After spending two evenings in the most secure private ward the hospital had to offer, with not a single healer able to assess the damage to the Potters, things were starting to look grim.
Harry had spent the whole time sleeping, no doubt in need of recharging his magical core after what he had just done two nights prior. It was simply assumed that he had suffered a severe case of magical exhaustion after performing such a feat of magic, so he was promptly given a dreamless sleep potion so that he could rest until he had recovered. The Marauders could only hope that he would recover from such an incident at such a tender age and that his parents would be awake to hold him when he did.
Both Remus and Sirius were wallowing in their grief for believing that each other could have been the betrayer, and hoped they'd someday be able to get their hands on Peter Pettigrew for what he'd done to their friends.
Unfortunately, things only went from bad to worse the next day when Dumbledore announced that Frank and Alice Longbottom had been brought to the hospital under permanent cruciatus damage. Both Alice and Frank had been friends with Remus and Sirius during their time at Hogwarts. Frank had been Head Boy during their 6th year and Alice had been Lily's best friend. Now, here they were in the beds across from Lily and James, all because apparently, a few death eaters paid them a visit after hearing news of the Dark Lord's defeat at the hands of the Potters.
Once again they felt a wave of guilt wash over them at the thought that they had been the ones to send word to the Longbottoms about the attack on Godric's Hollow, and therefore responsible for the injuries they sustained the day after coming out of hiding at the hands of Bellatrix, Barty Crouch Jr., and the Lestrange brothers.
The only bright side of the incident was that their son Neville had been spending the day with his Grandmother, Augusta, so had been saved from harm.
Since they had been brought in neither Sirius, Remus, Augusta, Neville, nor McGonagall had left the ward, each still trying to come to grips with what had happened. They were too filled with grief to even consider leaving their friends, parents or former students.
Neither Remus or Sirius had ever felt so terrible in their entire life. They truly blamed themselves for everything that had happened to their friends and didn't think they would ever forgive themselves.
However later that day the group received the first bit of good news they had received since that Halloween night. Harry had woken up.
As the group looked down on the one-year-old boy with a lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead they weren't surprised to see that he had already left his bed to crawl into his mother's arms.
As the group of adults prepared for another restless night, they had to fight the urge to cry as they watched the scene of two little boys each lying in their unconscious mother's arms.
While Neville was trying to shake his mothers' arm back into moving, Harry was silently crying and once again pleading with his mother to wake up. His choked voice of, "wake up mummy, miss you," contained enough emotion to make any parents' heartache.
However, just when the adults were on the verge of tears, little baby Harry once again began performing what was supposed to be an impossible feat of magic.
Slowly a golden glow spread out from the boy's hands and made its way up Lily's arms until it rested over her chest before lowering itself into her body causing her eyes to flicker open before she engulfed the little boy in her arms into a fierce hug, eliciting a giggle from the boy at his mother's actions.
The group could only watch dumbfounded as a toddler performed advanced magic with a level of control surpassing any of them as he managed to bring Lily out of her coma tossed state. Add to the fact that he did this without a wand, and they were starting to understand how this little boy had survived the Dark Lord's killing curse.
Harry, however, was completely unaware of the stares he was receiving. All that mattered to him was that his mother was back. Safe in her arms the happy baby once again fell asleep.
The group anxiously rushed to Lily's bedside to see if she was okay but she was too busy crying over her little boy to pay them any attention.
It took over an hour for Lily to be absolutely sure that Harry was healthy, and only then did she turn to the anxious faces of her friends and tell them what she could remember.
She told them how James, Harry, and herself had been relaxing in front of the fireplace before their back door had been blown off its hinges by the Dark Lord. She told them how James had tried to slow down Voldemort enough for Harry and herself to get to safety, but that with all the wards on the property there was no way to escape.
She told them of how she begged Voldemort to kill her instead of Harry before she had been hit with the yellow beam that had rendered her immobile and unresponsive, yet aware enough of her own surroundings that she would be able to see her baby murdered in front of her.
She told them of how she had witnessed Voldemort taunt her son before casting the killing curse at the crying baby.
Even she still couldn't believe what she had witnessed after that, as Harry had begun to slowly glow a brilliant white before the green beam reflected off him, hitting You-Know-Who in the chest which effectively vanquished the Dark Lord.
She described how Harry had pleaded with her to get up and how she had heard the group's discussion upon finding her body in the nursery.
The group could only cry as they listened to Lily's tale, too upset to even wonder how Harry had survived or revived his mother, but over-the-moon that he had done so.
The next day when Harry woke up he was once again looking into the teary eyes of his mother, who was silently holding her husband's hand.
"Mummy what's wrong?" came the reply from the worried little boy.
Lily could only look down at her precious child and remorsefully reply, "James is still under the bad man's spell, he won't wake up."
Harry could only look over his mother's shoulder at the limp body of his father. Hurriedly, he clambered out of his mother's arms and climbed onto his father's bed before resting his hand on his chest.
Lily could only look on as another golden glow stretched out from her son's arm, dissipating into the unresponsive body of her husband.
Much like what had happened to her the previous night, James began to awake. As his vision slowly returned it was once again immediately blurred by a mess of auburn hair.
He could only smile into his wife's hair and pull his giggling son into a hug, silently thanking the heavens that they had been spared somehow.
When his wife explained what had happened he felt his body go colder than it had been when he was under Voldemort's curse. Not only had his wife suffered a similar fate as him but the monster also tried to kill his son.
He didn't even care how Harry had survived the attack or managed to revive both Lily and himself, he was just relieved that his family had survived and would be able to move on from this event together.
News of the Potter's recovery spread like wildfire through the Wizarding World who had anxiously been following any news surrounding their heroes.
Augusta herself couldn't refrain from marveling at the actions of Harry Potter and even built up hope that maybe he could do the same for Alice and Frank.
Given the circumstances surrounding them, the Potters weren't allowed to leave the hospital wing until the numerous medi-witches caring for them had been assured they were healthy to leave.
And so when Augusta returned with baby Neville to visit her son and his wife that day, she wasn't too surprised to see the family still huddled together on one of the large white hospital beds.
It seemed to her however that the numerous nurses that bustled around them were more interested in fawning over baby Harry than actually doing their job, but given the circumstances surrounding the boy, even she could understand their actions.
Cautiously, she approached her sons' friends, hoping to ask them if Harry could attempt what he had done to them with Alice and Frank. Thankfully, they didn't need much convincing as they fully understood the situation the Longbottoms were under after having their family only repaired from such a broken state the night before.
It took a few attempts but to everyone's amazement, Harry Potter was once again able to perform the impossible and revive the Longbottoms from the land of the lost.
To say the group was astonished at Harry's power and control would be a great understatement. He had now performed the impossible on five different accounts. When they questioned the Potters if Harry had performed magic before they were once again amazed by James' answer that Harry could apparently transfigure small objects, levitate people, summon things as large as a grandfather clock, and could even throw fireballs at people.
For his part, once he got over his amazement, Albus Dumbledore was both ecstatic and frightened. If Harry could do all this as a toddler then the threat of Voldemort wasn't nearly as frightening as it used to be. On the other hand though if this boy ever went over to the Dark side there wouldn't be anyone capable of stopping him.
He quickly decided that he had to ensure Harry Potter was raised properly. He knew he had to ensure that the boy was nurtured and taught the ways of the light. He was determined to ensure that Harry Potter was raised in the furthest environment possible from the one that shaped Tom Riddle. That was why he was so grateful that the boy's parents would live to raise him themselves.
It wasn't all good news, however. It still scared him that no one was able to assess the lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead. Every time the St. Mungo's staff tried to cast a detection charm on the scar or attempted to conceal the mark, the scar would turn black, before reappearing just as bloodied and vivid as it was when they had first laid eyes on it. Even he wasn't able to assess exactly what the scar was, but he was sure that it would have to be removed, considering the fact that the thing was evidently dripping in residual dark magic.
During the next week, the Potters spent most of their time with the Longbottoms as each family felt they had been through such a traumatizing event that no one other than the other family could ever possibly hope to understand. Of course, it only helped their already established friendship to see Harry and Neville playing together, though Neville did manage to seem a combination of awed, scared, and worried whenever Harry performed magic in front of him.
When it finally came time for the Potters and Longbottoms to leave the ward, nothing could have prepared them for the thousands of wizards and witches gathered in the lobby to cheer on the Boy-Who-Lived. The crowd was screaming at the two families as they fought to get a glimpse of the little boy.
"Is that him, does he really have the scar?"
"Lily! Lily please - oh please - could we hold Harry?"
"James, it's John Corner of the Daily Prophet, I'd like to interview you and you're family…"
"Lily it's me Mark Mendelsohn from 4th year. I was wondering if you'd like to go out and get a cup of coffee some time. You know get to know each other a little… It's been far too long since we last met."
"James, the name's Cynthia Gunners, I was wondering if you'd consider arranging a betrothal contract between your son and my two daughters…"
However, the growing crowd had caused Harry to once again go into protective mode as everyone outside of the Marauders, McGonagall, Dumbledore, the Longbottoms, and the Potters soon found themselves being levitated a few inches off the ground by a very emotional 2-year-old.
"No hurt family," came the cry of the little boy in Lily's arms.
The crowd could only gape as they witnessed magic performed to a level of power that a grown witch or wizard would struggle with. Every single one of them was silently wondering how powerful Harry Potter was and will be.
To their part, the adults couldn't help but wonder the same thing, but they had decided that it would be best to try to raise Harry and Neville with as normal a childhood as possible. They wanted the boys to be away from the fame and pressures of the wizarding world in a nurturing and loving environment.
And so without a moment's hesitation, the group took the opportunity to abandon the still shocked crowd, as they portkeyed away to Potter Manor to better discuss their plans for the future.
After putting the two children to bed, the adults set about a lengthy discussion over a large bottle of fire-whiskey where it was decided it would be most beneficial to raise Harry and Neville together as an attempt to combat the isolation they would undoubtedly feel from the rest of the wizarding world.
It was also agreed that when the time came McGonagall, Dumbledore, and even Flitwick would offer their assistance in teaching the children magic when they were ready, although they each speculated that Harry was more ready now than any other child would be regardless of age.
The last thing they agreed upon was to hide away in the muggle world for a few years as an attempt to let the whole boy-who-lived mania die down a bit before introducing the children to the wizarding world. It was also decided that they would put their new house in muggle England under the Fidelius once again but that this time they would use one of the house's inhabitants as secret keeper. After much arguing it was decided that the role should fall on Lily since she was the best suited for the task, as anyone who had crossed paths with the mother would tell you of the danger you were sure to encounter with the high tempered witch and just how difficult it was to change her way of thinking.
With that, the group of six left the manor the following day to purchase a nice new home in Kensington, which was promptly put under the most extensive wards system the greatest witches and wizards could provide, as an attempt to protect the family of the boy-who-lived.