Prologue
Mr. and Mrs. Potter had not always been the lovely married couple and young parents of a baby boy they were currently known as.Well, the truth was that Mr. James Potter had fallen in love with Miss Lily Evans in their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. James had loved Lily’s fiery nature and golden heart and had tried many times to ‘woo’ Lily but, he did not succeed until their later school years. Why? Because, for most of their schooling, Lily saw James as an immature and arrogant boy.
You see, it was a result of James’ upbringing. His parents, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, had spent nearly two decades trying to have children. When the Potters finally had success and welcomed their son James in 1960, they saw him a miracle, a dream come true. So, as a result, he had been raised and spoiled a lot during his childhood.
When he first arrived at Hogwarts in 1971, James Potter was sorted into House Gryffindor. He quickly became best friends with the other boys in his dorm. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Together, they formed a group as thick as thieves.The Marauders, as they later became known,made it their mission to prank anyone they believed would become future Death Eaters or, generally, anyone who was supporting Voldemort’s ideologies.
Unfortunately, their ‘noble crusade’ also saw them be target of the ire of good people that could have been their friends. One of them was Lily Evans. Lily’s best friend was Severus Snape. The son of a muggle and a pureblood witch, Severus Snape had been the first one to show Lily the existence of magic. So, when they came to Hogwarts, they were best friends. However, the Marauders did not see the boy from an impoverished abusive household, they saw a boy who was plunging into the Dark Arts and learning them at a rapid pace, all while getting friendly with supporters of the pureblood ideology, and future Death Eaters. So, for them, Severus Snape became another one of the victim of their pranks.
Lily, not seeing her best friend’s darker side, went against the Marauders to defend him. This defence was what first attracted James’ attention. He had been surprised that Lily Evans, a muggleborn witch, was defending someone who was clearly leaning toward anti-muggleborn sentiments. It showed she was greatly loyal to her friend, and ready to face anyone in the defence of those she was as victims. While they never really stopped pranking Snape – not that they could since Snape was giving as much as he was receiving, if not more, and stopping would be seen as capitulation from their side – it did bring Lily to James’ attention. A year later, in their third year, James had fallen in love with the red-haired witch with bright green eyes. At that point, James, in his arrogance, believed he could win Lily with his good charms and began flirting with her nearly every time they met. Lily put up with it though it was obvious to all it annoyed her.
When it was time for their O.W.L. Examinations, James did something he would later come to regret. He went too far and outright bullied Snape. While before, the Marauders had either pranked from afar or hexed when Snape had at least provocated them, in the hour followingtheir Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L., James decided to curse and humiliated Snape. The boy had only been reading a book alone under a tree but, yet, James – just because Sirius had said he was bored – had decided to humiliate Snape.
It would later admit it was not one of his brightest moments.
Lily quickly came to Severus’ defence. James – being James – had then decided to use that moment to blurt out a date proposal. He immediately regretted it, but it was too late. Lily had understandably been enraged that James was asking her out on a date while in the middle of bullying her best friend. As an answer, she told James the words that would keep him awake all summer.
“- I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK! I HATE you!” she had finished with.
The words hit James really hard and he quickly stopped what he was doing. When Lily went to Severus to make sure he was alright however, Severus insulted her by calling her a ‘Mudblood’. At that moment, the friendship between Lily and Severus was forever broken. When she left, James tried to safe face by pretending her words hadn’t hurt him at all but anyone who knew him could tell otherwise.He quickly left after that, going back to Gryffindor Tower.
With the words of the girl he loved haunting his mind, he began thinking aboutthe past five years. He didn’t like what he found. He realised that what had once been a ‘noble crusade’ had changed into outright bullying of anyone the Marauder’s didn’t like. Lily had been right. What he had become made him sick too. It was no surprise she hated him, then.
That night, while all of his friends were sleeping peacefully, James decided he would force himself to change and become a better person. Not for Lily – figuring any chances he had with the muggleborn witch of being completely obliterated – but simply because he didn’t like who he was. So, that’s what he did. For the few weeks remaining before the summer holidays, James spent his time studying and even, on some occasions, helped younger students with their own end-of-year exams revision.
That summer, Sirius escaped his family home and ran away to the Potters. James learned that Sirius had outright refused to support Voldemort or the pureblood ideas of the Black family and, in a fit of rage, his father had used the Cruciatus Curse on him. When they were woken up in the middle of the night, the Potters took one look at a crying and bleeding Sirius before welcoming him with open arms in their home.
When they came back for their sixth year, everyone at the school saw that James and Sirius had changed. James, in his attempt to become the best of himself, began to study more, help people and was generally nice to others. When Remus would become unavailable to accomplish his prefect duties because of the full moon, James would take his place. The teachers were pleasantly surprised to see that James made a very good prefect.
Another thing that had changed with James was that he completely stopped flirting with Lily. Sometimes, he would outright avoid her. He was still in love with her and James doubted his love for her would ever vanish but he had resigned himself that he had lost his chance with her. Despite taking Remus’ place as prefect when his friend was unavailable and – as a result – ended up spending many nights patrolling the corridors with Lily, he would barely speak to her. He would be cordial and polite, of course, but he would never begin a conversation with her. That, combined with his lack of flirting, perplexed Lily a lot. And, she was even feeling hurt.
Unknown to James, – and, really, who could blame him – Lily had started developing romantic feelings for James, just like he had.For a long time, her feelings for James left her confused as she always associated the image of James Potter with that of a bully. It was only in their sixth year that Lily finally met the real James Potter, not the one that was constantly pulling an act around Lily in the hope of wooing her. That’s when she began understanding her attraction toward him.
She liked seeing him studying in a corner of the library or the common room. She liked to see the ease he had with the younger students, how he made them smile with his jokes, and how he helped them when they requested help. She liked when he sacrificed his late nights to go out on prefect patrol with her simply to help his friend Remus. She liked the new James Potter.
Their sixth year was also the year the war against Voldemort took a turn for the worse.With those with anti-muggleborn sentiments becoming more and more vocal, Lily finally realised what the Marauders had originally been doing. She now saw that their victims had almost always been those who supported Voldemort’s ideas and wished to join his Death Eaters after graduation. She also understood why she hadn’t understood that before. It was simple. Her friendship with Severus Snape had made her look at him and his friends with rose-tainted glasses. It was only when he had called her a mudblood that she began seeing the truth. This revelation further cemented James in her heart, now knowing he and his friends had really been defending muggleborns all along – in their own ways.
At the end of the year, Lily was happy to realize she wasn’t even uncomfortable with the idea of being in a relationship with James anymore. She had even told herself that the next time he would ask her out, she would say yes. Unfortunately, he had barely spoken to her that year. She remembered the words she had shouted at him the previous year and realised James had probably lost hope of ever entering a relationship with her. Lily decided that summer that she would be the one to ask James out, when the opportunity would arise.
That summer, James had been utterly surprised when he learned that he had been made Head Boy. His efforts to become a better person and help others had been noticed, resulting in the offer. While the badge received in his Hogwarts letter had been proof he had indeed become a good person, some deep part of his mind still didn’t believe it, pushing him to consider refusing the role. However,after being prompted and encouraged by his parents and friends, he had finally relented. Lily, the new Head Girl,had been thrilled to learn James had become Head Boy. It would make it easier to ask him out now once they began working together.
In their last year at Hogwarts, James and Lily took their role with stride. James proved himself to be the good person he had become and the role model the teachers saw in him. Both James and Lily went out of their way to help every student they could in the school, even Slytherins – something James’ younger self would have loathed. Lily also worked on getting closer to James but she had hit a rather large roadblock on that front. James, just like the previous year, was incredibly awkward around her, only speaking to her when he was addressed. He was purposefully putting a distance between them, a distance Lily was trying desperately to cross.
Things came to a head in early December when Lily asked James out on a date to Hogsmeade. Blinking, James had looked at her like she had grown two new heads. She would have laughed at his expression if she hadn’t been so scared of hurting him. For a few moments, James seriously believed Lily was pranking him. He had been tempted to tell her that her joke was sick before storming out but he managed to keep his temper.
When James still hadn’t answered a minute later, Lily began fidgeting. “A Date?” To Hogsmeade? With me?” he finally spoke, disbelief lacing his voice. When Lily nodded, he added “Why? I thought… I thought you hated me!” The pain in his voice made her wince. She hadn’t really thought about how her words – shouted in anger – would be seen by James. While she had known James had been a lot more distant since that confrontation, she hadn’t known he believed she hated him. She hadn’t truly meant these words and was now regretting them.
With her voice trembling slightly, she answered. “James, I never hated you. I’ve had feelings for yousince fourth year but the arrogance you displayed at the time and your constant rivalry with Severus meant I refused to see them for what they were, and tried to ignore them. It also made me refuse your multiple advances. Last year,I’d had a pretty bad day and had been frustrated the whole time so when I saw you take it out on Severus, it made me so... angry. It hurt to see the boy I liked bullying my childhood friend. I saw red and I took it all out on you. I said words I didn’t truly mean and I hurt you in the process. I never realised how much it affected you until today and… I’m sorry, James.”
“Don’t. Don’t apologize.” said James with a shake of the head. Lily looked down with tears in her eyes. She felt like she was about to cry. At that moment, she thought that James didn’t want to forgive her and felt like she had ruined her chances with him. Noticing Lily’s posture, James lifted her chin up with his right index finger and looked straight into her wet eyes. “Don’t apologize because you have nothing to apologize for. As weird as it sounds, I’m actually grateful for what you said that day. Your words forced me take a look at myself and I realised that you had every reason to hate me. I saw how much of a bully I was and it disgusted me. I don’t want you to apologize because had you not told me these words, I would probably still the bloke I was at the time. I wouldn’t have walked down the road to improve myself. I’m just glad and bloody relieved to learn that you never hated me in the first place.” he said with a smile. Lily smiled as well. “If your offer for a date is real, and a part of me think that I must be dreaming for thinking it is, then yes, I want to go to Hogsmeade with you.” In a burst of happiness, Lily grabbed his cheeks and kissed him on the lips before realizing what she was doing, She pulled back, profusely apologising while blushing madly. James only answered by kissing her back.
The news that James Potter and Lily Evans had become a couple shocked a lot of people around the school. The most shocked ones were Sirius Black and Severus Snape. Sirius thought that James and Lily were pranking him and had a hard time comprehending how James would even take part in this prank as he knew that Lily’s word were still hurting him. James had to take Sirius aside and tell him how it happened for Sirius to finally realise that it was real. He gave his best wishes to the couple and told James that if they ever got married, he had first-dibs on the role of James’ best-man.
Severus Snape, however, was angry. Not only was Snape angry that Lily was dating someone that wasn’t him, he was furious that it had to be Potter, of all people! He really couldn’t see how Lily and Potter had become a thing and had cornered her one day after Potions. Lily pretty much told him to bugger off and stop insulting her boyfriend. Lily held no illusions about Snape. She knew that Snape still saw James as the prankster/bully he was before their O.W.L. Exams, that Snape was a supporter of the Death Eaters and that Snape had feelings for her, just like James. Lily knew however that the way James and Snape felt about her were way different. While James felt true love for her and saw her as his equal in their relationship, Snape saw her as a way to make himself feel better. While James would often go out of his way to please her or surprise her, she knew that Snape would expect her to do everything for him. Anyway, Lily never loved Snape that way. She once loved him as the brother she never had but their relationship became strained in their third year and the end of fifth year she had broken it. Him calling her a ‘Mudblood’ had removed the blinds that were hiding most of his flaws from her.
James and Lily graduated in the summer of 1978. James joined the Aurors while Lily started working on Masteries for both Potions and Charms with Slughorn and Flitwick respectively. That summer, James proposed to Lily who happily said ‘Yes’. Their wedding took place during the Christmas Holidays and they moved in a cottage in the same village as the family ancestral home: Godric’s Hollow. That had been the last time that Lily had seen her parents alive since they later died in a car crash during the young couple’s honeymoon.
At the funeral of Harold and Violet Evans, Lily was confronted by her older sister Petunia who somehow blamed her for what had happened to their parents. James Potter and Vernon Dursley had to drag their wives away from each other before their fight became worse. After all, it didn’t do good if the daughters of the deceased fought each other on the day of their funeral. When James and Lily came back to their cottage in Godric’s Hollow Lily burst out crying in her husband’s chest.
During the following year, Lily continued working on her two Masteries while James left the Aurors to work for Albus Dumbledore’s Order of the Pheonix full time. Both him and Lily joined the Order but Lily didn’t go on missions as often as her husband. Together, they happened to end up in battle against Voldemort himself and his Death Eaters three times and always escaped with their lives.
Almost a year after Harold and Violet Evans passed away, Lily learned that she was pregnant. While both she and James were completely overjoyed that Lily had become pregnant and that they would have a child, they couldn’t help but feel a bit of fear. The war was still going on strongly and they didn’t know how safe their child would be and in what world it would grow-in. Their fear amplified when they received the visit of Albus Dumbledore early in the summer. James and Lily learned that their child had potentially been named in a prophecy about Voldemort’s defeat and that they were now at the top of the Dark Lord’s hit-list. James and Lily left their cottage and went to live to Potter Manor with Fleamont and Euphemia until they found a more secure and permanent solution. Lily also had to postpone her Masteries while James’ role in the Order was temporarily reduced so that both would have time to take care of their child.
On July 31st 1980, Harry James Potter was born. Harry was named after Lily’s late father Harold. His middle name was James, following an old tradition in the Wizarding World where the first-born boy would be named after the father and first-born girl would be named after the mother. Sirius Black was named Harry’s godfather while Alice Longbottom was named his godmother.
In the middle of November, the couple decided to hide their cottage under the Fidelius Charm. They originally chose Sirius as their Secret-Keeper but at the last moment, they decided to change to Peter Pettigrew as he would be less obvious. Both Sirius and Peter were happy with the arrangement. Sirius because he didn’t have to fear that he would reveal their location under torture and Peter because he was proud to be trusted with something as important as this... or so they thought at the time. They told everyone else, even Albus Dumbledore and their old friend Remus that Sirius was the real Secret-Keeper.
In January of 1981, Lily and James prepared to go to Potter Manor for the day where the next planned meeting of the Order of the Pheonix would take place. It wasn’t often that the Order would meet at Potter Manor but it would usually do so when they had an Order-wide meeting, meaning that every member available would be present.
“James? Are you ready to go?” asked Lily Potter. She was standing near the front door of the cottage and ready to leave. She was carrying Harry in her arms and both were wearing their winter clothes.
“I am Lily, I just need grab Harry’s bag and we can go.” shouted James from upstairs. A few seconds later, she heard him loudly climb down the stairs and he joined them. Just like his wife, he was wearing his winter clothes and had a canvas bag around his shoulders. The bag was filled with everything they would need to take care of their son while they were away from home. “I’m ready.” he said with a smile. “Did you put a warming charm on Harry?”
“Yes dear.” answered Lily, rolling her green eyes. The couple left the cottage and once they arrived on the walkway, which was outside of the wards of their house, they apparated away.