It was a dark evening in early January when Albus called James and Lily to Hogwarts. The Scottish winter was bleak, and all the current students were in their common rooms and dormitories. James could picture it quite clearly, it had only been three years since he had been head-boy and firmly ensconced in the red and gold tower. He missed it, the constant flow of people, living with just one other person was strange after sharing a living space with over fifty people for seven years. He shook his head and clasped Lily's hand more firmly in his, he wouldn't change his life now for all the world.

Lily squeezed his hand back and looked up at her husband, guessing his thoughts, "Last time we were in the halls after curfew, we had to run for our lives, I'd never seen Filch so determined to catch a student out of bed."

James had the grace to look a little guilty, "Me and Sirius may have had something to do with that. We had to rescue something from his office, but we had to plan it so that he wouldn't see what was missing and connect it immediately with us."

She gave hima quizzical look, "So what did you do?"

"Raided his office every night for a week, taking something different each time. He was furious by the end of it."

Lily frowned and punched his shoulder, "Rotter. I hope you gave the rest of it back."

James grinned, "Of course we did! We are not thieves! We just like to keep possession of our possessions, if you know what I mean." He leered at her, moving his eyebrows up and down in an awful fashion.

"You're not normal, James Potter."

James only laughed.

The rest of the trip was in silence as they each got caught up in memories, they hadn't been back here since graduating, although they had seen the Headmaster quite often through Order meetings. The cold seemed to seep in more as they went deeper into the castle, as the corridors were not heated like the living quarters were.

Before long, they were at the stone gargoyle which lead to Albus' office. The password was given, and they climbed the spiral steps.

"James, Lily, it's so very good to see you," smiled Albus, "thankyou for coming so promptly."

James smiled tightly, Albus looked worn down, and that boded ill. "You said it was important, so we thought we'd better not leave it."

"Indeed, indeed." The Headmaster turned to a sidetable where he had a teapot and several cups sitting ready, "I trust you are both well?" he asked as he drew the tea and passed the cups around.

Lily laughed happily, "More than, Albus, you know that."

"Ah, I am never disappointed by your love of life, my dear." Albus smiled, sadly, it seemed. "And the little one?"

James answered this time, "Poppy checked Lily over last week, and the pregnancy seems to be going completely normally." It was perhaps the first time in his life that James valued normalcy, his whole school career had been an adventure to bring himself as much attention and adulation as he could, now his priorities had changed. "Normal is what we like, apparantly."

"I'm sure that your son or daughter will be anything but normal, dear boy, with your blood, they will not be able to help it."

James grinned proudly at his wife, "They'll be a champion", he laughed.

"Surely you didn't invite us here for just smalltalk though, Albus," said Lily, tilting her head in curiosity, "what was it you wanted to speak to us about?"

The Headmaster sighed, he was loath to dim that happiness, but there was no help for it. "It is about your little one that I wanted to speak. Today I received knowledge from an unusual source."

There was a pause as he took another sip of tea. James clenched his hands around his teacup, and Lily paled.

"I was interviewing our new divinations teacher, and during the interview, she was overtaken by a prophecy." It was all he could do to look at their faces and keep talking. Bit by bit, he repeated the entire prophecy to the Potters. "And so, I believe that the child who is spoken of belongs to either you, or to Alice and Frank.

Lily looked as though she was about to cry, but took control of herself, "Is there anything we can do? You wouldn't tell us this if you didn't have some backup plan, would you? Albus, you must help us!"

James clenched his jaw and put an arm around Lily's shoulder, "We'll find a way, Lils, he said the child had to be marked first, we'll just make sure that never happens."

Lily took solace in his arms as Albus continued talking, "We will of course do our best to make sure that both children are safe, I myself will make it my duty to find the best way to do so. In the meantime, I will require you to cast a Fidelius charm on your home. Choose someone you trust, and who won't give it away. It is possible that someone may have overheard the prophecy and will inform Voldemort. It would not take him long to find out who the likely parents were."

With a last goodbye, the Potters left his office and Hogwarts. Once outside the apparition wards, they went home, wrapped in each others arms for comfort, hoping against hope that the child spoken of was not their own.

Albus looked out of his window before he retired for the night, "We will do our best, but I fear it will still come to pass."