AN: Please review! I've got the writing bug again and a bit of spare time this weekend, so tell me what you think.

Piling her hair on her head, Lily stared in the mirror. She adjusted the black sheath dress before clasping the pendant around her neck. It had been three days since the death of Agatha, three days since she had seen James. The day after they let her work in the library instead of going to classes, hating the fact that she was she such a hypocrite for not following the advice she had given James.

Silently she slipped her cloak around her shoulder before walking down the hall to Dumbledore's office. Surprisingly, he was absent. Without saying a word she grabbed a handful of floo powder and in seconds was in the Potter house. It was surprisingly cold and devoid of noise. Frowning she called out, looking around the house. Walking up the staircase she headed to her room. Pulling back the curtains she saw James and Sirius high in the air on their brooms, throwing a Quaffle around as they did dangerous maneuvers. The funeral was in less than an hour and they were dressed in ripped jeans, muddy trainers and faded t-shirts. Not even thinking of how shabby they looked, Lily thought they would be freezing. Jogging downstairs she pulled their respective cloaks out of the closet and raced outside.

"Are you two mental?" she shouted. "Get down here! It's freezing!"

Up above the two figures did not slow down. Muttering to herself she withdrew her wand, held up into the air and performed an incantation, in a matter of seconds bright sparks shot upward.

"Bloody Hell!"

"Merlin's Beard!"

Lily heard this exclamations, though, she did not realize they were in the middle of a complicated play. The Quaffle slipped from one of their hands and as Lily was busy pocketing her wand, it plummeted to the earth.

"Evans!" Sirius shouted.

Looking up she saw the object coming toward her, but did not have time to do anything but let out an exclamation of surprise. In a split second it impacted, hitting her face and causing her to lose balance.

"Lily…" James said as she dived to the earth. "Godric, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Kneeling down beside her he tilted her chin up. "Is your nose alright?" He lifted the hem of his t-shirt to wipe the trail of blood that was dripping down her chin.

"Fine," she muttered. "What in merlin's name were the two of you doing? Out here without coats on an hour before the funeral? Where's Charles? He would never-"

"Are you going to get her to shut up, mate?" Sirius asked. "I don't need to listen to her nagging."

Lily narrowed her eyes at Sirius as she picked up James coat and draped it over his shoulders. "What's with him?"

"Nothing, but you should no better than to do something that stupid."

"Stupid? You're calling me stupid? The two of you are trying to simultaneously break your necks and get frostbite! Sorry for being concerned...And don't feed me any of that nonsense about my actions being uncalled for, James has done the same spell at practice before." She took a deep breath, huffing. By now James let his t-shirt fall back down, but was still centimeters away from her.

"Are you alright?" James asked again with a steady voice.

Lily gave him a curious look. "I'll probably have black eye with my luck, but the two of you need to get dressed. We have to be at the funeral soon enough."

"Maybe we aren't going," Sirius said.

"James aren't-"

"Dad said we didn't have to go," he replied softly, looking over Lily. He delicately ran a thumb under her eye where a bruise was most likely starting to form. He didn't say anything as he took in her face, touching a loose tendril of hair. "We will though, come on Padfoot."

James got to his feet, picking up Sirius cloak and throwing it at him before grabbing both brooms with one hand, the other clapping his friend on the shoulder. Lily watched him walk away, pausing just before they got to the storage shed. "Mopsy should be around somewhere, she can help you."

Lily stayed on the ground, clenching her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry. Where was James? Who was this man?

They arrived at the church in Godric's Hollow moments before the service commenced. Lily stayed separate from James as they sat on the pews. She was surprised at how impersonal the service was. The eulogy was generic, though delivered by Charles. The only signal that it was her funeral was a photo of her laughing, one arm slung over James' shoulder and the other hand pulling Charles into the frame.

Afterward she found herself separated from the boys. Most people did not give her a second glance, much less talk to her. Finally, she was able to navigate her way through the crowd to find Charles. Unlike his sons, as soon as he saw her he embraced her tightly, guiding her to a mostly empty area.

"You made her so happy, you know that, right?" he whispered in his ear. "At one point in time there was nothing Agatha wanted more than a daughter, but then she was lucky to have James. Seeing him married was one of the happiest moments of her life." He kissed her on the top of her head. "You've seen James and Sirius, they're in a bad place right now, they need help."

He pulled away and tried to manage a smile. Tears stood in his eyes as he looked over Lily. "You're a lot like her, you know that? It's only natural that James followed in my footsteps." He forced a laugh out, ran a hand through his hair. "We're heading out to the cemetery now, why don't you head back to the house? The boys have probably already headed there. They were such wrecks, I told

"Yeah, I better make sure that they haven't gotten themselves into mischief." Lily wiped at her eyes, but tears didn't fall. For some reason they hadn't fallen except for a few stray ones here and there. The closest thing they got was in the backyard with James. After embracing him tightly she pulled away from Charles and walked outside to the apparition point.

It took only a matter of seconds to get their, but when she went to open the front door she found it locked. Puzzled she pulled out her wand and muttered the special incantation Agatha had taught her to open up the door. Cautiously she walked forward, wand still drawn. She didn't find anything until she went upstairs and found a note stuck to her door. Sirius went to Andromeda's house, I'm heading back to Hogwarts. I'll explain everything later. With Love, James.

Lily pulled the note off and gripped it tightly. James hardly ever signed his notes like that, unless he knew Lily was angry at him or not feeling well. Shaking her head she went downstairs, penned a note to Charles and went by floo back to Hogwarts. Once again the office was empty, and she hurried out of it and to the Head's room. The funeral was late in the day, by now most everyone was at dinner and as a result the halls were empty.

Muttering the password to the room she walked in, immediately she heard someone fumbling around. "James?" she called out, walking toward his room. She found the room in a state of pure chaos, the drawers to his dressers pulled open, trunk stuffed to the brink. James was sitting on the floor at the foot of his bed, propped up by his trunk. "What's going on?"

His body shook, he looked up at her, tears down his face. "Go away," he said.

"Let me-"

"Go!"

"Not if you don't tell me what's happening." She knelt beside him, lifting her hand to wipe his tears and stroke his hair, do something that could be of some comfort to him. Instead she found her hands being pushed away.

"I want you to stay here. You'll be safe."
"Safe? What are you talking about?"

"I'm leaving, Lily. Sirius is too, we have to do something, we can't just be at school waiting."

"The Auror Academy won't accept you without NEWTS."

"Who said anything about going to the academy?" he muttered, getting to his feet, attempting to brush away the tears that continued to fall.

"You have to!"

"Says who?"

Lily wondered how he could take a chance and just throw it away? She watched as he tried to contain the mess, mumbling to himself. Getting to her feet she reached for him. "Please, let's just talk-"

"I'm tired of talking." He shook her off and walked over to the dresser to grab the remainder of his clothing. For some reason he couldn't seem to fold a pair of pants. Lily grabbed for it, but he tried to tug it away. In the midst of the struggle she leaned forward and accidentally let go. James hands slipped, hitting her on the cheek again. "Lily...it was an accident."

She took a step back, shaking her head. "In good times and in bad, does that ring any bells?" She held up her hand. "Does this look familiar?"

"Lily..."

"I get it, okay? I've gone through it..." Tears started to collect in her eyes. "I love you, but I can't do this. You can't..." She shook her head and turned as tears started to fall. James yelled after her, but she kept on walking. As she left the room in the direction of Gryffindor tower she kept her eyes on her feet, until she ran into something.

"Lil, what's wrong?" It was Alice. The petite girl looked at her with concern as she reached for her friend's arm. "What happened?" She used her other hand to tilt her chin up. "Godric, you're a mess, come here." She threw an arm around her shoulder using it to guide her down the hall.

"It's just James, the bruise was an accident. Him and Sirius were playing on their brooms with a Quaffle and I tried to get their attention."
"That tells me part of the story."

Lily wiped at her tears. "He wants to leave Hogwarts and he wants me to stay here. James isn't acting like James anymore. It's like there's a stranger in his place, he hardly has said two sentences to me, leaves the funeral early and I find him packing!"

"Oh." Alice stops and hugs her friend. "I understand." She squeezed her tighter, staying like that for a bit until Lily's tears began to slow down. "Frank is a bit like James, but he just tries to keep everything from me. He thinks that he always has to watch out for me, what he doesn't know is that I can spot a lie or deflection before he even opens his mouth." She laughed at that. "Don't give up on him."

"I can't go back there, he won't listen to me. I don't even know if Sirius is back, even if he was they'd just leave on their brooms together." Lily shook her head.

"It's not your responsibility, come on." Alice pulled away, but kept her arm looped with Lily's. The pair walked down the corridor, heading to Gryffindor tower. Out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw a familiar figure descending the boys staircase. "Lil, I'll be up in two minutes. Marlene and Athena should already be there." Rushing over to him she halted him with a hand. "Remus, can you go to the Head's dorm?"

"Why?" he asked. "I need to find-"

"It's James, Lily said he's-"

"Leaving? I know." He pulled a note out of his pocket. "There was an owl pecking at my window when I went upstairs from Sirius." He waved it around. "Merlin, leaving Hogwarts is the worst decision possible.'

"James is packing while we speak."

"What?" Remus shook his head. "I've tried giving him space, but this has gone on too long."

James was standing in the middle of this bedroom, waving his wand around to finish the last of packing. He was tired of doing it by hand and his trunk was a mess as a result. When most everything was done he walked over to his trunk and detached the two badges from his robe. With a sigh he laid them out on the nightstand. As he took a step forward he saw that he somehow missed a shirt on the floor. It was the holey Quidditch shirt Lily complained about, but when he picked it up it smelled of her soap. She must have worn it when he was gone. Clutching it tightly he shut his eyes. Leaving Lily would be hard, especially now. How could he stay at Hogwarts when his mother's murderer was still roaming the streets? How could he go to Auror training?

Loud knocking tore him away from his thoughts. "Sirius," he muttered, walking out in the room they used for Prefect meetings. When he opened the door he saw Remus march in. "Moony, what are you doing?"

Pushing past James he headed to the bedroom. "I was hoping Alice wasn't right." He kicked the trunk for effect.

"Alice?"

"Yeah, she happened to find a very distraught Lily. Apparently, her husband has her head up his arse and got the bright idea that dropping out of school and completely ignoring her was the right thing to do in reaction to his mother's death." Remus bit his lip, trying to regain his composure. "We all loved Agatha, I know you miss her, but just stop and think for a second, please."

James followed Remus, tossing the shirt to the ground that he previously held. "Don't even try-"

"Why? You left without saying more than two words to Peter or I. That night when I find Lily she's a mess because she not only lost Agatha, but you won't-"

"Just stop."

"Prongs, is it so hard just to tell anyone what's going on. People look up to you, what kind of message is it going to send to the first years if the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and Head Boy quits?"

"Stop!" he yelled. "Don't understand I'm tired of this! I never wanted to be Head Boy, alright? I don't want to be a role model, because I'm rubbish. After six years I finally marry the girl I spent so much time chasing after, but I can't even be a decent friend, let alone husband." He ran his hands through his hair, sinking to the ground. "I'm not even a good son." He squeezed his eyes shut, hands holding the shirt the even tighter.

"Prongs…"

"I hit her, it was an accident, we were fighting over a pair of pants and she let go…" He shook his head. "I have to go."

"You can't run away from your problems."

"I can't stay here, though."

"Why?"

Both of the teens turned around to see Lily crossing over to the bedroom. Neither knew how long she had been there, but it was clear that she had heard quite a bit. "Can you leave us?" James asked.

Remus looked them over before exiting without another the word. The couple waited until he disappeared before Lily sat beside him. "I can't make you do anything, but I'm asking you not to leave Hogwarts."

James got to his feet, holding his hand out to help her up. Once they were both standing he wrapped his arms around. "I'm sorry." He hugged her tightly. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing and I hate that."

"It's alright, but don't ever push me away."

"I miss her, Lily...I'm scared that if it's that easy to lose her, I could lose you too and-"

"I know." It was her turn to hug him tighter. He buried his head in her neck and Lily could feel him relax, she could feel dampness on her exposed skin. "We'll stop him. I promise."