This chapter has two parts, one of Sev & Dumblydore, and the next with HP, JP, & LP.

Chapter 17: Three Years Later

XXXXX THREE YEARS LATER XXXXX

Severus stood on a hilltop, shivering with his cloak billowing. He gripped his wand tightly, panting.

It had all gone wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen!

There was a blinding jet of white jagged light; he had arrived.

Severus dropped to his knees.

"Don't kill me!" he pleaded.

"That was not my intention," Dumbledore said calmly. "Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"

Message? Why would he be bringing Dumbledore a message?

"No – no message – I'm here on my own account! I – I come with a warning – no, a request – please-"

"What request could a Death Eater make of me?"

Severus flinched violently.

"The – the prophecy … the prediction … Trelawney …"

"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore calmly, yet a hint of anger in his voice. "How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"

"Everything – everything I heard! That is why – it is for that reason – he thinks it means Lily Evans!"

"The prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of a boy born at the end of July-"

"You know what I mean!" Severus interjected, agitated. "He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down – kill them all-"

The moment he said the last part, he wished he hadn't.

"If she means so much to you, surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"

"I have – I have asked him-"

Severus' voice was hoarse, almost a whisper.

"You disgust me," Dumbledore said, his voice full of bitter contempt. "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you can have what you want?"

Severus was silent, looking up into his wrinkled face.

"Hide them all, then, " Keep her – them – safe. Please."

"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"

"In – in return?"
Severus looked at him, astonished? In return? He thought of Lily, and her eyes seemed to be pleading.

"Anything."

Now he could only hope she would be unharmed.

XXXXX

SWISH.

One-year-old Harry Potter zoomed past his father on his new toy broomstick, giggling with excitement.

"James, are you keeping an eye on Harry?" Lily called from the bedroom, laughing.

"Yup, don't worry, Lily," James said reassuringly.

Lily came out of the room and exchanged a swift kiss with her husband and then sat down on a chair next to James.

"What's the matter?" she asked him, looking concerned.

"Nothing," he said brusquely.

Lily eyed him suspiciously.

"Are you sure? You seem really frustrated lately."

"Oh – no, it's fine, really," he said.

Lily sighed, and put her arm around James.

"Hopefully, this'll all be over soon," she said, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Yeah."

Just then, Harry swished past them.

"He'll make a great Quidditch player someday," said James proudly.

Lily smiled.

"That reminds me, I should really owl Padfoot and thank him for the birthday gift," said Lily.

"Hmm," James said distractedly.

He looked out of the window longingly. How he wished he could go out and be part of some kind of action – but no, ever since Dumbledore had been warned about some kind of prophecy involving their one-year-old son, he and Lily had been shut up in this house, with nothing to do but supervise Harry playing on his toy broomstick he had gotten for his birthday.

The last thing James wanted was for Lily to be worried in any way – or for her to feel responsible for James' mood. He loved her, he really did, but he just wanted to be able to do something more useful instead of sitting and in the house with nothing to do but worry about their safety.

"I'm going to write a letter to Padfoot, okay?" Lily said.

"Sure," said James.

"Keep an eye on Harry, alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I will…"

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