AN: Hello and thank you for continuing to read. This is chapter 4 of my cute little Lily Evans and James Potter fiction. It won't be novel length... but lets see shall we.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Potter characters as much as I think I do.

TIA for reading. If you want a mention let me know and I will pop you in my fic somewhere.

Dedicated to loyalty

To Him.

From Me.

\/\/\/\/\/\

'How'd it go?'

'She turned up at least' sighed James snatching a biscuit from the counter. Erin was doodling over the grid of a rather difficult looking crossword using an acid pink sugar quill to decorate the vacant squares. Glancing over her shoulder James said. 'I'm quite confident that isn't how you fill those in, Erin.'

She looked up at him giving him a filthy glare before throwing her head back down scribbling furiously on the paper. She was always agitated whenever Sirius was away on a mission.

'Sirius not back yet Remus?' he called out strolling into the lounge. Remus was reading on the couch and was surrounded by piles of parchment and thick heavy tomes.

'Oh well erm.' Remus wasn't really paying attention. 'He...' his brow furrowed at the parchment in his hand 'is out. Moody. Muggles. Underage Magic.' James sat down opposite Remus careful to avoid the mass of parchment lying around the floor.

'Remus are you still working on this? I thought you had decided against going back.'

'I don't particularly want to James. But something tells me Moody is not going to exactly let me play pet at home.' Remus removed his reading glasses and closed his book. 'Your date turned up then?'

'She did yeah-Roxanna was-'

'Fuck you went on a date with the witch that nearly poisoned you?' blurted out Erin.

'I needed a distraction.' James retorted. 'Not that it matters, doubt she found my company sparklingly entertaining'

The fireplace turned bright blue and Sirius popped out brushing the ash from his shoulders a new blooded scar running the length of his arm as if he had splinched himself and had clumsily tried to use a healing charm to cover up the wound.

'Lemme guess Prongs. Who else was at the Calf and Half tonight?' Sirius strolled into the kitchen planting a chaste kiss on the top of Erin's head. She shoved him off roughly before acknowledging his presence when the smell of blood caught in her nose.

'Fucking hell Sirius.' Erin said her eyes tracing along the deep cut that appeared on Sirius' forearm. It was half healed and had started to scab over already, no doubt clumsily healed by some trainee healer out in the field with them for the first time. Sirius's casual and carefree attitude with his life infuriated Erin but he never listened to her and the more she chastised the more brazen he appeared to become. 'One day something bad will happen to you where you won't be able to come back from!'

'So spying on Evans again are we Prongs?' said Sirius ignoring Erin as she attempted to apply a cooling solution to his wound.

'No Sirius, she wasn't there before you drag my arse over the hot coals again,'

'Did you have fun with the Mistress of Poison?' asked Erin.

'Hahaha, you actually took Miller up on her offer?' laughed Sirius moving into the bedroom he called back. 'James I said look at other options. Not date the devil fucking incarnate.'

'She did order oysters inngarlic sauce.'

'How evil she must be, eh.' Remus commented dryly gazing across at James, he was eagerly took the drink Sirius was offering. 'At least a witch looks your way.' Remus grumbled.' Most of the witches I take a shine to take one look at this.' he jabbed his fingers at the shabby embroidered five pointed purple star framed by a crescent moon that was stitched on the right side of his robes. 'And they run the other way or some even fancy a game if hunt and seek.' He added angrily his eyes flashing toward the book on his lap. James looked apologetic but felt it better he say nothing but Sirius intervened.

'You're the one who is too picky Moony-'

'Sirius!' Erin scolded. 'You have all the sensitivity of a trash panda-'

'And your point?'

'Sirius you are getting blood on the rug' groaning Erin aimed her wand 'Emorav Foinate'.

He smirked at the rug before glancing fleetingly at Remus. 'Ah worse things have happened on this rug, right Moony?'

'I will never ever provide you with the liberty to discuss such antics in front of other people Padfoot. I would advise you shut up' and aiming his wand at Srius Remus cast a sewing charm and before Sirius had a chance to react his lips were sewn tightly shut.

Remus smiled contently at his handiwork. 'At least I have never, ever fornicated in an Orchard.'

Sirius quickly muttered the counter curse running his tongue over the tiny marks the stiches had left on his lips.

'Green suits you in so many shades Moony' Sirius growled in an amused tone. 'Damn it witch.' He said as Erin tried to force him to sit down.

'Sit yer arse in that chair and you mutter any protesting Sirius Black it won't be just your lips that we will sew up.'

\/\/\/\/\/\

Lily reached over the top of the wardrobe. She groped around in the semi-darkness and triumphantly cried out as her hand fell on the thin metal tiara. The music and chatter from downstairs was filtering up the stairs and Lily could hear Petunia's screeching coming from her bedroom.

'YOU GOT THE WRONG FLOWERS' bellowed Petunia.

Lily cringed worrying about Petunia's bridesmaids (one of which was actually Lily's first friend from her days at Primary school, Sammy).

'This wedding is turning your sister into a real witch' said Sammy marching into Lilys' room clutching a bunch of bright yellow flowers. 'I can't stand this!'

'What is she mad about this time?'

'Vernon got her the wrong colours' said Sammy holding up the flowers. She flung them into the bin. 'You look lovely though' she commented glancing at Lily's deep purple coloured dress, it was short cutting off above the knee. Lily had altered the dress without Petunia knowing.

'She should've let me pick them up.' Lily said fixing the tiara smartly in the crown of thick auburn hair that she had styled across her forehead. Lily snorted at her reflection.

Over an hour later Lily was standing in the small church of St Matthews with her mother fussing over the shortness of her daughters dress. Lily let her mother try and pull down the hem and became slightly amused when she started to mutter things about 'those cheap market taylors never do it right'. The skirt would not pull down further and eventually Lily's mother left her alone retreating inside the church. Lily wandered over to the graveyard, casting a wry glance at the clock - she had fifteen minutes before she was expected inside.

The graveyard was three times the size of the church itself. Lily strolled between the headstones carefully watching where her feet fell. The grass was overgrown in places and headstones deeply set into the ground were not visible to the naked eye.

Lily drew up along the most overgrown part of the graveyard, where the headstones were oldest and the names of those who had long been forgotten were inscribed in flowery scripture. Lily stopped at the grave of a man named Ibrahim Calhoun who had died in 1747. Inscribed on the gravestone were two lines of script.

'To be grateful costs a man nothing,

To be ungrateful will cost a man everything he has'

The words had a profound effect on Lily when she had first come across them as a young teenager. And they had taught her how to be kind, she suspected Ibrahim may have died an ungrateful man given the note of the scripture.

'Lily!' her grandfathers coarse sounding voice echoed over the gravestones. 'Lily...' and his voice trailed off as Lily caught sight of him turning to go back inside the church. She took one last look at Ibrahim's grave. She often wondered did anyone mourn those whose graves were without flowers or tributes. Did anyone care that they were here?

But Lily did. She cared.

The church bell rang signalling the imminent arrival of, for what would be the last time she would use this name, Petunia Evans. As the last bell finished Lily heard the distinctive sound of the motorcade Avalon Hatchback trundle over the gravel, skidding as it went with the exhaust stuttering loudly Lily was surprised Petunia had needed the sound of bells to herald her arrival. The car would've easily been enough of an audio signal for her father to remind him of Petunia's imminent arrival.

/\/\/\/\

Flashback

Lily was perching precariously on the edge of James bed. The night had been spent thus far emotionally draining one another- she shouted at him - he said some awful things to her before collapsing into bed. He was scowling at the canopy above his bed- a snitch, enchanted, was hovering above his head and he let it zoom far enough away before catching it again.

With tears in her eyes Lily said to him in a voice barely louder than the chortle of a mouse.

'I'm sorry, James.' Scowling at her he grabbed the snitch then tossed it back - its little gold wings buzzing as it fluttered high toward the canopy. James was silent his eyes focused on the snitch. Lily sobbed harder.

'You always side with him. I don't know why this time I expected it to be any different'

'You don't understand James. Severus is-'

'You don't have to tell me what he is.' James snarled at her. 'I'm perfectly capable-'

'To me James!' she interjected shrieking at him. 'I meant to me!'

'Why would someone like that? Someone who, someone who outright flaming well hurt you and gave no thought to consequence to how you felt, ever be a good friend to you?'

'You don't know him.'

'I know of him, and that's enough' snorted James his eyes still fixe don the snitch. Lily swivelled to face him bringing one leg up meet her torso onto the bed she looked at him with blood shot eyes pleading with him to listen.

'Please James. He doesn't know what he's doing-'

'Yes he does Lily. He has control. He isn't like Crabbe and the others, you know he has chosen this'

'Please James there has to be a way-'

'You defend him like he's worth fucking saving, Lily.'

'HE IS TO ME!'

'Lily, why do you never, never take my side?'

Flustered Lily replied.

'Because he has no one to take his, James.'

\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The cloudless skies were streaked with red and pink as the light began to fade away James was stood in the shared courtyard at the back of Sirius' apartment lighting up a cigarette he inhaled deeply the welcoming scent of tobacco in the cool night air. He drew back heavily on the little white stick between his fingers and cat his eyes to the sky thinking about Lily was so easy to do when he was alone. The skills of occlumency had been taught during their final year at Hogwarts but James had never been very accomplished at it. Sirius on the other hand was proficient in the skill and although he respected his friends privacy when James thought of Lily he couldn't help but show it on his face since his fleeting meeting with her in York.

James could see her face- flushed a soft pink and when he kissed her she wold always turn red as if his kiss was too much for her to take. He loved thinking about how he made her feel, that warmth would spread to her lips as he brought her into his lap. The solid emerald colour of her eyes buried him when they kissed- she would open her eyes softly when their lips and just gaze at him for no other reason than the fact they had just shared a deep -

'Prongs you look like hell.' said Sirius snatching the cigarette from James hand unwillingly. Taking a quick drag he then passed it back to James before sitting down on an overturned flowerpot. Shouts and yells were coming from the flats above them.

'I've felt worse.' James admitted stubbing out the cigarette and tossing it into a unkempt flower bed. ''Have you thought anymore about what I said?'

'Of course I have.' responded Sirius. 'There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. But are you sure this would work- James isn't it going to be like putting a target on your back and shouting out "hey come get me! I'm heeerrreee" to the sodding death eaters?'

'The ritual isn't going to be a problem Padfoot and it isn't the death eaters that are after me is it?'

'And you want to just give Voldemort more reason to look for you?'

'He can't search for something that can't be found. We could adjust the ritual meaning that no one. No one had to die.'

'Why do I feel,' began Sirius sighing deeply 'that I'm not going to like this anymore than the last plan...'

\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Because he wasn't supposed to like it and a few days later and not for the first time Sirius Black was sitting in Dumbledores office thoroughly antagonised but unlike before it was not a visit to be proud of or indeed smug. He had picked a chair in the corner farthest from the headmaster as he could possibly be standing next to him was Erin and sat opposite him was James . Kingsley Shacklebolt was stood by the headmasters side. They had been summoned to discuss the possibility of new operations occurring in the muggle world- something the Ministry was now taking as a serious threat to their security.

'What?'

'We can protect everyone. We can stop this war-'

'No, no, no. I am not taking part in this. You've meddled with time before I presume, Sir?' Sirius said his gaze focused on Dumbledore he hesitantly waited for his old headmaster to explain but seeing Dumbledores smile falter he scoffed. 'Thought as much-'

'Time logic is a branch of magic that involves us all Mr Black. But what Mr Potter and I are suggesting works outside of the normal parameters of such magical logistics'

'And how do you plan to work outside the rules of time, Dumbledore?' posed Kingsley. 'Black's right. Meddling with things that have come to pass could cause unforeseen damage to the world we know as our home.'

'Then we find another way don't we.' James argued. 'Voldemort isn't as strong as he thinks he is-'

'And what if we fuck it up, James?'

'That's why I have called all three of you here.' said Dumbledore aiming his wand a tall silver painted time turner appeared on his desk spinning slowly with the white sand inside gently trickling back and forth between the halves. 'What I am about to tell you will never leave this room. I hope to not have to bestow an Unbreakable Vow on each of you but if I have to-'

'You question our loyalty?' said Sirius.

'Not yours particularly as it stands now Mr Black but let me say your future self may not always trust the right people.'

Kingsley placed a hand on the Headmasters' shoulder. 'Need to know. Remember.'

'Yes, of course' said Albus a half smile almost visible through his burgeoning grey beard. 'We need one of you to perform the ritual- and another to step through time'

Sirius leapt from his chair pacing he shook his head at James who was staring transfixed at the time turner as it vibrated gently causing Fawkes to flap his wings irritated at the intrusion of such an object so close to the proximity of his plumage.

'You are not telling me that you want us to use that- what about everything you ever taught us.' Sirius threw at Kingsley. 'During our training you said Time Magic was one of the most if not the most complex part of magic a wizard could perform. And the consequences of it going wrong-'

'We think we may have picked a point in both your futures where the consequences should be minimal.' Albus explained. 'We have picked June 1996 for you to go back'

Exchanging glances James and Sirius silently knew they had more to discuss away from the prying eyes of Albus and Kingsley.

\/\/\/\/\/\

Authors Note: Thank you for reading and reviewing. Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters! Or the world in which they belong.