Author's Note: I do not own the rights to any characters, spells or places already thought up by J.K. Rowling herself. I do not seek to gain any money from this work, I am doing it solely for the purpose of expressing my creativity. Please enjoy the fruits of my labors. Thanks so much to Crumple-Horned Snorkack Hunter for previewing this chapter and inspiring me to write a Harry Potter fanfic in the first place! If you haven't started her story Demistifying Lily Evans, do so now! Now, without further adieu...

Prologue: A Fate Undeserved

"James, it's getting late," a petite, auburn-haired woman said. "I'm going to put Harry to bed."

She picked up her sleepy fifteen-month-old from where he was playing with a set of muggle blocks and placed him on her hip before heading upstairs to draw him a bath.

"I'll be up in just a second, Lily my love, I'll just clean up down here," James responded. His hazel eyes followed his wife's form up the stairs of their quaint cottage in Godric's Hollow before scanning their living room, surveying the mess of toys and books that was spread over the entirety of the floor. He wondered how on Earth a toddler could create such devastation before he acquiesced that Harry was indeed his father's son. With a flick of his wand, the disheveled mess that inhabited the rich wood floor of the cottage zoomed back into its proper places around the room.

James stifled a yawn before he pulled out an old, antique-looking mirror from his pocket.

"Sirius, you there?" he said into his reflection. Upstairs, he heard the bathwater trickle to a stop; the splashes and giggles of his son brought a smile to his kind face.

"Oi, I'm here. Just about to leave Grimmauld Place," a disembodied voice spoke. "Prongs, Earth to Prongs!"

James looked back into the antique mirror only to see his best friend Sirius looking back at him. "Lily's about to put your godson to bed. Thanks again, by the way, for the toddler-sized broom you gave Harry for his birthday. He wobbles when he walks, but never falters on that thing. He's a natural! I can't wait to see him flying for Gryffindor." James ran a hand through his unruly black hair, reminiscing about his days as a Gryffindor chaser. "Anyway, get your arse over here so we can talk business."

"I'm actually going to be a bit later than I had originally intended, James," Sirius responded from the looking glass. "My sweet, sweet motorbike was just returned to me. Rubeus managed to get more dirt on it that I've ever seen, so I'm going to clean it off and take it for a spin to see how she rides before I come over to Godric's Hollow."

"Don't you think a huge, flying motorcycle will be a bit conspicuous?" James asked. He knew Sirius leaned towards the flash and glamour most of the time, but these times were all about remaining unseen.

"Don't worry about it. I just put an invisibility booster on this baby. Still trying to work out how to silence the muffler though…"

"Speaking of invisibility, would you mind bringing my cloak back? I've just got one of those feelings, like I'll be needing it soon."

"Sure, Prongs. Quit worrying so much, though. Dumbledore's got you covered."

"Yeah, yeah, see you soon, Padfoot."

"Right." James tapped the mirror with his wand tip twice and his own reflection returned to the glass. He ran his hand through his mess of hair before pocketing the looking glass and heading upstairs.

Halfway up the stairs, he turned around, feeling like he had forgotten something. Shrugging, he returned to his ascent.

When he made it to the top of the stairs, a stumbling one-year-old Harry who was wrapped in a deep crimson towel greeted him, his bright green eyes alight with happiness as he made his way to his father.

James picked Harry up and spun him around until he erupted in a fit of laughter.

"I'll assume that you'll be the one to clean up his sick after you've spun his dinner right out of him," Lily joked to her husband.

James took Harry to his room and changed him into his bedclothes. When Harry was settled down, Lily came in and stood by her husband at Harry's crib while she sang him some muggle lullaby about a crib in a tree. James loved that she kept to her family's muggle ways, even when they weren't allowed to see her sister and brother-in-law.

After Harry nodded off, James and Lily made their way down to their small library to wait for Sirius' arrival. Both knew that tonight's meeting was not strictly a social call. The couple was going to talk to Sirius about some pretty deep issues.

James sat down on the overstuffed leather sofa; Lily conjured up a fire before snuggling up next to her husband. She looked up into his eyes for a moment, just absorbing each other in their gazes before James broke the silence.

"I'm so glad Harry's got your eyes," he nearly cooed. "It'd have been a shame if he looked exactly like me, he'd have to try so hard to get the ladies."

Lily laughed at his joke, pausing to remember how he tried so hard to court her. Although she secretly fancied him since year four, she wouldn't allow him to date her until he stopped his bullying on Severus Snape, her first wizard friend. James was so cocky when she'd confronted him about his bullying in their fifth year.

"You think you're funny, but you're just an arrogant, bullying toe-rag, Potter. Leave him alone."

"I will if you go out with me, Evans. Go on, go out with me and I will never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

"I wouldn't go out with you if it were a choice between you and the giant squid!"

But, less than a month later, she'd started being civil to James Potter, allowing him to properly court her before they officially began their seventh year as a couple.

Lily was pulled out of her reminiscing by a stiffening of James' posture. He had always had what muggles called a 'sixth sense' about danger, probably from getting into so much mischief with the Marauders at Hogwarts, but in these dark days, Lily and James both knew to never second guess their gut instincts.

"Lily, do you remember where I last had my wand?" James asked his wife.

"Umm, last I remember you were using it to keep Harry from falling off his little broom," she responded.

They got up and walked towards the foyer on their way to the living room. When James had one of his feelings, the couple did not separate. Just as they reached the far side of the foyer, closest to the living room, the front door was blasted off its hinges and a dark, cloaked figure appeared in the doorway.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

Lily ran up the stairs while a wandless James stood his ground.

"Step aside, Potter, I did not come for you tonight," Voldemort's high, reedy voice was almost a whisper; his mere presence chilled the air. "I am here for your son. Stay out of my way and I will not harm you."

"You can't have Harry!" James held himself firm, despite his yearning to grab his wand to defend himself.

"You are defenseless, Potter. And you reject the Dark Lord's mercy? The Dark Lord does not dole out mercy every day, Potter, it is unwise of you to pass up this opportunity." Voldemort glided closer to James, over the threshold, as if hovering on air.

"I won't let you take him, Riddle." James sneered Voldemort's true name through gritted teeth. His bravery was the last straw in Voldemort's eyes.

"Avada Kedavra!"

James Potter's lifeless body fell to the floor in a flash of green.

Voldemort ghosted up the stairs of the Potter's house. He glided into Harry's nursery to find Lily taking Harry out of his crib.

"I am not here for you, Lily Potter," Voldemort breathed. "Be smarter than your husband. Give me the child and you will remain unharmed."

Lily simpered at the revelation that James was no longer alive.

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead," she pleaded.

Voldemort was untouched by her motherly devotion. "This is my last warning."

"Not Harry! Please, have mercy! He's just a baby, not Harry! Please, I'll do anything…" Lily's pleading did nothing for her case in the Dark Lord's eyes. He only saw it as weakness, and Lord Voldemort did not tolerate weakness.

He pointed his want at Harry's small, innocent body. Lily tensed and turned to shield her son just as Lord Voldemort uttered the killing curse for the second time that night.

Lily's form crumpled to the floor, still clutching her young son as the last bits of life left her eyes.

Harry began to cry. His wail stung the Dark Lord's ears- if there was one thing Voldemort detested more than weakness, it was crying, he couldn't take it. Here was the child who, if allowed to grow, would cause his downfall, and he was crying.

Voldemort could not stand to hear the toddler's weeping any longer. For the third time that night, he uttered the most unforgivable of curses:

"Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of emerald green light flew out of the thirteen and a half inch Yew and Phoenix feather wand towards its designated target. Upon nearing it's target however, the light split and bent around the infant Harry Potter, as if an invisible sphere was protecting him. The green light then rejoined on the other side of Harry and flew towards the window, effectively breaking the panes.

This occurrence served seemingly no purpose other than to anger the Dark wizard. He had never encountered anything that kept him from carrying out his most favorite of curses. Even the most highly accomplished witches' and wizards' blocking charms and shields could not stand up against the Dark Lord's power.

Maybe, he thought, I am not actually hitting the child, but his already dead mother.

It was like the muggle adage of beating a dead horse, although Voldemort would never admit to thinking about muggle things. Lord Voldemort glided over to the still body of Lily Potter and used his wand to move her out of the way since, in his eyes, even a dead mudblood was undeserving of his foot touching them to kick them out of the way.

With the body of his mother no longer shielding him, Lord Voldemort took a powerful stance and aimed his wand directly at the toddler, just a foot from his head.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Once again, a jet of emerald green light shot out of his wand tip, headed straight for the young Harry Potter. This time, however it managed to get within an inch of the child's face before bouncing straight back into its caster's chest. The explosion that coincided with this occurrence was so intense, no one ought to have survived. The entire nursery was on fire, save a small area around the boy and his mother.

Suddenly, there was no man- if you could call the Dark Lord a man- standing over a baby, though his essence still remained. Instead, there was a pile of robes and one yew, bone and Phoenix feather bringer of pain and death on the floor.

The fire quickly died down, though the baby continued to cry. It was as if his tears were drowning out the fire- just like magic. The boy crawled to his mother's still warm body and curled up in her arms one more time before drifting off to sleep, a small amount of blood trickling from a cut in his forehead, tears still running out from his eyes.

Author's Note Part Deux:

Yes, James was a chaser in his Hogwarts days, you can Google or Harry Potter Wikipedia it. I'm trying to stay as close to cannon as I can, considering it's an alternate universe story, so things like the wands and known histories up to this point in the story have been researched.

Some of the quotes in this chapter are of Ms. Rowling's own invention, not my own- such as when Lily defends Severus against James in their fifth year, etc.- and I borrowed them with loving care. She owns all.

Please let me know how you feel about my story by dropping me a review- it really means the world to me.