A Journey so Far - A Harry Potter Fanfic

1. A Flash of Green

The room was dark. No sound came from the now abandoned house, but an owl could be heard hooting overhead. The bed in one of the bedrooms creaked, and collapsed, weakened under the strain of the explosion - the back firing curse that changed the course of history.

Suddenly, the little baby in the cot began to cry. Quiet sobs at first, but they soon turned to loud wails as he stared at the dead body of his mother lying on the flood in front of him, her eyes open and the look of determination still etched on her face. Lily Potter had died fighting.

As his cries increased in volume a small figure crawled from under the nearby table and ran to her younger brother. The young face of Ellie Potter was pale, and even her freckles, which usually covered her face, were barely visible. All but a newly made scar in the shape of a lighting bolt on the right hand side of her face was white. Her ginger hair was long - especially for a child only just turned 5, and wavy, just like that of her mother who half an hour ago had been plaiting it and singing her daughter a lullaby.

She reached out and stroked her brother on the head. He quickly calmed down at her light touch and she started singing him the song Lily had always sung to them when they were sad.

"The sun'll come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun. Just thinking about tomorrow, clears away the..."

The door downstairs opened and she heard footsteps begin to climb the stairs. She quickly hid under the table again and Harry's cries pierced the silence ones more.

Severus Snape walked through the open door and collapsed at Lily's feet. He sobbed until his heart was empty, ignoring the cries of the boy he believed to be the Dark Lord's vanquisher. It wasn't until he heard a small sob that he realised the Harry wasn't the only child in the room. He glanced around and noticed a small figure crouched under the desk in the corner of the room. He beckoned her out and gasped when he saw an almost spitting image of the young Lily he had fallen in love with all those years ago. He was even more surprised to notice the scar on her forehead. It was the boy whom Voldemort had set out to kill, he knew this as it was himself who had provided the information, so why had the curse hit the girl, not the boy?

His thought process was interrupted by and old man with a long silver beard tucked into his belt and a long purple cloak.

"Severus, I expected that I would find you here." Said Albus Dumbledore. He knelt down and Ellie ran into his open arms sobbing. This was a figure she knew all too well.

"James and Lily are dead Severus, and the Dark Lord is gone, for now at least. I believe your post is at Hogwarts now."

The sallow skinned man nodded and left, still reeling emotionally from holding his only love's dead body in his arms and seeing the young girl - a child he vowed to protect through all her years of difficulty ahead.

Albus picked up Harry and held Ellie's hand tightly as he apparated to Privet Drive, Little Winging, Surrey. Here he placed Harry, who was now fast asleep on the doorstep along with a letter from himself and picked Ellie up. As he turned to go she looked curiously at him.

"Why are we leaving Harry?" She asked quietly, unwilling to lose her whole family in one night.

"He must learn in due course what happened tonight. It isn't something that should be burdened upon a child when they are too young. You, my dear, are to come and live with me at Hogwarts. Harry will learn the truth from your aunt and uncle when the time is right, not before."

And as Ellie turned away from her sleeping brother little did she know what lay ahead for her in the years to come.