"Lily! Remus! Will you two stop already!"

Remus took his hand out of Lily's hair and looked at Damien. "What if we don't want to?"

"Anyway," Lily added. "We never told you and Rini to stop acting like boyfriend and girlfriend. Why should we have to if you two didn't?" Lily and Remus were leaning against a wall on Platform 9 ¾ talking. Remus kept running his hand through Lily's soft hair.

"The difference," Rini said, "is that we weren't in such a public place."

"Fine then. Remus, will you join me in finding a compartment on the train?"

"Yes ma'am!" Remus said with a smile.

They went onto the train. Lily went into a compartment at the back of the train. Remus followed her in and sat down. Lily sat on his lap and asked, "Shall we continue our discussion?" and they did.

Outside on the platform, James had just joined Rini and Damien. "Where are the other?"

Rini and Damien looked at each other and then back at James. "Uh, Lily and Remus found a compartment for us and are already on the train," Damien said carefully picking his words. "Peter and Sirius haven't arrived yet."

"Oh," James said with a note of disappointment in his voice from Damien's reminder. "I think I'll join them. You guys gonna wait for them?"

"I guess so," Rini said slowly.

James walked over to the train and loaded his things. Then he went to the back of the train to start his search. He had only searched for a few minutes when he saw them. He stopped and tried to steady himself. Then, with the happiest smile he could muster, he started to open the door. He caught a bit of their conversation before they notice him.

"Now, now, Moony. It isn't nice to tease people who aren't there to defend themselves."

"Well, my little flower, I'm sure S—" Remus stopped in the middle of what he was saying when he noticed James. "Oh, hey, James."

Lily looked over at the door. "Hi, James. How's Myrddin?"

James didn't answer. He was too busy wondering why Lily was sitting in Remus's lap. He realized someone had said something and said, "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Lily looked at Remus and then back at James. "I asked how Myrddin was doing."

"Oh, Myrddin's fine. Mum liked him. She especially liked his name."

Remus snickered. "Did you tell her who named him?"

"Oh, yeah. She was surprised that I had another friend that's a girl besides Rini," James said with a true smile.

Lily pretended to be hurt. "What!" she pouted. "You didn't tell her about me. Moony isn't that just rude? His mother doesn't know who his friends are." Lily broke into a smile and fits of giggles. "I haven't done anything like that in ages!" Remus and James were also laughing.

"That was quite a performance, Lily!" James said through his laughter. Lily stood up and bowed to James and Remus. She sat down beside Remus. James sat down across from then.

The others came in a few minutes later. They were surprised to see James, Remus, and Lily having a civil conversation. Rini and Damien sat beside Lily and Remus; Sirius and Peter sat beside James. Rini and Lily immersed themselves in a conversation, leaving the boys to talk.

They were a half-hour into the train ride when Lily cried out, "No way! I dare you to!"

"I don't think so!" Rini cried back.

"How 'bout we do it at the same time?" Lily asked.

"Okay. On the count of three: one, two, three!"

After Rini said three, both Lily and Rini turned to their boyfriends and kissed them. Though unexpected, Damien and Remus returned the kisses. After ten seconds, ten minutes to Sirius, James, and Peter, Sirius started coughing. Rini and Damien broke apart first, then Lily and Remus.

"So, my dear Moony, did you like my little surprise?" Lily asked playfully.

"Why would I not?"

"I got a question," James said. "Why does she keep calling you 'Moony'?"

Remus became uneasy as he tried to answer. "Ah, well, you see, that is," he sputtered.

"Our dear Remus has a little fear of moons and I love to tease him for it. Isn't that right, Moony?"

"Oh, yes. It always looks like it's staring at you. Just to creepy for me."

"By George!" Sirius exclaimed. "Who would have thought that Remus would be scared of something as small as the moon." Remus shrugged.

"Yes, Sirius. He's my Moony and I'm his little flower. I don't want any of you using my pet name for him, understand? Everyone nodded. "Good. Now, who here is going to try out for the house Quidditch team?"

They were lost in their talk of Quidditch when the door of their compartment opened. Standing in the doorway stood their archenemies at school: Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Gregorus Goyle, and Cory Crabbe.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Lucius sneered. Lily turned her face from the door towards Remus. "Now Lily, is that any way to greet your visitors?"

"You're not visitors," Lily said with her voice dripping with venom. "You're pests! Unwanted pests at that!"

"You're still not being polite, Lily," Severus sneered.

Lily tried to stand up but was held down by Remus's arm around her waist. "Let go, Remus." Remus let go out of surprise from the sharpness and hatred in her voice. Lily stood up and stood directly in front of Severus and Lucius. "Get out of our compartment."

"What if we don't want to, little flower?" Lucius asked leisurely.

"Get out!" she shrieked as she started to push the four of them out into the hall. "Out, out!" Lily began to push them up the hall. Remus had left the compartment right behind Lily and was watching her push the four boys. "Nobody calls me 'little flower' except Remus!" she shrieked. After these words left her mouth, a flash of light appeared between Lily's hands and the boys, sending them all backwards. Lily was thrown into Remus who fell over, but was otherwise okay. Lily, however, was knocked unconscious. The four Slytherin buys were also knocked unconscious, though fewer people cared about them.

Many had seen what had happened. They all crowded around Lily and Remus as he tried to wake Lily. "Lily, Lily wake up!" Remus cried desperately. "Lily wake up!" Remus had Lily in his arms and was shaking her. Lily had a small gash on her cheek. Remus picked up the unconscious Lily and carried her into their compartment. "James, write a letter to Hagrid, Dumbledore, McGonnagal, anyone at school and tell them that Lily is unconscious. Please!"

The urgency in Remus's voice was too much to be ignored. He got a quill, some ink, and a piece of parchment and wrote what had happened. He tied it to Myrddin's ankle and sent him on his way. When he got back to the compartment, Remus was still cradling Lily's limp body and brushing loose strands of hair from her face. James crouched down at Lily's head and grasped Remus's shoulder.

"Rini," Remus said quietly, "watch Lily while us boys get changed." Remus put Lily gently on the seat and dragged the boys to the compartment across the hall to change. Rini changed into her school robes as well. She was with Lily for a few minutes after she changed when Remus came back in. He sat cradling Lily the rest of the way to school.

They arrived at Hogwarts a few hours later. Lily was still unconscious so Remus carried her off the train. Waiting for them was Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonnagal, Hagrid, and Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse.

Remus carried Lily over to the professors. Professor McGonnagal asked, "Where are the other students who were involved?"

"They're still inside on the train," James said, who was right behind Remus. Professor McGonnagal went onto the train to find the other students.

"Thank you, James. Follow me please, Remus," Professor Dumbledore said calmly. The boys and Rini had gotten into so much trouble Dumbledore called them by their first names.

Dumbledore led him to the first carriage that led up to the school. Madam Pomfrey followed. Dumbledore said a charm that made the carriage move faster than normal. They got to the school and Dumbledore led them to the hospital wing. "Lay her down there, please, Remus." Remus obediently set her down on the bed that the headmaster had motioned to. Madam Pomfrey immediately started to attend to Lily. "Now Remus, I want you to tell me everything."

"Well," Remus began, "we were talking about Quidditch when Malfoy, Snape, Crabbe, and Goyle came to our compartment and began to make sneering remarks at Lily. Lily got angry and told them to get out. Malfoy said no and called her 'little flower', my pet name for her. It only angered Lily even more and she started pushing the four of them out of the compartment. She then started to push then up the corridor. Before the flash, Lily had yelled at them that only I am allowed to call her 'little flower' and right as she pushed them a final time, there was a flash of white light in between Lily's hands and the boys. They all flew backwards, unconscious. Lily hit me because I was right behind her. I don't know how far the others went before they landed. All I know is that they were all unconscious. I didn't pay attention to them, just Lily."

"You say she was angry," Dumbledore said curiously.

"Yes, Professor. I've never seen her so angry before."

"I see," Dumbledore said. "You'd better be getting down to the feast, Remus. Goodness knows your friends will want to know what's happening."

"If you please, Professor, I'd rather stay with Lily. I wouldn't be able to concentrate knowing she's up here."

Just then, Professor McGonnagal came in with Malfoy, Snape, Crabbe, and Goyle, each on a stretcher. She had each stretcher go to a bed and then the stretchers disappeared. She then left for the sorting ceremony.

Dumbledore turned back to Remus. "Remus, you must understand that I'm not quite sure when Lily will wake. If you feel as though you need to be here, though, you may stay."

Remus nodded while looking at Lily. "I understand, Professor, and thank you."

"I, unfortunately, must go down to the feast. But as soon as I can I shall be back up in this wing. I would truly like to know what's going on." Dumbledore left for the feast.

Remus was in the hospital wing all night. He fell asleep in a chair beside Lily's bed. Dumbledore came in after the feast to try and find out what more could have happened than anyone knew. He put a blanket over Remus after he transfigured his chair into a bed.

Dumbledore went to Lily. She still was unconscious. Looking over at the others, Dumbledore could tell they were still unconscious as well. He picked up one of Lily's hands and looked at the palm. There, in the middle of her palm, was some sort of mark. He looked at her other palm and saw it there too. Then he went over to the closest of the boys' bed, which was Lucius's. Peering closely at Lucius's shirt, he noticed a tear in it, very like the mark on Lily's hands. He went back over to Lily. The mark on her palms was fainter than it had been when first discovered.

Dumbledore walked over to Madam Pomfrey's office and woke her up. "Poppy, I want to show you something." He walked over to Lily's bed and showed the nurse the mark. It was even more faint.

Madam Pomfrey looked at the mark and gasped. "I can't believe I didn't even notice that, Headmaster. What do you think it is?"

"I believe," Dumbledore said, "that it is a symbol of an ancient magic."

"But what kind, Albus?"

"I'm not sure, Poppy. I'm not sure. Tell me, what does it look like to you?"

Madam Pomfrey looked closely at the mark, which was growing fainter by the minute. "Well," she said slowly, "it looks like a partially squared off spiral."

Dumbledore nodded. "That's what I thought, too."

Over in the other beds, the boys were starting to stir. Lucius looked around him, saw the professors, and asked, "Where am I?"

"You are in the hospital wing, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore answered. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was hit in the head with a bludger," he said. Madam Pomfrey went to work. She got each of the boys a potion to make them fall back asleep.

"Poppy," Dumbledore said when the boys were asleep, "the boys' shirts are torn with the mark on Miss Evans's palm. Would you please—"

"Already on it, Headmaster," Poppy interrupted. "Repairo." The boys' shirts were instantly mended.

"Thank you, Poppy. Please inform me instantly if Miss Evans condition changes."

"Of course, Headmaster."

Dumbledore left the room to go to the library. He called various books about ancient forms of magic to him and then went to his office.

Over the night, the mark on Lily's palms became fainter and fainter until they disappeared completely.

The boys left the hospital wing the next day. Lily, however, did not. James asked Remus how Lily was immediately when Remus came into the Great Hall for breakfast.

"She's still unconscious," he said sadly. The matter wasn't discussed further.

They had Potions first period with the Slytherins. Sirius was in a more cheerful mood than anyone else in the group was because his little sister had been sorted into Gryffindor House the night before. On their way to first period, Sirius's little sister came up to them to ask Sirius where her first class, Herbology, was.

"Vega, you know James and Remus. This here is Rini and Damien. This is my sister, Vega. We were both named after stars, obviously. I would introduce Lily, but she's not feeling well and is in the hospital wing."

"Nice to meet you," Vega said nicely. "So where's Herbology, Seery?"

"It's out on the school grounds, Vega. Go out the front doors and you should see a row of greenhouses. You want to go to the first one."

"Thanks, Seery!" and Vega was off at a run so as not to be late.

Sirius looked back at his friends and saw them snickering. "What?"

"Seery?" Rini asked and burst out laughing. "Your nickname is Seery?"

"I would prefer if you not call me that. It's only Vega who calls me that. It's only because I love her so much that I let her call me that. If any of you call me that you'll be in big trouble."

"All right, Sirius. We won't call you Seery. After this Seery," James said, getting glares from Sirius.

"Let's just go to Potions, shall we?" Damien said.

They sat in the back of Potions as was usual. Severus walked up to them with his group of friends. "So the little mud blood is still in the hospital wing, is she?"

"If you are referring to Lily, than yes, she is still in the hospital wing," Remus said sharply. "By the way, Snape, how was your stay there last night?" Severus walked away not wanting to explain to his friends what had happened.

The Potions Mistress, Professor Cauldro, came in promptly as the bell rang. She went to her desk, looked at the roll book, and smiled. She then began to call role. When she got to Lily's name and she didn't answer, she was puzzled. "Does anyone know where Miss Evans is?"

"She's at the hospital wing," Remus said, glaring at Severus.

"I hope she's okay," Cauldro said before continuing. It sounded like real concern in her voice to Remus.

The rest of the class they reviewed from last year.

In all their classes that day they reviewed from last year. When lunchtime came, Remus grabbed a few bites to eat and then went to the hospital wing. James, Rini, Sirius, Damien, and surprisingly, Peter did the same thing. Lily was still unconscious and in her muggle clothes. Her leather jacket was on a hook by the door.

Remus was in the wing for about five minutes before the others came in. As they entered, they saw Remus kissing Lily's forehead. Pretending as if they hadn't seen that, they all came in and stood around Lily. Remus was holding her hand when suddenly he gave a gasp of pain.

"What is it?" Rini asked.

Remus was trying to let go of Lily's hand but her hand was clasp to tightly on his. "It feels as if there's a small fire in her hand!" he said with shock. "Help me loose her hand from mine!"

After a few minutes they had Lily's and Remus's hands separated. Looking at his hand, Remus noticed that the center of his palm was red. He took Lily's hand and felt the center but dropped it immediately from the heat coming from it. "Someone go get Madam Pomfrey," he said urgently. Peter went and got the nurse.

"What seems to be the problem?" she asked.

"The center of Lily's hand feels as if there's a fire in her skin," Remus said.

Madam Pomfrey looked where Remus was pointing and said quietly, "That's where it was. Where did it go?" She felt Lily's hand and dropped it just as Remus had done. She did the same with Lily's other hand. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist that you all leave," She said suddenly. "Now." She ushered them out the door and closed it. Having nothing else to do, they waited in the hall till they could dome back in.

After she had shooed the others away, Madam Pomfrey had thrown some powder into the fire and called for Dumbledore. Dumbledore emerged from the fire and the nurse explained what had happened.

Walking over to Lily, he felt the palms of her hands where the spirals had been. Indeed, the spot was quite hot. After putting a coolant agent on her hands, Dumbledore put bandages around her hands. Walking over to the wing door and opening it, he saw the five boys and Rini all waiting to be allowed back in. Dumbledore left through the fire and continued to search through the books for information on this ancient magic.

Remus walked over to Lily as fast as he could with the others trailing him. He sat down in the chair beside he bed again and started stoking her hair. Strangely, it felt wet. Lily was sweating profusely. She was also slightly restless. She was moving around as if from a dream. Lily then started to talk in her sleep. "No! I won't leave you! He'll kill you! I won't leave without you! No!" Lily fell silent for a few moments. Then, quite suddenly, she screamed, "James!"

Madam Pomfrey came in when she heard Lily scream. "What on earth is going on in here?" she demanded.

Lily had stopped screaming. The others looked around uncomfortably. Then Lily started to talk again and their attention was directed towards her. "Please, not Harry. Kill me instead. Please, don't harm Harry!" Lily was pleading with someone in her sleep for the life of this person named Harry. Then, just as suddenly as she had before, she screamed a wordless scream. Lily's body went loose and she didn't appear to be breathing.

Madam Pomfrey felt for her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt it. "Is she okay?" Remus asked slowly.

"She'll be okay," Madam Pomfrey said quietly. "She truly needs her rest more than anything now. I must ask you all to leave immediately."

Remus asked quickly to stay a few more minutes. Madam Pomfrey reluctantly said yes as the others left. She left and came back with a bowl of water and a rag and told Remus to wipe Lily's face since he was there. Remus did so while he kept telling Lily he loved her. Lily was in need of a shower from sweating but Remus didn't care. Madam Pomfrey came in a few minutes later and told him he would have to go. He stood up, kissed Lily's forehead, and then left.

They had Herbology next so Remus got the proper books and then left for the greenhouses. Remus and James were uncomfortable the rest of the day.

After Remus had left, Madam Pomfrey had called Dumbledore back to the infirmary. "Well," he said after hearing what had happened, "at least she's gained consciousness. Even if she hasn't woken up yet." He decided to stay in the infirmary so he could be witness to anything else that might happen.