Chapter 1- Awake

Her eyes opened slowly. Under her the wooden floor that she had loved so much when they first went to look at houses together. Where were they? Where was her husband, where was her child? Where was Voldemort? What had happened? She tried her best to remember. Slowly it came back to her. A green light she had seen from the ground floor. James dead on the floor. The door barricaded, Harry behind her in his crip. Voldemorts unforgiving eyes, not listening to her begging. Did he kill her? Did he shove her aside? She remembered now. She remembered how he had told her to step aside.

Did she subside? No, no, she wouldn't have. She wouldn't have given Harry over to him. She would have died protecting him, it is what she had sworn herself to do, ever since she first saw his face and his eyes, her eyes in James' face. But she was alive. So that must mean.. She got up and stumbled over to the little crip. She barely noticed the destruction around her. Her baby, her little angel, he had to be there. If she was alive, so was he. She had lost James, she knew that. She would have to deal with that later, first Harry, then the grieve. The grieve that would consume her, but against which she would have to fight, for her baby. Finally, it felt like ages, every step heavy, she reached the crip. It was empty...

James stirred. His head hurt. He wanted to open his eyes, but the last thing he remembered was a blinding green light. He did not want to see it again. He did not want to see the truth. That Peter had betrayed them. That he hadn't managed to keep Voldemort away from them. His wife. His child. His eyes flew open and tears streamed down his cheeks. Voldemort had cast Avada Kedavra over him. He then must have stepped over his body, walked up the stairs.. walked up the stairs and..and... But maybe Lily had managed to apparate? Maybe she and Harry had managed to escape? Hope rose in his chest, refusing to give in to his pessimistic thoughts, refusing to accept that they might have possibly fallen victim to the same green light he had. Taking in the surrounding around him, he realized with a start that he was still in their home in Godric's Hollow. How could that be? Was heaven like this? Did one just die and then wake up in the same space as they had died in? Would he now forever be caught in here? Could he leave? He gasped. Was it possible...? Was he a ghost?!

James shook his head. He never would have chosen to come back as a ghost. So this must be heaven. He wondered if Harry and Lily were in this heaven with him. If they would now forever be confined to this house he and his wife chose together. If Harry would grow up here. Or if they survived and he was alone here. He didn't mind that. If they survived, if they had been able to escape while he went into Voldemort's way, then isolation was a price he was willing to pay. But now it was time to go upstairs. Go upstairs and see if they were with him or if he had saved them. Shaking slightly, he got up and made his way to the small bedroom his son had always slept in...

James saw that the door was open. Voldemort must have opened it, he knew that Lily had been busy barricading it when he told her to run. He took a deep breath and then walked right through the door frame. Praying that they weren't in there. But there she stood. Beautiful as ever, slightly shaking, bowed over the crip. "Lily..", he whispered, his voice shaking. She turned around. Her eyes were full of unshed tears. When she saw him, she walked towards him. Unsteady, unsure. He set a few steps in her direction, always working with her, like it should be, like it had always been. When they met in the middle of the room, he took her in his arms. Hugging her, taking in her smell, not letting go. She cried. Cried in his chest while he took in his surrounding. Everything was destroyed, he didn't know how he had missed it before. Other things had appeared more important.

"He isn't here, James. He is gone. He is gone.", sniffled words he had to listen closely to to understand. Sniffled words he could barely believe.

"Hush now Lily. Don't cry. If he is gone, that must mean he survived, right? I mean.. We died, and we are here, right?" His hope was as much for her as for him. She broke away from him and met his eyes with hers.

"What do you mean "We died"? You don't know if we did. After all we are still here. Why would we be at home if we were dead?"

"I was hit with Avada Kedavra, Lils. I remember. I remember him and the light. And you are with me, so you must have been hit too."

Lily sunk her head in defeat. James was right. They had to be dead. He hugged her again, crying now aswell.

"We should see if we can leave. See if we can find out anything...", he eventually said.

Lily nodded. Slowly they made their way downstairs, out off the destroyed building they called their home. Away from the empty crip. Towards information, information that would hopefully tell them Harry was alive and well, down on earth. Blissfully unaware of his parents' demise, in the safe care of his godfather.

Once they had left on the street, they turned around to see a stonen shield rise from the earth. They quietly read the words written on it. Words telling a tale about them dying, and their son, their beloved Harry, being the first to survive the killing curse. Suddenly, everything around them seemed so much more beautiful.

So, first chapter done. Let me know what you think, and review please!