The Marauders walked out of the passageway before they settled into a light jog. "So where exactly are we headed?" James asked.

"The school?" Remus answered in a questioning tone.

"You don't know!" Sirius replied.

"I got an owl from him. It just said 'Raid. Come now.'" Remus defended.

"Eloquent," James sighed.

"Malfoy's," A new voice answered gruffly. "Thanks, Alastor." James changed his direction slightly without changing speed. "Why are you running so stiffly, anyway?" Moody asked. "Coincidently, Malfoy," James answered. "He and some other Death Eaters ganged up on me." "So this should be fun for you," Alastor commented.

James smiled ruefully. He picked up his pace and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Sirius's grin was even more sinister. They arrived there five minutes later to see the fight in full force. Remus rushed in and pulled a dark-clothed figure off of one of Dumbledore's men and punched him once in the face, knocking him unconscious. He offered his hand to the man on the floor. "Later," Sirius said before rushing off to help someone he recognized. James tipped his head towards Peter and Moody before rushing off to look for Malfoy.

He found Malfoy holding off one of Peter's contacts. It ended with a slash to the arm that sent John to the floor, screaming and crawling away. "I think I owe you something," James commented. He jabbed at Malfoy and was rewarded with a dodge.

"I'm glad to see that you can still move," Malfoy replied, slashing at James.

"I heard that your fiancé left you," James countered, "Couldn't take your face. Maybe I should fix it for her." He lunged forward with his sword in one hand and threw a dagger with the other. Malfoy deflected the sword but missed the dagger. It hit him in the hand, forcing him to drop his sword when he grabbed the injury. James stepped forward and pulled out another dagger. "Now what can I do about that face?" Malfoy scuttled for his sword.

"James, we have to go. He's showing up and Dumbledore's not here with the reinforcements yet." Remus shouted. "So what were you protecting," James asked. He gave one last look at Malfoy before throwing a dagger at his other hand. "I'll take this." James grabbed the chest that Malfoy had been standing in front of and ran back towards his friends.

"Still can't kill me," Malfoy taunted. "I told the Dark Lord where to find your parents that night. I told him how to kill your dad. And while he did it I killed your grandparents. But even after all of that you still can't kill me. Can't kill anyone for that fact. Always want to take them in, put them in jail." James growled and spit on the ground. "James we have to go!" Sirius insisted. Sirius grabbed one end of the chest and they sped out of the area.

Lily's sword tip hit the ground. She panted before dropping it completely. Kicking it to the corner, she sat down in a chair. "Stupid sword," Lily muttered. She picked up her dagger and threw it at the target one the wall. She was going over to retrieve it when the Marauders walked back in. "Hey," she greeted. "You aren't hurt."

"Yeah," Peter replied sarcastically, wiping the blood off a cut on his face. They were all covered in assorted types of cuts and forming bruises.

"I meant seriously,' Lily clarified. She passed out some of the rags she had put in the pan above the water.

Sirius smirked and dropped his part of the chest on the table. James followed suit. James opened it and began to rifle through it. "So?" Sirius said expectantly. "Just papers," James answered. "I'll give them to Dumbledore. We might finally be able to prove that Malfoy is on Unc-Voldermort's side."

"That's disappointing." Remus sighed. "I was hoping it was some money at least. This place gets kind of old." Lily laughed. "So what was the raid about anyway?"

"Distraction," Peter answered. He wrapped his wrist in one of the bandages. "Dumbledore wanted something that Malfoy was supposed to be guarding and by releasing James, the person that Malfoy absolutely despises, on Malfoy, he wasn't there to guard it. So I assume that Dumbledore now has whatever it is."

"Hey Remus, do me a favor?" James asked. "Yeah." "Take Wormtail and go deliver this to Dumbledore. He should be back at the school by now." Remus took an apple and bit into it before picking up one side of the chest. "Later," Peter said. They set off at a slow pace, Remus limping slightly.

"Hey, I'll be back soon. Would you mind making me up some dinner?" Sirius asked. Lily nodded and grabbed some food to begin preparing something for the three of them.

"He's going to check on his brother," James said absentmindedly when Sirius was gone.

"What?"

"He's going to check on his brother," James repeated. "He always does after a big fight goes down. They haven't talked in ages. I don't think Regules even knows that he goes." Lily stayed silent. "I still owe you a celebration," James changed the subject, cheering up slightly.

"I thought we were going to do that tomorrow." Lily replied.

"I know," James answered. "But I need something to cheer me up."

"Okay," Lily answered. She threw her concoction onto a pan and left it hanging over the fire. "Where do you want to go?"

"I want to show you someplace," James replied.

"Just let me change first," Lily replied.

"You can wear a skirt if you want," James added.

"I thought you said if I went outside I had to look like a boy." Lily reminded him.

"It doesn't matter at this place," James said.

"Okay. Cool. Thanks." Lily replied. She walked over to her clothes and James turned around. "Does this look okay with my hair?" She asked. She fingered her newly shortened hair and James looked at her. "You look beautiful," James told her honestly. "Come on." He held out his hand and Lily took it.

"So where is this place?" Lily asked. James was leading her out of the hole in a new direction. "Just someplace I went as a child," James replied. "Where did you grow up," Lily inquired.

"Around," James answered.

"Specific," Lily answered.

"Tell you what, we'll do a trade," James proposed. "A question for a question."

"Fine," Lily said, delighted. "Me first. Where did you grow up."

"Godric Hollow," James answered promptly.

"That place sounds sweet."

"It was a small town," James explained. "Everyone knew everyone else. I remember that on the night I went away to school the entire place showed up for a going away party. I used to love spending the first day of spring climbing a tree and just sitting there; with Sirius next to me of course."

"Aw. You made me want to go there."

"I'll take you there sometime," James promised. "Where did you grow up?"

"London, of course." Lily replied. "Siblings?"

"None, I was the spoiled only child. You?"

"Same. What is your favorite color?"

"What does that tell you," James scoffed.

"Just answer the question." Lily demanded.

"Crimson." James stopped and opened a door. "We're here." He pulled Lily's hand and forced her out into the place.

"It's an alley," Lily pointed out.

"Yeah, I noticed that," James replied dryly. He slouched against one of the walls and began running his hand over the hilt of his sword. Lily noticed the beginning of a word before his entire hand covered it. "So what is this place?" Lily asked.

"My question," James reminded her softly. Lily thought she could hear his voice cracking. "Yeah," she replied. "If someone murdered your family, your entire family; they burned your house, destroyed your life, could you kill them? Even if they were like family before it happened, even if you owed your life to them, could you kill them? Kill the person who helped him to do it? Could you?" James's voice raised in volume with every word. He screamed the last sentence.

"No I couldn't," Lily answered. She picked up his hand and held it. "I couldn't," She repeated. She leaned her head against his shoulder and they just sat there. Finally James picked up his hand and in extension Lily's and dropped it again.

"It's your question now, Lily," James said.

Without moving her head Lily asked, "Was it Malfoy?"

"No," James answered. "I wish it had been. He only helped. It was Riddle's, Voldermort's. My father wouldn't have lost to a man like Malfoy. He actually beat him in a duel before. He, Malfoy, was in love with my mom. Even then though, my dad couldn't kill him."

"You did the right thing, James, by not killing him."

"But he would kill me."

"You did the right thing," She insisted. James's hand traced the inscription again. "So what was your life like as a child?" He asked.

Lily thought about how she didn't want anybody to know about her past; even though Sirius already knew. "I grew up in a mansion," She started.

"So you were a lady," James crowed. "Yeah," Lily admitted. She fell silent and stared into space. "Sorry, continue," He apologized.

"I had one sister, Petunia. To put it politely, we never got along. She was the perfect child, with the perfect debut and the perfect gowns. I was always the weird child who preferred wearing only one layer of clothing and sometimes even trousers. I even had a horse, Crimson. I used to dig in the dirt whenever my parents weren't looking. But when I got older, my mom made me a promise. If I were to act like my perfect older sister then I could marry anyone I wanted, that is anyone who had a sizeable fortune. I had been engaged to so many dim-witted, malicious morons before then that I jumped at the chance. So I was. I dressed in the twenty pounds of clothing and simpered like one of the morons that I despised. I had the conversations about ribbons. But then the day before I met you my dad, the Lord Evans, told me that I was getting engaged and he would introduce us tomorrow and if I didn't like it than I could leave. I was just a girl, I couldn't inherit anyway. When I met Malfoy I decided that I would leave. Then I met you guys." She squeezed his hand and adjusted her head.

"I hope I wasn't one of those, what was it, dim-witted, malicious morons, was I?" Sirius asked.

"How long have you been there?" Lily shrieked.

"About since James figured out you were a lady. He nodded at me so I figured that I shouldn't be the second person to interrupt you." Lily tuned to James who shrugged, "I wanted to hear this story. But wait, you two were engaged?"

Lily smiled. "I was three when it went into effect and canceled." Was that relief she saw in him. "Well, I'll be leaving now. I just wanted to see if you were okay. But I'm guessing that Lily is a better company to have along."

"No, stay," Lily insisted. "I want to hear one of your embarrassing stories, now that you have heard mine." Sirius glanced at James, who smiled ruefully before gesturing with his free hand at the space across from them. Sirius sat down, taking off his sword and placing it in the area in front of him.

"Did James tell you about the time he declared himself king of the forest?" Sirius asked.

"No, he didn't," Lily grinned.

"We were seven years old and he decided that he wanted to be Robin Hood. So we stole some of his guardian's bows and set out. He was Robin and I was Will." Sirius continued his story, much to James's embarrassment. Later Peter and Remus joined the circle and told some stories about Sirius in revenge. They all seemed slightly happier when James started smiling. But even when he was laughing James never released Lily's hand and she never moved her head. And that night, for the first time since he was five years old he didn't have a nightmare, he had a dream.

A/N

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this is so late. I hope that everyone liked it.