Hero's Heart

Caina

Rating: G
Genres: Angst, Drama
Relationships: Lily & James
Book: Lily & James, Books 1 - 4
Published: 06/05/2004
Last Updated: 06/05/2004
Status: completed

Hero's Heart is a tribute to the bravery and courage of Lily Potter. She is an unsung hero in this story, and I wanted to give her some credit for the defeat of Lord Voldemort, and the survival of her son Harry. Here's to you Lily. We'll always love you.

Chapters

1. Hero

1. Hero

Hero’s Heart

Disclaimer: This story is based upon Harry Potter, which was created by JK Rowling. I do not claim to own her characters or to have taken part in creating anything in her original series. This is merely a fan fiction based on her work.

Lily Potter took a seat at the kitchen table of the apartment she and her husband James had moved into barely two weeks before. At the moment, James was bouncing their twelve month old son, Harry, on his knee. She smiled as she watched the boy. He was growing so fast, and his rosy, chubby cheeks were puffed up with a smile. He waved at her and she waved back, but her attention was drawn to the forced happiness on her husbands face.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I just spoke with Professor Dumbledore," James said. Lily noted that, like herself, James hadn't gotten acustomed to the idea of calling their old Headmaster by his first or last name, as he had once requested of them. They still referred to him as Professor Dumbledore.

"And?" she pressed.

James' face became flat, as it always did when he was about to deliver bad news. He'd worn the same look on his face when he came to tell her that her sister Petunia had declined her invitation to their wedding. He'd had the same look on his face the day he'd told her about her parents' death in a car accident barely two months after their marriage. He'd worn the same look on his face on the all too frequent occasions he'd received word from a colleague in the Order of the Phoenix that they'd lost another soldier in the battle against Voldemort.

"It's him, isn't it?" Lily said, wishing he'd just look at her and give her the news straight.

"Voldemort has given direct orders to his Death Eaters to locate us and kill us. All three of us."

Her eyes went to Harry, and then her mind went to the prophecy Dumbledore had told her and James about. Voldemort wanted them all to die because of a half heard prophecy that may or may not be about Harry. For all they knew, Sybil Trelawney had been speaking of Alice and Frank Longbottom's son, Neville.

She tried to stay calm. She tried to swallow the hurt and anger as she realized that her family was in danger yet again. Voldemort had targeted them before, but at that time they hadn't had a son to worry about. "I thought he wanted to do the deed himself."

"He's changed his mind. He's given his Death Eaters permission to kill us if they find us before he does. There's more...He has a lead on our location again."

"How?" Lily asked, frustration welling up inside her. She was tired of the fighting, of the fear. She was tired of never knowing if an attack would come as soon as she relaxed and experienced a moment of happiness. "How did he find us so quickly?"

She could see James shared in her frustration. "Someone is telling him where we are. We have a traitor in our midst."

"Peter?" Lily asked, going with her gut instinct, but James shook his head immediately.

"I doubt it. He's too weak to approach Voldemort with an offer of alliance."

"He's always ingratiated himself to the most powerful person he was in contact with," Lily said. "When we were in school it was you and Sirius. If he thinks Voldemort will ultimately take over the world, what makes you think he wouldn't-"

"Lily!" James blanched, immediately regretting raising his voice to his wife. Harry was now looking at him with wide, frightful eyes. "I'm sorry."

Lily wasn't as quick to forgive. Everything had been bottled up inside her for far too long. "It's a good thing we didn't unpack everything," Lily said hotly. "We can just conjure everything to the next safe house."

“Lily, please. I’m sorry…” he repeated.

She sighed as Harry looked from his father to his mother with, his chubby face full of fright. He was too young to understand that his parents were people with fears just like he was. He'd started to pucker his lips to cry, but she kissed him and smiled and spoke softly to him until he was smiling again.

She searched her heart, knowing almost word for word the conversation she and James were about to have. It was always the same after they knew they would have to move. “I know you trust Sirius. So do I. That leaves…”

“Remus.” James shook his head. “It makes since, doesn't it? He’s been keeping his distance lately hasn’t he? We never see him, or really know what he's up to. And I hate to say it but…he is a werewolf. Maybe its his nature to turn.”

James put Harry in the play pen and began to pace. He ran his large hands through his perpetually untidy hair as he tried to sort things out. Maybe, they had always said, if they could figure out who was feeding Voldemort information, they could finally find some peace and raise their son like a normal family.

“Sirius would never betray us. He’s like a brother to me.” This time something was different about James as he spoke. It almost seemed as if he were trying to convince himself that Sirius was innocent, as much as he was trying to convince Lily.

“I know Sirius wouldn’t betray us James.”

She stood and went over to him. Harry gurgled happily in his play pen and chewed on a rattle. She wrapped her arms around James’ neck as he said “Maybe it is Remus, or Peter. For all we know anymore, it could be Frank or Alice.”

“Not them. They're in just as much danger as we are."

"They have a son to think about too," Lily said. "That may be incentive enough for them to betray us."

"They’re trustworthy,” James said firmly. He was such a believer in the good in all people. It was one of the things she really loved about him, but she could see he was becoming cynical. Even when he took up for someone, as he had for Sirius or the Longbottoms, he sounded as if he were speaking by rote instead of from a true belief in their innocence.

“We’re going to be alright Lily. We will.”

But she was shaking her head no. “No, we won’t.”

“Don’t talk like that. We have to stay positive.”

He held her close as she thought about how she should phrase her next words. “I had a dream last night. A dream.”

James frowned. “One of your special ones?”

By special James meant one of her dreams that comes true. She rarely had them, but when she did, they always came to pass. Always. “Yes.”

“What happened?” His handsome face was pinched with worry. Having Lily tell you of a dream was like receiving a promise from Dumbledore. You could trust it to be real, and true.

“There was a young man in a graveyard. At first I thought I saw you, standing over my grave, but then I saw your name on the headstone next to mine, and I knew that it was Harry." She stopped, remembering with startling clarity her sons face. The saddness in his eyes, the slump in his shoulders. Her voice began to waver, but she pressed on. "He was young, about seventeen. He had a scar on his forehead, and I remember his eyes...They were green, like mine. He was wearing Hogwarts robes with the Gryffindor crest, and he had a Golden Snitch in his right hand. I heard him speak. He said...He said…”

Tears welled spilled down her face. “What did he say?” James choked out.

“He said he wished we could have been there to see him grow up. He wished we could be there to help him face…Voldemort.” She began to weep uncontrollably. James didn’t try to stop her, as he usually did, but he let her cry it out. She felt his tears fall into her hair, and his body shook with suppressed weeping. It was understandable. Lily had just handed him a death sentence.

She was barely understandable as she sobbed “Oh God James, we’re not going to be there! Harry’s going to grow up without us, and he’s going to have to face Voldemort…alone.”

Harry began to cry at the unsettling sight of his parents weeping, but James and Lily were holding on to one another so tight. They didn’t make a move other than to force their emotions under control.

“Are you sure it wasn’t a nightmare?” James asked. He sounded as desperate as she felt.

“No. It was one of my visions. Well I’m not going to allow Harry to face Voldemort alone. I’m going to find a way to..do something.”

“Like what? If this was a real vision then we're going to die. There's nothing we can do.”

Lily was at a loss for words until she saw the image of Harry in her mind again. Like a zoom effect she saw in the Muggle movies her sister Petunia had loved to watch as they grew up, she saw the scar on Harry’s head.

A scar…And green eyes, like hers...

An idea came to her then, and she pulled free from James. She went to the door where her cloak hung. James asked “Where are you going?”

She put on her cloak and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Hogwarts.”

James looked incredulous. ”We have to leave. Sirius is coming over. He’ll Apparate at any moment.”

“Then go with him. Send an owl to the school if something happens. I expect I will be there, all night. I'll be In the library.”

“Lily, what are you going to do?”

She looked at Harry, who was now holding on to James, still crying. “I’m going to give our boy a fighting chance.”

She grabbed her wand from the shelf beside the door and with an almost inaudible pop (James couldn’t figure out how she Apparated so quietly) Lily was gone.

~~~~~

It had only been four years since she’d left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but it still felt like home to Lily. She had Apparated just outside of the main gate, and now she walked forward, over the grounds and toward the main entrance. Students went about their business, some of them she even recognized from her days at school.

As she made her way toward the library, she noted mentally that nothing about the place had changed. Professor Flitwick caught sight of her and waved cheerfully. She mechanically returned his wave, but didn’t dare stop to chat. She had a sense of urgency that was overwhelming her. She had to find the books of old magic, which were located in the restricted section.

Well, they had been restricted to students, but teachers and alumni were allowed into the area. Not that those rules had ever stopped the Marauders from perusing the pages of those books, herself included.

She quickly found the section she was looking for. There were at least sixty volumes on ancient protective spells and charms alone. She took out her wand and levitated them off the shelf, but she gave a gasp of surprise when she turned and found the aisle blocked by Professor Dumbledore. Had he seen her come in? How had he known so quickly she was there?

He smiled and said “Good morning, Lily. It is so good to see you again. I trust you and James and Harry are well?”

From the tone of his voice, they’d met by chance while doing some light shopping in Diagon Alley, instead of the restricted section of the Hogwarts library.

“No, Professor,” Lily said shortly. “We are not well. We are not well at all.”

She started forward without asking him to excuse her. Dumbledore seemed to almost glide backwards, out of her way, and she noted gratefully that he was completely unoffended by her candor.

She swished her wand and all sixty or so volumes piled neatly on one of the larger tables in the area. Dumbledore read their spines aloud. “Defensive Spells of the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Charms of Pure Charity. Self Sacrifice: The Most Powerful Magic in the Known World. Love: The Sword and Shield of White Magic. Well, this ought to keep you busy for weeks.”

“We don't have weeks, Professor,” Lily said. She grabbed Love: The Sword and Shield of White Magic, and began to read from page one. “Do you have the original Latin?” she asked. “I don’t trust translations from the ancient text. I need to know what these books have to say without error.”

Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it over the dusty volumes. “Omus Importentia.”

A glittering dust issued from the tip of his wand and settled over the books. Immediately the lettering transformed from english into ancient Latin and other languages. “There,” he said. “Back to the original languages from which they are written. Some of those are in Gaelic.”

“I’ll manage. Thank you,” she said. She knew she was being insolent, but she just didn’t care. Under who’s authority did she come into Hogwarts and dismiss it’s Headmaster? A man who’d been a good friend to both her and her husband and child?

I’m a mother who must save her child from death, she thought. That’s all the authority I need. She quickly took notice that Dumbledore was still standing beside her. She looked up at him, her green eyes, she noted in the reflection from Dumbledores spectacles, were bright and scared.

“You carry a heavy burden,” Dumbledore said. “You have had a vision, and it has wounded you to your soul.” He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “Do tell me what you have seen.”

She told him the vision she’d had of Harry. When she’d finished, Dumbledore studied her quietly. A deep sadness had come into his eyes, but so had the fire of determination. “I will do all in my power to see this vision does not come to pass. So will Sirius, and Remus and all the other members of the Order.”

She smiled, grateful that he would try to comfort her. She was indeed fortunate to have Dumbledore as a friend. “Thank you Prof…” Ah, what the hell, she thought. “Thank you, Albus.”

He smiled and stood, planting a fatherly kiss on her forehead. “Read and learn my brave child. I hope you find the knowledge you seek. And if you need anything, anything at all, stop by my office. I will see that you have it before you leave.”

He strolled away, and Lily looked down at the page, noticing that the translation she’d read before was indeed wrong compared to the original Latin. She sighed and began to read, grateful that her parents had insisted she learn this language, for it could mean the difference between life and death for her son.

~~~~~

Lily awoke, having finished the last volume two days after entering Hogwarts, from her nap. Minerva McGonagall had stopped by to give her a change of clothes and food to eat from the kitchen, and also to insist that she find time to shower and sleep. A croissant and a cup of steaming tea sat on the table beside her. Lily smiled, hoping she would see McGonagall one last time to say goodbye, and thank you for being not only a good teacher, but an even better friend.

Now Lily had a list of materials she’d need for a spell, and a sense of hope. Not for herself so much as for Harry. As she lay with her head on her forearms, pushing away the last vestiges of sleep, she remembered the images from her dream. She'd dreamt of Voledemort and green light, and of screams of terror in the darkness. She dreamed of death and hopelessness, and an hourglass of her life, that was nearly out of sand. As she sat there, she became intensely aware that she was not alone in the room.

“Severus.” She wiped the drool from her lips, and he quickly offered her a handkerchief. She accepted it as he sat down across from her. “How have you been? I heard you’re teaching Potions here.”

“I am. This is my first year here.” He spoke quietly, as if afraid the librarian would come rushing over to the table to flog him for speaking too loudly in the library. “I have…missed you.”

He looked down quickly, as if afraid of seeing rejection in her eyes, as he had when he’d confessed his love for her in their sixth year. She’d broken his heart by telling him she’d chosen his enemy, James Potter, over him.

“I’ve missed you as well.” She genuinely meant it, and it carried over in her voice. “Severus…I need to tell you something.”

He looked back up at her, fear still in his eyes. He’d always had such expressive eyes. Well, they had been expressive to her. He had never seemed to learn the art of dissimulation with Lily. He had never bothered to try.

“We haven’t always had the best relationship,” she began, but before she could say more he took her hand and spoke plaintively.

“I know. That was my fault. All those times I called you a mudblood, I didn’t mean it.”

She smiled, wondering how many people ever met this Severus Snape. This fearful, open, wonderfully human Severus Snape. Not many, she was sure. As a matter of fact, she would have bet her life she was the only one who really knew him.

“I know you didn’t mean it. You were trying to hide the fact that you love me.”

“I don’t think I succeeded.” A small smile came to his lips. It was just now that she realized he didn’t have even a hint of a smile line around his mouth. He had scowl lines on his brow, but nothing to suggest he even knew how to laugh. She appreciated, more than he would ever know, every smile he’d ever shared with her.

“I have to tell you something, because this may be the last chance I have to say it. There was once a time I would have chosen you.”

Tears formed in his eyes. He closed them, and she waited patiently until he could look at her without allowing them to spill. When he looked at her, his eyes were glistening, and his voice wavered.

“What happened? What did I say? What did I do to turn you against me?”

“I have never been against you Severus. I have to tell you that there is a place here,” she laid her hand over her heart “that is reserved just for you. No one lives there but you. I love you. Not the way you want me to, I know, but I do love you.”

“My whole heart is your home,” he said quietly.

Lily smiled and said “I know.”

He released her hand, and Lily took her quill and her list of ingredients and stood. She moved to walk past him but Severus blocked her path and pulled her to him in an act of unprecidented bravery. She saw the kiss coming. She could have pulled away, she could have stopped him, but she didn’t. She indulged him in a long, slow, soft kiss, and there wasn’t a moment that she regretted it.

When it was over, Severus pulled away from her. He was on the verge of appologizing for stepping out of line, but she put a finger over his lips, which were moist from their kiss. “Keep that with you, always.”

“You talk as if you’re never coming back.”

She took in a deep, shuddering breath and looked him straight in the eye. “I won’t. This is the last time you will ever see me.”

He looked afraid again, but this time it was for her, not for himself. "How can I help you?"

"You can't. No one can."

“I love you Lily. I always will.”

She stepped away from him. “Goodbye Severus. Remember me, for I will remember your love when I need it the most.”

He frowned, wondering what she meant, but before he could ask she had started for the door. In seconds she was gone. Indeed, it was the last time he would ever see her…alive.

~~~~~

Lily emerged from the fireplace into the safe house of the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew sat across from James. Harry was on Peter’s lap, sleeping peacefully. They all smiled as she came in, carrying a parcel wrapped in simple brown paper.

“What’s that you have darling?” James asked. Lily shrugged.

“Just some things from my visit to Hogwarts.” She kissed James lightly, and he frowned, as if he could taste Severus’ kiss on her lips, but he said nothing. Did he somehow know? Did it even matter at this point?

There was a moment of tense silence before she placed her parcel on the floor. She picked Harry up and held him close as James told her the location of their new home.

“I spoke with Professor Dumbledore while you were locked away in the library,” James said, going back to his seat. “He's found us a place in Godric’s Hollow.”

Lily nodded and said “I know. He also told me about the Fidelius Charm. Why not? What could it hurt?”

“Sirius will be our Secret Keeper,” James said.

“I think we should go with Dumbledore,” Lily said.

Sirius nodded, looking completely unoffended, saying “Perhaps. He’s the only one Voldemort has ever feared. He wouldn’t dare attack him to get your location.”

Lily looked to Peter. He had the widest eyes of anyone she’d ever seen. As always, she had an uneasy feeling around him. She hated it when he picked up her child because she couldn’t bring herself to completely trust him. Then she chided herself for being so paranoid. The perpetual wide eyed look of fear on Peter’s face was probably just from that pesky thyroid problem he’d had since his fifth year in school.

“What do you think Peter?”

“I think you should go with your gut,” he said.

A nice, non-committal answer, Lily thought, again unable to shake her distrust of him. “My gut tells me Dumbledore should be the Secret Keeper.”

She jumped when a tiny little man entered from the kitchen. She realized it was only Professor Flitwick and relaxed. She stooped and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

“I wanted to say hello to you at Hogwarts my dear,” Flitwich said, “but I didn’t want to disturb your studying.”

“I'm sorry I didn't say hello Professor Flitwick. I was in a hurry. It’s good to see you again.”

“Are you ready to do the charm?” James asked.

“Just a moment,” Sirius said. “Peter, Professor, would you mind excusing us? I need to speak with James and Lily for a moment before we begin.”

Flitwick shrugged and Peter followed him back into the kitchen. When Sirius was sure they were alone, he continued. “I think Peter should be the secret keeper.”

“Why?” James asked. He, too, looked uncomfortable with the idea.

“Because he’s the last one Voldemort would suspect of harboring the secret of your location. His Death Eaters have questioned me before. I think he suspects me. Believe me, James, Peter is your best bet. If I get caught, I…I might say something. I’m human, and I might break. I couldn’t live with myself if I got the two of you killed.”

It took a few minutes of pleading the case to James and Lily, but finally they agreed, reluctantly so. Even as she agreed, Lily felt as if she were on a path that she couldn’t alter. A path that would lead to death. She felt that every decision she made was the wrong one, but she didn't know who to trust or what she should do to break the dream that warned of her and her husbands death.

Pettigrew and Flitwick came back into the room at Sirius’ request. He asked Peter if he would be the secret keeper, and he agreed immediately, much to Lily’s dismay. She put Harry on the couch to rest and sat down next to him in case he turned in his sleep. She studied his angelic face as Flitwick began the incantation for the charm.

“Now, to finish” Flitwick said. He held up his hand, in which was a silvery orb of light. “The secret…” He turned his hand to Peter and uttered a complicated spell in Latin, and then blew. The orb encircled Peters chest and sank into his heart. “It’s done,” Flitwick said. “Voldemort cannot find you unless Peter tells him where you are, which we know he would never do. You’re safe.” He smiled warmly at them and then went over to the fire. “I hope to see you all again soon.”

James and the others said their good-byes, but Lily knew in her heart that Professor Flitwick was wrong. Shye and James were far from being safe.

~~~~~

It was the dead of night in their last house. Lily didn’t feel as if the house in Godric Hollow was her home at all, but just a place to live out the final moments of her life. She stirred the potion in her cauldron, enjoying the scent of wild flowers and sage. Once the Potion was finished, she took a cup of it and blew it cool before drinking it.

Once that was done, she stood before Harry and took a knife from her supplies. It was an ancient ceremonial dagger, good only for this spell. She used it to prick her thumb. She took a small spoon of the last of the potion and poured her blood into it. Once that was done, she sipped half of it, and then gave the rest to Harry, who frowned and tried to spit it out, but she managed to get him to swallow all of it.

“Good boy. It’s yucky, Mum knows.”

She finished the last of the incantation and when the last word was uttered, she felt heat in her hands. The cut on her finger healed closed immediately. She placed her hands on Harry’s head, feeling the power of a mother’s love seep into him. His eyes began to glow with it, his body glowed with it, and he looked at her with wide, surprised eyes.

Then it was over. She ran a hand over his dark hair, trying unsuccessfully to smooth it down. She studied his face closely, looking for herself in her son, but she could see no resemblence. Harry was James Potter through and through, from head to toe. “Mum loves you so much.”

She put Harry in his crib and cleaned up the remains of the ceremony as James entered the room.

“Honey? What are you doing? I thought I heard chanting.”

“I was just finishing a protection charm.”

He crossed his arms and leaned in the doorway. “Voldemort can’t find us here. We’re safe. That vision of yours won’t come true.”

“We’re only as safe as Pettigrew is honorable.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” James asked defensively.

“It means what it means James.”

He came over to her. She’d tossed the last of the items in a small box and now sat in the floor. She felt as if there were no more tomorrows for her or her husband, and, God forbid, Harry, and it was driving her mad. Something terrible was coming, and she felt as if she couldn’t handle it. She was so scared.

“I’m not your enemy,” he said softly. "I love you."

“I know. I love you too. I’m sorry James I’m just…I’m so tired. I’m tired of the running, I’m tired of the fear. I just want it to stop. I want it all to stop.”

“I would be happy to oblige, my dear.”

Lily’s blood ran cold, and she could see from the sheer disbelief in her husband’s face that James’ blood had turned to ice in his veins as well. Slowly James turned toward the bedroom doorway. She saw him over James’ shoulder. Her worst nightmare had come true.

Lord Voldemort stood in the door, filling it with his massive frame. He had a vile grin on his aging face.

James stood slowly, taking his wand from his back pocket. Voldemort looked completely unconcerned by the move.

“Voldemort,” James said. His voice sounded weak, as if he could barely speak, or even believe he was awake for that matter. “How did…How…”

Voldemort began to laugh. “My loyal servants are everywhere. Even among your useless little Order.”

James looked shocked, but Lily found she wasn’t the least surprised. As a matter of fact, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her. There would be no more running and hiding. The time for living in fear had come to an end. This was meant to be, and if she’d done her work right, if she had the power within that she needed to pull off her spell, Harry would be safe. He would live.

“Lily. Take the baby and run.”

Everything that happened next happened fast.

James began hurling curses and jinxes at Voldemort with impressive speed, forcing him back, out of the bedroom, while she picked Harry up and cradled him close. She could still taste the potion in her mouth. She prayed that it would work.

As she watched Voldemort laughing at James’ assault, it was all a game to him after all, she moved toward the fireplace in the front of the room.

“Lily! Run!” James called from the hall. She prepared to leave her beloved husband behind in order to save her child, but then it happened. She heard the words. The awful, awful words that had invaded her dreams far too often, for far too long.

Avada Kedavra…

There was a flash of sickly green light and the floo powder in her hand seeped uselessly through her fingers. She heard James’ body hit the floor, and she felt a part of her soul die. She found herself in the hall, with no memory of even going there, and saw her husband staring at the ceiling with lifeless eyes. Her husband, the father of her child, was dead.

“Oh James, no!”

Voldemort wordlessly summoned her wand from her hand as she shakily raised it to ward him off. She concentrated, trying to Apparate to the Order, but she found she couldn’t leave. Voldemort’s eyes gleamed as he smiled at her. Somehow he was holding her in the house. She was trapped. There nowhere to hide, no escape.

Lily ran to the crib, placing Harry inside as Voldemort entered the room.

“Stand aside.”

She pleaded with him. “No. Not Harry! Don’t kill Harry. Take me instead! Please!”

“Stand aside silly girl!”

Lily refused to move, she had to act as a shield if the spell was going to work properly. She watched as Voldemort raised his wand. Everything from there seemed to happen in slow motion.

She saw it all, everything that she wouldn’t live to be part of. Harry learning to walk…Harry sitting in the chair and the Sorting Hat calling out Gryffindor… She saw his first game of Quidditch… She saw his first kiss. She saw him in battle. She saw him fall in love with a beautiful young girl with wild brown hair, and she saw him smile as he held her. She saw him over her grave. She saw…

Everything…

She called upon love, banishing all thoughts of fear, all thoughts of anger. She gave up her hatred of Voldemort and thought of the love she’d felt in every one of James’ kisses and caresses. She thought of the love she'd felt when Harry had moved in her womb, kicking for the first time. She remembered the love she'd felt when she’d brought him into the world. She thought of…

Seeing Harry’s face for the first time…

She thought of his laughter and his smiles…

She thought of the love she felt from Severus when he’d kissed her the one and only time in the library…

She thought of the love she'd received from her parents, and from her teachers at Hogwarts...

She thought of her love for the man her son would grow to be…

Voldemort grined maliciously at her, pointing his wand at her heart. “Avada Kedavra.”

There was a flash of green light, and Lily felt power, horrible hatred, and malice enter her body, snuffing out the light of her life , but it melted against the love that flowed in her veins. The curse flowed through her but when it mixed with the love in her veins it changed. It flowed from her and went into Harry, imbuing him with the power of her love.

Lily used her last breath, her last ounce of strength, her last moments on this earth to looke into her sons face. She saw that his blue eyes, so much like his father’s, turned green. The same shade of green as her own eyes, and she knew the spell had worked. The magic that was pure love had gone into him, she could see it in him, as her world faded away.

As Lily passed from this life to the next, she struggled to hold on. She saw the room as her life force, her soul, floated above Harry, Voldemort, and her body. Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry, and uttered the killing curse.

Harry’s eyes flahsed green, a brighter green than the light from the curse. The power of the kill from Voldemort’s wand hit Lily's shield of love. Harry’s head snapped back as the power of the curse bounced back, hitting Voldemort. He fell to the floor, screaming in agony, as Harry began to cry in his crib. A scar formed on his forehead, bleeding and causing him pain, but Lily knew he would live.

Voldemort crawled away as the house began to collapse. Plaster from the ceiling bounced off an invisible shield about the Harry, who cried in terror and confusion. In moments the house was reduced to a pile of smoking rubble, but Harry’s crib remained intact. He was unharmed. She knew that Voldemort would return, for she'd seen it in her vision, but she had faith that her son would be triumphant in the end. Harry would grow to become a powerful wizard. He would be surrounded by friends and by love. He would be alright.

Lily took this knowledge with her as she passed into eternity.