A/n- this time I have taken the time to write a plot line down so hopefully I don't get writers block this time around. I'm going to make sure I have a chapter a head so just in case I don't feel like writing.

Warning: This is my darker side of writing. This chapter includes character death, abuse, and attempted suicide.

Third Person POV

Over the course of the next three years, Lily and James had become inseparable. When he found out how her parents treated her, he was furious. She didn't hear the end of it for days. She wished he never found out. Every time he would look at her, she would see pity clouding his sparkling hazel eyes. She didn't want him to pity her. She just wanted him to understand why she always thought she was never good enough.

But his promises rang clearly in her ears, almost as loud as the day he growled them to her. He had stopped pushing her on the swing and growled passionately in her ear, "I'll always protect you, Lily. I'll always be there for you. You're safe with me. They'll never hurt you again, I promise."

But it was a lie, she realize months after he said that. He couldn't protect her when he wasn't there. The moving trunk in the driveway was a sign that her world was crashing down. As he tried to explain, tears rolled freely down her cheek. It was only the second time that he saw her cry. He was deeply sorry for making her cry, but he couldn't do anything about it. The choices offered to him the previous night weren't the easiest to decide between.

He lied to her, which was difficult, but she saw right through it. He just knew she did. She was a brilliant girl, worthy of Ravenclaw. Before he could say anything to her to comfort her, the rest of his family approached the pair to bid their goodbyes. The twins attached themselves to each of her legs and proclaimed their love for her. She hugged both of them. Madelynn whispered her apologizes and Susan pulled her in for a hug.

As they retreated, Lily begged, in a broken voice, "Please don't go. You know you're the only thing saving me."

"We have to, Lil. You'll understand one day," James replied pulling her close to his body.

"You're breaking all your promises," she stated, as evenly as possible. "How could you do this? How can you lie to me like this?"

His parents called his name. He whispered urgently to her, "I have no choice in the matter. But remember that I'll always love you, Lil. Always. Please don't hurt yourself. I'll see you again soon." He refrained from promising her, since he had already broken his promises before. He kissed her once more before detaching himself from her grip and climbed into the moving truck with his father.

She watched the trunk until it disappeared from view, tears still staining her face. It took a few moments before realization that they weren't coming back sank in and she fell to the ground, sobbing. She stayed like that until the sun was getting ready to sink. She entered the empty house, finding that the Potter's had packed her things in a box for her. Pulling out the pink comforter and a pillow, she made her way towards James' old room.

The months had come and gone for Lily whether she liked it or not and each day got tougher to live. The emotional abuse wasn't getting to her any longer, her parents realized. She understood they just wanted to bring her down, therefore she wouldn't respond when they called her a mistake.

The emotional abuse rapidly increased to physical abuse. The first time she was hit was when she was backslapped for being late home from school. It honestly wasn't her fault that Jimmy disrupted the entire class.

It was a few days after that she met Severus Snape, the only other friend she made beside the Potter's. He had purposely prevented her from continuing on her way home. Sometimes she wished she would have never become his friend. All he ever did was stop her from doing the only thing she wanted to do the most. He had walked in on what her parents liked to call 'family time'. He helped her up and she told him she didn't need any help, which was the biggest lie of her life.

He didn't believe her though. Severus helping her had earned her another beating. From then on out, he made a point to visit her every day to see how she was doing. She didn't remember how many times he picked her up from the ground, she lost track weeks later. Upon realizing that she couldn't fight, he taught her the basics to keep her from getting too badly hurt.

She owed him her life and she knew it well. He had barely saved her twice from herself and once from her parents. She just couldn't understand why he wanted her alive so badly. It wasn't until her third and final attempt that she understood why he was so persistent.

He walked into her bathroom, finding her lying in the middle of a pool of her own blood. It poured from the three inch long wound on her wrist. He covered the wound with his own hand, pushing down hard, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. With his other hand, he pulled a rag down that was lying on the sink to cover the wound with.

"Lily, you need to open your eyes. Come on stay with me. Please stay with me. He'll kill me if you're not okay. Please Lily, open your eyes," he begged. When her eyes finally opened, he sighed in relief. "Keep your eyes open, Lily," he added as she tried to shut again. "Good. You're doing great, Lily. I'm going to pour something on your wrist. It's going to burn but you need to keep your eyes open for me okay?"

After spending several hours asleep, she demanded to know who Severus was talking about. He admitted to making a promise with James to keep her alive.

Since Susan and Madelynn were off at Hogwarts, it just left James to take Ryan and Raylie Trick-or-Treating for their third birthday. He would have no help from Lily. Merlin, he missed Lily. She filled his dreams at night, but he still received updates from Severus on her wellbeing. No matter how hard he tired, sleep just wasn't coming to him that night.

He sat at the end of his bed, worried that Lily wouldn't welcome him as a friend once they were at Hogwarts in less than a year. He knew what he left her to handle, but she was a strong girl. She could make it. He was pulled out of his memory by a lamp crashing down stairs. He threw the invisibility cloak that he stole from his father's room earlier that day, around his shoulders before setting off to find the source of the noise.

Madelynn and Susan were walking through the living room. A confused look crossed James' face. They were supposed to be at Hogwarts. He looked more closely at their faces, noticing the look his father had described before. They were under a curse. James took off in the direction of his parent's room. He opened their door as Madelynn screamed, "Run, Death Eaters."

His parents awoke quickly, noticing the door was open. His father quickly placed a nonverbal silencing charm on James. Realizing the twins were in trouble, he ran towards their room. He was too late. James followed his family into the living room where the Death Eaters were gathering everyone.

When they asked his family if there was anyone else, his parents lied. James couldn't move from the bottom of the staircase, where he had made it to before they started torturing his siblings. Four of the dozen Death Eaters said, "Crucio." Madelynn was silently crying, refusing to give the Death Eaters the pleasure of hearing her cry. Susan and Ryan were crying loudly. Raylie who had a few tears streaking down her face, started to scream as loud as she could.

As the clock struck midnight, the Death Eaters in turn, placed the killing curse on each of them. Raylie was the last to go, meeting James' eye before dying. "You should have joined our cause when you were asked," one stated. He was the last one to go, sending the dark mark into the sky.

James was stricken with terror and only moved when his parent called out to him. They pulled him into a tight hug. Their tears dampened James' hair. A few minutes later, Aurors from the Ministry arrive.

"Who died ma'am?" the lead detective asked James' mother. James had refused to move from his mother side.

"Madelynn Jordan Potter, Susan Faye Potter, Ryan Benjamin Potter, and Raylie Brooke Potter," his mother replied.

"Are you sure, ma'am?" he asked, scribbling the names in his notebook.

"Why do you ask?" she countered.

"There were only three bodies," he spoke slowly as if it was worse than witnessing their murders.

James' mother took a deep breathe, pulling James closer to her side. "What color are their eyes?"

When they reported back with hazel, James' heart had shattered. Raylie was the only one with crystal eyes. Not only did they kill Raylie, they took her body.

A/n- hope you enjoyed.