Chapter Text
Chapter 1
The night had been clear and unwavering, hardly threatening.
Regardless of being in the middle of a war it was a slow evening for the Potters. Lily had just put Harry to bed, tucked in, and possibly the cutest Gryffindor mascot, swaddled in a red and gold blanket given to them by Sirius.
James was finishing up the dishes in the room next door, scrubbing suds over the white china. The picture of fatherhood.
Life had change drastically after Lily’s pregnancy. Before the whole group had been five rouge Wizards and Witch, young and full of adventure. They were fighting for justice against one of the baddest and most powerful Wizards the world had ever seen.
Life had been a buzz of thrills. A constant high of fights, then later falling into Lily’s arms, celebrating their hurricane like love in the center of this chaos.
Regardless of how uneventful the past year had been in the safe house, James wouldn’t change this domestic bliss for the world.
As the evening drew on the sun began to dip into the horizon triggering the fluorescent glow of the street lights to pour into the small rectangular window above the sink. It was the perfect image of peace, yet something struck James as odd.
Instincts kicked in as he focused his eyes on the shadows between the floods of light. The silhouette of a tall, gangling figure stood as if in wait. James knew a Wizard when he saw one. The figure took a step and the wards on the safe house went ape shit. Screams of alarms deafening, James almost missed the banging on the kitchens back door.
Someone else was out the back.
“What’s going on?” Lily ran into the kitchen squeezing his broad shoulders with trembling hands. Both of them knew what was happening.
‘What do we do?’ Her frightened green doe eyes pleaded.
“Get Harry and run!” James shouted, springing Lily into action.
James turned towards the back door. Whoever was there had triggered the wards. Outside the window James noted that the figure was walking towards them at a faster pace.
‘Definitely the bigger threat’, James's experience with death eaters reasoned.
James pulled out his wand and cautiously headed towards the back door, planning to cut through whoever was out them and create an escape rout for the three of them. Without a second thought he swung open the door, screaming “Expelliamus!” at the intruder.
A familiar face deadpanned at him as Snape's wand flew from his long bony fingers.
“You don’t have time for this!” Snap snapped at James's shocked expression. Grabbing the lapel of his shirt, Snape pulled James's body outside dragging the door closed with it. James body snapped back into action, with a vicious curse on his tong, the only thing that stopped him from slicing the snake open was Snaps hands, held high in surrender.
“Enough! I’m not here to fight you. The dark lord is coming for Lily and you. You both need to get out of here. Now!” Snape’s characteristic drawl was spend up in panic, his pupils seemed to quiver. “Now, where’s Lily?”
Distrust growled through James, "She's with Harry".
The sound of lightning and thunder that pierced the air was shattering, like the splintering of wood of a great bulldozed tree, followed by an ear splitting, echoed scream pierceing the night. A dark feeling of dread landed like a rock in the two men's stomachs.
“Lily!” both men screamed in reply before an all too familiar green light shot out of the houses windows like bolts of deadly lightning. Both of the men scrambled without fear to get through the door. Limbs knocking into each other as they raced through the house, James in the lead with Snape at his heels.
The squealing of Harry’s cries rang through the hallway making James sign in relief for a moment before the body of his wife came into view.
Harry was curled up uselessly in her weightless arms whimpering. Even in shock James immediately scooped Harry into his arms for safety.
Snape was less composed. He dropped to his knees and let out a wail which could have rivaled one of Remus’s howls during a full moon. It was like a dam have burst in the man. Something cracked beyond repair.
Harry join the sorrow with tears of his own as James stood on, watching the scene, petrified in a state of shock.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
He didn't have the tears to describe that moment.