Lord Voldemort, formerly known as Tom Marvolo Riddle junior, stepped away from the unconscious body of James Potter. He hoped to ask the man some questions once he woke again, but right now he had a more important task.
Lily Potter fell just as easy as her husband, forcing the Dark Lord to step over her unconscious form towards the crib, where the two babes lay. One of them was prophesized to vanquish him, but which? The elder twin, Daniel, had been born on July 31st at 11:55 pm. His spy had told him how the boy loved creating visions and specters that could keep him entertained for hours, oh yes he had that stupid rat collect some information that might clue him as to which of the twins would have to meet his demise, for he – Voldemort – did not condone unnecessary killings of children.
He threw another look at the older brother, Pettigrew had mentioned the boy's caring attitude. Despite his young age Daniel seemed to have a love for any and every living being, his connection to everything alive most likely derived from the forest elf blood the Potters were rumored to have. His looks matched such an assumption as he had inherited his mother's blazing red hair and forest green eyes, which filled with fear when Voldemort met their gaze. Daniel's magic was like a lighthouse, basking everything in white magic. Oh, yes Daniel James Potter had power, power enough to become a Light Lord when the time arrived but not enough power to truly be the one to defeat him.
So Voldemort turned to the younger sibling, Hadrian Zephyrus Potter, born on the 31st of July exactly a second before Midnight and the start of August 1st. He had inherited his father's unruly black hair and skin as pale as freshly fallen snow. The Rat had not been able to find out much about this twin because the boy avoided Pettigrew and became incredibly fussy when held by the rodent. Wormtail could only tell of one instance where he had been able to witness the boy use magic to float his brother to the ground when said brother had followed a butterfly over the edge of the balcony. They only knew it had been Hadrian's magic because the boy had been guiding the aiding wind – which had rescued his brother – with his little arms. Other cases of Hadrian showing accidental magic also included wind and sometimes even storms. However, they could not be confirmed by Pettigrew as he had not been there to witness them.
Voldemort took another look at the dark-haired boy, who had his face turned to his now quivering brother. Annoyed at being ignored – and knowing that his reaction was beyond childish – Voldemort clicked his tongue. Jade almond-shaped eyes snapped to him, giving him a look that – on a grown-up face – would have meant something between "Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me? Don't give me that crap!" and "Can't you see that I am busy with more important matters?". Shocked to receive such a dirty look from a child Voldemort forgot his irritation and simply stared some more. The babe's magic formed a protective cocoon around his elder sibling, dimming the blindingly light magic down into a perfect grey. Other swirls of magic brushed against the Dark Lord's, surprising him once more: The boy was dark, darker than black, darker than anything he had seen before. His aura was like a winter night and if you looked long enough you could see spots of light magic scattered over the boy's magical core like the stars across the sky.
Yes, this boy, not even a toddler yet, had the potential to defeat him. He looked into jade eyes. And he felt incredibly guilty for having to end this child's life before he even got a chance to live it. "You must know that I do not want to do this. Shedding magical blood is the worst crime possible in my eyes, especially if the magic is innocent, but I have to win this war. At any cost. So, please believe me when I say: I am sorry but I cannot risk my goals to let you live." And he felt like a liar. He knew that there had to be another way but it mattered not. Slowly he raised his wand setting it against Hadrian's forehead, jade eyes full of understanding resignation, or so it seemed to him.
"Avada Kedavra"
And the world went white.
"'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than to have never loved at all."
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Lily Potter woke up. It was no slow process but a sudden awakening. Bile rose in her throat, her stomach was cramping. She started coughing up not only her last meal but blood as well. After what seemed like hours, her body stopped shaking and finally let her have a breath. Nauseated she banished her stomach's contents and the blood, sinking to the ground. She lay there for a few short moments, gathering herself before she sat up again, looking around.
The room was in ruins. Broken wood and debris everywhere, it seemed like the roof had caved in, miraculously missing her and the crib. The crib! Voldemort! Her precious babies!
Her nausea must have been forgotten somewhere between "crib" and "Voldemort", because she jumped up, leaping towards the crib. There they were, both pairs of eyes looking up at her. Daniel's warm leaf green eyes were teary, he must have been terribly afraid. There was a cut that started on the back of his nose and ran over his cheek, another, much thinner cut started on the right side of Daniel's forehead, cutting his right eyebrow in half, running over his eyelid (where the cut had run over the eye the iris bled red) and continuing towards his jaw, meeting with the first cut right above the cheekbone.
There were several other, jaggy cuts across Daniel's face and neck, none of them were lethal or even life-threatening, all of them were on his right side. As an aspiring healer, Lily knew that most of them had come from a splintered curse, however, she also knew how to make them vanish. Soon enough, all cuts but the crossed ones on Daniel's face were gone. The thin-cut over the eye had been inserted with most of the dark curse, some of the foreign magic bleeding into the other cut that had been created by a wayward piece of wood. Unfortunately, she could not make the "X"-shaped scar on her son's face disappear, the dark magic being too strong for her to overcome. She could simply close the wounds and numb the pain.
Harry looked much calmer than Daniel. He sat to his brother's right. Lily stopped. She knew of the prophecy, though Dumbledore had been very vague about its content... If her gut instinct did not betray her, Voldemort had come tonight to kill one of her precious babies. The thought alone let her shudder, on a rational basis she may have even understood the Dark Lord's reasoning, but these were her babies, no one not even some all-powerful Dark Lord HURT! HER! BABY-BOYS! She grasped them both tightly, whispering assurances in their ears, telling them that this would never happen again. Never! Not on her watch, not ever!
Daniel tangled his chubby little fingers in her hair, slowly falling into sleep. Harry stayed awake, looking at her with turquoise eyes that slowly dimmed to jade again. Lily took a blanket from the crib, wrapping Daniel in it, and sat him into her lap. She took Harry up by the armpits looking at him. He had sat at his brother's right side, the side the curse splinters had come from. A bleeding cut, brimming with dark magic – and something else, something even more dangerous – was on his forehead, covered by his unruly fringe. With great care, as to not hurt her baby, she brushed the dark bangs aside, revealing a lightning bolt-shaped wound on her younger son's forehead. Or at least, that was what most amateurs would have thought. Lily however had graduated at the top of her "Ancient-Runes" class and knew that the cut was not a lightning bolt, but a "Sigel" or "Sol" rune, a rune that usually meant "s". The rune itself had been abused by the Germans during Hitler's regime. But originally it symbolised "victory". A small smile grazed the witch's features. Her little boy had been faced with He-who-must-not-be-named and won. Not only that, he still must have had enough magic left to protect her and Daniel from the crashing roof. A sad look overtook her features, Harry had even tried to warn them about Peter's betrayal...
She closed the cut, leaving a nasty scar, she would have to let the goblins take a look at that later on. Harry still stared at her, in that steady way of his. Lily pressed her nose into his hair that always exuded the scent of air after a long rainfall. Or the smell of a crisp, starry winter night. Clean and pure. "I am proud of you!" She whispered into his hair, knowing he could understand her, he always could, "And no matter what happens in the next few days, know that I will always love you. Always!"
At this point, James and Dumbledore burst in. Lily only needed to take one look at James to know something was fundamentally wrong. But what was it?
"Lily, my girl, what happened?" Dumbledore asked in his usual grandfatherly tone, the tone she knew to be fake for years now. Still, as long as she did not know what exactly was going on, she better pretended to be as clueless as he portrayed himself to be, it would help her figure out his true intentions (And no, that was not a Slytherin tactic, Sev!).
"I don't know really. I saw Voldemort raise his wand and in the next moment I wake up with him gone, the room in ruins and my two babies covered in cuts." At that James gasped "Is Daniel alright?"
Why would he ask about Daniel first? Lily wondered. While she knew that James loved both of the twins dearly, he had this soft spot for Harry, who was younger and more of fragile health than Daniel, causing James to go all out into over-protective-father-mode whenever he was concerned. So that was what had been wrong. Dumbledore – because who else would it be? – must have placed some sort of mind-manipulation on her husband, for whatever reason.
"Yes. They are both alright..." Lily let her voice fade when Dumbledore stepped into her personal space, analyzing the twins.
"I think it is safe to say that Daniel was the one to save us all, look, he has these horrible markings and his magic shines brighter than the summer sun. Hadrian however is riddled with dark magic, probably residue from the curse that rebounded off of Daniel. His magical core must not have been strong enough to overcome the little rest of Voldemort's magic." Lily snorted internally, so that was his plan, make them believe Harry was a squib and that Daniel was their only child to deserve attention. And his reasoning? Did the man even listen to himself?
"So Harry's a squib?" James asked. Yup, he was under mind-control alright. Her James would not say something like this, especially about his youngest son or any of his two sons whom he both adored beyond anything.
"I am afraid so, we should just relieve him by sealing the rest of the little magic he has-" Lily cleared her throat, instantly gaining their attention. Well, then Lily, now or never: "Maybe it's just because of the emotional trauma of being face to face with the You-Know-Who that Harry is like this. Would it not be more prudent for us to send him away to a suitable location and if he shows accidental magic we collect him on his 11th birthday and reintroduce him to the wizarding world? That way he would also not have to grow up jealous of Daniel's fame, I mean, he will be famous, won't he? He just saved the world from V-Voldemort!" Oh, dear mother magic, the reasoning that had sounded beyond stupid in her head sounded even more stupid spoken out loud. But the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes told her how delighted the man was by her idea.
"Of course, I think your sister's family would make a wonderful place for him to grow up." Lily smiled gratefully but on the inside, she was burning with rage, with fury. Dumbledore was trying to make sure Harry grew up abused. She knew that the elderly man thought that abuse would make children meek and mouldable, how wrong he was! Her angry side started cackling in glee, oh no, abused children were far from meek and mouldable. They were cunning, sneaky, and very good at reading people, they did not trust easily and were extremely ambitious, resourceful, and scheming, mainly to make sure that they stayed as far away from their tormentors as possible.
"Can I..." Lily made her voice break "Can I say good-bye to him? So we can bring him to Petunia's tomorrow? Just for this night?" She tried to look as pitiable as possible – which was not overly hard to do, she still was covered in sawdust and glass shards. Dumbledore's twinkle dimmed a bit but he still agreed and left the room with James.
James, who was still under the influence of whatever brain-washing method the old goat had used. Lily turned to Harry. "I know you heard what I said. I am sorry, love, this must sound ridiculous to your ears. First I claim to love you, then I propose to give you away. But you have to know: Dumbledore is a very bad man and he will stop at nothing until the magical world is under his control. He probably wants Daniel to get killed by Voldemort and then defeat that sneaky bastard. And then he will try to form you into the new Dark Lord, so when the time comes he can defeat you and the ones after you. That is the way he will slowly take over our world, my darling. So if there is any chance of me preventing that, I have to take it. And my best bet right now is to get you away from him as far as possible, without him realizing it. Petunia will be horrible, no, worse than that. She will call you disgusting things and her husband and son will insult you, maybe even beat you. But I cannot come with you, for I love James as well. I love him so much it sometimes confuses even me, because he was so horrible in his youth. But now he changed, heck he even apologized to Severus and he is just so... I love him. And while I love you too, I wish to stay with James, because I hope to be able to help him here."
She started crying at that. How could she tell her child that his father was more important? A small cold hand reached out to streak her cheek. Jade's eyes told of understanding and agreement. Lily smiled through her tears. Of course. Harry could understand her, he always could, and although he sometimes disapproved of her decisions, he respected them. He understood. How much this tore her apart, how much she wanted nothing more than to flee with her kids. But he also knew how much she needed to stay with their father. Lily cried even more at that. Through her tears, she continued: "So I want you two to remember two things: You will not die, for you have something they have not: Magic. Magic is your friend, Harry, if you ask it will help you. And the second thing is: I love you. And James loves you too, he just doesn't know that anymore because Dumbledore used evil – not dark, mind you, but evil – curses on him. But we both will love you, always. So if anything indicates something different, know that it is not us talking but Dumbledore's evil sorcery." She kissed his forehead, right above the scar, hoping to soothe the incredible pain her child must be in.
That way she sat with her boys until the morning, gently rocking them, telling them over and over how much she loved them both.