Title: Not Alone
Rating: T
Character/Pairing: Lily/James
Summary: "Good." James opened the compartment's door and looked back at Lily. "I really did miss you this summer." He walked down to the prefects' compartment, leaving a very confused Lily behind. Written for daysandweeks' '5 Chapter Challenge' and xXStandingInTheRainXx's 'What You'd Never Write' challenge.

James walked into the library to find Lily leaning across a table, whispering furiously to Mary MacDonald. Mary looked close to tears, and when she spotted James walking towards them, she got up and darted out of the library, hiding her face from him. James walked over to the table and sat down in the seat Mary had just vacated

"Hi."

Lily gave him a weary smile. "Hello, James."

"Is something wrong with Mary?" he asked quietly, so as to not be overheard by the other students.

"She's terrified," Lily whispered. "You remember when Mulciber attacked her in third year? She's terrified that something much worse is going to happen to her or her family. I was trying to reassure her, but I don't think I did much good."

"Are you okay?" Weeks has passed since that fateful night of Lily's nightmare, and James had remembered to ask her each day if she was alright.

"I suppose so. I think I have to be. War is imminent, no matter how afraid I am. The least I can do is to act brave for the others."

James looked at the young woman whom he had fallen in love with. She could lose everything she had ever known and yet she still acted so brave.

"Thank you James." Lily's sudden appreciation jolted James out of his thoughts.

'For what?"

"For….well, everything. For being there when I had the nightmare, for not letting me push you away."

"I would never have forgiven myself if I hadn't Lily."

"I know." She reached her hand out and laid it on top of his, clutched together on the top of the table.

"How are the others, James?"

He sighed. "Not good. They're tense, very tense." James rubbed his forehead. "They keep pulling these stupid, half-hearted pranks, just to try and get things back to normal and they're going to kill themselves with one of them. Every prank just makes things tenser. Sirius and Remus almost got in a fight the other day."

"Oh no, what over?"

"Something stupid; they don't even know what. And Sirius' parents are making everything worse, publically criticizing muggle-borns. Sirius has gotten more than a few nasty looks because of it. You would think, after seven years of going to Hogwarts, of seeing who he was, people would realize he wasn't a pureblood fanatic. If I wasn't Head Boy…" James groaned in frustration and flung his head down. Lily gripped his hand harder. She leaned over the table and lowered her voice.

"At least there's that." He looked up, confused.

"There's what?"

She smiled slightly.

"No matter what, we'll never be alone, James. None of us will ever be alone."

He smiled back.

"No matter what, Lily. No matter what."