AN: Hey guys. I don't own Harry Potter or the song. The song belongs to The Strokes.

Thanks for all the reviews, guys. Sorry I didn't update as quick as before. I was having minor blockage. Here's the next chapter.

Chapter Nine: Take It or Leave It

Leave me alone, I'm in control

I'm in control

And girls act to much, boy act to tough

Enough is enough

James slowly laid Lily on her bed. He made to get up, but the grip Lily had on his shirt made him think otherwise. With a sad sigh, he laid next to his flower, stroking her hair quietly. "Oh, Lily," He whispered. "Why'd it have to be you?" Her unconscious figure gave no response. "You know, Tiger Lily, I really love you. I wish I could tell you when you're awake… and before your parents passed away, but I love you none of the less. I'm sure you know that. I'm sorry about your parents…"

He continued to talk to his sleeping redhead before his eyes slowly began to droop. Moving himself lower, he wrapped his arms around Lily and held her tightly.

"I'm not going to let you go anymore, okay?" He told her. "I'm always going to be here for you, alright, love?"

With that, he fell asleep next to her. Lily cuddled closer to him, searching for warmth and comfort.

Lily awoke slowly, wondering where she was. She clearly remembered the day's events and suddenly wished that she was asleep again. She looked up to see James sleeping peacefully next to her, tear streaks on his cheeks. Her broken heart nearly fluttered at the thought of James crying for her loss. "James," She whispered.

His eyes opened he smiled at her sadly. "Hey there, Tiger Lily," He said softly. "I know this is a stupid question, but are you feeling any better?" She managed a weak chuckled as she shook her head.

'No, James," She told him in pain. "I'm not feeling any better at all." He sat up, resting himself on the headboard and opened his arms, welcoming her into a hug. She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his chest while his arms snaked around her.

"They would want you to live on. For yourself… for your sister."

She hiccupped through her silent tears. "Do you think it's my fault?"

"Of course not!"

"I think it is."

"Well don't," James said firmly. "I don't know what those stupid pricks were thinking about, but it wasn't your fault at all. Just think of it this way, Lily. Your parents are in a better place. Who would want to live a fearful life down her anyway?"

Lily scoffed. "They were muggles, James. They didn't have to worry about magical things."

"But that had to worry about you getting hurt by magical things," He reasoned. "I think they're up there right now, looking down at you. Now they know that they don't have to fear your safety, because you're just fine down here and up there, well they're going to be watching out for you too, won't they?"

"Why'd this happen, James?"

He shrugged. "I read somewhere that the Lord, you know, God, plans for our welfare, not our woe.."

"I don't know how this is for my good, James." She cried quietly. He tightened his arms around her.

"It can only go up from here, Lily Bean."

-----

Sirius sighed sadly while Remus patted his back. They watched Lily walk across the classroom emotionlessly. She sat in her seat, almost robotically, and instead of following directions, she poured every ingredient into the cauldron at the same time. "She's taking this harder than I thought," Sirius muttered. "I mean, of course, it's her parents, but I always thought that Lily was stronger than this."

"She is stronger than this, Sirius," Remus told him. "She just needs time to recover."

"I wouldn't care if my parents died," he laughed.

Moony rolled his eyes. "Of course you wouldn't. Your parents are horrible people."

"Offense taken and accepted with joy," Sirius chuckled. "I feel bad for Lily Bean. She shouldn't have to go through this. When she was younger, I bet she thought she was going to grow up to be a mediwitch."

"You mean a doctor?" he asked.

"Is that the muggle one?"

"Yes?"

"Then yea, that, and then she had to find out about the magic world. What if she regrets coming here? I bet she does."

Remus shrugged. "Maybe, we won't know."

"I hope she doesn't. I'd go into a state of insanity if she left the magic world."

"Would you really? You were never that close to her."

Sirius frowned. "Well, yes, but I'd feel sorry for James… and she's an awfully good kisser."

"Sirius!"

"What?!"

"Her parents were just murdered!" Remus hissed. "And yet you still talk about her talented kissing?"

"Oh well sorry that I'm driven by my hormones," he muttered, resting his head on the desk.

"Move your hair, you idiot. It might catch on fire!"

Alice stroked her best friend's red hair. Lily rested her hair on Alice's lap, silent tears falling down her cheek occasionally. "Petunia is going to hate me when she wakes up from her coma." She whispered. Alice frowned, squeezing her hand softly.

"I'm sure she won't."

"She already hates me for being a witch. She'll never speak to me again because I went and got my parents killed. She's comatose. Wonderful, magic is." Lily laughed sarcastically.

"Sure it is. Magic is great. It's just that… some people use their power in the wrong way. That's why they have us. To stop those idiots."

"Those idiots killed my parents."

She sighed and pulled the redhead up to hug her. "Lily, I know that your parents wouldn't want you to wallow in your grief like this, but this is your time to grieve their deaths. I just want you know that it isn't your fault your parents were killed. You didn't start it, you couldn't have stopped it."

The two became silent.

"You think if they knew what would happen, I'd still be here today?"

"I'm not sure, Lily," Alice said sadly. "But this is who you are. You can't run away from it… everything that happens is fate, right?"

"I guess it is," she mumbled.

"Well… if you weren't here, you wouldn't have met James."

"I'd rather have my parents alive."

"Well, yea," She said in defeat. "I'm just saying. Fate has everything planned for us. We just have to accept and overcome some of the obstacles it puts us through."

Lily let a small smile fall onto her face. "That's what my mom always used to say."

-----

Peter gave a fearful whine as he tried to push Goyle away. "I told you I'd be there!" He frowned. Goyle rolled his eyes and shook the boy once more.

"You're having second thoughts aren't you, Pettigrew? I could see the guilt on your face when you heard about that mudblood's parents."

Peter scowled. "I gave you Evans' stupid address didn't I? Why would I have second thoughts?"

Goyle stepped back and looked the boy over. "Why are you becoming a death eater again?"

Peter looked down. "James and Sirius have been pushing me around for too long. I want to show them what I'm really made of."

Goyle raised a brow. "I think you're starting to grow weak, Pettigrew," he spat. He laughed callously before leaving. "Besides," he muttered to himself. "Potter and Black never did anything to the idiot, but it'll be fun to watch them die."

It seemed that day by day, Lily started to grow quieter. In class, she kept her head down, no longer trying to answer every question the teacher asked. She had parchment upon parchment of notes, making her friends wonder if she wrote down everything that the professor had said. "I could have sworn she would get stronger," Alice whispered to Frank. The boy smiled softly at his girlfriend.

"You have to understand, Alice," He started. "Yes, Lily is a very strong person, and we don't doubt that, but she was very close to her parents. Heck, a lot of us are close to our own parents. We expect to watch them grow old and die because of age, not because of death eaters. It hurts, even more so for the muggleborns here. They never thought they were going to be pulled into our world. Now they are being completely affected in every way by magic. This is the first time Lily's getting a taste of what other muggleborns have experienced."

She looked up at him with a twinkle in her eyes. "Let's make a family, Frank," She suggested hopefully. He gave her an odd look. "Let's make a family and grow old together. Let's make our family healthy, as well as ourselves. And then, when the time comes, our children will know that we didn't pass away in pain and fear."

He smiled and her and kissed her hand lovingly. "Alice… I think our first child would put us in the loony bin. Not very healthy, if you ask me."

She laughed and smacked his chest. "Don't be mean! If our first child but us in the loony bin, then it would be for a good reason."

"What do you mean for a good reason?!" He snorted. He pulled her up and threw an arm around her. Alice grinned as she nuzzled into his side.

"Think of it this way, we aren't crazy, but some lunatic was threatening our child's life. He tells us that he'll kill our child, right?"

"Yea?"

"So what do we do?"

Frank frowned. "Fight him off, of course."

"Exactly! He gets so mad that he throws us on the ground and knocks our heads together and we suffer from head problems."

He remained in a confused silence.

"Well don't you get it? We saved our child, letting him or her run away, and we get thrown in the loony bin. I'd rather be crazy than have my child hurt, mind you." She stuck her nose in the air. Rolling his eyes, he nodded and kissed her cheek.

"Fine, fine. Good reason that we're in the loony bin."

Peter quickly scurried his way to the room of requirements. He closed the door, wishing it to be locked before waiting for his other needs to be fulfilled. In an instant, a pensive appeared before him. He let out a shuddered breath. There was french writing on it and he leaned in closer to decipher the words. De voir l'avenir, non le passé. To see the future, not the past. He touched the silvery mist and plunged into the future memory.

A raven haired boy laughed happily as he dodged his running friend. "Blasphemy!" The other cried. "You'd make the perfect seeker, Harry. You're incredibly fast." Harry smirked.

"That's what dad is always saying. He's been trying to get me to try out for the team. What do you think, Cal?" Callahan Adonis Black, looking like an exact replica of his father, rolled his eyes.

"What do I think? I think you're an idiot for not trying out in second year. You're a fifth year now, idiot. You've got to try out sooner or later."

Harry Potter ran a hand through his hair, much like James. "Hey, idiots!" Someone interrupted. They turned and grinned at the third Marauder, strutting his way down the hall. The bleach blond hair could be spotted from miles away. "What's cooking, good looking?" John Draco, or JD, asked. The two rolled his eyes. They had been friends with John since they were little. Their Uncle Remus adopted him after Lucius Malfoy was thrown into jail. Of course, he was only able to adopt the baby because the ministry thought the werewolf would kill him at a young age.

"Seriously, John," Cal started. "Are you sure you aren't gay?"

"Shut up!" The boy scowled. "Don't talk to a Lupin like that... Where's Lie?" He suddenly asked, paling.

"Don't tell me Lie is messing with Snape again," Harry groaned. "We were warned to stay away from Snape!"

"Our fathers are going to kill us," Cal moaned. "My father is going to kill me!"

"Come on!" John shouted in annoyance. "Let's go find Lie!" They stormed through the halls until they found the first broom closet. They flung the door open and out fell two people, one on top of the other. The girl blushed and scrambled off the boy. "Lie!"

The boy stood with a smirk. Lisander straightened his shoulders and glared at the boys. "You're interrupting," He growled.

"Shut up, Snape and wash your hair!" John sneered. He grabbed the girl's arm roughly.

"Hey!" She whined.

"Don't start, Lie," He warned her. She opened her mouth to retort but he cut her off. "Callisto Jade Black," He scolded.

She scoffed. "Would you guys stop calling Lie?! It doesn't sound anything like my name and what do you think you're doing?!"

"We were told to keep you away from Snape and that's what we intend to do."

"I don't understand," She moaned as she was pulled away, Lisander trying to fight his way through Harry and her brother. "You guys are the only ones who have a problem with Lisander! Daddy, Uncle James, Uncle Remus and Uncle Severus made up years ago."

"Yes, and they don't want you two getting together for a reason."

"Oh, really? And what's that?"

"It's practically, incest, Callisto," He stated simply.

"But technically, it isn't!" She shouted. "Would you guys just leave us alone?!"

"Grief, maybe we should just lock you in the mental ward like Uncle Peter."

"That's not funny! You know he was tortured while trying to keep Neville Longbottom safe!"

"So? We'll torture you and then throw you in the loony bin with him!"

Peter flew out, heaving deeply. A glowing fire ignited in him. So while he was stuck in Mungo's mental ward, everyone else lived on to have families. "I bet Alice and Frank were the ones who asked me to take care of their idiot child," He muttered. "I'll show them. I won't be the one who goes crazy. All of them will." He sat in the Room, trying to think of a way to change the future. "I'm in control now," He whispered to himself angrily.