More about this story: It's a post Hogwarts fic, about James/Lily & the Marauders during the first Order of The Phoenix era. Frequent flashbacks to the beginnings of Lily and James, including !fluff! Will later on include the wedding, my favorite part, hurrah!

Please read and review, not only does it make me update faster, but your comments help me improve. And I know that you like getting reviews when you spend a lot of your time writing something, so please, do me that same favor.

Also, I'm only saying this once, so listen clearly. I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the original plot lines and characters, I do not make any profit of this story, and I am definitely not JKR, because if I was, Tonks & Remus never would have died and I would have given why more info on Lily and James' love story, duh.

Homecoming

Never had London seen a rain such as this. She was convinced that it was earth's natural way of showing her, and everyone who had lost someone during this war, that they were not alone. A way of saying that if they were to greave, the clouds who greave by their side.

So much had changed in so little time. Despite the fact that she had only left Hogwarts a month ago, those careless beautiful days she had spent with James by the lake, seamed, light years away…

She tiredly made her way to the portrait hole and grumpily muttered the password ready to sink into her bed fully clothed after such a long day.

She was about to round the corner that would reveal her common room when she heard the soft strumming of a guitar, accompanied by a voice – his voice. It seamed to seep into her and heal all her wounds.

She sank to the floor, back to the wall that separated her from him and listened to his words silently.

"And what was I supposed to do, I was stuck in between you and a hard place, we won't talk about that hard place…"

He continued to sing; oblivious to her presence and to the small tears accumulating in her stunning emerald eyes. It seemed as if all her problems and worries could be washed away with his words, no matter the sadness of them.

"And I don't blame you anymore that's too much pain to store, it left me half dead, inside my head, oh, and lookin' back I see I'm not the guy I used to be, when I lost my mind, it saved my life…"

Slowly, all the emotions that she had fought so hard to keep down started to come back up. She was head over heals in love with James Potter and their was absolutely nothing she could do about it but cry.

She cried about the hilarious irony of the situation and about the fact they could never be together, no matter how badly they wanted to be. She cried about all the people that had died and would still die during this stupid war, all the sacrifices being made, by everyone, by her. She cried for the simple sake of crying, to pour out the bad that had accumulated inside her. She had no idea how long she had been sitting their, but at some point she became aware of the silence in the room, the absence of the music that made her feel even more empty inside.

James was standing over her, concern etched into every feature of his extremely handsome face. His glasses were reflecting the chandelier light, so she could not see his honest hazel eyes. Almost everything that was James Potter was there, his signature untamable hair, his Quidditch-toned body, yet she knew there was something missing. His innocence, the light in his soul, his lopsided grin and immaturity, all the things she loved best, ruined, smashed by this interminable war.

"Lily?"

She stood abruptly, swaying slightly on her spot, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, just ignore me, I'm not here."

She headed towards the staircase, but her knees proved too week to hold her and she prepared to feel the cold hardness of the floor, but instead she felt two strong warm arms surround her, and she found herself crying into James' shoulder on the couch in front of the fire.

At some point she had fallen asleep, but James never did, he held on to her all night, chin protectively rested on her head whispering comforting words into her hair. He knew Lily loved him, he wasn't that dense, but he didn't understand why she kept away, to him she was everything, and it physically hurt him to be away from her. He would never push her to confine in him, but he wished she would just tell him what was wrong and why she was so adamant on playing with fate.

She was tall and lean, but not to a point where she looked sick. Her skin had a creamy pale complexion that contrasted with her auburn locks that normally hung loosely on her back, curling into large perfect ringlets. Now, as she was wet, her hair frizzed and stuck to her face in places. She wasn't just wet; she was soaked to the bone, shivering, and her emerald green dress was completely ruined as it clung to her skin. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, her head resting on them, seeking warmth as she rocked back and forth on the grey park bench.

She did not know if the wetness on her face was composed of tears or rain, but she didn't care. As far as she was concerned the clouds were crying for her.

She did not notice a tall handsome man appear by her side, and for some reason inexplicable by science, the rain stopped inches before hitting him, leaving his dark hair to fall in his eyes completely dry. He had startling grey eyes, hard to put into words, unfathomable, and mysterious. You could easily tell he was a closed soul, his business was his own, and the things he had seen and done, would tear his insides apart, but he would never let them out. He just gave off the impression that he had experienced too much, seen too much, for anyone with normal capacities.

He sat down next to the girl, who eyes unlike his, betrayed every single emotion she was feeling. The pain and sorrow so evident, even if a child could tell she was on the edge. She had the same look though; she had also experience too much.

After a few minutes, he stood again, and pried the girl's arms off her legs; he placed one arm under her knees and one under her back, and lifted her of the bench, pushing her head into his chest. She didn't even acknowledge his presence. She continued her comatose state, the tears more visible now that she was in the rain protector's bubble.

He began to whisper things to her, softly, soothingly, " He's going to be okay Lils, I promise. He's going to come home. He's absolutely fine. Don't you worry about it."

He made so many promises he lost track, promises he wasn't sure he could keep. He wasn't even sure if he was saying them to reassure her or himself.