"Time for bed, Prongslet," said James Potter, handing little Harry over to his beloved wife, Lily. She took the baby from him and held Harry in her arms, smiling as he threw his wand onto the couch and got up with a stretch and a yawn.

James is such a good father, she found herself thinking. They had both been scared at first, as new parents. Things became even worse when Dumbledore had informed them that Voldemort was after them. But then…luckily, they had the Fidelius Charm. Nobody would ever suspect Peter. As Sirius insisted, the Death Eaters would come for him first.

Little did Lily know, they already had.

…

It seemed to happen in an instant. Voldemort broke the door down. The expressions on the two adults' faces were all too familiar to him. It was the expression people wore right before he killed them—although only two would die tonight. For some reason, Severus Snape, his right-hand man, had pleaded for him not to kill Lily on his excursion to the Potters' cottage. Well, whatever. She wasn't a threat. The men, they were threats. They would be neutralized. But what chance did a silly filthy Mudblood woman have against the greatest, most feared Dark wizard of all time, one who put Gellert Grindelwald to shame?

"Lily, take Harry and go!" James Potter shouted to his wife, who was still holding the baby in her arms, fear now dancing in her eyes. "It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off—"

James Potter might have been a delay at least, if he had bothered to get his wand up off the couchhe cbut in his panic, he'd left it behind. Lily Potter ran upstairs; Voldemort could deal with her and the baby soon.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

James Potter fell, lifeless, to the ground, as green light filled the living room. There was a scream from upstairs. Lily knew her husband was dead.

…

Tears were running down Lily's face as she placed trunks and barrels and chairs—anything—up against the doorway, trying to keep Voldemort from entering the nursery, doing it all one-handed with Harry in her other arm. Her life had changed so much in an instant…James dead…Peter, a betrayer…Lily found herself regretting every bad word she had said to James in her life. But at least she still had Harry, and it would stay that way.

Lily screamed as Voldemort burst in. Everything she had placed against the doorway went flying backwards. She clutched Harry close, vowing to protect him no matter what happened. She placed him in the crib and stood in front of it, hardly thinking now, only one thought running through her mind: I must protect Harry at all costs.

"Not Harry!" she cried desperately. "Not Harry! Please—I'll do anything—"

Lily didn't know what Voldemort was going to do next, although she had a good idea—but they were interrupted by a shower of red sparks outside the dark nursery window.

"Good," Voldemort hissed. "It's done, then."

"W-What's done?" Lily asked fearfully.

"You're all alone now, foolish Mudblood." Voldemort looked out the window and grinned evilly as the sparks were sent up again. "Your friends are gone. After the baby dies you will be all alone and there will be no one to stop me."

"Stop you?" Lily was taking in deep breaths, over and over. If she could just keep Voldemort talking, long enough to distract him from killing Harry…but what was this about her friends dying? Who? Sirius? Remus? Dumbledore? The entire Order of the Phoenix?

"Maybe I'll kill you too," Voldemort snarled, pointing his wand in her face; she hardly had any room to back up, the crib behind her. "That way you'll never know that your son and I were prophesized to destroy each other…and he will die first! Neither can live while the other survives! But you still have a choice—either hand the child over and live, or you shall fall like your husband."

The Prophecy? Dumbledore had mentioned something about that to Lily and James. That was why they had gone into hiding. They knew Voldemort wasn't after them for the shits and giggles.

"What kind of mother do you think I am?" Lily said shakily. "How could I stand aside and let Harry die? My goal is to protect him no matter what."

…

"No matter what?" Voldemort said shrewdly. I could work with this.

"Even if you kill me," the Mudblood woman said, her dark-red tresses falling over her shoulders and into her face as she hung her head, cradling the baby in her arms. "If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill me, too—but at least I'll be with James again…"

Voldemort laughed icily, and Lily took a step back. She had no idea what she was getting into. Did she really intend to raise the boy on her own? Would they perhaps go into hiding? Would she shield him from anything Dark? Voldemort had never put much stock in single mothers, or women in general—thus why his only female Death Eater was childless and in a purely professional marriage. Without a man in his life to look up to, how weak the boy would be…and it wasn't as if anyone besides the Death Eaters knew about his Horcruxes. Being neutralized as a teenager or a young adult wouldn't just be pathetic and humiliating on Harry's part—it would be amusing for Voldemort.

"Fine!" said Voldemort, with another one of his horrible laughs. "Keep him! Good luck."

…

Lily's mouth dropped open as she saw Voldemort turn to leave. She couldn't believe she and Harry were alive. The door of the nursery shut behind Voldemort; it felt as if everything was happening in slow motion. She gathered Harry up into her arms (he had been quiet all this time) and brought him downstairs. The sight in the doorway was terrible. Harry still in her arms, Lily sunk to her knees and let out a terrible scream of agony.

As she held James in her arms for the last time, sobs shaking her entire body, listening to Harry's cries, she realized that her new life was about to begin—and Voldemort was right. She and her son were completely alone.