LILY POTTER AND THE CHANGE OF TIME

Warning – This is the sequel to Harry Potter, Time Traveler. If you have not read, Harry Potter, Time Traveler, I would highly recommend it as this story will get very confusing. You may not recognize many of the characters and may have no idea what is going on if you do not read it.

Summary – Harry Potter is supposed to be dead. But thanks to the Book of Time and a little time traveling back in his fifth year, he is now alive. Now Lily must overcome the obstacles of being a typical teenage witch and finding out where time got changed because you never want to mess with fate. Sometimes it does not always come out for the best…but yet…sometimes it does.

Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter, the characters, or the Harry Potter world. They all belong to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. However, while I do not own their names, the characters and the personality traits of Lily Potter, Eddie Weasley, Daris Malfoy, Christof Nott, as well as Asher Lazard and Robyn Andrews all belong to me.


Chapter 22 – Love at Its Highest Point:

"I'm the guest of honor, Riddle?" the firm voice, the firm, deep voice of Harry Potter called out dryly. Lily's heart immediately lightened and she gasped with joy. He was still standing over her and Eddie protectively. "It's funny that you should give me such a title; can't say that I'm honored."

"I can see where our young Flower gets her tongue!" hissed Voldemort venomously, shooting daggers at Harry with his snakelike eyes.

"Well she certainly didn't get it from her mother, that's for sure," said Harry, as though he were having a casual conversation. With that he stepped forward and bravely placed himself between Voldemort and the two injured and frightened teenagers. "Now, let's forget all of the pleasantries and cut right to the point shall we? You want me, Voldemort and I know that you used Eddie to get to Lily and then you used Lily to get to me. Am I correct in making that assumption?"

"You're so much more intelligent now than you were when you were young," said Voldemort, shaking his head shamelessly. "You would have made a fine Death Eater, Harry Potter." Voldemort was baiting him and Lily knew that. Her breath caught in her throat and she held it, silently praying that Harry would not give in; would not take the bait. Eddie must have felt her tense up, and his arm still wrapped around her tightened reassuringly. Lily turned and gave him a small grin in return for the attempt at comfort.

"I will never be a Death Eater," snarled Harry. Lily groaned inwardly, knowing that he was about to lose his temper and fall into Voldemort's mental trap. She looked up at her father worriedly and saw that he had his wand pointed at Voldemort and his other hand; his fist was clenched and shaking with fury. "Never!"

"Oh, but you were Harry, you were. You were indeed a Death Eater," said Voldemort in a calm, collected voice, making shivers run down Lily's spine. "That is, before you changed the path of time, of course."

"I changed it so I would never have to work for the filthy likes of you!" Harry nearly shouted, now raising his wand to the Dark Lord's face. "You evil-!"

"Don't you see, Harry Potter?" asked Voldemort interrupting him and twirling his wand between his fingers. "Don't you see that are going to work for me one day?"

"And what makes you think that, Riddle?" Harry snapped coolly, keeping his wand at the ready.

"Well the prophecy obviously, Harry Potter; the prophecy of The Crow and the Two Mockingbirds," explained Voldemort, now grinning evilly. Lily wished that Harry had not given into Voldemort and lost his temper. Her heart was pounding painfully against her ribcage and she leaned into Eddie's comforting embrace.

"The prophecy?" whispered Harry, suddenly caught off guard, though he still kept his wand trained on Voldemort. "What about it?"

"It hasn't changed, Harry," whispered Lily from behind. She was determined to try and explain things before Voldemort had a chance to; especially after what happened to Harry after last year. Hearing her voice, Harry hurriedly whipped around and looked at his daughter with a confused expression. "Even though you managed to change time the prophecy remains the same; it hasn't changed. According to it, you will join him Harry, sooner or later…"

"What?" Harry nearly gasped, choking on his words and turning to face Voldemort again. Fortunately, he still had his wand at the ready. "The prophecy had to change! It had to! I changed time! I never joined you, it had to change!"

"I can assure you, Potter, that it didn't," said Voldemort calmly, spitting the information at him, as though taunting Harry. "You will join me one day and I will become more powerful than anyone could possibly imagine."

"And then Lily will destroy you!" Eddie snapped defiantly, tightening his grip on Lily.

"That, Weasley, is the part of the prophecy that I can change quite easily," mocked Voldemort, snarling angrily. Eddie glared at him and, if it was at all possible, his grip on Lily tightened. Lily could feel herself losing the circulation in her arm do to Eddie's tight and protective grip.

"That's not going to happen; not on my watch," growled Harry, pointing his wand at Voldemort again. Suddenly, Lily felt defenseless and she hated the feeling. So, she shoved Eddie's arm away and stood to her feet, her legs still trembling as an after effect of the Cruciatus Curse. She would have stepped up beside Harry but she was unable to for two reasons; one, she didn't have her wand. Two, Eddie was holding her back, taking his own wand from Lily.

"On your watch, Harry Potter?" asked Voldemort in a cold, high, calm voice. "What watch? You may be alive and well, but you will be working for me!"

"I WILL NEVER WORK FOR THE FILTHY EXCUSE FOR A WIZARD THAT KILLED MY PARENTS!" roared Harry before raising his wand at Voldemort, except that this time, he shouted a spell: "STUPEFY!"

The spell hit Voldemort square in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards and fall to the ground. Many of the Death Eaters rushed to his aid while the others turned their wands against Harry, Lily, and Eddie.

"GO!" yelled Harry, turning towards the two teenagers. Eddie grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her away from the Death Eaters and started running through the graveyard with Harry hot on their tails. They could feel the curses and hexes chasing after them; being thrown at them, but Harry kept any curses from touching either of the two teenagers be watching their backs, shouting, "Protego!" and any other curses he could throw at them.

"TURN RIGHT!" Harry shouted out of nowhere. Eddie immediately swerved to the right, still clutching on to Lily's hand, so she would not leave his side no matter what as they continued sprinting through and out of the graveyard. Suddenly, they saw eight large figures standing in front of them and Eddie swore loudly.

"Edward Ronald Weasley, I don't care what sort of danger you're in, you had better watch your mouth!" a stern, bossy type voice of a woman yelled at him from above. Even thoug he could not see her voice in the shadows, Eddie knew that voice all too well.

"Mum?" gasped Eddie, stopping so hard that he slide on his heels and fell to the ground, dragging Lily with him. From the ground, the two of them looked at the eight, intimidating figures stare down at them in concern. "Mum? What are you doing here?"

"Well that's a rather stupid question, Ed," another woman's voice called out dryly. Lily could almost hear her rolling her eyes and she grinned at the sound of it as she stepped out of the shadows, behind Hermione. It was a woman that Lily had tremendous respect for and it was the same woman that her father had fallen in love with so many years ago; with bright red hair and warm, chocolate brown eyes. It was Ginny Weasley.

Lily was surprised to see another woman step out behind her. She looked to be in her late forties with spikey, bright pink hair and a pale, kind, heart-shaped face. Lily and Eddie looked at her wide-eyed, but were instantly distracted when they heard more curses and hexes still coming at them. By that time, five of the figures had joined Harry in the fight while Ginny grabbed a hold of Lily's arm and started dragging her away. "Come with me." Lily noticed that the pink-haired woman had done the same with Eddie.

"I bloody hate when your father puts me on protective detail," Ginny mumbled furiously as she continued dragging Lily to safety through the maze of tombstones.

"You know he does it to ensure your safety," the older, pink haired woman said reasonably. Lily looked to see Ginny roll her eyes muttering something about "being a part of the action," but the older woman continued her speech. "Plus, I don't think there's anyone he trusts more than you to make sure that Lily will end up safe." At this, Ginny could not help to suppress her grin.

"Come on you two," whispered Ginny, her voice suddenly softer. She and the woman with pink hair guided them towards the Riddle House and out of the graveyard. Lily somehow managed to turn around to see Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Remus, and several of Eddie's uncles, all dueling and fighting off the Death Eaters. Harry and Hermione were both personally fighting Voldemort himself.

"What's going on?" demanded Lily, turning furiously back to Ginny.

"There's no time for questions right now, Lily. Just come on!" said Ginny impatiently. "Which way do you reckon we should go, Tonks?" She was now turning to the older woman, looking anxious.

"I'm not sure," whispered the woman with pink hair, whose name was obviously Tonks, "I think the further we get from the battle, the better. I don't reckon we should go anywhere near the Riddle house; he might have more spies and Death Eaters there waiting for us."

"I agree," whispered Ginny, nodding her head in consensus. "Let's just get these two the bloody hell out of here!"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that to happen," a high, cold voice sneered from in front of them. Ginny and Tonks both stopped dead in their tracks and gasped only to see Voldemort looking down on them, his wand pointed directly at them. The two older women immediately placed themselves between the two teenagers and held up their wands.

"Well, Miss Weasley," hissed Voldemort, his eyes feasting on the red headed woman before him. "It certainly has been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough," said Ginny coldly and dryly, holding out her wand and using her free arm to reach behind and clutch on to Lily. It seemed to Ginny that as long as she had Lily in her grasp, the girl was safe. Voldemort's eyes flashed at the petite red head girl as he threw his head back and laughed.

"You better watch yourself, Ginevra, darling! We wouldn't want a repeat of your first year now would we?" Voldemort was now taunting Lily. Eddie stepped up and raised his own wand.

"Oh I'm sure that I wouldn't mind a repeat of that year," said Ginny in mock thoughtfulness, as though suggesting the idea. "I rather enjoy telling people how Harry Potter saved my life; it's rather romantic if you ask me. Plus, and correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you defeated in the end?" Lily could hear Tonks groan; it was the same kind of groan that Eddie would give whenever Lily's mouth went too far and she assumed that Ginny must be guilty of the same thing.

Her theory was correct when she saw Voldemort's snake like eyes flash a scarlet red and raised his wand against Ginny, who already had it at the ready; ready to defend herself. "You'll regret having a mouth like yours, Weasley, I promise you! AVADA-"

"NO!" several voices shouted in unison. Before Lily could figure out what was going on, she felt as though the wind were knocked out of her as something charged at her, making her fall hard to the ground. She hit the floor and head bounced against the grassy floor of the graveyard. She was thankful the grass was rather green and soft because it prevented her from losing consciousness.

Through the disarray, Lily looked up and saw Remus getting off of her, understanding that he had been the one that had knocked her away from Voldemort's Killing Curse. Lily looked around to see that Ron was rolling off of Eddie; and Sirius was doing the same with Tonks. However, it was Ginny that caught Lily's attention. Harry, who had clearly knocked her out of the way of Voldemort's almost Killing Curse, was lying on top of her, gingerly and urgently stroking her head, reassuring himself that she was alright. Lily watched as Ginny nodded and Harry leaned his lips down to her ear and started whispering; sweet nothings, reassuring words, or declaring, once again, his love for her, Lily was not sure. Either way, she smiled as Remus helped her to her feet.

Lily dashed over to Eddie and gripped his arms as he wrapped his around her waist. Harry was now on his feet, pushing Ginny protectively behind him, and starting at Voldemort with a hard, blazing fire riveting in his emerald depths. Lily stared at him, wide-eyed. She knew that look and she knew what Harry was about to do.

Apparently, so did Voldemort. "Oh here we go again," he snarled impatiently. "Are you planning to use Eyeluta against me, Potter?"

"If it's necessary. I'd certainly like to," Harry snarled back at him. As the two of them shared words, Remus grabbed a hold of Lily's upper arm, unsuccessfully dragging her away from Eddie.

"Moony, what's going on?"

"C'mon, he's distracted. Let's get out of here. Now is the perfect time," Remus whispered into her ear. Lily nodded in complete agreement and entwined her hand with Eddie's. She was not better than him; she did not want him out of her sight. They spun around to run and Lily screamed, startling herself. They were facing a large group of Death Eaters and Remus pushed Lily behind him and grabbed his wand, ready to fight. But, Voldemort's followers were too quick for him as one of them pulled back his hand and punched Remus square in the face, causing him to stumble from Lily's guard and on to the floor.

All at once, realizing that Lily was out in the open and within the Dark Lord's grasp, everyone tried to go to Lily and guard her from the Death Eaters, except everyone was blown off their feet and landed far from her side. It was if as though there had been a big explosion of humans with everyone landing hard on the floor. Lily nearly screamed in fear and concern for her friends and father.

"NO, STOP-!" Lily started desperately, but one of the Death Eaters cut her off by pointing his wand at her forehead. She nearly choked on a dry sob.

"Master, may I?"

"Absolutely not!" snarled Voldemort, stepping forward so that he was directly in front of her. "I'll be the one that kills her." With that, he started forward, as though ready to strangle her but something charged at him, roaring with rage. Lily turned and saw Sirius running headfirst into Voldemort, knocking him away her.

"Sirius, no!"

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" roared Sirius, falling to the ground beside the Dark Lord. "I'LL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS!" Another Death Eater raised his wand and pointed it at straight at Sirius, ready to defend his master.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Sirius froze on the spot and landed on the ground like a hard, plank of wood. Lily froze in fear for the man that was like a second father to her and she wanted to take her own wand and curse anyone who went within three feet of Sirius into oblivion. But it would not do her any good as she still did not have her wand in her possession. Lily desperately wanted to use Eyeluta, but she did not think she had enough energy at the time, being a little weak from hunger and from being knocked out and unconscious not too long ago.

Meanwhile, Voldemort had gotten to his feet and looked down at Sirius, malice in his blood red eyes, glaring down menacingly at man on the ground as he kicked him repeatedly in the ribs.

"That's the last time you interrupt me killing Lily Potter, Black," snarled Voldemort. He pointed his wand at the frozen Sirius. "I'm going to make sure you suffer so much that you're driven into insanity! You'll be begging for death. Crucio!"

"SIRIUS!" Lily cried out in fear, her voice shaking with emotion. She wanted to rush forward and stop Voldemort from hurting Sirius but she could not seem to move her feet. She watched as Sirius opened his mouth but no words came out and Lily knew that if he could scream and move that he would be thrashing around, screaming in the worst kind of anguish and pain. Voldemort did not take the Cruciatus Curse off of Sirius until he was had fallen unconscious.

"SIRIUS!" screamed Lily, as though pleading with him to wake up. She finally gained movement in her legs again and dashed towards the man, kneeling down beside him and stroking his face. Harry tried to warn her back, but failed as his daughter ignored him completely, only caring about Sirius at the moment. Harry tried to move forward, but something, or rather someone, was holding him back.

"Sirius? Sirius, please wake up! Oh please wake up!" shrieked Lily, now taking his head and rocking it in her lap. Voldemort and his Death Eaters were watching Lily and were laughing cruelly at her. Defiantly, Harry strode forward to guard Lily, but a Death Eater cut him off by punching him in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground.

Lily turned her soft and worried gaze from Sirius back on to Voldemort. As she looked at Voldemort, her gaze became hard and full of anger; it was like a rock and unforgiving. There was a look on her face that said that no harm could come to the girl that stared dangerously at the Dark Lord. She had a look that said she would seek and get revenge. She slowly placed Sirius's head down on the ground and stood up, her fists clenched.

"You…filthy…evil…foul…"

Voldemort did not comment; he just raised his wand, pointing it at Lily and waving it so that she flew back into a tombstone and landed on the floor with a thud and grunt. Harry's eyes widened dangerously as he got to his feet and looked at Voldemort with a cold, icy look in his eyes. A green fire was not burning, but blazing furiously within them. Voldemort raised his wand at Lily again, who was still recovering from hitting the tombstone too hard, was unable to defend herself.

"Cruc-"

Panicking, Harry pushed his way through the Death Eaters and dived at Voldemort's arm to pull the wand away from Lily. Instead the curse hit another tree, and Harry flew to the floor. Lily gasped and Ginny screamed, "HARRY!" She looked as though she were about to run forward, but Ron grabbed her around the waist to stop her from getting herself killed.

Using his Auror reflexes, Harry jumped to his feet and stared determindly back at Voldemort, his wand at the ready. He was about to take his glasses off to perform Eyeluta, but the Dark Lord sneered and turned his wand back at Lily, before turning to look at Harry. "When will you stop this, Harry Potter? I will kill this girl and you will not be able to stop me!"

"NO! LILY! EXPELLIARMUS!" shouted Harry, his voice in a clear state of panic. Thankfully, Voldemort's wand flew safely into Harry's hand. He looked positively furious and his eyes gleamed scarlet again. Harry, on the other hand, looked relieved but it was short lived when he saw the snake like look.

"That was clever, Potter, but very boring and unimaginative, especially for you." Harry was unnerved by the calm nature of his voice. Harry gave him a horrified look when he reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a large, sharp Muggle knife. "I will kill the youngest Heir of Gryffindor, even if I must do it the Muggle way. Lily Potter will not destroy me!"

Voldemort let out an insane roar and charged towards Lily with the raised knife. Lily's eyes widened in horror and she let out a petrifying scream, backing into a tombstone until she had nowhere else to go. Before anyone knew it or could respond, Voldemort was plunging the knife into someone's chest.

But, it was not Lily whom Voldemort had stabbed; it was Harry. Harry, who had somehow, ran in front of Lily to protect her from the sharp blade.

"HARRY!" Ginny's shriek echoed throughout the graveyard and it somehow had overshadowed Ron and Hermione's yells and cries.

Voldemort's snake eyes widened slowly when he comprehended what he had just done. Panicking, he Disapparated on the spot. In truth, he had not wanted to kill Harry; after all, Harry was supposed to join him and together, Voldemort would become the most powerful. He would become much more powerful than he already was. Voldemort fled and his Death Eaters followed their leader's example and also Disapparated.

Lily did not notice their cowardly escape. Her eyes were wide and horrified as she stared down at Harry, who had a knife heaved into his chest and his breathing had become very shallow. Letting out another dry sob, she bent down on her hands and knees and crawled towards him, as though she were a toddler and took his head and placed it in her lap.

"Harry?" she whispered quietly, pressing her hands against his cool, pale cheeks. Harry gave a painful groan and his eyes fluttered open. When he looked into the eyes of his daughter, he somehow managed to smile.

"Hey there, Tiger," he whispered breathlessly; and it was not because he had been running or because he was stressed.

Lily stared down at her father in despair. He had just put himself in front of death to save her from a horrible face. Lily's mouth opened, then closed; she did not know what to say or think. Instead, the only source of comfort that she could provide for him was just to cradle Harry's head and look deeply into his emerald depths. Inside those emerald stones she saw the love he had for her; the love he gave her by sacrificing himself for her. Harry had given her everything he had to offer; his life. Her father had shown her love at its highest point; willing to sacrifice your life for someone you love.

Ginny ran towards them and kneeled beside Harry and took his hand and squeezed it tightly. "Oh Harry!" she sobbed into their entwined hands. Ron, Hermione, and Remus all stood over the scene and watched tearfully; Sirius was still unconscious. They knew that nothing could be done except try to ease his obvious pain. Eddie just stood where he was, watching the scene in complete and utter horror. His legs felt like lead and he could not seem to move. He was in shock and did not know what to do. Tonks announced that she was going to get help and Apparated with a loud Pop!

Harry could do nothing except smile up at Ginny with tears beginning to sparkle in his eyes, before turning back to his daughter.

"Did he hurt you?" Harry asked Lily.

"No," said Lily, shaking her head, "you prevented that."

"Well, as long as you're okay," whispered Harry, a weak hand reaching up and patting Lily's face gently. A sudden lump formed in Lily's throat and she had never felt such pain in her life. This was worse than the Cruciatus Curse; much worse.

Ron, tears in his eyes, bent down and touched the handle of the knife. Harry let out a painful groan. "No!" he groaned, pushing Ron's hand away. Lily continued to cradle his head, the strange lump in her throat growing larger by the minute. What was this damn lump? Why was it making her feel so much emotion?

"Harry, I'm going to take the knife out," whispered Ron gently, reaching for the handle again. Harry let out another groan and stubbornly pushed it away.

"No Ron," he muttered with a painful growl roaring in his chest, "it won't make a difference."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked in a shaky voice, causing Hermione to give a desperate sob and bury her face into Remus's chest.

"I'm not going to make it."

"NO!" a shout came from behind Ron. Lily looked up and saw that Sirius had regained consciousness and was listening to the conversation, if you would call it that. Sirius jumped to his feet and dashed over to Harry, but Remus held him back, whispering urgently in his ear. Lily distinctly heard her name. Sirius composed himself and turned away, burying his face into his hands and began to sob.

Lily felt a rush of gratitude towards Remus. As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew that these were her father's final moments and she did not want to miss out on giving him one final good-bye. Harry sighed in pain and rested his head comfortably on Lily's lap. Ginny saw the look in each of their eyes and nodded her head in understanding. Knowing and understanding that they needed this time together, she simply leaned down and pressed her lips to Harry's in one last, sweet, gentle kiss.

"I love you," she whispered, caressing his silky jet-black hair away from his forehead. "I always have…I always will…"

"I know; I love you too, Gin," Harry whispered back, his eyes closed as he enjoyed her gentle touch grazing against his forehead. With that, on shaky legs, Ginny rose to her feet and ran into Sirius's awaiting arms and sobbed desperately into his chest. Surprisingly, Harry did not look up at Lily; he called out to someone: "Eddie?" Everyone looked wide-eyed at the young teenage boy who was looking at the scene confusedly and in horror. But, he overcame it, knowing that Harry did not have much time. Gingerly, he kneeled down beside Harry's bleeding body, across from Lily and looked down into Harry's emerald eyes; the eyes that had life rapidly leaving them.

"Yes, Harry?"

"You two take care of each other," whispered Harry, looking from Lily to Eddie. "Do you hear me? You two have an undying love for one another and you need to promise me that you'll take care of one another. Do you promise me?"

"Harry…"

"Promise me!"

"We promise," the two teenagers whispered in unison. Harry nodded in satisfaction and Eddie immediately jumped to his feet and backed away towards his parents. Hermione automatically wrapped her arms comfortingly around her son.

Harry reached his hand out and stroked Lily's face, causing her to tear her gaze away from Eddie and back to her father's emerald green eyes that were no longer green. They were now a dull gray and Lily felt the lump now building towards her face and to the back of her eyes. This emotion, this feeling was foreign to her and it frightened Lily immensely. All she could do was gaze at her father, silently pleading with her eyes for him not to leave her.

"Harry?" whispered Lily, looking down into her father's face. Harry let out another painful groan and tightly grasped the handle of the knife, as though steadying it. He did not have much time and Lily could see this. That thought caused the lump to grow considerably larger.

"Tiger Lily, I love you," he whispered, tears now leaking out of his eyes. "I love you more than life itself."

"I know," whispered Lily, her voice cracking severely, looking steadily into his eyes.

"Promise me, you'll live your life in your own light," whispered Harry, continuing to cup his daughter's face with a weak, shaking hand. "Live - it - to the fullest. Don't - go - doing things you – don't want to do. There are so many good things - out there, Tiger. You're so - special to - me. I - love – you…"

"I love you too, daddy," whispered Lily, leaning her head closer to his. Harry let a smile. Despite his pain, it was a true, genuine smile and it made her smile back at him.

"You…you called me daddy?"

"Well, you are my daddy," whispered Lily letting out a sound that sounded like a cross between a sob and a chuckle. Harry's smile only widened.

"Daddy, when I said that I wanted you to change time back to the way it used to be, I didn't mean it," explained Lily softly, whispering so that no one could hear her but him. He did not say anything and Lily was not sure if it was because he was in pain or because he was waiting for her to continue. Since she was not sure, she continued anyway; he had to know the truth before…Lily shivered and could not let the though enter her mind. "I only said that because I was scared."

"Scared?" Harry managed to pant through his pain.

"Yes, I was scared," Lily answered truthfully. "Even though you had changed time, the prophecy of The Crow and The Two Mockingbirds hadn't changed at all. That meant you were still destined to go and join Voldemort and I was scared because I didn't want to feel the same pain of losing you to Voldemort again. I knew it would happen soon and I couldn't bear the thought. That's why I wanted you to change time back to the way is used to be. But, I was wrong daddy. I should have known better; should have known that you wouldn't do that to me. I see now that you love me too much to let that happen. I was stupid and I'm so sorry! I love you and I never want you to leave me! I love you so much daddy!

"I want you to watch me graduate from Hogwarts." Lily clutched on to her father tighter and the lump was so large that she could no longer swallow. "I…I want you to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day. I want you to meet your future grandchildren, should I be blessed with children of my own. Please, daddy, please don't leave me!"

Lily was now begging for her father's life and Harry felt a tear at his heart, knowing that this would be the one thing that he could never give. All he could do was to continue to stroke her face and whisper, "I love you, Tiger,"

It was his final whisper. It was his last breath; his final words.

With that, the hand that was cupping and stroking Lily's face dropped heavily to his side and his head jerked and flopped against her lap. Lily gasped and the lump was now so large she could not breathe.

"Daddy?" she whispered urgently, her voice oddly choked and strained. Sirius darted forward and kneeled down beside her, watching her intently. "Daddy? Wake up!"

"Lily," whispered Sirius, tears streaming down his face as he reached out and placed a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear. "There's nothing you can do. He's gone…"

"NO!" screamed Lily pleadingly, roughly pushing Sirius's hand away. And for the first time in her entire life, her eyes welled up with tears and they poured down her face.

For the first time in Lily Julia Potter's life, she let the tears fall and she cried.

"NO! HE'S NOT DEAD!"

"Lily, please," said Sirius, grabbing her by the shoulder, desperately trying to calm her. "Please, don't do this to yourself."

"NO! WAKE HIM UP SIRIUS!" bellowed Lily, tears streaming down her face as she pointed accusingly at all of the adults, as though they had the power to wake him up and were withdrawing it. Without thinking, she buried her face into her father's messy jet-black hair and sobbed so hard that her shoulders should unnervingly. Sirius could not bear to watch. He turned away, not wanting to see Lily in the pain she was feeling. Remus, the more reasonable of the elder men, kneeled down and somehow managed to get Lily to look up and face him.

"Lily, please, he's dead," whispered Remus, gently patting her hair. "You need to accept this."

Lily ignored his words. "Wake him up, Moony, please wake him up." She was now sobbing uncontrollably and she wrapped her arms around herself and continued to cry, her shoulders shaking up and down, her whole body completely racked up in sob as she shook back and forth, as though on some kind of invisible rocking chair. You could hear the pain in her voice as she wailed loudly for her father. "He can't be dead!" Lily managed to shout to herself through her tears before turning to all of the adults in the graveyard. "Please, someone wake him up. Please?"

Everyone looked at Lily helplessly, knowing perfectly well that none of them could actually wake up Harry.

"Lily?"

Lily whipped around and saw Eddie standing close to her. He looked at her for a moment before opening his arms to her; not saying a word. There were no words to be sad.

Understanding his attempt and his actions, Lily got to her feet and threw herself into Eddie's open arms and sobbed desperately into his shoulder. Eddie wrapped his long arms around her and held her close to him. He continued to rub her back gently and cradle her as though she were a small, helpless infant; whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

"He died because of me," Lily whispered into Eddie's shoulder, as though accusing herself. Eddie shook his head and tightened his hold on her.

"No, Lily. He died because he loved you." whispered Eddie, softly and gently into her ear. "He gave you a gift, Lily. The love he showed you is love…its unconditional. He sacrificed his life, so you could have one of your own. There is no greater gift."

Lily pulled away from Eddie for a moment and closed her eyes tightly. Her usual sparkling green eyes were red, puffy, and bloodshot. Eddie caressed her cheek with his index finger and Lily placed her face back in his shoulder and continued to weep aimlessly. All he could do was continue to cradle her like a child.


A note from the Jitterbelle. I know many of you are going to be furious with me for killing Harry and putting Lily through his but it is essential for the third story in the series. I hope you don't hate me, and I hope I made the chapter at least touching. I know this chapter wasn't very enjoyable but I do still appreciate the reviews. And just for psychological understanding, I did originally write this chapter after reading the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, so that makes it a little understandable, I hope.

Coming in Chapter 22 – The aftermath…Lily's reaction to Harry's death and Eddie goes a little too far in trying to support her by revealing his feelings…