A/N: OH, the angst. :P This fic doesn't actually have Sirius and Remus in it, I couldn't fit them in, but it was part of a challenge, so I'm including it as a challengefic.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Warning: VERY VERY DEPRESSING.
Challenge: People on Bebo and LiveJournal are giving me prompts for Sirius/Remus fics, and I'll write one (or just biff the lot and write whatever I want) per day, posting them there, and here. This'll go on for the whole of May, so feel free to pop over to my LJ (link in my profile) and drop me a prompt!
Prompt: "I WANT A STRAIGHT LILY-JAMES ONE!" Er... so I went in a different direction. Sorry Tahlia.
Loss
Lily Evans stumbled out of the Headmaster's office, almost entirely unaware of her surroundings, legs carrying her down the corridors of their own accord. They certainly weren't being guided by her vision, her eyes were so clouded with tears that she couldn't even contemplate being able to see. Not that vision mattered anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.
They were dead.
Her parents were dead. Gone forever. Devoid of life.
A sob wracked her whole body and she crumpled against a hard stone wall, sliding down it, crying bitterly. She curled into a ball and cried and cried, teardrops wetting the front of her robes right through, and soaking her chest.
She felt unspeakably empty... no... not even empty. She felt like she had been emptied out and filled with water, too much water, water cells squeezing in between the cells of her body, making everything too tight, it was impossible to breathe and she began to cough between sobs, lungs desperately yearning for air. She took a few wheezy breaths, then burst into a fresh bout of sobs.
"Wotcher, Evans." The last voice Lily Evans wanted to hear was speaking behind her. Unable to help it, she screamed out a response.
"Go AWAY," sob, hiccup. "James Potter. I" hiccup, sniff, sniff "hate you."
"Wassa matter, Evans?" Potter sounded... actually comforting? Lily knew he had grown up this year, but didn't think he had acquired any actual emotions for anyone other than his precious Marauders.
"None" hic "of" hic "your" hic, gasp "business" sob "Potter."
Potter was crouching next to her now, stroking her back gently. "Come on, what is it?"
Unable to cry alone another second, needing to feel comfort regardless of who it came from, Lily turned to him, pressing her tearstained face to his shoulder. "Y-you know who killed my parents." Her voice, in sharp contrast to the hysterical shrieks of before, was now barely more than a whisper, and James didn't even hear her at first.
"Oh." He said in a shaky voice, holding Lily even tighter. The only sounds now were of her crying and the sound of fabric as James stroked her back comfortingly. Lily clung to him for dear life, crying and crying. It felt like hours, but after about ten minutes, James stood her up, speaking in that same, gentle tone.
"Come on Lily, let's go somewhere else. We can head to the kitchens, you can have a cup of tea, yeah?"
Lily nodded, sniffing, and allowed James to steer her. She didn't question how he knew where the kitchens were, just followed without a word.