How It All Happened

"James?" She yelled in frustration as she opened the door to the fridge. It was running off magic as they had no electricity and she noticed the spell needed tending to. But that wasn't what she wanted James for.

He walked into the room holding their adorable son in his arms. The adorable son was having a day where everything has to be touched and was therefore poking his father's nose repeatedly. Lily would have laughed but she was feeling rather irritated at that moment.

"What is on this shelf?" She asked James, pointing in the direction of the fridge. James looked at the empty shelf. Then he looked at Harry. Harry poked James in the nose yet again so James put the - soon to be - one year old child down.

"Lily, are you all right?" he asked seemingly not sure if he was supposed to be amused or concerned.

"I'm fine. Just tell me what you see," she said pointing straight at the empty shelf.

"Nothing?" James tried with a trace of doubt.

"Exactly." Lily said triumphantly.

"And your point is? Where?" James was confused. He felt as if he were supposed to be aware of something but as it was very early in the morning he - obviously - wasn't.

"There is no milk there! And come to think of it, there's no anything there!" She cried out. She couldn't stand it when James forgot what she told him to do. And she had asked him at least three times the day before to pick up some things at the supermarket.

"I'll talk to Sirius all right, but I'll be late for work..." James trailed off as the familiar sound of Sirius falling out of the fireplace was heard.

"It isn't Sirius, for once. It's you, - James, I love you. You know that. But when I ask you to go get some things at the supermarket. I really don't like it when you say you'll do something and then you actually don't." She couldn't believe how much she sounded like her mother. She's heard the woman complain to her father often enough. She hoped James wasn't annoyed with her.

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. It's just when I'm done with work... I'm sorry." James looked anxiously at the clock on the wall.

"Just go to work James, I'll go to the supermarket today." She sighed and picked her son up from the floor - she was just in time to stop Harry from eating a feather from some owl.

"Thanks Lily, I'll make it up to you I promise. Bye" He kissed her and then he pecked Harry on the cheek. Harry squealed and waved his hands about wildly. James hurried to meet Sirius and she heard two soft 'pops' telling her the two friends had Disapparated to work. She was thankful for the fact that Sirius seemed to have been running late this morning and therefore didn't have time to empty her fridge any more.

*

Peter lurked in the Potter's garden, watching James saying goodbye to Lily and the little kid. He also watched as Sirius and James Disapparated Now all he had to do was wait for Lily to leave with the kid and then he'd be able to search the house in private. If he found what he was looking for he might be able to work his way all the way into the inner circle again. He felt his hands ball into fists as he though about his blunder. It had been the New Years Eve before last; all he had been instructed to do was wait in his rat form and watch for Aurors. Then he was supposed to warn the Death Eaters robbing Gringotts. Easy. It was a job for someone not him. He had been in the inner circle; he deserved more than being on watch. He'd been on watch his whole life. When he was with the Marauders, with the Death Eaters... it didn't matter. He was always just stupid blundering Peter. Not good for anything but keeping watch. He gritted his teeth and froze as he noticed Lily coming outside. She was carrying Harry, balancing him on his knee while locking the door.

He took a step forward wincing as he stepped on a dry tree branch. Lily's head snapped up and he could see the terror in her eyes. Maybe she thought he was a Death Eater? Silly, he was a Death Eater, he just hadn't really gotten used to the fact yet.

"Peter?" She questioned putting Harry down. Harry laughed and crawled over to a yellow flower, he then got up wobbling quite a lot and pulled at the flower, the flower came loose and he fell on his bottom, giggling happily and holding the flower.

Peter saw Lily's fond smile. Then he had an idea.

"Hi Lily. Is James there?" He asked, coming out of his hiding place.

"James just left for work. I'm sorry, was it anything important? Shall I take a message?" Lily was distracted by Harry?s attempt to eat the flower. She gasped and picked the boy up pulling the flower from his grasp. Harry pouted and babbled unhappily about something.

"No, it wasn't extremely important. You going somewhere?" He questioned innocently. He held out his arms for Harry. Lily handed him over gratefully. Harry wriggled and settled, making funny noises.

"Yes, I was about to go to the supermarket." Lily admitted with a smile. Harry giggled and as a bee zoomed past; he started making a sort of buzzing sound.

It was disgustingly adorable. Thought Peter who just wanted to get into the house.

"I could baby-sit him for you if you want. You'll be done quicker with your shopping that way." Peter suggested and smiled back at Lily.

"Would you?" She looked very relieved. "He shouldn't be too much trouble, just make sure he doesn't eat plants or feathers or flexes..." She was ticking off her fingers. He waited patiently for the twenty-year-old mother to finish her lecture. She opened the door and with a last call, "And don't let him anywhere near James's office!" he was alone in Godric's Hollow with Harry.

He put Harry down on the sofa and hurried to James's office. It was the most likely place for those papers to be. He searched carefully through the desk, wary of leaving any trace of his being there. He stopped at an interesting looking document. It was dated and with one glance he knew this had something to do with the New Years Eve Gringotts attack. He read it through feeling more glee at every word. This was exactly what was going to get him back into the inner circle. He used the copying charm and swore as he realized the document threw spells off. He got some ink and parchment and charmed the quill to temporarily write what he said. He read the document quietly and was about to leave the room when he heard the opening of a door downstairs. Had he really taken that long? He hurried down the stairs as quickly as he could. When he reached the living room, where he had put Harry down he swore very quietly.

Harry was standing, supporting himself by holding on to the coffee table with one small hand; the other hand was slowly pulling the tablecloth off. A vase was about to topple onto him, and it would have if Lily hadn't caught the vase. He hurriedly picked Harry up from the floor and wiped the happy look off his face without much difficulty.

"Where were you Peter?" Lily asked, a dangerous edge to her tone.

"I had to go to the bathroom." He answered feeling himself flush red. He became aware of the fact that he was still holding the copy. He quickly folded it and stuffed it in his robe pocket. Lily didn't seem to have noticed, as she was scolding Harry. He had obviously done something of that sort before and she was trying to get the little boy to understand that he wasn't supposed to pull the tablecloth off the table. Harry's lower lip began to tremble and his emerald green eyes filled with tears. Lily quit scolding right away and hugged him.

"It's okay, you just scared mum, that's all." She cooed. Harry sniffed looking particularly innocent.

"Lily, if it's all right with you? I have to leave now..." Peter said, starting to walk towards the door. She gave him an absentminded, 'look out for the shopping bags.' and kept talking with a - now giggling - Harry.

As soon as he was outside, he Disapparated Voldemort's going to want this right away. He thought about the document in his pocket.

*

Severus Snape watched as one of the Death Eaters apparated in. After kissing the hems of his master's robes, as it was usual for them to do, he handed the Dark Lord a piece of parchment. The Lord seemed uninterested at first as if he thought this Death Eater couldn't give him anything of importance. But after reading a few lines, a sadistic smirk appeared in his twisted face. The Lord stood up from his seat and touched his wand to that Death Eater's Dark Mark. Masked figures cloaked in dark began appearing all over the place and they formed a circle, which Severus joined.

"I have been informed of a family which seems to know far too much. If this knowledge is allowed to pass on, however little they know now. It might become dangerous in the future. That is why my next target is the Potter family. There will be another meeting later to decide these matters further. You are dismissed." The Lord finished his speech and sat down again. His red eyes glowing even brighter than usual with suppressed glee.

Severus quickly Disapparated to the gates of Hogwarts. He took a deep breath. Even if he did hate the very oxygen James Potter breathed he wasn't about to become guilty of being a part of the murders of three innocent people.

When he entered the Headmaster's office he found that he was expected.

"Severus, do you have any news?" Albus asked, a fire burning in his eyes. He thought about it. It was so easy; his archenemy was the next target of Voldemort. It wasn't as if everyone would point the finger at him if he didn't share the information. He looked at Albus again. And he was sure. He had to share the information. Knowing himself he'd blame himself if he didn't say anything and the Potters were killed.

"I know his next target." He whispered. He was afraid. (Stupid really, fear...) That the dark lord was listening. Which, of course, was impossible.

Albus stared at him intently. As if he were trying to see the next words before he even spoke them.

"The Potters."

*

Lily was looking at their calendar again. She noticed how Remus hadn't been over for a while now. She sort of missed him. He had always been very nice to her. And he was so good with Harry, unlike Peter who just left her boy to his own devices. How irresponsible! Remus would never do that. Sirius might, if a nice looking girl were to flash him or something. She giggled at the thought. Sirius holding Harry, some girl flashing Sirius, Sirius dropping Harry and his jaw, Sirius running to chase the girl in circles. She shook her head at herself, shaking in amusement. She heard a soft 'pop' beside her and felt James's arms wrapping themselves around her, hugging her as if he had expected never to find her ever again.

She turned around to face her husband who was looking as if someone had died. She wondered if someone had - it wasn't exactly uncommon these days. Just going to the supermarket had been scary enough, and when Peter startled her by hiding behind the bushes...

"What is it, James?" She asked, concern in her voice.

"I just came from a meeting with Albus. He told me." James sniffed dramatically. "He told me that we are You Know Who's next target." He pulled her into another hug. She felt shocked. Why? What had she done? What had they done? She had just started a life. She had a wonderful husband and a beautiful son. She couldn't die. She was too young to die. She felt tears running down her cheek. A small sob escaped her.

"James?" She asked shakily.

"Albus is working on it. He says he can have one of the Professors at Hogwarts help him to a charm to protect us. I think it was called the Fidelius Charm or something of the like. It was named after the man who invented it, Filius Flitwick or someone. Come to think of it, I think the Professor at Hogwarts is named after that guy... The charm's name could also just come from the word fidelity, come to think about it." James babbled on about names and descendants. She didn't really pay attention, James sometimes babbled when he was very scared or nervous. She just felt dizzy. Pulling him down on the sofa with her she questioned him on how the charm worked.

"Well you see it depends on one person knowing the secret - a secret-keeper. That way, no one will be able to find us unless the person looking for us (You Know Who) gets the secret-keeper to tell him where we are." James explained, wrinkling his forehead in concentration. Then he pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled weakly.

"Is Harry in bed?"

"Yeah, I read him a story. Something about a baby unicorn..." She whispered, not trusting her voice fully.

"That's nice." James yawned.

"Peter came here today. He was looking for you." She said, remembering suddenly.

"Really? Odd, he didn't say he was coming. I better Floo him then, I'm just gonna check on Harry first." James yawned again.

"Floo him tomorrow, you're much too tired right now." She ordered.

"As you wish." James smiled, yawning once more.

He never remembered to Floo Peter.

*

When Sirius had finished 'his' breakfast and all their milk the two of them apparated away to work. It had been a week and Albus was anxious to perform the Fidelius Charm. He kept prodding James to find a secret-keeper; he had even offered to be one himself. James knew who he wanted to be secret-keeper; he just couldn't work his way up to asking. But he'd have to do it. He couldn't take chances like that. He couldn't lose Lily and Harry.

"Sirius?" James asked timidly. The thought of Lily and Harry being taken away from him was wretched, he wasn't about to sit back and watch it happen.

"Mmm" Sirius mumbled.

"Remember I told you about me, Lily and Harry being the next targets...?"

Sirius looked at him as if he were insane.

"That's why I've been worried sick, working overtime. How could I possibly forget?!?" Sirius yelled/yawned.

"Well, do you remember I told you Dumbledore had this spell which might help?" James started fidgeting nervously.

"Yeah, I've been trying to find out what it is." Sirius admitted with another yawn.

"It's called the Fidelius Charm. It relies on one person knowing the secret and keeping it safe... kind of hard to explain." James said uncomfortably.

"I think I read about something like that once... in the book room at Hogwarts -do you remember?" Sirius seemed excited.

"Well, I just wanted to ask? Would you be our secret-keeper?" James blurted out hurriedly.

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Really, really."

"That was easier than I thought it would be."

"What's a secret-keeper?"

"Sirius... you can't say you'll do something you don't even know what is!"

"Just tell me what it is then!"

"You'll be the person keeping me and my family safe. You Know Who will need you to get to me, you'll need to go into hiding, You Know Who will want you dead!!!"

"Oh."

"That's right. You need to stop running with your eyes closed into whatever I tell you to, this isn't Hogwarts anymore. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to ask this of you?"

"Sorry, Prongs"

"Don't apologize, Padfoot."

"I'm sorry I apologized."

"Stop it."

"I'll do it."

"You sure?"

"Hey, what are friends for?"

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, thank the blue ducks."

"You're insane."

"I know."

*

"James? Is that you?" She asked as she heard the familiar 'pop' of someone Apparating.

"Yeah, what shall I make for dinner? Where's Harry?" James asked as he hugged and kissed Lily.

"Your son is discovering the carpet in the living room. Again. And I thought I'd try to cook!" Lily said cheerfully, doing her best to forget about the evil wizard currently preparing their murder.

"Again?" James moaned hugging her again, as if making sure she was really there.

"I'm not that bad of a cook!" She shrieked, faking being colossally insulted.

"Of course you're not a bad cook! Who said you were a bad cook? Tell me who, I'll make them wish they were never born!" James stood up to his full length, his nose in the air, doing a wonderful imitation of a knight in shining armor.

"Don't do that." She giggled. Another giggle was heard from the floor as Harry involved himself in the scene.

"Hi there! And how was your day?" James cooed as he picked Harry up and twirled him around.

The happy atmosphere of the room was shattered along with the window in the living room. The crashing sound scared Harry and he started to cry. James handed Harry to Lily who started rocking him, telling him it was all right.

On the living room floor James found a rock and tied to it was a piece of parchment, James took one look at the white sheet of paper and dropped it right away.

"What is it?" Lily asked still holding the sniffling baby.

"The Dark Mark, it's a warning." James muttered staring at the floor around him, - it was covered in shards of glass. He reached for his wand and muttered a simple repairing charm, sending the pieces of glass back in their places.

"Did you ask Sirius?" Lily asked firmly.

"Yes, he said he'd do it," was her answer.

"Fine then, Floo Dumbledore." She ordered. "I'm putting Harry to bed." She then added as an afterthought.

James went over to the already lighted fireplace and threw some Floo powder into the crackling flames.

"I'd like to speak with Albus Dumbledore." He told the green fire. A moment passed and Albus's bearded head appeared in the center of the tongues of flame, which seemed to lick his head as if it were a Dragon egg roasting away...

"Yes James?" Albus's head looked at him questioningly.

"I got a warning." James spoke detachedly, as if he were just talking about one of the other victims. It was sort of unreal, being targeted. It was something he worked with; you'd think he'd know exactly what to do. -How to behave. He didn't.

It wasn't as if you'd get away with being targeted twice -You only got one chance. All that being an Auror had gotten him was the certainty that he'd never get away. He suddenly wished he wasn't a wizard. That he could just be a baker or a doctor, -blissfully unaware of the things happening in the magical world.

"A warning? Are you all right? Is Lily? Is Harry all right?" Albus asked; sounding alarmed.

"We're all perfectly fine." James smiled as if to prove his point. But it wasn't true; they weren't fine. Death eaters were targeting them, by command of You Know Whom. That was as far away from fine as it was possible to even get!

Lily walked into the room; she wasn't carrying Harry any longer. She laid her head on his shoulder wrapping her arms around him. He put his arms around her. And without even saying a thing they told each other exactly how scared they were.

"Sirius said he'd do it. When can we do the spell?" James asked in the same detached tone of voice.

"I just talked to Filius, we can do the spell tomorrow if you like." Albus answered.

"Good, I'll be expecting you" James smiled weakly.

*

After Albus had spent a large amount of time muttering some words waving his wand around which Harry thought was absolutely fascinating, for he giggled and wriggled in his mother's arms trying to chase after the wand. But finally, the spell was done and Albus handed James a thin chain.

"Give this to Sirius, it will disappear into him and stay hidden as long as he hides your secret." Albus said and smiled when Harry reached for his wand.

"You'll get your wand when you're older." Albus smiled kindly.

Harry didn't seem to want to wait, judging by the fact that the wand zoomed into his hand.

The three adults laughed and Albus plucked the wand back, and then he started putting up some more wards.

*

"Are you sure about this Sirius? I mean; this is a huge responsibility. Do you really want to do this?" James asked holding the think chain in his hand. It glittered in the brightly candlelit room.

"Actually, I've been thinking. What's the first thing You Know Who is going to do after he finds out about this spell?" Sirius asked, in a tone that said he didn't really want to be answered. "He's going to seek out the secret -keeper. He'll guess straight away that it's me." Sirius had a glint in his eye. It was a glint James wasn't unfamiliar with. Sirius was up to something.

"I suggest we make the person You Know Who expects the least secret-keeper." Sirius said triumphantly.

"Whom?" James asked curiously. Although he secretly suspected Sirius was suggesting this to evade responsibility, he decided to hear him out.

"Well, it has to be someone we trust, right?" Sirius grinned despite the situation.

"Of course!" James replied indignantly. Talk about stating the obvious.

"Someone we know, someone we know quite well, right?" Sirius smiled insanely.

"Out with it, Sirius!" James moaned, expired of his friend playing games.

"Wormtail of course!" Sirius declared. "No one will ever suspect him." Sirius looked very happy about himself as he finished. James dropped his jaw. Peter? Surely Sirius was joking...

"You're kidding." James stated numbly.

"No, I'm Sirius, not kidding." James raised an eyebrow at his friends undeveloped sense of humor. "It IS funny." Sirius insisted.

"Whatever, but do you really mean what you said about Peter?" James questioned, not entirely convinced it was such a good idea.

Sirius and James spent the whole night talking, and in the end Sirius finally managed to convince James that Peter would be the ideal secret-keeper. They called Peter over by Floo.

"What do you want?" Peter asked, eyeing the chain, which James was still clutching.

"I want to ask you to be secret-keeper." James told Peter and smiled.

"Y-you do?'" Peter stuttered, looking unsure of himself. But James and Sirius didn't know that inside Peter was nearly laughing with glee. This would land him in the right hand position to the Dark Lord! He'd be his most trusted Death Eater.

"Yes, You Know Who'll never expect it!" James looked so sure of himself.

"Of course I'll do it, anything for my friend." Peter said slyly.

"Then, I'll just put this around your head and that will be all." James smiled as Peter came forward eagerly.

"But this is a huge responsibility, are you sure you're up to it?" James asked, pulling the chain back.

"I'm sure." Peter nodded, putting on a brave face.

"All right then." James put the chain around Peter's neck. Then he said mockingly, "By the power invested in me as an Auror and Sirius as my witness I announce you secret-keeper of the Potter household." The three men laughed and both Sirius and Peter Disapparated.

James went to bed and all was well with his world.

*

It was in October when it happened.

Lily was just putting Harry to sleep and James had just finished putting the dinner things away. An unlocking charm was heard and all the candles went out.

James knew what had happened straight away. Lily came out of Harry's room looking bewildered.

"Sirius betrayed us?" She was unsure of herself. Why had the candles gone out? Why was it so cold?

"No, it was Peter!" James whispered.

"What?!? Why didn't you ask me first? I suspected him, I was going to tell you if anything else happened... he was digging around in your office a while back..."

"There's no time for this now." James muttered breathlessly taking out his wand. He could hear Him coming through the house blasting open doors, cackling loudly. Yelling that they couldn't hide.

"James, I love you." Lily started to cry as the reality of the situation hit her.

James could hear Him nearing the door. He turned to Lily who was crying desperately.

"Lily, Take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-" James tried to hold the door to the living room shut, Lily ran - stumbling a bit in her hurry - into Harry's room, where she had been coming from in the first place.

The door was burst open and he heard a cackle of high-pitched laughter.

He closed his eyes and thought of Lily. He thought of Sirius and Albus. He had to fight. He couldn't let them down. He couldn't let the Order of the Phoenix down.

"Potter," hissed a voice. Gleaming red eyes stood out on the white face of what some may have called a man once.

"That's me." James said, fighting his voice from shaking.

"Crucio!" Yelled the red-eyed monster. James quickly dodged the curse and cast a very nasty curse back, which - when successful - makes one's skin boil up.

The dark wizard simply raised an eyebrow, as he held his hand up shielding the hex away without any effort.

They fought, seemingly (at least to James) for hours. He was so tired of jumping out of the way of curses, being hit by them and never being able to hurt the other wizard.

Finally he wasn't quick enough to dodge and he felt a spell hit him. He was enveloped in green light and he felt his heart stop pumping. He didn't feel himself hit the ground, though.

The dark wizard walked on, searching for the small boy, the boy who might jeopardize his entire future. None of his Death Eaters had any idea how important that stupid little boy was. He had to be stopped. Right away. He found the girl holding the boy to her looking quite pitiful. He smiled wickedly. She'd watch her precious son die before her eyes.

She looked up as he grabbed at the boy. Her eyes were full of tears and it made him want to puke. All that love for her stupid little bundle of joy.

"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please -I'll do anything-" She was desperate. She had heard the fight. She had heard that horrible man kill James in cold blood. She couldn't run. Her life wasn't worth living if James wasn't there. But she had to save Harry. How could he be that cruel? How could he possibly kill an innocent, sweet baby? He was truly a monster.

She put Harry down behind her standing protectively in front of him. It seemed to amuse the red-eyed monster, which stood before her.

"Stand aside- stand aside, you silly girl..." He cackled. The sound chilled her very bones.

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead?" She wasn't going to let him take her baby. This was her son, she had carried him for nine months or more, she had given birth to him. She had taken care of him; he couldn't take Harry away. She'd rather die than see that horrid man take her baby.

"Not Harry!" She sobbed knowing he'd kill them both. But maybe, maybe he had some sort of heart... maybe he'd find a way to spare her Harry. "Have mercy, please, have mercy." She knew there was no hope as soon as he smiled a repulsive smile and lifted his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!" He yelled. A green light surrounded her. Then everything went black.

When the girl had fallen he could see the boy. Harry. He looked rather dim. There was nothing that special about him. The Dark Lord shouldn't have to fear a child. But he had to be careful. It wasn't really that hard to get to the top. The problems started when you tried to stay there. He lifted his wand for the third time and screeched the worst of the unforgivable curses.

"Avada Kedavra!" The familiar flash of green light flew through the air, hitting the boy in the forehead where it zigzagged, and rebounded. There was a moment of fear before the curse hit him. It was pain beyond pain, agony beyond agony. Ever tried being ripped from out of your body? Well that was what was happening.

No! This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. The boy began crying. The body - his own old body exploded into dust. No. No. NO!