Epilogue, Pt. I: October 31, 1981
"James, is that...?" Lily furrowed her brow as a cloaked figure came into view in their front yard.
James sucked in a breath and moved back, letting the curtain cover over the window once more. "Yeah, I would bet that's our good friend Voldemort."
"How did he find us?" Lily cried angrily.
"I don't know," James chuckled darkly. "We should have listened to Albus and made him our secret keeper. When the greatest wizard of all time is worried, we should have probably felt the same."
"How would anyone have found out who we chose? In all of our correspondence, we made sure to say Sirius was our Secret Keeper in case anything was intercepted!" Lily exclaimed. "We didn't mention Peter at all!"
"Oh, Merlin." James closed his eyes. "Everyone is going to think Sirius betrayed us, and they'll use all of our letters as evidence."
"I'm more concerned about why Peter betrayed us!" Lily growled. "That makes no sense!"
"It does make sense when you think about it," James mused. "Voldemort probably got to him, and Petey's too weak to say no." His eyes widened. "Hell, do you think that's how they found us at my parents' funeral?"
"I'd say that's likely," Lily muttered. "God, I'll kill him."
"Lily, I don't know if we'll have the chance," James admitted grimly. "I'll do my best to hold him off, but you and Harry need to go."
"James, we're not leaving you!"
He took hold of her arms and kissed her as hard as he could. "Yes, Lily. You are. I'll keep him occupied, and then you and Harry can get away. Get to the Manor, if you can. That way, if he injures me, you can get help for whatever the injuries do to you."
Lily's heart squeezed as she recognized the reality of their situation. "Where's your wand?" she whispered. "I'll go, but you need your wand."
James felt the pockets of his trousers and laughed. "Shit. It must be in the garden. I left it there after playing with Harry."
"I'll go and get it, then!" Lily said. She took Harry out of his playpen. "You can't fight Voldemort without your wand."
"Lily, I think I have to," James replied. He stroked Harry's cheek. "Take care of your Mum for me, Harry."
"James," Lily protested, "don't say that!"
"I love you, Lil," James declared. "Now, go."
James heard Lily crying as she ran up the stairs—presumably to retrieve her own wand—and sighed. All he could do was hope that he could give his child and wife enough time to get away.
"Hello, Potter," Voldemort murmured as he opened the door. "I'm presuming you're foolish enough to think you can best me in a duel?"
"If only," James muttered, and without a second thought, he lunged at Voldemort, intent on punching the snake-like face.
Voldemort laughed, stepped aside, and said, "Avada Kedavra."
From the carpet, James looked up to see the green light come towards him, and then he knew no more.
Lily calmly set Harry down in his cot. She couldn't find her own wand—she would bet that Harry had carried it somewhere—and there was no way she would be able to get herself and Harry down to the Apparition point to get to Minerva's manor. Her best bet now was to barricade the door with Harry's toys, and then beg for his life.
She knew she would die, but she would do what she could for her son.
"Mama loves you, Harry," Lily whispered. She stroked his cheek, stood, and turned to face the door. She knew she otherwise wouldn't have the strength to do what she needed to do.
When she heard footsteps approaching, she picked up one of Harry's wooden toys, and chucked it where she presumed Voldemort's head would be.
"How juvenile," Voldemort whispered, catching the toy in his hand and easily sidestepping the puzzle blocks she had laid before the door, "to think you can wound me with a mere child's toy."
"Well, your hand is bleeding," Lily muttered, nodding at where Voldemort had caught the toy. She raised her voice, pleading, "Please, leave Harry alone."
Voldemort shook his head. "Step aside, girl, and you'll be spared."
"I'm not going to step aside and let you harm my son!" Lily yelled. "Please!"
"Stand aside!"
"No!" Lily moved to try and shove Voldemort, but she thought better of it. She wanted to stay between Harry and Voldemort for as long as she could. "Please. Think about what you're doing—this is a baby. Please don't take his parents away from him! Please, don't make an orphan out of him!"
Something hardened in Voldemort's eyes at that last request. "You have one chance, girl."
Swallowing her tears roughly, Lily shook her head. "I'm not moving."
"Pity," Voldemort drawled. "Severus was so fond of you. Avada Kedavra!"
Lily opened her eyes to find herself watching the room she had only just died in.
"What the hell?" Lily murmured. She patted her arms and chest and realized she felt oddly solid. "What happened? Didn't I die?"
"Hey, Lil," James' voice whispered sadly from behind her. "Yeah, you did die. I saw it happen."
Lily blinked back tears. "Are we meant to just be stuck here?" she asked bitterly. "I have no desire to watch him murder Harry."
"Maybe we're meant to wait here for our baby," James responded softly. "Let's just watch, hmm?"
Lily looked through her fingers as Voldemort cast the killing curse at her son.
"Woah!" James exclaimed. The curse appeared to fall upon Harry's skin before rebounding back towards Voldemort in a flash of green. "Holy shit, Lil, look! He's alive!"
Lily reached back for her husband's hand as Voldemort's essence seemed to flee the room. "James, what just happened?"
Before he could answer, their hands met; with that action, they were both ensconced in memories.
The couple watched their lives in reverse.
Harry's birth.
Their wedding.
Their time at Hogwarts.
Then, the picture grew fuzzy as they watched themselves, slightly different in appearance, stand in a Ministry office and disappear.
James and Lily then watched the lives of Athena Dumbledore-Williams and Dalton Scrimgeour until the truth of the matter settled in their minds.
"Oh, my." Lily looked at James. "I'm...Athena?" Her hand flew to her mouth. "I didn't remember any of that until just now. Did you?"
"No!" James moaned, remembering his life as Dalton Scrimgeour. "I told Ma we were leaving our original timeline to be safer. She is going to kill me when I see her next!"
"You've got that right." Someone new chuckled behind them. "But I highly doubt it'll be effective, seeing as you're already dead."
James turned, his eyes widening as he realized who had joined them. "Wait, Dad? Is that you?"
Aidan Scrimgeour smiled. "Yeah, it is. Come here, Dalton. I refuse to call you James. Same with you, Athena."
James—Dalton—laughed and hugged his father tightly. "I can't believe you're here."
"I can't believe you're here," Aidan admonished gently. "I've been watching you, you know. I really couldn't believe it when you completely abandoned your mother and changed timelines, but I suppose children often have a way of surprising their parents."
"What about Harry?" Lily—Athena—asked, panicked. "We can't just leave him there! Who knows how many Death Eaters might be coming after him now?"
Aidan scoffed. "Do you think Minerva is going to let any harm come to Harry?"
"Not intentionally, no," Athena whispered, "but I do wonder about what our deaths will do to her and my dad. They knew it was us this whole time, didn't they?"
Aidan nodded sadly. "They did."
Athena closed her eyes. "We caused them such pain when we left, and all we did was cause them more heartache. Merlin, and when they find out what happened to us..." She trailed off and burrowed her face into Dalton's sweater.
"So, is there anyone else worth here worth seeing?" Dalton asked hesitantly over his wife's head. "I'm not sure I'll be able to spend eternity with only you two for company as we watch the world we left behind."
"I'd suggest watching minimally," Aidan advised. "Trust me. It is not helpful to watch the people you love make decisions you don't like."
Athena winced. "Like Min marrying my dad, you mean?"
Aidan sighed. "That's a complicated one, Athena. It hurt, of course, but I would never want Min to be unhappy. And I like to think I knew her well enough to know that her love for me was real, despite her bond to Albus."
"So they were bonded!" Athena said triumphantly. "I knew it!"
"The difficult part about existing here," Aidan continued, ignoring his son's disgusted face, "is realizing that we will forever be the same, and the people we love will change as the world moves. It's as simple—and as painful—as that."
Athena bit her lip. "Can we see other people, Aidan? Like my mum? And my adoptive father?"
Aidan laughed. "Yes, of course. Lucy is here, as well as your Aunt Diana, Dalton. You never met her, but she's a great person." Aidan paused and softened his tone. "And Athena—I think your dad would like it if you met his sister."
"Aunt Ariana?" Athena gasped. "That would be lovely. I would love to finally meet her."
"Then shall we go?" Aidan asked. He smiled knowingly. "You'll be able to watch Harry whenever you want, but it won't do him any good to stay here."
"Where is here?" Dalton asked.
"I don't know, son," Aidan sighed. "But if we stay here, we're stuck watching only this room forever. If we leave, you can reunite with family, and you can watch the world whenever you want. But again—I'd caution against exercising that privilege too often."
Athena whimpered. "Shouldn't we wait to see if Harry is picked up?"
"When has Minerva ever let you down?" Aidan asked. "She'll take care of him. I have no doubt about that. I've watched her more than I should have these past few months. Minerva and Albus are very excited grandparents."
Athena nodded. "Right. Wait, Aidan? Is...is our baby Aidan here?" Tears sprung to her eyes. "I can't believe I didn't immediately think of him!"
"He's here," Aidan said quietly. "I've been looking after him since he arrived. He's still a baby, of course, but you can see him. Just follow me."
Aidan turned and walked away, trusting Athena and Dalton to follow.
"Ready?" Dalton asked, extending his hand.
Athena took one last look at Harry and wished with all her might that Minerva would find him and keep him safe.
"Ready."
She took her husband's hand, and followed her father-in-law into the unknown.
A/N: Only one more chapter left...
