Lily gently laid Harry into his cot, smiling slightly as he scrunched his nose before falling back to sleep. She could hear James in the kitchen making either a snack or a drink, or both. Lily breathed deeply and released it slowly, a nightly ritual to help remember that her family was whole for another day. After checking once more that Harry was indeed down for the night Lily descended the stairs to find a glass of firewhiskey next to the bowl of candy they hadn't given out that year. James was shamelessly digging into the candy, she had learned his sweet tooth knew no bounds during their late night ventures to the kitchens in seventh year. She came up behind him, and wrapped her arms around his waist, taking solace in her husband. James turned and slowly lifted her chin up kissing her deeply, he tasted like the candy from the bowl.
The sneakoscope that always laid on the counter began to spin and whirl wildly. Lily looked around and realized James was without his wand. He realized this at the same moment and dove into the sitting room for it just as the back door was blown off its hinges. "Lily RUN," but she was already gone, sprinting headlong up the stairs to their son.
James watched her go and turned his full attention to the hooded figure gliding across the kitchen. Hearing Harry begin to wail hardened his resolve. The duel began quicker than James could have anticipated, each protego cast was all he could do to stay alive. With a final flourish of his wand Riddle broke through, sending James's body into the wall, it slid to the floor with a thud, motionless.
Lily heard the duel suddenly end and knew what was coming. She quickly set Harry back down. "Harry, momma loves you, dada loves you, whatever happens that will never change." She turned around as the nursery door was blasted open. "NO NOT HARRY PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING JUST SPARE HIM." A blast of green light ended Lily Potter on the spot where she'd reassured herself they were safe only minutes before. Harry gazed at this new figure with huge curious eyes. As Riddle glared down, he carefully positioned his wand directly over the center of the infant's forehead and thought the spell. The sound of a cannon went off within the nursery and Harry began to wail with renewed intensity.
Downstairs James slowly stirred, everything hurt from his head down to his toenails. Over the ringing in his ears, James registered Harry's wails and lurched up to his feet and raced up the stairs the best he could. When he saw Lily lying on the ground he collapsed next to her, "no, Evans NO." James had no idea how long he sat there cradling the girl he'd loved since the day they were both sorted into Gryffindor. Eventually, he became aware not only of Harry's whimpers but also of another presence in the house. Severus Snape slowly advanced toward the nursery, James raised his wand from where he sat and pointed it directly at Snivellus's chest. "Get. Out." Snape paled more than what James considered possible at the sight of the both the wand and Lily. He disapparated from the spot. Gently planting a kiss on his wife's forehead, he laid her down as gently as possible. James turned and picked up Harry wiping the small trickle of blood off his son's forehead. James started at the sight of the cut that would surely leave a scar. He stood facing both of them away from his wife's body "I'm here buddy, I'm here." He took his son and sat at the top of the stairs, unable to look at Lily and unable to be too far away from her. Harry clung desperately to James's shirt and James realized two things. One, Riddle was gone. Two, Peter had betrayed them. Time began to blur for James as he sat at the top of the stairs, cognizant of his son's slow breathing and his own fast, shallow breaths.
With a boom something landed on the front lawn and Sirius bounded through the house, wand out. Upon seeing a bloodied James practically clutching his godson Sirius slowed to the top of the stairs. James stared at him almost uncomprehendingly. "Prongs, Prongsie, mate what happened where's Lily?" The look James gave him put a chill on his skin. Sirius slowly moved past James and into the ruined nursery. He stopped in the doorway at the sight of the woman who'd become his sister in every way that mattered. He glanced back at James and his blood began to boil, knowing who the rat was who'd done this to his family. "I'll be back Prongs." Sirius stalked out of the house and got onto his motorbike, just as he was starting it up Hagrid appeared. "Do not let them out of your sight," Sirius commanded as he roared off into the night.
James heard the hitch in Sirius's breath as he'd entered the nursery, he heard the motorbike start up and heard Hagrid come through the now much larger door of the house. "James, we got ter get ya outta here, Dumbledore's orders." "Hagrid I am not leaving her." It was then that Hagrid realized only two Potters sat at the top of the stairs. Moony stepped out from behind Hagrid "Prongs, think of Harry, we need to get you somewhere safe, I will stay with her I promise." James slowly nodded and got up from the step feeling 30 years older than he had earlier. Still in something of a trance he followed Hagrid into the yard seeing a tarnished teacup laying there. James looked back only once to see his home blasted apart as though a bomb went off in the nursery, he saw Moony standing guard through the stairs window. Without speaking he clutched Harry even tighter and touched the teacup with one finger, Hagrid did the same. James felt the familiar tug in his navel as he was transported to God knows where, as long as it wasn't Godric's Hollow.
Remus watched his friend disappear and only then did he allow himself to take in the devastation that had happened that night. He gazed around the landing and slowly made his way into the nursery where he knew Lily must be. At the sight of her he completely lost control and sat on his heels against the mint coloured walls and openly wept. Lily had been like a sister, she had been the only person who could read him better than the Mauraders, and he had filled the sibling role left so empty by Petunia. So, Remus wept and continued to weep as he summoned a sheet from the master bedroom and wrapped her in it like a burial shroud. He knew she deserved more, and would receive it but for now it was all he could do. Once properly wrapped he carried his sister into the master bedroom and gently laid her upon the bed. Still weeping, Remus proceeded to begin packing up things he knew James and Harry would need, from clothes to a toothbrush to Harry's favorite stuffed animal and blanket. He threw all the nappies he could find into a bag as well, fully aware of how many Harry could go through. Going into the kitchen Remus grabbed James and Lily's favorite coffee mugs as well as the afghan Molly Weasley had made them last Christmas. Finally, he grabbed all the photographs he could find, James might not want them now, but that may very well change someday. Once he was reasonably sure everything James and Harry would need in the coming days was collected Remus began to walk around the boundary of the property putting up various wards as he went, by the time he ended up back at the front door only a select few could see and enter the property. Finally, Remus stood guard at the bottom of the stairs, unsure as to how long he would be there but resigning himself to guard Lily for as long as it took for one of those select few to come.
Sirius refused to allow the tears to fall on his face, not yet. If he hadn't suggested changing the secretkeeper to Peter then, no dwell on that later. Sirius brought the motorbike down right next to Peter's house statute of secrecy be damned. He blasted the front door off its hinges just as Peter ran out the back, and a chase began. Because Sirius and Remus had secretly traded off keeping watch at Godric's Hollow and Peter's place he knew every twist and turn nearly as well as the rat. Peter suddenly turned into a street with muggles who seemed to be walking home from a show of some sort. Sirius stopped short watching in slow motion as the bastard waved at him before preforming a blasting curse. Sirius only just managed to throw up a shield charm before Peter's charm hit, even with the shield Sirius was still knocked back, where his head landed with a crack on the ground. His last thought before losing consciousness was realizing where Peter must have learned to cast that powerful of a spell, then he lay in the street unaware of the carnage around him.