Full summary: Before he dies, James Potter looks back over his life at Hogwarts – the friends he had; the girls he loved; the enemies he defeated. The good times – the laughs, the adventures and the pranks played. The bad times – the anger, the fear and the sorrow. How he made three best friends, how they promised each other they would always be there, and how, in the end, James Potter was betrayed by one of his most trusted companions. He remembers how they laughed in the face of danger, how they were unwaveringly loyal, and how they, joined by a pact of friendship, were the marauders.
AN: This is my first fanfic on the site, so please be nice :) Any review is helpful, feel free to use constructive criticism or just praise, but please no flames. I am also new to the whole site so everything is very new and a bit scary for me so any pointers would be helpful :) Thanks for reading my story I really hope you enjoy it! Okay, enough of my ramblings, I'll let you get on with reading.
Fog hung in the air like a translucent blanket. The stars twinkled down from the dark sky and the moon shone down, lighting up the village of Godric's Hollow. A little church was at the centre of the square where most of the village's activity went on. Leading to the square was a small windy lane with cottages lined up on either side of it.
In one particular cottage opposite the church lived a small family. Deeply in love, content and with their first child, James and Lily Potter were as happy anyone could be. James Potter had loved his wife since he had first set eyes on her at age eleven, on the Hogwarts Express. James grinned as he remembered how Lily rejected him over and over again, preferring her Slytherin best friend, Severus Snape (or Snivellus Snape, as James and his friends had so kindly nicknamed him). However, at age seventeen, Lily had seen the good side of James and had swiftly fallen in love. Now, here they were, four years later, married and with a son named Harry. James didn't regret a second of it.
Of course, they were in hiding from Lord Voldemort, but they were not concerned for their safety – they had performed the Fidelius Charm, a charm which meant that Voldemort could be walking right past their house and would not know they were there, provided of course, that their Secret Keeper didn't tell him.
"James, tea's ready!" Lily called from the kitchen.
"Coming!" James replied, giving his baby son a kiss goodnight, tucking him in his cot, and walking downstairs to the dining room where Lily was waiting for him with a smile on her face and the food on the table.
"God, I'm starving." James grinned, giving her a peck on the cheek.
"How's Harry?" Lily asked, the look of love entering her eyes that always came when she talked about her son.
"He's fine - I just read him a bed time story and he fell straight asleep." James smiled fondly.
Lily opened her mouth to say something else, but broke off. The room had lit up with a silvery light. James and Lily turned in surprise, to see a bright-white translucent phoenix standing in the middle of the room. They recognized it at once to be a patronus. The phoenix opened it's mouth and spoke in the voice of Albus Dumbledore.
"You have been betrayed. He is coming."
The patronus disappeared instantly, leaving James and Lily staring at each other with looks of shock and panic.
"Betrayed," Lily stuttered at last. "You don't think... Peter?"
Mute with fear, James just nodded. He could not believe it. Peter Pettigrew – their Peter – could not have betrayed them. There was no way.
"James, we have to move!" Lily cried, her panicked voice breaking into James' thoughts. "The Fidelius Charm is broken, he's going to come. We have to get Harry out!"
This seemed to spark some recognition into James. If they did not move quickly, their only son Harry, was going to die. "Lily, you've got to take Harry and run, he'll be here soon."
"No, James, I'm not leaving you!" Lily's voice betrayed her terror and agony.
"Lily, it's our only hope. I'll try fend him off!"
Lily gave him a look of despair, hurrying up the stairs where the raised voices had woken baby Harry. He was crying in his crib.
On his own, with Lily out of the room, James stared around at a loss at what to do. What could he do to keep Voldemort at bay, to give his wife and child a chance of living. A lone tear rolled down James' cheek. He didn't want to die. He was only 21. He didn't want his wife to die, he didn't want his son, only one year old, to die.
James remembered his first trip on the Hogwarts Express. He remembered meeting the handsome, long-haired boy on the train, the boy who would soon become his best friend. He remembered the pale, sickly looking boy at the sorting; he remembered the girl with flaming red hair and emerald eyes; he remembered the greasy-haired boy with the hooked nose; he remembered the short, quiet mousy-haired boy who would later betray him. James sunk down as memories of his life at Hogwarts overwhelmed him. He wondered if this was what people meant went they saw their life flashing before their eyes. He willed himself to remember now - he wanted to get out of this nightmare, to be back with his three best friends, duelling with his arch-enemy, exploring Hogwarts. And suddenly it was like he had never left. Though in reality he was crumpled on the floor of his dining room waiting for death, in his mind he was on platform nine and three-quarters waiting for Hogwarts.
