Chapter 1

Crashing after her emotional breakdown, Lily slept like dead until dawn. That was when Petunia knocked harshly on the door, waking Harry, whose burbles then awoke his mother. Lily forced herself upright, putting the memories of the previous night behind her for the meantime, and checked to make sure she had everything: the wands. The cloak. And Harry.

She nearly burst into tears again, thinking of all their belongings that had been lost, but firmly reminded herself that this wasn't the time.

Petunia knocked again just before her sister could disapparate away. "There's toast and eggs if you want to eat before you go." Carefully hiding her smile, Lily opened up the door and nodded her thanks. Downstairs, she quickly downed the plate of food, Petunia once again holding Harry for her. This time, though, little Dudley was present as well, and made grabby gestures at his cousin. Petunia sighed and walked around the table so that the two boys could study each other.

Harry reached out a hand and tapped Dudley's chubby cheek, which set both of them off giggling. Their mothers each smiled at the sight, before Lily finished eating and Petunia returned to her usual sour self. The redhead was given a paper sack with some sandwiches, apples and baby food in it, and then promptly shown to the back door.

"Thank you, Tuney. We won't bother you again." Lily promised.

Her sister glanced over to where Dudley was still giggling, and sighed. "Well... Maybe you can visit once in awhile. But send a letter first - and not by those freaky owls, understand?"

"Got it." She waited until Petunia had closed the door and moved away, then quickly disapparated.

Thinking much more clearly after some sleep, Lily headed to the home of the only people she could guarantee weren't about to turn traitor on her - Frank and Alice Longbottom. The couple had gone into hiding themselves, as the prophecy Dumbledore was so concerned over had the potential to apply to their son Neville as well as her Harry.

Keeping the invisibility cloak close at hand, she headed down an empty country lane, towards a copse of trees that the road passed through. Carefully placed charms made the place indistinguishable to muggles, but magical folk could easily spot the old abandoned cottage sitting within.

And only those with the correct password could step past the gate, and the accompanying wards, to see that it wasn't so abandoned after all.

"Anyone home?" Lily called out as she crossed the small yard, perfectly able to hear the startled thumps from inside. A moment later the door was yanked open, revealing a shocked Alice.

"Oh my Merlin- LILY!" Seconds later, the woman pulled her old friend and classmate into a tight embrace - much more sisterly and welcoming than Petunia had been the night before. "Where have you been? Are you and James and Harry alright? We just got the Prophet this morning, they're saying that the house at Godric's Hollow had been attacked and blown up, but there wasn't a Dark Mark in the sky-"

"We've been understandably upset, as I'm sure you can gather." Frank mentioned as he appeared in the doorway as well. "What the hell happened?"

"James is dead."

Those three words led to her being pulled inside, Harry immediately taken and placed with Neville on the playmat, and Lily sat down at the kitchen table with a concerned Longbottom on either side of her.

"What happened?" Frank asked again, his wand summoning an extra cup of tea.

Gathering her Gryffindor courage, Lily stuttered her way through an explanation, starting with the decision a month prior about switching Secret Keepers at the last minute from Sirius to Peter, to her brief reunion with Petunia after the attack.

"And here I thought your choice to use some muggle defenses was over the top." Alice tried to joke once her friend had finished. Lily snorted.

"Hardly. Though I doubt anyone's going to believe the Dark Lord was done in by a few packages of homemade bombs put together from several dozen fireworks."

"You may have a point there." Frank said mildly, his gaze focused on the pair of playing boys. "Lily... Where do you plan on going now?"

Her sigh was all the response that they needed. Alice immediately went to the bedroom, coming back with a resized change of clothes that she sent Lily into the bathroom with. Similarly, Frank pulled out another of Neville's onesies, quickly changing Harry into the clean garment. He paused for half a moment while doing so, studying the new shrapnel scars on the infant's face. Harry merely gazed at him solemnly, which quickly snapped the man back to what he was doing.

By the time Lily reappeared, Alice had arranged quill and ink along with several pieces of parchment on the table. "I wasn't sure how many people you needed to let know you were still alive." She explained.

"Gringotts, first. Last thing I need is them enacting our will while we're still- while I'm still alive." Lily said firmly. "Minerva, too, she doesn't deserve to be devastated by this. Maybe Sev as well... I'll hold off on Remus until later, he'll still be recovering from the full moon..."

"What about Sirius? And the Headmaster?"

"I- I don't want to think ill of Sirius, but..."

"But he was the one who insisted on switching Keepers." Lily didn't respond to Frank's statement, merely bowing her head over the table. "Alright, but what about Dumbledore?"

"...I didn't say it before, but... A few days ago, he asked James about the cloak, wanting to know if he could borrow it for study." She looked up into her friends' suddenly nervous faces. "James said no. If he hadn't, Harry and I wouldn't have made it out of the house alive. And I doubt that Dumbledore could have known, but now I can't help but wonder, why did he ask then? Why would he ask at all? I just- I just don't think I can bring myself to inform him, not right now at least."

Alice and Frank shared an indecipherable look, before nodding in unison. "Right then. Let us know if you need anything else, alright? Since You-Know-Who's gone, we're planning on heading back to our own home in a day or two."

Lily shook her head at that. "I'd wait a little longer if I were you - we still don't know how many Death Eaters are out and about, and I bet the more fanatical of them aren't going to simply back down now that their Lord is out of the picture." Alice stiffened, as Frank gained a dark expression.

"Duly noted." He said. "We'll wait until the Ministry's restored a bit more order, then." With that, the three of them set to their tasks.

-CE-

At precisely four o'clock that afternoon, another guest arrived on the hidden property. Minerva McGonagall barely slowed down as she passed through the gate, and then the door opened by Frank, only coming to a stop once she'd caught hold of Lily and pulled the younger woman into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," the Hogwarts professor whispered to her. "I'm so, so sorry, Lily."

"It's not your fault, Minerva." The redhead tried to give her a watery smile, but couldn't quite pull it off. Alice guided them over to the sofa, where the pair sat and continued to hold onto one another. Lily began to tell her story again, finding it easier the second time around, especially as Minerva remained quiet until the very end.

And then the old witch exploded into fury.

Everyone, even the two infants, watched in awe as the grey-haired woman leapt to her feet and began to pace back and forth, spewing all manner of curses in both English and Gaelic. After several minutes of this, Minerva finally slowed down enough to recover herself.

"I'm going to talk to Albus about this." She growled. "But first, I'm going to find both Sirius and Peter and Merlin help them if I have to fight those boys."

Silently, she gave Lily another hug, kissed both Harry and Neville on their foreheads, and then walked out the door still being held open by a stunned Frank.

"...Veeery glad I never messed up bad enough to get that serious a tongue-lashing from her in school."

"You aren't the only one," Alice murmured to her husband. Lily just smiled fondly and shook her head.