Hi everyone!

How long has it been since I last updated/wrote anything!? Like 5 years!? Ridiculous... Anywho... The one who pulled me out of my writing hiatus was SinoPrisca, who came up with this great idea for a story. I just couldn't not write it, you know? But enough of my ramblings...

Summary: Voldemort realizes that there is an easy way to end the war without him losing face and thus, he visits the Potters to propose a deal. Unsurprisingly enough, this ends rather badly and he is forced to flee, being badly wounded. Harry is brought up with the Dursleys, but Lucius and Severus are looking for the young boy to prepare him for the inevitable day when the Dark Lord will rise again. How will our favourite Golden Boy deal with conflicting values, betrayal and finding a family in a place that seemed most unlikely?

Warnings: Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione bashing, LVHP, strong language, violence, sex and various other shenanigans that belong within the M-rating.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even the idea for this story! So don't sue!

Voldemort was standing in front of a slowly dying fire, his eyes fixed on the glowing embers. A narrow line had formed between his non-existing eyebrows and if you looked carefully, you could see one of his fingers impatiently tapping against the back of a dark green armchair next to him. It was obvious that the wizard was deep in thought and that the topic currently occupying his mind was one that he found quite troubling.

With an impatient sound, Voldemort spun around and walked over to his desk, flicking through a pile of papers lying there. He quickly found what he was looking for, red eyes skimming the page before folding it up and putting it in a pocket. Glancing towards a door on the far side of the room, he paused, grinned slightly and disapparated.

James Potter was leaning against the wall of his living room while observing his wife and one year old son playing on the carpet. Lily's red hair was splayed over the cream-coloured fabric and Harry was joyfully trying to create as many tangles in it as humanly possible. The toddler's pudgy fingers were clumsily carding through her hair, but Lily didn't seem to mind at all, choosing rather to send loving smiles to both her husband and her son. James still had trouble believing that this was his life, that the woman he had been in love with during his years at Hogwarts, had accepted his proposal and that they now had a son together, a son that seemed a perfect mix between the two of them with his dark raven black hair and her startling emerald eyes. Yes, he was truly lucky to have the family he had always wanted.

With a sudden burst of energy, James pushed away from the wall and grabbed Harry around the waist, lifting him high in the air. The child squealed happily and Lily laughed at the sight of them twirling around in circles before James dropped down on the couch, Harry carefully nestled to his chest. The redhead sat up, stretched and walked over to the kitchen, returning with a small plate of candy she had bought earlier that day. After all, no All Hallows' Eve would be the same without something sweet to nibble on.

Putting the plate on the coffee table, she sat down next to James and playfully ruffled his already unruly hair.

'Careful so you don't drop him, he's far more delicate than the snitches you used to play around with at Hogwarts, you know?'

James huffed and sent her an incredulous stare, albeit with a tinkle of amusement playing in his eyes.

'As if I would ever drop something! I wasn't a Seeker for nothing, throw something in the air and I will catch it without fail.' With that, he carefully placed Harry in the corner of the couch and, in one fluid movement, grabbed Lily and spun her around, delighting in the startled gasp and surprised laughter she made. He quickly put her down and kissed her lightly on the nose.

'You see? I never drop anything'

Lily huffed and picked Harry up. 'Oh, you're such a show-off, James! However do I suffer through your antics, I'll never know!' However, the small smile playing with the corners of her lips betrayed her words.

'I'll be right back, just going to put Harry to sleep. It's way past his bedtime already'

James didn't reply, but chose to pay more attention to the sweets instead. Lily shook her head in amusement before heading towards the stairs.

A small knock on the front door made her stop and listen, eyes narrowed in confusion. No one was supposed to visit them this evening and because of the Fidelius charm, there was no way that one of the village children had found the house and decided to try to get some more candy in their baskets. Before Lily had time to call out to James, the door was opened and a cloaked figure strode in and stopped when it saw the mother and child halfway up the stairs.

James had heard the sound of the door opening and came running to see what had happened. At first, he didn't see the figure, as he was focusing on his wife, but then he turned to see what she was staring so horrified at and all his training as an Auror kicked in.

'Lily, take Harry and run! I'll hold him off!' he screamed and lifted his wand to defend his family. However, before he could react, the other had disarmed him without even using his wand and thick ropes appeared out of nowhere, entangling both James and Lily's legs, making it impossible for them to move.

'Now now, don't be so hasty. Though your heroism is commendable, I don't have time for such foolish acts of bravery. What I need from you, is that you both keep quite and listen to what I have to say' With that, a pale hand rose to pull the hood back and the trademark red eyes and the slits that were where a nose should have been appeared, removing any doubt of who their guest was.

Lily snarled and pressed her child closer to her chest. 'And what makes you think that we are going to listen to what you have to say, you monster? Albus would be aware of it the second someone broke the ward around this house, he'll be here in minutes, along with the rest of the Order.' James nodded in agreement while trying to free himself of the bonds that kept him in place.

Voldemort sighed and the corner of his eye twitched slightly, as if trying to hide his annoyance with the two in front of him.

'Look, I'm not here to waste my time arguing. Believe it or not, I have many other things I'd rather do with my time. The reason I am here is to propose a deal, a deal which I think you'd do well to consider.'

'And why should we want to make any sort of deal with your kind, Voldemort?' James spat with barely controlled anger. 'You have shown time and time again that your side is only after one thing: pureblood supremacy and the extermination of muggles and muggleborn. There is simply no way that we will ever agree to collaborate on anything you would propose.'

'You seem to be forgetting that I have the upper hand at the moment and if you would keep your mouth shut for once and listen, this will be a much more comfortable experience for both of you. Or do I have to force you to listen? I promise you, that will be a decision you will come to regret.' With that, Voldemort reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a roll of parchment.

'This is what I propose; this piece of parchment is a peace treaty. I will cease my attacks on both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds if you accept my conditions.' When James opened his mouth to protest, he quickly added 'oh, and don't worry, I'm not after any of your lives. If you accept my offer of peace, all of you will be able to go back to whatever mundane lives you lead and all your friends' lives will be spared. It's quite simple, to be honest.'

Without another word, he walked up to James and handed the parchment to him. With a moment's hesitation and a wary glance at the other wizard, he took it and quickly opened it. His eyes scanned the page and they seemed to grow wider and more incredulous for every line he read. With a stunned expression, he looked over at Lily and Harry, meeting Lily's confused eyes for a second. 'What is the meaning of this? You must be sicker than we ever imagined' he whispered, his voice failing him a little. Voldemort didn't seem to react, he kept watching the other, though with growing signs of impatience.

'What is it, James? What is he after? I don't understand, what is his goal, his purpose in proposing this peace treaty?' Lily begged her husband. Her arms had inadvertently tightened their hold around Harry and the child started crying as her hold on him became almost painful. The sound seemed to draw Voldemort's attention as he turned around and his eyes fixed on Harry's small form.

'What your husband seems to be unable to comprehend is in reality quite simple. In exchange for peace, I want a union between the Light and Dark side. Someone with a magic core strong enough not to be devoured by my own. As you should be aware of, a magical union is something so much more than just a legal document or agreement – it is something that unites the magic of two people and thus should not be treated lightly. The way the Light has chosen to disregard all the old laws is simply moronic, marriages based on love is all nice and romantic on paper, but in actuality it's detrimental to the formation of a strong magical core. If the two people who undergo such a union doesn't have compatible magical cores, one will inevitably become the victim of the other's stronger magic. All too often have we seen marriages where the weaker witch or wizard is killed as a result of incompatible partners.'

Lily looked confused, but also wary. 'What are you getting at, Voldemort? What is it you're trying to say?' Before the wizard had time to answer, James bit him off and with a pained expression on his face, he turned to his wife and whispered 'He wants Harry, Lily. What he is after is a magical contract stating that Harry will marry him when he comes of age and that our son will be brought up learning about the old pureblood traditions so as to be the perfect spouse of the Dark Lord.'

Before Lily had time to react, a series of loud cracks sounded outside the house and a few seconds later, four people rushed inside, Albus Dumbledore in the lead. Behind him were Molly and Arthur Weasley as well as Sirius Black. Without a single word, Dumbledore fired a curse at Voldemort, who quickly stepped aside and wordlessly shot a beam of red light at the bearded man. Molly quickly ran up the few steps to reach Lily and cut the bonds tying her in place. Sirius had managed to get to James and free him as well and they were both shooting curses and hexes at the Dark Lord, who seemingly had no trouble standing his ground faced with his opponents.

An annoyed glare had appeared on his face as he fired yet another painful, but non-lethal curse at Dumbledore and at the same time kept his shield up to defend himself against the hexes thrown at him from the two Marauders.

'What are you trying to accomplish, Tom?' Dumbledore shouted, trying to break the shield surrounding the other. 'What is your purpose in coming here?'

'I was in the process of explaining that to Potter right before you came barging in that door. If you'd had the decency to wait and listen, then you would've known.' Voldemort sneered. 'But luckily for you, I have made a written proposal, it shouldn't be too hard to comprehend what I want to achieve by coming here.' With those words, he picked up the parchment James had dropped when Sirius freed him and threw it to the older man. Dumbledore grabbed it, but had no chance of reading it, as Voldemort seemed to have tired of keeping the other wizards at bay and he had started throwing hexes at them continuously while slowly making his way towards the entrance door. When both Sirius and James realized that their enemy was slowly slipping from their grasp, they quickly glanced over at each other and nodded solemnly. Lily, who was watching it all from the stairs, gasped as she recognized the expression on their faces. Fierce determination had replaced the anger and shock that had been there previously and it barely took seconds for her to understand what they were planning. Without thinking, she thrust Harry into the arms of Molly Weasley and ran down the stairs at the same moment James and Sirius charged at Voldemort.

When the two Weasleys and Sirius told of that night several years later, they could only remember it as a blur. Everything happened way too quickly, but what they did recall was how James had fired a curse at the same time Voldemort turned towards Dumbledore to defend himself against a vicious fire hex the headmaster had sent his way. Because of this, Voldemort was partly defenceless and James' curse hit his arm, making him spin around and wandlessly fire a Avada Kedavra directed at the man's chest. The spell hit him directly and Sirius could still remember, years later, how his friend's face had seemed frozen in shock and startled confusion.

Lily, who had almost reached the two men, stopped dead in her tracks as she saw her husband's lifeless form hit the floor. She screamed, first from the sheer emotional pain and turmoil, but then from anger. Red hair seemed to glow as she, with one final glance at James' body, turned around and charged at Voldemort in an almost mindless rage. Pain, anger, shock, panic, the desperate need to protect her family – they all mixed together in her mind and made her focus on one single task. To destroy the one who had come in and broken her small family apart.

Unfortunately, Voldemort saw her attack coming and, with one fluid motion, directed his wand at her and, with an emotion in his eyes that seemed to be regret, whispered the Killing curse. Emerald eyes widened, then went cold and lifeless. Lily's body fell and Sirius quickly grabbed her before she hit the ground. In the confusion, Voldemort, tightly clutching his injured arm, disappeared out the door and disapparated.

Soooo, how was that for the first chapter in 5 years? Like it, hate it? Leave me a review and tell me! And flamers; don't even bother. Just read the warnings, if you keep reading, you're a bloody idiot.

And thanks to SinoPrisca once again for the lovely request! Looking forward to play around with this story :)