"James!" Lily Potter shrieked with laughter, sitting in the small cottage in Godric's Hollow they owned. Her husband vanished into the kitchen, ducking underneath the small table, their son hot on his heels. "Honestly, stop screwing around. We need to get to the party before it gets too late. You know they're going to set the pumpkins off as soon as it gets dark!"

"Jeez, I just wanted to have a little fun with the boy before we left. Is that so wrong?" her husband replied, stepping into the room, their one year old son in his arms. James had been pretending to be a snitch while Harry raced behind him on a broomstick, dressed as a Seeker from the Puddlemere United Quidditch team. She wasn't sure what possessed her husband to do something like that, but he had known about this party for weeks now, and he knew that they had to be there on time or they wouldn't be let in.

It was Harry's first Halloween, and Lily wanted to make it special – and what was more special than a Halloween party with wizards from all walks of life at it? Plus it was the first time they'd be able to see many of their schoolmates (not counting Sirius, Remus, Marlene and Abigail) since the fall of Voldemort and they were able to come out of hiding.

She didn't even want to think about that rat, Peter.

Voldemort's death had come as a surprise to the world – but a welcome one. If he hadn't been defeated by Dumbledore, then there was a very good chance she and James would have died. Lily didn't know the full reasons as to how Voldemort was gone, but the news had come from Dumbledore, so she trusted it.

"You make a beautiful goddess, did you know that?" James asked as he took her hand and led her outside, waiting for the Knight Bus to arrive. Apparation was her preferred method of magical travel, but with a one-year-old, it was difficult.

Lily shook her head. "And you make an excellent snitch, James."

"Why didn't you dress up like someone from the Holyhead Harpies? We could've been a family of Quidditch players!" James told her as they stepped onto the bus. Lily knew he was right – it would've been cute, but…

"I support Quidditch. I know you love it James, but I just can't bring myself to be interested in it," Lily said, resting her head against his shoulder as the bus took off, Lily grabbing on tight to a free bar.

It seemed that most people on the bus with them were going to Ravenclaw Cove for the party, judging by the outfits they were wearing.

"James, isn't that Reuben Sutherland?" Lily asked, nodding at a man who had gotten onto the bus with them.

"Oh yeah, and that must be his wife… is that Audrina Henderson from Hufflepuff?" James asked, staring at the couple, and their child, in obvious bewilderment.

"James," Lily hissed. "It's not polite to stare at people." Besides, Audrina and Reuben weren't the biggest shocking couple – Lily still had a feeling it was she and James. "And yes, that is Audrina."

Audrina had been a good friend to Lily while they were in school, despite not being in the same house. She had been someone Lily could go to, and trust, when she felt she couldn't trust any of her friends in her house. Don't get her wrong, she loved her house, and her friends in it, just… some of them had bigger mouths than she wanted, especially if that something she didn't want out pertained to James, but honestly, even with friends in other houses, it had been difficult, thanks to James' popularity.

"Lily, James!" her friend called, sitting in the seats across the aisle from them. "It's been so long. How are you both doing?"

"We're doing great, especially now that we can come out of hiding," Lily replied. "This is our first time out in public in, what, James, months?"

James nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's nice to be able to go somewhere other than Moony's cottage or Padfoot's house."

"So you still hang around with them, eh?" Reuben asked, adjusting a small, pink bundle in his lap – their daughter Victoria, dressed as a little angel. Lily couldn't help but smile, and wish, somehow, that she could have a little girl too. She and James were young though, and she knew that time was on their side.

"Well of course. You can't break apart The Marauders!" James declared. "Well… aside from Peter Pettigrew." He wrinkled his nose.

"I was shocked to read about that… I can't believe he would do such a thing," Audrina said. "Though I guess people can… do shocking things in times of war…"

Lily and James nodded grimly. "When Dumbledore told us that Peter had been spotted among the Death Eaters… we knew we had to change things around," James explained. "Thank God that new Divination teacher saw something, or we would have been dead for sure."

"And we would have left our son an orphan. I couldn't imagine doing that to Harry… he wouldn't have any memories of James and I." The thought made Lily ill, it really did. She wanted to stay with her son, see him grow up, go to school, marry… and have children of his own.

The bus suddenly came to a screeching halt, and the passengers let out collective yelps and groans at the harsh stop.

"I can't wait until Harry's old enough to travel another way," James grumbled beside her, holding their son close and making sure he hadn't gotten hurt.

Lily nodded. "You okay?" she asked. "Both of you."

"We're fine, Lily… looks like we're here."

Lily looked out the grimy bus window, and smiled. The town of Ravenclaw Cove was decorated beautifully, with pumpkins, spiders, and anything else one could think of when it came to Halloween – along with a clear celebration on Voldemort's death. It would be a beautiful night – perfect for her son's first Halloween.

"This will be great," James said, helping her off the bus.

"I'm excited for Harry to meet other wizards his age," Lily said, kissing her son's head and smiling as he looked up at her with his identical-colored eyes. He was all James, except for his eyes. Lily loved that about her son.

"Lily! James!" Sirius' voice rang out from the crowd, grinning as the sun began to set over the water. "You made it! Great!"

"Ahhh there you are Padfoot! How've you been?" Lily asked, giving him a hug. "It's so good to see you too."

"There's my favorite godson!" Sirius said, lifting Harry into his arms quickly, much to the delight of the small boy. "I've been good Lily. Trying to clean up the mess left by Death Eaters. You know how it is… they've captured my bloody cousin and locked her up for good, so I'm grateful for that, anyway. Glad that Wormtail is off the streets too."

"Ah, do not use that name," James hissed. "He doesn't deserve to be called his Marauder nickname after he nearly sold our arses to Voldemort. We could have died, and I doubt Pettigrew would have cared if we left our son to be an orphan."

Lily shook her head. "James, can we not talk about this now? Tonight is supposed to be for fun, not talking about Death Eaters who tried to kill us."

"Lily's right… sorry I mentioned it," Sirius replied. "So, Moony said there's a place for the kids to go on the third floor of the hotel. Molly Weasley offered to watch them, along with another woman I didn't recognize… they have games for the kids, and a place for them to sleep."

"That's incredible!" Lily said. "They really have everything for the kids, don't they?"

"It wouldn't be the magical world if they didn't!" James replied. "Come on, let's drop Harry off."

Lily nodded, taking his hand, and the two set off for the hotel just down the street.

Suddenly, screams erupted from the coast.

Lily and James whirled around, seeing a green fog slowly beginning to cover the town. James tugged on her hand, and they followed the others around them, beginning to run, trying to get away from whatever it was. Apparation wasn't working. Nothing was working.

James' arms wrapped around her tight as the fog swallowed them.