Halloween Night
Slightly AU in the details.
Halloween night. James Potter looked out the window, watching as kids dressed in ridiculous imitations of witches and wizards with elongated noses, protruding warts, and neon green hair, strode door to door with plastic pumpkins, asking for candy and yelling, "Trick or Treat!"
The custom was alien to him and yet, he wished their doorbell would ring. To be normal, to not hide, and to give away pounds of chocolate frogs and Bertie-Botts Every Flavor Beans. He would even sneak a few whenever Lily wasn't looking. Sirius and Remus and Peter would be by and the Marauders would take Harry down the block, by old Bathilda's place, and up to each neighbor. Sirius would be an adorable black dog, while Lily would take pictures, James and Peter would watch from above on brooms and Remus would make sure everyone was in line. Harry would dress up, as something amazing, like a hippogriff or a troll. He was going stir crazy, the walls of the house closing in on him, and he couldn't wait for the end of hiding and for the next Halloween to come.
Sirius laid in his flat, bored and tired out of his mind. The last few weeks had been emotionally and physically trying. What with McKinnon snuffing it, his best mate going into hiding, and a need to relocate every few weeks, his life had been turned upside down by stress, loss, and an upheaval of everything good in life. The Aurors were disintegrating as squads were torn apart and every week saw the assassination of another major player in the Auror office. Likewise, the Order of the Phoenix was losing members day by day. Sirius needed a temporary outlet from his troubles, and maybe Peter was up for a drink? Either way, it would be a good idea to check on his bud and see how the man was faring under the new pressure of being Secret-Keeper.
Remus Lupin hated the full moon. With Peter useless alone as a rat, Sirius being more responsible now then ever, and James in hiding, he locked himself in his cellar for the night, ready to lose his mind to the self-mutilating beast that was the bane of his existence.
Peter Pettigrew glanced around his flat one last time, saying goodbye to his home of the last few years, a rucksack on his back, before spinning on the spot and disapparating just a knock on the door broke the silence.
James Potter let the curtains fall back as he stepped away from the window, a deep sigh leaving his chest. Lily Potter, his gorgeous, wonderful wife, looking up from the sofa, where she sat with little Harry, frowned as James sprawled out in the armchair adjacent to the sofa, laying his wand on the coffee table, a groan escaping his lips. Sighing inwardly, she rose slowly, lifting Harry to her chest, intending to take him to bed, when an explosion ripped through the air.
James's eyes flew open, his body tensing, as he realized his world was falling apart. Grabbing his wand, James yelled, "Lily, its him. Take Harry and go!" James ran to the door and was greeted by a view that turned his blood cold.
Sirius knocked again, a weight sinking in his stomach, as Peter didn't answer his door. Pulling out his wand he muttered, "Alohomora," and pushed the door open as the lock unlocked. The flat was spotless and the rat was nowhere in sight. He said he would be here. He said he wouldn't ever leave. He said he would rather die than forfeit the information entrusted to him as Secret-Keeper. And then realization struck Sirius like an iron hammer blow to the chest. "James…" he whispered. Running back to the motorbike, Sirius kicked high into the sky, face white with dread.
The man in the doorway would have frozen the heart of a lesser man by appearance alone. To James, however, all that filled him was a desire to save those that currently hid upstairs. Peter's betrayal meant nothing to him and the failure of the Fidelius Charm was inconsequential; all that mattered was that he was the last line of defense between the man in his doorway and his wife and child upstairs.
All this flew through his mind in a split second as he raised his wand and shot a beam of red light at the ghoulish figure. It rebounded and shattered the grandfather clock in the hall. Grinning the man took a step forward and a beam of green light shot from within the folds of his cloak. James rolled to the side, came up to a knee and fired another shot of red light from his wand, followed by a Impediment Jinx and a quickly flicked Levicorpus. None of the spells found their mark. Instead, they rebounded through the house, as the cloaked man strode forward slowly, untouched by James's spell work. 'I expected better, James Potter. It shouldn't be this easy to ensure my immortality. Crucio!" And there was no escaping the curse as James Potter felt himself lose control of his body and his mind clouded over with the pain of a thousand red-hot knives. Harry… Lily! With extraordinary force of mind, James made himself stand and point his wand at the intruder. Voldemort cocked his head to the side, like James Potter was an interesting insect, "You dare defy me after I show the pain I command? So be it Potter, prepare to die. Avada Kedavra!" James jumped to the side again while simultaneously sending a jet of purple light spinning for Voldemort's face. Neither spell hit their mark but before James could react there was another green light coming his way and there was no way to stop it and no way to fight. Before his eyes, James Potter saw his life in high speed with the last thought being for Harry and Lily.And James Potter crumpled to the ground, the light gone from his eyes.
Voldemort stepped over the body wordlessly, a sinister grin etched in his face. He strode up his stairs before turning to a the locked door of a toddler's bedroom. Growling, he blew down the door with a dark breath before striding over the threshold. In one moment the woman had died and another saw Voldemort standing, wand outstretched, in front of the last of the Potter line. With all the authority of fate, Voldemort whispered, "Avada Kadavra," waiting for the light to leave the boy's eyes, for the philosophy to be fulfilled.
But he was no more. Less than human, less than the meanest ghost, he fled. And Harry Potter sat crying in the wreckage with his lightning bolt scar burning on his forehead.
When Sirius Black appeared in Godric's Hollow, he leapt off his bike before he crumpled to the ground. The house was gone! Flames licked at the ruins, black smoke spiraled to the heavens. "No! James. James! JAMES!" In a haze, Sirius tumbled towards the wreckage before falling at his best friend's lifeless form. "Never, no, no, not you, not now," Sirius choked, tears streaming down into the brother's lap. "You said we would be together, always! That nothing could pull the Marauders apart! You lying bastard! Come back!" A baby cried in the background, but Sirius took no heed, "James, Lily… Harry?" Sirius cast around looking for the other bodies. In his peripherals a looming shape caught his attention, "Hagrid?" "Sirius, I'm a so sor'y," the giant chocked out before looking down, "the boy err made it through. You-Know-Who is here gone'." "Voldemort, gone?" asked Sirius, bewildered. "How? James and Lily are dead! Hagrid, give me the boy, I'm his godfather, they would have wanted it!" "I can't Sirius, Dumbl'dore says he gots to go 'is aunt's place. The boy'll be safe ther'." Sirius couldn't understand it, why they were dead, why Voldemort was gone, why the boy had to be taken halfway across Britain to live with wretched muggles. Sirius worlds had been ripped apart and he only had one thing left in life. "Hagrid, take my motorbike, I won't be needing it anymore," Sirius said with a new element of steel in his complexion. "Keep him safe, make sure he is looked after?" "Sure thin' Sirius, th'nks for the bike." Nodding silently, and with a last look at his godson, Sirius Black disappeared into the night.
Remus Lupin woke up the next morning, scratched and battered. The moon had been violent, the world in conflict. Growling, he walked upstairs to the kitchen to find himself in the company of Albus Dumbledore. "James and Lily are dead. Sirius Black betrayed them to Voldemort and killed Peter Pettigrew. The boy lives. Voldemort is gone. I am truly sorry for your loss." And Remus felt the world was collapse around him as everyone who had ever accepted him disappeared from his life.
Happy Halloween. Completely depressing, I know. I just felt it would be a good memorial to the Harry Potter series on this great holiday. Of course I do not own this magical world or the people within it. I also wrote this on the spur of the moment, so the dialogue and events are slightly AU. Hope you enjoyed!