A/N: So I don't really know what to say about this, but hope you people like it. It was... an odd idea I couldn't get out of my head. Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: All related characters belong to JK Rowling or Marvel.

What Lies in the Silence

Part I: Insidious

Prologue: A Whispered Prayer

"What do you think it – he is?" Questioned James softly, trying to quell the tremors that pressed through his chilled skin. Lily Potter knelt on the carpet beside him, green eyes never straying from the small child before them. She attempted to reach out and touch him, but he let out a hiss and fled to the farthest corner of the den. Placing a table and a chair between them – his eyes, red as sin, narrowed in fear and James tried to piece together how he had gotten here.

"I couldn't tell you... Where did you say you found him, James?" Lily asked, worrying her lip between her teeth, "he's terrified."

'He was terrifying,' James thought, shifting in his wet clothes, the edges frosted where he had handled the boy. James felt his jaw quiver, setting it; he winced as he slid his red hands against the starched fabric of his Auror uniform.

"I... I just found him," he lied, wincing as it came so easily from his mouth. He remembered the one-eyed man's warning. It wrung hollow and stern in his mind as he bit into his knuckles, only glad Lily was too preoccupied with the boy to see through it.

"He," Lily whispered, "He looks how old Harry would have been."

James knew he wasn't meant to hear it, but it was true. He thinned his lips, eyes straying away from the small creature – from the small boy – back to his wife. She sat back on her calves, hands bunching the fabric of her jeans. It had been a long time since James had seen the fiery young woman he had married. She was dimmed and lost in the aftermath of losing her child, their child, to circumstance. She'd refused to let James touch her, weeping in her sleep, and denying anyone that came in an effort to comfort her – even turning away Alice Longbottom. So distraught in her grief and unable to congratulate the new Mother who had given birth to a healthy boy the same night she'd lost hers. It strained their marriage and James often spent more days in Sirius's flat drinking and trying to find a way to help his wife when he, himself, could barely stand his own pain and loss...

He hadn't expected, hadn't thought, that something like this would land in his lap. He didn't know what he been thinking, hiding the child in his cloak, when the Aurors came to inspect the scene. He had lied, told them he found the beast like this – demented and charred, and he had no idea what or who did it. His Captain had sent him home seeing the blue tinge in cheeks. The crea- the child was freezing to touch, if hadn't the cloak between them, James probably would have lost his fingers to frostbite.

'I'm not your son! I never was!'

"Maybe," Lily turned to look at him, snapping James from his thought "from everything, maybe he's some sub-species of Ice-Giant?"

"Giant?" James echoed, "Isn't he small for a giant?"

She shrugged one shoulder, tilting her head to the side. A... and they aren't red eyed... or have normal proportions. Maybe a half-giant like Hagrid?" She offered again, always the one to find logic. "We should," Lily rubbed at her thighs, "bring him to a specialist."

James bit the inside of his cheek. Yes, that would have been the logical thing, but the bearded man... what had seen before. 'He looked as if he could be...' He trailed off, grasping his wife's shoulders from behind. She flinched away, leaning forward without ever taking her eyes off the child.

"That's what we should do..." Lily muttered.

"Is that what we're going to do?" He asked softly, standing from the couch to put space between him and his wife. She gave him a fleeting look before slowly getting back to her feet. She muttered a spell under her breathe, a warming charm on her hands, and crouched on the other side of the table. The child, curled up in the corner, bared black teeth in warning. Frost began to crawl up the wall and across the floor, but Lily didn't back away. James, his hand in his robes for his wand, took a step forward.

"Hello," Lily told the boy, a sweet, sincere smile he hadn't seen in nearly a year as she brushed back her red hair, "I know you're scared, but I'm not going to hurt you – I promise." She extended her arms, trying to be as disarming as possible, "I'm Lily," she prompted.

Little by little, the boy seemed to relax slightly. He was distrusting, but slowly crawled out from behind the table. Lily edged closer, eyes shimmering, and the boy tentatively came closer – sitting just out of arms reach.

After a moment, Lily leaned forward to close the distance between them. The boy seemed confident for a brief moment, as if he knew that if she touched him – she'd be burned. A look of surprise and alarm crossed his face as Lily grasped him around his small, bare waist and pulled him into her lap with a small smile. "See?" she said kindly.

James couldn't help but smile. "We...We could raise him?"

"... I think we could,"