A Parent's Determination

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN! This is for fun not profit. J.K. Rowling is the brilliance behind Harry Potter not I.

Summary: After hearing the prophecy the Potters decide that instead of staying in Britain they would leave the country all together. They decide to gain sanctuary from one of Lily's oldest friends. But there is more to her and to all of this than it seems on the surface. (James x Lily) (Sirius x OC) EXTREMELY AU!

Chapter One

August 25, 1981

There were four people seated in the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. One sat behind a desk with his hands folded on top of it, his eyes, which usually twinkled had dimmed as he looked upon the three people across from him. The other three consisted of a man, whose wild black hair stuck up in every direction, while to his left sat a beautiful woman with hair of fire whose emerald eyes mirrored the fear in the man's hazel eyes. However the fear wasn't for them, no it was for the fourth person in the room who had no understanding of what had just transpired. The fourth person sat on the woman's lap and was a wonderful combination of the two people near him. He had his father's wild black hair but his mother's beautiful green eyes, which were drooping as he fought falling to sleep.

"Are you absolutely sure Professor?" asked the woman with worry, her eyes pleading with the old man to be wrong.

"I'm afraid so, my dear," said the old man. "And haven't I told both you and James to call me Albus."

"Old habits die hard I'm afraid," James commented back. He looked back to his wife and son; he could see the panic starting to rise in her. "Lily, it will be okay we'll protect him. You, me, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail, we won't let him get to Harry. I promise." He pulled her closer to him and could feel some of the tension leave her body. He pulled back and looked into her eyes that were overflowing with silent tears. He wiped away the tears on her cheeks and kissed her. As he sat back he kept his arm across her shoulders in a comforting yet protective embrace.

"What can we do?" inquired James as he looked at the aging headmaster.

"There are several options that we can explore," Dumbledore said as he looked over the young couple. He noticed Lily's hold on Harry tighten as he lost his battle against sleep and slumbered in her arms. "The one option I would suggest is to use the Fidelius Charm." James looked at Dumbledore a little confused, and then Lily piped up.

"Isn't that charm immensely complex, involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul? Then the information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it," Lily said, almost verbatim from one of Professor Flitwick's lessons in her N.E.W.T. class in seventh year. James looked at his wife with shocked awe, sometimes forgetting how incredibly smart his wife was. Dumbledore's eyebrows went up and a small twinkle returned to his eyes.

"Yes, that is correct," he replied with a small smile. "It's a very big deal to cast this charm and even more important is the choice in Secret-Keeper." He went on to offer other alternatives but after a while the elder Potters were getting more and more anxious.

"Can we have time to think about what we want to do?" Lily interrupted. Dumbledore looked at the small family with pitying eyes but nodded his head in understanding but did give them one warning before they left.

"I would not think on this too long we need to move fast before he has a chance to strike." The young couple nodded and headed for the floo calling out Potter Manor as they went.

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After the couple arrived home Lily went up the stairs to tuck her baby boy into bed. As Lily was tucking Harry in James went to the sitting room calling for one of the house elves.

"Tilly," he called, and within seconds he heard a pop.

"Yes, Master James," the little elf replied with a bow. "What can Tilly do for yous?"

"Can we have some tea in the sitting room as soon as it's ready?"

"Of course, Master James. What kind of tea?"

"Linden if you would."

"With pleasure, Master James," with that said the little elf popped away. James sat down with a huff, after a minute he buried his head in his hands and tried to stop the scream in his throat before it broke loose. Why? He thought. Why does it have to be our Harry, why not someone else? Well it could also be Neville but why must it be one of our boys, huh? Why not an adult who can actually grasp what is being thrust upon their little shoulders? Argh!

Having finally containing his scream he sat back with his head resting on the back of the couch staring up at the ceiling. He stayed that way until he felt Lily's hand on his shoulder. When turned toward her he could tell she'd been crying again. He just opened up his arms to her. Lily burrowed into her husband's strong embrace and felt a little better knowing her brave, sometimes stupid and childish, but brave man who would try and figure a way out this horrible reality they now found themselves in. They remained in that fashion until they heard the little pop indicating Tilly was done with the tea.

"Heres yous are, Master, Mistress," Tilly said as placed the teapot and cups on the little table in front of the couch before bowing and popping away. Lily slid off James' lap and stood to pour the tea. After they both sat in silence for a little bit sipping tea Lily finally spoke.

"What are we going to do James?"

"I don't know Lils. I really don't know." Lily had never seen her husband so defeated before and it was a little worrying. "I mean out of all the options he gave us it seems the Fidelius Charm is the best option."

"I don't think it is James," Lily countered. "I've studied it before and while yes it is incredibly powerful there are some rather big loopholes. If we choose the wrong Secret-Keeper then that leaves us wide open to being attacked. I don't just mean that they would rat us out," she said quickly as she saw James about to interrupt her. "What if they were captured, tortured and even then if they didn't give us up they could just kill them and the charm no longer works and it would fall. What if they had narrowed it down to an approximant area and then killed them? We might not be able to get away fast enough. Also we would have to stay within the bounds of the charm and unfortunately that usually means just a house. It doesn't usually have that large of a range. We'd go stir crazy within a couple weeks if not sooner. Also we have no idea when this war will end and, forgive me for sounding a little pessimistic but, if the Light will even win this war." James thought about what Lily had said and had to agree with her. He knew that he would go a little crazy if he had to be cooped up for even a week and there seemed like there was no end in sight for this terrible war.

"Which of his other options do you like better then?"

"None of them," she said resolutely.

"Huh?"

"Hear me out," she said quickly before James could think of something else. "All of his options had us staying here. Here in Britain, but I think our best option is to leave."

"What do you mean leave?" he asked a little gobsmacked.

"I mean if all of Dumbledore's options have us staying out of the thick of things and not fighting then why would we stay here in a warzone, especially if our entire family has a target on our backs." James sat back and stared at his wife as he made an impressive imitation of a fish. Lily just looked at him with a small plea in her eyes. He finally closed his mouth and gained a thoughtful look.

"We would just leave everyone?" he questioned in a strained voice. Lily could see he was thinking about his best mates, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. She knew that they were as close as brothers especially him and Sirius. "I don't know Lils. I… I can't just abandon them like that."

"I never said that we wouldn't tell them," Lily started.

"But we don't know who the traitor is!" James exclaimed suddenly standing and pacing. "I mean I know it's not either of us and there's no way in blue bleeding hell that Padfoot would ever join the Death Munchers. So that leaves Pete or Remus and I just can't see it Lils, I just can't." Lily looked at her amazing loving husband with sadness in her eyes. It was revealed recently that there was a traitor within the Order and everyone had checked out except the Marauders and it was slowly creating a schism within the four friends. Lily hated seeing the mistrust growing between them, especially between Sirius and Remus. They had always been close, well not as close as James and Sirius but a close second. The only odd one out had always been Peter but he was so timid compared to the other three so it was a little expected. Lily stood up and walked over to her irate husband. She just embraced him from behind, wrapping her arms around his waist. He stopped laying one of his hands on top of hers and sighed. Lily could feel some of the tension leaving his body as they just stood there in silence. The silence was broken when the floo flared.

"James?" asked the person whose face appeared in the flames. "You and Lily there?"

"Yeah, Frank, we're here."

"Can we come through?"

"Sure." As the floo flared brighter out of the flames walked two of their other friends. Frank was first leading with his wand first until he saw it really was his friends. Next was his beautiful wife, Alice, who carried a bundle in her arms. As Frank vanished the soot from their clothes the Potters could tell that they had also been told of the fate that might lie on one of their boy's shoulders. As they removed the cloth that covered Neville Lily noticed he was sound asleep.

"Alice, Harry's taking his nap right now as well. Do you want to put Neville down with him?"

"That sounds great, thanks Lily," Alice replied with a relieved look. Alice followed Lily out of the sitting room. The men watched as their wives left and once they were out of the room Frank just sagged down into one of the sitting room couches and hung his head.

"Dumbledore told you didn't he?" James inquired. Frank just nodded his head still not looking up. "He told us too. He said his spy told him that You-Know-Who thinks it's Harry over Neville but by Merlin's beard just the thought that it could be either makes me sick. I mean they're just barely over one how could they pose a threat?" James sat down opposite of Frank and resumed his position looking up at the ceiling. This was how the women found them some minutes later. They looked at each other with tear filled eyes and made their way over to their husbands. Lily just sat in James' lap and his arms came up around her holding her to him, while Alice lifted Frank's head and held it in her hands as she too sat in his lap wanting to just be held and feel connected to something because she was feeling weightless but not in a good way. The couples just sat there in silence for a little before James just sighed.

"Tilly," he called, soon hearing the pop. "Could you make more tea and bring us two more cups, please?" The little elf nodded and popped away. She could see something had happened and that it was tearing her Master and Mistress and their friends apart. After the elf popped back in with two more cups she popped back out. Alice stood and filled cups for both her and Frank then sat back down this time sitting as close to her husband as she could without sitting on his lap. She handed Frank his cup as he sat up, he took a sip and sighed as well.

"What are we going to do?" Frank asked. "Out of all the options he gave us the Fidelius seems the best option but I just don't know." James and Lily looked at each other and James just nodded his head.

"I don't think it is," replied Lily. "I already explained to James that there are some major flaws that surround that charm but also it's almost like we'll be imprisoning ourselves. It can't be applied to a person just property and not even a large property like the manors but smaller houses." Frank and Alice were looking at Lily and absorbing what she was saying.

"So what option are you thinking about?" Alice inquired.

"Actually none of options that Dumbledore gave us is really appealing," said James. He looked back over to his wife and after receiving a nod from her he continued. "Lily made a good point to me earlier. Why are all of his options keeping us here in Britain, in the warzone, when we wouldn't be able to actually help with the resistance? Why stay here with targets on our backs when we can just as easily leave?" Alice and Frank were looking between the other couple and back to each other. It sometimes amazed Frank how mature James could be sometimes. Frank had been a year ahead of the others at Hogwarts, while Alice had been one of Lily's roommates. Of course James could be a little childish sometimes but that was refreshing given the times they were in that he could still make others laugh.

"If we leave, where would we go?" Alice asked with slight anxiety. James looked back to Lily because they hadn't gotten that far in this discussion.

"I have a friend," Lily said with some trepidation. "She lives in northern Norway. Her lands are warded better than even Hogwarts. And these lands also have an entire magical village within its boarders. I'm sure she would help us." The two men were looking at her strangely. James was shocked he had never heard about this 'friend', while Frank was a little cautious. Only Alice had some understanding about whom this friend was.

"What friend, Lily?" asked James.

"You've actually met her James."

"When?"

"She was my Maid of Honor at our wedding." James took on a thoughtful look trying to remember her and only vaguely remembered her.

"The tall blonde?" James inquired.

"Yes that's her," Lily replied. "But she's actually not a blonde." At Lily's words Alice had to stifle a small snort, which made James raise his eyebrow.

"You know something I don't Alice?" Alice bit her lip to try and not laugh, because honestly this situation did not call for that.

"Yeah. Lily told her to spell her hair to be shorter and blonde to keep Sirius off her back because of that silly vow he made in sixth year after Dorcas and him broke up. She went even farther than that and even spelled her eyes to a cold blue color. She looked completely different after she finished that honestly no one would recognize her if they went off the look she had at the wedding. Though you did get a picture of her and you with her natural look right?" Alice asked Lily. Lily nodded and made her way to the bookshelves in the room pulling down a photo album. She flipped straight toward the back as she walked back over to the people still seated. She stopped in front of James and handed him the album and pointed to two pictures on the left side. The top picture showed Lily cheek to cheek and laughing with the blonde he remembered from the wedding but it was the second picture that caught his attention. It was almost identical to the one above all except for the other woman.

With the glamor gone James could see why Lily had told her to change her looks; even though he loved his wife he could see how drop-dead gorgeous the other woman was. Her slightly tan skin matched well with her long raven's wing black hair but it was her eyes that caught people's attention. They were a vivid blue-green of a glacier lake, full of life unlike the blue of her glamor charm. She was completely Padfoot's type. James handed the album over to Frank to get a look as well. When he saw the other picture he let out a whistle, which earned him a slap to the shoulder from his wife.

"I can see why you would want her to look different," Frank said with a laugh. "Especially if you wanted to keep Black away from her." They all laughed and some of the tension from the room dissipated. Frank handed the album back to James who started going through the other pictures. He was amazed; these were pictures he had never seen. Almost all the pictures were of just his wife and the other woman throughout the years as they grew up. Some had others in them, other kids their age, some with a man who might have been the other girl's father and the more recent ones showed both women together with Harry or just the other woman holding Harry with a small yet beautiful smile on her face. He also noticed a common element throughout several of the pictures, especially from when they were younger, had a large black wolf that was usually by the other girl's side. James heard a soft "Ahem" from above and saw his wife holding out her hand for the album. James closed it and handed it back to Lily who promptly returned the book to the shelf.

"Okay so we've all sort of met her but Frank and I don't know her," James said a Lily sat back down. "The only one who knows her is you Lily and maybe you Alice?"

"I've only met her a handful of times, the wedding being one of those times, so I wouldn't say I know her," Alice offered. "Would she really be willing to help us?"

"I know she would," Lily said vehemently. "But I also see the concerns from where the rest of you stand. You're right you don't know her and while you trust me it's kind of hard to go on faith considering what is going on in our world." The others nodded glad Lily could see their concerns. "How about I contact her see if she's able to meet with us right now."

"Now?" James questioned. "Isn't that a little too soon Lily?"

"I don't think so. Professor Dumbledore said we needed to make our decisions soon to try and stay ahead of You-Know-Who. I'll floo call her." With that said Lily made her way to the fireplace and grabbed a fist full of floo powder. "Landvik Manor, Library," she said as she threw the powder into the fireplace and then she stuck her head into the flames calling out, "Anyone home?"

"Lily?" They heard as a response. There was a very slight accent but the woman spoke perfect English.

"Asta?" Lily questioned back. "Where's Runa?"

"She was forced to go to some hobnobbing with those high brow types. She wasn't too happy about it."

"Ouch, I bet. So when is she supposed to be back?"

"In a couple hours but if you need I can get Fen to go get her. I know she was looking for a way out of the pretentious thing anyway."

"They didn't even let her bring Fen with her? That must mean it's really hoity-toity. Sure, that means she'll owe me." The others could hear a tinkling laugh come from the flames. "Could he tell her I need to see her a Potter Manor as soon as possible?"

"Sure but what's going on Lily?" They heard the other woman's question filled with concern.

"Maybe I'll tell you about it later," Lily replied. "How long do you think it'll take her to get here?"

"Fen's already left so I'd say about ten maybe thirty minutes tops. You know how she hates functions like that."

"I do. And thanks again Asta, hopefully we'll see each other soon. Be well and be safe."

"Same to you and yours Lily," with that said the fire died out. The others looked to Lily as she brushed off her knees. James just raised his eyebrow with a silent question. Lily just rolled her eyes and retrieved the photo album once again. She turned to one page and then placed it down on the coffee table and pointed to the picture that had the most people in it.

"She's the petite blonde with the really light eyes," Lily said indicating the small young woman in the front row who had a large smile on her face. "Her name's Asta. She and Runa grew up together even though she's two years younger than Runa and about three years younger than us." The others nodded their understanding as Lily closed the album again but this time leaving it out. James looked at his wife with a torn look.

"I hate asking this but…" James started and received a strange look from his wife. "Is she a pureblood?" James then became the recipient of many startled looks. "I don't mean anything bad by it it's just, He's gotten a lot of purebloods, especially the fanatics, to his side, and I just worry that we might not be welcomed there. And I just… We don't know anything about this place or the people who live there, and I…" Lily could see that James was tying himself into knots worrying and so could Frank and Alice for that matter. They were all startled when they heard a laugh come from the fireplace, for unbeknownst to them the floo had flared right as James asked his question. Lily turned around and admonished the flames.

"Could you not do that?" Lily asked. They again heard the throaty laugh.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you lot. Fen got to me quicker than Asta probably thought. Can we come through?"

"Of course," Lily replied. The floo flared brighter but instead of a person coming through there was a huge black wolf that jumped out of the flames making everyone except Lily jump up and grab their wands pointing them at the large creature. It just looked at them and seemed to scoff at their reaction to him. The other three were so tuned into the beast they didn't see the second person that came through. When she saw what was going on she let out a hearty laugh, which started the other three into looking in her direction. She was no less intimidating but in a way that was manageable for the other three.

She was even more beautiful than her pictures. Her hair that even while up in an intricate high pony tail still brushed her hips and was the same color as a raven's wing. Her eyes however were beguiling; they seemed to dance with life and an inner fire that seemed to be dying out in so many people as the war drug on. She was also very tall for a woman reaching just under James and Frank's 6-foot-1 frames. Her formal robes also enhanced every part of her lean yet curvy form and in the end both men earned glares from their wives.

"Lily," said the woman as she embraced the redhead. "Thanks for the save from a night of boredom and frustration. I was about to cave the Norwegian Minister's head in when I got Fen's message. What's wrong?"

"It's a long story and you might want to change," Lily said indicating the beautiful but most likely uncomfortable robes. The other woman just looked down at her frame and gave a short laugh and nodded her head.

"Which bathroom should I use?"

"The first one on the left should work just fine."

"Thanks, I'll be back in a tick." The woman kissed Lily on the cheek as she left leaving the Potters and the Longbottoms in the sitting room with a monster sized wolf that had plopped down in the middle of the room and promptly ignored the humans.

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That's the end of this chapter. Please Review!