It was a peaceful Halloween night in the countryside of Devon, England until a loud rumbling from the skies woke the grounded men and women in the villages below. They stumbled in an exhausted stupor to peer towards the clouds with their sleep-glazed eyes. However, when nothing was to be seen, and the motor-like growl faded from their ears, they dawdled back to their bedrooms and returned to the conscious-stealing warmth of their beds. The growl came again, but now overhead a different village in a different area of Devon, and the cycle of lethargic feet exiting their homes to discern the source of the noise, was repeated.

Elevated many feet above, there was a large, bearded man riding a powder-blue motorcycle through the sky. Both the man and the levitating vehicle were hidden away from view of those below by the lazily hung clouds. The man burst through the puffs, to a clear section in the sky, with no fear of being spotted, as there was nothing below but rolling hills of green. Attached to the motorcycle was a small cart being used as a makeshift passenger's seat, and nestled inside of that cart, were two blanketed bundles. The large man operating the vehicle leaned over the side to gaze down at two sleeping faces of infant twins. Each infant had tufts of hair poking out from their blankets—one black, and the other red. Each of these infants, however, sported an identical lightning bolt shaped scar above their right eyebrow. The man was visibly relieved to see that, unlike the villagers, the infants had not been disrupted by the guttural sound from his motorcycle, but rather, lulled by it.

As the vehicle descended, it began to sputter and groan in protest, but this did not seem to bother, nor alarm, the driver. The wheels hit against the ground with a great thud that rocked the entire structure. The man drove the motorcycle past a wooden sign painted white with an overlying layer of scrawled handwriting, which read 'THE BURROW'. After several moments passing farm-like fields and dirt roads, the vehicle squealed to a stop just a few feet from a home that looked unstable. It was misshapen and tall with several tilting towers, and it almost looked as if the structure had once been a pigpen that had been converted into a home, and later enlarged. The man stood from the motorcycle, revealing his massive height, and equally as massive width. He sported long, wild, waist-length brown hair and a long, scraggly beard that he could tuck into his belt. His eyes, as they peered through his goggles, were black and beady. He took exactly twelve large steps before reaching the door.

He placed three heavy knocks upon the moaning wood and moved his goggles to rest upon his head while he awaited an answer. From the opposite side of the door, hands fumbled with the locks, then pried the heavy door open to reveal a short, plump woman with vicious red hair. She looked up to the man, not with trepidation, but with delight. "Hagrid!" spoke her high-pitched voice. "How lovely it is to see you again. What brings you here on this very late, but lovely night?"

"Good evenin', Molly," greeted Rubeus Hagrid. "A very good evenin' at that," he said as he gave a solemn gaze to the indigo sky, "a very good evenin' full of frightful business. That's why I've come, ya see. Summat terrible has happened."

Molly Weasley furrowed her eyebrows up at him. "What is so frightful that it would bring you to my doorstep at half past midnight?"

Hagrid removed the goggles from his forehead, fumbling with them nervously between his great hands. "Dumbledore sent me," he began, then proceeded to lower his voice, "it's Lily an' James, Molly. They've—well—they've been murdered."

"Murdered?" Molly repeated incredulously. There was denial in her expression until it began to harden and sag with sorrow and grief. "Oh…" was all she could manage to say.

The bearded giant watched the woman with an equal amount of sadness in his eyes. The plump woman, near to tears, momentarily forgot the moroseness swelling in her chest when she noticed the cart attached to Hagrid's motorcycle. "What have you got there?"

"That's why Dumbledore sent me," he answered and turned his great body to look longingly at the cart.

Molly looked quizzically at the cart before her expression was overcome with shock, and fear. "Lily and James had twins!" she cried. "Are they… gone, too?"

Hagrid shook his head several times. "That's why I've come. You-Know-Who tried to kill 'em, but summat strange happened. When he tried to kill 'em, they ended up jus' fine. Lost all his power, though, he did. Then he just… vanished. The kids were left with these funky lookin' cuts on their foreheads. I'm thinkin' they'll scar up real nice."

"How can that be?" the woman questioned, looking appalled, yet relieved, "no one has ever survived the Killing Curse."

"I know it, and Dumbledore does, too, but he can't seem ter wrap his head 'round it. Lily an' James left a letter sayin' if anythin' were ter happen, that you an' Arthur be contacted. 'Suppose they knew somethin' was comin'… Dumbledore followed their note, an' that's why I'm here. He wants you ter take one of 'em in as your own."

"One of them," Molly reiterated. "Why would Dumbledore ever want them separated?"

"Can't say for meself, but I know he wants 'em separated. They're gonna be famous, we all know it, and he doesn't want 'em 'round that life. He thinks it's best if they grow up not knowin' each other, and not knowin' about what happened tonight until they're good an' ready!" Hagrid answered, "I know that's what he's doin' and we gotta trust his judgment."

"Yes, of course," Molly agreed quietly. "What will happen to the other? Every man, woman, and child in our world will know their names."

"One of 'em is goin' ter live with their aunt and uncle. The Dursleys—they're Muggles. That'll keep 'em nice and private, yes it will," Hagrid said as each corner of his beard perked up into a brief smile. "Whichever one yeh take in will need more protection. Dumbledore knows that yeh'll do a fine job."

"I'm grateful for Albus's faith in me," Molly said, looking at Hagrid. "I'll gladly take one of them in, of course. I would take them both if I could. What are their names?"

"Harry an' Aralynn," he said. "I'll get 'em for yeh." With that, Rubeus Hagrid took twelve large strides back to the motorcycle, scooped both bundles of blankets into his arms and returned to Molly much more leisurely, as though he wanted to delay the separation for as long as he could. He held out each of his arms to show her the children. "This one's Harry," he said and gestured to the blue and green bundle with his nose. "An' this one's Aralynn," he said as he gestured to the red and pink bundle. "Beautiful, aren't they?"

"Absolutely," said Molly, who was quite taken with the babies. "They look so much like Lily and James."

"Spittin' images if I say so meself."

The woman sighed heavily. "As much as I wish I could take them both, it would have to be Aralynn. If we're to take her in as our own, she could easily pass as a Weasley."

Hagrid nodded. "I s'pose I'll be takin' this little tyke here on down to Surrey," he said and smiled over at Molly. "I'll be seein' yeh soon, Aralynn," he told the baby, and gazed down at the red and pink bundle of blankets. The giant sniffled as tears rolled down his beard. "Be a good little girl."

The short and plump woman smiled up at the giant for a moment. "You'll see her in no time, I promise," she reassured and brushed some of her curly red hair behind her ears. "You can always come 'round for tea, if you'd like, but if you think it best to remain distant; you'll be reunited when she starts her first year at Hogwarts."

"Best of luck to yeh both," said the man as he turned to stride back over to his motorcycle. He tried his best to maintain his composure, but the moonlight shining upon his back revealed the way his shoulders raised and fell with heaving sobs.

"Have a good evening, Hagrid!" Molly called and waved him off as she backed into The Burrow and shut the door behind her. Soon enough, the roaring from the engine of Hagrid's motorcycle would once again wake the villagers.

Molly gently rocked the sleeping infant in her arms as she looked down at her with happiness glittering in her eyes. "Such a pretty little thing," she said, her voice soft.

Footsteps began to descend the several flights of stairs towering up into The Burrow. A tall, somewhat thin man with balding hair came down and looked at Molly with an arched red eyebrow. "What's going on, Molly?" he asked. He noticed the bundle in her arms.

"Hagrid stopped by," she answered, seeming mesmerized by the baby.

"From Hogwarts?" Arthur Weasley questioned as he peered out one of the windows. "What brought him here so late, and in the middle of the term?"

Suddenly, Molly looked solemn. "Lily and James Potter are dead," she said and turned her head to look at him. "Dumbledore wanted us to take in one of their twins. I would have taken in both if I could."

Arthur then noticed the bundle. "We couldn't possibly say no to Dumbledore," Arthur said and stood by Molly to look down at the baby, smiling. "Their daughter, I presume? What is her name?" he asked as his fingers twirled around her tufts of red hair.

"Aralynn," Molly answered before she paused. "I remember Lily telling me about the twins. Harry's middle name is James, and Aralynn's is Nicole."

"It seems that she is going to fit in well with our family," Arthur said with a smile. "Her red hair works well with the rest of us."

"Oh, yes, of course it does," Molly agreed.

"We will have to tell Charlie, Bill, and Percy. Fred and George are still too small to understand," he said as his attention was drawn to the stairwell by the cries of the newborn Ginevra Weasley.

Molly handed Aralynn to Arthur and went up the stairs as quickly as her legs would allow. "Of course, Ron and Ginny will never know the difference," he said down to the sleeping baby. "Not until we're ready. I will do everything I can to keep you safe, Aralynn. I hope you realize that someday."

From the middle of The Burrow, Molly's soothing voice could be heard as she tried to coax Ginny back to sleep. Arthur began to move up the stairs cautiously as though he feared he might fall or drop the baby. "I will protect you from the fame, and anyone who dares to hurt you."

Molly and Arthur met one another outside of Ginny's room and together they looked down at the baby. "Is Ginny alright?" he asked.

"Yes, she is. A bit fussy, but I got her back down. Where will Aralynn sleep?"

"She can sleep in Ron's room with him. They'll have to be passed off as twins. I'll get her one of Fred and George's old cribs," Arthur said as he laid the baby down in Molly's arms, and then disappeared down the stairs.

The plump woman traveled up several more flights of stairs, soon reaching the top of The Burrow, and entered one of the bedrooms. In a white crib lay an infant boy with his blankets pulled up to the bottom of his ears; the top of his head, and his fuzzy red hair, sticking out. Molly smiled over to the sleeping boy as she rocked Aralynn in her arms.

Arthur soon returned to Ron's bedroom with an old crib and sheeted mattress to fit. He set them down, settled the mattress inside, and then took the sleeping girl from his wife's arms. He lay her down in the crib, fiddling with her blanket until it was wrapped tighter around her.

Together, Molly and Arthur Weasley gazed down at the eighth addition to the Weasley children. "Do you think we can shield her from the fame?" the woman asked her husband.

"I do," Arthur answered and brushed his fingertips along the infant's cheek. "She will one day discover what is lying ahead of her."

On that fateful night, Aralynn Nicole Potter became Aralynn Nicole Weasley, and her life transformed forever. No one could tell what was going to become of The Twins Who Lived. The struggles, the pain, the love, and sacrifice lying ahead of them, to be hushed away until the time came for the truth to be revealed.