Chapter 26

Things returned to how they usually were at Hogwarts after Christmas break. James had however planned a big surprise for Lily on her birthday that year, starting with knocking on her dorm window at exactly 12 O' clock, which startled all the girls. "James, what are you doing here?" Lily exclaimed, opening the window to find James flying on his broomstick, "Couldn't come to wish you through the door, Happy Birthday love," he smirked, Lily leaned forward, half her body out of the window to give James a peck on the lips. "Thank you," she replied with a huge grin herself. "A little something for you," James handed her a neatly wrapped box, "You didn't have to, but thank you," Lily looked at the box in her hand and then at James. "Now, I will see you tomorrow morning, I need to go before I get caught," James told her before leaning over to Lily and giving her a kiss, cupping her cheek, his thumb drawing small circles on her skin; leaving a tingling sensation where he touched. "Good night James," Lily mumbled as they broke away from each other reluctantly, "Good night Lily," James smile and before Lily could react, he was off.

Lily sighed closing the window and turned to her friends, who all looked at them in an awe. When Lily opened the present, she found a jewellery box and her eyes widened. She opened it to find a beautiful, silver bracelet. The next morning she was gifted various presents from her friends and another one came from James, it was a candle that smelt like her home (something she was missing terribly and was bought up in conversations with James repeatedly), the candle was enchanted to never melt away, just like the flowers on the side of her bed.

Lily had herself planned for James' birthday, but rather than going up to his room on a broom stick, she called the party in the common room, with all of his friends and her friends (who have by extension become James' friends) present to wish him at exactly 12 O' Clock, followed by the cake that Lily and Sirius had snuck in, that mostly ended up on James' face. James and Lily spent most of that night cuddled on the couch near the fireplace, James opening up Lily's present along with his friends' presents and thanking them.

For them, things were going as wonderful as they possibly could, until a day before their Easter break.

Sirius was coming down from the boy's dormitories staircase, he had woken up last like always, so he was late for breakfast. He heard a loud thud – as if someone had fallen and quickly rushed downstairs to see if they were okay. A lot of Gryffindor students were already gathered around in the common room. "What's going on?" he asked no one in particular as he pushed past the students who were all wearing the same expressions on their face – shock and sadness. As soon as Sirius saw the person who had fall, he gasped. It was the certain red head whom he had seen full of life just last night, jesting with him – but today, she was sitting on the floor, shaking terribly, her body looked limp from behind.

"Evans!" Sirius rushed towards Lily and sat down in front of her. His heart broke for this girl who had tears streaming down her face, but her eyes were blank, as if life was sucked out of her eyes. "Evans!" Sirius exclaimed again, a lump forming at the back of his throat. He noticed her holding a letter in her hand, "What is it?" why did Sirius have a bad feeling about this? He slowly extended his hand towards the letter, but Lily did not move, her eyes seemed to stare blankly in distance. He took the letter from her hand and proceeded to read it.

Agony did not even cover what Lily felt as soon as she read the letter sent by Petunia. She had to know that Petunia would never send her a letter if it wasn't to deliver some bad news. Bad news? That did not even cover what was written in the letter! Lily's whole world had shattered in a second, she felt as if everything had been taken away from her, with nothing left to hold onto. Lily could not believe what she had read in the letter – how could it be possible? Was it just a dream? A really bad nightmare? If so, Lily wanted to wake up now! It hurt somewhere deep inside Lily – her soul – it felt as if someone had ripped it to shreds. Lily's parents had both passed away in a car accident last night.

Sirius quickly wrapped his arms around Lily's shoulders, putting his left hand on her head, he held her against his chest. "Lily," he whispered, and felt Lily broke into a sob, until she finally broke down completely. "Come on," Sirius helped her up, and Lily held onto his hand as if she was finding something – someone to hold onto, to save her from drowning. He made her sit on the couch and sat down beside her, still holding her close. Why did it have to be Lily's parents? Where was everyone – all their friends? "Has anyone seen James?!" Sirius shouted, looking at the Gryffindor students, who all seemed concerned. "He was heading to headmaster's office," a fifth year student told Sirius. "Can you bring Remus? Or Peter?" Sirius asked the student, patting Lily's head lightly. The student nodded and rushed out of the common room as fast as he could.

It didn't take long for Remus and Peter to appear in the common room and they both looked just as shocked as the rest of the Gryffindor students. "Get Prongs here Moony, he is at Dumbledore's office," Sirius looked at Remus. Remus' brows were creased together as he looked at Lily with concern but nodded and ran out of the common room, Peter following him hot on his heels.

"Oi Evans, Look at me," Sirius pulled Lily back to look at her face. "I know it hurts," he tried to look into her eyes, but she kept looking away, restlessly. "I know it hurts a lot," Sirius' voice was wobbly.

"I want to go home! I want to go home!" Lily kept repeating, shaking her head.

"Yes, we are going to take you home," Sirius promised her, "But you need to hold on until then, alright?" Sirius asked, "I c—can't" Lily sobbed, "Yes, you can," Sirius tried to tell her firmly, but his own voice betrayed him. For now all he could do was hold Lily, until his best friend returns. But Lily bawled unconsolably in his arms.

James felt miserable when he had seen Lily crying. Lily didn't break quietly, it was like every atom of her being screamed in unison, traumatized by whatever was haunting her. Every instinct in James told him to take away her pain but the sane side of him questioned if it was a pain he could take away. "Lily," James whispered, Padfoot quickly made way for James to sit down where he had been sitting. James' own eyes welled up when he saw the red rims under Lily's swollen eyes. He quickly wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, she hid her face in the crook of his neck, wrapping her arms around his torso. From Lily's mouth came a cry so raw that every eye in the common room was suddenly wet with tears. He looked at Padfoot who handed James the letter that had broken Lily. 'Mum and Dad passed away in a car accident tonight' was the only line James needed to read from the letter to know why Lily was so broken.

He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw tight, realising that this wasn't a pain he could take away from Lily. His worst fears had come true, this wasn't something James could protect Lily from, but even if he could not take the pain away from her, he would share it with her.

"Lily," James gently patted her head, "I am so sorry love," he started, "I just want to go home," Lily's voice sounded so broken, it shattered James' heart in a million pieces. "Of course, Let's go home," James pressed his lips to her temple and felt Lily's grip tighten around his torso. "How?" Lily asked desperately. "I will ask headmaster Dumbledore to make arrangements," James answered.

James watched Lily's friends rushing to the common room, he believed the news must have gotten to them. He quietly handed Alice the letter, and watched each one of their eyes well up as well. "Why don't you go back to your room love? I will go talk to headmaster Dumbledore," James spoke softly. "Okay," Lily mumbled as she pulled away from James, tears still streaming down from her face. Everyone watched as Lily dragged herself back to the girl's dormitory, ever step she took seemed as if her legs weighed more than she could carry, only able to drag them with the rest of her body. Lily's friends were hot on her heels, following her to their room.

James got up from the couch and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the lump forming at the back of his throat. "I will go to the headmaster right now," he told his friends, who nodded in unison.

Explaining to Professor Dumbledore along with Professor McGonagall wasn't hard. James told them that Lily's parents had past away in a car accident last night. She had received a letter from her sister this morning and wanted to go home. "Of course arrangements would be made," Professor Dumbledore told James. "Professor, there is another request I would like to make," James started, "What is it Mr. Potter?" Professor Dumbledore asked, "Can we, I mean, her friends, accompany her?" James didn't know how else to put it other than in this straightforward manner. "I can arrange for one of her friends to accompany her, since the Easter breaks are starting tomorrow, anyone else who wishes to leave can leave tomorrow," Professor Dumbledore replied after a pause. "Thank you, Professor," James thanked the headmaster before heading out of the door.

Once James went back to the common room, it was decided with all of Lily's friends present there that James was going to accompany her back today itself, the rest of her friends would be joining them tomorrow. And so it happened, special arrangements were made for Lily and James to return to her home as soon as possible.

Once in Cokeworth, James took Lily to the hospital where her parents had died and where their bodies were. He had assumed Petunia and Vernon would be there already and he had hoped that in times like these, maybe the two sisters could lean onto each other for support.

As expected, Petunia and Vernon were already there. Petunia looked just as inconsolable as Lily and as soon as she saw Lily coming, Petunia rushed to her sister. "Lily," she held Lily by her forearms, "You can do magic, tell me you can fix this?" Petunia asked desperately but Lily stood in the corridor frozen. "Why aren't you saying something?" Petunia shook her sister, "Why isn't she saying something?" Petunia turned to James, who himself didn't know what to say. "Tell me you can fix this!" Petunia shouted, her voice high pitched. "If you fix this, we can go back to being how we were before any of this, I won't hate you anymore," she promised her younger sister, who looked at Petunia before breaking into a sob.

"Petunia," James spoke, holding her hand that squeezed Lily's forearm, leaving red marks. "She can't – fix it," James spoke in a low voice. "Can – you – can you do it?" Petunia asked James hopefully, and he shook his head slowly. "Good for nothing! All you have to do is bring them back to life!" Vernon spat at James, looking at him with disgust in his mean blue eyes. "Magic cannot do everything!" James' brows creased together, "What good is it then?" Vernon asked. "If magic could do that, wouldn't we be immortals?" James asked Vernon, but nothing seemed to get across his thick skull.

For the rest of the time the sisters sat benches apart, with their only support systems by their sides. The police had allowed them to take the bodies in the evening, but they were told that the bodies were too mangled to even look at, which broke Lily further. It was planned that the funeral would be held tomorrow afternoon and Petunia had made it very clear to Lily that she wasn't going to stay in the same house as her, but was gracious enough to let Lily stay in their parents' house. Though to Lily it felt more like a punishment to return to that house now.

That night, James made Lily comfortable in her bed and went to the guest bedroom where he had stayed during Petunia's wedding. He laid away and kept wondering how Lily was doing until the door of his room opened at 2:49 a.m. and he watched Lily walk in and silently lay on the bed beside him, facing him. "I couldn't sleep there alone," those were the first words Lily had spoken since they had left Hogwarts. "You can sleep here," James threw his blanket over Lily and she scooted closer to him.

Putting his arm flat on the pillow, Lily slid her neck over his arm and put her hand on his chest. James quickly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "James," Lily spoke, "Do you think it is better that they died? The police said they were in a lot of pain," she did not look at James. "I think it is good that they aren't in pain anymore," James whispered. "I like to think that as well," Lily scooted even closer to James and slowly closed her eyes, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

The two of them didn't know when they fell asleep, but James was woken up by the doorbell. The two of them were still lying in the same way they had slept last night, and James carefully tried to move his hand from under Lily so as to not wake her up but when the doorbell rang again, Lily woke up with a start. "I will go see," James told her, patting her head. Lily who was still half asleep nodded before pulling the blanket around her more securely.

James walked down the stairs and opened the door to find his friends and Lily's friends standing there. "What are you all doing here so early?" James' brows were knitted together, "We left last night," Padfoot told him. "Sirius went to talk to Dumbledore after the two of you left," Alice told James. "Where is she?" Dorcas asked as James made way for them to come inside. "Sleeping, I hope," James mumbled but they all turned when they heard footsteps coming downstairs.

"You are all here," Lily breathed, her eyes were moist, but a sad smile curved her lips as she walked to all her friends and hugged each one of them. "Is Petunia here?" Mary whispered to James and he shook his head in response, Mary's face didn't hide the disgust.

Lily's friends helped her get ready for her parents' funeral and promised to help her get through it. The look on Petunia and Vernon's faces were priceless when eight witches and wizards walked in together. "Why don't you sit at the back?" Vernon asked Lily in a hushed voice, "Why should she? Aren't these her parents too?" Sirius spoke from between his teeth, and everyone saw Vernon's face turn bright red. Mary quickly rushed Lily to the front, and she had her three friends sitting on her left, James sitting on her right and his three friends sitting on his right.

The funeral was all black clothes and white waxy faces, every one of them with puffed red eyes, everyone who had their lives touched by either Mrs. And Mr. Evans or their legacy in form of their daughters. Lily struggled through it all, just as she assumed Petunia did too - Struggling to hold back the grief, tears flow steadily, silently down immobile face, feel bruised inside, numbness, emptiness. Words from the minister, speeches at the service bring a fresh onslaught of tears, a tribute to their life and loves, everyone in black, roses on the casket, watching casket lowered into the grave through tear-stained eyes, Lily said her last good byes to her parents.

Laying on her bed was seemed like an empty shell and not Lily. Her eyes were staring in a distance blankly and though James wished for her to stop crying, he didn't know if this was any better and he thought maybe this was worse. Lily had refused to eat, and refused to get out of bed; she had refused to talk to anyone, and no one knew what to do.

"Let's just cook something and we'll try to feed her," James told everyone, though none of them knew how to cook or how to feed Lily. But they tried, they cooked with the help of magic and served it into eight plates, that they quietly carried to her bedroom and opened her bedroom door.

For a moment, Lily looked at them and then turned away, but they all sat down on her bed making Lily look at her. "What are you doing?" Lily asked no one in particular, "What does it look like? We are going to feed you," Mary answered. "I am not hungry," as soon as the words escaped Lily's mouth, her stomach growled. "Well, your body says otherwise," James narrowed his eyes at her. "Come on now, get up," Alice helped Lily sit up on her bed.

"Honestly I am fine," Lily mumbled, "Now you can either eat or we will feed you," Alice told Lily and she reluctantly took the plate from James' hand. After watching her take her first bite, James sighed and felt like he could finally breathe again.

"What am I going to do? I don't have any family left, Petunia—" Lily chuckled as if hinting towards some dark humour, they all sat in her room and waited for Lily to speak whatever was on her mind. "Hey! What are we then?" Dorcas asked Lily, "Family doesn't have to be blood," Sirius creased his brows together. "But every day – I will miss them every day," Lily's voice broke at the end of the sentence, "As you should," Remus told her. "I won't have anyone around for anything, I don't have anything left," Lily sighed, looking at her hands in her lap. "You'll have us around," James told Lily, "We aren't leaving your side," Alice promised.

That night, the eight of them formed a bond only some of us get to experience in our lives. They formed a bond so strong, it was impossible to break them apart. It was the kind of friendship that blooms in the center of one's heart and they knew that they were going to be there for each other, never giving up on one another.

A/N: Hey Readers,

A huge shout out to 'LadyGely92' , 'sjangelkyu' and 'powerofthename' for your reviews, I am so thankful for your support and encouraging words. I wrote this chapter almost half asleep, please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Also, Hit the follow and favourite button if you like the story!

Thanks

-JT