******
A several months had passed since they first came to Godric's Hollow. Spring went by and the house was transformed into a home outside as well as inside decked with a variety of plants. Also, the stiff furniture was replaced with more homey-looking and comfortable ones and the paint changed too.
Summer came and before they knew it, it was little Harry's first birthday. They celebrated with a big cake but since Harry couldn't eat it alone, the cake lasted for a week. There were presents from friends delivered by Dumbledore himself since Sirius was on an important task but he sent his love and best regards for them all.
Slowly, the trees changed their vibrant green garments to their autumn dresses. The wind blew from the North, bringing a cold wind over them.
One windy night, a rapid knocking at their heavy door shocked the both of them. The moon had already ridden to her highest point and they never had visitors that late. Cold dread coursed through their veins.
"Lily, go upstairs and bring Harry with you." James snapped and in a flash, they were upstairs. His fingers drew his wand from his pocket.
"Open up. It's me." Muttered a deep voice at the door.
Recognition made him release his pent-up breath and opened the door.
A tall man in a black trench coat with striking looks-albeit brooding-went in the house and quickly locked the door behind him. There was a big tear in his coat, exposing another tear of the same size in his robe.
"What's the matter, Sirius?" James anxiously asked but Sirius drew his wand and let the curtains down.
"Where's Lily?" he asked suddenly after removing his coat in such an urgent manner that his fear doubled.
There wasn't any need to call her since she stood at the top of the stairs with a sleeping Harry in her arms since she heard Sirius' distinctive drawl.
Sirius slumped to one of the comfortable couches and wearily rubbed his face. It was pale and haggard that it frightened them.
"What happened?" James again inquired, more worried than ever.
"This." Sirius drew his robe to his shoulder, revealing a badly bandaged arm and already it was drenched with varying shades of rust and scarlet.
For a while, both of them were stunned. Sirius was definitely not a pushover and it takes such skill to wound him.
"Someone was after me and tried to kill me. I should've been dead but I managed to evade so it only hit my arm. The damn wound won't stop bleeding." His expression grew darker as he glanced at his deep wound. "I managed to injure him but he escaped."
Without a word, Lily rose. Soon she returned with a large box then began treating the wound. The wound was worse than he had described it. No sooner as she removed the bloodied tatters of the makeshift bandage, the wound oozed heavily with blood. She instructed James to fetch her hot water.
With the hot water being made, she opened the box revealing an assortment of medicine of both known to muggles and to them then chose a few herbs to crush for a dressing. A deep blue potion was poured on the wound and it went numb to the very bone. The next became a blur as she disinfected, cleaned and stitched the wound, taking at least twelve stitches. A spell would have been inapplicable since it was a curse that hit Sirius' arm therefore resistant to healing charms. Maybe it would have been healed earlier if only they knew the curse and its proper counter-curse. But fortunately, the herbs took effect and the wound stopped bleeding altogether.
"James, they are already suspecting me or else they would not have come after me." He muttered through gritted teeth as the last stitch was placed.
"Have you spoken to Dumbledore about this?" James suddenly spoke.
"No. I came here directly from London."
Lily patted the newly bandaged arm and fixed her things with a wave of her wand. "That means you haven't had any dinner yet. What do you want? There's some left from the Shepherd's pie I made for dinner but if you can still wait I'll make something more that you prefer."
A slight smile broke from his haggard face as he nodded. "The pie would be enough, thank you."
Lily returned his smile and went to fix his dinner.
Sirius glanced back and forth to Lily and James-who was affectionately massaging Harry's hands-for quite a while. "You're extremely lucky to have Lily." Sirius commented openly as soon as she was out of earshot.
A half smile formed in James face. "Yeah. I know." He answered, glancing at Lily's back.
The carefree moment passed and a serious expression was both worn by both of them again. The other brought his hands together and leaned forward. "I was thinking, about changing secret keepers."
Taken aback at what he said, James could only ask why.
"If ever they caught me, they'd give me Veritaserum so that they could pry your whereabouts from me."
"But-"
"James, I'm only human! With my wand arm wounded, I'm vulnerable. No one can resist both the Veritaserum and the Imperius curse combined." His voice broke at the last statement and he hung his head between his hands. "I'm sorry I have disappointed you."
Lily came back to the room holding two mugs of brewed coffee. The defeated stoop of Sirius made her stop in her tracks. She flicked her gaze to James who shook his head quietly at her.
James got both mugs and offered it to Sirius. "You didn't, Sirius." He patted his best friend's arm consolingly. "Who do you reckon should be our secret-keeper?"
Sirius gratefully drank his coffee and stared thoughtfully at the fire for some moments, in deep thought.
"Peter would be the perfect choice. They won't suspect him to be your secret-keeper." He said after some time.
James weighed his choices and tried to picture Peter mentally.
Peter Pettigrew was the type to cling to somebody like chewing gum on a shoe's sole. Sometimes, people would think of him as a pushover and a try hard. He wanted always to be with the most powerful or popular group to look tough. But inside he was afraid too. Afraid of being bullied at, of being ridiculed and of being hurt. But if Peter wanted to stick to somebody, he would. And that was what qualified him as a secret keeper. Of course, Sirius was infinitely more capable than he, not to mention also wise but circumstances demanded a more low-lying figure. Sirius was never low-lying. If he opposed someone, he was vociferous about it even without letting words get out of his mouth.
"That's settled, then."
A thankful smile surfaced from Sirius. "I'll tell Peter as soon as I can go back to London. I'm afraid I'll won't have any sleep tonight." He noted wryly.
"Enough talk. Your dinner is ready and I'm sure you're famished." Lily beamed and ushered him to the dining room.
James was about to follow them when a cold, strong wind blew open one of the windows. The flames in the fireplace flickered to the point of dying and for a few fleeting seconds, the room was suddenly filled with shadows. Bolting the window shut, he was suddenly filled with foreboding.
He stubbornly brushed off the idea that it was a bad omen. It was only a coincidence, he told himself. Perhaps there was a storm coming. But there was a voice that kept nagging him inside his head. He hadn't made a mistake in switching the secret-keepers. Or did he?
******
"Is this one any good?"
"Better than the others. Really, is this your first time to make Jack o' Lanterns?"
James smiled at the remark then nodded. He had been attempting to make a perfect Jack o' Lantern under Lily's instructions but they didn't look that good. The first one had been a disaster; the second's eyes' were too far apart. At least this one was all right, only that it was squint-eyed. It wasn't easy as he imagined and he sighed audibly.
Harry, sitting beside him, was less interested in carving. But his eye was caught by the curled shavings from the pumpkin. He began poking the curls and played with a particularly big one. James looked at him just in time to see Harry attempting to eat the shaving.
"Don't eat that! Pumpkin pie is good but raw pumpkin is disgusting." He reprimanded Harry as he removed the curl from the baby's grip. All of a sudden, he started crying from his loss of his toy.
James sighed again and cleaned up the mess he made with his wand.
"You made him cry. Bad boy!" Lily scolded him in return and lifted Harry to soothe his crying. "It's all right, honey. Mummy will give you something else to eat."
A mock frown formed in his face. "Hey. That's not fair! I made the lanterns while he only wanted to eat the pumpkin shaving. Why does he get something to eat and I have nothing?"
"You'd have to make me cry first," was the short reply.
"All right, then. " He replied and removed Harry from her arms. A full tickling assault ensued and James didn't stop until she was laughing so hard that there were tears in her eyes and writhing on the carpet, pleading him to stop.
He did stop and stooped to kiss her. "Dinner can wait, you know." He smiled mischievously.
"For us, yes. But for Harry, a definite no." she poked his rib hard and he fell to his side on the floor but his playful smile in full force.
"Kill joy." He teased her as he caught and embraced her.
She pecked affectionately on his cheek. "Dinner is on the table so you might as well wash your hands first, young man." She told him in a mock commanding tone. Humming, she picked Harry up and started to walk towards the Dining room.
The loud click of the door's lock unlatching made them both freeze and turn to the door.
Everything that followed seemed to occur in slow motion, as if they were underwater instead. The heavy door swung open, letting in an icy draft, extinguishing every fire and filling them with fear and panic. A man, heavily cloaked and hooded, stood at the doorway. Though his eyes were covered by shadows, they knew he was looking straight at them. The unseen gazes rooted them more to the floor, unable to move or protect themselves. Then ever so slightly, the penetrating gaze fell on Harry.
The Lord Voldemort had found what he wanted at last: them. Ironically, what they thought was a safe haven had become a trap where they were harmless rabbits in the dark wolf's den.
A malign smile twisted the horrible lips against the chalk-like skin of the dark lord. A low, guttural laugh came as he took a single step.
With the first step taken, James finally snapped. He refused to die without fighting. "Run, Lily… Run while I can still hold him." He said to the wide-eyed Lily who was clutching Harry in a death grip. She still wouldn't move so he had to shout "Go!"
She glanced at him with fear-filled eyes before running away upstairs.
His thoughts turned to her. Lily was still very beautiful in his eyes. He longed to say I love you to her for one last time, to spend every moment with her until his dying moment. To see Harry and his other children grow and achieve success in their own lives and even to see his grandchildren. To watch the marvelous copper hair turn slowly into silver. To watch their dream being fulfilled into making their house in Godric's Hollow into a home.
He turned away from her to his opponent and knew with freezing realization that he won't be able to do those. Today was his last day. He won't be able to see Lily and Harry and his friends and so much more ever again. The thought brought a lump in his throat and his eyes stung sharply.
The low laugh had become a hysterical roaring that sounded like it came from the grave. Their house had become his grave. But he didn't want to die without fighting. He would protect Lily and Harry with everything he had, even with his life.
"You think you can stand up against me!" came the shrill cry of Voldemort.
James pulled himself up, straight-backed and proud with his wand withdrawn in his hand. He shot a fatal curse to him but in a quick movement, it only hit the hem of his robe, leaving a sizzling hole.
With surprising speed, Voldemort drew his own wand and made a shot for him.
He evaded only in time. The spot on the floor where he stood was obliterated and he tried to hit Voldemort again but a beam of red light hit him square in the stomach, making him still as stone.
"Trapped, aren't we Potter? You might be asking how, after all the secrecy, did I manage to get in here? Let us say that someone you thought you could trust gave a little-hmm, how should I say it-squeak?" A low laugh escaped from him once more.
"You defied me thrice. No one had been able to do that before, it is pitiful to waste your talents, and I will give you the honor of dying quick." He hissed and pointed at his forehead. "And if you're wondering why I'm here is not because of you but because of your son.
Harry, James thought desperately. Why?
Voldemort seemed to have read his thoughts since he answered: "Oh yes, little Harry. Suppose Dumbledore did not say that to you? It's a good thing I told you since nobody likes to die without knowing why." A blinding green light came forth from Voldemort's wand and straight into his forehead.
The numbness he felt was changed in a split second to pain. Pain in its most powerful form. White-hot flames seared his very flesh and his insides were being melted and his head was splitting apart. It was as if someone was trying to take him apart with molten metal. He refused still to give Voldemort the pleasure of hearing him cry out in pain. His whole life flashed before his eyes and the happy days he and Lily shared and the future with all of them well and alive. Through his pain he felt tears trickling down his face as he realized that there was no future for him. He heard the sonata Lily played one winter night, the first time they came there. Perhaps everything that happened to them was like that. It started and ended in so much sorrow and so will his. Theirs was perhaps a doomed love and his last vestige of life was fleeing from his body
"Lily…" he whispered as the image of his wife flashed as his pain was past endurance.
And then there was nothing else.
******
Voldemort brought down his wand and James Potter's body fell to the floor. He defied him even to his death. He didn't scream out loud as the others did and it took him an unusually long time to kill him. But he was done now and what was left was his loving wife and his son.
******
James was dead. She knew it.
The moment that something inside her snapped, she knew what happened. Everything seemed so cold, colder than anything she had felt in her whole life did. She tried to stifle her cries but she was past caring and a cry from the pits of her soul shook her hard. Tears came freely from her eyes and she couldn't see anymore or feel anything but deep grief. He promised that everything will be all right and they would be together always. She could have taken everything that crossed their fates just that they were together.
Harry felt Lily's sudden sorrow that he cried out loud.
With the cry of the child she carried in her arms, she remembered why she was there. She must not give in to grief. Not here, not now. James died to save her and Harry. She won't waste that sacrifice that cost him his life. She will fight back and protect Harry. He was all that mattered to her now. She looked at Harry and remembered James. They were almost exactly like each other save for her eyes. Her heart was filled with love for her child. If she had to die, it was to save Harry.
"It's all right, Harry. Mummy's here. Mummy loves you so much." She crooned softly to the crying baby and the cries died down but her tears flowed afresh with her last words. Her heart belonged to him but in a different way she loved James. Her love for Harry was the love for your own flesh and blood, the fruit of her womb. She wanted to take care of him and James for the rest of her life. But there was no time for thinking.
The door to the nursery gave way and Voldemort stood once more before her. She still held Harry in her arms and she would not let go. She would never let go.
The sight of James' murderer sent misery swamping over her. She didn't even have her wand by her side to protect her and Harry. To plead was the last thing she wanted to do but she was willing to do everything to save her child.
" I don't want to be a mean, green ogre. Now, be a nice girl and give little Harry to me so I could put him to sleep." Voldemort twisted his lips into a smile once more and stretched out a skeletal hand to her.
Lily clutched her child closer to herself. Her rivers of tears wouldn't stop rushing as she pleaded for his mercy. "Kill me if you want but please save my baby! Don't kill him!"
"Your dear husband is dead. And now it's is your turn to die. It's pointless to plead for I have no mercy. Soon, your beloved Harry will die too" He pointed his wand at her and a cruel beam of green light hit her forcefully as malicious laughter rung in the hollows of the night.
The same pain James felt was now upon her and she couldn't even hear herself screaming. But the pain inside her was more powerful than the inflicted pain outside. She was dying and no one was going to take care of Harry. She wasn't going to see him go to school for the first time. She wasn't going to be there when to chase the monsters from beneath his bed or to comfort him when he has nightmares. She wasn't going to be there to kiss away the hurt if he stumbles or to send him off to school. She wasn't going to see to it that he brushed his teeth every night and spoil him during holidays when he comes home from school. She was going to miss so much in Harry's life but it doesn't matter now.
The pain had ended and she knew she was falling to the floor but she placed Harry tightly in her arms to save him from the fall. A single tear escaped and fell on Harry's cheek.
' Just please, let Harry live!' She thought finally and Death closed in upon her.
******
Killing Lily Potter wasn't as quick as he thought. Voldemort could feel so much strength leave him as he finished her off. But the next one was only a baby so it wouldn't take much. Two down, one more to go.
It was so pathetic for her to plead for the life of her son; he could almost laugh at it. But his laughter died down when a voice inside him asked if his mother loved him that much to the point when she would have done the same thing to save him.
No. It wasn't time for such thoughts. Who cares if she does or doesn't? Will it make any difference? Perhaps. But past was past and there was nothing he could do. But what about his father, would he make the same sacrifice as Potter? A grim smile rose from inside him. Never. In fact, the bastard son of a bitch he called his father would have even killed them with his own hands if only he didn't want his hands to be stained with blood.
The little boy squirmed from his dead mother's grasp. What an unnatural little monster. The exact replica of his father. He thought for a while to spare him several years if he turns out to be like his father. But then again, he decided against it. He lifted the boy from the woman's arms and placed him on a nearby table. The little boy had nothing to do with his parents' defiance but the prophecy declared the boy's fate to die and it must be fulfilled.
He pointed his wand at the boy's forehead just as he had done with his father. Too bad if he turns out to be as talented as James Potter was.
In an instant, he shot the killing curse to the little boy but something unexpected happened.
A searing pain was upon him and his very flesh was on fire but it was short lived and total numbness fell upon him. He felt unnaturally light with his power fleeing him. His body was reduced to ashes and his soul was leaving it.
This little boy had reduced him, the Lord Voldemort, the most powerful wizard of all, to almost nothing! Not even a ghost with a material form. No, he was less than that. Everything was lost!
With a horrible wail, he fled from the house and into the woods and to wander for so many years until his time came to rise once more.
******
Epilogue:
Unaware of everything that had happened, the child still stared blankly at the fallen form of his mother. He struggled to go near Lily. With difficulty, he reached the floor and crawled to her side. To him, she appeared as if she were sleeping. Deliberately, he tried to shake her awake but her eyes wouldn't open. Nor would she ever awaken again. A strange feeling dawned in him, a realization that she was gone and never to come back. He cried out for all that was lost to him until he was weary of it. Tired, he lay beside her and slept, his love reaching out to her even in death. He may not know it but that night everything changed. The fate of the whole world changed as well as his but at the cost of his parents' lives. He still bears his remarkable resemblance to his father and his mother's eyes.
But now he had a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. A sign that he would defy the Dark Lord once more as James and Lily once did, as he did that one fateful night.
But those remains to be done for several years after. For now, he felt sleep closing his heavy eyelids, not knowing what happened or what lies before him.
******
Lily swept the dark locks that fell on Harry's closed eyes, revealing a lightning shaped scar. Her eyes were gentle and there was a peaceful smile playing on her lips. A hand touched her shoulder and she looked to see who was it.
James kneeled near the two of them. "Lily, it's time." He murmured to his wife.
"Can we just stay?" she asked him.
He shook his head once. "We have to go."
Lily could only nod her head to him and smile sadly and his expression not far from hers.
"We will always watch over him, even from afar." He told her, taking her hand in his. He turned his head to the sleeping child. "Good night, little tyke. Sweet dreams, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite." Then he placed a fatherly kiss on his forehead and pulled himself up.
Lily took her turn and caressed Harry, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Good night, darling."
Harry somehow felt their kisses and stirred from his sleep.
She stood beside her husband and cast a long lingering look at their son. "He's such a sweet precious angel, my little Harry. Our little Harry" she said, leaning on James' shoulder.
"Are you ready?"
"If you are."
Slowly, James led the way and glided from the house, over a great distance and at last they reached a room which opened at his touch. The veil fluttered gracefully before them and hushed voices whispered in a manner that the sea whispers to the shore.
She searched her husband's face for an answer to the silent question in her heart after she stopped before the veil.
He felt her hesitation and wrapped his arms around her, placing his lips on her forehead as always whenever she needed comfort, especially from him. "I'm here, Lily. I will always be here. We will forever be together from now on."
She returned his loving embrace and smiled up to him, knowing with all her heart that the promise would never be broken.
Hand in hand with fingers twined with each other's, together they went behind the veil, as all souls have to do, always watching and waiting over Harry, spending their eternity with each other.
******
"La tristesse durera toujours"
******
A/N: This is an apology. There are no changes to The Moonlight Sonata. It was accidentally moved and was reset again. However, I deeply appreciate you taking your time to read this. If you may, please read and review. The world has enough apathetic people on its face. Don't be one of them.