A/N: I've decided to post sooner than I was planning but that's ok… Time for the fateful evening…
Chapter 29: Godric's Hollow
And so it was decided. Remus would perform the charm, making Sirius the Potters' secret keeper. The potion required for the spell would take some time to brew, but everyone agreed that if Lily and James had made it this long on their own, another month wouldn't do them any harm. As an added safety precaution though, Lily did manage to obtain permission from Victoria for herself, along with James and Harry, to stay on the grounds of the Palace of the Prophets. It had been centuries since a man was permitted to remain on the grounds, but even Victoria agreed that under such circumstances, and given that it was on a temporary basis, an exception must be made.
During their time at the Palace, Harry and James were free to roam the grounds, but only during daylight hours. Once the sun had set, they were confined to the living quarters set aside for the Potters' use. The reason for this was simple: Victoria wanted to retain as much normalcy for the other residents as she possibly could. They were used to having the occasional male visitor during the day, but never had one been allowed on the grounds at night.
One of these visitors was Dumbledore. He was a frequent guest at the Palace before, but now that James and Lily were staying there, he came by nearly daily to check on them and make sure that everything was going according to plan. It was during one of his visits that Lily walked in on a heated debate between him and James.
"Is everything alright here?" Lily asked cautiously.
"Yes," James said quickly, shoving some papers out of sight.
"I suppose so," Dumbledore said. He then looked down at his watch and sighed deeply. "If you will not listen to reason, perhaps Lily will tomorrow. I shall see you both then, but for now I must return to Hogwarts."
Lily was wearing a very confused expression, but she nodded nonetheless. "Tomorrow then, Albus."
Dumbledore smiled weakly. "Until then. Adieu." He then disapparated.
Lily turned to James. "What on earth was all of that about?"
James shook his head. It was obvious that he didn't want to tell Lily something. "There is a lot to it," he said. "But, Dumbledore seems to think that he should act as our Secret-Keeper instead of Sirius."
"Well, maybe he's right, James."
James stared at her with disbelief. "Lily, how can you say that? It's Sirius. He would die rather than betray us."
"James, I know that. But think about it. Having him do this for us is putting him in an awful lot of danger. Look at what happened to your mother… and to Claire…"
James looked at Lily, this time with the most serious expression she could ever recall seeing on him. "I love my family more than anything. You and Harry are my entire world, and nothing is going to take either of you from me. Sirius must be the one. It's the only way. If he steps down, then, and only then, should we consider asking someone else, but he has already shown that he will do everything that he can for us. All of our friends have. They are my family too, Sirius, Remus and Peter. We will stick together as we always have."
Lily nodded and gave in to James as she always did. After all, she knew that he was right. If Sirius couldn't be trusted, then there was no hope for any of them. He had always been there for James, and there was no reason to start doubting his loyalty now, or that of any of their friends.
By the time September rolled around, rumors were beginning to fly about the whereabouts of the Potters. Some said that they had joined forces with Voldemort, while others insisted that they were in hiding, fearful for their lives. Everyone now knew where Lily and James had lived, and needless to say, it was not safe for them to return there. It is for that reason that Sirius took the liberty of securing them a new home, the location of which would be kept amongst the friends and Dumbledore. This house was in Godric's Hollow.
Lily, James and Harry moved into their new home in the middle of the night on October 1, hoping that nobody would notice them. Sirius and Peter both helped them with the move, but unfortunately, Remus was unable to due to the full moon out that night. Once the family seemed settled in, Sirius and Peter left; only on the understanding that they would return the next day and that none of the Potters were to leave the house at all.
Things returned to a semi-normal state for the Potter family. No matter how worried Lily and James might have been for themselves and for Harry, neither of them showed it to the child. Harry would sleep through the night, and play happily during the day with Erimentha or his toys. None of them ever ventured outside for more than a few minutes, and even then it was only into their backyard. Going out in front of the public's watchful eye was too risky. Instead, anything that they might need, Peter would bring to them.
At long last, the potion was ready and it was time for the Fidelius Charm to be performed. Lily was busy preparing the basement for whatever incident might occur during the casting of the spell while James kept Harry busy upstairs.
"Well, everything is ready downstairs for tomorrow," Lily said, dusting her hands off.
"Good," James said, nodding. "The sooner we get this over and done with, the better."
Just then Lily and James heard a popping sound in their kitchen. "Prongs? Where are you?" called Sirius's voice.
"Living room!" James answered. Sirius entered the room panting. "What's wrong?"
"Death Eaters."
"What?" Lily asked, her eyes wide with concern as she lifted Harry up off of the floor. "Where?"
"Near my house." Sirius was now shaking his head. "They know," he whispered. "It's the only way…"
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"They at least have some idea that I might be your Secret-Keeper. That means that someone has told him. There has to be a spy."
"What can we do?"
"Not to worry, I have an idea. We'll call their bluff. Just change the Secret-Keeper to someone that they wouldn't expect."
"But… who?" James said.
"Peter."
"You're joking," Lily said flatly.
"I am as serious as I've ever been, Lil," Sirius said, looking her straight in the eyes.
"But, Peter wouldn't last 5 minutes with something like that."
"We'll just have to take certain precautions. I've found a hiding place for him, and all should be well."
"What about Remus?"
Sirius took a deep breath. "What if he's the spy?"
"Dumbledore?" Lily asked hopefully.
"He's done enough for us," James said quietly.
"I don't like this," Lily said softly, shaking her head.
"I don't either, but Sirius is right, baby," James said. "Nobody would ever expect us to use Peter."
"Good. I'll send an owl on to Remus telling him that the charm has already been performed. It will be best that he thinks I am still your Secret-Keeper, and then tomorrow I will perform the charm on Peter. Are we agreed?"
Lily and James looked at each other and then nodded reluctantly.
The following day, Peter seemed just as nervous about becoming Lily and James's Secret-Keeper as they were for having him in the role. From the moment he arrived at their house, he was constantly twitching and looking about nervously. Lily didn't speak at all, and James would only talk in short phrases. Sirius was the only one who seemed perfectly comfortable with the situation. He was trying his best to assure everyone that this was the only, and safest, way both before and after he performed the charm.
"Alright," Sirius said once everything was said and done. "It is definitely best that everyone believes that I am still the Secret-Keeper. And Lil, that includes Dumbledore." Lily lowered her eyes and nodded her head. "It's safer that way, for both your family and for Peter."
"You're right, Padfoot," James said. "Thank you for everything." James and Sirius then embraced, finally patting each other on the back and separating.
"Come on, Peter. I'll take you to the place we discussed," Sirius said.
"Yeah, right, sure. Just coming now," Peter said mindlessly.
"Thank you both," Lily whispered.
"Anytime," Peter said.
"I'll be back to check on you," Sirius said, kissing Lily's cheek. He then patted Harry's head and left.
"James?"
"Yes, baby?"
"We did the right thing, right?"
"Yeah, baby. We did."
Lily took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, we did."
It had been a long week, and an even longer day, by the time the Potters had finally settled down for the night. Sirius had decided to go check on Peter; just to be sure that he was still safe in his hiding place, should Voldemort or any of his death eaters be getting too close to snuffing out who the Potters' new secret keeper was. Lily and James were relaxing happily in front of the fire, Lily trying to convince Harry to play with his new toy, but it wasn't really working. He still missed his cat who had run away earlier that week.
"James, we're going to have to find Erimentha sooner or later. Harry obviously misses him something awful."
"I know, and we will. I'm sure he's just out hunting mice or something. Maybe along with Scarlet," he said, winking at her.
Lily laughed and shook her head. "You're right, I know." She turned to Harry. "How about playing a little game of quidditch?"
"Qit-itch? Insi?" Harry asked, his eyes wide with excitement.
"Yes, Harry. Just this once, you can play quidditch inside."
James seemed excited by the idea too. "Really, Lil?"
"Oh Lord, what have I gotten myself into?"
A sly grin crept across James's face. "You have no idea…" he said devilishly.
The game was well underway, and Lily, James and Harry were each having far more fun than they had for a while. But then, as if from nowhere, they heard the pounding of footsteps outside, closing in on their front walk. James rushed to the living room window and peered out. He turned quickly back to Lily and Harry, the color drained from his face.
"What is it?" Lily asked nervously.
"It's Voldemort! Lily, take Harry and go! It's him!" He shouted, his hands shaking as he spoke. "Go!"
Lily did as she was told. She swept Harry up into her arms and ran for the stairs. The front door then burst open. "James, come on!" she yelled back.
"Run!" James shouted again. "I'll hold him off!"
Harry was now crying, reaching his arms around Lily, wanting his father. "James," Lily kept repeating. "James! Come on!" The tears were now streaming down her face as well. She quickly ran into Harry's nursery and locked the door, frantically looking for a way out. She knew that she couldn't apparate, not with Harry. That meant that there was only one option remaining: escaping out the window and on foot. But she wouldn't leave yet, not without James.
And that's when she heard it. Cold, maniacal laughter seemed to be saturating the air around her, only to be followed by the two words she had been dreading since her first vision. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" A cold voice yelled, followed by a soft thudding sound.
"No…" Lily whispered, still holding Harry tightly against her.
Seconds later, before Lily could do anything about it, Voldemort entered the nursery where Lily had given up trying to climb out of the window with Harry in her arms. She was now backed against the crib, holding Harry to her, tears streaming steadily down her face. Voldemort's wand was drawn and aimed at the baby.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry! Please! I'll do anything…" Lily was pleading, shaking her head.
"Stand aside, you silly girl. Stand aside…"
Lily set Harry down behind her (in the crib), still holding him with one hand as she fumbled for her wand with the other. "Not Harry," she continued to beg. "Please, no. Take me, kill me instead…" Lily knew that she would die to protect her child, just has her husband had done.
"Foolish girl," the icy voice said, "It's not you I want, just the boy."
"No! Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…"
"We'll have it your way," Voldemort hissed. "Avada Kedavra!"
"James?" Lily whispered, feeling a familiar hand on her shoulder. She turned around and almost screamed. She saw what looked like a ghost of James nod. "What's going on?" she asked, frightful of the answer. James didn't say anything. He just simply nodded to his right. Lily could see Voldemort advancing on Harry, who was sobbing loudly and calling out for her. "What can we do?" she asked hysterically.
"Nothing," James said sadly. "Nothing but watch." Silent tears were not flowing down his face as well.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort hissed, once again. A green flash of light erupted from his wand and toward Harry. It touched his forehead, and the small child cried out in pain. Immediately after coming into contact with Harry though, the light ricocheted and hit Voldemort himself, who disintegrated into a cloud of smoke.
A/N: Alright, one more chapter to go!!! I hope that everyone enjoys it!