Prologue.
The couple ran inside the house. The woman in her early twenties had a small baby in her hands – apparently the hero of their world. She could hear her husband applying many complex charms and wards on the door but she and he both knew it would hardly be worthy to stop the maniacal being who was after them, or more precisely, their son's blood.
The couple had seen and fought many battles since the last three years. This threat was unlike any other threat their world had ever seen. A man who couldn't be killed had turned bad and that mere thing meant they were all screwed.
"I can't believe he'd betray us!" the woman said as she gripped her baby boy in her arms tighter than ever.
"We can't do anything now, Lily," the woman's husband said. She could hear how her husband was trying to remain calm and in control over the going situation but he was already reaching his breaking point.
"We should never have changed our keeper, James! I knew the bad feeling I had when we did that. Just why couldn't I stop from letting this happen?" Lily said.
"It wasn't your fault, Lily," James, Lily's husband said, calming his wife. "I don't know whether or not we will survive tonight but what's important is Harry's life. He is very important and though I hate to admit it, but he is our only hope. I know I sound like looking over to Harry like he's some sort of a weapon but..."
"Don't," Lily said, hushing her husband. "Many will look on him like that if they come to know about the prophecy. But I know the people whom we've trusted all this time will surely protect our Harry from those troublesome people."
Suddenly the two heard a loud noise as if someone had hit the church's bell with all their might. The colour on the faces of the couple drained and Lily's arms tightened a bit more around her sleeping son's body as a tear rolled down her cheek. Then she felt a firm grip of her husband on her arm.
"Lily, take Harry and run," James said calmly. She knew it was not the time but her love for this man forced her.
"You can't take on him alone!" she said, knowing what the answer from her stubborn husband would be.
"I sure can't," James said with a faint smile. "But that doesn't mean I can't delay him and as long as I've known you, I know you have a way to protect our son even if you haven't told anyone about it. Not even your husband. Now, go."
His grip tightened on her hand for a moment before he let it go and pushed her gently, indicating her that he was serious. One more tear rolled down her cheek but Lily knew it was now too late to change her husband's mind. And she knew it would be worthless to do it either. The breaking of the wards around the Potter cottage was mere enough to signal them that their life was up. But they weren't sure about the life of their son. However, Lily being Lily had a final trick rolled up in her sleeve.
Covering her son protectively between her hands, she dashed towards the stairs, heading towards her son's nursery. She knew she didn't have much time and so she had to be quick. She had it all ready for just in case her son was in need of it.
As Lily opened the door and entered the nursery of her son, an explosion was heard downstairs and it was soon followed by the sound of a chain of spells fired. She knew he was inside the house and on her instinct; she closed the door and applied several locking charms and wards within a few moments. She knew, as great a dueller her husband was, he'd at least stall Voldemort for half a minute. That was enough time she needed.
Reaching over to the crib, she placed Harry in it and lifted up his top to bare his stomach. She saw the rune she had made on her baby boy's stomach using her blood. It was considered a dark ritual nowadays but to save her son's life, she'd do anything necessary.
The noises coming from downstairs had stopped and Lily knew what it meant. But she tried not to get herself distracted from it. She was more worried about two things right now – one was her son's life and second, what was taking HIM so long to finally show up!
A final word escaped her mouth as the rune on Harry's stomach glowed a bright white, finalising the spell to his body. A smile came upon Lily's face but it was soon gone as the door leading to the nursery was blasted to smithereens. She quickly covered the rune and turned to see the most possible thing in her life.
Standing near the blasted door, in his dark robes, stood Lord Voldemort with his familiar red eyes and pale body. He had a snaky smile on his face as his wand arm held his wand while his other hand caressed it like the wand was some sort of a pet.
He walked gently over to her. It appeared as if he was floating for his dark robes were dragging itself smoothly on the floor.
Lily flinched a little but tried not to let Voldemort see it. But the tyrant had already seen it and his feral smile grew scarier as it widened on his pale snaky face.
"That's right, mudblood. You need to be scared of Lord Voldemort," Voldemort said as he closed the distance between them.
Lily stepped a bit backward, touching Harry's crib with her back. She had held the railings of the crib tightly. To be honest, seeing death facing her, she felt kind of funny.
"Move aside and let me do what I came here to do," Voldemort said.
"I will not," Lily said with confidence. "You are gonna have to go through me to get to my son, Voldemort!"
The said person formed a scowl as no one but Dumbledore was fool enough to call him by the name. To others, he was someone who must not be named. But he would spare this filth for her mistake because he was currently in a hurry at the moment.
"As you wish, mudblood," Voldemort said and a moment later a green spark escaped his wand, hitting Lily straight on her chest. The said woman fell on the floor like a limp body, face first. "Now it's your turn, baby Harry," Voldemort said and walked up to the crib where he saw the boy looking at his fallen mother. "And don't worry, little one. You, too, will join your mother soon."
Pettigrew waited for his master outside the cottage. He was given the duty to kill anyone who was to approach the cottage until Voldemort was done. The rat was currently hiding in the shadow of the moonless night of Halloween when a deafening blast took him by surprise. Being what he was, Pettigrew first covered himself from whatever he thought might be heading towards him, forgetting the fact that he was hiding in a place where flying objects couldn't hit him. The creak between the cracked streets served a good place for the rat animagus to hide. Once he was sure it was safe to come out, he came out only to see a burning top floor of the Potter Cottage. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was his master this eager to kill the child that he straightaway had blasted him to oblivion? The mere thought only made him fear the dark lord more. But then he saw people living in their homes across the streets come out of their warm houses to see the source of the explosion. He knew he had to act soon. He ran inside the house in his rat form so no one could see him.
He went straight upstairs and into the room where the explosion had taken place. What he saw was unimaginable. He saw the dead body of his former friend Lily Potter. He had also seen James' body downstairs. The said man had suffered heavy injuries before the dark lord had relieved him from his pain. But what surprised Pettigrew most was the crying boy standing in the crib.
Harry Potter was alive.
He had survived the dark lord's signature attack and was standing in his crib unharmed but with a scar. The scar, as Pettigrew saw, was currently a small wound. It was fresh but surprisingly no blood was coming out if it. It was just blood red. He knew what he had to do. If his master had failed then he wouldn't. Knowing he would one day return, Pettigrew wanted to give his master the good news that he had killed his master's enemy. But the current place wasn't right. He needed a more secure place. Knowing how great the Potters were politically and publicly, Pettigrew was at least smart enough to reckon that this place will be crawling with aurors in a few minutes. He needed to get this boy out of here.
Sirius Black had finally made it to Godric's Hollow and was nearing the Cottage when he heard the explosion. Getting nothing but bad feeling about it, he turned the throttle of his bike, maximising its speed and sore through the air towards the cottage where his two best friends and one godson were currently hiding. He had felt a weird feeling suddenly remembering the address of the Potter Cottage. That had what made him to go there.
What he saw made him pray that he was watching a nightmare and nothing else.
The second floor was burning as if some bomb explosion had taken place there. The ground floor had an obliterated door, blasted off of its hinges.
Sirius quickly got off of his bike and made a run towards the cottage when he saw Pettigrew coming out of the place holding something in white clothes. Being an experienced animagus, Sirius used his animagus eyes in his human form and saw the rat was carrying Harry.
"Peter?" Sirius called.
The said man halted on his steps. He knew he'd have to play it smart but being smart was just one thing Peter wasn't very much capable of. He could see the magical and mundane people, a population of both who resided in Godric's Hollow had now started to gather to have a look at the ongoing disaster. The magicals were gasping, expressing grief and shock as they all knew who lived in that house. The mundane weren't very far but their reaction was different. Being muggles, they were more concerned about the health of the people living inside the cottage. Knowing muggles through Lily, Peter knew they were loads smarter than the magicals and that was the very reason they posed a threat to the magical world. But he also knew that the magicals hardly used their common senses and so this might just work out for him.
"Peter, what the hell happened here? And where are James and Lily?" Sirius asked as he was now walking towards Peter, who was still static at his place. He currently had two important things with him – Harry Potter and his master's wand. And he didn't want either of them to be taken away from him. And so he had a plan which brought a faint smile on his face.
"How could you, Sirius?" Peter said a bit loudly so the nearby magicals and mundane could hear him.
"What?" Sirius said, confused as to what Peter was trying to say when he suddenly realised everything. "You! TRAITOR!" he screamed and ran at his fellow marauder.
"You betrayed the Potters, Sirius!" Peter screamed and used his wand to create smoke around him and an approaching Sirius. He then targeted the gas pipeline that had been uncovered due to the broken street and a moment later a huge explosion shook the entire Godric's Hollow. A shield charm had protected Pettigrew but in a hurry of casting those spells, he accidently let his grip lose on Harry and the little boy fell off of his hand. Good thing Harry had been stunned before Peter had taken him out of the house.
As the fire and smoke cleared away, the scene revealed all the twelve magicals and mundane dead on the street. Sirius was thrown away due to the aftershock of the explosion and was currently lying on the street, semi conscious. Pettigrew could hear Sirius mumble "my fault. This was all my fault..." He then saw the first few apparitions and knew the aurors had started to arrive. Seeing he would be caught if he wasted any more time in grabbing Harry, he decided to run away leaving the boy behind. The job could be done any other time. But to make things more interesting, he bravely cut his small finger and saw it drop on the street before he turned into his animagus and ran away from the crime scene. A few days outside the magical pet shop would surely make him find a new home where he'd enjoy his days and wait for his master's arrival.
Fate frowned as he saw what plans laid ahead for the child. He was angry that someone was forcing him in someone's life. Fate was one thing that couldn't be controlled but currently he was being forced into someone's life. He turned the pages of his giant book, looking through ways in which he could make this all a little bit interesting to those who wished the boy harm when he suddenly stopped as his eyes stuck on the name of a particular boy. Yes, this boy would be ideal for making things more exciting but to make things go as the way fate had planned, he hated the circumstances these two boys would have to face and experience. But knowing certain people because of whom his boss, death, was currently so upset about, fate knew his hands were tied. He brought up his two hands and tapped the two boys' pictures in his book at the same time. The world will see them as their savoir when the time comes but the boy because of whom all this problem began, fate was sad he'd have to suffer some hell for some time. As for the other boy, his life wasn't going to be easy either but its outcome will make him what the two boys would ultimately need for the betterment of their respective worlds.
Unknown to the world and to a certain headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a crystal sphere glowed inside the Room of Prophecies within the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magical Britain. Things had already started to change and this would certainly bring surprises for everyone.