February 20th, 1988

They were at the Weasleys today. It was Saturday, and the adults were sitting in the garden while Harry, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny played tag. Three of the Weasley children were off at school.

It was freezing out, and they were sitting in lawn chairs bundled in blankets and thick jumpers and cloaks. On the other hand, the kids were barely wearing anything, but they ran around enough that they weren't unbearably cold. Molly and Lily had tried to get the children to wear more layers, but they had just shed them as soon as their tag game had begun.

"So, you have three attending school now?" Lily asked as she watched Harry run away from one of the twins.

"Oh yes, Bill is a sixth-year, Charlie is a fourth-year, and Percy is a first-year. Then Fred and George will start, and then Ron and Harry, and then Ginny," Molly said with a quiet sigh.

"It must be nice to get some of them off of your hands though? Seven must be hard sometimes."

"Oh, it is," Arthur piped in.

"We do miss them terribly, though." Molly chided, "Haven't you ever wanted more Lily? Does Harry ever get lonely?"

"We thought about it a little in the beginning. I know Harry wouldn't object to having a little sibling, but I don't know. With the prophecy hanging over his head, I don't want to put another child in danger," Lily said quietly. She was fiddling with her fingers underneath the blanket.

James pulled her closer to him, and she let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. "At this point, I don't know how I could love another child as much as I love Harry. My entire life revolves around him," said James.

"He's not even my kid and I love him more than words can explain," Sirius chirped. Remus shook his head in amusement, "You're such a softie, Pads." "For my one and only godson, I am." Sirius countered.

"That's nice," Molly hummed, "I understand what you mean though. It's hard to spread love among seven."

"I'm sure you do wonderfully though, Molly. Every mother should aspire to be as loving and protective as you are."

"You should tell the children that," Molly said with a quiet laugh.

They went silent for a while as they watched the children. Lily grinned as she watched Harry tag Ron. Pride swelled in her chest as she watched. She loved seeing Harry run around and simply be a kid.

Seeing Harry have a normal childhood was everything she could've asked for. She could feel it when she looked at James, Sirius, Remus, and Minerva as well.

Harry was sprinting away from Ron because he had just tagged him. He could feel his family watching him, but it made him more proud than uncomfortable. He was good at tag, he was agile and quick, and he liked showing his family things that he was good at.

He was running around the garden away from all the Weasleys. When he was running, they all looked the same. Besides Ginny, she stood out. Harry liked her a lot, and he was excited to go to Hogwarts with her so he could see her every day.

Harry remembered the first day that he played tag with the Weasleys. It was different then; he was a lot younger, and there were more red-headed children present. Now he was friends with them, and he was excited about it. When he was younger, he didn't realise he needed anyone else besides his family, but he was glad that he had more people in his corner.

It made it more bearable having to leave for school knowing that he'd have Ron and his brothers, and then Ginny to be there with him. All the pain of leaving his family would be alright because he would be with his friends.

April 25th, 1988

Harry was practising transfiguration magic with James and Sirius. They were naturally talented at it, and Harry was eager to learn. It had been a while since Harry had tried changing his appearance, other than his hair, but he wanted to get used to doing so without a wand, and non-verbally.

It was an enticing challenge. His grandma had told him that not only were wandless and non-verbal magic extremely complex, but it was difficult for any younger than sixteen. That was when they started practising in school.

Harry was determined to learn before then. He felt in control of his magic, even though he most likely wasn't. He could change his hair colour whenever he wanted, even though it took a bit of energy to do so. He wanted to learn how to change his facial features.

James and Sirius were each holding one of Harry's hands, and all three of them were closing their eyes. "Breathe, Fawn," Sirius said quietly. "You don't need a wand to do this, just focus on what you look like now, then try and urge your magic to that part of your face, and focus on what you want to look like."

"I know," Harry whispered. He was telling his magic, practically yelling at it, to make its way over to his eyes. He wanted to make them hazel, like his dad's. Harry envisioned his eyes now, emerald green and bright like his mum's, and then he envisioned them hazel, like his dad's.

The magic rippled through his entire body, and he tried to centralise it in his eyes. Similarly to when he learned how to change his hair colour, he felt the magic trickle through every vein in his body and work its way to his eyes. It tickled like it did last time, and that urged him forward.

He embedded the image of himself with those hazel eyes into his mind and forced his magic to make it real. There was a burning in his eyes for an elongated second before it dissipated and he opened his eyes.

"Did I do it, daddy?" He whispered.

James grinned lopsidedly at him, "Sure did, little fawn!"

"I want to see! Look at me!" Sirius chirped eagerly.

Harry turned his attention to his godfather, and Sirius grinned at him, "You're something else, Fawn. None of us has the kind of talent you do."

"I'm going to show Mummy, then we can make them grey like Uncle Sirius," Harry said eagerly before he ran upstairs to jump in bed with his mum. She was feeling a bit under the weather, so she was laying in bed.

He slowed down when he got to the door. Lily may be tough, but Harry knew she had a headache, and he didn't want to disturb her too much. He quietly pushed open the door and kept his head low.

"Hey, my sweet fawn," Lily whispered. Her voice was hoarse, but she was smiling. "What are you doing up here?"

"I did more magic," he whispered and looked up at her.

She grinned weakly, "You look just like your father. I'm so proud of you, darling."

"I know, mummy. I'm going to make them look like Uncle Sirius' next. Maybe if I have the energy, I'll make my hair long like his too."

"You can do it. I know you can."

"Thank you. I'll leave so you can rest."

"Alright, love. I'll be here if you want to show me anything else."

Harry nodded and backed out of the room quietly. He shut the door and made his way back down to the lounge with his dad, uncle Sirius, and now Uncle Remus.

Remus sat on the couch with a book and looked up at Harry when he climbed down the stairs. "Oh my, you do look like James. I thought they were just messing with me."

Harry grinned, "I'm brilliant. Maybe I'll copy you next if I have enough energy."

"That's the type of arrogance Prongs has," Remus teased.

"I'm seven, and I can change my hair and eye colour. I'm allowed to be a bit arrogant, Uncle Remus," Harry joked.

"Aww, he has Lily's sass and my arrogance. He's perfect," James smirked and wrapped his arms around Harry. "Fawn, I am so excited to see where you go."

"Can we change my eyes again? I want to look like Uncle Sirius now."

"Alright, Fawn. Let's do this," Sirius said confidently.

Harry nodded confidently and closed his eyes again. Sirius and James each grabbed one of his hands for moral support, and once again Harry focused in on his magic. He urged it to trickle back to his eyes so that he could change them from the hazel to piercing grey like Sirius.

The more he practised centralising his magic, the easier it became to perform the transfigurations. It still took a lot of his magical energy because he was so young, but it was possible.

He focused on his eye colour, and transforming it from hazel to grey; he felt the warmth of successful transfiguration. Before he opened his eyes, he urged the stream of magic to his hair. He focused on his mop of hair, and every strand on his head. He urged the magic to transform his hair into shoulder-length, soft waves like Sirius.

He felt his hair grow and tame itself into smooth waves. When he opened his eyes with a cheeky grin, Sirius gasped. "Is this what it's like to have children?"

Harry let out a deep breath. The transfigurations had taken a lot of his magic, and he didn't want to burn himself out. "Daddy, can you change it back. I'm tired."

"Just give me a minute. I want to take a photo!" Sirius chirped before he ran up to his bedroom to retrieve his camera.

He came storming down the stairs and took a quick snap of Harry. Of course, Harry's skin was still a lot tanner than Sirius', but it was fun anyway. James grabbed his wand from the coffee table and transfigured his son's hair back to match his own, and his eyes to match his lovely wife.

"I'm going to take a nap," Harry announced with a yawn and wandered off to the stairs.

James, Sirius, and Remus all bid him farewell before they returned to doing their own thing. James and Sirius went outside with their brooms, and Remus continued reading his book.

July 14th, 1988

"You got us Exploding Snap?" Sirius asked curiously.

"No, these are muggle cards. It's still not safe to go into Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. Unless someone goes alone with glamours, but I don't trust that." Lily mumbled as she took the cards from the blue deck.

Sirius grabbed one of the red decks to investigate the cards. "So… what do they do? Nothing?"

"No, take the cards out and look at them."

Sirius slid the cards out from the paper card box and studied them. "They have numbers? And what are these symbols?"

"They're called suits. There are a lot of games that muggles have created for these cards. Solitaire was one of my favourites when I was little. My dad taught me how to play."

"What's solitaire?"

"Here, do what I do." Lily began shuffling her deck and then began laying out her cards. She was counting to herself, and Sirius sat watching her.

James was giggling off to the side as he watched Sirius fail to play solitaire. He didn't know how to play either, but it was funny, regardless. Remus was smirking because his mum had taught him how to play solitaire at some point during his childhood.

With Lily's help, Sirius laid out all his cards correctly. "What next?"

"If you can have any aces that are visible, you put them off to the side. The whole point of the game is that you have to get rid of all the cards from these stacks, and organise them by suit and in order from lowest to the highest value."

Sirius moved his ace of clubs over to the side of his cards. Lily nodded at him, "Alright, now for the inside, all of these cards, you stack them in order from least to greatest. You have to put them black to red, opposite colours, with a higher value card at the top."

"Like this," she mumbled. She started to rearrange her cards so that blue cards were with black cards. They were in order like she said.

"Can you do it with me?" He asked sheepishly.

She nodded and moved over so that she could look at his cards. Slowly, she moved the cards around so that they were in order. Sirius had a better shuffle than she did, and she helped move the cards over to the aces on the side.

She moved slowly so that Sirius could hopefully learn how to play. It seemed to work, as when Lily moved away, he slowly started moving his cards to how she taught him. Sirius was a quick learner, and she gladly went back to her own cards. Eventually, James and Remus joined in with their own card decks. Lily had grabbed five from the store.

Harry was still sleeping when she and Remus got back from their grocery run, so they didn't want to bother him. They all played solitaire together, without competing. James and Sirius were too awful to compete against Lily and Remus. They would get crushed.

Once they figured out to play and got better, though, they became obsessed. Lily told them how you could compete in solitaire to be the one to finish your deck the fastest, and Sirius and James jumped right into it.

Harry walked downstairs at one point with sleep heavy in his eyes. Lily and Remus were playing against each other, and Sirius and James were playing against each other. Harry wandered over to sit next to his mum.

"Mummy, what are you doing?"

"We're playing solitaire, little Fawn. It's a muggle card game."

"Oh," he said quietly.

Harry studied the cards as Lily rapidly moved them around. He didn't understand the game's point, but he could tell that she was good at it. There was no doubt that she was better than James and Sirius, but she was an even match for Remus. He supposed that was realistic because they both had at least one muggle parent.

It was a different way to spend their day; Harry didn't know if he had ever seen muggle cards before. They were pretty, and they didn't explode. He had heard stories of a game called Exploding Snap that his dad and uncles used to play.

After Lily and Remus finished their game, Lily began teaching Harry how to play the game. He didn't find it nearly as fun as James and Sirius did, but it was an interesting game for if he was ever bored.

They eventually stopped playing, and Lily made them all dinner. Afterwards, they sat on the couch, and Remus read them a book. It was an interesting wizarding novel about a dark wizard falling in love with a pure muggleborn. Sirius found it ironic, but it was a good read.

They fell asleep together on the couch that night. At the beginning of their seven years in Godric's Hollow, it was rare that they fell asleep together, and so peacefully. Now it was a common occurrence, and they all loved being so close to each other.

It felt like all was well, despite the war trudging on outside.

September 10th, 1988

The five Potter-Lupin-Black clan members were sitting on the roof of their little cottage watching the sunset. It was beautiful out; they could see the rest of the town illuminated and with a turn of their heads, they could see the forest and the trees that were graced by a pink hue.

Upon their rooftop, it was peaceful. Godric's Hollow was a small town where cars weren't necessary to get around, making it quiet. They could hear distant chatter of people in the square, but it just provided ambience.

"Mummy, do you think one day we'll be able to leave and watch the sunset?"

"One day, my sweet Fawn. I'm sure it'll be sooner than you think."

Harry nodded silently as he watched the sky. It got dark rather quickly, and the stars began to shine through the clouds. He didn't know how long they had been up there, but the stars pulled him in. It was a waning crescent moon that night, so there was only a little bit of light that brightened the sky and their surroundings. It was so clear and so dark.

He could hear his mum breathing next to him, and it calmed him. Sirius cleared his throat, "I've always liked to look at the night sky."

"When it's not a full moon," Remus said bitterly.

"But the stars are pretty Moony; it's wonderful out there."

Remus reached out his hand, searching for Sirius'. He grabbed it and squeezed it silently. "Which one are you looking at?"

"Regulus," he said quietly.

"Maybe he got out. There's always a chance, Pads," James whispered.

"He would've sent a letter or something. It's been years Prongs," Sirius whispered, there was a pain in his voice. "My family may have disgraced me, but Reg never left me; he would've written."

"We'll figure out what happened as soon as we're allowed to leave. I promise," Remus murmured.

Harry had heard Sirius talking about Regulus occasionally over the last few years. He knew that Reg was Sirius' brother and that he had mysteriously disappeared without a trace. He wanted to ask Sirius, or anyone, about it, but he knew better. There were some things in their home that just didn't get discussed.

For example, one of their childhood friends, Peter Pettigrew, was occasionally brought up when they complained about their circumstances. Harry asked about him once, but all his family members got all quiet and cryptic. He never asked again, it wasn't worth making them upset, and he didn't really want to hear about the man that led a murderer to their home.

Regulus was another one of those topics. As curious as Harry was to hear the details of his life and disappearance, he never asked.

"Uncle Sirius, can you tell me about the stars?"

"Of course, little Fawn. Do you want to know about the stars or the constellations?"

"Both," he whispered reverently.

"My family was named after stars and constellations. You see that one up there?" He whispered and pointed to the brightest star Harry could see.

"Yes."

"That's Sirius, the one I was named after. Now, you see that one over there?" He asked as he pointed to another bright stair a little bit to the left.

"Yes."

"That's Regulus, my brother's name. He's part of the constellation Leo. I'm part of Canis Major."

"Your name is part of a dog star, and your animagus is a dog?" Harry asked curiously

"Yeah, it's funny how things like that happen. Do you see those stars that make a sort of triangle, and it looks like it has arms and legs? It's a bit above and to the right of Sirius?"

Harry nodded, Sirius could hear the movement on the surface of the roof. "That's the constellation Orion. He's a Greek hunter in mythology. The way my parents taught me, he's holding a lion's pelt and a sword, but it's up to interpretation. My middle name is Orion."

"Do you see that star over there, it's really bright? Kinda over by Ursa Major?"

"Yeah."

"That's Arcturus. It's in the constellation Boötes—my brother's middle name. And then over there a little, do you see those stars. They form a triangle, and then other stars make it look like arms, legs, and a neck?"

"What's that one called?"

"Andromeda. That's my favourite cousin's name. She's wonderful, and I'd like for us to visit her again one day."

"But Uncle Sirius, I thought your family was awful?"

"Not Andie. She was disowned as well because she fell in love with a muggleborn named Ted. I quite liked him. I think all of you would too."

"We will see her again, Pads. They're part of the Order." Lily said warmly.

"What's the Order?" Harry asked.

"It's the group of people that are fighting back against Voldemort, sweetheart. We're all part of it, and I'm sure you will be too; when you're old enough."

"Really? I will?"

"I have no doubt in my mind," she said, and Harry could almost hear the smile in her tone.

"Should we go back inside? I'll make some hot chocolate, and we can read a book or something." Lily suggested quietly.

They all chimed in agreement, and one by one, they slipped off of the roof. James had cast a cushioning charm on the ground earlier, so they all landed comfortably on the floor.

As soon as they got down, Lily made her way to the kitchen and started to make their hot chocolate. Remus went to his bedroom so that he could grab a book. He chose one called Jurassic Park; it was about genetically engineered dinosaurs.

Harry loved it. He got more excited when he figured out that the book got turned into two films. They all agreed that one day when it was safe to leave, they would see the film renditions of all the books they had read.

At some point, Lily suggested that they all keep a journal filled with things they wanted to do when this was all over. Sirius and James were a bit reluctant at first, but Lily was a force to be reckoned with. She said she would pick up the five journals the next time she saw some at the store. Harry was thrilled by the idea. He had never kept a journal before, and there were plenty of things he wanted to do in his life that he could jot down.

Harry fell asleep in his family's collective embrace with a small smile on his face. There were so many things that he hadn't done, but now he would be able to write them down, so they weren't just lost dreams. It would be a good thing, and he was excited about it.

December 8th, 1988

"Wait. Tell me again?" James asked abruptly.

"I was going to Albus Dumbledore's office to ask a question about the Christmas feast preparations, and the necessary charm-work and transfiguration," Minerva began calmly, although she was silently fuming.

"Yes," ushered James.

"I don't know who he was talking to; however, he was discussing little Harry."

"And what did he say?"

"That Voldemort would come for him during his years at Hogwarts, and so he had to be groomed properly to fight back."

"What do we believe he means by that?" James asked as if he was talking a young child through a, particularly difficult problem.

"James, I don't know," Minerva whispered harshly. She immediately recoiled at her own tone. "I'm so sorry. This has been getting me all worked up. I don't like the idea of anything happening to Harry, and I certainly don't like his name being in Albus Dumbledore's mouth."

James sighed and gazed intently at Minerva, "What do you mean? What's wrong with Dumbledore?"

"I just don't trust him. He always seems to have an agenda of some sort," she groaned in exasperation. "I thought he was my best friend, and I thought he had your best intentions at heart, but ever since I gave you back the Invisibility Cloak all those years ago, doubt has just been flooding through me. How long before the incident did Dumbledore take your cloak?"

James thought pensively for a few long moments before his features hardened once again, "He took it from me a few weeks before Halloween."

"Exactly, and why would he need it in the first place?"

"He said he'd never seen an Invisibility Cloak like it, and he asked to borrow it for something," James mumbled.

"But that's my point. Albus has his own invisibility cloak; there's no reason he would need yours," Minerva argued. She crossed her arms and began anxiously tapping her foot against the ground.

"So you're saying that you think Dumbledore knew what was going to happen that night, and so he took my cloak under the assumption that we wouldn't be able to escape?"

"Does Albus know that you're all animagi? You're unregistered, so the Ministry is unaware, but did Dumbledore ever have any suspicion or knowledge of it?" She pressed on.

Once again, James went silent as he processed the information. "We always thought that Dumbledore knew what we were doing, but that's just because he's Dumbledore. He never said anything regarding animagi around us, and we never explicitly told him."

"If he didn't know, which I have full faith that he does now, he would've had no reason to believe that you could escape. If it hadn't been for your hearing, James, you all would've died that night. Albus took away your only means of hiding yourselves weeks before it happened."

Minerva could feel the moment that James' confusion turned into anger. There was a surge of magic that flooded through him and physically shook the room they were talking in. Minerva knew this would be a difficult conversation, so she chose to confirm her suspicions with James before bringing it to the rest of the group.

"So we have reason to believe that Dumbledore has a hidden agenda. Now let's go back to the original topic: who was he talking to, and what does he mean by properly grooming Harry?" James mumbled angrily.

Minerva rested her hands on James' shoulders and sighed. "I don't know who he was talking to. The second part just makes it seem like he wants Harry to defeat Voldemort, but we already knew that. I'll have to do a bit more digging to figure out what he wants."

"Is my baby going to be alright going to Hogwarts with that man in charge? I don't want to send him off so that old coot can manipulate him."

"I'll be there to protect him, always. Until the time comes for him to arrive at Hogwarts, I will learn everything I can about Dumbledore's agenda, and I'll share it with you."

"Thank you, Minnie," James said with a sigh.

Minerva smiled reassuringly, "I've never told Albus that I visit you. Whenever I disappear, I tell him that I'm visiting my family or my husband's grave. For him, it has been years since I last saw you five; I don't think he would piece together that this is where I come."

"That's good. So you can get information by passing it off as casual conversation. He wouldn't think anything more of it than that." Minerva nodded in conformation, and James let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Shall we go tell the others about this new development?"

"We should. I think we should bring Harry in on this one as well. He deserves to know the truth, and he's old enough to process it."

"I agree. I've been putting off telling him the full extent of the prophecy, but he needs to know. He needs to know how important he is, and the reason we've been hiding here. He needs to know who he is."

Minerva nodded solemnly, and together they walked from the room and down to the lounge where the rest of the Potter-Lupin-Black clan was resting. James sighed when he saw his family looking so peaceful; he knew that their news would significantly dampen their moods.

"I'm sorry to keep you all in the dark, but I have some suspicions that you need to know about. Including Harry; it's time we tell him everything." Minerva said quietly as she and James stood in front of their family.

"Is that wise, Minnie?" Remus asked quietly.

"For this to make any sense, he needs to know," James said confidently, albeit a bit uncomfortably.

The others resigned to the couch, and James sat down next to Harry. Together, the five adults told him about the prophecy and his fate. They said to him that he was the one who had to defeat Voldemort, and that's why they were in hiding. They pounded it into his head that he was special, and that they would be there for him no matter what. They told him not to be afraid, because he had the power of thousands of wizards behind him, and that love would prevail.

Minerva told the group about what she had heard Dumbledore say. With James, she told them about her suspicions regarding a hidden agenda. They talked about the Invisibility Cloak, and how Dumbledore didn't know that they were animagi.

Lily's face was one of pure horror, while Sirius' anger rippled off of him in waves. Remus looked surprisingly calm, but those in attendance knew that he was infuriated on the inside. Little Harry was still trying to process everything they had told him about.

"Who is Dumbledore?" He asked shyly.

"He's the headmaster at Hogwarts, Fawn. He's very powerful." Lily whispered.

Sirius gasped suddenly, and they all turned to him abruptly, "What?" James said urgently.

"Lils, do you remember that letter you sent me before Halloween when we weren't all together? It was about how you three were doing with everything. Then at the end, you added in that Bathilda told you that Dumbledore and Grindelwald used to be friends?"

Lily thought pensively for a moment before nodding, "I do."

"I remember reading something in my parent's old library about how they were closer than friends. They spent an entire summer practically latched at the hip practising magic. They wanted to do something. I think the article I read said something like, 'For the Greater Good.'"

Minerva stayed quiet for a moment before she spoke. "Before they duelled, they were working on a sort of project. I don't know what it was, but there was a problem. Albus doesn't talk much about his family, but I think something happened. They drifted apart. Why do you think it's related, Sirius?"

"Gellert Grindelwald is supposed to be one of the darkest wizards of all time! If they were friends, what if they practised dark magic together? You said something might've happened to a member of his family; what if they got killed because of dark magic?"

"That might be a bit of a stretch, Sirius. I know we can't trust him, but he was a good headmaster. He was always kind to us, and he suggested we use the Fidelius Charm, which would've kept us safe." James said although he didn't sound confident.

"But James, don't you remember, Dumbledore asked to be secret keeper first, and you said no because you wanted me. There's a chance he didn't push it because he thought I was the traitor. Dumbledore knew there was a traitor in our group. But he did nothing to try and figure it out. He knew that either he would be your secret keeper so he could rat you out, or you would pick me, and I would rat you out."

They were all quiet for a minute. James closed his eyes to steady himself because he was at risk of his anger exploding out of him. The horror in Lily's eyes morphed into a steady rage.

"So what are we going to do about this?" She asked with unnerving calm.

"We are going to figure it out," Minerva said conspiratorially. "He doesn't know that when I leave the castle, I am coming here. I am a practised Occlumens; he won't be able to get in my head. I'll do everything I can to figure out what he's hiding, and then I'll bring it back to you all."

They all nodded. "If it's true, Minnie, that he's hiding something, it could be dangerous. We need you; please be safe about it." Sirius said sadly; his rage bubbling down to anxiety.

"It's alright, Sirius. I'll be safe and discreet. He won't know what we're planning. We're one step ahead of him already. He doesn't know that we know about his agenda."

Sirius nodded and let out a sigh. The others didn't look much better than Sirius did. Minerva stood up from the couch. "I must be getting back before anyone realises that I've gone. I'll be back soon, don't worry."

They all nodded, and she stepped into the fire. The flames tickled her ankles as she took a handful of floo powder. In a matter of seconds, she was whisked back off to school, and the Potter-Lupin-Black clan was left to the swarming thoughts that were threatening to capsize them.