Disclaimer: Look, I don't own it okay. Sheesh how many times do I have to say it?

Chapter 13: Through the Looking Glass

Harry watched Professor McGonagall with sharp eyes as she glanced up from her papers only to see the commotion at the door. Every fiber of his being was silently pleading that she would not go and deal with it, thereby turning her back to whatever went on in the classroom. Unfortunately, his prayers were not answered as she walked briskly to the door and began to reprimand the students.

Harry gave a nearly imperceptible wince as the four Marauders stood swiftly and marched to over to the place where he was desperately trying to make himself smaller.

"So, Jameson," James snarled, his hazel eyes hard and foretelling of the merciless punishment to come, "You think this is funny do you? Everyone knows that Lily is my girl."

The whole class suddenly fell deathly silent, as everyone turned in their seats to watch the exchange. Lily wasn't there.

"Look, James," Harry began, but Sirius cut him off.

"That was a really rotten thing to do. You know how much James likes her, but you asked her anyway. I thought you were alright but I can see I was sorely mistaken."

Harry frowned, "Guys, we're just going as friends. And anyway, she asked me."

"Bollocks!" said James disbelievingly, "You know what you did. Don't try to pawn this off on her."

"I'm not pawning this off on her," Harry protested, "Ask her yourself if you don't believe me."

"Don't drag her into this, Jameson," said James dangerously, the warning clear in his voice.

"She is already in this, Potter," Harry said, getting annoyed. Was his father beyond any form of reason? For Merlin's sake, they weren't even going as real dates.

"I saw you ogling her the first night you came here," James accused, "Don't even try to deny it!"

"I was not ogling her," Harry said, "I barely even knew her."

"You think just because you look like me, you can get Lily. Well, I'm telling you now, Jameson, I'm not going to stand for it-"

"Do you hear yourself?!" said Harry incredulously, "We are going as friends. Can't you get that into your head?"

James whipped out his wand, eyes smoldering, and wasted no time, "Reducto!"

Harry sidestepped the curse without even thinking about it but then what James had done finally registered, "What are you doing?!"

James didn't reply but bit out another curse, which Harry sidestepped once more.

Then, Harry saw the rest of the Marauders pull out their wands, Remus rather reluctantly, and knew there was no way out of this.

He pulled out his own wand just in time to mutter, "Protego" and save himself from a rather nasty furnunculous hex.

"I don't, Protego, want to, Stupefy, fight you!" Harry said desperately.

"Why? You afraid you're gonna lose?" James said spitefully.

Harry growled with impatience. This was crazy! However, he gave up on trying to talk them out of it and merely focused on ending this as quickly as possible with little damage done.

Remus wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to duel Harry but the Marauders were his friends and the ones who stayed with him even though he was a werewolf. He couldn't lose them. So, he decided it was best to just fight him now and apologize profusely for it later.

Professor McGonagall was watching the fight with wide eyes, trying to register what it was she was seeing. Some part of her mind was marveling at the skill being displayed, while the other part seemed to be going into something like a shock induced coma. Finally, her duties as a Professor broke through and she closed her mouth immediately.

The cat animagus strode over to the teens and pulled out her wand, "Immobulous!"

The Marauders froze.

"That is enough!" McGonagall said furiously, in her anger not even noticing that the spell did not affect Harry, "In all my years, I have never had anyone decide to duel in my classroom."

She released the spells hold on them and Marauders fell to the ground, "Explain yourselves!"

"Well, you see, Minnie," said Sirius, "We, uh-"

"Mr. Black," McGonagall said disapprovingly, "Do not refer to me as anything but Professor."

"Well then, Professor," Sirius said putting a lot of emphasis on the word, "You see, what happened is, uh…"

"He's going to the ball with Lily Evans!" Remus blurted out.

McGonagall was silent for a moment. Then, around her the air began to almost crackle, her nostrils flared, and her lips became nonexistent. In a deadly voice, trembling with rage she said, "Do you mean to tell me that you attacked Mr. Jameson because he and Miss Evans are going as dates to this ball?!"

Not knowing what else to do the Marauders remained silent. When her gaze didn't move after a few seconds, James' eye began to twitch. Then, Remus began to worry with his tie, keeping his eyes focused on the floor all the while. But, when her glare remained trained on them for a whole minute, Pettigrew began to fidget and then nodded tremulously.

"50 points from Gryffindor!" McGonagall bellowed, "And you're lucky it isn't more!"

She eyed their jinx afflicted bodies (Peter was covered with boils, Remus' hair was down to the middle of his back, James' tongue was tied in a multitude of knots, and Sirius' legs were dancing around paying absolutely no need to the rest of the body being wildly thrown around that they were attached to) with distaste and then her gaze moved to Harry Jameson. He was standing there calmly, without a spell upon him.

McGonagall did a double take. 'What?!' some part of her mind screamed, 'but it was four against one!'

She shook her head and pushed the matter to the back of her mind. Turning back to the Marauders she said, "Go visit Madame Pomfrey and get cleaned up. And all four of you have detention with me for the next two weeks for assaulting a fellow student."

James and the others got up and, after giving Harry one last resentful look, stalked out of the classroom. Remus glanced back at Harry apologetically before following on shaking legs, as he had also been hit by a jelly legs jinx.

Harry sat down heavily in his chair and buried his head in his hands. He hated that his father probably loathed him now. It hurt him more than he would have guessed. He had lived his whole life having people tell him how his parents would have felt if they had been alive.

"Your parents would be so proud."

"Your mother loved you very much."

All those times he had heard those words, he had wanted to believe them so badly and some part of him did. And now he has the chance to see how his parents felt about the person he had become albeit from a teenage perspective and he had hoped that all those things people had told him would be true. Now his father hated him. And that hurt more than anything else. He was really starting to regret his decision to attend the ball.

Harry couldn't focus for the rest of the class and barely realized that the bell had rung. He left the classroom in a daze, paying no attention to his surroundings as he was too deep in thought. Then, he realized something. Lily had never come to class.

That was more than enough reason to worry. Lily never missed class. Ever. Or at least not without telling him first. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her at breakfast either.

Disregarding the fact that he had Potions soon, he hurried to his dormitory. Bursting into the room, he rushed over to his trunk and removed the spells around it. Flinging it open, he began digging through it frantically. Finally, he found what he was looking for: an old, blank piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he whispered quickly.

Ink immediately began to spread across the page to create the Marauders Map. He scanned the map looking for Lily Evans anxiously. He finally spotted her in the passageway behind the mirror on the fourth floor, the one Fred and George had told him was caved in.

He scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room. After rushing down countless flights of stairs he reached the fourth floor and glanced at the map again. Following the hallways leading to the secret passageway he finally reached the mirror. It was large and framed in ornately engraved silver set with numerous gemstones. He studied the map to see his figure tapping the large sapphire embedded in the right side of the frame three times with his wand.

As soon as he did so, the glass melted away and Harry stepped through wiping the map and tucking it back into his pocket. Behind him the glass flew back into place.

He looked around the dark passageway for a moment and then withdrew his wand.

'Lumos,' he thought and a light appeared at the end of his wand, flooding the passageway with a soft light.

Once the last of the darkness had been chased away it revealed a small redheaded girl, curled up on the stone floor sobbing silently into her hands.

Harry's eyes widened and he lowered his wand. "Lily?" he whispered, taking a step forward.

His mother did not reply.

Harry knelt before her slight form which was shaking and gently tugged her hands away, "What's wrong?"

To his surprise, she leapt at him and latched her arms around his neck, weeping into his shoulder.

He patted her back awkwardly and simply held her for a little while, rocking her back and forth.

"Can you tell me what's the matter?" he murmured after a while.

She mumbled into his shirt and he bent his head down to hear, "They- they're gone."

Harry frowned, "Who's gone, Lils?"

"M-my parents," she said shakily, burrowing her head further into his shoulder, "I-I got a l-letter this morning. He-he killed them."

Harry's eyes widened, "Voldemort?"

Lily's head jerked away from his shoulder and stared up at him, her eyes equally wide, "You-you said his name."

Harry winced, inwardly berating himself. No one said his name here except for Dumbledore, "Er- yeah I did."

"Why? Why would he kill them, Harry?" Lily whispered, trembling, tears still streaming down her face, "Never mind. I know why. It's because I'm a witch. My being a witch got them killed. It's all my fault."

She curled into the fetal position, her whole body being wracked with sobs.

Harry crawled over to her and put his finger under her chin, gently lifting it so that she was looking him directly in the eyes.

"Don't you ever say that," Harry said firmly, "This was not your fault. Voldemort is evil. He wants to get rid of all the muggles. It was him who did this, not you. It isn't your fault."

He settled against the wall of the passageway and wrapped a comforting arm around her, "I know how you're feeling."

"How?" Lily asked, lowering her eyes to the floor, "You still have your parents don't you?"

"No," Harry replied, shaking his head, "They died when I was a baby."

Lily's head snapped up, "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," Harry said reassuringly, "That was a long time ago."

"Can you- can you remember them at all?" she asked tentatively.

"No," Harry replied sadly, "But I still know how it feels to lose a parent at this age. My godfather was the only father figure I have ever known and he…passed away last year."

Harry shut his eyes tightly as the memory of Sirius falling through the veil flashed before his eyes once more. He opened them once more when he felt Lily's hand on his arm.

"Voldemort killed him too," Harry said in a choked voice. Then, he berated himself for letting such emotion to show. He cleared his throat and continued, "I-I miss him. But it does get better, Lils. Some part of you will always miss them, but eventually you'll learn how to move on. I don't mean to forget them, you can't ever do that, but you'll get on with your life, get married (maybe even to Potter), and start your own family. Even though it may not seem like it now, you will be happy again. And just know in your heart that they're watching over you and that they want you to be happy."

Lily smiled weakly at the comment about Potter, "Thanks Harry."

"You're allowed to be sad, Lily," Harry said delicately, "Just…don't let it rule your life."

Lily crawled closer to him and buried her head into his shoulder once more, seeking comfort, "Stay with me?"

"Of course," Harry replied, with a sad smile.

They stayed there for a while, Harry just holding the girl who is going to be his mother as she wept for her own parents, not knowing that she was going to perish much like they did.

Eventually, she tired herself out and fell asleep in his arms. Harry sat there for a minute and then glanced at his watch. It was already dinner time. He debated for a moment before scooping Lily into his arms and heading toward the Hospital Wing.

He knocked on the large wooden doors and they opened to reveal tired looking Poppy Pomfrey.

Her eyes widened when they landed on the girl in his arms, "What happened to Miss Evans, Mr. Jameson?"

Harry strode inside the wing and placed her on one of the empty beds.

"Her parents were killed, Madame," he whispered so as not to wake Lily.

"Oh!" Pomfrey exclaimed looking at the young witch with sympathy, "The poor dear."

"I thought that she shouldn't be left alone just yet," Harry said, "She just found out this morning. Also, she might need a calming potion when she wakes up. It hit her pretty hard."

"Of course, of course," Madame Pomfrey murmured as she bustled over to her potions cabinet, "Perhaps dreamless sleep as well."

Harry nodded and moved to leave when suddenly he paused, "Um, Madame Pomfrey?"

"Yes, Mr. Jameson?" said Madame Pomfrey turning to look at him.

"Well, you see," Harry said, fidgeting a little, "I didn't know where she was so I went looking for her. When I found her, she was in pretty bad shape so I tried to comfort her and we, uh, stayed there for a bit. And the thing is, we missed classes, so I was wondering-?"

Madame Pomfrey smiled kindly and cut off his rambling, "I'll inform the Headmaster of the circumstances and to excuse you."

"Thank you," Harry said, relieved, "I just didn't want Lily to get into trouble. She'll be mortified as it is."

Madame Pomfrey chuckled, "Alright, now you should head off to dinner."

Harry nodded and left quickly. Madame Pomfrey smiled at the spot where he was just standing and then glanced back at the sleeping redhead. 'Such a nice boy,' she thought and then turned back to the potions.

Lily came back to awareness slowly, feeling too warm and comfortable on the soft bed to want to wake up. Eventually she realized she wouldn't be falling back asleep and opened her eyes drowsily to be greeted with the sight of a room, lit with bright sunlight meaning it must have been late morning.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she sat straight up in bed. Wait a moment, late morning on a Friday? She was late for classes!!!!

Lily scrambled out of the bed and began looking around for her shoes when she abruptly realized something. She wasn't in her dormitory; she was in the hospital wing. But what would she be doing there?

Then, all the horrible events of the previous day swept over her and she sat down on the bed once more with seeming to realize what she was doing. They were gone. Her parents; the people who gave her life, loved her, raised her; were gone forever. And it was all her fault.

"Don't you ever say that," Harry's words from the day before floated through her mind, "This was not your fault. Voldemort is evil. He wants to get rid of all the muggles. It was him who did this, not you. It isn't your fault."

Lily blushed when she recalled the way she had acted when Harry came. It was so nice of him to stay with her and comfort her. Lily was certain she had found an extraordinary friend in Harry Jameson.

…

Who had lost his parents.

…

Just like she had.

Silent tears streamed down her face and she buried her head in her hands, crying softly.

A few minutes later Lily felt warm arms envelop her and she jumped a bit. She hadn't heard anyone come in.

Raising her eyes she could see that it was Madame Pomfrey.

"That's it, dear," she murmured, "Let it all out."

Lily curled up in the woman's embrace, taking the offered comfort, and wept.

This was the sight that greeted Harry when he went to the hospital wing to check on her during lunch.

After debating what to do in his head, he finally shut the door quietly and left for the kitchens. He would come back later.

So, around dinner time he made his way up to the hospital wing once more, feeling exhausted. It had been a long day.

James was absolutely determined to make Harry pay for taking Lily to the ball. It had taken the combined efforts of Sirius, Remus, and Peter to stop him from giving him a right beating in front of Dumbledore who was strolling down the hallway just as they were.

Harry had done his best to avoid these confrontations by skirting them and taking the less transited routes to his classrooms but once he arrived in said classes the best he could do was pray that the teacher would be able to prevent anything unfortunate from occurring. McGonagall, for one, was watching the Marauders like a hawk, only daring to turn her back for one second before whipping around once more to eye them warily.

And now Harry realized he had never known how much energy it takes to avoid people. He was so tired, but he didn't want to go to bed yet. He was worried about Lily. Looking at her crying in Madame Pomfrey's arms, it was hard to remember that this was the girl who would someday be his mother. She looked so small and vulnerable. But eventually she would die to save him.

Harry shook his head sharply. Don't think about that.

He was wrenched rather unceremoniously from his thoughts when he walked headlong into someone, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Rubbing the back of his head tenderly he crawled around looking for his glasses, all the while apologizing, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."

He jumped when he felt the person place his glasses in his hand and hurriedly put them on only to have his eyes focus on the face of Remus Lupin.

"Don't worry about it," he said, smiling and picking a book up from the ground, "I was reading, so I wasn't looking either. Probably not the smartest thing to do, huh?"

Harry smiled weakly, glad that at least Remus didn't seem to hate him like James and Sirius did.

"Oh and Harry," Remus said, fidgeting a bit, "I'm…really sorry for what happened in Transfiguration. It's just that the Marauders are my only friends and I really don't like to make them mad at me and-"

Harry cut off his further rambling by saying, "It's okay. I understand."

He hauled himself to his feet and helped Remus up.

They stood in awkward silence, both not sure what to say.

"Hey, Harry," Remus said finally, "I noticed that Lily wasn't class these past few days. Where is she?"

Harry ran a hand tiredly over his face and sighed, "She's in the hospital wing."

"Why? Is she ill?" Remus asked, immediately concerned.

"She's fine," Harry hesitated, "Her…parents were killed."

"Oh," Remus breathed, "That's awful."

"Yeah, and it hit her pretty hard, so I took her to Madame Pomfrey," Harry said, "Listen, Remus, I don't know if she wants to tell people yet. So, would you mind, um, keeping it quiet for a bit? It's not really my news to tell."

Remus nodded at once, "Of course. And, uh, give her my condolences, would you? I'll try to visit if I can."

Harry nodded, "Thanks."

Without further ado he turned on his heel and headed in the direction of the hospital wing once more, leaving Remus to wonder after him.

Harry entered the wing quietly only to see Lily sleeping on the bed. He sat in a chair beside her and watched her for a few minutes. He had never known how his mother's parents died. Now he had to mourn the loss of the grandparents he had never known. What would life have been like if he had grown up with them instead of his aunt? Probably loads better, not that that would be hard. Harry thought briefly of the harsh punishments he had under their care. Yes, life would have been better.

Without even realizing it, he fell into a restless sleep in the chair filled with dreams of dead grandparents and bellowing, beat-colored uncles.

(A/N: Sorry it took so long! And please REVIEW!!!!)