Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own no part of Harry Potter.

Lily groaned when she felt her powers gearing up for another attack. She could feel the tendrils of magic stretching right out of her core and slipping through her skin to lash out at the surrounding air. Trying to contain the attacks was a lesson in futility. They were getting closer and closer together. Her back arched off the bed as water arched through the air and hit the doorway just as people walked through it. She heard a shriek and a few curses before falling back into unconsciousness. As long as the pain stopped anything that happened would be alright.

A few minutes earlier at Hogwarts…

Remus was the first of the marauders to make it to the castle. The first thing he saw was Dumbledore standing at the base of the staircase holding Lily's letter. James was standing beside him looking around, when he saw the others he said, "Professor, they're here."

Dumbledore raised his eyes and looked at the boys then shifted his gaze to Professor McGonagall, who had just entered the room.

"It seems Miss Evans has fallen ill, we'll have to send somebody to fetch her and her belongings. She will be staying at the castle for the remainder of the summer."

Professor McGonagall nodded, "it will be done, I'll go myself."

"Have somebody else accompany you. There may be… complications."

"Bring her here! But this is summer vacation! I don't want to see her any more now than I do during the year." James' outburst made everyone in the room look down to hide their smiles and shake their heads. The feud between James Potter and Lily Evans was just short of being legendary. It had all started before they had even been sorted into their houses during first year. During the boat ride across the lake Lily, Sirius, Remus and James had been in the same boat. All was going well until James and Sirius started messing around and had 'accidentally' dumped Lily into the cold water. She had then retaliated by turning James' ebony locks a bright shade of fluorescent pink before making it grow and braid itself.

"I'll be off as soon as I alert…," Professor McGonagall started, but was interrupted by wordless blustering from James.

"I'll go. I want to help if I can." Remus' voice was soft as he stepped around a suddenly silent James.

"If you are certain Mr. Lupin. There should be another member of the faculty though. Minerva, take the boy and Professor Kettleburn and go." Dumbledore's blue eyes had lost their twinkle and at his words McGonagall and Remus left.

James went red in the face and began to shout, "no! She can't come here. I won't accept that my summer is going to –".

Dumbledore interrupted his rant, "James, she is coming her regardless of what you say about it. There is a time in your life when you need to move forward and let sleeping dogs lie. Moving on does not necessarily mean leaving everything behind, just accepting that you can't control everything and there will be times when what is happening around you is not what you would consider agreeable, but you must travel down the path anyways, because it is the right thing to do." Then he turned on his heel and without looking back he walked up the stairs.

James was quiet as he appeared to ponder what the departed man had said.

The Evans Home…

As Remus and the two professors stood outside the Evans residence McGonagall laid her hand on the young mans arm.

"You must understand that this is not a regular occurance and we have no idea what to expect once we enter. Keep your wits about you and listen to what we say." Her voice was solemn and her gaze was serious.

Remus nodded and lifted his hand to knock on the door quietly. A small auburn haired woman opened the door.

"Can I help you?" Her voice strengthened and her back visibly straightened as she spoke.

"We are here about your daughter. You sent a letter to us."

At the transfiguration teachers words a sigh of relief escaped the woman, "Rosemary Evans. Thank you for coming so quickly. She's upstairs."

"What should we be expecting to see?"

"When this all began she was puking blood, but that stopped about a week ago. That's when all of her symptoms changed. This time of day she runs a very high temperature and water is frequently shooting out of her palms and freezing. Solid ice surrounds her almost all the time. As each day passes whatever this is is getting progressively worse. Our other daughter Petunia is upstairs as well. Everybody else is unaffected by what is happening to Lily." A man walked around the corner. His brown hair was short and messy and his green eyes were tired as he gazed at the newcomers.

The two professors nodded and gestured for Remus to follow them up the stairs. Another teenage girl was walking out of a bedroom. When she saw them her eyes widened and she pointed at the closed door on their left. She moved to walk past them, but the moment they opened the door a blast of water caught them all. Petunia shrieked something about needing to fix her hair again and rushed into another room. Remus and Professor Kettleburn let loose with a few nonmagical curses. The form that was laying prone on the bed settled back down and went still. They rushed in and Remus stopped short at the sight that greeted him.

Lily was soaked to the bone and her hair was plastered to her forehead. Her skin was red and radiating heat. McGonagall gasped and told her fellow professor to pick her up as gently as possible. They needed to get her back to Hogwarts as quickly as they could. The redhead was in bad shape. With one look behind them to her parents in the doorway McGonagall said quickly, "we must take her and go, but we will keep you informed. She will be in the best care."

The older redhead nodded, "do whatever you can to keep her safe."

With those parting words the wizards apparated to the nearest point to the school that Dumbledore had temporarily opened for them.

Back at Hogwarts…

"Why did Remus go help her?" James was peeved at his friend for the choice that he made. The three boys were sitting at a table in the Great Hall. They had migrated there

Sirius shook his head, "you know Moony, once he saw how seriously Dumbledore was taking it he would do whatever he could to help somebody in need. That is the person that he is. It doesn't matter that it is Evans. If there is something that he can do to help, he will do it."

Peter agreed silently.

"But it is Evans, we've known her for years and never has he gone out of his way to help her before."

"Maybe not that you've seen, but they've studied in the library together and been paired for projects. He doesn't dislike her as you do."

"Do you think Dumbledore was right? With what he said before?" James' voice was pensive.

Just as Sirius was about to answer a scream of horror pierced the air. Everybody's heads shot up and they scrambled to their feet and bolted out of the Great Hall. They slammed outside and what they saw made Sirius turn to James with one eyebrow raised against a deathly pale face.

"So she's faking huh?"

There's a severely changed Chapter 2. Let me know if you liked it and if there is anything I should change. I went back and reread the story and found that there is a ton that I need to go back and change. These changes will be happening before I continue with this story… Which I do have every intention of doing. I got distracted for a long time, but I'm back and won't let myself lapse again.

Love it, Hate it, Want to help out…. Let me know.

Review. And thanks again for reading.

Amber Eagle