Well, I've been getting mostly good feedback for this story, so I'm going to continue! Thanks for the reviews, everyone.
Okay, first one down- James Potter. Don't act surprised, you knew he would be the first to go! This is going to be a difficult scene to write, but I'll do my best.
Disclaimer: The Marauders aren't mine. If they were, do you actually think I would kill them off?
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Halloween- October 31st, 1981
Godric's HallowIt rained all the time in eastern England, but there were rarely any thunderstorms at this time of year.
CRASH!Cackle…cackle…
The sleeping baby boy named Harry Potter awoke to the sound of thunder, with heavy blinding bolts of lightning shining in his eyes, gleaming in through the window he was facing. His young parents, James and Lily Potter, came running into Harry's nursing room when they heard his screams of fright.
"Shhh, Harry, calm down. Shhh, don't worry; Mommy and Daddy are right here. Shhh." A drained Lily Potter reached into the crib that they kept in the center of the room and lifted the baby into her arms, whispering words of comfort in an attempt to get him to go back to sleep.
"Here, Lils, want me to take him?" James Potter, not the mischievous boy he was at sixteen but a much more mature twenty-year-old father, reached out his arms for his son. "There, Harry. Quiet now. Be good, mommy's tired. She needs her beauty sleep, or else she looks like an old hag."
Well, not that much more mature.
"James!" Lily lightly slapped her husband on the arm. "Don't listen to him, Harry," she advised, cradling the baby. "Daddy doesn't know what he's talking about. As usual."
"Hey!"
"Come Harry, it's about time you get back to bed." Lily took him back from James' indignant hands. She gently lowered the crying baby into the crib and rested him on his side. But Harry wouldn't stop yelling.
"There's no way he's going to sleep through this storm. Why don't we all go downstairs until it's over? Might relax him a bit." James suggested.
The Potters walked down the stairs together, with James in the lead and Lily carrying Harry behind him. They went into the large living room and James pulled the curtains down so that Harry wouldn't have to look at the lightning. But the baby still wouldn't stop crying.
"It's the thunderstorm, I think." James deduced tiredly. "He's scared."
Lily sighed. "Sirius was always good at calming him down. I wish we could see him." She flinched as a particularly loud burst of thunder erupted from the sky, sending Harry into another spasm of fear.
CRASH!
"I do too, but we'll have to do what we can without him. We should probably just stay with Harry until he falls back asleep, or until the storm is through." James fell back onto a couch, and patted the spot next for him for Lily to sit.
Smiling, she did, and lowered her self and Harry down onto the sofa. Lily snuggled against James, and he rested his arm around her. At the sight of his parents looking so calm, Harry quieted a little. The family didn't speak for a while, just content with sitting there.
"Are you scared, James?" Lily asked quietly, after about five minutes. The question startled James, who had been used to the growing silence.
"I've been through a couple of storms in my time, Lily. This one isn't much worse." He gave his answer lightly, but he knew her real meaning.
"No, I mean," she sat up a little to look him in the eyes, "Are you scared for Harry? For us?" There was a slight quiver in her usually strong, valiant voice.
James hesitated before answering Lily. He didn't want to scare her, but he didn't want to lie, either. "I'm not scared for us. We've been too close to death before this to be afraid of it now." He paused again. "But, am I scared for Harry? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."
Lily nodded, and lay back against him. "Me too. He's too young." Lily shivered suddenly, and James tightened his arms around him. There was no point in carrying on this depressing discussion if it was going to make his wife sick with worry.
"Do you remember the day Harry was born?" He asked her, to move on to a more cheerful subject.
"No, I don't, James." Lily replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Well, I do." He ignored her. "Do you remember what you said to me, right after he came out?"
Lily thought, and then shook her head. "Sorry. The Healer had me down with so many potions; I'm surprised I remembered that I was having a baby."
James laughed. "Well, I'll refresh your memory. You told me that Harry was all the family we'd ever need. You never looked so happy as you did on that day."
Lily was silent for a long while. James tapped her after several minutes to make sure she hadn't fallen asleep.
"Ow!"
"Sorry. Thought you'd dozed off again."
"No." Lily squirmed a little. "I was thinking."
"About?"
"About…how unfair it would be…if all that was for nothing." She paused. "D'you know what I mean?"
Yes, he knew what she meant. He knew exactly what she meant. Lily was terrified for Harry, much more than she had let on. James twisted his face to keep tears from falling. Lily's vague, yet somehow blunt way of expressing her worries made him feel almost as if it was all for nothing. Going into hiding. Switching their Secret-Keeper so that no one would notice the change. Isolating their friends and distancing themselves from those who could help them.
But looking down at his son's face, James felt a muscle tighten in his heart. How could it all be for nothing? How could such a sweet, precious thing not be worth all they efforts they had taken to save him?
"We'll be fine. Peter will fine. And most importantly, Harry will be fine." James reassured his wife in a firm, sure voice. He knew he was right, but James Potter was not the type of man who would think otherwise.
Harry gave a tiny yawn in his lap, and James realized that he was about to fall asleep again. Acknowledging that he and Lily should do the same, he picked the small boy up and lifted him onto his shoulder, intending to carry him back upstairs.
Very unexpectedly, Harry started crying again. It was worse this time, though - much worse. He was kicking and screaming, pounding his tiny fists against James' back and making more noise than he had ever had. James almost dropped his son after the sudden change in mood, but caught himself at the last moment. He brought the baby up to his face and clearly, directly, ever-so calmly, asked him, "Harry, what's the matter?"
His question was answered, not by Harry, but by a noise from outside. Footsteps, James thought instinctively. But their house was invisible to anyone but the Secret-Keeper, and Peter would have called before coming…
The horrible, heart-stopping, dizzying reality hit James like brick to the face.
o-o
"Lily! It's him! Take Harry and run!" James shouted, thrusting Harry into Lily's arms.
Lily gasped, and James could practically see the dozens of emotions flash in the light of her emerald-green eyes. "But…James -!" She gripped his arm.
"No, Lily, we talked about this!" James yelled over the sound of their front door being smashed down. "You run, and I'll hold him off!"
Lily hesitated, as if she were about to argue, but decided against it. She leaned into him and gave him one last, desperate kiss.
"I love you, James."
"And I love you, Lily." He kissed Harry on the forehead, and sent them off running up the staircase.
James turned in time to see the – unfortunately - familiar pale face of Lord Voldemort. Red slits glared at him from an uncomfortable distance of two yards.
"James Potter…we meet again." Voldemort taunted in that eerily high-pitched voice, his wand held out in front of him.
James drew his own wand so quickly; he thought he had given himself whiplash. Not that it will matter in a few seconds, James thought gloomily. No! He scolded himself mentally. You have to last longer than that, Potter! You have to give Lily and Harry time to escape!
"I see you've ruined my door during your grand entrance, Tom. It doesn't surprise me, though. You always did have a thing for theatrics." James jeered at him. Yes, annoying him would definitely buy some time.
Voldemort's face contorted with anger. "You dare to mock me, boy? You dare to call me by that name? That was my Muggle pig of a father's name. Swine, that's what he was." Voldemort's expression became amused. "Very similar to your Mudblood wife. Maybe, when I'm through with you, I'll have a little fun with her. Though I doubt she'll enjoy it very much, what with that child having to watch." He sneered evilly.
"STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!" James bellowed, boiling with such strong rage that he had never felt before. He shot a Stunner at Voldemort. He blocked it easily, and threw a Cruciatus Curse at James, who dodged it.
"Very good, Potter, very good. Dumbledore has taught you well." Voldemort taunted, wand still at the ready. "But I suppose if Dumbledore had taught you better, you would have thought to protect your family a bit more carefully."
The color in James' face drained. He knew what that meant. "How – how did you get it out of Peter? What did you do to him?" James demanded, even though he didn't know why he had even bothered with the question. It was obvious that Voldemort had tortured Peter until he had given up their location.
But Voldemort laughed. "What did I do to Wormtail? I rewarded him, of course! Just as I reward all of my most loyal servants." He exaggerated the last three words.
James couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wouldn't believe it. How could Peter have handed them over to Voldemort? It wasn't true; it couldn't be true! Peter Pettigrew, his friend, his brother, his fellow Marauder, had betrayed him? Betrayed Lily? Betrayed Harry?
"You're lying!" James hissed, wand hand trembling. He needed to hear more.
Voldemort just laughed his horrible laugh. "Certainly not, Potter! Wormtail came to me a year ago, begging for protection. He was willing to do almost anything to live. Of course, I shared his feelings in that regard. That was the main reason that I didn't kill him right then.
"I gave him small jobs at first, things he couldn't screw up. Spying, passing over information, for instance, from Dumbledore's resistance force. But then, when he told me of this Prophecy, I gained a new respect for him. Maybe there is more to this weak, untalented excuse for wizard than meets the eye, I remember thinking. And I was proven correct when he came to me, not two weeks ago, with news that he could hand over little baby Harry Potter, and his parents with him." Voldemort crooned, flourishing his wand.
James recovered quickly, surprising himself. "You'll have to get through me to get to Harry!" He straightened himself up and backed away to stand protectively in front of the staircase. He could hear Harry crying from upstairs, and Lily's voice trying frantically to soothe him.
"That should prove easier than you think, Potter." Voldemort was muttering curses before James knew it. Taken by surprise, he formed a shield around his body, not having time to cast any spells himself.
They bounced off the invisible barrier. Streaks of color flew off into various directions, one of which hitting the living room sofa and blasting it apart. Wads of cushioning hit Voldemort from behind, and he turned, probably thinking it was something more threatening.
James took the opportunity to cast another Stunner at Voldemort, and a complicated jinx that he had learned from Lily. The Stunner missed, but the jinx hit Voldemort square in the chest. He was taken over by a succession of convulsions. He threw the jinx off before it got too damaging, though, and emerged looking more annoyed than he had before.
"Tsk, tsk, Potter. You just won't behave, will you? Maybe this will put you in your place. Crucio!" James barely had time to think, let alone block it somehow. So he jumped.
o-o
As he flew through the air, James was struck by a memory, a memory of four boys lounging on the floor of their dorm room with their wand hands covering a parchment. They were making a promise to each other. James grinned as he hit the hard wooden floor of the entranceway. At least he now knew what to do.
o-o
The red jet of wand light had missed him by mere centimeters. James knew he wouldn't be so lucky in the near, near future.
He stood up, shakily, but still standing sure all the same. His fear was gone, as was his willingness to continue the duel. Looking Voldemort directly in the eyes, he said calmly and surely, "Is that the best you can do, Tom?" And he did the worst possible thing that anyone could do in the presence of Lord Voldemort: James laughed openly at him.
Enraged, Voldemort hissed at him again. "Let's end this now, Potter. Avada Kedavra!"
o-o
The approaching beam of green light was coming closer, illuminating the living room with a deathly glow.
o-o
Lily's eyes are that color, James thought peacefully.
o-o
So are Harry's.
o-o
He was still laughing when the green light hit him.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Ahhh! I'm bawling like a big baby! Sobs uncontrollably.
I really don't know how I'm going to do this three more times without going insane! But do you know what will make me feel better? A nice long review!
LaRohaZeta
