Disclaimer: Sorry, I'm not J K Rawlings, nor do I own Harry Potter.
A/N: Look a shiny new story from a shiny new author! Enjoy. Oh, this is ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!!!
Hidden in the Wales countryside, Godric's Hollow resounded with the laughter and shrieks associated with Halloween. Children dressed up as monsters and marvels ran around, followed by laughing parents as they collected candy and toys from their neighbors and friends. No house lit up was ignored, except one. This one was passed-by by every child. No adults spared a glance for the small cottage as they walked by. It didn't exist as far as they were concerned. Indeed there were less than ten people in the world that knew of the cottage's existence, a fact meant to help guard its precious occupants.
Shadows danced through the windows, tracing the pathways of the people inside. A tall, muscled silhouette danced with a smaller one, followed by a shorter shape carrying another tiny body. A curtain was pulled back for a brief moment, and a flash of red hair showed around an inquisitive face, and then vanished. "I'm worried, James," the owner of the red hair, one Lily Potter nee Evans, said quietly.
"What's wrong?" James Potter asked as he swung his son around again.
"It's just, I have this feeling. Something's going to happen. Something…you do trust Peter don't you?" Lily turned, cradling their other son gently.
"Lily, honey, Peter is the last of our friends who would turn to You-Know-Who," James said. "Why, I'd say Padfoot would before Wormtail."
Lily nodded, "If you're sure, James."
"As sure as I am that I am holding Harry," James replied.
Lily opened her mouth to tell him he had Hunter when the door blasted open. "Oh Potters!" A drawling, sarcastic voice called, "I'm here."
"It's him, Lily! Take Hunter and Harry and get out of here!" James said, he dumped Hunter into Lily's open arm and sprinted for the entryway, grabbing his wand from the coffee table as he passed it. Lily pulled her boys close and raced up the back stairs, heading for the nursery and the portkey that would get them to safety.
"Avada Kedavra!" A hateful voice called out and Lily gasped. A thud, followed by a crash, from the front of the house echoed up the stairs, freezing her in her tracks.
"Diffindio!" James bellowed.
"Crucio!"
"James," she whispered, clinging to her children. Pain wracked screams attested to Voldemort's curse, but Lily knew that she had only so long before the Dark Lord was done with James.
"Mommy," whimpered Harry, pulling on her robe.
Lily shook her head and raced into the nursery, kicking the door shut behind her and saying, "Aslan," as she headed for the crib. The wards on the room fell into place around her, cutting off all sound. Now, the only ways out would be for her to either deactivate the wards or to use the single portkey. She grabbed the pink blanket and set it on the floor and put the boys on to it as Voldemort struck the wards.
"Mommy, Daddy!" Hunter said, holding out his hands.
Lily closed her eyes, "No Daddy, Hunter."
Hunter frowned, "Daddy!"
"No Hunter," Lily replied, frantically trying to remember the activation phrase for the portkey.
The door blasted in, and Lily spun, her wand in her hand, "Ah, Lily Potter," Voldemort said as he stepped into the room. "Step aside, child. I only want one of your boys," he said.
"Never," Lily replied.
"You will still have one," Voldemort replied.
"No, you can't have either of my sons," Lily said, lifting her chin and her wand.
"Your husband thought the same thing," Voldemort replied, "and he lies dead below us."
Lily snarled, "That was James, I am my own woman. Diffindo." As the cutting curse leaped from her wand, she added, "And you will never harm a hair on my children's heads."
Voldemort lazily blocked the curse, "I am sorry that you believe that, Mrs. Potter. Crucio."
Voldemort watched Lily fall, overwhelmed as her husband had been under a mix of the Crucio and other dark curses, and he sighed, what a waste. He turned to his goal, two identical boys on a pink blanket. They sat side by side staring at him, no doubt wondering what he was doing. One boy's shirt had a wolf and a stag, the other a black dog and a stag. No doubt this showed who was who, and he knew that it didn't matter which twin he hit, for the other would follow, as was the nature of identical twins such as these. Thusly decided, Voldemort lifted his wand, and aimed it at the little boy with the wolf and incanted "Avada Kedavra."
The green light of death leapt out to caress the boy, but the boy screamed, a noise akin to a banshee, and a golden shield swept over him and his brother, who made no noise, only clung to his brother like he would never let go. The curse struck and attempted to burrow through the shield. There was a pulse of white light and the shield fell, the green light hit, not the boy he'd aimed at, who had fallen backwards, but instead hit the other boy. The green light reversed and changed into a silver beam of light that shot back between them and hit Voldemort before he could register that he'd made such a vast mistake. The house shook as Voldemort screamed, and then faded into a black cloud and dust.
On the pink blanket, the little boy with a dog on his shirt reached for a stuffed dog that lay on the floor nearby, "Pa'foo'," he called, and the blanket vanished, bearing its precious burden of the Boy Who Lived and his brother. On the forehead of one boy was a scar that would become famous for its undeniable resemblance to the rune for power and on the other was a lightning bolt.
Albus Dumbledore watched his students enjoy the last of the Halloween feast, flanked by his teachers. He sipped his goblet of wine and smiled. Everything was well, the students had forgotten the war, and were laughing as they ate the last of the candies that had been made available for them. A loud gong rang through the castle, silencing the Great Hall, and then Fawkes appeared, singing a lament that brought Dumbledore to his feet. Only one thing could possibly have occurred, an emergency portkey had been utilized, and Severus Snape had gone to the Dark Lord's side. Turning, Albus rushed from the Hall, barely hearing Minerva send the children to their dormitories until further news could be brought.
Not quite running, Albus followed Fawkes back to his office, and when he burst into the room, his heart began to pound. Lying on a blanket, bawling in fear, were the Potter twins, Harry and Hunter. Both appeared bloody and a quick look told Albus that they had come alone. "Fawkes," Albus said, turning to his friend, "Go to Godric's Hollow, and see if Lily and James are alive. Bring them to me if they are." Fawkes chirped and vanished in flame. That done, Albus knelt at the fireplace and activated the Floo, "The Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey's office," he declared before sticking his head into the flames.
Poppy was running into the door as Albus's vision clear, she had clearly ran from the Great Hall, "Albus, what do you need?" She asked after she had bounced off the door, flushed, but regaining her composure quickly and calming down easily.
"It's the Potters; they've sent Harry and Hunter via portkey. The boys are terrified, and bloody. Fawkes is scouting their home, please come through." Albus said. He drew back and stood up, turning back to the boys and trying to think of a way to calm them down.
Poppy appeared moments later through the fireplace, her field bag clutched to her chest, "The poor dears," she breathed, and knelt to draw them to her. "Shh," she told them. "You are safe here."
Fawkes arrived, his golden voice a demand and a summons. Albus closed his eyes, "Poppy," he said, "take care of the boys, and keep them up here. I must go to Godric's Hollow and see what occurred."
"Yes, Albus," Poppy whispered, awed by the strength of Fawkes's cry.
As the sun set on the scene at Godric's Hollow, Albus felt his heart deaden. James and Lily were in St. Mungos, with no indication of how well they'd recover from the curses that had been leveled on them, leaving the twins unharmed and without a guardian for the time being. One of which had deflected the killing curse. The Aurors' magic detection spells had revealed that much. Unfortunately, there was too much backwash of magic from the collapse of the Fidelis, the Killing Curse, port key and deflection to pick out a clear trace of which twin might have cast it. Albus regarded a letter of intent in the hand of James Potter, and signed by Lilly as well, and knew that he could never let it come out. For it named Sirius Black as the guardian of the twins, and Sirius Black was the traitor who had betrayed them. He slipped the letter into his robe's sleeve and reached for the next scroll. "Excuse me, Headmaster," a hesitant voice said as Albus read the Gringotts report.
"Yes," Albus turned.
"We need to process this room, sir." The Auror said quietly.
"Of course," Albus replied. He put the scroll down and left the room, "Forgive me, I hadn't realized you weren't done." He left the house and walked to the edge of the Ministry wards before Apparating to the Ministry and preparing to deal with the press and the Ministry until the Potters could leave St. Mungos. He paused only to send a message to Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew to meet with him that evening.