A/N: Hey everyone. I'll be releasing chapter 1 of the story tomorrow, once this story has been catalogued. Be on the lookout for that. FFN website is a bit slow at times so I don't want to mess anything up.
Full explanation of what's going on will be in the latest Each Other's Hero chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any works by J.K Rowling.
Prologue
The Dark Night of October 31, 1981 - Lily
Children can be quite a nuisance. Some people consider them to be devils, a scourge that provides nothing and takes away everything. Their time. Their energy. And their commitment. Children, to them, only caused problems.
Lily Potter was one of those people. She absolutely hated children. Lily swore up and down that she would never carry a child, let alone James Potter's child!
But sometime in the future, she realized that breaking that promise was the best thing that she did in her entire life.
Well, she didn't exactly break the entire promise.
Because she didn't carry James Potter's child. She carried James Potter's children.
A year ago, she gave birth to two of the most beautiful baby boys she's ever seen.
Hadrian James Potter was born first. An odd baby when he came out, for he was absolutely quiet. Not even a little yelp. His emerald green eyes just stared back as he looked out inquisitively.
Jamie James Potter was a different story altogether. He came out screaming and kicking, taking quite a time until he was finally calmed down.
Lily rolled her eyes at the memory. She was currently tucking her children into their crib, magically enlarged enough to fit the both of them. Staring at the face of Jamie, she scrunched up her nose when she remembered the conversation between her and James.
"Jamie! His name is going to be Jamie."
"Honey…don't you think Jamie James Potter is a bit of a mouthful?"
"We agreed that we wouldn't name one of them James before, so Jamie is going to be the closest thing!"
"James is already in their middle names!"
"You already got naming rights for our girls, Lily!"
Lily had to bite her tongue when they found out they were having twins. Her husband technically was not wrong as they had agreed beforehand that she would name any girls they had while he would the boys. In hindsight, she should've known not to be optimistic that she would have a daughter first.
A groan had escaped her lips as she continued further down the memories. Lily had hoped that it would be some time before they had their next child. In that time between, she had hoped that she would be able to convince her husband of a different name.
"No matter," Lily thought as she stared down at her sons. "I love Jamie just the same. Both of them are my children."
'Crash!'
Lily was immediately shaken out of her thoughts when she heard a loud noise coming from outside.
"What could James be up to?" she frowned. "The marauders shouldn't be here until tomorrow evening."
Letting out a sigh, she shouted, "Tilly!"
The sound of a pop emanated in the room to reveal a small house elf.
"What does yous need, mistress?" Tilly the house elf asked.
"Can you watch the boys? Make sure they don't roll away and all that."
Nodding, Tilly went to keep a close watch over the sleeping children.
With a sound mind, Lily left their room and casted a silencing charm, hoping that any more noise wouldn't reach their ears to wake them up.
Lily smiled when she saw the magically flashing golden words on the door as it shut.
"Our Precious Hadrian & Jamie's Room," Lily read, giggling. "My boys are indeed precious!"
She turned away and made her way downstairs, being extra cautious just in case she got caught between one of their silly pranks.
"Boys and their stupid…" Lily muttered but stopped when she saw the scene downstairs.
"...pranks…?"
The image of a James Potter clutching his bleeding shoulder leaned up against the wall was definitely not of the laughing nature.
"James?"
The man's eyes lit up in panic when he noticed her standing frozen stiff at the foot of the stairs. "Lily! Take the children! Get them away from here! I'll hold them off!" James ordered.
Lily just stared at him, processing her husband's appearance. Besides the gash on his shoulder, cuts and bruises covered his entire body. His robes were tattered, almost as if a wild animal attacked him.
But Lily knew that wasn't the case. "Is it him? Did he find us?" she asked frightfully.
"Yes."
His answer confirmed it, sending a shiver up her spine.
He was coming. The man that the entire wizarding world feared.
And he was going to kill them.
"-ILY"
Lily blinked. Her husband's face was mere inches from her own. She suddenly felt his hands on her shoulder as he seemed to be trying to snap her out of her stupor.
"Get the children out of here!" James repeated.
Finally moving, Lily nodded and took off for the stairs. Unwilling to look back, all Lily could hear was the loud sound of something close to the sound of something breaking and her husband shouting.
Slamming the door to her children's room open, she came in to find that they were still fast asleep due to the charm she had casted. The house elf shot up in surprise when she saw the look on her mistress' face.
"Take us out of here!" Lily ordered, marching over towards her children.
Tilly hesitated for a second before shaking her head. "Tilly can't, mistress. The wards mistress puts up only let's Tilly take herself."
Lily cursed in frustration at the double-edged sword. If they couldn't leave, they would need to call the only man who could stop him. "Then call for Dumbledore! Hurry!"
With a pop, the elf was gone. Lily prepared to get her boys away as far as she could - even if she had to go on foot.
Debating how to carry the two of them at the same time, Lily mentally slapped herself when she remembered that she was a witch and reached for her wand.
"Step aside, girl."
Lily froze.
The voice behind her was frighteningly cold, almost as if it had just had a walk with death itself. The words it spoke were clear.
Too clear.
Lily slowly turned around to find herself face to face with a hooded man, his robes pitch black. His face was obscured in darkness, but a hint of a reptilian-like mouth and nose was slightly revealed.
The idea that he had a walk with death didn't seem too far-fetched after all.
"Please."
The word, barely a whisper as Lily knelt down to plead for her children's life.
"Take me! Take me instead!" her hoarse voice begged.
The last thing that Lily Potter heard was a disgusted sneer and the words that would kill her.
A green light enveloped the room.
"Avada Kedavra."
