AN: I don't own anything.
When Lily walked into Alice's kitchen the next morning she was attacked by a whirlwind in the shape of a red headed little boy.
"Bill," Alice yelled, "Come back here."
The kid giggled as he hugged Lily's leg.
"He is here." Lily called as Alice appeared with another red head on her hip.
"Oh, thank Merlin!" Alice exclaimed, "I don't know why I ever agree to babysit Molly's devil spawns."
Bill, who was hugging Lily's leg laughed. Alice quickly introduced the Weasley children who were there because Molly needed a little rest after the birth of the new Weasley baby.
"I have called reinforcements." Alice called as she set Charlie and Bill down on the floor with some toys.
Lily who had never seen magical toys was fascinated with the little witch who was zooming on her broomstick around Charlie's head as he tried to zap her.
The reinforcements turned out to be Marlene and her younger brother. While Lukas gave Lily a very amused look, Marlene flew at her and punched her arm.
"You stupid, stupid girl!" Marlene yelled, smacking her arm, as Lily tried and failed to get away from her.
"What were you thinking? Living on your own for weeks! Anything could have happened to you. A muggle could have hurt you, the Death Eaters could have attacked you! Your location is an open secret, you idiot!"
"Ow, Marlene! I am sorry!" Lily yelled from the floor, "I didn't think this through."
"Didn't think this through?" Marlene seethed, "I should hex you."
Lily grinned, giving Marlene a hug. The rest of the day passed in a blur. As Lily lay in bed that night, she realized she was not alone anymore.
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James Potter walked into his kitchen one fine August morning and smacked into Alice.
"Ow!" James whined.
"Hello to you too, James." Alice said crisply, "Now, sit down. We need to talk."
James glanced at Sirius who shrugged from his seat on the kitchen counter.
"Do you know anything about the Order of the Phoenix?" Alice asked without giving them much chance to think.
Both the boys nodded.
"Frank, Gideon and Fabian have been invited to join it and if I am to believe Frank, they are planning to recruit fresh graduates too, and we are not ready."
James stared at her.
Alice glanced at them both and continued, "Look at what happened during the Hogsmeade attack. We couldn't even hold a candle against them. We need to train."
"That's a brilliant idea." Sirius said enthusiastically.
"Agreed." James added, "We can train here at the manor. Dad and Uncle Tony spend most of their time at the ministry or carrying out chores for the order. No one will disturb us."
"Great," Alice said with a bright smile. "I will get Lily, Mary, Marlene and Lukas. You two get Remus and Peter. Let's start this afternoon, if thats okay with you."
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Lily was engulfed in a hug as soon as she stepped out of the Potter's fireplace.
"Hey Lils," Sirius said kissing the top of her head. "I heard you took a leaf out of my book and bailed from that sister of yours."
Lily laughed pushing Sirius away.
"Yeah, well she was being a hag."
"So, what is this we hear about you living on your own for a couple of weeks?"
He asked, his tone light but gaze steely.
Lily rubbed the back of her neck, feeling guilty. It was only after receiving a severe talking to from Alice's mother did she realise that she was recovering from an unknown curse and anything could have happened to her.
"It was an impulsive decision." She admitted, "I didn't think that one through."
Sirius looked at the ceiling and shook his head. Of course! She didn't think this through.
"You," he said jabbing his finger on her shoulder, "will be the death of us."
Lily laughed, "Consider this payback for the first four years. It won't happen again." She added hastily.
"Fine," he said rolling his eyes. "Everyone is in the library. Come on."
James looked up from his book as soon as Lily entered the library. He watched her critically, as she moved around the room, exchanging greetings. She looked well, but he noticed her wince a couple of times, as her sides pulled.
"She hasn't healed completely, has she?" Remus asked in a low voice, following James' gaze.
James glanced at Sirius, "No", he admitted. "Mary took almost a term to heal and the curse was then. He reckons the curse will last longer here."
"Fucking git!" Remus swore just like he had when he had told him about the curse for the first time.
James was only thankful. Lily was alive and breathing and if he had his way, she would never be in such a situation again.
Lily made her way to him, ruffling his affectionately before plopping down next to Remus.
They spent the rest of the day looking up different curses and counter-curses and making a list of the topics they wished to cover.
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The summer passed fairly quickly for everyone. They spent hours in the library, looking up curses and counter curses and then spent a lot more hours practicing them.
After the first week, Anthony and Charlus Potter had started joining them to help them train. If anyone was afraid that their parents won't agree to them preparing for a war, they were strangely surprised with the pragmatism displayed by their elders. Nobody discussed the war but everyone acknowledged that adequate duelling skills were necessary for survival.
It was on one such summer morning that Lily received her school letter along with the Head Girl badge.
Alice beamed at her as Lily sat on the kitchen table overwhelmed with her emotions. This felt strangely lopsided, she shouldn't have received this news at Alice's kitchen table. She should have been home with her parents. Her parents should have been the ones to hug her and celebrate her success. She couldn't help the crushing sense of loss she felt at that moment but none of it was visible on her face. She thanked everyone with a small smile and then excused herself but one look from Alice told her that Alice understood and Lily was grateful for that.
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It was an odd morning at the Potter household. Every member was present at the breakfast table, and all of them were absorbed in their own world. Sirius was reading his school letter, Anthony Potter was reading the Daily Prophet, and Charlus Potter was reading a letter from Alastor Moody, his successor. Sirius pushed James' school letter to him as he sat down for breakfast. His morning greeting was met with three nods. James had barely pulled out his letter when something solid fell from the envelope and hit the table with a loud thunk. It was this noise that pulled everyone else's attention towards James. James knew what the badge was, he looked up stunned at being presented with it. Sirius' expression mirrored his emotions, they stared at each other till Anthony Potter teased James about being disappointed at his trouble-making skills. James and Sirius looked at Anthony and Charlus. James' eyes were fixed on his dad who gave him a small but proud smile and something unclenched in James' chest.
Sirius was already giving James an evil smile and before James could stop him, he had taken off with James' badge, challenging James to give him a chase. Without wasting a single second, James followed after Sirius, if he felt undeserving he kept it to himself. If he felt like this badge should have been Remus' he kept it to himself. He would just have to write to Dumbledore later.
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Sirius was still chuckling about James being made Headboy as they sat in the parlor, waiting for the others to arrive. The first to arrive was Remus who looked genuinely happy with the news.
"It should have been you." James said as soon as Remus walked over to congratulate him.
Remus shook his head with a grin, "No, it should have been you, James", he said with a genuine smile, "I know my flaws. I will never be able to stand up to any of my friends. All of you are my weakness. But not for you, you derive strength from us. It fits. You'll see."
It was the second time in a day that James felt his chest unclenching and this time he found it easier to breathe. He grinned widely as Marlene stepped out of the fire because now he was eager to show Lily his Headboy badge.
"Where are the others?" James asked at the same time as Marlene enquired about Peter.
"Peter is with his mother today." Remus replied.
"Okay, now come on we are going to Cokeworth."
"Why? Is everything alright?" James asked suddenly filled with dread.
"Yes, everything is fine. Dumbledore made Lily the Headgirl but she looked kind of bummed out, so we thought taking her home might cheer her up. We guess she is missing her parents."
"Well, well," Sirius said with a broad grin, "I had no idea that Dumbledore was such a matchmaker!"
"James is the new Headboy," Remus supplied at Marlene's nonplussed expression.
James was partly elated and partly horrified at the evil grin creeping on Marlene's face. All he wanted now was to see approval in Lily's eyes and he would breathe easy.
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"I am here with the infidels," Marlene called as she stepped inside the small living room. She ambled her way to the kitchen where Mary and Alice were pouring over a piece of paper.
"Oy, Lily" Marlene hollered from the foot of staircase. "Come down, everyone is here."
James and Sirius were drinking in the design of this home with a mild look of interest. There were several knick-knacks that were connected to the walls through wires and to them everything looked magical.
By the James turned to Sirius' excited greeting, Lily was already at the last step, receiving a bone crushing hug from Sirius.
Her eyes were closed but her face said that she had been crying and James' heart sank horribly.
"Oh," Marlene said looking meaningfully towards where James and Remus were standing, "Guess who the Headboy is?"
"Who?", Alice asked.
"I just asked you to guess."
"Remus?" Mary supplied.
Sirius grinned, as Remus shrugged.
"No way!" Alice exclaimed, staring at James. "You?"
James ducked his head in embarrassment. As everyone else laughed at his cost he looked up at Lily and saw her smiling at him.
"But, I don't get it," Mary said.
"Trust me, neither do I," James said.
"Maybe Dumbledore has finally gone senile," Sirius supplied.
"He has always been senile," Marlene added.
"Still," James said. "What have I ever done to make him believe that I can be the Headboy?"
"You grew up," Lily supplied. Her voice a little husky and rough from carrying. "You somehow managed to rally the whole school to do better. You have been helping out people. And it beats me but somehow the evening respects you enough to not cross the boundaries you set. They maybe for yourself, but people also limit themselves to your boundaries. It's charismatic and times like these. We all need some inspiration."
Everyone stared at her.
"Well, I'll be damned," Sirius swore.
"I am right there with you, love," Marlene added.
"After six years of bitching about James Potter and his stupid everything," Mary supplied with a sly grin.
"Here she is," Alice added.
"Inspirational," Remus added faintly.
"Oh! Sod off, you brats," Lily said rolling her eyes and throwing her hands in the air. And that had everyone cracking up but as James laughed, her words rang in his ears and a tiny part of him agreed, that maybe he deserved being a Headboy.
In a rare moment of joy, the 8 teenagers decided to take a break from their defense practise and enjoy the rest of the day in Cokeworth.
Lunch was delivered by a Potter household house elf and they had a good time exploring the little town they were in.
By the time evening rolled out, the 8 teenagers found themselves at the park, Lily had spent most of her childhood in. It overlooked the stream and everyone took a moment to lose themselves in their present.
Lily ended up at a swing, scuffing her toes in the ground. She watched the others, sitting in the grassy and shaded patch, and for a moment, she didn't feel alone anymore.
"Thank you," James said quietly a he stood behind her and pushed her swing gently.
Lily closed her eyes and inhaled. Proximity with James had started doing weird things to her. She felt electrified, alive, and her heart used to beat wildly in her chest.
"What are you thanking me for?" noticing for the first time that her voice sounded husky.
"For forgiving me." He said, still pushing her swing gently. "For seeing my good side. For thinking I am worth something. After everything I have done to you. I don't think I deserved it."
In a moment of childish joy, Lily leaned back in her seat. Her smart-ass reply ready on her lips, when the swing plank flipped.
"Whoa-" Lily exclaimed and before James could catch her she was on the ground.
"Ow!" she whined rolling to her side.
"Lily," James crouched next to her. "Are you alright? Here take my hand and get up."
But Lily looked at James and started laughing. "Oh my God," she said laughing uncontrollably, holding James' shirt feebly. "This was so stupid." James stared at her for a moment and then he cracked up too, agreeing with her that it was pretty funny. After a few more moments, Lily got up, dusted herself and sat back on the swing.
None of her friends had noticed as they sat animatedly discussing something.
"Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself bad?"
"Relax, Potter. Stupid things like these happen with me all the time. I am just glad nobody saw me or I wouldn't have heard the end of it."
James said nothing but hovered as a comfortable shadow on her back.
"We will be fine, right?" She asked James as she looked over at the only family she had left.
James squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. Lily leaned into his touch, squeezing his hand and leaning into him.
Severus Snape stopped short and lunged for the tree next to him. What were they doing here? He saw the larger group first but didn't find Lily among them. What he saw next nauseated him.
She was sitting on a swing. Their swing and leaning into Potter, like she had never done with him. From where he stood, they looked like a couple. A young couple looking over their children. They looked they loved each other and Severus hated the sight. She had never sought such comfort from him. He felt enraged and cheated. He watched as Black yelled something and called them love birds. He watched as they left together. Lily laughing at something Potter said to Black. He watched till they were gone, his hatred boiling inside him. One day, he would make sure that Lily would know what it feels like to have her heart ripped from her chest and crushed into dust.
