That night, Lily had the strangest dream, which concerned her and all of her friends …

"Lily, he's just beautiful. What did you and James call him?"

"We called him, Harry James Potter."

"Ah, he's so adorable!" Cheryl cooed, "Oh, Remus, isn't he adorable?" Remus smiled and nodded, then tentatively held the baby in his arms.

"Ah, you'd make a great dad one day, Remus," James said with a proud smile. Remus flushed slightly.

"Lily, it's him! Take Harry and run! Go! I'll hold him off!"

"James, I can't—it's too dangerous!"

"GO LILY! DO AS I SAY! RUN!" James bellowed. Lily immediately ran. James had never raised his voice before. She stumbled out of the room. She dashed into Harry's room and slammed the door, whilst putting Harry on the bed.

"Oh, there must be something I can do—AAHH!"

The door was flung off its hinges as Voldemort stepped through. Lily threw herself in front of her child.

"Step aside girl!"

"No! Not Harry, please, I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside, now!"

"No, I beg of you! Take me! Kill me instead! Don't kill Harry!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

All Lily saw was a flash of green, then blackness …

"PETER! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Sirius was standing over Peter, who'd been cornered.

"YOU! YOU TRAITOR! YOU BETRAYED LILY AND JAMES!" Peter screamed.

"Why, you …" Suddenly, Peter drew his wand up behind his back, muttered a few words, and in that instant, Sirius Black's fate was sealed. Peter Pettigrew transformed into a rat and hurried off into the sewers, leaving Sirius to look like he'd murdered thirteen muggles and a wizard.

Remus hummed lightly to himself as he took the shopping home. Cheryl was expecting him anytime soon. He hoped he wasn't too late. He dropped the shopping when he saw the Dark Mark hovering above his house.

"No!" Remus cried, horrified that something had happened to his fiancée. He dashed into the house, not thinking if any Death Eaters could be in there. He found Cheryl lying on the floor, caked in blood. She was still alive though, he could hear her faint breathing.

"Cheryl?" Remus questioned shakily. Cheryl opened her eyes slightly.

"R-Remus?" she choked and coughed up some blood.

"We've got to get you to St. Mungo's! You and the baby are in danger!"

"No, Remus … it's too late."

"Who did this?" he asked barely suppressing his rage.

"A-Amy." She choked out, looking tired. She reached up a hand and laid it softly on Remus' cheek "I'll always be with you," she whispered, "No matter what happens, I'll always be there by your side," those were the last words that came out of Cheryl's mouth before she died. Remus laid her down on the floor, shut his eyes for a few seconds, then reopened them. Amy would pay!

"I should've known all along that you were Voldemort's number one whore!" Remus yelled, his eyes ablaze.

"Remus, get out of my house!"

"I don't think so," he said, an evil grin appearing on his face. Suddenly, he grabbed Amy's wand and held it in front of her "You won't be needing this anymore," he stated, snapping it in half. Amy shrieked.

"My wand!"

"See ya, Ams," he said with a twisted grin as he yelled, "Incendio!" Amy screamed as the room was set alight. It began to get hotter and hotter and Amy was beginning to sweat.

"Remus, help me!"

"I hope you burn in hell!" he bellowed over the roaring fire, before apparating. He'd locked the doors and taken her floo powder, plus the fact that she was in the middle of nowhere, Amy was trapped. She screamed wildly as the flames covered her and killed her …

Lily awoke sweating and shaking. That dream had been completely vivid, and she'd seen Amy being burned to death! She shuddered slightly, remembering the look on Remus' face.

"Oh my god," she muttered to herself, "I hope to god that wasn't real and that it was just a stupid dream!" then she snorted with laughter, "yeah, it was a dream, never in this lifetime am I ever going to marry and have a kid with James Potter."

"Morning Lils. Hey, you must've had some nightmare last night … or maybe it was a sexy dream, but you were screaming James Potter's name," Amy said with a grin. Lily paled slightly. She'd been screaming in her sleep?

"It was nothing," Lily replied dismissively. Amy looked unconvinced.

"So, what happened between you and him last night?" Amy questioned, perching herself on the edge of Lily's bed, frowning slightly, "you were crying your eyes out like anything and refused to speak to any of us. Are you ready to talk about it now?" Lily shook her head.

"Thanks for the concern, Ams, but … I'm fine. Really," she added on seeing her friend, looking suspicious.

"Well … if you say so."

"Yes, I do say so."

"Will you tell us what happened?"

"There's nothing to tell."

"Aw, Lils! What did he do?" Amy whined.

"I don't want to talk about it!" Lily stated firmly, making it clear that the topic had ended. Amy sighed.

"Well, fine, be stubborn, if I can't get the dirt from you, then no doubt, James will tell Sirius, who'll tell me," she said, looking triumphant. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Whatever Ams."

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Lily walked to the Great Hall, alone. Amy and Cheryl had said that they weren't hungry and wanted more sleep, mainly due to Lily's screaming in the middle of the night, which had kept them awake. Lily sighed tiredly. That dream … her and James … Remus and Cheryl … Amy being murdered … Peter turning into a rat and sending Sirius to Azkaban … her and James … her and James … and their son, Harry James Potter. It just didn't seem real, yet the dream had been so vivid that it scared her. Lily Potter. She liked the sound of that, wait, what was she thinking? Where did that come from? Since when did she start using a guy's last name to see what it sounded like? That's what Cheryl and Amy did! Not her!

Lily was so deep in thought that she collided with someone and went flying to the floor.

"Ouch!"

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Lily looked up to see James Potter extending his hand to her. She ignored it and stood up by herself, brushing her robes to get the dust off.

"Are you alright, Lily? You seem a bit distracted," James said quietly, looking slightly guilty. Lily glared angrily at him, he sure had some nerve! He was acting as if last night never happened! She attempted to side-step him, but James side-stepped the same way and grabbed her shoulders, staring pleadingly into her eyes.

"Please, Lily, I—"

"Excuse me, Potter, but I would like to go and have breakfast, so if you could be so kind as to remove your hands from my shoulders …" she trailed off, sending him a warning glare.

"Please, just … can we talk about what happened?"

"No, Potter, we can't. You're still you, and to be perfectly honest … I don't want to be your wife."

"What?" Lily's eyes flew open as she clapped her hand to her mouth. Did she just say that out loud? James was staring at her in disbelief.

"Lily, where on earth did you get that idea from?"

"I—I—oh just leave me alone! I had a nightmare last night, which included you and I marrying, if you must know. I really don't want to talk to you," she snapped, but James wouldn't let go of her.

"Please, just talk to me!"

"No! Get out of the way, Potter!" she yelled, pulling out her wand and aiming it at his chest. James' eyes showed nothing, but hurt. He took his hands away from her shoulders and sighed in defeat.

"Alright, Lily, I understand, if that's what you really want," he replied sadly, "I'll just go and-leave. I won't bother you again, goodbye," and with that said, he walked off. Lily watched after him, feeling confused, he didn't look back once. Did he mean it? Was he really going to leave her alone, once and for all? She should've been happy, ecstatic even, but she suddenly felt quite lonely and sick.

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Lily was surprisingly subdued as she watched James Potter laughing with his friends. He didn't even glance her way. She found it rather … upsetting? Relieving? She didn't know what she felt.

"Hey Lils," Cheryl said quietly, sitting herself beside her best friend. Lily turned to Cheryl, remembering how she'd lain dying in Remus' arms. Tears sprung to Lily's eyes as she sniffled. It was because of Cheryl in that stupid dream, not about Potter! It wasn't Potter! It wasn't him! So, why did thinking of him make her heart ache? Why did …. Whoa, where did the heartache come from?

"Are you alright?" Cheryl asked, concernedly. Lily shook her head as silent tears streamed down her face.

"I … I need to talk to you," she whispered.

"Alone?"

"No, here is okay, I-it's about that nightmare I had last night. I-It was about all of us."

"All of us?"

"The Marauders and us three." Cheryl nodded.

"What happened?"

"It-it was like our future or something, I-I'm not really sure, b-but it showed James and I …" she trailed off, glancing at him sniggering at Sirius who was attempting to stand on his head.

"Go on," Cheryl said softly.

"It showed James and I married with a kid!" She exploded, sounding shaky. Cheryl looked quite startled and unfortunately, Lily had raised her voice so much that The Marauders had heard. They all watched her wearily, while Lily lowered her head slightly, sniffling.

"Were you two happy?" Cheryl questioned. Lily nodded.

"Yes."

"So, what's wrong?"

"It's the rest of you that has me worried," she admitted, "You and Remus were engaged, by the looks of things and you were pregnant with his child."

"But?"

"You were beaten to death by Amy," she wailed, "and you died in his arms." Cheryl looked totally shocked, while The Marauders had gone deathly quiet. They'd heard what Lily was saying and hoping to get the rest of the nightmare. Remus looked slightly flustered by what he'd heard.

"What else happened?" Cheryl whispered.

"Remus went round to Amy's house and killed her. He called her, Voldemort's number one whore." She whispered going pale. Remus had paled considerably on hearing these words.

"Whatever happened to you and James?"

"We were murdered by Voldemort."

"Do you want to carry on?" Lily nodded.

"I want to get it off of my chest," she whispered, feeling sick. As she carried on, she didn't even seem to care that The Marauders were listening and by the time she'd finished, they all looked slack-jawed.

"That must've been a nightmare, Lils," Cheryl stated quietly, hugging her best friend, "our friends would never betray us. Sometimes people have nightmares because they don't know how they'd cope without their friends or family," she said knowingly "Don't worry about it, I assure you, it's nothing."

Lily lowered her gaze, feeling relieved. That nightmare had really been disturbing for her.

"So, I bet your and James' kid looked really cute, eh?" Sirius said with a grin. Lily glared at him.

"Piss off, Black!" she snapped.

"Hey, it was just a question!" Sirius said defensively.

"I'm going to go to the library, okay? I'll see you later," she said with a small smile to Cheryl. She nodded.

"See you later, Lils."

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Lily felt extremely lonely. James had been right when he'd said that he would leave her alone. She couldn't believe that she wanted the annoying big-headed boasting popular James Potter back in her life and it had only been one day! Five hours even!

She rubbed her eyes as she put the book that she was reading back onto the shelf. Maybe she'd go to Hogsmeade for the day, the teacher's wouldn't mind, she was the Head Girl, after all. And who was the Head Boy? James Potter. Her mind had been on nothing else, except the unruly haired boy with glasses, who seemed to bring life to wherever she was. She put her head in her hands.

Was she falling for James Potter? Or was this just a silly little school girl crush like how it had been with Remus? No, this time, it was different, and Lily hated to admit it to herself, but she was scared …

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Lily pulled her cloak tighter around herself, the wind whipping at her face. Her face was already red from the cold. She sniffed and coughed. She needed to get to The Three Broomsticks and have herself a Butterbeer.

As she pushed open the door, her jaw dropped when she saw who was sitting on his own in a corner. It was James! Lily was extremely startled to see him on his own. He almost never went anywhere on his own. She needed to talk to him about the night before. She had to.

She slowly walked over to him, then froze. A girl with wavy black hair had sat down opposite him and had engaged him with conversation. James grinned and leaned in close to her, whispering something …

Lily took a step backwards, feeling fearful. What was she doing here? Why was she here? Lily squeaked as she fell over, pulling one of the tablecloths down with her, making the glasses on the table, fall and smash to the floor.

"Oh, sweetie, are you alright?" It was Madam Rosmerta. Lily swallowed the painful lump in her throat, feeling embarrassed.

"I-I'm fine," she muttered. As she stood up, James and the girl were staring at her. James, with shock, the girl with amusement. She was grinning maliciously at her. Lily turned and made to walk away.

"I'm sorry, Rosmerta, I-I'll be back later," Lily stammered and ran from The Three Broomsticks.  As Lily rounded a corner near The Shrieking Shack, it was then that her legs gave way and she burst into extremely noisy tears.

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"Is that Lily?" Sirius questioned incredulously, pointing to a red-headed female, kneeling on the ground and trembling violently. Remus' eyes widened in alarm when he saw that it, indeed, was Lily.

"Lily?" Remus asked softly, kneeling down beside her, "Are you alright?" Lily looked up, her face taking on a neutral expression.

"I'm fine, I don't need him," Lily said shakily as she stood up.

"What? You don't need who?"

"Him!" she yelled.

"Who the hell is 'him'?" Peter asked, looking totally lost.

"Look, will you stop grounding me with all these questions? I don't need to tell you everything! Sheesh! You're beginning to sound like my parents!" she snapped as she stormed off, muttering obscenely under her breath. Sirius, Remus and Peter looked to each other, all sharing the same thoughts. What the hell just happened here?

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The weekend seemed to fly by and Lily found herself sitting at the back of the Charms' classroom, not really participating. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Since when did she become so obsessed with James Potter? They hadn't spoken since the Saturday morning when James, no, not James! Potter had said he wouldn't bother her again.

"Right, I am going to be putting you into pairs for a Charms project, you may have the Christmas holidays to do it as well as during school time," Professor Flitwick stated, looking happy. Everyone groaned on hearing a Charms project and that they were going to be sorted into pairs by Flitwick. He always paired them boy/girl.

Oh please, don't let me be put with James! I'll just die if I have to work alongside him! Lily thought frantically to herself.

"Right, Mr. Black, you will work with Miss. White," he read from his list. Amy and Sirius looked to each other, feeling pleased that they were working together.

"We'll make a great team," Sirius said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Amy grinned.

"Oh, you bet."

"Mr. Lupin, you will work with Miss Owen."

Remus and Cheryl both blushed slightly, when they realized they'd be spending even more time together than usual.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, you will be working alongside—"

Not me, not me, not me, not me, not me, not—

"—Miss Evans. You and her are both Head Boy and Girl and I see it as fitting for you two to work together in a bit more close proximity," Flitwick explained, "I expect your project to be the best," he finished, then smiled broadly as he carried on reading from his list. As he finished, he rolled it up, looking delighted with himself.

"Now that that's settled, you may leave for lunch."

Lily felt sick as she left the classroom. She was working alongside James and Flitwick expected their project to be the best? Could she throw herself into the lake and die quietly?

"Hi there, Lily, I can still call you Lily, can't I?" James asked curiously. Lily nodded, eyeing him wearily "Well, uh, I was thinking, we could uh, start working on the project today if you want?" he said, running a hand through his hair and laughing nervously. Lily, instead of finding him irritating, found him to be quite cute when he ran a hand through his hair like that.

Uh oh, I really HAVE gone mad now! Lily thought worriedly to herself.

"Yes, we can start on it now if you want? We've got our own dormitory, you know? So, we could start work there if you want" James blushed slightly as he smiled.

"Okay, I'll meet you there in five minutes," he told her, before dashing off. Lily stared after him in bewilderment. What the hell am I playing at?

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As Lily waited in their own common room, she nervously fiddled with her hair. Surely it had been five minutes by now?

James staggered through the door a few minutes later, holding a whole load of Charms books.

"Wow!" Lily gasped, looking startled, "How'd you manage that? There are loads here!" James grinned.

"Oh, the Wingardium Leviosa charm never fails," he said, looking a bit like a young school boy, which Lily found quite attractive. Whoa, slow it down girl, Lily chided herself.

As they settled down, Lily tried her best to sound casual.

"So, you've uh, got yourself a new girlfriend, huh?"

"Oh no, she was awful, I just told her that I'd prefer to be friends with her," James told her. Lily looked surprised.

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Oh, just curious," Lily said hastily, trying her hardest to fight back a blush. James smiled softly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Lily's head snapped up.

"About what?"

"That night … between us?" Lily bit her lip. This was what she'd wanted to talk to James about for so long. She slowly nodded.

"I-I'm sorry if I scared you," he said slowly, "because I honestly didn't mean to."

"I know. I-I'm sorry, but it's just …"

"Just what?" James questioned.

"I don't know, it's just … you did scare me. One minute, you were pranking me, the next minute you were trying to kiss me."

"I understand if you don't like me, but I can't help my feelings for you."

"James?" Lily rested her hand on his. James looked into her eyes hopefully. Did she feel the same way as him? "I'm flattered, really, I am, but—"

James quickly silenced her by putting her finger over her mouth.

"Please don't," he said softly, his voice cracking slightly.

"James, I—"

"Please don't hate me," he whispered.

"What?" Lily asked, feeling completely mystified "Why would I hate you?"

"For what I'm about to do," he whispered and leaned in to kiss her. Lily responded and shut her eyes. Was this what she really wanted? She was snogging James Potter of all people and there was still Andy … Andy! Lily pushed away from him, feeling disgusted at herself.

"Lily?"
"James, I can't! I'm with Andy! This is wrong, I—"

"Lily, you don't want to be with him, I can see it in your eyes."

"What?"

"You want to be with … someone else, don't you?"

"No!"

"Then why did you let me kiss you?" he demanded.

"I didn't know you were going to kiss me!" she retorted furiously.

"Yes, you did! You responded to my advance!"

"Oh really now?"

"YES!"

"Look, James I'm sorry, but …" She was cut off by James' lips claiming hers quite furiously. Lily responded with exactly the same amount of passion as James himself was giving her. His hands made for her skirt, but Lily shoved him away and slapped him.

"This has to stop, now!"

"You want me!" James yelled, "why deny it?"

"I-do-not—"

"You do, otherwise you wouldn't keep letting me kiss you!"

"JAMES POTTER! YOU ARE SUCH A BIG-HEADED, ARROGANT, PRAT WHO THINKS HE CAN GET ANY GIRL HE WANTS! WELL, NOT ME! I'M NOT GIVING IN!"

"What? You think that to me this is some sort of game?" James questioned in disbelief "Lily, I'm letting you know how I feel for you and you're just throwing it in my face!"

"Potter" Lily whispered dangerously.

"Yes, Evans?" James asked monotonously.

"Can we please just get a start on this project?"

"Fine."

While they were working, James was sending her sideway glances. He looked sad, dejected even, but Lily refused to look at him.

"Evans …"

"Yes?"

"If I ask you something, will you answer it truthfully?" Lily eyed him suspiciously.

"It depends what it is." James took a deep breath, before asking his question.

"How do you feel about me?"

Lily didn't know how to reply to that. True, as much as she hated to admit it to herself, she wanted James Potter, badly, but she couldn't tell him! He'd probably go telling his friends that he'd gotten Little Miss Perfect to fall for him. No, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"You're alright as a friend, Potter,"

James looked crestfallen.

"Just a friend? Nothing more?"

"Just a friend, Potter, now if you'll excuse me, I need the toilet," she said, standing up and exiting the common room. James put his head in his hands. Lily wanted him, he knew that much, but she was in denial … or she wasn't and didn't want him to know. Maybe she thought it was a joke? He had to do something to make her believe him, but what?

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"Hey babe, I missed you," Andy said with a smile. Lily flushed slightly.

"Hey Andy, listen, can we talk?" Andy nodded.

"Sure, where do you want to talk?"

"Anywhere, I just need to get away from James Potter, he's driving me crazy!" Andy chuckled.

"Ah, is he trying to put the moves on my girl?" he questioned as he kissed her lightly on the lips. Lily blushed.

"C'mon, do you wanna come back to my dormitory; we could do something … productive—if you want?" Lily nodded slowly.

"Yeah, o-okay."

"Hey, you don't need to be afraid, I won't hurt you … well, hopefully not too much," he teased. Lily immediately paled.

"Well, we could always do something other than that, right?" Andy nodded, his eyes gleaming slightly.

"What did you have in mind?"

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"Urgh, I. Need. A. Drink!" Lily screamed as she dashed for the Gryffindor table and downed five glasses of pumpkin juice in three seconds. Amy and Cheryl stared at her in amazement.

"Wow, I've never seen you drink so much, Lils!" Amy said, looking shocked.

"Hold on, why are you drinking so much?"

"You. Don't. Want. To. Know!" she gasped as she downed another glass of pumpkin juice. Amy suddenly grinned mischievously.

"I think I already know without you having to tell me," she said with a grin. Lily gasped as she grabbed yet another glass of pumpkin juice and downed it.

"You gave him a ahem, I mean, you sucked his lollipop, didn't you?" Cheryl started giggling madly, while Lily merely grabbed three more glasses of pumpkin juice and carried on downing it.

"Remind. Me. To. Never. Ever. Do. It. Again!" she gasped.

"Lils, I never you could be so naughty!" Cheryl said, giggling ever harder.

"C'mon, I've got to finish that Potions essay! Oh, what fun!" Lily said sarcastically as she finally finished drinking all the pumpkin juice that was in her reach. As Lily exited the Great Hall, Amy and Cheryl looked to each other and burst out laughing.

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"Where is he?" Lily cried for the umpteenth time. She'd received news from Dumbledore that James had to go home with her for the Christmas holidays because his parents were on a business trip and Mr. and Mrs. Lupin could only take Sirius. Peter was going on holiday, so James couldn't stay with him either. She was told that they'd have to have him for the first week and Lily was absolutely dreading it.

"Sorry, I'm late!" James panted as he stopped next to Lily.

"I wondered where you were! I've just seen my parents! Come on!" she said, grabbing his hand.

"Hey mum! Hey Dad!" Lily cried as she ran up to her parents and hugged them. They both hugged their daughter, then turned to James.

"So, who's this strapping young lad?" Mrs. Evans questioned, eyes twinkling.

"Oh, this is James Potter, mum."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans." James said, smiling slightly.

"Oh, pleased to meet you, young man. Our daughter doesn't stop going on about you during the summer holidays," Mrs. Evans said with a grin. Mr. Evans chuckled, while Lily blushed bright red.

"I hope only good things," James said with a grin.

"Oh, well, lately things have changed …"

"DAD!"

"Alright, alright, sweetie, sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"C'mon, let's go home."

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The first thing that James noticed when he entered the Evans' house was a female, who looked a little older than Lily, running down the stairs and brushing her hair.

"Mum, Dad, I'm going out to meet Vernon, I'll see you later."

"Petunia, aren't you going to say welcome home to your sister?" Mrs. Evans questioned, looking disapproving. Petunia sneered at her younger sister.

"Welcome home, freak, I'm so glad that you're home. Not! Why couldn't you stay at that freak place and made this Christmas enjoyable for me?" James looked shocked as he stared at Lily's older sister. She was horrible!

"Thanks for your lovely welcome home, sis, I'll stay out of your way so you can just shag your boyfriend senseless," Lily hissed.

"Lily Evans, watch your language! Now the both of you! Apologize to each other."

"Sorry," Lily grumbled.

"Sorry, freak," Petunia snapped and fled from the house, before her parents could have a say in their daughter's rude behaviour.

"I'll take my stuff upstairs, shall I?" James queried.

"I'll help you," Lily said, and helped James pick up his trunk full of clothes and carry it up the stairs. Mr. and Mrs. Evans looked to each other with knowing smiles.

"They remind me of us when we were young," Mr. Evans said with a grin.

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"Is she always like that?" James asked as he dumped his stuff into Lily's room. He was sleeping in the floor in her room while she was going to take the double bed.

"Yep," she said with a grim smile, "Welcome to the Evans' household."