*A/N I do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters. I only own my own OCs. Spoilers for all the books and movies.

31 October 1981

On the doorstep of 4 Privet Drive, Albus Dumbledore stood with a heavy heart.

The great wizard's hair appeared unusually grey that night as he stood with only the light from the lamp above the doorway shining down on the strange group gathered in the usually perfectly normal doorway. Even the light in Dumbledore's usually twinkling eyes seemed to have dimmed as he surveyed the baby lying on the doorstep in blissful unawareness of just how important he was to the magical world - to their world.

Beside the headmaster and still sobbing Hagrid took off in Sirius Black's motorcycle, flying high and away into the dark night. On Dumbledore's other side Professor McGonagall sniffed back her tears before she surveyed her superior from behind her spectacles.

"And what are you going to do about-?"

Minerva McGonagall faltered in her speech for the second time that night, which was perhaps a first for her in all the years she had been a teacher at Hogwarts. Her eyes had dropped to Dumbledore's chest, at the child he still cradled in his arms, and she wiped another tear with her handkerchief. Dumbledore sighed as he too looked down at the child.

"She will be taken care of." Dumbledore answered before he turned to leave. "I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall."

His only response was the sound of a nose being blown. Dumbledore walked back down the street to the corner where he had first appeared before Hagrid arrived with the two children on Sirius Black's motorcycle. Sirius… he had been the Potters' Secret Keeper. It seemed so impossible that Sirius would be the one, that he of all of people could… but war did strange things to a person.

Dumbledore knew that sooner or later he would have to somehow deal with the young man he had watched grow up alongside his friends in the halls of his school. But first he had one more task that needed to be done. And a heavy task it was indeed, given their current circumstances and no matter how hopeful things now looked for the Wizarding World with Voldemort seemingly dead.

Reaching the street corner, he paused to take out his silver Put-Outer. Clicking it once, he returned light to the street lamps of Privet Drive. In the orange glow, he saw a tabby cat with square spectacle markings around the eyes slinking away around the far corner. And on the step of number four, he could just see the bundle of blankets that held the future of their world.

"Good luck, Harry." He murmured before he looked down at the other child in his arms.

"Now, it seems it is finally time to do what we must… Marissa."

With that, Dumbledore turned on his heel and, with a swish of his cloak, he was gone from the quiet, ordinary street.

31 October 1964

In his office, recently appointed headmaster Albus Dumbledore was startled from his paperwork when a child of no more than three years of age appeared on his desk, sound asleep and clutching a letter. A letter addressed to him.

Instantly on guard, Dumbledore surveyed the child before him cautiously. She looked perfectly ordinary with dark, wild hair as black as midnight that curled down on either side of tear-streaked cheeks and seemed to continue to her mid back. Her rosy little cheeks were flushed, likely as a result of her crying but even then, she was quite a pretty child with a high nose and pale pink lips. But what really pulled his heartstrings was the child's pained expression, even as she slept, that revealed something truly terrible had happened to her before she'd landed on his desk.

Carefully, Dumbledore cast several spells to check that there was nothing Dark on the child before he gingerly took the letter. For a moment, he stared down at the seal that marked the letter as being sent from himself - Impossible! Dumbledore was inclined to think - before he slowly broke the wax seal. Sliding out the contents of the envelope, Dumbledore swiftly perused the single page written in a hand that was definitely his own.

Certain words jumped out at him instantly and by the time he finished skimming the letter, Dumbledore was sitting back down in his high chair. Lowering the letter, he stared now with pity at the child still sleeping on his desk, apparently unruffled by the hardness of the wood - most likely because she was under a spell to aid her slumber and escape from reality for just a little while longer. She had no idea that she was about to escape it for a much longer time.

Murmuring a soft spell, Dumbledore first touched the girl's memories, wiping them gently and he watched as the tiny, pained pucker of her brows relaxed peacefully. Then he cast a second charm, a charm that would alert the girl's family - although they did not know it yet - and bring the head of the family to his office. He then set down his wand, and for the first time since he'd acquired said wand Dumbledore felt very old as he stared down at the letter once more while the key words continued to spiral in his mind.

'Danger… Safe… Must not know… Time will tell…'

Time, indeed. Time was going to be key to this child, Dumbledore thought as he surveyed the toddler once more.

Movement from his fireplace caught his eye and Dumbledore folded the letter and tucked it away while he stood to greet his visitor, who had just appeared from amidst emerald green flames.

"I apologize for the late call, Fleamont." Dumbledore began and the other man waved his hand.

"It's fine, Albus. But I must admit, your Patronus did cause a stir with the wife."

"I will send my apologies to dear Euphemia." Dumbledore promised.

"Now, what was so important-?" Fleamont's voice cut off as he spotted the child on Dumbledore's desk.

"Albus… is that a child?"

"She is indeed a child." Dumbledore answered heavily and he gestured to the chair opposite from himself. "Please take a seat… you will wish to be seated for this discussion."

The wizard across from him slowly lowered himself into the offered chair, hazel eyes behind round glasses curious and confused.

"Albus, what is going on? Why did you call me here? Is it about the child? Who is she anyway?"

"Yes, it is about the child." Dumbledore explained as he too took a seat and gazed at his visitor from above his half-moon spectacles. "You see, Fleamont, this child… is Marissa Potter."

In his seat, Fleamont Potter - only son to adoring but deceased parents, and faithful husband to Euphemia Potter since the day they had first met over ten years ago - froze.

"Impossible!" Fleamont whispered in protest.

On the desk between him and Dumbledore, Ari Potter shuffled in her sleep as - hidden behind closed eyelids - hazel eyes lost sight of the terrible scene she had stumbled upon hours earlier in her time and began to dream of a brighter light that life would bring.

31 October 1976

"Harriet Marissa Potter!"

A fifteen year-old girl, standing outside in the breezy autumn air while fighting to keep long black curls out of her face, grimaced at the boisterous cry.

A teenage male with equally dark and much wilder hair came bounding over to her, hazel eyes sparkling with mirth behind round glasses as he met eyes the exact same shade of brown glaring back at him.

"What, James?" The girl asked as the boy stopped before her, her tone warning him to leave immediately.

Apparently that warning was lost on James Potter (not that it surprised her) and the equally dark-haired teenage boy who strolled up behind his best mate. Sixteen year old Sirius Black barked out his distinctive laugh as his own grey eyes danced with similar amusement to James while he surveyed the teenage girl before him. The combination was one that had many girls at Hogwarts swooning but currently it only served to irritate the younger Potter further as Sirius spoke up next.

"I do believe our dear little Ari is being defensive, Prongs - what on earth do you think she could possibly be hiding from us?"

"I don't know, Padfoot." James answered with a thoughtfulness that didn't match the mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Maybe it's an early Christmas present?"

"No, it's more likely to be a birthday present for me." Sirius answered.

Harriet 'Ari' Potter's grimace worsened at their antics but neither boy paid her annoyance any attention. Instead, Jame's hazel eyes fixed instead on the teenage boy standing just behind Ari as he mused aloud, "Yeah, it couldn't be the fact that she's out here in Hogsmeade with a boy, after rejecting our offer to play."

Amos Diggory, a good-looking seventh year Hufflepuff, shifted awkwardly on his feet while Ari told James frostily, "Go bother someone else, James. I'm busy."

"Busy doing what, hm?" James asked, raising a brow as he continued to stare challengingly at Diggory. "It's obviously not having fun, although I do applaud anyone brave enough to dare ask my sister out to Hogsmeade without our permission. Especially if that someone is a spineless Hufflepuff."

Diggory's eyes narrowed back at James and he straightened his back but Ari was already scolding the two Gryffindor boys. "Would you just leave us alone? You're not in charge of my life, James, and Sirius isn't even related by blood!"

"Actually, I probably am related at some point - all Purebloods are, as my dear old mum used to remind me daily." Sirius corrected matter-of-factly. "But even if that weren't the case, Ari, how could you be so cruel as to suggest we aren't close and after we spent the whole summer together, too? And here I'd thought we'd gotten to know each other intimately-"

"Don't it sound indecent." Ari groaned while Diggory watched the exchange silently. "Let's get facts straight: you were freeloading under my parents' roof."

"You never complained." Sirius retorted slyly with an easy grin, the one that made most girls positively melt. Diggory obviously knew that as his lips pursed in response, which only made Sirius's smirk widen. Ari, however, glared; but James just swung a confident arm around his sister's shoulders.

"Come now, let's not fight on this beautiful Halloween afternoon! Where were you headed, my dear sister? The Three Broomsticks?" James asked as he purposefully turned her further away from Diggory. "Let us buy you a drink then."

"Exactly what I was thinking, Prongs." Sirius chimed in as he pushed his way to Ari's other side, effectively cutting her off from Diggory.

Diggory was looking distinctly put out but Sirius paid him absolutely no attention as he continued blithely, "Besides, what kind of older brothers would we be if we didn't buy our baby sister a drink on this lovely autumn afternoon?"

"Respectable ones." Ari answered, shaking James's arm off and stepping back to Diggory. "And actually, we were about to go to Madam Puddifoot's. You're welcome to come too - after all, you two already are the perfect married couple."

"Madam what?!"

James's voice shot through about five octaves and he clutched his face in his hands as he pictured his little sister sitting in the sickeningly pink and revoltingly romantic tea shop with a boy. He reminded Ari a little of a picture Lily had once shown her of a Muggle painting called The Scream that was supposedly extremely famous but which to Ari had just looked like a melting surprised person.

Meanwhile, Sirius said with fake disappointment, "Really, Ari, is that what you think of James and I? And here I was planning a romantic proposal to you in the plaza in Diagon Alley, under the moonlight while fireworks go off behind us and your mother wipes away tears of joy-"

"The day you marry anyone, Padfoot, will be the day my mother dies from shock that the great Sirius Black actually settled down while your mother likely dies from shame." Ari answered dryly while James continued to wail at the images he created in his mind of his little sister with a boy.

Sirius's lips curved into a more genuine smile at Ari's words, and his eyes were laughing as he pictured his mother's reaction if he ever did get married. He had no doubts that if he ever did marry, it would be to someone utterly disgraceful in his mother's eyes. And the mental image of his mother screaming in a rage (somewhere in private only, of course, couldn't have the other Pureblood nobles knowing she spared any thought about her disowned child) in reaction to news of such a union cheered him up immensely.

Ari meanwhile was kicking herself for biting Sirius's bait. Sirius was good at drawing out her dry humour and she enjoyed their banter most days, but she was highly aware of Diggory's awkward silence behind her. So, taking the opportunity while Sirius was absorbed in his own amusement and James was just recovering from his nightmares about his little sister and Madam Puddifoot's, Ari quickly grabbed Diggory's arm and pulled him down the street with her.

"Come on, Amos - let's go."

The pair left as James clutched his hair in shock while Sirius's attention and amusement turned to watch his best mate froth at the mouth at the added mental image of his baby sister calling a boy by his given name while cuddled at Madam Puddifoot's.

Ari and Diggory had made it down the street and around the corner before the Hufflepuff finally asked, "So, will we still be going to go to Honeydukes?"

"Of course - James and Sirius have probably already been, judging by their bulging left pockets, so we'll be perfectly safe there." Ari answered.

"Why their left ones?" Diggory asked, confused, and Ari snorted.

"Because they always hold their purchased Zonko's products in their right ones. Easier to reach and grab something in a rush… or if they just feel like it."

Diggory laughed in response to her dry response and he agreed, "That definitely sounds like them. I suppose I should be grateful they didn't quite feel like it just now."

"They probably did - but they know better than to try something with me there." Ari answered with a shrug. "I've gotten pretty good at deflecting whatever prank they throw anywhere near me."

"I can't say I'm surprised." Diggory mused as they looped around the back streets back toward Honeydukes.

As they made their way back onto the main street, Diggory piped up again, "Out of curiosity, would you have liked to go to Madam Puddifoot's?"

"Merlin, no."

Ari shuddered at the very thought.

"I just said that because James and Sirius hate that place as much as I do although James would go if Lily asked him to. That's probably also why he freaked out so much - he's fantasizing about how I'm seconds away from declaring my undying love for you if I'd be willing to go to Madam Puddifoot's with you."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Ari knew she'd probably stuck her foot in her mouth. What girl talked about declarations of love on the first date, even if in jest? No, especially in jest?

'A girl who has no clue how to date.' She thought to herself.

Diggory laughed after a second of awkward silence, and Ari glanced at him.

"You're certainly different, Potter." He said freely. "In a good way - it's a refreshing change."

"Thanks…?" Ari said slowly and Diggory smiled at her.

"You know what else is a nice change? You calling me 'Amos'." Diggory added with a grin and Ari blinked at him stupidly.

It only took a second for the memory to come rushing back however, and Ari's eyes widened.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just-" Ari began but Diggory shook his head.

"I'm glad you did." He explained. "Can I take it to mean I can call you Harriet?"

"Er… if you'd like." Ari answered awkwardly.

"Well then, Harriet - let us see about getting you those sugar quills you said you liked." Diggory offered, gallantly holding out his arm to her.

Ari took it and they walked on. But despite Diggory's chatter, all she could think about was the rest of her unfinished sentence. 'I was just trying to rile up my brother and Sirius. I didn't really mean anything by it.'

She sighed internally to herself. Diggory looked particularly dashing today with his blonde hair ruffled and his blue eyes sparkling against the autumn afternoon sun. Maybe any other girl's heart would have leapt to be with him but Ari felt nothing. Maybe it was because she'd practically grown up alongside the school's number one hottie himself, Sirius Black? But somehow, Ari knew it wasn't that.

'This is the last time I let Lily and Alice talk me into a date with a boy I barely know. I should have listened to Lucille.' Ari thought morosely.

It was too late to regret it now, though. But at least she knew that Lily and Alice would likely never succeed in getting her to agree to a date she wasn't even interested in again. Ari had no doubt that James would never let her out of his sight again for the rest of the year and possibly the next, after the Madam Puddifoot's suggestion she'd pulled on him today.

*A/N To new readers, welcome! To my old readers, welcome back. I've been playing with the idea for this story for years now and finally, I couldn't resist it any longer and put thoughts down on paper. To all my fellow Potterheads, this one is for you!