A/N: This chapter is a love letter to you wonderful readers who left me such unexpectedly nice reviews that I actually cried. I am so excited that so many fo you have already fallen in love with this quirky concept I came up with. I hope you all enjoy what I have cooked up for you! Also, looks like it will probably be close to 10 chapters of ~5-10k words each because I do not understand the concept of a short story. Love you all, happy reading!


2. Edelweiss

Lily slammed the door to her potions room in the East Tower, leaning against it as she let the Polyjuice Potion wear off. "Netty!" she shouted, and with a snap the young scrawny house elf appeared in front of her.

"Yes, Mistress?" she asked in a squeak, and even in her blind panic she managed to roll her eyes.

"I told you to call me Lily," she reminded the elf, as she had a hundred times before. Both Tinker and Netty were rescues, like the rest of the castle's inhabitants. Tinker had blown up at the family he had worked for, the Rosiers, after the youngest Rosier had beaten him half to death for not getting him his sweets fast enough. The boy had been only seven years old, yet capable of such thoughtless cruelty, and Tinker finally realized that he was going to die in this house if he did not get out, and not of old age. He had used Dark elf magic to possess the young Rosier into giving him a piece of clothing and, now free, the house elf never looked back. However, it was difficult for a house elf to find work, especially after pissing off such a powerful pureblood family, and Tinker refused to sell himself into slavery again. Eventually he made his way to Hogwarts and, knowing that Lily was struggling to look after all six children by herself, Minerva sent the house elf her way. He was a grumpy old fart and loved to talk back to Lily, but he had a soft spot for the children, and that was enough for her.

Netty was a whole different story. Her house elf parents had abandoned her at Hogwarts right after she was born before she was bound to the Parkinsons, not wanting her to be forced to work for such a vile and abusive family, wanting a brighter future for their child. The Hogwarts elves had tried to raise her as a proper house elf, but Netty proved to be an absolute disaster, helpless when it came to most household chores and hopelessly clumsy. After listening to Minerva moan over her young ward one afternoon, Lily had offered to take the house elf in, give her paying work and a home where so many disasters took place on an hourly basis that Netty would fit right in. Although Netty could not cook or clean to save her life, she had proven to be an absolute godsend when it came to the children. She was a fantastic nursemaid, and the children adored her.

For the most part, the two house elves were just treated as members of the family. However, a few habits from the old days had stuck with them; calling Lily 'Mistress' was one of them, and it drove her up the wall. Merlin, she was only twenty-four. 'Mistress' made her feel extra self-conscious about the early grey hairs that occasionally popped up in her fiery red mane.

"Now, Netty," Lily continued slowly, trying to take deep breaths so that she didn't explode, "Why didn't you tell me that the new nanny was a man?"

"Oh, Mi-Lily, I didn't think it was important," Netty said simply, although her eyes grew wide as Lily sunk to the floor and groaned into her hands.

Not important? Jesus, Lily had almost face-planted when she saw him waiting at the base of the stairs.

James fucking Potter.

Yes, she knew all about him. Her childhood best friend from her old neighborhood in Cokeworth, Mary MacDonald, had ended up being a Muggleborn witch as well. However, she had stayed behind in England as Lily was shipped off to Beauxbatons, spending her own seven years at Hogwarts. The two had stayed in touch all those years, even to this day, and Lily had heard all about the crazy events that seemed to plague the British school. Nearly all of said events seemed to be orchestrated by a troublesome group of boys that called themselves the Marauders, and at the center of them was one James Potter.

Yes, she had spent seven years laughing at his antics as she read Mary's letters on the bed in her dorm, laying on her back and daydreaming about meeting this boy that she fancied herself half in love with.

Mary had completely left out the fact that James Potter was bloody gorgeous (and Lily was already rearing to let her friend know exactly what she thought of that omission). Merlin, he looked like a fucking snack, Lily had nearly felt her mouth water looking at his broad shoulders not at all hidden by his cloak and his sex hair and just damn. It was only twelve nannies worth of rehearsals that had gotten her through that introduction.

She groaned again just thinking of that conversation, feeling her face heat up beneath her hands. Good god, she had told him she was going to take his measurements. Desperate much? Merlin, just the idea of running her hands over his broad chest and slim hips, thinking of exactly where her hands would be as she measured his inseam….

She was utterly, utterly fucked.

All of this only made her painfully aware of how long it had been since she'd done that. Lily had two boyfriends when she was in school, and had a couple of one-nights stands on the rare weekends that Minerva strong-armed her into taking some time to herself or when she was traveling for the Order. But overall there was absolutely no time for men in her life when raising seven kids on the run, and she had become well-acquainted with a little latent sexual frustration. It was fine, it really was.

Until it wasn't. James fucking Potter.

Not to mention that he was clever and funny and just so bloody charming. Lily was sure she had blown a blood vessel holding in her laughter at that whistle joke, and those smirks that he gave made her simultaneously want to punch him and kiss him.

Oh fuck. She needed to get him out of her home as quickly as possible. She hoped the kids had something good planned for dinner.


James sprinted down the stairs, skidding across the entry hall as he hurried to the dining room. He was running fifteen minutes late to dinner after finding that his door was impossibly stuck. He had rammed his shoulder against it until he felt a bruise growing, and even given it a few kicks before finally taking out his wand only to find a complicated Sealing Charm had been applied to his doorframe. Little fuckers. He tried to be pissed about it, but he was amused more than anything, and pretty damn impressed at such strong spellwork coming from kids who had never received proper magical instruction. At least one of his twelve predecessors must have been worth their salt; that, or the kids were naturals.

Normally he wouldn't have cared about being late for something like dinner, he was chronically running behind, but James had done some thinking in his room. And he had come to the realization that behind those mischievous and defiant looks the kids had been giving him was a vulnerability, and certainly a strong layer of defensiveness. James had gotten the feeling that there was something bigger going on here, something happening below the surface that was causing them to act so guarded.

And James had made up his mind. Obviously these kids had been abandoned one too many times by those chicken-shit nannies that had come before him, and he wasn't going to let them run him off like the rest of them. No, something in his gut told him that these kids needed him. Even if he was only going to be here for three months, he was going to do this job right. Maybe even have a little bit of fun with it.

A boy could dream.

So James found himself sprinting those last few steps to the dining hall entrance, slowing to a walk at the very last second in an effort to maintain at least some of his dignity. Judging by the way all seven of the kids were smirking at his panting breaths as he walked towards the empty seat at the end of the long table, he had not achieved his goal.

"I apologize for my tardiness," James said as he pulled out his chair, "I had a little bit of trouble with my door, but none of you children need to worry, the problem is all fixed now." He tried to give them an 'I'm not that easy to scare away' look, but lost all control of the situation as soon as he sat down, and a loud farting noise erupted in the room.

A Whoopie cushion? Really? James had to admit he was a little unimpressed by the cliché prank, at least until he saw the proud grin on Lyall's face amongst all of the snickering children that told him the little devil was the mastermind. That was nice, at least, that the older kids let the younger ones take the lead sometimes. A nice confidence builder, James could respect that.

So he let the prank play out, the Whoopie cushion letting out air agonizingly slowly as he sat with a thoughtful look on his face, stroking his chin. After nearly a full minute of the noise, the Whoopie cushion was all farted out. "Do excuse me," James said in an obviously overplayed earnest voice, "I must have eaten something funny this morning. I think it's passed now, though, so no fear." Then James looked at the spread on the table in mock horror. "Oh Merlin, I take it back. You're serving beans, which means we're all in for a long night."

A round of giggles broke out up and down the table and James shared a grin with them, which only made them laugh harder. Ah, fart jokes. The Kryptonite of children everywhere.

The laughter was cut off with Mademoiselle Biche clearing her throat; James had almost forgotten she was in the room. No, that was a lie, the woman had such a presence that she was impossible to ignore. The children suddenly all looked painfully guilty, but James couldn't figure out if the Mademoiselle's disappointed frown was due to the prank or the fact that the kids had been laughing at his joke.

"If you are done with this spectacle, Mister Potter, we have been quite patiently waiting to begin our supper," she said stiffly, before gesturing towards the children for them to begin eating.

James waited until all of their mouths were full before he said, "I would just like to thank you all for the little gift you left me in my pocket this morning." Two of the kids spit out their food, just the reaction he had been going for. "Yes, it was just so kind of all of you to go to all of the trouble of putting on a show for me. Knowing that I must have been feeling so nervous about coming to a new place to live with people I'd never met, it just meant so much to me that you tried to make me feel welcome." He made sure to look each of them in the eyes with a bland smile on his face to let them all know it's on fuckers.

But they all just stared right back. And then, to his horror, all but the oldest two broke out into tears. Well first they were tears, and then they were those great wails that only kids could perfect. Jesus, had he gone too far?

Then he spotted the almost imperceptible smirk on Mademoiselle Biche's thin lips and knew he was more than likely being played. However, the tears still made him feel like shit, despite his faint sense of awe that these kids could so flawlessly cry on cue.

Over the wails of five children, Mademoiselle raised her voice to say, "I do hope, Mister Potter, that not every evening with you will be this…eventful." She looked at him shrewdly as she raised her wine glass to her lips.

James stared right back until the Mademoiselle finally averted her gaze. And he grinned in triumph.

Game fucking on.


Lily made a running jump onto the queen bed in Tonks's room where the kids had gathered to wait for her, crushing half of them in the process amidst a flurry of giggles.

"Gather round my lovelies, so I can give you all a big hug," she said, settling Oliver in her lap and pulling the others into the kind of cheesy embrace that made them groan. "Oh, suck it up," she teased them, "These are hugs of congratulations! Stellar performance tonight, my little hellions, truly inspiring."

It was a nightly tradition for them, ever since their never-ending parade of unwanted guests had taken over their lives. Right after the kids' supposed curfew went into effect, Lily made her way to their wing of the Tower (blessedly out of disguise) to spend some quality time with her merry band of hooligans. Their favorite evening activity was shit-talking the nanny – or, in this case, manny.

"So, tell me, children o' mine, first impressions," she said, "Gimme gimme!"

(Lily tried to put her own very poignant first impression out of her mind. Not the time, Evans, not the time.)

"I get the feeling he's not going to leave easily," Tonks started them off, "He barely even blinked at the fireworks, and you saw how smoothly he handled the Whoopie cushion. That one made Nanny Hudson cry." Rather than looking disappointed, though, Tonks had a broad grin on her face. "I look forward to the challenge," she said, rubbing her hands together with a scheming look in her eyes that made Lily feel vaguely frightened, "I may have finally met my match."

"Yes, he really looks like he's going to fight us on this," Penelope agreed in a cynical tone, "What is he, strapped for cash? There's got to be easier ways for a bloke like that to make money. He's pretty handsome isn't he, plenty of women would be into that."

Lily choked on her own spit. Merlin, Penelope was a precocious little shit sometimes, and although Lily got it, she'd had more than a hard knock life, she was still terrified that the girl would become a serial killer someday. Smacking her in the arm, Lily cried, "Penelope! Not in front of the children!"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "I was only saying he's easy on the eyes, plenty of people would hire him, yeah?"

"Merlin, Penny, ten years olds are not supposed to notice those kinds of things," Lily huffed; Penelope just shrugged.

"Why do we have a guy nanny this time, anyways?" Eri interjected, his arms crossed as he glowered at Tonks's rainbow-colored comforter.

"Aww, little Eri's jealous," Tonks teased, pinching his cheek; he punched her in the shoulder in retaliation, "Are you mad you're not the man of the house anymore?"

"Shut up," he growled back, "I'm just saying it's kind of weird, isn't it? What kind of bloke wants to spend all day around a bunch of kids?"

Lily could read between the lines there, easy. Eri was her little man, and he was ferociously protective of her, especially around men. She suspected that his father had hit his mother, the way he looked at any man over the age of sixteen with distrust in his eyes, the way he balled his fists and stepped in front of her when they were out in public and some guy looked at Lily for a second too long. It broke her heart every time, even as it swelled from the sheer force of how much Eri must love her to be willing to take the punch he seemed to always be waiting to fall.

Eri was probably the only one who wanted James out of the house more than her.

"And what about the rest of you?" Lily asked the younger kids, trying to change the subject, "What do you think of Mistah Potter?" She said the last words in her most posh accent, the one she knew made the little ones laugh every time; she was not disappointed.

The twins shrugged in unison, as they did everything. Honestly, sometimes it creeped her out a little, but she tried to get past her Shining-based twin prejudice. "He's kind of funny," Louisa said, yawning a little.

"Yeah, he'll be fun to mess with!" Lyall piped up with that mischievous grin of his.

"And he sure knows how to mess with you, Lily," came Tonks teasing voice, "Are you one of those people that Penelope was talking about, hiring him because he's easy on the eyes?"

Eri scowled, while Lyall and Oliver shouted, "Gross!" at the same time.

"One more word, Nymphadora, and I'm confiscating all of those illicit pranks that Uncle Siri brought you last time I was here," Lily growled at her, "Yes, I know about those. I know all."

Tonks transformed her nose into her signature pig snout and snorted at her in reply.

Lily simply pointed at her and raised her eyebrows in warning before turning her attention to her youngest two. "And what does the little man and Princess Suze have to say?"

"Well I like him," Susan said in her sweet voice, "Can we keep him, maman?"

Lily felt herself wilt. It was like this every time with Susan; she was too sweet for her own good and just couldn't help but love every person that crossed her path. "Oh sweetie," Lily said softly, petting her soft blonde curls that made her look like a perfect little doll, "You know why they can't stay. We can't let them figure out our secret. You know I would do anything to protect all of you, but some days it's harder than others. We have to make sacrifices." She gave Susan a small smile. "We can't keep him, but we don't need him, yeah? All we need are the crazies in this room with us." Lily turned to her youngest then, asking him, "What about you, Oliver? You've sure been quiet."

"I'm sleepy," he pouted, burrowing into her shoulder, "Could you tell us a story now?"

Lily smiled wide; this was her favorite part of their nightly ritual. When she had first taken in Eri he had terrible nightmares every night, the kind where he woke up screaming and shaking. She did her best to soothe him, rubbing his back and petting his hair, even singing sometimes, but nothing seemed to work. That is, until she started telling him stories. He loved fairytales, loved hearing about a knight in shining armor who slayed the dragon, defeated the beast. That's what she always called him too, her knight in shining armor.

It had morphed into something else over time, though. As she took in more and more kids, she realized that as much as she saw them as her own, she didn't want them to forget the families that had loved them, had died for them. So, she had squeezed Minerva for information on all their families, writing it down so she could always remember it, so she could share with her children as many details about their families as she could.

This was also the one time during the day when she lifted her no-magic rule; they all loved to hear Lily's stories about her time in school, about the magical creatures she had met and the spells she had created.

On the first night of a new nanny, though, they all felt a little sentimental, so Lily was unsurprised when Oliver said, "I wanna hear about Daddy winning the Quidditch Cup!"

Penelope poked Lily in the side sheepishly. "And could you tell me about how my parents met again?" she asked. Lily knew it was getting close to their death anniversary, and Penny always got a little watery around that date, despite the tough act she liked to put on.

Lily sneaked a look at Eri; she always checked on him when the families were brought up, because she didn't have any happy stories about his family to tell. He caught her trying to spy on him, and gave her a shrug to let her know he was fine. "How about we end on 'Rapunzel'?" he suggested, tickling Louisa in the side so that she squealed. Lily couldn't help but smile because she knew as well as Eri that the story was Louisa's favorite. She felt her heart squeeze; Merlin, but he was a good brother.

"Okay, kids, settle in," Lily began as she had a thousand times before, "We'll start with Oliver's request. So, as you know, your father went to Hogwarts when he turned eleven. Well, he was sorted into Gryffindor House, home of the brave…"


"Siriussssss," James whined into his mirror, the face of his best friend looking back, "Sirius pick up, I'm bored as fuck!"

James was lying on his bed, having helped the little ones get to bed after supper and gotten an unimpressed snort when he told the older ones to stay in their rooms after curfew. Knowing he hadn't gone to bed before midnight since third year, James tried to burn some time exploring his new home, or at least the one wing of the home he was actually allowed to view.

Honestly, it was all a lot more interesting that he had expected it to be. The library was massive, yet somehow he recognized only a handful of titles in the stacks. Plenty of reading to keep him entertained, then. And then there was the music room. Salazar's balls, that shit was impressive. Grand piano, violins galore, a cello, and even a fucking harp. Did all the kids really know how to play these?

James was caught between being impressed and feeling sorry for those poor kids. Sure, they were probably all child prodigies if their strict study schedule was anything to judge by, and beyond just school subjects he could tell by the sharpness in their eyes that they were clever as fuck. But what was it worth if they were trapped inside of a castle their whole lives?

He was at least comforted by the fact that they, unlike him, had the company of their siblings to stave the loneliness away.

After exploring every inch of his new wing, James returned to his bedroom only to glance at the great grandfather clock standing in the corner and groan; he had only been gone for twenty minutes. Eight freaking twenty. This was usually when he was just leaving his flat, not going to bed! He was going to go mad, locked up every night like this.

Three months, three months, three months.

Which was how he found himself nagging at his best friend on their set of two-way mirrors that they had acquired back in school so they could keep each other company during their many detentions (which their teachers had wisely learned to have them serve separately by third year).

"Finally," James drawled when he saw the stupid pretty-boy looks of Sirius appear in his mirror, "Where in the world have you been? I've been calling for five whole minutes!"

"Merlin, you've gotten needy in the past – what has it been, twelve hours? – since I last saw you," Sirius chuckled through the mirror, "Some of us still have lives, you know. How has exile been treating you?"

"It's not exile," James grumbled grumpily, "It's just an, erm, alternative mission. Yeah, total community service project, that's it!" He felt pretty proud of the positive spin he was putting on this whole thing despite the fact that McGonnagal has totally set him up.

"Bullshit," Sirius replied amiably, "So are you finally going to tell me what this super-secret mission is that has you undercover for three months?"

James bit the inside of his cheek. He hadn't told any of the lads yet what his new post was, partially because he was still in denial about the whole thing when he left, and partially because he was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be telling anyone about the job. McGonnagal had told him that all of this was to be very discrete, but this was Sirius, right? They knew when the other took a shit (and congratulated the other on their fibrous diet), it felt weird keeping a secret from him.

He let out a heavy breath. "Okay," James said, "But just know if you ever tell anyone honor demands that I commit a murder-suicide."

"Why murder-suicide?"

"Because of course I would have to murder you, but that doesn't mean I could live without you," James said in a saccharine voice.

"Aw, bro," Sirius replied, pretending to wipe away a tear, "You do care!"

"I'm not kidding, though," James continued (effortlessly avoiding the word 'serious' as he had for the past decade), "This is supposed to be top secret, completely underwraps, yeah?"

"Are you sure you can tell me, then?" Sirius asked, posture straightening as full Order-mode came out.

"Honestly, if I don't have someone to vent to I won't last the three months, so I think for my own sanity I need to tell you," James admitted in a huff.

"That bad?"

"You have no idea," James began, ready to play it up as dramatically as possible in order to garner the most sympathy points, "McGonnagal is a sneaky little shrew, let me tell you. Tutor-slash-guard, that's what she told me I was supposed to be. But then I show up to this castle place – which is totally falling apart, by the way, might as well be sleeping outside for as many drafts as I have in my room – and they're all calling me nanny. I'm a freaking soldier, a trained Auror for Merlin's sake, not some babysitter!" He let out a breath, not realizing how fast he had been talking. "And get this. It's seven kids. Seven! Who even has that many kids?! It should be illegal. I'm telling you, the entire family is a menace to society-"

"Wait, did you say seven kids?" Sirius interrupted him, his eyes narrowing in sharp interest.

"Yeah, seven kids," James confirmed, "And they've been through twelve freaking nannies already. I'm half expecting them to come into the room and murder me in my sleep-"

Sirius interrupted him again, this disturbing grin creeping up on his face. "And tell me James, what about their owner?" he asked, "Or parent, I don't know, whatever. What is she like?"

"Oh, she's the worst part," James grumbled, "Complete dragon lady, super strict and cold as ice. And she used a fucking whistle to call the kids, talk about hardass-"

For the third time James was interrupted as Sirius broke out into hysterical laughter. "Oh no," he gasped in between gales of laughter, "This. This. This is the best fucking thing I've heard all week; no, scratch that, all bloody year. I don't know what my previous lives did to deserve this moment but bless the little bastards." He continued to laugh, wiping tears from his eyes.

James was sure his friend had gone mad. "Am I missing something?" he asked grumpily, "Because I really don't get why you're laughing, it's really not funny. I'm suffering here, Padfoot!"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll suffer terribly," Sirius replied with a roll of his eyes, "I have to go now, mate, I have to owl someone right now. Oh man, she's gonna flip." He let out a few more chuckles before the mirror went blank.

"Well bye," James muttered at the mirror, "Prick." He glanced at the clock again. Not even ten minutes had gone by.

"That's it, this is bullshit," James said to himself as he stood up abruptly, walking over to his trunk and pulling out a silky cloak. Wrapping it around himself, he suddenly disappeared from sight. Ensconced in his Invisibility Cloak, he stormed to of his bedroom, making his way for the East Wing. "No one locks up James Potter!"


James thought that, even though he was technically breaking the biggest rule the Mademoiselle had laid out for him, he still had a duty as a tutor (tutor, tutor, not nanny) to check in on the kids before he set off on any real adventures. He was really trying to give this mission his best try, after all.

Which was why he had his wand out and ready when he entered the hallway all of the kids' rooms shared and heard an unfamiliar voice. Female, soft and lilting with the slightest curve of a French accent, almost unnoticeable, the kind of voice that felt like the first flower bloom at the end of a cold winter. But James was still guarded because he had learned that the most lethal of poisons could be wrapped in the prettiest packages.

His entire body relaxed, though, when he peeked around the edge of the doorway where the woman's voice was coming from and took in the picture-perfect view. All seven children were piled into one queen-sized bed. curled around and draped on top of each other like a litter of puppies. They nudged each other for space and kicked at each other when they were annoyed, but not a single one of their attentions wavered for even a moment from the woman sitting at the head of the bed.

James had never believed in love at sight.

Until that very exact moment.

She was a vision, something out of a pastural painting where people seemed to survive on sunlight and happiness alone. She had warm crimson hair in rolling curls, draping down her shoulders to tickle her ribs, and the most entrancingly green eyes, almost too vibrant to be natural, like she had been built by dollmakers. But it was her smile, Merlin that smile, that had James's stomach doing barrel rolls.

She was looking out at all the children, tapping noses and ruffling hair, never ceasing that smile that was filled with such an overwhelming, almost reverent, adoration that James felt himself unconsciously smiling back, even though he was still hidden under the Cloak. It was like every atom of her being was built completely out of love, the way she shone with it.

And James felt himself sitting down, leaning against the doorframe, as if his entire body had been compelled to stay in her presence, willing to do anything just to be caught in her light.

"Okay, my darlings, last story of the night," the girl, who really was more of a woman, looking to be about James's age, said, "Settle in and get comfortable as at least half of you will fall asleep here anyways." Her grin was playful, telling a joke that she had obviously shared with them a hundred times before. "Now, the great romantic of the house, Eri, requested 'Rapunzel' for us," she said, waggling her eyebrows at the eleven-year-old, who stuck out his tongue in reply, "So let's get it started, yeah?" She snuggled into her own pillow, readjusted Oliver on her lap before she began in that same entrancing, melodic voice, "Once upon a time there lived a man and a woman who always wished for a child but could not have one…"

James didn't know how long he sat in that doorway, completely absorbed in the bizarre story, taken in by the girl's voice like a siren call. Merlin, she could read his old History of Magic textbooks out loud and he would probably sit there and listen like she was telling him the secret to immortality. She was a great storyteller, using different voices that made the little ones giggle (and even some of the older ones too, though they tried to hide it). She laughed her way through the parts that she thought was funny, and her voice got oddly choked in a way that squeezed James's own heart when she came to a sad part.

One by one the children's eyes grew heavy, yawns increasing until they were all in a deep sleep. Still the girl continued on in her story, almost telling it to herself now, until she came to the end.

"Rapunzel fell into the prince's arms and wept. When two of her tears fell on his eyes, the Prince could see again. He led her to his kingdom where he was joyfully received." She was speaking in a hushed tone now, trying not to wake the children, smile still on her face but a strange melancholy about it as she finished with, "And they lived happily ever after."

James didn't realize she was crying until her heard a faint sniffle and saw her rubbing at her eyes, like she was angry at the tears that had suddenly appeared. She stroked the hair of the children nearest to her, that same sad smile on her lips.

"Oh my loves," she whispered to them, "What am I going to do with all of you?"

And then it happened, the eighth wonder of the world. The girl opened her mouth and began to sing.

"Edelweiss, edelweiss

Every morning you greet me

Small and white

Clean and bright

You look happy to meet me"

If he had thought her storytelling voice was lovely, nothing could have prepared James for the way that she sang. It was every smile, every tear, every emotion hidden behind those vibrant yet world-weary eyes dancing through the air in a slow waltz.

"Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow

Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss, edelweiss

Bless my homeland forever"

Her voice cracked on that last line, and she was wiping at tears again, singing the song over the heads of the children as if it were a prayer, though for what he did not know.

And suddenly he was struck with the realization that he was intruding on a moment so intimate that he felt the need to avert his eyes. Even though he yearned to know who she was, to know her name, to know her, he knew that he could never let her know that he had seen her in this moment of vulnerability. He quietly drew himself to his feet and tiptoed back to his rooms.

James barely slept a wink that night, the soft melody of the girl's voice playing in his head.