Suddenly, a baby's screams echoed through her small Godric's Hollow cottage. Lily instantly dropped everything and ran to the front room where James and Harry were. From the threshold into the room, she found Harry smiling on the rug while he played with wooden blocks; but she still heard the screams. Looking to her husband, she saw James wincing at the mirror in his hand. The two-way mirror that was his connection to his best friend: Sirius Black.

"Mate, are you sure that you wouldn't prefer to talk to Lily? She's better at this sort of thing than I am," James said.

"Talk to me about what?" Lily said.

James' eyes widened as he turned to look to his wife. He sheepishly grinned at her as she stood in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest with her ginger hair falling in front of her face. "Sirius is having…issues," James said.

"I am not!" Sirius shouted from the mirror.

The screams continued as Lily walked across the room and snatched the mirror from James. "Sirius, what's going on?" Lily asked.

"Nothing I can't handle," Sirius said stubbornly.

"Padfoot, either you tell her or I will," James said loudly enough for Sirius to hear him.

Sirius groaned and after a few moments of silence he spilled everything to Lily. "I don't know what I'm doing. She won't stop crying and we both haven't slept in what seems like days. Just when I think she's finally going to get some sleep she wakes-up and starts screaming bloody murder," Sirius said.

"Have you changed her?" Lily asked.

"I'm not that bad of a father," Sirius said hotly.

"I'm sorry, I was just checking. That's usually one of the reasons Harry starts screaming. That or he's hungry," Lily said.

"I've been changing her and she won't eat," Sirius sighed.

"Then she's probably sick," Lily answered.

"I figured that much out already. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do. These things don't come with manuals," Sirius said.

"These things come with time, Sirius. It's only been four months," Lily sighed.

"She should have known better than to leave me with a damn baby. I can barely take care of myself," Sirius hissed.

"Whining about the past isn't going to help your daughter feel better," Lily retorted.

"Fine, then what do I do?" Sirius asked.

Lily examined Sirius through the mirror. His eyes were blood-shot and had dark circles around them, from his lack of sleep. The poor guy looked miserable like he really hadn't slept in days and Lily's heart went out to him. Sirius was trying his best, but he wasn't ready for the father thing when he was suddenly thrust into fatherhood back in July. Marlene McKinnon, one of Sirius' flings, had dropped off their daughter on his doorstep mere weeks before his death, leaving Sirius alone. She tried to help Sirius as much as she could from the confines of her home, but what Sirius really needed was a good night of sleep to gather his wits.

"James will be over there shortly to get her. We'll look after her while you get some sleep," Lily sighed.

"You mean it, Lils?" James asked.

James instantly shot-up from the couch and looked at his wife. "What kind of godparents would we be if we didn't step in and help?" Lily asked with one hand on her hip.

With a grin on his face, James stood-up and snatched the mirror from his wife. Lily knew that he was more excited of the prospect of seeing his best friend than getting a sick baby, which caused her to slightly chuckle at her husband. "Be careful!" Lily said sternly.

James didn't respond because he was already wrapped in his cloak and out the door. Lily shook her head and kneeled down on the floor by Harry. He giggled as Lily tickled him. "You're going to have a friend over tonight, little man," Lily said.

Harry grinned a smile similar to James and Lily tickled him once more before picking him up and carrying him to the kitchen so that she could finish the dishes from supper. She set Harry down on the floor of the kitchen while she finished washing the dishes. Just as Lily put the last dish in the cupboard, James walked into the kitchen carrying a baby girl who was only a few weeks younger than Harry was. James clung tightly to the little girl as she screamed.

"You poor thing," Lily cooed.

Lily grabbed the girl and gently bounced her in her arms.

"I was thinking you meant me at first," James teased.

"Uncle James is so mean to you, isn't he Charlie?" Lily said.

The little girl stopped her wailing and looked at Lily with big eyes. Her eyes were unmistakably Sirius' eyes. When Marlene had dropped little Charlotte (or Charlie, as Sirius began to call her) off on Sirius' door, there was no doubt in anyone's minds that she wasn't his.

"How's Sirius?" Lily asked.

"I made sure he went to bed. He looked exhausted," James said. Charlie then began to scream again in Lily's arms. "I know, Aunt Lily is scary," James teased again.

"Shut it, James," Lily reprimanded.

"See what I mean?" James whispered.

Lily gently smacked James' arm before he knelt down and picked Harry up off the floor. Harry smiled up at his father as Lily held a crying Charlie.

"There's my boy. Why don't we go do some manly things and give the girls some alone time," James said to Harry.

"Change him into his pajamas, please," Lily said.

With Harry in his arms, James walked Harry back to the front room. Meanwhile, Lily moved to the sink and began to fill it with warm water. When Harry was sick, she usually could get him to sleep with a warm bath; so she hoped the same would be true of Charlie. As Lily placed the girl in the bathwater she instantly relaxed and even playfully splashed. Lily breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that the little girl would be able to get a good night's sleep. Lily gently splashed the little girl as Charlie tried to splash her back.

Lily felt bad that her goddaughter would grow up never knowing her mother. Marlene had been killed by the Death Eaters, but Marlene had known that they were trailing her and to keep Charlie safe, she had given-up her little girl. As much as Sirius put on a front that he wasn't a great father, he really was and Lily knew that Charlie was the best thing that happened to him. By the time Lily pulled Charlie out of the bath, she was soaked. She chuckled as she wrapped the girl in a towel and placed gentle kisses on the girl's forehead. Charlie yawned as Lily picked her up.

"James, I'm going to try to put Charlie down for the night," Lily called.

"Good luck!" James called back.

Lily rolled her eyes and carried Charlie up to Harry's room. She smiled as she noticed that James had already placed Charlie's bag of things up here and opened it to take out a fuzzy sleeper. Once Charlie was changed, Lily sat down in the rocking chair and rocked the little girl while she sang a lullaby. Within minutes, Charlie's eyes began to droop and soon after that, the girl was fast asleep. For a few more minutes, Lily sat and rocked the small girl before placing her in Harry's crib. She watched for a few minutes to make sure the girl didn't wake up before heading back downstairs to her husband and son. She opened the door and looked at James who was playing with his wand as Harry enjoyed the puffs of smoke.

"Charlie's asleep," Lily said.

"You must have the magic touch," James smiled.

"Then I should probably use it on Harry," Lily said.

James picked-up Harry and walked him over to Lily. Lily smiled as she took hold of her son and leaned over to place a kiss on James' cheek. "I love you," James smiled back.

Lily kissed him once more and headed upstairs with Harry. Just as she did with Charlie, she rocked Harry to sleep. As she placed a kiss on her son's forehead, she could hear James screaming from downstairs.

"Lily it's him! Take them and run! I'll hold him off!"

Lily's eyes widened as she began to panic. Her wand was downstairs in the kitchen. She hadn't thought that she would need it to put the children to bed, so there was no easy way to get out of here. She kissed Harry again and put him in the crib beside Charlie. Harry woke up and Lily began to pile everything that wasn't the crib in front of the door. She knew that it wouldn't keep Voldemort away, but it was the best she could do and maybe it would distract him for a while, while she came up with a better idea. Harry's crawled on top of Charlie, waking her up, and she began to scream as the door handle jiggled.

Tears streamed from Lily's eyes, they weren't going to make it. They were going to be counted as victims to the countless others murdered by him and his followers. Lily's thoughts instantly turned to Sirius. They had never questioned the safety of Charlie. He was about to lose his entire world. That little girl was what he lived for. The door flung open. There was only one thing left to do: plead.

"Not Harry! Please not Harry or Charlie!" Lily cried.

"Stand aside!" Voldemort ordered.

"Please take me instead! Leave the children alone!" Lily pleaded.

"This is my last warning…" Voldemort hissed.

"Have mercy…please have mercy," Lily cried.

"I said to stand aside!" Voldemort shouted.

Voldemort's wand was drawn at the crib, so Lily did the only thing she could think of: she threw herself in front of the crib. But that only lasted momentarily before a green light filled the room and Lily Potter's dead body dropped to the floor. Harry clutched the bars of the crib looking at Voldemort as the girl continued to scream. The Dark Lord growled something under his breath before pointing his wand at the boy. But why not take care of both of them at once? The green light filled the room once more and then it was dark.

I would like to give a big thank you to January Lily. She has been fabulous helping me to figure out what exactly it was I wanted to write. I highly recommend that you check our her fics. Her HP fic is Lost Along the Way: The Beginning. Leila is goals.