November 1979

"We just found out that Lily is expecting," James explained to the leader of the Order of the Phoenix and his old headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, after the latest order meeting where they learned about a prophecy made by Sybil Trelawny. "She's due at the end of July, the 29th to be exact."

Albus had listened to his young member's concern as open minded as possible. It would be the first of two conversations he would have about this exact topic and he would answer them both the same way. There was no way to know how these two pregnancies - children born during the most turbulent of times - would forever be affected by this not-so-simple prophecy.

"James," he reassured the young man standing before him concerned about his new wife and future child, "there are other conditions to keep in mind regarding the prophecy. I would not be overly concerned about it at the moment. We can discuss once we have a better idea of what it means. Try to enjoy this time with Lily, it's such a special time."

But James wouldn't be able to enjoy the small moments any normal expecting father should be able to enjoy - like laughing at Lily's strange cravings, trying to guess if it was a boy or a girl, and even thinking of baby names - knowing that him and his wife had already stood up against the evil wizard on two occasions. As the months went on, all he could think about was that the prophecy said the child would be born to those who had thrice defied him and preventing one more defiance was something he could control. There was no other way to look at it; to protect his family, James was left with only two options: quit the Order and hope one of them didn't accidentally go up against Voldemort for a third time, or take fate into his own hands. He was a Gryffindor, after all, so the former option wasn't even fully considered.

August 1980

When Severus Snape opened the door, the last person he expected to see standing outside of his home on Spinner's End was James Potter. And yet, the Gryffindor didn't appear lost or confused about why he was standing outside on the stoop of this dilapidated brick house.

"Are you going to invite me in?" Potter asked a bit aggressively for being the one clearly needing something.

"No," Severus bluntly answered. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "How did you find me?"

The messy haired wizard shifted his weight on his feet as he considered how honest to be with his answer, "There was an old letter I found in Lily's desk and I took a chance you still lived here."

Severus made no outward appearance of believing the explanation as he tried to ascertain if what he was hearing made sense. Deciding there was no possible way he was trusting James Potter, he folded his arms over his chest and refused to step aside.

"Fine," Potter conceded and turned to walk away, but stopped himself. Still facing away from Severus he said, "She had a little boy last week. We have a son, Harry, and he was born two days late on the 31st of July."

The announcement stung so deep inside of him that he didn't even consider the significance of the date, "If you expect my congratulations, you're going to be deeply disappointed."

"No," he laughed in a sad way, turning back around. "I don't expect anything like that. I need your help to protect them. I know you'd do just about anything for Lily and she'd be completely broken if anything happened to Harry."

It took all of Severus's resolve not to physically react to the request. Never did he think James Potter could ask anyone for help, let alone Severus Snape. However the more he thought about the request and the date of the Potter spawn's birth, he recognized it had to do with the prophecy.

Leave it to Potter to assume his son would be The Chosen One.

"And how do you expect me to do that?" He was almost as amused as he was curious about what the Gryffindor had in mind. If he were honest with himself, he didn't want any harm to come to Lily either, so as long as the request was reasonable he would likely grant it.. When he'd told the Dark Lord about the prophecy all those months ago, he hadn't known Lily would become pregnant shortly after, and when the news hit him of her condition, he wished on anything he could that the Dark Lord wouldn't find out. And now he was being told she gave birth literally as the seventh month died; there was no doubt in his mind that news would eventually make its way back into the wrong hands.

"I want to join him," Potter glanced down at Severus's left forearm to make sure there was no misunderstanding and gave his head a quick nod.

The air between them shifted and seemingly dropped in temperature, as if a Dementor had lost its way from Azkaban and ended up in Cokeworth, "And how do you think that will save your offspring?"

"I can't defy him if I'm on his side," it was a weak argument, at best, and Severus knew the Dark Lord would see right through him.

Knowing it was probably a bad idea, Severus stepped aside anyways to allow the desperate wizard in. If Potter was serious about pledging himself to the Dark Lord to keep Lily safe, Severus would do his part to help, still feeling the same love he had for the Gryffindor witch after all these years.

21st May, 1985

If anyone would have told Severus how much his life would change from that first visit of James Potter at his doorstep, he wouldn't have believed a word of it. Given that Potter was a renowned member of the Order of the Phoenix, it didn't surprise Severus nearly as much as the other Death Eaters when the Dark Lord jumped at the opportunity to have a spy among them. As expected, Potter was placed through a series of tests - both physical and mental - to ensure he was worthy of the Mark and he had been required to make the mandatory muggle killing at his initiation. Severus didn't think the golden Gryffindor had it in him and was once again shocked when he had been able to cast the killing curse on his first attempt; showing just how desperate the man was to save his family. That was as far as the trust went though, and Severus had been assigned as his partner, so to say, by the Dark Lord. Whenever they were called, Severus was to stay by his side.

At first, they'd had their growing pains, but against all odds - as they started needing to depend on one another during the various raids - they managed to go from enemies, to colleagues, to almost friends fighting side by side for a cause neither of them believed in; or no longer believed in for Severus's case. The two had grown close enough that given what had happened that night, the Slytherin felt like he needed to be the one to make this visit to Godric's Hollow.

It was around two o'clock in the morning and he immediately cringed when he knocked on the door, hoping it didn't wake three-year-old Harry. This was not a social visit and his presence would not be welcomed when the new widow finally understood the purpose of him standing on her doorstep. Unfortunately - or not, he wasn't completely sure - he didn't have to say much.

"Severus," Lily called out when she opened the door, pulling her green dressing gown tightly around her body. The emerald color brought out the same color of her eyes, making this all the more difficult for him. "What's going on? Why are you here? Where's James?"

"Lily," he said quietly, not turning away from her, he didn't deserve this to be easy on him. "I'm so sorry."

That was all it took for her to know that her life had completely changed. She fell straight down, where he managed to catch her only a split second before she made contact with the ground. She didn't hear him when he'd explained how the young Death Eater, only there to keep his family safe, died protecting the dark wizard against a band of aurors in one last battle at the Ministry. Tonight, on top of her husband dying, the Minister for Magic was murdered and the Ministry fell to the Dark Lord, meaning that their lives would need to change drastically; it was now to their benefit to appear loyal to the Dark Lord and to cut any remaining ties to the Order immediately in an effort to do whatever he could to protect Harry. It also meant that James Potter had now died a hero, instead of just some random Death Eater, and Severus would take what had really happened that night to his grave.