Chapter 2

Albus Dumbledore was just about to retire to his chambers when the fireplace in his study lit up, and James Potter stumbled into the room. It took Albus by surprise, James should have been in hiding, and it wasn't like him to call so late, and without advance notice. Albus suspected he came with bad news, and the solemn look and dried tears on James' face all but confirmed his suspicions.

"James, why aren't you still in hiding? What has happened?" he asked. He knew the answer before James spoke, though he hoped beyond hope that it wasn't true.

"It's over," James whispered, "The aurors are with Lily and Ha-" his voice caught in his throat with a shudder, "He killed Harry. My boy is dead."

Tears started to fall again. Albus felt his eyes sting as he thought of the young boy. He tried hard to hold back the tears. He felt he should offer his condolences, but he didn't even know where to start. Before he could speak, James spoke again.

"I wanted to come here, I wanted to be the one to tell you. You did so much to protect us."

"I will forever regret that it wasn't enough," Albus said solemnly.

"This is not your fault, you did everything you could. But we changed our secret keeper to Peter at the last minute. Sirius thinks he must be a traitor, a spy for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He's gone to hunt down Peter, I couldn't do anything to stop him."

Albus was not surprised to hear that Sirius Black had taken it upon himself to play the vigilante. He had always been hot-headed, even in his school days. He also loved Harry, his Godson, immensely.

"He didn't even try to harm me or Lily. I don't understand. I thought he was coming after the both of us? What could he possibly have against my son? My baby boy?"

Albus knew that this question would come up. How could he explain why he had lied to them? Well, perhaps not lied, but he had failed to tell them the truth, about the prophecy. And in the end, it was because of the prophecy that their son was dead. Now Albus didn't even know what that meant for the fate of the wizarding world - Harry Potter, the boy who was supposed to stop Lord Voldemort - was dead.

"There are details that I didn't tell you, when I advised that you take your family and go into hiding. Details that we may be better waiting until a later date to discuss - perhaps when Lily is able to be here."

He saw James' change from grief and confusion, to accusation.

"What details? You knew that he was after my son?" he demanded.

"I really think that this conversation would be better held when-"

"No, you need to tell me right now! You let us think that he was after us, when you knew all along that all he wanted was Harry?" James was angry, confused, hurt - rightfully so.

"I have to confess that I did know that Harry was Lord Voldemort's primary target. You have to understand that what I am going to say has been kept a very close secret, for reasons that will become obvious. Severus Snape overheard a prophecy, foretold by our newest Divination teacher, Sybil Trelawney. The contents of the prophecy suggested that your son may have held the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. Naturally, Lord Voldemort wanted to make sure that that could never happen."

"So it's Snape's fault that my son is dead? I knew he was a Death Eater, but I didn't think he would sell us out like that! Sell Lily out!"

"Severus did not know that the prophecy spoke of your son. In fact, there was another boy, Alice and Frank's son, whom the prophecy could also have described. It was Lord Voldemort that decided the prophecy was about Harry."

"He was still happy to pass on the details to his master that would lead to him killing a baby! How do you even know this? And why am I just finding out?"

Albus knew that he had to be careful with his words here. It was imperative that he exercised some form of damage control - it was going to be hard enough to have the members of the order accept that Severus was now a spy for them, but if they all believed that Snape was solely responsible for Harry's death, then it would become impossible for them to accept him.

"Severus has defected from Lord Voldemort. When he found out that he had chosen Harry over Frank and Alice's son, he was deeply remorseful for his actions. Severus does not wish any harm to come to Lily or her family. He has risked everything, including his life, by coming to me and asking me to protect your family, to put you into hiding."

Albus failed to mention that Snape had initially begged Lord Voldemort to spare Lily in exchange for James and her son. All it mattered in the end was that Snape was on their side now.

"Why didn't you tell us about the prophecy?" James demanded, "We could have done more! We could have kept Harry with us, in our room, in our bed, instead of in his cot! We would have died protecting him!"

"I know that you would have, James. But as you know, we suspected that Lord Voldemort may have had a spy in your close circles - and rightly so, as Peter has proven. You trusted Peter enough to choose him as your secret keeper. Would you also have trusted him enough to tell him about the prophecy? Which he would have immediately informed Lord Voldemort about?"

Albus could tell that James was struggling to stay angry. He knew Albus had a point. They would have trusted Peter, and Voldemort would have found out about the prophecy.

"I know you will be, understandably, angry at me for keeping these vital details from you, and I hope that you can, in time, accept that I truly did what I believed to be in your family's best interests. I also hope that your trust in me remains uninjured."

James didn't speak. Albus knew that he was still angry, and that he would have a lot to think about before he could be expected to forgive him.

"You have to go back home, to Lily. She needs you now more than ever," he told him gently, "I'm going to call an order meeting tomorrow. I will send you the details by owl, but I truly understand if you and Lily are not in attendance. But we need to decide what to do next, for the sake of the wizarding world. Harry was the only hope we had."

"We will be there," James insisted, as he got up and headed towards the floo, "We need to find a way to bring him down. For Harry."

Almost immediately after James disappeared into the fireplace, Severus stormed into the room without knocking. He looked windswept, and Albus guessed that he had just gotten back after being summoned by Lord Voldemort, perhaps so that he could tell him the good news - Harry was dead, Lily was not.

"What happened?" he demanded, "I thought you were going to keep them safe?"

"Lily and James put their faith in the wrong person, Severus. But it seems as though Lord Voldemort took your wishes into consideration, and decided to spare Lily in exchange for her son."

"No! You have to understand, I was desperate when I said that! I never wanted this, for Lily to suffer like this! That's why I came to you! You promised you would protect them," he looked angry, but also scared, "If Lily ever finds out that I said those things, and was responsible for the death of her son, I may as well just ask the Dark Lord to kill me, because whatever she will do to me will be a thousand times worse."

"I don't think you need to worry about Lily coming after you, Severus. James already knows the part you had to play, and he also knows the lengths you went to protect them, risking everything to tell me about what Lord Voldemort had planned, and asking me to protect them. He is angry, and no doubt Lily will be, but I think, in time, they will accept that you regret your actions, and, in the end, tried to protect them."

Severus dared to look a little hopeful.

"So you don't think she will hate me?" he asked.

"Severus, you have to understand, as far as Lily will see it, her son might still be alive if you hadn't overheard that prophecy. I said I didn't think she would come after you, not that she wouldn't hate you," Severus groaned, looking what Albus could only describe as heartbroken, an emotion he was not used to seeing on the usually cold, sneering man's face. "I know how much you regret your actions Severus, and that you want to dedicate your life now to protecting her, but it might take the others a lot longer to trust you. Up until recently, you were a death eater, and you're still pretending to be."

"She's going to be heartbroken. I don't know if I will be able to stand seeing her so destroyed," he admitted.

"Well you might have to get used to the idea. I'm calling an emergency order meeting tomorrow, and I understand that James and Lily are going to be there, more determined than ever to bring down the Dark Lord. I would also like you to attend also. Offer your sincere condolences for their loss and show the order that you are truly on our side. No one has to know that you are in love with Lily, just that you had a drastic change of heart where an old friend was concerned. Tell them all how you risked your life to save the Potters, how you are still risking your life to be a spy for us."

"It will take years for them to forgive me."

"Then it will take years. But you must try Severus, if you wish to be a good man now, because it is the right thing to do."