Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Harry Potter is all JK Rowling's. Who is awesome.

Fanfiction categorizations: Definitely AU. Definitely Independent!Harry. May be considered Dark!Harry. I envision Voldemort a little more patient and manipulative than canon, so OOC exists in this fic as well. I realized telling the pairing may be a spoiler, so it's not here anymore, but if you really really must know, leave a review and I will get back to you pronto! (There aren't enough reviews every chapter that I can't respond to each of them individually :)

This fic contains an ambitious plot spanning epic proportions so feedback in the early stages (lol which would be about now) is greatly appreciated.

Hope you enjoy reading!

PROLOGUE

1980, Spinner's End

"What should I do?" Severus Snape asked the wall for the umpteenth time. The words of a fresh prophecy still echoed eerily in his mind.

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...

His first instinct was to go to the Dark Lord. It would prove his loyalty like to other. He would be honoured beyond his wildest dreams...

But something stopped him.

Because, foolishly, he had been counting the number of times Lily Evans (now Potter, curse his soul) had been in battles with the Death Eaters. He remembered, because each time, he would feel a thrill of fear that something would have happened to her. An Avada Kedavra could hit it's mark, or Bellatrix would land a crucio.

And the number of times that Lily survived the Dark's wrath just happened to total three.

A chair was blasted apart in his rage.

As he stared, unseeing at the wood splinters that covered his sitting room, Severus Snape came to a resolution.

He would have to make sure that Lily was not pregnant before he gave his report to the Dark Lord.

1981, Dark Army Base, All Hallow's Eve

"Are you certain of this, Wormtail?" The Dark Lord hissed. His wand flicked at the quivering bundle of cloth in front of him.

"I-I saw them off myself, My Lord."

"You must be absolutely certain." Voldemort gave a chilling laugh. "We do not want a repeat of the Belgonia Incident, do we, my little worm?"

The small man at his feet shook harder, whimpering. "N-No, My Lord." Swallowing, "I am certain."

A silence descended the room.

Popping sounds suddenly split the air and two men in long black robes with expressionless white masks approached the pale, but still handsome, brunette and fell to their knees. The taller of the two spoke for them. "What are your orders, My Lord?"

The quivering man whimpered again, not knowing if he was going to die for giving his information. Voldemort let him, stretching the silence, enjoying his terror for a little longer. "Since our victory at the Ministry tonight, the Order has seen fit to try and escape Britain. We have the whereabouts and time of the first group's departure." He motioned for them to stand up. Wisely, Wormtail did not attempt to do the same. He seemed too relieved to bother.

"Who is in this group, My Lord?" said Malfoy's voice once standing.

"Remus Lupin, James Potter and Lily Potter. If that were true, I would go myself, but Wormtail here," he kicked loosely at the kneeling man to emphasize his point, "has not exactly proven his reliability."

"M-My Lord, I swear to you-"

"SILENCE." He paused to ensure obedience, "Wormtail, you will drop your occlumency barriers for me to acquire the address. I will apparate Lucius, you will do the same for Lestrange." As if I would allow that idiot to apparate me anywhere. "Tonight, we will make an example."

Lestrange and Lucius nodded, understanding. It was why he'd chosen these two at any rate. That and Lucius had the strongest offensive hexes he'd seen and Lestrange's shields could hold off seven order members at once.

The same could not be said of Wormtail. He looked up, a bit lost. "M-My Lord?"

"Get up." He hissed. He felt strong barriers drop and slid into the rat's mind. The memory of wishing James and Lily a safe trip with their little Harry jumped to the forefront of his mind. He felt a feral grin consume his face when he discovered the location.

Isolated and perfect.

"Tonight, we aim to kill."

1981, Number 12 Grimmauld Place, All Hallow's Eve

"Master Regulus!" A voice shrieked in delight. "Ist you come to visiting Kreacher?"

"Shh." Black hair was held back by a classic hair tie revealing stormy grey eyes. Regulus Black stepped out of the green flames of a large fireplace, brushing off the excess floo powder on his robes. He crouched down to look the joyous but lonely elf in the eye. "I need you to be quiet, but I also need you to do my a favour."

"Anything! Anything for Master Regulus!" The elf whispered feverently.

"I need you to find my Sirius Black, put three drops of this" He produced a glass phial with a clear liquid that glinted in the firelight, "in his drink without him noticing, and then report his location to me."

The elf started nodding, reaching for the vial, but then shaking violently and sobbing. "Bad master Sirius is the hhhhheir... Kreacher cannnnnnnnot... Kre-Kreacher wi-will..."

"It's not poison, calm down." Regulus spoke, very quickly. "There isn't much time. It's the only way to save his life."

"Good master is saving bad master?" The elf asked through it's sobs.

"Yes." He pulled out his wand. "I solemnly swear on my magic and blood that what I ask Kreacher to do today is only to save the life of Sirius Black." A flash of white light showed the making of an unbreakable vow.

"Good master is too kind!"

"Kreacher-"

"Kreacher is so happy serve good master!"

"Hurry." Regulus commanded.

The pop of apparition was heard and the elf was gone.

Regulus' face tightened as he waited by the hearth, watching the clock anxiously.

1981, Undisclosed Location, All Hallow's Eve

They had taken every precaution. Left their house in the middle of the night (poor Harry was still asleep), drove for an hour before ditching the car and apparating 100km, took a detour in the woods, then apparated to their final destination. Only three other people knew of their destination: Dumbledore had planned it, Sirius lent them the car, and Peter had waved them off. Even so, Lupin and James always had their wands out.

Lily made sure to have one arm around Harry and another clutching her own wand. She was still feeling very, very nervous.

War made people paranoid.

Dumbledore had evacuated first of course, to set everything up. He was the one with the American contacts, and would also transfigure anything needed in case there wasn't enough room. With most of the Order leaving, his skills would be helpful.

They were almost at the clearing where the glass-bottle-portkey was waiting for them when a cold, high voice spoke out of the darkness. The forest was unnaturally quiet that night, and the drawl traveled easily. "Here to congratulate us on our successful Ministry takeover?"

Lily had a shield up in the blink of an eye. James and Lupin fired twin hexes off into the trees. His eyes met hers, echoing a sort of dread and surprise. A large jet of fire the height of a person shot towards them, none of them had ever seen magic like that, turning Lupin the kind, the considerate, into soft white powder. Just seconds later, a jet of green light hit the stunned James. His body hit the ground, eyes wide and lifeless.

"NO!" Lily screamed, and Harry's frightened wails joined hers. Four figures slowly made their way towards her, eyes bright with the intent to kill. "Please, not Harry." She cried, clutching the little bundle closer. A jet of red light shot out but she recognized the hex and soundlessly muttered the countercurse. Another purple jet flew after and her shield deflected it. "Please, have mercy!" she yelled, wand flashing with complicated charmwork. "He's only a baby!"

She recognized the shade of green light heading towards her, and summoned a flowerpot in front of her to block the killing curse. "I won't try to leave anymore." She tried. "The only reason we wanted to was to keep Harry safe. Please." She would gladly die without her pride if it meant that Harry would be safe. "Look, I'm stopping!" she shouted at the top of her lungs and flung her wand deep into the forest.

She held up a wandless shield just in case and silently started casting a few wards around the two of them, also just in case. To her surprise, the attack ceased.

"How very Gryffindor of you, Ms. Potter."

She had no reply because suddenly the forms of Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, Rodolphus Lestrange, and Peter Pettigrew emerged into the wand light.

Lily gasped at the last person. "You! Peter!" She fumbled with the words, her voice closing, "You- you're the ones responsible for their deaths! How could you?!"

"I did what I had to!" The stubby man trembled in fear, his face a parody of remorse. "It was let them die or die with them..."

"You disgust me." Lily spat. They had trusted him. Remus and James and Sirius, everyone who had fought for the Light and against pureblood supremacy. They would have willingly laid their lives down for him. In a strange turn of irony, it seemed like they had. "There is a special place in hell for treacherous cowards like you."

"As touching as this is," The dark lord cut in, "I grow weary of it." The wand arm of the tall brunnet with a handsome and alluring face, despite being somewhere in his sixties, rose towards her.

"Before you kill me, I have some advice." She stared at the still raised-wand arm, swallowing. "I am-was a sort of strategist for the Light. I-I you have won, I will give you the following as a parting gift, of sorts."

"You are most surprising, Mrs. Potter." Lucius said, something like curiosity in his tone. "One would have thought a gift to the Dark as the last thing you would do."

Lily was not a fool. The Dark were only humoring her now, secure in their victory in the Ministry. Secure in the fact that she was wandless and possibly the last remaining active Order member against them. Victory was already theirs, and so they had leisure to pursue an idle curiosity. Still, it was a chance. And Lily meant to take full advantage of it.

"This is the last thing I will do." She said quietly.

The wand arm was lowered, but she knew the speed at which Voldemort could cast.

"You have won the war, but you have yet to win the people. I am referring, of course, to those of the Light, especially the purebloods, who form a visible minority in the Wizengamot. The main reason is because they believe you are evil incarnate."

"You laugh now," they were actually emotionless, "but as long as they believe that you exist to sow death and destruction, they will believe that submitting to your rule is not a viable option."

"My dear," The endearment grated on her nerves, she had the sudden urge to slap him. "If you are trying to persuade me to spare those who've killed my followers in the war, it is futile."

"No. What I suggest is to make an example of my family." Her eyes burned with a fiery passion. "Tell the public that we submitted to the Dark, we'd come to our senses, we learned the error of our ways. Tell the public how you could not spare us for our actions during the war, but you could spare our children, and family, and friends. Provided, of course, they did not have a direct hand in the war."

She found herself captivated by the Dark Lord's every move has he considered her.

"It is the restraint rather than the capitalization of power that garners respect, as any great leader should know."

Silence descended on the clearing in the murky woods like a chilling blanket. Lily could not read the Dark Lord's expression at all.

"Will you promise me to spare Harry?" She pressed.

"I believe death would be preferable to a childhood spent in an orphanage."

"I don't think that would be a problem." A mysterious voice said from somewhere behind their clearing. The dark lord hardly blinked, but Lucius had sent a mixture of curses and Lestrange had a strong shield before the words had entirely registered. The stranger knew the countercurse for each and merely responded with a casual "Lumos" revealing the face of a young man that could have been Sirius' twin-except for the brown eyes and more wry and cultured frame. He bowed graciously to the Dark Lord.

"Regulus." The Dark Lord said. "I take it from your presence here tonight that your interrogation of the Black heir has gone well?"

"Quite. Sirius seemed to come to his senses when he realized that the Ministry had fallen." He smiled charmingly. "My brother welcomed me with open arms. He willingly disclosed the location of the portkey to me-which is why My Lord is here, I understand?"

Voldemort liked Regulus. He was young and handy with a wand, but more importantly, anyone else would have turned that into flattery, complimenting him on arriving first or some such nonsense. He always believed he was above such meaningless trifles, he was greater than anyone to have the right to judge, and if someone actually found some of his worthwhile achievements, he'd probably have to kill them.

Lucius gave the younger wizard a nod, Lestrange dropped the shield.

"The backing of the Black family is indeed good news." Voldemort said lightly.

Regulus' lip twitched. "I am not so hasty to trust my brother's good intentions. However, when I overheard the last part of the confrontation, I must admit an idea popped into my mind."

Lily felt the light brush of legimency on her mind. Noticing it was Regulus, and the brush was more of a question than an attack, she slowly let her first barriers drop.

Sirius did not betray you. We came to offer protection. But we were too late, it seems. The thought came into her mind, in Regulus' voice. She shot a look to see if Voldemort noticed. She shook her head slightly, not sure how the back and forth thing worked. Just save Harry. Just save Harry. She chanted in her head.

"Oh?" The Dark Lord said, eyes still focusing on Regulus.

"If My Lord is willing to spare the boy, I will ask Sirius to raise him." He slowly walked forward until he was beside and behind the dark lord.

"It is a good idea, My Lord." Lily said quickly. "One, it will be a way to test Sirius' loyalty. Two, it will further show My Lord's mercy in sparing a child. Three, as children of the Light are adopted into Houses of the Dark, the will have the same ideals and yet have their previous House's power."

Lily stared down at her little Harry with an ache in her heart. He was just so small, barely the length of her forearm. Looking at her with such wide, innocent eyes.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dark wand arm raise itself for the third and final time that night.

"Avada Kedavra."

She tried to imprint the image of her baby into her mind as the clearing was lit up by green light.

"Accio baby."

She had just enough time to have relief wash over her.

The green light lit up the soft features of Lily Potter as she watched her baby disappear into the shadows.

But, as her child flew through the air, he reached out as if curious of the green light. He just wanted to know how a bright light like that felt.

And just as suddenly the relief dissolved into panic. Lily threw herself forward.

Some invisible wards she had been working on ran through the air. The green jet impacted, almost seemed like it was absorbed, then shattered into multiple faucets. Screams and shouts rang out.

Rays rebounded in all directions, like a green halo around the boy.

It was a captivating sight, eerie in its deathly beauty.

The survivors of that night had the image ingrained in their minds, even as they followed orders to never speak of it. If asked, they could say three absolutely true things: Voldemort did not die that night. Lily Potter was killed by the Dark Lord. And Harry Potter was spared.

It was almost a week later when Severus Snape found out.

So he went to see the boy invisibly, because he had to.

Afterwards, Snape locked himself in his sitting room and wept; not only because Harry Potter-Black had the same eyes as his Lily, but a lightning-shaped scar on his right palm. And he was the only person who, save one, who knew why.

He didn't know at the time, but he actually found out pretty fast, considering.

It was almost ten years earlier than when Albus Dumbledore would discover that the first part of the prophecy had been fulfilled.

Edited: 05/05/2014

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