Godric's Hollow

The first of August was a happy day for the Potter family. What was so happy about it? After all, they were in the middle of one of the most violent wars in magical history, and the elder Potters had been murdered by the ringleader, Lord Voldemort, only weeks ago. By all counts, they should be a pretty unhappy family.

They weren't, though, because in the dead of night, Lily Potter had given birth to twin boys. Harry James Godric and Andrew Charlus Joseph were the two newest boys in the Potter hierarchy, and the two elder Potters couldn't have been prouder.

Harry was born first, at 11:53pm looking absolutely adorable. Andrew was born second, six or seven minutes later- the nurse wasn't sure, having been distracted by the exceptionally loud cries of the toddler. His birth certificate said 11:59, the nurse deciding that it would be nice for the twins to share a birthday. Neither Lily nor James knew of that particular fact, though.

The boys looked almost identical, with their black hair and baby-blue eyes, but Lily could see that they were fraternal twins, and the differences would begin to show when they were older. She was somewhat relieved at that fact, having babysat identical twins in her youth and finding them horrendously difficult to deal with.

Both babies were adorable, in both of their parents' opinions as well as their godfather's and godmothers'- though Alice Longbottom still stubbornly insisted that her son, Neville (who was a day older) was more adorable than the twins.

Harry was slighter than his twin, weighing less and he seemed to have a thinner face than that of his brother, but the difference was negligible- you really had to look closely to see it. This would be a good thing for him, later on in his life.

Three days later, Lily Potter was cleared and she took the two newest Potters home for the first time ever. They were given a room that the two elder Potters and their friends had spent the last nine months working on, and now looked like the dream bedroom for any young pair of boys. Toys littered the room, and masses of clothing filled the drawers. The walls were a soft blue, and the carpet was incredibly soft. Two cream cots sat waiting, next to each other in the shadowy corner of the room, allowing the young boys to sleep without the sunlight streaming into their eyes early in the morning. Lily had insisted on this; and after a few pensive memories of her babysitting duties from her teenage years, James quickly agreed- to the amusement of his friends.

~()~

Within months, it was very clear that the two boys were remarkably different from each other- though not in looks, yet.

"Like their godfathers," James had joked when he realised that Harry, Remus' godson was the quiet one and Andrew, Sirius' godson was loud and cheeky. Lily had smiled at the comment and said that she always knew that she should be the one to dictate godfather duties. She could pick personalities, after all! Secretly, both Potters were pleased that the older one was the quieter one, as he would be the one to take over the running and Lordship of the house Potter one day. Not that James would ever admit to that- he would never be seen caring about his duties, after all. Lordships were old-fashioned, in his opinion. How that opinion would change over time…

Within no time at all, the boys were celebrating their first birthday with their parents, godparents, and honorary uncle, Peter Pettigrew.

~()~

Peter Pettigrew was a bitter man. It wasn't fair, in his opinion. Nothing was fair. Before school, he had been a nobody. At the age of two, he had accidentally set off a firework that had claimed both his brother and father's lives. His mother, unable to stand looking at him, knowing that he had caused the death of her husband and eldest son, ignored him for the most part. So Peter Pettigrew spent the first years of his life in solitude, with no friendships or parental figures. The house-elves tended to him, sure, but the Pettigrew family didn't have all that much to its name, and his mother was too upset to work so he had very little.

When he was eleven, his Hogwarts letter had come and Peter was ecstatic. Finally, he could get out of the dreary, run-down place his mother called home, and make something of himself! He would be the best wizard ever, and have lots of friends… he could eat whatever he wanted, do whatever he wanted. It was an enticing thought.

Hogwarts never really lived up to his expectations, though. He wasn't all that magically powerful, and his upbringing placed him well behind all of the others in terms of academic achievement, so he would never, in his opinion, be able to catch up. So he gave up.

It wasn't all bad, though; he could still eat whatever he wanted to, so Peter Pettigrew found himself putting on quite a bit of weight.

Finally, James Potter and Sirius Black- his idols, pranksters extraordinaire and two of the best students in the year- spotted him. Once again, life was looking up. He tagged after them for a while, before another boy- Remus Lupin joined their group. There was something off about Remus, but Peter shrugged it off. As long as he got to hang out with James and Sirius, he was alright.

But in third year, Peter realised that the two boys didn't really care about him, they just let him tag along with them occasionally, and never really letting him join in on anything. Well… that was better than having no friends, in his opinion.

Well, it was… until he found out that Remus was a werewolf, and Peter was furious. Sirius and James cared more for a werewolf than him? That was unacceptable…

He spent the rest of his Hogwarts years attempting to prove that he was better than Remus, but he essentially failed. Sure, he had managed an animagus form, which Remus couldn't even attempt, but the fact that it was a rat seemed to undermine the achievement as James and Sirius spent the rest of their Hogwarts years teasing him about it.

Life hadn't improved for Peter Pettigrew out of school. His marks hadn't been good enough to get a proper career, and nothing really appealed to him, anyway. So, he freeloaded. Off his friends, off the remainder of the sums that had been his once his mother died in the middle of his sixth year. Thankfully, he had been 17 by the end of the year, so he didn't have to worry about Wizarding Child Services. That would have been embarrassing.

The night of the twin's birth had been the final straw. Remus, a werewolf was the godfather of their eldest child, and he was passed over. Peter Pettigrew had made his decision. The Light obviously wasn't suited for a wizard like him. Perhaps Voldemort would be… more accepting of his flaws.

~()~

James and Lily Potter were worried… very worried. Albus had just told them of the prophecy, and his suspicions that it was either Harry or Andrew… and that he believed Andrew to be more likely. Not just that, but of the fact that a spy had heard the first half of the prophecy and run off with it to Voldemort. Now they were a major target.

Their first reaction had been to call all of their immediate friends over, and talk to them. Albus had quickly told them that that was a bad idea as he believed that there was a spy close to them and that it was safer if less people heard the prophecy. He then suggested the Fidelius charm, and said that he would be more than happy to perform the charm for them if they could find a suitable candidate for the impressive ward.

So they thought about it. The Fidelius Charm was spectacular- it hid the location under a ward so powerful that no one would ever be able to even look at it unless they were told the secret- and only the secret keeper could divulge that particular information. However, like most wards, it had flaws, too- major flaws.

The Fidelius Charm was based on trust- trust so powerful that any other wards or similar would be destroyed as soon as the Fidelius was raised. Second, the secret keeper was under no magical obligations to inform or not inform particular people of the location. This meant that you had to have absolute trust in the secret keeper, as he or she could tell whomever they liked, and magically binding oaths or contracts had no effects.

To James, it was perfect. He had complete trust in all of his friends, and to him the ward had no flaws. Lily wasn't so sure, but James used his power as the head of house to inform her that they would be using the Fidelius. It wasn't the last time that James would use his authority to get what he wanted.

Lily had been forced to relent, and Remus, Sirius, Peter and Alice Longbottom were called over to their home to discuss it.

"Not me," said Alice, "our family is a target too and I don't want to risk you." Lily smiled at her long-time friend, and assured her that it was alright. She assumed, correctly, that they were targets for the same reason. Remus, too, declined the position.

"I'm a werewolf," he said sadly, "if you need something and it's too close to the full moon…" he trailed off for a while, before saying "-well, let's just say I would be happier if your secret keeper wasn't someone like me." Both Sirius and Peter looked at each other, wondering if the other wanted the position and knowing that they wanted it for themselves. Finally, Remus spoke up.

"Sirius is the obvious pick," he said slowly, and Lily caught on.

"You think that Peter should be keeper, and Sirius the decoy." Remus nodded, but he looked a little uneasy at the thought of his one year old godson and his honorary nephews having a secret keeper such as Peter. Lily caught the look.

"Sounds like a plan!" James butted in, and sealed the agreement. He had tasted power earlier, making the decision to have a secret keeper, and he liked it.

~()~

Not a month later, Lord Voldemort was in the nursery of Godric's Hollow, standing over the twins, wondering which to kill first and thinking over the parents that he had stunned on his way up here. It would be god for his to see their expressions when he dangled their dead children in front of them before killing them.

Finally, he made a decision. Pointing his wand at one of the two twins- honestly, they were identical! Well… to him, anyway. It was dark, and they were still young.

"Avada Kedavra!" He yelled, and a jet of sickly green light shot out towards the boy on the right. To his shock and horror, a bright gold shield erupted around the boy and shot the curse right back at him. Too shocked to move out of the way, the curse hit him right in the chest and he fell… he didn't get back up. In the confusion of the boy on the right collapsing and the left getting scraped by a piece of wood on the cheek, no one noticed a rat transform into a man, grab the body and the wand before apparating away.

Andrew Charlus Joseph Potter cried. He cried and cried, his cheek was stinging, his brother wasn't waking up and his parents weren't coming. Finally, his parents rushed in, followed closely by Albus Dumbledore. He was lifted up, and examined…

[End of Chapter One. Please Review! Reviews make Authors happy…]