Hello : ) I know there are other stories out there like this one, but I've always wanted to write one of my own : ) I actually started this story several years ago, under the name 'Foreknowledge is Power'. I posted it, but I was never completely satisfied with it. There were just little things that niggled me about it, so I eventually took it down.

It was always my intention to rework some stuff in the story and put it up again, I just never really had the time. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't going to start working on this project again for at least another year, but then some of my plans changed and I decided to come back to this story now : )

Anyway, without further ado - welcome to Unveiled Prophecies : )

Please remember that Harry Potter is not mine, and I hope you enjoy this story : )

Unveiled Prophecies

Attack on Potter Manor

James Potter groaned in annoyance as he clapped an exhausted hand against his forehead. The half-asleep man was attempting to block out a rather obnoxious tapping sound. He was currently tucked up in bed with his beautiful wife Lily, his muscular arms wrapped around her slender form, his chin resting on her shoulder.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

James let out a growl of frustration. His hazel eyes snapped open in anger, and he glared murderously around the room.

What the bloody hell was that infernal tapping?

Shifting his weight carefully to avoid waking Lily - although how she could sleep through that damn tapping he'd never know - James propped himself up on his elbows and continued scanning the room. Unfortunately, without his glasses he didn't have much luck in identifying the source of the disturbance.

Snatching them up from their position on his nightstand, along with his wand - just in case - James slipped on his round-rimmed spectacles. The world immediately sharpened into focus. A scowl crawled across James' handsome face as he finally laid eyes on the thing that had dragged him out of dreamland and back into reality.

An owl.

It was a bloody owl.

Somebody had sent him a bloody owl at six-fifteen in the morning. James let out a grunt of displeasure. If this was Sirius playing some kind of lame joke on him, James was going to kill him.

Rolling out of bed, James slipped on the novelty lion-shaped slippers Lily had given him for Christmas - a gift he would never live down if his friends ever found out about - and began to cross the bedroom.

The room itself was beautiful. Sleek, stylish red carpet covered the floor and the walls were painted with rich gold colouring. Mahogany furniture lined the walls, and a grand master bed filled most of the space, with red hangings and bedding covering the sleeping form of Lily.

James smiled lovingly down at her. This was nothing he wouldn't do for his wife and their infant son Harry. They were his world. They were his everything. It was for them that James was fighting in the war of light versus darkness. He wanted a better world, a peaceful world, for them.

And by damn he would do anything he could to make them one.

His warm smile melted away however as he turned to the window to let the large tawny owl perched on the windowsill in. James' face twisted into a perplexed frown. Now that his mind had had a few moments to fully awaken and shake off the last of his sleep, he was beginning to wonder exactly what the owl was doing there.

He doubted very much that this was a joke after all.

The war-time they lived in didn't allow people much of a sense of humour anymore. Plus, the manor the Potter family lived in was protected by some of the most powerful and ancient wards known to wizard-kind. The only way the owl could have got through the enchantments and protection charms over the manor in the first place was if it was sent by an individual that was keyed into the wards, allowing them free access to the manor.

Given the current climate of the war, that list was rather a short one.

Add in the fact that the entire manor had been in lock-down for almost a year now, with little to no contact with the outside world, and James couldn't help but be curious as to who could have sent the letter. And why it couldn't wait until a more sociable hour.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

James rolled his eyes in annoyance. It appeared that this particular owl was a rather impatient one. He didn't want the blasted bird to disturb his wife however. Harry had not slept well at all last night, and Lily had been the one to spend most of it up with him. It was for that reason that James quickly opened the window and stepped back.

The owl gracefully soared past him, flew in a wide circle of the room, before it dropped its letter on the floor, and flew out the window again without some much as a backwards glance. James certainly wasn't sorry to see the back of it. In fact, he was rather happy to be able to shut the window behind the wretched thing.

But being much more interested in the reason for his early wake-up call than the offending party itself, James crossed the room to retrieve the fallen letter.

He looked down at it, his eyes narrowed in distrust and suspicion.

Whilst he knew that the letter had to have been sent by someone his family trusted enough to allow access through the wards, James was still conscious of the fact that there was still the slightest chance that something nasty might slip through. Deciding he couldn't be too safe, James flicked his wand in a complicated movement, and ran a quick diagnostic spell over the sealed letter. The letter glowed with a shimmering pale blue light.

James heaved a sigh of relief.

Blue meant that there was nothing untoward or dangerous hidden in the letter, nor were there any jinxes or curses to be wary of. It was kind of sad really. That something as simple as opening a letter had been reduced to running checks like that, all because of the war.

Still, in the current times, it was a necessity.

With the letter having been deemed safe, James picked it up, and was not surprised to find it addressed to himself and Lily. He quickly tore into it, a sense of urgency in his movements now. After all, they were at war. And this letter had to be important if it was to deprive him of his sleep. James' eyes quickly began scanning through the letter.

"Dear James and Lily,

This message is of the upmost urgency. Voldemort is preparing to attack Potter Manor, today! You both know of his strength, and his determination to rid himself of you all. You must evacuate immediately, or prepare all your defences. I do not know when he will attack, but it shall be soon. I myself will gather some of our closer forces and arrive to help as soon as I can.

A. P. W. B. Dumbledore"

James felt the blood drain from his face. His eyes widened as a sickening feeling of dread settled in his stomach, and the room seemed to spin around him. His hands shook in horrible fear as the letter's words sunk in.

He was coming.

No, no, no! This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening! The monster was coming for his baby boy, his precious baby boy, who had done nothing to deserve any of this. It wasn't fair.

No.

James quickly shook his head. He took several deep breaths in a pitiful attempt to calm himself. The man knew that he couldn't afford to panic right now. His wife needed him to focus. His son needed him to focus.

It was only by doing so would they all survive this day.

Repeating that in his head like it was his own personal mantra, James immediately snapped into action.

"Lily! Lily, get up! Now!" he yelled, trying desperately hard to keep the panic out of his voice. If Lily was going to be calm, then he needed to be calm for her.

Lily jerked awake with a start, and immediately glanced around the room, already sensing that trouble was afoot. Her emerald green eyes locked with her husband's hazel ones.

Lily felt her heart plummet and her stomach twist unpleasantly. She recognised that look on his face. Thanks to the times they lived in, Lily had sadly grown far too accustomed to it. Something bad had happened. Lily just knew it. Something bad had happened to someone they loved, or something bad was about to happen. Either way, Lily just knew she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear.

"What's happened James?" she asked him, working hard to keep her voice level.

Flying into a blind panic wouldn't help.

"He's coming Lily" James told her grimly, his eyes dark, "He's coming here. Look"

He thrust the letter from Dumbledore at her. Lily's emerald eyes scanned the letter, and she promptly turned a ghastly shade of white. Without sparing her husband so much as a frightened glance, Lily scrambled out of her side of the bed and stumbled to her feet, her wand already in hand.

"James, what do we do? Where do we go?" she cried, unable to prevent the fear entering her voice.

Try as hard as she might not to show it, Lily was afraid. Voldemort was after her beautiful baby. An innocent child. Her heart clenched at the very thought of that evil bastard within two miles of her infant son. But Lily wasn't going to fall apart. She refused too. Her son needed her to be calm right now. For him, for his father, and for everybody else she cared about.

James rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he regarded her question. From the expression on his face, it was obvious that the man was torn over the matter of which action they should take.

One the one hand, Potter Manor had some of the best defences known to wizard-kind. James knew that not even a whole army could break through the wards. And even if they managed to get past them and into the grounds, which was next to impossible, James knew that an intruder wouldn't survive the defences on the inside.

But on the other hand, Voldemort was not your average wizard.

James wasn't even sure the man was completely human, and not just because of his heartless nature, but because of the sheer amount of magic he could wield. There was no way to be certain how well the manor's defences would fair against the Dark Lord. But James did know one thing.

Running away was not the answer.

His parents had always taught him to have faith in the manor. And by Merlin, he was going too.

"We stay here. We activate the defences and fight" James eventually declared.

There was a steely determination in his voice that Lily had rarely heard there. The redhead immediately tensed up. Her mind was already rushing back to the memories of herself and her husband narrowly escaping Voldemort twice before. Needless to say, those were hardly pleasant occasions. And as loathed though she was to admit it, Lily wasn't so sure they could pull off a third escape.

"James... are you sure?" she couldn't help but question in a nervous voice, "You know how determined he is. How powerful he is. I think we should leave".

James shook his head sadly. He hated hearing that note of fear in her voice, but he was sure that staying put was the right course of action.

"Have faith in the manor Lily" he urged her, "It will protect us, I promise. Come on, we should start preparing...".

James was cut off as an deafeningly shrill squealing noise echoed throughout the manor house and its grounds. James' face turned a ghastly shade of white. No, no, no. It couldn't be that sound. Not yet. But it was.

And James immediately understood what it meant.

The noise was an alarm set to a detection spell that warned them about nearby wizards. Naturally there were several exceptions to the detector, for example, it didn't go off whenever Dumbledore or Sirius came around. James and Lily hardly wanted the alarms going off every time one of their friends dropped in.

No.

Whoever the spell was alerting them to was a stranger. And it stood to reason that there was only one person that stranger could be right now. It was Voldemort. After the warning they had just received, there was nothing else that made sense.

He had arrived.

"Oh god James" Lily whimpered in fright.

James quickly pulled her to him, and she buried her face in his chest.

"Hush sweetheart, it's all going to be okay" he soothed her.

"How can you say that?!" Lily choked out tearfully, almost losing herself to her growing nerves, "He wants to kill our son. Our baby".

James had to work extremely hard to blink back tears of his own.

"The manor will keep us safe" he so desperately wanted to believe that, "Look... g-go check on Harry. He'll need you".

Lily looked up from his chest at him with terrified eyes. It shattered James' heart to see her so afraid, but the harsh reality was that with Voldemort constantly coming after them, he was growing more accustom to seeing her like this.

And it pained him every single time.

"What about you?" she whimpered.

James heaved a heavy sigh. That was quite a loaded question, and he had a feeling that his wife wouldn't be pleased with his answer.

"I'm going down to the grounds" he informed her. Lily opened her mouth to protest. James quickly spoke again before she had the chance to, "I know, I know. I don't want to leave you either, and I doubt he'll get in" James soothed her, but it was nowhere near enough to ease Lily of her troubles, "Lily. I don't have a choice. I need to be there to activate the rest of the manor's defences".

Lily swallowed hard, eyes frightened.

"Can't you do it from here?" she pleaded desperately, "I can't stand the thought of you being so close to... to him".

James solemnly shook his head.

"I can't. I wish I could" he gently explained to her, "I need to be that close because the defences need an imprint of my magical signature. I can't do that from here".

"J... James, be careful" Lily whispered, her eyes bright with tears, "And if he gets in, just apparate away. I'll take one of the Portkeys with Harry".

"Okay" James agreed to her request.

"And... I love you" Lily whimpered, eyes burning with unshed tears.

James couldn't help the sad, albeit strained, smile that lit up his face. Despite the bleak situation around them, James never got tired of hearing her say those three wonderful little words.

"I love you too" he told her, praying it would not be for the last time.

The two of them headed for the bedroom door. James' mind immediately turned back to what Lily had just said about them fleeing. That was one of the good things about owning a manor like Potter Manor. James - as head of the house - could apparate within the grounds, but nobody else could get in or out that same way. Unfortunately however, that also included Lily and baby Harry, so he had asked Dumbledore to create them several Portkeys; some to Hogwarts, some to Sirius's flat, and even a few to the headquarters for The Order of the Phoenix, which both he and Lily were apart of. That way, Lily and Harry would also be able to make a swift escape if they ever needed too.

As they emerged on the landing, Lily glanced in the direction of Harry's nursery, before she turned to her husband and swallowed hard. She prayed with every fibre of her being that this wouldn't be the last time she saw him alive. She tried her best to memorise his handsome face, just in case...

James sensed where her dark thoughts had led her, and quickly pulled her close to him.

"I love you" he repeated to her lovingly.

James then pressed a passionate, almost desperate kiss against Lily's lips, before he dashed off down the stairs, clinging frantically to the hope that they would be reunited soon. He was horribly aware however, that which each step he took, his beloved Lily and his precious baby boy were getting further and further away.

And his showdown with Voldemort was drawing ever closer.

Lily charged in the direction of the nursery.

Soon enough, she heard the sound of her baby crying. Lily assumed that the alarms had awoken Harry from his slumber, and as his mother, Lily knew that just like his father, her little boy did not like being disturbed from his sleep. The young mother put on an extra burst of speed. Within seconds, she was bursting into the nursery, and her emerald eyes immediately fell upon the beautiful cot which stood beneath the window. Her son's nursery was truly beautiful. The walls were painted a bright sunny yellow, and the wide window flooded the room with light. Stuffed animals and brightly coloured toys littered the room.

Lily smiled despite the situation they were all in.

Those toys had been given to them from their families, the marauders, even the staff at Hogwarts, and various members of the Order. Everyone that cared about them. And of course, James couldn't help but spoil their baby boy as well. Then again, neither could she. Lily shook herself. This wasn't the time to be thinking about such trivial things. This was an emergency. One she planned on getting her son away from as soon as humanly possible.

Lily dashed over to the cot and looked down into it.

Again, she smiled despite herself. She couldn't help it though. Seeing him in there, her beautiful baby, safe in his cot and so, so tiny. It made her heart ache for a world in which he wasn't in such constant danger. Harry had climbed to his little feet and was gripping the bars of his cot with his tiny fists. His sparkling green eyes were shining with tears as he reached up to her, clearly wanting her to pick him up.

"Oh, sweetie" Lily cooed at him gently, "Did the nasty noise wake you up?"

Harry gurgled back up at her.

Lily knew she ought to be panicking, and hell she had been before, but she needed to stay calm right now. Harry needed her to be calm right now. And so Lily picked him up, and cradled him to her chest, hugging him gently. Instantly she felt better, despite knowing they weren't out of the woods yet. Nevertheless, it was a relief to have her son safely in her arms.

Knowing that there wasn't much time however, Lily forced some haste into her actions, and hurried over to a small chest of draws with her child clutched to her chest.

Set on top of the piece of furniture was a small stuffed animal. A jet black dog to be exact. Harry simply adored it - much to Sirius' delight - however these days the toy held a purpose far greater than just being an object of comfort for a small child.

These days, the stuffed dog was a Portkey.

That had been Lily's idea. She wanted a Portkey close to where Harry spent most of his time, so that in the event of an emergency - much like this one - both the child and the means of escape would be in the same place. It was more of a time-saving exercise than anything else. The only reason the toy was on the chest of draws was so that Harry wouldn't be able to reach it, and accidently be teleported to one of the safe-houses by himself without them knowing.

Lily was extremely relieved she'd had that idea now.

This way, Harry would be able to make a swift exit long before Voldemort could get anywhere near him. Lily frowned suddenly, lost in a deep thought. She knew that she needed to get Harry to safety. That was a top priority naturally, but she simply couldn't abandon her husband either. They were a team. A damn good one at that. And James needed her by his side to help him fight.

But how could she choose?

Her son needed to be taken to safety, that was a given, but her husband also needed her to help him stay alive. Her heart clenched painfully as Lily reached a solution to both problems.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart" Lily whispered into her baby's soft hair, "I'm sorry. Please forgive Mummy".

With tears in her eyes, Lily placed the Portkey in Harry's little hands. Immediately, the boy cuddled the toy to his chest, his tears stopping as he held the stuffed dog. Lily gently placed her baby and his stuffed dog back into his cot, before she went back to the draws and scribbled a quick note on some parchment.

Hating herself for sending her son away all by himself, Lily coiled her letter into a scroll and pressed it into Harry's hand. He looked at it curiously, before waving it around excitedly, thinking it was a new toy. It was not a toy however.

It was a note to Professor Minerva McGonagall.

James and Lily, upon the agreement of Albus Dumbledore, had ultimately decided that the safest place for Harry in times of need would be Hogwarts. Voldemort would never dare set foot inside the castle. Not whilst Dumbledore still lived. And the castle was exactly where this particular Portkey was destined for. Soon Harry would be going.

Alone.

"I'm so sorry Harry" Lily whimpered, praying she was making the right decision.

After all, Harry needed his father, just as much as he needed his mother. He deserved to have them both.

"Remember that no matter what happens, Mummy and Daddy will always love you" Lily whispered, a few tears leaking from her eyes, "We both love you so much. I'm so sorry".

Lily slowly brought up her wand, and drawing a deep breath, she activated the Portkey. Her baby, her precious baby, vanished in a flash of light. Lily couldn't hold back a choked sob. Her heart felt as though it was shattering. Never in a million years would Lily forget that sight. The sight of her baby disappearing before her very eyes. She truly felt terrible for not going with him, for not being with Harry, but James still needed her too. Despite the mother in her wanting to go, the wife in her was fighting to stay.

It was like being in turmoil with herself.

But Harry was safe.

Lily forced herself to remember that. He had got away, and Voldemort couldn't get near him now. Lily nodded to herself. Harry was safe, and she didn't have time to feel guilty right now. Her husband needed her. Forcing herself to move, Lily wiped the tears from her eyes and sprinted from the room. There was only one thing left to do now. She had to face down Voldemort for the third time. Lily ran for the stairs, her heart pounding wildly beneath her chest.

She could only hope that it would still be beating by the time this was all over.

James sprinted through the manor, using his wand to quickly transfigure his clothing from pyjamas to a Muggle hoodie and jeans as he went. He point-blank refused to dress as conservatively as many other wizards did. Muggle clothing was much more comfortable, and less restricting which allowed him to move his arms for spell work more freely. Plus he had no desire to face Voldemort in his pyjamas. A man still needed his dignity after all.

James hurried through the back door of the kitchen and out into the manor's grounds.

If it was any other time, James would have stopped to admire them. All his life he had lived at Potter Manor, but the grounds still never failed to amaze the man with their beauty. They really were something special. Acres of green fields filled with flowers, with bushes and trees dotted about, and dozens of deer and wild rabbits meandering about. James just hoped some of the beauty would still be intact after what was about to happen.

"Point me" James whispered to his wand.

Whilst in the manor, the spell worked differently to how it usually worked. It was because of the magical wards that surrounded the grounds and building. Instead of pointing north like the spell was designed too, when used inside the perimeter of Potter Manor, his wand would point him towards whatever he wanted it too. For example, if he was looking for lily, James could use the spell and it would point towards her. Right now however, he wasn't thinking about his lovely wife. He was thinking about the intruder.

James' wand started spinning in his hand, and soon enough, it stopped and pointed in a single direction. James' narrowed eyes followed the beacon. So that was the direction the danger was in. He couldn't help but grimace.

James really wasn't looking forward to this showdown.

Nevertheless, the man bravely charged on, sprinting past the various marble statues and the trickling water fountains that decorated the grounds. Soon enough, James reached the outer wall. Fifteen foot high walls made of cold grey stonework; these were the physical walls that surrounded the Potter family's home. They were steeped in magical protections - some as old as the manor itself, others recently added by James himself - and now if a spell were to hit the wall, it would simply bounce off it.

Still, James wasn't sure if Voldemort would be able to break through the wall's defences.

The man was somewhat of a wild-card when it came to magic. James was just praying for his family's sake that the enchantments would hold. He just wanted his wife and son to be safe.

That wasn't too much to ask for... right?

Lily was hurtling past the main living room of Potter Manor, when suddenly the fireplace erupted with green flames. She couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that escaped her. Stepping out from amongst the emerald green flames was none other than Albus Dumbledore. Lily didn't even have to worry about him being an imposter. Even in the unlikely event of a Death Eater being able to obtain a piece of Dumbledore to use Polyjuice Potion, or casting charms to alter their appearance that the manor's magic couldn't break - nobody could get past the wards if they weren't keyed into them. Only Voldemort himself could be the possible exception, and even that wasn't proved.

Lily just hoped that she wasn't going to find out the answer to that today.

The redhead forced that disturbing thought away as she watched Dumbledore brush some ash and soot off his robes. He already had his wand in hand. And it was for that reason that Lily already felt about ten times better about this whole situation.

"Albus!" She cried in relief.

Her old headmaster straightened up and spotted her.

"Lily!" Dumbledore didn't bother with the usual pleasantries today, for which Lily was rather grateful, "Minerva informed me about Harry's sudden arrive in her office using her Patronus. I can only assume that the attack is happening now?"

Lily nodded her head grimly.

Dumbledore grimaced, but squared his shoulders and tightened his grip on his wand. It was more than obvious he was ready for a duel.

"Lead the way" he ordered.

Not needing to be told twice, Lily promptly ran off through the manor, Dumbledore trailing after her.

"James!"

James whirled on the spot when he heard someone yelling his name. The first thing he saw was Lily. She was charging towards him, whilst at the same time transfiguring her own pyjamas into more appropriate clothing. She was now wearing a warm-looking red woolly jumper, and black jeans. But Lily wasn't alone. James couldn't help the grin that lit up his face, nor the relieved sigh that escaped his lips, as he clapped eyes on Albus Dumbledore hurrying towards him. Despite his age, the old man was running quite easily towards James, his silver beard trailing over his shoulder.

Under different circumstances, James might have found the sight amusing.

Right now though, he was much more focused on the fact that his chances of staying alive had just risen ten-fold. Soon enough, Lily and Dumbledore joined James at the corden of Potter Manor.

"James, what is the situation?" Dumbledore asked, a note of urgency in his tone.

"I don't know yet, I was just about to…" James started to say, but his wife cut him off abruptly.

"Tisby!" Lily yelled loudly.

For a moment, there was no response. Then with a startling loud crack, Tisby, the Potter Family House-Elf, appeared before the three humans. The female elf was young for her kind, but she was not treated as a slave like so many others of her kind. James and Lily were both exceptionally kind to her. They paid her - something that most wizarding families, and brainwashed House-Elves heavily frowned upon - and even gave her weekends off. Tisby had tried to refuse at first, but James and Lily were having none of it. Tisby was a living creature and therefore she deserved rights. And they were all much happier for it.

"Yes Mistress Lily" Tisby greeted her.

"We think Voldemort…" Lily started to say.

Tisby whimpered, and covered her ears at the sound of the dreaded name. Lily sighed in exasperation, a tad irritated by the elf's reaction, but continued regardless.

"We think he's here" she explained hurriedly, trying to stay calm for all their sakes, "We need you to activate the dome".

"Right away Mistress Lily" Tisby nodded respectfully, before she vanished again with a second loud crack.

"The Dome?" Dumbledore wondered, looking around curiously.

After all, as far as he could see, there wasn't anything out in the grounds of the manor that even vaguely resembled a dome. James and Lily looked at each other, before they both nodded. If they couldn't trust Dumbledore with this information, who could they?

It was James that started to explain.

"The wards manipulate themselves to form a dome of pure light magical energy that reaches up over the building and grounds" he explained as concisely as he could, "Nothing can get through it…".

He was cut off as a deafening rumble filled the air like thunder.

The ground trembled beneath their feet. Suddenly there was a massive whoosh, and dozens of beams of sheer golden magic burst out from beneath the ground, in a circle around Potter Manor and its grounds, arching up high into the sky. The beams of magic all coalesced at a singular point in the sky - and with all the power of a burning supernova - the ball of golden energy exploded outwards in every direction, falling at a downwards curve in the form of an almighty dome. Soon enough, the energy field slammed back into the ground, and a beautiful dome of glittering golden light was protecting the manor and grounds.

The magic radiating off it was almost blinding. It was obvious that this protection was some seriously impressive and powerful light magic.

"Most impressive" Dumbledore commented, rather casually given the current crisis they found themselves in, "How else can this most charming place protect itself?"

James knew that his father would be spinning in his grave if he knew James was giving away the manor's secrets, but James trusted Dumbledore. And right now wasn't the time for secrets. Dumbledore needed to know everything so that he could keep James, Lily, and most importantly of all, Harry alive.

So with that thought in mind, the younger man told him.

"If Voldemort manages to break through the dome and the wall and gets inside, the statues will come to life and distract him. We have magical sensors ready to fire some particularly unpleasant curses at him… the garden and trees will aim poisonous spores, pods and seeds at him, and that's just the tip of the iceberg" James said smugly.

James' father had once told him that in the ancient days, apparently one of their ancestors had been rather paranoid, and had installed all sorts of magical defences. The magic used to create them was so powerful that nobody could remove or disable them.

Right now, James had never been more grateful for that fact in his entire life.

"Well, let's hope things don't come to that" Lily mumbled fearfully.

James turned to face her. All he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and hug her until she wasn't afraid anymore. It killed him to see his beloved Lily so tense and frightened. But now wasn't the time for comfort.

It was time to take action.

"Where's Harry?" he asked urgently. After all, his son's protection was a top priority.

"I sent him to Minerva's office at Hogwarts via the Snuffles Portkey we made for him" Lily quickly explained, still feeling guilty over sending Harry away all alone, "I put a note in his hand explaining everything. Minverva will protect him for us for the time being".

"Good" James nodded in relief. This was the very last situation Harry needed to be in right now.

James opened his mouth to speak again, but whatever words were on his lips never had the chance to be spoken. For at that exact moment, a large beam of crackling black lightning was sent hurtling at the dome of light.

James, Lily, and Dumbledore all shuddered.

All of them were able to feel the magical energy radiating from that beam of dark light. It felt like poison. The darkest form of evil.

It was utterly revolting.

None of them had to ask to know what it was. It was the essence of Voldemort's twisted dark magic. The jet of dark lightning struck the dome, but ricoheted off and faded. The dome rippled and faltered for a split-second, but almost immediately stabilized, and remained just as strong as ever.

"He's starting his assault!" Dumbledore warned darkly.

The warning wasn't really necessary though. After all, it was kind of obvious what was happening. Before any of them had chance to react beyond Dumbledore's warning, five more beams of darkness rained down upon the dome.

Again, the dome flickered slightly, but managed to hold.

"Merlin's beard" Lily whispered, "To even make it flicker takes an immense amount of magic".

If Voldemort could wield that much dark magic single-handedly, Lily didn't much fancy their chances in this fight. Still, Harry was safe. And as a mother, that was the most important thing in the world.

"Then let's return the favour" James cried.

James, Lily and Dumbledore all held their wands up high over their heads, and as one, they each sent a different spell back over the wall. The three spells shot over the wall, and in the distance, they could quite clearly see the distinct flashes of magical explosions lighting up the sky. The black beams suddenly stopped.

James looked at the wall in wonder, an almost hopeful glint in his eyes.

"Do you think we hit him?" he couldn't help but ask.

He received his answer in less than a second.

"Merlin's Beard!" James yelled in horrified shock, "That's... that's completely impossible!".

What had once been a golden dome of the purest light magic, was suddenly burning a furious scarlet. It was like somebody had set the magic on fire, burning and warping it into something dark and twisted. Swirling red clouds and black energy were covering the dome, trying to shatter it.

It was barely holding together under the strain.

Lily watched with wide, terrified eyes.

"I can't believe it. How can one wizard produce that much magic at once?!" she exclaimed in absolute disbelief.

Dumbledore looked grave indeed.

"This is the worst thing possible for our side" the old man shook his head in dismay, "Voldemort simply holds too much power. He must be stopped at any cost".

He was the calmest of the trio, but still worried none the less.

"James, Lily, wands at the ready" Dumbledore commanded, raising his own wand and pointing it in the direction of the wall surrounding the grounds. Lily and James both mirrored the action.

"Now!" the headmaster cried.

Together, the three of them began firing off every single offensive spell they could think of. Again and again, they launched spell after spell over the walls, towards their attacker. It wasn't really surprising that Dumbledore's were by far the most impressive. He was using a spell neither James nor Lily recognised to send orbs of shining silver light over the wall.

In the distance, they could hear the orbs exploding, and they could feel tremours running through the ground beneath their feet. It was taking everything James and Lily had just to keep up with him.

The battle raged on, and in the end it almost became like a fireworks display. Lights burning and exploding in all different colours. But something had to give. And within minutes, something did.

The dome began splintering.

"No!" Lily screamed, beyond horrified, "The Dome's integrity has being compromised!"

The young witch began waving her wand and uttered complex incantations at almost unbelievable speeds, and before the trio's very eyes, the cracks slowly sealed up as she sent every shield spell she could into them, fixing the damage Voldemort was doing to them.

"James, help her" Dumbledore commanded, a great sense of urgency in his tone, "I'll focus on the attack!"

James nodded his agreement. He quickly turned his attention to helping his wife rather than aiming his energies over the wall. Whilst Lily was definitely better at charms than James was, he was by no means a slouch himself, and so with the two of them working in perfect harmony, they slowly managed to reseal the cracks in their protection.

Within minutes, the dome was intact again. They both allowed a sigh of relief to slip their lips. The battle wasn't over yet however, and both the Potters knew it.

All the whilst, Dumbledore had been firing balls of pure magical energy over the wall at an almost insane pace. Satisfied that the dome would remain intact, at least for the time being, Lily and James refocused their efforts into helping him in his assault.

The hard-fought battle raged on.

James gritted his teeth in determination. Lily bit her lip, praying to every god she'd ever heard of that their luck would hold out.

Finally - yet not a moment too soon for the Potters and Dumbledore - after almost twenty minutes of intense spellcasting, they heard a sound that clearly signalled the end of the battle.

An enraged yell of outrage.

James, Lily and Dumbledore all waited with baited breath. Finally, to their upmost relief, the barrage of curses being thrown against the dome halted. As they watched, the trio witnessed a stream of black smoke rise up into the sky, and then it simply vanished from sight. There was only one conclusion for them to take from that.

It meant that Voldemort was gone.

They had won.

As one, James, Lily and Dumbledore all let out a collective sigh of relief.

"He's gone… but he will be back" Dumbledore told James and Lily solemnly.

The young parents both looked back at him fearfully. They knew he was right, despite how much they both wished he was wrong.

"We must come up with another plan, and soon" Dumbledore continued, his voice grave, "He knows where the manor is, and it is only a matter of time until he breaks through the defences".

The Potters glanced at each other wearily. Both of them were still very shaken from the recent encounter with the Dark Lord, yet despite that, there was also something else settling in their stomachs. A grim sense of determination.

Both James and Lily nodded in response to Dumbledore's warning. He was right after all. It was time to come up with another plan. They had to keep their family safe. And most importantly, they had to keep their son safe.

No matter the cost.

And there's the first chapter : )

Kind of intense, huh ; ) It's very similar to the original version of this chapter, but with much more emotion and detail added. I'm working off of the original chapters, changing them to fit with my new writing style, and basically just ironing out some of the stuff that was bugging me : )

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review telling me your thoughts and opinions : )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )