How It Began

Concerning the Deaths of Halloween 1981

The wind howled outside the mighty breadth of Number Seven Leonidas Lane, Godric's Hollow that Halloween night. The autumn leaves were being blown into cyclone-like spirals—a bad omen for sure, one woman thought as she observed the scene from a nursery room window upstairs. A giggle sounded behind her.

She turned and gasped animatedly. "Harry! Whatever are you doing, still awake?" She took the baby boy from his crib, and into her arms.

Harry only giggled again at his mother, drooling on the cloth hung over her shoulder. "What am I going to do with you?" Harry's mother scolded him. She did this often, and he knew she was merely joking.

"Come on, I'll rock you…maybe then you'll fall asleep," she resolved.

"Muh," Harry said to his mother as she grabbed a blue blanket from under the changing table.

"Yes, 'mummy,' that's right," she told him, seating herself in the rocking chair near the window. She wrapped Harry in the blanket and held him in a lying position as she began to sing.

"Rock-a-bye baby, in the tree top

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall

And "Wingardium Leviosa" will cast Mummy, saving baby and all…"

Harry's eyes drooped closed, and his mother knew her natural ability at charms had just proved itself once again.

The woman relaxed with her son, enjoying the smooth rhythm of the rocker. It had been quite a night at Number Seven. It was Halloween, after all, and she and her husband had had their dearest friends over for the celebration. Sirius had brought over some of the Three Broomsticks' best mulled mead, and they, along with Remus and Peter, had wasted the night away. It really was great fun, with the Marauders, she had learned throughout the years. One only had to loosen up, and you would fit right in.

With all the fun of the holiday, the woman had almost forgotten the gravity of her family's situation. She, her husband, and Harry were in hiding at Number Seven, protected by magical boundaries, and unseen by all without the proper means of finding them. But of how long those barriers would withstand, she was unsure.

As if the wind read her mind, it sent a tree branch through the window. The woman jumped in out of the way, Harry and all. "James!" she screamed, calling her husband from his study. Harry's cries of fright followed, "Da! Da!"

James came rushing into the room. "I heard it," he said. "Are you and Harry all right, love?"

"We're shocked, more than anything," she explained hurriedly. "James, could you just—?"

Thud. The sound came from the front door, as if someone were trying to break into the house. James turned quickly in the direction of the sound and jerked back to his wife immediately. "Lily, you must take Harry to the Secret Room. Go as soon as you can."

"But James—"

"Just do it," he told her sharply.

There were tears in her eyes. "I love you, James."

"I love you," replied James, leaning in for a long kiss, until another thud was heard from downstairs. He kissed the top baby Harry's head and ruffled his hair a bit. "I'll get rid of whoever it is, Lily. Go, hide Harry." He started for the hallway.

Lily nodded, just as the sound of shattering glass and breaking wood traveled up the stairs, meaning their hidden home had been found, and someone was beating the door down. One more second, and Lily, James, and Harry felt a wave of magical energy surge up from below, trailed instantly by a sonic boom.

James gulped and said with great mortal fear in his voice, "It's him."

A/N: This piece was written for a competition on Mugglenet: Write the beginning of Book Seven in 1000 words or less. Wouldn't it be cool to start out the book with what happened to start the story we all so love?