Chapter I – Life and Death of a Seer

When Lily Evans was 3 year old, she had a dream.
Mind you – it wasn't just any regular dream, even as young as she was the little girl could feel that quickly.
She was lost in a dark pine forest. She should have been terrified – but somehow, the dark and foreboding aura had made itself welcoming to her. So she stumbled across the trees, picking up flowers and rocks on her way, until she reached a large clearing.

In the center of this clearing, she saw a large stone circle, and within the circle, neatly aligned as if for a meeting, numerous creatures of silvery light.
"Come nearer, little witch, let us see you." one of the bigger beast encouraged her
Usually, being called by a gigantic lion would have been quite terrifying – but Lily wasn't afraid, she knew nothing in this place would harm her – so she skipped into the stone circle, despite faintly remembering her grandma calling them "fey circle" and warning her off them.

"Hi! I'm Lily Evans!"
"Well met Lily, legacy of Freyja." the lion answered for the assembly
Around her, she could feel all the creature watching her intently, and somehow Lily knew they weren't simply watching.

"What bright and powerful magic." a skeletal horse "She isn't one for me, but what a shame that no one will be able to claim her."
"A shame indeed." the creatures rumbled in agreement
A new voice was heard just then, from outside of the circle, surprising not only Lily but all the silvery beasts around her.
"Oh my, how quaint… Seems like I've stumbled on a First Rite."

It was a man, with blond ethereal hair tied at the nape of his neck and sky blue eyes that shone with inner knowledge and wisdom. He was wearing very odd clothes, Lily noted – a long mantle of light and wavy dark blue fabric, over a long robe, like the ones magicians wore in stories, in a shade of silvery gray and decorated with embroideries.
This wasn't something she'd ever seen any men wear around Cokeworth, but then again grandpa had told Petunia and her that the Scottish men sometimes wore skirts – kilt they called it. Petunia had made a face and decreed it impossible, but Lily found the idea great fun – why shouldn't men be allowed to wear skirts or dresses if they wanted to?
Anyway – the strangely dressed man, thought it rather suited him, had stepped into the circle, and was now bowing toward the silvery creatures.

"Well met, revered Guardians."
"Well met, Leto Lovegood." the creatures answered
"I was just finishing my son's Second Rite when I had the urge to stay a bit in the Realm of Dreams…" the man explained, probably to the creatures since Lily had no idea about what was going on
"She isn't one of yours." a very large crow reluctantly pointed
"She isn't." Leto confirmed "Yet somehow I was called to her." he turned toward Lily, head tilted a bit "So what do you think about it, little witch? Want to have a new family?"
"I like my current family."
"That doesn't you can't have more."

Lily took a moment to think. The blond man was right – mum always said love was to be shared, and family was important.
"OK."
"Perfect! What is your name, little witch?"
"Lily Evans."
"Well then, little witch, may all the Worlds know that you are now Lily Jenesis Evans, daughter of the Ravenclaw and the Lovegood."
Among the silvery creature, the large crow – no the raven stepped forward, bowing so that it's head came to Lily's height. The silvery eyes bore into her, and the raven nodded "She is not blood, but her potential is worthy. So it shall be!"
There were powers in those last words, Lily knew, as she felt something stir deep inside her.

A second creature stepped back, smaller but not weak by any mean – it looked like a hare, if hare had antlers and wings.
Around them, the silvery creatures started to disappear in wisps of smoke, and Leto told her quickly "You'll soon wake up. Don't forget your new name, little witch, I'll see you in four years for your Second Rite, and you'll meet my son once you're eleven." he promised, clearly trying to say as much as he could before the dream was over. A smile "Welcome in the family… and happy birthday."
With that, mist had filled the clearing, and Lily woke up.

While she knew she had changed, it wasn't immediately apparent.
Her intelligence shone more and more, in the weeks and months that followed her birthday – but she was three year old, so it wasn't that unusual to start displaying signs of her intelligence only now.
Her eyes, that had been a beautiful, deep emerald, changed – of of them fading into the sky blue gaze she'd seen only in the man in her dreams. Doctors had been stumped, but eventually put the changed to a genetic oddity.
The clearer sign of change was probably the silvery dot that had appeared in the first phalanx of her annular, but somehow no one seemed to give any attention to it.

¤.¤.¤

Just like Leto had promised – the night of Lily's seventh birthday, the dream came again.
She had been waiting eagerly, wondering sometimes if it hadn't been just the childish dream of a little girl drunk on magical fairy-tales that had made her make up a strange blond man and silvery creature.
But whenever she doubted – she would look at the silver dot on her hand, and find herself believing once more.

"Happy birthday, little Lily."
"Hello, mister Leto."
"None of this mister," the blond waved away "we are family after all! You can call me uncle." a smile "Come, enter the circle and let us see what kind of magic you'll unlock!"
"What do you mean what kind," the Raven protested "she's mine!"
"By magic, but not by blood." what looked to be a winged horse protested "Now that she has been acknowledged, she could earn any power from her ancestors!"

The raven mumbled something Lily couldn't quite understand, reminding her of the way Petunia pouted when she was outsmarted during one of their arguments.
As if it was the opening others had been waiting for, a large snake stepped forward to stand by the raven's side "She is of my blood," she said "though there is no Lord to claim her."
"And I can feel a faint trace of my own." a pegasus added from a bit further, "Tough I don't feel she's quite suited for my telekynesis abilities."

There were a few beasts that held council between themselves, using words far too complicated for Lily, no matter how intelligent she was – but in the end, it was the strange creature from the previous time, a Wolpertinger she'd learned they were called in a book hidden deep in the Fiction Shelves of the local library.
"Though it isn't the easiest of the gift, there are dangerous time coming, and you'll need all the help you can have. Seeing is important in time of strife, though you'll have to learn how to see afar yet stay connected to the present. And so it shall be!"
Once more, Lily felt something stir – and by now, she knew it was her very own magic answering to whatever it was the silvery creature, the Guardians Spirits, like Leto had said the previous time, did to her.

Leto when he bent down toward her, seemed proud yet sad.
"Happy Second Rite, Lily." he congratulated her "You're old enough now to start to manifest your magic." he explained, before fishing something out of his pockets
It was a ribbon, Lily noticed, in a dark blue etched with silvery symbols, and a wolpertinger and a raven embroided on each end.
"Usually this is a gift for the First Rite, but I didn't expect to meet you last time." he explained "Don't worry about loosing it, it's enchanted to always find it's way back to you."

Lily thanked Leto enthusiastically, as her mother always put emphasis on properly thanking people, and found that it really wasn't difficult to call the blond man uncle.
But already – she could feel the magic fading around them, and the guardians disappear one after the other.
"I'll see you in two years." uncle Leto promised, somehow guessing how loathe Lily was to see the dream she so liked disappear once again

On the morning of her seventh birthday, Lily woke with a blue ribbon clutched in her hand.
While people did often exclaim about how beautiful it was, not even her parents ever wondered where the hair ornament had come from.
On her middle finger's phalanx, a second silver dot had appeared.
The next two years, Lily spent looking for any trace of magic she could find in the real world – but she wasn't that successful.

Sometimes, she got the impression she'd almost seen something, but by the time she took a second glance, the strange occurrences were over – strange looking creature, going about their normal life in the middle of human being that didn't seem to see anything strange, something flying that looked far more like a horse or a wolf than a bird, and so on…
But it was in her dreams that magic was found the most.

It started with little things – seeing in a dream that the stairs at school were so slippery she'd fall down and hurt her knee, or that Penny, the neighbor and Petunia's best friend would have a new blue dress that would make her sister green with envy…
The first few times, she though it wad only coincidences, but after a while she realized that it wasn't.
It was her magic.

¤.¤.¤

Lily had trouble falling asleep the night before her ninth birthday, so anxious she was to see uncle Leto and the guardians again.
This time, there were only the guardians who'd claimed she was related to them the previous time who were there, but she wasn't too put out.
"Well met, little witch." the raven greeted her first, his salutation echoed by the others guardians
Lily curtsied and echoed their greetings, because since she wasn't a little girl anymore, she ought to be more polite.
Then she jumped into uncle Leto's inviting arms, because family was different.

The blond man she saw only in her dreams patted her head affectionately, noting "It suits you well." as his eyes fell in the ribbon woven in a braid of dark red hair, making her smile
Since it would be strange to do he hair before going to bed, Lily had waited until her mother had left the room before silently padding to her mirror and painstakingly doing the braid herself – and just like she'd hoped, the hairdo had followed her in her dream.
"So tell me about your magic." Leto prompted

Sitting down in the grass in the middle of the stone circle, Lily started to talk enthusiastically – not only of seeing things before they happened, but also of the strange beings she sometime glimpsed, and the small things she'd be able to do herself, like making a leaf float, or calling a light when she was afraid of the dark…
While she talked, the guardians had been watching her, feeling her magic and how it had grown.
This time it was the snake – though she knew he wasn't just any snake, she hadn't been able to find just what creature he was in the mythological books she'd taken to read.
"Seeing has served you well, and so it shall ever more."

Leto, who'd seemed a bit worried about her seeing hidden people, warned her urgently before the dream ended, and the Third Rite with it "Read up on the gods, Lily." he whispered "But beware, for their name have powers." a last hug "I shall see you in two years for the next Rite, then my son will find you." he promised "Xenophilius will be able to explain to you all that you should know. Take care little witch."

Just like Leto had told her, Lily read about the gods.
Since he hadn't told her which god, she read about all those she knew about, then those she hadn't even heard of before thanks to the librarian, who was always ready to help.
She also made her first true friend, and finally found some answers.

Severus was a strange, dour boy from the poorer part of the town.
He was also a wizard.
Thanks to him, she learned about the fact there was a whole world of people with powers like them, hidden from non-magical beings, a multitude of different magical creatures, and of course, a school for young wix like them.

Because she was rather quick on the uptake, Lily recognized the name of Ravenclaw from the tales her best friend told her about Hogwarts – and so she guessed that uncle Leto's son must already be there, and that this was why he told her the boy would find her.
Still – while Severus was now her best friend, and she loved pouring over the books he managed to swipe from his mother's collection, and learn about the strange traditions that were so very different from non-magical beings…
Lily couldn't make herself talk about the dreams.

¤.¤.¤

Finally, Lily was eleven year old, and in half a year, she'd be going to Hogwarts!
"Well met, uncle Leto."
The Lovegood Lord smiled at the greeting and small curtsy, answering by the proper kiss on her hand "Well met, daughter of my house."
Then formality done with, he hugged her, wondering "You've met a wix then?"

"I have" she confirmed enthusiastically "Severus's the same age as me, and his mother's a witch." she explained "He taught me a lot of thing." she peered at him "Is Xenophilius going to meet me at Hogwarts?"
"He is." Leto confirmed as the Guardians conferred between them "You share the same birthday, but he's four years older than you, so it's his OWL year." he asked "Have you talked about your Rites with this friend of your?"
"I haven't." Lily shook her head "Somehow it didn't feel right."
"Your instincts led you well." the blond praised "Rites are something people only talk with their family." he explained "Xeno will explain more about them."
"I can't wait!"

With that, the Guardians were done with their own talk, and the raven and wolpertinger stepped forward.
"You have grown well, little witch." the Raven praised "But the future isn't the only thing to be Seen." by now, Lily expected the familiar stir of her magic
She didn't expect the new colors that seemed to bleed under her eyes – but the wolpertinger was already talking "And because a young wix is always stronger with a partner by their side, you shall find your familiar."
The two concluded in one voice "So it shall be."

"Uncle Leto, what is this?" Lily asked, not quite panicking but worrying a bit about the new colors she'd never seen before
"You've awakened the ability to see magic." Leto explained in a soothing tone "Don't worry, you'll get use to it, though you'll may have a few head-ache when you see Diagon Alley or Hogwarts for the first time." he smiled "Speaking of Diagon Alley, just like Wolf said, you'll need a partner. Go to the Magical Menagerie, and tell them you come from me, they'll guide you." a wink "It'll be my present for entering Hogwarts. And when you go to the bank introduce yourself fully and they'll take care of all you need."

Lily had tried to protest – but Xeno had the time to explain to her that when he magic-adopted her during the First Rite, years ago, he promised to take care of her like as well as any of his children, and that meant giving her money for school.
Her parents could take care of her in the non-magical world – but in the wixen world, it was his duty to provide and care for her.
It seemed quite complicated to Lily, but she knew enough about the magical traditions to understand that it was important to Leto, so she stopped protesting.

Because Petunia was throwing a tantrum about going to London when she had planned to go out with her friends, Lily managed to convince her parents to let her go Diagon Alley with Severus and his mother, Eileen Snape.
Just like Leto had warned her, Diagon Alley did give her a headache, but Eileen had just the potion to relieve in her bag, so it was alright.
They'd started by heading for Gringotts, and Eileen had done a far better job at hiding her surprise than Severus when Lily had stated – without curtsy, because goblins didn't care about this sort of things "Well met, master goblin. I'm Lily Jenesis Evans, daughter of the Lovegood. I was told arrangements have been made for me."
The goblin grunted an acknowledgment that wasn't too annoyed, and after flipping through a few heaps of parchment, snatched one out of a huge pile, holding it toward her "A signature to prove your identity, little witch."

Lily nodded, and taking the quill offered wrote her name in the correct place – while she couldn't read all the legalese mumbo jumbo, she did she in the first few lines that this was indeed the contract for a vault for one Lily Evans, daughter of the Lovegood House, according to the standard procedure of the family.
She didn't know what the standard procedure were – but figure Xenophilius would explain all this to her soon enough.
She eyed the hand where blood had been drawn and had healed just as quickly, able to see the small hint of magic that must have been what confirmed her identity to the goblin.
A golden key appeared in an empty tray "Here you go, vault 582."

After a dizzying cart-ride, Lily had taken a few piles of coins under madam Snape's instruction, and they were finally out in the ally.
"Lovegood, eh?" was Eileen only mention of what happened in the bank "I guess it explains the visions."
Severus looked both upset that she hadn't said anything before, and a bit jealous – but not ready to talk about it in any way. Still despite this they still had spent a nice day shopping for school supplies, and having Eileen Snape with them made the experience even better given the numerous anecdotes she knew about the shops and their owners. She was also a great help in choosing the right supplies without spending too much – because as much as uncle Leto said it was his duty to care for Lily, it didn't mean she had to waste his money.

But the best part of Diagon Alley – had been the Magical Menagerie.
The shop was loud and colorful, and full of people, but Lily didn't really care, because once entering she knew at once that there was someone waiting for her. She barely managed to hold on her manners, telling the shopkeeper that she came from uncle Leto just like she'd been instructed.
There was some amusement in the man's light green, nearly yellow eyes as he gestured he toward the depths of his domain "Well come along, little witch, seems like you've already felt why you're here."

She didn't waste a second in making a beeline toward the part of the shop where birds were kept, going past the multitude of different carrier owls, pigeon and other eagles to finally freeze into the perch of deep black bird with shimmering silver eyes.
"Oh,"cooed the shopkeeper "a raven, er?" he smiled "This boy has been waiting for you for several years, he was getting impatient." the black bird clacked his beak menacingly toward him "Got a character to him too, not that I think you'll have any problem." he commented, more amused than afraid as said bird, now ignoring him, had already jumped on the arm of Lily and was all but cuddling with her

Raven, Lily learned, weren't the same as crows, though they looked really similar – they were magical bird, said to be able to judge rather quickly whether someone was trustworthy or not and. with a gift to See things unseen. A rather logical familiar, all in all, for a budding seer.
While his reaction hadn't been quite as powerful as Lily – Severus too had found himself a familiar, a beautiful black cat, large enough to be more akin to a very small panther than a large cat, with gleaming green eyes similar to Lily's right eye. It was apparently a Kellas, an Irish cat able to blend in the shadows to hunt and travel.
Eileen had looked torn, when her son had find the creature – but Lily had managed to convince her to let her gift him to Severus, since they'd taken her along for the trip.
The Snape hated charity Lily knew, but for the sake of her son, and thanks to some clever words, the woman was convinced, and Lily's best friend looked far happier than he had been in a long time.

¤.¤.¤

Soon, Lily and Severus were on the train for Hogwarts, Bran the raven and Mau the kellas in tow.
The travel was rather calm, though they were interrupted once by a boy with a bird-nest of black hair and hazel eyes hidden behind the frame of a pair of thin glasses.
The boy's eyes widened when he saw them, and he seemed to fumbled with his words for a second before recovering and introducing himself.
"Sorry I didn't mean to bother you. I'm James Hardwin Potter, Heir of the Potter, well met. I was looking for my cousin…"
Lily and Severus introduced themselves back, and the boy was soon leaving, back on his quest to look for his cousin.

Then – Lily had her first vision.
Up until now, all that the young witch had seen had been during her dreams – but in that moment, her vision shifted, she felt her stomach falling somewhere under her feet, and a new scene unfolded under her eyes – of a very different encounter with one James Potter.
By the time she was back to normal, Severus was nearly panicking, as she'd apparently fallen to the ground during her vision, and Bran's eyes were glowing.

She managed to calm him down, and by the time they arrived to Hogwarts they were back to normal, anxious to finally be sorted and start their new life as young wixen.
Lily was first, and the Sorting Hat took quite a while, clearly wavering between Ravenclaw, which wasn't too surprising given her magic-adoption by the Lovegood, and Gryffindor, which she honestly hadn't seen coming as she didn't think of herself as particularly brave.
Since she didn't really mind one way or another, the Hat eventually made his choice, and sent her off to the red and gold house.

While it didn't take as long – Severus' own sorting took quite some time too, which didn't surprise Lily too much as much as his heart was set to Slytherin, she knew her best friend loved knowledge enough to fit well with the ravens too.
It was only the next morning that Xenophilius had found her, unceremoniously plopping on the bench next to her during the breakfast "Well met, cousin, I'm Xenophilius Sophos Lovegood, Heir Lovegood." a smile "Call me cousin Xeno."
Lily had introduced herself back – and cousin Xeno had all but glomped her "You are just as cute as father told me, this is going to be great!"
Cousin Xeno was a bit strange, but very friendly, and he helped her learn even more about the wixen culture than Severus had.

Lily learned – that the gods were reals, and their name had power, especially among the wixen who had more powers than ordinary humans, that most wixen family revered one or several of these gods, but that it was important to respect the other gods all the same.
He explained to her also, the meaning behind the silver dots on her hand, one for each of her Rites – showing that he had them too. Those dots were a proof of awakening he explained, which she found rather strange as she'd earned them in her dreams.
Wixen went through seven Rites throughout their childhood, from three to twenty-one year old, each granting new powers to them – but not all wix remembered these Rites, and those that did were the only one to earn the silver dots they had on their hands.

On top of that, it was impossible for a wix without a Spirit Guardian to be awakened.
If Leto hadn't arrived when he had back when she was three year old, no guardian could have acknowledged her, as they needed the approval of at least of Head of House.
She would have woken up having forgotten her dream, and would have become a dreamless wix, like most wix born from non-magical parents, and quite a bit of the half-blood, those born like Severus from only one magical parent.

It hadn't taken too long for Lily to realize that while she loved the wixen world, it wasn't quite as rosy and perfect as Severus had described it.
The muggle-borns, like the children from non-magical families were called, were all but thrown in the wixen world without a notice, not knowing anything about the cultural know-how or the faux pas to avoid, which in turn led most pureblood and halfblood to look down on them.
And while some muggle-born did endeavor to learn about the new society they were a part of – others did bother, looking down on the age old traditions as old-fashioned and useless, thus deepening the rift.
Of course it went both ways, with some old blood wix not taking the time to enlighten the new blood that tried to learn about their new world.
In other worlds – the wixen war was edging on civil war.

On top of that, the visions that had started on the train hadn't stopped, quite the contrary – and Lily soon understood that she was seeing not in the future, but to the side, in what could have been.
She soon found herself plagued by two enigmas.
James Hardwin Potter, Gryffindor golden boy, far less arrogant than in any vision she had – while he was a trickster, a jokester, he wasn't mean and bordering on bullying, and never singled out Severus nor anyone else. Like in her vision, he had befriended Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew – but he was a far better friend than in them, always taking care of the first whenever he came back from his numerous stays at the infirmary, and never belittling the second who clearly lacked self-esteem.
But there was someone missing.
And someone that shouldn't be there.

Because the last member of the quartet wasn't a Gryffindor, there was no loud and goofy Sirius Black here – and Ravenclaw Pyxis Orion Black was very different.
Calm, and always seeming a bit out of touch with regular people, once you took the time to know him, the boy was fiercely caring, rather scary when protecting those he deemed "his", and of course highly intelligent.

Keeping her friendship going with Severus wasn't easy, given that most people in Slytherin were pureblood, and held all muggle-born in contempt alike. Lily really didn't understand why her best friend kept on mingling with those narrow-minded idiots when he was himself so clearly looked down upon for his own muggle father. But Severus was stubborn, just as much as her – and while visions and dreams had taught her that sometimes holding on your worldview wasn't worth it – Severus hadn't had any similar awakening, and so she learned to avoid the topic for the sake of their friendship.
It took nearly three years before frustration finally won, and Lily cornered James in the Gryffindor common room, point blank asking him why he was so different from her visions.

While he didn't have visions, it turned out James Potter had dreams.
Dreams rather similar to her own, about a self-entitle brat, nearly a bully, who wasn't a very good friend and an even worse enemy. That brat did grow up eventually – but far too late.
So a young James, plagues by dreams of what could be despite having strictly no talent for divination, decided early on that he wouldn't become that brat. Lily had been rather impressed – and from friendly acquaintance, she finally became friend with the boy that was so different from her visions.

Her talk with Pyxis had been very different, and left her with a head-ache.
The heir Black told her that Sirius' soul wasn't available, so he'd sent him in his stead, and that he rather like the vacation.
He also told her he hoped he'd still be made godfather to her daughter – and why was the infuriating teen so sure she'd have a girl? Or that'd he'd be the godfather?
Lily had learned that sometimes, asking questions was useless.
She still kept on being friend with Pyxis, because no matter how clueless he could be about humans interactions, she knew he was a good guy – and the fact that Bran loved him was about all the proof she needed about this.

¤.¤.¤

By the time Lily's fifteenth birthday came, and her Fifth Rite with it, she was well integrated in the wixen world, praying to Métis and Dagda, observing the eight major wix yearly celebrations and having learned much about the multitude of magical beings that populated the worlds.
As for the civil war she'd known had been brewing for years, it was finally starting, terrors attack striking first at the muggle-borns – but soon at the halfbloods too, and eventually even against the pureblood that dared claim they didn't approve of the attack.
The name of the rising dark lord was starting to be feared, and even Hogwarts was growing bleaker as students chose their side and news of new deaths arrived nearly daily.

Severus seemed to be in complete agreement with these attack, and they were fighting more and more – eventually leading to Lily sadly saying that one day or another he'd have to choose between her and his Slytherin friends who didn't see their friendship with a very good eye.
He'd tried to explain that he'd protect her – she'd grown furious, pointed out that between the two of them, she was the strongest magically and that if his friends really gave so much importance to magical inheritance they should at least be consistent and respect a daughter of an old House more than a dreamless halfblood.
Of course – she didn't really feel anything similar, but she'd hoped that pointing to Severus how absurd this all was would wake him up.
It didn't, and not needing any vision to understand as much, she left him, stunned speechless under a tree, after informing him she wouldn't associate with him for as long as he kept up with his prejudiced friends.

James and Pyxis found her, hidden in one of the multiple empty classroom that attested how much smaller than in the old days the wixen world had become, crying and mourning the end of six year of friendship – and the end of their childhood with it.
Both had comforted her awkwardly, because as great friends as they were, they still were boys, and not really good at this kind of thing.
James had talked to her about the recent breakthrough he'd had in his animagus transformation – that was of course very secret, and thus know by all his friends – making her laugh as he explained he'd gotten stuck several times with antlers or hooves. Pyxis had very seriously offered to curse Severus with one of the multiple unique and rather dark spells hidden in the Black Grimmoire, making Lily laugh once more before declining – though she had been rather tempted by the curse that would make the target nauseous each time he uttered the triggering word.

By the time she was sixteen, her parents had gotten caught up in the war, and that despite the wards Leto had put around their house.
He childhood house had gone up in flames, her parents were dead – and Petunia, more bitter than ever, had all but cast her out, refusing to even see her and telling her to fend for herself.
Leto and Xenophilius had been there all the way, helping her go through the funeral and Petunia's harsh way, lending her a shoulder to cry and strength to stay through the will reading – then they'd whisked her away back in the wixen world, given her a room lovingly decorated in the old crooked tower that was the Lovegood family home.

James had come over several times, and neither had had the heart to talk about the fact that despite their visions, they hadn't been able to avoid her parents' death – only pushing it back by a year.
Neither talked about the fact that James' own time with his parents was coming to an end, and there was nothing he could do about it – you could try to fight fate for an attack, but an illness? No, it was only because of their old age that Fleamont and Euphemia were going to die – so James was determined to make the best of the remaining time he had with his parents.
Somehow, by the start of their sixth year, James and Lily had started courting.

The Potter Heir had earned the approval of both his family and the Lovegood by going through the forms, sending a courting gift and a letter of intent. Xenophilius had tried to play the role of the stern big brother, but he wasn't quite good at it, instead grinning widely at how cute his sister looked with her boyfriend.
Pyxis had also left his family home after his mother had tried to force him to swear loyalty to the rising dark lord – he'd gone to his grand-father and Clan Head, who'd much to the surprise of his mother agreed that the Heir of the Black couldn't just swear loyalty like that to a wanna be dark lord that didn't even dare to use a proper wixen name.
Still – Arcturus was an old man who like his privacy, so when James offered to shelter the Black Heir, all agreed easily.

The visions of what could have been and what was were more and more different, sometimes given head-aches to Lily. The simple idea that she could have never have the Lovegood family in her life was all but unthinkable by now, and being part of the inner circle for the marriage ritual of Xenophilius and Pandora was one of the brightest memories she had in her sixth year.
With the very different dynamic of the Marauders, Remus and Peter were quite different – the first, now no longer ashamed and afraid of his status as a werewolf, the second; while not as powerful or respected as James, a very popular tutor, who understood well the difficulties younger students had and how to make them feel better and learn easier.

When seventh year came, and with it Lily's seventeenth birthday, the legal coming of age in the wixen world – thought not the magical coming of age, that occurred at twenty-one – Dumbledore started to recruit.
Lily and James had some misgivings about the man, feeling that he was at least partially at fault for how bad the situation was – as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, he'd canceled the Wix Culture lessons, feeling they were too pro-pureblood, and encouraged the celebration of non-magical holidays rather than the usual wix celebrations, making even the more tolerant old blood feel the dig against their culture.
But no matter their personal opinion about the man – he was one of the only ones brave enough to stand against the new dark lord. So their NEWT written, and leaving Hogwarts for the last time, they enrolled in the man's organization with Remus and Peter.

Pyxis hadn't been invited – not that he'd have accepted, proving to them that Dumbledore wasn't as tolerant as he was tooted to be – after all the Black Heir had never hidden the fact he was proud about his family heritage, if not the current stance they held on the dark lord, and clearly, the vaunted defeater of Grindewald felt that the young man was far too dark to join his organization.

The years that followed were bloody and grueling.
James' work as an auror was very dangerous in those dark times, Lily, who originally had wanted to try for a mastery in charm decided to enter the healing program of Saint Mungo's.
Neither expected to live long – though it didn't mean they wouldn't attempt it at least – so when James proposed on her nineteenth birthday, Lily immediately agreed. They were wedded barely three months later for Ostara, with Remus and Peter as James' witnesses and Pyxis and Xenophilius as Lily's own.

Leto had walked Lily in the stone circle – not in their dream this time – as her father and paterfamilias.
James, now the last Potter, had entered the circle by himself.
The bonding ceremony had been short but sweet, and the colorful magic, only seen by the Lovegood – Lily among them – beautiful.

¤.¤.¤

A few months later, James had been hurt during a Death Eaters raid – and he was pretty sure that the one that had cursed him was Severus.
The healers quickly concluded he would never be a father.
"Not the regular way at least." he'd mused as if somehow he wasn't too surprised
Why – he couldn't explain it himself, having the feeling it was due with a dream memory he hadn't recalled just yet.
"There are other ways." he said reassuringly to a crying Lily "Our child is meant to be born."
After that, James had taken a leave from the aurors, Lily from Saint Mungo's, and with Pyxis' help they'd pursued in the more esoterically magic.

They eventually found two solutions.
Blood adoption, a ritual that had nearly been forgotten but allowed to replace one gene donor by another.
Magical adoption, like what Leto had done to Lily by accepting her in his House, was out – it would give the child access to the Potter family magic, but they wouldn't be able to inherit, which was rather important given that James was the last of his family and didn't wish for the centuries of family magic and their Spirit Guardian to be lost.
And finally they could make a plea to the gods.
James' family revered Minerva and Ogme, while while Lily like the Lovegood prayed to Métis and Dagda – but they knew that none of these deity were the right one for their intent.

They needed something more.
Because James and Lily were convinced that they may not live old enough to see their child grow up – but this was a child that would change the world.
And they already loved them.
While he sent them odd looks from time to time, Pyxis never judged them on their certitude – where Remus and Peter merely seemed amused, putting their attitude on a parent's natural pride for their children.

On Samhain 1979, in a painstakingly crafted magical circle, James and Lily made love – and called for the gods.
During the night when the border between the Mortal and Immortal Realms was the thinnest, the gods answered their plea.

A few months later, a prophecy was spoken in a shabby pub by an unreliable seer.
Suddenly targeted by the dark lord, the Longbottom and Potter went into hiding.

And on the 31 July 1980, once more, Adrasteia Lyra Potter, daughter of the Potter, Black and Lovegood was born.

On Samhain 1981, Peter Pettrigrew, secret keeper of the Potter, was tortured to death by the dark lord, who immediately went on assaulting the Potter Cottage where the couple and their child were hiding.

James and Lily shared a last kiss.
"I love you."
"I know."
The couple died side by side in front of their daughter's crib.

The dark lord stepped forward, raising his wand to kill the child prophesied to vanquish him – the green light of the killing curse sped toward Adrasteia, then stopped abruptly, the baby's aura flaring to life in green and gold streaked with dark violet.
The following magical backlash destroyed most of the house – and the dark lord along with it.

In the crib, lone living being in the room, a crying baby with green eyes swirling golden.