Disclaimer: Sadly, I am not J. K. Rowling, so I do not own Harry Potter. Lyrics belong to Jimmy Brickman.
A/N: As I'm not a native speaker of English, I need a lot of help to weed out grammar and spelling mistakes. There are undoubtedly many still left, even though I have re-read this chapter many times over. If anything catches your eye, please let me know. I make mistakes, I'm human. If I didn't make mistakes, I'd never learn. You can only go forward by making mistakes. Yeah, right. Grammar is my enemy, I'm sure of it.
Chapter One: The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed Is Death
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You gave me the roots to start this life
And then you gave me wings to fly
And I learned to dream
Because you believed in me
There's no power like it on this earth
No treasure equal to its worth
The gift of a mother's love
XXX
A Mother's Love by Jim Brickman
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Godric's Hollow, 1981
Lily hummed under her breath as she washed her hands. The traditional English apple pie she had made – which, by the way, didn't look anything like the one in her mother's cookbook – was finally in the oven. Thankfully her husband James – also known as Prongs by his best friends Sirius (Padfoot), Remus (Moony) and Peter (Wormtail) – loved her so much, that he would probably eat anything she would make him, ruined or not.
As she dried her hands, Lily smiled at the thought of her husband. James was a pure-blood wizard, born into the wealthy Potter family. He was tall and thin, with hazel eyes and untidy black hair which he habitually ruffled to make it even untidier. When Lily had been younger, she hadn't liked James at all, mostly because James had been arrogant and boastful when he (and Lily) had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, though he had ultimately lost some of his arrogance and had even became Head Boy in their final year at school.
Lily laughed quietly at her memories of the one mischievous boy and the one witty know-it-all girl (Lily herself was a Muggle-born witch – born to two non-magical parents – and the youngest daughter of Mr and Mrs Evans). Oh how long they had come. Now she and James lived – well, hid – in their small cottage in Godric's Hollow with their young baby boy named Harry James Potter. Lily's smile became even more radiant as she thought of her little boy. Harry was their miracle, their joy: a near-spitting image of his father James, but his startlingly green, almond-shaped eyes were all Lily's. Loved and cherished by his uncles and parents, Harry was destined to become a bright young wizard someday.
But something, well, someone, was threatening Harry's happy future: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named aka You-Know-Who aka The Dark Lord aka Lord Voldemort aka Voldy (James and Sirius had come up with that last name a year before; Lily secretly liked it the most, because she hated Voldemort more than anything, for threatening her son's existence). 'And only because some stupid prophecy by Sybill Trelawney,' Lily thought to herself, her smile vanishing.
The prophecy. The bane of Lily's existence. It referred to a boy born at the end of July, who had the power to defeat Voldemort. And because of that, Lily and James had had to go into hiding when Lily had still been pregnant. Because Harry was one of the two boys that met the requirements of the prophecy, the other being Neville Longbottom, son of Lily's good friend Alice and her husband Frank.
Soft laugh interrupted Lily's thoughts. Raising her eyes from where they had intensely stared at the oven's door to the open doorway between the kitchen and the living room. Leaning against the door frame was none other than James Potter aka Prongs aka Lily's stupid, reckless and idiotic husband who she loved anyway. He was carrying Harry on his hip and smiling at her the same time.
"Don't think too hard, Lils, you're going to strain your brain."
Lily sighed and relaxed her shoulders.
"I really hate baking; I don't understand why my mum baked all the time when Petunia and I were young," she finally said and started walking towards James and Harry. "Hello there sweetheart, did you miss Mama?" Lily smiled at her little son as she picked him from James' arms. "Mama sure missed you! Mama loves her little Harry so much!"
Harry let out a little squeal of happiness as Lily tickled his tummy. Her heart broke as she watched her baby's happy face; her innocent baby boy, born middle of the war and death.
"Oi, your loving wedded husband stands right here and sure as hell missed you," said James, though still smiling as Lily turned her head to look at him. "I wanna some love too!"
Lily rolled her eyes at her husband, still tickling Harry. "Didn't miss you at all," she said, but kissed James softly on the lips. "Well, maybe a little."
After winking at her, James turned to look their son. "Did ya hear that Harry? Mama loves Dada!"
'Well he's an idiot,' Lily thought when James picked Harry back from her and raised him up, both laughing. 'But he's my idiot.'
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Lily stared up into the dark ceiling. James was snoring softly beside her, snuggling deeper into his pillow. He was obviously having a good dream. Lily couldn't sleep, though. She knew something was going to happen. Something very bad.
After staring her husband for a while (James was rubbing his cheek against the pillow), Lily finally pushed herself to her feet and walked quietly towards Harry's nursery. She just had to see her son; she had to know he was safe.
And he was. Sleeping soundly in his crib.
Lily just couldn't stop the tears that formed in her green eyes. 'Oh my sweet baby boy. Mama's so scared. So, so scared. But not for herself, no, she's scared for you. Because she can't lose you.'
Lily knew she would die. She just knew. But she wouldn't let anything bad happen to Harry. Or James. She had a plan. And hopefully it would work. She was going to use some very old magic so neither one of her loved ones would die. Anything to protect her family.
Anything.
Stepping back to her and James' bedroom, Lily watched James some more (he was drooling). 'You can't die yet, James. If you'll die, the spell will bring you back. Because you have to protect Harry. You can't follow me, James, not this time.'
After kissing James' cheek (the one without his drool), Lily snuggled back to their bed.
"I love you, James Potter. Always. Never forget that."
XXX
Lily was trapped.
She and Harry were trapped in Harry's nursery.
She muttered the spell under her breath.
She felt the Avada Kedavra Curse hitting her husband.
She also felt that the spell worked.
She smiled and cried at the same time.
James died but he wouldn't stay that way. Prongs would ride again, someday.
"Harry, you are so loved, so loved. Mama loves you. Dada loves you. Harry, be safe. Be strong."
XXX
A flash of green light was the last thing Lily Potter née Evans saw.
A/N: Insert Lily's Theme here. That song never fails to make me cry.