Prologue

Halloween, 1981

When she was a child, Lily Potter, Evans back then, had always liked Halloween. Even before knowing she was a witch, her mother would have small parties for Petunia and her, with sweets, games and fancy dresses. Of course, when she went to Hogwarts, this tradition was pointless, for she would always be away from home and her sister had begun to despise magic (for having a real witch for sister wasn't something she would like, since she was normal, of course).

Lily sighed.

Now she only wished she could give Harry these memories of Halloween at home, before he too left for school. But one thing life could not be accused of being, is being fair. And therefore, they were stuck, hiding from Voldemort, for Merlin only knows how long. Often, when she wasn't really paying attention, she found herself thinking about the future. James would always tell her they would figure out something, but she dreaded the idea of raising Harry in this situation, away from the world, and never completely free to be a child. If that stupid prophecy was correct, and Harry was supposed to be the one to defeat Voldemort, how long would the war still go on? Harry was only one year old. Poor Harry. Somehow, she felt he would miss a lot. What choices would he have in his life? She couldn't help but think that Dumbledore expected him to turn into a soldier, that he expected James and her to raise him to be a warrior. But he was just a toddler, how could someone see him and think something like this?

Fortunately, James startled her out of her reverie.

"Lils, Peter said he would come over tonight, he wants to talk about something"

Lily just stared back at her husband, who was leaning against the door. She loved him so much, and for now he was safe. But he was getting more and more restless, it couldn't be much longer until he would tell her that she could stay home with Harry while he went outside and tried to figure a way out of the prophecy. She knew it, because if it was possible, she would want to do it herself. And still, it would be dangerous.

"Are you alright? What's bothering you?" he asked, walking towards her.

"I'm ok" she said, a small smile that could never be called reassuring "I was just thinking. About Harry. About you. Us"

James closed the distance between them and hugged her, looking at those green orbs.

"Lily Potter, I will do anything I can to keep you and Harry safe. You hear me?"

"I know, James. And that is something that scares me a lot, too. You want to go out there and fight, don't you?"

"I – Lily, only if there is a way I can finish this bloody war before Harry is old enough for anyone to expect him to do it. I don't want that burden over his shoulders."

"I love you, James"

Kissing him was always a calming medicine, in moments like these. He made her feel that everything would actually turn out fine.

Harry had chosen that moment to cry, calling for his dadda, and by the sound of it, wanted to sleep.

"Little guy needs me"

"That he does. Go on, I'll make us some tea now"

"Love you" James kissed her one more time, and left.

Harry was in the habit of requesting his father to put him to bed, because that meant he would have a stag near him, and for the 15 months old toddler, it must be awesome. Lily smiled, her son loved his father, and she knew he loved her as much, and James was an incredible dad. He had always been, from the very moment Harry was born.

She heard the floo and knew it was probably Peter, so she only said, loud enough, that she was in the kitchen. If Harry saw Peter, he wouldn't be looking forward to sleeping anymore, for the marauders were like giving him sugar and coffee. He always wanted to play with them, no matter what time it was. Sirius was the kind of godfather who would spoil him, and Remus wasn't much far behind. Peter, on the other hand, didn't have much touch with small kids, but Harry didn't seem to mind and would play with him just as happily.

"Hey Lily! Is James around?"

"It's good to see you too, Peter!" she said, with a mischievous smile playing on her face.

"Sorry Lily. I- I'm just a bit tired and just want this day to be over"

"That's alright Pete. James is putting Harry to bed, but he will be down here soon. Would you like some-"

But she never finished that sentence, because that moment Lily had turned away from the kitchen door to take the kettle out of the stove, and next thing, she was lying unconscious on the floor. The chubby man might or might not have said 'I'm sorry Lily' right before heading upstairs. He was indeed behaving strangely, even for himself. 'I'm doing this for them' was the thought that kept playing on repeat in his mind. Just the boy had to die, he knew it. And if Lily and James lived, it wouldn't be really treachery, would it? No, it wouldn't. He was saving his friends' lives. Harry was destined to die, after all.

Reaching Harry's room, James was standing beside his son's cradle, looking down at the boy.

"Pete! Look at him" James whispered, seeing his friend approaching "Isn't it the most amazing view?"

"Yes, James" was the quiet answer, followed by "Lily sent me to fetch you, she needs you in the kitchen"

Because Peter Pettigrew, although not always considered smart, was well aware he couldn't carry the bigger man all the way from the toddler's room to somewhere safe (and, at that moment, he never considered any magical means of doing it) and the Dark Lord was to come any time now.

"Right, let's go down there, she's making some tea"

The two men walked silently, and Peter was grateful for this. Perhaps the couple wouldn't remember much of what happened. Before they could reach the kitchen, however, Peter stunned the unsuspicious James, and managed, after a while, to drag him behind the counter, where Lily was. Unless the Dark Lord would come all the way to the stove or the sink, he wouldn't be able to see them.

Peter was considering if he should leave the house and pray everything went well, or stay and make sure James and Lily wouldn't wake up until after his master left. But before he could reach a decision, Voldemort showed up, and saw Peter in the living room.

"Wormtail" said the cold voice, that sent shivers down his spine. He never liked him calling him that. It was his marauder name. It had too many memories, and it felt wrong coming from the man who convinced him to betray his friends. But all he did was bow and mutter 'my lord' quietly.

"Where are the Potters? Where is the boy?" the snake-like man continued, already preparing to curse this stupid rat if he had lost the boy.

"The boy is upstairs, milord"

"what of his foolish parents? I would have expected them to try and stop me. Maybe they're not so foolish"

"I- I've dealt with them, milord"

This seemed to snap something in Voldemort, who crucioed the rat animagus.

What both wizards were not aware of was that Lily Potter was regaining conscience, even if she couldn't bring herself to move. But she heard the short conversation before Peter's screams filled the room. She knew the situation was bad, very bad indeed. Voldemort was here, and she couldn't move, and on top of that, Peter was… What was he doing? She couldn't believe he would do this. Something must be very wrong. Was James still with Harry? Maybe he could take Harry and leave. Yes, if he did this, her son would live.

The last few minutes having someone under the cruciatus curse was enough to lessen Voldemort's anger.

"Now, wormtail, what is it you said? You've dealt with the Potters, have you? How dare you kill them, maybe you believed I couldn't handle James Potter?"

And screams were heard for more minutes.

By this time, Lily was panicking, have James left yet? But what she didn't know was that her husband was just behind her, and starting to regain conscious, a bit faster than her, perhaps, but all he heard was Peter being tortured, and it made no sense to him, for his mind wasn't very clear. And what he heard next was even more confusing.

"My lord, I didn't kill them. They're just stunned. You can kill them now and-"

A few more minutes under the cruciatus left Peter unconscious, and Voldemort satisfied with himself, who said, to no one in particular "I'll deal with the boy first"

While Lily was starting to feel her body again, James's mind was now racing. Peter betrayed them? Where is Lily? Voldemort is here? He must do something. Then he heard something moving next to him, and then a gasp. Lily was here. Where is Harry?

Lily, meanwhile, turned and saw James, and although happy he was ok, that meant Harry was upstairs, alone. She somehow found strength to get up and started to run to her son's bedroom. James, too, seeing her moving, knew what it meant, and the remaining spell keeping him down vanished, but when he got up, not three seconds after Lily had, both of them heard the sound of an explosion.