Happy almost xmas!

Please only read this if you're already horny, bc we're just gonna jump right in? K? ALSO, I am the most queasy person you know, blood makes me SUPER uncomfortable, so I don't know anything medical, I do not WISH to know anything medical — please don't take what Lily does in this chapter as fact. I don't know why I have my main character want to be a healer when I can't stand it. (Yeah I do, IT MAKES SENSE FOR HER, damn it!)

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. Art work by the awesome Meg (tumblr: anxiouspineapples)

Keep Your Eyes Open

That Night, Christmas Eve, 6th Year

"Lily please, I want to come with you," James moaned, cock between her lips and still restrained by ropes as she brought him right to the edge of his orgasm.

Lily felt bound to give in to his imploring, if only because hearing his desperation for her had gotten her so wet she now felt like she was torturing herself every moment she delayed. She popped his dick out of her mouth, relaxing her jaw and licking her lips. "Fine." She got to her feet and sauntered off to his bathroom, flicking her wand to untie him. She smiled, pouring herself a glass of water from his sink as she heard a rustling of clothing (she was pretty sure he'd just tripped fully taking his pants off) and suddenly a very naked James Potter was standing in the bathroom threshold eyeing her in all manners depraved.

This is fun. "Can I help you with something?" she said innocently as she bit the edge of her glass, her sexual tension needing an outlet.

It seemed as though James was past the point of being able to talk, needing a moment to regroup. He walked up behind her, moving all her hair over one of her shoulders to expose the back of her neck, and Lily watched his reflection greedily. "Lily…"

"Yes?" She put the glass down, and leaned onto the marble counter, arching her back in a way she knew would drive him up the wall. His fingers digging into her hips told her she was right.

"It's taking all my willpower to not rip this dress off of you right now," he muttered into her hair, pressing his body against hers.

"James," she whispered. "Look up."

His eyes found hers in the mirror. His lopsided smile seemed extra dirty tonight. "Fuck Evans, you naughty, naughty minx." His hands slowly started gathering up the skirt of her dress until he could see her ass. "You're not wearing knickers?" he asked gutturally.

"I wasn't." The mirror showed her that she was cocking an eyebrow, something she hadn't even been aware she could pull off this well. Her confidence ballooned.

"Fuck." James reached between her legs, watching her face. "And you're so wet."

"What do you expect when you beg for me to fuck you?" The deep register of her voice was taunting him.

James lowered his lips to her shoulder, as he began to play with her clit, his eyes predatory as they never left her. "Look at your face, Lily."

Lily turned to look directly at him. "What?"

James tutted. "In the mirror. Look at yourself as I touch you." His left hand snaked around her stomach, slowly traveling up and around the swell of her breast. "Look at your beautiful body," he whispered as he slipped a finger inside of her, making her clutch the edge of the counter with one hand while the other reached up behind her to grip the back of his head, stretching out her chest. "Look at your expressive face as I please you." Lily did as she was told, watching herself as she struggled to breathe under his masterful work, crumbling in his arms. "See what I see," his mouth trailed up her neck, his lower lip dragging along her skin, "and maybe you'll understand why I can't control myself around you."

Lily could already feel the shockwaves gathering in her core, ready to burst free at any second as he continued rubbing her just right. "I want to see my face when you enter me," she purred. She wanted him, she wanted him right now — and she knew exactly what to say to get him.

He nearly combusted behind her and she tilted her head back, living for it. Without further delay, he pushed her forward slightly for a better angle, making her brace herself, and started feeding himself into her. Both of them watched as Lily's brows creased and her mouth hung loose. "James," she whimpered.

"Keep your eyes open, babe," he ordered. It seemed like a simple task, but the deeper he went, the more Lily wanted nothing more than to let her eyes roll back into her head. As if sensing her struggle, his efforts on her clit redoubled while he started thrusting into her tantalizingly, hitting just the right spot within her. He groaned as he felt her walls pulsing around him. The whole damn evening had basically just been prolonged foreplay and she was ready to explode. "Fuck, Lily, why do you always feel so good?"

As he struggled to keep going, Lily pushed her hips rhythmically back onto him, determined to finish them both off. "Come for me, James," she commanded, emerald eyes on fire, daring him to tell her to look anywhere but at his reflection for this moment. His fingers digging into her hips so brutally she knew she'd bruise, he pulled her over the edge with him, both of them all but collapsing onto the sink as their bodies trembled for each other. James tilted her face to him so his lips could somehow find hers over her shoulder.

"You want to talk about it now?" James asked softly after they'd cleaned up, had peed, and were snuggling in bed. Lily didn't have to ask what the 'it' he meant was. And despite having fought them so hard, Lily would now not give up their post-orgasm cuddles for anything. In those blissful moments when she was curled up at his side, his fingers tracing patterns on her back, it felt like it was them against the world. They were invincible. Lily guessed she shouldn't be surprised that considering how their 'relationship' had started, she'd feel the most open to discussing matters after sex.

Lily tipped her head, resting on his chest, up to him. "Yeah. I mean honestly, there's not much to say." His soothing strokes continued. "So you know we were all in a car crash," she swallowed difficultly, "driving to my silly singing performance…" She'd already come to a standstill.

"You don't blame yourself, do you?"

Crap. She'd barely gotten started and he could already see right through her. She kissed his pec under her chin to avoid his all-knowing gaze. "I mean, if it weren't for me, they wouldn't have been on the road."

"Lily…" He grabbed her biceps and pulled her up so they were laying side-by-side. "Don't do that to yourself. It's not your fault."

Lily looked resolutely at his ear. "I know I wasn't the ice, but—"

"No. No buts. The people you love have been dealt some pretty shite cards. But none of that is your fault." His hazel eyes finally drew her in with their intensity. He brought his hand up to touch her cheek and she clung to his wrist.

"Thank you." She gave him a watery little smile. "I just don't know what really happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… the last thing I remember is sitting in the backseat, and my dad was telling my mum this awful joke, and they were laughing… and then I'm in the hospital being examined."

"You must have passed out in the crash."

"That's the thing though — I didn't. The paramedics — sorry, healers — said they found me outside of the mangled car, at the bottom of the hill, sitting down mumbling to myself. They said they had no idea how I got out since all the doors were crushed in."

"So you must have used magic," James supplied.

"But I didn't have my wand on me."

"Huh. Okay, but wandless magic isn't unheard of — rare and extremely powerful, sure, but I wouldn't put those traits past you."

Lily laid a gentle kiss on the inside of his wrist just like he'd done for her (and she remembered just how much she'd loved it). "I've looked it up since and while it happens a lot with children before they have a proper outlet for their magic, it doesn't normally lead to temporary amnesia. And then when Poppy said Dorcas lost her memories from Dark Magic gone wrong, obviously that spooked me, like what if I fucked with dark shit and I did something—" Lily was fully spiraling now.

"Hey, hey, I doubt any Dark Magic was involved," James said gently. "You probably don't remember anything because it was traumatic, and your mind is just trying to protect you from the pain. That's possible, right?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll just never know what happened I guess. Just whatever it was it… it saved me."

James scooted closer and kissed her nose. "Then whatever it was, I owe it my soul." Lily fought her eyes from rolling at the dramatic proclamation he'd just made that she absolutely adored (even if she didn't want to admit it).

February? 6th Year

"What do you mean, you don't remember it?" Voldemort snarled. But for the first time since she'd been his prisoner, Lily noticed a disturbing glint in his otherwise dead eyes that scared the absolute shit out of her. He had finally found something of value — something he'd been desperately searching for in her brain.

Lily tried pushing herself off of the floor, all her joints screaming out, but he kicked her down, flipping her painfully onto her back. "As you saw," she growled wincing, "I don't know."

"Just because you are too much of a child to interpret it, doesn't mean that I won't understand it, silly girl."

As Voldemort approached her menacingly, like a hungry hyena about to devour an injured gazelle, Lily's blood curdled. She didn't want to know what happened; she didn't want to see her parents die. "Don't," her voice shook with emotion as she pleaded.

Voldemort merely laughed a cruel, high-pitched laugh as he raised his wand to her.

Christmas Eve, 5th Year

"Lily, we're going to be late!" her mother called from downstairs as Lily added just a little more glitter eyeshadow in the mirror. Was it over the top? Sure, but she felt as though if she couldn't be dramatic when singing this song, then when could she ever be? Mary would approve.

"I hope you choke," Petunia mumbled walking into the bathroom behind her and starting the shower.

"Charming as always, Tuney," Lily muttered back, leaving the mirror and trotting down the stairs.

Her dad handed her her jacket. "You look festive."

"Thanks dad!"

It was one of the most invasive moments she'd experienced since Voldemort had started his assault on her mind. Lily was painfully aware that they were ransacking through a memory, and that she was unable to do anything other than feel as though he was peeling her skin off layer by layer. Sure, the sex thoughts were embarrassing — but at the end of the day, it was just sex. Mind-blowing, earth-shattering qualities aside, it was just an act that people around the globe did daily that was still somehow considered the height of taboo. But this? How often do you have to relive your parents dying? She wouldn't wish this nightmare on anyone, not even the man currently making her do just that. Stop it! Don't do this! she screamed futilely.

They were in the car now, Lily was rolling her eyes as she saw her parents holding hands on the shifter between them. She knew she was only ridiculing in jest because her parents had the exact type of relationship that she so hopelessly aspired to have one day: 21 years in and still all googly-eyes and serendipitous touches. At 15 years old, she had no idea how to make a relationship like this happen, but she prayed one day it would all fall into place for her.

"No seriously, Joan, Joan, hear me out." Her dad was practically bursting with amusement. "This one's funny, I solemnly swear."

Her mother shot her a look from the front seat before turning back to her husband. "All right then. Let's have it."

"What do reindeer hang on their Christmas trees?"

Her mum gave him a very narrowed-eyed stare. "What, Brad?"

Dad was barely keeping it together as he chuckled, "Hornaments."

"Daaaaaad," Lily whined from the backseat as her mum giggled like a schoolgirl. "You're so—"

No, no, please stop! Lily was internally screaming. At the same time she couldn't stop taking in the crinkle in her mother's eyes as she laughed at her father's final joke, and at her dad's teeth while he gave her mum one last loving smile before it was all over. Don't…

But then, as though watching her own personal horror film, the mood shifted, and she could do nothing to stop it, trapped in her own mind's eye. She heard her mother screaming about a doe on the road, and suddenly she saw it too, an innocent creature standing there frozen in terror, staring at them with big, beautiful, soulful eyes. She felt the car jerk to the side, her dad trying to swerve around it, but there was ice on the asphalt, and now they were careening out of control, headed for a guard rail at a dizzying speed.

Lily felt her heart all but pounding out of her ribcage as time came to a near halt. Suddenly, she watched as every fleck of snow outside their windows was suspended, watched the doe's eyes follow them as they veered off the road, watched as her parents' bodies were being flung like rag dolls in their seats.

I can stop this, I can do something! she heard herself think. Then, as though her own pure desperation had willed it, a bubble just like soap — shining and multi-colored even though clear — erupted from within her, expanding, expanding, but not nearly fast enough. Its filmy essence never quite made it to the two people she wanted to protect the most in this world. She watched in horror as part of the windshield collapsed and sliced through her mother's jugular as if it was tissue paper and her father's skull bashed with a resounding crack into the steering wheel.

In that horrific moment, the bubble screen she'd just produced snapped back to her, useless and pathetic, clinging to her own skin traitorously even though it had failed her. Her parents were dead, and she'd done nothing to stop it. Her punishment was surviving it.

Time sped back to normal and Lily watched as everything crumbled and crunched around her, ricocheting her like a pinball, nothing affecting her because her mind had already turned off with the emptiness inside of her. She was outside of the car now, numbly being approached by dumbfounded EMTs. They were talking to her, but she heard nothing, saw nothing, other than slicing glass and hard leather, over, and over, and over.

February? 6th Year

"How did you do that?" Voldemort demanded hungrily, actually clutching at her throat, crouched before her.

Lily tried fighting against his spindly fingers, choking her frantically, but she was just so tired. They hadn't been feeding her anything other than abuse and lies. Lily shook her head of the thought of just letting him end her pain in this moment. (A pair of hazel eyes were bouncing around her thoughts, begging her to hold on.) "I don't know," she managed to grind out before he released her, leaving her gasping for breath.

"Well." Voldemort stood up fully, looking down at her once more. "At least now I understand what exactly it is you can do."

For once, Lily wished he'd continue his usual insane ranting — because she certainly didn't understand what had just happened. What can I do?

Voldemort spun his cloak around him, an apex predator savoring his kill right before he made it. "I've finally decided exactly how I can make use of all these useless memories you tried to distract me with."

Lily was about to protest, about to say that there had been no distraction, just a sick old man trying to destroy the mind of a young woman, but she didn't have the chance. In the end, it didn't matter to Voldemort that Lily hadn't done anything malicious on purpose, just that she couldn't think of anything other than James in those moments when he was torturing her, because all that mattered was that she had. And apparently that was a sin worth destroying her entire life over.

Before Lily's eyes, Voldemort's body transformed into James', and she was staring into the beautiful, hazel eyes of her lover.

"Silly girl," James' voice mocked her, right before he pointed his wand and Crucioed her.

Christmas, 6th Year

Lily opened her eyes to find James' gorgeous, hazel ones already studying her. "Morning beautiful."

"Ugh, are you really a morning person?" she rasped, trying to turn away from him under the sheets. His arms kept her from migrating too far.

"I don't know if I'd call noon morning, but sure. I'm the biggest morning person you know."

Lily turned back and kissed him, if only so she could make him as discombobulated as she felt. "Happy Christmas, James."

James' hands reached down and clutched at her ass, making her squirm, laughing. "Hold on, give me a moment; this is my Christmas miracle come true."

"We need to go see our friends, Potter," Lily commanded.

"Whatever you say, Evans," James responded giddily.

Their adorable little friend gift-giving circle under the gigantic tree was just that — adorable, with everyone wearing ridiculously over the top Christmas jumpers. (James' had flashing lights going around a pine and he'd forced Lily into a stag jumper, complete with a matching antler headband.) Not even Peter's flub could completely dampen the mood. He apologized to Lily profusely for a good five minutes about not getting her a gift because he didn't know that 'James was actually serious about you.' Lily tried not to let his explanation bother her, and she could see on James' face that he was going to yell at Peter later for it, but it still stung a little bit.

Lily was soon distracted, however, by Sirius' gift for her. "You got me a book," she guessed as she weighed the parcel in her hands, turning it this way and that.

"I did."

She should have known he was up to no good when his grey eyes gleamed so (especially when he gave James that look), but she still eagerly unwrapped it like a fool. In her hands lay a highly animated cover of two wizards going at it like rabbits. Kama Sutra: A Witch or Wizard's Guide to Lovemaking. Lily nearly choked on the air she was breathing as she watched the cartoon — now using a fancy levitation charm for added acrobatics.

"I figured you guys might be running out of ways to keep it fresh. Don't want stuff to get stale." Sirius shot her an awfully charming wink for such a wanker.

"Thanks for your concern, Padfoot," James said, not missing a beat as he slung an arm over Lily's shoulders on the couch, "but we weren't really worried about that quite yet."

"Speak for yourself," Lily teased. "I was thinking about trading you in for a newer, shinier model as soon as we'd run out of positions, Potter."

Instead of getting embarrassed, James seemed up for her challenging tone. "Luckily for me, Evans," he tapped on the hardcover in her lap demonstrably, "there are apparently endless positions." Suddenly, Lily couldn't wait to go through this stupid book with him later and dog-ear all the things she wanted to do to him.

After everyone had given each other their gifts (James had publicly gifted her a pair of knickers with deer print that had made Sirius chuckle and James explain that he'd noticed she liked animal graphics, so 'might as well wear the best one' — she vowed to get to the bottom of his strange obsession one day), Marlene and Lily finally retreated to Marlene's room while the Marauders did who knew what.

"So?!" Lily asked, all but bursting with curiosity. "Did you?"

Marlene took a big breath like she was going to answer affirmatively but then wasted it on a crushing, "No?"

"Really?" Lily lamented.

Marlene's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. I mean, I had a great time!" The inflection in her voice couldn't cover the fact that she was vastly disappointed. She was clearly really taken with Rosier and was ready to go all the way.

Lily sat on her bed, motioning for Mar to join her. "So, what happened?"

"Well, he was all sweet, and we gave each other our gifts," the blush on her cheeks told Lily she didn't wish to elaborate on that point, "and then he seemed very gung-ho about sneaking up here with me, but then he kind of froze?" Marlene started absentmindedly braiding her hair while avoiding Lily's serious look. "Like, we were snogging, and it was hot, or at least I thought it was hot, but as soon as I reached for his shirt, he sort of just rolled off of me."

Oh no. "Um," Lily tried, oh she was trying so hard not to focus on the obvious (it was apparent Marlene was already worrying along the exact same lines and didn't need any more salt in that gaping [possible] wound), "is he maybe religious? You know, saving it or what not?"

"No," Marlene sighed. "He's definitely not."

"I'm so sorry, Mar," Lily said, not knowing what else she even could say at this point.

"We'll get there," Marlene replied adamantly. "Anyway, how was your night?"

"Oh…" Lily shot her a grin. "Marlene. The things I had to do to keep James from disturbing you last night…" She was trying so hard to make her friend smile again.

"Oh yeah?" Marlene played along.

"Oh yes."

"Wow." Marlene rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Well, thank you for your great sacrifice then, Lily."

"Oh!" Lily had just remembered. "Way to perform a muffling spell yourself last night."

Marlene flushed. "Ugh, it just seemed awfully presumptuous, you know? Like when you're snogging, you don't think about it, but if you do it as soon as you step in the room, it's like announcing…" she trailed off.

"I'm gonna make you scream," Lily finished for her.

"Exactly."

"Yeah." Lily laid down and stretched out on Marlene's bed. "Life's awkward."

Marlene plopped down beside her. "I'll say."

Not much later, James knocked on the door, asking if he could steal Lily away.

"Where are we going, James?" Lily asked curiously after she'd changed into the jeans and heavy cloak that he'd insisted on.

"Patience, babe, patience," James said taking her hand and leading her outside. The lights on his jumper still glimmered comically through the opening of his cloak.

Lily had always assumed she'd be someone who would hate lovey-dovey nicknames. They'd always sounded so stupid to her. But being called one? It just hit differently. Anyone could call her Lily, and some called her Evans (she'd noticed Sirius sometimes did too — she liked to think it was from hearing James talk about her nonstop for years), but she would only ever let one boy call her 'babe.' And that boy was currently looking at her mischievously whilst pulling her through the snow to his pitch.

"Why do I feel like I'm not going to like this?" Lily questioned, still perfectly in step with him despite her building suspicions.

"Because you are a naturally skeptical person and it is a trait that we are slowly trying to overcome," James answered jovially.

Lily regarded him — well — skeptically. "We?"

He shot her a wink. "So right you are. I've been trying to help you overcome it for a year, you only just started putting in any real effort."

"You little—" Lily squeaked, jumping onto his back, ready to wrestle him to the ground, until she remembered just how pointless such a quest was given all his muscles she currently felt rippling against her body. He tucked his arms under her knees and carried her along despite the violent way she'd just mounted him.

"Almost there, Evans."

Soon they were outside his broom shed where he carefully put her back down. "We're not actually gonna…?"

He looked back to her as his hand closed around a very fancy, very fast looking broom. "Fly?" he supplied.

"Yeah." Her voice was a barely audible whisper.

"Of course. I told you I'd take you, didn't I?" He struck out his gloved, open palm again.

"Yeah, like as our second date," Lily threw out nonchalantly. James looked at her significantly. Oh. "Is this our second date, then?" She hoped she sounded more like a serious scientist asking a very academic question and less like a shivering chihuahua about to piss itself.

"It can be." James held his still empty palm a little higher. "What do you say?"

Fuck yes. Lily gingerly put her mittened hand in his in response. His smug look told her he'd caught her acceptance to his offer.

"All right, let's go." James mounted his broom just outside the shed. "Would you like to be up front or behind?"

Lily weighed her options: behind would offer the safety of being able to grip onto him for dear life, but provide near zero visibility other than his (entirely shaggable, but still quite obscuring) back, while up front would be… exhilarating, terrifying, a face full of danger. Fuck it. "Front." Besides, James' arms will be around me the whole time, how precarious can it really be?

James' proud smile seemed to confirm her selection. "All right, Evans! Hop right on."

She had to ask him one last question before she'd be able to swing her leg over the handle. "You'll still be able to steer, right?"

"There's only one way to find out." He laughed at her horrified expression. "Yes, of course, I'd never let anything happen to you, get on here."

She trusted him, and so she did. The broom hovered a few meters higher almost immediately, as if knowing it had reached its desired capacity, making Lily gasp, leaning backwards into James' warm chest.

"Breathe, Lily, I got you," James said with a kiss to the back of her head as his left arm encircled her waist and his right held onto the broom in front of them. "Let's make you fly, shall we?"

And did they ever. After working up to it with a couple slow laps around the field so Lily could get used to the feel of the broomstick between her legs, James started doing faster and faster turns and even a few loop-de-loops. Lily was having the time of her life, her stomach loving the mid-air suspended feels as she threw her hands in the air, making James strengthen his grip on her. He'd never see it, but a small victorious smile played at her lips as she experimented with his protective side. In that moment she knew, with blinding clarity despite the simpleness of the gesture he'd just performed, he would literally do anything to keep her safe for the rest of his life. It was such a powerful feeling, and Lily reminded herself not to take it for granted.

"Faster!" she jeered, making James chuckle behind her.

Both his hands clutched the broom, squeezing her securely between his biceps (Lily didn't mind). "Whatever you want, love." They zoomed off like a rocket, soaring over the treetops, Lily giggling madly the whole time. Now this is living, she thought, spreading her arms out to the sides (they were immediately forced back into James' body by the sheer force of their momentum) as she let out a triumphant scream.

She looked over her shoulder to James, his eyes glossed over, completely transfixed with her, as though he'd never seen a woman with her hair blowing in the wind before. He really needed to stop looking at her like she'd invented magic — it was going to go to her head. Hand moving to his cheek, she returned his feelings with a kiss, hoping he still had the wherewithal to steer. But if not, fuck it, what a way to go out.

A flash of red light streaking past her closed lids made her reconsider this perspective. "What—?"

But Lily's confused exclamation was cut off when suddenly they were flanked by two hooded and masked figures, flying just as fast as they were. Acting on pure instincts alone, Lily reached for her wand, sending out a disarming spell as James started flying evasively, understanding the immediate danger they'd just found themselves in.

"Expelliarmus!" Lily cried, over and over as their mad chase took dizzying turns and spins. James crouched closer to her, shielding her with his body as he went into full Quidditch mode, protecting her at all costs. Lily yelped at the neck-breaking pace, but a strong arm held her in place against him, promising her she wouldn't plummet to her death as long as he was still alive. One of the Death Eaters grabbed for her foot, forcing Lily to kick him straight in the face.

What the fuck is happening?! Lily thought as the chase continued. James was clearly very good at flying, but they were outnumbered, a third Death Eater popping up and chasing them out of nowhere. He rolled away from Lily's spell and retaliated with a streak of orange light that sliced through James' arm. She felt his grunt of pain more than she heard it.

"We need to go back!" she screamed against the rushing of wind as they continued to fly. James' maneuvers were getting weaker and weaker and she could tell he was losing steam — and blood.

"No!" he yelled. "We can't bring them home!"

"James, there must be a ward!" she cried back, jerking the broom back towards the manor. Either because he was too hurt, or because he agreed with her reasoning, James allowed her redirect. She flattened them on the broom, willing it to speed with all its might to an invisible barrier their assailants couldn't cross.

By the time they were back above his backyard, his body was getting heavier and heavier against her spine, slumping in the most heart-stopping of ways. "James!" she sobbed desperately, as they got precariously close to the ground. She was pretty sure they were no longer being followed, if the lack of sizzling curses were any indication, but all that would mean jack shit if they died on their too rough landing. "JAMES!"

The fear in her voice must have sprung him to action, because with one feeble jerk of his good arm, James halted the broom's downward spiral, making them only tumble lightly onto the soft snow. Lily scrambled to her feet instantly. "James, are you okay?" she asked frantically, pulling back his cloak to see his raw and filleted arm, blood already staining the virgin snow around him. "Fuck," she cried, pulling out her wand. She sent out a Patronus, asking Sirius to find his father's Dittany and Blood Replenishing Potion. Then, she conjured a tourniquet, wrapping it tightly near his shoulder. She willed herself not to look at her face lest she lose it. After a few failed attempts at stitching spells, she levitated him behind her as she ran them to the manor; he'd already passed out.

"Lily?" Sirius asked, two vials held tightly in his hand. His gaze landed on James unconsciously floating in behind her and he nearly dropped them to the floor, turning deathly pale. "Prongs?!" he screamed, jumping to Lily's side as she lowered James onto the nearest couch.

"Go to Mungo's for help," Lily said professionally, taking the vials out of his clenched fingers and fully and gently removing James' cloak. She tried to ignore how blue his lips were turning when she forced the replenishing liquid down his throat.

"What happened?" Sirius stuttered, his eyes wide. He was in shock.

Lily grabbed his shoulders and got right in his face. "Sirius! Listen to me: Mungo's, help, NOW." She'd do it herself, but her Apparation was shaky at best under the most optimal of circumstances. (And even if she had completely mastered the skill, she knew she would never be able to leave James' side.) Something in Sirius' mind clicked and suddenly Lily was left clutching at air as he disappeared.

Snitch and Quaffle appeared to investigate the source of all the noise but luckily needed no instructions, fetching clean cloths and supplies off of intuition alone.

"James," Lily spoke desperately, severing off James' long jumper sleeve so she could get a good look at his wound. It was as if someone had taken a machete and slashed along the line of his bicep from shoulder to elbow. Lily tried to quell the bleeding. "James, can you hear me?" She uncorked the vial of Dittany and began pouring the murky brown liquid into the slice. It huffed an angry cloud of smoke back at her. Fuck! Dark Magic.

"Course, Evans." His feeble croak warmed every centimeter of her heart. "They didn't hit my ears."

"Prat," she said lovingly as she applied pressure. She'd never been so happy to be sassed in her life.

She could have cried from relief when a team of healers arrived to take over Lily's job, asking her to come to the hospital for questioning to help their process along. When she confirmed it was a Death Eater attack, a muttering fell over the group and they summoned another witch who apparently specialized in dark curses. Lily hated that this was even a branch of healing that had to exist.

"We've got it from here, Miss, you can let go now," one kind healer said, reminding Lily that she had held James' hand in a vice grip ever since they'd been Side-Along Apparated to Mungo's. The healer was trying to usher her to the waiting room where she knew Sirius was. She didn't want to let go — James looked like he was in so much pain. Lily wanted to tell him how she felt, she wanted to say anything really, but the healer's pushes were insistent, and soon she was on the other side of the room, watching them huddled around James as the door swung shut between them.

It felt as though her lungs collapsed as soon as she heard the clicking of the latch.

"Is he okay?!" Sirius' panic was palpable. "What the fuck happened out there?"

Lily couldn't stop staring at the spot on the door where she'd last seen James' face. Adrenaline had powered her through the past half hour of her life, but now her mind was reeling. She turned to Sirius, tears already streaking down her face. "Sirius…" she threw her arms around his neck, and he let her, hugging her waist just as tightly.

"It's okay, Lily, we're all here, we made it." He must have registered the agony in her voice and switched gears accordingly. He drew back. "What happened?" he asked softer this time.

"Death Eaters," Lily replied shakily, still fighting off sobs. "We were just flying but then suddenly there were three of them. It all happened so fucking fast… it was like they were waiting for us." Lily pulled all the way out of his reach so she could start pacing. "Dumbledore told us not to leave the property… but I had no idea it was this bad. We got so caught up, we must not have noticed we crossed over."

"So they chased you?" Sirius seemed furious.

"Yeah." She nodded her head absentmindedly, trying to remember details. "I think one of them tried to grab me, which made James fly like a madman to outmaneuver them. That's why they were firing hexes."

"And one of them hit him."

Lily shook affirmatively, because thinking about James' mangled arm made her so sick with worry, she was afraid she was going to start crying all over again.

"Fuck," Sirius muttered. "Thank Merlin you're a healer, Evans."

Lily was prepared for him to yell at her and tell her everything was her fault, again, not for Sirius to look at her gratefully like she'd actually just saved the day. She didn't feel like she deserved it in the slightest. They were after her (Snape had told her as much), she had distracted James enough that they had left the property, and now James was lying in a hospital bed.

She said nothing.

Lily and Sirius waited in silence, taking turns pacing and moodily sitting, not willing to go anywhere so they wouldn't miss an update on their favorite human.

Next Chapter: Borrowed Time

**Tiff explains her reasoning: Okay, so yeah, I'm kinda going in deep with Harry being special because Lily is powerful. I was never happy with JK's reasoning that Harry survived Voldemort from a mere 'love' sacrifice. I get that she was offered to be spared and didn't accept (while James wasn't even offered and just sacrificed himself), but come on, that could NOT be the first time someone died for a loved one like that. So I think in order for Harry to be special and protected from the death curse, one of his parents had to be gifted, so that's what I'm going with :) I mean, that's pretty much canon even though Lily doesn't get nearly enough credit for it!