Prologue

"Once Upon a Time…"

There was a content, happy family. I'm not just talking about a mother, father, and the picture-perfect little children. I'm talking about surrogated grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters. The whole lot.

It has been about ten years since we've last had the pleasure to see our favorite group of people. This is the story of catching up of old friends, an old threat looming over the world again, and a truly heroic moment in time. This isn't a short story of any shape, form, or idea. This story, I fear to tell you, will be long to tell.

This is the story of the Potters.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Elizabeth, Molly, I apologize for cutting this tea time short today. I have to talk to James." Lily said, standing up from her seat at a fancy set table, a little bit nervous.

It was a sunny afternoon, around the usual time that Princess Lily Potter Evans, Molly Weasley, and Elizabeth Granger gathered around for a relaxing time of tea in the front parlor of the castle. Normally, they would sit and talk for about an hour after they finished their tea and pastries, but Lily had some pretty interesting news that she couldn't wait to tell her husband, James.

Elizabeth and Molly exchanged looks of understanding. "You're telling him today, then?" Elizabeth asked.

Lily nodded, swallowing hard, "I'm still a bit nervous, though." She admitted, sighing.

"You have nothing to be nervous about, Lily." Molly said, comfortingly.

"Except the fact that Remus, or Sirius won't be present like last time. They'll be a little put-out when they find they weren't there when you told." Elizabeth mentioned.

Lily smiled a little and nodded, "I can't tell Sirius, you know that. I have no way to even know where he is."

"How about an owl?" Molly suggested.

Lily shook her head, "We're not supposed to owl any of them. They have a bigger chance of getting caught that way."

"Well then how does James or Dumbledore get a hold of them for instructions?" Elizabeth asked, confused. She was still, after all these years, a bit confused about all this wizard talk.

"Whenever Sirius and the team finishes one task, they floo here for another task." Lily said.

"You mean they're still working on the one they had before?" Molly asked.

"But, they've been gone for two years!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

Lily shrugged, "It must have been a pretty important thing they had to do if it's taking all this time. In any case, I just hope they're all alright. Harry hasn't seen Sirius since he was 8."

"Well, then, we know why you can't tell Sirius, but why can't you tell Remus?" Molly asked.

"Oh, I can, it's just…it would be different if Sirius were here. That way I could tell them all at once. But, since he's not, I just want to tell James, then, at the right time, I'll tell Remus and Sirius together, so neither one feels as though they were told last." Lily tried to explain.

Molly and Elizabeth looked at her, a little confused, but nodded anyway.

"Right, well, I guess I'd better go tell him." Lily said, breathing deeply.

"Good luck!" Molly called out to her as she walked away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Come on, Hermione. Just try it." Harry whined.

Hermione, her arms planted firmly across her chest, a scowl upon her delicate face, shook her head slowly and firmly.

"Are you still mad about last time?" Ron asked.

"Oh, you mean the time that Fred and George both took it upon themselves to jinx it into turning into a regular broom every time I flew up to a certain height, then, after I and the broom fell at a Godforsaken speed to another certain point, very close to the ground might I add, it would change back to a hovering broom?" Hermione said sarcastically.

"Oh come now, 'Mione-tiny, that was all in good fun," Fred grinned.

"Yes, it sure entertained us for awhile," George put in.

"Awhile?!" Hermione screeched, "I was up there for two hours before Harry finally got his brain back and let me down!"

"Anyway" Harry cut in, a little nervously, "How 'bout it, Hermione, want to try it again?"

"Hmmm," Hermione tapped her chin with her index finger and looked thoughtful. Then, she said in a feigned wondering voice, "What is it that common muggle-folk say? Over my dead body? Is that it? Oh yes, that is it," she continued, now looking them all dead in the eye with incredible seriousness, "Over my dead body." She repeated, annunciating each word carefully and firmly.

"Come on 'Mione. You got to have a little bit of fun before we have to leave for Hogwarts. You'll be here all alone, you know?" Ron objected.

"Oh no I won't," Hermione argued right back, "In case you're forgetting, Neville is likely to be spending the school year with me being tutored by that muggle, Professor McDougal."

"That's not entirely true," Fred cut in, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, he's still got another month to see if he's been accepted." George said.

"And plus, even if he isn't," Fred said, snorting as he thought of the little child that affectionately followed them around, "Come on, Mione-tiny, this is Neville we're talking about here, he's not too good of company for that long of time."

"Well, then, there is always Ginny," Hermione suggested thoughtfully.

"Yes, there is always Ginny, but she is normally running around with many of the village children. We know that you prefer to be in the castle walls, not all hyper and such." Ron argued.

"Yeah, plus, you'll only have her for another year. Remember, she'll be joining us next year when she turns 11 as well." George said.

"Well then, what in heavens name do you want of me?" Hermione said exasperatedly.

Harry grinned and handed her a Nimbus 1999 wordlessly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him and said, "This has no logic in it whatsoever. You are all leaving me for Hogwarts for a year, and me learning how to ride a broomstick properly is going to make that all better?"

"At least we'll leave you, knowing with full satisfaction that we can do something better than you." Ron said smugly.

"Oh yes," Hermione began in fake eagerness, clapping her hands together like a six year old learning how to ride his first bicycle, "And…" she sighed, mock dreamily, "I really do believe that that is just putting all my precious hopes and dreams into their right and proper place," she went on, dropping the act, now her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Knowing that my much-of-the-time thick friends have the ability to fly a broomstick better than me. Oh yes, Ron, that is 'my' mission in life."

Harry, still grinning at her behavior, went along with it and said, completely ignoring her sarcasm, "Well, we are mighty lucky, aren't we? We will have the complacency of knowing that we have beaten the oh-so-wonderful Hermione in something, and our smarty-Mione will be full-filling her life-long dream in the process. How simply splendiferous!"

Hermione stared at him, a look of half amusement and half indignant on her face. Harry always had the affect to make her laugh, or at least find humor in anything. She stared at him for a moment longer, him staring right back with the same amount of stubbornness. Sighing, she gave in, "Alright, fine." She snatched the broomstick away from him and then regarded Fred and George warily, "But I would prefer it if these two be at a minimum of 100 feet away from me at all times. And," she held up her index finger at George, who was about to say something smart-alecky, "I do not mean from the air. You two will be at a 100 foot radius of me at all times, no magic allowed when I am up on the broomstick."

"You heard the lady," Harry said jollily. He shooed Fred and George.

"Alright, fine, we can tell when we're not wanted. We'll just go ask James for a little advice on a project we're working on," George huffed and walked away in fake indignation with Fred trailing after.

Hermione turned back to Harry and Ron and said stubbornly as she got on the broom, "I would like you two to be aware right now," she scowled at them, "I am holding you both in the highest of contempt right now." With that said, she kicked off from the ground and hovered above their heads.

Ron and Harry just laughed merrily. They were well used to Hermione's ways and words, knowing full-well that she didn't mean a word of it.

She really didn't. In fact, she admired each one of them extremely. The fact that she grew up as a muggle surrounded be witches and wizards, and nobody ever once had given her even the tiniest of dirty looks for that, she was incredibly grateful. They were all a family. Harry, Ron, each one of the Weasley children, Neville, Seamus Finnegan, they were her cousins, brothers, and sisters. Her mother, father, Princess Lily, Prince James, Molly, Arthur, Cynthia, Patrick, Grandma Veronica, Grandpa Harold, Remus and Sirius, when they were around, Frank, Alice they were the world to her. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, they were all her family. If not in blood, then in spirit and every other way possible.

And she meant to them what they meant to her.

"Nice job, Hermione, now let's bring it down. Aunt Molly is calling us in for dinner," Harry shouted, from a few feet away in the air.  

Hermione flew down, landing a few seconds after Ron and Harry reached the ground.

"See, now that wasn't so bad." Harry teased.

"Easy for you to say. You have magic blood in you, the brooms work better for you lot." Hermione mock sulked.

Ron grinned, "Oh well, at least you have us, the greatest Quidditch players in the world-,"

"Don't let James hear you say that,"

"-to teach you," Ron finished, ignoring Hermione's remark.

"Yeah, well, we'd better go," Harry said, all three turning to walk back to the castle.  

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before Hermione smiled, forgetting her previous mood, and suddenly tapped Harry on the arm, shouted, "You're it!" and ran off. Ron ran behind her. Harry, confused for a moment, quickly recovered and laughed with the rest of them, trying to tag one.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this start to the story. I know it's not as long as I usually put up, don't worry, this is just an introduction. Well, I sincerely hope that none of you were disappointed in this. Please review!