Sirius lead them through the passageway and out to the grounds. Once there he instructed them to wait a few minutes, then come inside and act tired.

"Why?" Fred asked.

"Do your parents teach you nothing? To avoid suspicion of course! Run around, play a game, do anything except look suspicious." Sirius instructed.

"What does suspishows mean?" George asked.

"...Bad."

"Ohh!"

Sirius shook his head and put his hand on Kira's shoulder. "You may be our only hope as far as terrorizing this school goes."

"I'll do my best." Kira smiled.

"I'd rather you do your worst," Sirius grinned, then, upon hearing his name, bolted towards the school doors.

The trio ran around playing t for a while. That was nothing new for them, though they weren't very good at it. Kira had played something like it at the Base, except then it was run or be hurt. It took her a while to realize that Fred and George weren't going to hurt her, but once she did it was a fun game. After a while Fed declared himself the winner, even though Kira tagged him, and they set out to go back inside. Kira skipped across the room, humming merrily as she went. Fred and George at her side, not skipping, but keeping pace.

"Fred, George!" Mrs. Wesley called.

"Darn, gotta go," Fred sighed, pulling George behind him as they ran to their mum.

Kira waved and drew her attention over to Harry, he was staring at her as Lily held him. Kira waved and Harry waved back.

"Lily, you look wonderful," Kathy marveled. Lily beamed and set Harry gently on the ground so he could walk around. Gina took over complimenting Lily and Kathy took to complimenting Harry. Then Cynthia walked over, she was a reporter and one of Lily's old friends.

"Oh, Lily, dear, you're positively glowing! I heard about the baby. Do you mind if I put you in an article?"

"Um... I guess not," Lily blushed.

"Imagine," Kathy smiled. "Your first child and you already know how to take perfect care of him."

"Thank you," Lily grinned.

"Did you read a lot of books about child care?" Cynthia asked.

"No, not really," Lily admitted shyly. "Well, I did do a lot of research, but I find that the books made everything sound too... perfect. Truth is you're tired all the time from waking up at all hours of the night, but it was my choice to have a baby, so it's my fault I'm tired, not his. I didn't have a baby so I could have a reason to complain."

"The sign of an excellent mother!" Cynthia saluted and Lily saw her write 'Lily Evens Potter needed no help in raising her first child. Harry Potter was born on the end of July and since then has been in the excellent care of his loving parents. It is a marvel and an inspiration to all women during this dark age. Her heart has remained loving and kind. Does this girl need anyone telling her how to cue her instincts? Nope. Lily's instinct as a mom kicked in the moment her baby was born.' Kathy looked down at her own little rug rat, who was ignoring his younger sister's attempts at playing a game with him. "I still need the books," Kathy signed. Cynthia wrote 'there is nothing wrong with using books, but Lily is mother of the year in my heart and has instinct matching those who have had seven children.'

Harry looked up at Lily, then across the room, he raised his arm, pointed and said. "Kra."

"Oh, but this isn't Lily's first child," Gina interrupted, reminded. Lily's smile faded, Harry was her first born. Why didn't they just concentrate on him. He just spoke, why didn't they marvel over that for a while. She side- glanced James, who had escaped the girl reunion long ago and was making a valiant effort not to be pulled into it again.

"That's right!" Kathy remembered. "And where is your little daughter?"

Cynthia's smile faded and she reread her article.

"Well, you see, um, Kira...." Lily stuttered.

"Sorry, my mistake," Cynthia apologized.

"No, you see. Kira is not my daughter," Lily stated.

"Oh?" Cynthia's smile returned slightly.

"No, she-"

"You've had her a year. Still no parents, so..." Gina stated.

Lily stared at her friend. She had been so happy and excited about getting to show Harry off. Why would her friend ruin that? She'd nearly lost him and had just wanted her friends to be supportive. Besides, questions about Kira were always hard to answer, especially when trying to keep a low profile on her.

"Huh? You adopted a child? At what age? From where? I heard that people all over the country were adopting children who's parents, Voldemort had killed. However, I never heard the name Kira. Where did you adopt her from? Who are her parents? What nationality is she?" Cynthia was in full reporter mode and shooting out questions so fast that Lily's head spun. She slowly watched Harry wonder off and was about to go get him, but Peter was already to him and nodded to Lily that he'd watch Harry for a while. There went her escape plan.

"Well, Kira-"Lily began.

"I've seen that little girl, her parents must have been excellent, she's so nice and such a pretty girl," Kathy stated.

"I know! I'd LOVE to meet her parents. Her mother must be some kind of goddess," Gina nodded.

"So, you adopted her and she already had learned how to behave? Oh," Cynthia's enthusiasm was dropping by the minute she did a story almost every day about an adoption, she wanted a sign of hope. Most of those kids were too young to remember their parents anyway. "Did you adopt Harry as well?" She sighed.

"Harry, is my son," Lily stated.

"But then what is Kira?"

"Kira.... Kira is nothing" Lily stated, he mind drifting back to what she had seen in Kira's eyes when James brought her back from the lab. "Harry's our everything." Cynthia's smile quickly returned as Gina and Kathy stopped their conversation to listen.

"Kra!" Harry greeted as he stumbled over to Kira. She had stopped dead in her tracks and was staring at Lily with an extremely surprised look on her face. Harry had never seen this look on his sister before, but it made his heart hurt. "Kra?" He stared up at her, not used to her ignoring him. Kira turned around and started walking away. Harry tottered after her as Peter turned around in false hope that a woman had just called his name. Kira sped up and strode across the room and out the door.

"I'm nothing?" She paused down the next hall. She remembered hearing that they had to take certain precautions and that if anyone asked, she had been adopted, she didn't remember much about it. Yet... was she really nothing? Am I just a burden. Kira shook her head, trying to drive the thought from her mind. She whipped a few tears from her eyes and continued down the hall. She made it to the stairs and started down. She wasn't needed, she wasn't important. She was nothing. Takai had always told her that... but mommy had never hurt her. So what was this feeling? It hurt much worse than anything Takai had been able to do to her in such a small amount of time.

"Kra!" Came a cry from the top of the stairs.

Kira turned and her eyed widened in shock. "Harry, no!" She gasped as her baby brother started down the stairs. She forgot everything and threw herself up the stairs. Harry started to fall and Kira let out a cry and leapt out in an attempt to catch him. She managed to reach him just in time. Kira leaned against the railing, out of breath and held Harry tightly in her arms. He wasn't crying so she knew he wasn't hurt, but...

"Kra,"

"Oh, don't 'Kira' me," Kira said, standing up and taking Harry's hand. "You're very clumsy, do you know that? Why'd you follow me? You're supposed to stay with mommy and daddy."

"Kry cryin?" Harry asked, looking at his big sister's face. Kira shook her head, but he gave her a 'liar' look and she couldn't help but laugh.

"I love you," She laughed as they headed back to the party. Maybe she was nothing, but she was needed, and she knew she was loved. Takai always told her, for every good, there must be bad. So maybe tonight was just another bad, for all the good she'd had.

"Kra not leave?" Harry asked.

"I'm not gonna leave ya, lion," She promised. "Though you get any better at walking and you might leave me," she smiled. Harry smiled back and tripped, Kira quickly grabbed him. "Or maybe not" She giggled.

'Shut up, I'm trying' Harry thought. 'And I'd never leave you.'

"I know you're trying, you're just silly," Kira explained, opening the door to the banquet hall. Fred and George grinned and started over. Kira put Harry behind her and stared suspiciously at them.

"Aw! C'mon!" Fred exclaimed.

"You're too attached to your younger sibling," George grumbled.

"Poor Ron," Kira shook her head.

"Wha? No, no, we love Ron, don't tell him though. We watch out for him and take out our anger on Percy; Mum and Dad's favorite," Fred said, lowering his voice.

"Ron's alright, he's cool," George agreed matching the secretive voice. "But you gotta pick on your siblings... it's... it's a sign that you care!" Fred exclaimed.

"...Hmm... which lie won't I be buying today?" Kira mused, looking to Harry.

"Aw c'mon" George kicked at nothing.

Kira shook her head and they headed over to James. Peter ran past looking like he had just drank a jug of hot sauce and water was nine miles away. He was sweating and mumbling about what an idiot he was. He saw Kira, then Harry, and let out a tremendous breath as Lily strode over, ready to kill him for not watching her son like he said he would. Peter whimpered and quickly stalked away. Kira couldn't help but lower her eyes as Lily approached.

"There you are!" Lily breathed. Kira released Harry's hand and turned to leave, but Lily wrapped her arms around both of them. "I saw you were gone and nearly died," She whispered. "I'm so glad you're safe."

Kira stared up at her and then over to Gina, Cynthia, and Kathy. "Hello there Kira." Cynthia greeted. "I'm writing an article on your mom."

"Well, now that everything has been straightened out and our stories match, it'll be a better article." Gina stated.

Kira looked at Lily, who smiled down at her and mouthed, I love you. Kira smiled and turned to Fred and George. They had given up trying to do anything to Harry, seeing as how they would hate to have to explain to Bill that they'd been beaten by a little girl. Instead they walked over to the house points.

"So, what now?"

"Let's go pick on the Percy," Kira grinned, back to normal.

*

"I don't wanna go home!" Came a whinny voice around seven in the morning.

"Quiet James, we'll be back next year," Lily giggled.

"Kira!" James called.

"I don't wanna go home!" Kira whinned.

"Stop training her, James. Just stop," Lily shook her head.

"I don't want her to go home!" Fred tried.

"Oh, no," Lily sighed.

"I don't want Jamie to go home!" Sirius stated upon sliding down the railing.

"I don't wanna hear anymore whining," Lily whined.

"At ease lads. She's not budging," Lames shook his head and shuffled off to get in a few explosions before the train arrived. Though Lily noticed that James' hair was soaking wet and his eyes were bloodshot. A familiar morning at Hogwarts look for him. She smiled as she remembered hearing the Quidditch team captain enlisting and even paying Remus, Peter, and Sirius to make sure James woke up on game days. Sirius usually ended up dragging James to the Quidditch field, half asleep and mumbling about 'that perfect game he'd won last night.'

Lily returned upstairs a few hours later to see that Sirius was entertaining Kira and her two friends. He seemed to have found a fireplace somewhere and his flaming head was cackling in the fire place, much to the enjoyment of Kira and the two boys. Lily leaned on the back of the chair and stared down at him. She noticed that Kira was holding Harry, who kept trying to touch the flames. Kira wasn't letting him get near enough to accomplish that goal. Sirius continued for a while and then noticed Lily. His eyes traveled up the chair and his smile faded slightly. She simply waved and drummed her fingers on the chair.

"...Hello..." Sirius smiled a bit too widely.

"Afternoon, Sirius. I see you're babysitting."

"...I do what I can..."

"Why does breaking a school rule have to be part of doing what you can?"

"It's funner that way."

"I see you're grammatically accurate."

"Funner?" Kira asked.

"More fun, more fun, ignore him," Lily shook her head.

"Funner a bad word?"

"Funner is not a word."

Sirius picked up on the confused look and interlined. "It IS a word, it's a slang word that professors, and H.Gs don't like."

"Oh," Kira nodded and Lily instructed her to get ready to leave. Fred and George decided it would look good if they got packed before Percy and quickly followed Kira. Lily decided against lecturing Sirius about, once again, needlessly breaking another school rule.

"It's still my school," Sirius stated, seeing her look. "I have every right to-"

"Behave in the same way as you did while attending?"

"...Yes," Sirius nodded.

"Okay, fine. However, I saw you giving Kira a tour earlier and I don't approve."

"Why not?!" Sirius yelped.

"When she comes here it is up to HER to decide what she wants to do. It is up to HER to find her way around, and it is up to HER-"

"Why can't I help?"

"Who helped you?"

"No one, I had to do it on my own and I'd have been a lot happier had someone taught me the ropes."

"Yet you became comfortable with the school. If she's too comfortable she'll appear cocky."

"What's wrong with that??"

"Severus Snape," Those two words were all Lily needed.

"...She's on her own."

"Good, now get ready to leave."

"Yes, Mum."

Lily just smiled to that comment and Sirus's head quickly vanished from the fireplace. Another perfect reunion was coming to and end. Lily knew that Dumbledor should have stopped the reunions after Voldemort started attacking mass groups of people. However, he secretly wanted them to continue because it made James and Lily happy. He always said he would end them, but never did. He could have booked them to be at a grand hotel like the one on Rabbit's Burrow lane, near Lily's job. However, James liked being at the school. Dumbledor wouldn't admit it, but that was the reason the reunions stayed at the castle.

The Hufflepuff students were always willing to lend empty beds to other students staying through the break. There was a memory charm on the door so that none of the other students really knew where it was, even after staying there over the break. The Slytherins never accepted the offer, most of the people who would usually be at the reunion were Death Eaters, so the beds were empty. Sadly enough, with so many deaths, a lot of beds were empty at reunions.

Lily headed down the stairs and met Alice. They discussed different techniques they had learned to help with different things for a baby. For example, Alice found that if she played soothing music, or ocean sound affects at night the baby slept better. Lily explained that instead of letting James pick the pacifier off the ground, she's give Harry a frozen waffle while she sanitized the pacifier and sent Kira to go entertain James, which usually was an excuse for both of them to lounge in front of the T.V. watching the game, or reading the Quidditch history book James had bought.

Lily couldn't call Kira lazy, she went to dance class every day for two hours, skated around, was training her po-... miniature horse, played a game with Harry that he found amusing, but she always lost, and was usually a very bouncy girl. However, to James's satisfaction, she became quite lazy whenever a big game was on. Though she had yet to figure uot how James negotiated that. The conversation was interrupted when James appeared on the staircase, looking over the railing and down at Lily. He smiled eccentrically and Lily took a breath. She knew that smile quite well. That smile meant something was up.

"Need something?" She asked.

"Yeah, um... what exactly is the time limit on Halloween Candy?"

"...What?" Lily asked.

"When does it expire?" James restated the question.

"...How much does she still have?" Lily sighed.

"Few bags... wait, with her, or at home?"

"How can she still have that much? You two have been bringing bags of it to every meeting," Alice gaped.

"Because my daughter is the immortal Goddess of Halloween," James grinned. Lily had to nod in agreement.

"...I wouldn't say any longer than four months," Alice said.

"Four?"

"That's as long as my parents ever kept any," Alice said.

"Maybe we should get a second opinion," Lily pondered.

"Here me out," James slid down the railing and landed between the two woman, clapping his hands together as he did. "I'll send an owl to St. Mungo's, let them know there might be a few people there later who ate bad candy then-"

"No," Lily cut him off.

"But-"

"No."

"... Somebody here HAS to know the expiration date," James sighed.

"Are you really that upset about a bag of candy going uneaten?" Lily asked.

"She's got three with her and five more at home in the closet."

"Wow," Alice marveled. "Congratulations to the immortal Goddess of Halloween."

"...Fine, we'll go by Alice's parent's rule," Lily gave up.

"But then we'll never KNOW," James argued.

"James I believe that is the first time you have ever thrived to learn something that wasn't on a test," Dumbledor stated, entering the room and entering the conversation.

"...So four months?" James gave in.

"Yeah," Alice nodded.

"Okay," James hurled himself over the railing and up the stairs. "It's alright Kira!" He called. "But it all has to be gone today."

Lily, Dumbledor, and Alice heard loud cheering come from three children at that last comment. They exchanged glances and decided that they probably didn't want to go upstairs for a while.