Interlude: Harry's Dream

"Oh, hush thee, my baby, Thy sire was a knight, Thy mother a lady, Both lovely and bright; The woods and the glens, From the towers which we see, They all are belonging, Dear baby, to thee. Oh, hush thee, my baby, Thy sire was a knight, Oh, hush thee, my baby, So bonnie, so bright. Oh, fear not the bugle, Tho' loudly it blows, It calls but the warders That guard thy repose; Their bows would be bended, Their blades would be red, Ere the step of a foeman draws near to thy bed. Oh, hush thee, my baby, Thy sire was a knight,(*)" the red haired woman sung, holding her dark haired son in her arms.

They stood alone in a nursery, a small room with only enough room for maybe three people, one of which would have to sit in the rocking chair which was placed next to the crib against the wall. The walls and furniture were all brightly colored in various shades of red and yellow, save for the stuffed toys, which were as many colors as the rainbow.

"I love it when you sing to him," a voice spoke softly behind her.

The woman spun and almost cried out, save that she'd only just lulled her son to sleep, or so she believed. "James!" she whispered harshly. "Don't sneak up on me like that. I almost woke Harry."

"Sorry, my Lady," James stepped forward and first kissed his wife, and then the dark haired mop of his son's head, a feature that they shared. Except for the eyes, James would have sworn that his son Harry would one day grow to look just like him. Harry had his mother's beautiful green eyes, and that was what he liked best about the two of them. He could spend all day just staring into those eyes.

"Stop it," his wife blushed. "Not in front of the baby."

"But my dear Lily, how do you think the baby got here in the first place?" his grin spoke of mischief.

"Through several hours of extremely painful labor," she glared at him, effectively quelling the mischief.

James cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Well, I..."

He was interrupted by a sudden and very loud noise. A noise that both adults recognized and immediately filled them with great fear. It was their perimeter alarm, and a very unique one at that. It didn't exactly go off when a squirrel ran across the yard or anything.

"I-I'll check it out," James told Lily, struggling to be brave in front of his wife, "Stay here with Harry."

"James!" Lily called, even as her husband left the small room.

Turning off the lights, she slowly stepped out into the hallway and listened closely for the disturbance. Just as suddenly as it had started, the alarm cut itself off. Lily almost dared to hope, when the entire house shook a bare moment before there was an explosion downstairs. James appeared at the top of the stairs a heartbeat later, screaming.

"Oh god! By the gods, Lily! It's Him! He's here! Grab the baby and run!" he shouted at her as he ran down the hallway.

"No! James, I won't leave you! We-we can fight him together!" she screamed almost desperately.

Amazingly, young Harry was still quiet in her arms, though his sparkling green eyes were wide open and awake. Neither of his parents seemed to notice this as James hurriedly shoved Lily back into the nursery and then closed, locked and barricaded the door shut behind them.

"The... the house is surrounded, by... by I don't know what!" James gasped as he shoved the crib and chair against the door in efforts to keep it closed. "Lily, will... will he come?"

"He promised us protection, but..." Lily didn't finish her answer. James didn't bother asking what was wrong as he heard it too. Heavy foot-falls, echoing up the stairs as what they feared came ever nearer.

James fought against his panic and then remembered Harry in Lily's arms.

"Lily," he hissed as quiet as he could, "We both know why he's here, why he's doing this. We... we don't have a choice any more. We have to..."

"No!" Lily's hand came up protectively over Harry.

James immediately shook his head and hissed for her to be quiet. He quickly finished what he was about to say. "We have to protect Harry at all costs. I have no doubt that... he will be here soon, but... but probably not soon enough. We have to, to..."

Lily closed her eyes, a few tears leaked out. Silently, she nodded and hugged her husband for probably the last time. "We have to protect Harry," she agreed.

"Hide him," James ordered after taking one last moment to embrace his wife and child. "And hide yourself too, I'll try and," he gulped, "hold him off for as long as I can. If he... when he gets past me, try and do the same. Protect our child, Lily."

She nodded, the tears flowing freely. They shared one final kiss, and then James went to the door, while Lily pulled out a pile of blankets and stuffed animals. Grateful that Harry was still being quiet, she kissed him on the forehead, and then placed him at the back of the room and covered him with blankets, pillows, stuffed animals and everything else she could find to protect him.

Before too much longer, something slammed against the door. They tensed in fear. It slammed again, and again, and on the next, the door and everything barricaded against it exploded inwards, showering the room with debris. A monster with glowing red eyes stood outlined in the shadows.

James knew what he had to do, and he was proud to say that in his last moments, he didn't even hesitate..

"GET BACK YOU BASTARD!" James screamed, charging forward with his fists raised.

A shadowed fist slammed against the man and knocked him against the wall of the small room. It was immediately apparent that James was dead where he stood, and more so when the arm retracted and allowed the body to drop unceremoniously to the floor.

"NO! NO! NOOOOO!" Lily screamed, and ran to her husband's body. A heartbeat later, she too charged the shadowed invader, her face a mask of fury and a mother's instinct.

There was a flash of green light that filled the whole room... and she too dropped to the floor, dead.

"NO!" Harry Potter screamed as he awoke from his dream. It was the same as always, but for some reason it was much clearer and he remembered more details. The weirdest part though was that he'd felt like, well like someone else was with him, laying there beside him in the dream. He couldn't explain it, but the feeling of it was unnerving.

Seeing that it was still dark outside, Harry rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. He had school tomorrow after all.

(*)From the proud clans of the Scottish Highlands comes this traditional melody. Only the air Cdul gu lo (Sleep on till dawn) and not the original Scottish verses were used when a dramatization of Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering was presented. For this, Sir Walter Scott composed the verses 'Lullaby for an Infant Child'. The history of the Highlands and the interminable wars by which the clans were able o reserve their hard-won independence against overwhelming odds are evoked in this first song for an infant. The dream is of the trumpet and the ideal s manhood. The lines of this lullaby are familiar to us as a nursery rhyme. They are but a curtailed version of Sir Walter Scott's verses. (Both the lyrics and the history paragraph are from the website Lullabies From The Cradle .com/page/Lullabies+%28English%29)