James and Lily Potter were scared. For the first time in their lives they were really afraid, but not for them, but for their future child. They had discovered Lily was pregnant a little over two weeks now and they were happy about it, but last week, terrible news had reached their ears. Voldemort was targeting them.
He was targeting their child. The child they hadn't even held or heard yet but already loved more than themselves and even more than life itself.
Apparently there was a prophecy involved in this, but Voldemort didn't knew if it was the Potter or Longbottom child the one referred in it.
"I know I must be a terrible witch, James" said Lily the afternoon they were told about it all. ", but I hope it's Frank's child the one of the prophecy"
James said nothing to her as he put his arms around her and involved his beloved wife into a hug. He had also thought about it, but he didn't feel guilty because of that. His family had been like that, and he was like that. They valued family even more than friendship or the lives of others. It was in their motto: 'In Darkness or in Light, family comes above all', and he had vowed to honor it when his father named him his heir.
They both stayed up late that night, crying silently and praying to the gods and to the Magic to let them get out of all that problems. James even thought about what his mother said to him once: We do not harm ourselves, James; we protect our family and treasure the Magic. In that regard, both Black and Potter families prided themselves in protecting family.
"James, let's hide in the muggle world!" said Lily softly, almost afraid of the idea, but her eyes were full of determination and courage. "We don't have to stay here! They won't know where we are! He will never think we are in the muggle world"
The once prankster liked the idea. A lot to be precise, but he couldn't imagine himself living without magic, without his child knowing how to fly or how to cast a jinx. He couldn't picture himself living like his Uncle Marius or like Lily's sister.
"I don't know, Lily" he answered finally after a long silence. "I've never known any other thing besides Magic in my life. Magic is my life. I can't quit it!
Lily looked away for a moment before speaking.
"Neither do I, but I want my child to grow up safe and normal"
"He can't be normal in a place full of muggles and void of Magic"
The woman slowly reverted her gaze to the man he loved and saw all the uncertainties and doubts in his eyes.
"We can't do it, love"
"Then what, James?" said Lily crying again. "What do we do now? He's coming after our son! We rejected him and now he will kill our child because of a damn prophecy!"
The last part was shouted and James could hear all the rage and the fear in the voice of his wife. He was angry too, and he feared for his family. They weren't even married for three years and their child hadn't even been born; but they were already condemned.
"I don't know, Lily" James whispered with cold tears running down his eyes. He had vowed to follow on to family tradition; he couldn't go 'muggle' now. But there must have been a way to protect Lily, to protect his kid. "I will think about something"
"Well do it, James" she stated coldly, but still hurt about the news. Still with her eyes red, she went up to her private office and closed the door with a loud thump.
James had seen her angry and hurt many times, but never like today. Not even when Snivellus called her a mudblood or when her sister insulted her in their wedding; she swallowed the tears and sadness when her parents died! But now…
The man seated in the couch near the fire and summoned an elf.
"Bungy, sent Mistress Lily a tea and bring me a bottle of red wine"
"Immediately, Master James" said the elf before popping away only to return a minute later with a bottle of the requested wine and a glass.
What could they do now? Albus had them under the Fidelius and not even Sirius knew where they were. And he didn't had his cloak to go out and find them. Maybe he could firecall Dumbledore and ask him for his cloak.
"Albus Quarters!" said James into the fire after making sure he sounded and looked fine enough. He couldn't have Albus knowing he had an argument with his wife or that he had been crying.
"My dear boy" greeted grandfatherly the older wizard "What can I do for you?"
"Hey, Albus" James said with a nice smile "You think I can have my cloak back now?"
Dumbledore looked at him suspiciously.
"I'm not going out or anything, I swear" explained James "I just want to have it with us; it makes me feel like my family is safer"
After a moment, the headmaster smiled again.
"Then, it is yours to take, my boy"
The old wizard went to grab the cloak from a near cabinet and mumbled something about 'youth' and 'love'. James was slowly getting exasperated.
"Aha! There it is!"
When Albus gave it to James, the younger wizard felt relieved. Honestly, he was starting to think Dumbledore would never give it back. He had heard from Bathilda Bagshot of Albus' obsession with the Hallows. He couldn't bear to lose his family relics to him.
"Thanks, Albus"
"It's nothing, my boy. Thanks to you for letting me borrow it"
"Well, then I'm leaving. Goodbye professor!"
James disappeared from the fire before Dumbledore could even hear the entire phrase.
Back at his home he went up to his wife's office and softly knocked the door.
"Go away, James" said a shuffled voice.
"Lily, please. I have to give you something, love" tried James.
"It won't be enough, James. A gift is not what I need right now!"
"It's the cloak"
Lily had heard of the Hallows before, when she was in her second year at Hogwarts. Upon discovering James' cloak after she agreed to get married, she just knew it was all true. The cloak was really Death's Invisibility Cloak. She understood its importance.
"James" she said after opening the door and throwing herself to his husband arms. He embraced her and sent a love feeling to his wife.
"I… James, I had an idea"
James tensed for a moment, almost sensing trouble with her wife's voice.
"Tell me" he ordered softly.
"I… I think we should ally with him"
Now three things passed through James' mind. One, it was a bad idea. Two, what about the prophecy? And three: could it work? Could the Dark Lord welcome them?
"No, Lily, absolutely no"
"Think about it, James. It could be the only choice we have to make our child live safe"
James closed his eyes and felt all the weight of his family and the prophecy on him. He imagined what it would be like if he agreed.
Voldemort could kill them in an instant if they showed up. That was the best scenario. In the worse, he could torture them and make them watch each other suffer. He could send them Imperioused to their friends and make the Order fall apart from within. James sighed.
"It's too risky, love" he surprised his wife with those words, because she knew that tone of voice. He had agreed. "What do you have in mind"
Lily looked up to see his husband eyes and said: "Severus can help"
James frowned. Snivellus? How could Snivellus help them? Was he a Death Eater?
"He sent me that letter in January, remember?" she seemed to know what he was thinking and answered with that. "It said that the Dark Lord wanted us to consider what he has to offer. If we wanted to, we could go now and he would see us"
She was led by James to their bedroom. James warded it well before turning to her and saying.
"If we are going to be part of that, we will need to prove it somehow. He could ask us to kill someone dear to us"
Lily's face looked sad, but there was hope now, and James saw it. He would make sure she was absolutely certain of what they could lose.
"I know, but our child is more important"
James smiled. That was said in the same voice he had heard his grandmother use when talking about Grindelwald and how he wanted to kill James' dad.
"Okay, then" said James. "Let's sleep. In the morning we will send an owl to Snape and see what we can do"
"Thank you, James" she kissed her husband with a great deal of gratitude and love, and as they prepared to sleep, they rested a little better for the new hope they had found.
AN: Well, what do you think? It's my first fanfic in English, so if you see any errors please tell me so I can correct them. I also want to know what you think about the story and the characters. It's based on the questions 'would Lily and James do anything for Harry? Even going to Voldemort for protection?' If you had any comment or suggestion, feel free to tell me.