5 years ago today I was working on Chamber of Secrets and made some notes. you can see an early draft of the AU in which I James and Lily knew all along that Harry would have to die. An interesting thread with potential but not enough canon roots.

The blue text reads: Dumbledore doesn't suspect Horcruxes are in play until the diary is revealed. OotP "essence divided" quote -- he does, now, know the prophecy and thinks Harry has to die. In Goblet of Fire he knows Voldemort has given Harry a way to survive. /cont

So Lily would know Harry had to die. Would she also know the prophecy was not fulfilled? (In philosphers stone) or would she be hopeful it was all okay? Harry's connection still exists, so her and Dumbledore could suspect he is still out there. Maybe no one's used a human for a

Horcrux before?

Y'all can thank @ZackStoleMySock for talking me down from this thread. They rightly pointed out that the interpretation that Harry has to die is unclear, and this early on even Dumbledore doesn't suspect Horcruxes are involved. I'm much happier with the direction

The story has taken, as Dumbledore uncovers Horcruxes and keeps the knowledge from James and Lily intentionally. The only great loss is there is a scrapped scene where Dumbledore is talking to Lily about losing a loved one and it's a great allusion to Ariana.

"All you need to do is keep loving Harry."

"It's all I want to do. I'm only afraid to lose him."

"He'll be alright. When the time comes, we'll know."

"You say that as if knowing will make it easier."

"I promise you that knowing will make it easier."

A lovely bit of dialogue but it definitely doesn't work with what the AU has become, and I am much happier with the way James and Lily are tackling the situation, with much more uncertainty of the future.