It was late. Lily had been up crying for hours, and she had thought she was the only one still awake. That is, until she heard the footsteps in the foyer.

Following her intuition, Lily grabbed her wand from the table beside her and pulled James' cloak from the pocket of her robes. Originally not wanting to be disturbed in her grieving, she was glad she thought to bring it, as she pulled it over head and stepped out the door in search of the source of the foot steps.

Walking into the doorway of the living room, she found the culprit. Or rather, culprits. For there wasn't just one other person awake, there were two whispering voices in the living area. She couldn't make out who the smaller voice was, but she knew whoever it was, they were talking to Dumbledore.

There were two things she could tell about this stranger: It was a woman and Dumbledore knew her. He greeted her as a long lost friend. Even though Lily couldn't see her face, she knew in her heart it was Ginny. But why was Ginny being so secretive? Why the cloak? Why the whispering? Why so late at night? Lily decided to stay hidden. She knew it was the wrong thing to do, for if they wanted her help, they would have asked her. But she had to know what they were up to.

From underneath the cloak, Lily watched as they grabbed the Floo Powder and Dumbledore waved for Ginny to go first. Before stepping into the fireplace, she looked at the ceiling almost longingly for only a second then stepped in, threw the powder, and called for the Burrow. Dumbledore mimicked her, however, as he stood in the fireplace, he looked to the corner where Lily was hiding and it seemed as though he looked her straight in the eyes. It lasted only a moment, then he threw the powder, called for the Burrow and left.

Finally having a destination, she quietly, so as to not wake anyone up, especially James, went out the door and apparated to the Burrow. She made sure to apparate far enough into the field away from the house so no one would hear her. She quietly approached the house and looked in.

She saw a girl approach Dumbledore, Lily didn't recognize her. Of course, the girl did have her back to Lily. Maybe she mistook her feelings? Maybe it wasn't Ginny that summoned Dumbledore here. In that instant, Lily went into defense mode. What if this was all a trick? What if Dumbledore was trapped? It was a good thing after all that she followed Dumbledore.

But Dumbledore didn't seem threatened at all. In fact, he motioned to the girl to sit down. Correction, he motioned for the girls to sit down. Now that Lily looked closer she noticed Ginny WAS there. They took his invitation and sat down. They seemed to talk forever. Lily's legs were going numb, but she refused to move from her spot. She had to know what was going on. She thought about taking the cloak off, but she knew it was better to keep it on. What if someone looked through the window and saw her looking peering in?

After what seemed to be hours, but was in fact only a fraction of that, the girl Lily didn't recognize got up and went upstairs. Only moments later, she returned. But she wasn't alone. Lily's heart went numb and her whole body froze. What kind of sick joke was this?

Two boys walked into the room and when the Headmaster stood up, they each in turn shook his hand. Dumbledore didn't seem at all affected by the entrance of the two. He actually seemed quite pleased. The boys sat down. And again, they talked.

Lily couldn't hear anything, and she believed that to be a miracle. Because if she could, she probably would have broken her secret place and shown herself. How could this be? She tried to think logically through her feelings. Her minded flitted over the fact that James was at Grimmauld Place fast asleep. But in her heart, she already knew it wasn't James. There were major differences. And the other boy? She knew he was dead! She had seen him die too. She knew it was possible. She had even helped Ginny get to the alternate universe, hadn't she? But she didn't truly believe it would work. It was just too crazy. But yet, here she was. Spying on her dead son.

Just when her legs were becoming un-numb and she had a fleeting thought about possibly barging in and demanding answers, Dumbledore was suddenly next to her. She had been so focused on Harry and Ron, that she had missed Dumbledore getting up and walking outside.

"Pretty clear evening, don't you think, Mrs. Potter?" At a loss for words, Lily couldn't choke any response out. Seeing this, Dumbledore continued, "There is a change in the wind tonight. A change that will affect everyone in the wizarding world." Pulling the cloak off her, Dumbledore looked at her more seriously. "Lily, you mustn't speak of what you've seen here."

"But -," she tried to object, but Dumbledore cut her off. "Lily, everything will come to light in due time. However, right now, we need to be patient and wait for the right moment. Do you understand?"

Heart breaking, Lily nodded her head. She knew he was right, no matter how much it hurt.

"Thank you, for your continuous sacrifices. I promise you, everything will be worth it. For now, why do you get back to your husband, who I am sure is up wandering around trying to be as stealthy as you are at this moment."

With one last longing look through the window into the eyes of the son she thought she would never see again, she apparated back to Headquarters.

Harry couldn't help but smile. He knew it was going to be hard getting to know her and eventually James, but he couldn't help but smile at the fact that she did the exact thing he would've done. The exact same thing he had done in the past.

"I'm so sorry to you all, I had no idea she would know it was me and follow us here." Ginny was hysterical when Dumbledore stepped back into the room.

"My dear, you should have. I knew I someone was following us the moment you revealed yourself. I'm a headmaster, it is my job to know when my students are out of bed." Dumbledore explained with a twinkle in his eyes. "I do not believe we are in any danger of anyone finding out, however and I also believe we have a story to listen to." He finished looking pointedly at Harry.

However, it was Hermione who ansered. "Sir, we have come here to help, but there are a few questions we have before we can know what to do. That is why we decided to ask Ginny to bring you to us, before we set out." When Dumbledore knodded, Hermione continued, "We wanted to ask you, if you had heard of the term 'Horcrux'"?

"It's a very old and very perverted spell of the worst kind, Miss Granger."

"Yes, of course, Professor." Harry had a sudden memory of when they were all children in class, listening to Hermione answer the questions the professors asked. It had been a long time since then, and they still had a long way to go. Again. "But, do you know if You Know Who created any for himself in this world?" Harry was glad she chose to use his nickname, for they didn't know if Voldemort had his name tabooed in this world.

"I had wondered about this. Alas, Miss Granger, unfortunately, I do not know for sure. It seems that is the only logical answer to our query, to know for sure is a different matter."

Dumbledore's answer made Harry slump back into his chair. He knew this wasn't a surefire way to get all the answers they needed, but he was hoping it would at least give them a start. Unfortunately, they were on their own. At least, on the one hand, they knew what all the horcuxes were and where they were, and Voldemort believed no one knew of them, this gave them the advantage. Unfortunately, they didn't know if he created one that was not on the previous list. That would be their luck.

Hermione too seemed defeated. It was Ron who stunned them all. "Well, it seems since we don't know anything for sure, we should just go and try to track them down."

"That's a great theory, Ron, but do you remember how hard it was to destroy all of them? And we don't happen to have any more fangs in this world." Harry smacked his hand to his head, "Not only that, but I didn't have to rescue Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets so the Basilisk is still running around."

"Hey, then just go down and kill the beast and there we go, more fangs!"

"Easy enough for you to say, maybe you should go speak to Aragog and that way we're even!"

"Boys! We need to stop arguing with each other." Hermione said putting an end to their banter, "Besides, I happened to grab some basilisk fangs before we left. I thought maybe we would need them."

Harry thought he could hug her in that moment. That is if he had forgotten about what they needed to do.

"Hermione you're brilliant! It will be a piece of cake now!" Ron stared admirably at her.

"I do believe you're forgetting about breaking into Gringotts, Ron." Harry sobered him.

"You're right. I had forgotten. Bloody hell."

Dumbledore watched the exchange with curiosity. He didn't seem surprised by all the things they were saying, but he didn't seem bored either. "I take it, in your world Tom did create a horcux?"

"Yes sir, seven in total, but only six on purpose." Harry answered this time.

"Seven? I've never heard of such a thing!"

"Yes, sir." This time Hermione jumped in for him. "Seven. And we had to destroy them all so Harry could kill him."

"Harry? Why Harry?"

"Because, sir, I was the one the prophecy talked about."

Dumbledore's eyes went wide. "You?" When Harry nodded, Dumbledore recited "'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...' That particular prophecy?"

"Yes sir. That very one, it was about me. You see, after killing my parents, he tried to kill me, but because of my mother's sacrifice he couldn't. It destroyed him, and made me his seventh horcrux."

"Oh my. Yes, I know of the ancient magic. When all the horcruxes were destroyed you were finally able to kill him." When Harry nodded, Dumbledore continued, "My, you lot have come a long way then. Tell me about the horcruxes in your world. Maybe I can be of assistance in helping you decide if they are the same in this world."

Lily waited for him to get back. She knew she would wait for him for days if she had to. Luckily, she didn't have to. It was just past day break when he stepped back through the fireplace.

She had been so angry when she returned from the burrow a few hour before. She had her argument ready for him. She'd even practiced to herself. But as soon as he stepped out and gave her a weary look, she felt nothing but concern for her professor.

"Ahh, Lily. I knew you would be waiting."

"Sir, please give me some kind of explanation. I believe I deserve that much, at the least."

"Yes, I daresay you do. However, I will only tell you that he is fine, in excellent health, and the perfect combination of you and James."

Lily felt her heart pounding in her chest. She gasped from the effort of holding in her tears. When she tried but failed to speak, Dumbledore pressed on, "He's truly brilliant, Lily. However, he is a grown man who has been through a terrible life. You must take it into account. If he succeeds, he may just save us all." He patted her on the shoulders then left her alone to her thoughts and her cries.