James and Sirius were sitting in the large living room of Potter manor with rolls of Parchment and ink scattered across the floor. There were maps of the school and lists of pranks they had pulled so they didn't repeat one again.

"So, if we set off some fireworks there and then we can distract everyone long enough to flood the Slytherin common room" Sirius said.

"I don't know. How are we going to flood the common room?" James asked. He looked at a map and then noticed some toilets near the Slytherin Common room. "Ah ha. If we start flooding these toilets. We could get April and Lily and Jenny to go into the girls loos to start flooding them and then that might get it going."

"Or we could just ask Moaning Myrtle." Sirius said. "Lily and Jenny would never agree, they're too into rules to break any."

"Yeah true. Well, we'll go and talk to Moaning Myrtle when we get back to school" James said.

"I think we should do it on the night of the ball." Sirius said with a cheeky grin. James grinned as well and was about to say something when he heard people talking somewhere in his house. He frowned and looked up

"That's a bit strange. We're the only ones in the house aren't we?" James asked Sirius.

"Yeah, last night your parents said they'd be on raids and stuff." Sirius said. James and Sirius got up and went to the door. They left the living room and walked through the large manor to the entrance hall where there was a large extravagant looking flight of stairs that led to the upper floors. In the entrance hall stood James' mum and a red haired girl.

"Where's April?" Lily asked Mrs. Potter.

"I've taken her home. You stay here until school starts again." Mrs. Potter said. Lily nodded and held her wand tightly.

"Now, I'm going to go and talk to the house elf. He'll get a room ready for you and get you a butterbeer." Mrs. Potter said putting a hand on Lily's red hair.

"Mum, what happened?" James asked walking into the Entrance hall with Sirius. Lily turned quickly then wiped her eyes to try and get rid of her tears. Mrs. Potter grimaced and looked at Lily.

"Lily, Sirius will take you to the Living room. I need to talk to my son for a minute" Mrs. Potter said. Lily nodded and Sirius took her to the Living room.

"What happened? Why's Lily here?" James asked worriedly.

"There was a death eater attack on her house last night. She's just spent five hours at the ministry and they've given us temporary custody of her until she leaves Hogwarts. She wasn't exactly welcome to stay with her sister. I've got to get back and sort out the mess but look after her James and don't press her for anything." Mrs. Potter said.

"What kind of attack?" James asked his mum. Mrs. Potter sighed sadly.

"Her parents were killed."

"What about April?"

"She's with her own parents. They've been called back from Turkey and she'll be fine." Mrs. Potter said. "Go and find Lorin and tell him to get one of the guest rooms ready and to get Lily a butterbeer." Mrs. Potter suddenly disappeared and James turned to go to the kitchen.

*    *    *    *

Sirius sat next to Lily. Lily was hugging her legs close to her and was rocking slightly.

"What happened?" Sirius asked. The parchment was still everywhere but this was a lot more urgent. Lily wouldn't be here unless Mrs. Potter thought that she should be here. Lily tried to fight the urge to cry again. How could someone kill her parents, why would someone kill her parents? She had seen the dark mark hovering over her house as Mrs. Potter led them out of the house and made the portkey. All because she was a muggle born witch. Lily started crying again and Sirius gave her a tight hug.

"It's alright. You just cry." Sirius said. Lily did, it was like the floodgates had opened. She would have rather been in James arms but Sirius was kind and caring despite his outward attitude. Lily managed to cry herself to sleep in a matter of minutes and Sirius lowered her gently on the sofa they were on. He stood up and started to tidy up the parchments. There was going to be no more planning this holiday. James came into the room carrying a mug of butterbeer.

"How is Lily?" he asked. Sirius pointed at the sleeping Lily on the sofa. James put the butterbeer on a table and looked at his girlfriend.

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"Her parents were killed" James said quietly so as not to wake Lily.

"What? By who?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. April was with them and I think they some how managed to survive the deatheater attack. But April is with her parents right now." James said. "Lily is going to stay here. I think her sister drove her out of the house."

"And I thought my family was screwed" Sirius said darkly. "You know who ever did this is going to pay." James nodded.

"Deffinately." James said.

*    *    *    *

Lily opened her eyes to find herself in a large warm bed. At first she thought she was back at school but the decoration was different. She got up and looked around. Where was she? Where was April? Lily looked around again and noticed that the pillows had a coat of arms on them with a P in the middle. She remembered the previous day. She was at the Potter's house. Sirius and James were here and April was with her parents. Lily thought of her parents and she felt like crying again but there were no more tears left. Lily sank into the bed and pulled the Duvet over. Despite the roaring hot fire in the hearth in the room and the heat it gave off Lily still felt cold. There was a knock on the door and it opened slowly.

"Lily?" came James' voice quietly. Lily looked up and saw James in the doorway looking at her concerned.

"James." She said relieved. He went to the bed and Lily held him tightly. "Why do these things happen to me?" she asked quietly. "I'm not a bad person and I don't hurt anyone but why does everyone target me?" James put a hand on her back and stroked her hair.

"It's nothing to do with you." He said. "The people who do these things are evil. They don't deserve to live. You're safe here" Lily let go of James and looked into his eyes "And I won't let anyone do anything else to hurt you ever, I promise that I'll always be there to protect you from now on until I die." Lily wanted to smile but her face didn't want to work. James looked so serious and sincere about what he was saying. His eyes glittered slightly like he was trying to fight back tears. In that moment Lily knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She loved him and she would always love him she had always loved him. This started a fresh wave of crying and James held her tightly.

"I'm so stupid." Lily cried.

"No." James said. "You're anything but stupid." He pushed Lily away from him slightly and looked into her eyes. Lily felt slightly calmer and she felt slightly happier then she had been

"I love you James." She said. "I realised that I always have loved you but I tried to deny the feelings. I love you James." James gave her a kind smile and kissed her on the lips for a few seconds before pulling away.

"You should sleep a little more." James said stroking Lily's hair again. She nodded.

"Stay with me." She said. James nodded and shifted his position on the bed. Lily felt a lot safer as soon as James had moved on the bed. She held his hand as she tried to sleep again.

"Can you send an owl to Jenny."

"I already have" James said. "Now sleep. I'll be here when you wake up"

"You better be" Lily warned.