Disclaimer: I do not own any of this and have neither the patience nor the time to come up with anything half as creative as JKR. (so deal with it!!!!)

James Potter's Greatest Secrets

He had the perfect childhood. He was his parents' only child and they doted on him. It wasn't until he arrived at Hogwarts and met Remus, Sirius, and Peter that he appreciated everything that his parents gave him. Remus's parents were afraid of him. Sirius's parents hated him for being in Gryffindor. Peter's father had died several years before he arrived and his mother was often ill. James, however, had everything. So, as a result, Sirius and Remus hung out at Potter Mansion during the holidays. And Sirius and Remus became like brothers. They were the brothers he'd always hoped for and he knew that, apart from his parents and Lily, they were the two most important people in the world to him.

Peter, however, wasn't. As much as he hated himself for it, a small part of him was never as close to Peter as he was to the others. A small part of him never trusted Peter as completely as he trusted Remus and Sirius. Peter was a friend, not a brother, and it killed him to admit it. He was the one who insisted that that they include Peter as a member of their group. It was James who honestly included him as part of their group while Sirius though that they would be better off without Peter. And, in their seventh year, when Peter started disappearing spontaneously, it was James who made excuses for him. It was James who saw him talking to Crabbe and Goyle and vowed never to tell any of the others. It was James who made Peter a marauder, and he was glad he died soon after he found out about Peter's betrayal, because he didn't think he could live with it.

The Marauders were more than friends, they were family. In a way, Hogwarts gave him what his parents couldn't. Hogwarts gave him more than a home or an education. Hogwarts gave him brothers. Hogwarts made sure that he was never lonely or bored. Hogwarts gave him his love for pranks and his desire for fun and excitement. Hogwarts gave him joy and laughter and he would always remember Hogwarts fondly. But the castle was never home to him. Home was Potter Mansion, with Teazle the house elf, and his parents Andrew and Suzanna and the large hall and tapestries and everything that proved that he was a Potter. Hogwarts was school and he grew to love it, but Potter Mansion was home. It always was and it always would be.

It was his idea to become animagi. He thought of it and mentioned it to Sirius, who was all for it immediately. But even though it was his idea, the minute he suggested it, he began to have doubts. After all, so much could go wrong. But when Sirius mentioned it to Remus and James saw the gratitude and what appeared to be relief in Remus's eyes, he felt guilty. After all, Remus needed them and it wasn't his fault he was what he was. So James pushed away all his doubts and hit the books. He was in his fourth year when they finished all the necessary research and, during Christmas that year, they transformed for the first time. He accepted the fact that he was a stag almost immediately, I mean, who wouldn't want to be such a strong, graceful animal?

He noticed Lily the first time he saw her. Even at eleven, she was easily the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. At first, she was just another girl. By the time he was in his third year, he really liked her. It was the beginning of his fifth year when he admitted he loved her. By the time they were married, she was the most important person in the world to him. At first, he liked her because he thought they made a nice couple, standing beside each other, her delicate and petite with her dark red hair and green eyes and him, tall and well muscled from his Quiditch training with his black hair and hazel eyes. But as he got to know her, he fell in love with her courage and intelligence and loyalty. He loved everything about her and he knew that they belonged together. If only she didn't hate him.

He didn't hate Severus. While he knew that Sirius hated him, James knew that he didn't hate Snape, he pitied him, he disliked him, but he couldn't hate him. Originally, he was just a Slytherin and James and the Marauders pranked all Slytherins, not just Snape. A small part of him knew that Snape loved Lily and, automatically, he became his rival. As Snape turned to the Dark Arts, he knew that he greatly disliked Snape. Then, when Lucius Malfoy first offered him a position as a Death Eater and he refused, Bella and Lucius urged Snape to curse him whenever his back was turned. That was where their enmity truly started and when he called Lily a mudblood, he hated him for hurting Lily, for making her cry, but he never hated Snape for himself, just for what he did to Lily.

That spot beside the lake near the forest, that was his spot, the one place where he could go to be alone. But when he saw Lily there, he knew that they were meant for each other. So, in their seventh year, when he found out that she was missing, his first instinct was to check there. He didn't care that it was below zero outside or that there was a great blizzard coming. He knew that Lily was there, and he had to find her, because she was his Lilyflower and he had to find her. He didn't stop to think. He just grabbed his broom and cloak and left. And when he found her, more dead than alive, he knew he had to take care of her, because there was no life for him without Lily and he would die for her. So getting married after Hogwarts was the natural step. But then, Lily was pregnant and her delivery was the most terrifying hours of his life.

It was that year that Lily became his life. His parents were murdered by Death Eaters too, just before his twentieth birthday. Just like when her parents died, Lily was his rock. Lily kept him whole and sane. She was the one who pulled him out of his grief and rage. It was Lily who kept him alive, Lily who kept him from singlehandedly attempting to murder every Death Eater in sight. After all, his parents were everything to him. They were both only children and they were the only family he had left, just like Lily. It was Lily and the Order that kept him sane because he was fighting to avenge his parents' deaths. But it was that rage, that fear that he felt when he first heard that Voldemort was after his son. First they stole his family and now his son?

Teazle was his parents' house elf that he "inherited" after their death. In a way, Teazle was the last piece of his parents that he had left. Teazle took care of him, practically raised him. Teazle was part of the family and he loved him like an elder brother or a parent. So, when Voldemort arrived at their doorstep, it was Teazle who stood in his path, guarding James with his life. And Voldemort killed Teazle without a moment's hesitation and, for the first time, all of James's fear of Voldemort was replaced with anger, pure anger, and suddenly, nothing mattered more than ensuring that Lily and Harry got out alive.

Dying….dying wasn't hard. If he was dying to protect Lily and Harry, then dying was worth it. If only he'd picked up his wand….but there he was, faced with Voldemort's glaring red eyes. Sirius, his friend, his brother, would be blamed. Harry….what would happen to his son if Lily….He vowed that, when he died, he wouldn't see Voldemort. The last thing in the world that he would see was Lily's eyes, Harry's eyes. He couldn't help but smile as he died, because they were the world to him, and he loved them more than the world, because he wasn't thinking about Him but rather of them and he knew, if he was thankful for one thing in this world, it was them.

Please Review!!! I know I've gotten a lot of reviews asking for different characters. Um...yeah. For right now, please enjoy these pre written ones that I worte a while ago. I'll start working on those next week, as soon as finals are over. I swear.

But please keep reviewing!!!! :-D