James and Lily Potter - Happy Halloween
James and Lily Potter
Godrics Hallow
October 31, 1981
'Bedtime!' Lily declared in a sing-song sort of voice as she entered the living room where her husband and son were playing.
'Aw, not a few more minutes?' James asked, pretending to pout. 'We're having so much fun,' he added, pointing to Harry who was playing with puffs of smoke.
Harry giggled.
'If Harry doesn't go to bed, he'll never find out what Uncle Padfoot left under his pillow!' Lily insisted, smiling as both James and Harry gasped.
'Do you reckon Uncle Padfoot left daddy something under his pillow?' James whispered loudly as he scooped the excited baby into his arms.
'Silly daddy! Unca Pa'foo only leaves me presents!' Harry giggled, 'daddy is too old!'
'Now listen here, little man-'
BANG!
Lily screamed as the sound of the front door being blown off its hinges echoed around the house. Harry whimpered as James ran into the hall. The snake-like face of Lord Voldemort staring at him.
'Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!' James shouted as he shoved Harry into Lily's arms and pushed her in the direction of the stairs. Voldemort laughed at him.
'Hold me off?' he repeated in that cruel cold voice, 'Without a wand, Potter?'
James felt his blood run cold, instinctively searching his pockets for his wand - his precious wand, the only thing that could save them now. The cursed thing appeared in Voldemort's hand, tauntingly just out of his reach.
And so, without his wand, James was left to distract the ruthless man in front of him with only words, hoping that even if he didn't survive the night, Lily and Harry would.
'Oi Voldy! Getting mouldy over there!' James shouted, uttering the last words he ever would in his short life.
'Avada Kedavra!'
......
'Where's daddy?' Harry whispered as Lily choked back a sob.
'Daddy's okay now,' Lily murmured as she placed Harry down in his cot. She too had realised she was wandless, and Lily knew that she would not survive the night. She could only hope that Harry would.
The door burst open, and Lily let out a hopeless sob as she turned around.
'Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!'
'Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside now...'
'Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -'
'This is my last warning -'
'Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy... Not Harry! Not Harry! Please - I'll do anything -'
'Stand aside - stand aside, girl -'
The line between life and death was a blur now, as Lily stood in between her son and a murderer. A murderer who had killed her husband, her friends, people she had grown up with. James was gone. Marlene, Dorcas, Fabian, Gideon - gone, and -
The sound of faint screaming pulled her mind away from the man in front of her. Faint screaming that was growing louder and louder with each passing second. It was screaming that came from a man who was about to lose everything. It was Sirius' screaming.
Sirius.
And it was in that second, as Lily's eyes met Voldemort's, green staring into red, that it occurred to her that they had not told anyone of the switch. That Sirius was not Secret Keeper, and that Peter - Peter had betrayed them.
'You're not getting my son,' Lily whispered as she spread her arms wide. For there was one thing she was sure of, and it was that Harry would not be added to tonight's list of casualties.
'Very well,' Voldemort replied darkly, 'Avada Kedavra!'