James Potter walked through the gates, which were flanked by two pillars topped with winged boars. The sun was just setting beyond the mountains behind Hogwarts, and the result in the reflection on the lake was beautiful. He remembered when he was in his sixth year, and he had gone on his first sunset walk with Lily. He saw the tree where they had first kissed … the same tree beneath which he had once levitated Snape, upside down, in his fifth year, much to Lily’s annoyance. Those were happy times… those times had long gone.

It had been so long since he had gazed up at the Gryffindor tower from the grounds. And the Quidditch pitch... what was it, one, maybe two years since he had last ridden a broom? The one room apartment that he and Lily lived in was in the middle of the city. There was no place to fly; they even had to watch where they used their wands.

James continued up the steps taking them two at a time. What was so important that Dumbledore had made him come all this way? What could not be written on parchment, or told via the Floo? It must be about the incident, he thought as he walked through the deserted entrance hall, and waited for some staircases to move in the right direction.

A week ago, he, Lily and Dorcas Meadows captured the Death Eater, Gibbon, and held him for questioning. Snape’s Veritaserum was almost down his throat when five masked Death Eaters blasted a wall in Dorcas’ apartment. Two of them grabbed Gibbon and ran out, while the other three stayed to fight. Lily sent a fast Stunner at one, but then the other two hit her, both at the same time; she collapsed. The next thing James knew, he was using a sofa to shield himself from an Avada Kedavra. When he leaped back out, the Death Eaters were gone, and so was Dorcas.

James and Lily were all right, but the word was that Voldemort had personally executed Dorcas after torturing her into revealing what they had gotten out of Gibbon. The whole operation had been a disaster, and now Dumbledore wants to tell me “it’s not my fault,” thought James. The truth was, he had been blaming himself because throughout the whole fight (which had all happened in a matter of seconds), he never cast one spell. But the question remained: why did Dumbledore not send him an owl or talk to him by Floo?

The thoughts continued to swirl in James’ head as he skipped the trick stair and continued into the stone gargoyle’s hallway. He remembered in his fourth year when McGonagall had taken him to this very office because he had bewitched a toilet to regurgitate its contents when it was flushed, and again in his sixth year because he had snuck out of his dormitory to get Lily a birthday cake from the house-elves. Both times, Dumbledore seemed to know exactly what was going through his mind. James wondered what he would say this time.

“Fizzing Whizzbees” James said to the gargoyle, and it jumped out of the way. He walked up the moving spiral staircase and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” said a voice from inside. James opened the door to find Albus Dumbledore sitting inside with Frank Longbottom. Frank was in his late thirties and balding with remnants of brown hair.

“Aha, James… please have a seat,” said Dumbledore, gesturing to a chair, “I have asked you both here for a very serious reason; even now our enemies might be on their way to act. Please, don’t interrupt while I am explaining, I will be pleased to answer all of your questions as soon as I am done.” James made a move to speak, but Dumbledore silenced him with a raise of a hand, “Please, take a seat James, I would not want word getting around that I am an inhospitable host. Good, good, now, let me begin…”

“Sir, I am sorry to interrupt, but I need to know, is there any news on Meadows?” asked James.

“That is a sad story, but one that deserves a snippet of our time. My brother, Aberforth, was able to gather, from a crowd of Death Eaters, that she refused to give in to the torture, so Voldemort…don’t make that face, Frank. Fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself. Anyway, Voldemort chose to execute her personally. She was extremely loyal and did not tell them anything. Unfortunately, as you both know, we got nothing out of Gibbon, but Meadows was just too proud. There will be a time to mourn her death, but it is not now… and James, it is not your fault.”

“But sir… I did not cast one spell… not one! My own wife hit a Death Eater, while I jumped behind a sofa!”

“Jumping out of the way so that a killing curse does not hit you is not an act of cowardice, James. Now, as I said, the time will come to mourn Meadows, but it is not this day. No, I am here to inform the two of you about something very exciting. In order for me to explain it fully, I have to back track to a few weeks ago. Now, I was going to interview a new candidate for the post of Divination teacher, as dear old Professor Heartburg had just informed me that ‘the fates had advised her to leave’ whatever that means. Now, Professor Heartburg might have been a kind old lady, but she was no seer, I am afraid to say. But this new candidate was the great, great granddaughter of a rather famous seer, Cassandra Trelawney. Anyway, I went to meet her at the Hog’s Head, and we had a lengthy interview which, by the end of, I was convinced that she could see just as well as I can ride an elephant. So I thanked her for her interview and was about to leave when she became very misty eyed and started talking in a voice that was very different from her own, and this is what she said:

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...

I could not believe my ears. Of course, there was the chance that she was just trying to impress me. But when I asked what she had just said, she did not remember saying anything at all. I told her that I would send her an owl if I decided to hire her and left at once, knowing that I had to act fast. The first step was to figure out who exactly this child was.”

All of a sudden Frank inhaled very quickly, began to cough and fell of his chair. “Dumbledore, you can’t be serious!” exclaimed Frank, rising from the floor.

“I take it that Alice is pregnant then,” replied Dumbledore.

“Yes, we just found out last night. Oh my god, I can’t believe what you’re saying. But it does make sense; we have thwarted He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named three times. Oh, what should we do? We must find a way to hide him at once… hang on, what is James doing here?”

“Well Frank, had this happened a month ago, you would have been here alone, but in light of recent events, James and Lily have now both defied Voldemort… yes, say the name, Frank… Voldemort three times now, so if Lily is pregnant, then we have two candidates for the job. Is she pregnant James?” asked Dumbledore.

James had kept quiet ever since Dumbledore had begun his story, breathing it in word by word. But now, he cleared his throat and answered meekly, “I don’t think so… I mean, it is possible… but I don’t think that she is…”

“Well, you will have to find out. Send me an owl, but don’t say anything that would give anything away, just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the parchment. Frank, I will think of a way to keep you and Alice safe from Voldemort… for heaven’s sake don’t make a face like that, it is just a name. James, I will expect your owl in a few days. I trust that the two of you know your way out; you will be able to Apparate once off of the grounds. I will talk to you both soon.”

James and Frank both stood up, waved good bye and were about to leave when James turned around and said “Dumbledore, how did Voldemort find out about the prophecy?”
“Pardon?” asked Dumbledore, looking up from his desk.
“How did he find out? You said that even now he might be thinking of what to do. But how did he hear the prophecy in the first place?”

Dumbledore looked at James for a second, as if weighing him. James was reminded of when he had first joined the Order, and Dumbledore had looked him up and down like that. “The walls tend to have ears at the Hog’s Head,” said Dumbledore. James knew that was all he was going to get, and walked out. Dumbledore walked over to his cabinet, pulled open the door and pulled out a large stone basin, swimming with memories… his memories. He touched his wand to his head and put a string of thought into the basin, then another, then another. It would not have done to tell them about Snape, He thought. There was no point in worrying them, and Dumbledore new what Serious would do when James told him. No, some things were best left secret, and this was just one of those things.

Lily Potter waited at home for her husband to return. She was sitting in her two room apartment. The first room was where her and James ate. There was also a fire place in this room where they would sit and talk late into the night. The other room was a bit smaller. It had their bed in it, as well as a desk to write on. She was reading the Daily Prophet by the fire. No, reading was the wrong word. She was sitting by the fire with the Daily Prophet opened, staring blankly at it. She was thinking. She was thinking of how to tell James that she was pregnant.

Few people wanted to raise children in these dark times. Most people had trouble hanging on to the family they already had. What made it even worse was that she and James were involved in Order-related activities so often, there would be nobody to care for the child. To top it all off, they lived in a two bedroom apartment! Where would the crib, the changing table, or the baby’s toys be put? No, they were not in proper living conditions for a baby. And yet, something told Lily that having a baby was the right thing to do. It was as if the giant hand of fate had been guiding her down this road forever, and she was now ready to fulfill her purpose in life. I’ll just have to tell him, she thought, besides, it’s not like he would have to stop working for the Order or anything. The baby would not be coming for another eight months. According to the spell she checked with, the child would be born around the end of July. Who knew, maybe the war would be over by then.

Lily could have sat there in thought for hours, but presently the door opened and in came James. “Hey, sweetie,” he said as he entered.

“Hello, honey,” she said, getting up and hugging him in the doorway. “How was the meeting?”

“Boring,” said James bending down and planting a kiss on his wife’s lips. No sense in worrying her until I know there will even be a baby, thought James.

“James, did you get something to eat?” asked Lily.

“No, I haven’t had the time,” said James, sitting down at the kitchen table. Lily sat down across from him and fumbled for her wand in her pocket. “I got it,” said James. He took out his wand, waved it, and a plate full of chicken appeared in front of him. James stared at his plate as he ate. Lily drummed her fingers on the table. The only noises were James’ chewing and Lily’s drumming. They were both keeping secrets, and worse, they each knew that the other one was keeping a secret.

“So, what did Dumbledore want to tell you?” asked Lily.

“Dorcas was killed.”

“That’s horrible. Did he say how?” If Lily had found out that a close friend had been killed before the war had started, she would have been in tears. But these days, death was a part of life itself.

“Voldemort killed her himself when she would not give him information. Dumbledore wanted to tell me face to face because I was there.”

“But so was I. I was there too. Why didn’t he ask me to come?”

“You’re asking the wrong person,” said James. He finished his chicken and made the remains disappear with a wave of his wand.

“Well, at least we know she is dead for a fact, I guess. It’s not like when people disappear and you don’t know what happened to them,” said Lily, getting up and going into the room that served as their bedroom.

“That’s an interesting way to look at it,” said James, following her. They dressed for bed, James putting on his pajamas and Lily her night dress. They got into bed, and lay there for a few minutes. Then, all of a sudden Lily decided that she could not keep it inside her any more.

“James, I am pregnant,” she said blankly.

“What?” asked James softly.

“I said I am pregnant,” said Lily softly. This was it. He was going to blow up. Would he be mad, angry, or sad? She braced herself, knowing that she could calm him down. She would tell him what she had thought about, how she planned to keep the baby safe, and still being all right financially. But first, she would have to survive the hurricane that was slowly brewing under his skin, a trait that had rubbed off on James from being around Sirius too much.

“That’s…That’s amazing!” he exclaimed, sitting up scooting towards her.

“Really?” she asked, sitting up too.

“Yes, of course. I love you, and I will support you through anything. Lily, I want to have a baby with you. But I have something I need to…”

“Oh, I am so happy!” she cried, squeezing him and then kissing him lightly. “I was so worried that you were going to be angry. I thought that you may not want me to have a baby.”

“How can you think that?” he asked her. “Lily, I love you,” he said, kissing her passionately. She kissed him back, and they fell onto the bed together. The prophecy will have to wait, thought James.

***
Lily woke up and put her hand on the bed next to her. It was empty. She reached around, determined to make contact with a body. Nothing. She opened her eyes and looked at the part of the bed next to her. Empty. She sat up and searched the room. Then she saw him, sitting with the family owl at the desk, fumbling for a quill. She got up and stood behind him. “Who are you writing to?” she questioned.

“Dumbledore,” said James, taking out the quill and dipping it in the ink well.

“About what?” asked Lily.

“I will tell you in a second,” he said.

Lily leaned over his shoulder to look at the parchment. She just caught the words “yes, what should we do?” written on the parchment before he folded it up and tied it to the owl’s leg. The owl flew out the open window, and James stood up, knocking Lily’s jawbone with his shoulder.

“Sorry, are you all right!” he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her jaw. “Wait a minute,” she said quietly, extending the other hand and placing it on his bare shoulder, “you are cold, and wet. James, are you sweating? Honey, what is wrong?”

“Nothing…” he said.

“Come on, don’t try to lie to me! What is the matter?”

“Sit down, and I will explain,” he said. It took him a whole 10 minutes to get out his story: about the meeting, the prophecy, and the letter he had just sent. When he finished, Lily sat there observing at the beautiful sunrise through the open window.

“So, will our child kill Voldemort?” she asked blankly.

“Maybe. Or it may be the Longbottom child, or both, or neither. Lily, it may just be the seer trying to impress Dumbledore!”

“But there is a chance?”

“Yes, so we have to be ready to go into hiding.”

Five months passed. Five months, in which their whole world changed. Dumbledore had promised find them a place to hide, and so the Potters had been relocated to a small place on the outskirts of London. They changed their names to Lila and Victor. Lily’s body changed and she grew quite big. As a matter of fact, the only thing that seemed to stay the same for either Lily or James was their love. They were there for each other, and that was what mattered. Every so often Sirius or Dumbledore would drop in on them, but for the most part, life was quiet. Then, one day, they received a letter. James took it from the barn owl and read aloud:


James and Lily
The wind blows back
To the heroic and noble lion’s mane
For it shall echo into eternity
The sound of emptiness will always be heard
And that is where you shall meet me
Yours truly, Albus Dumbledore
P.S., eleven o’clock tonight
P.P.S., James, remember the letter
The letter came at noon. James and Lily were both eating lunch. Lily tried to get out of her chair, but failed and slumped down. James walked over to her and sat beside her, so she could look too.

"What do you suppose it means?" asked James.

"It's a riddle," said Lily. "Dumbledore is relying on our logic to get us to him. Good way to make sure that no one else can find him, which means that we should be able to tell what this means easily, and it should be something unique to us."

"Let’s figure it out line for line," said James inquisitively.

"Ok, lets see… the wind blows back, the heroic and noble lion’s mane."

"The wind blows back… hmm," said James.

"It may have to do with another line, lets see. The heroic and noble lion’s mane… Heroic and noble… sounds like brave…"

"Then why not say brave?"

"Because it is not a brave lion, it is THE brave lion… Godric Gryffindor," Lily said.

"How do you know?"

"Because then he would have just said lion. A brave lion represents Gryffindor!"

"Good work," said James. "Hmm… for all shall echo into eternity. By echo, he may mean come and go, like an echo bouncing off of a wall…"

"No, then he would not have said eternity. That hints that it is, or has been, there for eternity. What echoes?" Lily stroked her temple in thought.

"I don't know… lets read the next line," said James. "And the sound of emptiness shall always be heard."

"Emptiness… what is empty?" asked Lily.

"A bucket, a box…"

"Anything hollow, really."

"Godric Gryffindor’s bucket… Godric Gryffindor’s box…this is hopeless. There must be a million hollow things!"

"This must be where the first line comes in," said Lily. "The wind blows back.."

"The wind blows back, the wind blows back… remember the letter…wait a minute! The wind blows back in time to… Godric’s Hollow!"

"What's that?" asked Lily, finally managing to push herself up and out of her chair.

"A place I used to go with my parents for the summer. We owned a tiny little cottage! That's where I got my Hogwarts letter! It all fits. He wants us to meet him at eleven o’clock tonight at my old cottage at Godric’s Hollow!"
*
It was a cloudy night at Godric’s Hollow. The occupants of the wooden cottages were all asleep. The wind blew through the silent night. All was quiet. All was quiet, that is, until two figures popped into existence on the outskirts of town. Quietly, they scurried down the dusty path. One was a woman with a very large stomach. A man who was fairly tall, with very untidy hair led her by the hand. They bolted down the path until they reached a small cottage. They turned and walked up the stone steps to the patio. Here, they each pulled out their wands.
What Happens in Godrics Hollow, Stays in Godrics Hallow
The final part of James and Lily Potters lives. How did it all really happen?
“It is one minute past eleven,” said James, glancing at his watch. “Wait here, I will check it out.” He pushed open the door with a creak and stepped inside. Lily disregarded his order and followed him.

“Come in,” said a calm voice from inside.

“Dumbledore!” said James, igniting his wand to find himself face to face with the old wizard.

“Yes, come on in, both of you. Lily, have a seat over there,” he said, bringing them into the sitting room and gesturing to a chair. He pointed his own wand at the fireplace and it erupted in flames, lighting the old but welcoming room. Dumbledore and James both sat down in older, straight chairs, while Lily sat in the armchair.

“So, I will make this brief, and to the point,” said Dumbledore. “I think that we need to find a way to keep you two in hiding…at least until the baby is born, and how long after that we will have to see.”

“How long after the baby is born might we be talking about?” asked Lily.

“I would say until the young man is ready to attend Hogwarts, maybe sooner, maybe later. There are a few ways that we may be able to tell if the child of the prophecy is yours or the Longbottom’s from the start. For one thing, the prophecy speaks of a boy, so if either of your children are female, then they can live a normal life from the start. Then we will see.”

“So, are you planning on just keeping us here under lock and key?” asked James with a sarcastic laugh.

“Not exactly, James,” said Dumbledore. “Are either one of you familiar with the Fidelius Charm?”

“No,” answered James and Lily in unison.

Then there was silence from both James and Lily as the waited expectantly for a response.

“I see,” said Dumbledore. “Well, in that case, allow me to explain. The Fidelius Charm is when a person, or in this case people, trust another with their secret. As long as their Secret-Keeper does not share their secret with another person, the secret itself is safe. Therefore, it is customary for people to make their most trusted friends their Secret-Keepers.”

When he said this, James thought one word: Sirius.

“Therefore, I have devised a plan,” continued Dumbledore. “The two of you, and your child, will go into hiding here, until the child is ready to take the responsibility that may fall onto his shoulders. I don’t think that you will be in as much danger yet, but I would get settled here as soon as possible. I can arrange to have all of your things moved here by tomorrow. I would recommend that you select your Secret-Keeper by then. I would be
more then hap…”

“How ‘bout Sirius?” asked James.

“Hmm… he has proven trustworthy. I think it would be best if I did it though…” said Dumbledore.

“I can’t do that. I’m sorry, Dumbledore, but he is my BEST friend. Think of what he would do if he found out that we did not trust him? Lily, you agree with me don’t you?”

“Umm… I trust Sirius with all my heart, James. We were planning on making him the baby’s godfather anyway, weren’t we? If you trust him, so do I,” said Lily.

“Both of you listen to me,” said Dumbledore gravely. “It is not a matter of trust. Do you honestly think that Sirius would be prepared to stand up to torture? He is a strong, brave, honourable, trustworthy man. I will give him that. But in the end, he is just a man, and every man has his weakness. Pain is just the beginning of Voldemort’s weapons. I have seen him do horrible things. He makes your whole world crumble. He has killed people’s entire families just to make them promise to follow him. He has stripped men of all their belongings just to will them into doing something for him. He has imprisoned people for days, without food or water, watching them wilt like roses on a hot summers day, just to get a piece of information out of them. He has his three Unforgivable Curses, but he likes to do things the hard way. It makes him feel good! I trust Sirius, but I do not rely on him for such an important task.” Dumbledore stared at James. Lily looked from James, to Dumbledore, back to James.

“That is where we are different,” said James, standing up. “I would trust him with my life.”

“Your life, yes, but the life of your wife, child, and the blood of millions of other people’s wives and children? Are you prepared to risk that all for the sake of a friendship?” asked Dumbledore, also standing up and crossing his arms.

“I will admit it, Sirius is just a man,” said James. Dumbledore looked at him. “But in the end, so are you.”

“James, I think Dumbledore knows what he is talking about…” said Lily.

“I don’t care. He thinks that he can tell other people what to do just because he is older, and owns a bloody school. But I will tell you what, Sir, you will never be my family’s Secret-Keeper. Don’t you think it is a bit obvious who it would be? Don’t you think Voldemort would assume it was you?”

Dumbledore stood there for a while in silence, looking James up and down. Then, he uncrossed his arms, cleared his throat, and headed for the door. “The choice is up to you, James. I will be here tomorrow with Sirius and your things. But remember this… the Dark Lord does not assume, he knows.” And with that, he stepped out of the doorway, and with a pop he was gone.

*
Lily and James spent that night at the small cottage. It had a petite living room with a fire and a few welcoming chairs. There was a dusty kitchen with and antique stove, and a study with an old wooden desk. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms, each with a bed, a cupboard and a mantelpiece. James’ parents had taken most of their things with them when they last left the house, but it was still fit to be lived in. James figured he could convert one of the bedrooms into a nursery with Sirius’ help.

When they woke up in the morning, James fixed breakfast for himself and Lily. It was his way of apologising for being rude the previous night. She did not seem to be happy with what he had done, but she also did not seem to disagree. It seemed that she trusted his judgment, and he knew that she adored Sirius.

At eleven, the door rang and in came Dumbledore and Sirius. With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore conjured everything from their old apartment, and everything from their suburban flat. He did not smile at James the whole time, but he did not seem to give him a cold shoulder either. He accepted that the fate of the Wizarding world was more important than him being rude to James. After everything was in place, he pulled out a roll of parchment and handed it to James. “Here are the instructions for the Fidelius Charm. I will be incapable of finding you after it has been cast, and my only contact with you will be through Sirius. Good luck, and I hope to see you shortly,” and with that, he shook James’ hand, kissed Lily on the cheek, then patted her stomach before exiting through the front door. James ran after him.

“Dumbledore, wait,” he called. The old man turned and looked at James. “I am sorry. I trust you, but my instincts tell me to make Sirius my Secret-Keeper. I don’t know when I will see you again, and I don’t want our friendship to end on bad turns. Friends?” he extended his hand.

“Friends,” said Dumbledore, and he pulled him into a friendly hug.

*

The months after the Fidelius Charm was cast, were all one big blur for James. Sirius popped in every week or so to bring them more news of the outside world. Voldemort was building up the hunt for Lily and James, but so far there had not been any attempt on Sirius’ life, meaning that the enemy did not suspect the Fidelius Charm. Lily had also persuaded Sirius to ask about the Longbottoms. All Dumbledore had revealed to Sirius was that they were safe.

And then the big day came. Sirius brought in Madam Pomfrey to deliver the baby (Dumbledore had advised this in his instructions). The birth was the biggest blur of all for James. He remembered blood, lots of blood, and then the cries of a newborn baby: a boy, named Harry by Lily. He looked like James from the moment of his birth, except for his eyes. They were Lily’s eyes. James held the baby before passing him to her. He had already settled down. Sirius performed a memory wipe on Madam Pomfrey on the way out (also on Dumbledore’s instructions).

The next week, James and Sirius built a nursery. Sirius was able to bring Harry a variety of toys. And so life went on for the next seven months. The news from Sirius grew grimmer and grimmer. Voldemort’s mad hunt for the Potters was becoming a big problem for the Order. It was also strange how he seemed to have no interest in the Longbottoms. It had been rumoured that Voldemort had killed some of James’ family because he suspected that they were hiding the Potters, leaving James, Lily and Harry the only Potters left.

And then one day Sirius came with the gravest news of all. “I was attacked,” he said.

“What? Why?” asked Lily, setting the baby down on the kitchen floor and going over to where Sirius and James were talking.

“I don’t know… just nearly got away! I think they were after me because they wanted to find you, and they knew I know where you are! I tried to go into hiding myself, but it did not work! I don’t know what to do!”

“Well, you can stay here with us. That way you will be safe,” said James.

“I don’t think so,” responded Sirius. “The Fidelius Charm is keeping your secret safe, but I think that if someone looked through the window right now, they would just see me here. I am not protected. But I do have another idea. What if we change the Secret-Keeper to a less likely person?”

“That might work…” said James. He was thinking about what Dumbledore had said all those months ago.

“What about Remus?” suggested Lily.

“I wouldn’t trust Remus right now,” replied Sirius. “There have been rumours. I know that they cannot always be trusted, but I would rather not take the chance.”

“I agree,” said James. They stood there for a few moments, then Harry started to cry and Lily went to pick him up.

“For god sakes, both of you, there are FOUR Marauders!” she cried. “You honestly are going to let the fact that Peter is a little… forgetful… stop you from trusting him? He is loyal, we have to give him that!”

“I guess that’s true,” said Sirius.

“Wormtail it is then?” said Sirius, walking over to Harry and handing him a new rattle.

“Wormtail it is,” said Lily and James in unison. Harry grabbed Sirius’ thumb and said, “Doggy.”

*
The night was calm and cool. It was three days before Halloween. The brisk wind picked up the newly browned leaves and carried them into the distance. In the Potters’ small cottage, all was quiet. Inside Peter, James, Lily and Harry had just finished casting the Fidelius Charm. Harry slept, curled up in James’ arms. Peter was eating the meal that Lily had cooked for them. The room was still.

“Peter, thank you so much,” said Lily. “We owe you our lives.”

“Think nothing of it,” said Peter with a small giggle.

“Peter,” said James, “do you know how you are going to protect yourself?”

“I have a few ideas,” said Peter. “I will stay in crowded places, and keep my wand close by.”

James laughed. “It will take more then that, my friend. Sirius knows that you have our secret; he just does not know where we are. I am sure he will let you stay with him. Do not leave his side. If you get attacked, Apparate; do not try to fight, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” said Peter. “I have to go now. Thanks for dinner, Lily. I will be back soon…” and he Apparated before they could respond.

*
It was Halloween night. The other occupants of Godric’s Hollow were out and about. Their children, dressed like ghosts, devils, witches, and even a wizard, avoided that “abandoned cottage” that their parents warned them about.

Inside the cottage, Lily sat with Harry by the fire. James had his wand out and was using it to fire different coloured sparks into the air to entertain Harry. Some took the shapes of goblins, others the shapes of ghosts. Harry gazed at them, pointed to the werewolf, and said, “Doggy.”

“Good job, Harry. That is a doggy,” said Lily. Harry laughed so hard that he slipped of Lily’s lap. She caught him, and started laughing herself. Soon the whole room was filled with laughter. Then there was a knock on the door. James looked out the window to see Peter standing there.

“It’s Peter,” he called to Lily. He crossed the room and opened the door. “Hello, Peter,” he said.

Peter looked up at him. There was a tear in his eye. “I am sorry,” he said.

“What? What did you do? Lily, take Harry and get upstairs!” yelled James. He grabbed Peter by the front of his cloak. “What did you do?”

Peter looked up at him. “I had no choice. He is so strong, I had to tell him.” James threw him against the wall. He ran inside and aimed a Stunner at him, but Peter was already a rat, and then he was gone. All of a sudden, there was a cold laugh from the doorway. “Hello, James. Fancy meeting you here,” said the same cool voice. James slowly turned to find himself face to face with Lord Voldemort. He wore a black cloak. He had a scarred, cat like face with slits for eyes. “Is Lily upstairs, or is she wearing your blasted cloak in this room?” asked Voldemort.

“Get out,” said James, reaching for his wand.

“I don’t think so,” said Voldemort, raising his. He fired a jet of green at James, but James was quick. He turned into a stag and darted out of the way. He then turned back and fired a Stunner at the Dark Lord, who created a silvery shield that blocked it.

“You want to play snake and mouse with me, boy? Go ahead! I will win. Then I will go upstairs, and murder your Mudblood wife, and your son.”

“You will never touch them!” cried James, and he ran at Voldemort, firing a Stunner at him. Voldemort dodged it and fired off a jet of green light at James. It hit him square in the stomach and he fell down. Voldemort gave a cruel laugh and stepped over the body. “Pathetic,” he said, and he moved onto his next prey.

*
Lily was upstairs, cradling Harry in her arms. She heard the stamping of hooves, the firing of spells, and the thump of a body from upstairs. She let out a cry of anguish, for she knew that James would not be able to defeat the Dark Lord. Then there was the sound of someone creeping up the steps, and he was in the doorway. Lily saw his horrible face, his repulsive eyes, and his shattered soul. “Move out of the way, woman,” said Voldemort.
“No, not Harry, please take me, but not Harry,” cried Lily, taking her son and putting him in the crib behind her, like a child hiding candy from her parent.

“Move out of the way, and I will spare you!”

“No, not Harry, please,”

“One.”

“Please!”

“Two.”

“Not Harry!”

“Three.”

“NO!” Voldemort fired a jet of green. It hit Lily in the face and she fell down, dead. Harry cried. Voldemort laughed and approached the child with his wand poised. He would never make the kill.