Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter. Any bits of dialogue taken from the book are not owned by me.

Warning: This is for later chapters. Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.

I will try to keep it as canon as possible with this pairing and the story in general, though any purely canon stuff, without any twists, will be very rare.

This first chapter is not how the other chapters will go. This one is to just give you background information necessary for Harry's years at Hogwarts.

Enjoy!

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:::Halloween Night, 1981:::

James stuck his wand in his pocket, yawning. Little did he know that would be the thing that had just saved his and his wife's lives.

He heard the front door bang open, and he felt adrenaline push through his veins. He yelled to Lily, "Apparate! Somewhere safe! Take Harry and run!"

He watched Voldemort start to raise his wand, a cruel half-smile on his face. James Apparated with a crack! upstairs just in time to see Lily vanish with an identical noise before doing so himself, fleeing the house that now contained a very angry Voldemort.

*

"That was very close."

"I know."

"Who was your secret keeper?"

"Peter Pettigrew. We thought... Sirius said that Voldemort would suspect that it was him, and to choose Peter instead, because he would never guess..."

James looked up into the eyes of Albus Dumbledore, who had a very thoughtful expression on his face at this new piece of news.

"I was so close to just dropping my wand on the couch..." he turned scared eyes toward Lily, who was curled up on a newly conjured love seat with Harry, sleeping. He smiled sadly. "I'm just so happy they're safe. If I hadn't thought to Apparate, then... I don't even want to think about what could've- would've- happened." He sighed, looking over at Lily and Harry again, when the door to Dumbledore's office slammed open, causing Lily and Harry to wake up, Lily startled and somewhat frightened, Harry crying. James looked over in surprise at the sudden noise, and then glared- Snape.

"Headmaster-" he said, and then cut himself off, seeing that there were others in the room. He looked at James, and then over to the couch, and his eyes filled with evident relief for a moment before he controlled his expression carefully and looked back over at Dumbledore. "Headmaster. I must speak to you."

"Shortly, Severus. I have some things to discuss with the Potters first. If you will kindly wait outside my office for a few moments."

Snape nodded once, sent a glare at James and a soft glance at Lily, and then with a sweep of robes, he was back out the door. James glared at the him until he was out of sight, and then turned his attention back to Dumbledore. "What do we need to discuss?"

"Where you will be staying. Hogwarts is open, if you so need it. You are safe from Voldemort here. You may also move again, and find a new Secret Keeper, though I do not recommend this. You have experienced how unfortunately that can turn out."

James looked over at Lily. "I think... we'll take you up on the offer to stay here, at least until we're less shaken up about this whole thing. I'll need to contact Sirius-"

Dumbledore cut him off with a frown. "Sirius Black has been transported to Azkaban."

"What?!" James cried, standing up. "Why?" Lily's bright green eyes were wide and filled with concern.

"He has been accused of the murder of twelve innocent Muggle people, and Peter Pettigrew."

This news was met with a shocked silence. Dumbledore looked over his spectacles at them, a serious expression on his face.

Finally, after a few more moments of silence, Lily asked, weakly, "Sirius?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I am sure there is an explanation for this. The authorities are saying that Peter was accusing Sirius of turning you over to Voldemort. The Ministry apparently assumed that Peter was telling the truth, though we now know that is not possible."

James seemed to shake himself out of his brief frozen state. "He would never- innocent Muggles! He wouldn't do that! And Peter- Peter betrayed us!"

"I am well aware of that, Mr. Potter. However, Mr. Black was the only wizard at the scene of the crime, holding his wand. It was logical to arrest him. If you are absolutely certain he is innocent, I will do everything in my power to give him a fair trial and a chance to prove that he is innocent."

James took a deep breath, then nodded. "He is. I know him better than anyone. "

Dumbledore inclined his head a fraction, and then stood up. "Very well then. Now, that's enough talk for tonight. I will have Minerva show you to the quarters you will be staying in."

James and Lily, who was carrying a now sleeping Harry, made their way out of the room. When they reached the small waiting room outside Dumbledore's office, Snape regarded them with cold eyes. He swept past them and into the Headmaster's room without a word. Lily turned and opened her mouth a little bit, as if she wanted to say something, and then seemed to think better of it, snapping it shut. She turned back around and walked toward the spiraling staircase, looking up into James' brown eyes, tears welling up in her own green pair.

"Oh, James..." she cried into his shoulder as the stairs continued their descent. He put an arm around her shoulder, kissing the top of her head.

"I know, I know. We're safe, and so is Harry. That's all that matters right now."

She sniffed and looked down at their son, who was sleeping peacefully in her arms again. She gave a sad smile. "I hope this won't be his first memory."

James closed his eyes and withdrew his arm, stepping out from the stairs and nodding to Minerva McGonagall, who had been awaiting them. She led the couple down a flight of stairs and a corridor, stopping at a portrait of a young, black haired woman. McGonagall then spoke.

"Behind this portrait are the rooms you in which you will be staying," she told them in her teacher voice, "there are two bedrooms, a small living room area, a bathroom, and a table for your meals, if you do not wish to eat with the staff in the Great Hall. It does not have a password yet, and you will need to set one. Just tell her what you would like the password to be, and she will make it so. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." Her voice then changed to that of a concerned parent. "I am sorry about what happened tonight. You need your rest, so I will leave now." She gave them a small smile, only the slight upturn of the corners of her mouth, before striding back down the hallway and around the corner.

:::November 12, 1981:::

"Still nothing about a case for Sirius?" James asked for the twentieth time in the last week, each time hoping the answer would change.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"If they could just see he was telling the truth..." James said, and then looked up sharply. "What about Veritaserum?" he asked. "That would show them once and for all that he was innocent, right? That he's telling the truth? I could take it too, to confirm the fact that Peter was our Secret Keeper."

Dumbledore tilted his head to the side. "The Ministry doesn't usually like to use it, because it's tricky, but it would give his answers more credibility. I will suggest it." he took out a piece of parchment and quill, penning a quick letter to the Minister of Magic and sending it off.

James felt a smile break across his face for the first time since Halloween. "This has got to work! Veritaserum is the strongest truth potion there is! If anything could prove him innocent, that would be it!"

Dumbledore gazed at him over his half-moon spectacles, somewhat stern, but in a slightly better more nonetheless. This might work. "Don't assume that he will be willing to do this, Mister Potter."

"I know. I just- it's a solution."

:::December 1, 1981:::

"Sirius! Sirius! Padfoot!" James ran forward, capturing his best friend in a crushing bear hug the moment he was out of the floo. "I'm so glad you're free."

"Believe me, I am too. That place..." Sirius shuddered a little bit at just thinking about it. "How are you? How're Lily and Harry?" he asked, once he was released from James' clutch.

"We're fine, good. How... how are you?"

"I've been better," he grinned. "Dementors, mate. Terrible, terrible creatures."

James nodded. He knew the feeling, even though he had only been exposed to them for a short periods. He could barely imagine being constantly surrounded by them.

Sirius spoke up again. "Thank you so much, by the way."

James blinked. "For what?"

"Getting me out, you git! The Veritaserum?"

James grinned. His idea had actually worked. The Minister had agreed on it, and once under the influence of it, they found out that Sirius and James had been telling the truth all along.

"I hear that Peter's in there now, instead of me."

James' grin faltered. "Yeah," he said, running a hand through his hair. "He is. The, uh, Dementor's Kiss, actually."

Sirius muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "he deserves it" before suggesting they go find Lily and Harry.

:::September 28, 1982:::

"I'm glad we're finally getting out of here."

"I know, I am too," James told his wife, while packing up all of the possessions they had managed to scavenge from their old house and had brought to Hogwarts for the year they had lived there.

"When are we meeting Sirius for the new Fidelius Charm?"

"In about an hour, in Dumbledore's office."

:::July 31, 1984:::

"He's... dead. He's dead! Voldemort is dead! He's gone! We won! WE WON!"

Cheers could be heard all over the world as the news got around: Voldemort had been defeated, most of his Death Eaters unmasked and sent to Azkaban. There were parties for days and days, even weeks. Everyone was happy- except for the Death Eaters and their supporters, of course.

:::August 20, 1984:::

"Lily Potter and James Potter, I present you both with official Order of Merlin: First Class for your services toward the peace of Wizards, and your services in the Wizarding War."

An overwhelming amount of clapping filled the large plaza the ceremony was taking place in. Photographers snapped countless pictures of the event- Lily and James with their new Orders, each holding one of their four-year-old son Harry's hands. They were smiling, looking around at everyone applauding their achievement

:::March 3, 1985:::

"Lucius Malfoy, you are hereby found guilty, and will serve a life sentence in Azkaban."

A single broken sob coud be heard coming from the back row.

:::August 10, 1988:::

"Harry, this is Ronald Weasley."

"Hi."

"Hi."

"What's your favorite Quidditch team?"

"Chudley Cannons."

"Ugh, why?"

Lily smiled down at the boys. She knew they were going to be great friends.

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Hahaa, simple Apparation and Veritaserum to solve some main problems? I know, it's a stretch...

Well, we'll get to the actual story next!

Also, if you found any problems, please, please, please tell me!

Review?