Working Title: Not Fair
By Dani
It wasn't fair, not in the least. To barely be eighteen yet feel as though you were much, much older was a very horrid weight. Just a few days before, his life had been filled with nothing bit magic and playful mayhem, mayhem caused in part by him and his friends. He was just a boy! Barely more than a kid! Sure he liked to fancy himself as a man and as mature, but didn't all boys his age do that? But he knew that the past night's events had truly made him a man, whether he liked it or not. The night had been filled with magic and mayhem, all right. The difference was, it wasn't his doing.
Hearing a whimper on the bed behind him, his hand nonchalantly reached over to rub Lily's back. She was still buried under the warm blankets. Her tears had finally run dry but she still let out a hollow sob or quaky sigh every so often. Her green eyes were staring into space, seeing something other than the wall before her face. Even when James had been lying beside her, holding her close in attempt of some comfort, her eyes had not seen him. They were far, far away, focused on scenes that she wasn't able to erase. Lily was in a deep state of shock.
James hadn't enjoyed watching her break. He'd only seen her cry once in all the time that he'd known her and then it was due to an accidental and painful spray of venomous potion hitting her. To see her, Lily Evans, the girl that everyone imagined had guts of pure steel, break down the way she had… It was almost as horrid as the scenes they had witnessed.
If he could have found the strength, he'd have shielded her eyes. His eyes had been glued and his feet wouldn't move. Gryffindors were made up of honor and daring, weren't they? He and Lily could have saved two lives! For all he knew though, they'd been allowed to watch. They could have been next. He still had no idea how Dumbledore showed up when he did. How the old wizard knew where they were, or what was going on was beyond his comprehension.
Dumbledore had locked them into the room together after James threw quite a tantrum about being separated from Lily at that point. If there was anyone those Death Eaters weren't getting, it was Lily. There was no way in hell he was leaving her side, and to hell with any nasty rumors that got started about them having spent the night together in the same bed. Dumbledore had seemed mildly amused that James had spoken to him that way, but he understood the circumstances and allowed it. Besides, the death grip that Lily had kept James' arm in for quite a few hours afterwards would have had to have been surgically removed had anyone tried to separate them.
James wasn't quite sure where the room was in the castle. He knew it was Hogwarts because of the times that the bells rang out and the coloration of the walls. He and his friends had been sure to include everything about the school they could on their precious map, but he was sure that this room had been omitted. While his friends thought the map was complete, James knew it couldn't be. Hogwarts itself would never disclose all its secrets to anyone, especially to those troublemakers that would map it all out.
But James didn't want to make trouble anymore. All his life he had no clue what he would do with himself beyond Hogwarts. As Lily whimpered yet again, he knew his mind was set. Upon graduating, he'd marry Lily and fight Voldemort in any way he could. It'd be the only way he could live with himself; it'd be penance for letting those two Muggles die while he merely watched, frozen. His wand had been in his pocket the whole time. He sighed heavily, his breath still shaky. He wished he'd stop shaking.
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A/N: Hehe, I love the little snitches as breakers, don't you? This is only my third HP fic, and the 2nd that is J/L based. I don't know what it is about those two that commands me to write them so much. Here's my problem though: I don't know where to take this fic. I need some help idea-wise. I know that Lily and James just inadvertently watched some Death Eaters murder a few Muggles in a horrid way. I know that this is what sets James up to do whatever it is he does that pisses You-Know-Who off so badly that he has to kill him and Harry. I'd like to take it through their graduation and marriage, and the birth of Harry, and the choosing of the secret keeper. Just writing out what could happen, you know, while we still can. (Before Miss Rowling writes it out and slays all our fanfiction ^_^) I have no real aim, no real ideas though. In other words, I'm looking for a co-author. If this story interested you at all, please drop me a line at hisoka@bellsouth.net and maybe we can figure something out together. I give credit where it's due, so don't worry about me being a story-stealer. Once I have someone I can talk with, this A/N will be removed. ~Dani~