I´ve started reuploading the chapters, this time betaed by the amazing bow-and-arrow-lover. Thank you very much, again!

A Mother's Love

Chapter 1:

"Dear Madeline, or may I still call you Maddie?" were the words written down on fine paper with a feather, on the rainy evening of Halloween. In the house, no, in the manor in Godrics Hollow, the light was still bright, and joy was in the air. Especially in the living room next to the office- the office in which the woman writing the letter was sitting.

"I'm writing to you not because I want to… but because I have to." Tears in the green eyes slowly dripped on the letter, only to be slowly and carefully whipped away. The woman forced herself to continue, fighting to keep her memories, good and bad, from surfacing. Joy may have filled the other room, but this room was devoid of such happiness.

"It's me, Lily, your cousin and friend from our childhood days before you moved to America."

…

"Lily! Lily!" A short-haired girl with blazing violet eyes ran into the kitchen, only to stumble into her shocked redheaded cousin, who quickly hid a letter written on fine parchment behind her back. The elder girl didn't seem to notice, at least not yet. "Have you heard? Dad finally got promoted! Now he's earning so much more, and we can finally move into a house! Alicia is already packing her things. Can you believe it?"

Lily smiled, but with a bitter undertone. "That's great Maddie… but I fear… I've heard my parents mention something like moving away. You're moving away, aren't you?"

Maddie bit her lip and nodded, sadness in her eyes. She hesitated. "…they mention it…often. But I'm sure I can stop them from going to America! You'll see, they'll see that a house here is way better! And after all, I couldn't leave my best friend in the whole world, now could I?"

"I know you wouldn't," confirmed the one year older of the two.

Maddie smiled, and then her eyes snapped to the letter her cousin held. "What have you got there?"

The eleven-year-old shrugged. "Just some freaky letter from some crazy school. Petunia thinks it's fake. They want to come here to explain next week." With a smile, she gave her best friend the letter. "Just look, they're writing about magic like it's real. Pretty dumb, huh?"

Maddie's eyes scanned the paper, and she shook her head. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Lils. It looks pretty serious to me to be a prank. And I know ghosts are real, so why not magic?"

At that moment, Petunia, Lily's older sister, entered the room. "Going on with that thing again? I thought our parents told you to burn it. Either way, I bet no one will come." She turned her glare on Maddie. "And now, Maddie, get out of here. Aunt and Uncle are waiting for you, and I want to spend some time with my sister to get that craziness out of her head."

"I'm not crazy," Lily protested but was ignored by Petunia.

Maddie shrugged and grinned brightly. "I don't think you're crazy. And you totally have to tell me how that talk with those magic-people goes."

But sadly, Maddie's parents moved away to America even though their youngest daughter protested with all she had, and Lily forgot about her soon after learning that, yes, magic was real and she would be attending a real school of magic.

...

"Even though I don´t know if you still want anything to do with me after all these years, I have a favor to ask from you. And I don´t even know if you will agree to do it... so I´m terribly sorry to have to force it upon you. But I really don´t have any other choice."

The redheaded woman entered the living room, where her husband, James Potter, happily played with their twin sons. Harry James Potter, the older of the two, had messy black hair and emerald green eyes and was madly laughing while riding on a beginner's broom, a gift from his godfather Sirius Black.

Daniel James Potter meanwhile, was safely in the arms of his father, listening carefully to his stories while nibbling on a plush owl, a gift from his godfather Remus Lupin, sky blue eyes already slightly dazed with sleepiness and the same black hair as his twin (and father) slightly less messed up but still unagreeable with any brushes. Lily hugged herself and wiped her tears once more away. Already knowing there wasn´t any other way, she turned away from this happy picture of a perfect family.

"I´m going to say it directly: I´m a witch, my husband James is a wizard and my twin boys, Harry and Daniel are most likely wizards, too. And we´re all in mortal danger. There is a war going on in wizarding Britain, and I want to make sure my children are at least safe. I love them so much. But there is a dark wizard out there, and he´s out to kill us all. So, we have chosen to get our sons to other people, where they´ll be safe. And my choice fell upon you..."

As soon as the twins were tucked into bed, they instantly hugged each other and fell asleep with a content smile on their faces.

"You live in Amity Park, the most haunted non- magical town anywhere (and not just America, I researched). Your ghosts are actually corporeal and really dangerous. No wizard in his right mind would ever go there by free will. Plus, you´re a ghost hunter. So, they would be safe with you."

"Come back here you scum!" Jack Fenton yelled, anger leaking into his booming voice while chasing after the fleeing ghost before Maddie Fenton successfully caught the flying ghostly blob in a glowing net.

"Good job, Jack," she said smiling before pulling her hood and glasses away, revealing shortcut brown-reddish hair and violet eyes. "And now help me get that thing to the lab."

"But you already have a child, and I can´t force you to have two more."

The two ghost hunters quickly grabbed the glowing net on both edges and hurried to their car, only to stop when a small, redheaded girl climbed out of it. The three-year-old didn´t look very content. "Mom! Dad! Really, again? How many more of these...these..." The young genius searched for a word, but before she could continue, her father pulled her into a hug while Maddie swiftly secured the ghost in a container in the bag of the RV.

Her husband, meanwhile, put a golden glittering plastic crown on his daughter's head and proudly announced, "And that´s my Jazzerincess!"

The girl in the light blue dress groaned in annoyance, "Another Dad? Really? I´d rather have another book than that! I must already have around 250 of them!"

Her father just hugged her again. "A princess can never have enough crowns, and you´re my pretty and clever little princess." The girl seemed to differ, but let her childish father be, only rewarding his actions with an eyeroll.

"And I know that Ghost hunting isn´t the best of all jobs to make a profit. I know you often have problems getting by. You couldn´t afford two more children."

Maddie swiftly put the now empty net next to the container when her eyes fell upon a stack of papers they had located here. Biting her lip, she took the first of them and crossed the first line with a shaking hand. Sighing, she pulled the door closed and went to the front to show her husband the bill. His face fell when he stared at the huge amount of numbers still adding up from the other lines. Finally breaking the tense silence, he said, "It´s okay, we´re gonna be okay. We always are. And now that´s only 43 ghosts left we have to catch today; then we´ll have everything we need."

"But Dad," protested little Jasmine Fenton. "It´s almost night."

Forcing a smile, Maddie faked optimism. "That´s right, sweetie. It´s ALMOST night. So, we can manage."

"So even though it breaks my heart I will have to separate my boys. They are even safer that way. And because they are wizarding twins they share a connection. A connection that can´t ever be broken as long as it isn´t death. And this connection will only grow stronger with time. They will meet each other again one day, I know it. They´ll be okay."

Quietly, Lily stepped to the bed of her boys, already knowing which one would go to her cousin. Because Maddie's husband Jack had black hair and blue eyes, it would be most believable if the one chosen as his son had the same features thereby qualifying Danny as the better choice for her cousin's family. Because Lily had a plan. Thanks to careful research she knew that Maddie and Jack desperately wanted another child, but something had sadly gone wrong with Jasmine's birth, making Maddie unable to carry another child. But still, they were already trying to set some money aside in hopes of having enough money to afford a doctor to fulfill their dream. This money alone would be more than enough to keep another child going for some years.

Swiftly, Lily took the younger of the twins, wincing when even though she was being careful the boy woke up, in turn quickly waking his brother. Instantly the boys instinctively tried to reach out for the other, hands grabbing out to reach, only to be too late. Their last contact was the back of Danny's right hand brushing against Harry's forehead. Then the moment was over, and Lily quickly made her way out of the room, while the twins never broke eye contact. When she was out of the room to tell her husband where she went and let him say a heartbreaking goodbye to Danny, the twins started wailing uncontrollable. And while James went to try and comfort Harry in vain, Lily apparated away. "At least I hope..."

"I´ve arranged everything, and when you finished reading this letter, a powerful spell will let you, your family, and everyone else in Amity Park forget you never had a son. He´ll be Daniel James Fenton for all to remember. You´ll have a room, toys, equipment, and even a birth certificate as well as pictures of him. And fake memories." Waving her wand, Lily quickly changed the guest bedroom into a light blue room befitting a one year old boy. Quickly tucking her son into the cradle and comforting the crying baby into sleep and only then allowing herself to cry, Lily placed the letter on the nightstand next to the cradle. Only then she apparated away. "I swear if there was any other way, I would take it."

"I´m so terribly sorry to not give you or your family a choice in that matter. I can´t even find the words to describe how much my heart breaks right now. I can only hope you accept my choice and are okay with it before the magic activates. Then maybe I could live with my guilt a little better. And Maddie, don´t worry about all of your inventions and DNA-locks. We´re cousins and if that isn´t enough, magic always has a way to mess with technology. Plus, the spell will also ensure that all technology will have no choice but to accept his DNA as your own."

"Daniel – or Danny as it seems he prefers – is a good boy. I´m sure you will love him as your own soon. He should never feel unloved and neither should Harry. I´ll take him to a safe and loving home too as soon as I get home."

But after Lily apparated back into the living room and greeted her husband who was holding their firstborn, the front door was blasted open by no one less than Lord Voldemort. Quickly James placed Harry in his wife's arms and urged her to run away. "Lily, quick! Take Harry and go, go! I´ll hold him off!"

Instantly Lily ran up the stairs to her twins – no, thanks to the magic she had done while at the Fenton's home, it now looked like an only child's room - to Harry's room. "Come on" she muttered, trying to apparate away only to find paniced when she couldn´t. Someone had placed a spell on the manor making her unable to apparate away.

"I don´t ever want anyone ever to think I have favorites. I love my boys both with all my heart." Lily quickly placed her older son into his cradle and stood protectively in front of it when she heard her husband's body fall lifeless to the floor downstairs and footsteps on the stairs. Then the dark wizard entered the room; wand raised theatrically. Folding her hands together and pleading with all her heart, Lily begged. "Please, not Harry, no not him. He´s just a baby. Please, take me instead, just not Harry."

"Move aside, mudblood," was the man's only answer.

"No," Lily defied him. "Take me instead, just not Harry...!"

If the Dark Lord still had had something like empathy he would have muttered "Pity" remembering the still ongoing love of one of his best men to this mudblood. He never understood, how Severus Snape had managed to fall in love with her. So instead, the most feared wizard of his age raised his wand and said, "Avada Kedavra."

Lily's last thought was a plea to let her sacrifice not be in vain.

"I would die for them any time. I love my boys so much. And I would do anything for them."

It almost seemed like a soft lullaby was hummed when Voldemort stepped over the dead women's body to the cradle. Raising a nonexistent eyebrow when he found only one instead of two boys unlike how they had been told to be in the prophecy, of which Snape had heard. Twins should have been there; now it only looked like there was only one child. Pity, because the twins factor had been the reason for him to rule the Longbottoms son out. He concluded that his servant must have been mistaken. An evil grin formed on his face when he thought about the way he could make his servant pay for his mistake. But then again, he now had more important matters to take care of. Raising his wand once more in front of Harry Potters wide and tearful eyes he said, "Avada Kedavra." A deadly green light shot off his wand and hell broke loose.

"So now it´s your turn to take care of and to love him. I trust you to do right." When the Fenton's reached their home, it was already past midnight. Jack carried their sleeping daughter out of the RV, and Maddie closed the front door up. And that´s when they suddenly heard the wailing of an infant, which even woke little Jazz up. "Mom...? What´s that...?"

"I don´t know, sweetie, but we'll find out," Maddie assured her sleepy daughter, and then all the Fenton's went up to the guest bedroom where the wailing came from.

"And whatever happens and whatever might come I´ll be forever in your debt." Carefully opening the door and switching the lights on, the family was shocked to find it changed. And in the middle of the change laid a small, black haired boy in a cradle, cradling his right hand close to his chest, as if it was hurt. Unbelieving and not daring to hope Jack muttered, "Is this...real?"

Maddie bit her lip. "Could it be? Are we imagining this?"

"And still can no words describe the remorse I feel for forcing you to accept him if you don´t want him." Carefully going to the nightstand next to the bed Maddie picked up the letter, opened it and read it out loud, tears forming in her eyes as she did so. Jazz, who always wished to have a younger sibling squealed with joy, while Jack quickly pulled the small boy out of his cradle, holding him safe and close. "Hi Danny-boy, are you okay?" Finally, the boy stopped crying and looked at him to give him a big smile. But Jack was shocked when the boy reached out with his right hand, and Jack noticed on the back of it a lightningbolt shaped scar.

He swiftly wondered how the scar came to be there for it looked fresh when suddenly Jazz clung at his leg, "Daddy, Daddy! I wanna see my little sibling, I wanna see!"

Smiling, Jack lowered himself to his daughters eyelevel. "Look, Jazzerincess, this your little brother, Danny."

"Thank you. Thank you for everything." Maddie stopped reading to say out, "No, we thank you, Lily, thank you, wherever you are. And don´t worry, we already love him. We accept him and your choice, and we´ll take care of him. And we love him as our own."

And when the magic activated almost nothing had changed. The Fentons already saw Danny in these few precious moments as one of their own, even though now he was officially their son.

"Many kisses and much love to Danny, you and your family,

forever in your debt, Lily Potter."