Chapter 1: “Actually I Am, On Both Counts"

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Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns almost everything that you will find here. Most of you know what happened, I just feel like elaborating the story to my imagination’s desire.

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A/N: Alright everyone, this is my first fan fic. *claps in delight* This is exciting. Okay you guys, read on!

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It was nighttime at the Potter’s house in Godric’s Hollow. Lily and James were sitting up, talking about their days at Hogwarts, while Harry slept peacefully in Lily’s arms. She looked at her watch and sighed.

“James,” she whispered. “It’s getting really late. I’d best put Harry to bed.”

She got up from where she was sitting on the couch and headed off for Harry’s bedroom.

“Hang on,” said James. Lily turned to face him. “I want to say goodnight.”

She went back to the couch where he was sitting with his arms outstretched. Lily pretended to be exasperated and annoyed by his request, but smiled all the same when she finally deposited Harry in his waiting arms. Harry nestled comfortably into his father’s chest and settled as James began to rock him gently. Suddenly, a loud knock shattered the halcyon atmosphere of the room like a rock through glass. Harry fidgeted and began to fuss. Lily walked over to the door and looked through a little peephole to check who the caller was.

“It’s me,” called Sirius. “Can you let me in? I’ve got urgent news from the Order.”

Lily looked at James; her expression was a varied mix of confusion, apprehension, and concern. She hid it in a second and opened the door. Sirius stepped inside, shaking his long black hair out of his face as he entered. He smiled at Lily, who returned it as she closed the door. He went to James who just stood up, Harry still in his arms, and he embraced his best friend. Upon separating, Sirius ruffled Harry’s hair and Harry giggled with delight. Lily and James sat back down and Lily conjured up an armchair for Sirius, and he sat down too. There was a slight pause before anyone spoke.

“What in blazes brings you here at this hour, Padfoot?” James asked amusedly.

“I just got an important tip-off from Dumbledore about a half-hour ago. Apparently, Voldemort knows I’m your Secret-Keeper and he’s going to come for me around midnight,” he answered solemnly.

Lily’s eyes widened in shock, but she held herself steady.

“Sirius, you can’t be serious!” she exclaimed failing to disguise the shock in her voice.

“Actually I am, on both counts, for once.” He smiled like the mischievous imp he had been at Hogwarts. James threw him a lopsided grin and Lily can’t help but to flash a quick smile too.

“He can’t know that though,” she protested. “That is, unless one of the Order is an undercover spy working for him.”

She bit her lower lip, seemingly lost in thought. She only looked up when her husband stood up, with Harry still in his arms. He furrowed his eyebrows and began to pace back and forth. He’s too deep in thought to hear his son begin to whine. Lily stood up, walked over to him, and took Harry from him. He stopped pacing after another two minutes passed, and looked down at his arms. The fact that Harry wasn’t there anymore hadn’t fazed him until then. She rolled her eyes and sat back down and sat Harry down on her lap. James looked at Sirius.

“What are you going to do?” he asked finally.

“Well, I was thinking about hiding out somewhere….” His voice trailed off.

“Why don’t you stay here then?” Lily suggested. “Or maybe, you could arrange to live somewhere protected by another Secret-Keeper?”

James finally sat back down next to his wife and looked at his friend. He ran his hands through his shoulder-length hair, black as his best friend’s and godson’s, but not as messy.

“Prongs,” he responded heavily. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on you, Lily, and Harry. And you should know how I don’t like being staying in one place for a long, long time.”

At this, he gave James a meaningful glance; he took the hint quickly and nodded in understanding.

“Fair point, still, you wouldn’t be intruding on us,” he turned to his wife, “would he Lily?”

“No, of course not Sirius,” she agreed warmly with a smile to match. “I’m sure Harry would love to see more of his godfather.”

He smiled at her words. He looked tempted too, but shook his head.

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I finally came up with an idea.”

Lily and James exchanged politely confused looks before looking at him curiously.

“I think you should make Wormtail your temporary Secret-Keeper, in the hopes that if Voldemort comes after me, I can’t tell him where you are,” he told them.

James and Lily both look undoubtedly impressed. James smiled from ear to ear.

“Smart idea,” he grinned. “I’ll send him an owl telling him to meet to meet you later tonight. Then after you’ve told him, you can send him into hiding.”

He got up and went to a writing desk. He picked up a quill, opened an ink bottle, and pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write. As that went on, Lily watched him, absentmindedly bouncing Harry on her knee, and Sirius looked over at his godson and smiled. All is quiet, save for the scratching of the quill and Harry’s happy babbling. James finally picked up the letter, rolled it up, and sealed it. He walked over to a tawny owl on a perch by an open window. She obediently held out her leg as he approached and he tied the letter on. With a soft hoot, she took flight and he watched her fly off into the night sky, flung with stars and a full moon. When he noticed the full moon, he heard a distant howl and smiled in reminiscence, as James looked over to see if his wife or friend had reacted to the howl, Sirius had stood up.

“I guess I’d better be off then. See you later James, Lily, Harry.”

He walked to where Lily and Harry were. He gave her a small hug, ruffled Harry’s hair again, giving him a windswept look, and winked at James who smiled back. He walked for the door which James opened for him. Sirius gave him a quick hug then left, closing the door behind him. Lily looked at her watch again.

“Well, since no one else we know would come this late at night except Remus, Sirius, and Peter; and seeing as how Sirius and Peter are going to be elsewhere tonight and Remus has his little furry problem to take care of,” she yawned. “I suggest that we all go to bed.”

“Good idea,” he said, yawning too.

Lily picked Harry off her lap and carried him to his room. James went to their room and lay down, remembering the good old days, when the Marauders roamed Hogwarts and the grounds.

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A/N: Ok you guys, tell me what you thought. Any reviews are greatly appreciated. ~lily_writes

P.S. If you see any more grammer/spelling errors on this or any other chapter, put it in your review. I want to learn how to improve my writing techniques (and my vocabulary to boot).

A/N: Okay, sorry to keep you guys waiting for this chapter. I hope you’re not disappointed with it. So read past the disclaimer if you want to finish the chapter. Thank you to those of you who reviewed.

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Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns almost everything that you will find here. Most of you know what happened, I just feel like elaborating the story to my imagination’s desire.

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Once again it’s getting late at the Potter’s house. This time James spoke up as Lily had been too distracted to look at the time. While Lily has been standing near the window, James has been sitting on the couch holding a drowsing Harry.

“Lily, it’s getting late again. Maybe we should get some sleep.”

She hardly moved. She’s been staring out of the window until then. As he spoke to her, she looked over at him.

“But James, don’t you feel it?” she asked him with a slight shudder.

“Feel what?” he asked her nonplussed.

“Some odd vibe in the air, I’ve only felt it three times before now.” She shuddered again. “It’s the exact same odd feeling I had every time before Voldemort was about to come and try to do us in. Don’t you remember me telling you about it?”

“Yes, now that you mention it, I do,” he said frowning slightly.

Lily is wearing a concerned expression that was present the night before, and she finally decided to sit down. She looked at Harry in her husband’s arms; he had fallen asleep there with an innocent expression of absolute serenity and peace.

“What if something went wrong last night and Sirius got intercepted by a Death Eater or Voldemort and they coerced or forced him to tell them where we live?” Her voice grew steadily higher as she said this. Some panic had forced its way up onto her face, where it was usually never found.

“Calm down Lily,” James told her soothingly. “I’m sure Sirius and Peter are fine. In any case, I’m definite Sirius can throw off the Imperious Curse, Peter might be able to as well. Plus Sirius and his whole family have some weird immunity to Veritaserum. We tried it out in fourth year,” he smiled reminiscently, “ah, good times.”

Before James could go far down memory lane, there was a frantic knock on the door and Harry woke up and started making noises. James handed him to his wife and went to the door to see who it was. The caller this time was a short witch, by the name of Artemis Short, who’s panting as if she had just run a mile. James let her in and upon seeing her Lily looked nervous.

“What is it?” she inquired quickly.

“It…it’s…him! He’s coming… here! To…to…Godric’s Hollow!” she gasped, sounding as panicked as Lily felt.

“Who, is it Voldemort?” James asked urgently.

Artemis winced at his name momentarily, and then nodded quickly.

“People in the village are screaming that he’s there!” she said, still looking terrified.

“He doesn’t know we’re here,” James said calmly. “So we’re safe.” Artemis bit her lower lip as if to restrain herself from saying something else. He looked at her scrutinizingly. “So if you knew that we were hidden, why did you come?”

“The word is that he…he…” She faltered with a look of pure terror written all over her face.

“Well?” Lily asked her anxiously.

Artemis finally blurted it out.

“He knows where you live!” she cried out.

Lily looked stunned and clapped her hands over her mouth, but James laughed.

“Come now. You can’t mean that,” he said dismissively, still with a laugh in his voice. “Our Secret-Keeper is safely hidden. There’s nothing to worry about. Even if he were to come up to this very house and look in the window, he wouldn’t know we lived here. So there’s no need to worry about us.”

Artemis looked skeptical.

“Really, we’ll be okay,” he assured her. All traces of his laugh have left his face now.

Artemis turned to go and headed for the door. Almost as an afterthought, he called to her.

“Thanks for telling us though,” he told her in a calm, almost quiet, voice.

Lily nodded in agreement with her husband, in thanks for her neighborly concern.

“It was no problem,” she answered back in equal tones.

She left and shut the door behind her. Lily turned to face her husband.

“James,” she began quietly. “What if he does know where we live now?”

“Lily, he doesn’t really know where we are. He’s just guessing,” he explained reassuringly. “You know Peter wouldn’t betray us and Sirius would die before he says anything.”

She still looked a little doubtful, but her trust for James and his best friends won out in the end. She looked down on Harry who had fallen back asleep in her arms; she can’t help but smile at him before she looked back to James.

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it,” she sighed finally.

Suddenly, screams erupted outside. They sound as if they’re a mile away at first, and rose louder as the source came gradually closer. Lily looked shocked and slightly panic-stricken at this sudden noise; James stood up quickly and pulled out his wand, as he does so; Harry woke up for the second time that time that night, and is unusually silent, as if he knew the impending troubles and his parents' need to think.

“Wait here a second, I’ll go take a look outside,” James told her quickly.

He crossed the room to a window and looked out to the road. Not even five seconds passed before he dashed back to Lily, his face as pale as the full moon shining in the night sky. He tried, very unsuccessfully, to hide the panic registering in his hazel eyes. Lily looked at him, waiting only a moment, with bated breath, for his answer.

“Lily, she was right!”

She looked outright terrified now.

“Oh God! Did you see him?” She asked him horrified.

“Yeah, a few houses down, examining a little piece of paper…” he stopped, realizing what he had just said. “He must’ve done something to Peter! Oh no, and it’s my fault if he’s dead! Oh God, I hope he’s okay!” he moaned.

“There’s no time for regrets now, he’s almost here! There’s no time to escape either! We’re trapped! What are we going to do?” she groaned.

James managed to put on a calm expression, no matter how much fear and horror was coursing through his veins, in an effort to calm himself and Lily.

“Alright, Lily, I want you to take Harry and run away. Try to get out through the back, and if you can’t, hide,” he ordered.

He leaned down and kissed her, then the top of his son’s head. He looked Lily in the eyes and saw tears running down her face as tears threatened to spill down his.

“I love you Lily.”

“I love you too, James.”

He left her side and darted to the window. Voldemort was standing in front of their house, in the road, wearing a triumphant smile that contorted his already distorted features as he read the piece of paper. James turned his head back to Lily.

“Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off.”

Lily held Harry closely to her as she stood up. She looked over at James, now standing by the door, wand out, ready for a fight. Reluctant to leave him behind, but knowing his mind was set, she took in his appearance one last time and ran for their bedroom. At that moment, the door burst open and Lily stumbled, before she recovered quickly. In the doorway stood Lord Voldemort; his catlike, red eyes burning from out of his pale colorless face, all the while, cackling like a madman. He pulled out his long wand on seeing James Potter with his wand out. He stopped laughing and allowed a horrible smile to twist his mouth. James attempted to Stun him, but Voldemort blocked it. James was about to cast another spell but Voldemort yelled one out before James could even allow a single syllable to pass his lips.

“Avada Kedavra!” he screamed.

In a bright flash of green light James fell, dead before he hit the floor. His hazel eyes were open, looking shocked and surprised, but blank all at once. There was a long howl from the distance as Voldemort stepped over his lifeless body as he stowed his wand back into his robes, and swept off toward the bedroom where Lily was with Harry. Harry’s on the bed with his mother standing in front of him, her back to the door. A floorboard creaked and Lily spun around. As she turned, fear flew across her face as she saw who it was. Voldemort advanced toward the place where she’s standing, directly in front of Harry.

“Step aside girl. I’m not here for you, I’m here for him.”

As he spoke the last few words, he pointed a long, white finger at the baby behind her. Lily was horrified and her brilliantly green eyes widen.

“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!” she begged.

“Stand aside, you silly girl…stand aside now!” he ordered in a high, cold voice that was heard in many a nightmare.

“Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead!” she pleaded.

She was on the verge of tears, but she’s holding them back. She stood up a little straighter. She knew for sure now that James was dead, at the hands of the foul creature before her. She was intent on saving her son now. If she let Voldemort take Harry away from her too, without a fight, she knew that she would never forgive herself for it. Voldemort drew out his wand again and raised it slowly.

“Not Harry! Please…have mercy…have mercy!” she cried out in anguish.

“Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!” commanded Voldemort, eyes blazing furiously.

He took a step forward so there was only two feet between them. His wand rose slowly until it was pointed directly at her heart. She never flinched, but wore an unreadable face of stone.

Please Harry, I hope you understand that I’m doing this for you. I would rather die than live a life knowing I dishonored you and your father’s’ memories by giving up to the one I swore to help destroy. Just know that I love you, and I always will, even though I will die. What I do for you now is my last gift to you, she thought.

“Don’t kill Harry! Kill me!” she screamed.

“Avada Kedavra!” he bellowed.

Lily screamed, but her scream was cut off quickly as if the blinding flash of green light that shone instantaneously with the incantation was a knife. With a thud, Lily fell to the floor, dead, like James. Voldemort let out a high, cold, mirthless laugh. Her lovely green eyes sparkled with the moon filtering in through the window and a tear that had formed with her final scream. Her features held an expression much like her husband’s, shocked and surprised all at once.

Voldemort stepped over her limp body and turned his wand on Harry, a maniacal grin on his face.

“Avada Kedavra!” he yelled out a third time that night.

There was a third blinding green light, but it was quickly replaced by a bright scarlet light, accompanied by Voldemort’s anguished screams of pain and agony and an explosion. When the light disappeared, most of the house had crumbled away and was smoking. A ghostly shadow, that was the mutilated soul of Lord Voldemort, sped away, looking for a place to hide away so he could attempt to regain power.

Now only one sound could be heard after all this happened. That was the screams that clearly echoed anguish, pain, and loss from the little baby still inside the house’s ruins, Harry Potter.

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A/N: Alright, I hope everyone can hold on until I type up chapter 3. After chapter 3, it’s all done. Okay, you know the drill, review and tell me what you think. Whether you loved, liked, or hated it; I want to know, Siriusly (sorry about the pun, I really like it). Oh and did you find my furry little friend?
I only have 3 reviews out of 402 reads on chapter one, and none out of 146 reads on this chapter, come on you guys, I don't like it when you read and run!

A/N: The final chapter. I know it was short], but beyond this, well…that’s where SS/PS comes in. Though I just wrote a little one-shot about Sirius confronting Peter the next day. It is entitled “Pain Can Lead to Laughter”. So now I present to you, the reader, the final chapter of Before They Died.

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Disclaimer: You’ve seen this before, I’m sure. I don’t own Harry Potter, etc.; that belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling.

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A large man was walking up the road toward the Potters’ house. It was Hagrid, and he looked worried because the ruins of the house were still smoking. The only noises that he heard as he approached, were Harry crying and screaming, and the muttering of the Potters’ few wizarding neighbors; the Shorts, the Andersons, Miss Jones, the Purdys, and the Lovegoods. Coming up nearer to the ruins, he stopped next to Neo Anderson, a middle aged wizard who lived three houses down.

“Gallopin’ gargoyles!” he exclaimed, shocked. He turned to Neo. “What ‘appened here?”

Neo cleared his throat and began to tell the story he had heard from Miss Jones.

“Well, You-Know-Who turned up just about an hour ago and came up the street here for the Potters’ place. Word is he killed James, and then went after Lily. He killed her and then went to kill little Harry. Funny thing is, the spell didn’t work. We all think it bounced off him and back onto You-Know-Who. Most of us think he finally died.” He paused, with a thoughtful look on his face. “Strange though, isn’t it? He’s been killing powerful witches and wizards all over the country and he couldn’t even kill a one year old baby!”

Hagrid nodded absentmindedly as his attention immediately turned back to the job Dumbledore had set him to. He walked over the wreckage and into what was left of the house, trying to find Harry. He followed the baby’s miserable screams echoing loss and pain. He finally found him lying on the bed where his mother had left him. He bent down and looked at Harry. The first thing to catch his eye was the lighting bolt-shaped gash on Harry’s forehead.

“Merlin’s beard!” he whispered hoarsely.

Hagrid picked him up and rocked him gently to calm him down, and he stopped crying almost instantaneously. Suddenly, the roar of a motorcycle was heard in the sky, growing steadily louder. It was Sirius on his flying motorcycle. He came in for a fast landing, shut it off, and dismounted quickly, all within a matter of ten seconds. He looked completely terrified and shocked all at once; every trace of laughter that appeared to permanently adorn his face was gone, replaced by fear. Just with one glance over his best friends’ house, he knew that, most likely, everyone inside had died. He saw Hagrid and ran to him and, upon reaching him, broke down.

“Oh God! Hagrid, are they all…are James…and Lily…and…and Harry…all…”

He couldn’t bear to finish due to an overwhelming force of emotion flowing through him. He collapsed to his knees next to Hagrid and raised his head and let out a howl of sadness. He ran his hands through his hair and looked up at Hagrid, expecting the worst. Hagrid heaved a heavy sigh.

“Well, I’m real sorry, Sirius, James and Lily are dead,” he confirmed sadly.

“Wh-what about Harry?” he sobbed, thoroughly shaken.

Hagrid crouched down to Sirius’ level and showed him the bundle where Harry was, still whimpering softly. Only his face was visible above the blanket his mother had wrapped him in. Sirius peered at his godson and saw the laceration on his forehead.

“Oh no!” he moaned. He looked up into Hagrid’s face again. “Hagrid, can I take him home with me now, please?”

Hagrid shifted guiltily and avoided looking at the now anxious look on Sirius’ face. It was like hope had sparked back into him, knowing Harry was alive and having one last link to two of his best friends who now were among Voldemort’s countless victims. It was taking all the strength Hagrid possessed to say what he knew he had to. As he straightened up, he saw that Sirius looked almost hurt, staring longingly at the little bundle, and Sirius stood up too.

“I got orders from Professor Dumbledore ter bring him ter his aunt an’ uncle’s house,” he reported miserably.

He looked away from Sirius who now wore an expression similar to that of a wounded dog.

“I’m real sorry Sirius, but I have specific orders from Dumbledore.”

He looked sorry too. Sirius began to look really desperate after Hagrid spoke the second time.

“Hagrid please,” he begged. “I’ve just lost two of my best friends. They said if anything ever happened to them, I was to take care of Harry.”

Hagrid looked down at him mournfully and patted Sirius awkwardly on the shoulder, lowering his voice to a gentle tone.

“Sirius,” he began, “I’m feeling real bad about this, but Dumbledore must have his reasons….”

Sirius looked defeated, a hollow mask having descended over his face.

“Can I just say goodbye then?” he requested, his gray eyes with tears.

“I…I guess tha’ wouldn’ hurt,” he answered hesitantly.

He brought Harry back down to Sirius’ level, and Sirius began to stroke Harry’s head while looking at him lovingly. It was a heartfelt moment that Hagrid didn’t want, but knew he had, to break. He cleared his throat and Sirius looked up at him, still stroking Harry’s hair.

“Oh,” muttered Sirius, as though coming out of a reverie and walking into a realm of melancholy. “Sorry to hold you up.”

“It’s alright,” Hagrid replied calmly, and then to no one in particular, “Wonder how I’m goin’ ter get ter Little Whinging in Surrey…”

Sirius thought for a moment.

“Why don’t you take my motorcycle, Hagrid?” he suggested. “I’m not planning on using it anymore.”

“Tha’s right nice o’ yeh Sirius,” he said. “But I’m afraid tha’ I’ll break it when I sit on it.”

“That’s no problem at all,” he replied, drying his tear-stained face.

He reached into his robes, pulled out his wand, and tapped the motorcycle twice, causing it to grow to accommodate Hagrid’s size.

“Thanks,” he said gratefully.

“You’ll take good care of him, won’t you?” Sirius asked him anxiously.

“Course I will,” Hagrid reassured him. “Take care now, Sirius.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Sirius replied.

Hagrid got onto the motorcycle and secured Harry to him. He started the motorcycle and drove it a few yards before taking off. Sirius stood there, watching them disappear into the black, star-strewn sky complete with the full moon shining brightly. Tears sparkled brightly in his eyes again with some rolling down his cheeks. As soon as they were both out of sight, he wiped his eyes dry with his sleeve. He began to walk away, but paused as something among the rubble caught his eye. He knelt down, brushed away the rubble, and lifted a hand-held silver framed mirror off the ground. He looked at it with a sad smile and placed it in his robe pocket, remembering the days of the Marauders.

I think I’ll give this to Harry when he’s older. I think he’d like that, he thought smiling inwardly.

He looked toward the road and noticed that the Muggles from the opposite side of the village were starting to come up the road, wanting to see what all the fuss up there was about. He also saw the wizards and witches had begun to cast Muggle-Repelling Charms on the perimeter. Sirius walked out through a gap in the crumbling wall toward the small patch of woods bordering the yard. He passed through Lily’s immense flower garden, which had most thankfully survived, and inhaled its sweet fragrance filling his mind with many more memories of the times he had spent there with them all, feeling grateful that the garden had been spared.

Once he was across the yard, he Apparated home, not knowing what the week to come would bring for him.

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A/N: That’s the end of my story. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it because I loved writing it. I have a one-shot to follow this and a Harry/Ginny romance that I need to type. So now it’s review time! I also have a mini questionnaire thing that would make me happy if you did it.

1. What was your favorite chapter?
2. What was your favorite quote?
3. Was there a part that made you cry?
4. Out of 10, how would you rate this story?
5. Would you read anything else by me?

Okay I’ll use this space down here to thank Secret Lily for giving me the idea for the mini questionnaire above. I also want to ask you guys to read some of her fics (because they are completely awesome!) Thank you to those you read and reviewed my first fanfic. Thanks to draco_is_hot for being my first ever review! One last shout out to my totally awesome Beta, dracoslovebunny for fixing this up after it was deleted the first time. *does dance in celebration of success of first fic* ~lily_writes