It was the night of Halloween and the scene in the Potter's living room was one you would expect of a wizarding family on such a night. Enchanted Pumpkins were glowing in the corner of the room; the shadows of the magical flames from within them were casting eerie shadows across the carpet. Lily had made some iced pumpkin juice and bat shaped biscuits and the little house was still warm from the heat of the fireplace that had been going earlier in the evening. A candle was burning steadily on the mantelpiece and glistening black bat garlands were hanging from the ceiling and flapping their tiny plastic wings. James was balancing baby Harry on his knee and making purple puffs of smoke with his wand. Harry clapped his chubby little hands in delight, his green eyes that were so like his Mother's alight with the flames from the pumpkins.
James heard a rustle from outside but blamed it on the wind that was toying with the hem of the curtains. He continued playing with Harry until he heard the noise again, much louder this time. Unable to ignore it any longer, and with thoughts of pumpkin juice and warm fires still on his mind, he rose from his chair and set Harry down in his crib.
"Where are you going?" Lily looked up at her husband from The Daily Prophet that she had spread across her lap.
"I just-ah...something downstairs…a noise…probably the cat…"
He left the room and made his way swiftly down the stairs. As he was on the last step he heard a scratch against the door. James relaxed. It was probably just Sirius or one of the other order members. Laughing at how paranoid he had become, he swung the door open.
But it was not a friendly face from the order that greeted him. No, it was possibly the furthest thing away from an order member. Instead, James found himself face to face with a man whose long, spiderlike fingers were wrapped tightly around a wand that was pointing directly in to this face. He was staring into the glowing snakelike eyes of Lord Voldemort.
Without even taking a moment to catch his breath he turned and called to Lily, a definite note of fear in his usually confident voice, "It's him! Take Harry and run, I'll hold him off!" He heard a thud followed by a bang from upstairs where the two people he loved most in the world were trapped and could only hope that the noises were an indication of their escape. Wildly patting his pockets, feeling for the long wooden object that was his wand, he realised with a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had left it upstairs. Without knowing what else to do, he curled his hands into two tight fists even though he knew that it was hopeless; there was no way he would win this fight without magic.
James heard a high, cold laugh as though from far away. A flash of green, a scream of rage, and before he knew what was happening, he felt his body freeze as if turning to stone. He was left lying there like a fool, and he wanted nothing more than to jump up and chase after Voldemort who was now disappearing up the staircase. And then, a piercing scream, a baby began to wail, and he heard Lily sobbing so that her desperate pleas were indistinguishable. "Step aside, you silly girl...Step aside!" James's heart felt like it was ripping, like it was quite literally being torn in two. He attempted to struggle against the charm but knew that there was no point, the thought of movement was in his mind but his body could not carry them out for as long as he was under this spell.
And suddenly there was a deafening crash followed by a long, drawn out scream. All James could see where clouds and clouds of white, swirling and churning before gradually thinning out. Debris was falling all around him and he felt a sharp blow to his head. Temporarily disorientated, he felt himself swimming in and out of consciousness. After a few confusing seconds, James realised that he could move again and immediately leapt to his feet. Coughing as he breathed in the chalky white dust that he was now forced to accept was the remains of his house, his only thoughts were of his wife and son and the unsettling silence coming from above him. Why weren't there screams and cries for help? Were they...dead? And how had Voldemort found them? The only way the fidelius charm could be broken was if the secret keeper betrayed them...but Pettigrew was his best friend and he would not believe that it was he who had compromised their safety. James began to bound up the somewhat collapsed stairs three at a time, he barely knew what he was doing, only that he had to know for sure that his family were safe. Slamming into the door and wrenching the handle, he stumbled into the room that he had vacated only minutes before (although it felt like several lifetimes to James)and his eyes hungrily surveyed the scene of complete and utter devastation that lay before him.