You'll dream about that box - it'll never leave you. Big and little at the same time…Brand new and ancient… and the bluest blue ever.

And the times we had, eh? Would've had... Never had.

In your dreams, they'll still be there.

Godric's Hollow, October 31st, 1981

The streets of Godric's Hollow were teeming with children dressed in costumes that varied from sheet ghosts to movie franchise ghouls, princesses to brides, and faeries to vampires. They dragged their work-wearied parents from house to house, block after block in their frenzied quest for sweets, dreading the words, "Alright, I think you've collected enough…" Shrieks of fear and delight, shouts for friends to slow down - it was perhaps the noisiest and busiest night of the year for the village, but for the Potters, it was perhaps one of the quietest Halloweens since Lily and James had married.

The house was devoid of any of its usual holiday decorations. There were no laughing jack-o-lanterns, no floating lights, no candy corn cats strolling around on the lawn (Lily's handiwork), no mint candy floss spider webs (James's attempt at upstaging his wife), and no bottomless bowl of sweets waiting on the front porch for tiny, eager little hands to snatch up. But stranger still was the fact that no one seemed to notice any of this – children and parents alike moved right past the home of one of the most beloved couples in the village without so much as a curious glance. It was almost as if no one could notice it.

Lily stood by the window hugging herself, silently watching all the commotion out on the streets with a wistful look on her face. Every so often, she'd busy herself with pulling at the frayed edges of the cuffs of her blue, monogrammed sweater, a gift from Molly a few Christmases back. It was Lily's favorite – warm, soft, and there were pulls in the side from when she had tried to squeeze into it when she had been pregnant with Harry.

James sat on the floor tinkering with a new toy broom set that Sirius had brought over the other night as a gift for his godson, since the first had accidentally been crushed by Rubeus when he had come to visit with Dumbledore the previous week. He wore his own Weasley sweater, a beautiful scarlet and gold argyle patterned piece. Even after all these years, he still avidly showcased his house pride.

"Harry should be asleep by now," Lily said, her gaze still fixated out the window. "He seemed to notice that things were different this year."

James chuckled as he tucked his wand behind his ear and looked up at his wife. "Nonsense. He's too little to understand any of it."

Lily shrugged. "He just seemed like he had been looking out for something all day, that's all." She sighed and pulled the curtains shut, blocking out their view of the street below, and sat down in the large cushioned recliner chair by the fireplace. She pulled her knees up and yanked the hem of her sweater over them, until only the ankles of her leggings poked out. She reached up to her hair and started to pull out the glittering spider barrettes she had put in that morning to try and feel festive, and that Harry had spent lunchtime trying to yank out. Soft, scarlet curls fell around her face.

"I really do like when you let it down," James remarked with a smile. "Reminds me of when I used to try and get your attention by sticking stuff in it."

Lily snorted. "That's the reason I started keeping it all tied up in the first place. There is absolutely nothing even remotely romantic about an idiot trying to tangle a snitch in your hair." James smirked playfully. "But it got your attention, didn't it?" Lily rolled her eyes and threw a barrette at his head, but he caught it single handedly and put it into the pocket of his jeans. "You can get that later," he said with a wink. Lily smiled and shook her head at her husband's antics, absentmindedly running a hand through her hair to check for knots. "I might just wait until tomorrow, actually."

James feigned a pouty expression. "Oh, you're no fun."

"And you're supposed to be putting that together for Harry." She gestured to the mess of twigs and stirrups and the long, polished handle of the mini Cleansweep. "He's going to be really disappointed if he wakes up and daddy hasn't got a broom ready for him."

"He's going to be even more disappointed," James countered, taking his wand out from behind his ear and placing it on the coffee table, "if he wakes up and daddy does have a broom for him, but it doesn't work properly because mummy rushed daddy through it while he was trying to put it together."

Lily giggled. "Well, regardless, daddy's going to be disappointed because his cheek just earned him a night spent alone on his side of the bed."

James grinned and raised his hands in mock surrender as he got back to his feet. "Well," he replied, dropping a light kiss on the top of his wife's head, "that just means mummy's going to miss out on the opportunity to have some top quality, magical, mind blowing –"

CRASH!

Lily jumped out of her chair, and James went rigid. They could hear the faint tinkering echoes of whatever had just been shattered downstairs.

"Sirius?" Lily whispered questioningly, trying to ignore the way her heart jumped into her throat when James shook his head. "He said he couldn't come until –"

A second, louder crash cut him off. James blanched.

"Get Harry!"

Lily bolted from the room and took off down the hallway to the nursery, not even daring to look back as she heard her husband take to the stairs. She was vaguely aware of the sound of more shattering glass over the roar of the blood rushing in her ears. She was painfully aware that her palms were slick with sweat as she fumbled with the doorknob to her son's room, bursting in and frightening from his sleep. Harry erupted into tears, but Lily knew at this point shushing him would be pointless.

He knew they were here.

More sounds of destruction came from downstairs. James cried out in pain, and Lily resisted the urge to run to his aid. This was the plan, she had to remind herself as her hands shook while she clasped Harry tightly in one arm, ran to the closet, and blindly groped along the top shelf for the invisibility cloak. This was what they had agreed to. Harry's cries escalated with is mother's growing fear of dread as she came up empty handed.

Where the hell was the cloak?

"RUN! LILY, RUN! IT'S HIM!"

A deep, echoing hiss.

A flash of green from the largest crack in the floorboards.

The sound of groaning stairs beneath the weight of slow, steady footsteps.

Harry's screams.

Her own fear, shrieking within her head.

Lily could feel the hot tears of defeat sliding down her cheeks, and she knew she only had seconds. She hugged and kissed her son fiercely for what she knew would be the final time, and set him back down gently in his crib. Harry quieted suddenly, and stared wide-eyed and fearful up at his mother. Lily forced a smile, and stroked his hair. She could feel herself quivering, could feel the cold crawling up her spine. But this was the part where she had to be brave, where she had to resist the fear with all of her might.

"Be brave," she whispered. "Be strong." She held her hand tenderly to the side of Harry's face.

"Mummy loves you."

The door to the nursery creaked open behind her, but Lily kept her gaze fixated on her son.

"Stand aside, woman."

The voice was cold. Emotionless. Lily could feel the weight of a wand pointed at her back, but she remained motionless, her eyes locked onto Harry. "Please," she whispered.

The voice behind her laughed. "Do not be foolish. Stand aside, and I will spare you."

Lily spun around, and flung her arms against the bars of the crib like a shield. "Please," she begged, hysteria seeping into her voice, "please, not my son! Take me! Take me instead!"

Slitted, red glowing eyes filled with all things evil in this world stared back at her, unmoved. A pale, skeletal hand brought the wand level with her chest. "You will step aside, or you will die with him."

Lily saw it then, the flicker in the corner of her eye. The glimpse of blue from the window. The quiet rushing of a familiar but strange wind.

It was then that she knew it truly was the end.

Slamming her eyes shut, she began to scream, "Please! Please, I beg you! PLEASE!"

Cruel laughter. "Then you make your choice."

"NOT HARRY!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

And then …blue. Everything…dissolving into blue…