A man stopped before the window, watching with a soft smile as an adult interacted with a child. The woman had dark red hair, tied at the nape of her neck in a loose pony tail. The child was sat with his back to her, resting on her as she read to the boy, stopping every so often to play with his messy black hair.

It was with a new sense of urgency that the man outside continued to the door. He knocked once, feeling the magic around the house still at the sound.

Hushed voices were shared, much too low for it to be heard clearly before the door opened to reveal a wand.

"Calm, please, I am only here to talk," the man said quietly.

"Who sent you?" a male voice asked.

"Nobody sent me Mr. Potter," the name-less man said, shocking James as he spoke his name. "I assure you, I mean no harm to either your wife, yourself or your child."

"How did you find us?"

"I'm afraid you placed your trust in the wrong person. Please, we have much to discuss." "I can't take the risk that you are telling the truth," James said firmly, unwilling to move.

"I, being of sound mind and magic, swear that I mean no harm to the Potter family, so mote it be!" the man said, his eyes not once leaving James'. "I am going to draw my wand and cast a spell –"

"There is no need," James said, he had seen no outcome for the man and if he did act against what he had said… well it would be obvious.

"James," a soft voice called from behind him.

"Mrs. Potter, may I suggest that in future events where you have a Dark Lord coming for your family that you not stay so close to each other. It is far better to make it harder for you all to be murdered rather than staying together."

Lily, who was indeed stood a few feet behind James, blushed as the stranger scolded her.

"Sir, come in. If you mean no harm and wish to talk then the least we can do is bring you out of the cold air," Lily said, trying to ignore her flushed cheeks as she turned and went back to her child.

James lowered his wand, still unsure about trusting the man before him. James hesitantly stepped back, allowing the stranger to step forward into the house. A gasp escaped James when he saw the man in the lighten room. The wand that he had lowered was raised almost on instinct at he stared in shock at the stranger before him.

"Mr. Potter. I shall explain, we do need to talk," Salazar Slytherin said, looking younger than most of his portraits had suggested.

"How? Who are you?" James demanded.

"Let us join your wife, I will explain there," Salazar said calmly. He ignored the wand trained on him and walked the path that Lily had done moments before.

Lily stood in front of her son, clearly having heard James' exclaim. She also held her wand in her hand, although, unlike her husband, it wasn't trained on Salazar. Lily was staring at the man in shock.

"You're…" she started to speak.

"Salazar Slytherin," Salazar said with a smile. "Indeed I am, although I feel that is a tale for a different place. I am here to discuss your predicament. May we sit?" he asked politely, gesturing to the furniture.

Lily nodded, dumbstruck.

Salazar sat in one of the armchairs that was opposite the couch, he waited for the two elder Potter's to sit as well and gather themselves.

Harry crawled over to his mother, pulling himself up onto his feet and holding his arms out in a demand to be held. She responded automatically, holding her son on her lap.

"I fear you are in more danger than you believe. Please," Salazar held his hand up. "Hear me before you make a judgement."

James, who had started to interrupt, stopped and nodded.

"I am unsure of what protections are here specifically, I suspect a fidelius charm, but I know that all spell work can be broken or worked around. I would hope that more protections are in place but I fear the practice of true warding and protection charms have fallen out of place in these days. I am also aware that your friend is a Death Eater, which is what made me intervene. A prophecy was created that could concern your child. I want to make it my duty that it does not come true," Salazar said slowly.

"How did you find us?" Lily asked. "You said you weren't sure about the protections here… you must have been told where we were in order to find us."

"Mrs. Potter, the fidelius charm works most of the time. There are ways to break the charm and there are also ways of working around it. Granted, I had a way that Voldemort has yet to figure out, it is possible for him to do this as well. I could not stand back anymore. Children should not be harmed within fights over magic."

"How did you work around the charm?" James asked, his concern growing. "How could

Voldemort?"

Salazar gave James a sad look before looking at Lily. "Mrs. Potter, have you taken a relations test since entering the magical world?"

"No, I'm muggleborn," Lily said, confused.

"You are and you aren't. For a few generations your family has been muggles, moving further back into your relatives takes you to magical blood. It's unknown why the magic sparks back up after so long but it is amazing when it happens, it's almost like new magic creating itself in the blood," Salazar smiled. "Some of the greatest come from older blood being re-sparked after generations, it is why it is important to introduce new blood, otherwise the magic gets too overwhelming and it cannot work within the blood."

"So that's why squibs are born?" Lily asked.

"It is believed to be the reason. Magic works within the blood, too little or too much magic causes unstable cores and stops magic being available to the person. It's why you should magically drain yourself, there is the small chance you will lose your magic in the process." "Wow," Lily's eyes sparkled with the new information.

"Who was Lily related to?" James asked, steering them back onto the conversation before.

"Mrs. Potter, I think it would be easier if you were to take the test and see for yourself. After all, I could say anybody and claim it was the truth," Salazar smiled. "I fear we are running out of time here as it is," his smile fell.

"What do you mean?" James asked, suddenly serious.

"You are here under the fidelius charm, who is the keeper? If it's… you may need to be moved."

"Peter," Lily said. "Peter Pettigrew. He – He's the secret keeper," Lily said firmly.

"Lily," James hissed.

"We need to hurry. The sooner the better. Gather items of importance, irreplaceable, anything that can be replaced, leave here," Salazar said urgently.

"Wh –" James stopped himself, Salazar's words from before coming back to him 'I'm afraid you placed your trust in the wrong person.' "Peter wouldn't –"

"He may already have," Salazar said firmly. "He has been in the ranks of the Death Eaters for months, before you went into hiding. We cannot know when he may make a move. Unless you would rather trust him and leave your family open to an attack."

"James," Lily said softly, knowing how the thought of Peter doing something like this would hurt her husband. "We can't risk it."

"I know," he said after a few moments of silence.

"I planned on moving you anyway. It is unfortunate that it is happening so sudden. Prepare to leave, I will explain what will happen once you are ready," Salazar looked at the small family with worry. He truly wanted them safe. "Hurry."

Lily stood, still holding Harry as she moved out of the room and began walking upstairs. James sat, still seemingly frozen.

"I know it is a shock, believe me, I wish it wasn't happening," Salazar said sincerely.

James nodded, standing to follow his wife.

Whilst both of them left, Salazar took his wand and began to make space in the living room. He moved the table to the side and pushed the couch and armchairs away. Once the space was open he began to draw runes on the carpeted flooring.

It took roughly fifteen minutes for both elder Potter's to return to the living room and find Salazar still working on the runes.

"Wha –" James started before Lily elbowed his side. She gave him a look that made his stop.

"You can talk. The concentrating part is over, it's just the finishing touches now," Salazar said.

"What are you doing?" James asked instantly.

"I'm setting up a way for you to escape without people knowing," Salazar said. "Before I explain I would like to request you stand in the middle of the runes. One of you hold the child as well. It's always good to be prepared," Salazar said. He watched the two adults (with Harry) move to the centre of the runes.

"Try to stay still, I'll try to be quick," Salazar said before he began to chant under his breath. His wand moved steadily as his voice rose slightly.

It was a couple of minutes later when Salazar fell silent, he waved his wand once more and fell back into the armchair he had stood in front.

James and Lily watched anxiously as three figures shimmered into view. They gasped as they saw themselves and Harry when the shimmering figures solidified.

"Do not worry yourselves, sit and I will explain. This is just in case we have to leave sooner than I expect. They are the distraction and it will enable you to leave without fear of being followed," Salazar said weakly.

"What magic was that?" Lily asked, her eyes glued to where the copy of her family stood.

"It's old magic. We used it mainly for children that were being hunted because of their magic. These copycats will act just like the real person and they stay for a while after they have been created. So if Voldemort were to arrive and shoot a curse at one of them, they would react to whatever curse it is, they would speak and act just as you would. Even if they are hit with the killing curse. They will, for all intent purposes, die. After a week they disappear, the magic that created them leaves and they are no more. If Voldemort hasn't arrived in a week I'll have to redo it, just to make sure."

"Why are you doing this?" James asked.

"I have said before, no children should be harmed over magic. At the moment two children are being targeted, young Harry is one of them. Both yourselves and the other family will be moved and protected. It is my hope that Voldemort is taken care of soon, I would rather you have a normal life, free from his terror," Salazar explained.

"Who is the other family?" Lily asked softly.

"You will see soon, you both are being moved together –"

"Where will we be going?" James asked.

"First, you will be taken to the other Founders, as you call us. There you will be checked by Helga and Rowena, tracking charms and other monitoring spells have to be removed. They don't work in our space but moving you elsewhere would be a danger if they stayed. After you are free, it is your choice what area you move to, we have a few recommendations but Helga told me it was your choice mainly. We are somewhat adaptable with our protections. Whilst moving into a pre-protected area would be better, we can enchant a new area will only minor problems." "You said that charms were breakable," Lily pointed out.

Salazar smiled. "They are, however magic adapts as well. As generations progressed, the magic matured and settled in many cases. Spells grew in and out of fashion, spells of the older generations are almost lost amongst the newer ones. Using both old and new protection spells and having other magical beings help will keep you the safest. I know Rowena is gifted in spells of the older generations, no doubt she will know several lost spells that will help."

"Can you guarantee they will be safe?" James asked, his eyes not leaving Salazar's.

"I swear all of you will be safe with us. We will do our best to make certain that none of you are harmed," Salazar swore.

"How will we know when Voldemort comes?" Lily asked.

"I will be alerted. I will send you ahead of me and ward the area. When anyone enters I will be notified, if the copycats are moved I will be notified and if Voldemort's magic enters the house I will know," Salazar smiled at the lady before him. "I am sorry to say that you must stay hidden until you are told it's safe. The Death Eaters are likely to hunt your family down if they know you were alive, Voldemort needs to be taken care of as well." "Ok. When are we going?" Lily asked.

"Whenever you are ready," Salazar said. "If you would like to stay another night, we have a way to get you out quickly –"

"With all due respect Mr. Slytherin, I want my family safe. I want to feel safe. If – If leaving now makes us safe then why should we wait?" Lily pointed out.

"Very well. If you are certain," Salazar paused to watch both Lily and James nod. "Nina, you can come in now," he said softly.

Nina, a phoenix burst into sight.

"Oh my," Lily gasped.

"You know the plan, take these three and then come back for me," Salazar said to Nina, who was sat on his shoulder, watching the three strangers curiously. "Take them straight to Helga." Nina trilled before soaring over to Lily's shoulder.

"James, hold your wife," Salazar advised before the group disappeared in a ball of flames.

It was with a heavy heart that Salazar waved his wand to return the house's furniture back to how it had been before he arrived. Nina appeared once more and trilled again, the Potter's were safe.

"Let us leave friend," he said softly before Nina took him away from the house holding the copycats of James, Lily and Harry Potter.