Prologue
James had been contained in this home for what seemed like forever, but Halloween night was looking like one of the good nights. Along with Lily, he had wanted to dress Harry up and take him around Godric's Hollow to do some muggle trick-or-treating, but they knew that it would make them an easy target for a certain mass-murderer and the victims of a lecture from Dumbledore even if they had left the house and not been killed.
At least Harry was enjoying himself. Earlier he had broken his toy broomstick after trying to push it to its limit of speed. The thing started to smoke and buck around like a raging bull. After a few seconds of James and Harry laughing and Lily going crazy with worry, it finally died and fell to the ground, never to be ridden again. Between James' proud announcements of his son's speed being too much for any toy broomstick and Lily's mumblings about how dangerous the whole thing could have been, plus the sadness of losing his broomstick, Harry's confusion sent him into a crying fit.
James took action at the sight of his son in despair, picking him up and taking him to the sitting room. He then took out his wand and started making multicolored sparks in the air in front of Harry. The boy instantly ceased his crying and looked in wonder at the colors in front of him. Tears dried up as the baby's laughter rang through the house, warming James and Lily's spirits.
"Not bad, are they, miss Charms whiz?" James asked his wife, who had been watching them from the doorway to the kitchen.
"I do believe I could do better, actually."
"Is that so? Well then, we'll have to have little spark-off to see who is the champion then. Harry here will be the judge. Won't you, Harry?" He waved his wand and made a large display of mini-fireworks appear, flying around Harry in the shape of a large golden snitch, making him go ecstatic.
"You're on, Mister Potter." She pulled out her wand and started to walk towards her husband and son. When she got to them, she lovingly planted a kiss on each of their cheeks, then had a thought. "I'll be back. I think some sweets for our judge will be just the trick to seal a victory." She left her wand on the ground and headed for the kitchen.
"Have to resort to bribery, do you? Bring it!" James also dropped his wand and grabbed Harry, holding him high into the air and looking up at him. "You're gonna pick your old man, right, Harry? No amount of kisses or sweets can trick you."
Then, the silence of the rest of the house was broken by the front door bursting open. 'Why the bloody hell is Peter just barging in?' thought James. Lily came into the room, a look of terror on her face as she and James realized the same thing.
James instinctively got up and headed for the hall, saying "Stay here" to his wife. His heart dropped as he got into the hall and looked towards the door.
There he was, standing in the doorway, wand out, a cold look of excitement in his eyes. Lord Voldemort had broken the Fidelius Charm and was coming down the hall towards him, towards Lily, towards Harry. He had to get them out of the way. They had to be safe.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" He watched Lily carry Harry up the stairs. He didn't want her to go up there, for there would be no exit, except maybe jumping out of a window. Would she be able to do that and get Harry and herself to safety? That would have to be the only option; they couldn't apparate inside the house. He looked back down the hall and saw that Voldemort was within cursing distance. James looked down at his hand and came to the horrifying realization that he had left his wand in the other room. No wand, with the murdering bastard laughing at him.
The next second was the longest of James' life. He thought of his loved ones as the wand was raised towards him in slow motion. Of his wife and son, both of whom had to be okay, had to escape; of his parents, who had passed on, and were watching over him, giving him strength in his final moments, as he had watched them in theirs; and of his friends, the ones with which he had formed that unbreakable bond with that day aboard the Hogwarts express so many years ago. He thought of Moony, where ever he was, who had trusted him and the others enough to tell them of his "furry little problem". He hoped, as Voldemort's mouth started to slowly shout the incantation, that he had been wrong, and that Remus had not betrayed him and Lily. He thought of Wormtail, always there, always loyal. He had a pang of worry for Peter; he had been secret keeper, meaning that the reason Voldemort was here, almost finished saying the curse, was because their location had come from his friend's mouth. It was impossible that Peter, so trustworthy, could betray him, so the location must have been tortured out of him. James hoped to god that Peter was okay, wherever he was. He thought of Padfoot, his best friend, best man, and godfather to his son. He hadn't seen his friend in so long, and he had expected to have more time with him after this whole Voldemort thing had been dealt with. He could hear Sirius now, jokingly making him feel guilty about not seeing him before dying. He'd never hear the end of it from the man who James could depend on for anything. He hoped that his brother would be okay, and that he'd take the fight to all who were behind taking Prongs down.
