Lily was sitting in the Headmaster's office with James. She was holding her stomach unintentionally and biting her bottom lip nervously. She felt like a child, waiting to be scolded; she was just waiting for the final outcome. She was going to be kicked out of Hogwarts. Miss Perfect Lillian Evans, who never steps out of line, who never talks back. And all these years she had tried to retain a perfect record it'll all be shattered with one moment.

"Ms. Evans," Dumbledore said pensively as he leaned forward in his chair, gazing at her through his half moon spectacles. "I have talked to the teachers and we've all agreed that your pregnancy will not stop you from graduating, as you only have two months left. But," Dumbledore said slowly as he looked at Lily who seemed immensely relieved but still apprehensive. "I have been told of a prophecy. Your son could be a threat to Voldemort." Lily and James cringed at the sound of Voldemorts name, but then, the name seemed nothing compared to the feeling they had once they'd taken in what Dumbledore had said. "Now, we all want you to be prepared, to be able to protect your son."

"And how do you propose we go about doing this, sir?" Lily asked in a rational voice.

"We are going to have a maternal protection class for the remainder of the year, and we are going to start on Monday. We must do this as soon as possible as we only have a month and a half to prepare you inside of school, and we will have limited time once you've left Hogwarts. We will not mention your current state, and this will only involve seventh year."

"Aren't people going to wonder why they're required to take a maternal protection class?" James asked, finally finding his voice.

"I was just getting to that, Mr. Potter. We are going to say that other schools have enforced this class and that the ministry has told us we need to do so as well, to ensure the safety of future children as Voldemort rises to power. Me asking you to keep this a secret from your circle of friends would be a waste, so, I ask that you be careful with whom you tell, and who you can trust. Only tell those you fully believe will never betray you. I ask that you two discuss this before you tell anyone." Dumbledore looked once more between Lily and James. "You two are dismissed," Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand.

Lily and James stood up and thanked Dumbledore before they left his office.

"What do you think Dumbledore meant by, 'trust who you pick'? It seems as if he knows something," James said slowly as he thought it over.

"Oh don't be silly, James. I'm sure Dumbledore didn't really mean it. But I do think we should talk about who we are going to tell. And we can't do it in the middle of the corridors. Let's head to the girls dormitory-James, swipe that look off your face. It's lunchtime right now so we'll have enough time to talk it over without anyone disturbing us."

"Well, I'm sure you want to tell Sirius, Remus, and Peter," Lily said once they had reached the girls dormitory and had situated themselves comfortably on Lily's bed.

"Of course," James said. But then he noticed a look of apprehension on Lily's face. "What is it?"

"Well," Lily said slowly as she reached her hand to her stomach, thinking of the life growing inside of her. "I'm sorry, but I'm a little…nervous about telling Peter. When Dumbledore suggested that if we have any doubt, we shouldn't tell, and there's this feeling inside of me telling me to be careful. I'm sure it means nothing, but I just want to be sure."

"I'm not going to fight you on it. If it doesn't feel right, we don't have to tell him."

"Good, and I want to tell Kiera, if that's ok."

James nodded his head and a silence passed between the couple. Once they had settled on who they were going to tell, the information of their son possibly being a target of Voldemort's finally sunk in. You can't prepare yourself to hear this kind of news. Someone that has been growing for a month inside of Lily could possibly be killed. He could be killed because of a prophecy that may not be true. Lily's and James's lives had already changed because of the unexpected pregnancy, and now they had to worry about their unborn child living once he comes into the world.

"Do you remember what Dumbledore said?" Lily asked, looking up at James.

"Which part?"

Lily looked up at James lovingly, her face glowing. Despite the terrible news they had received today one happy moment blocked out the threat of Voldemort for a few moments. "The part when he said we were having a boy."

"How is it possible that an unborn child could be a threat to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Sirius asked as he scratched his head, the pieces not coming together.

Lily shrugged. "Dumbledore was very vague when he spoke of the prophecy."

"Why aren't you telling Peter?" Kiera asked.

Lily looked at her friends hesitantly. "Well, Dumbledore said only choose to tell people you fully trust, and I felt that we shouldn't tell Peter. Please try and understand that we're just thinking of our baby." Lily said it in the most supportive way, knowing how close the Marauders were, and how they could never be separated.

"Whatever you and James want," Remus said supportively.

"So, what's this about having maternal protection? Will I be impregnated?" Sirius asked.
When breakfast the next day had ended, everyone was standing to leave when Dumbledore stood up and spoke. "I have an announcement that only pertains to seventh years. Everyone else is excused." The other years looked confused as they slowly packed away their things hoping to stay long enough to hear what Dumbledore was going to say. They had no luck as McGonagall got up and started reprimanding the students that were purposefully taking a long time to leave.

"The ministry has informed us that with Voldemort's rise to power, we need to learn protection; mainly protection for our future children. So, with that said, the ministry has enforced a class for maternal protection. In this class you will have a baby doll that acts like a real child. It is charmed so that if you drop it, neglect it, or put it in a dangerous situation, it could be injured or die. I do not say this to scare you, but to prepare you. I'm telling you this information because you are going to be thrown into the real world within two months and the safety of Hogwarts will no longer be there for you. I don't want you to go into the world naïve and not knowing the dangers that you could face." Dumbledore looked around the Great Hall. Some of the kids looked scared, others confused, and others that seemed indifferent. "Now, I'm assuming there will be questions, and we'll take this time to answer them."

Around thirty hands went up and Dumbledore called on a girl from Ravenclaw. "Professor, are we going to be doing this alone or with a partner?" When the question left her mouth around ten hands went down.

"Very good question, Ms. Henders. You will have a partner, assigned by Professor McGonagall. And don't worry about mixing houses; you will be paired with someone from your own house. We only do this because the couple will be together more often if they share the same house. Next question. Yes, Mr. Kamps."

"Are we required to take our babies to class? Don't you find that will be distracting, especially since N.E.W.T.s are coming up?"

"No, you will not be bringing your child to class. We have made it so that when you are in class, the baby will be sleeping. They are set to wake up when it's time to eat; after that they will sleep once again. As for the N.E.W.T.s test; because caring for a baby will take up some of the time you would spend for studying, we have made it so that you have a longer time to take the test, you will now have three hours rather then the usual two. You will not have the baby during exams; you are to turn in your child, along with an essay, the Friday before exams start, giving you the weekend to study." Dumbledore looked around the Great Hall once more, noticing no hands were up. "Well, if there are no more questions, Professor McGonagall will inform you more on the class and what is expected." With a nod to McGonagall, Dumbledore left the Great Hall.

"Maternal Protection will be held Monday through Friday at six PM sharp. Classes start today and you will receive your child tonight, along with who your partner will be. As for partners, you cannot change. I will not accept bribes or threats," she said, her gaze lingering on Lucius Malfoy. "If your baby is injured, lost, or dead, you will not get the extended time for N.E.W.Ts. If you have questions later, you can ask either Professor Dumbledore or myself. I assume everyone understands the rules. You are now dismissed. You are not to skip your class, if you do so you will receive a detention."

Once McGonagall had left the Great Hall, everyone started talking. Most were complaining about having to care for a child, some were joking about it, and some didn't care. The only ones that weren't talking about it were the Marauders, Lily, and Kiera who all walked out of the Great Hall and to their class.

"This should be interesting, shouldn't it?" Peter said trying to break the silence. His effort was wasted as no one spoke and just merely shrugged. "Am I missing something?"

"No," Lily squeaked. She realized what she had done and cleared her voice. "I mean, no, of course not. It's just a lot of information to take in at once and talking won't clarify anything, it will only make it more frustrating. It's better to just wait and see what happens." Peter, being the slightly ignorant person he is, believed her excuse and didn't push it any further.

The group soon arrived at the potions room with Professor Slughorn. Once inside, they noticed immediately that their Professor did not look too pleased. "I'm just letting you know that if you're ever late for my class because of a 'baby issue', I will not be forgiving. The only reason I let you come late to this class was because Dumbledore requested it. If your baby is stuck, lost, or dead, I do not care. You will arrive at this class on time or you will automatically fail your Potions exam. This goes for all seventh years. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded before taking a seat and quietly getting out their things, trying their best to do nothing wrong so that they wouldn't trigger Slughorn's anger.

"This will be the last potion you are required to make until finals. This potion will take you two weeks, if you do it correctly. It's called Draught of the Living Dead. If you consume this potion, you will become tired, not being able to fight keeping your eyes open and you will die in your sleep. You will be doing this potion independently to better prepare yourself for the finals. The instructions are up on the board." Slughorn tapped his wand on the chalk board and words immediately showed up. "I suggest you get right to it, if you have any intention on passing this class."

There was a loud sound of chairs sliding against the cold stone floor, and the quick shuffling of feet as students tried to get their ingredients and cauldrons hurriedly.

"What do you think of all that has happened?" Kiera asked Remus as they started their potion.

"Well, I can't imagine what Lily and James are going through," Remus said in a quiet voice so no one could overhear. "I'm not too keen on having a child, even though it is fake. I'm sort of afraid of children, to be honest."

"Afraid? All they do is drool and eat," Kiera joked.

Remus smiled and let out a low chuckle. "I just had this experience with my cousins."

"Are you going to share this experience with me?"

Remus sighed. "Well, for some reason my parents decided that they wanted to have a family party over Christmas break, last year. My family is rather large; I have ten cousins, all very young. Since I am the oldest I was assigned to keep the children amused and happy, so the adults could basically get drunk without having to worry about their kids," Remus said with a smile. "When I had the kids in a room, they all looked at me with their beady eyes. They didn't move, didn't talk, nothing. They just stood there, staring up at me expectantly." Remus silently shivered and Kiera giggled. "I didn't know what to do so I grabbed some blocks and threw them in the middle of their circle. They immediately started fighting over the blocks except this one kid. He came up to me and said that I looked like a 'mushroom headed bear.'"

Kiera did everything in her power to not burst out into laughter. Her body was shaking as she bit her bottom lip in an attempt to suppress her laughter.

"I know this may seem amusing to you but did you ever take the time to wonder if children are plotting against us? I mean, we never know exactly what they're saying; we just assume it's something cute."

"Are you honestly expecting me to believe that children are evil? And they somehow grow out of it once they grow up and figure out what the world's really like?"

"Well, not exactly in those words, but yes, around those lines."

"Remus, is it that time of the month for you?"

Remus looked at Kiera in bewilderment and fear. How did she know? Remus didn't tell her he was a werewolf, and he was positive that James, Sirius, and Peter wouldn't tell her.

"I'm sorry Remus; I forgot men get embarrassed when girls joke about periods."

"Period? What period? Like a class period?" Remus asked in honest confusion.

Sirius leaned over smiling and whispered to Remus, "Remus, the time of the month for girls is when they eat every bit of chocolate in sight and become very moody for a day or two."

Remus thought about it and wondered if him being a werewolf was period related. He had all the symptoms (excluding being a girl); ate a lot of chocolate and got moody a few days before the full moon. Remus couldn't help but wonder; could girls be the reason as to why werewolf's exist?

Mad Eye Moody entered Dumbledore's office with a smug expression on his face. "Alastor," Dumbledore greeted warmly. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I have an item that may interest you," Moody said as he took a seat opposite of Dumbledore's.

"I assume everything went well?"

"Better than expected. We have captured four of Voldemorts followers. We currently have them under our watch, trying to get information out of them, they have yet to cave, but give it time and they will. Though they may be followers of Voldemort's their knowledge of where he is and what he's planning is limited. The only way we could get vital information would be to capture Demetry Malfoy. He's hidden his tracks well. I'm hoping that one of the Death Eaters we've captured could guide us towards Malfoy."

"Well done. Was anyone injured?"

"There were only a few minor injuries, nothing that a quick trip to St. Mungo's couldn't fix."

"Is that all you need to tell me?"

"Not quite," Moody said as he reached into his coat pocket. When he pulled his hand out, there was nothing in it. It looked like he was unfolding something, and Dumbledore was staring at him intently. "One of the Death Eaters, Warrington Goyle, had this on them." Moody then made a motion like he was wrapping something around him, and disappeared.

"An invisibility cloak?" Dumbledore asked as he leaned forward, not being able to hide the excitement in his voice.

Suddenly, Moody appeared before him once again and handed over the cloak to Dumbledore. "I thought this would be of use to you."

"Have you checked to make sure Voldemort hasn't charmed or jinxed it?"

"We've checked it and it's clear. It's just a plain ol' invisibility cloak. I believe it was Voldemort's because when we took it from Goyle, he looked scared and kept on saying that I needed to give it back, otherwise there would be terrible consequences."

"Consequences for us?"

"No, I believe he was talking about himself or Voldemort. I'll bet that Voldemort used the invisibility cloak to throw off his opponents during battles."

"This is very useful. Thank you, Alastor."

"Does this involve Potter and Evans?"

"You've received word of the prophecy?"

"Yes, I heard about it. Do you believe what they're saying?"

"It's hard to say. It may not be true, but we must take all precautions. And from what you've said, there appears to be more to this cloak. I don't mean to insult you and your credibility, but I would like to check this over once more."

"I understand, Albus, just thinking of your students, as usual." Moody stood up and shook Dumbledore's hand. "Well, that's all I have for you. If anything else happens, I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Alastor."

Dumbledore ran his hand along the smooth silk cloak, a tingling sensation entering his arm as he did so. He chuckled as he made part of his beard disappear wondering if he would look better with a shorter beard.

"Dumbledore," McGonagall said as she burst through the door. When she saw Dumbledore's beard growing and then shrinking, she sank back embarrassed.

"Ah, Minerva, just in time; do you think I should keep my beard the way it is or go short?"

"Dumbledore," she sputtered, clearly not amused. "I just passed by Alastor. What was he doing here?"

Dumbledore set the cloak to the side. He laced his hands together and set them on his desk before clearing his throat. "They've caught four followers of Voldemort."

"Did they get any information?"

"Nothing on the whereabouts of Voldemort, but they did get this," Dumbledore said as he held up what appeared to be nothing. Then he draped it over himself and disappeared. He took it off and was amused by McGonagall's shocked expression.

"He took this invisibility cloak from one of the Death Eaters."

"Did they check to see if it was cursed?"

"Yes, they did, and they found nothing. If you don't mind I would like you to check it one more time."

"Yes, of course," McGonagall said as Dumbledore handed her the cloak. McGonagall turned to leave but then a thought occurred to her. "Wait, are you planning on giving this to Potter?"

"Yes, that was my plan, why?"

"Albus, you know what he's like. Can you even fathom the pranks they would pull if they were invisible? I wouldn't trust him with this, Albus. It might do more damage than good."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that."

"How can you be so certain?"

"Because, it's not about him anymore, it's about his unborn child. There's nothing more powerful than the love for your child. Maybe you should take the maternal protection class, Minerva."