Author's Note: I've decided to do a few one-shots for Lily, and maybe James later, in 500 words. Most will be movie-verse since I know them better. I'll try to make them chronological, but I may end up with them being scattered. This one is before any of the books, when Harry is being born.

The Beginning of the New Age

Spots swam in front of her eyes, and she bit back the urge to scream. The pain amounted to none she had ever felt, and she was afraid for the first time in her life that she was about to die. The only other time she had been so humiliated, so low, was her first year of Hogwarts, when Sylvia Roberts had hexed her on the train for insulting her dress robes. She was only dimly aware of what was happening around her- the murmur of voices, the doctor asking for more anesthesias. It wouldn't help- she wasn't strong enough.

God, let my baby live… she prayed, scrunching up her eyes. Then, suddenly, miraculously, the pain ended. Lily Potter opened her eyes slowly, squinting in the suddenly bright light. Strange, she thought, the Hollow usually isn't this bright. Then, after assessing the situation, she gasped. I'm in Heaven. She looked around. Sure enough, her baby, her darling Harry wasn't with her. But he was alive- she knew it, using her newly acquired maternal instincts.

A figure was coming toward her. Lily shielded her face from the light and called out.

"Who's that? Hello?" she called. The figure smiled at her, and Lily had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Dad?" she called. Yes, that was her father!

"Daddy!" she called, throwing herself at him, and shocked when she went through him. Her father smiled sadly.

"You can't honey. We're not the same any longer. You know that. I'm a ghost."

"I am too! At least, I think I am…" Lily replied. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure.

"Thank goodness, you're not a ghost. You have two boys to care for," the man said, his eyes gleaming with childish mischief. Lily blushed. It was true- she would have Harry, young as he was, and James, who had a mind of his own.

"Oh, okay. I'm- crazy? Is that it?" she asked.

"No, you just are in a state of mind until your body repairs itself. That was a messy labor, missy."

"Yes, I guess." Lily was still looking around. "So… what about James? And why are you here?"

"I came to warn you, Lily," he father said, his demeanor serious, "about Harry."

"What about him?" Lily asked, immediately worried.

"He… he has destiny, Lily. It seems the centaurs have predicted an attack on Godric's Hollow in about a year. I don't know when, exactly. Just keep Harry safe, and you'll be fine."



"An attack?" Lily asked, still confused. "By who?"

Her father bit his lip. "Voldemort," he said, and watched as Lily shuttered.

"Why would he want Harry?"

"I don't know, dear. Keep him safe. I see great things coming from him." The older man's eyes misted over. "He's… he's so much like James. Except… except for his eyes. He has your eyes." With that, her father began to fade. Lily realized she was crying.

"Dad! Dad, don't go!" she cried, as she was sucked back into reality, to her son.