Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

I'm a horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible person! I haven't updated since who knows when and now probably nobody will want to read when I do update. I have 4 days off from school (actually 2 weeks but I went to Paris for a while woot woot) and I'm going to spend my time updating and writing, writing and updating so that I at least update every story once. I'm soooo sorry please do still read my stuff!

I've been alternating chapters from Harry's to Lily/James' point of view but since the last chapter got all screwed up I had to change it.

The fifth and sixth chapters of this story are supposed to be what happened before chapter four. I'll make this more clear later.

"A baby?" asked the woman, sounding horrified.

"Yes, a baby boy," said the policeman. "Harry Potter was his name." Lily let out a gasp.

"That's whose files we saw!" she whispered to James. He nodded.

"Yes, but who is he?" he asked. Lily couldn't figure it out. The real answer came across each of their thoughts…but they brushed it aside. After all, they'd remember their own son, wouldn't they?

"What happened to him?" asked the woman.

"Well, no one knows really. Some say he was kidnapped. Some say he was killed."

"What happened to his parents?"

"Well, what we determined was the murderer came into the house and into the kitchen. That's where the first murder happened. We don't know how the man died…it seemed like his heart just stopped beating, even though he was perfectly healthy and in great condition. Well anyway, after the murderer committed his first act, he headed upstairs to where the mother was. Her body was found the same way as her husband's – as if her heart had stopped beating. We then determined that the murderer probably tried to kill the baby as well…but the murderer's body was found the same way as the parents' and the baby just disappeared."

They were silent for a moment.

"That is a very strange case," said the woman.

"Yes," agreed the policeman. "But there's more. The murderer had a very unusual appearance…his face was kind of stretched out and his eyes…they were red. Completely red. It was rather frightening, really."

"My God," breathed the woman. She thought for a moment. "It's kind of strange, isn't it?"

"What's that?"

"That one person died in the kitchen and two people died in the nursery…and those were the only parts of the house that remained?"

"Yes, strange," said the policeman thoughtfully.

"And you say the murderer tried to kill the baby? But when you arrived at the house, the murderer was dead…and the baby was missing?"

"Yes."

"Odd."

"It is. I still remember the crib that was in the nursery. It looked untouched. It had a very unusual appearance," said the policeman.

"Really? How?"

"Well, for one thing, it was decorated with these little golden circles that looked like balls. And then there were silver – wings coming out from the sides. Along with those, there were brooms on it too. It didn't make any sense – what kind of people had they been?"

Lily slowly pulled out the crib that was residing in her pocket. She enlarged it to its full size again. It looked exactly as the man had described.

"James…" she breathed.

"I don't know what this means, Lily," he said, answering her unasked question. "But we'll find out. I promise – we'll find out."

The next morning, the couple was finally able to leave the room. James had successfully (with a certain spell) managed to train Lily as an animagus in record time. She had turned into a beautiful tiger with a sleek orange coat, covered partially with black stripes.

"James, I love it! This is so – so cool!" she exclaimed. James smiled.

"It is, isn't it? I had the same feeling the first couple of times I transformed. But we have to get out of here now. Come on – Shh, be quiet." They silently crept out of the basement. Light was pouring through the windows of the hallway. There was no one around so Lily and James moved swiftly to the door. Lily turned the handle and opened it, exposing them to the coldness outside. A blanket of snow now covered everything.

"Hey! Hey! Who are you?" They turned and saw a man in a striped bath robe, holding a cup of coffee and a newspaper.

"Shit," Lily and James said simultaneously.

"Stop right there!" shouted the man as James moved to take a step. "Who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my house?"

"Run!" James suddenly told Lily. She moved forward with a burst of speed, James coming right up next to her.

"Hey! HEY!" shouted the man. "I'm calling the police! Jen, Jen, call the police!" He looked anxiously at James and Lily's retreating forms.

"They said to do anything to keep them here!" a female voice said from inside the house.

"Anything?"

"Anything! They were here yesterday too! They must have been here overnight!"

"All right. Get me my gun!"

"Your gun?"

"Bring it to me!" A brief minute passed, and Lily and James were starting to escape view of the house. But not quickly enough. A loud bang sounded and Lily suddenly felt a sharp pain spread through her back. She stumbled and fell down with a cry.

"Lily? What - ?" James asked running back to her. Then he saw the blood spurting through her shirt. "Lily!" He knelt down to hold her as he heard a great "ha!" of triumphant laughter echo through the morning air. He turned towards the house and began sprinting violently back. He could see the man's triumphant face as he got nearer.

"Your little friend go down?" he said. James let out a roar of anger and lunged at the man. He tackled him to the ground and started punching him. The woman, Jen, started screaming. She couldn't do anything, as the police were already on their way.

"Jen – Jen! Help me!" shouted the man. Jen looked around and ran into the kitchen. She came back a minute later, brandishing a large butcher knife.

"Let him go!" she screamed at James. He looked up and saw the knife. Slowly he let go of the man on the ground and got up. His victim scrambled up too.

"Give me the knife!" said the man unpleasantly. Jen frightfully handed it over. The man advanced on James. He made to thrust it in his shoulder, but James whipped out his wand. The man stared at it.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted James. The knife came sailing, handle first, into his hand. The couple stared at him, horrified.

"Who the hell are you?" said the man.

"Me? My name is James Potter. And that's my wife you just shot!" James screamed angrily. Jen's eyes widened.

"J – James and Lily Potter? I thought – I thought you were dead!"

"Yeah, we were. Things happen. Expelliarmus!" James said again. The man flew back against the wall and Jen screamed. Police sirens began wailing in the distance. "Ennervate." The man was brought out of unconsciousness. James told them both to come close.

"What do you want?" said Jen, moving nearer. "What are you?"

"I'm a wizard," said James. "Obliviate!"

Seconds later, James was running back to his wife.

"Lily! Lily, I'm so sorry I left you!" he exclaimed, sliding down next to her. She smiled weakly but said nothing. "Hold on, I'll take care of this." He quickly said a spell that took the bullet out of her. She let out a gasp of pain. "I'm sorry," said James. He said a quick healing spell. Immediately the hole closed up, and Lily slowly started to regain her color.

"Thank you James," she said quietly.

"Are you ok?" he asked. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah. It's all better now. What did you do to them?"

"Nothing really. Let's get out of here." He helped her up and they left the little village.

Soon, they found themselves back at the Leaky Cauldron. They had ordered drinks and were sitting at the bar. James had just paid Tom when he peered closely at them.

"Say – you look exactly like James and Lily Potter!" he exclaimed. Everyone in the pub looked around and started to form a crowd around the pair.

"That's interesting," said James, starting to pull Lily away. "We really better go now. Thanks for the drinks." They exited in a hurry, leaving the people behind them very confused.

Lily's POV

We walked out into the busy London street. No one gave us a second glance, but suddenly I remembered what just happened in the Leaky Cauldron.

"James," I said. "We should re-disguise ourselves." He nodded and we did so. Then we decided that the easiest way to get to Hogsmeade would be by the Hogwarts Express – it was just time for students to be going back if they were spending New Years' there.

We hailed a cab and told the driver to go to King's Cross. When we got there, we paid him and entered the busy train station. There were people everywhere, mostly holding paper cups full of steaming coffee, and carrying briefcases.

We were almost to platform 9 ¾ when I heard a loud rumbling.

"Oops. That was my stomach," said James, smiling sheepishly. I grinned.

"Yeah, we should probably eat," I said.

"Yeah, come on." We walked over to a pretzel stand and bought two. We devoured them hungrily. "Damn. I'm still hungry," said James. "But we have to go. The train will be leaving soon." He pointed at the clock which said 10:40.

"All right, let's go," I said. We were almost there when suddenly my gaze fell on a little boy who was walking in the opposite direction. He looked somewhat like James – actually, he looked exactly like what I imagined James to look like when he was the boy's age. James and I both caught the boy's eye – and I felt a jolt pass through my body. I know James and the boy felt it too; they both shivered.

We continued walking. I looked back at the boy, but he was gone. I mentally shrugged him off for the time being.

James and I finally reached platform 9 ¾. We looked around carefully and, not seeing anyone, went through. The train was as magnificent as ever – red and gleaming. We carefully snuck onto it and hid in one of the compartments. We locked the door and pulled down the curtains. Everyone would assume it was occupied by students.

"James?" I asked after a couple of minutes.

"Yeah?"

"Why did that little boy have that effect on us?"

"I have no idea."

"Also -" I bit my lip. "He looked exactly like what I imagined you would have looked like when you were about seven or eight."

"I know," said James quietly. "He did. I don't understand." We sat in silence for a bit. Soon the train whistle blew. It huffed and puffed and slowly started to move.

When I look back on it now, the answer seems so simple – but it's never really like that. Nothing is ever that simple. Your brain looks further into it than it should and it ends up making things even more complicated. But then when you try to find the simplest possibility, it's never enough. And the next time, you start to look further into it than you should again. The result is always the same – it's never enough to actually figure it out. Whether it gets too complicated, or too simplistic, it's never enough. Never enough.