The 31st of October, Halloween, dawned bright and clear. There was new, crisp snow on the ground and the birds were singing happily. No one in the sleepy village had any clue of what was going to happen. The air was soon filled with the laughter of innocent and happy children as they ran from house to house asking for candy. Not one child glanced at the house that hid the Potter family. As far as everyone knew the Potters had never lived there. Inside the house a husband and wife were looking after their child and slowly, slowly losing their minds to worry and grief. Never in their lives had they been so scared. Apart of them was telling them that this could be their last day on earth but neither of them paid that part of themselves any attention. Halloween was a fairly subdued affair inside the house. Just a few decorations and a whole lot of candy. .

Lily sat in the lounge room and watched as James played with little Harry on the floor. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen anything so simple and heart breaking. Lily still had a bad feeling about everything that was happening around her, and it seemed to be worse that day. All day Lily had been trying to ignore the growing feeling of apprehension in her stomach, only to find that the screams of laughter from outside had made it worse. Although it was clear that it was laugher every time Lily heard the happy scream of a child she couldn't help but think it was actually a scream of terror. It was just one of those days, she decided, and put the feeling down to frayed nerves.

Overall the day had been quiet for the Potter family. No owls had arrived from their friends, which wasn't unusual, and there had been nothing particularly interesting in the newspaper. The bulk of the day had been spent having some decidedly ordinary Halloween fun even if Harry didn't quite get it. All he knew was that he had gotten candy with his lunch and nothing else mattered. Harry had been content all day playing on his toy broom and terrorising the poor cat, which had recently taken refuge on Lily's lap.

James suddenly looked up at her. 'We'll have to get them over for Christmas, Lil. I'll go insane if we don't.'

'That's kind of out of the blue, there James. But you're right. It would be nice.' Lily smiled at him. 'I don't think I could handle it if you went even more insane. I might lose my mind.'

'Already lost it, love.' James grinned at her.

'Probably!' Lily laughed. 'Anyway, we'll invite them. I'm sure they'll come. If only to save me.'

'Whatever.' James glanced down at Harry. 'Plus I need to talk to Remus.'

'What about?'

James sighed. 'I need to explain to him why we didn't make him Secret Keeper.'

'James, he knows why.' Lily said watching James.

'No, he thinks it's only because he's a werewolf. But really it's because we didn't trust him. I need him to know that.'

'You're going to tell Remus that you don't trust him?'

'No, I'm going to tell Remus that I was wrong not to trust him. He deserves to know.' James hadn't looked up at Lily for a while and instead had been focusing solely on Harry. 'I just feel bad about it, you know? Remus has never given us a reason not to trust him and yet we don't. Or didn't. Every time he's come to visit I've never gotten that feeling that I can't trust him. I trust him with my life and yet, I've acted like an idiot.'

'Which isn't exactly unusual, James. But fair enough. If you really want to tell him then you'll have to convince him to come over so that you can tell him.'

'Yeah.' James fell silent and Harry finally looked away from the stuffed rat he was playing with in order to watch his father. Harry reached up and placed his small hand on James' cheek. James smiled down at Harry and bundled the boy into his arms. Lily sat down on the floor besides them and gently put her hand on the back of James' neck and leant her head against his shoulder, taking care not to squish Harry between them.

'He'll understand, James. And he won't be hurt by it. Remus is smart; he probably knew that we'd all have doubts about his loyalty. But he trusted that eventually we'd come around and believe him. And it happened.' James nodded and Lily knew that he was struggling, and would continue to do so until he had spoken to Remus. 'Send him a letter today if you like.'

'Maybe after dinner. If I remember that is,' James fell silent and Lily smiled when Harry squeezed James. 'I'm all right, Harry. Do you think Moony will forgive me?'

'Yes!' Harry yelled happily.

...

Later that night, Lily sat reading, while James was again sitting on the floor amusing Harry with magic. James had just finished writing a letter to Remus, explaining why he hadn't been made Secret Keeper and how James hadn't trusted him. James had also begged for Remus' forgiveness in the letter. As yet, the letter remained unset and was instead lying on the kitchen table. Suddenly there was a tearing sound and Lily looked up. Harry was staring angrily down at the stuffed rat, whose head he had just ripped off.

'Harry!' Lily admonished. 'Uncle Wormy gave you that!'

'Bad rat.' Harry said, holding the pieces out to her. 'Bad rat.'

'Harry, what do you mean "bad rat"?' James asked.

Harry turned to James and said again 'Bad rat'.

'But why?'

'Bad rat.' Harry shook the two halves of the toy at James. 'Bad rat, bad rat.'

'Harry,' Lily said sternly. Harry dropped his hands and looked at her. 'Tell us why the rat's bad?'

'Rat tell secret.' Harry said simply, throwing away the toy in disgust, and suddenly giggled when some of the stuffing fell out.

"'Rat tell secret'." James repeated softly.

'James, you don't know that's what he meant. He's only a baby.'

'Yeah, but he's our baby, Lil. That makes him extra special smart.'

'Then he can't be yours.'

'Ha, ha, very funny.' James pulled a face at her and went back to showing Harry some magic. 'Anyway, Pete wouldn't betray us.'

'And what makes you so sure?'

'Simple. He knows that Sirius would kill him if he did.'

'No he wouldn't.' Lily said, wanting to believe it. James looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow.

'Really? You really think that Padfoot wouldn't go after Pete if he did betray us? He'd go after him in a heartbeat.'

'But would he kill Pete?'

'He'd try. So, yes, probably. Although Remus might be able to talk him out of it,' James fell silent and thought for a second. 'Actually, scratch that. If Remus knew Pete was Secret Keeper he'd probably help Sirius.'

'But they wouldn't risk it. For Harry's sake, right?'

'I hope so. I wouldn't want them to become killers. Especially if it was because of Pete. You gonna fix that rat?'

'No, I'll do it in the morning.'

'Yeah, okay.' As James continued entertaining Harry with various spells, he listened to the sounds coming from outside the house. Just an hour earlier James could hear children running around and laughing as they collected candy from the neighbours. Now, however, there was silence. James couldn't hear anything from outside, and instantly knew that something wasn't quite right. James glanced at the clock and noted the time: 8 o'clock. Where were all the kids looking for candy? Usually they didn't stop until at least ten. James concentrated and tried to feel the enchantments that had been placed on the house when Peter was made Secret Keeper. Something felt wrong. Something felt missing. James looked out the window and could see nothing out of the ordinary. The moon was out and… no, it wasn't. The moon was missing. Every night James would look out the window and stare at the moon. Especially when it was full. He was always able to see it out this window. James waited, hoping that there was just a cloud in the way. Suddenly James could see why the moon was missing. Standing in front of their house was a man. He was pointing his wand up at the moon. James stood and carefully walked over to the window to watch the man. As he watched, James saw the man lower his wand and turn towards the house. It was then that James saw beneath the hood. The face was pale and the eyes were just red slits. It was a face that James had hoped and prayed he would never have to see again. Voldemort.

'Oh no…'

'James? What's wrong?'

'Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!' James yelled. Lily grabbed Harry and stumbled from the room heading upstairs. James picked up his wand and feeling oddly calm stood in front of the door, blocking the stairs. He glanced behind him and saw Lily standing at the top of the stairs looking down at him. James smiled at her. 'Go, Lily. I love you.'

'I love you too.' Lily smiled sadly at him and, knowing that she'd never see him again, turned and ran. James faced the door again just as it burst open and Voldemort walked in.

'James Potter,' Voldemort's high pitched laugh tore at James' heart. 'Tonight you die.'

'Bring it on.' James sounded much braver than he felt. He stared into those red slits and regretted that they would be the last thing he ever saw. Voldemort calmly pointed his wand at James, who mirrored the movement.

'You really think you can beat me? You really think you can survive me?'

'No, I don't. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to fight you. For those I love, I will die.'

'Your son will die.' Voldemort sneered. James frowned slightly; Voldemort hadn't mentioned Lily. Voldemort smiled cruelly at him. 'Your wife, Potter, will only die if she stands in my way. I only wish to kill you and your son.'

'And why won't you kill Lily?' James was trying to buy time, hoping that Lily would leave, though he doubted she would.

'Because it was asked of me. I very rarely acquiesce to my followers requests, but this one came from a very loyal follower. Lily Potter need not die tonight.'

'Who asked this of you?' James asked, already guessing the answer.

'Severus Snape.' Voldemort sneered when James closed his eyes. 'That's right, Potter. My most loyal servant asked for your wife to be spared so that he could have her as his own when you're dead.'

'She'll never go for him.'

'Not willingly.' Voldemort drawled. 'Enough talk, Potter.'

Suddenly the house was filled with the sounds of duelling. Neither James nor Voldemort cared about how much noise they made. All that mattered to both of them was the other. Nothing else in the world mattered. All of James' energy was concentrated on Voldemort and protecting his wife and child.

Nothing else in the world mattered… nothing else in the world mattered… Lily… Harry… nothing else in the world mattered… nothing else in the…

…

Lily could hear them fighting.

She stood, holding Harry in her arms, letting her tears flow freely. James was protecting her, just as he always had done. Ever since Hogwarts he had protected her, even when she didn't want it, and now it would be the death of him. Lily kissed Harry's forehead and placed him in his crib.

'Always remember that we love you, Harry. We did this for you. My sweet little boy.'

Lily took a deep breath and faced the door, her wand lying forgotten on the table. Suddenly Lily heard the cold voice say the words she had been dreading.

'Avada Kedavra!'

Lily's heart stopped. James was gone and she was alone. Lily closed her eyes and willed herself to be strong. For Harry's sake. Lil opened her eyes when she heard Voldemort coming up the stairs. She took a deep breath and waited. When the door opened, it took all of Lily's courage not to fall to pieces. Voldemort stood before her, cold and sneering, enjoying the pain and sorrow he could see in her eyes.

'Stand aside and I'll let you live.'

'It won't be living without my husband and son.' Lily refused to let the tears in her eyes fall. She had to be strong, for James. It's what he would've done. He would have been strong; he wouldn't have shown this mad man any fear. And neither would she.

'Foolish girl. You need not die tonight.'

'For those I love, I will die.' Lily didn't know where the words came from but imagined that it was James, whispering in her ear.

'Your husband said the same thing,' Voldemort said. He didn't understand this "love" thing. It was meaningless. 'He died, and so will your son.'

'Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I'll do anything!' Lily forgot about being strong. It didn't matter. All that mattered was her son.

'Stand aside,' Voldemort frowned, confused, when Lily shook her head and stood her ground. 'Stand aside, girl!'

'No.' Lily whispered. I'm coming, James…

'Then you leave me no choice.' Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at Lily.

Harry…