31st of October 1981
James woke up, he could hear Harry crying, he had a terrible dream. They had been betrayed and Voldemort had showed up at their door. He glanced at the clock beside his bed. 5:09am, clearly Harry liked an early start.
Lily was stirring, “Don’t worry darling, I’ll take care of him,” James whispered in her ear, kissing her freckled forehead.
“You’re the best.” She murmured in response.
He opened the door to Harry’s room and saw little Harry bawling in his cot.
James picked him up, “You’re alright Harry, Daddy’s here.”
James could hear a soft tapping at the window. Harry had stopped crying so he laid him in his cot and turned to the window.
There was a tawny owl on the windowsill, with a small letter in its beak.
He opened the window and took the letter. He tore it open. It said Peter Pettigrew is the traitor. Leave Godric’s Hollow now.
Trust me,
R.A.B.
James ran down the hall to Lily, “Lily get up we have to leave now!”.
“James what are you talking about?” She yawned.
“We need to leave now!” He repeated more urgently.
“Why?” She asked looking at him in bewilderment.
“Peter is the traitor.” James said. “I got a letter, from Regulus.”
Lily looked at him in disbelief, “And how do you know this isn’t some plot to get us out of the house so You-Know-Who can ambush us?”.
“I don’t, but it might be true and we need to leave right now, you get dressed and I’ll get Harry ready.”
“James you and I both know that Regulus chose his side a long time ago,”
“We also thought the same with Peter.”
“James this is ridiculous, as much as hate to admit it, Sirius and Peter both think it’s Remus,”
“Lily, please just trust me we need to leave,”
They rushed getting ready. Lily threw on a pair of jeans and one James’s hoodies and ran into the nursery and started packing a bag for Harry.
James dressed Harry as carefully as he could under this much stress. His mind was racing, where would they go? To Remus and Sirius? No, that would be to predictable. His parents old house? Nope, Voldemort probably had people stationed there. Hogwarts? Perfect, He couldn’t get them there.
He threw on clothes at lightning speed, grabbed his wand and ran down the stairs. Lily came down moments later with Harry, her wand and a bag.
Before they left James wrote a letter to Dumbledore and told him everything, including the fact that he, Lily and Harry would be arriving at Hogwarts soon.
What they didn't know was that, if James hadn't woken up that night and read the letter, Lily and James would be dead.