He ran as fast as he could, skipping steps as he went and darting around the corners at a speed that he had never experienced before. His body hit the wall with a thud when the slipperiness of his socks on the wood stairs caused him to slide into the wall as he rounded the last corner. He knew the sound would startle all the occupants of the house before he even got to them.

As he came to the topmost landing, finally able to see the door he most desired to run through at full force he stopped suddenly. His heart and feet stood still as he remembered that he had no clue in the world as how to approach this situation. How was he supposed to tell two of his best mates that their son, their life line, just a week after he had run into one of the darkest wizard's of all time yet again, had gone missing in a school that was supposed to be the safest place in the world?

Without a plan, his feet slowly started moving towards the door again, knowing that there was no way for him to prepare them for this, none at all. He gathered courage as he pushed down on the handle, quietly unlatching the door so he wouldn't startle them if he did not in fact wake them up with all the noise he made getting to this point.

Their room was dim, with only a bit of light from the street lamps outside to guide his path as he made his way towards their huddled figures on the bed. Lily was closest to him that he could tell as he fragile form curved gracefully into the body of one of his best mates, who, even in sleep looked like he would never let anything stand in between him and protecting those who he loved.

"James!" Remus yelled is a hushed tone, "James!"

He watched as James turned over failing to wake up.

"Lily!" Remus said, a little louder this time as he slowly approached her sleeping form. He shook her shoulder lightly, rousing her out of her slumber. "Lily, please, wake up!"

"Remus?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes as to clear her vision. "Wh-what is it?" What are you doing here? Is everything," she yawned, "ok?"

The panic rising in her voice was finally enough to rouse her husband, who flipped over quicker than Remus had ever seen.

"Wh-what is it?" James somewhat yelled, causing Lily to cover her ears, the volume being too loud for her still half-asleep body.

He watched as both of them looked at him, worst-case scenario's of what he would need them for at this hour, clearly running through their minds.

"Remus?" Lily asked softly, her fear cause her voice to tremble ever so slightly.

It came out of his mouth before he could even process what he was going to say.

"McGonagall is downstairs. Harry's gone."

He stood there in silence as his words processed through their minds. Lily yelled in fear for her son before she sped out of her bed, grabbing her night robe then darting out of the room. James followed her not moments later, the shocked expression on his face changing back and forth between fear, anger and hurt.

Remus darted into his room while Lily and James continued on towards McGonagall's waiting form in their fireplace downstairs.

"Sirius, Harry's gone!" was all he yelled which was enough to make the unwakeable Sirius Black from his slumber and darting down stairs like the rest of them.

When Remus and Sirius made it to the sitting room, they watched as Lily and James spoke rapidly with their professors, planted on their hands and knees.

"But where could he have gone?" Lily asked rapidly, not wanting to waste a breath.

"Professor Dumbledore is very good friend's with the noted alchemist, Nicholas Flammel," McGonagall started, "and at the beginning of the year he agreed to help protect a valuable possession of Flammel's…"

"What does this have to do with my son?" James bellowed.

"Mr. Potter, listen!" McGonagall said firmly, before continuing. "Professor Dumbledore agreed to protect the Philopsopher's Stone for Mr. Flammel, here in the castle. I don't know how, but your son, Miss. Granger and Mr. Weasley found out about this and they strongly believed that Professor Snape was after it for… Voldemort. We think they went to stop him…"

"Let us through," James said sternly, standing up before he grabbed a bit of floo powder off of the mantle. Lily nodded in agreement, following his lead, and Sirius and Remus watched as McGonagall nodded solemnly before ending the call to allow them through.

Their groggy eyes fluttered open at the sound of footstep's coming down the stone corridor. James looked around him to see his wife next to him, her head resting against him as she hugged her knees tight to her. Remus and Sirius sat across the way, fully asleep and sprawled out against the wall.

They had been waiting for hours, for even a bit of news but nothing had come. The moment they had stepped through the fireplace and into her office, McGonagall had whisked them away down to the hall outside the hospital wing where she told them to wait until they returned. He watched as his wife's eyes had repeatedly lit up when they heard footsteps in the surrounding halls only to see them tear up once again when it was just another faculty member or prefect running about.

He had heard McGonagall tell a faculty member to arouse a couple of the older students to monitor the halls for the next couple of hours while the teachers were busy 'sorting out a few issues'. A few had stopped in their tracks when they saw the four tired adults laying about outside the grand oak doors that led to the wing, but they hurried along when they saw Madame Pomfrey stick her head out the door. She had checked on them a few times, offering words of encouragement but she herself had to hurry off into her office to gather supplies when a group of teachers led two levitating stretchers into the wing.

Lily and James had both jumped at the image of the teachers, eagerly awaiting their son, but they were disappointed when Hermione and Ron—their son still nowhere to be found, occupied the stretchers that moved quickly by them.

"M-Mrs. Potter?" the young girl whimpered, falling in and out of consciousness as Lily softly stroked her busy brown hair out of her face whilst Madame Pomfrey tried to coax some potions down her throat.

"It's Lily, dear," she said softly as Hermione's eyes fluttered shut yet again, the sleeping potion finally taking its effect. She could tell the young girl wanted to tell her more, but she stopped her. "Don't worry sweetheart, no one is mad, or upset—we're just glad you are safe. Go to sleep."

Lily watched as the girl finally succumbed to the potion and fell into a dreamless slumber. She turned around to see her husband, half asleep, half awake on the chair behind her, his upper body slumped over on the nearby bed. She too wished to fall asleep, but the sounds of footsteps scurrying around the wing and the nearby hallways were enough to keep her from doing so. It had been nearly two hours since they had arrived at the school, only to be immediately escorted to the wing to wait in silence by Professor McGonagall who rushed off as soon as they were settled.

She got up to walk around a little, hoping to keep her mind occupied until the moment her son would come through those doors. She had watched in near silence when her son's two friends were escorted into the wing by two of her previous professor's, levitated in on stretchers before being placed in adjacent beds. The professors though had disappeared as quickly as they had come, not even there for long enough to answer one of Lily's or James' pending questions about the events of that evening.

Lily and James had immediately gone to Ron and Hermione's bedsides the moment Madame Pomfrey stepped aside. She had told them that the staff who had gone into the Philosopher's Stone Chambers had found Hermione first nearest the doors. She was still awake and trying every spell possible to get back through the trap doors but to no avail. She accompanied the professor's back through the first few obstacles to where Ron was, animatedly telling them about how they had managed to get through and how Harry had told her to go back and get her and Ron out while he went on. Once they had reached Ron, Hermione had passed out from exhaustion and both were then escorted back to the hospital whilst Professor Dumbledore came through and went on towards Harry.

Her eyes, much like Hermione's were beginning to flutter shut as she sat down next to the young girl once again.

They fluttered open not moments later when she heard a group of people approaching the infirmary. She spun around and shook James awake. He woke with a start, jumping from his seat before Lily calmed him down as not to wake the two youngsters from their sleep.

She saw him the moment the group rounded the corner into the wing, her son's limp body cradled in Dumbledore's arms with Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey fretting over his current state as they swarmed in around him. Lily clutched James' arm for a moment before she sprinted towards her son, her husband hot on her trail.

James reached the Professor first, gently taking his son from Dumbledore's arms and leading him towards the bed that Madame Pomfrey was ushering them towards. Harry felt heavier than the last time he had held him. He took in his son's face as he gently placed him down, Lily fixing the bedding so that it tucked in around his unconscious form. Harry was pale, scratches across his faces and hands, his scar a burning red as though at had been etched into his forehead just moments before. He watched as Lily wiped away a bead of blood that was trickling down Harry's face, her face filled with concern and relief.

"He'll be all right," a voice behind them said softly. Lily and James both turned to look over their shoulders to see who had spoken. Remus stood there, a hand in either pocket staring down at them as they looked over their son. "Professor Dumbledore has asked to speak with you both," he said, nodding towards the oak doors where the Professor was standing with McGonagall. Lily looked to James who nodded simply reaching for her hand.

"Watch him, will you?" James heard Lily say as she gently touched Remus' arm on their way past.

"Of course," his friend responded, moving to pull up a chair to Harry's bedside.

They swept to the side as a bustling Madame Pomfrey moved past them, potion bottles and bandages spread across a tray that they watched her set on the nightstand before she began mixing them feverishly.

When they reached Dumbledore, the professor merely moved away from the room, motioning for McGonagall and themselves to follow as to not interrupt the going ons in the hospital wing. With a flick of his wand he closed the grand oak doors behind them and led them down the hallways a little way until he finally stopped and turned towards the Potters.

"What the hell were you thinking?" James bellowed immediately. "Hiding such an object in a school!"

"James Potter!" McGonagall said, astonished at the tone that the young man had taken towards her superior.

"Now, now, Professor McGonagall he has every right to be upset. Please," Dumbledore said, turning back towards James. "Continue."

"He could have died!" James bellowed. "We trusted you to keep him safe!"

"He is ok, is he not?" Dumbledore asked, leaving James speechless though his eyes were ablaze with fury.

"What happened exactly, Albus?" Lily asked, not nearly as loudly as James but in a similar tone. "How did my son get involved?"

"It seems as though the three young students in the wing behind us got caught up with the stone because of their attachment to various events that have happened this year," Albus started.

"What do you mean?"

"The troll that your son and Mr. Weasley fought at the beginning of the year in the name of friendship was let in by none other than our DADA Professor, Professor Quirrell," Dumbledore explained.

"But wasn't he the one who you told us came in screaming about it?" James asked McGonagall but Dumbledore took the question.

"Indeed he was, and he did so as I'm sure you have gathered, to take the attention away from himself," Dumbledore said. "Now, you two along with Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black, witnessed at the Quidditch match the jinxing of young Harry's broomstick."

"But how does-"

"Professor Quirrell did that as well?" Lily answered her husband, astonished. "But why?"

"Yes, Lily," Dumbledore said, "He did it because he was working for someone else."

"Voldemort," James and Lily whispered at the same time.

"Yes. Professor Quirrell has always had a fascination with Albania and has been there numerous times over his career here, but most recently this past summer, just before he took the DADA position—he was our muggle studies professor up until that point."

"He was in Albania, wasn't he?" Lily asked, recalling a conversation they had had with him this past summer about Harry's return.

"He was, and unfortunately Professor Quirrell crossed path with what was left of our dear friend Tom Riddle," Dumbledore said.

"He's been in the castle this whole time hasn't he?" James exclaimed, voice rising again. "Two weeks ago was not the first sighting of him—was it?"

"I had my suspicions, but," Dumbledore said, raising a hand to stop James' temper from irrupting again, "Harry was not in danger."

"How did-" James started to yell only to be calmed down by Lily who took to the professor with a less than friendly tone.

"So the stone was here as favor to your friend, and you did so because you did not think that students would know about it or be able to get it, correct?" Lily asked.

"Yes."

"And you knew that Voldemort was in cahoots with this Professor and you let it happen?"

"Yes."

"Then how was Harry not in any danger?" Lily yelled. "Voldemort was here. The man who tried and almost succeeded in murdering us, murdering Harry because of a prophecy that pits him and Harry together was here. He want's Harry dead! How does having the two of them in the same country, yet alone the same castle and classes, safe for my son?"

"Because, my dear Lily, Voldemort cannot touch Harry because of you and James," Dumbledore answered simply.

This left James and Lily both a little dumbstruck by the professor, staring back at him with confused expressions on their faces and unformed questions resting on the tip of their tongues.

"You told me that night in Godric's Hollow when he came to attack that he struck James down after he had yelled to Voldemort that he was not getting near you or Harry so long as he lived," Dumbledore said to which they both nodded in response. "Voldemort merely knocked him aside, wanting the job to be quick and realizing that he might have very well died considering how hard he fell. He turned to you, Lily, if I am not mistaken. You put your body in front of Harry's and told Voldemort that you would not get out of the way. You, like James, would have died to protect your son. You did not stand down. Because of this, Harry cannot be touched, because together you unearthed a piece of old magic that is created by only the strongest thing I know of."

"Which is?" James asked quietly.

"Love. He is protected by love which means that Harry cannot be touched by Voldemort because he does not understand love."

"But, how?"

"That is a question for another time. It has been an exhausting few hours and I am sure you are both tired. You are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you like. You know where the kitchens are, and the great hall should you feel so inclined in the morning," Dumbledore said, motioning for them to return to the Hospital Wing.

Lily and James muffled out a thank-you for getting Harry out, to which the headmaster's eyes just twinkled at before he walked away, his long midnight robes willowing out behind him.

"Come on," Lily said softly, slipping her hand around his waist, moving him forward. "Harry needs us now."

"Did you believe all of that?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, and no," she said, a small smile on her face. "I still don't really know how Harry got involved, but then again I guess Professor McGonagall said they thought Snape was after it, right?"

"Right."

"But that last part, it makes sense but I never read about anything like that before," she said softly.

"Not everything's in books though, Lils," he answered as they slowed down having reached Harry's bed.

"No, I guess it's not," Lily answered, leaning into James' chest.

He nestled his nose into her hair, breathing in her scent before he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Come on," she whispered as she stepped away from him and towards the chair that Remus has occupied earlier, while James mimicked her movement on the other side.

They sat there for a while in silence, observing their son's sleeping form like they had done many times over the years; taking in everything about him. They looked for a while at his bandaged hand and the new scrapes on his face, both stopping to gaze at his scar yet again before finally succumbing to sleep.

"Mum?" a small voice murmured in her ear.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, taking in the surroundings of the long glass windows and stonewalls; the white linen sheets and metal tables. Long, red locks of hair fell in her eyes as she made to sit upright, back aching from sitting on the hard wooden chair all through the night while her head rested on her son's bed, her hand not willingly leaving his. She looked up into the bright bottle green eyes that matched her own and saw that they were filled with worry as they had been on so few occasions that she could count.

"Hi sweetheart," she whispered, not wanting to wake her husband who was on the opposite side of Harry's bed, positioned just as she had been moments ago.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked quietly.

"You were gone, Harry, your father and I were scared out of our minds that something had happened to you, especially after what happened with Voldemort in the forest," Lily said quietly, brushing the hair away from the scar on his forehead. "We had to know that you were safe, darling."

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly, dropping eye contact and focusing on his bandaged hand instead. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's what we do," Lily shrugged, smiling a little.

"We thought that someone was going to steal it for him but no one would listen to us," Harry continued on. "We couldn't just let them do it, especially if we knew we could get to it first."

"And that was very, very brave of you, sweetheart," Lily said calmly, tears just escaping her eyes. "But you can't do things like this, Harry, it's just too dangerous. You could have been…hurt… hurt a lot worse."

Her soft sob after the last few words were just enough to arouse James.

"Hey champ," he said, looking at Harry. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," Harry said, smiling.

"You had us scared there for a bit," James said, rubbing Harry's shoulder out of comfort.

"I know," Harry responded, avoiding eye contact once again.

"Did you…?" James turned to ask Lily who nodded a 'yes' in response. "Alright, then. We're just glad you're ok, bud." James chuckled, ruffling Harry's hair. "You're a special kid, you know that, I'd hate to lose you to some giant chess pieces."

"James!" Lily protested, but she too gave into the jokes, making up some of her own that dealt with the various enchantments that Dumbledore listed for them earlier that morning.

The three Potter's settled down their laughter after a while once Madame Pomfrey had come over to scold them for getting Harry too worked up after the night he had had.

"Why don't you get some more rest, champ?" James said, patting the pillows for Harry to fall back onto.

"Don't send the kid back to bed when the party's just getting started there, Jamesy!" Sirius bellowed as he strutted into the hospital wing, food piled high in both hands.

"Eating the Hogwarts kitchen out already there mate?" James laughed.

"I'll let you know that those elves were thrilled to have me back," Sirius said settling down on the end of the bed. "So how's it all going here, you little troublemaker," he continued on, winking at Harry.

"I'd be much better if you weren't sitting on my foot," Harry said, as he yanked his foot out from beneath Sirius.

"Well what was it doing there?"

"Resting?" Harry said. "I was here first."

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Nope!"

"Dad!"

"Sirius, really?" Lily said, "You're the adult!"

"But Lils, I was there first!" Sirius yelled. "See over there," he said pointing to a spot on the wall. Lily and Remus who were nearest to it moved closer to look.

"You carved your name into the wall?" Lily asked, dumbfounded.

Remus, who had continued on along the wall yelled out to them. "Oi! Sirius! Did you deem it necessary to carve it into the wall behind every bed you ever stayed in while you were here?"

"Yes, yes I did," he said before yelling out once again. "HA! So you admit it! I was here first!"

"Give it a rest," James yelled, pushing his friend off of his son's bed.

Harry took in the scene around him, his head rolling back in laughter as Remus and James pushed Sirius around while his mother scolded them from his bedside.

He went silent though, once he saw Madame Pomfrey making her way back over.

"Drink this up, Mr. Potter," she said after pushing the parent's away and handing him the cup.

He swallowed the potion fast to avoid it staying on his tongue for a longer period than it needed to be. He handed the cup back to her, "When can I go back to Gryffindor tower? Will I be able to go to the feast tonight?"

She smiled down at him before she assessed his wrist once more. "I can release you this afternoon," she said, "as long as you rest for the rest of the day—no more excitement." She patted his pillows and tucked the sheets around him once again.

"So can we trust you to not die between today and tomorrow?" James joked as he ruffled his son's hair, handing him his other school shoe.

Harry sat on the edge of the hospital bed he had been resting in for the past two days. His Gryffindor sweater lying on the bed while his tie was hanging loosely around his neck. James watched as he tied his black laces together in thorough concentration, the same way he had always done since he and Lily and taught him when he was only a few years old.

Harry sat up, ready to reach for his sweater but James pulled him forward first, grabbing the tie from around his neck and slipping it on properly, crouching down to get at it from a decent angle.

"I can't believe I've sent you to a school with a tie as a part of the uniform for the past 5 years and yet you still can't tie one," James chuckled as he pulled the tie straight, making sure it wasn't too tight around Harry's neck.

"It's not my fault you didn't teach me," Harry joked back.

"And there is the Harry I know and love," James laughed, pulling Harry into a hug before he reached for the sweater. He opened it up for Harry to slide his arms through, and continued to make a funny face when Harry's head finally popped out of the hole at the top. "Oh there you are, I thought I lost you again!"

"Dad!" Harry groaned.

Lily laughed at her son, having made her way over from the matron's office. "Here you go Harry," she said, handing her son his Gryffindor cloak. He grabbed it quickly, tying it up around his neck quickly before grinning up at them both.

"Good to go?" James asked, clasping his son on his back before grabbing his wife's hand, leading his family out of the hospital wing.

Harry smiled at Madame Pomfrey, waving a goodbye before they departed, making their way towards the Great Hall.

"So you'll actually be there to pick me up tomorrow?" Harry turned around to ask his parents, who were walking behind him, hand in hand.

Lily stuck her tongue out at him before running and picking him up from behind, swirling him.

"Of course we will be there," she exclaimed, giggling before placing him back down. "We said we would be there and we will."

"I've heard that one before," Harry chimed back. "It ended with me having to get a cab from King's Cross!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," James said, joining in on the fun. "We'll be there ok? We'll just lock Sirius in the closet so we don't lose track of time again."

"Yes, because he is the only problem," Lily mocked.

"Hey!" James said, just as Harry high-fived his mom.

They walked for a while longer, stopping just before the stairs that would take Harry towards the Great Hall and the feast.

"We'll be right on the platform, ok?" Lily asked Harry who nodded in agreement. "So don't go wandering outside of it without us."

"Ok, ok," Harry said, having heard the speech quite a few times about not wandering off.

"You scared us doing that, Harry," Lily said, taking a more serious tone. "Please, just stay out of trouble until tomorrow, ok?"

"Well, I can't," Harry started but just said a simple 'ok' once he caught his father's warning glance.

"Harry!" the three Potters heard a voice yell from above them. They looked around, only to have their eyes land on a grinning Ron Weasley who was looking over the banister, Hermione standing right there with him.

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry exclaimed turning on the spot and running straight up the stairs, completely forgetting about saying goodbye to his parent's.

Lily and James watched from below as Harry embraced his two friends, asking immediately how they were feeling before the three of them departed to the Great Hall to finish their first year at Hogwarts.

"He'll be home tomorrow," Lily said, reassuring both James and her.

"Yes he will," James concluded before he and Lily headed out into the night.

*All recognizable J.K Rowling content is fully hers and I take no credit for it. Ok, so I know people will more than likely have my head for using Dumbledore's "love" thing as the reason as to why Harry still survived, and I am sure that holes can be poked in the logic I've used but I believe that it is necessary to do so. It's still Harry's strongest asset, especially now that he has grown up with the love of his parent's. I'm sorry if this does not live up to expectations, but I hope to do better with such scenes in the future. Whether you like it, or hate it, thank you for taking the time to read my story. I have some exciting thing's up my sleeve for the summer after Harry's first year, and lots more of James and Lily's anger for his second, but let's first start with summer vacation. Do I hear a road trip with Sirius, anyone?