*I don't own Harry Potter, InuYasha, or any of their characters. The final words of the Potters have been taken directly from both 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' and 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'.
"Happy Birthday to you!" Lily sang as she carried out a small cake with three lit candles from the kitchen.
As both Ariana and Harry both became transfixed by the slow flickering light from each candle, James picked up the tune as he continued, "Happy Birthday to you!"
"Happy Birthday, dear Ari," the two parents' voices twined together in harmony as the cake was placed in front of their daughter, "Happy Birthday to you!"
Clapping her hands in delight, the birthday girl soon ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the tiny pink frosting roses framing her name. While she did so, her parents had a whispered discussion behind her back.
"When is Sirius and Peter going to get here? They promised to be here by now!" James whispered, his irritation at his friends' absence for his daughter's second birthday apparent in his voice.
Shushing her husband before their daughter could hear his tone and mistake it for him being angry at her, she whispered back, "They're probably on their way now. You know that the Death Eaters have been sniffing around them, perhaps they just want to make sure to lose any stalkers before they arrive here."
"Mama? B'ow can'les out?" interrupted Ariana's voice.
Focusing their attention back on their daughter, Lily responded, "Yes, you can blow them out now, Ari."
"But only after you make a wish!" James quickly added, as he leaned over and tickled Harry's belly.
While her brother laughed in the background, Ariana squeezed her eyes shut for a good several seconds. Opening them, she inhaled enough air to puff out her cheeks, then quickly blew it out as hard as she could. She smiled as her parents clapped, her smile growing as Harry soon joined in obliviously.
Seeing that smile, Lily suddenly had a foreboding feeling rush through her. Smiling firmly to try and banish the feeling, the mother wished with all her heart that the feeling in her heart was wrong and that the rest of her daughter's birthday would be happy.
Curled up next to the door to his flat, Peter Pettigrew shed silent tears as he stared at the mark on his arm, the mark that bound him to the man who at that moment was taking advantage of the information Peter finally revealed earlier that afternoon.
"I'm so sorry, Prongs..." Wiping his face with his right sleeve, he whispered, "But it was either your family or me."
Spell after spell erupted from Sirius' wand as he fended off the Death Eater who had finally decided to reveal himself and attack him after following him all afternoon. As a cutting curse revealed a particular shade of blond he was familiar with, he growled with all the ferocity that his Padfoot form was capable of.
"Bugger off, Malfoy!" he shouted at his cousin-in-law, "I don't got all day!"
Behind the mask, Lucius' eyes crinkled with a smirk. "I'm quite aware of that," he drawled back. "After all, today is the elder Potter child's birthday, is it not?"
Fury filled Sirius' heart at that. "How in the hell would you know that?" he snarled.
"Why, the Dark Lord announced it to us, of course. He is very keen on wishing her a joyous birthday in person."
His fury-filled heart chilled with fear. "No..."
Laughing, Malfoy gloated, "And to think, it's all thanks to her godfather that he is on his way right. As. We. Speak."
"NOOO!" Sirius Black roared as he amped up the spell-fire. He needed to warn Prongs now!
Severus Snape rushed to and fro as he tried to make sure that the safe house had everything Lily and her daughter would need. Food was stocked, beds ready, diapers readily availiable... was there anything else that a baby girl would need?
Through the window, a silver wisp soon turned into a familiar phoenix Patronus. "Severus, I need you to come to my office," Dumbledore's voice ordered.
Panicking, Severus summoned his own Patronus to carry his reply back to the Headmaster. He was running out of time!
Albus Dumbledore was surprised to see Severus' doe Patronus float into his office. From his bed of ashes, the infant Fawkes peeped in curiousity.
The ancient wizard's blood soon chilled as the doe opened her mouth and Severus' voice shouted, "There's no time, Albus! The Dark Lord got the Potter's Secret Keeper to reveal their location, and he's on his way there now!"
As the doe faded, he quickly summoned another patronus and sent it to Hagrid. Before it had even left the nearest window, Dumbledore ran as fast as his aged feet would allow. He needed to tell Poppy to prepare the Hospital Wing for the arrival of the Potters... he needed to create a portkey that would carry Hagrid to Godric's Hallow and back and support any passengers... he needed to make preparations for their stay...
He determinedly ignored the little voice whispering that his preparations would be in vain, that thanks to Sirius Black's weakness it was already too late.
In a secluded corner of Godric's Hallow, a hooded figure appeared with scarcely a sound. Underneath the hood, red eyes gleamed with anticipation and triumph.
While Lily was dressing Ariana, James entertained Harry (who was already dressed his blue pajamas) by blowing puffs of colored smoke. As his son laughed with delight as he tried to grab onto the smoke, he thought about the haunted look in his wife's eyes that had appeared while she was cutting the birthday cake.
His thoughts were soon interrupted by that very same wife, who was carrying their daughter newly dressed in her favorite purple pajamas. "Well, James, do you want to put Harry to bed or do you want to tire Ari out enough that she'll be able to sleep?" his precious Lily-flower asked.
Taking a moment to think about it, he replied, "I'll take Ari." Picking Harry up from the blanket he had been sitting on, he crossed over and began the process of trading children. "Mind telling me what's been going on in that beautiful head of yours?" he couldn't help but inquire as he relinquished his son and grabbed his daughter.
Shaking her head in response, Lily replied, "I'll tell you after the kids are asleep." As she began to leave the room, she paused and added, "I'm sorry that the others couldn't come today, James. I knew you were excited to see them."
Smiling sadly, he nevertheless quipped, "Well, we still had a lot of fun today, didn't we Ari-girl?"
"Uh-huh!" his daughter excitedly responded, then began to laugh in delight as he blew a raspberry on her pudgy cheek.
He was relieved to see Lily smile at his actions. As she began to take Harry upstairs, James noticed Ariana's hands reaching for his wand.
"No, no, Ari, you can't grab other people's wands," he admonished as he tossed his wand onto the couch.
Pouting, she promptly asked, "Why?"
"Because..." he began, only to trail off in fear as he felt the ward on the outside gate blare a warning in his mind. An intruder had crossed the threshold... a threshold they shouldn't have even been aware of.
Wormt- no, Peter had betrayed them, that rat!
Quickly glancing around, he forced his voice to stay light as he suggested, "Hey Ari, want me to help you find a hiding spot so you can make Mama jump?"
"Hi an' See'! Hi and See'!" Ariana chanted in delight as he realized a place that would be a suitable hiding spot.
"That's right, Ari, hide and seek!" he encouraged as he rushed towards the spare bedroom that Remus sometimes slept in whenever he needed to crash, especially when it after trying to convince other werewolves to join their cause like he was currently doing. Setting her down, he ordered, "Now Ari, I want you to hide under the bed until Mama comes to find you, okay?"
"Otay!"
As his daughter rushed to follow his order, he closed his eyes as he prayed that it would be enough to keep her safe. In response, the sound of the front door being blasted open filled the house. Running to see who it was, his heart filled with dread as he saw the Dark Lord entering his house.
"Lily, take Harry and go!" James shouted as he rushed to protect his family, his wand forgotten in fear, "It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"
Voldemort began to laugh, then proceeded to blast him backwards. James landed harshly on his side, his teeth slamming down on his lip hard enough to make it bleed.
Sitting up and wiping away the blood he could feel trickling down his chin, he nevertheless roared, "You keep away, you understand– you keep away!
Smirking in response, his murderer spoke the last two words he would ever hear.
Watching the green light spear towards him, James Potter's last thoughts were filled with his beautiful wife, and the wonderful two children he had helped raise.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Lily sobbed as she heard those dreadful words, knowing that her beloved James was now dead. Her heart filled with dread and determination as she realized she had left her wand on the hallway table to keep it out of Harry's hands. Knowing that she wouldn't be focused enough to perform a safe wandless Apparition in time, she nonetheless attempted to visualize a safe destination in her mind. The sound of her husband's killer approaching the steps soon had her giving up on that idea.
Recognizing that James wouldn't have engaged Voldemort without ensuring that their daughter would be hidden from danger, she quickly placed Harry in his crib. As she heard Voldemort slowly climb up the stairs, she grabbed the rocking chair and positioned it under the door handle. Once it was secure, she grabbed as many of the boxes containing various toys and other paraphernalia and all but threw them in front of the door as well.
When the last box was placed, she rushed back towards her son, her precious baby boy.
Picking him up and holding him tightly, she closed her eyes as she summoned her magic. Filling it with as much love and intent as she could muster, she soon opened her eyes and had it swirl around her son.
"Mama loves you, Harry..." she whispered, knowing that these would be the last words she would ever speak to him, "Papa loves you... Ari loves you..."
Tears streamed down her cheeks she heard the door being forced open. Turning towards Voldemort, she witnessed him lazily banishing her barricade towards the wall.
Carefully dropping her son back into his crib, she shielded her son with her own body. Knowing it was more than likely futile, she couldn't help but beg, "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl..." Voldemort sneered, "stand aside, now."
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead–" she continued to beg, her head shaking in response to his order.
"This is my last warning," the Dark Lord responded, his hellish red eyes beginning to fill with fury.
"Not Harry! Please... have mercy..." she sobbed, "have mercy... Not Harry! Not Harry! Please– I'll do anything–!"
"Stand aside," he ordered once more, "Stand aside, girl!"
She shook head in refusal. The terrified yet determined mother could see his eyes glowing with fury at her continued defiance.
Lily Potter's vision, blurry with tears, filled with a tell-tale green light. Her final thoughts were a prayer that her wandless countercharm would be enough to protect her children from Voldemort.
In the nearby cemetery, with a swirling pop Severus appeared. Feeling the Dark Lord's magic heavy upon the air, he began to run.
Please, he prayed to whatever deity would listen, let her be alive!
Ariana Potter was starting to get uncomfortable under the bed. Hide and Seek wasn't being fun anymore, she wanted to crawl out and ask her Papa who the tall man in black was!
A memory, long forgotten by the eldest Potter child, locked her limbs forcing her to stay put.
Voldemort pointed his wand very carefully at the boy's face, desiring to see the destruction to this one, inexplicable danger.
The boy, to his displeasure, began to cry.
"Avada Kedavra!"
For a second, there was silence. A breath of anticipation, a moment filled with the knowledge that the world was about to change.
Then an explosion rocked the air, sending out a magical wave powerful enough to be felt throughout the island nation and knocking any nearby magical beings to the ground.
Hearing the loud boom, Ariana ducked her head under her arms in fright. As she did so, the magical wave that accompanied the explosion tore through her, snapping one of the eight major shackles of the Gods' seal in the process.
Thousands of miles away on another island nation, while working on some paperwork for his massive business empire Sesshomaru suddenly sat up abruptly as he felt a Pack Bond suddenly snap into place.
"Hn?" he muttered lowly as he promptly used his youki to examine who was the suicidal fool to try and force a Pack Bond onto him. Hearing his inner beast take notice and start howling in recognition and delight, his lips pursed in confusion.
His thoughts were interrupted by a series of quiet knocks. After he demanded to know who it was, his personal assistant's head popped through the door.
"Lord Sesshomaru, your mother is on the phone," Shippo Higurashi announced. With a look of disbelief on his face, the kitsune added, "she sounded rather... frantic."
Brow furrowing, Sesshomaru gestured that he would take the call. As soon as the door closed, he picked up the phone. "What is it, Mother?" he demanded.
"Sesshomaru," his mother replied, her frantic tone strangely filled with hope, "did you just feel a Pack Bond?"
"I did," he confirmed slowly.
To his surprise, his mother began to laugh, a desperate laugh filled with relief, joy, and hope all rolled into one.
"It's her, it's her- the prophecy's started!" she crowed.
At this, Sesshomaru remembered the conversation that they shared so many decades ago. "The prophecy? You mean–"
"Yes, my son. Kie's begun the process to come back to us!"
A/N: OMG was this chapter hard to write.
So, technically, this chapter's actually been done for a couple of days. Thanks to a windstorm in my area, however, my internet had been down for over a week, so thank goodness that's over!
A major thing happened during that week though- I got a new job! Sadly, this cuts down on writing time however I feel it's an acceptable trade-off.
I hope you all enjoyed part 1 of that fateful Halloween night!