Disclaimer: Nothing except for the plot and anything you don't recognize from the book is mine.

~*~ Honorable Mentions ~*~

Damia – Queen of the Gypsi's ~ Well, I'm glad you found it again too! Lol, thanx for reviewing!

Alya1989262~ Thanx for that little encouraging comment. I seem to be over that unfortunate road block now, and will hopefully be writing a lot more!

Cay~ Haha, I guess it was a little corny of him, I didn't mean for it to come across that way. James is just a responsible kid, who doesn't want to let his parents down.

Cay(again)~ well here you go! Oh, and no, the poem doesn't have to be related to HP, and if you like (and if it doesn't completely flame my fic) I'll post it in the beginning of the next chappie!

Sirius lives~  thanx for reviewing! I tried to read your fics, but couldn't find them. Weird, huh? By the way, is your name by any chance inspired by the new Hp book?

Heehee~ glad to hear you liked the first chappie so much! I hope you like the rest!

Little by little~ thanx for such a great review! Hey, you know, your name would make a great title for a fic, you should write one!

Whatdyasay?~ that chapter was a bit bloody, wasn't it? I guess I could have toned the graphics down just little, huh? Oh well, I can tell you that nothing like that should be happening anywhere in the near future. Glad you liked my idea about Remus!

Carmel March~ Wow, thanks so much for putting me on your favs list! You're the most excited reviewer I've had in a while! Here you go, and James does more than just fly home on his broomstick with the rest of the Marauders!

Well here you go everybody! But before you guys start reading this chappie, I just got an idea from reading one of your reviews *cough*Cay*cough*. If any of you have a short story or poem or song or anything else that you'd like to post in the beginning of my next chapter (in case you don't have an account, or simply just feel like it, I dunno), either put it in a review that you make, or send it to me at my email address: prongs1andonly@comcast.net. Thanks once again to all of my readers, especially my reviewers. Here it goes!

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James found Remus's broom on the ground nearby, handed it to him, and then they all kicked off into the sky. They soared off through the branches, coming to a hover next to the limb Lily was perched on.

"Are you okay?" James asked Remus, breathlessly once they reached the safety of the trees. He took a Swiss-army knife (one of the few useful muggle inventions!) from his pocket, and used it to cut off strips from his T-shirt, making a make-shift bandage.

Remus winced as he experimentally moved his arm. "Yeah, I think I'll be alright until we get back to your house."

James glanced at Lily, who had fainted, finally giving into the darkness that had been threatening to over-take her since the moment Remus fell.

"Do you think you can fly?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well you're going to have to make it at least back to the road. Then maybe we can revive Sirius again, and you can ride with him. Until then, you'll have to manage on your own; I can only carry one person." Explained James as he lifted the unconscious Lily as gently as he could (which wasn't very gentle, considering the fact that they were in a tree) and maneuvered her onto the front of his broom.

Remus took a moment to adjust the bandage on his arm before getting onto his own broom.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I can be after having my arm mangled by a monster." He said with a half-hearted laugh.

James gave him a tired smile and then the two Marauders took off through the tangled mess of branches.

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They made it back to Sirius's tree without error (unless you count the fact that James nearly dropped Lily twice, and almost forgot to make her duck when they flew under a rather low branch).

They floated next to Sirius's branch for a few moments, listening to him say phrases such as 'cute little pink bunnies' and 'pink bunnies are my friends' in hi sleep, before waking him.

"Whaa….?" Mumbled Sirius, as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"Come on, wake up!" said James, as he continued to shake him.

"Okay, okay, I'm awake Mommy." He paused to scratch his head, before letting out a huge yawn during which he managed to get out the words: "Hey, who's the girl?"

"Just Lily from the airport." James said casually, knowing whatever he said would just go in one ear and out the other.

"That's nice." Yawned Sirius, before turning on his side and snuggling up next to his broom once more.

"Sirius!" Remus practically screamed in his ear. As a result, Sirius jumped three feet in the air, and almost fell off the branch all together. At least he was definitely awake now.

They almost lost him again, however, when his eyes strayed towards Remus's arm.

"Is, is that….?"

"No! No, it's just tomato juice." James said hurriedly. "We, uh, stopped for a snack earlier."

"Yeah, that's it. I just spilt some on my arm." The last thing they needed was two unconscious people.

"Oh! Did you save me any?"

Remus let out an exasperated sigh and laid his head in his hand. "No, Sirius."

"Well, that wasn't very nice!"

"Look, Sirius, we don't have time for this. It's getting late, and we have to get Lily to a doctor." Said James. "Remus's broom is acting a little weird," he glanced at Remus, who nodded his head vigorously, "so he's going to ride with you, ok?"

"Yeah, sure, as long as I get something to eat when we get back. Being unconscious can make a guy awfully hungry, you know."

Sirius mounted his broom and Remus climbed on behind him. Then the three boys and their unconscious cargo took off.

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"James! Where have you been?!?" cried his father as they landed in the backyard of the Potter Mansion. "Your mother and I have been worried sick! An empty house! No note! Anything could have happened to you!"

"Dad, can we just put off the lecture for a minute?! Lily's unconscious, Remus got bit on the arm by some wolf thing, and there's two mauled muggles lying out there in the woods!" James managed to say all in one breathe.

"Oh my goodness!" gasped Mrs. Potter at the sight of Lily and Remus. "Robert, Maggie! Please come here!"

The two servants were soon outdoors, wondering what all of the excitement was about. They quickly found out, however, and immediately helped to bring Lily and, the now very faint from blood loss, Remus inside.

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Lily woke long after the first rays of dawn fell through the window at her bedside, and onto her closed eyelids.

She sat up, rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. Looking around, she realized that she hadn't a single clue as to where she was.

Lily glanced down at her clothes and discovered that someone had dressed her in a nightgown. The thought of some stranger undressing her sent shivers down the eleven-year-old's spine.

Giving her whole body a shake as if to knock the notion from her mind, Lily climbed out of the huge, queen-size bed, and began to take in her surroundings. She quickly located her old clothes on a chair placed to the side of a dresser. The chair, like all of the furniture in the room, was made of cherry, Queen Ann style. At the sight of her dirty, ripped clothes, Lily was violently reminded of the horrid events of the night before. She tore her gaze from the garments, banishing the ghastly memories from her mind by entertaining herself with becoming acquainted with the room.

In contrast to the dark red-brown of the wood furniture, all of the fabric in the room was a variety of whites, creams, and golds. The bed had a marvelous cream colored silk canopy the Lily had always dreamed of having. The walls were painted a deeper cream color, with a Victorian border filled with more golds and whites.

The dresser had a tri-fold mirror, and its surface was adorned with a vase of white roses, along with a silver antique brush, mirror, and comb.

Stacked carefully on the floor at the end of the bed were ornately decorated shams and throw pillows. Alongside its head was a nightstand with a small cream and gold lamp. Lastly, on the wall opposite of the two heavily-curtained windows, to the left of a small walk-in-closet, was a tall bookcase. The top shelf was decorated with a variety of small knick-knacks. As Lily moved closer, she saw that they were china and glass figures of animals and children. There were deer, doves, toddlers bending down to pet snowy-white rabbits. As Lily gazed at the small figurines, she came across one that caught her eye. It was a small white kitten sitting on an elaborate pastel-blue cushion. She carefully took it off the shelf to look at it more closely. She discovered a golden handle on the bottom of the cushion, and realized it was a music box. Lily was about to turn the handle when she heard voices from outside her door.

Lily quickly replaced the figurine and backed away from the set of shelves, fearful that the owner of the house should discover her digging through their possessions.

She stood silently, unconsciously holding her breath, waiting for the voices' owners to enter the room. As she listened, she realized that they had passed her door, and were continuing down the hallway. Her curiosity aroused, Lily crept over to the door, silently opening it a crack.

She watched backs of two men dressed in suits made their way around the corner and apparently began to descend some stairs. She perked up her ears to make out their conversation.

"So our worst fears have indeed been confirmed." Said the taller of the two men. He had black hair, was wearing a suit, and straight, uniform glasses that gave him a rather strict, superior look.

"Yes, the first stages of transformation are already showing. The poor boy is already in a great amount of pain. Unfortunately, things will only get worse for him as the day goes by, and there's nothing that can be done to ease his discomfort." Said the other. He had brown hair, and carried a bag that Lily recognized as the ones carried around by doctors in some old fashioned movies she had seen.

Her curiosity got the better of her, however, and she crept down the stairs after them.

Pausing behind a corner, she watched as the two men walked into what appeared to be a study. She listened as they continued their conversation.

"And what about the girl?" asked the first man.

"Well, her physical state seems fine, minus a few cuts and bruises. It's her emotional state that you should be more concerned about. I understand that she lost both her grandparents last night?" questioned the doctor.

"Not only that, but we believe she may have witnessed the deaths of two muggle police officers."

By now, Lily had realized that the girl they were taking about was her. She was getting tired of not knowing where she was and not understanding what had been happening for the last twelve hours, and decided she should ask someone. Building up her courage, she entered the room.

"Umm…excuse me." She began hesitantly.

The two men looked up, surprised. The one in the suit was first to recover. "Yes, how may we help you?"

"Uh…well, could you tell me where I am?"

The man in the suit looked as if he were about to laugh. "You're at the Potter Mansion." He told her.

"Only a few miles away from your grandparents' house."

"Wait, how do you know where my grandparents live, and how could this house be anywhere near them; no one lives for miles around there!" Lily paused, remembering how she had found her grandparents last night. "Are, are they okay?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, I'm afraid not. They were killed." He answered quietly.

"Why?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes. "Why would anyone want to hurt them!?"

"Come here, sit down." he said to Lily, gesturing to an arm chair next to him. "William, do you mind?"

"No, of course not. It's about time I got back to St. Mungo's anyway. Owl me if there are any problems." And then he suddenly disappeared with a 'pop'.

Lily stared, amazed, at the place where the doctor had stood but a moment before.

"How, how did he……?"

"I'll explain it all in a moment. Let's start at the beginning.

"Yesterday, you received a letter. This letter, to be exact." He took the parchment letter out of a pocket inside his coat. "I'm guessing that you believed this to be some form of a practical joke, but it's not." he handed the letter to Lily.

"You're saying that this letter is real? That there really is a 'Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry', and that I'm really a 'witch'?" she said, making quote signs with her fingers. The man nodded.

Lily gave a small, rather hysterical laugh. "I can't believe this! After all I've been through, you, whoever you are, have the nerve to continue that stupid joke1"

"Lily, calm down."

"And how do you know my name!? Have you been stalking me for the last month, waiting for the chance to spring this trick on me?! I bet you're the one who killed my grandparents! What do you want?! Money?! Have you taken me as some kind of hostage!?!"

"That's enough!" he said, rising to his feet. "I will not have you insulting me and the rest of the wizarding world this way! Now if you'll calm down for one moment, I'll explain everything!"

Lily was furious. She was now positive that this man had killed her grandparents.

"But why?" said the voices inside her mind.

Lily was now accustom to the voice popping at random moments. "I don't know!" she answered irritably.

"That's because he didn't do it, and he had nothing to do with it."

"How do you know? All you are is a little voice in my head! How could you possibly know anything about him?!"

"Fine, don't listen to me! Go on thinking that he killed them, but at least shut-up long enough to find out why he did it!"

Lily was fuming, but was stopped from making an angry retort by the man speaking once more.

"Talking to that voice in your head?" he asked, a smile on his face.

"How do you know about that?" Lily asked, startled.

"Look, if you'll only give me a few minutes, I'll explain everything."

Lily wasn't sure what to do. Thinking back to what the voice had said, and how it never been wrong in the past, she decided to relent. "Alright."

"Good. Now allow me to start over. My name is Alexander Potter. This is my house, and I live here with my wife Elizabeth, and our son, James. And we are all members of the magical community.

"I know you won't believe me when I tell you that witches and wizards are real, and to be honest, I don't blame you. But just think, how else can you explain my son's and his friends' flying broomsticks? How can you explain that man just disappearing into thin air a moment ago? How can you explain this?" he flicked his wand and a drawer in his desk opened, and a handkerchief floated over to Lily and dropped into her lap. She stared at it for a moment, before hesitantly taking it and wiping her eyes.

"Think about it Lily. Have you ever made anything happen, anything that you couldn't explain?"

Lily was startled. Now that he thought about it, there had been several times during her life when strange things had happened. Once, she had fallen head first off of the highest branch in a tree, only to find herself sitting on the ground perfectly fine. Another time she and her mother had been shopping for Christmas presents in London and had lost track of time. They had rushed to the street and tried to flag down a cab. One taxi didn't have passengers, but the driver just drove right by them. Lily had been very angry, and suddenly, out of no where, the cab got a flat tire. Why just the other night when she had been terrified about what would happen to Kary when she had been forced to leave her in the woods, and had suddenly found her floating above the field be the house.

While Lily was recalling these events, Mr. Potter sat there patiently, knowing what she thinking about. After a few moments, Lily spoke.

"Yes, I guess I have caused things to happen before." She said, looking at the handkerchief in her hands. Then she lifted her head so that she could look him in the eyes. "I…..believe you now. There is no other way any of these things could happen. But that still doesn't explain why my grandparents are dead."

"I was about to move onto that. You see, in the wizarding world, there is a complex potion and spell combination that a witch or wizard can cast on themselves that turns them into an animagus, or someone who can transform themselves into an animal at anytime they wish. The type of animal the transform into is determined by the person's appearance and personality. There are many magical people who have done this, and one of them is a professor at your school, but I'll tell you more about that later. There are also a few witches and wizards who are born with this ability. And along with being able to turn into an animal, they also sometimes hear the voice of the animal inside their heads. Because animals have stronger senses than humans, the voices often know things that the wizard or witch does not. They also act as the person's subconscious mind, and will often remind them about things they have forgotten, or point out things they have heard or seen, but don't have complete recognition of hearing or seeing it, or the complete meaning of it."

"Am I….one of these people?" Lily asked.

"Yes, you are." Answered Mr. Potter.

"How do you know that?"

"Other people like you can sense when a new one is born. Their animal counter-parts interact with your counter-part and learn your name and other such information from it."

"So this voice I hear is the voice of the animal I turn into?"

He nodded his head.

"What kind of animal is it?"

"Well we won't know that until you turn into it. Don't worry," he said as he read the look of concern that spread across Lily's face, "other witches and wizards like you will help you learn how to transform. The headmaster at Hogwarts happens to also be an animorfica, that's what you call people who are born with this ability, and is a good friend of mine. He's going to be coming here to help you for a couple of weeks before school starts. Anyway, moving on to the subject of your grandparents' deaths. In the wizarding world, every now and then there arises a dark witch or wizard. The good witches and wizards usually stop and capture these dark wizards before they can rise to great power, but they still cause damage. Right now, there is a dark wizard who calls himself Lord Voldemort on the rise. Because animorficas are usually very powerful, Voldemort is out to kill any of the younger wizards and witches who have shown signs of being one of these before they can grow very strong.

"Normally, Voldemort would not know who any of these young witches and wizards are, but one of his followers broke into the Ministry of Magic, which is like the House of Parliament, where a record of all of the animorficas in the world is kept."

"So Voldemort was trying to... kill me last night?" she asked, scared.

"Well most likely not him himself, but some of his followers, yes."

Lily was quiet after this and Mr. Potter respected her silence, waiting fro her to speak.

"Does that mean he's trying to….Kill me?" she asked softly.

"I'm afraid it does, but you're not to worry. You will be staying here for the rest of the summer, and here you will be safe. Once you're at Hogwarts you'll be even safer, as Dumbledor is undoubtedly, in my mind, the most powerful wizard in the world.

"What about my family?"

"They are also safe over in America, where the Wizarding Congress has special agents watching over them. When they return to London, they will continue to be watched over by Ministry officials."

"Are those two police officers from last night, okay?"

"No, they did not survive either, I'm afraid."

Lily nearly broke into tears once more after hearing this, but managed to keep control of herself. "What was that….monster that attached us last night?"

"That was a werewolf."

"They really exist?!"

"Yes, along with almost every other muggle fantasy animal. In fact, that's where the muggle versions originated. Although, some creatures, such as mermaids, are really nothing like the muggle versions."

"What's a muggle?"

"Oh! Sorry, that's a term wizards and witches use for non-magical folk."

"Oh. So there really are werewolves, unicorns, and mermaids?"

"Yes, along with many other magical creatures you've never heard of, but you'll learn all about them at Hogwarts."

"How are James, Sirius, and that other boy?" Lily asked, suddenly remembering them.

"James and Sirius are fine; they escaped with only a few minor cuts and bruises. The other boy though, whose name is Remus Lupin by the way, was bitten by the werewolf."

"Is he alright?" Lily asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid not. As it is described in muggle fantasy, when bit by a werewolf, that person becomes one of the monsters as well."

"Oh my gosh."

"Yes, it's quite horrific. Right now, he's going through the first initial, and most painful, transformation. It should be over in a couple of days. Then, on each full moon, he will transform again, but each time will become fortunately less painful."

They sat in silence for a few moments, as Lily digested all of this new information. Then, rather unexpectedly, her stomach made a loud, hungry growl.

Mr. Potter laughed. "My! It seems your stomach is feeling rather empty and would like you to do something about it!" He glanced at the large grandfather clock that stood along the wall. "And no wonder! It's nearly noon and you haven't eaten since yesterday! Come on, and we'll go into the kitchen. I believe the boys are just having lunch now as well, and you can join them."

AS they walked down the numerous hallways that wound their way through the Potter Mansion, Lily tried to remember the last time she had eaten. She realized, with a sharp pang in her heart, that it had been in the mid-afternoon yesterday, when her grandfather had taken her out for an ice cream.