Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did this story would be much better than it is.

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long to update. There are a couple of reasons for that. The main reason is that I had finals and couldn't justify working on this when I needed to pass geography. The other reason was that I truly hate this chapter. I'm not a fan of the subject matter unless it's done right and I'm not sure that I achieved it. But I've been trying to write it for three weeks now and this is all that I've managed to do with it, though it is a lot better than it was when I first wrote it. Anyway, I hope you don't hate it as much as I do.

Again, I will politely request reviews! Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and for all the favorites and alerts! It really makes my day to get those! Enjoy everyone!

Chapter Six: The First Time She Needed Him

Lily was trying to concentrate on her Charms book, but trying to remember exactly what it was that Professor Flitwick had said Monday about Calming Charms was proving to be rather difficult. She scratched her chin with the end of her quill and flipped angrily through her book searching for anything that she could add to her four inches too short essay.

She was sitting on the floor leaning her back against the couch in front of the fireplace on Wednesday evening allowing the warmth from the fire to lick her toes. Jenna and Remus were sitting behind her with their heads together working on their Ancient Runes essay. Every once in a while she would hear one of them whisper something and scratch out a sentence with their quill. Mary was sitting in an armchair with her Potions book open but her eyes were closed and her head was resting against the back of the chair. Sirius was sitting in another armchair with Rosalyn perched on his lap. Lily tried not to look at them too much as it made her nauseous. They were completely consumed in what they were doing as well but unlike the rest of the group, they were not doing homework.

Lily had to look up though whenever she heard a loud slurping sound. She felt disgusted but couldn't hide her giggle whenever Peter made a gagging noise. Remus quickly threw a pillow at them, effectively breaking up their kiss.

"Padfoot, I know you have a hard time understanding this, but we don't all want to watch the two of you making out. Now either cut it out or go somewhere else," he said, genuine irritation clear in his voice.

"Someone's moody…" Sirius grumbled as he shifted in the chair, rearranging Rosalyn on his lap.

"I'm just tired of seeing it, is all," Remus retorted under his breath.

"Yeah, we've already walked in on the two of you three times this week," Peter added in support of Remus.

"We're just very affectionate," Rosalyn said in a syrupy voice as she stroked Sirius' face with a long finger and kissed him lightly on the neck. "We can't help it."

"Yeah, well, go be affectionate somewhere else," Peter mumbled loud enough for her to hear it. "Some of us want to keep our dinner down." Lily smiled but tried to conceal it behind her hand while Jenna snorted audibly. Rosalyn spun around and pierced Peter with a vicious stare.

"Are you going to let him talk to me like that?" she asked as she rounded on Sirius who merely shrugged.

"Yes," he said matter-of-factly. The group watched them apprehensively as Rosalyn began fuming. Their fighting had not been as bad as usual, mostly because anytime they were together they were too busy with other matters to fight, but they'd been together for a few weeks now and Lily thought it looked like Sirius was beginning to get bored already. She desperately searched her mind for a change of subject whenever a distraction presented itself.

"Is that an owl?" she asked, pointing to a fluttering brown animal that was tapping its talon against the window pane. Jenna shot up out of her seat and opened it to let the brown barn owl in. It soared into the common room and right to Lily where it dropped off a letter and then zoomed right back out of the room. The group eyed her curiously as she opened the letter.

"Were you expecting any mail, Lily?" Mary asked groggily, though she was sitting up straighter in her chair.

Lily shook her head but a sense of dread sunk into her stomach as she recognized the cramped handwriting as that of her sister. "It's from Petunia," she muttered. She unfolded the letter and began reading to herself.

"Lily,

There's no easy way to say this, but this morning Mum and Dad died. Some freaky man showed up at our door this morning from your Ministry and told me that they were driving on a bridge in London and it was attacked by something and it collapsed. He called it a "mass Muggle attack," whatever that means. The memorial service is being held on Saturday but don't you dare come home. It's your fault that our lives are tangled up in this mess so just stay away.

The man told me to tell you that you'll receive a letter from "the Ministry" soon.

Petunia"

Lily wasn't sure how much time had passed as she stared at the words. She was vaguely aware of the fact that everyone was staring at her. Her heart was pounding in her chest so loudly that she couldn't hear any of the surrounding noise in the common room. She reread the letter three times with the words "died," "attack," and "your fault" sticking out.

"Lily…" Jenna began hesitantly, reaching out with her hand to gently squeeze Lily's shoulder, "is everything all right?" Lily looked up to the faces of her friends and saw that they were all looking at her apprehensively. She wasn't sure what emotions where flashing across her face at the moment though the look in her eyes must have been horrified enough that it alerted Jenna and Mary that things definitely were not all right. The two of them exchanged a quick, scared look and then turned back to Lily.

"Lily, what is it?" Mary demanded, her voice much harder than Jenna's. Lily was suddenly aware that not only were the eyes of her friends on her but also the eyes of most of the people in the common room. She noticed the people in the groups near them straining their ears to hear her answer. She began feeling claustrophobic, blood pounding loudly in her ears. She had to take deep breaths in order to keep the room from spinning and the heat from the fire was no longer a pleasant warmth but a sweltering heat. She had to get out of the room. She had to get away from the fire, away from her friends and away from everyone else's probing eyes.

Without warning she stood up, clutching the letter tightly in her hand as her books, essay and ink bottle toppled out of her lap and onto the floor. She didn't attempt to clean any of it up but turned on her heel without another word and walked as quickly as she could toward the portrait hole. She didn't run. She didn't want Mary or Jenna to come after her and if she ran they would follow in an instant.

She was almost free; almost away from the confining common room, almost away from the gazes that she could feel burning into her back. She could see the canvas of the back of the portrait. It was only a few steps away and she was just preparing to reach for it and push when someone else on the other side opened it. But she didn't slow down. She couldn't. And so, she ran right into James, knocking something heavy out of his hands. He laughed…laughed…and Lily vaguely wondered how anyone could laugh at a time like this.

"Watch where you're going, Evans," James teased as he grabbed her shoulders to steady her as she teetered dangerously on the spot. He was still smiling when his eyes locked with hers. It was a smile that she knew well. The skin crinkled just the tiniest bit at the corner of his eyes and a faint dimple appeared at the right corner of his mouth. She had seen the light dance in his hazel eyes a million times before but the reaction that it normally elicited from her, a smile in return and a familiar warmth that started in her stomach and spread to the tips of her fingers and toes, did not surface. Instead she felt angry. Angry that anyone would dare be happy enough to smile at her like that.

The smile didn't last long though. She again wondered what expression was on her face as she watched the smile disappear from his only to be replaced by an expression of concern and fear.

"What's wro-," he began to ask but Lily cut him off.

"Get out of my way!" She ordered and then pushed away from him as hard as she could and hurried out of the open portrait hole. She felt immediately better and worse. The cool air of the corridor filled her lungs and she gulped at it, letting it clear her head. She felt free from the gaze of the others, but with that freedom came freedom from distraction and the reality of the reason she had come out here in the first place hit her with a new force. She felt as though someone had hit her square in the chest, knocking all of the wind out of her. Her head filled with the words of the letter. She heard Petunia's harsh voice saying them, telling her that it was her fault. The cold air no longer felt like a rescue but like freezing water that she was drowning in. Goosebumps burst up on her flesh and a chill ran down her spine.

In hindsight, she knew she should have expected James to follow her out. He'd never been one to follow social rules like leaving someone alone when they wanted solitude. He'd also never been capable of staying away from her whenever he thought she was hurting.

But at the moment, she didn't expect it. If Mary and Jenna weren't going to follow her, how on earth could James Potter think it would be okay for him to do so. The sound of his voice softly saying her name startled her and she jumped and turned only to see him looking back at her with that same slightly frightened and concerned look in his eyes. He reached out his hand and gently stroked her arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently. He meant it to be soothing, something to let her know that it was okay for her to open up to him. Instead, his words - his touch - made anger flare up in her stomach. She wanted nothing more than to smack that stupid sympathetic look off of his face.

"NO, I'M NOT OKAY!" Lily erupted, her voice echoing around the empty corridor. James and the Fat Lady both jumped, the latter muttering something under her breath. James remained rooted to his spot though, his momentary shock turning back into worry. "WHY WOULD YOU ASK ME THAT?" As anger coursed through her veins she wondered why he wasn't leaving. Why wouldn't he leave her alone?

And then it occurred to her. Maybe he had done this. Sure, he hadn't pulled any stupid pranks in a while, but maybe it had all bottled up and he had just pulled the worst one of all. Relief washed through her as she became more and more confident that that is what had happened. Stupid James had returned and along with his stupid friends they had pulled this terrible prank on her. He was probably close to breaking his rib again trying to hold in the laughter. She had never hated him more than she did at this moment. She would never speak to him again…that is if she didn't kill him right now. Sirius, Remus and Peter were probably on the other side of the portrait laughing at this very moment.

As she began to shake with fury, a tiny part of her brain knew that it was a ridiculous proposition. She knew that James would never do anything that cruel…anything that foolish to anyone, but especially to her. But she ignored that part of her brain. It was easier to admit that she had been wrong about James than it was to admit that her parents were dead.

"Did you do this?" she asked in a dangerously low voice, gesturing wildly to the crumpled up bit of notebook paper in her hand. The faint line that had been present between his eyebrows deepened as he gazed at the paper.

"Do what?" he questioned, his voice carefully curious.

"You know exactly what." Her voice was shaking along with her body and she took a menacing step forward but James stood his ground. She threw the letter at him. He carefully smoothed it out while holding her gaze before he looked down and began reading. "This is the most horrible…the most idiotic…the absolute worst prank you have ever pulled!" But as she watched him read the letter, his eyes getting bigger and bigger as he read, she knew he hadn't written it. His hazel eyes held no hint of amusement as he returned his gaze to her. He looked sad, concerned, worried, scared, but not amused.

"Lily…I didn't…" he shook his head and looked back down at the piece of paper. "…I would never." He was watching her carefully. Her heart sank.

"YES, YOU DID!" she screamed though her words were more a wish than a declaration. She lunged at him and pushed him. She wanted him to admit that it had been him. Yes, it would be a horrible trick but it was better than the alternative. "ADMIT IT, JAMES!"

She was losing control. Her voice was shaking and furious tears were beginning to form in her eyes, blurring her vision. She couldn't see James' face, but she didn't have to work too hard to imagine the saddened expression as he moved toward her. She didn't pull back as he wrapped his arms around her but she didn't relax either. She blinked back the tears and tried to pull herself together so that she could convince him to leave her be.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured into her hair and for whatever reason that sparked her fury again. She pushed against him again, though with his arms constricted around her, he didn't move too far away.

"DON'T SAY THAT!" she yelled as she pushed him again. "DON'T!"

He kept his hands on her shoulders and peered into her eyes as tears began spilling out. "I'm sorry…I was just trying to be comforting," he whispered.

"I DON'T NEED TO BE COMFORTED!" she yelled again as she tried to pull away. "I DON'T!" she insisted when he didn't let her go, but she was losing resolve. She was losing confidence. She fell still for a moment and he tried to pull her close again. "STOP IT, JAMES!" she said and began hitting him as hard as she could on any spot she could lay her hands on, but he never slackened his hold on her. "I don't need to be comforted because…because they're not dead. They can't be." Her voice was becoming weaker, her hits more feeble. Tears were streaming freely down her face. But as she denied it, she knew that it was true. James hadn't pranked her. Petunia would never do anything like that, even as much as she hated Lily. And even if she would, she would never know to use words like "Muggle attack" or that the man who had contacted her was from the Ministry.

The reality hit her once again. Her parents were dead. Her constant source of support and love was gone in an instant.

She began to sob uncontrollably. James' arms contracted around her instinctively, holding her tightly. She felt like she was sinking, as though the stones that her feet were planted on were cracking and falling and pulling her down with them. So she snaked her arms under his and clutched onto his shoulders to hold herself up, letting his strength become hers. She didn't try to hold anything in…even if she wanted to she would have been unsuccessful. Her tears soaked through his shirt, but he didn't seem bothered by it. Her body convulsed uncomfortably as she gasped for air. He just held her and let her cry, murmuring a quiet "shh" in her ear from time to time and running his hands comfortingly up and down her back. She was beyond being capable of being consoled. Nothing he did really made her feel any better but she was glad he was there.

She wasn't sure how long they stood like that in front of the portrait hole, but it must have been quite a while as she sobbed and cried until she didn't think there were any tears left in her body. He continued to hold her even when her sobs subsided, letting her cling to him for a few minutes longer until her breathing returned to normal and until she was ready to let go.

When she was sure that she wouldn't collapse the second he dropped his embrace she let her hands slide down his back and to her sides and then stepped away, hastily wiping her nose and cheeks with the back of her hand. He let her step away from him but kept a hand on her arm.

She didn't say anything, afraid that opening her mouth would lead to a fresh wave of tears. She looked up at him, embarrassed and expecting to see an expression of pity but only found concern and sadness in his returned stare. He gave her arm a gentle squeeze and then sighed.

"Come on," he said quietly, "Mary and Jenna are worried about you." She nodded and followed as he turned and led her toward the portrait hole. His hand stayed on her back, a warm and surprising comfort as she prepared to head into a sea of curious stares which she was sure would be followed by speculative whispers. "Do you want me to tell everyone to clear out?" he asked as though reading her thoughts. He looked down at her for a moment before she shook her head and stared at the floor. He nodded and gave the Fat Lady the password and then led her into the suddenly silent common room. Jenna and Mary were at her side almost instantly and in a blur of color and sound she had somehow been transferred from the gentle pressure of James's hand to Mary and Jenna with both of their arms wrapped completely around her. They were leading her up to the dormitory.

James watched as she was led up the staircase, Jenna and Mary murmuring in her ear. When she had disappeared completely he headed over to where his friends were sitting, each of them with their eyes trained on him. James quirked up one of the corners of his mouth and plopped down on the couch in the spot that Jenna had just vacated. He let out a long sigh and ran his hand over his face and through his hair.

Remus was the first to break the silence. "Is she okay?" he whispered. James was aware of the fact that the head of every student in their immediate vicinity was suddenly quite still and apparently listening intently for his answer.

"She will be…eventually," James replied.

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"I…um…am not sure that she would want me to tell," he stuttered but gave Sirius a pointed look and then glanced at all of the nosy people who were eavesdropping on them. Sirius nodded and turned his attention back to Rosalyn.

The group was silent for a moment, pondering how much to talk about what had just happened and how much to ignore. Remus had just started jotting words down on his essay again when Peter piped up. "Why's your shirt all wet, Prongs?"

"I fell in the lake," James answered automatically. Sirius and Remus grinned instantly, though Remus did shake his head and roll his eyes.

Peter looked extremely confused and asked, "What were you doing by the lake?" James snorted and Sirius gave Peter an incredulous look.

"You're so gullible, it's almost not any fun," James muttered. "Almost…"

Peter shrugged and went back to his homework. James tried to work on his Transfiguration paper but couldn't focus, his mind continually drifting to Lily (even more than usual). So instead of waiting for Jenna or Mary to come back down to the common room, he bid goodnight to his friends and went to bed early.

-&-&-&-

She made her way down to breakfast the next morning by herself. She was late and thought that she would only have about three minutes to eat before it was time to go to Arithmancy, but then again, she didn't have much of an appetite anyway. Jenna had shaken her awake ten minutes earlier as she and Mary left for the Great Hall. Lily had considered for a moment staying in bed. She figured that if there were ever a legitimate reason for skipping a day of classes, this certainly was it. But in the end she decided that she couldn't stand being alone with her thoughts all day and that at least class would provide some kind of distraction for her.

She was aware of the whispers and sidelong glances that followed her as she made her way down the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. She knew that everyone was taking in her appearance: her slightly dirty hair pulled messily away from her face, the lack of makeup, the red puffy eyes. Lily kept her eyes trained firmly on the ground and tried to ignore the whispers. When she looked up, she saw Mary and Jenna looking at her. Jenna gave her a half smile and patted a seat next to her where there was a plate full of food already sitting in front of it.

She saw James a few seats down from them talking seriously to his friends who were gathered around a copy of the Daily Prophet. She suddenly felt grateful toward him again. Grateful that he wasn't staring at her waiting to see her reaction this morning.

She acknowledged Jenna and Mary but walked past them and straight up to James.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked in a small, hoarse voice.

"Sure," he replied and gestured to the seat next to him. She looked around quickly and noticed that not only were Sirius, Remus and Peter looking at the two of them interestedly, but so were all of the people around them.

"Alone?" she asked again. He nodded and stood up from his seat and followed as she briskly walked out of the Great Hall. She turned and led him down another corridor away from the doors as people were beginning to trickle out of the Great Hall to head up to the classrooms. He followed silently, his hands shoved into his pockets.

She finally stopped when she felt that they were safely away from prying eyes and ears. She turned and faced him. Their eyes met momentarily before she glanced away and let them drop to the stone beneath her feet. "I just wanted to say thanks...I guess...for, you know...what you did last night. Yeah, so thanks," Lily finished, feeling intensely embarrassed.

James leaned down a little bit so that he was looking into her eyes. "It's not a big deal," he replied, his voice soft and comforting. Lily looked up at him, giving him a look that told him she obviously disagreed and that she felt is certainly was a big deal. "Honestly, Lily, you handled this much better than I would have. When my cat died…my cat…I destroyed our dormitory. I'm not kidding! Ask Padfoot, I demolished his trunk. I think he's still missing some underpants, actually."

She gave him a small, appreciative smile, recognizing his attempt to lighten her mood. "Did you get any sleep at all?" he questioned.

She shook her head. "No, I went upstairs and Jenna and Mary tried to comfort me. Jenna just held me and Mary made me talk about my feelings. I eventually convinced them that I would sleep better if they slept in their own beds, but I couldn't fall asleep. I just cried…all night. I may have drifted off about an hour ago, but then I woke up to come down here so…and that explains why I look like this," she finished, gesturing to herself.

James attempted to suppress a tiny smile. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"I look terrible. You can tell I didn't sleep." Lily instinctively pulled at the bags under her eyes as if to emphasize her point.

"You're being ridiculous. You always look beautiful." Lily rolled her eyes at him but he looked as though he were being genuine. Normally, Lily would have felt uncomfortable at his proclamation but all she could feel was numbness at the moment. There was no room for embarrassment or flattery or any other emotion that normally would have been associated with his comment.

"You clearly have very low standards," Lily murmured. James just shrugged his disagreement and continued gazing at her. "Did you know that Mary and Jenna aren't too happy with you?" Lily asked, changing the subject.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Whatever you said to them last night before you came after me really upset them. She told me what it was, but I didn't really hear her," Lily explained sheepishly.

"I told them to stay in the common room and that I would 'take care of it.' Jenna didn't look too happy with me when I said it."

Lily gave him a knowing half-smile. "Jenna was pretty much over it, but…well, you know how Mary is. If you make her angry, she'll just seethe until it gets out of control and I think that's what happened." James nodded and Lily felt a small sense of relief at getting the focus off of herself, even if it was only for a moment. She was also glad that James was so easy to talk to. It made it much easier on her when she didn't have to search for things to talk about while simultaneously trying to keep herself from sinking into a suffocating silence.

"Did you tell her that you used me as a human punching bag?" James teased. "That should make her feel better. It could have been her if I hadn't been the one to follow you." He widened his eyes in mock horror but Lily just winced.

"Yeah…" she drawled, "Sorry about that. I tend to get a bit…well, violent whenever I get upset."

James waved a hand dismissively. "No need for apologies."

"I didn't hurt you did I?" Lily asked timidly, running her eyes over him quickly in search of any obvious damage.

"Nah, but you did leave some pretty nasty bruises." James was grinning and sounded as though he were bragging about them. Lily would have normally found this reaction extremely amusing. "Do you want to see them?"

Lily was shaking her head but he hadn't waited for her answer before he untucked his shirt and pulled it part of the way up his torso revealing a large, fist-shaped blue and purple bruise. There were also some lighter green and smaller bruises smattered around it. James smiled proudly, but Lily only gazed in horror. She was tempted to lift her hand and touch it, but decided against it and left her hands limply at her sides.

"Oh James…I'm so sorry. Does it hurt?"

"Not at all," he lied as he tucked his shirt back in and grinned at her. She glanced at him apologetically but didn't say anything else about it.

James looked at her closely. She hadn't been lying. It was obvious that she hadn't slept at all the night before. She had dark circles underneath her drooping eyelids and she looked so fragile that if Peeves flew by blowing raspberries, he might blow her over. Of course he hadn't been lying either. He did think she always looked beautiful but the sadness in the green eyes that he adored so much nearly killed him. She was trying to hide it…behind small talk and false smiles, but he knew her too well to fall for it. He could see just how much pain she was in and how hard it was for her to keep herself together. He would do anything if it meant easing her pain even the smallest bit. She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the next.

"Come on," James said, nodding his head in the direction of the Great Hall. "Let's get back in there before people start talking."

"Oh…that reminds me," Lily interjected, reaching out and grabbing his arm to stop him from leaving. "If you wouldn't mind…don't tell anyone…about last night, I mean." She was wringing her hands together and looking up at him with pleading eyes. "I don't really like people knowing my business in general, but I just don't think that I'm…emotionally stable enough to handle people who don't know me and don't really care about me asking questions about what happened."

"Sure…of course," he replied immediately. She felt relieved even though she'd never really thought that James would be spreading that particular bit of news anyway. It was still good to hear it confirmed. "I just…is it okay if I tell Sirius, Remus and Peter? They're really worried about you."

"You didn't tell them already?" Lily inquired.

"No. I wasn't sure if you would want me to or not. But they were asking about you after you went upstairs." Lily felt touched by this bit of information. The four boys had been a big part of her life this year, but it impacted her more than she expected to know that they truly cared about her. She nodded her approval. "Oh, and just so you know, the post arrived just before you came into the Great Hall and the attack was on the front page." Lily felt as though a fist had tightened over her heart at the word 'attack' but hoped that it hadn't been displayed on her face. "I didn't have enough time to see if it listed names or not, but people might be putting two and two together."

Lily nodded again. "Thanks for the warning." She was about to start heading back to the Great Hall when James interrupted her.

"One more thing," he muttered and began fishing in his pockets for something. "Here," he said as he pulled out the crumpled piece of notebook paper with Petunia's cramped handwriting on it. "I wasn't sure what to do with it so I thought I'd give it back to you," James said quietly as he held it out to her. She reached out a shaking hand and took it gently from him.

As she looked intently at her sister's tiny scrawl, she was overcome with emotion. It was amazing how this tiny bit of paper had completely changed her life. In the few seconds it had taken her to read, her life had gone from happy, somewhat easy (despite the constant homework), and relatively uncomplicated to completely destroyed. She felt like she was drowning but she didn't know which way was up in order to reach the surface.

"Thanks," she sighed, her voice wavering, as she tucked the bit of paper into her pocket. She looked up at James who was gazing at her sympathetically, his hazel eyes conveying a number of emotions, each of which broke through the careful mask she'd been hiding behind since leaving him the previous night.

She tried to hold it back but couldn't stop as a tear streaked down her cheek. It captured James's attention and before she could impatiently wipe it away, he lifted a hand and cupped her face, wiping away the tear gently with his thumb. The tenderness of his touch and the caring in his gaze only made more tears leak from her eyes. "Come here," he whispered and gently pulled her toward him. She didn't resist and walked willingly into his embrace. He wrapped one arm around her waist and the other remained on the back of her head, holding her to his chest. She clutched at his back and let a few more tears leak out but never let herself reach the point of meltdown as she had the night before. It was difficult though because she knew that James was trying to ease the weight of her burden. There were no underlying motives to this hug. He was simply comforting her.

She sniffed and patted him on the back before stepping away. "I'm okay," she assured him, wiping quickly at her eyes and smoothing her shirt over her stomach. He looked unconvinced but didn't argue.

"Are you sure you want to go to class today?" he asked her as they made their way toward the Great Hall. Breakfast was clearly over as the noise in the Entrance Hall was several decibels louder than it had been a few minutes earlier and a sea of people were streaming from the tall doors. "I'm sure that even McGonagall would let you out of your essay for this."

Lily nodded her head as they made their way over to the Gryffindor table and she waited while he picked up his book bag. "I can't be alone right now," she answered honestly. "I mean, I can't be alone with my thoughts, you know? It's easier to try and be normal if I've got some distractions." James nodded with her as he considered her answer.

"Well, I don't want to brag, but the Marauders are the kings of distraction." He smirked at her playfully and winked.

"I know. You'd better watch out or else you'll be spending even more time with me than you already do."

James laughed quietly, amused that she meant that as a threat when he would gladly spend all of his time with her. "I think we'll be able to deal with it." She smiled gratefully at him and they exited the Great Hall, alone with the exception of a few stragglers. "And in all seriousness, you know that we're here for you. I mean, I know it sounds cheesy and fake, but we're here if you need anything at all."

Lily gave him a small but genuine smile. "I know."