Hi guys, unfortunately I had my old laptop crash. Nothing was salvageable after the blue screen of death but I have purchased a new laptop and am working to get my works updated. That being said, I have had many of you request this story be placed back on fanfiction but since it cannot be uploaded as a read the book fic I have edited the story and am uploading it here for you all to hopefully enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter but I thank JK Rowling every day for giving us such a fun world for our minds to get lost in.

The Aftermath

On the dark streets of Godric's Hollow a frantic man raced towards a damaged looking house that still seemed to have smoke coming from an odd shaped hole in the roof. The man had shoulder length black hair and was dressed in form fitting leather pants with a white tee shirt, while he seemed mostly normal what stood out about his attire was the dark black cloak that billowed behind him as he rushed towards the broken gate. Without a thought, he tossed the broken wood aside and made his way up the short path to the house.

Upon reaching the door the man seemed to suddenly still. Hesitantly he stepped over the threshold, subtly flicking his wrist a stick appeared in his hand. The man made a short upwards motion with his hand and the tip of the stick began to glow. He made it silently through the sitting room, the furniture seemed to have been blown aside by great force leading straight to the stairs where he froze.

Looking down the man stared at the lifeless body that lay on the ground, he closed his eyes unable to bare looking into the open brown eyes of the man before him. Crouching down he whispered a few short words as he reached forward and shut the man's eyes hopefully allowing his spirit to see far better things than the ruins where he lay. Suddenly a piercing cry met the man's ears and he quickly stood up, shock coursing through him.

With an apologetic look the man stepped over the body and darted up the staircase. The door to the room he was approaching had been blasted open, cautiously he waved his stick in front of himself before heaving a sigh of relief.

Entering what was clearly a nursery the man made his way to the crib. He paused briefly to close the eyes of the woman he found lying on the floor. She had done what she had set out to do, the children in the room were safe it was time for her to rest.

The man tucked his stick away and began to tend to the crying children. He embraced them in his arms as best he could and began to rock the pair back and forth. He made shushing noises and whispered softly hoping to stop their cries.

He finally had quieted the children down when a noise startled him from below. Quickly placing the children back in the crib, the man wiped fiercely at his eyes destroying the evidence of his silent tears.

With a flick of his wrist the stick was back in his hand. Holding the stick in front of himself the man made his way back into the hallway and towards the stairs. Carefully glancing around the corner he was surprised by the sight of a giant standing at the bottom. The large man had scraggly hair and a large beard that covered most of his face. Keeping his arm raised the man cleared his throat.

"Hagrid…" he called out when the giant didn't immediately turn towards him.

"I never… never tho… though' it would happen…" the giant hiccupped slightly as he finally turned his attention to the other man. His face was stained with tears as he shook his head. "How? How could this happen?"

"Hagrid, I know you're upset but I need you to focus and answer a question for me. Can you do that?" Seeing the giant nod his head the man continued, "What did I do the night you found me drunk in my sixth year?"

"Yeh set me bed on fire when I took yeh back to me hut to sober up."

The dark-haired man nodded as if the giant had passed his test. "I am still sorry about that by the way."

"S'okay," the giant shrugged starting to look around the room.

"What are you doing here Hagrid?"

"Dumbledore sent me ter get the twins out o' here."

The man took a moment as he seemed to think through that statement. He looked back down the hall he had come from before nodding and heading towards the nursery. Pulling the children back into his arms, he carried them over to a changing table where he made sure they were warm and wrapped tightly within a blanket. As he slowly walked back down the hall he hoped he was making the right decision.

He found Hagrid waiting by the once fireplace. "Hagrid, I want you to take my bike. Get them to safety as fast as you can."

The giant rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeh sure about this?"

"Yes," the man answered offering the children over. "I can't take them with me for what I need to do."

"Need ter do?"

"I have a rat to hunt down…"

Nodding Hagrid reached out to take the twins into his large arms. "Yeh sure I should be taking your bike though?"

"We don't have much time, Hagrid. Just take the bike and get them to a safe place."

"Right, right…" the giant seemed to sense the urgency in the other man's voice. "We better get going then."

The man stepped forward and kissed the foreheads of both children whispering his love for them and promising to return once he had dispensed of the traitorous vermin.

Forcing himself to leave the house he glanced behind him to see the giant cautiously making his way out the door. Certain he was doing the right thing he vanished into thin air with a soft pop never knowing what that one choice would cost him.

ooOoOoOoo

Privet Drive was about as normal a street in Little Whinging, Surrey as you could find or at least that is what the residents of the street believed themselves to be. The wives gossiped while pretending to prune trees, held weekly book club meetings as an excuse to drink wine and enjoyed the occasional cheeky glance over a hedge or out a curtained window to snoop on their neighbors. The men for their part went to work daily, proudly supporting their families and enjoyed showing off their new company cars on the weekends in order to impress the others on the street.

One such couple who fully enjoyed the normality of life on the quiet street were Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. The pair lived at Number Four Privet Drive with their young son Dudley. Despite their outward appearances Mrs. Dursley had a very unusual sister, a sister her little family liked to pretend didn't exist. To the Dursleys any abnormality was frowned upon and Mrs. Dursley's sister and her husband were glaring black spots that they could not allow in their lives. They never mentioned the sister or her freakish ways and they hoped the day never came where they would be forced to explain the existence of such an imperfection to their neighbors.

The Potters, as they were referred to by the people who knew them, were not welcome on Privet Drive. The pair had attempted early on to reach out, especially after they had welcomed their twins into the world, a little boy and girl. It was in vain as the Dursleys would not hear of it and the more the Potters pushed the more worried they became of their interference in their perfect lives. The Dursleys were adamant that they would not allow the freaks to influence their sweet little Dudders, who knew what could happen if he was exposed to such abnormal children as the Potters. It could not and would not be allowed. Eventually the Potters stopped pestering them and the Dursleys could relax and focus on ensuring the growth of their perfect little boy.

When Mr. Dursley left for his morning commute to work he was oblivious to the day that awaited him. Upon entering London, he encountered people dressed in all colors of cloaks with various styles of odd hats on their heads. He supposed it was the latest fad but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why people would want to look like they were wearing some odd modern form of a centuries old attire. Instead of letting it bother him too greatly he chose to ignore the odd people even when they tipped their hats in his direction.

As the day wore on oddities continued to occur, it was hard not to notice mass amounts of owls flying in broad daylight. Mr. Dursley was unsure what could cause so many nocturnal creatures to be up so early but he did his best to pretend he didn't see them swooping past his window. Instead his mantra became 'sell drills' in an attempt to remind himself of his task at hand because that was what Mr. Dursley did for a living, he sold drills.

By lunch the poor man felt he had certainly earned his lunch, a box of doughnuts from his favorite shop across the street. Mr. Dursley was disappointed to find the sidewalks were still filled with the oddly dressed people and one had the audacity to bump into him and call him a 'muggle', what did that term mean anyway?

Doughnuts finally in hand Mr. Dursley attempted to make his way back to the office only to overhear an oddly dressed pair talking in somewhat hushed tones.

"Did you hear…" Mr. Dursley leaned in but it was little use, the pair weren't talking loud enough for him to make out much of their conversation.

"It's terrible you know," one of them said nodding in agreement to whatever the first man had said.

"Little Emily and Harry…" Mr. Dursley tried to rack his brain but he just couldn't understand why those names sounded so familiar to him. Leaning back in he caught the last little bit as the men walked passed him not even noticing his presence, "I knew his dad you know the Lord Potter."

On hearing the name Potter Mr. Dursley beelined for the entrance to his building, the name was merely a coincidence, besides the men had mentioned a Lord Potter and as far as he was concerned a freak could never hold such a title.

Deciding he was over thinking things Mr. Dursley took a large bit of a chocolate doughnut and decided he was being silly. His mind was starting to make connections when there was no need to, today was merely an off day for him.

Pulling into his driveway that evening Mr. Dursley was feeling slightly better. After his lunch, his day had returned to its normal routine and now he was about to spend his evening with his wife and son. Upon climbing out of his car the man looked to the garden post where he saw an abnormally still cat sitting perched on top. He swore he had seen it earlier that day when he was leaving, certainly it couldn't have remained in the same spot all day. Shaking his head, the man attempted to scare off the animal which seemed to watch him closely with a look of annoyance.

Deciding to leave well enough alone Mr. Dursley joined his small family for dinner. Dudley spent his time kicking and screaming, much preferring the sweets his mother would offer him to be quiet and Vernon couldn't help but be proud, his son had learnt a new word, 'won't'.

Vernon reflected on his odd day as he stared out the window of his bedroom onto the street below. He had at one point upset his wife who was making her displeasure known as she huffed and turned her back to where he was standing as she settled into bed. He couldn't blame her for being upset, he had been the one to bring up the taboo subject. Earlier when the news had been playing and they were recounting the odd sightings of owls, Vernon had gotten the courage to age what his sister-in-law had named her children.

"Harry and Emily, rather unoriginal… but since when have they cared about such things," she had sniffed.

Funny, Vernon thought, he was certain the children would have been given wilder names then the sensible, rather normal names they had selected. His mistake had been saying that thought aloud to his wife. She had ignored him the rest of the night for mentioning her sister's family.

Shaking himself he let the curtain fall closed and block out the light coming in from the street lamps. Vernon was merely being silly, there was nothing to worry about or any connection to be found. Their secret was safe, it was simply a very odd day and he supposed it was rather normal for that to occur every now and then. With that thought Mr. Dursley climbed into bed next to his wife and promptly fell asleep.

Oo0o0o0oO

As Hagrid flew across the sky he had a long time to ponder the recent events and for the life of him he couldn't understand how it had come to his current journey. James and Lily had gone into hiding to protect themselves from the madman that was hunting them down only to be betrayed and killed. It had all been for nothing.

A squirming motion made him look down, the twins were tucked tightly against him. Perhaps it hadn't all been in vain, the twins had survived and if the rumors circulating were to be believed it was their power not their parents that had stopped the evil that came to end them.

Voldemort had arrived at the house at Godrics Hollow, in an attempt to end the entire Potter line, but when faced with the children he had been unable to kill them. His powers had backfired somehow leaving the house the smoldering mess he had found.

It was nothing short of a miracle that the only injury the twins seemed to suffer was a lightning shaped scar to Harry's head while Emily had a similar scar on her shoulder. How they were the ones to lead the madman to his end, Hagrid could only guess but he was grateful a part of his friends still lived on through them.

Approaching the darkened muggle street Hagrid was sad his time with the twins was about to come to an end. They would be living with muggles for the coming years and he doubted he would be allowed to visit.

It was with a heavy heart that the giant landed the bike as quietly as he could. Climbing off, careful not to disrupt the sleeping children Hagrid made his way towards an older looking man who had a long white beard and wore odd looking purple robes with golden stars shooting across it. A woman stood next to the man with a sour look on her face, her hair was tied tightly up in a bun and she wore a dark green robe that billowed slightly in the light breeze that blew through the neighborhood. If any of the street's occupants were to look out their windows at that moment they would have probably suffered a heart attack at the abnormal sight before them. The people standing in the middle of the road were exactly the type who were unwelcome in this neighborhood.

"Professor Dumbledore," the giant said nodding first towards the old man before acknowledging the stern looking woman who looked thoroughly unimpressed with his arrival, "Professor McGonagall."

"Good evening Hagrid, I hope your journey went well," Dumbledore smiled as he inspected the blanket the giant was carrying.

"I have 'em righ' here, sir." Hagrid offered over the twins who were immediately taken from him by McGonagall.

Shaking his head the older gentleman ran his hand down his beard, "Was that Sirius' bike that you rode on?"

"He told me to take it, sir. He said ter get the twins ter safety, that he had a rat or somethin' he was lookin' fer."

"Did he now?" Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment before he seemed to shake himself at the sounds of the woman singing softly to the children in her arms.

"Minerva, we don't have much time."

"I don't care what you say Albus, I think this is a terrible idea."

Nodding Dumbledore slowly approached the woman and began to look over the twins, running basic scans to ensure they didn't need any medical attention that wasn't outwardly obvious.

"I am aware of your misgivings," the woman huffed in annoyance but he continued on, "but this is for the best. They will be with family and away from the fame that is sure to plague them in our world. Wouldn't you rather they had a proper childhood, what and who could offer them normality with us?"

"I don't care what your reasoning is Albus but I'm telling you now, if I ever find out my instincts were right about these people, we will be needing a new Headmaster."

The woman's glare sent a shiver down Dumbledore's spine. He had no doubt that should he be wrong it very well could be the last thing he ever did… Quickly attempting to dismiss the terrifying thought of being hunted down by an angry Minerva, he reached out and took the twins into his arms. Looking down at their sleeping faces Dumbledore was certain he was doing the right thing. How could anyone look at these children who had survived so much and treat them with anything but love.

"Can you heal their cuts?" Minerva asked leaning over to gently run a finger over the pairs marks.

"I cannot," the old man sighed. "Some marks simply cannot be undone."

"But Harry's is right on his forehead, the poor dear won't be able to hide it."

"Sometimes scars can be useful," Dumbledore said only to be met with a look that told him, the woman thought him crazy.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Hagrid said reminding the old friends of the giant's presence. "The muggles won't be asleep much longer…"

"Right you are Hagrid, we must hurry."

"Albus, please don't do this. I can take in the twins."

"No Minerva, as I have said they should be with family. Plus, where would they stay during the school year?"

"With me at the castle."

"This really is for the best," Dumbledore said dismissing the woman's words as he walked up the path through the small front garden. Crouching down he tucked the twins into a bassinette and slipped a letter into the blankets he added to keep them warm. Turning around, he saw Hagrid with tears running down his face as he walked back to the bike he had been loaned and Minerva threw him a scathing look before disappearing on the spot.

Sighing the old man wished it hadn't come to this but there was no changing the events that had occurred. With a wish of luck for the twins Dumbledore allowed the street to once again be illuminated by the lamps that lined the road before vanishing from sight.

That night as the twins slept people all over the country were celebrating. Fireworks could be seen in the sky until sunrise the next morning but all the while the people were raising their glasses in honor to the Boy and Girl who Lived.