Prologue

October 31st 1981 might have been the first horrible day in Harry Potters life; but it definitely was not the last.

Halloween morning 1981 started out normally enough for the small family of three. Lily Potter awoke before her husband James, put on her fluffy red robe and walked the short distance between their room and her 15 month old sons nursery. Harry was always a sweet boy in the mornings so Lily wasn't surprised to see her bundle of joy smiling up at her with his big green eyes; cooing softly as she reached into his crib to pick him up and get him dressed for the day.

Lily dressed her young son in purple and black stripped overalls with a soft orange onesie underneath in honor of the small Halloween celebration the three of them would have that day. Harry giggled at his young mother as she tried in vain to get his unruly black hair combed down enough that it didn't look like a pack of mice were using it as their home. It didn't work but the giggles and smiles that her little angel gave her was worth the messy hair. It wasn't like they would have any guests show up today, no one but Albus Dumbledore and Peter Pettigrew knew where they lived anyway.

The hiding and the fear that came with it was taking a toll on the two 21 year old parents. James was having a harder time adjusting to the change than Lily was. He missed his friends dearly. He missed watching his 'brother' Sirius chase Harry around as a big black shaggy dog. He missed hearing Moony laugh over a warm cup of coco while they sat by the fire. He missed the wizarding world and pubs and even just walks in the park with his beautiful wife.

James was just laying in bed not ready to face the day, until he heard the most wonderful of sounds. His little boy giggling uncontrollably and his Lily joining in. The laughter was enough to kick James' melancholy thoughts out of his head and get him out of bed.

The day went smoothly for the Potters. A healthy breakfast of banana pancakes and apple cider followed by James chasing after Harry when the tot took off on his broom; flying all around the first floor of the cottage. Lunch came and passed with lots of sweets in between meals and pictures being taken to celebrate the holiday. After dinner, the two parents were giving Harry a bath, making the water do little tricks with their wands before drying him off with a yellow towel with a lions head hood. They dressed him in an orange onesie covered in little black bats before heading down to the kitchen for a glass of hot coco before they got Harry to sleep.

Sadly for them, they never got a chance to drink that last hot coco. James heard something before Lily did and he knew almost immediately what was coming. He knew that at least one of them wasn't going to survive the night and he knew it had to be him. Harry needed his mother and James could not go on without Lily. He screamed at her to run, knowing that any second the door to their cottage would bust open. And he was right. Just as Lily turned to go up the stairs, the door fell and The Dark Lord Voldemort walked in.

James didn't have his wand, it was left in the upstairs bathroom where just a few minutes ago he made his last good memory with his son. He knew even with a wand he wasn't a match for the wizard in front of him. He heard Lily slam a door and knew his death was inevitable. James tried blocking the stairs but was hit with a flash of green light.

Lily and Harry were in the boys nursery, Harry was wailing louder than he ever had before and Lily knew that James was dead. Lily reached for her wand to apparate but cursed herself when she remembered it was left by the tub. She didn't have time to dwell on that because as she set Harry down in his crib the door to the room blasted open. She screamed and begged and pleaded for Voldemort to leave her son alone and kill her instead. She was sobbing and screaming, her voice breaking from the strain on her vocal cords. But in the end Voldemort killed her quickly and walked up to the shrieking child in the crib. Eyes red and puffy from all his crying, drool and snot covering the lower half of his face. The Dark Lord stared at the child for a moment before lifting his wand and casting the same killing curse he had used on the boys parents.

The blow back of the curse surprised Voldemort before it nearly killed him. It destroyed most of the second floor of the house and did not kill the child in the crib. Instead, it vaporized the body of Lord Voldemort and left a peculiar scar on the last surviving Potter.

Severus Snape was the first person to get to the Potters cottage that night. He was with the Dark Lord when the slimy rat of a man, Pettigrew, had told his Lord where they were hiding. He had an idea in his head of what the scene would look like but it wasn't nearly as bad as what he found. The cottage looked like a grenade had gone off, the walls upstairs were blown out and the doors blasted to pieces. He heard a screaming baby and took his first steps to the ruined front door. The first thing he saw was a camera; lens busted but otherwise looking to be in repairable conditions. He snatched it up off the floor and placed it in his inner pocket before making his way up the stairs. He stepped over James Potters dead body and grimaced, knowing in the back of his head that he would find Lily the same way.

Severus was right. As soon as he walked into the room with the screaming child he dropped to his knees sobbing. Right in front of the crib was Lily's body, looking so peaceful and still. He crawled to her, lifted her into his arms and sobbed. Forgetting about the child that was traumatized in the crib.

The screaming coming from Harry snapped Severus out of his haze, making the young man stand up and reach down into the crib to grab the boy. He didn't dare look at the childs face knowing that he had Lily's bright green eyes. Instead he held the boy to his chest and swayed lightly trying to comfort the child. Severus never liked children even when he was a child himself. Lily was the only exception, and he supposed for the time being; her son could be the next exception. He wasn't heartless enough to just watch him cry and suffer alone. He stroked the baby's back lightly as he faced the blown out wall keeping his back to Lily not wanting to gaze upon the body of the only woman he had loved.

He didn't know how long he was standing there holding the boy but it was long enough that Harry settled down from his screaming and was now just sniffling softly as he clutched on to Severus' black robes. Not long after Harry quieted down, Albus Dumbledore apparated directly into the ruined nursery. As soon as Severus saw the man he thrust the child into his wrinkly hands and apparated away without uttering a single word.

Dumbledore knew that the half giant half wizard, Rubeus Hagrid would arrive shortly to take young Harry Potter to live with his mothers sister Petunia and her family in the muggle world before reintroducing him to the wizarding world when he turned eleven.

Or so he thought.