A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I added. I had a bit of writers block but I just rattled off some bull and started a new, fresh chapter... Anyway, before I end this authors note, I have just one more request...

Prime Minister John Howard, GO ON ROVE LIVE!

Sixth year was an unnerving year for everyone. Those of us who weren't pure blood were on tender hooks as, day after day, more news of attacks came into the school. A number of times 'The Owl' swooped into the Great Hall and one, two, maybe five people would have the horrible task of reading the letter, telling them their parents had died. And, if our parents hadn't died, the Slytherin's let us know what they thought of us. I had a lot of them hissing names and abusive comments at my back, but I kept my head high. They couldn't touch me.

'Double history, you've got to be kidding me!' Sam moaned at breakfast one morning. I giggled.

'Sammy, I think you'll survive.'

'No, I won't.' She looked at me defiantly. 'I curl into a tortured little ball and die a slow painful death.'

Possibly not the best choice of words, but it made the others laugh all the same. Potter, sitting opposite me, grinned but, as my eyes caught his, his face fell and he looked down at his plate.

'Lily, mail!'

My head snapped up just in time to watch the letter flutter into my lap. I frowned. The letter wasn't black and it had... a postage stamp. All in all, it was addressed to me. I turned it over in my hands. No return address, but definitely a government looking envelope.

'Well, what are you waiting for, Little Red Head? Open it!' Sam widened her eyes and shook her head. I grinned and ripped the envelope open, tipping the letter out onto my plate. With a flourish, I snapped the letter open and began to read.

It was strange, the Great Hall had been so loud and bustling just a few moments before. It seemed like someone had flipped a switch somewhere and the volume cut out. I could see myself, the colour drain from my face, my hand start to tremble, the light fade from my eyes. People around me were leaning in, confused, asking questions. I didn't hear them, I didn't see them. All I could see were the words on the paper, those bloody words! I can remember them still, pounding through my head, like some sort of sick mantra.

'... Kevin and Lisa Evans... car crash... horrific... died... died... died...'

My gaze went through the letter and I didn't realise I was scrunching the paper in my hands, reducing it to pulp. Then someone turned the volume up.

'Lily?'

I swung, planted my feet, left my bag, plate, friends, the envelope, everything but the letter, still clutched tightly in my hand. I don't know how I stood upright without passing out, but I jumped to my feet and stalked out of the Great Hall, out of the castle, across the grounds... I didn't see the lake. Nor the castle windows glinting in the sunlight peeking through the clouds as they congealed into a grey mass. It would rain, but I didn't realise. Didn't care. Just kept walking.

The first few drops of rain woke me from my daze. I looked up, around. Began to see. Dead. Dead. They were dead. Gone. The worst thing? I had no one. No cousins, no grandparents, no aunts, no uncles.

No sister.

No one.

I had reached my favourite place on the shore of the lake. A weeping willow hung over the water, the fronds seeming to reach into the water and continue down, down, forever. I sat under the fronds, feeling the rain pound the ground around me, soaking me, and cried. Buried my head in my arms and cried.

Sammy told me later that it took them two hours to find me. Two hours I sat in that rain.

Before James Potter finally found me.

Under the roar of the pouring rain, I never heard anyone coming and it wasn't until he sat near me, not too closely, that I knew he was there. I didn't look up. My head felt heavy, as if it was filled with lead and besides, I never wanted to open my eyes again. It felt like I had sat there in the rain for centuries, but I didn't care. Why should I care about warmth, health and comfort when I have no family? An orphan... I was an orphan...

My head lifted of its own accord and I opened my eyes. He was sitting beside me, wet hair plastered to his head, twisting a piece of grass between his fingers. Just waiting. He hadn't prompted me, he hadn't nagged me, asking what had happened, why I was out here in the rain... but the look he gave me when he turned his head slightly and those brown eyes locked with mine... I swear on my life, I'll never forget it.

I ran a hand over my face and stared out over the lake, taking a deep shuddery breath. The words came without me realising it.

'It was a car crash. Apparently they died instantly... the funeral is on Thursday. I don't want to go,'

'I know.' I barely heard him, his voice was so quiet. James stood and held out his hand and, without thinking, I grasped it and eased myself to my feet, feeling my muscles scream in protest, after sitting there for so long. James held my hand for a long moment and looked me in the eye. 'I know. But I'm- we're not going to let you get sick out here, there've been too many bad things happening without you getting sick too.'

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I let him guide me up to the castle and to the common room, where my friends were waiting silently, a pile of towels in their arms.