Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter! Lily has given birth to two beautiful little boys; would you like to see them now?" James nodded frantically and struggled not to shove the Healer out of the way in his haste to get to his boys. Twins? Twins were incredibly rare in the Magical world; the Weasley's had already had a set, George and Fred, the first set of twins in over twenty years. James briefly thought about the Patil twins, too, before he shot through the ward door and his worried eyes met the laughing, tired emeralds of his wife.

James grinned weakly and rushed over, knowing he wasn't allowed to run but still trying to. "Are you okay, my love?" He smoothed a small lock of red hair behind her ear and pressed a kiss to her sweaty forehead.

"Yes," she murmured, loving eyes focussed on two blue bundles in her arms. "Look, James- Charles Everette Potter and Harold James Potter. Charlie and Harry, our little boys."

"Very strong names, my love." James nodded his approval and sheepishly moved the covers away from his two children. They weren't identical, that much he could already tell. One of them was tiny, with one hand balled into the covers. The other was larger and chubbier, his bright blue eyes looking around the room. There was a slight film on his eyes which James remarked on worriedly.

"It's fine, love." Lily smiled happily, propping the larger one up. "This is Charles," and James stroked his finger over his little boy's face. "He's the Second Born son to the House of Potter." James smiled widely and his eager eyes met his other son's face.

"This is the First Born?" he breathed, already sizing the two up. Why was Harry smaller if Charles was born second? "A fitting name." he remarked offhandedly sinking into the nearest available chair.

At five months

Harry still wasn't growing and James was getting worried. He'd put on a few pounds from birth but he was still tiny. "Don't worry, love." Lily smiled charmingly and kissed him on the chin. "He'll grow soon enough." James inwardly scoffed; it'd been five months now and he weighed six pounds. The Mediwizard's had told him that it was because Harry was such a small baby, but James still worried.

Charles took this moment to whine from his crib and James snapped into action, waving his wand to conjure up some coloured bubbles. Harry giggled happily and swatted at them, his bright green eyes wide. His eyes had faded from the baby-blue almost immediately, switching between an earthy-brown and green before they'd brightened into Lily's eyes. He had fine, wispy black hair on his head and he was a very happy baby, always smiling or clapping.

Charlie weighed a healthy nine pounds and he was a very big baby. The Mediwizard's had said Charlie was receiving more nutrients but James tuned them out, most of the time. Charles had sparkling hazel eyes, green in the centre and a fine coating of light auburn hair. James hoped it darken into Lily's fiery red, but he also hoped it'd darken to match his own. Charles was a colicky baby, grumpy and spent most of his time whinging, but James could handle that.

Charles grinned toothlessly and clapped his hands happily.

At seven months

"Charlie!" Sirius Black laughed, gently pulling on the child's hand to release his hair from the demon's grasp. Remus chuckled behind him, bouncing Harry in his arms.

"Pa'foo!" Harry giggled happily, wrapping his arms around Remus' neck. Padfoot froze in his attempts to stop the child grabbing his hair and looked at Remus in astonishment.

"LILY!" Sirius roared, passing Charlie to Remus and taking Harry from Remus' lax grip. "Say that again, Harry, go on..."

"Moo'ey!" Charlie chirped, pressing a wet kiss to the werewolves chin.

"LILY!"

Christmas Day

Harry cooed gently at the brightly coloured presents and began to chew on the edge of one of the gifts. "Ma ma," he babbled, pudgy fingers slapping down on the red and yellow box, loosening the bow. Lily laughed and gently removed Harry's mouth from the box (not before taking a picture, of course) and undid the bow, the box falling and revealing a tiny, baby-safety broom. Charlie was giggling loudly, having opened his broom before Harry and chewing on the fixed bristles.

James snorted and put Charlie onto the seat, strapping him into the baby chair and tapping the end of the broom with his wand. With a loud squeal, Charlie was flying around the room at two foot off of the floor. Lily watched fondly and took a picture of that, too, before pressing a smaller gift into Harry's palms. She guided his hands to the cage and unhooked the latch, feeling Harry jump when a tiny little ball of fur leapt at him. The kitten purred loudly and snuggled into Harry's Rudolph one-piece pyjama set. Lily curled his fingers down and tucked his thumb into the fist, stroking the kitten behind the ear. It was a cute little thing, a fully black little kitten apart from its paws. It had white paws.

"I think we'll call you Felix, little one," Lily smiled warmly as the tiny animal purred loudly, it's tail flicking contentedly. "I promise, Harry will look after you."

Charlie stopped giggling and demanded to let off of his broom, opening another present. He revealed another little kitten, this one with a white body and a ginger head. It had mismatched eyes, one blue and the other a very dark, almost black, brown. "Moo'ey!" Charlie chanted, picking the kitten up in his hands and cuddling it close to his chest. When the kitten yowled, James quickly separated the two and sent the kitten scurrying.

"I think we'll call you Calypso." Lily whispered to it, before pressing another, much smaller, gift into Harry's grabbing hands.

He giggled loudly and tore the purple paper apart, revealing a plush dragon toy. He giggled even louder and cuddled the toy to his chest. "Warr!"

At eight months

"Why is He coming after us?" Lily whispered harshly, shooting a vile glare at Severus Snape. He had endangered her family by telling his damned Lord about the Prophecy.

"Surely the fact that we had twins changes the Prophecy?" James added, stiffening in his chair and sitting straight-backed. He was Lord Potter now.

"It doesn't; it just means that one of them, as well as little Neville Longbottom, has the power the Dark Lord knows not." Dumbledore hooked his fingers together and thought.

"Severus, leave." James commanded rudely, subtly flashing the heavy ring on his thumb. Lily grimaced, but covered her expression well. "You are a traitor to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter and I would find it detrimental to the Lord, Lady, Heir and Second to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter if you remained in this vicinity."

Dumbledore frowned and inclined his head at Severus. "By your leave shall we continue."

A murderous expression fouled the man's face but he nodded grimly and left Dumbledore's office. The disappointed glint in Dumbledore's eyes made James feel... victorious.

"You shall stay at Godric's Hollow for the time being," Dumbledore murmured gravely, looking down at the grain pattern of his table. He was ashamed of James, but as James was well within his rights to do that, Dumbledore would say nothing more on the matter. "And you shall be placed under the protection of the Fidelius charm."

"Who should be the Secret Keeper?" James asked politely. Sirius?

"I was thinking myself-"

"With all due respect, sir, I was thinking more along the lines of friends." Lily added hastily. "Not that we wouldn't love for it to be you, sir, but if something went wrong..."

Dumbeldore inclined his head again and finally looked up, staring into Lily's green eyes. "Who will it be, then?"

"I was thinking Sirius!" Lily smiled, her green eyes crinkled in delight. "Sirius has the protection of Grimmauld Place and he would struggle to be found; I would trust him with my life."

"As do I," James added, nodding. "I think Sirius would be the best choice."

At eight months

Sirius had been shocked and overjoyed that he'd been appointed Secret Keeper, but he begrudged the fact that he was unable to continue his Auror duty. "Mate..." Sirius breathed, his grey eyes wide. "This is big - not Death Eater big, You-Know-Who big!"

"Yes, Siri, we know." Lily smiled warmly and chuckled, blowing on her hot, very sweet, tea. "I've jinxed, hexed, warded and double warded the house to the foundations to the roof."

Sirius nodded knowingly and gave her a tiny smile. Sirius, in his seventh year gave Lily the Black book of protection for her to translate and learn from; it contained Latin, Japanese, Spanish and basic English magic that the Black's had hoarded over the years.

Lily grimaced and waved her wand counter-clockwise, before roughly jabbing at the rock and flicking it high into the air. Similarly, tonnes upon tonnes of pebbles and rocks surrounding her rose into the air and span on her command. Red threads began to leave the tip of her wand as she whispered, "Domito." The rocks shook with the spell and she slowly lowered them to the ground, spreading the protection around the house in a wide circle. Anybody who was felt to be an intruder would be pelted with rocks. Highly sped up, sharp rocks (made this way with the Uruz rune and the Hagalaz rune).

She drew another rune symbol in the air with her wand, the Kenaz symbol, to ward away any illusions or sight-distorting spells.

She smiled at wiped the sweat from her brow, before picking up one of the kittens she'd found in a disposal bin. She gave it a pitying look and steeled herself for what she was about to do, before picking up the Potter ceremonial knife and slitting the animal's throat. The kitten mewled weakly before she drained the blood herself into a basin. She pooled the blood at the front door of the cottage and slit her arm with the knife. This particular blood magic ritual needed a sacrifice as well as blood from the mother. Blood magic was a very dangerous thing, but Lily would do anything for her family.

She used the knife to draw the Eihwaz and Algiz symbol into the front step which would protect her family from harm.

She felt physically weak, but she plowed on regardless. As a Muggleborn, it was presumed she was weak and knew nothing- even the Black's themselves could only complete two rituals directly after the first, but here she was. She'd successfully completed two already, and felt strong enough to carry on.

She picked herself up from the floor and entered her house, careful not to touch the blood before it sank into the ground. She returned outside with packets of cat food and fed the remaining three kittens, before sending them on their way. Maybe they'd find a nice home?

She circled the house once, twice, before pulling out two sprigs of holly from her bag. She rubbed a small amount of magic-imbued 'protection oil' onto the holly leaves and wrapped a red ribbon around one of the stems. Holly, holly, berry bright, protect this house, day and night. Protect us from evil, holly, with your berries so bright as the cold falls every night.

She pinned the two sprigs to the front and back door, each coupled with bright red ribbons from her childhood. She smiled again and nodded, entering the cottage.

She stumbled up the stairs, drinking a pepper-up as she went, before she entered the twins room. It was a light blue colour, with moving clouds on the walls that changed colour when night descended.

She opened her duffel bag and removed white, red and yellow candles and lit them with her father's zippo lighter. This ritual needed to use items that Lily held with emotional attachment, so she placed Charlie's and Harry's baby blankets on a table and placed the lit candles onto the blankets. She then removed a small bag of salt from her bag and spread it out in a large circle, making sure there was no breakage in the circle. She removed three copper plates from the bag and sent the candles onto them, filling the slightly inclined plates full of baby hair, Sirius' hair, James' hair and Lily's blood. She hummed softly and weaved her hands gently throughout the triangle formation, magic thumming into her finger tips as they danced over the flames.

"By the blood of the parent, hair of the Beloved Godfather, I call upon you, mothering spirits." Her eyes rolled back in her head but she held her ground, even as the wind picked up around her and tousled her hair. "Mayoke, my divine spirits. Protect my children as you would your own."

The wind nipped at her skin and chilled her to the bone, before she was filled with a feeling of warmth and love.

The spirits had offered their protection- if harm was to befall the children, the spirits would help Lily to save them, even if it meant her death.

Lily would do anything for her family.

Lily gave him a knowing look and inclined her head to the front door. "We have some holly, for protection."

Sirius just shook his head and smiled.

At nine months old

Alice Longbottom shook James' hand and embraced Lily, juggling her son, Neville, in her arms. "I don't know how you cope with two, Lils!" She chortled, pressing the squirming baby into Lily's arms and falling into a red loveseat.

"It's been hard," Lily admitted, a smile twisting on her lips. "But it's worth it."

Alice gave her a fond look before taking Neville back, rocking him against her bosom. "How are they?"

"They're already talking!" Lily gushed, sitting beside Alice on the plush sofa. "Oh, it's brilliant- Harry say's 'Padfoot' and 'Ma' and Charlie says 'Moony' and 'Dada', they're already so advanced! Harry can sit by himself properly now, but Charlie- He can crawl! How's Neville doing?"

"Neville's been babbling but he's up and about, alternating between crawling and stepping on his tippy-toes. Magically..." Alice began to look very troubled, her brow furrowing and her dark eyes lidding slightly. "We've had him tested and the Healer's informed us that he has the capacity to be 'normal'; not great, just normal. Right now he's at 4.39 on the Magical Measure and I just worry - he'll get teased for it."

Lily frowned and clasped Alice's hand in her own. She'd had the boys tested as well; Charlie was at 7.82 on the scale while Harry was at 13.943 on the scale, the highest rated child since 1809. Lily kept the figures to herself and wiped the records clean. The Healer had also told her that Harry's core was still growing and would continue to grow until he was fifteen, before it was stabilise on its own. Charlie's would stabilise when he first received his wand but his growth wouldn't be as rapid or as large as Harry's would be. Charlie was rated as 'great' on the small chart she'd been given, whereas Harry was marked 'astronomical'.

No, Lily thought determinedly, Harry's powers would stay with Lily until the day she died.

The Healer had also remarked that the twins shared a deeper bond- Charlie took the nutrients, Harry took the power. Basically, Charlie was Harry's powerhouse and if that bond wasn't destroyed, it could kill them both. Magic sharing was unheard of, even for the Healer's who used their own magic to heal other people. Their magic would have to be identical, right down to the core size - and Charlie's was smaller than Harry's. The bond could be broken- should, but Lily wouldn't do it. If Charlie could use Harry's magic for himself, then surely it was the correct thing to do, right? There was a war and her children would be thrust into the brink of it.

No, the bond will stay.

"Don't worry, Alice. Neville's core will grow and expand as you love and nourish him. He's not inferior, sweetie. He's not weak, he's normal. He won't get teased for it."

"What about your boys?" Alice perked up slightly, gently tugging Neville's fingers away from her short hair.

"Charlie scored 7.82," Lily beamed in pride and her thrice damned maternal instincts kicked in. "Harry scored 5.116, but as Harry grows it'll grow larger until they'll be balanced, I'm sure."

Alice gave her the tiniest of smiles; she felt comfortable with her own son, knowing that Lily's boy was 'weak' too. But he wasn't, and he never would be.

Lily blinked away her tears and gave a shaky smile. "I love you, James."

James gave her a grim frown, his jaw set in a determined position. Voldemort was coming and emotions would be weak at this time.

He took his wand and stood, almost lazily, in a slouched position. His shoulders were held back loosely and his feet were splayed for better balance. There were wardrums pounding in his head.

Lily took the boys after a solemn nod and before chanting under her breath full activating the spells in the boys rooms. She set Harry in the first crib, visible to the door, while she pushed Charlie into the other crib and covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. If - if Voldemort had killed her, and killed Harry - she didn't know what to do. Harry was the stronger of the two. His magic was pulsating, warm, and Charlie's was brilliant but not as strong and she didn't know what to do; was she signing a death sentence for her stronger son or was she hoping Voldemort would go for the obvious choice to the prophecy child even know he didn't know?

She bit harshly down on her thumb and traced a lightning bolt into Harry's forehead, drawing a tiny blossom over his heart. She then traced a lightning bolt over her own heart and a blossom on her forehead. She didn't know what to do.

She saw fire in the distance and hoped James would be safe - he had to be! For her runes to work, she needed to die. She hoped he didn't die; her boys needed their daddy. He was alive, surely - surely. There was a new fire burning in her eyes now, determined.

But by God, she felt sick.

Harry put his tiny hand in hers and gave her a tiny smile, his green eyes flickering with sleep. "Love you, mummy."

She finally let the tears fall and something, someone higher snapped. They would protect this family.

"I love you too, sweetie. I need you to do something, okay?" she whispered, hearing the door slam open. "I need you to focus on mummy and you need to protect you and Charlie, okay? Just focus on me and protect yourself."

Harry's green eyes seemed so much darker when he nodded solemnly. "Wai' for me, mummy."

Oh God - James was down. She heard a loud bang and a sharp yelp - her husband was down and there was a monster coming for her two babies. She didn't know what to do. She didn't pay attention to what her baby just said, just pressed him close to her breast and nuzzled her nose into his hair. She wouldn't see her two boys grow up. She wouldn't see their weddings, her first grandchild...

The bedroom door slammed open with a loud bang but she retained her position, chanting sweet nothings to her baby.

Scarlet eyes glared at them menacingly.

"Mummy, wai' for me!" Harry demanded again and she finally paid attention, emerald eyes snapping open in despair.

He would not die.

"Well isn't this... Touching." A smooth voice interrupted Lily's moment and she dropped her son into the crib, whirling around, wand tucked behind her back, eyes furious.

"Fuck you!"

"Crucio."

Immediately she dropped to the floor, screaming and howling in agony. Cold eyes watched blankly, while widened green ones watched in childish shock.

"Mummy!" Harry cooed and the spell stopped with a flick of his tiny hand, sending it onto the wall. Voldemort gazed in shock as his hand most certainly felt that shock!

Lily grasped Harry's hand in her own and she grinned darkly, blood dribbling down her chin from where she'd gone down. "You're dead fucked." she hissed, before drawing her wand and snapping it in two, the unicorn hair falling to the ground. One single drop of blood fell on the wand core and it began to glow.

"Avada Kedavra!" he howled and she dropped to the floor, grim amusement still in her eyes.

Voldemort turned to the face the child, the other boy still sleeping. He absently noticed there was a sleeping charm on the red headed child and he was hidden under a blanket that made him physically invisible, but crouched low to this anomaly. How had he twisted Voldemort's hand to the wall?

"Hello." Harry greeted, his eyes wise. "Hu' are you?"

"I am Lord Voldemort, but you can call me Marvolo." Voldemort said carefully, eyeing the lightning bolt on the child's forehead. It was probably nothing- so what is the niggling in the back of his head?

"Mar'vu'lo?" Harry tried, not affected by his mothers death. The woman standing next to her body was proof enough that she was safe now, with her curling red hair and sparkling emerald eyes. Mummy was safe and she would watch over him.

"Marvolo," Voldemort corrected before he sighed, standing up. "Good bye, Mr. Potter."

"Good bye, Marvolo." Harry smiled happily at the man before a bright flash of green light hit the child, the blood on his forehead sizzling and glowing.

The spell rebounded.

Voldemort screeched and burned to a crisp, while the woman gave Harry a smile. Voldemort messed with the wrong Mudblood. "Good bye, my love. Be strong, be brave... Love your brother and father, for I cannot."