Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The wonderful JK Rowling does! I wish I did, then I'd be rich! Just kidding! Please don't sue me for writing a fan fic that I really hope you enjoy!

Last Chapter Summery: Snape visits Dumbledore and tells him about the threat on the Potter's lives and asks for protection against Voldemort. Dumbledore visits and tells them about the prophecy. Voldemort begins sending the Potters letters and threatens to kill them if they don't join his side. Dumbledore returns to talk to Lily and James about Voldemort's mission after Harry. Sirius and Remus hear and start blaming each other. Voldemort kills Lily's parents and Sirius and Remus baby-sit Harry together, unwillingly. They forgive each other's accusations and see Harry crawl for the first time.

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"This is the will reading of Robert and Jennifer Evans…" the lawyer sitting in a wing back chair said tonelessly.

Lily Evans-Potter, the daughter of the deceased Mr. and Mrs. Evans, was barely listening to the uninterested lawyer talk. Instead, she was staring at a cheap painting hanging in this conference room. She wrinkled her nose looking at it; she knew she could draw better than that. It was a mess of random colors and zigzagging lines. It was possible that it could be abstract, but Lily's mind didn't think that way.

Her husband, James Potter, squeezed her hand to get her attention back to the will reading. Lily snapped her head to James and he inclined his own towards the lawyer, informing her she needed to listen. Lily nodded and gave a slight smile, then directed her attention to the lawyer. James knew she was trying to focus on other things to take her mind and heart away from the pain of loosing her parents.

This will reading was hard for James too; he had been trying to hold in tears since the burial. When James proposed to Lily, her parents took over as his own, for they died when he was in his 6th year at school. James felt Lily graze her thumb over the top of his hand, letting him know she was there for him. Lily knew how hard it was for him, almost like loosing his parents twice.

"…Petunia Evans, the eldest daughter of Robert and Jennifer, receives—"

"Where is Petunia?" Lily interrupted, just noticing her sister and cow of a husband weren't here.

The lawyer blinked stupidly for a moment then began searching through his file. He located a small square piece of paper and cleared his throat. "Petunia Evans has set up a different time for the reading of the will, she sends her regards."

Snorting, Lily said, "My arse she sends her regards."

An awkward silence filled the room for the lawyer was clearly not used to hearing this kind of language. James nervously patted Lily's hand and nodded his head, signaling the lawyer to continue. With another clear of the throat, the lawyer said, "Well, anyway…"

Lily rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. Sends her regards…what a load of bullocks. She refocused her attention on the lawyer, trying to concentrate on what he was saying but instead she felt this burning black knot in her chest. She hadn't felt this knot since the beginning of the funeral. The impact of loosing the people who made her who she is today came hurling towards her and Lily gritted her teeth, trying to push it out of her mind. To get her mind off the pain, she began analyzing the lawyer; he was older, probably in his late forties-early fifties. He looked extremely bored, reading out all of Lily's parent's possessions. Well, he does this everyday; I suppose it gets old reading items off a list. It's probably more interesting when a fight breaks out over million dollar inheritances. But this particular lawyer didn't seem like he had the stamina to deal with a case like that.

Continuing her study, Lily noticed a silver band on his third finger on his left hand. So he was married and probably had a family at home. I bet he can't wait to get back to them, after all it is Sunday, Lily thought again.

Next she glanced at James, who was listening to the lawyer, although his eyes were glazed over as if he was lost in his own thoughts. Lily once again grazed her thumb over his hand and he placed his head in his hand without looking at her. Lily let out a stressed sigh…they had both been through so much in their short lifetime. Besides the fact that they were living in the darkest of times, both of their parents had died along with three of their close friends. And now the most feared and seemingly undefeatable wizard was after their infant son, who had done nothing to him, just because of a prophecy that may not even be accurate.

Yes—Lily and James Potter had a lot to think about. Unfortunately the chaos taking residence in their lives would not go away anytime soon.

What's sad is I'm getting used to my loved ones disappearing…

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May…

"I'm going to get you!" James called as Harry peaked around the doorframe and let out a toothy grin. With a squeal he took off through the kitchen where Lily was busy making a large pot of beef stew. James followed him on all fours and yelled out, "Remus, Sirius…cut him off!"

Remus appeared at the other door leading to the parlor where Harry was about to crawl through. Harry let out another squeal following a giggle and high tailed in the opposite direction. Remus roared and chased after him but Harry slid through the door James was supposed to be guarding. "James! He got away!" Remus said, sitting on his ankles.

Through a mouthful of stew, James said thickly, "Sorry!"

Immediately, Remus and James began crawling after Harry. They saw him go through the living room and head towards the stairs. But Sirius jumped out of nowhere and blocked the way. "You can't escape now!" Sirius cried but Harry just giggled madly and squeezed through Sirius' legs, which were spread apart, up the stairs.

"You guys are daft when it comes to chasing babies," Remus said, starting to crawl after the infant.

Sirius snorted and got on all fours, leading the assembly line towards Harry. "Don't tell me there's a book on chasing babies," Sirius said.

"If there is, Lily has read it," James said with a Marauder grin.

"I HEARD THAT!" Lily yelled from the kitchen.

Sirius was the first to reach Harry by following the sounds of baby laughter. He grabbed him by his scurrying legs and gently pulled Harry towards him. Harry tried to get away but Sirius captured him and spun him around in the air. "Remus, catch him!" Sirius said.

Remus stood about a foot away from Sirius and held out his hands, ready to catch him. Sirius tossed him and Harry squealed, trying to flap his arms for the split second he was in the air before Remus caught him safely. "He tried to fly!" Remus said with a laugh. James arrived in the room and Remus said, "James, catch him!"

Once again Harry was tossed in the air and he shrieked, flapping his arms and this time kicking his feet. "He loves flying!" James said excitedly, tossing him back to Sirius. "That's amazing…he's born to play Quidditch."

"We are going to train him, starting at age three," Sirius said, tossing Harry to Remus.

"I bet he has some natural talent, like James," Remus said, tossing Harry back to his father.

"Just don't tell Lily we were tossing him," James said, prepping to throw him back to Sirius, when he heard a voice from the doorway:

"What are you doing with Harry?"

All three men slowly turned and saw Lily standing there with her arms crossed and a glare directed in James' direction since he was holding the baby. Harry laughed when he saw his mother and held out his arms to go to her. Lily obliged and gave all three men a very McGonagall like look.

"Well you see Lillian—"

"We weren't actually—"

"Harry is a natural for Quidditch!"

"No! Harry is not going to play Quidditch! It's too dangerous!" Lily interjected between their stuttering excuses.

James' mouth dropped open, looking aghast at her decision. "B-b-but he loves flying!"

"And how do you know that? He hasn't been on a broom!" Lily asked.

"We were tossing him around—" Lily silenced him with a cold look but James glared right back and said, "Don't give me that look, I'm a responsible father and I know what's safe and what's dangerous."

Scoffing, Lily replied, "You sure didn't know the difference in school."

"Ooooooohh…" Sirius said, receiving glowers from Lily, James, and Remus. Harry just giggled.

"We were only standing a few inches apart for God's sakes!" James said.

"Children! Children!" Sirius interjected, standing between the feuding couple, "No need to fight over matters that are no where near taking place. Even though it is pretty obvious that Harry will be playing Quidditch—probably professionally one day—and even you can't deny it, Lily. It's in his genes." Sirius paused and Lily gave him a short nod to continue, "And James, we really shouldn't be planning his future this early. There's a small possibility he will be anti-Quidditch like his mother and then you'll just put all this unwanted pressure on him to play. To sum up, both of you stop you're quarreling and kiss and make up!"

Reluctantly, James and Lily moved towards each other and shared a quick peck on the lips. In that short moment they were close, Harry decided he wanted to see his father so he reached out his arms and said loudly, "Daaaaa-da!"

Everyone in the room froze and turned towards Harry. "Did he just say my name?" James asked, dumbfounded.

"That's not fair!" Lily protested.

"Daaaaa-da!" Harry said with more intensity this time, reaching out his arms further.

Lily turned him around to face her and said, "Say ma-ma, Harry! Ma-ma! Ma-ma!"

"Daaaaa-da!" Harry said, showing a toothy grin.

Frowning, Lily passed her son to James, who now gave his father a grin. "Say ma-ma!" Lily continued saying.

Harry's smile grew wider, as if he was trying to make a game out of it, as he said quickly, "Mama!"

"HE SAID MY NAME!" Lily yelped, racing over to where Harry and James were and crushing them all in a big hug.

For the next ten minutes or so, everyone marveled about what a genius Harry was and tried to get him to say more words. He only stuck with his parent's names and eventually Lily ordered Sirius and Remus to go check on the dinner that may have been burning on the stove. "I better put him to bed," Lily said, taking Harry out of James' arms and giving her husband a quick kiss. James watched her walk out of the room, smiling to himself, thinking how beautiful his wife and son were.

After Lily changed Harry into his sleeper she did her nightly routine of rocking him until Harry fell asleep. "So, Harry, what do you want to hear about tonight?" Lily asked as Harry lay cradled in her arms, staring up at his mum with his emerald green eyes. "I bet you wanna hear more about Hogwarts, we haven't talked about that for a long time, have we?" Harry yawned in agreement and Lily smiled at him, pushing the wisps of raven black hair out of his eyes.

James was jogging up the stairs and was about to head into Harry's room to tell Lily dinner was ready, but stopped when he heard his wife's soft voice talking to Harry. Peeking around the doorway, James saw Lily rocking a sleepy Harry and telling him about their school.

"It's such a magical place…and you are so lucky because you get to grow up around magic and know everything about our world. It was all a shock for me and everything was so surprising and unexpected. Thank God I had your dad and his friends to help me out, but I still wish I knew more before," Lily said with a sigh and a slight smile.

"Your dad is amazing, do you know that Harry?" James smiled and leaned against the doorway, running a hand through his hair. "I can't believe it took us that long to realize how much in love we were. We were so silly back then, I realize how completely obvious it was to everyone else but we were too blind and scared to notice. But he truly is amazing…I don't know where I would be without him. I love him as much as I love you, and that's a lot," Lily said, rubbing her nose with Harry's, "Oh, I can't wait to meet the girl you fall in love with. If you're anything like your father you will captivate a girl once they look at you." James' smile got wider and wanted so badly to go in and kiss Lily, but he wanted to hear what else she would say.

"Anyways, back to Hogwarts, you will meet the people that will become dearest to your heart—after your father and I of course. You will learn everything and probably pull a few pranks daddy and Uncle Sirius will teach you. And as much as I hate to admit it, you will play Quidditch and win the house cup every year. When the day comes that you have to leave it forever, it will be so hard to say goodbye. I wish I could go back and do it all over again," Lily said, biting her lip and smiling. She looked down at Harry and saw he was fast asleep, so she carefully put him in his crib and tucked him into his blanket. "I love you, baby."

As quietly as she could, Lily crept out of the room and closed the door behind her. When she turned to go downstairs she was very startled to be face to face with James. Smiling, James wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close. "So…I captivate girls and you're going to allow Harry to be the Quidditch star he is destined to be?" James teased.

Lily glared at him and asked, "How long have you been listening?"

Kissing her gently, James replied, "Long enough for me to realize once again just how much I love you."

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There was a knock at Dumbledore's door and a voice requesting to enter. Looking at the stack of paperwork he had to go through, Dumbledore sighed and called, "Yes, come in."

James entered the office, holding a package wrapped in brown paper tied with tweed and Harry on his hip. "Hello, sir. I have a favor to ask you," James said, taking a seat in front of the great wizard's desk.

"Of course, what is it?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Harry with a twinkle in his eye. Harry grinned, remembering Dumbledore and no longer considering him a stranger.

"You want to hold him?" James asked, pushing back Harry's hair with his hand. Before Dumbledore had a chance to answer, James walked around the desk and placed Harry in his lap.

Dumbledore looked awkward at first holding the child but soon relaxed and began speaking to Harry in a baby voice. Harry smiled and began analyzing the headmaster's long beard. First he ran a baby hand through it then lightly yanked on it. Dumbledore chuckled and turned to James. "What favor did you want to ask me?"

"Oh yes, well…" James' expression immediately turned solemn, "I've been doing a lot of thinking and with our current situation, there's no telling how long we'll survive. I will do everything in my power to protect Harry and Lily, but if I can't, I need you to do me a favor." James picked up the package he had previously set on the floor and traded Harry for it.

"Dare I ask what's wrapped inside?" Dumbledore said, holding the package over his head and observing it from all angles.

James smiled and said, "It's an Invisibility Cloak."

Chuckling, Dumbledore replied, "I had a feeling that's how you and your friends were sneaking around the school so late at night but I was never sure." James grinned proudly at confusing his former headmaster. "What would you like me to do with this? I suspect it's a family heirloom and very precious."

"It is, but if I should die I want Harry to have it. I understand if you refuse, since it is breaking the rules, but I know for a fact you enjoyed all of the Marauder's pranks during our years and since we've been gone I suspect it's been pretty boring. Might as well get a few more years of excitement and making McGonagall want to ring another Potter's neck," James said good naturally.

Beaming, Dumbledore said, "I would be happy to keep it safe for you, when should I give it to Harry if something does happen to yourself or Lily?"

Thinking for a moment, James said, "His first year, but not the day he comes or anything. Maybe Christmas because there won't be nearly as many gifts as he's used to if Lily isn't around." James tried to laugh, but it came out more of a rasp instead.

"I understand," Dumbledore said with a nod, storing the concealed cloak in nearby cabinet. James thought he saw blue light emit from the archway, but Dumbledore closed it too soon for James to fully digest what he though he saw.

Suddenly James' former head of house burst into the office, carting a boy behind her. The boy looked like he was in fourth year, but James couldn't tell. "Albus, Mr. Horton has been an absolute terror in my classroom and I will not tolerate another minute of his shenanigans!" McGonagall shrieked.

James had to bite his lip not to laugh at the memories of himself and his best friends being dragged to Dumbledore's office to receive punishments. Dumbledore gazed at the troublesome student over his half moon glasses and said, "Mr. Horton, we've discussed proper behavior in the classroom. Ironically it seems Transfiguration is the only class you act up in. Understand this is your last warning and next I will take away Hogsmeade weekends," Dumbledore said calmly. He looked up at a fuming McGonagall and said, "You can choose how many detentions he needs to serve, Minerva."

The boy stood to leave but James said, "Hey kid, you might wanna try to transfigure something into a giant clown, McGonagall's deathly afraid of clowns."

It was the first time James had received "the look" from McGonagall since he was in school. "Mr. Potter!" McGonagall began, but James held up his hands in defense and said:

"Sorry! Professor McGonagall is deathly afraid of clowns." McGonagall's lips were pursed more than ever thought possible and James turned to Dumbledore and said, "I was wrong, looks like things have been just fine since I left."

"URGHHHH!" McGonagall yelled, grabbing Mr. Horton by the forearm and pulling him out of the office. Just before the kid was yanked out of sight, he gave a thumbs up sign to James and mouthed, 'Thanks, mate!'

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June…

"Now if only he could let go of my hands, he'd be cruising," James said. Harry currently had his baby fists wrapped around James' index fingers and was clumsily walking around the kitchen. Lily watched, her chin resting in her hand, hopefully waiting for Harry to just take off, since she missed the first time he crawled.

"Am I interrupting?" said a voice from the doorway. Lily looked away from Harry for a moment to see Dumbledore standing in the entryway to the kitchen with a benign smile on his face.

"Come in! Have a seat!" Lily said, patting the seat of a chair next to her at the table, "Can I get you anything to drink?"

Dumbledore smiled politely and shook his head. "I hope to make this a quick meeting, I am running late for an appointment but I thought it was in your best interest to know I have found a way to protect you from Voldemort."

The kitchen was silent as James scooped up Harry and sat down next to Lily. "You can protect us?" asked James, grabbing Lily's hand.

Nodding, Dumbledore continued. "Do you two know about the Fidelius Charm?" Both Lily and James nodded their heads, "You are aware, then, as long as a family has a secret keeper they can hide their home and address so only their Secret Keeper knows where they are located," Lily and James nodded again.

"Good, that saves a lot of explanation. You will need to choose a Secret Keeper that you trust with all your heart and you know will not sell you out to Voldemort. Once the spell has been cast it is advised you do not leave your house for any reason, unless it is to escape. James, you will need to quit your job. You can still communicate with owls and fire calling but you shouldn't leave your home. Your Secret Keeper will be able to run errands for you and bring back things you need.

"Now, I've put a lot of thought into who should be your Secret Keeper and at a time like this it needs to be someone that is one hundred percent against Voldemort. I am willing to be that person if you will accept me," Dumbledore said.

Lily and James looked at each other, almost reading the opposites thoughts. "It would be a great honor for you to do it, sir," Lily said, breaking eye contact with James momentarily to look at her mentor, "But I think we both feel more comfortable with Sirius doing it."

James took over, saying, "It's not that we don't trust you, we do, with our lives, but we don't want to put that amount of pressure on you. Plus your life would be in great danger and so many people depend on you for guidance…" Dumbledore nodded solemnly and looked down at the table, "You understand, right?"

Dumbledore looked into James' eyes and smiled slightly. "Of course, but you must understand my life has been in danger since Voldemort came to power. He wants me gone. I have the protection of the school." Dumbledore leaned into James and said very sternly, "You are absolutely certain you want Sirius to be the one to protect you, because you must trust him completely with your lives."

"Sir, he's been my best friend since I could crawl. I would trust him with my son's life," James said.

Leaning back, Dumbledore said, "Alright, fire call him and tell him to drop by so we can make sure he wants to do this. Then we can plan a date to perform the spell." James handed Harry off to his mother and rushed out of the room to contact Sirius and Dumbledore turned to Lily. "You're sure this is what you want for your son?"

"Yes, I trust Sirius," Lily said. There was a small silence before Lily whispered, "Thank you for helping us. You don't know what it means to us…and Harry." Dumbledore just smile in return.

In a few moments time Sirius and James arrived in the kitchen. "What's going on?" Sirius asked, looking concerned.

"Dumbledore has found a way to protect us," Lily said as the two men sat down.

Sirius' face broke out into a grin. "Really? That's wonderful! How are you going to do it?"

James turned to Sirius and asked, "Do you remember the Fidelius Charm we read about?" Sirius looked at his friend for a moment before nodding slowly, "It requires a Secret Keeper, someone the family trusts enough to keep their address hidden from their enemies. Lily and I want you to be our Secret Keeper, if you want—"

"Of course I will!" Sirius said without hesitation.

Sighing, Dumbledore said wearily, "Sirius, this puts a great threat on your life. If Voldemort captures you in some way you cannot release the address of where your friends are or they will be killed. This is a huge responsibility—"

"There is no way I wouldn't do this for my friends," Sirius said fiercely, then added, "What about Remus can he know too?"

Lily and James looked to Dumbledore for confirmation but Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm sorry, only one person can be a Secret Keeper. You have to eliminate him from your daily lives until the threat of Voldemort goes away."

This time James and Sirius shared a knowing look, James saying, "I don't know if we can just drop him like that. It would kill him."

"Sirius," Lily said, almost jumping, "You have to play like you don't know what happened to us. Just say you believe we went into hiding and you have no clue where we are. That way it wouldn't seem like we're pushing him out."

Sirius opened his mouth to protest but closed it and instead slumped his shoulders in defeat. "It's going to be hard…but if it's to protect you three I'll do it."

"A week from today we'll meet here to cast the charm. I'll be here to supervise and put extra wards up so no one can see this spell taking place. As far as they'll know, the house and the Potters never existed," Dumbledore said, glancing at a pocket watch he pulled out of his robe, "I'm very late, if you'll excuse me." Dumbledore stood, placing a comforting hand on Lily's head before Disapparating.

There was a stony hush in the kitchen for a while before James took Harry and said, "I'll put him down for his nap." Lily nodded and let out a small shaky sigh.

"Alright, Lily?" Sirius said, reaching across the table and grabbing her hand.

Lily let out another breath and smiled, tears sprouting in her eyes. "I will be, if I can pull myself together." Another silence filled the kitchen until Lily said in a rickety whisper, "Sirius, thank you so much. You have helped my family so much and have always been there for James," Sirius smiled and squeezed her hand, "Harry loves you so much—and now you're risking your life for us. I can't begin describe how much it means to me, how much you mean to me. You've always been a best friend and a brother since I was eleven and you have always been there to help me." Lily sheepishly wiped the tears falling down her face. "I love you, thank you so much." Sirius got up and pulled her into a hug, praying to God that his best friends would be okay.

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Author Notes: Sorry I haven't gotten a new chapter up for the alternate ending. I really have no idea how to end it all. If anyone has any ideas, please review and let me know.

Chrissyissy: Awww! Thanks so much for reviewing, yours in particular brightened my day. And in response to your review for the alternate ending, I think I will kill Peter off some time, and yes, I am Christian.

R/R!