Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else. Just my OC.

Chapter One:

A Baby's Tomfoolery

"Even when our eyes are closed, there's a whole world out there that lives outside ourselves and our dreams."

-Full Metal Alchemist

Delighted noises escaped Euphemia's mouth as she reached out her hand towards her toy duck. Despite how wobbly her movement was, she managed a weak grip on the toy that quacked in an almost despairing manner. Ignoring her toy's despair, Euphemia placed it as much as possible in her mouth and began suckling on it. Her actions earned her some indignant quacks.

Besides her, the little doll her mum had gotten her had snorted in amusement. "Better you than I," she crossed her arms and raised her chin up in an airy manner. "Honestly, my instructions clearly stated not meant for children bellow one. Of course, muggleborns like your mother can't read simple instructions."

Euphemia paused.

Even her toy duck stopped quacking.

"Otherwise, she would have read that I was meant for respectable purebloods."

Feeling a bout of anger at the doll, Euphemia released her toy duck that quacked in relief and bounded away from her reach. The green-eyed baby quickly snatched the doll that was ranting about how she wished she had been bought by a pureblood family.

The doll gasped in surprise. "Release me, you half-breed!"

In response, Euphemia brought up her other hand and begun messing with the doll's shiny golden hair. She took great pleasure in the fact that her fingers were still wet from her own drool.

"Ack! Ouch! My hair, you-ack!"

No one insulted her mum on her watch.

"Prongs, I think Lily accidentally brought the wrong doll out of stress," an amused sounding Sirius Black said from somewhere she couldn't see him.

A snort from her dad confirmed his presence in the room as well. "If an accident is what you want to call it, go ahead, mate."

Sirius chuckled. "Well, you best be off then or you will be late."

Euphemia yanked a bit harder on her doll's hair, intent on making it stop flinging insults. Before the doll could utter another insult at her or her mum, someone gently pried it out of her grip.

The green-eyed baby whined in response.

"My little doe," James fondly said while lifting her up.

Honestly, Euphemia couldn't wait until she outgrew that particular nickname. Being called a little doe certainly wasn't her first choice in a pet name for her, but whatever. At least she knew her dad literally called her that because he loved her and probably because she shared most of her physical appearance with her mum.

"Da!" Euphemia cooed at her dad, lifting her hands to grab his glasses because they were so distracting.

They also seemed so shiny.

She just wanted to hold them for a second, promise. She definitely didn't want to play with it and bend it a little. Scout's honor. She's never been a scout or particularly cared for them, but shhh.

However, before she could reach the glasses, James had kissed her forehead.

His murmured I love you made her freeze.

Love.

James loved her.

Of course he did, because she was his and Lily's baby daughter. He didn't really need a reason beyond that to love her. In fact, he loved her despite how much of a pain in the arse her baby ways were.

Abruptly, Euphemia felt something warming up her heart. She felt affection for her new family coursing through her veins. For James, Lily, her grandparents, Remus, Sirius and Peter.

Euphemia, that in her sudden lucidness forgot she was a baby, told her dad she loved him. It came out in incoherent cooing.

James smiled at her and Euphemia thought that maybe he had understood what she meant anyway. Her mind quickly got too distracted to ponder on her sudden realization as her attention went to her dad's hair.

With another coo, she reached her hand out to gently tug at it.

Something which he, and everyone else really, allowed with an indulgent and fond look.

"Prongs..."

Her dad's smile dimmed a little. "Yeah, I know Padfoot."

Euphemia's cooing stopped as she was once again reminded that while her family appeared happy around her in her home, there was still a war going on outside. That her family were constantly out there risking her life.

She was comforted by the fact that she knew none of them were going to die.

Not yet at least.

"Come here, Prongslette," Sirius joyfully said as James handed her over to him.

Euphemia didn't even have to be a genius to know that Sirius was just trying to lighten the mood. It seemed to work as her dad chuckled a bit. "Take good care of her, alright mate?"

Sirius mock huffed. "Of course I'll take care of my daughter."

"I don't recall you having anything to do with creating her."

"Please, she's everyone's daughter."

Euphemia curled her fingers into her godfather's sleeve when a surge of affection welled up in her as her dad and her godfather shared a brilliant grin that made it seem like they were just in their seventh year of Hogwarts and not in their early twenties.

"Even Moony and Wormtail's?"

"They volunteer to babysit, don't they?" Sirius cheekily retorted.

James gave his own cheeky look, "I'll have to ask Lily when she married you lot as well."

The two wizards then shared a laugh.

If Euphemia could, she would cheekily point out that it was the other way around and that Lily would have to ask James when he married the other Marauders.

With one last peck on her forehead, James shuffled out of the room.

Both she and her godfather stared at the door he walked out of. They kept staring until they heard the front door close.

"At least one blood-traitor left," the doll grumbled from the floor.

Euphemia cooed in delight when Sirius kicked it under the couch.

"So, little Effie," Sirius grinned down at her. "Ready to spend some time with your favorite godfather?"

If she could, Euphemia would have told him that Remus was her favorite godfather.

Instead, she gently tugged at her 'favorite' godfather's hair.

:::

Sometimes, when her mum, dad and godfathers were all too busy to look after her, she'd spend time with her grandparents from her father's side.

Her grandmother, whom she was named after, loved to dot on her. Euphemia once overheard her dad telling her mum that she was basically the daughter her grandparents never had. If after overhearing that conversation Euphemia did her damn best to be the cutest little thing someone could wish for in a daughter while around her grandparents, well, no one seemed to notice.

After all, only the most paranoid person would read into it and deserved to have their name as the definition of paranoia. Although, it was probably a good thing she hadn't met Mad-eye Moody yet.

Where was she again?

Oh, right!

Her grandparents. Euphemia Potter and Fleamont Potter.

Man, did she adore her grandparents.

They were also equally, if not more, fond of her as well.

"James has told us that you have moved on to pureed food now, little one," her grandmother cooed at her.

Euphemia gave her a toothless grin in response and started babbling on how she was glad that she was finally off of that milk stuff she was fed the last who knew how long months.

Just as her grandmother moved to take her to the kitchen to feed her what she was hoping to be some pureed carrots, she heard an explosion that made her startle in surprise and let out a faint cry.

Immediately, her grandmother began rocking her and moved away in another direction.

Seeing that the woman didn't seem concerned, and if anything slightly exasperated, Euphemia quickly calmed down. Instead of being alarmed and worried that something was wrong, because she didn't know how her grandparents died and simply that they did, she was now curious.

What was going on?

She felt anticipation building up in her. She had always been something of a free-spirit with an adventurous streak that could be considered by others as her being an adrenaline junkie or simply having a death wish.

She knew that whatever happened was bound to be interesting.

Her grandmother walked upstairs and to the third door on her left.

After a sigh, her grandmother opened the door.

"Honestly, darling, don't you get tired of experimenting around with ingredients?!" Her grandmother exclaimed, but there was no real anger or bite in her words.

"Once a potioneer, always a potioneer, love."

Euphemia blinked as her grandfather turned away from the cauldron he was hunched over to face them with a jovial, if a bit sheepish, smile that made him look more youthful than the fifties he was in.

The red-haired baby couldn't help the amused cooing that escaped her.

Her grandfather looked like someone straight out of a cartoon. His robes were frazzled, the glasses he wore had gone crooked because of the explosion and his grey hairs were sporting a frizzled look. Even his eyebrows looked a bit singed and his face dirtied a darker color from whatever potion that blew up in his face.

"See? Effie appreciates my work!" Her grandfather grinned, making a move to grab her.

Her grandmother quickly stepped back and scoffed at him. "Of course, considering how silly you look."

Her grandfather's grin broadened.

"Honestly, remember the last few times you have almost sent yourself to an early grave because of your potion accidents?"

"Hmm, not really. I do recall the many accidents my love has been through during her Curse-Breaker stint though."

Her grandmother tried sputtering something about this and that being two very different things.

Keyword: tried.

Before her grandmother could, her grandfather had already swooped in and kiss her.

Euphemia giggled as her grandparents started snogging. Honestly, even the most dense of a person could see how utterly taken her grandparents were with each other even after what was certainly more than thirty years of marriage.

As her grandparents separated, she saw a slight smirk on her grandfather's face.

Before she could even ponder about it or how she wanted to yank her grandmother's hair, he had scooped her into his arms and walked away after declaring that he would feed her while she cleaned up his mess. Her grandmother squawked something about him dirtying her up from behind them.

Euphemia was a bit disappointed to note that she had gotten apple puree instead of the pureed carrots she wanted.

Such a shame.

However, the magical story book her grandfather had gotten to read to her was more than enough to make up for her disappointment.

It certainly did help that the illustrations literally came to life, heavily reminding her of a corporal Patronus Charm but with colors and sound effects.

:::

Her dad was in a good mood.

How did Euphemia know, you may ask? Easy.

After living with her parents for months, excluding the long hours they would spend away from her because of work, she knew their happy habits. Her mum for example would write letters or cook food instead of getting take-outs.

Her dad, on the other hand, would start singing songs and smile more often.

Euphemia loved it when her dad would sing.

Particularly, she loved it whenever her father belted out Don't Go Breaking My Heart. She adored it even more when an exasperated Lily, an over enthusiastic Sirius, an amused Remus or Peter, who had a surprisingly good singing voice, would sing along.

One of her wishes in the world she lived in was to one day witness all of them sing the song together.

"You filthy half-breed, I wouldn't be surprised if you-"

Euphemia wrapped her chubby hand over her doll's mouth just as her dad got to the end of the pre-chorus.

"Right from the start, I gave you my heart,"

Her father certainly wasn't an Elton John, but she wasn't complaining. The song, as annoying as it used to be for her, grew on her.

"Mhm!" Her doll struggled against her as she happily cooed along to her dad's singing.

James scooped her up, a magnificent smile still in his place.

Without a care, Euphemia dropped her doll that quickly walked away while ranting about blood-traitors and other very discriminating stuff. Honestly, Euphemia couldn't wait to throw the doll away one day or donate it to someone else.

"So don't go breaking my heart!"

With a wide toothless smile of her own, Euphemia clapped.

Delighted noises escaped her as her father spun around.

Later, she would learn it was because it was her mum's birthday.

Her dad had given her mum a quote "extremely rare" book on potions.

The chocolate cake was awesome though.

Peter, who had been the only one not occupied with the Order, gave her some extra cake. Afterwards when he was babysitting her while her parents were off for a romantic evening, he had gotten rid of her doll for calling her mum a mudblood.

A foolish, naive part of her that she thought was long dead had hoped that her existence would somehow end up with a side-effect of Wormtail not betraying her parents.

She'd never admit to that though.

:::

Magic, Euphemia discovered everyday, had lots and lots of perks.

One of which involved her having to take one vial of an icky tasting potion a day to keep away the teething pain she was supposed to be experiencing.

Magic, one. Modern day medicine, zero.

Hopefully, she would one day go to Hogwarts and learn magic. She was so looking forward to learning alchemy too.