Hindsight

Summary: "Ten years," James whispered to his wife. "We've been dead for Ten years… how is this possible?" Ten years after the tragedy at Godric's Hollow, James and Lily come back to life and find their world turned upside down.

Chapter 1

Ten long years.

The Dark Lord Voldemort had waited ten long years for this opportunity to fall before him.

The mishap at Godric's Hollow had been unexpected, unfortunate. Surely the mudblood and her blood traitor husband had placed an ancient magic upon their child, one that he somehow had not come across in his studies and therefore had not been ready for. It was the only way a toddler could have defeated him. The mere thought of it made him seethe. Defeated? By a child? If he were still in his physical body, Voldemort was sure his insides would be boiling with anger. The bubbling feeling of fury would creep it's way up his throat and his head would pound wildly until, finally, he would fall into the sweet relief of something akin to happiness when he found the Potter boy and finished what he started.

But instead, he, the Dark Lord who was so feared people could not even speak his name, was in hiding. A mere shadow of what he once was, he resorted to possessing snakes to keep himself alive. He was sure that without his horcruxes, he would have been long gone. In all his life, he had never felt shame as overwhelming as this. Alone, vanquished by a baby, and abandoned by his loyal Death Eaters, it was nearly impossible to find a way to regain his physical body.

But to his pleasant surprise, a chance at salvaging everything he once lost stumbled into him purely by chance.

Quirinus Quirrell, a feeble minded man who somehow had the honor of calling himself a Hogwarts professor, came across him in Albania. Taking possession of his mind was easier than breathing, and soon, Quirrell was his willing servant.

It took a full month of endless research, Voldemort outright refusing the man any sleep, but Quirrell had found a ritual that could restore a spirit to its body. Be it destroyed or withered from time, the ritual would heal it and age it properly, as though nothing had ever happened.

It was exactly what Voldemort needed, and once it was done, he would find his faithless followers and make sure they remembered exactly whom that had turned away from.

Another month and they were ready.

Quirrell, though gullible and easily manipulated, knew his magic and went through the ritual with ease. Symbols were drawn on the ground, highly complex leveled-potions were brewed and used accordingly, and he said the incantation with a confidence that none in his life had ever seen in him before.

"Blood to vein, skin to bone

Breaks be mended, tears be sewn

Soul to fit in corpse's cast

Let they who left be whole at last"

Voldemort could have been foaming at the mouth with eagerness had he been in his physical body.

But he wasn't. Nor was he once the ritual was over.

"What happened?" he hissed.

Quirrell trembled, shaking his head fervently. "I- I did it right, my Master. I read the-"

"You failed me," Voldemort growled from behind him. "What is to stop me from training your wand on yourself, my dear Quirrell?"

"My Lord! I beg of you! The ritual! The ritual may not have worked, but we can find another way! Other ways!"

Voldemort struggled internally. He wanted to taste Quirrell's fear when watching his own hand turn against him, but he knew this man, at the moment, was the best chance he had at regaining power. "Take us back to the inn, Quirrell. We'll discuss more of what you know, and maybe you can scrounge something up in that empty head of yours to save your life."

His servant did not stop praising and thanking his Merciful Lord the entire way home.

---

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him!"

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-"

"Go! Run!"

"Not Harry! Please… have mercy… Not Harry! Please- I'll do anything!"

"I'll hold him off!"

"This is my last warning…"

James Potter sucked in a great gasp of air.

Instinctively, he thrust his hands out before him, only to be immediately met with a wall of fabric. He didn't know where he was, blackness surrounding him, and he could barely breathe. His body felt weak and he suddenly felt too sore to move, but he smacked and kicked at the wall in front of him as hard as he could. Summoning as much strength as he could, he finally tore through it, only to be met with another barrier, this one wooden.

Panic settled in his chest and his breathing became shorter and more sporadic.

Where was he? What was happening?

In the middle of his frightened musings, he came to the realization that he was lying on his back, surrounded by the fabric walls.

Which led him to another, more foreboding realization.

He was in a coffin.

A terrified scream ripped through his throat as he renewed his efforts at attacking the wooden box. Who had put him in a coffin? And if his assumptions were right, with how difficult it was to escape his confinement, had he also been buried? How had this happened? He was just chasing Harry around the living room-

"Harry," James whispered, tears pushing out the corner of his eyes. He remembered. He remembered Voldemort coming to their house. He remembered Lily running with their son. "Lily… Harry! My fam-"

He clawed at he wood, punched at it with not much force, as his space was limited, until finally his magic took over and burst forth in a loud explosion. Dirt flew up and rained back down on him as wooden debris scattered away. James sat himself up and forced himself to crawl his way out of the earth. He couldn't see, his glasses nowhere to be found, but to his utter horror, he was able to make out the shapes of tombstones around him.

A graveyard.

"Lily!" he shouted into the empty night. "Lily! I… Harry." His voice cracked at his son's name and he squinted hard, hoping he would see some sign of his family.

It was quiet, and there was no movement besides the sway of trees in the wind.

James was just about to give up all hope when he heard a muffled call of his name.

He turned back to his destroyed grave and saw another coffin peeking out through the dirt next to his. "Dear lord," he croaked. "Lily! My Lily!" He held his hand out and willed his magic to work for him again. "Please… Please!"

It took much longer than he hoped, but finally the dirt vanished and he was able to pry the second coffin open.

Lily was lying inside it, her hands over her face and her body wracked with sobs. "Lil!" James pulled her out and into his arms. She latched onto him immediately, knotting her fingers into his hair and kissing every inch of skin she could find. "What happened? What happened?! How did we end up here?"

She could barely register what he was saying. "You're alive," she murmured again his neck. "You're alive… but you… I heard him kill…"

"Lily, bear with me here," he responded weakly. "Someone just buried us alive, Voldemort I'm guessing- if he did the same to Harry- please snap out of it, we have to find our son."

"Harry," she breathed.

"Yes, Harry."

"But…"

He pulled back and tried to look at her. "What is it, love? Do you remember something?"

He heard her gasp. "James!"

"What!" James turned his neck so fast he was sure he gave himself whiplash. "What is it? Did you see something?!"

"James, you're…. older!"

His jaw dropped slightly and he shook his head, confused. "What?"

"James, you look… you… Hogwarts."

"What?" he repeated.

"Hogwarts. We'll get our answers from Albus. And if Voldemort didn't get Harry-" she choked on her words, unable to continue.

James stood and tugged her to her feet. "Don't think that, Lily. Don't ever think that."

"James, our baby… He's just a baby." Her meaning went unsaid. There was no way their son could have defended himself against a fully-trained wizard, and a dark one out for his blood no less.

"Let's go," he told her gruffly. "We're wasting time."

It didn't take Lily long for them to realize where they were and she was quick about guiding him home, holding his hand as she ran him down the street. She felt her breath catch in her throat when she saw the ruins of their cottage, and was thankful that James wouldn't be able to see much of it. The way he squeezed her hand told her he could see enough. They entered the house together and both of them felt dread pool in the pit of their stomachs.

There was no way Harry could've survived this devastation.

"My son, James," Lily whispered through tears. She fell to her knees inside Harry's wrecked nursery. "My son…"

"Lily, come on," he urged desperately. "We need to find floo powder."

She forced herself to her feet and followed him back downstairs. James searched the bookcase blindly until he came across a small jar sitting on one of the top shelves. He tossed the top away and sifted his fingers through the powder.

"Just enough," he told her. "Come on, Lils."

She grabbed a handful and stepped into the fireplace. "Albus Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she said so quietly that James feared she would end up in the wrong place. He followed her quickly and was relieved to find both of them safe and sound in Albus' familiar office. Lily was already searching for the man. "Headmaster? Headmaster! Albus, are you here?"

"Perhaps, he's downstairs, around the castle somewhere," James suggested. He turned on his heel and headed towards the door. "I'll stay here, Lily. Merlin knows I'll be useless looking for him. You go on out and-"

"Don't move."

James stiffened and he craned his neck to look over his shoulder. Though everything was blurry, he could see his old headmaster pointing a wand directly between his eyes. "Albus?"

"Albus, what are you doing?" Lily gaped, rushing to her husband's side. She shoved herself between them, her hands reaching back and grasping James' wrists. "What are you doing?!"

"Who are you?" The old wizard demanded coldly. "I demand you reveal yourself at once."

The couple was near their breaking point. "What?" James responded disbelievingly. "Albus, it's us! James and Lily! What the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"Please, we don't have time," Lily begged. "Voldemort's taken Harry! We have to save him!"

Albus regarded them a moment more, his gaze narrowing. "I don't know who you are, or how you managed to take the faces of Lily and James Potter, but I assure you I will not let this stand. Reveal yourself and your intentions now."

"He's gone barmy," James mumbled. "Lily, let's just go. We'll find Harry on our own."

"You go near the boy and I'll put an end to this right now," Albus threatened, shoving his wand past Lily and into James' forehead. "Now, who-"

"We're Lily and James Potter!" Lily shouted irritably. "We just graduated two years ago, we've been hiding from Voldemort since you told us about the prophecy, our son is missing and we woke up in graves at the Godric's Hollow cemetery! Now, are you going to help us find Harry or not?!"

Dumbledore's grip slackened ever so slightly. There was a gleam in his eyes that Lily noticed immediately, one that expressed he was coming to a decision. Straightening his back, the headmaster stared them down with a blank face. "Harry Potter is alive and safe. I've seen him myself."

"You have?" James exhaled. "My boy's all right? Where is he? Up in the hospital wing with Poppy?"

"Makes sense why he was so cautious about us now," Lily sighed. "He'd have to make sure no one was trying to hurt our baby." She turned away from James and directed her next questions to Albus. "Albus, is he okay? What happened? Were you able to stop Voldemort before he could kill him? And why exactly did we wake up where we did? Did Voldemort think we'd give in if he tortured us?"

"Unlikely," James snorted. "But… how did he find us in the first place?" His face twisted in dismay. "Oh gods… Lily, Peter. He must have tortured it out of Peter, or- or forced himself into his mind. Albus, please tell us Peter is all right."

"Peter?" Albus asked sharply. "What are you talking about?"

Lily frowned guiltily. "We're sorry we didn't tell you, Albus, but we switched secret keepers at the last minute."

"Everyone would have suspected Sirius, of course," James added quietly. "But at least he would have had a chance… Peter, bless his heart, he was a good friend but I should have known better than to pull him into this." If his heart could burst into a million pieces, he was sure it would have. Peter. One of his best friends… "Please, Albus. Peter has to be okay."

Looking at them as though it was the first time he had ever seen them, Albus stepped back and gazed upon them with wonder. "You've aged," he told them. "Both of you."

"Me too?" Lily asked, startled. "I noticed it with James… Albus. I don't understand. What's going on? What's happened?"

"Lily," Albus began. "You said before that you understood why I was being so cautious. For Harry's safety... Would you two prove yourselves to be who you are? A blood test… and veritaserum maybe…"

James and Lily glanced at each other. "If you think it necessary," James answered warily. "And you wouldn't mind doing the same for us?"

Albus smiled. "Why, of course." He picked up a book from his desk and tapped it with his wand. The tome morphed into a pair of glasses, which he passed to the younger man. "Why don't you follow me to Professor McGonagall's office."

"Right prescription and everything," James muttered, impressed, as they walked down the steps. It only took a few minutes to reach their former Head of House's office. This time, James too was able to see the suspicion and distrust on their friend's face.

"What's going on, Albus? Who are these people? If I didn't know any better, they look like…"

"Minerva, James and Lily just rushed here from Godric's Hollow, where they believe Voldemort somehow buried them in an effort to keep them away from young Harry. I assured them that their son is safe and sound, and they have agreed to take a blood test as well as veritaserum to prove they are who they say they are."

"What…"

"I of course agreed to proving my identity as well. A fair trade to ensure the child's safety."

Minerva swallowed roughly and gave a jerk of a nod. "Shall I call our potions master?"

"Please do."

Minerva walked to the fireplace, threw some floo into the fire and stuck her head into the flames. James and Lily shifted uncomfortably, unused to be treated so coolly by friends and colleagues. After a few minutes, Minerva stepped back and allowed the man through her hearth.

James' jaw dropped at who he saw.

Both of them were expecting Slughorn to come through, so when Severus Snape walked out of the flames, a deep glare set in his eyes, Lily nearly fell over into her husband. "Severus?" she called incredulously. "You're-"

"Old," James blurted out. Why was he older? Did the man have a potion's accident? Suddenly remembering who Snape was, James shoved Lily behind him and stepped backwards, hoping that he was guiding her towards the door. "You lot just stay away from us," he growled. "Lily, this is a trap! Run! I'll hold them off!"

"James, no!" she wrapped her arms around his waist and tugged him back with her. "I'm not leaving you! Not again!"

"We're wandless and in the presence of a Death Eater," he hissed. "Just get out of here!"

"Just calm down," Albus told them soothingly. "We aren't going to hurt you."

"I'm sure," James drawled. "You stay away from my wife, you hear!"

"I tire of this," Severus muttered and, with a quick wave of his wand, James was bound in ropes and lying on the ground.

Lily jumped into action immediately. Before Severus could even blink, Lily had lunged across the room, punched him in the gut, catching him off guard, and snatched the wand away from him. The three professors held their hands up when she pointed it at them. She swished the wand James' way and he sprung up to his feet when the cords fell limp around him. "You keep back," she threatened. "I mean it."

"Dear Lily," Albus began again, just as softly as before. "Let me take the potions and the blood test first, as a show of good faith."

"How do we know you didn't mess with them?" James challenged.

"You can test them yourself," Minerva told them. "If I remember correctly, Lily was quite good at detecting charms."

"Fine," Lily agreed with a short tone. "Hand them here."

Snape stepped forward, a look of disgust on his face like he was looking at an abomination. He gingerly passed her the four vials, three blood tests and one of veritaserum. Lily ran through a great number of detection spells before she nodded and gave them back. "Go on, Albus."

Dumbledore chuckled at the suspicion in her voice. Minerva picked up a pincushion from her desk and gave him a needle. He pricked the tip of his finger and squeezed some blood into one of the vials that held blue liquid within it. After a few seconds, the liquid began to change color.

Red. He really was Dumbledore.

He passed them the other two blood test vials. "Here's to hoping yours don't turn black."

Lily and James repeated the process and, just like Dumbledore's, their potions turned red.

"Impossible," Severus spat. "They tampered with them, Albus. I know what I saw that night! I know what I saw!"

"What are you talking about?" Lily demanded. "What's going on?"

"Shut your mouth," he sneered back. "That you would have the gall to steal her face-"

"Don't you talk to her like that, you filthy Death Eater!" James roared before Lily could respond.

"Severus. James. That's enough." Albus' tone left no room for argument or dissent. "We have greater matters at hand than a squabble between old enemies. James, Lily. The veritaserum."

"You said you would take it first," Lily accused.

The familiar twinkle in his eyes returned. "Indeed, I did. Severus? Three drops then?"

Snape gave James one more glare before pivoting on his heel, his robes whipping around his body. He squeezed three drops of veritaserum into Albus' open mouth. The Potters took a moment to make sure it was in effect before firing off a round of questions that only Albus would know the answer to, a safe fallback in case he could lie through the serum.

"What sat in the corner of our kitchen at Godric's Hollow?"

"What was the name of of our cat?"

"What kind of cake did we have for Harry's first birthday?"

The last question they asked was "where did you tell us about the prophecy?" and Lily took note of the way Severus flinched. She wasn't sure why he looked so disturbed, but she made sure to find out more about it later.

When James and Lily were sure that the man sitting in front of them was indeed their old headmaster, they took the veritaserum themselves and were subjected to their own interrogation. Everything went smoothly until Albus asked them who their secret keeper was. "Peter Pettigrew," they answered in unison.

"What did I say?" Snape jumped in immediately. "It isn't them! Peter Pettigrew, their secret keeper? I'd sooner choose a toad over that bumbling fool!"

James, whose serum was starting to wear off, glowered at the man and kicked at the ground in irritation. "Peter was a better man then you'll ever be, Snivellus!" he shouted. "We made him secret keeper at the last minute, told no one about it. Not even Remus. Sirius and I thought it would be for the best. Everyone would suspect him, you see, but not Peter." James scratched the back of his neck as another wave of guilt hit him. "If Voldemort hurt him, I don't know what I'll do. Oh, Peter…"

Minerva and Albus glanced at each other, both convinced that it was indeed James and Lily Potter sitting in front of them. They looked the right age, so it couldn't be polyjuice potion, otherwise the imposters would look like the youthful twenty-one year olds that died in Godric's Hollow all those years ago. They answered all the questions correctly, under the influence of veritaserum, and even passed the blood test.

"How could this be?" Minerva murmured, a tear prickling her eye. "Oh, Lily… James." She hauled them towards her and hugged them tightly. "Dear Gods, I can't believe it."

"Professor?" Lily asked, even more confused than before.

"We have much to discuss," Albus told them with a heavy sigh. "Shall we all sit? Minerva, if I could use your floo."

"Who are we bringing into this, Albus?" She asked curiously.

"It seems Cornelius most assuredly must be here for this conversation if there is truth in what they say about Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black."