Ch 1- Godric's Hollow - October 1981

Lily Potter had been restless the whole day. Something was wrong, and her husband, James, was being the usual clueless person he was. When she had told him about her uneasiness earlier, he had shrugged it off and promptly blamed it on the weather. Then, he had given her a pepperup potion, kissed her on the cheek, and sent her straight to bed, claiming that she needed rest. So there she lay, awake but tired on her bed, thinking.

For about a month now, her life had been close to living hell. She hadn't been out of the house or made a single potion(she would have to open the window to air the fumes out). And since James was being irritable(for lack of fresh air and flying time), they had been quarreling at every conversation. Dumbledore said that Voldemort was after them. Of course, being the secretive man he was, the Potters had no idea why or how Voldemort would even want to kill them. It might've been the fact that she and James had escaped his clutches thrice, but still unlikely that he was targeting them only for that reason. They were now under the fidelius charm, and only a few people knew about it- Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore and Peter. Lily wished she could have told Severus, but James objected severely, saying that the 'greasy git' was a Death Eater, and would sell them to old Moldyshorts in a week. It was true, but Lily would have liked her best friend to be in on the secret, and truth be told, she missed him.

But still, she would endure. She would persevere for the twins' sake. Her beautiful children- Harry and Mirabella. Lily still remembered the day they were born. The sun had been shining brightly, the sky a perfect shade of cerulean blue, and the fresh scent of juniper hung over the air, making her nose tingle. It was easily the happiest day of her life. Harry had been born first, and little Mira had come exactly 7 minutes after. And all had been reasonably calm (aside from the war of course) for about 14 months. James had been ecstatic, as had she. He had picked the name Harrison James- Harry for short and she had picked the name Mirabella Aella. And so, they had arrived home with the twins, ready to make a lifetime of memories. The twins proved a mighty challenge to raise right from the beginning. Both were intelligent, powerful and had begun exhibiting accidental magic from the time they turned one. Lily also suspected that they were parselmouths- not too long ago, a burmese python had mysteriously found its way into James' side of the bed, and when James woke up screaming, it had slithered away peacefully, as if all it had wanted to do was prank him. With James and Sirius around as influences, she knew the twins would wreak havoc on Hogwarts when their time came.

Suddenly a cry sounded from the nursery. Lily sighed. A mother's job was never done. Upon walking into the friendly yellow room, she found Harry pulling his sister's hair, and Mira, for all the innocence that her green eyes portrayed, had Harry's stuffed stag in her hands. Lily gave the stag back to a slightly teary Harry and admonished him for pulling his sister's hair. She then turned and told Mira not to take her brother's things without his permission. Satisfied with the results (they had returned to playing something suspiciously close to a reenactment of a Marauders outing) Lily walked out of the room only to hear the door being blasted open, and James yelling to her, 'Take them and go Lily! It's Moldyshorts! I'll hold him off!'. Lily ran back into the nursery, wandlessly locking the door and piling practically all the furniture against it. The only thought in her head was to protect her children.

Meanwhile, James was having the time of his life, cheekily insulting what must be one of the most dark wizards of all times. If only Voldemort had a sense of humor. Then James might have gotten away with calling him a noseless vol-au-vent without any toppings. Or hair. Dodging a strangely bright stream of green (probably fueled by Voldemort's rage at the volauvent comment) James belted out at the top of his voice, 'Hey Moldy! Knock knock!'. Voldemort paused. The idiot in front of him had absolutely no concerns for self preservation, and was trapped. He might as well hear this one out. If it was good, he might just recruit the idiot under the imperius curse to do his dirty work and clean his feet. Entertainment never hurt either. He was also low on servants he could torture and kill ruthlessly whenever he was bored. 'Who's there?', he asked in a high cold voice. James started. He hadn't expected the mold to reply. 'You know', he said. Voldemort fell for it and said the ultimate line- 'You know who?'. James couldn't help it. He started laughing. The Dark lord, the ultimate snake, and the most moldy, noseless person he had ever seen had just referred to himself in the manner that everyone did, all because of a lame joke. Voldemort growled. It was a good joke. But it was one he fell for. Not to mention highly insulting to his pride. 'Let me grace you with the punchline', he said. James' face never fell. The next stream of green light did not miss, and he lay dead with his last smile still etched upon his face.

Upstairs, Lily had placed the children inside a cupboard. Voldemort had sealed any mode of emergency transport from the house. The next best thing was to hide the children and sacrifice herself, in the hopes that he might have mercy. He appeared upstairs inside the nursery, blasting through the door and hurling furniture everywhere, just as Lily was closing the cupboard door. 'Step aside girl. I want the children.', he said, almost a hint of boredom in his voice. 'No!', Lily replied, sounding much calmer than she felt. She was bloody from the dresser slamming into her and tired of people telling her what to do. She would protect her children and sacrifice herself, against all the other wishes of her friends and family. Unbeknownst to her and Voldemort, the twins started glowing a strange sheen of pink inside the cupboard. 'Please. Take me instead. Spare the children. Please'. Voldemort sighed. Severus Snape had begged for the redhead to be spared, but if she wasn't cooperating, then he would have no choice but to eliminate her. It was almost too quick, and she went screaming. He had always hated the victims who died screaming. So unpleasant. He lazily opened the cupboard to find two small children, barely 15 months old, holding hands and glaring at him. They were also glowing a strange pink. Voldemort chuckled. The extent that mothers went these days to make sure their children looked 'pretty' preceded him. He was going to enjoy this. He pulled out his spare wand and simultaneously cast the killing curse from both hands. Twins should die together after all. Little did he know that it would be the worst mistake of his entire miserable life.

The curse rebounded because of Lily's sacrifice. Harry and Mira were left unharmed save for the strange scars on their foreheads and a slight urge to sleep. They were too tiny to comprehend the enormity of the rebounding of the curse, or that they would be hailed as the twins who lived, but they were old enough to understand that they were quite alone. That mommy and daddy were not going to be with them anymore, and that they were all each other had left in the world.

So, the twins fell asleep in each other's arms, seeking comfort that they would have no more.