Disclaimer: Yep, the characters are not mine, they belong to their respective authors ( Mrs Rowling in this case). The plot is mine though, so no copying :-)

Chapter 1

There was a lot of things that could be said to describe Godric's Hollow. Some people were amazed by the amount of details that seemed to exist only to attack their eyes, others were pleasantly surprised by the warmth the place seemed to ignite in their insides once they got past the imposing gate, a selected number of visitors felt anxious to step inside in fear of being pranked, though – to be fair – that was solely the fault of the inhabitants of the house.

Usually, not a single one of them felt comfortable enough to mention the slight feeling of oppressing force that surrounded the house; as if to make them feel cowed and small and let them know exactly just how exquisitely vulnerable they were once they got in. A feeling that passed in a second, yet the reminder it left you with was hard to forget.

That wasn't all that surprising as Godric's Hollow was one of that houses, The Houses. A selected number of manors, usually the ones housing old pureblooded families, could be said to have grown it's very own magic. It was told that centuries of powerful wizards feeding The House with the presence of their magic made the walls stronger and the house itself became a half aware beast, usually purring in slight contentment while being obsessively set on protecting the blood members of the family.

During the last six years, to Charles Potter, the manor in question was nothing more and nothing less than a noise filled hellhole that housed his beloved son, his beloved son's beautiful wife and his beloved son's even more beloved son. Complicated as it may seem, for him that described everything perfectly.

Years passed by so quickly that sometimes he caught himself unaware as to what had happened exactly to his youth. That is not to say that he was old, he had strong magic singing in his veins, one that kept him in good health and allowed him to enjoy his life and pamper his family. He remembered fondly how Lily used to blame him for the way he had spoiled James rotten when he was little, as if all of the faults in that crazy boys character was somehow from his doing!

He walked past the gate, happy to feel the warm, pleased brush of magic the house sent to greet his old master. He had left the house to James and his family after being reminded just how much noise a small baby could make. Don't misunderstand him, Harry was an apple of his eye, really, it's just that after living for as long as he had, peace was the kind of treat very hard to refuse. Potter's were an influential, old and rich pureblood family, besides the gold they had some smaller estates scattered across the globe and he moved into one of them. The unexpected death of his wife hit him hard and left him somewhat bitter, he found little patience for anybody outside the family. So, he made it his habit to visit them few times in a year and then quickly return to his quiet isolation. Charles Potter remained deaf to their pleas of coming back.

" A man needs his peace and a man needs his space" he told them once, and just as James was about to interrupt him, added " just as a man needs to know when to respect other's wishes. Really James, it is time I finally had some time just to myself."

The time has come for his next visit and ,if by chance a slight worry led him here…, he didn't see the reason to blow his worries out of proportion just yet. That's how unnecessary trouble started, and if that's also how some unnecessary trouble ended, well, let's not elaborate on that.

He calmly walked to the front door and knocked. Not a second passed when the door swung open and he got an armful of his grandson. The one that hit him like a bullet, but Charles didn't allow himself to show that, he was not that old, damn it! Just as fast as Harry hugged him, the child leapt back and, hiding behind the door, stuck out only his head full of fluffy black hair sticking in every direction. Charles felt an overwhelming amount of fondness then. One that was quickly extinguished as his grandson began to talk.

''Harry ! '' he exclaimed. '' Slow down a bit, little buddy. Are your parents home ?'' he said ruffling unruly hair of a ridiculously grinning boy in front of him.

''Just a second Mister!'' the boy exclaimed. '' First: what's the secret word first ? You know you can't come in just like that…''

''Harry…'' Charles said exasperated. At that moment he felt something in him quietly lay down and die in tears. He thought that may be the remains of his shredded patience. '' We've been over this already, many times too..''

''And because of that you should remember, honestly grandpa!'' Harry said interrupting the man. '' I'm the man of the house now, I can't let strangers inside just like that'' he said self righteously, completely ignoring the fact that just a few seconds ago he was the one to throw the door open.

''But I'm hardly a stranger…'' he murmured slightly irritated and bewildered now. He was going to add something else too, but a sudden presence of a woman at the door halted his actions. '' Lily.''

Lily Potter was an extremely beautiful witch. She was tall, with blood red hair cascading to her lower back in waves and viciously sharp green hooded eyes with shadows under them. She had an impressively heavy gaze. She also had a regal face, but not many emotions showed through. To many she seemed somehow dark, and the feeling of danger and apathy she emanated could often choke lesser wizards.

That was not a surprise however and Charles greeted her with his usual warm smile. Lily had a creature inheritance in her, the blood of some shadow tribe made her a grim person, one unwilling to completely successfully communicate with anyone outside her family and one few dared to cross. She was dedicated to protecting what she deemed hers as well, no matter be it an object or a person. Recognition quickly shined in her eyes and the atmosphere seemed to become a little less compressing, she smiled at him and led him inside.

Just as she turned to lead him further inside he saw a bit of the pattern etched on her throat and felt a little bit of his unease returning, followed her. He knew what was there, had seen it on more than enough occasions and never really had any problem with it. Just then he felt the presence of his grandson behind him and quickly darted his hand to ruffle his hair once again. Lily lazily cut her eyes to follow his actions, ever the doting mother, he smiled to himself.

He just dearly hoped some patterns were not to be meant for his grandson, and gripping harder a sharp green stone he kept around his own neck chased Harry with his gaze till he disappeared behind a corner. He along with Lily passed several dark corridors and he felt himself growing annoyed with the distance he had to cross before reaching the living room. The damn house kept growing and growing, constantly changing it's layout, soon enough he would get lost in it, he thought grimly. It got pretty dark too, light mostly kept at bay by the shadows that came as if called by Lily's mere presence. They lurked in the corners, crawled on the walls, made the corridors seem so much smaller than the tall and spacious ones he knew them to be. He looked up and couldn't see the ceiling. Pretty suffocating for a light wizards manor. He shrugged his shoulders, having grown long used to it.

Just then he entered the room and came upon a peculiar scene that involved one ridiculous James Potter, one shameless Sirius Black and one unfortunate Remus Lupin, as always dragged into something he had no wish to be a part of. He had thought the poor boy's ability to judge the situation had improved and he was able to refuse his two unhinged friends, but it seemed that he was wrong. Then again he had also thought his son to be mature enough now that he had a son of his own. Poor Lily, saddled with two children…

"Dad!" came a very unmanly squeak from his son, and Charles Potter was left to sigh for what seemed like the first time of hundreds that were to come that day.