Disclaimer: I do not own anything from J. K. Rowling's original story but I do own the characters I create and the story I have written. If you would like to use any of it ask for permission.

Authors note: I am making the Marauders generation older by 5 years to work with my timeline.

Chapter 1

James Potter stepped off the plane and onto UK soil for the first time in 12 years. He looked back at his wife, Lily Potter nee Evans, with a smile watching as she scolded their youngest for trying to jump down 6 steps at once.

"But mommy! I'm going to be 6 years old this year! So I can jump six big steps now all by my self!"

"Eliza Jane Potter I will not let you jump six steps by yourself with or without help! It's dangerous! You could sprain your ankle then your poor father would have to carry your still five-year old-" "five and a half mommy!" "-Self around until we could go somewhere private."

"Mommy we could just use ma-." Two hands covered Eliza's mouth.

"Liz you sure are-"

"Trying to get-"

"A time-out before we even-"

"Get to check out-"

"Our new home!" This last bit was shouted in unison by Eliza's older twin siblings Jessica and Jacob.

Eliza pouted and looked to her dad hoping he would get her out of trouble.

"Sorry princess, you need to listen to your mum and not talk back."

Lily grabbed her youngest hand then tried to round up her younger twins to head over to the luggage pick up.

"Kids the faster we pick up our luggage the quicker we can go to the new house. Jessa and Jacob I want you to look out for your suitcases, Eliza tell Alyssa if you see yours honey, Alyssa I want you to help grab Eliza's while I help the twins. James, honey, get mine, Lyn, Jace and Carter, get yours and also the extra ones too please. We should have 12 all together." Lily instructed her family.

Carter and Jace both had blue cases cause they wanted to be identical in every way; Jessalyn, or Lyn as her family calls her, had a light lavender case; Alyssa had a dark purple case; Jessica had a turquoise case while her twin Jacob had a red case because he wanted to be a Gryffindor one day; and little Eliza Jane had a pink case because what other color case would a pretty princess have? Lily had a rose gold case and James had a red case like his son in honor of Gryffindor.

Once all of the luggage was retrieved they headed out to the cabbie lane.

It was an hour drive to the new house in the countryside of Westleton, a twelve-bedroom house, a room for every child to have their own and a few guest bedrooms. James and Lily planned to have their godson, Neville Longbottom, come over after they reintroduce themselves and get to know him better. They also wanted Sirius and Remus to stay with them and let them explain why they left so abruptly after Harry's death and didn't keep in touch; they were hoping the two Maunders would understand.

Lily was sitting in the back seat of the cabbie looking out the window letting her children's excited chatter wash over her as she thought of Neville, he was only a day older than Harry and would be turning thirteen this year. Neville and Harry probably would have had a joint birthday celebration had her sweet Harry lived and they had grown up together. While she was glad her other children had lived through the war she still missed her little forever baby, it had been one of the toughest decisions of her and James' marriage, to go into hiding with just Harry while letting Minister Fudge take her older four to a separate secret location. She always wondered what would have happened if they had refused to be separated and not allow anyone to know where she and her husband had taken their children. Would they all have survived or would Voldemort have found them like he did when they had separated?

~Flashback~

In a St. Mungo's hospital James and Lily Potter were sitting up in their hospital beds trying to get the staff to explain to them what had happened and where their son Harry was.

"James, why aren't they telling us anything? Do you think something happened to Harry?"

"I don't know honey, hopefully someone will come tell us what happened. We have gotten a clean bill of health but they wont release us yet because they said someone was coming to talk to us."

"I wish they would hurry up, we have been waiting for hours, I want to see my babies."

"I say we try to break-"

The door leading to their room opened up and Minister Fudge slipped in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, I have some good news and bad news as well. I have been told that you are ready to be released but I ordered the staff to hold onto you until I was able to explain some things."

"Where is my Harry? Is he ok?" Lily asked.

"Mrs. Potter I am here to inform you that two nights ago on Halloween You-Know-Who was defeated at your house, I would like to present you both with an Order of Merlin, second class for helping in defeating of You-Know-Who. That is the good news."

"But Minister, we barley remember what happened that night, we can't possibly accept an award for something we barley remember!" James exclaimed.

"Now see here Mr. Potter, you both helped and so you two will accept this award. I would like you to brace yourselves for this next piece of information. It is with great regret that I have to inform you that your son Harry did not survive. He-"

"No! Not my baby! You're wrong! You're wrong!" Lily sobbed.

"How dare you! Harry is alive! This isn't funny Minister!" James yelled as he went to go comfort his wife.

"I am not making a joke, I had dreaded to tell you this news. I do need you to listen, His supporters are still on the run, I think it would be best to take your other children and run. Tell no one where you are going, run away and heal. Take your other children and go grieve in a safe place, leave the country if you must."

"I want to s-s-see h-h-h-his b-b-body, I need to see h-his b-body." James demanded trying to stay strong for his heartbroken wife.

"I can't let you do that. His body is beyond recognition, the only way we were able to identify him was through a magical scan. So no, I will not allow you to see what is left of your son. Now I have had your children pack their things, they are ready to go as soon as you are. I' m sorry for your loss, have a good day."

Minister Fudge left the Potter couple who were clutching at each other sobbing.

A few hours later the Potters took what little they had, and left England with their children to find a new place out of the UK to live. Lily and James put their children first and settled down in a safe place before allowing themselves to grieve for their tiny little angel.

~End Flashback~

An arm wrapped around Lily's shoulder causing her to look at the man beside her, James still looked the same as he did the day they got married, just a little older. He had a few laughing lines around his mouth, crinkles around his eyes from all his smiling and just a few grey hairs; Merlin knew she had a few herself. She still saw that eighteen-year-old James waiting for her down at the end of the aisle on their wedding day, it was hard to believe they had been married for twenty years.

James looked into her eyes, "You ok?" He asked.

"I'm fine, just thinking about Neville, he has a birthday coming up at the end of the month." She doesn't have to say out loud what also was at the end of the month.

James gives her a squeeze "I miss him too, I still think about him everyday. I think we both will be thinking more about him being back in England, maybe when we are ready we can go visit where he is buried."

"I don't know if I will ever be ready, to look at a tombstone with his name on it will just finalize everything. I know he is gone but we fled the day we woke up in St. Mungo's, we weren't there when they buried him. We told Fudge to get Sirius and Remus to do that, Merlin we were such cowards. "

"That's fine, if you are never ready than we can honor Harry's little life a different way. I don't think we were cowards; we had our older children to think about, there were still Death Eaters on the loose. We had to keep our other children alive and well."

"Mom we're starving! Are we eating out tonight? There wont be any food at the house will there?" Jace their oldest asked from the very back of the cab.

"Oh yeah! Can we eat out? Try some of the local food!" Carter asked. He was Jace's twin; they took after Lily but had James' eyes.

"Please mom!"

"Daddy I want to try new foods!"

"Pretty please!"

"We will be on our best behavior!"

"Yeah we promise!"

"Hmmm, I don't know, what do you think honey?" James looked to Lily.

"I could go for some fish and chips." Lily replied.

The Potters chose a little restaurant off the main road called "The Tabby's choice", it was a quant little place that looked as if it were family owned.

When they walked in an older lady greeted them.

"How many?" she asked

"Nine please, three kids menus if you please." James replied.

"Alright, my sister Minnie will be out to take your order, we are short staff tonight."

With that she handed out the menus and walked away.

James looked around the table at his children, his oldest twins, Jace and Carter, were trying to convince each other to get something extremely spicy knowing they both were very sensitive to spicy foods; while his younger twins, Jessica and Jacob, were arguing that they couldn't order the same thing so one of them has to order something different but it shouldn't be them it should be the other.

"Jessalyn what are you going to get?" James asked.

"I don't know dad, what is black pudding?"

"Ha! I don't think you are ready for black pudding sweetie, that's some hard-core English food right there. I think you should wait a few years then try it. I'd stick with fish and chips for now."

Another elderly lady, who could only be the owner's sister Minnie, walked up to their table to take their order.

"Hello may I take your- great Scott!"

All of the Potters' heads jerked up from looking at the menus at her shout.

James and Lily gasped, "Professor!" they exclaimed.

Minerva McGonagall, transfiguration professor of Hogwarts, covered her mouth as she stared at the Potter couple, her hands trembling with rage. "How dare you! How dare you disguise yourselves to look like the Potters! They were great people who do not deserve such disrespect!"

The Potters looked confused. "Professor, there must be a misunderstanding, we are the Potters. It's me, James, your godson. I know I haven't kept in touch but you act as if I were dead?"

Minerva glared at him, "James is dead, he and his wife Lily died twelve years ago protecting their son Harry! I don't know who you think you are but I will call the Aurors to come deal with you!"

James stood "Professor it's me I promise! You gave me a child's broom on my first birthday telling my parents that you just knew I would be a great at quidditch one day and that you expected me to be flying for the house of the lion and no other."

Minerva paused and stared at James in confusion. "Only Charles and Dorea knew of that."

"My parents told me that I was so great at quidditch because I had been flying on a broom since I was one and that I had my Aunt Minnie to thank because of it."

Lily grasped James hand and told her old professor. "You once told me in confidence, when I was panicking over my transfiguration O. that I was doing much better at my age in transfiguration than you did. I was so shocked that I forgot my manners and asked you, a transfiguration master, how on earth you could have been bad at transfiguration and you replied 'I discovered boys my O.W.L year, a few winks and flirtatious grins could make a boy do practically anything I wanted, all I had to do was show up to class and I would make Os, but it didn't help me when it came time for me to do the tests on my own.' You then told me you were proud at how dedicated I was to my studies but that I did need to take a break before I ran myself into the ground worrying. I have never told anyone else those words you said to me till now."

The kids were confused as to why this lady, whom they had heard stories of growing up, thought their parents were dead.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?" Alyssa asked.

"I don't know sweet heart, we will get to the bottom of this, don't worry." Lily smiled at her 15-year-old daughter.

Once James and Lily made sure their kids had food, they sat at a separate table for more privacy away from their children with Minerva to eat their dinner.

Minerva watched the Potters eat their dinner trying to understand how they were alive and wondering why, if they had been alive all this time, why they didn't take Harry with them wherever they had been all of these years. Why would they leave their little boy with such horrible Muggles, Lily grew up with Petunia she of all people should know that her sister hates magic. Once her former students had finished a little over half of their dinner she finally asked the question she had been pondering over.

"If you have been alive all this time why didn't you take Harry with you?"

James and Lily froze, but James replied. "You must be mistaken, Harry died twelve years ago."

"James I would know if I had been teaching your son these past two years, Harry is alive."

Lily had tears in her eyes, she dare not hope. "Are you sure? James and I were told that he had died and that his r-r-remains were so d-d-disfigured that we weren't allowed to see his body."

Minerva looked shocked. "Who told you that? I can prove Harry is alive and that he has been going to Hogwarts since he was eleven! He is in Gryffindor, your old house."

Lily and James held onto each other's hands for strength. "Please, don't give us hope if there isn't any, we couldn't bare it. My Lily flower has been through enough heartache, I have been through enough heartache."

Minerva's lips were in a tight line as she contemplated how to approach this, she was quite convinced that the couple before her was Lily and James but Harry's safety was at stake, she couldn't risk Harry. She had to prove they were who they said, not just take their word for it; she needed veritaserum. She knew Severus had some in stock, but did she really want to involve him? Severus loathed James, but he had been best friends with Lily during their school years before their fall out. She had to take a risk, hopefully Severus would work with her, she just didn't know how to explain this to him.

"Before I say another word of Harry I need to prove that you are who you claim to be, Harry's safety is far too important for me to just take your word. I will have to get a colleague involved who can help us."

Without waiting for a reply Minerva swept out of the room.

Severus Snape was standing over a potion in his lab waiting for the potion to be ready for the next step when he heard his floo flare to life. Checking the clock and then setting a timer for 10 minutes he swept into his main living space with a scowl on his face annoyed at being interrupted in his free time during the summer.

To his surprise, though his face showed no emotion, his colleague Minerva McGonagall was standing in front of his fireplace looking expectantly at him.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight madam?" He said with sarcasm.

"Severus I need a bottle of veritaserum."

"I do not give out veritaserum."

"Severus this is an urgent matter that needs to be resolved immediately."

"Then surely you can take care of this matter on your own and not drag others into it. Some persons such as my self have more important things to do than to be dragged into whatever mess the cat has made."

"Severus I don't have the time nor the patience to deal with your stubbornness, just give me a bottle of veritaserum and I will be out of your way."

"For Christ's sake woman, veritaserum has to be administered carefully or else it can have serious repercussions, what is so urgent that you felt the need to come disturb me during my summer?"
"I know how to administer it, if you don't trust me than come with me."

Severus glances at the clock above the mantle if he were to cast a freezing charm on the potion he could start right back where he left off. He looks back to his old professor.

"Indeed, if it is a matter of great urgency then let us make haste so that I can return to my dudderhead free summer."

"Severus, I must warn you, what you are about to see and if it is confirmed will shake the Wizarding world to its very core. This matter needs to be handled delicately, I have witnessed it, and they have given me information that only they could possibly know. Severus, the Potters are alive."

There was no sound in in the potion masters chambers; the said potions master stared emotionlessly at the old cat, imitating a statue perfectly.

"Severus I know it sounds crazy but I promise you I haven't gone crazy. I think it really is them; I just need the veritaserum to confirm it before I can move any further. They thought Harry was dead they had been told he was dead, while the Wizarding world had been told that they were dead and the other Potter children were forgotten in all of the hype of The-Boy-Who-Lived and Voldemort's defeat. Everyone was too busy celebrating to ask questions, now that I think about it, there were no body discovered at the Godric's Hollow to be buried; no one asked about the other four Potter children because their births had not been advertised in the war like many other families. Why didn't we ask these questions? Why didn't people who knew the Potters ask all of these-?"

"Enough of your incessant rambling, I would like to see these so called Potters before I make a judgment. But first I have a potion to tend to."

Severus soundlessly made his way to his potion, his mind racing with all this new information that had been presented to him. Why hadn't the Wizarding world asked more questions, why hadn't the Potters friends made more inquiries of the whereabouts of the bodies and the other children. So many possible scenarios played out in his mind as he cleaned up his workstation. 'Lily could be alive.' Severus didn't want to get his hopes up, could they mend the bridge that had been burnt so many years ago? He froze, 'Of course not, not after the way you treated her supposed dead son.' Severus took a moment to strengthen his occlumency shields and to harden his heart once more before stepping out once more with an emotional mask.

"Do you have some veritaserum?" The tabby asked

"Of course, whenever have I not had a potion on hand? Well, are you going to take me to "The Potters" or are we going to stand here gossiping like witless school girls?"

"Patience there is no need for such brass, the address is 'The Tabby's choice'. I hope you can find your way yes?"

Before Severus could reply she was gone. Taking a steadying breath Severus pinched some floo powder and threw it into the fireplace shouting 'The Tabby's choice' clearly.

A/N: I could use a Beta if anyone is interested. I would mostly need help with grammar, spelling, keeping my timeline straight and probably helping me make sure the information from HP is correct.

I am currently working on chapter two and i am so happy that the first chapter has already gotten some love! Thank you to all those who have favorited, followed, and left reviews. It truly is amazing to see the support, very encouraging.