Chapter 1 – The last goodbye

Lily looked at her husband. She was terrified, but she did not want to let it show. A quick smile did not seem to reassure him of that, though. James took her hand, and brushed her auburn hair away from her face. His black hair was messier than usual, which in a way made him look younger. Perhaps because his hair usually looked like that after he and Sirius had pulled some of their more elaborate pranks. She almost smiled, but the situation they were in made that impossible.

"He's going to be okay. I have made sure.", Lily said and squeezed James' hand. He nodded, but wasn't convinced. He was scared too. Utterly terrified, actually. Mostly for his son. He hadn't even seen his first birthday yet, and with what they just heard, he would never.

After the first loud crash at their front door in Godric's Hollow, they knew Peter had betrayed them and that Voldemort had found them. They knew it was just a matter of time before they lay dead on the bedroom floor. But they were not going to go down without a fight. They had to save Harry.

At first, James wanted to face the notorious mass murderer downstairs, and do everything in his power to stop him from reaching the upstairs bedroom with his wife and child. But Lily's pleading eyes kept him in the bedroom. They both knew he didn't stand a chance. Instead, they walked over to Harry's crate, picked him up and hugged him between them. Lily gave both James and Harry a quick kiss before they put him down again, and faced the door on the opposite side of the room with their wands raised. That could have been their last goodbye.

Another loud noise echoed through the house as the sturdy bedroom door flung open. But no one entered. Lily's heart was beating so hard in her chest she thought her ribs might snap. James squeezed her hand. The silence was deafening. Suddenly, they heard a low thud down the hallway followed by something rolling in to the room. Lily gasped as she tried to stop a scream from escaping her lips. James pointed his wand toward it, but to no use. What rolled in would definitely not pose a direct threat to their little family. Their eyes grew large as they realized what it was.

Peter Pettigrew's severed head looked up at them, eyes wide open, as it reached a stop on their bedroom floor. It had left a bloody trace on the white carpet.

A split second later, a man in a dark cloak stepped into the room, his steps firm. James was halfway to an unforgivable curse when Lily grabbed his arm. It didn't take her long to recognize Severus Snape's stern face underneath the hood. However, she wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or scared. James without a doubt leaned toward the second, or perhaps anger.

"Don't bother arguing Potter. He deserved to die and you know it.", Severus Snape said in his characteristic deep, emotionless voice. James mouth fell open.

"But perhaps you didn't have to kick his bloody head in our bedroom, scaring us half to death.", Lily sneered, too shocked to really realize their old friend's head was lying on the floor, staring at them. James kept quiet, baffled with what he just had seen. Some part of him knew that Peter Pettigrew, their chosen secret keeper, deserved it, since he obviously couldn't keep the bloody secret. But he had been one of his best friends…

"That's what you get for trusting a rat.", Snape frowned. "Just be happy it's me that's here and not Voldemort."

"Does he know?", James asked with zero warmth in his voice. He wasn't really sure he wouldn't rather see Voldemort standing on his doorstep. He got sick to his stomach as he instantly regretted the thought. Anyone was better than Voldemort. Even Severus Snape.

"No. But he will find out. We need to go.", Severus prompted. Lily didn't waste a second. She leaned down and grabbed Harry, who had started to cry during the commotion. She held his face gently pressed to her chest, so he wouldn't see the haunting stare of Peter Pettigrew's chopped off head.

James hesitated, though.

"From what we know, you could be tricking us. Perhaps you knew Peter was our secret keeper and tortured him until he gave it up.", he growled.

"Certainly,", Severus said dryly. "And then what? I would give you up to Voldemort? Or perhaps kill you myself? We worked alongside each other in the order, James. Without bragging, or trying to diminish the astounding things you have done for the wizarding world, I have risked my life for years as Dumbledore's spy. You know as well as me that if Harry dies tonight, it has all been in vein."

James looked at his son. Harry already had a large head of black, messy hair. He was probably going to look a lot like him one day. Except for the eyes, of course. He had his mother's eyes.

"Lastly, we both know why you really hate me, but that reason…", Snape looked at Lily, "… that reason is just another reason why betraying you is the last thing I would do."

Lily looked down and smiled. Severus had always loved her, and she trusted him.

"James…", she said as she gently took his hand. "We should go with him. Don't forget the reason why we needed to hide. We can't ignore the prophecy. You know Severus is on our side. He doesn't want Voldemort to be the one to survive."

He was convinced. Or at least sure that staying in this house would lead to nothing else but their death. Severus Snape turned on his heel, and Lily carefully stepped around Peter Pettigrew's head as James followed, her hand in his. When they got out in the hallway, Severus grabbed Lily's arm and they apparated away, leaving the body of their traitor behind.

A/N:

So. It's been a while since I wrote fan fiction, of any kind. 5 years in fact. However, I love writing and I had an idea for a story. If you find some language errors, I am sorry, English is not my first language.

If you like fan fictions that doesn't "wreck" the innocence and the general ideas of the Harry Potter series, you might like this. There will be no major additions to the story, like characters or crazy spells that can put Harry's body inside of a hippogriff (just stumbled upon a fan fiction about that). It will be based completely on the Harry Potter books, and will basically be a "what could have happened"-story.

Hope you enjoy. I like reviews so please leave one. Don't be mean though.