Chapter 1

The Early Years

I don't remember much of my younger years. Bits and pieces flash in and out of my memory from time to time but I still don't know the whole truth to what happened that night. My earliest memory though still haunts me even to this day: the memory of my mother being killed.

According to Lupin and my Dad, I was only a month old when it happened. It was September 1980, the eleventh, a Thursday. All I can remember hearing were my Mum's cries. Whether they were spells or of mercy, I'm not sure which, though I know she would never beg for anything. I also remember a bright green flash go over my eyes and a man with long white blond hair, laughing.

Everyone in the wizarding world knew of Voldemort's pursuit for power. He and his Death Eaters killed countless innocent victims mercilessly and one of them was my Mum. From what I learned over the years, some pieced together by things I could remember, others told to me by Lupin or Dad, my Mum died saving me.

She and my Dad had gone shopping. Mum was waiting outside Gringotts for him while he sorted out a vault for me. Out of the corner of her eye she spied some of the known Death Eaters. Dad was an Auror with James Potter and Mum was Healer with his wife Lily and had been working for this unknown organisation, the Order or something. See? Already Harry's past and mine are linked. Mum had seen some Death Eaters and had decided it was best to hide. She had me in a carrycot and had turned away down a hidden alley near to Flourish and Blotts. She hoped to get to a place where she could hide with me. Unfortunately the Death Eaters followed her. They cornered her in the alleyway where she stood with her back to the wall and her month old daughter clutched in her arms.

I can still remember her voice. At first it was calm, as if she knew what the outcome was going to be and was prepared to fight. There were three Death Eaters: Lucius Malfoy, who I recognised when I was twelve because of his white hair. The other two, I wasn't sure until later in my life and memories paired with pictures were put together, the old one plus one equals two. They turned out to be Peter Pettigrew and my Dad's brother, Regulus Black.

Their voices still pound in my head, especially when I'm near Dementors. I can hear every word clearly. My Mum had asked Peter why he was doing what he was doing and he'd just laughed back in her face at the mere mention of the Marauders. However, Regulus, when he realised who it was they were attacking, began to back out. He didn't want to be part of the murder of his sister-in-law. Why, you ask? Because when they were at school in their third year they'd helped each other out of trouble involving a couple of Death Eaters who'd been part of an attack on the school and they'd become friends but never let anyone know, particularly Dad. Malfoy on the other hand, he didn't stop.

'Give it up, Black!' he laughed. 'Your pitiful spells will not defend you against three Death Eaters! Let us kill you easily or die trying.'

My Mum didn't give up and said right back, 'Then I'll die trying.'

'So be it,' said Malfoy. He ordered Regulus to kill her but he couldn't do it. 'You'll pay for your insubordination,' Malfoy snarled at him before turning on my mother and saying, 'Avada Kedavra!'

The green light just past right through her and she fell to the ground, lifeless, her blue eyes empty. I was always told I had her eyes. I don't know how I survived. Dad said I should have died that day but whatever my Mum had known about and done saved me.

The Death Eaters Apparated away when they heard a voice shouting at the opening to the alley. It was Dad. He'd come out of Gringotts in time to see Mum heading down the alley with the Death Eaters behind her. He got to them too late and found her laying dead on the pavement, no baby in her arms. He cried over her body until my cries overtook his and he found me. He picked me up and held me, forever whispering, 'It'll be all right. I'm here, Jenna.'

After he found her, Dad Apparated her body and me straight to the headquarters of this "Order" they were part of. Mum was the first of the Marauders to die. James, Lily and Remus were all devastated as well many as other Order members but not as much as Dad. And of course, Mum couldn't warn them that Pettigrew, their once loyal friend, had turned against them.

A year later, Lily and James died in October and their house was destroyed. Dad had taken me with him when he went in search for them, suspicious that their Secret had been told. He arrived to find the house in ruins and baby Harry crying in amongst it all. He was about to take him when Hagrid turned up and told him Harry was to go to his aunt and uncle's. Dad let him, giving him his flying motorcycle because he wouldn't need it anymore before Apparating to Little Whinging. He'd left me in the nearby park and watched as Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys. I don't even remember if he came back.