Chapter 2

Lily looked around her and held onto Mr. Potter's hand even tighter than before. All around her she could see people with what she guessed was diseases like she had never seen before. Some had yellow faces and purple spots. Some had boils all over their face that was oozing puss. She wrinkled her nose. She scooted closer to her rescuer afraid that she might catch whatever these people had. She followed Mr. Potter towards a desk with floating papers and a woman waving a stick at all the papers. She heard the woman start talking to Mr. Potter.

"Hello Mr. Potter. I'll get a healer for those girls you got there. Poor things." The woman gave a gentle smile at Lily and a concerned look at Rose. She could tell that the young child was unconscious and wasn't waking up for a while.

"Thanks Ann. These girls were attacked by deatheaters. I think one got hit by the cruciatus curse and the other was knocked out by the time we got there." Harold whispered so that he wouldn't scare Lily anymore than she already was. "I need to get them help before I tell either one the news. Listen Ann the town they lived at was the one that was attacked. I don't think that their parents survived."

Lily knew that she wasn't supposed to have heard what was said but she had and the thought of her parents being murdered shattered her heart. She held in the screams that wanted to come out but couldn't stop shaking. She was sobbing. Harold felt the little girl shaking and looked down. He realized that Lily must have heard him. He hugged her tighter to him and let her cry her eyes out in his shirt. He saw a healer he knew coming down the hall. She'd helped with his wife's birth and helped him when he got hurt on auror duty. She was short and plump and had a kind face. She was practically running down the hall.

"Harold what are you doing here? You don't seem to have any injuries." Then she noticed the two girls in his arms. One was unconscious and the other was sobbing into Harold's shirt. "I see. Well come on and let's get these girls checked over. You might have to leave while we check on them." Healer Marie's eyes widened when there was a yell.

"No! I don't want him to leave! I won't get checked!" Lily clung to Harold's shirt. She wouldn't let go of him. She was in a place she didn't know and she didn't want to leave the only person she trusted. The lady tried to take her from Harold's arms but Lily was like bur and couldn't be pried from Harold.

"It's fine, Healer Marie." Harold rubbed soothing circles into Lily's back. "Just let me come in. I don't want to upset Lily anymore today. I'm sure I won't cause any trouble." Harold smiled at Healer Marie and waved her on. He followed her to the room and got Lily to calm down. She was a brave girl from what he could tell. She was also, as far as he could tell, alone. He didn't know if she had any brothers or sisters other than the other girl he was carrying in his arms.

"Alright, we're going to use this room since it has a two beds and I'm sure that Lily doesn't want to be separated from her sister." Healer Marie opened the door to a room and let Harold walk in with the two young girls. "Put Rose on the first bed and I'll start checking over her. Put Lily on the second bed." Healer Marie immediately started checking over Rose's vital signs.

Lily saw the same thing she'd seen in that man's hand and yelped when the doctor pointed it at Rose. "That's what that man used to hurt me! She's gonna hurt rose with it! Please don't let her Mr. Potter!" Lily looked up into Harold's eyes.

"It's okay Lily. The people who used that on you were bad. Healer Marie is a good person. She's just checking over your sister to make sure nothing's wrong with her. She's trying to help her. You don't have to worry about anyone hurting you here." Harold stroked Lily's hair while he explained everything to her.

"Is Healer Marie like a doctor?"

Harold was lost for a second before he remembered that muggles called their healers doctors. "That's exactly what she is Lily. She's just a magical doctor. We call them healers. She's gonna help you get better quicker than you can say flying monkeys." He smiled when Lily giggled at his phrase.

"Do you carry one of those things too?" Lily looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Yes I do but I'm a good guy so I help people with my wand. That's what they're called." Harold pulled his out and waved it. He'd done a nonverbal spell and made a single red lily appear. He saw Lily's eyes go wide. He smiled and handed her the red flower.

"It's pretty and it's a lily just like me!" Lily reached for it with her left arm she winced and pulled her arm back cradling it with her right.

"What's the matter with your arm Lily?" Harold had seen her wince before she could grab the flower.

"It hurts really bad. I think it's broken." She sniffled and showed him the swelling and bruising.

"Alright well Healer Marie will be here to fix it in a minute. Here," He tucked the Lily behind her ear and smiled. Lily smiled back at him. He noticed how ragged and dirty she was. He waved his wand and made her look cleaner. Her clothes were sewn back together and her hair was a bit neater.

Lily looked down and her eyes widened when she saw that her clothes weren't torn and that she didn't have any dirt on her. "Whoa. Now that was cool!" She smiled slightly at him and blushed. Harold just laughed and ruffled her red hair.

Harold sat back and just watched Lily as she laid back and rested her head on the pillow. He saw her look worriedly at Rose and bite her lip. He watched as she sighed and looked like she deflated. She turned back to him and bit her lip again. "Lily do you want me to tell you who those people were and why they were trying to hurt you?" Harold saw the hesitation like Lily was going to ask him something different but she nodded her head. "Those people were what we called deatheaters," Harold went on to explain that the deatheaters had hurt her because she wasn't part of a wizarding family. He explained about magic and that sometimes there were bad people who would use them against other people just like with muggles. "Well Lily here comes Healer Marie. Do you want me to go away so that she can talk to you?" He immediately saw the panic in her eyes.

"Nuh-uh, Mr. Potter. I don't want to be here alone. I don't know anybody and I know you won't hurt me. I'm still scared." Lily pleaded with her eyes to make him stay. She didn't like the alone feeling.

"Alright Lily. I won't leave but I will have to in a little bit. I need to go tell my wife that I'm okay. You won't even know I'm gone. I promise you. I might even bring Melony back with me. I also have to make sure my son hasn't destroyed our house yet." Harold smiled thinking of his son and how he liked to play pranks on his mother.

"You have a son? How old is he?" Lily asked.

"He's about your age. He's ten but he's turning eleven in two weeks."

"I'm ten too, but I turn eleven on August fifth." (A/N: I got the ages wrong in the last chapter and I'm REALLY sorry about that!!Forgive me!!)

"Well hello, Ms. Lily. I see you look a little better but I heard that your arm hurts." Healer Marie smiled gently at Lily. "All I need you to do is lay back and be still for about fifteen minutes. She waved her wand over Lily's arm to see what was the matter and saw that it had broken into two very cleanly. She did all the other procedures she had to do. "Well it appears that your arm is broken but we can have that fixed real quick. Also you have a broken rib and a cracked one. Other than that you seem to be perfectly fine. Now since you are a muggle I'm going to tell you exactly what I'm giving you."

"Yes, ma'am." Lily watched as Healer Marie started making bottles appear out of nowhere. She listened carefully to what each potion was and did. She looked at Mr. Potter and then towards a window and saw that the sun was starting to go down. It was around six. When she was at the playground it had been around four or five o'clock. Her mother was letting them stay out late that day. She stopped the memory right there. She didn't want to remember the rest of that day. She took the potion that Hearler Marie gave her first and nearly gagged. It tasted horrible. She made a face and handed the small bottle back. She had to take to other potions and then was done. She looked and saw Mr. Potter still sitting near her. "Uhmm...Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, Lily?" Harold had watched her take the potions bravely and not complain but he had seen the face she made for the first one.

"Do you think that me and Rose could come live with you?" Lily watched his face and saw the shock that had covered it and ploughed on. "I mean I have a sister but she was out of town with some friends of hers. She's probably being told that our parents are gone right now and she doesn't really like me and Rose. She's eighteen and she wouldn't want to keep us. She has a boyfriend and everything. She already has her own apartment. She told me it was to get away from me and Rose. She said we were pests and I just don't think she'd want to keep me and Rose." Lily ended her rambling there and she just looked at Harold. She didn't know what he was going to say but she really hoped it was yes. She hadn't talked with Rose on this one but she knew Rose would have asked the same thing in her position.

Harold hadn't expected this question. He didn't know that Lily would even think that far ahead. Sure he'd always wanted another kid but he wasn't going to risk Melony's life. He knew James got kind of lonely while he was at home and he had even asked why he didn't have a little brother or sister like all the other kids in the neighborhood. Harold hadn't thought of adopting though. "Lily I don't know but I'll talk to my wife and my son. I can't make this decision without their opinion." He was still in slight shock but had managed to get those words out.

"Okay, Mr. Potter. I'm going to go to sleep now." Lily yawned and lay back again. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Harold ran a hand through his hair. He looked at the sleeping girl. He saw that the Lily he'd given her was still behind her ear but a bit lopsided. He smiled at the sleeping Lily and realized that he wouldn't mind taking care of her. He had enough money to. He might as well ask Melony. He was pretty sure James was still up but he could have crashed for a nap that day. He rubbed a hand over Lily's and Rose's head before walking out. He ran into Healer Marie outside the girls' room. "Marie! I forgot to ask you how Rose Evans condition was."

"Well, Harold I'll tell you what I didn't say in front of Lily there. Rose has gone into a coma. She hit her head very hard on the street you found them on. Luckily there wasn't any bleeding. I think that she won't have any brain damage coming out of it but I can't be sure. I do know that she can hear everything going on around her. She has a very good chance of waking up and knowing everything that has happened since she went into the coma. I believe that she will be fine. The head and a broken arm is all that she has suffered from that attack. I hope that this is the last time we see children in here because of deatheater attacks but I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse." Marie sighed then walked away waving.

Harold Potter couldn't help but hope for the same thing. He didn't want to see anymore children hurt, injured, or killed in any more attacks but he also had a feeling that children were being trained to be future deatheaters. He walked over to the fireplace in the lobby of St. Mungo's and flooed home. He stumbled into his living room. He never could get the landing right. He followed the hallway into a bigger room. It was the library. He found Melony sitting in a chair reading one of her favorites. He walked behind her and hugged her. She jumped a little then turned in his arms to give him a welcome home kiss. He looked into her face and forgot for a minute about the day he'd had. Then it all came flooding back and he sighed.

Melony noticed her husband sigh and squeezed his arm. She knew that since deatheaters had started attacking Harold had been more and more stressed. She put the book she was holding down and made room on the big chair she was sitting in, patting the seat beside her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and gave a relieved sigh. Every day was another day that Harold might not come back to her and James. She never took a moment for granted. She saw that he was trying to figure out something and decided not to let him stew and simmer about it alone. "Harold why don't you tell me what's on your mind?"

Harold chuckled to himself. He really should have known that his Mel would know something was wrong. "Well, Mel, we had to go to a muggle town today." He sighed. "Deatheaters were attacking the town and had pretty much killed everyone there. Thankfully we were able to make the muggles who survived and all the others that this was just a muggle military accident. While we were searching for survivors we saw a small playground not to far from the town. You could just barely see black figures in the distance. I got about two or three other aurors to come with me and we apparated to the playground and ambushed them. There were four of them. They were all standing in a loose circle staring down at something. They were using the cruciatus curse and must have heard a pop from behind them because one shouted aurors and they scattered. Luckily we caught two of the four. I was helping restrain them when I heard crying and whimpering. I made sure the others had them and then started walking over to where the deatheaters had been standing in the circle. I never thought they would stoop that low but there were two little muggle girls right in the middle of where they had been standing." Harold shook his head and went on when he felt his wife take his hand in his own. "There was a red headed one and a light brown headed one. The brown one was unconscious and lying limp on the road. The red headed one was shielding her from whatever would come their way. I could see her try to get up but just fall back down. She heard me coming and just barely moved her head to look over my way. Merlin, Mel, she was only ten and looked about half that, but she was trying to protect her sister. She started saying that she'd give me whatever she had if just didn't hurt her or Rose. That would be the sister she was trying to keep safe. She thought I was a deatheater and she was scared for her life. I explained to her that I was a good person and that I wouldn't hurt her or Rose. She started to trust me so I took her to St. Mungo's along with the unconscious sister. She wouldn't let me leave when Marie was checking over her. I showed her that not all people use their wands to hurt people. I conjured up a red lily and tucked it behind her ear. Her name's Lily by the way. Just before I left she asked me the most shocking question I've ever heard come out of a ten year old's mouth."

Melony stared at her husband with wide eyes. She felt pity for those two little girls. "Harold what'd poor little Lily ask you?"

Harold looked up and grasped Melony's hands. "Mel, how would you feel about having two more kids in the house?" Harold didn't know when he'd decided that he wanted Lily and Rose to live with them if the parents were gone and the sister didn't want to care for them but he did.

Melony was in shock. She hadn't been expecting this. She'd always wanted more kids and a little girl but never would have thought of it after her healer told her that she could never have children again after James. She just didn't know what to think right now. She barely gathered her wits enough to ask, "Did L-Lily ask you that?"

"She did Mel. That ten year old girl asked me if she could stay with my family instead of her own sister. Mel she believes that her sister doesn't want her or her sister. You always wanted more kids and these are two little girls. Mel we cannot not help those two girls." Harold stared at his wife and prayed that she would say yes. He was almost sure she would once she got over the shock. Then they could ask James.

Melony looked at her husband and saw the excitement he had at just the thought of having two more kids around the house. She knew that those two girls would have him wrapped around their fingers the moment they moved in. She would also have a girl to take shopping for clothes and girly things. She loved her son but he was a boy. He often just walked around in his underwear unless she told him to put clothes on. She could just imagine having two girls around the house. James would be more like a big brother. They were after all a few weeks younger than him. She knew her son had always wanted a younger sibling and had been thinking about asking Harold if they could adopt. If these girls had no parents and the sister wouldn't keep them then she'd never forgive herself for not taking those two little girls in. If it turned out that they didn't have magic then she'd send them to the muggle school not far from here. "Well if those girls' parents are truly gone and their sister doesn't want them then I have to say that I would love to have them stay here. I don't think we should adopt them but we could be their guardians."

Harold grinned and kissed Mel on her cheeks and lips. "That's great Mel! I swear you are gonna love Lily. I can't tell about Rose though. Marie said that she has gone into a coma but she'll have a very good chance of coming out of it knowing everything that's been happening. I think that Lily might have a touch of magic in her. I don't know why but I just have that feeling. I guess we have to tell James now." Harold looked around for his prankster son. He hadn't heard him since he'd walked in.

"Yes we do. We need to ask him if he's okay with this. He needs to get up from his nap anyway. I swear that boy sleeps all day." Melony shook her head and smiled. She got up and walked up the stairs into James' room. It was a deep golden color with quidditch brooms, snitches, bludgers, and quaffles flying around. There were toys strewn across the room along with a few pieces of clothing and a couple of books. She walked up to the bed where James lay face down with one leg and arm dangling off the bed. Melony was sure that if he'd fallen off the bed that he would have just continued sleeping on the floor. She crouched next to his head and gently shook him awake. "James. You need to get up from your nap, honey. You're never going to go to sleep tonight if you sleep the day away. C'mon James, your dad and I want to ask you something very important." Melony laughed when James picked up his head and his glasses were lopsided. "Let's go sleepy head." She helped him up and walked him down the stairs, afraid that he'd trip and fall.

James walked into the library ahead of his mom and saw his dad. His face lit up and he ran over to his dad and hugged him. His dad's face had been grave when he left to go to work this morning. "Hey, Dad! Glad you're home. Mom tells me you guys wanted to ask me something important, so what is it?"

"Well, James your mom and I were wondering if you wanted a brother or sister." Harold watched his son's face and saw shock run across it.

"Is mom having a baby?" James was stunned into silence. His parents had always told him that he was their miracle and that it would hurt his mom to have another baby.
"No, honey, I'm not." Melony laughed. "Your father is talking about being guardians to two muggle girls who lost their parents in a deatheater attack. They're pretty much orphans. We thought it would be a good idea. We just wanted to see how you felt about it."
James thought about having two younger sisters to protect and have fun with. "Are they my age?"

"Yes but their birthday is after yours." Harold answered and could see the wheels turning in James' mind. He knew his son was gone on the idea of having sisters around the house. He could just see James and those two little girls running around together.

James just sat there. He knew that muggles didn't know anything about magic unless you told them, but if his dad was wanting to bring those two girls home then he'd have told them about it all already. If they knew about magic then they might go to Hogwarts too. "When do I get to meet them?" James said and made Melony and Harold laugh.

Harold ruffled his son's hair. "Well both of them are resting right now. I do have to warn you though, Rose is in a coma. We don't know when she'll come out of it but according to Healer Marie she can hear and remember everything around her. It's like she's there but she can't move or talk. She's going to wake up we just don't know when." Harold explain to James.

"Cool. What's for supper?"