"Mum, what's wrong?" Harry asked anxiously when they came out of the graveyard a couple of minutes later.

Lily had a vacant look in her eyes and she was slightly shaking even though the temperature was normal. She turned her face away from Harry, not wanting him to see how devastated she looked right then.

She wiped away the tears that were coming out of her eyes and said, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," said Harry awkwardly.

Lily thought for a moment of telling Harry again about the deja-vu that had been happening since that morning but decided not to.

"If for some reason you thought you didn't have a lot of time left…"

"You mean today?" asked Harry.

"No, I… I mean in life," said Lily, wiping the last tears away and faced Harry again. "If you had one day left, what would you do?"

Harry raised his eyebrows, "That's an odd question."

"I'd just like to know," said Lily simply.

"Well," said Harry. He hadn't really thought about it. He'd like to do all sorts of things, of course. But the one thing that came to his mind was this day – with her. "I'd spend it with you, mum."

"Really?" she said, sounding surprised.

"Just being together... Kind of like now." Harry said softly. "Doing nothing… Sharing things with each other… Silly things... Difficult things..." he paused and looked at his mother with mingled emotions. "That's what I've always wanted for us."

Lily, who was putting so much effort of not crying in front of Harry, burst into sobs once again and hugged her son. She never wanted this day to end. She wanted to be with him for as long as the time can permit them.

"Thank you, mum," Harry said in between hugs.

"What for?" asked Lily.

"For the perfect day."

Lily sobbed harder, even though Harry didn't have a clue why his mother was extremely emotional today. But he shrugged it off and hugged her tightly, rubbing her back to comfort her.

"I'm so glad we're here," said Harry.

"Me too."

"I kind of wish we didn't have to go," Harry said with a heavy heart.

"Go where?" asked Lily.

"Back to London," said Harry simply. "And the Assembly at Hogwarts."

"Let's not go back," she said suddenly and looked up at Harry. "Let's just get on the Knight Bus and ride off somewhere."

"We can always come back here, or anywhere else, anytime…" said Harry. "But tonight at the Assembly I want to make you proud."

Lily stood silently in front of him. She was scared of going back to all the places they went that night. She'd rather go somewhere else and sit in a corner until the night passed by if she could help it.

"Mum," Harry looked at her with concern. "Are you coming?"

Lily looked back at her son. She could see the worry forming in his eyes. She took his hand and squeezed it and said, "Yes."

With Harry holding Lily's arm, they Apparated back outside their apartment in London.

"What do you think of this dress?" Lily asked an hour later. She was holding a simple navy blue lace dress and showing it to Harry in his room. "I think I should wear a more casual one…" she then walked back to her room.

"You look beautiful in every dress, Mum…" said Harry loudly across the room. "Even Mr. Filch would say so." He was preparing his school uniform and giving Hedwig some treats.

"Oh, goodness me…" Lily replied. "That is not funny…" she added when she heard him laugh.

"Now," said Lily, looking serious when she came back to Harry's room wearing the lacy dress. "Would you be okay if you went on ahead to Hogwarts without me? I just need to do something."

"Now?" asked Harry in disbelief. He checked the time: five o'clock.

"Yes. You can be with Ron," said Lily simply. "I'll send a letter to Arthur to pick you up so you don't have to be alone on the way there." She saw Harry's gloomy look. "I won't take long. I promise…" she added with a smile, then ruffled his hair to make it even messier.

"Mum, stop!" said Harry, backing away from her.

"Okay. I'll be going now." Lily gave him a quick hug. "I'll see you at Hogwarts."

Already wearing his Gryffindor uniform, Harry went downstairs and into the living room when Arthur Weasley arrived by Floo half an hour later.

"Ah – Harry!" said Arthur brightly as he straightened his glasses.

"Hello, Mr. Weasley!" said Harry, smiling.

"Are you ready to go?"

Harry nodded.

Mr. Weasley took a pinch of the Floo powder in the mantel pot and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green.

"Off you go then, Harry," said Mr. Weasley. "To the Burrow."

Harry stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying "the Burrow!". There was a whooshing sound, and Harry vanished.

He appeared at the Weasley's kitchen, followed shortly by Mr. Weasley who appeared out of thin air at Harry's shoulder.

"Harry!" Ron greeted excitedly, seated at the scrubbed wooden table with Ginny. "Dad said you'll be coming with us."

Harry went over to them. "Yeah... Mum had to do something before going to Hogwarts."

"She must be preparing a surprise for you, Harry," said Mr. Weasley brightly.

"Must be nice getting a surprise," muttered Ron.

SMACK!

Mrs. Weasley had just entered the kitchen with her hand held high and was looking down at Ron who was rubbing the back of his head. "If you just studied harder then we would've considered giving you a surprise. Oh hello, Harry, dear," she said, spotting him and smiling.

"Hi, Mrs. Weasley!" said Harry.

"We'll be leaving at six-thirty, Harry," Arthur informed him. "In the meantime, make yourself at home." He smiled at him.

"Come on," said Ron to Harry, gesturing up. "Let's go to my room."

"How are we getting to Hogwarts?" asked Harry, following Ron upstairs.

"Portkey," he said simply then added, "Dumbledore gave us permission to use a Portkey since you're coming with us."

Meanwhile, Lily sat gingerly in front of Albus Dumbledore in his office at Hogwarts. She arrived earlier than she had anticipated after her little excursion in London, hoping to get some answers from Dumbledore.

"Good evening, Lily," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "I see you've come to Hogwarts a little sooner than others for the Assembly, but now I wonder if you had an ulterior motive." He peered at Lily's worried look behind his half-moon spectacles.

Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not knowing how or where to start. "Yes, Headmaster. I… I…"

"What's troubling you, my dear?" asked Dumbledore softly.

"Have you ever had a deja-vu experience, only it's not something that you feel has happened before, but instead you knew that it was going to happen?"

"You mean a premonition?"

"Right... But not from a Seer," said Lily.

"Hmm… that's quite unusual," said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at Lily from under his thick silver eyebrows. "What is this about?"

Lily felt as though something was closing in upon her. "I am not sure but it feels like I have already lived this day, and certain incidents have already repeated themselves." Her breathing seemed difficult all of a sudden. "It scares me that it's going to lead to an awful event."

"What event is that?"

Lily closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. "Tonight… my son dies."

Dumbledore jerked his head up in surprise. "Tell me more."

Lily took a deep breath and began to tell him. As she spoke, visions of everything that had passed that night seemed to rise before her eyes; she saw the paper littering the floor when Harry hit her; she saw the knife cut through Harry's finger; the drink spilt on Harry's shirt; the ink splattered on her table when Arthur hit the bottle, and finally her glasses that cracked in Godric's Hollow.

When Lily also told Dumbledore of the night she saw the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade, a dagger lunged in Harry's stomach when he died, then seeing him alive the next day, Dumbledore stood up, his eyes upon Lily's face and said quietly,

"That, indeed, is very troubling. But it's really unheard of from a non-Seer to have these vivid premonitions."

He walked across the room to his bookshelves. He seemed completely lost in thought. "And you said you have tried to change these incidents but the outcomes were still the same?"

"Yes," muttered Lily and her eyes wandered outside.

Dumbledore turned around and paced the room back and forth. "I've heard rumours quite similar to this," he paused and said, "They're called Death Omens."

Lily turned her gaze back to Dumbledore, looking confused. "A Death Omen?"

"Have you heard the Tale of the Three Brothers?"

"Yes, but what does it have to do with this?" asked Lily, frowning slightly.

"You see," Dumbledore strode back to his chair and sat down. "The three brothers avoided Death at first – but Death is cunning… in the end, It claimed them."

"So…" Lily tried to understand this but it made her head pound. "Are we dealing with Death?"

"I have a hunch," said Dumbledore. "But I could be wrong. But first, we have to make sure to prevent this from happening. Didn't you say Harry was stabbed?"

Lily nodded. "And I tried to heal him, but it didn't work. I think it has something to do with the dagger."

"A dagger that prevents wounds from healing?" said Dumbledore thoughtfully, looking at Lily. "I can't say that I have come across one, but I do know of a certain artefact that has been passed down as an heirloom from a wizarding family."

"Could it be the Lestrange family?" asked Lily at once.

"It could be," said Dumbledore. "But why Lestrange?"

"I'm not sure, but the vision that I have…" Lily furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember. "I think I saw Bellatrix."

"If what you have seen will come to pass," said Dumbledore calmly. "We need to make sure that your son is not left alone. He must be protected. Continue doing what you have been doing. I will have some of the Order watch over you and Harry discreetly so as not to cause unnecessary panic in the public. Also, I'd like to teach you a protection charm just in case."

He stood up, walked at the centre of his office, and faced Lily. He held his wand and demonstrated the protection charm.

Lily nodded her understanding of the complex spell and said her thanks. She walked slowly out of the Headmaster's office and felt a little relieved. All she had to do now was find his son.