A/N: This is a disclaimer for the rights of any of the characters or the setting of this story. None of it belongs to me, but to J.K. Rowling instead. This disclaimer will also apply for future chapters of this story.

This story, being my first FanFiction, is kind of like "the first pancake". I hope it will be well received and that my readers will give me some constructive criticism 😊 Enjoy 😊

Chapter 1: The One-Year Itch

Professor Minerva McGonagall was sitting in her office, staring blankly at the calendar on her desk. The date said October 30th, 1982. Had it already been a year, tomorrow, since that fateful night in Godric's Hollow? She couldn't believe how fast time travelled suddenly. A year since James and Lily Potter were killed. In two days, it would be a year since she, Albus Dumbledore and Rubeus Hagrid had left James and Lily's son on the doorstep of the house of Lily Potter's sister Petunia.

As Professor McGonagall sat staring at the calendar, more specifically the date, her thoughts sored trough time and she was remembering the days following, the beginning of November 1981.

Professor McGonagall was sitting on the wall of Privet Drive feeling the chill of an early November breeze. It wasn't cold yet but chilly. Of course, this was nothing compared to what she was witnessing inside of number 4, Privet Drive. It was early morning and Vernon Dursley was getting ready to leave for work while Petunia Dursley was trying to feed a screaming boy some breakfast at the dining room table. Across the room, through the dining room and on the other side of the living room, in a playpen sat another boy, also crying. Not screaming, just crying. After half an hour of trying to feed the screaming boy, Petunia got up, walked across the room and put a bowl of porridge in the playpen and told the crying boy to eat his breakfast and be quiet so that his cousin could finish his breakfast in peace.

Professor McGonagall felt another chill throughout her body, but she wasn't sure that it was caused by the early November breeze this time. She was sitting and watching the small boy in the playpen, wondering. How would Harry Potter's life have been if his parents hadn't been murdered? Would he be sitting at the dining room table and be fed porridge by his mother? Of course, he would! Lily Potter had been a great mother before her untimely death. As Professor McGonagall was watching the boy in the playpen, still crying, she kept on wondering how Harry Potter's life would turn out whilst living with his aunt, uncle and cousin. Again, she felt another chill. And with her fur it couldn't be the November breeze.

Realizing she was still in her office at Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall looked around, coming out of her train of thoughts. It had almost been a year. Harry Potter would be two years old by now. Plus a few months of course. What was Harry Potter during at this very moment? Was he still sitting in the playpen, crying? Had he learned to walk? Had he learned to talk? Had he been tossed into the cheapest daycare center his uncle could find? Professor Dumbledore had said that Harry would be safe at Petunias house because of her shared blood with Lily Potter, but what if Harry Potter never would call number 4, Privet Drive home? What if Vernon and Petunia Dursley kept treating him as bad as they had on that morning in the early November of 1981? Would he then be safe?

Professor McGonagall stood up and started pacing back and forth in her office. Her long, emerald-green cloak flowing behind her. Would it really have to be a blood relative for the protection to work? Would Harry Potter really be safe if he was treated so badly for 16 years that he would never call that place home? Would anyone else be able to give Harry Potter the same protection without being a blood relative?

Professor McGonagall stopped pacing for a moment. She went to look out the window. From her office, she had a good view of the castle. As she watched the castle rise this Saturday morning, she noticed Rubeus Hagrid coming out of the Forbidden Forest with his boarhound trailing after him. The Ravenclaw quidditch team looked to be getting an early practice before next week's game against Hufflepuff as seven blue blurs were seen flying above the quidditch field off in the distance. Several professors were walking across the grounds, apparently enjoying the late October mist.

As Professor McGonagall sat back down in her chair beside her desk, she thought about James and Lily Potter. Who had they known in the last years before their untimely death? Well, of course there was Lily's sister Petunia and her husband, but they were out of the question as she had witnessed how they already treated Harry Potter. But seeing how Lily was muggleborn, there wasn't a lot to come for there. James on the other hand was a pureblood and had always lived in the wizarding world.

As Head of Gryffindor House, Professor McGonagall had taught both James and Lily while they were both at school. Lily had one friend while at school, Severus Snape, who had been in Slytherin at the time. But seeing as he had been a Death Eater a couple of years back, she seemed pretty sceptic about him. True, he had turned spy for Albus Dumbledore prior to You-Know-Who's downfall, but Dumbledore could be naive at times. At least in her opinion, he could be. Like placing Harry Potter with the Dursleys on November 1st of last year for his own good.

James Potter on the other hand had a lot of friends while at school. Especially the three other Gryffindors in his year. But poor Peter had died shortly after James, so sadly he was out of the question. At the thought of this Professor McGonagall felt herself shed a silent tear. These four boys had been excellent students. Granted they were troublemakers but great, nonetheless. And now both James and Peter were dead.

Besides Peter, there were also Sirius. Sirius and James had been like a set of inseparable twins. But, and this was probably the worst part, Sirius was in Azkaban for murdering Peter. And… McGonagall shed another tear… Rumor has it that Sirius was the one who sold James and Lily's whereabouts to You-Know-Who. She just couldn't believe it. But despite what was true and what was only rumors, Sirius was also out of the question.

Lastly, there was Remus. Professor McGonagall opened her eyes and stood up.

Remus. Remus Lupin.