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Hi! My name is Lily Potter. There were many things that I learned during my short twenty one years of life. I learned of love, anger, hatred, fear, and so much more. One lesson that I have taken with me beyond life is the lesson of nobility; giving two and taking none. One day in particular stands out in which me, and my husband, my beloved, my James, gave two and took none. It was a day that pains me deeply, because I know that that day was the reason that I did not have the opportunity to raise my son. But still, it was a day that I will never regret as I lay watching over my son for all of eternity. It was the day I died.

James was in the living room, making puffs of smoke emerge from his wand for Harry's amusement.

Harry was clapping and giggling merrily. Lily smiled as she watched them, opening the door a crack. James and Harry. They were the essence of her life. The essence of her existence.

She hated to break up the beautiful scene but it was getting late and Harry had to get to bed soon.

"Harry, sweetheart," she cooed, "Mummy's going to put you to sleepy now."

James and Harry both pouted. She couldn't help but laugh at the identical expression on their faces.

Suddenly, their joy was interrupted.

Without any advance warning, the door burst open.

James sprinted down the hall. "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

Lily felt her blood run cold.

Him. Voldemort. He was here.

And he came for one purpose; for Lily's son.

Lily ran. She ran and she ran and she ran and only once she had reached the top of the second landing, when she could run no further, when Voldemort's finding her was inevitable, did she think.

James didn't even have a wand. Lily knew deep in her heart that there would be no "holding him off" for James. Her husband would be- No! She couldn't think like that! The dread would consume her. She could only focus on one thing at a time. Harry. Protecting Harry. She gulped. If by some slim chance, James survived she would rejoice later. If by some slim chance she survived but James didn't, she would mourn him later.

But now, the only person in the world that mattered to Lily Potter was the beautiful black haired baby boy she held tightly in her arms.

Suddenly, she felt her heart stop. She knew what had happened. She knew it in a way that could only come from loving a person so deeply. She could feel James leaving the Earth. She was alone.

She began to scream. Shrill, ear-piercing screams. She knew that Voldemort could hear her from downstairs. She knew he would be coming for her next. She didn't care on either front.

For now, death would be okay. If James was gone, what was the point in her living?

Harry was the point in her living of course. He had been the center of her life since the day she found out she was pregnant. She loved Harry more than anything else in the entire world. If Harry didn't survive this, she did not know what she would be do.

But that wasn't much cause for hyperventilating, even when the door opened to reveal Voldemort himself. Because, at that moment, there was not a doubt in her mind that Harry would come out alive. She didn't know how or how she knew. Motherly instincts perhaps? But she was sure that somehow Harry would make it out alive.

She didn't know how she would accomplish this though. Perhaps Voldemort would be merciful if she pleaded with him? She highly doubted it. But she had to try anyway.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry." These words are what truly spiked the fear that this man would kill her son. How had she thought before that somehow he'd be saved?

"Stand aside, you silly girl . . . stand aside now."

She felt the hot, salty tears spilling down her cheeks. Tears for everyone. For her parents who had been killed a couple of years earlier. For her sister, Petunia, who had rejected her. For Sirius, Remus, and Peter (or Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail) who had become like brothers to her. For Mary, Alice, and Marlene who had been her best girlfriends back at Hogwarts. For Severus. She couldn't explain why at the moment which was surely her last on Earth, she shed tears for Severus, but she certainly did.

But mostly the tears were for James and Harry. Her brave strong man and her sweet little boy. The people who she loved more than anything.

"This is my last warning-"

Lily cried out in utter desperation, "Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-"

"Stand aside. Stand aside silly girl."

She refused. Refusal surely wouldn't help Harry. Her dying would not allow him to live. But there was no way in hell that she would just stand aside and watch this bastard kill her baby.

If, by some miracle, Harry survived, then her life will be accomplished. She will have saved her beloved son.

So she couldn't simply "stand aside."

A flash of green light.

She did not even hear the words being uttered.

Lily awoke in James's arms.

He was cradling her to him, a beam of delight upon his handsome face.

"James? What happened? Are we . . . are we . . . dead?"

James nodded, still beaming like a small child on Christmas.

She was scared to ask the next question. Scared of what the response would be. But she mustered up all of her courage and said, "and . . . and Harry . . .is he-"

James shook his head. Lily now knew what he was smiling about.

She felt the laughter return to her eyes. She beamed in delight, slamming her lips against his.

His hazel eyes were dancing.

"Our son is fine!" She exclaimed in euphoria, "he's alive!"

James nodded. "All thanks to you."

Lily was puzzled. James saw the expression on her face and explained.

"You know how Dumbledore always says that love is the most powerful thing in the world?"

Lily nodded.

"Well, it turns out . . . that that's true. Literally. Lily, your love for Harry was so intense when Voldemort tried to . . . you know. Kill him. That you died trying to save him, giving him all of the love in your heart, and providing a shield for him against Voldemort."

"Wow, that's, that's terrific!"

James nodded, "and it's all thanks to my beautiful little flower." He kissed her nose.

"James, can I ask you something?"

James chuckled, "have I ever denied you an answer?"

Lily continued, "how do you know all of this? About how Harry lived?"

"I had all of my questions answered too when I first you know . . . died. I saw him killing you. It was extremely painful for me to see, but I had to see it. I also saw him trying to kill Harry and just . . . disappearing."

"I guess we'll figure all of that out later. For now let's just be happy that our son is alive. That he's okay."

James kissed her once more, "I love you my little flower."

Lily broke away, "James, so you know if we can . . . see him?"

James nodded, and said excitedly, "We can watch over our son. We can see him grow up! We can see watch him, we can watch his life!" His voice faltered, "we just won't be a part of his life."

Lily smiled and said softly, "but we will. We won't physically there with him. But he'll always be able to know that we're here with him in spirit. He'll always know that we love him more than anything. He'll always know that we died for him. So that he could have a beautiful and happy life. Don't you see James? We'll always be with him."

James stroked her cheek, "that's why you're the smart one."

She laughed, and growing serious once again, said, "we did a good thing James."

"I know."

"We gave two and took none."

"Huh?"

"It's a little phrase I thought of a few weeks ago. I've been using it subconsciously in my mind. James we gave two. We gave up our lives. We gave up the chance to raise our son. Maybe that counts for more than two - I don't know - but the expression is just two. We did that and got nothing in return. Except of course, the life of our son, but though I like to think of that as a gift to us, it's really a gift to Harry. And we didn't even take that, we were so lucky as to be handed it on a silver platter - I just had to stand in front of his crib. So we gave two, and took none. And now we get to watch our son's life. We get to watch him grow up with Sirius. We get to watch him got to Hogwarts for the first time and make new friends. We get to watch him give two and take none."

"You're right, my little flower. We gave two and took none. Now we're going to be watching our son's life together. And I'll be holding your hand tight every time he says he misses his mum, and you'll do the same for me when he wishes he could see his real dad. Because we're a team. I love you Lily, forever and always."

"I love you too, James." She whispered. For the first time since Voldemort had opened the door to their little cottage in Godric's Hollow, Lily felt thoroughly relaxed."

So that is the story of the day that I gave two and took none. In my years on Earth and years beyond (after death) I have come to see that there are eight kinds of people in this world - those who give none and take two, Those who give one and take two, those who give two and take two, those who give two and take one, those who give one and take one, those who give none and take one, those who give none and take none, those who give one and take none, and finally, those who give two and take none. This is a story about the people in my son's life who fit into varying categories, especially those who give two and take none, and how I watched them do it. This is a story about how I saw my son's story come into play, and how I learned about him, his life, and all those around him.