This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

In this chapter, the plan to kill the Dark Lord comes together but not exactly as scheduled. Consequences fall on everyone.

Chapter 2: Karma October 31, 1981 Godric's Hollow

In the middle of the afternoon, James, Lily and Sirius completed the final spell to anchor the catastrophic spell to the cottage.

Sweating from the effort, Sirius said, "Merlin, those spells will create a powerful blast! Will any part of the house survive this spell?"

"That depends on how strong the Dark Lord really is," Lily said. She saw her husband and his friend both wince with fear that she'd begin another lecture on the arithmetic formulas she'd constructed to create this spell.

Grinning, she took pity but still smacked her husband's arm, "I enjoy my work! Sue me!"

"What does that mean?" asked Sirius. "Some muggle expressions don't translate well."

James shook his head, "Everything is ready. I hate setting the primer spells the day before we need 'em but with Lupin here from lunch time on tomorrow, I don't want to take a chance he'll feel or smell anything to make him suspicious."

Sirius nodded but then asked, "He always said he could smell deceit. How are you going to get around that tomorrow?"

Lily smiled, "I will have a spicy meal cooked for him – he always was hungry when we were at Hogwarts. The aroma of the food will hide part of our scent."

"And I intend to shag Lily in the living room tomorrow morning… That scent will put him off the rest."

"James!" Lily protested as she blushed.

Sirius just snickered and said, "That sofa is big enough for the two of you to go to town… Leave a wet spot for Remus to scent."

James pulled Lily close to kiss while Sirius claimed to be blinded by the scene. Black soon left for his apartment, using a premade portkey – all three would remain sluggish from casting the spells in the cottage.

*(+++++)*

After a very late dinner, James and Lily sat on the couch for several minutes before they heard the baby crying upstairs.

"Is that the hungry, dirty nappy, or lonely cry?" asked James.

Lily shrugged, "I don't know, but I better go figure it out. Don't want him to get colic or a rash."

"What?" James asked, mystified by everything dealing with the 'baby'.

It was only ten minutes later while James Potter was leafing through a quidditch magazine that the front door was blown off the hinges and into the entry hall. He stood with his wand in hand as the bright green light sped forward and he knew nothing else.

With the first death, the spell to kill Voldemort was primed.

In the nursery, Lily Potter heard the explosion of the door, heard a spell being cast downstairs, and the sound of a body hitting the floor. The walls reflected a bright green from the entry way that filled the stairwell.

"James!" she cried. With the child in her arms, Lily's first instinct was to flee but their attacker had placed an antiapprarition ward over the property to prevent that spell. James was dead, and another had to die to invoke the spell – she couldn't allow her husband's sacrifice to be wasted.

Steeling herself, Lily placed the child into the crib, grabbed her wand, and moved out of the way. Perhaps she could survive if she didn't stand in the way of the Dark Lord when he killed the baby.

A figure appeared in the doorway as Lily hid in the shadows.

"You think to attack me from behind?" hissed the sibilant voice of the dark lord. His wand cast a spell that froze her in place before Voldemort cast again and killed Lily Potter.

The moment of the second death, magic invoked the catastrophic spell to overwhelm the Dark Lord. His rings, relics, robes, and wand were destroyed as his complete form was annihilated.

Out on the street, Peter Pettigrew, a secret Deatheater in the Order of the Phoenix, transformed into his rat animagus form and fled into the shrubbery, running until he collapsed in the fields outside the village – something had gone wrong and the Dark Lord, or worse, Sirius Black, would torture him when one or the other caught him!

The destruction of the Dark Lord blew off part of the roof and threw Lily Potter's corpse across the nursery to land in front of the crib where it was found by Sirius Black only minutes later.

The kid was standing up in his crib crying with a cut on his forehead. Sirius carried him downstairs and out of the house where he found Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper for Hogwarts. When the half-giant asked for 'Harry', Sirius handed over the baby without a second thought and announced, "I'm going to find the worm who did this and kill him!"

The two wizards were gone from Godric's Hollow mere moments later as the first Aurors arrived on the scene, called by petrified neighbours.

*(+++++)*

November 1, 1981 Little Whinging, Surrey

In the darkest morning hours of a quiet English community, a stern witch waited for a wizard to appear. When the flamboyantly dressed figure appeared, they argued briefly before a third magical person, a half-giant on a flying motorcycle arrived to hand over a baby wrapped in a blanket. The child slept without stirring thanks to the spell cast on him by Sirius Black.

The witch asked, "Is that James's son? He looks nothing like him! Where's the messy hair?"

"He is young and takes after Lily's side of the family," Dumbledore explained the witch's questions away.

"And he'll be safe here with his family…"

*(+++++)*

November 1, 1981 Godric's Hollow Remus Lupin

It was midmorning when a wizard apparated into the village of Godric's Hollow near the outskirts of town. Using a crude map on the back of a letter, he started making his way toward the centre of the village. He was dressed in old but clean robes. His boots were worn but polished and bright.

But after only a minute in the village, his senses warned him of danger – the smell of blood and smoke lingered in the air. Remus Lupin cautiously approached the houses where a few of the inhabitants stood while discussing the previous night's events.

A middle-aged woman said, "There was a loud bang just after eleven! Then parts of the roof fell in my yard."

"You're lucky," stated an older man. "The back porch at Lavenia's place was smashed into her kitchen. Everyone was in bed but there's big mess there."

"What happened?" asked Remus.

The locals turned to the stranger and the older man explained, "Something happened at the Potter house last night. Lily and James are both dead."

"What about Harry?" the stranger continued with his question.

"Who?"

"Harry – their little boy – what happened to him?"

The first woman looked startled, "The Potters didn't have a baby."

A teenager from the side of the yard said, "Yeah, they did. I've seen a kid a couple times now."

"They never said anything!" insisted the woman, who looked back toward the house with the hole in the roof. "I saw the Aurors take out two bodies but not a child…"

As a group, everyone approached the Auror standing guard in front of the house and asked about the child.

"What makes you think the Potters had a kid?" the man asked brusquely.

"This guy said they did," the older man said, pointing at Remus.

"And Ned Jones said they did…" the woman interjected before the Auror could question the stranger.

The teenager nodded and explained, "I saw Mrs. Potter walking around with him in the backyard the other day. When she saw me, she went into the house and James came out, but I ran away."

"Describe the child," ordered the Auror.

"Small, black hair, laughing…"

The Auror turned to the wizard in worn robes. "How do you know about this?"

"I was invited to come today… to babysit Harry while Lily, James and Sirius were busy with something for… for the fight against You-Know-Who."

"Got any proof?" the Auror asked, stepping closer to the wizard with the strange story.

"Yes," Remus replied. "I have a letter from James in my pocket inviting me here today."

"Pull it out slowly," the Auror ordered as Remus did just that and handed over the folded piece of parchment without the slip of paper that had held the secret of the fidelius charm.

The neighbours only heard bits and pieces as the Auror mumbled through the letter, "Dear Remus… Long time no talk… Need your help urgently… first of November… stay with Harry… entire day… Lily, Sirius and I gone…"

The Auror used his wand and made a copy of the letter but returned the original to Remus.

"There was no sign a child or a child's body in the house," the Auror reported. "There was a nursery with lots of new furniture and clothes… Lots of unopened gifts in the closet…"

"Come on," the older man said to Remus. He'd noticed the look of sadness on the man's face. "Let me buy you a pint and give you a minute to collect yourself."

While in the local pub, news came that Sirius Black betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord. No one knew if Black had the child or not and the locals shuddered to think that another innocent had been taken by the Dark Lord and his minions.

After the pint and the terrible news, Remus Lupin walked out of the pub and away from Godric's Hollow.

"I never would have believed Padfoot would betray… But then I never would have thought that Prongs and Padfoot would drop me after graduation…"

His steps ceased for a moment.

"They kept Peter but dropped me…"

Of the four marauders, Remus was the one to write the term papers and create the revision notes that kept the other three in school. James was a natural at practical transfiguration but crap at theory.

"They helped me with my 'furry little problem' and I helped them graduate from Hogwarts. But then they forgot me after that last train ride to London…"

The werewolf growled deep in his throat and apparated away. He had school work for university classes to complete.

*(+++++)*

In the Daily Prophet the next day, a reporter shared the news that the Boy-Who-Lived had been placed with someone who would keep him safe. The article quoted Dumbledore's words, 'We all owe James and Lily Potter so much! Let's be glad the Boy-Who-Lived will be raised safely.'

*(+++++)*

November 3, 1981 Longbottom Grange

Alistair Moody frowned. He'd castrate someone in the Auror department for this mix-up. The alarms from Longbottom Grange blared for ten minutes that the home was under attack before anyone noticed. He'd apparated in with three Aurors and they'd battled the four Deatheaters for the next ten minutes until he'd seen the bodies of Frank and Alice still twitching – they weren't dead. Then he switched to the unforgivables and other dark spells – Proudfoot followed him with the adjustment in spell selection and helped lay the four attackers on the floor.

Seizing their wands, portkeys, rings and money bags from the Deatheaters, Alistair sent messages to St. Mungo's for help as well as to his boss, Barty Crouch for more help. After he removed the masks of the attackers, he began cursing and hoped that his boss was too busy to come any time soon.

Dowager Lady Longbottom was located, unconscious at the front door. The toddler – Norris or Neville – was under the care of house elves in his nursery. Moody hoped Frank and Alice would recover – Magical Britain had paid the price of surviving a Dark Lord.

*(+++++)*

November 3, 1981 Sirius Black

Barty Crouch watched a crack team of Hit Wizards surround and overpower the Deatheater Sirius Black.

"How did I not see that he was a Deatheater? How long has he been betraying my Aurors to the damn Dark Lord?" Crouch asked himself as another team of wizards obliviated the memory of the battle between Black and Pettigrew. The blast from one of the wizards had destroyed the street and killed a dozen muggles.

"Dumbledore said that Black betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord." His brow winkled as Crouch thought for a moment but then smoothed as he came to a decision.

"Straight to Azkaban for you Sirius Black. No need to hear your Dark Lord drivel at the ministry… I'll just file the paperwork in the wrong folder…"

*(+++++)*

Page 13