Harold Potter was a middle-aged gentleman. He was respected throughout the Ministry of Magic as one of the top Aurors; he was trustworthy and always reliable. He scratched his unruly, greying, raven hair and rubbed his blue eyes from behind his wire frames glasses. He was a tall man with broad shoulders, he looked threatening but anyone who knew him knew he was kind but, if necessary, firm. This was often the case with his son, James, and his adopted son, Sirius. The two were like a herd of elephants by the amount of mess they made in the house, not to mention the amount of things they broke.

Harold chuckled quietly to himself remembering his son's face when they were caught trying to fix their mother's vase back together after letting a bludger loose in the house. He always was the more softer parent when it came to punishments remembering what it was like to be a mischievous teenage boy more than his wife understood.

Harold had been on holiday from the Auror office for two weeks and was only due back after his sons had returned to Hogwarts. It was because of this that he was surprised when a black ministry owl bolted through his open window in his office. He had been sorting through his paperwork so he didn't have to do any during the day and could focus fully on his family. The soot owl dropped the envelope in front of him and promptly left, not waiting for a reply.

It was at this moment James popped his head around the door, and seeing his Father reading a Ministry letter, his face fell.

"What's that Dad?"

Hearing his best friends voice Sirius also appeared next to James, looking at the only man he had ever called "Dad" with a frown.

"Aren't you meant to be off work?" Harold frowned but nodded, not looking up from the letter, still thoroughly examining it.

James sighed, "Do you have to go?"

He hated his Dad going on Auror missions, especially when he was meant to be off work. That was their time and with the job his Father had they hardly ever had the opportunity to have fun as a family.

"Yes." Harold curtly replied. Hearing his Dad's sharp voice, both boys were worried. These were bad times they were living in and Harold Potter was hardly ever affected, he tried to hide his emotions when it came to his job, so when he let the emotions seep through something very bad must have happened.

"Dad what's happened?" James said worriedly, his forehead creasing into a frown, mirroring Sirius' look perfectly.

Harold sighed. "Reported attack in a muggle neighbourhood." He sighed again massaging his temples, "Supposedly young Death Eaters attacking a young Muggle-born's house, her and her sister. Sister called the Muggle Police and the message got directed to us. Apparently the witch got her older sister out and is now trying to defend herself single-handedly." Harold gave a humourless laugh. "If she's not a Gryffindor I don't know what one is anymore." At this both the younger boys paled. They both might know the girl. They both could easily have met her.

"Do you need any extra help?" Sirius offered and James nodded his agreement. Harold shook his head, "No stay here with your Mother. She's more important than me, look after her." He stood and, with a flick of his wand, tidied his desk.

"Tell your Mother I've been called away but not to worry." He smiled at sons before disapparating with a crack.

OoO

As soon as Harold appeared at his destination, the whole street was in chaos. Aurors were trying to get Muggles, who lived on the road to vacate the area, but lots wanted to know why they were being moved, one man was even trying to start a fight with a young man he knew was Kingsley Shacklebolt. He knew he wouldn't have a chance because even though Kingsley was new he was very talented as an Auror and wouldn't take any messing from anyone muggle or wizard.

Aurors were rushing to and fro, not sure what to do with themselves, Harold rolled his eyes; they were clearly new to this. He chuckled. But a scream brought him back to his senses; he looked over to see a blonde girl, maybe about nineteen, being restrained be two Aurors.

"Let go of me!" She was screaming, "Let me help my sister! Don't just stand there!" Harold walked up to the clearly distraught girl and smiled, which she didn't return only scowled.

"Hello, I'm Harold Potter. What's your name?"

"What does my name matter? Aren't you meant to be helping my sister?" She almost screamed in his face. Harold only smiled. "I will. But first I need to know some information. Now, what's your name?"

"Petunia." She almost spat; clearly seeing that answering the questions would get them to help quicker. Harold only raised an eyebrow. "Petunia Evans." Harold frowned, Evans? Where had he heard that name? One of the Aurors who was restraining Petunia coughed, obviously trying to get his attention. "Okay Petunia, please can you tell me what happened?" A loud crash sounded from inside the house he had his back to and turning he saw several flashes of light through the curtains. Whoever this girl was, she was clearly talented.

"Why aren't you going inside yet?" Petunia continued.

Harold still only smiled. "Like I said we need to assess the situation that we're walking into, now please tell me what happened."

Petunia looked hesitant, but another loud crash persuaded her to talk. "I was asleep, but a really loud crash woke me and my sister burst into my room screaming at me to get up, telling me I had to leave." Petunia took in a shaky breath her eyes never leaving the house. "She opened my window and told me she had softened the ground, through me out the window telling me to call the Aurors. Of course I didn't know who the Aurors were or how to contact them, so I just called the police telling them to call the Aurors, they seemed to understand. Then your lot just started popping up out of nowhere, and now no one will tell… will tell me…what's going on." She slowly broke down into to tears by the end of her explanation. If this girl inside the house wasn't a Gryffindor there was clearly something wrong with the world. "Please do something." Petunia whispered to him.

At that moment an ear-splitting scream filled the street from the house, a pain filled scream that stabbed at Harold's brain, vibrating through his soul. "LILY!" Petunia screamed. Lily? Lily Evans? The girl James always talks about? Harold took in a shaky breath.

The screaming continued at an almost deafening rate, while Petunia continued to break down, screaming her sister's name. They had to do something for this girl, it didn't matter who she was.

"Nature," Harold addressed one of the Aurors restraining the distraught girl, "We have to do something!" Nature only shook her head.

"No we need to know the situ-"

"I don't care about the situation, that girl is going to die if we don't do something to help her, and for the life of me I don't understand why no one is already in there!" When Nature only continued to shake her head, Harold took out his wand and marched towards the house. "Harold!" One of the Aurors shouted, telling him to stop, but he continued. He was going to help Lily; if it was the Lily Evans he had heard about or not, she obviously needed help.

Breaking down the front door with a flick of his wand, Harold calmed himself as much as he could over the sounds of curses being thrown, a number of which he didn't recognise but by the sound of the Lily's screams weren't very pleasant. He heard Lily's voice shouting back a number of nasty curses though, but obviously none of them dark like he expected the other side's to be, but vicious none the less. The screams of agony started up again, and by the sound of it, Lily was trying to curse them while being in so much pain, she would make a brilliant Auror.Harold snapped out of this thought, and progressed into the room, by the door that had been blown off its hinges.

There stood a young girl with vivid red hair, and her clothes stained with her blood or maybe some of the Death Eaters' as well, duelling three fully grown men, who didn't look in any better shape than Lily, with her back turned towards him..

"Reducto!"

Lily fired the a well aimed curse at the Death Eater who was to her right, who would have gone flying into Harold had he not deflected the hit, causing the two other Death Eaters to turn towards him, but not Lily who was solely focused on her opponents.

The Death Eaters, seeing his Auror robes, quickly disapparated, leaving their ally behind. Lily spun on her heel, probably expecting another Death Eater, but her fierce face dissolved when she saw Harold standing before her.

"James?"

Her voice was shaking along with her body, and she was clutching her side where it seemed the blood was seeping from. Her face was pale, covered in blood and bruises.

Harold smiled, "No my name is Harold, I'm James' Father. You know him?" Lily nodded, a ghost of a smile flashed across her lips before it turning into a grimace of pain when she took her hand away from her side, she leant against the wall.

"Yeah," she breathed, trying to catch her breath, "We're in Gryffindor together, him and the Marauders." Lily slowly slumped to the floor, closing her eyes, her face an unhealthy grey. "I'll be back in one second, don't move." Harold told her and after receiving the reply of, "Looks like the trip to Kenya's been cancelled." Walk out of the house, and up to the Aurors waiting outside for him.

Petunia had evidently been sedated, because she was unconscious on a hovering stretcher nearby. He addressed the older Aurors, not trusting the younger ones. "There were three of them, Lily, the girl in the house, stunned one of them, and the other two bolted it after seeing me. She's okay but needs serious medical attention." He reported. "I'll take her to Mungos, she's in a bad state." Not waiting for a reply he started walking back towards the house. "Oh and by the way," He called over his shoulder, "There's an unconscious Death Eater in here, if any of you feel like doing any work!"

He walked over to Lily, and after telling her the plan to take her to St Mungos, disapparated with a very unenthusiastic "Yippee." From Lily before she promptly fell unconscious.

OoO

Everything's okay, the girl's safe, taken her to Mungos. I'm going to be home late, sorry, you two can come here if you want to. Sorry I had to leave.

Dad.

James read his Father's tiny scrawl with Sirius reading from over his shoulder. He pushed his untidy mop of hair from out of his eyes and sighed, looking up at his best friend's grey eyes from behind his glasses.

"Should we go?" Sirius only shrugged, flicking his long dark hair from out of his eyes.

"I don't see why not, even if we do know her your Dad says she's okay." James shrugged, standing up to stretch. "We best go tell Mum where we're going."

OoO

"Now, does this hurt?" Lily winced as the healer, who had introduced herself as Healer Claire with a brilliant smile that made Lily really want to hit her, touched her lower back, and seeing her pain the healer frowned. "What about there?" The healer's finger grazed across Lily's ribs, just above the large gash they had found on her side, making Lily yelp in pain, not unlike a wounded dog. The healer started to pull up Lily's blood stained top, after receiving Lily's permission, to see a large black bruise covering most of her side, as if ink was leaking from the large gash. "Were you hit with any spells you didn't recognise Miss Evans?" Lily lifted her head, and after seeing the healer's concerned look, nodded.

"Loads."

"Right well I'll be back in a minute, oh and leave your top up we don't want to aggravate that anymore." The healer walked promptly out the door.

The room was a blinding white, giving the impression of cleanliness, but it made Lily feel uncomfortable in the unfamiliarity of it. There were no windows and the bed she was told to stay on was all white as well. They said she needed her own room until they could identify what had happened to her, for her own and other people's safety.

Why hadn't Lily told someone about the attack? Well she knew the answer, but how could Severus expect her not to tell? She had almost been killed, and if he cared enough to tell her about the attack, then surely he wanted her to be okay and she could tell someone. Maybe she should have left the house for the attack and forced Petunia to come with her, but what would the Death Eaters have done to her muggle neighbourhood? At least with Lily being there she tried to protect them.

Lily was pulled out of her thoughts by Mr Potter knocking on the door which the healer had left open. He looked tired, the bags under his blue eyes more prominent than before.

"Hello Lily." He said kindly, smiling warmly at her.

"Hello Mr Potter." She tried to smile back, but it was just too much effort in this amount of pain.

"It's Harold Lily, Mr Potter was my Father." He smiled again, but let out a low whistle when looking at the growing bruise on her side. "That looks nasty." Lily only nodded.

Harold stood there awkwardly, looking around the room and ruffling his already messy hair, making Lily smile. She had seen James doing this so many times, and even though she may not be on the best of terms with his son, the familiarity of his actions was comforting. Seeing Lily smile Harold Grinned.

"Oh right yes, do you want a glass of water?" Lily laughed at his sudden enthusiasm, and graciously accepted; taking the glass he just conjured.

Lily was contempt with just sipping her water, but the silence became deafening pressing against her body, suffocating her. She closed her eyes tightly trying to block out the sound of the Death Eaters' voices that were now permanently implanted in her brain. Seeing her distress Harold quickly started small talk with her, asking her about anything that came to mind. He found out she had just been appointed Head Girl and was planning on training to be an Auror when she left Hogwarts, Harold told her she would make a fantastic Auror if tonight proved anything causing her to blush. She winced on several occasions, and her face was growing increasingly pale. The fact that the, at first, small bruise on her side was now covering most of her stomach wasn't lost on him either.

It wasn't long until Healer Claire returned, and after seeing a pale and shallow breathing Lily, quickly made Harold leave much to Lily's protest liking having a familiar face around her. He left the room, closing the door so he couldn't her Lily's yelps of pain as clearly, just as two teenage boys appeared out of thin air. They both smiled when they saw him, and made their way over, pushing each other in a very mature manor, but after seeing their Dad's expression quickly stopped.

"What's wrong?" James asked, clearly concerned for the girl he wasn't sure if he knew. A yelp of pain from behind the door his Father was stood behind made him quite panicky, he shared a look with Sirius who stood on his right, and saw the expression he was sure was mirrored on his face. They both looked back to Harold and seeing a cautious look on his face, made James even more uneasy, he only had that face when he needed to tell them something they weren't going to like.

"Dad?" But before Harold could say anything screams of agony pierced through the air, making a pained look cross his Father's face, James became more on edge. He was about to ask his Dad what was going on, but a Healer's voice interrupted him.

"Now Miss Evans you need to sit still or this is going to hurt more!" The voice shouted over the screams. Miss Evans? Harold quickly made his way to his son, while James exchanged a panicked look with Sirius who was looking at James in concern. Evans? Lily Evans? LILY!

When James tried to make his way towards the door, his Dad placed a hand on his shoulder stopping him. "No James, you barging in there will do more harm than good. She needs looking at, and by the sounds of it she's in a lot of pain." A pain filled yelp emphasized his point further.

"Fine." And with that James walked back down the hall he had just come from.

OoO

Sirius walked down one of the Hospitals many hallways deep in thought. Whoever he expected the girl to be it sure wasn't Evans. She never seemed the type to get in a fight unless it was with the Marauders, but even that had become less of an occurrence. Last year they had even begun to tolerate each other after they helped her out when she was on patrols that time and got outnumbered against a bunch of Slytherins looking for something to do. James had gone ballistic, firing curses and hexes after he had made sure Lily was okay. That was the first time she realised we weren't against her, but trying to help her.Sirius mused.

Sirius went up to the vending machine, a muggle invention that wizard decided were a good idea, and bought a chocolate bar. He picked it up and was about to start eating when a voice stopped him,

"I hope you're going to give me half." Sirius looked up at James' face where he was trying to smirk casually but failing miserably, so he split the chocolate and tossed it his best friend.

James sighed and sat down on one of the plastic chairs lining the wall next to the vending machine.

"I just don't understand why he said we could come if he knew who she was." James sighed again. Sirius sat on the chair beside his friend.

"I dunno mate, but I'm sure he had a good reason."

Before James could reply, Harold came bolting it down the hall towards them, grinning at his son. "You can go and see her now."

Lily sat in her hospital bed, they'd made her put on one of those annoying hospital gowns that reveal more than they conceal, and she was rather uncomfortable. Harold had said she had visitors, and with her sister still unconscious she wasn't sure who it was, unless her parents had found out what happened, then she was truly screwed.

Aurors had come in to question her not long after Harold had left, asking her everything she knew. They told her their names were Gideon and Fabian Prewett, they were obviously twins and both had a mischievous air about them, which Lily had only seen around a small group of teenage boys. They both had flaming red hair that was a few shades lighter than Lily's and both stood head and shoulders above her.

"I don't know much, sir." (At which one of the brothers, she wasn't sure which, blanched) She had said. "I had a feeling something was wrong, like I knew something was going to happen," She carefully chose her words not wanted to get Severus or herself for that matter, into trouble. "I heard them aparate into my house, so I went and woke my sister, softening the ground before throwing her out her bedroom window." She took a deep breath, looking up at the two gentlemen who were listening to Lily with rapt attention, one of which was writing down everything she said ("Don't believe in using Quick-Quotes."). "I knew they would kill her if they found her," She told them in a strangled whisper, "I had to do something, and that just happened to be the first thing that came to mind." She shrugged at them, looking at the floor, her cheeks growing red. She could have seriously hurt her sister if anything had gone wrong, but, Lily thought, it was better than having to defend her sister as well as herself against three fully grown Death Eaters out for her blood.

"But Miss Evans," The brother, who was taking notes, spoke, "how did you ever fight off those Death Eaters?" He asked in almost awe. Lily just shrugged. She herself didn't truly know how she had fought them off, she just cast any spell that came to mind, and backed up with the rage she had at them for trying to kill her and the primal instinct to stay alive.

"I don't know." She answered truthfully.

Gideon only smiled, "Well when you get out of school I'm sure they'll be a spot on the Auror training sessions for you."

"Really? I've always wanted to be an Auror, ever since I heard about Voldermort and his followers and what they're doing." Lily was glad neither of the boys flinched when she said his name, if anything their respect for Lily seemed to grow after she had said it.

"Well, Miss Evans, we'd be happy to have you on our team." At that the other brother, Fabian she thought it might have been, nodded. "We'll leave you to get rested up, from what the nurse was telling me you got hit by some pretty nasty hexes." He grinned at her, a lopsided grin that reminded her of two boys she had recently grown to tolerate. "Good bye carrot top." Fabian called over his shoulder.

"Like you two can talk, you pair of matchsticks!" She shouted at their retreating back, and hearing them chuckle, smiled.

James was walking down the hall way that lead to Lily's room, when he saw the two Aurors leave, chuckling together. The Prewett brothers were quite well known in the wizarding world, they were known troublemakers when they were at Hogwarts, and equally famous Aurors. They knew how to have fun, but were deadly serious when they needed to be.

"Like you two can talk, you pair of matchsticks!" A voice full of humour sounded from the room the twins had just left, making them laugh even more than they were.

"You alright there lads?" James' father asked the two howling boys. Gideon straightened up, and after wiping away tears from his eyes, replied "She's a right laugh that girl. I can't wait to work with her if she decides she wants to be an Auror." He chuckled along with his brother, who had also straightened up at the sound of Harold's voice.

James felt a twinge in his stomach watching the two Aurors that could probably kill him in two seconds flat, but he felt the barely restrain able urge to attack them both at them having fun with Lily. Sirius, noticing James' expression, smirked.

"She's quite pretty isn't she, Gideon?" James had to bite back a growl at his friend's taunting, but Sirius only smirked at him.

Gideon grinned, "I guess she is," he answered looking over his shoulder, and through the open door where Lily sat on the hospital bed trying to conceal as much as she could with the revealing hospital gown. "But she's not really my type," He grinned, noticing James' expression and what Sirius was trying to do. "More Fabians'." Fabian grinned also catching on; well James wasn't exactly being discrete.

"Yeah she's really pretty and funny, not to mention smart." Smirking at James' face as it grew red.

"Now, now boys. I think that's enough." Harold grinned at the Prewett brothers and Sirius, "I don't think ickle Jamie can take anymore teasing about pretty Miss Evans." Harold teased his own son, who glared in response.

James shoved passed them all, causing them to burst into laughter, and knocked on Lily's hospital door. She sat up on the hospital bed, where she had been closing her eyes, to see who it was. When she saw James stood there, nothing but shock was on her face, of course she should have realised Harold would bring James, and more than likely Sirius, to come and see her. She didn't mind that he was here, which was odd, in fact she was quite glad that he had come to see her, which was even more odd.

She pulled on her gown again trying, in vain, to conceal more of her legs, as the gown only reached mid-thigh. She blushed dramatically when she saw James watching her and looked away when he walked towards her. "How's it going Lils?"

"How's it going? Really? Are you serious?" She asked incredulously.

"No love, that's me!" A voice rang from the doorway. Sirius walked into the room and over to Lily, pulling her into a hug that threatened to break her newly mended ribs. "Sirius, can't- can't breathe."

"Oops, sorry about that." He chuckled, releasing her from the tight embrace. She grinned at him, before turning to James, her arms still open. James gave a blank look at which Lily rolled her eyes.

"Fine if you don't want a hug Potter, I'll just hug Sir-" But before she could finish her sentence she was enveloped in a hug tighter than Sirius'.

She giggled and hugged him back. "Hello James." Lily wasn't normally the affectionate type except with people that she liked, and considering the Marauders weren't often on this list, this was a very rare occasion. Sirius was quite surprised when she didn't hex him when he hugged her, but welcomed it with open arms, quite literally.

"It's good to see some familiar faces. I mean it was shock seeing your dad James, but seeing you two is better. I feel more normal than before. Everything was so surreal." Lily explained after James had let her go.

"Lily, I hope you don't mind me asking-" Lily cut Sirius off before he could finish.

"You want to know what happened?" After receiving two affirming nods, Lily set out on the task explaining the story to them, the full story after receiving "The Marauder's Honour" that they wouldn't tell anyone the truth. It felt good telling someone the truth, the whole truth, about Severus coming to see her in the park and his warning about not telling anyone about the attack because he would get him in trouble. By the end of the tale Lily felt as if a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

That was until she heard a voice.

"That's not what you told us now is it, Carrot top?"

Lily turned towards the voice already knowing whom it belonged to. Gideon stood in the doorway, coffee in hand, with a serious expression on his handsome face. Lily looked back at the two boys sat next to her bed, to see a shocked expression she was sure was mirrored on her face.

James ruffled his hair, standing and looking from Gideon to Lily.

"How much did you hear Gideon?" He looked Gideon in the eye as he said it, but anyone who knew him knew he was nervous. The way he was ruffling his hair wasn't arrogant, and his posture implied he was nervous and vulnerable. Lily was shocked how much she could tell just by looking at him, and by how much she knew.

"I heard enough." Gideon replied, turning towards me, "Why didn't you tell us about this Snape boy, Lily?" Lily looked down into her lap where her bruised hands were ringing around each other, making them glow an unhealthy red. She could see now clearly the all the dark, tender bruises that marked her arms, and even smaller, finger print shaped, marks on her wrist from when a pretty rough Death Eater had grabbed her.

She didn't want to think about the attack and having James and Sirius here was somewhat of a relief because they took it upon themselves to distract her, and for that she was grateful. She knew why she didn't tell Gideon about Severus, but now thinking about it, she had been so stupid. She had risked not only her life but also that of her sister, something truly terrible could have happened to Petunia; she could have been seriously hurt, or worse.

So Lily answered truthfully for the first time that evening. "I'm not quite sure anymore."

She started to cry, like she had wanted to do all night but never had the chance, silent tears streaming down her face like a waterfall. No one had given her a moment to reflect on what had happened for more than a moment, and when she had spoken to the Aurors so much of her story was lies it didn't feel as real. But now she could feel the man's breath on her neck as he pulled her up by her hair, his grotesque odour filling her nostrils making her taste buds flare in aggression. The pain. The white-hot pain that ran through her veins, ripping the scream from her throat.

She broke out into sobs, making her body shake. She squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed her head, willing the painful images to disappear. Her hands were slowly brought away from her head, and she was brought into a delicate hug, as if she was made of glass and might break at any second. She opened her eyes and looked up into the face of James Potter, smiling at her softly. He was stroking her hair and making soothing sounds with his deep voice. Lily fisted the front of his shirt, and pulled him down to sit beside her on the hospital bed, crying into his shoulder. Lily hated crying, especially in front of people, but she knew neither James nor Sirius would judge her, and it was Gideon's job not to.

James pulled Lily into his lap, wrapping his arms around her making Lily feel safe. Her tears slowed until there were only a few tears left and then there were none. But Lily stayed seated in James' lap, too embarrassed to move, but secretly Lily enjoyed the way his arms wrapped around her, not that she would ever tell him. Lily liked James, and after tonight she supposed that they were friends, but she had never returned the romantic feelings he evidently had for her, but yet she stayed exactly where she was, comforted by the rise and fall of his chest.

Fabian had come to see where his brother had got to, and after seeing Lily in the state she was in, forced his brother to leave, which he reluctantly did. But before he left he said he would come and see Lily in a few days to talk about what he had overheard, which at the time only made Lily cry harder.

James shifted his position slightly so that he was sitting with his back against the pillows, Lily still sitting in his lap. He felt he breathing even out and deepen and he smiled as her eyelids fluttered close, hoping she woud have a nice sleep no matter how short it was.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself. That's terrible Prongs taking advantage of an injured, mentally disorientated girl like that. Have you no shame?" James chuckled, not looking up from Lily's sleeping face; she looked so peaceful when she was asleep, so care free, as if none of this disastrous night had happened. Her pale skin, paler than usual, and her rosy cheeks had tear track makes down them. It killed James seeing Lily like this, his Lily in so much pain it caused her to cry like she had.

"James?" He looked over at Sirius to see him smiling softly, "You know I had my doubts about Lily, you know I was never quite sure it wasn't just the chase for you, but I can see it now. It's only a matter of time before she does too." James grinned at his best mate, but before he could reply there was a knock at the door.

Assuming it to be his Dad, James shouted, "Come in!" but not loud enough to wake Lily, and was shocked when a girl, in her late teen, with blonde hair walked into the room. She looked disorientated and uncomfortable, but was obviously trying her best not to show it.

"Oh!" She looked at Sirius evidently shocked to find him here, "I'm sorry I must have the wrong room, the nurse, healer thing said she was here. I'm sorry." She was straining herself to be nice that much was obvious, but there was something else in her eyes, the way she was watching Sirius cautiously, as if she was scared of him.

But Sirius only grinned at her, taking her by surprise. "Are you looking for our dearest Lily-flower?" James tried to ignore the fire in his stomach as Sirius called Lily that. At receiving the blonde girl's nod, Sirius grinned again, "No you have the right room. You must be her sister Petunia, I'm Sirius and that's James." He nodded his head in the direction of the bed James was sitting on, with Lily still fast asleep in his lap.

Petunia let out a squeak at seeing James holding Lily, making her frown, but she restrained from commenting. She cleared her throat awkwardly, "Are you her boyfriend, or whatever you lot call it?" Eying James in disapproval that would rival any parent. At the shake of James' head the disapproval seemed to multiply by several thousand.

"We're friends." I think,James added in his head, trying to reassure Lily's sister who had evidently had as rough a night as Lily.

"How is she?" At this Lily began to stir in James' arms, squirming in his lap, but the friction was not uncomfortable by any means in James' mind. She yawned and straightened up in James' lap. She blinked up at him, and after realising she was still sat on him, blushed crimson, sliding off him to sit on the bed.

Once she had positioned her dressing gown so that it was covering as much of her legs as possible, did Lily look up to notice her sister looking murderously from James to Lily with Sirius stuffing his fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing aloud.

She blushed, if more possible, darker and looked down at her lap. "Oh, hello Petunia. How are you?" She heard Petunia sniff and looked up to see her flapping her hands in front of her face like little wings as if they would stop her tears.

"Lily!" She shouted before launching herself at her sister.

Lily was shocked to tell the least, Petunia hadn't hugged her since before she went to Hogwarts, but Lily hesitantly returned it, patting her sister awkwardly on the back more comforting Petunia when she was supposed to be comforting Lily. She looked over at James and Sirius; they both looked as startled as Lily felt at Petunia's over dramatic show.

"I was so worried! I thought you were going to die!" She howled into Lily's shoulder, while Lily patted her back comfortingly stunned by this sudden affectionate show. "I was so scared Lily. And, oh God! Where are we going to live? The house! Mum and Dad are stuck in Ireland, their plane was cancelled they can't get back until next week! I haven't even told them what happened, but some of your lot said that they would contact them! They can't come and get us or anything"

Petunia straightened up wiping her eyes and flattening her hair, pulling on her dress to straighten it and setting her face to become as emotionless as possible with the tear streaks still there. "Well, obviously Vernon would take me in, but," Petunia looked Lily up and down, "I don't know about you."

And just like that the affectionate Petunia was gone, replaced with the stiff, disapproving version of her sister. The two boys looked shocked at Petunia's sudden personality change, but Lily was used to it. So arranging her face so she didn't look in any way offended but annoyed, which she'd had years of practice at.

"Don't worry I wouldn't want to go and stay with the Whale anyway." Her voice was dead, but it got the reaction she wanted.

"He wouldn't house a freak anyway." Lily grabbed hold of James' hand when she knew he was going to say something.

"Great, I doubt there would be any room with him and a family of whales anyway."

"How dare you!" Petunia shrieked, but Lily just sat there, her face emotionless. "Fine freak," She spat as if the word was a nasty taste in her mouth, "Find your own way home to the house youwrecked. Have fun." And with that, stalked out past Sirius and towards a Healer who pointed her down the corridor evidently telling her the exit.

Sirius let out a low whistle, "I'm sorry for every time I called you a bitch Evans. With that as a sister your temper seems mild." He chuckled until he saw Lily's silent tears, and enveloped her into a brotherly hug, before James got the chance.

Lily giggled at James' crestfallen, at which he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest as if he was a sulking toddler. "Give me my Lily, Sirius."

"No I don't think I will." Sirius said hugging Lily closer to his chest. "She's minenow!" Picking Lily up and spinning her, making Lily laugh harder than she had in a long time, Sirius grinned down at her and winked in a teasing manner. When Sirius placed her back on her feet on the floor James was behind her and wrapped his arms around Lily's waist pulling her away from Sirius who was taken by surprise. Lily screamed in surprise when he threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, making both boys laugh. They both started singing 'Build me up Buttercup Baby' as James spun them around.

"Excuse me, but it looks like you're having far too much fun with this young lady." James stopped spinning in front of his Dad red faced and with a giggling Lily still slung over his shoulder. "Please put her down before one of you pukes." Laughing James did as he was told.

Harold handed her a pair of James' jogging bottoms and a zip up jumper of his, much to his son's embarrassment and Sirius' amusement, to get changed into as the healer's said she was welcome to leave the hospital. She changed in the bathroom and then sat back on the hospital bed watching James and Sirius bicker.

Lily hadn't had so much fun in a long time, and after the day she had had that was some going. But her happy spirits fell when she remembered her living predicament. Seeing her fallen face James asked what was wrong, "I've got nowhere to live remember the Aurors won't let me back in my house and Petunia quite clearly stated I wasn't going to get a bed out of her. My parents are stuck in Ireland until Merlin knows when and I really just want a hug and go to sleep" She sighed, trying her hardest not to let the tears flow again but grinned when both James and Sirius wrapped their arms around her waist from either side of her. She giggled when they both mock glared at the other.

"Nonsense, you can come home with us!" It was Harold who had answered, smiling warmly at her. "Right boys?" At which they both nodded.

"Mum always said we needed more girls around the house, she'd be over the moon."

"And we needed a new toy to keep us entertained; we were starting to get bored. I think you'd do just nicely Evans." He winked playfully, causing her to laugh.

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude." James actually laughed at the idea.

"You're always welcome with us." And before she could argue, he grabbed her hand and disapparated with a pop.

Lily landed with a thud on the ground, losing her balance and colliding with James' solid chest. Lily never had got the hang of apparating, but James couldn't floo even though he was pureblood, which made her feel slightly better.

Sirius soon arrived with a popand seeing Lily, encased in James' arms held against his chest, winked suggestively at her making her blush and pull away from James' safe arms. She tried to ignore the hurt look that flashed across James' features and looked up the path to James' house, or should she say mansion.

The sun was just rising over the huge manor, that must have at least three floors, and that's not even knowing if it had a basement. It was beautiful to say the least, with wooden double front doors and an immaculate garden filled with summer flowers perfectly kept. The house gave of a welcoming air that strangely reminded her of the two boys stood either side of her, the thought brought a soft smile to her face.

She heard the pop signalling Mr Potter's arrival, and turned to James.

"At least now I know why you're so far up your backside you can see the sunrise." She teased, causing both boys to laugh, but also getting a weak chuckle from Mr Potter (who was still insistent on Lily calling him Harold).

"At least there's one girl who can tell you how it is James, I was starting to worry that all girls would blatantly lie to your face." Harold chuckled, winking at Lily before walking towards the house, where a lady in a dressing gown had just opened the door.

Even from a distance Lily could tell she was beautiful. Her long auburn hair was dancing softly in the light breeze of the morning air, which made Lily shiver. She was wearing a pink fluffy dressing gown and bunny slippers, Lily noticed as James pushed her towards the house. And as Lily got closer she could see the same Hazel eyes that she had been looking into for years, given that most of the time she was trying to kill them with her own eyes but she could never mistake them.

Mrs Potter grinned when Harold pointed Lily out, when Lily was few metres away from her, and Lily was shocked when the young woman pulled her into a hug.

"You must be Lily." She said when she pulled away from the hug, and the smile she gave to Lily made Lily smile also.

"Yes Mrs Potter."

"Oh no, that's my Mother-in-law, don't get me confused with her I may attack you." She said with a serious face but her lips were twitching upwards, making Lily giggle. "No I'm Emily." She smiled.

"I'm Lily." Lily wasn't sure why she said it because evidently Emily already knew, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

"I've heard lots about you Lily." She smiled with a side-glance at James. Lily groaned and with a look in James' direction, who was pointedly looking away from her, the back of his neck bright red, turned back to Emily.

"He deserved everything I did to him." Lily said flatly, making Sirius bark a laugh and James to glare.

"What?" Emily asked, looking at the two boys, James trying to cover Sirius' mouth in vain. Lily was confused, if James hadn't told his parents about the numerous times she had hexed him after one of his pranks, what had he told them?

"You mean he hasn't told you all the stuff I did to him?" Lily knew she should just leave it, but the way James' face was slowly turning more and more red made her curious.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked, but before Lily could answer James interrupted.

"Maybe we should go inside, you look cold Lily, and the last thing you need is a cold after what happened tonight." And with that he pulled Lily inside the house and with that he pulled Lily into what she suspected was the grand hallway. "Wow." Was all Lily said, making James smirk, but she ignored it.

The entrance was almost as big as the one at Hogwarts, but with grand staircase directly in front of them, probably leading to corridors that lead all over the mansion. There were doors either side of the staircase, and one immediately to their right, with a window seat just behind her directly next to the door.

"It's beautiful." Lily breathed but then shivered, "but also cold." James grinned, and with the three behind them walked through the door that was to the right of the staircase.

They walked into the Potter's kitchen, where both James and Sirius hopped onto the counter making both Lily and Emily tutat them, the boys only grinned innocently at them at which Lily rolled her eyes.

"Now what would you all like to eat?" The boys immediately started asking for lots of delicious foods that, normally, would have made her almost drawling on the countertop, but were, at this moment it time, making her want to be sick. James, noticing Lily's silence, smiled at her.

"My mum makes the best waffles; I know they're your favourite." Lily knew he was only trying to help, but she wanted to punch him for making a new wave of nausea to take over her body. Trying hard not to puke right there and then, she shook her head.

"I was wondering if I could just go to bed." She said in a quiet voice, and Emily looked at her with sympathy in her eyes.

"Of course deer, would you like to borrow some pyjamas, you look about the same size as me." And with a confirming nod, she left the kitchen to go and make Lily a bed in one of the guest rooms.

Lily sighed and rested her head I her hands, breathing slowly, trying to stop feeling like she was going to empty all of her internal organs in a matter of seconds. The boys were trying to make everything entertaining, but Lily wasn't really listening, but she couldn't ignore the concerned looks both James and Harold were giving her.

It felt like hours until Emily returned, but in reality must have only been about ten minutes. She stood and left, but not before both James and Sirius had given her hugs, she laughed internally thinking about how many of the girls at Hogwarts would love to be in her position right now.

Lily walked with Emily up the grand staircase, and to the left. Emily pointed to the first room on the right,

"That's Sirius' room," She pointed to the one next to it.

"That's James' room," And then she pointed to the one opposite James's room.

"And that one's yours." She smiled softly and pulled open the door to Lily's room. The walls were painted a light cream, with a huge four-poster bed and a dressing table. The huge windows were covered in blackout curtains, with a chair next to it, but Lily didn't feel like admiring any of the wonderful things in the room, she just picked up the pyjamas that Emily had left on the bed, and turned and smiled at Emily.

"If you need anything, we'll be around the house, well I will, the boys and Harold will be in bed. Have a nice sleep." And she pulled Lily into an unexpected hug before leaving.

Lily changed in the room down the hall that Emily had told her was the bathroom, and climbed into the heavenly soft bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

But that was when the nightmares came.

She was in her house, just like she had been only hours before, she heard the bang from downstairs and ran to Petunia's room. But she wasn't there. Panicking Lily screamed her name over and over.

"LILY!"

The voice of her sister was downstairs, and without a second thought, Lily bolted down the stairs, but downstairs it wasn't her house. She didn't even recognise the house, but she somehow knew her way around the house.

"LILY!" But this voice didn't belong to her sister, this voice was deeper more masculine, she knew that voice.

"LILY!" James came bolting out of the door. He looked older than she knew him, but still as handsome.

"Lily take Harry and run, it's him!" Lily didn't know who the 'him' was, but it filled her with panic, and James passed her a small bundle of blankets of a baby, who looked shockingly like James already. She watched as older James went back into the room he had just come from and ran back up the stairs, which now looked nothing like her house.

She ran into the door at the end of the hall, into what she could only presume was a nursery. And even though she knew it was in vain tried to barricade herself in. She looked at the baby in her arms and smiled, she didn't know how, but she knew this was hers and James' son, and she had to protect him, with everything she had. He had to stay alive.

She heard a cold cruel laugh, "Avada Kedavra!" Then silence. She knew what had happened, but she couldn't help the sob that escaped her throat. "James." She sobbed, her whole world collapsing.James.

She heard the footsteps on the stairs and panic over took her.

Harry. She had to protect Harry. She placed him in his crib just as the door was blown of its hinges.

"Move aside silly girl."

"No, please, not Harry. Take me instead."

"Move aside girl."

"No please have mercy, take me instead."

"As you wish." And with a cold cruel laugh, the green light over took her.

She screamed. That's all she knew how to. She was over taken by terror,and gut-wrenching sobs escaped her. Her James. Her Harry. Gone. That was when the door flew open. She screamed again, the movement reminding her of her dream, but the figure in the door way was much more welcomed than the one in her dream.

"James." She sobbed, and he ran over to her pulled her into his lap, much like he did at the hospital, just letting her cry into his chest again.

"I thought you were dead." She sobbed, this confused him, but he just continued to say soothing words and stroke her tangled hair. Sirius and his parents were stood in the doorway, Sirius looked shocked at her outburst, but his parents were looking at her with knowing looks.

James held Lily, rocking her slightly, until she fell asleep again, but not before making him promise he wouldn't leave. So James tucked her back up in bed and kissed her on the forehead. He sat in the chair next to the window, and it wasn't long until he too fell asleep.

A/N: I hope you liked that one, it was definitely longer than the first! Like it? Hate it?

Reviews are Sarah opening up Microsoft word and typing!

~Sarah