Disclaimer- All property of J.K. Rowling

Chapter One- Raid on Malfoy Manor

It was one of the hottest summers in Britain for at least five years. James Sirius Potter was playing Quidditch with his brother Albus and cousins Rose and Hugo, Weasley vs. Potter. James had been so thrilled when he found out he had been made Quidditch Captain of Gryffindor house that he had been determined to practise every free moment he had during the summer before he started his sixth year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Pass the quaffle, Hugo!" Rose was yelling at her younger brother, who snapped out of his daze and throws it awkwardly to her. Hugo wasn't as good as his sister, maybe this was the age difference, Rose is fifteen and he is thirteen, but also seems to be that he is easily nervous, so gets clumsy on the field. Rose was an excellent chaser, nearly as good as James, and was also a Chaser. James started flying towards Rose, chasing her as he watched Albus hover over the makeshift hoop that Aunt Hermione had conjured up for them before they started playing. Albus wasn't on the house team; he was more interested in studies and Prefect duties but really enjoyed watching and playing the game for fun. Rose threw the quaffle expertly towards the hoop but James was too quick. Before Albus even attempted to catch it James dived up from under Rose to grab the quaffle and start flying towards the other end.

"James!" Upon hearing his name called out he stopped and looked down, and saw Lily, his youngest sister, was waving at him from the second floor balcony of his home. The Potters lived in a large but modest house, with two stories and a big backyard, all cast with many spells so the children could play Quidditch without the neighbours seeing them.

"Pause the game," Rose said from behind him and James looked down at his little sister and yelled,

"What?"

"Mum says to come down. I think important is happening!" she sounded so excited by this that James couldn't help but grin as he descended with the others.

"What's happening, Lily?" Hugo asked when they reached her on the balcony and dismounted. Lily looked around, as though checking for someone listening in and said in a low voice, "Well, you know how Dad and Uncle Ron were called in unexpectedly to work today?"

Rose rolled her eyes and replied, "Of course, we were all here,"

Lily looked at Rose and replied, "It was a rectorial question, Rose! Anyway, they made a lot of noise when they came home and Uncle Ron practically knocked down the front door and told Aunt Hermione to get me upstairs and that Dad needed Mum out the front. Uncle Ron whispered something to Mum and she turned to me as I started walking up the stairs and told me to send you downstairs and the rest of us were to stay in Albus' room."

James was immediately worried that something was wrong with his Dad, so without wasting any time, he lent his broom on the wall beside the door into the house and walked into the upstairs living room. "Do as Mum says, everyone in Albus' room." Rose snuck her chin out and went to retort but James interrupted her. "This could be serious, Rose. Don't argue," Rose rolled her eyes and said dismissively,

"Lily has just a big deal out of nothing, don't humour her by taking her seriously." None the less, she did as she was told and closed the door when they were all in Albus' room.

James jogged down the stairs just in time to see Ron and Hermione enter the house. "Is everyone alright?" James asked immediately. Ron looked up at him and nodded.
"Yeah, mate, everyone is okay."

"We just thought it would be best if the children were out of the way," Hermione replied.

"What's going on?" James asked and both his uncle and aunt went to reply at the same time but were interrupted by Ginny walking into the house, with Harry walking in behind her, carrying a girl who looked no older than James himself. "Oh Merlin," he exclaimed in surprise.

"We were doing a raid at Malfoy Manor and we found her," His Dad said as he started walking up the stairs, still carrying her. Everyone, including James followed.
"She's going in your room, James," Ginny said putting her hand on his arm.

James nodded and looked at his Uncle. "Who is she?"

"Sophie Morrissey, she is Cruella Malfoy's daughter," Ron answered grimly as Hermione opened James' bedroom door so Harry could get through. James silently thanked Merlin for the fact he had decided to clean his room the day before. Harry gently placed her on the four poster double bed which was positioned on the wall right to the door and Ginny walked over to the large windows opposite the door and closed the curtains. "I take it she is illegitimate," Hermione said as she lit a candle.

"How did you know?" Harry asked curiously, moving out of the way so Ginny could sit on the bed beside Sophie and examine her.

"Well, she looks about James or Rose's age, and the Malfoy's were married before James was born, yet she has Cruella's maiden name and not Draco's,"

"Yeah," Ron replied, "Apparently, she had an affair while Malfoy was on that year in Bulgaria for the Ministry. Not hard to see why, I mean look at him,"

"Ronald!" Hermione reprimanded and James walked over to the bed, and watched as his mother moved her wand over Sophie.

"I take it you brought her here because you're a Healer, Mum?" James questioned. Ginny nodded and continued her examination. James looked at the girl in hope of recognising her from school, even though her name wasn't familiar. Sophie had long, straight dark brown hair and a beautiful face, soft features and full lips. James noticed she was very pale but presumed this was because she was ill. "What's wrong with her? What happened?" James directed this question at his father who was watching Ginny intently. "Well, we were doing a raid because of the great amount of dark magic that was being detected from their manor. We found her in the Dungeons, sleeping on the stone floor." Harry said with disgust.

Ron continued, "By the time we had gotten to the house, Draco, Cruella and Scorpius were no where to be found. When we found her she woke up and told us that she was the result of an affair that her mother had while Draco was away, and because of the shame it would bring to the Malfoy's if it were found out, Cruella was kept in confinement and Sophie has never been able to leave the Manor. She begged us to take her away from here, Draco treats her like dirt and she's got the bruises to prove it," Ron nodded his head in Sophie's direction as he said his last phrase and James turned and saw bruises down her arms. Her clothes looked old, consisting of a tattered old white jumper and well worn jeans. She didn't even have shoes on.

"Harry, what are we going to do with her?" Ginny asked as she turned to look at him.

"Well, is she okay?" Harry inquired, seeing that Ginny had finished her examination.

Ginny shrugged and replied, "She will be, she's freezing cold but many has cuts and bruises, she's taken a blow to the head as well,"
"Yeah, their were bloody traps sent up in the Dungeons, as we tried to get her out the floor collapsed and she hit her head," Harry said with self-disappointment.

"It wasn't your fault, mate," Ron reasoned.

"Oh my," Rose's voice, although it was no more than a whisper, made the whole room jump, surprised by her sudden appearance. "Who's that?" she said looking up at her mum. "Rose!" Hermione exclaimed, "What were you told?"

Before Rose could start arguing with her mother Ginny said sternly, "Okay, everyone out, I got to started healing her. James could you fetch me my kit?"

When James returned Ginny had Sophie under his bedcovers and from what he could make out she was naked, at least from the waist up. Thankfully, Ginny had her well covered by his blankets. "Her clothes were filthy and in tatters!" Ginny commented in complete disgust.
"How could someone do this to their own daughter?" James asked as he placed his mum her Healing kit.

Ginny shook her head, "I don't know, sweetheart,"

Ginny watched James look at the young woman with complete disbelief. Since Voldemort's downfall, she was glad to say that her children hadn't grown up with the same fear that her generation had. Their stories, Harry's especially, was very well known but luckily their children had never had to experience any thing like it. She could see the effect this girl was having on her eldest child. "Mum," James said quietly as Ginny got out a sleeping potion and quick-heal bruise lotion. "If I were to become a Healer like you, this is the sort of thing I'd have to deal with everyday."

Ginny looked at him with a grim expression. "Yes, but this sort of is rare at the moment. But accidents, Quidditch injuries, experiments gone wrong, they are often worse than this, James" James looked at her and nodded.

"You're still young, James. Don't worry about your career at the moment. You have many talents; there are plenty of options for you. But right now, I need your help with the training you've already had from me with helping her. Even if you decided that working in St. Mungo's isn't for you," James smiled at his mother and replied,

"Of course, what can I do?" Ginny passed the quick healing bruise lotion to him and replied,

"Apply this to the bruises on her arms the proper way I showed you. I'm just going to go get something for her to wear from Rose," Ginny left the room, closing the door behind her.

James sat on the bed and unscrewed the jar of healing lotion and dipped his fingers into the cool, thick, transparent gel. As his mum taught him, he held the gel in his palm for a moment to warm it slightly then reached over and picked up her left arm draping it over her torso so he had better access to it. He very gently applied to gel to the discoloured skin and started softly rubbing the gel into the purple and green bruises on her skin. He just about jumped out of his skin when he looked up at Sophie's face and saw a pair of dark brown eyes staring at him in fear and horror.