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"Do I have to?"
"Oh, come on, Lira, it's Halloween! You have to go trick-or-treating!"
"But I feel bad! You guys can't go out!"
"Yes, but that shouldn't stop you. Go on, Lira, Lily will help you find something you can wear, and you can go with some of the boys down the road that Bathilda were talking about. They're meeting outside the church at eight. It'll be fun!"
"Fine." Lira grumbled, and then smiled begrudgingly at James, who winked.

Lira followed Lily up the stairs, and followed her into her and James' bedroom.
"Okay, I think I should have something in here for you to wear."
She fished through the clothes in the wardrobe, and then pulled out a long white dress, the top of it covered in lace, a collar riddled with buttons tracing down the front, with a drawstring belt around the waist. Lily handed it to the girl, and then turned her back.
"Put it on, okay, and we'll see how it looks."
Lira undressed and pulled on the long white dress, smiling as it swamped her, the hem brushing her bare ankles.
"Ready."
"Oh, that looks great, Lira! Really, really good. Almost ghost-like. Ooooh, hang on!"
Lily pulled a hairbrush from her bedside table, and her wand from her pocket, and carefully undid the ribbon from Lira's hair.
"Do you mind if I do your hair?"
"Of course not!"

They both sat down on the bed, and Lily ran a brush through Lira's hair gently, before curling the wand around the ends of her hair, so that the wavy strands became ringlets. Pinning several strands back, Lily adjusted a few pieces, and leaned back to see the hair from a distance. "Ok, sweetheart, have a look and see what you think."
Lira stood up and looked at her reflection. She barely recognised herself.

Her long hair was straight until it hit her waist, where it curled and twisted, almost the exact same shade as the dress, almost silver. Her dress was long and old-fashioned, and with the pair of worn white ballet flats that she had been wearing that day at the Ministry, she would look every inch a little ghost girl.

"Do you think you'll need a jacket?
"Maybe if you did a warming charm?"
"Good idea."
Lily waved her wand over Lira's shoulders, and Lira felt a comfortable layer of warmth settle over her.
"Here."
The dress had no pockets, so Lily handed Lira a small white bag with a shoulder strap.
"You can put your wand in there."
"Great, thanks."
Lira stowed her wand into the bag and skipped down the stairs, where James was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
"Ah, you look great! A ghost, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, have fun!"
"I will." Lira hugged a now not so surprised Lily, hugged a still surprised James, kissed Harry on the forehead and clutched her bag tightly.
"Just…be back by half nine, yeah?"
"Okay. See you in a bit."
"Take care." James and Lily waved as Lira walked down the path, opened the gate, stepped out, closed the gate, and set off for the church, to where Bathilda had said the boys would be.

As Lira walked past the graveyard, she quickened her pace slightly. To any onlooker, she would have looked like a ghost, walking past the gravestones, her pale face, short stature, long dress and white-blonde hair more realistic than any make-up she could have done.

As she reached the church, she could see the young boys, gathered by the doors, which were decorated with fake cobwebs and a plastic skeleton, which seemed to be waving its thin bony fingers at her, its white colouring seeming to glow in the dark.
"Hello, are you…Lira?"
The first boy, who looked about ten and was dressed as a pumpkin, asked, and Lira nodded.
"Yep, hello. What's your name?"
The four boys went around with their names; they were called Mike, Tyler, John and Owen, respectively.
"So, you guys know this village better than I do. Where should we start?"
They walked up to the entrance to the village, along to the terraced houses, and walked up to the path of the first house, clutching their sweet bags excitedly. The woman in the first house was kind, and gave them all a boiled sweet, the second woman gave them a chocolate bar to share reluctantly, and the third woman gave them nothing apart from a scowl and a promise to not let them in again.

"Ooooh, Lira, why didn't the skeleton go to the ball?"
"I don't know, why?"
"Because he had no body to go with."
Lira had to laugh at that.

They had just finished the first street when Mike pointed at a man who was dressed as a kind of ghoul, his body cloaked in black thread, his hands clutching something tightly.
"Hey, look at him, isn't his costume cool?"
Mike hurried up to the man, and Lira's warnings faded on her lips.
"Nice costume, Mister!" The boy called out, and the man tilted his head up ever so slightly, so that they got a glimpse of his face. It was chalk white, his eyes were deep red, and his nostrils were like slits, like a snake's.
Lira's breathing was coming in sharp bursts, and she was suddenly very hot, and very cold. "Nice mask he had on, wasn't it, Lira? Lira?"
Then he was talking to mid-air, because it wasn't a mask.
Lira had turned and ran, ran and ran and ran until she was out of breath and stumbling over the cobbles, a white blur in the dark.

She was tired, but she didn't feel it because she had one thing to do and that was to run. As she ran, she thought. She knew that she couldn't run fast enough to get to Lily and James', but she could get to Sirius', if she ran.
So she ran.

Pumpkins lit by candles winked at her from outside of the houses, and her own shadow loomed over her, like she was being chased. In the darkness, tree branches became fingers, reaching towards her, and every house looked like it held horrors. As she ran past the square, past the war memorial which looked like a dagger, pointing menacingly at the sky, and past the shops, which were closed and boarded up like a ghost town, she tripped and fell, skidding her knees and her hands and her face on the cobblestones.
Stinging erupted across her hands, so she wiped her hands on her torn dress, hissing in pain and wincing as the blood from her hands stained the dress. Peering down quickly to see what she had tripped over, she stumbled backwards, squealing, the darkness distorting the innocent stone into a menacing skull.

Shaking her head, Lira picked up speed again, tearing towards the street where Sirius lived, thanking Merlin for her excellent memory, and skidding to a halt in front of number seventeen, hoping and praying that she wasn't too late.

Disregarding the doorknocker, she banged on the door until an eerie shape appeared behind the glass, looking out at her cautiously. What Lira didn't know was that right then, she looked like a real little ghost girl, her face pale and pinched with fear, white blonde hair streaming down her back like a waterfall, long white cotton dress stained with her own blood.

The door creaked open slightly, and a man peered around the edge of it.
"Who is it?"
"It's Lira! Sirius, open the door!"
Sirius pulled the door open fully and his face instantly contorted with worry.
"Lira? Are you okay? What's wrong? Is that blood?"
"Sirius, there's no time, Voldemort, he's going to get them, I saw him, Lily and James, you have to get them out of there!"

Now, Sirius Black had never been a cautious sort of man. He usually jumped into things head-first, and only stopped to think when it was too late. However, months in the Order had forced him to be cautious, when placed in an unfamiliar situation, and lots of things here screamed trap. But Sirius Black looked into the frantic eyes of the girl that he'd grown to care for, and forgot to be cautious.
He turned on the spot and Disapparated.

Lira gasped with relief, breath coming in great heaving gasps, and ran inside of the house, pulling the door shut behind her with a loud slam. All of the lights were on, which made a great change to the darkness outside, and soothed Lira slightly. She pulled her wand out of her pocket and paced in the hallway, ignoring the fact that she was exhausted, and ran her fingers along the flowers that were engraved on her wand. A loud series of bangs from outside made her whirl around, hairs on the back of her neck standing upright, shivering not just with cold, but with fear.

The living room was bright and welcoming, so Lira walked in and perched on the edge of the sofa, trying to quell the unrest in her mind. It was no use.
She couldn't believe that she'd forgotten the date, she couldn't believe that she had forgotten that it was Halloween, in 1981, that Voldemort went to kill the Potters. And succeeded, with all but one. Harry had survived that night in 1981, and hopefully they would all survive tonight, not just Harry.
Because if they didn't, Lira would never forgive herself.

The clock on the wall was ticking ominously, its second hand jolting around and around, and Lira shuddered. A minute passed, and another, Lira began to panic, wringing her hands and pacing up and down, up and down.
"Come on, Sirius…come on…"
Trying to calm herself, Lira repeated in her mind, over and over, that Sirius was the bravest, strongest man, aside from James, that she knew, so he would save them.
He had to.

Lira sat down abruptly, curling her legs up to her chest, ignoring the stinging in her knees and hands. She knew that she had hurt herself, but it wasn't important. The house that had seemed comforting suddenly felt full of dangers, the stairs leading to a creepy, dark upstairs, the kitchen full of places for someone to hide.

A faint pop from the hallway made Lira jump, and she whirled around, hair flying, wand raised, listening intently. There was a quiet squeal, and Lira stepped forwards, biting her lip. Then a familiar voice sounded, laced with worry and concern.
"Lira? Are you there? Are you okay?"
Lira gave a shriek and ran into the hallway, where Lily stood, clutching a sleeping Harry.
On seeing her, Lily flicked her wand so that Harry was levitating, asleep in mid-air and pulled Lira into a bone-crushing hug.
"Oh Merlin…I ran…I wasn't sure…where's James? And Sirius?"
"They're coming, they were just grabbing a few things, and they'll only be a minute. Oh Lira…thank you, thank you so much…"
"I can't believe…I thought I was too late…"
"But you weren't, honey, you weren't, you saved our lives!"

There were two more faint pops, and then James and Sirius were hugging them too, all of them breathing deeply, giddy with relief.
"Can't…breathe…" Lira choked out, and they let go, albeit reluctantly.
"Did you cut yourself?" James pointed at the red stains on her dress, and Lira lifted it up to see the long cut from where she'd fallen over.
"Yeah, I fell over."
"Ouch…" James whistled, and pointed his wand at the cut, so that it closed up, leaving the skin unblemished.
"Here too." Lira held her hands out, palms up, and James did the same as with her knees.

Lily plucked Harry out of mid-air, and rocked him slightly so that he stayed asleep.
"What happened?"
"I was out with the boys, and then I saw him, the boys thought he was only dressed up, but I knew it was him. I knew that he was coming for you, he was heading towards your house, and I knew that I wouldn't get to you in time, so then I thought of Sirius…"
Sirius put his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly.
"You were amazing, love. Just before we Apparated, we saw him. If you had been a minute later, it would have been too late."
"We can't stay here, Peter knows that we'd come here."
Lily said, an uncharacteristically angry look on her face.
"That…" James called Peter something that made say reprovingly,
"James!"

"That rat…" Lira muttered, clenching her now mended hands, and Sirius snarled under his breath, sounding just like his Animagus at that moment.
"And we thought that it was Remus…"
James and Lily looked at Lira, as if expecting her to say I told you so, but she didn't.
She just sighed.
"What are we going to do now?"
"We could go to the Burrow?" Lily suggested, stroking Harry's hair. "Molly wouldn't mind, and seeing as they're part of the Order, they have protective wards."
"That's a good idea." James looked at Sirius for conformation, and Sirius nodded.
"Is that okay, Lira?"
Lira, surprised at being asked for her opinion, just nodded.

"Have you Side-Along Apparated before?" Sirius asked, and Lira shook her head.
"OK, so it's not the most comfortable mode of transport, I'm going to be honest, but it's very quick, it's over in a few seconds."
"Alright then." Lira said nervously; she still didn't like the sound of Apparation, but she knew that it was the fastest way of getting them to safety.
"I'll take Harry," Lily volunteered, and James stepped forwards.
"OK, Lira, I'll take you. All you've got to do is hold onto my arm, and don't let go until I say so, yeah?"
"Uh-huh."
"I'll go first, then."
Sirius disappeared with a crack, and then James offered his arm to Lira.
"Ready?"
Lira took a deep breath, nodded, and grabbed his arm.

As she soon as her fingers closed around his sleeve, they were spinning, and then Lira was being stretched, squeezed and compressed. Her arms and legs were pressing into her side, her eyes were rolling back into her head, and her chest was being squeezed painfully. It couldn't go on for much longer, Lira thought, or she would shrivel away into nothing. Then it stopped.

Lira stumbled, gasping, massaging her stomach, and James rubbed her back soothingly.
"You alright? It's not my favourite way to travel."
"Yeah, it's not mine either." Lira gasped, rubbing her neck. When she could breathe properly again, she straightened up, and looked at her surroundings. They were standing in a field, and just in front of them was a rickety house, all topsy-turvy, and painted various shades of brown and maroon.

Lily and Harry appeared next to them with a pop, and Harry was crying; he obviously didn't like Apparation much either. Sirius was only a few feet away, running his hand through his hair, and he turned to face them as they approached.
"Hello. Not a fan, then, Lira?"
He chuckled at her still slightly pained expression, and the sound of laughter made them all relax slightly.
"No. Not really."

They approached the door, and James knocked three times, sharply, and then once more, like it was some kind of code. He did the knocking code again, and the door creaked open slightly, a brown eye peering around the corner of it.
"Who's there?"
"It is I, James Potter, with my wife Lily Potter, my best friend, Sirius Black, and our adopted daughter, Lira Munns."
That made Lira smile, smile for the first time since the joke from earlier.
"Lily?"
"Yes, Molly?"
"What was the first thing you said to me when you found out that I was pregnant?"
"That there was going to be another amazing redhead in town. What was the nickname I called Gideon and Fabian when they joined the Order?"
"You couldn't think of any, so you stropped for all of a minute, before calling them Gid and Fab."
The door creaked open, and a kindly looking plump woman with red hair and dark brown eyes opened the door, frowning worriedly.
"Are you alright? What's happened?"
"Could we come in? We need somewhere that You-Know-Voldemort can't come to get us again."
James asked, and Lira laughed. It was a strange kind of laugh, the kind of laugh that you laugh when you can't believe that you're okay, and you can't believe that no one's hurt, and you can't believe that you can still laugh.

Molly ushered them in, looking worried, and led them over to the sofa.
"The boys are in bed, and Arthur's on a night shift, he won't be back until morning. What happened? Did He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named find you? What about the Fidelius Charm?"
"Well, Peter betrayed us, the cowardly…"
James swore again, and Molly frowned disapprovingly.
"Peter? But I thought Sirius was your Secret Keeper?"
"That was what everyone was supposed to think, but we changed it to Peter. We thought he'd be less of a target, that it was the perfect bluff, and he betrayed us."
James spat, venom filling his voice.
"Okay, so we'd better talk about this. I have a spare cot, you could put Harry to bed if you want, Lily dear?"
"That would be great, thanks Molly."

Lily followed Molly up the stairs, and Sirius pulled out his wand.
"I'll send a message to Remus, let him know that we're here."
He swished his wand, and a large silvery dog ran around the room once, barking, before disappearing in a cloud of silver mist.

James and Sirius started to discuss what they were going to do with Peter when they got their hands on him, Lira sank down onto the sofa, adrenaline fading.
"We trusted him! We trusted him, and he betrayed us!"
"His own stinking skin meant more to him than your entire family."
"Our family." James corrected, and something flickered in Sirius' eyes. Something happy, something grateful.

A pop outside had James running over to the door to check that it was Remus.
"Who's there?"
"It is I, Remus John Lupin, the resident werewolf."
"What is your name on the Marauders' Map?"
"Moony. And what is yours, James?"
"Prongs. Now, come in!"
James wrenched the door open, and Remus stepped in, coat pulled tightly around him.
"Is everyone alright?"
"Yes, everyone is presently alive and kicking."
"Thank goodness!" Remus sighed with relief, and pulled his coat off. "What happened?"
"Lira saved our lives."
Remus looked at Lira in awe, and she widened her eyes.
"Hang on, it sounds really great when you say it like that, but it really wasn't that heroic."
"She saw Voldemort and ran from the outskirts of the village to Sirius' to warn him, and he Apparated to warn us. If she hadn't seen him, and if she hadn't have run to get Sirius, Lily, Harry and I would be dead."

Remus looked at the pale, exhausted Lira sitting on the sofa, and went to sit next to her.
"Sirius was the Secret Keeper though, so how…?"
"They swapped them over." That was Lira, who was shivering and rubbing her arms to try and warm herself up; the warming charm Lily had placed on her had worn off.
"You were supposed to think that it was Sirius, it made more sense for it to be Sirius, but they changed it to Peter because he was the less obvious choice." Lira shivered, so James shrugged off his jumper and handed it to her.
"Here."
"Thanks!"
She pulled it over her head, and it swamped her, making her smile.

Remus, Lira noticed, didn't react to the news that they had kept the vital information about the Secret Keepers from him, but she could see that there was something hard in his eyes. James and Sirius started discussing the wards they would need to put around Sirius' house, and Lira turned to Remus, wanting to stop there being some much bitterness in his smile.
"They thought you were the spy, you know."
"Yes. I did suspect as much."
"But I didn't."
"No?" Remus sounded surprised.
"No. I knew that you wouldn't betray them like that."
Lira smiled up at Remus and he smiled down at her warmly, all bitterness gone. Lily walked into the living room, Molly close behind her, and then all of the adults went to sit at the kitchen table. Lira, however, was too comfortable to move, and didn't want to eavesdrop.

Forty-five minutes and a whole load of crying and gasping later, the four friends had managed to explain everything, from the Secret Keeper swapping to their near-miss with Voldemort. Finishing her third cup of tea and sitting back in her chair, Lily looked over to the sofa where Lira was. It didn't take long for Lily to work out that Lira was fast asleep, tired out because it was nearly eleven and she ran almost a mile and all of the adrenaline has gone and she's exhausted.

Lira didn't know that James carried her upstairs and put her in Arthur and Molly's bed, and that the four adults stayed awake all night, talking and explaining and sighing with relief, because Lily and James and Harry were alive, still alive, all because of Lira. Dumbledore visited, and expressed his concern, and then left because of he was a Headmaster of a school, after all, and couldn't be away for too long and then Remus left, because he had to go. That was okay, Lily said, because they were okay, all of them, and that was what mattered most.

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