It was All Hallows Eve in Godric's Hollow, where the Potters lived, James, Lily and their infant son, Harry. It was a very quiet night at their house, because they were in hiding. There was a prophecy made about the Potters and people took some safety measures to keep them out of harm's way. Only a selected few knew where the Potter's lived so it was a surprise to them when the door was blasted of its hinges.
"Lily, take Harry and run! I'll try and hold him off!" Yelled James while he ran to see who entered using such extreme measures. Lily ran outside to the neighbor's yard and apparated to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, where she and Harry would be safe. James, while holding his wand protectively in front of him, ran to the foyer and saw the Darkest Lord of all time. Lord Voldemort was known and feared for all the abuse towards Muggleborns and Muggle supporters. James and Lily were Voldemort's top targets because of the prophecy and they had also thwarted him 3 times.
"What are you doing here?" asked James. He was furious that Voldemort was threatening his family. He knew the Fidelius Charm is foolproof unless the Secret-Keeper told someone of the location. He swore when he realized that their Secret-Keeper, Peter Pettigrew, supposedly one of James' best friends, had betrayed their house to this evil man who was out to get them.
"Why so rude to the man who can kill you faster than a blink of your eye, Potter?" said Voldemort cheekily. He was trying to provoke James into doing something he wouldn't normally do. He had a strange kind of glint in his eyes. Like a child opening Christmas presents.
"I asked you before. Why are you here?" said James angrily. It was clear that this guy was pushing his buttons.
"A little bird told me something about a prophecy concerning your son. I am here to kill him, is all."
"But why? What has an infant ever done to you?"
"Ah, it's not what he has done but what he is going to do, if I don't stop him. Now move boy." snarled the villain.
"Hold on a second. Is that all you care about? Being the most powerful being on this Earth? Killing INFANTS to get there? That is just SICK! I can't think of a single sane person who does that. Well that explains it, you are CLEARLY not sane." Smirked James. He looked like he had something up his sleeve, he wanted to stall and distract his opponent long enough to escape and obliviate him so he forgets everything.
"You dare-"
"Yes, I dare. Now think about it, are you so heartless that you don't care about all the children, siblings, parents that have lost someone." James was looking very hopeful right at that moment. He sincerely hoped that that held his attention at least for a second, enough to actually give him time to think about something else, more helpful than the previous statement.
"You think I care about those people? They are Muggleborns! Nobody cares about them!" screeched Voldemort in anger. He couldn't believe that some boy could irritate him so much.
"Is there something wrong with that?" innocently asked James, as if he had never heard of Voldemort's intentions with Muggleborns. "Muggleborns are people too, they just have different heritage. Lily is a Muggleborn. Her parents, MUGGLES, are just the same as any wizard I have ever met. If anything, they are more hard-working than any wizard I have met because they have to function without magic on a day to day basis." Even though Voldemort opened his mouth to interrupt, James continued talking. "They can't just 'accio' what ever they want or 'reparo' something. They have a tough life as it is, without you making it harder. So why don't you just get lost and retract everything you did."
Lord Voldemort contemplated his statement. It was true, they had a tough life. But even if he did retract, he would lose the respect he has earned from his faithful Deatheaters, the fear in peoples heart's would be gone and the world would be the same as before. And for what? So he could spare a few Muggleborns, Muggles and other wizards? Just because some pureblood told him to? That seemed foreign to him, taking orders from someone below him. It seemed unnatural, wrong, and in a way, pathetic.
Even though he wasn't entirely happy with his answer he asked the young man in front of him a question that would haunt him for years.
"And how exactly would I do that?"
While James was reasoning with Voldemort, Lily and Harry escaped to Grimmauld Place, where James' best friend Sirius Black lived. He was James' oldest and closest friend of the group they called the 'Marauders'. In it there where 4 boys; James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. They were the greatest group of pranksters Hogwarts had seen so far. They used James' invisibility cloak to roam around school after curfew and with the help of the Marauder's Map, which they invented, they didn't run into any teachers, or the evil caretaker Filch.
Lily tapped the ground three times and the house appeared from its hiding place, no longer being under captivity of the Fidelius Charm. When the door opened, Sirius looked anxious to see them there.
"Come in!" said he as he ushered them inside. "Where's James, Lily?" Just by looking at his face, Lily could tell he was truly scared for his best friend.
"He stayed back. He told me to save Harry. I apparated here, the only safe place I know." Said Lily sadly. The Wizarding War was really affecting everyone badly.
"He stayed back? Wi-With…Voldemort?" said Sirius, pure horror seen on his face. He had heard of the Dark Lord's 'achievements', if you can call them that.
Lily simply nodded and went to the kitchen to feed baby Harry.
Since no one knew what to say after that, they sat in silence, drinking tea that Lily had kindly prepared.
Hours had passed on end, with no news from James. Lily was starting to worry but Sirius was already freaking out.
"What if something happened- I will never forgive myself- Poor Harry," After shooting a pitying look at Harry, who was asleep in Lily's arms, he continued his ramblings.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Sirius raced to the door and jumped on his best friend, seeing that he was alive and unharmed.
"Prongs, What happened? How did you get out of there alive? What happened?" He shouted frantically. Lily, who just walked in on the scene, holding an awake Harry in her arms, was leaning on the wall, smirking at Sirius. When he calmed down, Lily handed Harry over to his godfather and went forward to James. He stood there with open arms and they just stood there, cuddled as if there was no tomorrow.
When they actually got over the fact that James was alive, they started to question him.
"What did he do?"
"How did out get out of there alive?"
"What was he like?"
"What happened?"
"Whoa, guys. One at a time." Said James, amused.
"Don't you smirk at me James Potter. You had me completely freaked out." Fumed Sirius. He was very protective of his best friend, as he knew what they had gotten in to during their Hogwarts days. Except this wasn't Hogwarts. This was real life, far more dangerous than a boarding school.
"Padfoot, relax. As you can see I am fine. There is no reason to worry." Stressed James. Sirius was never known for his calm. "Give me a second and I will explain EVERYTHING."
They listened patiently as he explained how he 'beat' the darkest wizard of all time.
"I never knew he had any compassion left in him. I guess no one had talked long enough to find out." Remarked Lily. She knew that she could never be able to do that because of her blood status, and even though she tried not to think about it, it still stung that people were discriminated against because of their magic or rather lack of. Her sister, Petunia had wanted to go to Hogwarts ever since Lily had gotten a letter to it. She even sent a letter to the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
"Well are you SURE he's gone? I mean, we ARE dealing with You-Know-Who." Asked Sirius.
"I think so but you can never be too sure." Replied James. He was growing slightly tired of their questions and even though he knew that they needed to be clued in, he just wanted to sleep.
Seeing her husband's tired face, Lily said,"Ok, we'll talk about that later, as James needs to rest, but I have one last question. How did he find out where we lived? I mean we were under the Fidelius."
"Oh, that's easy. Wormtail. He ratted us out." Instantly said James. He had been considering all the facts since Voldemort showed up. "We change our secret keeper and the next day, Voldemort shows up at our door. Coincidence? Probably not."
"Do you have any proof that it isn't him? I mean Peter was always a sweet boy." Defended Lily. She had known Wormtail since they were 11, and he was always the little puppy dog admiring James and Sirius as they pranked the whole school.
"Nope, but I've got plenty that proves he's guilty. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to take a long nap. I don't know about you but debating for my life really takes it out of me." said James as he retreated upstairs and wasn't seen for quite a while.
They stared at his retreating form, trying to think about all that has happened in 24 hours.