Chapter One; What's In a Name?

Lily Potter was several months pregnant. Pretty soon she and her husband James would become the proud parents to a brand new beautiful baby boy or girl. As she sat at her desk writing a list of choice names for the baby, Cosmo (their black and white ten month old kitten) rubbed against her legs before she finally picked him up and sat him down on top of the desk.

"Alright Cosmo," she began. "maybe you can give me some ideas." She said. "What about Theodore for a boy and Maxine for a girl?" she questioned as the cat simply just looked at her while continuing to purr. "No, perhaps not." She said as she dropped her quill before resting her head inside the palm of her hand and reminiscing back to when she had been a little girl.

Flashback

"Can I play?" Lily asked her older sister Petunia who was playing with a beautiful baby doll with a China face.

"No! I don't want you to break her! Evangeline cost Mummy and Daddy lots of money, and I don't want her broken by a freak like you!" her sister snapped angrily at her before she burst into tears and ran out of the house. She ran down the hill and through the path in the woods that she often liked to take. As she ran into the clearing she sat down on top of the grass by the lake and hugged her knees up to her chest while she sobbed inside of them.

That's when all of a sudden she raised her head as she heard the sound of a snapping twig. "Who's there?" she questioned anxiously with a gasp before she turned around and saw a young boy about her age with short dark hair.

"Hullo," he began with a grin.

"Hi." Lily said back. "Who are you?" she asked him.

"I'm Severus, who are you?" he asked her back.

"Lily." She responded.

"Nice to meet you Lily." He began. "Although I must say that a girl as pretty as you shouldn't be crying. What's wrong?" he wondered before he sat down next to her.

"My sister is always mean to me, and she never wants to play with me. I don't know why she hates me so much. She always calls me a freak just because I can do things that she can't." she explained.

"Really? Like what?" he questioned.

"Well,.. like this, watch." She told him as she turned to look down inside the grass and plucked a daisy out of it. Severus widened his eyes while he watched with disbelief as the tiny flower started to grow inside the palm of her hand.

"I don't believe it, you're a witch." He whispered with astonishment but she just stared at him with a look of bewilderment on her face.

"What do you mean I'm a witch? There isn't any such thing, is there?" she asked him as he simply just grinned at her.

"Well if there wasn't, then I wouldn't be going to Hogwarts next year." He told her.

"What's Hogwarts?" she asked him.

"You must have grown up with muggle parents, that's why you're so confused." He said.

"And what are muggles? Why do you talk so funny?" she wondered. "No offense." She added quickly.

"It's alright. Hogwarts is a school for magical children like us, my mum went there when she was my age. And muggles are people that weren't born with any magical powers." He explained.

"Well if I really am a witch, I guess that gives Petunia every right to hate me and not let me play with her doll." Lily said while she heaved a heavy sad sigh.

"Of course it doesn't. Don't believe everything you see on the telly about us. We're not all bad. We're just like everyone else. Some of us are good and some of us are evil." He told her. "And you seem like a very nice witch, so do you want to be friends?" he asked her.

"Sure." She agreed with a nod as they exchanged smiles before lying back down flat on their backs and looking up at the sky watching the clouds drift by. "I still wish that Petunia would let me play with Evangeline though." She said.

"Who's Evangeline?" he wondered.

"She's my sister's doll. She has a beautiful red dress with a China face, real hair, and everything." She told him. "I even think her name is beautiful." She said. "If I ever have a daughter I think that I'll name her that." She said while Severus kept smiling at her. "What about you Severus?" she asked him.

"Well if I had a daughter I think that I'd name her Lily." He began. "But if I had a son, I'd probably name him Toby after my father." He replied while the two of them continued to gaze at one another and exchange smiles.

End of Flashback

Lily suddenly snapped right back to reality when she felt the baby inside her stomach kick. That's when she realized that it was more than just a kick, she was having a contraction. "James!" she yelled. "James come quick! The baby's coming!" she hollered on the top of her lungs making the cat leap off of the top of the desk and scramble out of the room.

"I'm coming Lily! Just hold on!" James shouted as he quickly rushed over to his wife's aid. Afterwards he rushed her to the wizarding hospital (by the means of the floo-powder network) and up to the front desk. "Hullo my name is Lily and my husband James is in labor!" he exclaimed while the healer behind the counter grew a very confused and twisted look upon her face.

"Let me take a wild guess here, this is your first child isn't it." She said.

"Yes, but how did you guess?" he asked her back.

"It's alright James, you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure your wife and your child will be just fine. Now what is your surname?" she wondered.

"Potter,.. and I'm Mr. Potter." He told her while she scribbled the name down on the piece of paper.

"Thank you, I gathered that much." She told him while she glanced up at him over the rim of her glasses that were sliding down her nose. "Right this way Mr. and Mrs. Potter." She told them before pushing them up again and leading them to the delivery room.

…

Lily looked down at the tiny little blue bundle inside her arms. Her newborn son was already fast asleep. She smiled down at him before kissing the top of his head. She already loved him more than anything else in the world.

"I can't believe it Lily," James began quietly as he sat down beside her. "we're parents." He told her.

"I know, and he looks just like you." She said.

"Yeah," James began with a grin while he also stifled a laugh. "but there's no doubt about it that he has your eyes." He said while smiling down at his son proudly.

"What do you think we should call him?" Lily questioned.

"I dunno. All I know is that he is rather a hairy little fellow already isn't he? I mean look at all that hair on the top of his head." He said.

"That's it, that's what we'll call him." Lily began. "Harry. Harry James Potter." She finished.

"We'll I've got to admit it, it does sort of fit him doesn't it?" James questioned as Lily smiled down at Harry and planted another kiss on the top of his head.

"My sweetheart, my little Harry." She whispered.