A/N: I'm back! I apologise for the delay, as I mentioned I'd update every two weeks in my profile. Please note that I'll upload once every month and (very rarely) more, if time permits. I thank my two reviwers, the eleven followers, the eight people who favourited as well as everybody else who had viewed my story. I'll try to upload longer chapters, but that's not a guarantee.
I'll see you guys in the next one!
Reviews and PMs are welcome, as always.
Lily stared straight ahead.
"Get your hands off my son!" she growled, her eyes glinting.
She wanted her last sight to be Harry before becoming Voldemort's soulless followers. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of controlling her. He would have a very tough time.
Voldemort smirked at her, and turned back to Harry, preparing to unleash his final blow.
"Avada Kedavra!" screamed a cold voice.
She tried her hardest to keep her eyes open, but she felt a flash blind her as the walls of the cottage came crashing down.
As she re-opened her eyes, she caught sight of an unfamiliar wand lying on a cloak which had been wrapped around one of the most powerful Dark wizards to exist just seconds ago.
This could only mean one thing.
Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore came running through the open cottage door, wands at the ready.
As Dumbledore's gaze fell upon the cloak and wand, his eyes widened infinitesimally.
"Your suspicions are indeed correct, Lily." voiced Dumbledore.
Voldemort was dead.
"Remus, Professor Dumbledore and I each put a few wards to alert us in case of an attack. Voldemort, however, had put up his own wards and then dismantled ours, except Professor Dumbledore's of course, which did not notify us about their removal." started Sirius.
As Sirius was speaking, Lily carefully walked through the debris and reached the crib, her heart steeled, preparing for the worst.
She was greeted, however, by a very much living Harry who giggled, elated, when Lily saw him.
Lily picked up Harry, smothered him with kisses, as her eyes filled with tears.
"In any case, all of our wards were geared toward a temporary disillusionment charm that would shield the cottage from the view of any passerby, Muggle or Magical."
Lily nodded, unable to form words.
"I'm assuming you saw… the hallway…" exclaimed Lily tearfully, as her voice cracked.
Professor Dumbledore gathered a sobbing Lily in his arms, as did Remus and Sirius.
"You could've protected us! After all, you knew the location of the cottage, didn't you? You were the only one powerful enough on our side to stop Voldemort!" growled a furious Lily.
"But, Lily-" started Dumbledore, his voice placating and soft.
"Before you tell me that Harry and I still survived, you and I both know how it could've ended up." interjected Lily, green eyes blazing.
Dumbledore fell silent.
"Although both James and I decided to put our protections, it was a hit and miss. There was no telling whether whose protection would work or whether it would work at all."
"You're lucky he decided to bind me instead of casting the killing curse, Albus."
All fire was gone from her eyes. Only sadness remained.
"How would Harry face life without any parental figure? My life is a testimony to the fact that Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper. Barty would have been more than happy to throw a member of the Black family into a maximum security prison cell. Remus would've found it incredibly hard to raise Harry, deal with his lycanthropy and find a way to support themselves. He deals with enough guilt as is." finished Lily, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Tell me, Professor, did you want us dead? Did you want Harry to go to Petunia?" questioned Lily.
"I-" weakly started Dumbledore.
"You what?" stated Lily, voice rising.
Dumbledore looked away, all resolve broken.
"That's what I thought." uttered Lily, giving the final blow.
"You think you know best, Professor. With all due respect, I think we have the final say in our fate. I deeply admire you for your skill and protective enchantments, but I'd like it if you could confer with us and allow all of us to make any and all necessary decisions." finished Lily, who was now consoling the distraught Headmaster.
Lily was the only pupil to whom Dumbledore confided in, regarding his life before becoming the Headmaster.
"Don't let Ariana's death be in vain, Professor. Today could have been a day where Harry would have been sent to live with Petunia, and he could have very easily lost control of his magic in his later years, with the way Petunia and her husband would have treated him."
Albus's eyes darkened at the mention of Ariana.
"Not a day goes by that I regret Ariana's death." whispered Dumbledore, out of earshot of Sirius and Remus.
"You have changed because of your mistakes. I ask the same from you, Professor. The more trustworthy people there are that work on a solution, the more that can be accomplished without any of the mistakes, Sir." finished Lily.
"I will not disappoint you, Lily, or any of you. You have my word." announced Dumbledore, to all the three people standing in front of him.
"Do not go after Peter, Sirius. He, currently, is unaware of the Dark Lord's whereabouts. Although he is magnificently talented at saving his own hide, he will soon show himself, and that's where we must catch him. There is very little that we can do if he prowls around with his Animagus form." hissed Lily.
"I will make sure the Department of Magical Law Enforcement keeps a close watch on him." voiced Albus, with determination.
"It seemed it was just yesterday when we met that messy haired boy on the train." started Remus, as both him and Sirius pulled out a spherical object that shined all over.
"A rememberall."
They gently swiped the surface of their rememberalls, as various memories of the Marauders played out and flickered out of existence.
It was a long shot, but Lily was never one to not hope.
She summoned her own Rememberall that James had gifted her when they first started dating.
This contained memories of all their encounters together, right from the moment in the carriage with Severus till their graduation ceremony.
Her green eyes, already shimmering with grief, darkened at the mention of Severus Snape, another unfortunate reminder of the past.
His magical talent could have been a great help to the Marauder's, in an alternate reality where Severus and the Marauders had taken a liking to each other.
Severus wasn't a spiteful or hating person originally, though his dislike of Muggles stemmed from the only one he'd ever known up close. His father.
So much of Severus's positivity had been slowly destroyed by his parents.
He withdrew more and more into himself over the years, at Hogwarts.
When he finally did go to Hogwarts, eager for himself to shine and thrive as an individual, the Marauders and himself immediately made enemies of each other, and all the hate that used to be focused on his father slowly zeroed in on the Marauders.
She understood where Severus was coming from on that fateful day where the bonds of their friendship finally snapped. That didn't mean it was okay.
Something in her snapped when Severus was the one to insult her. It was as though their conversations, their solitude, their hopes meant nothing.
That hurt her the most.
Lily was pulled from her thoughts at the mention of somebody calling her.
It was Sirius.
"Lily, you are more than welcome to stay with Remus and I. There is enough room, and frankly, we'd like some cheery company. Everything is black and grey and dreary, including our Animagus forms over at Grimmauld. And, we won't take no for an answer." started Sirius, desperately trying to hold his grief at bay by resorting to joking.
"I think he covered everything." finished Remus, a faltering smile plastered on his face.
Lily threw herself at Sirius and Remus, hugging them desparately.
She soon collected herself, as they dug through the wreckage hoping to salvage any important things that may have been buried under the rubble, all the while keeping a very close watch on Harry.
It was beyond midnight when Lily, with Harry and their meagre possessions, apparated to Grimmauld Place.
Only this time, without James.