"Breath easy now...you don't have to carry other people's heavy anymore." - Tanya Wright, Butterflies Rising
Giggles erupted from the lungs of the small child sitting on the living room floor. The sound of unadulterated happiness managed to get James Potter to smile, which was sadly something of few and far between occurrences these days. James had been very careful to not let his mood affect his son. So, this Halloween night, James found himself pouring green colored smoke towards his child, who was reaching out and attempting to catch the gaseous material with his small baby fists. He always looked at his empty hand with confusion over his failure; it amused James to no end.
James reached out to steady the baby as he had nearly fallen over by the weight of his latest onslaught of giggles. "Are you torturing our child?" Lily asked jokingly as she arrived in the room.
"Oh, yeah," James answered sarcastically. "Ya caught me."
"Knew it," she grinned, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of his raven colored hair. He turned to smile at her.
Lily noted the way James' smile didn't quite reach his eyes; it was the smile that he typically gave her when he didn't want her to know something was bothering him. Lily sighed as she took a seat next to him on their couch.
"What's on your mind, love?" She asked, nudging his shoulder lightly with hers.
James turned his head to look at her, hazel eyes wide with innocence. "Nothing."
She gave him a look. James Potter was painfully selfless. "Charlie again?"
James blinked the fluid from his eyes and swallowed harshly. Harry made a noise of protest as the smoke had stopped coming from his dad's wand. James cleared his throat and continued in his role as entertainer keeping his eyes from his wife.
"James," she said gently, placing a hand on his arm.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. "It's fine, Lils. Promise."
"No, it isn't, love. It really isn't."
He shook his head, gritting his teeth. "You don't need to hear me talk about my ex-girlfriend."
Something flashed in Lily's eyes. "Your ex-girlfriend?" She demanded. "Charlotte Riggs was so much more than that, and you know it. She was one of your best friends, one of my best friends, James. Stop using her being your ex as excuse not to talk about it. You know that's not what any of us think of when we think of Charlie. She was our friend, James. Not your ex-girlfriend. She was Remus' girlfriend. My best friend. Your best friend. Peter's best friend. Sirius' best friend. She hasn't been your ex-girlfriend in a very long time."
James bowed his head, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill over. "I know," he answered hoarsely. He knew it was just an easy excuse not to think about it. Not to talk about it.
Lily's body sagged; guilt gnawed at her insides because she didn't mean to snap at him like that. She reached out and gently brushed his black hair from his eyes. James clenched his jaw not wanting to think about it, but think about it he did.
James Potter had been the one to find Charlotte Riggs. Nobody knew anything was wrong, that she was missing at the time. He had been headed over to discuss an upcoming mission; he and Charlie made one hell of a team. He had arrived to her house the night of September 23rd. He could still see the dark mark hovering over her cottage home; it often haunted his nightmares.
James leaned against Lily finally giving into his cries. "She's never coming back," he sobbed into Lily's arms. Lily held him tighter.
He could still feel the twist in his gut and the cold in his heart as he arrived at Charlie's place. Looking back, it was rather idiotic to run into the house with no back up, but in that moment he could think of nothing else but Charlie. He had frantically searched the house, seeing the signs of a fight scattered throughout the cottage. He vomited when he found her body with her ocean eyes glazed over, never to see him, or anyone, again.
Lily hugged him tight to her chest, tears of her own filling her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She remembered too. She had been at home with Harry; Sirius, Remus, and Peter had come over for dinner to have a small evening away from everything. It had been quite nice, but then James came home earlier than planned with a paled face and a faraway look in his eyes. The next bit was a blur between Sirius going still and quiet and Peter throwing up into their toilet and James holding Remus as he wailed.
It hadn't even been a full two months since they had lost Marlene. It was a sucker punch to the gut to see their group of seven dwindle.
It had wrecked James– being the one to find Charlie. Lily had found him more nights than one in Harry's room when he should have be asleep in their bed, passed out in Harry's rocker, Harry placed firmly on James' chest encased in his father's grip. Lily reckoned he was scared of losing anyone else especially their son.
Lily stroked his back. "How 'bout I put Harry to bed, you put on a pot of tea, and we watch an old muggle movie that you like making fun of?"
James chuckled ever so slightly, wiping the wetness from his face. "You hate when I make fun of muggle movies."
She smiled with a playful roll of her eyes. "I'll give you a pass tonight, Potter, but just tonight. Don't go getting used to it or anything."
"Deal." He lifted his head from where he was hugged against her and pressed a kiss to her lips.
James untangled his limbs from Lily's and plucked Harry from the ground, whose eyelids were growing rather heavy. He pressed a kiss to the top of his son's head before handing him to Lily. The redhead cradled her son against her, his baby coos making her feel warm.
James tossed his wand on the couch and leaned back, stretching his stiff muscles. As some pops sounding along his joints, Lily made a snarky comment about him getting old to which James reminded her that she was older than him.
James started towards the kitchen to put on that much needed pot of tea. Just as James' feet crossed the threshold of their living room into the walkway of their front door, the door blew open with a loud bang, littering the floor with splintered wood.
There he was. The person James and Lily had feared seeing anywhere near their son, and he was in their house. He felt very cold as he locked eyes with Voldemort's red gaze.
James turned, sprinting towards his wife and son. "Lily!" He yelled, nearly running into the two in his haste to get to them. "Take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"
Lily's green eyes were wide as if she couldn't quite process what was happening at the moment. She shook her head, not wanting to leave James. Not wanting to walk away from him. She wouldn't; she couldn't.
No, she mouthed.
James pressed a quick, sloppy kiss to her lips and gripped the back of Harry's blue pajamas. She sucked in a sharp breath; James gave her a gentle nudge toward the stairs. He turned, sure that she would get their son to safety.
He rushed towards Voldemort, knowing this would be his end. He didn't have his wand, but that was okay, it gave Lily time to get out of there. James comforted himself with the thought of getting a decent punch in before he was killed. The raven haired man locked eyes with Voldemort, suppressing the shiver that wanted to ripple up his spine. He refused to give Voldemort the satisfaction of seeing him afraid.
James watched as his enemy raised his wand. Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion. It was as if his brain went into overdrive to work out the last of his final thoughts. He thought about Lily upstairs with their son. He thought about Sirius and Remus and how this would just add to their grief. He wondered if Peter were dead; did they kill him after they tortured the information out of him? His only comforting thought was of seeing Marlene and Charlie again.
James didn't quite hear the curse. It sounded as if Voldemort were very, very far away or underwater. He did see the flash of green though. All James could think of were Lily's green eyes that she had passed on to their son. James Potter's lasts thoughts were of his wife and son, praying that they got away and that he would not be seeing them for a very long time.
Voldemort watched James Potter's body crumble to the floor, all of the life seeped from his bones. He lied on the floor never to move again. In his fall, the back of his t-shirt had become crumpled, revealing a portion of the tattoo that he had gotten with his six other friends, spread out from shoulder blade to shoulder blade.
The group of seven was now a group of four. Voldemort made his way for the stairs.
Upstairs, Lily Potter was clutching her son against her. She had just watched the flash of green seep under the door, leaking through the cracks of the boxes she had stacked against the door. When she heard the thud of a body hitting the floor, she did her best to contain the scream within her lungs. It didn't work.
James Potter was gone; James Potter was dead. Something inside of Lily broke in that moment. Her boy was gone. She would never receive another arrogant look with a twinkle in those hazel eyes. She would never hear him call her "Evans" again as he had done since they were eleven and even after they were married. She would never have a chance to make fun of him for his messy head of hair again or to steal his glasses and watch him fumble around with his horrible vision.
Harry would never know his father; Lily's heart broke.
The door was forced open, pushing the stacks of boxes to the side. Voldemort entered the room, hidden beneath his hood, wand drawn to attack. Lily quickly dropped her son into his crib, turning to stand in front of his small body, shielding him from the evil that had entered his nursery.
Lily stared at him. She found herself thirsty for violence. He had taken everything from her. Her parents. Marlene. Charlie. James. It was all because of him; he had ruined her life. She found herself wanting to hit him. Kick him. Kill him. For everything he had done to her. For all the lives that had been lost. She wanted justice, and she wanted it now.
But, as much as she wanted this, she wanted Harry to live more. She couldn't let him murder her baby.
Voldemort moved forward slowly, staring past the redhead at the small child in the crib.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
He balked at her, not expecting any sort of protest from her. "Stand aside, you silly girl...stand aside now!"
Lily shook her head stubbornly and continued to protest, panic rising in her veins. "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!"
Lily Potter did not stand aside. She refused. She–like James–did not hear the words. She saw the green as it surrounded her and found herself idly wondering if death feels so slow for everyone or just her.
She thought about her parents and Marlene and Charlie and James. All of the people waiting for her. She fondly thought of all the people she was leaving behind– Remus, Sirius, Peter. Oh, Peter, she wondered, what did they do to you to get our location?
The green curse finally overcame the redhead, dropping her body to the floor. Her matching tattoo was just visible on her wrist at the edge of her sleeve as she had opted for smaller more modest version of the tattoo James designed.
Lily Potter was dead, making the group of seven a group of three.
The next part went on to be infamous. How Lord Voldemort went to kill the child. How something happened unbeknown to the public. How Voldemort shattered after attempting to kill the boy, leaving him behind with nothing more than a lightening scar carved into his forehead. How Harry Potter went on to be known as the boy who lived.