The Marauders: take two

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, all credit goes to JK Rowling.

A/n: this story is VERY different to cannon, there is no boy-who-lived and some characters that were supposed to die before the Potters are still alive.

Prologue

In the quiet, peaceful village of Godricks Hollow, the wizards and muggles alike are softly sleeping. That is, all except for the wizarding family in one, small cottage, nestled away in the pretty countryside of the village. A tall man, with round glasses and messy black hair is sitting in the living room, desperately trying to rock his child to sleep. The baby had been extremely fussy that day, refusing its food, refusing to nap, refusing to settle at all and it baffled the parents to no end. A petit, woman with fiery red hair and eyes as bright as emeralds shuffles into the room, she takes the young boy from his father and desperately tries to placate him, it doesn't work, the baby won't quieten. It looks up at her with eyes as bright green as her own and she stares into the bright, tear filled orbs of her son trying frantically to find an emotion that she recognises. It is to no avail, the child is looking at her as if she should understand, but she doesn't and she is tired, so very tired, a few tears leak from the woman's emerald eyes and she rests her chin atop the boys head, his messy black hair, exactly the same as his fathers, tickles her chin as she quietly sobs in frustration.

A loud crack sounded from outside and the man went to press his face against the cool glass of the window in an attempt to see who had arrived. It was too dark to make out the person, but a dark figure was walking swiftly towards the house. The baby's wails had finally stopped, much to the relief of both parents, the loud sound of apparition had shocked him into silence. "Who is it James?" the woman asked as she glided over to where her husband was standing.

"I don't know" the man replied, his eyebrows furrowed "it could be Sirius, but I don't know why he's be here this late" the woman opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the loud crash of their front door being blown open. The man grabbed his wand and raced into the kitchen, the woman stood by the door to the stairs, her baby still snuggled in her arms, watching his mother with curious green eyes. There was a loud crash and then the man's voice drifted into the sitting room, it was frantic and cracked slightly with fear "LILY! IT'S HIM! TAKE HARRY AND RUN! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!" the woman let a small sob escape her, the man was as good as dead, she wanted nothing more than to rush into that kitchen and protect him, but her son was depending on her and she wouldn't let him be hurt.

The man stared into the blood red eyes of Lord Voldemort, his mouth was twisted up into a sick smirk "well hello there, Potter" the dark lord spat and the man couldn't help but cringe as he heard Voldemort's snake-like voice. "You know Potter" he continued to drawl, in a bored tone "it isn't a necessity for you to die. Just give me the boy and you and your precious mudblood wife will go unharmed" the man pulled his lips up into a snarl and quickly drew his wand, he pointed it at the heart of the beast in front of him.

"You bastard! I would never, ever give you my son, I would rather die than see you hurt him!" the words were spoken with conviction and loathing, gone was the fear, he knew that he was going to die and he would do it proudly to protect his precious son.

Voldemort laughed, a cruel, spiteful sound that grated in your ears "Well then Mr. Potter, you have made your decision" the dark lord opened his mouth to fire a curse, but the man was faster, working on pure adrenaline, he quickly sent a stunner to Voldemort that was quickly deflected. A cutting hex was sent his way and he dodged it quickly, not before it managed to slice his arm though. He gritted his teeth against the pain, refusing to give in. He quickly retaliated with a bruising hex and was happy to see Voldemort's eyes flicker in slight pain as the hex hit his leg. It went on like this for minutes, furious duelling, an unforgivable was fired and the man ducked a 'crucio' curse just in time for it to shoot straight over his head.

"Give it up Tom!" the man shouted, his energy levels were dropping but he wouldn't give in "accept defeat! What's the matter?! So afraid of what you so readily give out?!" cruel, high laughter filled the room and the man was quickly forced to duck the killing curse as it flew over his head.

"My name is not Tom!" Voldemort shouted, a snarl evident on his distorted face "it is Lord Voldemort to you! You filthy blood traitor!" the man lunged forward and shot a cutting hex that slashed the dark lord above the eyes.

He drew up what little strength he had left, this was it, the final moment, he had one more trick up his sleeve "your name is Tom!" he announced "and you're nothing more than a half-blood who's angry because he's not pure!" that did it, Voldemort's eyes widened with shock and the man used the brief moment when the dark lord was not concentrating to hit him square in the chest with a cruciatus curse. Voldemort fell backwards, creaming in agony, this wasn't just rage that the man was working on, he meant to hurt the beast in front of him, wanted him to pay, wanted him to hurt. It was a dangerous, sick thing to want to cause another being pain, but could Voldemort really be classed as a being? He was a beast and the man needed to do this, for the good of wizard kind. The man summed up all of his courage, every last ounce of strength that he possessed and screamed the two words that would end Voldemort's life forever "AVADA KEDAVRA!" and Voldemort knew no more.

The red haired woman was cowering in the nursery, the doors and windows had been magically sealed to prevent her escape. She paced the room worriedly, her cheeks were soaked with anguished tears and her heart was thundering in her chest as she waited for the sounds of duelling to end. She waited for him to come to this room and kill herself and her son. A sob escaped her and she sunk to the floor with her baby still clutched tightly in her arms "don't worry Harry" she whispered "mummy will keep you safe" the baby was looking up at her so innocently and she couldn't help but pull him closer and sob. That's when she heard it, those two words that struck a cold fear into her heart 'Avada Kedavra'. Footsteps sounded on the stairs, hurried and frantic, she clutched her baby closer and cried for the husband she had lost and the baby she was so desperate not to lose. The door flew open and she let out a small scream before a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her.

"Lily! Lily calm down! It's me! It's James!" she looked up through her curtain of red hair and felt her heart melt, it was him; her husband was alive. "He's dead Lily. I killed him" she sobbed at his words and pulled him closer. They were together, they were a family and they would be ok now.

A/N: I know that it's short, but it is only a prologue.