Prologue: The Beginning of It All
It was a dark night. Lightning flashed across the sky illuminating a house on top of a hill with several houses surrounding the hill.
Only a single light was on in the Godric's Hollow that held the Potter family. However, from the outside, it looked as though no one was home. An charm had been placed on the house to keep the family safe from the impending doom that lurked around every corner outside.
This particular house looked like any other typical house, but the owners were not typical at all. If fact, they were anything but normal. They were wizards.
The yard was well tended to. Small flower gardens lay below both front windows. Surrounding the perimeter of the yard was a white picket-fence. There were several trees spread throughout the yard. It seemed as though normal people would live here.
Inside of the single lit room, there was a small child in his high chair, Harry, with three people surrounding him. Two of them were his parents, Lily and James Potter, the other was a friend, Sirius Black. The parents looked frazzled and worn out, the third seemed calm and alert.
"...his godfather, Sirius," Lily said to Sirius.
A smile overcame his solemn face. "Thank you so much!" Sirius said almost too loudly.
James looked at Sirius. "Are you sure we should switch to Peter Pettigrew as our secret-keeper?"
Sirius's mouth formed the word 'yes', but no sound came out. He had a sensation that if they changed to Pettigrew, something would go wrong. His stomach gave a lurch.
"Sirius?" Lily asked, looking longingly at Sirius for an answer.
"No," he finally said. "Leave me as your secret-keeper." Both Lily and James smiled a smile of relief. Sirius forced a smile back, knowing he should have told his two best friends the truth. It was pushed out of his mind as James began to talk to Sirius about other matters, as Lily went to open the curtain to make sure no one was out there.
From inside the kitchen, Sirius and James both heard a scream. James ran out to see what the scream was about, Sirius at his heels. Lily had fallen into a chair, in disbelief. "He...he..."
"What Lily?!" James cried, grabbing Lily by the shoulders, his hands digging into her shoulders.
"He's here!" Lily barely managed to say. James's jaw dropped as he almost fainted in skepticism. Sirius stood in doubt, muttering words to himself. He had turned extremely pale. James and Lily could only manage to decipher a few of the words.
"...find us?" "...stupid...fool I've..." Sirius barely said. He went to the window just in time. A beam of light was coming through the keyhole. The light was directed exactly where he had been standing. "He's coming in!" Sirius scarcely said. Grabbing Lily and James by their robes, he dragged them into the kitchen. The door flew open and a dark-veiled figure began to come towards the kitchen.
James and Sirius both tried to grab Lily, but she was too quick. She ran over to the child, who sat, smiling and unknowing, and began to unbuckle him from his highchair.
"Lily! There isn't time!" Sirius cried. "Let him go!!" He pulled on her arm, but she wrenched away from his grip. James muttered something to Sirius who went into a connecting room.
"NO!" She screamed. She was shaking madly, she couldn't unbuckle the child. "I CAN'T GET IT...UNBUCKLED!!" Lily collapsed into James' outreached arms, beginning to weep. Dragging her around the corner, the shadowed figure entered the kitchen.
The figure made his way towards the grinning child. It began to pull out his wand. The tip of the man's wand touched the child's forehead as he began to mutter a spell.
From around the corner, James watched, Lily put her hands over her eyes, still sobbing uncontrollably, James' eyes horrorstricken. Sirius looked at James and noticed how he was rocking back and forth, tears began streaming down his face. Sirius assumed that he was fighting the urge to save the child. Sirius retreated to a corner where he could still see what was going on. He continued to mutter to himself, but James paid no heed to him. "All...fault......shouldn't be happening..." Sirius's mind was going at war with itself. He, also, was fighting the urge to sacrifice his life to save the child.
A green light was emitted from the man's wand. As the light stopped, Lily cried out loudly and fainted, tears still streaming down her face onto James's arm. Sirius closed his eyes burying his head in his lap. James closed his eyes tightly, his chin resting on Lily's head. James and Sirius listened intently for screaming.
Instead of hearing a child scream, they heard the figure scream instead. James looked at the figure as it collapsed onto the floor. Nothing was left but the cloak. James' eyes quickly went to look at the child, who was slumped over in his chair. James began to walk over to the child.
Lily had woken up and realized what was going on. She began to sob once again as James brought back the fragile child.
"Is..is..." Lily tried to say. "Is...he...dead?" She pointed to her son, who was still lying limp in James's cradled arms.
James did not reply, so Lily buried her face in her arms again. Her shoulders moved uncontrollably. Sirius went over to comfort Lily, gently hugging her. "James," Sirius began. "Is Harry dead?"
"No." James said blandly, mystified as to why Harry wasn't dead. "He's still living." Lily barely caught what he said as her head shot up. "What?!" Lily said. Her eyes were bloodshot and red, her face tearstained. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her cloak was wet in spots where her tears had fallen. Her mouth was agape as she waited for an answer.
"He's not dead," James replied. "Harry's still living." Lily still stared at him, unbelieving.
"But if he's not dead, then what happened to Voldemort?" Lily was confused, she put her hand to her forehead trying to understand what was going on.
"Lily, even I don't know that," James said. Sirius look as puzzled as either of them, but his mind was churning with answers.
"Maybe," Sirius began slowly. James and Lily looked at him, their expressions waiting for some kind of answer. "Maybe since all of us wished that we could stop Voldemort from killing Harry, maybe we gave him protection from dying from the Killing Curse." Their faces were still puzzled, but Lily understood Sirius. She smiled at him and he quickly said, "But it's just a theory and nothing more."
"But it's quite possible," Lily said, overjoyed. James and Lily sat, huddled together, smiling at Sirius for his cunning mind. All of a sudden, Harry awoke with a start and began to cry. Lily quickly scooped Harry out of James's arms. He continued to cry.
"Oh," her voice was surprised, but saddened. "James, look." Lily pointed to Harry's forehead. "He only has a scar." Although it was only a scar, it was bleeding quite freely. Lily ripped a bit of her cloak off and wrapped it around Harry's forehead. "It must really hurt because he hasn't stopped crying." She smiled down at her son. "I'm just glad that he's alive!!"
She stood up with Harry as his crying began to subside. He stared into his mother's eyes. His green eyes matched hers. Lily began to walk out to the family room, James and Sirius clasping each other on the shoulders, followed her out. She sat herself down in a chair as James and Sirius followed suit. All of a sudden, there was a "Hel...Hello?" at the door that was still open from when Voldemort had opened it.
"Come on in!" Lily said, still happy.
There was a sudden yelp from outside. Lily, looking puzzled, handed Harry to James and walked over to the door. "May I help you?" she asked.
"Oh my goodness!" It was Minevra McGonagall. "You're alive!!" She ran in and hugged Lily.
"I know, I can't believe it either!!" Lily cried.
"Well, well, well," said a voice from behind them. It was Alastor Moody. "It seems that this was a false alarm, Dumbledore."
"I don't think Miss Potter is telling the whole story," Albus Dumbledore said from behind Moody.
"Oh," Lily said, pushing away from McGonagall. "Come in please!" She gestured towards the family room. Sirius and James both stood up to welcome the bunch.
Dumbledore sat down on the couch next to Lily, who took Harry back from James. McGonagall took a seat in a rocking chair and Moody took a seat in an armchair.
"Ah, so this is Harry!" Dumbledore picked Harry up from Lily's lap. He look questioningly at the piece of robe tied to his forehead. "But...Ah, yes I think I see what has happened." McGonagall and Moody looked at Dumbledore with questioning looks. "But I believe that James, Lily, and Mr. Black should tell the story."
And so they did. They included every detail, but Sirius did not say one thing about his muttering. But Sirius did include his theory When they finished, Dumbledore sighed.
"So it is what I suspected," he said, his blue eyes twinkling. "And Sirius, I believe that your theory may be true."
"And," Lily began, choking down a sob. "Have you found the Death-Eaters that ruined the Longbottom's memories?"
"No," Moody growled angrily. "Most Death-Eater fled tonight when they felt the Dark Mark on their arms disappear. They knew something had gone wrong." No one dared to ask the question how Voldemort had found the Potters.
Lily sighed. Dumbledore sat, staring out the window, muttering in an ancient language. McGonagall then said, "I think it has been a stressful night. We should let you all rest." Dumbledore nodded as he motioned for McGonagall and Moody to follow. They left quickly, saying goodbye briefly to the three of them.
Lily and James said goodnight to Sirius, who had decided to stay for the night. Lily laid Harry down in his crib and closed the door to their room. Sirius went to the kitchen and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, scribbled down a note to James and Lily, and ran out the front door, a look of loathing plastered upon his face...
Heh. Aren't I evil?
It was a dark night. Lightning flashed across the sky illuminating a house on top of a hill with several houses surrounding the hill.
Only a single light was on in the Godric's Hollow that held the Potter family. However, from the outside, it looked as though no one was home. An charm had been placed on the house to keep the family safe from the impending doom that lurked around every corner outside.
This particular house looked like any other typical house, but the owners were not typical at all. If fact, they were anything but normal. They were wizards.
The yard was well tended to. Small flower gardens lay below both front windows. Surrounding the perimeter of the yard was a white picket-fence. There were several trees spread throughout the yard. It seemed as though normal people would live here.
Inside of the single lit room, there was a small child in his high chair, Harry, with three people surrounding him. Two of them were his parents, Lily and James Potter, the other was a friend, Sirius Black. The parents looked frazzled and worn out, the third seemed calm and alert.
"...his godfather, Sirius," Lily said to Sirius.
A smile overcame his solemn face. "Thank you so much!" Sirius said almost too loudly.
James looked at Sirius. "Are you sure we should switch to Peter Pettigrew as our secret-keeper?"
Sirius's mouth formed the word 'yes', but no sound came out. He had a sensation that if they changed to Pettigrew, something would go wrong. His stomach gave a lurch.
"Sirius?" Lily asked, looking longingly at Sirius for an answer.
"No," he finally said. "Leave me as your secret-keeper." Both Lily and James smiled a smile of relief. Sirius forced a smile back, knowing he should have told his two best friends the truth. It was pushed out of his mind as James began to talk to Sirius about other matters, as Lily went to open the curtain to make sure no one was out there.
From inside the kitchen, Sirius and James both heard a scream. James ran out to see what the scream was about, Sirius at his heels. Lily had fallen into a chair, in disbelief. "He...he..."
"What Lily?!" James cried, grabbing Lily by the shoulders, his hands digging into her shoulders.
"He's here!" Lily barely managed to say. James's jaw dropped as he almost fainted in skepticism. Sirius stood in doubt, muttering words to himself. He had turned extremely pale. James and Lily could only manage to decipher a few of the words.
"...find us?" "...stupid...fool I've..." Sirius barely said. He went to the window just in time. A beam of light was coming through the keyhole. The light was directed exactly where he had been standing. "He's coming in!" Sirius scarcely said. Grabbing Lily and James by their robes, he dragged them into the kitchen. The door flew open and a dark-veiled figure began to come towards the kitchen.
James and Sirius both tried to grab Lily, but she was too quick. She ran over to the child, who sat, smiling and unknowing, and began to unbuckle him from his highchair.
"Lily! There isn't time!" Sirius cried. "Let him go!!" He pulled on her arm, but she wrenched away from his grip. James muttered something to Sirius who went into a connecting room.
"NO!" She screamed. She was shaking madly, she couldn't unbuckle the child. "I CAN'T GET IT...UNBUCKLED!!" Lily collapsed into James' outreached arms, beginning to weep. Dragging her around the corner, the shadowed figure entered the kitchen.
The figure made his way towards the grinning child. It began to pull out his wand. The tip of the man's wand touched the child's forehead as he began to mutter a spell.
From around the corner, James watched, Lily put her hands over her eyes, still sobbing uncontrollably, James' eyes horrorstricken. Sirius looked at James and noticed how he was rocking back and forth, tears began streaming down his face. Sirius assumed that he was fighting the urge to save the child. Sirius retreated to a corner where he could still see what was going on. He continued to mutter to himself, but James paid no heed to him. "All...fault......shouldn't be happening..." Sirius's mind was going at war with itself. He, also, was fighting the urge to sacrifice his life to save the child.
A green light was emitted from the man's wand. As the light stopped, Lily cried out loudly and fainted, tears still streaming down her face onto James's arm. Sirius closed his eyes burying his head in his lap. James closed his eyes tightly, his chin resting on Lily's head. James and Sirius listened intently for screaming.
Instead of hearing a child scream, they heard the figure scream instead. James looked at the figure as it collapsed onto the floor. Nothing was left but the cloak. James' eyes quickly went to look at the child, who was slumped over in his chair. James began to walk over to the child.
Lily had woken up and realized what was going on. She began to sob once again as James brought back the fragile child.
"Is..is..." Lily tried to say. "Is...he...dead?" She pointed to her son, who was still lying limp in James's cradled arms.
James did not reply, so Lily buried her face in her arms again. Her shoulders moved uncontrollably. Sirius went over to comfort Lily, gently hugging her. "James," Sirius began. "Is Harry dead?"
"No." James said blandly, mystified as to why Harry wasn't dead. "He's still living." Lily barely caught what he said as her head shot up. "What?!" Lily said. Her eyes were bloodshot and red, her face tearstained. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her cloak was wet in spots where her tears had fallen. Her mouth was agape as she waited for an answer.
"He's not dead," James replied. "Harry's still living." Lily still stared at him, unbelieving.
"But if he's not dead, then what happened to Voldemort?" Lily was confused, she put her hand to her forehead trying to understand what was going on.
"Lily, even I don't know that," James said. Sirius look as puzzled as either of them, but his mind was churning with answers.
"Maybe," Sirius began slowly. James and Lily looked at him, their expressions waiting for some kind of answer. "Maybe since all of us wished that we could stop Voldemort from killing Harry, maybe we gave him protection from dying from the Killing Curse." Their faces were still puzzled, but Lily understood Sirius. She smiled at him and he quickly said, "But it's just a theory and nothing more."
"But it's quite possible," Lily said, overjoyed. James and Lily sat, huddled together, smiling at Sirius for his cunning mind. All of a sudden, Harry awoke with a start and began to cry. Lily quickly scooped Harry out of James's arms. He continued to cry.
"Oh," her voice was surprised, but saddened. "James, look." Lily pointed to Harry's forehead. "He only has a scar." Although it was only a scar, it was bleeding quite freely. Lily ripped a bit of her cloak off and wrapped it around Harry's forehead. "It must really hurt because he hasn't stopped crying." She smiled down at her son. "I'm just glad that he's alive!!"
She stood up with Harry as his crying began to subside. He stared into his mother's eyes. His green eyes matched hers. Lily began to walk out to the family room, James and Sirius clasping each other on the shoulders, followed her out. She sat herself down in a chair as James and Sirius followed suit. All of a sudden, there was a "Hel...Hello?" at the door that was still open from when Voldemort had opened it.
"Come on in!" Lily said, still happy.
There was a sudden yelp from outside. Lily, looking puzzled, handed Harry to James and walked over to the door. "May I help you?" she asked.
"Oh my goodness!" It was Minevra McGonagall. "You're alive!!" She ran in and hugged Lily.
"I know, I can't believe it either!!" Lily cried.
"Well, well, well," said a voice from behind them. It was Alastor Moody. "It seems that this was a false alarm, Dumbledore."
"I don't think Miss Potter is telling the whole story," Albus Dumbledore said from behind Moody.
"Oh," Lily said, pushing away from McGonagall. "Come in please!" She gestured towards the family room. Sirius and James both stood up to welcome the bunch.
Dumbledore sat down on the couch next to Lily, who took Harry back from James. McGonagall took a seat in a rocking chair and Moody took a seat in an armchair.
"Ah, so this is Harry!" Dumbledore picked Harry up from Lily's lap. He look questioningly at the piece of robe tied to his forehead. "But...Ah, yes I think I see what has happened." McGonagall and Moody looked at Dumbledore with questioning looks. "But I believe that James, Lily, and Mr. Black should tell the story."
And so they did. They included every detail, but Sirius did not say one thing about his muttering. But Sirius did include his theory When they finished, Dumbledore sighed.
"So it is what I suspected," he said, his blue eyes twinkling. "And Sirius, I believe that your theory may be true."
"And," Lily began, choking down a sob. "Have you found the Death-Eaters that ruined the Longbottom's memories?"
"No," Moody growled angrily. "Most Death-Eater fled tonight when they felt the Dark Mark on their arms disappear. They knew something had gone wrong." No one dared to ask the question how Voldemort had found the Potters.
Lily sighed. Dumbledore sat, staring out the window, muttering in an ancient language. McGonagall then said, "I think it has been a stressful night. We should let you all rest." Dumbledore nodded as he motioned for McGonagall and Moody to follow. They left quickly, saying goodbye briefly to the three of them.
Lily and James said goodnight to Sirius, who had decided to stay for the night. Lily laid Harry down in his crib and closed the door to their room. Sirius went to the kitchen and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, scribbled down a note to James and Lily, and ran out the front door, a look of loathing plastered upon his face...
Heh. Aren't I evil?
