Disclaimer: Everything from the Harry Potter series belongs to JK Rowling. I'm only borrowing it.

Chapter 3: Christmas Eve

It was the sunlight coming through the window in the morning that woke James. He blinked twice, and then wondered what the Hell he was holding onto. He looked down and saw a naked Lily, fast asleep. He grinned to himself, remembering, but then he jumped. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. If Lily got caught in his bed, they were both dead.

He looked quickly at his clock and sighed with relief when he saw that it was only 7. His parents wouldn't be up until at least 9. He settled back down with Lily and kissed her forehead.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at him. She smiled for a second, and then looked scared. She looked around wildly for the clock, and James laughed.

"Settle down," he said. "We've got a couple hours yet before my parents wake up."

"Are you sure?" she asked. She started to get out of the bed. James was enjoying the view until she said, "Maybe I should go back to my own room."

"No," James said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down. "I'm sure. Just stay here with me."

"I swear James, if I get caught in here..."

"You won't," James interrupted her. "They won't wake until later, trust me." He smiled at her. "Besides, you can't leave yet. I have a present for you."

This seemed to have distracted her. "A present?" she asked, smiling. "But Christmas isn't until tomorrow."

"I know," James said. "But I want to give it to you now, when it's just us."

"Oh," Lily said. "Okay." She looked very curious. "What is it?"

James climbed out of bed and walked over to his dresser. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a small package wrapped in red paper. He came back over to Lily and handed to her, then climbed back into bed next to her.

Lily opened the package carefully and revealed a long, white box with hinges on the back. She opened it and inside was a delicate white gold chain with a charm on it. It was the outline of a heart, with a small diamond filling in the center. She stared at it for a few seconds, before turning to him.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "I love it."

"Good," said James, genuinely relieved. He had gone shopping for it himself and had been a bit nervous about buying a present for a girl. "I have one more present for you, but you don't get that one until later."

She nodded and looked back down at the necklace. She pulled it out and clasped it around her neck. Then she leaned forward and kissed him. "You can have your present later too."

James peered at her throat at the necklace, grinning. "Looks nice…especially when it's all you're wearing…"

After another round in bed, Lily got up and put her clothes on, much to James's disappointment. But it was getting later, and he figured it was probably better if she got back to her own room.

Lily walked back to her room, smiling the whole way. She hadn't expected the necklace and she was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. She showered in the bathroom, and then dressed to go to breakfast. When she got there, James was already at the table, along with Remus and Peter.

"Where's Sirius?" she asked.

"Oh, he never gets up until at least 11," James replied. "He's a bit lazy."

"Well Petunia's coming to get us at noon, so I hope he's ready," Lily said. "She's not going to want to wait."

"I'd better wake him up at 10 then," James said. He chuckled. "He likes to make sure he looks good."

Lily rolled her eyes and sat down at the table. It was once again loaded with food, but this time it was breakfast food. She filled her plate with eggs, bacon, and toast, and poured herself some orange juice. She was surprised at how hungry she felt, but then figured it was to be expected.

They lounged around the large house for the rest of the morning. By the time Sirius finally came downstairs, it was ten to twelve. Luckily he seemed ready to go, because Lily really didn't want to deal with Petunia's bitching.

When Petunia did arrive, she didn't come to the door. Instead, she sat in her car by the road and honked the horn. Lily thought it was rude, but it didn't surprise her.

"Thank you for having us," Lily said politely to the Potters. "The food was wonderful."

"I'm glad," said Mrs. Potter. "How was your room? Did you sleep well?"

Lily suppressed a giggle, and James, who was standing behind his mother, grinned. "Yes, I slept fine," she replied.

"Well, you're welcome back anytime, dear," Mrs. Potter said. "And that goes for the rest of you too," she said, speaking now to Peter, Remus, and Sirius. "We love having you here."

The five of them said good by to James's parents and walked out to Petunia's car, careful not to slip into the puddle. The loaded their things into the trunk and the four boys crammed into the back seat while Lily took the front.

The drive to Lily's took about an hour. It was rather uncomfortable in the car, as Petunia's stuffy presence seemed to create a cold atmosphere. James was stuck between Sirius and Remus, and Peter was on Remus's other side. It was cramped, but he didn't dare complain.

They drove through a small town, which Lily told them she and her family lived on the edge of.

"Petunia, do Mum and Dad know we're coming this early?" Lily asked her sister.

"No," replied Petunia. "I haven't talked to them since yesterday."

"You didn't see them this morning?" Lily asked.

Petunia shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, no. I wasn't home this morning."

Lily didn't press any further, but James knew what was up. He gave Sirius a side glance and saw that he was looking sick.

When they got to the end of town, Petunia turned onto a narrow gravel road, which turned out to be the Evans' driveway. They drove up a steep hill.

"We live just at the top," Lily said, turning in her seat to face the guys in the back.

"Hey Lils," James said, "do you think your parents would care if...hey...Sirius, what's wrong?"

Sirius's face had gone pale and his eyes were wide and scared looking. Everyone in the car looked at him, and then James looked up and followed his gaze. He felt himself go numb, and the blood drained from his face.

Above Lily's house, made up of what looked like emerald stars, was the shape of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. James felt as though his heart had stopped, and he watched as Lily turned in what seemed like slow motion to look at her house.

The curious look on her face transformed into one of confusion, and then horror. Her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth. Petunia was looking at her strangely.

"What' is it?" she asked. "What's your problem?"

"Stop," Lily said through her hands. Her face was white and her body had frozen up. The only part of her that was moving was her eyes as she scanned the yard. "Stop the car."

Petunia pulled over the car. James and Sirius jumped out, wands ready, while Lily climbed slowly out of the front. Her eyes were on the Dark Mark, and she was swaying. James grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye, but she didn't look back.

"Lily, stay here," he said. "Sirius and I are gonna go in. You stay here, okay?"

She seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in, and she looked at James. "No," she said. "James, no." She looked back at the house. "They could still be in there."

"That's why you have to stay here," he said. "Make sure Petunia doesn't leave." He looked over the car at Peter and Remus. "Stay here with them. Don't move. Keep your wands out and your eyes open." He turned to Sirius, who was looking at Lily. "C'mon."

"They could be okay, right?" Lily asked faintly as she stared. "Maybe they got away..."

James doubted it, but he couldn't tell Lily that. He just kissed her forehead, then turned and walked with Sirius towards the house.

"There's no way," Sirius said when they were out of ear shot. "They're Muggles...there's no way they're still-"

"I know," James said. "We'd better just hope the Death Eaters are gone." He knew his legs were moving, but he didn't know how because he didn't feel them. He felt like he was standing in place and the house itself was moving towards him.

The front door was ajar. Sirius stepped foward and pushed it open slowly. James looked back at the others in the road. Petunia was pale, and Remus was standing with his arm around Lily. Lily was watching them, her hands clutching the car she was leaning on.

The two boys walked into the house, trying to keep their footsteps quiet. James looked around the entry way. There was a large cabinet against the wall that had apparently had a mirror, but the glass was now shattered and shards of it were strewn across the floor. Their shoes crunched over it as they moved further into the house.

The next room they came to appeared to be the living room, but it had been torn apart. There was a large green couch in the middle of the room that had been completely flipped over. There was a Muggle lamp shattered on the floor, and one of the windows had been broken. On the mantle of the fireplace was a cracked picture of the family.

"James," Sirius said quietly. James turned to see Sirius knelt on the floor, peering under the couch. "There's something under here." Sirius looked up, his face sick looking. "Help me lift it."

James walked over and grabbed one side of the couch. "Okay," he said. "1...2...3...LIFT!" he grunted as he pulled back on the couch. He squeezed his eyes shut as he lifted and opened them when it was upright again. He instantly wished he hadn't.

Lying on the floor was Lily's father. He was sprawled on his back, and his eyes were wide and vacant. James's stomach lurched and he looked away.

Sirius stood and stared at Mr. Evans, his eyes flaring. The only time James had ever seen him that angry before had been when he's shown up at the Potter's last summer after leaving home. His fists were clenched and James was almost sure he would explode.

"Sirius," James said softly. "C'mon. Maybe Mrs. Evans is okay...we should find her."

He pulled Sirius away from the couch and they went across the entryway into the kitchen. The table in the room had been over turned and a leg was broken off, and there were burn marks on the walls where spells had obviously hit. James's heart leapt when he saw Mrs. Evans sitting in the corner of the kitchen on the floor with her head leaning against the counter. She was staring blankly ahead, but she was breathing and obviously alive.

"Mrs. Evans!" he cried, rushing forward to her. She made no movements, didn't even acknowledge his presence. He knelt down beside her. "Mrs. Evans, I'm so glad you're okay. You remember me, I'm James...Mrs. Evans...?"

She wasn't even looking at him. Everyone once in awhile she would blink, but she didn't even seem to notice that James was there. At first he was confused, and he didn't understand what was going on until Sirius said it.

"Dementors," he muttered.

James looked up at Sirius in shock and horror. "You don't think...no," he said, looking back down at Lily's mother. She still hadn't moved. James stood and backed away slowly. He felt his blood begin to boil. Those bastards had come and killed Lily's father and completely destroyed her mother. They had left her soulless. He looked away from Mrs. Evans and out the kitchen window.

"We should go back out. They're probably wondering what's happened."

Sirius nodded and turned away, walking from the kitchen. James followed, looking back once at Mrs. Evans, hoping maybe she would make some sort of movement or gesture to show that she was still in the body on the floor. But she was in the same position she had been in when they had come in, and was still staring at the same place on the floor.

James and Sirius walked slowly and solemnly from the house. They moved across the yard and back towards the street. Lily was watching for them, and as soon as she saw them come out alone, she pulled away from Remus and ran to them.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice shaking. "Where are they?"

James couldn't say it. He just looked at Lily as she looked back at him, her eyes searching his wildly. Sirius stepped past them and walked back to the car, leaving James alone with Lily. She bit her lip, still looking him in the eye. "James, tell me. A-Are they okay? Tell me they're okay."

James couldn't do this to her. He couldn't be the one to tell her that her father was dead, and that her mother was worse off than that. But Sirius had left him. He looked down at Lily, but he couldn't find his voice to tell her, so he just shook his head.

Lily bit down hard on her lip, stepped back from him and turned. Her face contorted as she let out a terrible scream and fell. James caught her under the arms and lowered her to the ground slowly. Lily brought her knees up to her face and buried her head in them as she clawed and pulled at her hair. James knelt next to her and put his arms around her, but she didn't notice.

Over by the car, Sirius was talking to Remus and Peter. Remus looked like he was going to be sick, and Peter was pale and shaking. Petunia was standing by the front of her car, frozen as she watched her sister.

It took a long time to calm Lily, but by the time Ministry Officials arrived, she had fallen quiet. She was sitting in the back seat of the car with the door open, and James crouched in front of her, telling her what had happened.

"Dementors...?" Lily asked. "But I've never heard of them. What are they?"

"They guard Azkaban...you know, the wizard prison. At least, they used to. But they've fallen into league with Voldemort since his rise to power." James looked up and noticed that Petunia was listening from a few feet away, but he continued anyway. "They feed off of the happiness of people. When they're around, all you can think about are the bad things that have happened to you. They make you remember horrible things…"

Lily frowned. "But you said one of them kissed my...my mum. Why would it kiss her?"

James clenched his teeth. "A Dementors Kiss is pretty much the most dreaded thing in the wizarding world. When a Dementor kisses someone, they're really...well, they're sucking that person's soul out...through their mouth." He said the last part very softly.

"H-her soul?" Lily asked, her voice shaking. "She lost her soul?"

James nodded. "Yeah, it looks that way."

"But how do you know?" Lily asked. She seemed to be in denial about it. "How can you tell that her soul is gone?"

"When I saw her and called out to her, she didn't respond. She just stared. She was breathing, she was alive...but she didn't even seem to know I was there..." he trailed off.

"You mean she was still alive when you went in?" Lily asked, sounding hopeful.

"Well...yeah, sort of," James said. "Her body is alive."

"Well then can't we go get it back?" asked Lily quickly.

"Her soul?" asked James.

"Yes, her soul…we could get the Dementor who took it and get it back!"

James shook his head sadly. "Once someone has been kissed, it's irreversible. She'll never recover."

Just then, the healers who had come from St. Mungo's came out of Lily's house. They had Mrs. Evans on a floating stretcher. Lily jumped out of the car and ran over.

"Mum," she cried, looking down at her mother. "Mum, can you hear me?"

James followed Lily and tried to pull her away, but she shoved him back. She grabbed her mother by the shoulders and shook her. "Mum!" she yelled into her mother's face.

"Mum, please say something. Look at me! LOOK AT ME!"

But Mrs. Evans's face remained blank, and the healers moved on, leaving Lily alone to crumple into the snow.

James knelt down next to Lily and rubbed her back. "Love, we should go."

Lily looked up at him, and then at her house. "No," she replied, suddenly looking frantic. "We can't just leave…dinner…we can't leave…"

"It's not safe," James said reasonably. "They could come back for you, or for Petunia. We really should leave."

Lily bit her lip and nodded. "Okay," she whispered. "Let's go."

James helped her stand, and together they walked back to where Remus, Peter, Sirius and Petunia were waiting. As they moved towards the others, Petunia's face darkened, and she began to shake her head.

"You…you stay away from me."

Lily looked at her sister, her expression tired and confused. "What?"

"You stay away from me!" Petunia cried, moving around to the other side of the car. "This is all your fault!"

Lily stopped walking and stared at her sister, horrified. "Petunia…"

"I'm leaving," she sobbed as she opened her car door. "I'm going away…Vernon and I are getting married. I was going to tell everyone tonight, but because of you, Mum and Dad will never know that!" She climbed into the car, and before she closed the door, she screamed one last thing to her sister.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, LILY!"

Lily stood in the driveway and watched her sister drive away with a stunned expression on her face. James wrapped his arms around her.

"Lily-" he began, but she cut him off.

"She's right," she whispered. "She's right."

"No, Lily," James said through gritted teeth. He turned Lily towards him and held her by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes. "In no way is this your fault."

But Lily's eyes scrunched shut, and she began to shake with sobs. She didn't say a word, she just let the tears stream down her face.

James looked at the other three Marauders. Remus looked peaky and concerned, Peter looked terrified, and Sirius just shrugged as if to say I dunno, mate. James turned back to Lily and decided to try to get her to move towards his friends. It proved to be surprisingly easy; she didn't seem to have anything left in her to keep her where she was.

"We have to figure out a way to get home," James said, realizing that their ride had just sped off down the hill.

"My dad…we can take his car," Lily sputtered between hiccups.

"Where is it?" James asked.

Lily pointed at the house. "In the garage. The keys should be in it."

The five teenagers started towards the garage, but Sirius stopped them halfway there.

"Er, I hate to be the bringer of more bad news, but do any of us know how to drive the car?"

They all looked at each other. The Marauders all came from wizarding families, and had therefore had little experience with vehicles, and Lily…

"I'll drive it," Lily declared.

"Lily, you're really not in any condition to be driving-" Remus started.

"I said I'll drive it." Her tears had seemed to clear momentarily, and Lily started to walk towards the garage again, but turned back when no one was following her. "Do any of you have any better ideas?"

None of them did, so they followed Lily into the garage and piled into the car.

A/N: I know, I know, that was sad and kind of unexpected…but death sometimes is, right? Okay, now I'm about to make you even more sad; I'm going on spring break this whole next week, and since all of my writing is on my computer at school and I have very limited access to ours at home (my mom's a bit of an EBay freak) I'm not going to be able to post again until I get back on the 20th. But I can tell you I'm already nearly done with the next chapter, so it won't be long at all after I come back before it's posted. Please read and review, it's what fuels me!