Summary: James and Lily Potter are shadows of Harry's past. Mere echoes. Everyone's favorite characters that aren't really there. But once, they were so full of life and love that it's hard to believe they're gone.  James and Lily have their own story to tell. Discover the true roots of Harry Potter. Go back…to The Beginning.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have any exclusive rights to the Harry Potter world, its characters or its charm. I do however, have a deep love for them…and have chosen to express that love in this story. Hope you enjoy.

The Beginning

By Rebecca

Quidditch Season

During the next few weeks, the students of Hogwarts settled back into the classic routine of spell-casting, potion-making…and of course, Quidditch. A sort of soccer game played on broomsticks, Quidditch was the sanctuary of excitement for most of the students the entire year. What exactly made James Potter and his Marauders so popular? James was the best seeker Hogwarts had seen in over 50 years. Lead position on the team and responsible for catching the smallest and fastest ball in the game, the golden snitch, thereby ending and winning the game, James had missed at the most, 2 snitches in the entire 6 years he'd been playing. He and his teammates, of whom Sirius was one, were unbeatable…which angered Amos Diggory, seeker for the Ravenclaws, beyond all rational thought.

                The first match of the year was already fast approaching and was to take place between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff house. Lily had actually hoped that James would be too busy training to pay attention to his head boy duties. But to her dismay, he had embraced the job with a degree of mockery that was nearly unbearable. The prefect meetings never began on time and were rarely prank-free. The fact that Remus Lupin was a prefect certainly didn't help matters, especially since he hadn't seemed to have exercised any discipline over the rest of the Marauders when he still outranked them. And whenever she confronted James about the trip to Hogs Meade coming soon, he would launch into a sermon about the sanctity of some silly joke shop that had just opened. Lily would have much preferred doing everything on her own…but James seemed to almost delight in teasing her, making a mess of her carefully organized agendas. One day at lunch, the day of the big game, she was saying these very things to Moira.

                "I don't know why you're taking him so seriously," Moira argued, "he sees how much it annoys you. That's why he keeps doing it!"  

                "I can't help it! I've worked toward being head girl for 7 years, and he's just…just-" She stabbed her roast with a fork.

Moira stifled a giggle, "Well, maybe you could try lightening up. I don't know, join in. Make a few jokes? Meet him halfway Lil' and maybe he'll compromise."

                Lily cocked raised an eyebrow, "Whose side are you on anyway?"

                Moira sighed, "I'm on yours Lily. You know that…it's just…it's like…"

                Lily leaned forward, "What? Tell me! Am I going mental?"

                "Course not Lil. You're wonderful. You're just so…serious lately."

                Lily fell back against the chair and moaned. "I'm turning into my sister."

"Ick!" Moira shrieked, "You are not Petunia! You just need to loosen up. Come to the game with me today.  Help me root for Sirius."

                Lily's eyes bugged out, "Moira! You're a Hufflepuff!" But the girl just shrugged as she pushed her lunch plate forward into the middle of the table and it disappeared. Lily just laughed, "Honestly, have you ever actually talked to the guy?"

                "And risk destroying my calm cool and collected image? You are mental!" Moira waited for her friend to finish eating and the two of them headed for the dorms. "Pleeeease?" she said as they reached the staircase that broke off into their separate houses.

                Lily sighed and looked down at her notebook, filled with details about Hogsmeade, ideas for the ball, lists of students to keep and eye on and so forth. She shut the notebook and smiled. "I'll meet you at the pitch in 10 minutes."

                It was a beautiful day for Quidditch. James loved the games early on in the season. No fog, rain, sleet, snow. Just a cool breezy day, nothing but him and the snitch…and 13 other players, 3 other balls and 6 hoops of course. But he had every confidence in his teammates. Sirius always his right hand man, was his keeper, the player defending the hoops from the other team who would try to score by throwing the quaffle, another ball (and his owl's namesake) into them. They'd spent the last two weeks practicing flight plans until it was perfectly choreographed in their heads. When the time drew near, they took their places behind the gates and chanted, "Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" over and over again until the gates were released and they soared into the air.

                A brief hush and then a seemingly rehearsed gasp released from the hundreds of students, faculty and parents who had come to watch in the stands below. James spotted his mum and dad right away, sitting in the box near Dumbledore and head of house, Professor McGonagall. Honestly, if he weren't so good at Quidditch, winning nearly every game for Gryffindor, McGonagall would've expelled him out by now! James dipped and twirled on his Omega 480 broomstick, a gift from his parents last Christmas as the crowd cheered for his daring, flawless moves. "Show off!" he heard Sirius smirk below as he took his place above the team and waited for the game to begin.

                Madame Hooch, a stout young woman who had joined the Hogwarts staff only a few years beforehand as flight instructor and physical education teacher, stepped out onto the field in stunning black and white referee robes. A wooden box was shaking at her feet. She popped it open at the sound of her whistle and three balls, the snitch and two cursed bludgers skidded out and whipped around the players, waiting for the second whistle blow. Hooch took the quaffle and tossed it in the air. Rowena Figg, one of Gryffindor's chasers reached out and grabbed it. The game had begun.

                Lily and Moira had made it just in time and joined the stands near the Gryffindor section. Moira was horribly out of place in her yellow Hufflepuff robes, but most of the house had gotten used to the fact that Moira was more Gryffindor at this point than Hufflepuff anyway. Lily took out a pair of binoculars and looked up at the sky, fixated on the Gryffindor team and inspired by a sudden sensation of school spirit. Rowena expertly passed back and forth to her teammates and shot an easy goal at one of the hoops. It was universally accepted that Hufflepuff was never very good at Quidditch. They had this game in the bag. The girls followed the game closely as the plays were called by Arthur Weasly, a Gryffindor alumnus who just couldn't get enough of Quidditch. Moira watched as one of the Hufflepuffs took a shot at the Gryffindor hoop. Sirius Black deflected it with ease and Moira jumped up, cheering along with the rest of the house. As the game continued, Lily started to wonder why she hadn't come to more games over the years. For the first time in two weeks, she was smiling and having a good time.

                James watched below. The snitch wouldn't be back for another minute or two and until then the seeker didn't do much. That was the only bad part about Quidditch. Sirius got to do all the battling down there with his other teammates. The seeker played almost a completely different game…but it was vitally important. As he flew around, looking for the golden winged ball and keeping an eye on the Hufflepuff seeker, he surveyed the rest of the crowd. Looks like the whole school came as usual…although some of the Slytherins were curiously absent. James rolled his eyes. Some gents just can't take a joke.

                Still no sign of the snitch, James was getting bored. He looked up and saw the Hufflepuff seeker, Oscar Coulter, a good mate from transfiguration. But…all was fair in love and Quidditch. Without warning, he went into a steep dive and plunged towards the ground as if he had seen the snitch. Worried he would lose yet again to his rival, Oscar plowed down too, looking for that same golden ball. The activity above them became irrelevant as the crowd gasped at the two seekers headed straight for the grassy floor. Just a few feet above the ground, James pulled out of the dive as Oscar suddenly realized he'd been had. "Bloody hell James!" he screamed, pulling out himself, but seconds too late. His broom caught on the field below and sent Oscar tumbling off his broom. James watched for a minute just to make sure Oscar wasn't terribly injured and then soared back up with a wink. Oscar was visibly pissed.

                James laughed as he flew back up to the playing field and stopped short. Something in the stands caught his eye and he squinted. Good Lord! He thought. It was Lily! What in the world is she doing at a Quidditch match? Isn't there some quiz or something next TERM she needs to study for? But his cynicism soon disappeared. She was jumping up and down, her hand still clasped over her mouth in awe of his recent move. He found himself smiling at her. Inspired by her enthusiasm, he gave a slight wave and spun upside down in a graceful move that generated more applause. When he came back around, she was still jumping, but now she was pointing at something. He looked behind him and gasped. It was the snitch! Immediately, he dove for it, racing for the catch.

                Lily was in awe, her eyes glued to her classmate as he dipped and curved effortlessly, like a phoenix out on a morning stroll. Why hadn't she come to more of the games? How much had she missed? The only Quidditch games she ever came to were the Ravenclaws, ever the dutiful girlfriend to cheer on Amos, paying little or no mind to her own team (unless they were scoring extra points for the house). But even Lily had to admit that Amos didn't fly like James. She was torn between admiration and envy as James sailed, at home in the sky, demonstrating a freedom Lily only ever dreamed of. A smile touched her lips as he reached forward and snatched the golden ball out of the clouds. Lily erupted with the rest of the crowd as James held the snitch high in the sky, soaring back up on his broom. She watched as he caught her eye and waved again. Even from several stories below in the Gryffindor stands, she could see his bright blue eyes staring at her…Her stomach lurched and she suddenly felt she needed to get far away from the pitch. Lily tore her gaze from James and fled to the castle.