Disclaimer: HP is not mine. This story is for fun, not profit.

A/N: This chapter comes with a warning of abuse within the Dursley home.

A/N 2: Much thanks to Jenn for the beta work and the encouragement.

Chapter 1

1 November 1981 – 17 September 1989

Lily began her work with Ginny Weasley moments after James had selected the tiny girl. That first year, she was nothing more than a presence, really. But, the baby became comfortable with Lily and the older witch was able to ease her broken heart somewhat.

As much as she came to love Ginny, she missed her precious Harry with all of her being. There were times when, guiltily, she almost wished her son had perished with them so that they could all still be together. It was painful to watch the neglect their son grew up with; Lily couldn't honestly claim that her sister was "raising" Harry. Neither she nor James were allowed to visit Harry in the way they could visit Ginny, Remus and Sirius. The girl forbid it. They tried every trick in the book to persuade her otherwise, but she simply claimed it would be disastrous.

It was after James convinced Lily to sneak into Harry's dreams with him one night when their little boy was three that convinced the Potters that the girl really did know things.

By this time, both James and Lily were very experienced in visiting dreams and were beginning to learn how to visit people when they were awake as well. The stone basins, Ineosieves, allowed them to enter a selected person's dreams with relative ease. Entering their conscious mind was infinitely more difficult as most people had natural mental protections.

When they weren't "working" by speaking in dreams to Sirius, Remus or Ginny, they would watch Harry in an Ineosieve. After one particularly horrid day when Harry was sent to bed with no dinner and hands that were sore from trying to make his little fingers do the work that his aunt and uncle demanded of him, they knew they had to do something.

They waited until the girl was distracted with her visions and then entered the Ineosieve directly into their son's dreams. Lily knew right away why it had been a terrible idea. Instead of simply talking to Harry, memories swirled around them all. The boy in the dream watched some of the disjointed memories before he turned betrayed eyes on his parents.

"You weft me! Why'd you go 'way?" He tried to hug them, but even in his dreams, James and Lily were as insubstantial as ghosts. "Miss you! Wuv you! I want my mummy and daddy back!"

Then they watched in horror as one of the memories came close and then flashed bright, filling Harry's young mind. All three were forced to watch the boy's jagged memory of the night his parents had died. The flash of green and evil laughter were the last thing James and Lily knew before they were forcibly ejected. They landed back in their station, peering down at Harry as he awoke screaming.

"Calamity." Neither bothered to acknowledge the girl's sorrowful voice; they knew they had made their son's life worse rather than better. All three watched as Vernon Dursley came barging into the small bedroom Harry had been given and grabbed the toddler by his little arm. The large man yelled about "miscreants disturbing hard-working people" before he was silenced by the child's words.

"Where my mummy and daddy? Dey were here! I saw dem! Dey wuv me! I want my mummy and daddy, NOW!" For the first time in his young life, Harry Potter threw a temper tantrum. It almost rivalled his cousin's.

He paid dearly for it as well. That was the night Harry was removed from the small bedroom and into the cupboard under the stairs. Sadly, this wasn't the worst of it. The small wizard started to have nightmares about that terrible night. For a short while, he was completely convinced his parents were still alive and would ask questions incessantly until one day, Vernon had enough and back-handed the child across his face. It never happened again, but Harry never asked any questions, either.

Petunia finally did give him an answer, though it was vague. "If your parents had been responsible, they wouldn't have died. They shouldn't have hung around that crowd. It's their own fault they are dead and we got landed with you."

Of course, Marge Dursley was present when this was explained to Harry and she took it to mean that James and Lily had been into drugs and alcohol and were killed in an accident that was their fault. Vernon encouraged this story and Petunia didn't do anything to contradict it.

Harry, however never seemed to really believe it. This was one of the few shining bits of hope his parents had whenever they would watch their precious son.

While Harry was learning to cope with the hand he had been dealt, James was desperately trying to keep Sirius sane and Remus from despair. It was a monumental task, but Lily's husband could be very focused when determined and he was nothing but determined to see his two best friends reunited.

Lily, on the other hand, was learning that training Ginny wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be. The girl was mischievous and playful, reminding her quite a bit of James. But she was also suspicious by nature (she'd have to be to survive growing up with her twin brothers), which forcefully reminded Lily of both Harry and her childhood friend, Severus. Awake, the girl refused to try anything that Lily tried to teach her, since she didn't know why she was dreaming about "training."

Even in her dreams, dreams she had been having since she was an infant, Ginny would question why Lily was telling her the benefits of learning what seemed like harmless hexes or how to focus on her magic to make herself more powerful. Lily tried to give vague answers ('I'm your guardian angel.' 'What's an angel? And why do I need guarding?'), but they never really appeased the little red-head. It irked the child to no end that Lily refused to tell her the name of the "lady in her head" as Ginny had finally dubbed her.

The girl did consent to talk with Lily every time the older red-head visited her dreams, always trying to understand why the "lady" was there. When Ginny was eight, however, the girl had had enough.

"What is all of this for? Why do you want to train me?" Really the girl was far too shrewd.

"I can't tell you. I only know what might happen and that you could be a big help. I can't tell you why, or it could ruin everything." This was a lie. Lily refused to tell Ginny partly because she didn't want to scare the poor girl, but mostly because she was well aware of the girl's crush on her son. Just because James was convinced that Harry would fall in love with Ginny didn't mean that her son would. Lily wasn't even sure her boy would recognize or welcome any sort of affection by now and didn't want to get the little witch's hopes up.

"I don't have any proof that what you're trying to teach me," the girl sneered. "Will even help me. I've never heard my brothers talking about focusing on their magic. Only really great wizards like Dumbledore can do wandless magic! Mum says that's only little things like lighting a candle or Summoning his socks." She folded her arms across her chest. "Prove it."

Lily sighed. 'If Harry ever does fall in love with Ginny, they will be evenly matched, at least. I don't think I've ever seen two more stubborn, obstinate children in my life.' Just the previous night she had watched Harry try to convince his uncle, yet again, that mowing the lawn every day would damage the grass. It was an effort in futility and it wasn't done because Harry didn't want to mow the lawn (he actually seemed to enjoy it), but to anger his uncle. He liked to watch the colours change on the man's face.

She thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. The ethereal girl had taught Lily and James quite a lot about magic, things that the living either knew instinctively or never learned. Focusing on one's magic was one of those things. Even telling Ginny about it could be dangerous, but the spirit girl had agreed that the little red-head was strong enough to handle it. However, they hadn't planned on Ginny attempting to really do anything until she had a wand. But at this moment, Lily gambled. If Ginny lost her trust in Lily, she wouldn't be able to continue training her, and where would that leave them?

"Alright, if you think you are ready, tomorrow give it a try. Focus on your magic for a few minutes until you can feel it and then try to levitate something light. A leaf or a flower petal would be good. But you'll have to really focus on your magic," she told the girl sternly. "No interruptions, because you'll lose your focus and anything could happen."

Ginny agreed, and Lily could feel the morning approaching, so she pulled out of the girl's mind and settled down to watch what she would do from outside the Ineosieve.

17 September 1989

Perhaps the lady in her head was right. Perhaps she could become powerful if she practiced. Powerful enough that she could be friends with Harry Potter, because surely he wouldn't want to be with someone who couldn't even levitate a garden gnome.

Ginny sat and focused like the lady had told her for years. She could feel something, her magic, maybe? It was electrifying and thrilling, and then it felt as though it were bubbling to escape her.

She concentrated with all of her might on making the Wellington in front of her move to the right and she thought she saw it tilt, if she focused just a bit more...

"Ginny! What you are doin...AHHHHH!"

Ron touched her shoulder and startled Ginny. Her focus shifted to what had caused her fear, and her magic leapt out to protect her. Ron was thrown backwards, hitting the garden wall with a sickening thud.

Her mum came racing out at Ginny's screams, but all that Ginny could think of was that she had killed her best friend.

Even hours later, after she knew very well that Ron was okay (he was eating his third helping of tart, after all, and beating Percy for the fifth time that night in chess), she was convinced that the lady in her head must be evil.

Power could be used to hurt and Ginny definitely didn't want to hurt anyone ever again. Besides, the lady tried to tell her not to fly at night ("It's far too dangerous and a waste of time!"), that she shouldn't prank the twins back after they had turned her hair purple ("You could get into serious trouble using underage magic and, besides, seeking revenge all the time could make you a very bitter person."), and she thought that her crush on the Boy-Who-Lived was ridiculous ("He's just a boy, for Merlin's sake, not some fairy tale hero!"). Why should Ginny listen to her?