I don't like starting a chapter this way, and I won't take up much space. See my livejournal for notes on this chapter if you get confused as to certain events. I have tried to explain it to the best of my ability.

People We Should Never Meet

A Most Vivid Dream

Lily Potter often had dreams of holding her child. They were often so vivid that she would awaken still feeling the weight of him in her arms, his pudgy hands tangled in her hair, or soft breath against the side of her neck. She had only ever dreamed of him as a baby, but in the waking world she imagined what he might look like now.

Every time she saw the Weasleys and their youngest son, Ron, there was a painful stirring in her heart and thoughts of what if and what might have been. Her hand rested lightly on her stomach, remembering the feeling of it swollen with child. She then clenched her hand it into a fist at the thought of what, or more precisely who, had taken that away from her. Bellatrix Lestrange. Even the thought of that woman caused Lily to tense, memories of pain rippling through her. Behind her, her husband made a soft snoring noise and tightened his hold on her.

It had been before they had heard of the prophecy and finding the need to go under the fidelius. Times had still been dangerous, and they rarely went somewhere without the other.

Lily had been well along in her pregnancy and James had stepped out to discuss some matters with Dumbledore, which she would learn after that they had discussed the prophecy between them.

She'd been tending the garden, trying to work off the nervous energy and anxiety that plagued her, when she heard the crack of a twig being stepped on behind her. It was a noise that months ago would not have phased her, but now in the present situation she was in, Lily reacted. She had always been rather good at drawing her wand quickly and exceptionally good at spells. The first stupefy was deflected with a casting of protego and followed up with a hex of her own as she got a good look at her attacker.

She knew the woman, perhaps not in the sense that one knows a friend, but knew enough information about her to know that she was in terrible trouble. Lily knew from order meetings that Bellatrix favored the unforgivables, and disturbingly chose to use imperius and cruciatus until all fight had gone out of her victim and their mind lay broken, and even then she did not always use the avada kedavra. It was, after all, torture for the victim's family to find a mere shell of the person they so loved.

The woman had actually laughed as if she had heard something quite hilarious on the wizarding wireless, laughing as if she wasn't attempting to harm or kill another person. It had made Lily feel sick to her stomach. As Bellatrix began to explain in her own insane way the prophecy she had overheard in the Hog's Head, that Lily was to give birth to the child who would bring the downfall of her master. That she would not allow it.

In the meantime Lily's eyes had flickered to the door and back. If she could only make it there, and bar the door, perhaps she'd have enough time to floo or apparate out.

She had not made it to the door, had not been able to deflect the cruciatus and her screams had mingled with Bellatrix's laughter. Everything was painful, it was as if a thousand knives were stabbing her, peeling skin and muscle from bone, and then she felt another large pain and knew that although she had placed her arms around her middle, there would be no way to keep her unborn child safe.

Then there was a crash and a flash of red light, that she would later be told was Severus' doing, and the slicing pain eased, but did not disappear, and seemed to center elsewhere and she had known something was dreadfully wrong before she had passed out.

Lily buried her face into her pillow as she remembered when she had awoken in St. Mungo's to find that she had lost her child. At that moment, Lily had almost wished that Bellatrix had driven her crazy, because surely then she would not feel the pain burning in her chest that rivaled even the cruciatus.

Lily, after being released, was still weak, both in spirit and body. James had been little better, and a thick cloud of grief seemed to hover above them, one that not even the other Marauder's could break through. There were so many what ifs that swam about in Lily's mind. What if she had gone with James? What if James hadn't left? What if Severus had come sooner?

And then there had been other questions. How did Bellatrix know where they were? This answered was given in the disappearance of Peter Pettigrew and the testimony given by Bellatrix herself under the use of veritaserum. It had only heaped the feeling of betrayal on top of the grief and Lily had wondered if she, her husband, and their friends would ever recover.

With time, like all things, the wounds were healed to a certain degree. Lily felt as if she might never recover from it, and there were still some scars that seemed to bleed every now and then, like tonight when she awoke still feeling the warm weight of her child in her arms.

So caught up was she in her own reflections that she almost missed the sounds coming from downstairs. "James," she hissed, shaking the arm around her. Her husband muttered something and shifted closer, but did not awake. "James," she hissed louder, hearing sounds of hurried footsteps up the stairs.

"What?," he grumbled, eyes opening.

"There's someone coming up the stairs."

Although they had been placed under the fidelius charm, and Lily felt it was ironic that they should be so after the incident, it did not lessen their paranoia. James was awake in an instant, his hand reaching for his wand, the word stupify on his lips as someone burst into their room.

"James, Lily!" it was Sirius, and it took all of Lily's effort not to hex him right then and there for scaring her so.

"Padfoot! You could knock." James said, his voice showing his own displeasure, matching that of his wife's.

"Yeah, yeah.. listen.."

"What are you doing in here? Thought you were out with Moony." Lily asked, interrupting him. Sirius in return gave her a small glare.

"If you would let me finish," he said, giving a small huff, before continuing. "We found a boy in the forest."

"A boy?"

"In the forest?"

"Yes, well, actually he sort of appeared between Moony and me. Didn't know what to think about it. It wasn't apparition, and there was no portkey. Thought to take him to Dumbledore," he scratched his nose, "but he passed out and thought it might be better to bring him here first, in case something was wrong with him."

Lily and James exchanged a look, before pushing back their covers and getting out of bed at the same time.

As they went down the stairs and into the living room, they saw the werewolf standing a distance away from a small figure on the sofa, as if afraid of getting too close. James and Lily knew that although Remus was given the wolfsbane each full moon, he still had the fear of it suddenly not working. He gave a small whine as he saw them, the large tail beating against the floor in a few sweeps.

Lily moved swiftly, kneeling down next to the child, green eyes taking in the pinched features there, the pale skin, dark hair, and too large clothing. He looked so familiar, so much so that she felt as if she should know his name. James stood beside her, his hand on her shoulder as he bent down to peer into the child's face. His heart beat a bit quicker, and his fingers clenched the material of his wife's cotton shirt.

He recognized him, had seen it in pictures of himself as a young child. But James had no living relatives left, that he knew of. Was this a trick of the death eaters and Voldemort that was for the pure motive of torturing them. They knew they would not hurt children, so they sent a child in to gather information, wearing the face of someone who could be his son?

His hand was on his wand, and the words "finite incantatem" at his lips, when the child stirred and green eyes that so resembled Lily's opened, flickering in fear to their faces, and then away to Sirius and Moony. The boy sat up abruptly with an exclamation of, "It worked!" and his hand went to something around his neck, gripping it in a tight fist, before continuing. "Padfoot! It worked! Where's Moony?"

There was a look of blank shock on Sirius face, most likely mirrored by his friends. The boy took it to mean something else, and he quickly said, "I forgot! I'm sorry. I solemnly swear I'm up to no good!" And the shock deepened, and as silence continued, the dark haired green eyed child's exuberant look faded away into something akin to fear, green eyes glancing back to Lily and James.

"I..I so-solemnly swear I'm up to no good.." he repeated tremulously,

"What?" Sirius asked, his voice startled and loud. Obviously it was the wrong thing to say, because the figure on the couch was up and running toward the door. Sirius thought quickly, ran forward and grabbed the thin boy around his waist, causing him to kick and flail his arms amidst his screams for them to let him go.

"A little help here!" Sirius called, and James rushed forward to do so, Lily two steps behind him, and Remus watching from his corner, unable to do anything.

James mind was whirling, trying to digest all that had happened. He kept getting caught up on the familiar phrase, and on a hunch, said loudly as he tried to keep the surprisingly strong kicks from hitting him, "Mischief Managed!"

The flailing eased and then stopped. The boy's face was pale, his eyes wide darting between those he could see, and his breathing harsh, the thin chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Now," James said, looking at him, "who are you?"

"Don't you know?" the boy asked, fear still there, but confusion too. "I.. I wished like Padfoot said, and I didn't say it aloud, but it worked, and I'm not dead am I?" he spoke rapidly, his voice higher pitched and it seemed he was jumping from one conclusion to another.

Lily tried to give him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, though she was still confused. "No, you are not dead. Please, just tell us your name, and how you got here. Padfoot forgot to tell us we would be having a visitor." Sirius made a noise, but Lily gave him a look and he stayed silent.

The small boy looked at her, almost hungrily, his gaze running over her face as if trying to memorize it, before he nodded slightly and answered, "I'm Harry, your son, I guess you don't recognize me, I was just a baby, but I wished it. Padfoot told me too. Well, sort of. But you aren't angry are you?" his brow furrowed. "I did only say Padfoot and Moony."

"Lily," James said, his voice oddly even, "I think you should call for Albus."

Lily who had felt a cool wash of shock come over her, nodded, but could not make herself move. He was just as she had imagined. No, perhaps not. There were differences. The shape of his face was slightly different, the dark hair more messy than she would have thought, and the green eyes were a bit of a surprise. She had thought that perhaps they would look like James.

They had never told anyone what they were going to call their child. Wizarding superstition keeping them from doing so. Lily had laughed when Sirius had looked at her shocked when she had asked if he had a moment so that she could ask his opinion on some names. He'd asked her if she was mad, and that a name was a powerful thing and should only be given publicly after the child was born.

"Lily, now." James voice was commanding, as he kept a hold of the boy, no Harry.

She nodded, still dazed, and moved toward the fireplace, taking a pinch of green powder, wondering vaguely if this was another one of her vivid dreams in which she would wake from disappointed.