Kira looked at the strange items arranged haphazardly on the shelves. She'd never seen anything like them before. There, lying on a crimson silk pillow, was a clear round ball said to be crystallized phoenix tears, inside was a brilliant flame. There was a bronze tag in front of it labeled in fancy calligraphy: Phoenix Egg. 700 gold galleons.

Kira turned to Remus and pulled at the hem of his cloak, "I thought you said Phoenix's couldn't be bought?"

Remus looked at the egg in surprise and seemed impressed. He nodded pleasantly at it, his eyes examining it as if it were another specimen he'd read about. "Well, the Phoenix usually chooses its owner and will not hatch until it is touched by someone it feels is worthy. If anyone else touches it they will be blasted away."

Kira took a step away from the egg, not in the mood to be blasted away. "Oh."

Remus let out a gentle laugh, "That's why it's such a big deal that Albus has one. They're very rare."

Kira nodded and went back to looking at the shelves. There were Remembralls and wands for Squibs, Pixi-dust (which Kira wanted to get for Trinidy.), Unicorn tails, Gryphon manes, and another hair that Kira didn't recognize, it shimmered light blue and was longer than she was tall. She felt it; it felt almost like the finest silk, instead of hair. It moved fluidly in her touch and she saw a sign that read: Volucris Hair. (One of the materials used in Invisibility cloaks) 500 gold galleons.

Kira stared in confusion; her daddy's cloak was not blue. There was a card next to it, but it was too difficult for Kira to read. She looked across the shelves of crystallized Dragon tears, werewolf muzzles, something called Fangrep, odd little marbles, fur shampoo with anti-allergy and flea protection, veela hair care products, sticky shoes (for those who float), even cloaks made of fireproof material. It must have been a specialty store. A bell chimed as an older witch with a shawl over her face entered through a beaded curtain, making Kira jump. The witch looked at her briefly before turning to Remus.

"Back again I see," she greeted mystically, as if she'd foreseen his return. "I didn't expect you for another few years."

Remus motioned Kira over to him and smiled lightly, "Yes, I believed your advice, but according to James, her father, she's floating already."

"Daddy told me that was okay!" Kira cried, stepping away from the two adults and staring up at them as if they'd just convicted her of murder.

"I'm not saying you're in trouble, I'm relaying a fact," Remus calmed her, waiting patiently as if he was teaching a class and waiting for a student to realize that the boggart wouldn't hurt them if they laughed at it.

The woman walked around the counter and bent over in front of Kira. She grabbed Kira's chin and forced her gaze upward. There she stared for what seemed like forever, and traced her thumb across Kira's forehead. She nodded and then released Kira and stood back as if examining a purebred dog she was thinking of buying.

Remus also stared, trying to see if it was obvious that Kira was a Volucris. Her hair was turning very golden, which made the cover story of her being Cota's daughter more convincing, the eyes stood out, but made her look like a child destined to be a model, like her 'daddy' could be. However, the witch seemed to see something more.

"Yes, great power this one has," she mumbled. "…strong."

"That's why we're here," Remus stated. "You see, her hands freeze water."

"Water? Yes, a natural fear," the witch nodded. "Many Volucris react strongly to fears."

Kira suddenly looked very surprised. "How did you know about that?"

"Volucris wings are not waterproof," the witch replied nonchalantly. "My great grandfather hunted the last of their kind. That's how I got that," she pointed to the blue hair. "I believe he wrote a book about it. Put it into the Voluvena Diaries."

"The what?" Kira asked.

The witch glanced over at Remus, "The best thing this girl can do is learn about what she is, yet you deny her that right?"

Remus merely sighed and answered, "She's about two… maybe three, and you want her to read something?"

The witch contemplated this before hurrying out of the room and behind the beaded curtain. Remus and Kira heard her rustling through boxes muttering 'never though that book would do me any good," every few minutes. After a while a loud "Ah ha!" was heard, followed by, "Here it is," and the witch emerged again from behind the curtain, carrying a large box.

The opened it to reveal many different fabrics of materials that Remus and Kira had never seen before. Then the witch clapped her hands and another box appeared, from inside the counter.

"Put your hands in the openings, deary, palms down, fingers spread," the witch instructed Kira, who obeyed after receiving a supportive look from Remus Kira felt a strange pulling and pressure on her hands, but after a few moments the witch shut the box and Kira yanked her hands out. "They'll be ready in two hours," the witch stated, promptly turning around and exiting through the beaded curtain, again.

Remus and Kira stood in shock for a few minutes, staring in the direction the witch had left in, before Remus finally spoke, "Uh, er… Right… I guess we can go look at the other shops if you want?"

Kira replied without blinking and only after a few seconds of staring bewilderedly at the curtain, "Uh, okay."

They left the shop and traveled down the stone path, window shopping. The tunnel was lit with a very strange light that came from glowing crystals in the ceiling. It gave the place the affect of almost being outside; though it would be outside on a stormy day. Kira and Remus entered a shop called Xenex, which was a thinner, taller building than most others as it seemed to shoot up at least four stories and continue past the top of the tunnel. The building had powder blue bricks that Kira couldn't explain as they shimmered like Indicolite.

Upon entering, Kira was confronted by bookshelves of Maplewood lining every wall and crammed with books. There were two other people in the shop, both trying to follow a very energetic Wizard who was bustling around the shop like a humming bird from flower to flower. The two customers seemed to be making quite an effort not to get ran over as the man would often climb up a ladder that was attached to the shelves, and kick off to begin rocketing to another shelf where he'd pull out a book, stare at it for a few second, put it back and then rocket to another shelf muttering,

"Must be careful with books, must get the perfect one. All are good, but some are perfect." Remus and Kira headed up the stairs to the next level, almost being run over by the ladder as they did.

On the next level, Remus found a map. It seemed the books were organized by some sort of system that was not understandable for the common person. The top floor, sixth floor, and the attic held very old books. The level below them held forbidden books, as did half of the fourth and all the other levels had everything else, organized into categories, but then everything became confusing as the books were not organized alphabetically in any way.

There were Centaur Star maps (For those with Centaur blood and a thirst for the wisdom of the sky.) Kira stared at them for a while and gave up, they didn't show her anything. Remus headed over to mock the new book of werewolf mindset. Opening the first page he let out a breathy grunt and turned the page, where he snapped the book shut and mumbled something about buying it so no one else would.

He let out a frustrated groan upon seeing five more copies of the book and slumped down into a chair against the wall to read and see if the book had any merit. Kira, knowing better that to ask Remus what was wrong as that was likely to throw him into a speech, climbed the stairs, hopping as she did and playing the game she's learned at school.

"Arthur Andrews ate an alligator's apple-" She sang, hopping up the stairs as she did.

"An alligator's apple?" Remus interrupted, looking over at her as if wanting to make her think about the fact that alligators did not eat apples, nor did they own any.

"Yep," Kira nodded, too young to be bothered by a carnivore eating fruit.

"…Okay," Remus shrugged and went back to his book.

Kira continued her song as she hopped up the stairs, "Beautiful Brigit baked brownie batches for Brandon, Brian, and Brianna."

Remus gave a short laugh and went back to his book, which had just stated that werewolves were often aggressive in human form as their bodies tried to balance out the wolf instincts. This is why so many people hate werewolves, Remus thought, they read bullshit like this.

Cota had headed off to school, though not without protest as it was learned that the order was calling a meeting. James had pushed him out the door in the end and Cota gave up. It wasn't like him to protest so much, but he'd also seen the look on Dumbledore's face. The look that held deep concern and doubt, he'd done it after hearing what Kira had done. This led all the Potter house residents to worry that he might suspect the worse. If Kira was this young and already her powers were beyond her control, what would happen in when she grew older?

James understood the fear and excused the protest as Cota had, in the very end, left of his own free will and without verbal argument above a normal speaking level. Lily had spent her morning ignoring the argument, and instead baking anything she could. She made Kira's lunch, an elaborate buffet of four different sandwiches, four vegetables, three fruits, two kinds of chips, nuts, partymix, pudding, yogurt, three brownies, four chocolate chip cookies, a box of milk, a box of apple juice, string cheese, mineral water, strawberry flavored water, salsa, and a pint of homemade ice cream.

She knew it was elaborate, and she was well aware that Remus would get Kira food before dropping her off at school, but her daughter wasn't there and Lily wouldn't see her again until after the meeting, she felt like she was in control of nothing, the least she could do was make sure Kira had a good lunch. She stared at the bag and shrunk the contents. James and Cota were still arguing, it was the strangest argument Lily had heard as both sides were trying desperately hard not to make the other side mad, while making their points.

"I've faced You-know-who head on! I think I can handle a meeting," Cota stated, noting how he could no longer bring himself to saying 'Voldemort' as it gave him a mental image of the man's face, inches from his own. That, understandably, scared the hell out of him.

"Yes, Cota, you did," James smiled in a strange, almost sarcastic 'I'm winning' way. "And how nicely that turned out?"

"Isn't there a limit to how many times you can bring that up?" Cota asked, not feeling much like staring James in the eyes as he said this.

"The stupidity of the act is in direct correlation to the amount of times it can be brought up," James replied, softening his tone slightly.

"How was that stupid? I didn't have much of a choice," Cota finally brought his gaze back to James.

"…Good point- but-"

"James," Lilly interrupted warningly. The two men were charting on dangerous territory. They all agreed that Cota's behavior under the circumstances had been brave and noble, nothing less. They also knew how lucky Cota was to be alive and how much he would have been missed had Derek, Lisa, and Oweiry given up the search.

"Right…" James bowed his head slightly and an uneasy silence filled the room.

"S-sorry," Cota stated after a while.

James shook his head, "Don't be."

"…But the meeting concerns a member of this household, should we not all be there?" Cota restarted the argument over again.

"If we are ALL missing on the same day, then it'll be very easy for the enemy to know who is in the order," James protested. "Frank is going to work and leaving at lunch, saying his wife is sick. Alice is calling in sick, Neville is going to his grandmother's house, Hagrid is 'looking for a unicorn,' are you getting the point yet?"

"Yeah, but a lot of the members are staying at work and then apperating to the meeting house later, with excuses such as vacations and a night on the town-"

"Yes, because they don't need to be there until later. I'm running an errand for a private client while my squire, that's you, goes to class like every other day."

"…That's not fair," Cota mumbled.

"Life's not fair-"

"This isn't life! This is Monday! You yourself told me that Monday was a mockery of life," Cota shot back with a victorious grin.

"Ah, countering me with my own words, are you?" James paused, impressed, but still knowing he had to win the fight. "Try this one, no."

"That's your argument?"

"Yes, it is, because I'm the lord and you're the squire."

"Pulling the trump card already, are we?" Cota growled, having not expected that.

James sighed, "You can't go."

"He thinks she's dangerous," Cota replied. "If he says she is, then everyone will believe him."

"We are not going to turn against Albus, Cota," James said sharply.

"But-"

"No. Once we start turning against each other, we're lost. But he's not Kira's father, I am. In the end it's my choice what happens to her."

"But if everyone believes him-"

"I know, but you're forgetting Sirius, Remus, Peter, Alice, and Frank. They wouldn't turn against us. Hagrid would refuse to take sides, as would a few others, in the end it would be a tie."

"That's why you'd need my vote," Cota objected.

"Albus if very aware of your vote, but you're not an official member, yet."

The argument went on for another ten minutes and Lily headed off to work, leaving both men a lunch and preparing her speech. "James is out today and our nanny quit, I can't stay long as our babysitter has to leave at noon."

"Mrs. Marian Mandy made mushroom muffins on Mondays, March through May." Kira finished, reaching the top floor. She looked around and then poked her head through the railing and stared down at Remus, who was far below her and trying to listen for singing as a way of keeping track of her.

He looked up when the singing stopped and waved, Kira waved back and he went back to the book. Kira looked behind herself and saw a door. She opened it to reveal a dusty stairwell, yet something told her to go in. She entered slowly and headed up the stairs, her shoes making soft tat sounds as she traveled up. A spider crawled along the many webs on the walls and made Kira shiver. Three more spiders and her pace quickened as she was aching to get away from them. She reached the top step and came to a door, which opened as she approached.

Remus snapped the book shut and approached the store owner. The owner looked up at him and his eyes traveled to the book, anticipating a sale. Remus set the book on the counter and drummed his fingers upon it.

"…Did you find everything you needed sir?" The owner asked, looking at Remus's face and doubting more and more that this was going to be a fun conversation.

"Well, I wasn't particularly looking for lies pressed into paper and bound by a leather cover, and yet, that is what I found," Remus began.

"Sir?"

"Do you even read the books before supplying them in your store? Seeing as people believe whatever they read in them."

"Sir, I understand your concern. I myself have never been very pleased with that author, but I put it on my shelves only as a counter point, to allow the werewolf students to see why they are so feared."

"But none of it is true," Remus reminded the owner.

"No, of course not, it is the fears of an author wishing to sell a documentary style fictional horror story, as I tell all who buy it."

"What if a student came in here and read it, believed it, but didn't buy it?"

"Most who believe it, buy it to have proof."

"How many have you sold?"

"Three, to gentlemen, such as yourself, who wished to burn them."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I understand your concern, but the books are only there to play devil's advocate, you just have to know what to believe. Helps keep the Muggles thinking they could spot a werewolf from a mile away."

"Ah, well then I don't have a problem, but I'm not going to buy it."

"Understood."

Remus headed up the stairs and glanced at his watch, they still had a while before they were due back at the specialty shop. He reached the top floor, out of breath and looked around, not seeing Kira. He saw the door standing slightly ajar and headed up to the attic. He opened the door to see Kira, holding a book and trying to read it.

"What do you got there?" Remus asked.

"I don't know," Kira replied, reminding Remus that she had the reading level of a six year old. Remus looked at the book, it was the Voluvena Diaries.

"Ah, sweaty, you don't want to be reading that," Remus stated, taking the book from her.

Kira looked up at him in confusion, "Why not?"

"Er… well… maybe when you're older."

"Oh… okay," Kira nodded, though she still didn't understand.

"Wow, there are actual Volucris books here. I thought Takai had them all," Remus stated.

"He had a lot," Kira stated somewhat spitefully.

Remus grabbed two of the books and they headed downstairs. He decided to give one of the books to Kira. Even if she wouldn't understand most of the words in it, it was still important for her to know about her species. He paid and handed Kira the book. They window shopped for a while longer and then Kira ran into a store called Swansan, after seeing animals in it.

However, the store wasn't a pet store. It held a refrigerator-like object full off bags of blood, rows of different vitamins, even a crate full of what Kira thought were bunnies, but turned out to be huge, ugly rabbits that looked muscular, but were very dumb. Kira tried to pet one and it fell over and almost drowned in its water dish until Remus reached in and pulled it out by the ears.

The rabbit looked happy through the entire event. Kira was oddly reminded of Dudley, another creature too stupid to know when to lift its head out of the water and breathe.

"That's, err… food… for werewolves. They breed a special kind to support the wolf form," Remus explained, remembering how awful they tasted, but how easy they were to catch.

"Food?" Kira asked, looking slightly astonished, but then pointing into the cage again as another rabbit decided what the first one had done looked fun, and was drowning itself. Remus pulled it out by the ears and handed it to Kira, who fell under its weight. She petted it and it went to sleep. The shop owner watched them wearily, fearing the little girl wanted a pet. Those rabbits made horrible pets. They put the rabbit back and left the store, heading back to the specialty shop.

Once there, Kira took to looking around the store. Remus tried to explain why there was a shampoo made for snakes, but Kira was lost to the concept of Medusa. After a few minutes, the woman emerged again from behind the curtain, with a box. She instructed them not to open the box for half an hour, and that only Kira should hold it until the half hour was over.

"These are perfect for what you need. Don't worry about taking them off for at least a week. They're completely waterproof and shouldn't bother you while you sleep," The woman stated. "If I read correctly, they are a bit like moisturizing gloves, only they also distribute vitamins into the skin. Seeing as many Volucri had to wear them until they could control their powers."

Half an hour later

"You saw your children age because you feel you will loose them before you get to know them as adults. Your wife saved your son because he is her first born. Kira is an ANGEL; that is why you saw Takai controlling her."

"… uh huh…" James stared at Emmiline and nodded a few times. "…You're sure it has nothing to do with future events?"

"Are you a Seer, James?" Emmiline asked sharply. The look on her face told James that she was in no mood for any form of ignorance. James also knew he wasn't required to answer her question, nor did he have time as Lily suddenly interrupted.

"Why don't you think I'd save Kira?" She asked; her tone seemed to spread land mines throughout the room. She looked thoroughly concerned.

"No, no, I never said you wouldn't save her," James began, fumbling over his words as he desperately tried to find a correct answer. Though his nervousness was easily read as he tripped over his robes as he tried to stand too quickly.

"Lily," Emmiline interrupted, his stare radiating her disapproval and evident annoyance. "The point is that the dream is purely symbolic. Would you die to save your son?"

Lily looked shocked, "Of cour-"

"Hold off on your answer until you are a hundred percent sure," Emmiline cut her off. "Picture it. You-know-…" She shook her head, knowing she needed to paint a clear picture. "Voldemort, is staring you down. James and Cota are nowhere in sight. Two piercing eyes are glowering at you, burning in a fire of enthusiasm for another kill. Your baby is asleep, unaware of the events. Voldemort is breathing down your neck and tells you that if you stand aside, you will not be harmed. He raises his wand-"

Emmiline was interrupted as Lily suddenly burst into tears. Emmiline had a gift for making people see scenarios and this one had driven Lily too far. She couldn't possibly know what she'd do; she was terrified, yet wished he'd just tell her he was killing her no matter what she did. Many mothers had died at the hands of Lord Voldemort, having stepped aside. Yet a lot more had stepped aside and lived. Lilly didn't want to die. So how was she supposed to know what she'd do? No one really knew! Her eyes locked onto her baby and she tried to shake away the images that were creeping into her mind.

"The goal here," Fabion interrupted, entering with his brother in close pursuit. "Is that none of us will need to answer questions like that."

"Or ask them," Gidion added, discarding his hat on the hat rack. He was pushed forward as the door suddenly opened again and hit him in the back. James glanced at the clock; the meeting house clock looked like a digital clock, only it held the time, next to a name. The name of the person that was supposed to arrive at that time, all other times the door would lock and conceal itself. If no one showed up, it would let out a high pitched whistle that Fawkes was trained to react to.

"No one wants to burry their children," Amelia stated, throwing her bonnet onto Fabion instead of the coat rack in her distraction to get her Famitrack, (device used by richer witches and wizards as a way of keeping track of their families, they were hard to find as they only sold them in the U.S.A.), out of her cloak. Fabion frowned at her and then looked to his brother, Gidion, who had clamped his hand over his mouth and was pointing with his other hand in a silent guffaw. Fabion shot him a warning look and reached up to remove the light pink bonnet with the white daisies and yellow ribbon, but stopped as James spoke.

"But isn't it worse for the child to grow up without parents?" James asked, looking around the room, his eyes meeting each face in turn. He tried to think of how hard life must have been for Cota, who had been forced to take care of his parents, watching them dying everyday in the hospital. He'd turned out alright, but he'd been older, sixteen. The academy had let him register as a true Zagan rider earlier than anyone else, because he had nowhere else to go after he graduated from school at seventeen.

James's eyes also traveled to Harry and a twinge of panic shot through him. It was almost as if he could see the dark mark above his house. They all pretended to be okay, but the horrors of the past eleven years were unimaginable. Sirius saw the desperate look and was quick to his friend's side.

"Your children will never have to worry about that, James," he stated fiercely, his eyes traveled to Lily. "No one here is going to let the children be on their own."

Hagrid nodded many times from the couch, which was straining under his weight. Gidion gave a stout nod, as did Fabion, though he seemed to have forgotten the bonnet, which flopped merrily on his head as he nodded. Peter let out a tearful sob and dabbed his eyes on an old rag he produced from his pocket. Sirius shot him a look that silenced the sniffling.

"But while we're on the topic," Sirius added with a smile that was almost dangerous to look at unless the viewer was prepared for such an expressive reaction. "You can't die this year James, remember? We have reservations for Kira's birthday. No way am I missing it."

A smile broke its way across James's lips even as he tried to suppress it. Hagrid was now dabbing his eyes. The entire room was silent and everyone looked around nervously. The minutes ticked by with nobody talking until-

"New rule, all corny, sappy, or inspirational speeches and discussions," James announced, his voice crackling out beautifully in the objectionable silence like a godsend. "Have to wait until AFTER the meetings."

"Agreed," echoed eight voices. They all looked to the clock as Remus's name flipped up and a clicking noise indicated the door was unlocking. Remus entered with a huge grin that only Kira could make him show. He looked from face to face and then stared at James in a quizzical manner.

"How's Kira?" Lily asked him as they waited for the rest of the order to show up. Remus's smile returned as he dropped into a chair.

"She's as happy as ever." He answered. "Dropped her off at school and had to help her drag her lunch inside."

Lily blushed visibly, "Oh, yeah, er… I hope she likes it."

"Loved it." Remus confirmed. "Her two friends and her were salivating. The teacher had to drag them away." He looked to Sirius as he finished, waiting for him to make a comment.

Sirius received the look and mumbled."…And yet we go hungry." He cast a look to James, who turned two puppy-dog eyes on Lily and let out a soft whimper.

"Oh, alright!" Lily said breathily, flinging open her purse as James pulled over an end table. Lily began taking items out of the purse until a buffet arranged on the table. She was digging through the bag, half of her body inside it, when she pulled out a fancy glass bowl of pastel mints.

"Lily, you goddess," Amelia gasped, lunging for the plate of cookies and having to battle Sirius for them. Eventually she slapped his hand like a nun at Catholic schools everywhere and he released the plate and began battling James for the last brownie.

"Gerof!" James barked. "I'll bit you, I swear I will." He held the brownie over his head and as far away as possible. Remus walked by the pair, snatched the brownie, and calmly sat down to enjoy it. James and Sirius rounded on Peter, who had a rather large slice of chocolate cake. Peter saw the psychotic glow in their eyes and quickly put the cake down, backed away and decided he'd much rather have some of the cheese ball and crackers, than die for cake.

"Well, it seems my team has arrived," Dorcas smiled as she entered with Cardoc at her side. "And behaving I'm proud to see."

"Greetings all," Dumbledore smiled warmly, coming down the stairs and looking among them with a twinkle in his eyes. "Ah, and Fabion, I love your hat."

Fabion stared at him in confusion before snatching off the bonnet, much to the protest of James and Sirius, whom of which were encouraging him to keep it on. Gidion promptly joined them, smiling tauntingly for the most part until Sirius and James started a chant of: put it on! Put it on! Put it on! Accompanied by rhythmic clapping.

"Take it off, take it ALL off," Amelia muttered, sending Lily into a fit of laughter. Fabion shot them each a special glare before turning all his attention towards Dumbledore, who was smiling in a way that told he was ignoring them all for the most part.