Part One: 1977

Chapter One

Two months later…

"James has been attacked by Voldemort!"

I leapt to my feet, seeing the panicked look on Sirius's face. He stared at me with widened eyes for only one more heartbeat before he took off again back downstairs, with me close behind him.

In the Potters' living room, James Potter was stretched out on the couch, a deep gash across his cheek pouring blood. He looked up at Sirius as we entered the room and said, "Sirius, I have to tell you something- it's important."

Sirius raced over to his best friend, kneeling beside the couch while Euphemia paced quickly. Fleamont was nowhere to be found, same with Lily; I supposed they had apparated somewhere to get help. Sirius leaned close to James and asked, "James, what is it?"

"I…" He paused, coughed up a small spurt of blood, and said, "I suppose you could call this a tongue-in-cheek situation."

"James Potter," Sirius growled through gritted teeth, "I am going to defenestrate you."

"Sirius, my friend," James replied, "Have mercy on me."

Sirius rolled his eyes, glancing over his shoulder at me. "James is fine."

He stood to leave, and James reached out a hand. "Sirius, no! I'm dying! Who else is going to listen to my awful jokes!"

A pop echoed through the room, followed shortly by another. Lily had arrived with Madame Pomfrey, the harried nurse immediately bustling over to James. She glanced over the wound, and then jolted as two more pops came through- Fleamont and Dumbledore.

"This is all because of your order, Albus!" Euphemia screeched, a surprising hostility from the middle-aged witch to a man I was certain had once been her headmaster. Dumbledore regarded her calmly as she continued, "Had you not permitted such young witches and wizards in here, this would never have happened! My boy should not be facing the likes of the Dark Lord himself! How would you like it if I put your most treasured child into such danger?"

"Mum, I'm your only child," James mumbled, and Madame Pomfrey glared at him.

"Stop moving," she hissed sternly.

Euphemia continued, "I will see to it myself that you are never allowed to teach at Hogwarts again! Raising armies like this-"

"Mrs. Potter," Sirius interrupted, "Please, it isn't Dumbledore's fault. If anything, blame Hazel- she's the one who recommended us to him!"

"Sirius!" I gasped, and Euphemia whirled on me.

But her tone was surprisingly gentle. "Hazel, darling, now I don't blame you. You're only trying to do what's best for your family and loved ones." She turned to Sirius. "But as for you-! Well, no, I can't blame you either." She wilted then, sighing. "I suppose I'm only frightened for my boy's health. I don't like any of this." She wrapped her arms around herself. "None of it at all."

"None of us do, Mrs. Potter," Lily said, wrapping a gentle arm around the worried mother. "Come with me, let's go have a cuppa, yeah? Calm you right down…"

The two women exited, and for a moment I envied Lily's gentle nature- and then I tried to picture her in a fight, and couldn't, and lost my envy. I liked being the fighting type. I turned back to look at James, who was no longer bleeding. Madame Pomfrey drew her wand across his cheek, and the wound closed, leaving a scar.

"Now," Madame Pomfrey said, "That gash cut through your cheek. It's going to scar, and you'll probably have that scar for life."

"Wicked," James said tiredly, and I saw Sirius roll his eyes.

Madame Pomfrey gave James one more stern look, before her features softened and she smiled. "Take care of yourself, alright? You're right lucky Lily knew where to find me- I'm usually out of the country by now." She looked up at Dumbledore. "Should anyone need me, I'll be in Bordeaux for a while, visiting a cousin. Owl me any time, or apparate if it's urgent."

Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you, Madame Pomfrey."

She stood then, and apparated away with another pop. James sat up stiffly, and Sirius immediately came over helped him up. Just as he was upright, someone burst through the door. Sirius, Dumbledore, and I all had our wands out and a defensive stance by the time the intruder burst through- Remus, followed closely by Peter.

"Why did no one tell me?" Remus burst out, looking intensely at James. "I only just heard- and that from Marlene who heard from Mad-Eye who heard from Jeffrey who happened to overhear Fleamont tell Dumbledore. That's my best friend, too!"

Remus then finally looked at James. "What happened? I thought they said Voldemort blasted a hole through his face."

"He did," James said. "You only just missed Pomfrey. She sealed me up, and now I've got a wicked scar."

"Brilliant," Remus deadpanned, collapsing into an armchair, exhausted. "Just when I think my friend is dead, he's cheering about his wicked scar."

"Lot of use of that word today," I noted, and Sirius just looked at me and shrugged.

"So, w-what- I mean, what happened?" Peter stammered, "W-with…" He dropped his voice to a whisper, "You-know-who?"

"I've been wondering that myself," Dumbledore commented, leaning casually against the wall. Euphemia re-entered the room then, using her wand to carry two chairs over to the couch, where she and Lily sat. Seeing no other option, I simply sat on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table from the couch. Sirius chuckled softly at me and I shrugged, and then all eyes were on James.

James opened his mouth to speak, his eyes on the table. It was all too easy to see the memories flashing behind the colorful irises. And then he spoke. "I, um, I was scouting that alley you mentioned the other day," he glanced pointedly at Dumbledore. "The one you told us not to go in. Mad-Eye hadn't scouted it yet, and I was getting impatient. I knew I wouldn't be seen-"

"How?" Euphemia snapped. "Why would you deliberately put yourself in danger-"

"I had the cloak, Mum," he muttered quickly. She froze, and then turned her glare to her husband, who was quietly heading up the stairs, as slow as a mouse trying to creep away from a cat.

"Fleamont Potter! We both agreed it was not yet time to give him that cloak!"

"What cloak?" I asked, as lost as it seemed Lily was. But Remus, Peter, and Sirius all three kept their eyes averted, while James just sat meekly.

"I'm injured, Mum- don't bring extra stress," James requested quietly, his usual mischievous gleam in his eyes.

She glared at him. "I want that cloak back immediately.

"No!" All four marauders shouted, almost in sync. Sirius added, "You can't- it's not right! That cloak could save our lives!"

"Well, it clearly didn't save his!"

"Oh, no, it wasn't the cloak's fault," James said.

"What. Cloak!" I interrupted, as I still hadn't been answered.

"Are you familiar with the Deathly Hallows?" Euphemia asked, sounding exasperated. I nodded; I had heard the tale from Cassi's mum several times. "The Invisibility Cloak is an actual thing, and has been in the Potter family for generations. Fleamont received it from his father, and James has now received it from Fleamont. I assume if James has a son, he, too, will receive the cloak."

I nodded. "And what's so terrible about this? That's a brilliant weapon."

"It inspires recklessness."

I couldn't argue with her. Instead, I shrugged, and we all let James continue. "Anyway, I was wearing the cloak, and then- I heard voices from up ahead. I tried to get closer, see, and there were two Death Eaters- that Bulgarian fellow and the little curly-haired witch, Sirius's cousin." Sirius scoffed at this, and James sent him a sympathetic glance. "And they didn't know I was there yet, so I tried to get closer, find out what they were talking about. Turns out the lowlives were arguing about which unforgivable curse was more efficient as an interrogative method. So, I started to back up, and then a third person came out of a door I hadn't even seen- it's a false wall. The two death eaters turned, and the witch lit up like she had just realized it was Christmas. It took me a minute to figure out the third was him, the Dark Lord. He looks like any other person, outside of his expression being so cold. It's like he's never felt happiness."

I didn't notice the curious and somewhat knowing look that entered Dumbledore's eyes; he glanced at me and back at James, his expression composed into his usual guarded calmness once more.

"He looked around, and then sent the other two inside. Once they were back in, he asked who was there- I didn't reply, but then he suddenly sent a nonverbal spell into the alley and the cloak fell off of me."

"Did you retrieve it?" Fleamont asked quickly. James nodded and continued.

"And then we started to duel, but it wasn't like at Hogwarts, when we learned how to. There was no bow, no polite words- it was just bolts of magic, flying back and forth, colors everywhere. One skimmed my cheek; I didn't think anything of it at the time, and it didn't feel that deep until I realized a chunk of skin was in my mouth. I nearly choked on it, and then spat it out and had to duck to avoid another bolt that flew right toward me. He's a master at nonverbal spells- he never spoke a word. Gives him an unfair advantage over whoever he's fighting, as he can predict and counteract their spells with just a thought. I was fighting for my life, and then finally landed a stupefy on him. A powerful one it was, too- sent him onto his back in the alleyway, and then I petrified him and was about to go over and bind him when five or six Death Eaters showed up. I apparated back here, and you lot know the rest."

Stunned silence filled the room, and then Lily said, "James, you- you defeated the Dark Lord himself. You defeated the most evil wizard in our world, and all that stopped you was that it was an unfair fight."

James looked as if this hadn't even occurred to him, sitting for a long moment in confusion. His eyes stared unfocused, and a miniscule twitch kept drawing his eyebrows down in the center. Suddenly, a grand, proud grin stretched across his face; his eyes opened wide, the pupils shrinking; and his eyebrows lifted gradually further off his face. He leapt to his feet, arms thrown out wide.

"I defeated the Dark Lord! Me! James Potter! Sure, he's not completely gone, but I bested him in battle!" He made to run toward the door, and Lily caught his wrist in a vice grip.

"James, do not go outside and shout it to the world. There are muggles in this town, as well as you are not about to get yourself caught and killed now."

He smiled fondly down at her, and then twisted his arm in her hand to grab her forearm and pull her to her feet. He placed his hands on her face, smiling brightly at her. "Lily Evelyn Evans, how does it feel to know the man who can defeat Voldemort is madly in love with you?"

She made a face. "Well, if that man's a bit of an arrogant tosser, it slightly dampens things."

He pouted, and she relented, sighing.

"Fine; it feels quite grand."

He cheered and kissed her deeply, making Sirius groan, as he was still sitting right beside them, giving him a front-row view of the action. After the kiss, James began dancing around the living room, crowing about his victory. Sirius rolled his eyes as conversation appeared around the room, everyone idly chatting, and he made his way over to me.

"Care to go for a walk?"

I nodded. "Sounds lovely."

We left the Potters' house, where I had been since the week after school ended. We escaped into the dark lane, dotted with sparse streetlights and illuminated by soft gray moonlight. Sirius clasped my hand in his, pulling me closer to him, and we walked at a slow, natural pace.

"Attacked by Voldemort," Sirius said quietly. "Didn't see that one coming."

"Won against Voldemort," I countered. "Didn't expect that, either. No offense to James, of course, it's just…"

"No one else has, I know," Sirius replied, squeezing my hand gently. "I didn't expect it, either."

I exhaled slowly, exhausted by the long night and the stress. Sirius looked over at me.

"Are you okay?"

I shrugged. "As much as I'm going to be. Just… Shocking to realize how quickly one of us could be lost. I know we're in danger, but- face to face with Voldemort? That's a whole new level of danger."

"Have you forgotten that less than three months ago you faced off against a Death Eater while injured on the quidditch pitch? You'll get no more mercy from them than you could expect from Voldemort."

"Perhaps so, but they're more likely to just kill, not to torture for information first. You've heard the stories."

Sirius sighed. "I know. It just helps me feel better to not think about how intense that night was."

I offered him a small smile. "It's only going to get worse, you know. But at least we're together."

He looked back over at me and squeezed my hand. "I'm grateful for that. Thanks for this, Hazel."

"For what?"

He let his eyes drift to the sky, the moon reflecting softly in his cinder irises and casting a strange pale light to his already-light eyes. "For coming up here with us. Remus doesn't really have a home to go back to, so it makes sense that he would come up here with his friends, same with Lily; but you- you have a mother, your best friend, and others, all waiting for you back in Oxford, but you're up here in the middle of nowhere with us. I just… We could die any day, and you're risking never seeing your mother again to be with us."

The words had an impact like a lance in my chest, but I squared my shoulders, keeping my eyes on the road ahead, feeling his fingers interlocked with mine. "It's what I feel I must do. The path I'm on now is the path I'm meant to be on, with you."

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A/N: First and foremost, my apologies to my readers from the other side of the world; I'm American, and by American time zones, I'm on the right day, but I realized by other time zones I'm a day late. However, it's still here!

Here's the first chapter of Stars and Leaves, which will be broken into four main parts: 1977, 1978, 1979-1980, and 1981. I've got a lot of plans for this book, and I hope you'll stay here for the journey with me.

Next update will be Saturday. Thanks for reading, don't forget to follow/fave/review!