Prologue

It seemed such a strange and ironic place for the event that was about to unfold to happen. Peace exuded its' self from every corner, silence dominated every table and aisle, and knowledge seeped into every shelf. It was a place where everything congregated - despair, joy, hope. Within the four walls that declared its' undisputed place, the Library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry gave sanctuary to tomes of grief, pain, and disaster, of triumph, desire, and euphoria. No past, future, or present existed within its solemn walls, it simply is. Like a lung needs air to breath, so too does a library need time; the worlds discoveries, its' changes, its' failures make the library breathe. Yes, it seemed such a strange and ironic place for the event that was unfolding...

Lily Evans, a witch of extraordinary talent, bent further over her work. She ran her hand over the pile of papers that she had been accumulating for nearly a decade - her life's work. It was finally complete. Well the preliminary stage was finished. All that was needed now was for her to come up with a way to actually test the theory that she had worked so hard on. Her fingers ran over the words she had written in her most dignified script. The words that she hoped would make all the difference.

One last check, she thought. Then I will take it to Albus.

The words tumbled fluidly from her mouth beneath her breath. Each word steady on her tongue as she contemplated each meaning. Her mind recalled the reasons she had worked so hard to create this spell, each one at the forefront of her mind as she spoke the words.

She smiled when she finished. The charm was perfect. It would...

A force slammed into her. Her back collided with something hard and jagged, her breath was evicted. She crumpled to the floor her lungs begging for oxygen that she could not provide. She tried to gasp at the air, but none would come. Light flared forcing her to close her eyes. Thunder boomed.

Then silence.

A ragged breath finally filled her tortured lung with air and then another followed. Gasping, Lily wearily shifted her weight on her hands and knees. Her back flared with pain, but she ignored it. She took a moment to steady her breath and then with a grunt she stumbled to her feet, her hand gripping a bookshelf to help her balance. Once she felt her legs were sturdy beneath her she looked around the library and her mouth fell open in astonishment. The first clear thought in her head was that Madam Pince, the librarian, was going to kill her when she saw this.

Shouting filled her ears and she turned away from the wreckage to look at the entrance. A man with a long white beard and eccentric robes rushed towards her. "Lily! Are you all right?" He panted and Lily thought that he might have run all the way from his office.

She nodded and rasped out, "I'm fine, just..." She waved her hand towards the mess only then noticing that it was shaking.

"Try not to talk," Albus said gently and then escorted her to an upturned chair which he righted and helped her sit down in. Once she was settled, he hesitantly moved forward towards the source of the mess. A thick layer of dust hung in the air and Albus must have been tired of trying to look through it for he simply vanished it. An uneasy silence filled the space as they gazed on what was revealed.

A boy lay by her table. He was unconscious from what Lily was able to tell. Far to curious for her own good, she got up on shaky legs and followed Albus' progress towards the boy. He couldn't be much older than eighteen. He wore a short sleeve shirt and jeans accenting his knobby but lithe figure. A tuft of black hair stuck up in all directions on his head. It took a moment for them to overcome their shock at seeing the young man to hear the muffled noise that was carried by the silence. Albus and Lily exchanged a look at the odd sound, for it reminded them of an infants cries. Albus rushed forward and slowly turned the young man over. Lily's legs gave out from under her when she looked upon what had been revealed, for there on the floor was a baby, hidden in the protective embrace of a young man who looked remarkably like her husband.