October 31, 1981

"Auror Potter, here are those papers you requested."

James Potter's head snapped up off his desk abruptly at the sound of the voice. He wiped the sleep out his eyes while peering around his office looking for the source. It took him a few moments for him to realize his assistant Samuels was standing in the doorway. The young man, just a year younger than James himself, raised his brow at the image of his boss.

"Sorry Samuels, I must have dozed off. These long nights are starting to catch up with me. What papers are those?" James asked while trying to pat down his disheveled hair.

"The prisoner transfer forms sir," Samuels responded setting the forms down on the surface of James' cluttered desk.

"Oh, right," James muttered darkly. "I swear I've been through the ministry's whole bloody supply of them. Half the people I'm escorting to Azkaban aren't even Death Eaters! Someone needs to stand up to Crouch and tell him that we have to start giving trials again. I swear I send them to prison and then a week later Voldemort has them out!"

"Why don't you do it sir?"

"Believe me, I've tried," James said exasperated. "I just can't acquire enough votes in the Wizengamot to overturn anything. Not to mention the Minister won't give me the time of day."

James stood up from his chair and began pacing the room. The whole state of the Wizarding world was beginning to take its toll on his nerves. It was bad enough working late, but what was worse was he was leaving Lily to stay and take care of Harry constantly. His son was just over a year old and he barely got to spend time with him. James couldn't lie to himself, he was actually considering quitting; it wasn't like they needed the money. His parents had died shortly after he left Hogwarts, and being an only child he was left everything. The Potters were an old pureblood family which possessed a substantial amount of money and most notable, a seat on the Wizengamot.

"What about Dumbledore?" Samuels asked, distracting James from his thoughts.

"Don't even get me started on Dumbledore. That old man infuriates me sometimes. He preaches equality to the public and to the press, but when it comes time to act on it he does nothing. I went to him for advice the other day to ask how to best protect my family and he tells me to do nothing, nothing! It wouldn't surprise me if he was playing us all for fools."

Samuels' eyes opened widely at James' exclamation. "You can't be serious sir? He's the leader of the light, he fights Death Eaters!"

James snorted at that comment. "Albus Dumbledore does not fight Death Eaters. The Order of the Phoenix fights Death Eaters, but seeing as Dumbledore is the leader he gets the credit. Not getting the credit doesn't bother me; it's the fact that more and more are willing to blindly follow him on false reporting. I've watched some of my friends and colleagues die and Dumbledore acts like it's of no great importance. Frankly, the man scares me, but there's nothing that can be done about it." James sat back down in his chair, shook his head and sighed wearily. "Thank you for bringing me the forms Samuels. You should go home, it's already late. Why don't you take tomorrow off as well? I think I can manage one day without you."

"Thank you sir," Samuels said brightly. "You should get home too sir, you look exhausted. I'm sure your family misses you as well."

"As soon as I finish these I'll be on my way. Have a good night." James watched as Samuels waved and retreated out of his office. He looked down at the blank forms in disgust. Realizing that they weren't going anywhere, he decided to leave them for the next day. No one would chastise him for his procrastination, and if they did, well, then maybe he would be fired and spared the torture and monotony of gracing the ministry with his presence every day.

He took the piles of papers from the top of his desk and stored them into one of the drawers that had some spare room. Standing from his chair, he picked up his black cloak that had fallen on the floor and pulled it on. Waving his wand he extinguished the office lights. Everyone seemed to of had the same idea to head home because the ministry halls were crowded on the way to the Apparation points. It took him nearly fifteen minutes, but finally he appeared in front of his home at Godric's Hollow.

The town of Godric's Hollow was relatively small. It was home to both muggle and magical alike. The muggles either didn't notice or chose to ignore any of the strange things that occurred around the town on a regular basis. The house that James bought after Lily agreed to marry him wasn't extraordinary, but was still very comfortable for a small family. The two story house was situated on the outskirts of town, nestled into a copse of trees. While its location provided privacy, it also ensured nobody would become suspicious of the missing house that was currently under the fidelius charm. James reminded himself that he needed to get Peter to tell Remus and Sirius the location of the house.

He looked at the front of the house and noticed that Lily had left the kitchen and porch lights on for him. Harry's nursery was dark so he guessed the little guy was sleeping. James walked up the front steps and opened the front door as quietly as he was able to. The sitting room was completely dark so James felt around the wall for the light switch. That was one advantage to living in a partially muggle town: electricity. Lily had given him a crash course in muggle technology and he couldn't deny that he was somewhat addicted to the television.

Finally locating the light switch, James flipped and the room came into view. He was momentarily surprised when he saw the figure of his wife sleeping on the dark brown, leather sofa. He walked over and knelt on the floor at the end where her head was. Reaching over with his right hand, he pushed her crimson hair away from her face and leaned down, placing a kiss gently on her forehead. He watched as she stirred and was greeted with the sight of her beautiful emerald eyes staring up at him, the same ones she shared with their son.

"Hey, I must have fallen asleep. I wanted to be up when you got home," Lily whispered as she stretched her limbs.

"You should have gone to bed. I'm sure my favorite son kept you busy all day."

"He wasn't too bad, although he keeps scurrying about, trying to get into your study; he's trying to get your bloody broom. I told you, you shouldn't have taken him flying; now he's going to be addicted just like his father."

"And what's so bad about that?" James asked amused.

Lily finally sat up on the couch and scowled at her husband. "The problem is he's going to give his poor mother a heart attack."

James laughed heartily at that comment. "Do we have anything to eat? I was so busy today that I worked right through lunch."

Lily reached over and ran her hands through his messy hair. "Of course, I saved a plate of dinner for you. Why don't you go and change and I'll heat it up?"

James leaned over and pecked Lily on the lips. "I love you, you're the best. I'll be down in a minute." He stood up off of the hardwood floor, hearing them creak under his shifting weight. As he made his way up the stairs he heard Lily starting to move around in the kitchen.

He reached the top of the steps and looked to the right where Harry's nursery was located. Deciding to check in on him, he proceeded to open the door and maneuver around the dark room until he reached the crib against the far wall. Harry, who was wearing a pair of quidditch pajamas that James had picked out, was sleeping peacefully and holding onto his tiny stuffed dragon. The dragon had been a gift from Sirius and James swore he had never seen Harry go anywhere without it. Realizing he was starting to push his luck by being in the room so long with a sleeping child, he leaned down and kissed his son. Just being in the room with his son reminded James of how much time he was spending away from his family. Straight up, he was sick of his job and he knew what he wanted to do about it. He would have to talk to his wife about it though.

He quickly made his way out of Harry's room and went to his, slipping into a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. Quietly descending down his stairs, he walked into the kitchen and saw a plate of food waiting for him at the table. Lily was at the stove making a pot of tea. He sat down at the table, and wasting no time, dug into his wife's cooking. James was extremely thankful that his wife was such a good cook, but he was so hungry that it probably wouldn't have mattered if it had tasted horrible. Lily walked over with two teacups in her hands, placing one in front of James and one in front of where she seated herself.

"So what was work like today?" Lily asked before taking a sip of her tea.

James finished chewing the food that was currently in his mouth and sat down his fork. "Pretty much the same as every other day which is depressing. I spend half my day chasing Death Eaters on bad information. Then I come back and sit at my desk for hours and hours filling out paperwork. We honestly don't accomplish anything." James looked over cautiously at his wife. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

Noticing the troubled features on her husband's face Lily reached over and placed her hand over his own. "James, you know you can tell me anything."

James nodded and smiled at her quickly before quickly sobering. "Well, I was thinking of leaving my job," he said waiting for Lily to react.

He had expected her to be surprised or upset, but she didn't look either of those things. "Why do you want to leave?"

James laughed, "There are an abundance of reasons that I want to leave. I can't stand most of the people who work there, the Minister is a complete idiot, and I am tired of filling out bloody paperwork that serves absolutely no purpose. May-Eye had the right idea when he left, or retired as he referred to it." The day that Alastor Moody decided to retire was ingrained into James mind for all eternity. He was actually considering using it as his happy memory the next time a patronus was required. The Minister had sent Moody on assignment to Germany on some shady information that there was a training base for Death Eaters, and a week later Moody came back, he had found not a single trace of a Death Eater. He stormed into the Minister's office, stunning his body guards in the process, and officially retired from the Aurors. That hadn't been enough for Moody though. He transfigured the Minister's regal, expensive desk into a school child's desk, and walked out, muttering about the government's ineptitude in some very colorful terms. His grand finale though, was the highlight of the event. On his way out he was about to pass Lucius Malfoy when the small minded man felt the need to heckle the famous Auror. Before anyone knew what happened, Moody had pulled out his wand and turned Malfoy into a duck.

"James!" Lily yelled trying to regain her husband's attention.

James shook his head and looked back at Lily sheepishly. "Sorry, sometimes my mind just wanders to the image of Malfoy the duck waddling and quacking around the atrium."

"It's alright sweetheart," Lily consoled, "just as long as the reason you want to quit isn't that you want to turn Malfoy into a duck. You don't have to quit to do that. I give you my permission to do it anytime you want."

"I swear that's not the reason," James said grinning. "Actually the main reason that I want to quit is because of you."

If Lily wasn't surprised before, she most certainly was now. "Why am I the reason you want to quit?"

"Well not just you," James immediately corrected, "you and Harry both. I spend so much time at the Ministry now that I barely get to see you two. The only time we get to be together anymore is when I get home from work late at night. And Harry, he's my son, and the only time I get to see him he's usually asleep. I don't want to miss him growing up. If my mother and father were still alive they would be hexing me for the amount of time that I spend at work. My dad had the right idea; he stayed on the Wizengamot and took care of our family's finances, but all the rest of the time was devoted to us. That's what I want to do too."

Lily stood up from her chair and took a seat in James' lap. She placed both of her arms around his neck. "If that's what you want to do, then you have my complete support. What are we going to do about the prophecy though?"

James mood immediately darkened at the thought of the prophecy. "We have to hope that we find some way to take down the Dark Lord without getting him involved. If that doesn't work, then we'll just wait until he's old enough to understand and explain it to him. I'll make it my life's main goal to make sure he can defend himself if that's the case." They sat in silence for several minutes, James absently stroking Lily's back. Suddenly though, he felt her body go completely rigid. Startled, James looked up at her face.

"What is it, what's wrong?" James questioned panicked.

Lily lifted her hand and shakily pointed it towards the kitchen window. "I swear I just saw something move outside," she whispered. James gathered his strength and lifted Lily up, placing her back in her chair. He slipped his wand out of his pajama pants and swiftly made his way to the window. As he looked outside, he suddenly felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head. He turned around and looked wide eyed at his wife.

"Lily, go get Harry now! It's him! That fucking rat gave us up!"