Potter's Army

Summary:

AU. The last of Potters army: the Golden trio, the twins, Ginny, Draco, Luna and Neville are accidentally sent back to their infant bodies after the fall of Hogwarts. Harry gets the shock of a lifetime. HG.

A/N

Thank you so much everyone that reviewed, since all of you liked it I will be continuing, hence this chapter. Yes this story is going to be complex, Harvey's presence will be explained later but he is needed for my plot.

HP

"Potter scores! And the crowd goes wild!" James cheered as the last spoonful of icky baby food was swallowed by his son. He looked over at his wife and saw she still had about a quarter left, Harvey was refusing to open his mouth. He grinned at her as she began to get frustrated, Harry had been oddly docile throughout breakfast, not that he was complaining.

"Can I get the presents now?" James whined impatiently, Lily rolled her eyes.

"No Harvey is still eating…Come on please, can open your mouth honey?" she pleaded with Harvey, who was stubbornly refusing.

"I don't think he wants anymore, Lily," Sirius said leaning forward to look at the bowl, he pulled a face, "I certainly wouldn't," he muttered under his breath. But Lily still caught it and hit him on the shoulder. Admitting defeat, Lily grabbed her wand and levitated the twin's bowls over to the sink, where they began to wash themselves.

James and Sirius fidgeted eagerly, Lily eyed them before sighing, "Oh, go get them then,"

"Yes!" They both jumped up and ran to a nearby cupboard, pulling out two packages wrapped in birthday paper. Grinning insanely, James and Sirius returned to the table, and put the presents down carefully in front of the twins.

"Here we are!" James sung happily, "happy first birthday Harry and Harvey!" The three of them helped the twins open their presents, Harvey giggling at all the commotion.

"I still don't know if this was a good idea, James," Lily said bitting her lip in worry.

"Nonsense, it said 'One to three year olds,' on the label," he dismissed and pulled the last of the paper off to reveal a small toy broom for toddlers.

"Aboo!" Harry cried, leaning forward to put a small hand on the wood. James beamed gleefully at his son, before looking over at Harvey. His red-head son appeared to be more interested in the wrapping paper then in the broom Sirius had in front of him.

James shrugged at Sirius helplessly before turning to Harry, "So, want to have a go Harry?" he asked excitedly.

HP

Harry couldn't believe it, a broom! He hadn't ridden a broom since…well actually he couldn't remember. What had happened to my Firebolt anyway? I haven't seen it since Professor Dumbledore di…he shut that thought off quickly.

James lifted up the broom and made it hover about a foot off the ground. Sirius came over and picked Harry up, carrying him over to the toy broom. Lily stood back, watching on in amusement.

Sirius sat him down slowly and carefully, Harry, without thinking, instantly grabbed the handle of the broom. Before anyone could even realise what was happening, the broom shot off. James and Sirius cried out in shock as Harry sped of out of their grasp, they stood stock till in place for about half a second, before leaping after him.

Harry had forgotten how much fun flying was, even if he couldn't go higher then two feet off the ground and the broom wasn't going any faster then 40km/hr. But considering he was inside, it was probably a good thing.

Harry zoomed around a corner, turning down a hall. Whoa this place is big! Uho– Due to his bad eye sight he hadn't seen the wooden stand until it was too late, he swerved to avoid it, but still clipped the edge. The rather ugly vase on top was sent crashing to the ground behind him. Whoops… Harry thought a bit sheepishly, but was having way too much fun to stop. Unable to help himself he began to laugh, it sounded so strange hearing a baby's laugh coming from his mouth that he laughed even harder. Running footsteps and shouting was coming from behind him, as Sirius and James gave chase.

Turning into a large living room, he whooshed over the coffee table, causing the cat that was sleeping on it to scamper off in panic. Rocketing through another hallway, he passed the stairs and found himself once again near the kitchen. Lily was standing in the doorway laughing so hard that tears were running down her face. James and Sirius had nearly caught up with Harry, so surprising them both, he whirled the broom around, whizzed between their legs and shot off again the way they had came.

Sirius stopped chasing after him to grab a camera, so that the next time Harry came around with James pounding after him, he managed to get a photo of them, with Lily laughing off to the side. Eventually Harry grew tired of this and allowed James to scoop him off the broom. He carried Harry back into the kitchen, cheeks flushed and panting heavily.

Sirius clapped his friend on the back, "Harry is a natural!" he crowed.

James grinned back at him and kissed Harry on the forehead, "He's going to grow up and be a Quidditch star," he announced proudly.

HP

Luckily the vase that Harry had broken was one Petunia had given Lily for Christmas, and she wasn't all that fussed that it was smashed; it had been somewhat ugly. Things had calmed down after that, Harvey hadn't wanted a turn on his broom, so James, Sirius and Lily had returned to their breakfast.

"James dear, you've been frowning at that paper for the last five minutes." Lily stated as she sipped a cup of tea. Her husband glanced up at her before sighing and massaging under his glasses.

"It seems like there's nothing but bad news in the Prophet these days."

"Yeah," Sirius snorted humourlessly, "Well, cheer up, we've gotta go now or we'll be late for work." With that he drained his cup and got to his feet arching his back till it cracked. James folded the paper and stood up also.

Lily chewed her lip nervously, setting her cup of tea down, "Be careful, okay? Both of you?" she implored.

"Lily dearest, when are we anything but?" Sirius grinned.

"I mean it," Lily said seriously, she wrapped her arms around her husband lifting her head so James's nose was an inch away from hers. "Being an Auror is dangerous work, I should know, I'm a healer remember?"

James smiled at her at closed the gap between them, kissing her gently.

"Don't worry," he said when he pulled back, "We'll be careful, I promise. Okay?"

Lily took a deep breath and gave a small smile, "Okay, I love you."

"I love you too."

"Come Prongs, Moody's going to have our heads if we're late again," Sirius leaned over to give his godsons a kiss on the forehead. "Seeya later little Prongslets. Don't give your Mum too much trouble now. Save it for later when Uncle Moony and Wormtail come over."

Harry suddenly seemed to get agitated, "Pa'foo, no, no!" he yelled.

"Aww," James chuckled coming over to them, "he doesn't want you to go" James gave his sons a hug and kissed them on the cheek.

"No, Ormtae, Da!" James grinned at Harry, ruffling the little boy's hair.

"At this rate, he'll be talking sentences in no time."

A few minutes later James and Sirius walked out beyond the wards of the house and Apparated away to work.

HP

Lily spent the day as usual. She cleaned up around the house for a while, and magically cleaned and ironed the laundry. They didn't own any House Elves at the moment, because Lily didn't see any point in them when she was perfectly capable of doing the chores herself. James had protested this, but in the end Lily won out. She did promise to consider it, however, when she went back to work.

She played with Harry and Harvey, but wouldn't let them touch the brooms again. She was not going to chase them madly about the house. Harry though, was strangely subdued during the day; he mostly just looked on as she played with Harvey or watched her move around.

Alice Longbottom, one of Lily's best friends and fellow healer at St Mungos, dropped by about lunch time to wish the twins a happy birthday. Alice's own son had turned one only the day before, so they had happily chatted for a few hours, before Alice had to go home.

Around five o'clock James was supposed to finish his shift and come home. Lately though he'd been held up at work till as late as six o'clock almost on a daily basis. Being an Auror in these times was a hard and dangerous job and Lily always fretted and worried about her husband and Sirius. Peter had a job at the ministry in another section that worked more with the paperwork. Remus mostly drifted from job to job, working where he could when he wasn't on missions for the Order. Tonight was one of the few nights when they could all sit down together, Something they had found themselves doing less and less these days.

Lily sighed– she hated the war. Everyday was another day of worry and anguish. Never knowing if someone you loved died today, or who would come home safely.

5:30pm, where was he?

Sirius came over to the Potter's almost everyday of the week. Peter dropped by occasionally, and Remus stayed when he could. It was strange though, lately he'd been coming over less often. James or Sirius would act weird whenever she mentioned it, and then they'd change the subject abruptly. If Lily didn't know any better she'd say they were giving Remus the cold shoulder. But why would they do that?

6:00pm now, oh Merlin, oh God! Please, please come home safely. Please let nothing have happened. They've just gotta be fine, they've got to be! She was pacing around the living room, one eye on the clock. Her hand kept jumping to the wand in her pocket, Lily couldn't help glancing at the door every two seconds. She tried to play with the twins to take her mind off things, but Harry seemed to sense her agitated state of mind or something and wasn't interested in the stuffed dog Sirius had given him.

Tick, tick, tick…

That clock was going to drive her mad, it was almost mocking her. She glared at it. 6:15pm. Oh Merlin, where was he?

A loud crack suddenly broke the silence. Lily stifled a scream and pulled out her wand, hand shaking slightly from the nerves. Putting herself between the door and the twins, she waited as footsteps approached the house.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Who is it?" Lily called, trying to make her voice steady.

"It is I, James Potter! The roguishly, handsome, and brave husband, returning home to the ever so lovely Lily, after battling the forces of evil!" Lily rolled her eyes and let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in. Ploughing on she asked the necessary secret question.

"What did I say to you during the Halloween feast, when you were late, in our last year of Hogwarts?" Lily heard James sigh outside.

"You called me an insufferable prat who couldn't tell the time if it hit me in the head," he deadpanned in a defeated voice. Lily threw open the door, standing aside as James came in and put her wand away at the same time. Then the door shut, leaving them in silence.

James grinned at her.

Lily glared at him.

"What time is it?" she asked in a dangerously sweet voice. James's grin faltered as he turned his head to look at the clock.

"…Err…OW!" Lily hit him over the head.

"Dada!" Harry called. James's face lit up and he broke into a huge grin.

"And here are Daddy's little Birthday Boys!" he exclaimed striding over to his son's side. He picked Harry up, lifting him higher so James was looking up at him. "And how has my big one year old been today?" he brought Harry closer, cuddling him. Harry wrapped his arms around James's neck, hugging him back.

Lily smiled at the two of them, before frowning in thought.

"Strangely quiet actually, I hope nothings wrong with him," She moved over to scoop up Harvey, propping him up on her hip.

"I'm sure Harry's fine," James brushed it off, but he did look at Harry concerned.

Two cracks from outside immediately put both Lily and James on alert. But it turned out to be a false alarm as a few minutes later Sirius and Remus stepped over the threshold.

"Pa'foo!" Sirius broke into a broad grin.

"Did yeh hear that?" he exclaimed excitedly to Remus, who rolled his eyes. "I told you so, didn't I," The dog animagus practically bounced over to James and Harry were he ruffled Harry's hair affectionately.

"Yes, Padfoot, only about a hundred times, five hundred between you and James," he grinned wearily. Remus looked tired and worn; the full-moon had only been a few days ago.

"Hello Sirius, it's good to see you again Remus," Lily greeted them, carrying Harvey back into the living room.

HP

"Come on Harry, say Moony. You can do it, Moo-ny," Sirius encouraged. They were sat on the living room, Harry on Sirius's knee, next to Peter, who had arrived a few minutes ago. James, Lily and Remus were sitting on the couch across from them; Harvey was on the ground, playing with a toy dog. Harry opened his mouth and concentrated on making his muscles work, Remus was looking at him with a sad little smile, as if he didn't expect Harry to say anything.

"Noonee."

His parents and godfather cheered, quickly followed by Peter. Remus blinked in surprise, and a slow grin took over his face, transforming his features. Although Remus's face was still a bit doubled and blurred to Harry, it was obvious how happy his young mentor really was. Losing all his friends had really taken its toll on the werewolf, and looking at him now only resolved Harry's determination to make sure it didn't happen again.

Harry had spent all day thinking, worrying, fretting and planning. His mind had been in complete turmoil from the moment he had woken up, so he had spent a lot of his time trying to organise his thoughts. It's not like he could do much else, as a baby he couldn't exactly contact his friends to see if they were okay. Heck, he didn't even know if they were here with him, they could be in a completely different time zone, or stuck in their own little illusion for all he knew.

Harry had also spent a lot of time fretting about this moment; the moment that Peter came over. He had a plan of course, but the end result he was still unsure of. Really it could end up any way, there were so many ways it could go wrong, but it was the best he had at the moment so he would just have to go with it.

Now though, that he was in a perfect position to put his plan into action, he was having second thoughts and doubts. His heart was pumping so wildly, it was a wonder Sirius didn't hear something, his throat was dry, but if he didn't do it now he'd probably never get this chance or opportunity again.

HP

Sirius held onto his godson. Of course, both Harry and Harvey were his godsons, he would never favour one over the other, but Harry just seemed to have this quality about him, an air of mystery almost. Sirius shook his head free of these thoughts, I need to get myself a girl, he thought wryly, or at least a fire-whiskey.

His concentration was brought back to Harry as the little boy began to struggle in his arms. Taken by surprise Sirius relaxed his hold, allowing Harry to slip under his arm and to crawl onto Peter's lap. Sirius stared at his godson slightly disappointed, until Harry turned around to give him a… reassuring look? Nah, just my imagination. Sirius turned back to watch in amusement as James and Lily began to argue, something about the time.

HP

Peter for his part, was completely shocked to have the one year old suddenly in his arms, he had never held one of the twins before. Feeling uncomfortable, he held Harry awkwardly in his arms, and let his mind drift back to that morning.

He had gone for this week's Death Eater meeting with the Dark Lord, to report back to him on what he had learned from the Order. But the meeting had been cut short when Snape had turned up with some 'Important Information' for the Dark Lord. Peter hadn't been deemed 'Important' enough to hear it, and was sent away before Snape recognised him, only a select few followers of the Dark Lord knew about Peter, just in case there were any spies…He had been warned after, however, to keep a closer eye on the Potter family, the Potter brats especially…

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice as the small boy on his lap, gradually began pulling up the sleeve on his left arm.

HP

Harry slowly, excruciatingly slowly, moved Peter's sleeve higher. If Peter realised what he was doing, Harry's plan to expose him would fail. Holding his breath, watching the traitor out of the corner of his eye for any reaction, he pushed the sleeve of his robe up higher, revealing the tail end of the Dark Mark. With slightly shaking hands from the tension, he shifted the sleeve to now show half of the tattoo. Right, Phase One complete.

Next he carefully moved away, leaning over to Sirius.

Placing one of his small hands on his godfather's knee, he drew Sirius's attention by softly cooing, "Pa'foo." Sirius looked down and beamed a Harry, then began to move as if he was going to pick him up, something that would also be very bad for Harry's plan.

Quickly Harry pointed down at the Dark Mark on Peter's arm saying firmly, but perhaps a little bit too loudly, "Dat!"

Sirius followed his finger, eyes widening in horror as he saw the mark. Peter, drawn by Harry's exclamation, looked down also and saw the exposed mark. The two pairs of eyes snapped up to meet each other, both filled with horror, but for opposite reasons. And several things suddenly all happened at once.

Sirius's horror turned to savage hate and disgust, eyes narrowed and lips pulled back in a snarl, he let loose a wild roar and launched himself at Peter. At the same time, Peter's hold tightened around Harry and he dived out of the way, still in motion he scooped up Harvey from the floor. James, Lily and Remus started, and leapt to their feet in confusion. Their hands flew to their wands, but none of them knew what was going on, or who to point the wands at.

Peter set off towards the door his arms full of the twins. But he stumbled when Sirius threw himself off the couch, trying to tackle Peter to the ground. He missed, only managing to catch Peter's foot before it slipped through his grasp.

"STOP HIM!" Sirius bellowed at the other three, who began to shoot stupefy hexes at Peter, if for no other reason then he had taken the twins. Unfortunately, Peter managed to avoid being hit, wrenching the door open, he sprinted out beyond the wards. Just before he Apparated away, Harry had time for one thought.

Oh crap, I really buggered that one up.

HP

Lord Voldemort sat on his silver throne, one hand elegantly stroking the smooth skin of his snake as she hissed and curled around one of the chairs arms. His other hand was posed lightly under his pale chin, as he looked down from his raised dais at the man kneeling in front of him. Voldemort had finished with him, he'd just not informed him of the fact yet, rather he was contemplating the information he'd received earlier. The Prophecy…

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ..." Someone with the power to stop him… someone who's parents had refused his will several times, someone born at the end of July… Voldemort had only ever considered Dumbledore a real opponent, but this prophecy, if it was true, could prove to be a nuisance. Therefore he had decided to take care of it as quickly as possible, squashing the problem before it became a threat. If only he knew who it referred to…

Voldemort had questioned his most loyal followers about it, and they had come up with three possibilities. All were sons of Aurors, the Longbottom kid, and the Potter twins. But he was still unsure of how to approach this problem, and he was not some Mud-blood lover that rushed head long into things without knowing all the information. The Prophecy could be referring to someone else they hadn't considered yet.

A loud bang broke Voldemort out of his thoughts, and an even louder wailing echoed into the room. The expensive Dark-wood door burst open and a short, gasping, red-faced man entered holding two small children, one with red hair screaming its lungs out. Slithering next to Voldemort, Nagani hissed in agitation in tune with her master's displeasure. That bumbling, idiotic, cowardly fool, Wormtail! He's revealed himself to Snape! Snape, the man kneeling in front of Voldemort, was staring at Wormtail, his face even paler then normal.

HP

Harry was in deep trouble. His plan hadn't just failed, it had failed spectacularly. Now, not only had he been kidnapped by the man he hated just marginally less then Voldemort, he'd actually been brought in front of the snake himself. He was in the body of a helpless one year old, without a wand, in front of the most evil person on the planet. And to top it all off he'd managed to get his new twin brother kidnapped as well. Things were not looking good.

Peter had fallen to his knees next to… Snape? Maybe… Harry couldn't be sure; the dark room wasn't exactly helping his vision.

"What is this Wormtail?" Voldemort hissed, anger radiating from every syllable.

"M-M-My Lord!" the rat whimpered, finally releasing both Harry and his brother. Harvey sat and howled, his face screwing up from the exertion, the toy dog fell forgotten from his grasp, to the cold marble floor. Harry kept his eyes on Voldemort, desperately trying to think of a way out of this one.

"Silencio," Voldemort spat, and no more sound came from Harvey's open mouth.

"My L-Lord, the P-Potters discovered m-me, my c-cover is blown."

A horrible silence filled the room, except for Peter's ragged breathing and quivering beside Harry.

"Discovered." Voldemort uttered emotionlessly. Pettigrew cringed fearfully.

"Y-Yes, but wait, please, My Lord! I brought the P-Potter Twins!" Peter cowered under Voldemort's steady gaze.

Then he turned and the gaze bore down on Harry instead, giving him the weirdest, most uncomfortable, dizzying feeling he'd ever had. Except for maybe when the Enchanted Ceiling exploded…Realisation dawned on Harry, there's no pain! He was only one year old today, and he didn't have his scar, not physically anyway. It was still there in some form, judging by the way Harry could barely think straight…probably something to do with my mind or soul or something, I'll have to ask Hermione when I see her…Wait, he wasn't going to see her, he was going to die, here and now. Ironic really, he just gets a family, only to die in the body of a baby.

"Leave us, Snape." Voldemort ordered, without looking away from the Harry and Harvey. The black haired man got to his feet and hurried to obey his master. When the door had shut behind Snape, Voldemort got gracefully to his feet and stepped down from the dais, his black robe flowing around him.

"Wormtail, you disappoint me," he whispered as he circled the quivering excuse for a man, "You have lost the opportunity to gather information for me, and in doing so, lost your usefulness to me."

"P-p-please my L-Lord," Pettigrew begged pitifully, kissing the hem of Voldemort's robe.

"You have, however, redeemed yourself slightly by bringing me the Potter brats. Wait, until after I have disposed of them, for your punishment." Wormtail agreed fearfully and crawled off to the side.

Voldemort advanced towards Harry's brother, Harry was desperate. No, no! He's going to kill him! There was nothing Harry could do to stop him, he had nothing except for…Harvey's toy dog that lay on the ground in front of him…Still not thinking straight, Harry picked up the toy and threw his last hope at Voldemort. The dog bounced off of Voldemort's head and fell limply to the floor. Voldemort stopped and shook his head in shock before looking down in slight confusion and amusement at the dog. He sneered at Harry when he realised what he'd done.

"Since you're so eager to die, you may go first." He stalked slowly to Harry and put the wand to his forehead.

Crap, this is it. I'm going to die. My mother didn't die for me this time, I don't have the protection. His blood was pounding in his ears as Voldemort opened his mouth.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Green light filled Harry's vision, his forehead exploded with blinding, white hot, pain, and he blacked out. He didn't see the spell backfiring into Voldemort, or the room almost demolished from the dark magic gone wild. Or when Peter threw up an arm to protect himself, only to have a finger sliced off. Or when some of the back-lash struck Harvey on the cheek, causing a V-shaped cut that rendered him unconscious.

HP

When Severus Snape left the chamber, his mind was in turmoil. Peter Pettigrew was betraying his friends? He never would have thought it, and the Potter brats…

Earlier that day Snape had been in the Hog's Head, he had overheard Dumbledore interviewing some witch for a job at Hogwarts, the new Divination teacher. He'd heard her give a prophecy about his Lord and Snape had reported it back to Him, now however, Snape was close to panicking. He never would have thought it referred to the Potter brats; his Lord would kill them definitely. Would He kill their parents too? Lily…Snape wouldn't be able to bear it if she were dead because of him.

A thundering explosion from the room he'd just left stopped Snape where he stood. He stared at the door suspiciously as wisps of smoke began to curl up from underneath it. What on earth was that? Should I go back in? He pondered uncertainly. The Dark Lord might torture him for disobedience…

An eerie silence now came from the room; Snape ground his teeth together in indecision and cursed, then reached forward and slowly opened the door.

"My Lord?" he called out warily, his eyes taking in the demolished chamber, the broken throne and dais. With the smoking debris and everything crackling with the essence of dark magic, he didn't notice a rat slip out of the room.

He gripped his wand and spotted the two small bodies lying on the ground next to a burnt-out toy dog. At first he thought they were dead but a closer examination proved them both alive and breathing. The Dark Lord was nowhere to be found, except for the smoking remains of a cloak that the Dark Lord had worn. Snape stared in disbelief, the prophecy…it couldn't be… he hurried over to the twins, spotting instantly the bleeding 'V' on the red head's cheek. His Lord was…dead? He looked back at the smoking cloak bewildered. What was he supposed to do now? Snape looked back at the Potter twins, the black-haired one opened his eyes and Snape suddenly found himself staring into Lily's green eyes. There was blood on he boy's face, coming from somewhere under his hair.

Snape could hear other Death Eaters coming towards the door, investigating the explosion. The Potter brat stared back as if he couldn't quite believe it either, no…no Lily's child…Making a decision Snape scooped up the two twins and stood. He spun on his heel and Apparated away.

HP

"SIRIUS WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" James grabbed his friend by the collar, effectively stopping his tirade of curses. He'd just watched Peter Apparate away with his sons and he wanted answers, now.

"HE'S THE TRAITOR!" Sirius roared back in James's face, "THAT BLOODY RAT IS A DEATH EATER!" James felt the colour drain from his face, and he heard Lily give a horrified gasp.

"No, NO! MY BABIES!" She screamed, she took a few steps outside, before her knees gave way and she fell to the ground sobbing. James felt as if someone had punched him in the gut.

"How – how do you know?" he asked hoarsely, not wanting to believe that Peter, PETER of all people, could betray them like that.

"I saw the bloody Mark on his arm!" Sirius jerked out of James's grasp and kicked a nearby pot plant in his rage, sending it spinning away to crash down some steps.

James could feel the anger, hate, and feeling of betrayal welling up in him, how could he, how dare he? He'd stolen his sons! I'll kill him! "WORMTAIL!" James bellowed to the sky, scaring a flock of birds into flight. He grabbed his head, clenching his fists in his hair and roared in frustration.

"We have to save them, we have to rescue them!" Lily was sobbing hysterically on the ground.

"How can we?" Sirius snarled, glaring hatefully at the place where Peter had last stood, "We don't even know where he's taken them."

"I'll find my sons!" James hissed defiantly at him.

"We'll go to Dumbledore, he'll know what to do," Remus said from the doorway his eyes flashing dangerously and hands clenching and unclenching, as if he wanted to rip into something.

"Oh yeah, and why should we trust you?" Sirius turned harshly to Remus, "You're probably a Death Eater too, you bloody werewolf!" Sirius flew at Remus, barreling into him back into the house. They landed on the floor with a thump, Sirius punching Remus in the face. Remus snarled, and wrestled Sirius onto his back, but he managed to free one of his hands and landed another blow.

James rushed after them and furiously pulled them off each other.

"What the HELL do you think your doing? Sirius, Peter is the Death Eater, he is the one that's been betraying us all this time, NOT Remus!"

"How do you know? They could both be working for him!"

"I'M NOT A DEATH EATER!" Remus bellowed at them, and ripped back the sleeve of his left arm to prove it. "I WOULD NEVER BETRAY YOU, I WOULD RATHER DIE THEN BETRAY YOU!" This left the room in stunned silence, except for Remus's heavy breathing. Neither James nor Sirius had ever seen Remus so angry.

James couldn't take it anymore, with a broken, strangled sound he fell to his knees, Sirius and Remus both gripped his arms. Lily stumbled in and pushed past them to James, where she fell next to him and hugged him tightly, hiding her tear-stained face in his robes. James hugged her back just as tightly, with his friend's hands on his shaking shoulders.

HP

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office at Hogwarts. He had in front of him about seven letters from the ministry that he was supposed to be answering, but was actually staring in the thought at the wall. The prophecy… Someone that could defeat Voldemort…it was certainly a very pleasing thought. But who did it refer to? So far he had thought of three people it could be about. One of the Potter twins, or Neville Longbottom, neither though had been marked in any way by Voldemort. A curious problem indeed…

His thoughts were broken when yet another owl, soared through the window. Dumbledore sighed in resignation, and a letter dropped onto his desk, this letter though, was the red of a howler. His eyebrows furrowed and he leaned closer to examine it. There was a message on the front –

'Are you alone?'

Taking up his wand he contemplated the letter, wondering if it was safe to touch. Curiosity getting the better of him he tapped his wand on the letter.

"Yes," he told it solemnly. The letter instantly leapt up and came to life; a voice he didn't think he would ever hear again began to speak.

"Headmaster," Severus Snape's voice said silkily, "Please do not be alarmed, I neither wish you or the school any harm, and I merely wish to talk to you face to face. It is of a matter most urgency concerning the Dark Lord, a certain prophecy," here Dumbledore drew in a sharp breathe, "and the two people currently in my protection. Please allow me entrance to Floo directly to your office, I no longer wish I had chosen the path I did, Severus Snape." With that the letter burst into flame.

Albus Dumbledore stared at the ashy remains of the letter. What? How? Thoughts and questions were running at a million miles a minute through his head, ones that could only be answered if he did as the letter asked, and allowed Snape access to his office. Part of him wanted to contact the Order immediately, but…the prophecy…how had he known about the prophecy? Decisively he stood up and pointed his wand at the fireplace. He spelled the wards to give Snape access to the Floo network, and waited patiently. A few minutes later the fire turned green.

Dumbledore's wand was up in a second, he watched in growing horror as Snape stepped out holding James and Lily Potter's sons.

"Wait, please! Let me explain!" Snape yelled, backing away from his wand.

"Put them down, now." Dumbledore ordered quietly, and to his surprise Snape obeyed almost immediately, setting the twins down on a nearby chair.

Snape then stood nervously in the middle of the room, and slowly Dumbledore lowered his wand. "Very well, explain." He said, watching the young man in front of him gravely.

Snape started with overhearing the prophecy, and then reporting it back to Voldemort. Dumbledore would have run a hand over his face, but refrained considering his present company. He then went on to tell of Peter's betrayal, something that shocked Dumbledore to the core, and made his heart drop. Then of how he'd found the chamber and of the mark on Harvey Potter's cheek. Dumbledore peered over at the still sleeping boy and saw the 'V' shaped cut clear as day. Snape finished with him bringing the twins here.

Dumbledore gazed at Snape steadily, one question remained unanswered.

"Why?"

Snape looked up at him and Dumbledore could see the pain in them, "They're her sons," he almost whispered. Realisation dawned on Dumbledore as he considered the man in front of him; he'd always known the Slytherin was friends with Lily Evans, now Lily Potter. Prehaps there were hope for him yet.

"So you no longer wish to be a Death Eater?"

The look in Snape's eyes turned to one of determination, "No, I don't. I would do anything not to be, it was a mistake in the first place."

Silence reined as the two studied each other.

"You're a Potions Master, are you not, Snape?"

HP

"Right, we'll go see Dumbledore then," James said, gently removing Lily's hands. She reluctantly let go and wiped her face. She needed to be strong, James was hurting too, likely more so then her about the betrayal because Peter was his friend. My babies…why would he steal them? She smothered a sob, and swallowed. A hand touched her elbow and she looked up at her husband, he silently asking her if she was going to be alright to come. She raised her chin determinedly and breathed out.

"Let's go," The small group headed into the living room, to Floo directly into the Headmaster's office.

But before they could even touch the Floo powder, the fire turned green by itself. Lily watched hypnotized as the man himself stepped out of the fireplace, Albus Dumbledore holding – HARVEY!

"MY BABY!" Lily screamed lunging forward; taking hold of the little red-head boy and hugging him close like she would never let him go again. The rest of the group sighed with relief and came forward to look at Harvey.

"What – where's Harry?" James asked Dumbledore, fear and dread written all over his face.

But Dumbledore just smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. "Don't worry, he's coming." He alluded mysteriously. As if on cue the fire turned green again, and another figure stepped through, holding Harry in his arms.

"Severus?" Lily gaped, not quite believing her eyes.

"Snivellus!" James and Sirius exclaimed, and in an instant their wands were out and pointing at his face.

"Give – my – son – back!" James hissed threateningly, Snape just sneered and handed Harry over, as if he disgusted him. James snatched Harry close to his chest, eyes never leaving Snape's.

"Now, now, James, Lily, I think we all better sit down and have a cup of tea. Severus and I have some news for you, both good and bad I'm afraid." Dumbledore said, his eyes still twinkling maddeningly.

When both Snape and Dumbledore had finished telling their stories, Lily didn't know what to think. She was deliriously happy that Voldemort had finally been defeated, but horrified that he had tried to kill her sons. She had run her fingers over the 'V' cut on Harvey's cheek; my little boy's a hero…and Severus, he'd saved my babies…

She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, she looked down at Harvey who was in her arms, to try and hide it. When Lily did look up again, she realised that Snape was heading towards the fireplace to leave. With a cry, she put Harvey down gently and leapt up. Snape turned around at her cry and was stunned as he suddenly found her hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, Severus," Lily whispered to her old friend. When she pulled back, he gave her a small smile and nodded his head. Lily stepped back, and was surprised to find her husband there beside her.

James stepped forward a strange expression on his face. Lily could feel her mouth dropping as he offered out his hand and said words she never thought she would hear from his mouth.

"Thank you Snape, I owe you." Snape narrowed his eyes as if he thought it was a trick, but then he took the hand.

"No Potter. Now we're even." He said and stepped into the fireplace before anyone could say anything.

HP

Daily Prophet

YOU-KNOW-WHO DEFEATED!!!

On the 31st of July, yesterday at approximately seven o'clock in the evening, He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named was defeated by one year old Harvey Potter.

Four red-heads looked up at each other in confusion. They were reading a 'borrowed' paper aloud in the kitchen.

"Think it's a typo?" Fred asked.

HP

A/N

Phew that was long, and only the second chapter!

Well what did you think? This is only the beginning of course; I'm still getting started here. But please tell me what you think. R&R.