But Imagine This

niennaart:

ohdeerjily:

It is October 31 1981. James Potter wakes up at 4 am because Harry is crying and Lily is sleeping and Merlin knows she’s exhausted. James gets out of bed and shoves his glasses on and tugs on a pair of pajama pants and stumbles into the nursery where baby Harry is wailing his little heart out. With a sigh James picks up his son and plops down into the rocking chair in the corner of the room.
“Everything’s alright,” he coos softly as he rocks back and forth with the baby in his lap. He remembers times at Hogwarts when he would whisper those same words to Lily, reassuring her that she was safe with him.
He sits there and rocks for a long time even though Harry fell asleep after about ten minutes. When he first hears the tapping he thinks he’s imagining things. But then it gets stronger and James looks around to see a tawny owl tapping at the nursery window.
Carefully setting Harry back in his crib, James opens the window and reads the letter.
All at once his heart explodes and a tidal wave washes over his stomach and his knees turn to pudding and James crashes back in the rocking chair, his head spinning.
Peter had been the spy. His old friend Peter, fat little Peter who was always so nervous and kind, had been on his way to sell out James and Lily and Harry to Voldemort that night when he had let something slip to a bystander and the Order found him.
They have to leave Godric’s Hollow, Dumbledore says at the end of the letter. They will have to move somewhere else and redo the fidelius charm, this time taking extra care when selecting the secret keeper.
James jumps up and lifts sleeping Harry out of the crib, clutching his son tightly to his chest. He walks to his and Lily’s bedroom where he quickly wakes up his frightened but able wife, who has had a bag of essentials packed for weeks in case they needed to make a quick escape.
Under the invisibility cloak they walk to the yard and disapparate to Hogwarts, where Dumbledore will help them decide what to do next.
As Harry drools on his chest and Lily’s hand squeezes his, James berates himself for not seeing through Peter earlier, for being too trusting. As he looks down at his wife and son, though, he thinks it could be worse. At least they’re together. At least they’re alive.

This is one of the most believable if they lived I love it