Part One - Infancy

Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age

The child is grown, and puts away childish things.

Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.

—Edna St. Vincent Millay

Chapter One

The clock had just struck nine o'clock when Minerva McGonagall looked up from the papers she was grading with a shiver. Something had just happened, she could feel it. Ambient magic was normally undetectable, even to a gifted witch like her, but on Halloween, all things were heightened. With the doorway to the spirit world cracked open, things that normally couldn't happen, did. And magic that was forgotten by the passage of time was made possible again.

Still, the stern witch wouldn't have thought much of it, were it not for the fact that she happened to glance out the window of her office two hours later. There, on the lawn, was Hagrid moving as quickly as he could towards the castle doors. She hadn't seen him since the subdued feast earlier that night, and there had certainly not been anything like the panic that was on now his face then. While the man was emotive by nature, he had become more and more stoic as the death count continued to rise over the past few months. So many lost; Fabian Prewett and his brother, Marlene McKinnon, Edgar Bones and his entire family...it beggared belief that so many old pure-blood families were now gone, and yet there were still others who supported You-Know-Who, and didn't see he was trying to destroy everything about the Wizarding world that they held dear.

McGonagall rose from her desk. If there was yet more bad news, she wanted to hear it now, rather than put it off for later. She didn't teach any classes the following day, so now was as good a time as any to hear it. Perhaps it would even allow her to mourn, if mourning was required, without affecting her teaching schedule. The cat Animagus sighed to herself when she realized her own train of thought. She was becoming hard, as they all were, but also helpless to stop it. Sometimes she wondered if a heart couldn't turn to stone.

Minerva waited, and then measured her steps carefully, and just made it to the Entrance Hall when the gamekeeper was coming down the stairs. "Hagrid," she called.

"Professor McGonagall," he nodded. "No time ter talk. Important business for Professor Dumbledore. I'm ter go ter Godric's Hollow, and then ter Privet Drive in Little Whinging."

"Good heavens, why?"

The gentle giant looked a little tentative. "That's private business. Alls I can tell yer is that I' ter meet the Professor there tomorrow at midnight."

"I don't understand," the sober Scotswoman said, trying desperately to find her patience. "Why would you meet the Headmaster in Surrey tomorrow night? Little Whinging is in Surrey, is it not? Is this Order business?" She then realized that he had already given her a clue, Godric's Hollow. She was perhaps one of the few that knew James and Lily Potter were hiding there, and that was only because Lily had written to her when Marlene McKinnon died. She had quietly visited the Potters there once. "Why are you going to Godric's Hollow?"

"Not Order business," Hagrid said, shaking his large bearded head. "I'm ter pick up Holly Potter from Godric's Hollow."

"Holly Potter?" Minerva gasped. "Why would you need to pick her up, Hagrid? What has happened to the Potters?" The pit in her stomach was ripening to the size of an orange. Something terrible had happened, she could feel it.

The gamekeeper hung his head. "Them instruments in the Headmaster's office went off, and Bathilda Bagshot floo-called him. It's the Potters, it is. They've been done in."

Her hand flew to her mouth without thought or conscious action. McGonagall couldn't believe it. Not Lily and James. Of course, she knew about the prophecy, all the Order did, but she hadn't wanted to believe that they would die. That poor little girl and her unfortunate parents. Her heart broke at the thought of Holly, dear sweet Holly, dead. Then, just as that thought occurred to her, she realized something else. Why would Hagrid take a dead body from the West Country all the way to Surrey?

"Hagrid," she said tentatively. "Why are you being sent to collect Holly's body?"

"Blimey, Professor, no! Holly's still alive, she is."

The Transfiguration Professor suddenly understood, and then tears filled her eyes. It was not a dead baby he was being sent to collect, but an orphan. Nodding her head in a decisive manner, she said, "Then let us go, Hagrid. Holly is waiting."

"Er, Professor, I'm not supposed to—"

"Nonsense," she said, drawing herself up. "Who knows what Death Eaters are still there waiting to ambush the unsuspecting? I shall accompany you."

The two of them arrived in the small Somerset village by Dumbledore's portkey, and hurried quickly down the pokey streets. Hagrid could not do anything quietly, but the secrecy of their mission was aided by teenagers running loose, making noise in the street, and small fireworks that were being set off in anticipation of Bonfire Night. Leaves crunched underfoot, and blew along the pavements due to a slight breeze that gave a chill to the night.

At the end of the village, they saw a small, diminutive hooded figure huddling against the gate of her house. When she looked up and spotted them, she gave a small sob.

Though Minerva had only met the woman a handful of times, she knew her face well enough. "Madam Bagshot?"

The little old woman did not speak. She only cried, continuing to weep, and pointed.

Her finger extended to the end of the street, towards where the cottages stopped and open country began again. There, at the end of the lane, flanked by a house on either side, was their destination. But, even if Minerva hadn't been there before, she still would have been able to find it.

Behind the well-manicured hedge, the cottage was in ruins. Though the basic frame was still standing, the right side of the top floor had been blown apart. Rubble and roofing had fallen from the house, and now lay out on the lawn. The ivy, which had once been climbing merrily on the outer walls, lay limp; like ship lines that had been ripped away from their moorings.

The professor didn't see how anyone could have survived, let alone a baby. Still, there was something odd about the whole thing. It took her a moment, but then she said in awe, "There's no Dark Mark."

"Maybe he forgot," Hagrid suggested, though he sounded suspiciously guilty, as if he was hiding something.

Minerva shot him a sharp look, and then turned back to the wreck. "Perhaps," she allowed.

The pair moved forward and stepped carefully over the fallen debris. Gingerly, they moved inside the house and over the broken door frame. There, lying in the hallway was James Potter. He had fallen in an awkward position, with one of his arms pinned underneath him. He looked vaguely upward, as if he could see something on the ceiling that they could not. Though she knew him to be dead, Minerva crouched down by his body and performed a diagnostic charm.

She sighed when she got to her feet again, and tried to blink back the tears that were falling with no regard to her wishes in rivulets down her face. Hagrid let out a mournful howl, and the two of them side-stepped the Potter male and headed up the stairs. They turned right at the top of the staircase and entered the small room that no longer had a ceiling. Bricks and beams were all over the place, covering the occupant left behind. Lily Potter had one such beam draped across her torso. Her eyes too were vacant and staring upwards.

In the corner of the room, a pair of robes lay on the floor, and beyond them was a crib that had been turned on its side with the mattress and bedding spilling out. Minerva didn't see Holly anywhere, but she knew that Dumbledore must have had charms monitoring the residence for signs of life. She had to be here somewhere.

"Holly?" she called softly.

A gentle sniff met her in reply. As Hagrid was behind her, Minerva knew it hadn't come from him. She moved forward into the room and levitated things out of the way. And then, behind the fallen rocking chair opposite the crib, she found Holly Potter curled up into a little ball, hugging her legs. The toddler had to have gotten out of her crib and walked over to the chair to hide behind, because it was too far for her to have fallen.

Crouching down, Minerva looked at the little girl with a sympathetic expression. "Holly?" she called. "Little lass? Can you hear me?"

Slowly, a little red-haired and curly head looked up, and hazel eyes filled with tears as she saw the Transfiguration Professor. "Shh," Holly said, holding up one little finger to her lips. "Mummy's sleeping."

A sob burst out of McGonagall's chest, and she held out her arms to the little girl, who allowed herself to be picked up. The older witch cuddled the girl close. When Holly saw Hagrid in the doorway, she tucked her face under Minerva's chin so that she couldn't see him. It was just as well, for the Professor didn't want the little girl to see Lily lying dead again.

McGonagall covered Holly with her cloak. She didn't register the roar of an engine from outside; she was too focused on her charge. Minerva left the room immediately, brushing past Hagrid who stood awkwardly in the hallway. Really, she was feeling more and more annoyed with Dumbledore by the minute. The wee one had been in the same room with her mother's corpse for hours! How could the Headmaster have made such a terrible mistake? She was a toddler, not a baby. It was entirely possible that she could have gotten up and walked away, rather than hiding.

Making her way downstairs, Minerva found the way blocked by a familiar face. On the floor, with James Potter cradled in his arms, was Sirius Black.

The man had completely given into his grief. His shoulders were shaking with sobs, and his tears were falling from his chin to run down the cheeks of James Potter. McGonagall felt the deepest of pity stir in her heart. She had known how close James and Sirius were, as close as brothers, and she had always thought of them as something of a duo. For one to live and the other to die—it seemed wrong somehow.

"Sirius," she said softly.

Holly chose that moment to peak her head out from under the Transfiguration Professor's cloak. "Paddy!" she called, sounding both distressed and happy.

The young man gasped. Gently easing James's head to the floor, he stepped around the body and immediately plucked Holly from McGonagall's arms. He pressed a gentle kiss to the toddler's forehead, and reverently said, "You're all right. You're all right now."

The little girl tugged on the sleeve of Sirius's robes, as if she had an urgent message to impart. "Mummy went night-night."

He looked at Holly in surprise, his grey eyes full of concern. "Mummy...?"

"Bad man," Holly said, nodding her head and making her red curls dance. "He made Mummy sleep. He go boom."

Minerva gasped. "The robes," she murmured to herself.

"Lily?" Sirius asked, looking to McGonagall.

She nodded, and he let out another soft sob.

Holly tugged on his robes again, pulling Sirius's attention back to her. "I gots owie."

"Are you hurt, princess?" Sirius asked, looking concerned. "Where?"

Holly pulled down the neck of her purple sleeper with little difficulty and showed Sirius the skin just under her collarbone, over her heart. There, in the shape of a lightning bolt, was a freshly made cut. "See?" she said, almost proudly. "See? Owie."

The Black scion immediately pulled out his wand and cast all the healing charms that he knew over the cut. McGonagall watched in fascination as none of them made the cut heal. Stop bleeding, yes, but heal, no.

"Dark magic," he finally said, with disgust lacing every word. "The cut must have been made by it. There is no other explanation."

"Maybe Dumbledore can do something," McGonagall suggested.

Hagrid chose that moment to come down the stairs with Lily's body in his arms. Sirius, unfortunately, was not quick enough to shield Holly's eyes.

"Mummy! Wake up! Wake up now!" Holly called. Her lip trembled as she watched the giant bring her mother forward, stepping past them to put Lily down in the sitting room. Holly's eyes followed his progression, and she saw her father then. She looked at Sirius, her eyes sad and looking so much older than her age, and asked, "Is Daddy sleepy too?"

A hoarse sob freed itself from Sirius's chest and he nodded. "Yes, princess. Daddy's sleeping too."

Minerva couldn't take it anymore. She excused herself from the hallway, knowing Holly would be safe with Sirius, and returned up the stairs to the wrecked little room. Her eyes fell once more on the black robes on the floor, but she turned her gaze away.

With a few flicks of her wand, she had an empty trunk from the cupboard open and began filling it with the things from the room that survived. Surprisingly, most of the clothes in the bureau were intact and undamaged. Lily had obviously been dressing her daughter in mostly Muggle clothing, the only nod to her witch heritage been the frequent usage of the colors of green and purple. Minerva added the small collection of robes too, and quickly filled the trunk with shoes and sleepwear as well. Of the toys, only two were undamaged. One was a plush teddy bear, and the other was a china doll that would have better suited a girl of ten, rather than a toddler of one and ten months. Still, both of those went into the trunk along with a music box, that when opened, played "The Holly and the Ivy." A quick stop in the bathroom for Holly's toiletries, and Minerva then went into the elder Potters' room.

There, she opened up another trunk, one engraved with the initials JEP, and began to fill it with James and Lily's clothes. She saw Lily's wand on her bedside, and put that in too. After collecting Lily's battered guitar case, Minerva put her jewelry box inside the trunk as well, along with the small chest that she knew housed the Potter family jewels and heirlooms. The books in the small bookcase in the corner of the room also found their way inside, and Minerva saw some school books and personal ones mixed together, along with a leather bound journal she could not open. Thankfully, nothing else remained, and it was clear that Lily had left most of their valuable things in the Family Vault, or in their London home, rather than bring them to Godric's Hollow. There weren't even any moving paintings on the walls, but there were two Muggle ones that she was able to take for Holly. McGonagall added two photo albums to the top of the trunk and then closed it, before levitating both pieces of luggage down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom, she followed the voices and stepped into the middle of a disagreement.

"No," Hagrid was saying. "I've me orders from Dumbledore direct. Holly's ter go ter her aunt an' uncle's."

"That's nonsense!" Sirius snapped back. "Lily and her sister didn't get on at all. There is no way that she would want her only child to go there. I can take her."

Holly seemed little disturbed by their disagreement. She had her head tucked under Sirius's chin, and seemed uninterested in the goings on around her. Minerva was certain that the excitement of the night was now hitting the little girl, and she was soon to fall asleep. She did notice however that Holly's eyes kept flicking towards the sitting room, though the door was closed and she couldn't see her parents' bodies anymore.

"Enough," Minerva said, silencing the men, who turned to her in surprise. "Sirius, we both know that Lily and James didn't name a new godmother after Marlene's death. Are you trying to say that they did, and simply did not inform me?"

He sighed. "No, no they didn't."

"Then I am afraid that we have no choice but to take Miss Potter to her Aunt's for now."

"I could take her," Sirius said stubbornly.

"You have no legal claim to the girl," McGonagall said, "and furthermore, you are a bachelor. The Wizengamot would not grant you custody, and you know it. Once everything has settled in a few days, we can all sit down with Albus and discuss Holly's future."

Sirius looked at the Transfiguration Mistress in confusion. "What do you mean, once everything has settled down? What's going on?"

Minerva sighed. "I suspect, and this is just a guess, that You-Know-Who has met his end."

"What?" Sirius gasped, looking shocked. His eyes went wide, and he looked as though he had been clubbed over the head.

"'Tis true," Hagrid admitted. "Professor Dumbledore told me so himself."

Minerva looked at him in an annoyed fashion. "How could you not tell me? And how could he have known without coming here?"

Hagrid gave a great shrug. "Dunno. But he's been up to something, 'cause he had just arrived back in his office when I came up ter see him when he summoned me. He was deeply affected about their deaths too, see, 'cause he was speaking to himself about traitors and broken charms."

Sirius stiffened in an almost imperceptible way, and Minerva would have missed it had she not turned her head to look at the young man. There was tenseness to his posture now, and he looked suddenly alert. His eyes were narrowed, and a muscle was trembling in his clenched jaw. Though she had fought beside him many times in the past five years, Minerva had never seen him quite so violent looking. But then, just as she noticed it, the look faded away when his eyes fell on Holly.

"Princess," he said softly to her. Her little red-haired head tilted up, and she regarded her father's best friend with sad eyes. "I have to go away for a little while," he told her. "You are going to go with Professor McGonagall, and she is going to take care of you."

"'Til Mummy and Daddy wake up?" she asked, as if she was merely going to be babysat until her parents returned to her.

Sirius gave her a sad smile. "Mummy and Daddy aren't going to wake up, princess. They are going to sleep forever."

Her little brow furrowed like she didn't understand, but she nodded. Then, her hazel eyes darkened and she said to Sirius, "No go, Paddy. Stay wif me."

"I have to go, little love," Sirius said, kissing her forehead. "Be a good girl."

"Good girl," she repeated.

Then, as if before he could change his mind, he handed her quickly to Minerva. She accepted the child back into her arms, and saw Hagrid pat Sirius on the shoulder out of the corner of her eye and say, "There, there."

"Are you taking her directly to Surrey?" Black asked the half-giant quietly.

"Not as such," Hagrid admitted. "Not 'til midnight tomorrow."

Sirius gave a little, bitter smile. "Go ahead and take my motorbike. I won't need it anymore. Portkeys aren't good for babies. It can take you three where ever you need to go." His grey eyes looked so haunted in that moment that McGonagall almost called out to him and asked him to come with her to help with Holly, but before she could, he turned to her and said, "Goodbye, Professor."

"Wait," she called. "Where are you going?"

"Hunting," was her reply.

And then Sirius Black ducked out the door and was swallowed by the darkness of the night.

Ten minutes later, as Hagrid carried the trunks and Minerva the toddler and a small cage with a hissing cat inside, the Transfiguration Professor heard a mournful howl go up in the distance.