James POV

The ball of green light hit me square in the chest, and thinking of Lily I departed this world. I had always assumed that when you died everything goes black and that's it, but the strangest thing happened. Instead of black the world around me went white taking me to what looked like (after my eyes had got used to the blinding brightness) Kings Cross station.

At the end of the platform stood my Mother. She looked at me with the same expression that she had worn when I had passed all my N.E.W.T's with E's and O's. Proud. I walked towards her and hugged her when I reached her. It all seemed very surreal.

"I'm so proud son." she said with a smile.

"I can see." I quickly retorted.

"you've done everything a mother could wish for. You've protected your family and friends, stood against evil and were a loving father and husband." I grinned and said the first thing that came to his mind

"I try"

"still the same old James" replied Mum chuckling.

"there is only one thing I want to ask you to do" she continued. " don't beat yourself up about Peter. You weren't to know that he would give in to Voldemort. And you can't spend eternity wishing you'd done something different, anyway, anyone who drops the order for the death eaters will have others hating them more and fellow death eaters not always trusting them so, the chances of them meeting a sticky end are much higher, plus, peter never was much of a fighter was he.

"what are the advantages of being dead apart from never aging?"

"why are you assuming there are some?"

"as you look happier and healthier than you did in the couple of years before you died so you probably haven't been sitting around decaying"

"alright, smarty pants!" She grinned.

"You can watch over the lives of everyone you care about and see them throughout their lives until they come and join us. I must go now. Another's presence about to arrive. You must welcome them"

"Who is it?"

"You'll see"

I turn around and inwardly groan. Lily is walking toward me from the other end of the platform, despite being happy I won't have to face death alone and we'll get to spend all eternity together I can't help thinking that if Voldemort had found and killed Lily, Harry can't be far behind and all those things I want for both and how none of these things will ever Lily will never get to live her dreams. Never see Voldemort finally defeated; never see Harry turn from a boy to a Harry, how he will always be one, never learn to fly, to walk, to hex people who irritate him and, never go to Hogwarts. That had to be the worst. Going to Hogwarts is something young wizard's dream about since they find out about it. How they'll make friends and get to learn everything they need to know about magic.

Somehow all that goes through my mind in the ten seconds it takes for Lily to be standing in front of me.

"What happened?" I ask.

"He killed me because I wouldn't move away so he could kill Harry"

"Why would he want Harry"

"Remember what Dumbledore said about a prophecy"

"oh lord!" I exclaim "But prophecies don't always come true?"

"no. but it seems Voldemort has found out about this one and his actions will probably cause it to be true"

"oh" is all I can say in reply "Let's watch, I know watching our only son die will be painful but he may say something that will tell us why and how."

"why and how what"

"how he found out about the prophecy and why he acted on it."

slowly both of us close our eyes and think of Harry as if we've done it a thousand times before and (to use the muggle expression Lily taught me) as if by magic it felt like we were standing in the nursery. Voldemort carelessly kicked Lily's body aside causing anger to bubble up inside me so I felt like I was about to boil over and started to approach Harry who was looking at him with an expression which if I had seen on anyone else I would have thought it meant: "seriously I don't have time for this please go away and we can do this another time" which in any other circumstance would have made me laugh but with Voldemort standing there with his wand pointing at my son, smirking, with my wife's' body lying on the floor next to him I felt laughter was the last thing I could do.

Voldemort lifted his wand and said the dreaded words I had heard enough to last five lifetimes.

"Avada Kedavra"

Then it felt as if someone had pressed a slow motion button on life as the ball of green light hurtled toward my son. The last remaining Potter. But then as the ball of murdering light was about to hit Harry the one thing I thought would never happen, happened. The green light seemed to stop, turn around and like karma was controlling it start heading in the opposite direction. Towards Lord Voldemort. Scrape that. Voldemort doesn't deserve to be a Lord, in fact, he doesn't even deserve to be known as Voldemort. Toward Tom Riddle. when the light hit him he seemed to explode. As if the painless death I had experienced was reserved for those good at heart. As soon as the dust that was the all-powerful Lord Voldemort. I looked over at my son. And felt as proud as I think humanly possible. My son, defeater of the evilest wizard ever to have lived. And only one year old.

Lily took my hand and brought me back to reality. She smiled and we almost apparated (but without having to do anything) back to Kings Cross. With a heavy silence over us which after what felt like an hour but was probably closer to a minute, I reluctantly broke.

"well that's two things that I was disappointed about when you came solved"

"what two things?"

"that you can see Voldemort finally defeated and that Harry can grow up, go to Hogwarts and hex people who annoy him"

Lily playfully whacked me which I probably deserved and we walk on to see what death has in store for us.

Violist by name and nature.

Just to let you know, the image of this photo is the outside of King's Cross station. The building used in the films is the hotel that used to be the British Rail offices attached to St. Pancras international. Although it is next door to King's Cross it is a different station despite sharing a tube station. However the interior shots are inside King's Cross - you can tell as the bricks change colour. Sorry, this is a ridiculously nerdy pet peeve of mine.