Severus Snape stumbled into the headmaster's office just as Lilly and James had finished their meeting with the man. As usual James greeted him with a contemptuous sneer and a childish mispronunciation of his name. Severus did his best to ignore him, while attempting to keep his dinner down. He made eye contact with Lilly and was deeply worried by the fear and sorrow he saw in her eyes.

He resolved to secretly owl Lilly once he was free.

"Severus my boy," Dumbledore, said as soon as Lilly, James and their two small sons had left the office. "What do you have to report?"

Severus sighed, "The Dark Lord is truly insane." He replied "He's decided to recruit Demons to his side of the war."

Albus stroked his long silver beard, "The chances of Demon's allying themselves with any wizard are slim. Our two races coexist because we have to but the ministry's experiments two centuries ago, drove a permanent wedge between our two worlds. Voldermort has nothing to offer the four Demon lords, without their approval the lesser demons will not break bread with him."

For once Severus took Albus up on his offer of tea – that he knew was laced with a calming potion – he actually needed it this time.

After a time spent quietly discussing the possibilities, of just what Voldermort might be considering offering the Demons in return for their allegiance Albus turned the conversation over to a question that Severus –personally – found to be just as harrowing.

The Headmaster, wanted him to come to the castle to teach.

"Albus for the last time I don't even like children." He replied exasperated.

After a few minutes of arguing- or rather him arguing Dumbledore's increasingly logical reasons for him to become the school's next potions master, he rose from his chair and left the room somehow feeling as though fate would soon draw him into a teaching position he didn't want.

~~~***~~~

Lilly Potter sighed as she gazed out the window of her home at Godric's hollow. They'd been trapped her under charms for several months, tomorrow was Halloween, and she was beginning to get a rather bad case of cabin fever. To make matters worse she wasn't completely sure about James and Sirius's decision to use Peter as their secret keeper.

It was true James trusted peter but there was just something about the man that put her on edge. But a person's animagus form was said to represent their personality. That Peter was a rat, didn't sit well with her.

She'd just put the twins down for bed and settled herself down in the living room with her husband to read when the wards went off. She rose to her feet in alarm, her book forgotten. Beside her James was on his feet wand in hand.

The door was blasted off its hinges before either of them could react. Upstairs their children were screaming at the top of their ample lungs.

"Lilly take the children and run!" James yelled, as he engaged Voldermort.

Lilly didn't have time to think about the fact that her husband was currently engaging in a life or death struggle with her world's most notorious serial killer, she had to get upstairs to the nursery and get her children away from here.

A thud from down stairs and footsteps coming up the stairs heralded the end of the match. And the slow steady pace of the person coming up the stairs didn't bode well for James.

She was franticly gathering the baby bag and had just grabbed the emergency portkey when the nursery door was blasted inwards. The portkey flew out of her hands and to the floor thanks to a well placed spell from Voldermort's wand. With no chance of escape left she drew her own wand and prepared for a fight, putting herself between her boys and the mad man in the nursery doorway.

She would use force if she had to, but for now she would try begging.

"Please! Not my children!" she begged. "please have a heart, spear my babies."

"Get out of my way foolish woman," Voldermort sneered raising his wand.

Lily took a deep breath and raised her wand, preparing to do the unthinkable, fight a mad man for her children.

Voldermort made a derisive noise and raised his own wand, and snapped a spell Lilly didn't recognize.

Lilly staggered and slipped into a coma, falling to the floor with a dull thud.

Voldermort gazed down at the two children gazing up at him from out of their cradle. "so one of you is the child destined to kill me? You are nothing but pathetic halfbloods soiling your night wrappings. Good by Potters." With that he raised his wand and cast the killing curse at the silent twin.

To his utter surprise the small child was bathed in a red light, and his spell rebounded. The blast from the spell rebounding buckled the roof and a small hot piece of previously burning wood fell to the ground striking Nicolas on the forehead on the way down and leaving him with a small star shaped burn mark.

~~~***~~~

Albus Dumbledore arrived at Godric's Hollow with a full half of the Order of Phoenix. They charged inside and found James, stunned in the entry way. Albus knelt beside his favorite student and carefully woke him.

James groaned as he rejoined the land of the living. "Albus?" he asked weakly.

"James, my boy where are Lilly and the Children?" Albus asked, as he helped the young man to his feet.

James paled, "aren't they with you? I made an emergency portkey that should have put them just outside the gates of Hogwarts." Terrified for his wife and children James bolted up the stairs as he spoke.

They found lily, laying comatose, between her sons and the smoldering remains of Lord Voldermort.

Albus left James to see to his wife and approached the twins in their cradle. He gazed down at the twins and faltered with surprise. Both boys where marked- Nicolas with a rapidly darkening black scar and Harry with a small lightning bolt.

How could that be? The prophecy had specified only one child. After a moment he made a decision, Nicolas was wide awake and watching them through tears. Harry on the other hand was sound asleep.

Obviously Nicolas was the boy who lived, Harry must have simply been cut by falling debris.

He lifted the boy up out of the crib and went over to James.

"She won't wake." James said quietly, tears running down his cheeks.

"we will take her to saint Mungos" Albus said quietly. Then added sadly, "Nicolas is the boy who lived, James you need to start thinking about his future."

James whipped his eyes and looked up at his mentor, "Harry?" he asked.

Albus smiled, "alive, and unharmed but for a small cut, and still asleep."

At that James visibly relaxed.

~~~***~~~

James Potter sat quietly by his wife's bedside, it was early January, and Lily had yet to wake. Albus was trying to convince him to give Harry to an orphanage, claiming that taking care of twins when he would soon have to start training the lad to defeat Voldermort would be too much for the now single parent.

He just couldn't do it.

After all what would Lily say when she awoke to discover that he only had the one son – the famous son?

He had to admit the press time was fun, as was all the attention he got for being the father of the Boy who lived. His attentiveness to his comatose wife had wizarding Brittan's witches swooning over him. He was getting lodes and lodes of fan mail from women who wanted nothing more then to give him more children.

He loved his wife he really did but it was getting harder and harder to stay faithful.

A man had needs after all.

~~~***~~~

James Potter sighed, as he checked to make absolutely sure he had everything – again. He looked around, saddened by the group of people milling about waiting for the international Portkey. He needed some time away. His children were approaching the two year mark and the last several months without his wife had been hard.

Actually it had been hell.

He missed Lily.

Sadly he was beginning to believe Albus. He had so little time for anything beyond work and his baby boys right now that he had absolutely no idea how he was going to give Nick and Harry the attention they deserved when he started training Nick. Albus kept telling him that Harry was bound to feel neglected and would eventually grow jealous and then possibly become a danger to his twin.

James couldn't take that.

After all wasn't Nick his top priority?

He was after all the famous hero of the Wizarding world.

What was he thinking? Harry was his son to.

This was to be their last outing together, until the boys went to Hogwarts. When they came back from their vacation in Japan he was leaving Harry with Petunia. The woman was Lily's sister and Harry's aunt, she'd take care of him surely? He'd leave a note with the boy and pay the woman a small fee for her troubles.

He'd thought about giving the boy over to his godfathers, but honestly Sirius and Remus would be far to busy with Nick to care about Harry.

No this was for the best.

One of the attendants securing him and his children to the Portkey brought him out of his thoughts and he braced himself as the world spun.

~~~***~~~

James was breathing heavily by the time he managed to get his twin boys and himself up the numerous steps to the Higurashi shrine in Tokyo. Shortly after their arrival in Japan, he'd left the magical tour group he was with, having grown weary of the continual attempts by people he didn't know to have their pictures taken Holding the boy who lived. Actually it was Harry's reaction he'd grown weary of, the boy just couldn't seem to grasp the fact that he was irrelevant.

Wizarding Britton would get along just fine without him. Nick on the other hand had enjoyed the attention; his twin was already starting to want. Little Harry just couldn't understand that little Nick deserved to be carried up the long staircase to see the shrine; he was after all a hero. Harry was nobody, what had he done for his world? No the boy should be grateful James had made sure he kept up; after all what had he done for his world?

James – noticing the odd looks he was getting from the muggle tourists – reached down and grabbed the boy's hand. Sighing to himself, he decided it would be easier to join the muggles on their tour of the shrine.

~~~***~~~

He gazed up at the 'god tree' with Nick in his arms, harry had wondered off somewhere about an hour ago. Not that he cared what the little leach got into. He smiled quietly as he listened to the stories the old man told about that tree and it's ability to span times. He had to admit to being a bit perturbed about the stories the man told of demons, and the forest that had once surrounded the shrine. He had to admit an entire shrine being built around a well and a tree was fascinating. And all because the muggles believed that the Well and the tree had the power to protect them from the demons who inhabited the forests.

Idly he wondered what it would have been like to live in a time when demons still openly walked the earth, and preyed upon humans both muggle and magical.

He snorted, if he ever saw a demon he might be tempted to give them the boy as a snack.

Less than 10 minutes later, he found himself standing in front of a well that radiated magical energy. He stood their utterly fascinated listening to the man speak of the well's power to purify evil, and rid the world of demons and evil spirits. When they left the small well house to head for the gift shop James lingered holding Nick securely in his arms as he read the small sign beside it, and examined the runes hidden from muggle eyes. This well reminded him of the veil of souls in the department of ministries. However there was something distinctly different about it.

Shrugging to himself he carried Nick back out of the well house and into the gift shop where he bought his little hero a fake jewel of some sort.

Now where in the world had the boy gotten off to? He better not be embarrassing him!

A chorus of cooing noises and an "ah how cute, I wonder where his parents are," drew his attention to the lawn.

He walked through the gaggle of cooing women and picked up the wayward boy. Noticing the small green snake - Harry was hissing back and forth with - with a certain knowing dread.

A Parselmouth?

No potter in all of history had had such a dark gift!

He wouldn't allow it!

No, not in his house hold.

The little wretch couldn't be allowed to threaten his precious Nick. No tonight under cover of darkness, he'd come back to the well, and be rid of the evil boy.

If Lily ever asked, he'd tell her the boy had been killed in Voldermort's attack.

Sirius and Remus would understand.

He had to protect Nick.

The wizarding world would soon forget he'd had a twin anyway.