A/N: I normally do not do tragedy. Not at all. At all, what so ever. I do not kill off characters I love. If I shipped James/Lily, this would be out of the norm for me.

WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH!

Set me as a seal upon thine heart...

Harry squealed and laughed with joy as his fleshly little hands tried to catch the brightly colored little puffs that came from the tip of his wand. He'd always hated reading books, but this spell really did come in handy for playing with kids, 'Like the book said. Honestly James, if you would just read more.' He laughed and Harry copied him, closing his hands around a golden colored puff of smoke. Harry seemed to love it just as much as the other kids, his face beaming and bright, his eyes lit up and alive, hands grabbing even before the smoke came near them.

Lily had always loved the cute sound of Harry's laughter and watched in the doorway for a moment as Harry played. But the parents relationship came before the child and the child sprang forth from the love the mother and father shared…or something like that. That was what Lily always said, and he agreed with her. They loved Harry, but being together and "reconnecting", as she called it, was just as important. Maybe next year, when this was all over, they could go on a family vacation? Lily had always adored the water. Her red hair would look gorgeous in the sun.

"Ok Harry, time for bed."

He handed Harry to Lily who curled her arm around him and held him against her hip as threw his wand on the sofa, and stretched as the bones in his back popped back into place. He may have been young and in his early twenties but after being down there on the floor and playing with Harry for…how long had it been anyway? He yawned.

Hopefully he would have enough energy for Lily tonight. It had been so long since-

He jumped up from the couch. The front door had burst open and Lily was in the hall! He ran towards the front door, and in the light of the hallway, it was easy to see who was under the cloak.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

But he hadn't needed to say anything. Lily was already gone, already upstairs, maybe even already in Harry's room and jumping out the window, her gorgeous red hair flying behind her as she left him to protect both herself and Harry…without a wand. Neither of them had a wand!

Voldemort laughed as he dived, his hand outstretched. "Avada Kedavra!"

He heard a rushing sound just as his fingers touched the handle, his wedding ring glinting green in the light of the spell.

As a seal upon thine arm...

"Avada Kedavra!"

A faint green light filled the hallway as she heard something thump against the floor. She screamed and shrieked as she pushed several empty cardboard boxes against the door. She ran to the opposite wall and tried opening the window, but it was locked and shut tight with a sticking charm…a sticking charm she couldn't undo without her wand. Harry cried against her hip in tandem with the tears she could feel sliding down her cheeks as she tried wandlessly apparating, trying desperately to get them out, but was met with something solid blocking the way. She tried sending out a blast of magic, but it was too weak.

She couldn't get out. She was too late. She didn't have a wand. Harry was crying. Voldemort was coming.

They were going to die.

James was already dead…and he was coming closer to the door.

Voldemort.

She ran to the crib as the door burst open and with a wave of his wand, the boxes she'd piled against the door were set aside, pushed up against the wall. His eyes fixed on Harry and she put him in his crib and spread herself out over the crib as best she could. She would rather die than let let Voldemort take her son! Hopefully she could die instead of her son. Even if he took Harry and raised him for his own purpose, anything would be better than her son dying!

"Not Harry, not Harry, please, not Harry…"

"Stand aside, you silly girl. Stand aside now."

"Not Harry, no, please, take me! Kill me instead!"

"This is my last warning."

"Not Harry, please, have mercy! Have mercy! Not Harry! Not Harry, please! I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside. Stand aside girl!"

In that moment, she knew he had made up his mind. He was going to kill her. Why he had tried to spare her, she didn't know. It didn't matter. All that mattered was keeping her son safe.

The green light barreled towards her.

For love is strong as death...

She stood beside James, watching, unseen, over their son. Harry clutched the bars of his crib and stood up, looking into the face of the inhuman monster standing above him, wand pointed at his face. He cried for them and her heart ached with a horrible reality. He didn't know about death yet. He was just a baby. All he knew was that he wanted his father, his mother, and that he felt lost without his parents.

The same way she felt lost without him. She had lost her son, just as much as he had lost his mother. It was enough to tear her soul apart…but she would never want him to die. As inevitable as it was, facing down the end of Voldemort's wand, she didn't want him to die. She wished she could take the killing curse for him, but it would only go right through her. There was nothing she could do.

She'd never felt so helpless.

What kind of a monster would kill a baby?

"Avada Kedavra."

Voldemort's body collapsed, and what lay on the floor instead made her stomach turn. The house was destroyed, and in the midst of all the rubble, sat their son, Harry. A lightning scar bleeding on his forehead as he screamed from the pain, from the fear, from the loss. He wanted his dad. He wanted his mum. She would always be there, but she would never be able to comfort him. She would never be able to hold him in her arms again. He would never write home about his adventures at Hogwarts or the wonderful adventures he'd had. Would he be a prankster like James? Would he be more soft hearted and less of a bully? She hoped he would be kind, but she had no say.

She could not raise her own son.

She wished she could comfort him but there was nothing she could do.

At least her son was alive.

She buried her face into James's chest and wept. She would watch over Harry, until Harry joined them both. She would never, not once, stop loving him.

Never.

…for love is strong as death.