Chapter Eight-

James' P.O.V.

James had awoken two days before Lily had, and after being subjected to a thorough and slightly embarrassing check up he was allowed to go to class. Dumbledore had announced to the entire school that there was no point in trying to send letters because the school had temporally cut off all communication to the outside world in light of 'certain events.' Still, the entire school knew exactly what happened on Halloween. James had to restrain himself from pounding every single person who gossiped or spread rumors about Evans. No one had been allowed to see Evans except for some of the staff, so rumors ran around the school that she had died, had been sent to Azkaban, was in St. Mungo's, and even that she was a vampire. However, despite the rumors, the whole school was unusually quiet, everyone seemed to be waiting for Evans to wake up. Classes suddenly seemed very trivial, for James at least, he even fell asleep in Transfiguration, his best subject.

It gave a lot of time for him to think about the whole ideal though. James, as well as the rest of the school, knew that everything would be different from now on. It was like suddenly they had all realized that there was a war going on and they were in the middle of it. It was quite dumb if you thought about it, considering that the war had been going on before most of them were born. But now it seemed much more real, not just a headline in a paper. Already five students had been taken home by their parents, afraid of Evans or Death Eaters, James didn't know. The students that had nightmares about Death Eater weren't laughed at any more and a few students who were at Hogsmeade had to go to Madame Pomfrey for medicine because of the trauma. This annoyed James a bit. Sure, his appetite had gone down a bit and the sight of red made him think of blood, but he hadn't really been affected by it. Or had he? It wasn't like he hadn't seen blood before. His parents were Healers after all, and as a child he had spent a fair amount of time in the hospital waiting for them to get off duty. Maybe it had affected him and he just didn't realize it.

Peter was the only one of his friends who had seemed really shaken by it. Sirius would have made fun of him for it, but they all knew why Peter was the only one.

Remus was a werewolf and was used to seeing blood, though most of the time it was his own. Remus' family had also been attacked by Death Eaters and had barely gotten away right after Sirius told Snape how to get into the Whomping Willow in sixth year. Sirius would have loved to blame Snape, but the committee from the Ministry that had reviewed the case had several 'former' Death Eaters on it.

James didn't know exactly what Sirius had been subjected to at his family's home, but Sirius had mentioned something about his Aunt or Great Aunt's love for Muggle hunting. The thought had made James' stomach turn and he had decided not to ask.

Then on November 4th, Evans woke up.

James had woken up around 7:30 and trudged down from his room and through the portrait hole. Usually, James didn't get up until almost ten minutes before classed started but ever since the 'incident' he had been having trouble sleeping. Something bumped into him sending him flying into the portrait of Gulliver who had been sleeping.

James looked down and saw Evans lying on the floor. Again she had huge bags under her eyes and was very pale, but she wasn't as thin as she was at the beginning of the school year.

"Evans?" he said cautiously.

She looked up and her eyes widened in recognition.

"Are you okay?" he said anxiously, looking down at her fragile state.

Suddenly she turned bright red and leapt to her feet.

"Err…" she stammered, "Sorry about that, Potter!"

With that she ran past him into the Head's Room. As she past James noticed something that had annoyed him about Evans since day one.

"She's still taller than me?" he thought watching her climb the steps, enter her room, and close the door behind her.

James wasn't short. Not really. He was average height now, though he had been very short in previous years. Evans, however, towered over all the girls and most of the boys at Hogwarts. James had forever been irritated with that fact but now it seemed rather unimportant. Just like everything else. He shrugged his shoulders and stuck his head through the portrait hole wondering if she was okay, but then he realized he needed to eat breakfast because classes were starting soon. After all, she wouldn't have been let out of the Hospital Wing if she wasn't okay and she had enough on her plate already.

James briefly wondered what the teachers were going to do about the entire mess, but quickly abandoned the thought. He climbed down the marble staircase and entered the Great Hall. As soon as he opened the door, he realized something was wrong. The entire student body was whispering and talking in small groups glancing furtively at Dumbledore's place at the table at the front which was empty. The rest of the Marauders beckoned James to join them.

"What happened?" he whispered as soon as he sat down.

"Evans just came down here," Peter whispered back, "Dumbledore looked so mad."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" Sirius asked darkly, " I mean, she did just cut a bunch of Death Eaters into pieces-" Suddenly he froze and stared straight at James.

"Prongs…"

"What?"

"You know during the summer when…" Sirius trailed off and then narrowed his eyes at James, "That was Evans, wasn't it?"

James froze and swallowed. Not good, "Wha-What are you talking about, Padfoot? he asked feigning confusion.

"Don't you even try it James," Sirius retorted, "I know you too well to fall for that."

James inwardly sighed and avoided Sirius's gaze. The cat was out of the bag now.

"If you don't mind me asking, what in Merlin's name are you two talking about?" asked Peter confusedly.

Remus however, had a shocked look on his face and had dropped his fork.

"W-wait? Are you saying that the person who saved you was Evans?" he demanded.

"What?" Peter said whirling around to look at Remus.

"Why in Merlin's name didn't you tell us?!" hissed Sirius looking furious.

James sighed, they knew so there was no point in hiding it now.

"I promised her I wouldn't tell," he said quietly, "She asked me not to, so I didn't."

"Why-"

"She saved my life, Padfoot!" he said, struggling to keep his voice low, trying to figure out why he was so mad, "Twice now! The very least I can do is keep her secret!"

There was an awkward silence as they took this all in.

"S-so you're parents don't know either?" asked Remus softly.

James nodded. Suddenly bell rang, and he jumped up and half-ran out of the Hall. By the time he reached the Transfiguration classroom he realized he hadn't eaten a thing. The rest of the class trickled into the room. Sirius, Peter, and Remus came and sat next to him. They messed around as usual, as if nothing had happened. Professor McGonagall walked in and started to teach something about Human Transfiguration. Five minutes later Lily Evans stumbled into the room, pale and breathing as if she had run the marathon.

"S-sorry Professor," she gasped, "I-I lost track of time."

Suddenly Dumbledore appeared out of thin air behind her. Her eyes widened and she whirled around.

"Miss Evans," he said, " I believe we need to talk."

Evans' face was completely emotionless as she turned and followed Dumbledore out the door.

As soon as Dumbledore and Evans left the room the class broke out in whispers. McGonagall did all she could to bring the class under control, but she could not stop the rumors that flew the second the seventh years left the classroom. The rest of the day seemed to snail by. There was no sign of Evans anywhere, or Dumbledore for that matter. James wondered, miserably, if Dumbledore had expelled her.

"If he did, I want to see her one more time," he thought dully during Charms, "I have to thank her at the very least."

At around three Evans entered Potions in the middle of the lesson, handed Professor Slughorn a note, and sat down at the back of the room. She made her potion quickly, beating the rest of the class by about five minutes. Slughorn did not complement her on her quickness and efficiency as he usually did, but gave her a small smile and motioned for her to go back to her seat. At the back of the room, Evans opened her bag and began working on an essay. When the bell rang, she was the first to leave the dungeon. She didn't appear at dinner until 8:30, when half the students were gone. The rest of his friends left to James dawdle and they went back to the Common Room ahead of him. After Evans sat down, James got out of his seat and made his way to the far end of the table.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked before he even knew what he was doing.

She blinked her beautiful emerald eyes at him in surprise, and cautiously told him he could. James sat down and glanced nervously at Evans who seemed too be avoiding his gaze. Wait, was Evans…nervous? No way! Well, she wasn't exactly known for being social. What should he do to make her feel less apprehensive? His first instinct was to babble on about random things that came to mind, but he was pretty sure Evans wasn't interested in hearing all that. Anything involving Death Eaters was definitely off limits. That left…school? School. Okay, he could do that.

Lily's P.O.V.

Lily watched Dumbledore as he took her story in.

"So your sister abandoned you after your parents died."

Lily flinched at the reminder of her family, if you called them a family.

"Miss Evans you are in quite a predicament," said Dumbledore softly, "Once the Ministry finds out what occurred four days ago, they will surely try to pull you out of school."

Lily froze, her stomach suddenly cold.

"Professor, but isn't it only you who can expel me?" she asked desperately.

"Indeed," said Dumbledore, "Which reminds me, what am I to do with you?"

"I'll do detention for the entire year, or something! Just don't expel me!" she pleaded, the nasty voice at the back of her mind asking how she could ever think that doing detention for a year could make up for what she had done..

"I have no intention of doing such a thing, Miss Evans. In fact, I really should be very grateful, as you did save a lot of innocent people and -ah- put several Death Eaters out of commission, " said Dumbledore.

"The Ministry won't see it that way, though," she said emotionlessly, though she felt more at ease as a result of his last statement.

"Of course. However, I might be able to persuade them otherwise, providing, of course, that…" he trailed off, his blue eyes beginning to sparkle.

Her relief vanished and she narrowed her eyes slightly, "He's up to something" she thought.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked tersely

"Have you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix, Miss Evans?"

Lily walked down the hall after leaving Potions. Still slightly shaken after her encounter with Dumbledore, she headed down to a secluded corner of the Library and began to work on the homework assigned a few days ago. It wasn't until an hour later that she realized how hungry she was. While she gathered up her things she remembered the last time she had been down to the Great Hall and winced.

It would be worse tomorrow morning, she told her self, failing to make herself feel better. Dumbledore had told her that the castle would connect to the rest of the Wizarding World again the next morning and she was not looking forward to it. She couldn't really see how Dumbledore, no matter if he was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, could save her from the Ministry.

She rushed down to the Great Hall and sat down at the far side of the table. Planning on quickly eating her food, she didn't notice Potter walking towards her until he was almost a meter away. She tensed, not knowing what he wanted.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.

She stared at him surprise, "Why would he want to sit by me?" she thought.

"Err…okay," she said warily.

He piled some potatoes on to his plate and began to eat. Lily just stared at him.

"Doing homework before?" he asked suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Err…yeah," she said feeling her cheeks flush, " I'm really behind. And that huge Herbology essay doesn't help."

When he started blankly at her she added, " I'm horrible at Herbology."

"Really?" he asked, looking surprised, "I always got the impression that you were good at everything."

Surprising him and herself, she laughed, " Let's just say I have anything but a green thumb. The only reason I passed last year was because I knew the names of all the plants in our book. I definitely do not have a green thumb."

She didn't know why she was acting so carefree. She hadn't felt like this since…since…ever. But it felt good to be here just chatting with another person, almost like she was normal. For the first time in her life she forgot who she was, she was just a normal seventeen-year-old witch. By the end of dinner they were on first name terms. She hadn't realized how much fun James Potter was until now. As they walked up to the Head's room together they laughed and joked. She couldn't remember when she had laughed like this. It was refreshing, she felt like a huge burden had just been lifted off her shoulders. As she bid Potter James goodnight, she reflected that, maybe, it would be nice to have friends. If anyone would want to be her friend, anyway.

James' P.O.V.

James awoke early the next morning, feeling cheerful. He got dressed and went down to breakfast even earlier than Remus. He walked over to the Gryffindor House table, scanning it for Lily. After finding that she was not up yet, he grabbed some toast and started looking for the marmalade. He happened to glance at a newspaper someone had left on the table. He dropped his toast. Grabbing it, he started at the front page of the Daily Prophet.

Hogwarts student kills Death Eaters

On October 31st, witnesses say, almost 100 Death Eaters entered Hogsmeade with the intention of annihilating the village. They would have succeeded if it were not for the seventeen-year-old Head Girl, Lily Evans, who was in Hogsmeade, with the rest of her classmates, enjoying some free time. Evans was thought to be a normal witch her age, if not a little bit shy. She got perfect grades, was a prefect, and is currently Head Girl. She had a spotless record, until now.

It turns out that Lily Evans is a cold-blooded murderer. According to student and villager witnesses, Evans defeated the Death Eater invaders with two knifes, a sword and plenty of Dark Magic, including the Killing Curse.

"It was the scariest thing I've ever seen," Michael Branstone, a fourth-year Hogwarts student, wrote to his anxious parents "Evans just killed them all!"

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, refused to comment, only saying that it was necessary to disconnect the school from the rest of the Wizarding World, so that he could sort a few things out.

When reporters attempted to contact Evans' parents, they discovered that Mark and Isabel Evans had died thirteen years before. Evans' only other living relative Petunia Evans-Dursley, while threatening to call Muggle "police-men," inadvertently told reporters that she had "thrown the little brat out years ago" and that she was probably dead.

"No one really liked Evans," says Bertha Jorkins, a former seventh year, "She always kept to herself."

After talking to Ministry officials, reporters found out that Dumbledore actually went to the Ministry to clear Evans' name. "He was very adamant that he alone would deal with Evans, and that the Ministry didn't need to be involved," says a ministry official, " I have a daughter going to Hogwarts and I'm sure other parents want answers as well!"

Other parents have also expressed their concerns about their children being around Evans.

"I have told my children at Hogwarts, to stay away from that murderer," says Benjamin Meadows, an Auror, "If Dumbledore doesn't expel her, at the very least, I will pull my children out of school."

However, Melissa Marchbanks, a sixth-year, says, "Evans saved us all that day. If she hadn't killed those Death Eaters they would have killed us, it's that simple."

Evans is clearly mentally unstable, and everyone at the Ministry hopes that Albus Dumbledore will remove this girl from Hogwarts, so she cannot harm anyone else.

"What Evans did was completely unacceptable. By killing those Death Eater she lowered herself to their level. She should be punished accordingly," says Cornelius Fudge, Junior Minister of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, "If I were the Minister of Magic I would probably throw her straight into Azkaban."

If Albus Dumbledore does not choose to expel Lily Evans, the Ministry will get involved, and then justice will surely be done.

-Matthew Summers, Daily Prophet reporter

James dropped into his seat.

"Lily's sister threw her out? So that's why…"

He scanned the Ravenclaw Table for Marchbanks. She was sitting all by herself, looking disgustedly at the paper. Then he noticed the other Gryffindor looking at him with distrust Remus and Peter entered the Great Hall. James motioned them over to him.

"What's up, Prongs?" said Peter," You look really stressed out."

"Read this," he said angrily, handing Remus the paper.

They both scanned it and Remus dropped it with a look of disgust on his face.

Peter said, "Well that explains a lot."

"Huh?" said Remus, staring at him.

"Well if Evans lived by herself, then she would know how to defend herself." he said, logically.

James nodded. Remus looked strangely resigned.

"Where's Padfoot?" said James, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Still sleeping," they both said simultaneously.

"Great. He's going to miss breakfast, and then complain about it all day," grumbled James, trying not to think about how the rest of the school would react when Evans came down, "I'm going to go get him, I'm done here anyway."

He gestured around the Hall at the gossiping students. Picking up the newspaper, he strode out of the Hall, aware of the distrustful looks he was getting. He walked up the marble staircase and through two shortcuts. Arriving at the portrait of the Fat Lady, he noticed that there was an unusual amount of people outside the portrait hole. In the middle of the circle of students stood Lily, with her usual unreadable expression on her face.

"You cow! You think you can just walk in here, huh?"

"How dare you, you little bitch, you think you're better me, huh?"

"As Head Girl, I can go where ever I want," Lily said coolly. She made to walk through the hole, but a tall boy with short blonde hair, tripped her. She fell straight on her stomach. The baggy sleeves of her long sleeved shirt rolled up her thin arm to reveal a huge old looking scar. The group surrounding her snickered unpleasantly. She jumped to her feet, struggling to keep a neutral expression.

"Why don't you just leave, you freak!"

"Go out and die, freak!"

"You murderer, you should be thrown into Azkaban!"

"Monster! Murderer!"

"You've got no future! You'll never amount to anything!"

"You'll never amount to anything you little slut!"

"Just go, you monster, no one likes you anyway!"

"Who would want you anyway, you worthless piece of shit! Why don't you just die and rid this world of your presence. It's not like anyone would care."

Lily was frozen as her tormenters continued to hurl insults at her. Her bright green eyes filled with a horrible sadness, that made James cringe. Her fists, balled at her sides, began to drip blood as she clenched them harder.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!!"

A/N: Or maybe not the last update in a while. Oh well. This chapter was a bit of a filler, but it was needed to transition between chapter. Many thanks to Eveni, Violin, flower123, Gaialy, hawaiiangirl258, quiver, sweets555, Samhaim Girl, xX-Ashi-Xx, Muse Dae, gazingdreamer, Sonnish na mara, Becca, indescribablyBee, rawr, and my awesome beta swtaznhottiechik.