Chapter 10:

We were strangers, starting out on a journey

Never dreaming, what we'd have to go through

Now here we are, I'm suddenly standing

At the beginning with you

No one told me I was going to find you

Unexpected, what you did to my heart

When I lost hope, you were there to remind me

This is the start...

Lily gripped her robes like the fabric was an anchor holding her to the spot in the hallway that Sirius had left her in. Her eyes were closed, she was holding onto herself for dear life, not daring to open her eyes. Peter had betrayed all of them. James was in more danger now than ever. Sirius had mentioned a mirror to contact James or Remus. The time was precious as Sirius quickly raced off into the depths of the flat, yelling at Lily to stay put. Lily was panicking too much in order to comprehend the voices coming from wherever Sirius was hiding.

"Breathe," Sirius had told her, even though he could see the panic in her eyes, "We need to wait for back up. We need to find out exactly where he is."

Lily had scoffed, James could be dead by the time back up came.

Lily opened her eyes and felt her heart drop to the floor. James could be dead. Lily couldn't live with herself if anything happened to him. She loved him and she wasn't about to let him face one more attack from Alexis alone. Sirius was arguing with someone, she could hear his voice rising angrily.

Lily could slip away unnoticed if she left now.

Lily knew she'd hear about it later (if she wasn't killed) but she couldn't wait. Alexis knew Lily Evans was alive and remembered her past life. Alexis knew Lily remembered James. Alexis knew where James was hiding away; trying to protect everyone he loved again.

She grabbed the handle to the front door and wrenched it open. As she spun in her spot on the doorframe she heard Sirius yell her name with conviction. He was telling her to stay put but she couldn't, not with James out there alone. She closed her eyes again as her body disappeared from the flat.

The Potter house rose in front of her when she opened her eyes. The old ivy clung to the walls and Lily spotted one of Mrs. Potter's old pair of boots resting beside the front door. Mr. Potter had an old wooden rocking horse that he'd made for James beside the fountain out front. Little details Lis hadn't noticed when Sirius and James had brought her to the old house in France, but they were little details that Lily knew all too well.

Lily's eyes quickly scanned the area of the house and saw nothing out of place. Snow had started falling, covering the grass in a light coating of white dust. Silence was piercing the air. Lily took one step forward towards the house. Her fist was wrapped so tightly around her wand that she was sure her fingers would be imprinted by her handle design forever.

"James!" she called apprehensively, her hair blew slightly in her face and she wiped it back dramatically and with great frustration.

Where was he?

The house looked empty. There was no sign of movement from the inside and there were no footsteps that Lily could make out. Lily raced up the steps, her knocks falling on the solid door in panic.

"James, it's Lily!" she cried, "Open the door!"

But he wasn't there. It struck Lily that perhaps, this time James had been a bit smarter. This time, James had lied to everyone. He had purposely told everyone he was going back to France so that if someone came looking (like Alexis) they would be at a loss. Lily swallowed and let her fingertips fall from the door handle.

He'd left her for good this time.

Lily turned away from the door in remorse. She was pulling her hood over her head and trying to control the tears threatening to fall as she went back to the sidewalk. It was right before she was about to dissapparate when her eyes caught movement by the postbox. A woman stood still as a cement wall, like a lioness about to pounce on its prey. Her flaxen hair was chopped short now but Lily recognized those eyes from her dreams and memories.

The same piercing blue eyes that had threatened Lily, looked upon her now with great hatred. It was Alexis and she looked angry. Lily reached quickly for her wand that she'd foolishly put away and shivers were sent up Lily's spine when the woman spoke.

"Bonjour."

Lily slashed her wand through the air in Alexis' direction with great haste but the woman deflected Lily's foolish hex with a defense charm. Lily swallowed and held her wand to at the ready. She was foolish to think that she'd get to James before this woman did. Lily watched in horror as Alexis stepped closer and faster to where she held her ground.

"Where is your boyfriend, Evans?" the woman hissed menacingly, in French.

Lily slashed another hex. Alexis blocked it and stepped closer.

"He's not here." Lily said firmly in English, "Leave me be."

Alexis' eyes widened, "Oui." And then she switched to English, "I've been waiting two days for him to appear. Instead I get you as a consolation prize, again."

She let her wand drop in a left arch and Lily was thrown forward towards the wicked witch by magic. Lily covered her mouth in terror when she hit the ground and her wand went flying out of her reach. Lily struggled to get up but Alexis threw another spell, making Lily's body freeze. Alexis sneered and stepped towards Lily, her blue eyes were devilish.

"I see you are back to speaking English." Alexis eyed Lily's misplaced wand, "And back to holding a wand."

"You should see what I could do when I have a wand." Lily spat, glaring up at Alexis' form.

Alexis laughed cynically and held up her disheveled arm where a hand was missing, "I'm very aware of what you are capable of, mudblood."

Shock erupted in Lily's stomach, "I didn't do—" Lily started to argue but Alexis flung her wand forward and Lily slid along the ground like she'd been pushed by strong winds.

Unluckily for Alexis Lily was able to grab her wand from the momentum and she quickly aimed it from the ground, up at Alexis' neck. Lily swung her wand in a protective arc, sending up a shield charm just as Alexis tried to jinx her and the jinx backfired. Alexis bounced back and fell to the ground, panting and scowling at Lily.

She growled, "Look what a few months has done to us, fleur. The last time we stood in front of this house you were dying and now you're back to the woman I thought was good as dead."

"The house." Lily whispered, eyes widening and looking around in awe, "Of course."

The person holding Lily captive amidst the flames spoke in a clear female voice with a strange accent Lily couldn't place.

"Come on Potter," the captor scrambled against Lily's strong fighting, "You want to help muggles? You can help this one by joining us."

James looked torn up as Lily struggled to escape her captor who held a wand to Lily's cheek with a free hand that wasn't curled around Lily's throat. Lily could hear the mysterious person breathing heavily in her ear. James opened his mouth to finally speak just as the cracking came from above. Lily let her eyes finally lift from James' face and saw the ceiling burning bright with flames above. Whatever child had been screaming upstairs couldn't be alive any longer.

The cracking continued. The building no longer had a fighting chance.

"Get out!" Lily heard someone behind the three wizards shout, "The building! It's falling!"

Above the two witches, the ceiling was cracking and beams started to fall. In fear of losing her life, the captor tried to disapperate with Lily in tow. Lily cried out as a burning beam hit her head and scorching heat touched her neck. The pain was blinding and Lily's vision went white.

A feeling of great pressure was forced upon Lily's body and she felt the captor let go of her neck. Lily's feet touched soft ground and when she opened her eyes woods surrounded her. Grass and leaves crunched at her feet.

Where was she? Lily knew she wasn't safe.

She had to get to someplace no one knew about but someone could still find her at. Lily tried to walk and then grabbed her head in agony.

"Ouch!"

Her head was pounding and she couldn't think right. How did she get to the woods? Why was she covered in blood? She needed to go find someone to help and her mind filtered to James. James would help her. Lily forced her legs to move and she took two small steps.

She remembered James' favorite cottage in France where his mother invited her for evening tea whenever they were on Holiday. James loved it because it reminded him of what he loved most: his family. Lily hoped he would think to look for her there.

Lily needed her wand. She searched her pockets to find it was missing. Lily bit her lip and looked around, gasping when she saw the woman collapsed on the ground moaning and gripping her arm.

"Are you hurt?" Lily asked, squinting from the ache in her head.

"Qui es-tu?" The woman looked up in surprise to see Lily standing there over her hunched body.

Lily was swaying a bit from the pressure in her head. Lily felt like throwing up as she eyed the woman and realized that where her right hand had been, was now a stub of bloody flesh. Lily's hand flew to her mouth in disbelief. The woman clutched her bleeding arm, snarling, as she advanced on Lily. Lily stood there wheezing, her head tender from the compression of the wood hitting her head before they'd disapperated. Behind the woman there was a large house rising into the sky, darkness swirling around it. At Lily's feet was the woman's wand and Lily felt her stomach convulse at the sight of the woman's wand still clutched in the splinched hand that was surrounded by a pool of blood.

Lily's eyes flashed between the darkness of the house; the sinister look of the woman; and the dismembered hand clenching the ticket to Lily's escape.

The woman rushed at Lily, seemingly knowing what Lily would try.

The woman ripped the wand from her splinched hand and pointed it at Lily. The woman made a motion for Lily to stay put. Lily stopped dead in her tracks.

"T'petite salope!"

Lily backed up against a close tree, staring at the woman in horror. The woman was panting, her bleached hair falling into her eyes as she observed Lily with every manner of dislike.
"Who are you?" Lily enquired quickly, "Where are we? What do you want?"

Lily was wandless seeing as James had picked up her wand. Why had James picked up her wand? Lily was struggling to recall how she'd gotten into the mess she was in. She needed James to give her back her wand.

But where was he?

Lily whimpered and said James' name softly, like a prayer.

"Potter," the woman spat in English this time, "You both know each other?" the woman crept forward on her knees.

"No." Lily begged, staring at the woman with panic.

"Oui." The woman's eyes sparkled, "Didn't I hear your name clear as day?" and then she said a word Lily understood, "Lily." She smirked when Lily began shaking her head back and forth.

"I don't know him."

She was scared.

She had no idea where she was; the woods seemed to be closing in on her. She felt disoriented. It was like her mind was turning to mush and her legs were turning to jelly.

"You're that girl aren't you?" The strange lady was still gripping her arm, "The one who Pettigrew was talking about. The one Potter was doing all of it for. His petite fleur." The woman spat her name like it was a bad taste in her mouth, "Lily."

Lily stared at the woman, mouth agape. Her eyes shifted and saw the woman was bleeding from her wrist. Lily covered her mouth in horror as she realized the woman was missing a hand. How did that happen?

"What do you—what happened to your arm?"

The woman seemed to pause, confusion shone brightly in her eyes.

Lily dug her fingernails into the tree, staring around her in alarm. She had to get away. Her eyes zeroed in on the wand.

"Let me go." Lily warned, hoping she didn't sound as terrified as she felt.

"No." the woman's eyes glittered, "I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill him."

Why did this woman want to kill her? And who was the boy the woman was talking about? The witch laughed when Lily began crying, shaking her head madly.

"No!" Lily bawled, "Please!"

The woman laughed, "Were you both in love? It's shame I'll have to deliver the news of your death to him myself."

The woman snapped her wand in Lily's direction and Lily lunged away and towards the woman, all at once. She reached for the wand, trying to wrestle it from the woman. Spells shot out of the wand. Lily wasn't sure if she was casting them or the woman was casting them. Lily knew the only way to get over the brawl was to try and get away again.

Determination made Lily rip the wand from the woman's hand by prying apart jail-locked fingers. She waved the wand in the precise way but the woman grabbed onto her again.

Once again their bodies were forced through a great tube but Lily struggled against the woman's hold ripping and tearing at her body. She was screaming at the woman to let go. Then the apparition was complete and the pair lay in front of an old wooden door.

The wooden door was carved with vines and Lily knew she had made it to the old cottage in France. Her head was aching and her body felt like she'd dropped fifty feet from a broomstick. She reached for the handle and was shocked when she saw her hand was covered in scarlet blood. Her stomach rolled and she looked around for the source of the blood.

She hadn't shaken off the mad woman. Lily screamed and stood up, barely making it off the porch before falling and clutching her head. Everything was swirling and she felt disgusting, covered in blood.

How had it even gotten there?

Then the woman was towering over her, looking insane, with wide blue eyes and blood soaked robes.

"Give me my wand, mudblood." The woman snarled, ripping the wand from Lily's all—too-willing hand.

"No, no, no," Lily mumbled, crushing her hands against her head, "Please."

"I'm going to kill you."

"I don't even know you!" she cried, covering her head with her hands, "Please!"

"You did this too me," spit flew from the woman's mouth as she showed Lily her missing hand, "You and James Potter."

"I don't even know who that is," she begged, crying, "Please, have mercy. I don't even know where I am!"

"You apparated us here!" the woman shouted, "You know!"

"No," she was a crumbled mess on the floor, "Please, help me! My head aches! I'm lost! Help me!"

The woman surveyed her in bewilderment for a second.

Her mind was blank, full of confusion. She had no idea where she was. She didn't know why she was covered in blood or why there was a strange woman hovered over her. She curled up into the fetal position and cried for help.

Who was she?

Where was she?

Why was she crying?

"You don't remember anything." The woman looked delighted, "You've gone mad!" The woman was laughing; her blond hair was covered in blood, making her look crazier than the girl on the street felt. The woman clutched her arm, dripping with blood that splattered all over her robes.

"You'll die with no memories of your precious James Potter."

The world, once so bright and vivid, went black.

Lily swallowed, her throat tight with the revelation. Alexis stood up again and pointed her wand at Lily's chest. Alexis had been splinched and Lily had lost her memories. They'd both been damaged beyond repair that night.

Lily stared at Alexis in wonder. "You didn't kill me." Lily whispered, "You didn't kill me."

Alexis was advancing on her, "I must say, I didn't think I'd have to worry about you when I left. Apparently I was very wrong."

Lily remembered feeling like she was going to die as she lay on the street staring at the sky. Visions of scarlet blaring in her eyes were all she could really remember but she remembered the feeling of being lost. She remembered Mistress Williams finding her and screaming, before dropping a weeks worth of eggs in the streets. Lily recalled every moment since that moment she'd been found because it had led her right back to where the fight had started.

"Do you remember pleading for me not to kill you?" Alexis taunted, "So much for being a brave fighter."

Lily sent a hex and Alexis blocked it easily.

"I remember." Lily snarled, pushing her hair back and standing in a way that would make shielding spells simpler.

"I figured it didn't matter if you were dead or alive since your memories were gone." Alexis brandished her wand sloppily as she looked Lily up and down, "As far as anyone was concerned Lily Evans was dead and your death stopped James Potter from his foolish mission to try and rescue the mudblood children." Alexis stopped twirling her wand to stare defiantly at Lily, "Of course, then I heard the rumor—that fate had brought you and Potter back together again."

She shot two curses at Lily but Lily blocked them while shouting, "I am not afraid of you."

"I can fix that!" she laughed sharply, "Time to pay you back for my hand, Evans."

Lily raised her wand just in time to defend herself from the hexes sent her way. Charm after charm exploded in front of Lily's face as she battled the witch that was laughing hysterically in front of her. Alexis was chanting a song as she casted spell after spell in Lily's direction until finally, Lily's shield charms defaulted and she was knocked into the icy ground again. Alexis cheered triumphantly.

"No amnesia to help you this time. No James Potter to protect you." Alexis snarled pointing her wand down at Lily's body, "Not this time."

"Want to bet?" a new voice chimed in.

Suddenly Alexis was thrown into the wall of the house, slamming against the brick with a unanticipated crunch. Lily lifted her head and saw a figure in a cloak standing there with his wand pointed at their attacker. His eyes were glowing defiantly as he pulled his hood down and showed his face.

"Alright, Evans?" James Potter sent her a simper of a grin that made her ehart soar.

"James." Lily's smile could've lit up the entire street.

He was alive.

Alexis sat up quickly and started sending spells like wildfire in James' direction. Lily shot up and searched the ground for her mislaid wand. It had rolled ten meters away and she scrambled to get it. James and Alexis was blasting holes in the old cottage, both aiming to kill.

"You really ought to have let your girlfriend handle this for you again, Potter!" Alexis chimed playfully, "She handled it so well the last time!"

Her teasing only seemed to infuriate James more. The vein in his temple was throbbing and his glasses were sliding down the tip of his nose as he concentrated. He pushed back by slashing his wand in the air twice, causing the ground to shake with a defining boom as the dirt in front of the duelers exploded. Snow, dirt, and leaves swirled around the dueling pair and Lily lost sight of James and Alexis.

Lily's heart stopped, "James!"

James' voice didn't come from the dust storm and Lily dug her heels into the ground, "No! James, are you alright? êtes-vous d'accord? Où es-tu?!"

Lily rushed forward into the dust cloud. The dirt and snow was staring to settle and Lily saw James' slimmer shape rushing into the Potter's old cottage though an open door. She followed without even thinking twice while sending stunners over her shoulder, praying that they hit their mark.

The dark hallway loomed in front of her. The staircase was to her left and the hallway that led to the tearoom was on her right. She spotted no sign of James among the outdated portraits, alongside the suits of armor, or even next to an old dragon statue.

"James!" She shouted his name in panic again, not seeing him anywhere.

A hand grabbed her shoulder from behind roughly. Lily spun to attack Alexis when she saw it was James, eyes wide with panic that mimicked her own.

"Lily!" he snapped, pulling her up the staircase without thinking twice, "What are you doing here?!"

"I came to warn you—" she answered.

"Warn me?" he had the audacity to laugh as they ran upstairs hand in hand, "I was coming to warn you!"

Lily paused mid step, "Warn me?"

"Sirius had gotten ahold of me—but you'd already left." James said rapidly.

"I was worried she'd find you!" Lily argued.

"I was never here, I was with mum and dad!" he added as an afterthought, "I don't know what Sirius was thinking, leaving you alone. You never were a patient one."

"Nous allons jouer les enfants!" Alexis' voice called out eerily through the cottage and James yanked Lily the rest of the way up the stairs and threw them behind a bedroom door.

They leaned against the doorframe listening to each other wheeze. Lily was still gripping his hand, never wanting to let it go.

"I was going to yell at you." Lily thought outloud.

"I'm sure." James looked over at her, smiling a stupid grin that made her knees go weak, "Your still mad but I'm honestly just still thankful you're alive." At her frown he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it tenderly, observing her over his glasses.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, "I never thought it'd come to this."

"It was Peter, he was a snitch."

James looked remorseful and pressed his wand hand against her cheek lovingly.

She thought that if she looked away from his hazel eyes they might go back to before and that he might disappear again. Lily's heart couldn't possibly take another goodbye from him. Something blew up from the hallway and James winced against her hold on his face.

"My mum will kill me if this place gets destroyed." James lamented.

"I think she might not care if you tell her the whole story." Lily reasoned into his ear and he chuckled at her humor appreciatively.

"I've missed you," he reached up to touch her cheek once again, "And I love you."

Lily breathed in deeply as he leaned down to place his lips onto hers like he'd done so many times before their fighting, before Lis, and before Alexis. He caressed her cheek and let his hands drift into her hair before pulling away and standing upright and proud. It was too short a kiss to be a standard kiss from a normally shameless James.

Then James shouted loud enough for people in America to hear, "Come on, Alexis, and stop playing games."

The witch laughed from down the stairs when James announced his hiding spot so loudly. She knew where they were now. Lily heard her footsteps come rushing up stairs, sending curse after curse that rebounded off the walls. James opened the door to the bedroom, wand aloft.

"What are you doing? " Lily asked, yanking his arse back away from the doorframe and pulling at his robes to drag him behind the protection of the door, "mon Dieu, James. She'll kill you."

"She can't kill me." James said confidently, kissing her forehead.

"You're an idiot." Lily rolled her eyes.

"But I'm your idiot." He just laughed just as Alexis appeared at the top of the staircase, a mad look in her eyes as she shouted spells in French.

"And you aren't facing her alone."

Lily stood up tall beside James, eyes flashing as they positioned themselves for an attack. Alexis spit out spells, aiming directly for Lily but James was sending objects flying in the way of the spells as he pushed them back towards the other bedrooms at the end of the hall. Lily backed up slowly, her eyes trained on Alexis as she threw up shield charms with each step. James was cursing as he let portraits fly off the wall. Lily couldn't help smiling as he cleverly said each family member's name as they blew up from the jinx's that Alexis was sending their way.

Lily hollered a warning when she noticed James' foot catching the wrong way on the carpet but it wasn't enough time. He fell to the ground and Lily shrieked and shifted her steps to run forward towards him—and Alexis.

Alexis' eyes sparkled humorlessly and her wand went form aiming at Lily to pointing at James. James was fumbling around on the floor for his wand, which had been knocked towards Alexis during his fall. The smile on Alexis' face as she drew up and over James was repulsive.

"Incarcerus!" Lily hollered but Alexis blocked her spell before throwing James' entire body against the wall.

Lily heard the sickening crunch of bone against plaster and she winced as James' body fell slack onto the floor. She took two steps towards the blonde woman but was forced to brace herself as she was also thrown back and into a cabinet. Potions fell from the shelves and shattered all around her, some of them burning holes into the carpet. Lily scowled and attempted to stand up, avoiding the unknown content from the potions that littered the floor.

Alexis was settled over James with a vindictive grin and Lily saw James was struggling to move. James looked back to make eye contact with Lily, almost like he was apologizing. Lily gave him a slight shake of her head, what had she done?

Before Lily could make it to James a body came hurdling over the stairs, launching at Alexis. It wrapped it's leg around her waist, struggling to forcefully remove the wand from her grip. Alexis had a hard time defending herself with only one hand that was trying to keep ahold of her weapon. Lily could recognize the leather jacket and signature black hair anywhere.

"Sirius." Lily breathed in relief, putting a hand on the wall to balance herself.

"What they hell, Lily!" Sirius shouted at her, "I told you to wait for me!"

"It's about time you got here Padfoot." James slurred from the floor, letting his hand skim across the floor as he was looking for his lost wand.

Lily glared at James but she couldn't hide the look of relief on her face. She had thought for a moment James would be in trouble. Alexis was snarling, trying to get Sirius off her back. Sirius was furious, yanking on her hair, trying to pull her away from James. Lily had her wand pointed in their direction but she couldn't get a clear shot of Alexis without worrying about Sirius.

"fils de pute!" Alexis snarled, flipping her wand around at Sirius.

"Well, that's rude." Sirius had barley lifted his wand an inch and Alexis was thrown back into the bannister that led downstairs.

Lily yearned for his complete control and ease in dueling; she'd always been flamboyant and quick…much like James. Alexis pushed back up from the floor with her one hand, eyes flashing. She whipped her wand and Sirius shouted in surprise at her quick attack, crashing to the floor as his muscles convulsed.

"No!" Lily shouted, jumping forward again and Alexis shifted her attention from Sirius on the floor to Lily.

James took advantage of Alexis' shift in attention and began crawling towards his wand. Lily knew they'd win if all three of them could go at her at once. James just needed his wand…

Lily sent a stinging hex and it hit Alexis but she blinked it off. The spell wasn't strong enough for a woman who'd been through the pain of getting spliched. Alexis spotted James crawling for his wand and she kicked at it, making it roll it down the stairs. Lily watched with alarmed eyes as it clattered away from eyesight. James tried to stumble after it but Alexis kicked him in the face and his nose broke, sending blood splattering across his robes.

Anger coursed through Lily, "Ne le touche pas!" she waved her wand and Alexis yelped in surprise as hot, bursting boils erupted all over her skim from Lily's hex.

Alexis' eyes were burning with passion as she finally sent a green curse flying in Lily's direction. James screamed her name and Lily threw herself up against the wall, narrowly missing the deadly spell. Lily had to end the duel, and quickly, Alexis craved to kill. Lily watched with paranoid eyes as James crawled towards the stairs where his wand had fallen down. Alexis slowly turned, aiming her wand at his retreating back.

Lily needed to get the witch away from her wand and she had to do it fast.

"Expelliarmus!" Sirius shouted, seeming to have the same idea as Lily but Alexis just shot up a shield charm to block him.

"Levicorpus!" Lily screeched and luckily, Alexis had been so focused on James and Sirius that she was flipped upside down from her ankle by Lily's perfectly aimed spell.

Alexis fought against her ankle bind but her wand had fallen and clattered towards James. James quickly grabbed it and pointed it at Alexis hastily amidst Alexis' shrieking.

"You'll all regret this!" She was screaming in French, "Your fighting a losing battle. The Dark Lord will raise!"

"Shut her up," Sirius solicited and Lily approved.

James flipped his wand up and Alexis' head was snapped back quickly. James had knocked her out. Lily, Sirius, and James sat in the quiet, hearing only the sound of breathing, as they comprehended what had happened. James pointed Alexis' wand at the stairs.

"Accio, wand." James reached up to grab his own wand, which had come flying towards him thanks to the summoning charm.

Sirius glared at Lily from where he'd been dueling Alexis. He was panting and looked like he'd run eighty kilometers in five seconds.

"You were gonna beat her with levicorpus?" He asked doubtfully.

"It worked, didn't it?" Lily exhaled, leaning against the wall and staring past Alexis' hanging body to see James pushing himself up off the floor tendering touching his broken nose.

"Don't knock levicorpus, mate." James moaned as he quickly fixed his nose with a wave of his wand.

"It's a staple spell." Lily reminded the pair.

Silence only lasted for a moment as all three of them remembered fondly the ferry ride to England. They all laughed as they were reminded of Sirius teaching Lis how to brandish a wand. Lily couldn't handle being away from them much longer. She raced forward and she threw her arms around James, burying her face into his neck. She reached out for Sirius and dragged him into the hug as well.

"I love you. Both of you." She crooned, keeping her grip around James tight.

"Lily! James! Sirius!" A voice called franticly from downstairs.

Lily looked up from her hug in confusion. Sirius broke away and looked down the staircase, trying to see who was there.

"That'll be the back up."

"Always running late." James said briskly.

"Maybe we're always early." Sirius counteracted as James finally let go of Lily to try and rub some of the blood from his face, off her forehead where he'd kissed her.

Remus Lupin appeared on the landing closest to them, looking positively relieved. He ran the rest of the way up to hug James and Sirius. He finished his rounds with Lily, pulling her into a bear hug.

"Peter?" James asked before anyone else could even think of the double crosser.

"Peter's in hiding—he either didn't want to be found or was found by someone else before us." Remus explained, "I went to all his old spots. He didn't leave a trace."

"Coward." Sirius barked, placing a hand on Lily's shoulder protectively when she finally pulled away from Remus.

Marlene McKinnon was there, as well as the Longbottom Aurors who arrested Alexis under the jurisdiction that she was carrying around fake papers and an illegal bag of fire crab eggs. Alice Longbottom assured Lily that Alexis' trail for the Ministry would give her a one-way ticket to Azkaban (if Alice had anything to do with it).

"I'd love to get her on aiding in the snatchers trade." Alice said moodily as Alexis was carted away from everyone, "But unfortunately snatching muggleborns isn't exactly illegal."

"I'd love to get her on more than that." James mumbled back quiet angrily, wrapping a protective arm around Lily, "But I'll settle for six months in Azkaban for illegal Magical Creature trade."

"Maybe a dementor will do us all a favor and suck out her soul." Remus said sardonically.

"I don't think she has a soul for the dementors to suck out, to be honest." James said with arm arm slug around Lily as they awaited the final okay from Frank Longbottom to apparate back to headquarters.

Lily couldn't believe it. They'd trapped Alexis, gotten her memories back, and yet it still felt like a darkness was looming over all of them. James offered to take Lily back to his parents, at least until Dumbledore could see them both.

Lily was hand in hand with James on the doorstep of his parent's house in England. She stood in the lamplight staring up at him, memorizing every line of his face that she'd forgotten. He was watching her too, letting his fingers traced along her jaw and his eyes never quite moved from her face.

"You came back for me." He whispered, "I thought you wanted to stay with-"

"The order?" Lily finished with a half a smile, "I thought you would stay too."

"I couldn't." James whispered.

"Why?"

Lily felt her heart skip a beat when he put his index finger under her chin to lift her head towards him, "Because," he leaned closer to her, "I didn't want to disappoint you."

"Why?"

"I love you."

Tears threatened to fall but before James could kiss her properly the Potter's front door flew open and an old frail woman wearing thick red robes cried Lily's name. Lily tore her head away from James' shouldering gaze and cried happily.

"Mia!" Lily fell into the arms of James' mother and soon his father appeared with the help of a walking cane.

Lily was welcomed back into their life with hugs and kisses. They celebrated with cake made by the house elves and a dinner so great that when Sirius stopped by to check on Lily he took several plates home to Remus. When the healer's stopped by to give the Potter's their dragon pox medication James and Lily slipped away again, towards the common area.

Lily buried her toes into the thick rug and smiled up at James, happy to be in his arms again. He leaned down quickly to kiss her, before picking her up and twirling her around. Lily felt a bubble of laughter escape her throat and she wrapped her arm around his neck as they twirled like teenagers stuck in a daydream. She was back to where she belonged, alongside James and his parents.

That night with the Potter family, wrapped in James' loving arms, Lily finally felt like she was home.

Thank you for sticking through this story with me! I love all of you. If you could please leave me a review that would MAKE my christmas. Even just one word telling me how you felt about this little story I've been writing.

Happy Holidays my friends...and I'll see you next year with some new stories.

xxx

Petals