Lily had the nasty habit of being fearless when she really oughtn't be. Her Aunt Hermione – the sort of unofficial Headmistress of the Order's training school – blamed both her parents for this stating that any child of a Potter and a Weasley was doomed from the start to be stubborn and headstrong no matter what the prevailing conditions. This was one of those times when Lily knew she should be backing down but couldn't. She was tired of doing the same thing repeatedly and she was bored.

Moody glared at her. "Why aren't you practicing, Potter?" he demanded, his magical eyes whizzing around manically. "If a death eater where to attack you –"

"Then I'd not waste time with stupid non-verbal counter spells, I'd just kill them," Lily answered hotly. "Honestly, you're constantly saying how we need to fight like they do well they wouldn't waste their time throwing spells at us that these counter spells could block. The first thing they'd do is throw Avada at us and if we ducked that then they'd move on to other sort of dark magic. That's what we should be learning how to block. Not this."

The elder wizard regarded her intensely, his magic eye whizzing around in his socket like a drunken pixy. "You think that do you, Missy?" he said after a while. Lily held up her chin and refused to back down; out of the corner of her eye she saw Hugo and Teddy shaking their heads as if to beg her to let it go.

She didn't. "Yes," she said crisply. "I do."

Moody let out a bark of laughter and then began waving his arms around, gesturing for the assembled students to move back. "Right then," he turned to face her and took out his wand. Leveling it at her he said, "A demonstration then."

There was a pause in which Lily found herself gripping her wand tighter in preparation before Moody bellowed out across the courtyard, "Reducto Imperviatum!"

Lily ducked, spinning out of the spell's range before coming back up in a fighting position inwardly cursing herself for her own pigheadedness. She should've backed down, she should've let it go but she hadn't and now she'd goaded Moody into an all-out duel. It wasn't the first time – she'd done the same thing a year or so ago and had ended up in the infirmary for a week – but this time, Lily vowed inwardly, this time would be different. Gathering her magic about her, she swished her wand through the air and cast a silent Incidio jinx. Red hot flames shot out of the tip of her wand in a sweeping arch and sped towards Moody.

The old auror barely managed to step out of the way, no doubt caught off guard by her use of a silent spell, before he readied himself again and fired his own non-verbal hex.

Lily blocked it with a well-chosen Protango Maxima. The curse bounced off her shield and went spiraling off to the right leaving Teddy to literally dive out of the way.

"Bloody hell!" the blue haired wizard yelled as the spell whizzed over his head. "Not again!"

"Alice, go get Uncle Harry!" Rose yelled over the din of battle. "Now, hurry, go!"

Alice darted off while the others scrambled a safe distance away before turning back to watch the volley of hexes now flying back and forth across the courtyard. Both combatants were in their element and, true to her argument, neither Lily nor Moody were using any mild jinxes. Nope, because Lily had brought it up Moody was trying to teach her a lesson as he cast dark spell after dark spell in her direction all of which she either blocked or ducked. There was no contesting the fact that Lily knew what she was doing in a duel but what was surprising were the equally dark curses that she was flinging back.

"Sectumsempra Verocos!" Lily's voice screamed out across the courtyard, the eyes of all observers present going wide in disbelief and shock.

"Merlin's Balls, is she mad!?" Lorcan exclaimed, shocked. "That's a black magic hex that is. Where in the nine hells did she learn that!?"

"Where does Lily learn most of the things she's not supposed to know?" Teddy asked sardonically.

Rose muttered a curse under her breath. "Better hope Uncle Harry doesn't find out that Malfoy is teaching his precious angel the dark arts."

"I think he kinda knows," Teddy whispered back. "Last year at Christmas I heard him go off at Malfoy for telling her what a vagiserious charm is."

The Weasley siblings felt their faces go simultaneously red. "Ah…"

A resounding boom from behind them returned their collective attentions back to the duel; their musing put temporarily to the side. Moody's latest spell, a bombardment charm, was currently pounding away at Lily's raised shield charm and it was clear to everyone watching that her shield was beginning to crack. At the last moment, Lily dropped her shield and dove out of the way, coming up in a ready position just as Moody screamed an unforgivable at her.

It was the most effective way to end a fight and while nobody had ever used the killing curse to do so, Imperio and Crucio were both fair game. Everyone watching expected Lily to just move out of the way but instead, with a look of sheer determination on her face, she got a good grip on her wand, brought it up in front of her and screamed:

"PATRONUM MAXIMUS!"

There had been a theory made quite a while back by a batty old wizard that an augmented patronus charm might be able to block an unforgivable. Hermione had experimented with it for years after the Battle of Hogwarts but had never gotten it to work. Therefore it was a surprise to everyone when a silvery, translucent serpent erupted from the tip of Lily's wand, coiled up protectively in front of her and then lunged forwards to swallow Moody's Crucio seconds before it could hit her. The unforgivable vanished and Lily, sensing that she'd won, slowly albeit cautiously lowered her wand.

"Did I pass?" she asked, her gaze leveled intently on the surprised ex-auror.

Moody blinked twice and opened his mouth as to answer her before he closed it realizing that he really had nothing to say. "Er…."

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME IS COING ON!?"

Everyone except Lily cringed. Alice was back and, just like they all knew he would be, Harry Potter and both Ron and Hermione Weasley looked anything but happy. Turning the six remaining students plus one still stunned Mad-Eye Moody espied the approaching trio with trepidation, everyone expect Lily and Moody hastening to explain.

"Well-"

"Ummm-"

"You see-"

"Lily -"

"That is enough all of you!" Hermione's stern rebuke cut them all off. Casting a quick glance around the destroyed courtyard, the former Miss Granger fixed Mad-Eye with a penetrating stare and demanded to know what had happened.

"The courtyard is completely destroyed!" she railed angrily, glancing alternatingly between the grizzled ex-auror, Lily and everyone else. "What have we told you about dueling the students!?"

Moody tried to argue. "She started it!"

But Hermione wouldn't have it. "And you should have ended it, Alastor you are the teacher and she the student. We should not have to tell you this."

Moody looked at the ground. "We might have'ta revise our thinking on that score, Weasley."

Hermione frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

Since Moody was still more or less in shock, Hugo turned towards his Mum, Dad and Uncle Harry and said, "Lily blocked his Crucio."

All three of the former Gryffindor's eyebrows rose nearly to their hairlines. "Lily did what!?" the three of them exclaimed.

"She blocked Professor Moody's unforgivable," Rose said, a frown crossing her round face. She turned and glared at her cousin, "And I would love to know how she did it considering that nobody's ever gotten that spell to work before. My mum couldn't do it!"

Lily's green eyes narrowed to virtual slits. "Just because your mother can't do something doesn't mean that nobody else can," she threw a glance towards her aunt, "No offense Aunt Hermione," her eyes returned to Rose. "She's not all powerful."

Rose sneered. "She's more powerful then you!"

"She is n-"

"Enough, both of you!" Hermione shouted, effectively ending the argument. It was an old argument. Lily was gifted, there was just no other way to put it and her daughter was often peeved by the fact that magic came so easily to her cousin. There was no denying the fact that out of all of Harry's inner circle, Hermione knew about more kinds of magic than anyone else so, in Rose's mind, that meant that her mother was the most powerful and while Hermione was flattered that her child thought so much of her she also knew that it simply wasn't true. If Hermione had to pick a most powerful Order member she'd probably pick Malfoy with Ginny coming in at a close second. If her son was to be believed and Lily really had managed to block an unforgivable then her niece would be the third.

"But Mum -"

"No," Ron interrupted, fixing his daughter with a look. "Rose, darling, I love that you think so highly of your mother – Lord knows I do – but Lily's right. Just because your mum can't do it doesn't mean it can't be done."

"Well, then it's a fluke then," Rose continued to protest, unwilling to let this go. Lily always got everything, she didn't even have to try most of the time and it was really beginning to piss her off. "Bet she can't do it again."

Lily growled. "Bet I can."

Rose rounded on her. "Bet you -"

"Actually, that's probably a good idea," Harry said thoughtfully, eyes trained intently on his youngest child. "Would you be willing to show us how it's done Lily?"

The red head nodded. "Of course."

Harry held out a hand, indicating that he'd be the one to try and curse her. Lily jerked her head downwards in understanding and then backed an appropriate distance away before taking up her dueling stance. Harry hesitated for only a moment since, even he'd admit, it felt a little odd firing an unforgivable at his own child but he knew that if she couldn't block it she'd just dodge out of the way. It was actually surprisingly easy to duck an unforgivable.

"Crucio!"

The angry red jet of light left the end of Harry's wand and went screaming across the courtyard towards Lily who, as she'd done before, gripped her wand tightly before shouting out determinedly, "PATRONUM MAXIMUS!"

Just as before, the silvery transparent snake that was Lily's patronus erupted from her wand tip and lunged forwards, opening its mouth and swallowing the curse in one gulp. The red light vanished and the snake, after coiling and uncoiling twice, dissipated into nothingness. Lily lowered her wand.

Rose dropped her eyes to the ground and refused to look up; everyone else just stared. It was just as impressive a second time as it had been the first.

"Obviously it wasn't a fluke," Lysander broke the silence. He turned towards his twin, "Pick your jaw up, you look like a drowning grindylow."

His brother glared at him. "Well excuse me," Lorcan exclaimed hotly, "It's not every day you see somebody block and unforgivable. Twice!"

The assembled persons all nodded their heads in vigorous agreement. Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face.

Ron knew that look all too well. "Oh know," he whispered frantically, the teenagers, Moody and Harry all looked at him. "Harry, she's got that look on her face!"

Harry snorted. "That look, if you'll recall correctly, usually heralds something spectacular," then, with a shake of his head, he turned his gaze to his only daughter, "I think it's safe to say that given today's events, your attendance for lessons is no longer mandatory."

Lily smirked. Teddy and Hugo's mouths fell open.

"What!?" her cousin screamed.

Teddy was quick to second the sentiment. "No fair! I thought you said that we all had to train until we were twenty?"

The boy who lived shot his godson a pointed look. "Can you block an unforgivable?"

Teddy's expression fell. "No."

Harry tried to pacify him. "Oh, it's not so terrible," he turned back to Lily, "Since you no longer need training, you get to help Hermione with research and trying to re-create your new spell."

Suddenly Lily's achievement didn't seem all that awesome. She hated doing research, especially if it was under the ever watchful eye of her aunt. "Yay," she replied drolly.

Harry snickered. "Yes, yay," he sighed. "Well, I think that's enough lessons for one day, for everyone. Let's pack it up and go see what Ginny and Luna came up with for dinner."

The twins looked at each other. "If its stew again I'm gonna go on strike," Lorcan exclaimed as the courtyard slowly emptied and he and his brother fell into step beside Lily and Hugo. "There's only so much wild hippogriff I can stomach."

Hugo frowned. "Really?" he questioned. "I like wild hippogriff."

"You'll eat anything," Lily said humorlessly, "I've seen you eat grass."

The twins snickered.

Hugo glared at the lot of them. "Hey, that was one time and it was a dare!"

Lysander snorted. "It doesn't matter, you still ate it. You chewed and everything."

"Oh shut up," Hugo spat at him, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans.

His companions laughed. Alice turned around and eyed them.

"What's so funny?"

"Hugo's eating habits," Lorcan replied as the group entered the dining hall of the old dilapidated castle they were staying in. They moved around a lot but this particular fortress had been their home now for over three years.

Alice grinned. "Yes, I can see why those'd be funny."

The lone Weasley glared at her. "What is it, pick on Hugo day?" he asked, irked. "What did I ever do to any of you?"

"You broke my arm when we were eight," Alice fired back.

"I did not! You fell off your broom."

"It was your fault, you pushed me."

"No I did -"

"Hugo, give it a rest, we were all there we all saw you do it," Lily reminded him.

The ginger haired wizard glared at her, crossed his arms and scowled.

Lysander and Lorcan were next. "You once gave us both polyjuice potion to make us look like you and then went around telling everyone we were triplets. As if we'd ever want to be brothers with you."

There was no venom in the twin's statement but Hugo glared at them anyway. "Okay, alright fine, I get it," he slipped into an empty chair at the end of the long dining room table and eagerly looked down at his plate. "Hey look! Stew!"

Lorcan grimaced and pushed his plate towards the now sadistically grinning Weasley. "Here, have mine."

Hugo eagerly scrapped the younger twin's helping onto his own plate before handing it back. "Thanks," he said before digging in.

Lily shook her head. "You are definitely Uncle Ron's son."

"As if there was ever any doubt," Alice muttered, taking a bite of her own food and then forcing herself to swallow. "He's Ronald Weasley in miniature."

Hugo looked at her. "Ew say tha lik icks a ba ing."

Alice frowned. "What, sorry? Didn't catch that. Finish chewing before you try and talk, you sound like you've gone and swallowed your tongue."

Lily and the twins snickered. "Now there's an interesting image," Lysander mused.

"Yeah, really," Lily agreed, taking a drink from her cup.

The other twin looked at her. "So," he started, "You looking forwards to spending some good ol' quality time with Hugo's mum?"

Lily opened her mouth.

"What's wrong with my mum?" Hugo demanded.

"Nothing," Lily replied, "It's just…I don't like doing research in groups. I'd rather just be left alone to do it myself."

"Anti-social," Lysander teased.

"Slytherin," Alice quipped, also teasing. "I swear Lily, if you ever were to go to Hogwarts you'd end up in the snake pit for sure."

The red haired girl plastered an affronted look on her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh don't pretend you're offended," Hugo called her out. "Everyone knows that except for your eyes and the fact that you're way to stubborn for you own good, you're more like your godfather then your dad. I mean, if we died your hair blonde I bet you could even pass as his what with your predisposition to glare at anything that moves and pisses you off."

Lily scowled at him. "That's not funny."

Lorcan snorted. "Oh but it is, and the best part is, both your dad and Malfoy know it."

"They do not!"

Lysander gave her a patronizing stare. "Oh really?" he questioned before leaning back and yelling towards the head of the table, "Hey Uncle Harry!"

Lily's eyes went wide. "What. Are. You. Doing!?"

"Yes, Lysander?" Harry called back, one eyebrow raised as he looked at his honorary nephew.

The elder twin grinned evilly. "True or false, if – humph!" he was cut off as Lily took out her wand and swished it angrily in his direction. He tried to swallow; it was like his mouth was full of cotton. He couldn't speak. "Hummnnnmerrrne-ahhhh!"

Lily looked at her father. "Ignore him, he's done talking," she said, stowing her wand away and going back to her food.

At the head of the table, Harry shook his head and snickered. "She's your daughter," he said to Ginny who turned towards her husband and grinned proudly.

"You bet she is."

Ron and Hermione exchanged knowing glances and smiled, all turning to watch the drama unfold at the other end of the table.

By this time, Lysander had taken out his own wand and un-hexed himself. He was now glaring hotly at Lily. "You!" he yelled at her, "You!"

"Me, me," the witch mocked him before proceeding to stick her tongue out at him. "Nice comeback."

Lorcan and Hugo guffawed, casting each other mischievous grins. Watching Lysander and Lily have at each other was always prime entertainment. Always.

The elder Scamander twin crossed his arms and glared hotly at her in mock anger. "You just completely proved my point."

"I did not!"

"You did so," he argued, "I said something you didn't like and you jinxed me. Slytherin."

"I am not a Slytherin!" Lily protested.

"Lily," Alice entered the fray, "Your patronus is a snake."

"And your favorite color is green," Hugo added.

"And you know more hexes and curses then half our parents," Lorcan inserted, both twins, Hugo and Alice looked at one another before fixing Lily with a look and exclaiming in concert, "Slytherin!"

"Arrgghhh!" Lily cried, crossing her arms while glaring at her cousin and friends. She threw a look towards her parents. "Have you nothing to say?" she demanded.

Twenty years ago had anyone tried to argue that a child of his belonged in Slytherin house, Harry would've probably hexed you but, as it stood now, the association was no longer an insult so much as a point of contention. It was neither good nor was it entirely bad, it simply was. Not all Slytherins were evil, at least not entirely – Ron still argued that Malfoy was still technically an evil git even if we was on their side – and not all of the other houses were full of saints. Pettigrew had been in Gryffindor and a particularly nasty Death Eater who had been in their year at Hogwarts was from Hufflepuff. True evil had no color, no house loyalty; it came in every hue and could dwell in sunlight just as easily as it could in shadow.

"As much as I know my sixteen year old self probably thinks I'm barmy for saying this, I really must say that in all reality, they're all probably right; if you were ever to get sorted, you'd probably end up in Slytherin," Harry informed his daughter.

Lily pouted.

"I blame the Git," Ron announced tersely, less able to let go of the old prejudices then Harry was. Of course it didn't help that he'd had five older brothers that'd made sure that 'all Slytherins are evil' had been drilled into his head since birth. He shot a look towards his sister who was seated across from him. "What in your right mind possessed you to make him Lily's godfather?"

Ginny glared at her brother. "The 'Git', really Ron?" she scowled, "You still call him that?"

Ron eyed her. "That's not answering my question," he reprimanded her before adding, "And he still calls me weasel so I can call him a git if I want to."

Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Luna all rolled their eyes. "Whatever you say."

For a moment, Ron puffed up looking pleased with himself but then, as his fellow's condescending tones caught on, he deflated and let out an indignant sounding, "Hey!"

The table dissolved into laughter that continued throughout the rest of the meal. When it was over and the dishes had been cleared away and washed, Lily stayed in the dining hall for a bit longer to play a game of wizarding chess with Ron before kissing both her parents and then going off to bed. She said goodnight to Hugo and the twins, ignored Rose completely and made sure to get the time she was to report for research in the morning from Aunt Hermione who was in the library immediately following dinner just like she always was. Knowing she had a full day of reading ahead of her, she forwent doing any before bed, crawled beneath her covers and was almost instantly asleep.

~xXx~

"So we have nothing."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other before turning to look back at Ron who, at the moment, looked more haggard and defeated then either the two of them had seen him in a long time. "It would appear that way," his wife said, reluctantly, her eyes roving over the scattered assortment of books, all of which had ceased to be useful quite some time ago. "I really don't know where else to look."

Harry sighed. The problem was that they were stuck; they'd been stuck for a long time. He, Hermione and Ron had spent the majority of what would have been their seventh year at Hogwarts searching for Voldemort's hourcruxes all of which they found, all but one. Apparently, somewhere along the way, Voldemort had managed to make one accidently. For the longest time the three of them had thought that it was Harry but a really complicated spell and an awful tasting potion had proved that theory to be wholly incorrect. None of them had ever been more happy to have been proven wrong but, unfortunately, this meant that they were completely out of ideas as to what the final hourcrux might actually be. Hermione had managed to figure out that whatever they were looking for was actually the first hourcrux ever made but that didn't really help.

Unfortunately.

It had made them all look a lot harder into Voldemort's past though, in particular, the time before he'd become Lord Voldemort and was still just plain ol' Tom Riddle. So far, in twenty years of searching, they'd found exactly jack squat and were running out of places to look. In fact, they'd just hit another dead end.

Harry was way past being annoyed and had moved on to being just downright pissed. "Everyone we ask, everywhere we look, there's never any information on Tom fucking Riddle, it's almost like he didn't exist."

"But we know he existed, Harry," Hermione said wearily, "Maybe we're not asking the right people."

"Or maybe Voldemort made sure that there'd be nothing to find," Ron suggested. "Think about it, he went through all the trouble of making a new name for himself and ditching the old one; maybe there's a reason nobody remembers Tom Riddle. Maybe there's nobody left to remember him. I betcha Voldy went back and killed anyone who might've known him before he became the evil, almighty Dark Lord."

Harry made a face. "Now there's an idea we never thought of," he said drolly, "Doesn't help us though."

"It doesn't hurt us either, it's just maddeningly unhelpful," Hermione whispered, digging her fingers into her hair as she rested her elbows on the already groaning table. If they added one more book to it the whole thing might collapse.

"Where's Lily?" Harry asked, deciding that he needed a break from re-reading pages that he'd already read a thousand times before. "Did you stick her in the library?"

Hermione nodded. "I have her looking through all our old notes to see if we missed anything. She really does do better on her own."

"Slytherin," Ron murmured, echoing the sentiment from last night's dinner conversation. "Does it really not bother you much Harry? The twins are right; if her hair weren't red she'd make a damn convincing Malfoy."

Harry shrugged. "It's a bit hard to swallow at times but I usually get over it."

"You usually get over what?"

The three of them looked up, Ron's face morphed into a scowl.

"Git."

"Weasel."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly."

Harry smirked and turned to face his former rival. "Malfoy," he acknowledged, "Tell me you have something."

Draco stepped the rest of the way into the room. "First, what's this that you've supposedly gotten over Potter?" the blond wizard smirked. "You're perchance to be painfully annoying maybe?"

"Ha-ha," Harry responded tonelessly, hitting his former nemesis with a resentful glare. "And what I've gotten over is the fact that if she ever got the chance, my daughter would most likely end up being a Slytherin."

Draco grinned. "That is true," he said with pride before taking a deep breath so that he could proceed, "Now, in answer to your question: yes, I have something,"

The scowl vanished from Ron's face as he perked up. "Finally, we're getting somewhere," his eyes narrowed as he aimed them at the pale wizard, "We are getting somewhere aren't we?"

Malfoy looked contrite. "Yes and no, Weasley."

Ron glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

Harry had to admit, he kinda had to agree with Ron. "Yes, Malfoy, what is that supposed to mean?"

Draco sighed. "It means that I have something but I'm afraid it's not going to be very useful, at least not right away."

"Okay," Hermione said, "What is it and when do you think it will be useful?"

The blond carefully eyed the three of them. "McGonagall wants to talk to you, she says it's important. She didn't say why; she just gave me the message to give to you."

The trio frowned. "That's it?" they chorused.

Malfoy nodded. "Yes, that's it."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Well, is she coming to us or do we have to go to her?"

"You have to go to her," came the reply, "As soon as possible she said."

"Where is she?" Harry asked.

"Hogwarts."

"Hog – is she insane!?" Ron bellowed. "We can't go to Hogwarts, Snape's still headmaster; the place is swarming with dementors and Harry tracking charms. Has she lost her bloody mind?"

Draco glared at him. "That old bat is saner then you weasel," he said tersely, crossing his arms, "And anyway, given how important she seems to think this is, I'm thinking you should risk it. You know she wouldn't ask if it wasn't something huge."

Ron didn't look convinced but both Harry and Hermione shared a look. "Harry," Hermione began, "What if it's -"

"I know," he said, turning to Malfoy. "Can you get a message back to her?"

"I can."

"Good," said Harry, "Tell her we'll be there."

With a nod to show that he would do as requested, Draco took to leaning against the wall as he regarded the golden trio. "So," he started, "What all have I missed?"

"Recently or in life?"

Malfoy glared at Ron. "Very funny weasel," he scowled and took to looking directly at Harry, "How's Lily?"

Harry smirked. "Funny you should mention her," he said.

Draco frowned. "And why is that?"

Hermione explained. "Yesterday she goaded Mad-Eye into a duel – "

"Not the first time," Malfoy mumbled, Hermione kept talking.

"– where she proceeded use very dark magic and then went on to block an unforgivable."

Draco felt both his eyes go wide. "She did what!?"

"That was our reaction too," Harry said, gaining immense enjoyment out of the bewildered look on the former Slytherin's face. "Rose thought it might be a fluke so we had her do it again. I fired Crucio at her and she blocked it with an augmented patronus just like Corcoran theorized. It was impressive."

"I'll bet," Malfoy agreed, "Anything else interesting happen while I've been off risking my life for you sorry lot?"

Ron glared hotly at him. "Risking your life my arse, your dad's the Minister of bloody magic; you're treated more like a prince now then you were when we were in school."

"We must each do our part," Draco smirked before he pushed himself off the wall and started for the door. "Well, I must be off. I'll give McGonagall your message and come back whenever I have something else useful."

"Later Malfoy," Harry called as Draco turned and walked out the door. They heard a faint pop as he appeared and then Harry was looking back at Hermione. "I'm going to go check on my daughter, if that's alright with you."

"She'll be pissed that the Git was here and didn't say 'hi'," Ron muttered as he pulled a book towards him across the table and started reading where he'd left off. "She's unnaturally fond of him for a Weasley; it's not right."

His wife elbowed him in the ribs. "He's her godfather Ron," she hissed.

Ron shrugged. "Yeah, remind me to ask Ginny why she did that again when I get the chance."

"She never answers you."

"Maybe she will this time."

"Well aren't you optimistic."

"I'm always optimistic, I'm the bloody king of optimism, just ask my mother."

"You are not, you…"

Leaving Hermione and Ron to their bickering, Harry took his leave and headed towards the library.

~xXx~

As previously discussed, Hogwarts had undergone some radical changes since the battle that had taken place on her grounds nearly twenty years ago. For starters the houses had been dissolved, the quidditch stadium had never been rebuilt and students had to pass a blood purity test before they were allowed entrance. Purebloods and half-bloods only, no muggleborns; Hermione had screamed indignantly when that particular piece of legislation had passed. Umbridge was, unfortunately, still very much in power and her crusade to purify the wizarding world was so in sync with Voldemort's rhetoric that Harry was often confused as to why she wasn't a Death Eater. Still, Hogwarts had changed and not for the better.

The curriculum was almost all theory now with very little if any practical application and almost no practicing. The idea, Harry was sure, was to make the general populous so dependent on the Ministry for every little thing, not just defense, that no one would dare try and take them down for fear of losing access to what little magic the average wizard still had access too. The only ones for whom nothing had changed were the very old, very wealthy pureblood houses. In short, all the Slytherins. Ron wasn't wrong when he'd said that Draco lived like a prince. Except for the risking his life by spying on Voldemort and the Death Eaters part, Harry's old school rival had a much easier life now then he had had before the war.

Which is why, the day after his visit, when Malfoy send Harry a coded letter explaining that he was to come to Hogwarts alone, the boy who lived didn't wonder how Draco had managed to avoid the monitoring spells that tracked everything from who used what spell to do what and when to who was talking to who and by what means. There was very little privacy anymore in the new Ministry's regime and nearly everybody was almost as terrified of their government as they were of what their government was supposedly protecting them from. All in all, Harry was often surprised more people hadn't figured out yet what was going on; Hermione really wasn't that far off with her Nazi analogy.

She also wasn't happy when her best friend told her he'd be making the trip to Hogwarts alone but, in the end, Harry was able to convince her and Ron that it was best in this circumstance to follow Malfoy's instructions. It was difficult, and there had been a lot of yelling, but in the end he'd managed it so that now he and he alone was standing in front of Professor McGonagall's desk while she looked at him feeling very much as though he were an erstwhile school boy once again.

The old witch eyed him over the top of her glasses. "Oh do sit down, Potter," she said primly, indicating a tray set of the edge of her desk, "Have a biscuit."

Harry took one and sat while resisting the urge to fidget nervously. "So, er, how've you been Professor?"

"Minerva, please," McGonagall corrected, "I've not been your professor for many years now and the fact that you insist on calling me that every time you see me just makes me feel old."

Harry resisted the urge to snort. At almost a hundred, Minerva McGonagall was getting on in years even so far as witches and wizards were concerned. Still, he thought he might humor his old head of house. "How've you been then, Minerva?"

The witch smiled although it looked very forced. There really was very little to smile about these days especially here. "As well as can be expected."

"Why am I here?"

McGonagall sighed. "In a moment, I will tell you, I just...we are waiting for another to join us."

He frowned. "Who?"

The door to the office opened and Harry turned just in time to see a flash of blond slip through the door and come round the desk. "Malfoy."

Draco smirked. "Well hello Potter," he greeted with false cheer, "This must be my lucky week; I've seen you twice in all of five days. That's as much as I've seen you since Hogwarts."

Harry glared at him and opened his mouth but McGonagall cut him off.

"Now enough of that, the both of you. If you'll take a seat, Mr. Malfoy, we may begin," Draco sat and Minerva continued, "What I've got to say I've waited seventy years to tell anyone so please, I'm tired of waiting. I want it over with." With that statement, she knew she had both wizards' attentions hooked. Without taking her eyes from theirs, she reached down and opened a draw in her desk, pulled out what was kept there, and held it out towards both Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy.

They both eyed her speculatively as if they had no idea how this was supposed to help.

"Open it," the old witch beseeched them before leaning back in her chair to watch them as they did.

Being the first to reach for the book which looked like an album of some kind, Harry picked it up and then cracked it open holding it up and at an angle so that Malfoy was able to see. He then turned his attention to the album's contents. Green eyes searching the title page, they came across a familiar script which had been used to write the words: Property of Horace Slughorn, 1940 – 1945.

Harry's eyes widened as his brain swirled with thoughts of what this might mean, of what could possibly be contained within the next several pages. Frantically he became turning the leafs in the old photo album in search of the familiar dark hair and piercing dark eyes of the boy that would be Voldemort. Beside him, he could sense Malfoy's confusion. There were very few who knew about or remembered the young, brilliant wizard that had gone by the name Tom Riddle and, more importantly, there were fewer still who knew what he had become. As part of Harry's inner circle Draco knew the name, knew that it was the name that Voldemort had been born under but the only face of the Dark Lord he knew was the one Voldemort currently sported; distorted and disfigured as it was.

An image caught Harry's eye and his manic page flipping stopped; his eyes glaring with hatred as they looked down on the person smiling winningly up at them from the page.

Still beyond confused, Malfoy leaned forwards to inspect the photograph wondering as he did what was so horrible about that his friend seemed to loath the very sight of it. "It's a Slug Club meeting," he observed with a frown. "Potter," he glanced sideways at him, "What on in Merlin's name is – "

"It's him," Harry replied, finger pointing to the Riddle in the picture, "Tom Riddle."

Draco's eyes went wide. "That's the Dark Lord!?" he yelled, yanking the album away from Potter so that he could get a better look. Once he'd done so he began turning pages at random looking for more images of the teenaged Voldemort. "He looks so normal, so benign," Draco was muttering under his breath, "He's practically…there's no way anybody would be able to connect this version to the ones that out there now trying to take over the – oh bloody fucking hell…"

"What?" Harry asked, alarmed by Malfoy's rather loud, rather sudden steam of expletives. Reaching out to pull the book more towards him so that he could see, Harry starting looking for what could've possibly caused Malfoy's outburst. "What's so…" he started to ask but then he froze. There, in a photograph that took up nearly the whole page, was a large group of witches and wizards all in dress robes and all obviously having a good time. It was another Slug Club meet from the looks of it and, just like in the last picture, Tom Riddle could be seen standing with a certain stiffness about him that made him stand out despite how normal he appeared to be. What was different about this picture was that the practiced smile he normally wore, the one that was usually confined to just the corners of his mouth; in this image that smile reached all the way up into his eyes. It was a real smile, a true smile, a smile directed not at the person taking the picture but towards the witch who stood looking up at him from his side.

Harry felt his blood run cold. The witch standing next to him was Lily.

A weak, "How?" was all he could manage as he continued to stare at the picture in disbelief. To his right, a quick glance at Malfoy reveled the wizard to be suffering under much the same aliment. This, this was impossible.

"Time, Mr. Potter," Minerva spoke shattering the stillness as together as one, both wizards' eyes continued to traced over the image that had been captured on that faithful day; a memory of a moment that was forever frozen in time, "Is a tricky thing. What was done cannot be undone; but what will be done may yet save us all."

Harry tore his gaze away from the album's pages, completely lost. "What?"

McGonagall indulged him with a terse smile. "The answer lies in time, Harry. You could not kill him because you did not yet have the final piece," the old witch stood and came around the side of her desk, stopping to stand over her former students, "Albus, God rest him, knew many, many things but I'm afraid that he missed Lily's significance in Tom Riddle's life until it was almost too late."

He heard the words but it took a while for them to sink in. Slowly Harry looked up. "This is Lily," he said, "My Lily, and…and Voldemort!"

"She was the only one that ever understood him, the closest thing he ever had to a real friend," the expression in Minerva's eyes was one of lament, "I would even go so far to say that he cared for her at least, as much as he could and in the only way he knew how."

With a sinking feeling beginning to well up from the pit of his stomach, Harry dared to ask, "And in what way was that?"

The old witch folded her hands in front of her and took another breath. "He trusted her. He told Lily many things, things that he'd never told another living soul. Things that you will need to know if you want to defeat him."

And Harry understood. "Lily knows where the last hourcrux is."

Draco frowned. "No, she doesn't yet…" he said causing both former Gryffindors to trade looks with him. "But she will," he looked at McGonagall and locked eyes with his former teacher, "You want us to send her back in time."

Minerva nodded. "Yes."

Harry stood, angrily, allowing the photo album to fall to the floor with a soft thump. "You want me to send my daughter back in time so that she can get in with Tom Riddle and steal a part of his soul?" he looked at Malfoy who looked about as keen on the plan as he did. "Fuck that! I'd rather d -"

"Everyone will die if you sit here and do nothing!" Minerva hissed at him. "You need that last piece, he can't be killed otherwise."

"What if she doesn't come back?" Harry protested. "What if I send her back and then I never see her again!"

Minerva sighed. "She does come back, Potter, trust in that."

"How do you know!?"

"Because Lily Claire first appeared at Hogwarts on January 4th, 1944 and she disappeared on November 6th 1947 nearly four years later," the witch held his gaze. "She will come back to you Potter but if you have any hope of saving the future, her future, and this world then you must let her go."

Harry opened his mouth to let out a scathing retort but was cut short by Malfoy.

"Lily Claire?" the wizard breathed; surprise evident in every single one of his features.

The black haired wizard rounded on him. "What are you going on about?" he demanded hotly and with confusion.

But Draco ignored him. Instead, the former Slytherin's eyes had glazed over and he was staring fixedly at Minerva McGonagall. "Lily is – she's…really?"

Minerva inclined her head. "Yes," she confirmed. "When she arrived in the past, using Potter as a last name would have caused problems so Xavier wisely decided to use her middle name as her surname and thus, Lily Claire came to be. Together with Albus he protected her, sheltered her and gave her a reason for knowing what she knows; how to duel, how to fight, how not to hem a robe or tidy a kitchen."

Harry frowned. "I'm confused," he started, "What -"

"She'll be fine, Potter," Draco informed him, returning his attention to the baffled boy who lived. "Send her back, we have to. She'll be fine."

"I don't believe you."

Draco looked up. "Potter, trust me, she'll be fine. Ask any witch or wizard over eighty to tell you about Lily Claire and you'll get an earful or better yet, look her up. She was the first witch to be accepted into the auror training program. Send her back, Potter. We need that last piece and she's the only one that can get it."

Harry sighed. Despite what he was hearing, he was still reluctant. Lily was, after all, his little girl. He'd already lost James; he couldn't bare it if he lost Lily as well.

"I…"

"She will come back," Minerva insisted, "You will see her again. It won't be goodbye forever."

It was inevitable and Harry knew it. "What do I tell her?" he asked, defeat and resignation ringing in his voice.

"Tell her nothing," Minerva instructed, reaching back into the drawer that she'd kept the photo album in and pulling from it a small, plain, black box. She handed it to Potter. "Riddle would know if she were to come to him with a mission, but if she comes to him with nothing, only knowing that there is something she must accomplish in order to come home…"

"Then there's no risk to the timeline," Harry concluded, lifting the lid on the black box just enough so that he could see the silver pendent nestled within; the sand in its hourglass a deep emerald. He inhaled sharply. This was real, this was it. There was no going back.

At least not for him.

"When she completes her task, when she has the last piece," Draco was trying to sort it all out in his head, "The timeturner will send her back?"

"Yes," Minerva replied. "Once she completes her task, a task which she must not know, then and only then will she be returned to us."

"Which'll take nearly four years," Harry concluded unhappily, not liking the idea of her being gone for that long.

"Time will move more quickly for us," McGonagall explained. "For Lily it will be almost four years, for us it will be considerably less; only months," she fixed Harry with a look. "You will do it, yes?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, I'll…I'll send her back," he swallowed, "I have to. It-it's the only way."

Minerva closed her eyes. "Then be gone with you," she said, opening them again to look at her former student, both of them. "Take that and give it to Lily, tonight."

"What will she do when she gets there, to the past I mean?" Draco asked. "Who does she go looking for, Dumbledore?"

"Yes," Minerva said, nodding towards the box Potter was now clutching tightly in his hands as though his life depended on it. "There's a note in the box, under the turner. The box itself is a portkey which will activate upon her arrival in 1943. It will take her to Albus."

Harry frowned. "I thought you said he didn't know about her? If this'll take her to him won't he know why she's there?"

"Ah, no," McGonagall lamented. "The note only explains the bare minimum, Albus wrote it that way himself so as to not alert his former self in any way that might damage the timeline. That is key, Potter, nothing can happen that hasn't already happened and so, when she finds Albus, he will be told only what is absolutely needed."

"Brilliant," Harry muttered, turning to Malfoy, "Well, I guess this is it," he looked towards his old professor one more time before taking his leave "Cross your fingers," and with a pop he was gone.

Draco followed soon after only he went out the door. When she was alone in her officer once more, Minerva let out a sigh and sat heavily down in her chair behind her desk. "I told them, Albus," she whispered to herself, "I told them, now it is up to her."

The thought made the old witch smile.

~xXx~

Lily was beyond suspicious. Her father had woken her up in the middle of the night and told her to get dressed and follow him which she'd done only to be let out of the castle and out onto the wild moor that surrounded the crumbling fortress. Not only was she confused but her father was acting weird, really weird. He was holding her hand like he'd done when she was a girl and alternatingly he would look back at her and either smile longingly or frown regretfully. Truly, Lily had no idea what was going on.

"Dad?" she finally questioned when she could no longer stand the awkward, tense silence, "What's going on?"

Harry stopped walking and turned to look at his daughter, still holding her hand. "I love you, Lily, you know that don't you?" he asked, lifting his other hand to tilt her chin up so that her matching emerald eyes were forced to meet his. "Tell me you know that."

Lily swallowed and looked back at her father in worry. "Of course I know that," she told him, concern creeping into her stomach. Her feet were cold and wet and she was standing out in the middle of a wild moor, in the dark while her father asked her if she knew he loved her. What in Merlin's name was going on?

"Good," Harry said releasing her hand and taking a step back. He kept his eyes trained on hers and held them. "You know that you've been training for war, for over thirteen years now I've been preparing you, teaching you. I've always hoped, foolishly I know, that you'd never have to fight but now…" he trailed off, taking a deep breath to steady himself. Gods, he didn't know how to do this. He didn't know how to send his baby away.

Her concern was mounting now but so was her anticipation. Something was about to happen, something big and whatever it was it was something that she could see her father was very reluctant to do. That could only mean that it was important. Scale tipping important. Important like they were never going to have another chance like this again.

"Now?" she echoed, prompting her dad to finish telling her what he'd dragged her out here in the middle of the night to say.

Harry let out a deep, bone weary sigh. "Now the time has come where I can no longer protect you."

His daughter frowned. "Dad?" she asked, the anticipation she'd previously felt dissipating, caution replacing it. Caution and a yawning, unfathomable dread. There was pain in her father's eyes, so much pain. It made her fear whatever was about to come.

In place of an answer, Harry pulled the black box McGonagall had given him from his pocket and handed it to his daughter, his only surviving child. Once she was holding it, Harry proceeded to stuff his hands into his pockets and ball his fists, clenching them so hard he'd be surprised if his fingernails didn't draw blood.

Lily opened the box and frowned down at the tiny hourglass that lay nestled inside. Her gaze shifted upwards in confusion, her expression one of non-comprehension. "Daddy?"

Her voice was barely more than a whisper, if he hadn't seen her mouth move Harry couldn't have been sure that Lily had spoken at all. "Do you know what that is?" he asked her, nodding at the box.

She nodded. "It's a timeturner. Why…why are you giving it to me?"

"Because you need to go back," Harry told her, "Back in time. There's something, something we need and only you can get it. That necklace, the minute you place it around your neck and turn it, it will take you back to 1943. That is where your mission will start. Get what we need, the last piece and then once you have it the magic in the necklace will bring you forwards again. Do you understand?"

Lily stared at him. "Wh-, no!" she exclaimed. "I don't understand anything, you haven't told me anything. What is it that I'm supposed to get?"

"The last piece," her father replied.

"The last piece of what!?"

Harry looked at her sadly. "The last piece we need to win," Lily still looked confused and Harry could only shake his head. He hated doing this to her, putting her through this. It was the exact same thing that Dumbledore had always done to him; telling him just enough but never the whole truth. He'd hated it then and he hated doing it to his own daughter now. In fact, Harry hated everything about the whole situation but he knew that it couldn't be helped. They needed that last hourcrux: the future, Lily's future, depended on it. It was one of those instances were Harry felt like he was damned no matter what he did.

Sensing that that was all the information she was going to get, Lily let out an angry hiss and took to looking at the dew covered ground. "Now what?" she asked dejectedly.

With a sigh, Harry reached forwards and took the box back and held it in one hand while he removed the timeturner necklace from it with the other. Closing the box and handing it back to her, he took a step forwards and carefully lowered the pendant around her neck. The hourglass came to rest over Lily's heart; Harry thought that was fitting.

"Now, my little Lily, you go," Harry began explaining. "The box is a portkey that will take you to Dumbledore once you arrive in the past. There's a note inside for him, explaining little more than I've just explained to you. Don't bother trying to read it," he eyed his daughter knowing that if she thought there was a way for her to get more information she'd all but jump at the chance, "It's charmed with a blood seal, unless your Albus Dumbledore the page will just appear blank to you."

Lily let out an audible clearly irritated huff. "Well what do I do when I get to 1943?" she asked. "What's so important about that year anyway? Why then?"

"You'll see," came her father's guarded and purposefully vague answer. "As for what you'll do, just be yourself. Don't worry about the timeline, there's nothing you can do to change what was, everything will happen exactly as it was meant to be."

"Is that really all you can tell me?" Lily asked darkly, a frown on her face. "You know mum's going to kill you when she finds out you let me go back in time."

Harry snorted. "Yes, I suspect your mother will be very, very angry, especially when I tell her why," he looked at Lily, took a step forwards and kissed her on her forehead. "Be safe," he told her, "And do your best, I know you won't disappoint me."

Lily's frown deepened as she felt her father's lips on her forehead one more time. "I love you," she heard him whisper against her skin but before she could say it back, her father flicked the hourglass with his wrist and set it to spin. Lily looked up and was just able to see her father's emerald eyes one last time before she felt a tug pull at her from the base of her spine and then the world around her began to spin. It spun and spun, faster and faster until suddenly it stopped and Lily's knees gave out. She crashed to the ground.

Looking up, she looked around and noticed that she was exactly where she had been standing before everything had gone sideways. The only difference was that her dad wasn't standing in front of her. Remembering about the box, Lily turned it over in her hand and waited for the portkey to activate.

Three seconds later Lily herself vanished from the moor and silence fell as, in the sky above, the clouds parted and the stars themselves seemed to twinkle just a little bit more brightly.

A/N: Reviews are the only way that fan-fiction writers get paid so put a quarter in my cup and make my day.