Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. This particular story is mine, but the books it's based on - and all they include - are not. The song lyrics are from the Beatles' song Across The Universe by John Lennon (re: also not mine).
Photo Manip: To view the cover page I made for this fic, check my profile for the link, or type in: img dot photobucket dot com / albums / v325 / HeronOnFire / CaughtInbetween-LilyFicManip dot jpg (there's no www, so just start with the 'img').
Reviewers: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's left such wonderful reviews for this story. It's a story I worked incredibly hard on and that has become very close to my heart, so I'm very glad that it's being enjoyed by others as well. Also, thanks for the compliments on the photo manip I made, it took a long time to make, but I'm very proud of it as well. If anyone would like to leave their email in the review, I will write to thank them personally. Otherwise, I hope you continue to read my work! I have another HP story ready to come out very soon. And Fallingflower, thanks for the idea; a James companion piece is definitely something that's now on my fic-writing schedule. :) Stay tuned - and enjoy part three of...

Caught Inbetween (A Story in Three Parts)
By: Jewel Kaufman

III.
When Lily Potter (nee Evans) was twenty years old, she had a year left to live. The Wizarding world had been officially at war for five years, though most had been fighting for twice that long. At twenty, Lily had been actively involved for a little over three years, though not in the role she'd once thought to fill. Though it had been a goal of hers for almost her entire Hogwarts career, upon graduation, Lily had decided not to become an Auror.

The grim realities of war had erased the exciting allure that the position once held – though that was far from the only reason for her change of mind. A lot of illusions she'd once held had fallen by the wayside years ago; the people she knew were not invulnerable, those in charge didn't always know what they were doing, things that are technically wrong are sometimes very right, and there are times when the impossible can happen.

Her eyes had been opened near the end of her seventh year at Hogwarts, when the Dark Mark appeared above her parents' house, signifying the Death Eater attack. Petunia, having been out with her fiancé at the time, had come home to a scene straight out of any child's most unspeakable nightmares. Lily hadn't seen or spoken to Petunia since the funerals.

It shouldn't have happened. None of it should've happened, of course, but it seemed that as time went by, instead of adapting in a somewhat efficient manner to their new situation, the Ministry of Magic went deeper and deeper into disarray. And without competent leadership, how much of an effect could the Aurors have?

It was, admittedly, a situation unlike any the administration could've expected or had dealt with previously. The faces of the Death Eaters were concealed by the hoods they wore, leaving their identities up to anyone's guess. Several people had been found to have been under the control of the Imperius curse already, and every week more people were dying and disappearing. And if that weren't enough, the Ministry was also responsible for keeping everything hidden from the Muggle world – though they were dying too.

Yes, Lily could understand the difficulties they were all facing, but she didn't want her efforts to help to be controlled by a bureaucracy in the midst of chaos. And thanks to Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, they wouldn't have to be.

At the end of her seventh year, Dumbledore had approached her and a few selected others (on what she would later find out to be Professor McGonagall's recommendation), asking if they would like to become a part of The Order of the Phoenix, a secret society he had founded for the purpose of defeating Voldemort – or, as he was now being called, He Who Must Not Be Named. Lily despised seeing that, or the also popular You-Know-Who replacing the name of their enemy in the articles in the Daily Prophet. It was just fear – a reasonable fear, to be sure, but one that, if they were to let it overwhelm them, would have the Dark side winning without a fight. Perhaps Lily was not cut out to be a soldier for the Ministry, but she would fight for the Light any way she could.

With that in mind, she took the advice Professor Flitwick had given all those years ago, and eagerly accepted the apprenticeship he offered her after graduation. Under his guidance, Lily found herself doing something she'd never realized was possible, something that she found more rewarding than all the front-line battles she would now never see. More than just working with Charms, she was creating them. Building spells for Aurors and members of the Order to use against the enemy. Spells to sooth or otherwise fix what the enemy did to them. Their most recent invention, the anti-gravity mist – which disoriented your opponent by flipping them upside-down and holding them in mid-air – was one she was especially proud of.

Life after Hogwarts wasn't anything like what Lily had once imagined it would be. Which, in fact, could also be said about the man she had chosen to share it with.

James Potter had apparently undergone a complete personality transplant the summer before their seventh year. She had later found out that both of his parents were Aurors, and realized that the uncertainty of their line of work in wartime could sober even the most notorious of layabouts. From the very first day back he had behaved in a manner completely different than any she had seen from him before.

Seventh year had awarded her the honour of being Head Girl and it had been whilst unpacking in the posh private dormitory that she had first met the new him. He was sitting in the small common room located between the Head Boy and Girl bedrooms, and she sighed upon laying eyes on him, gritting her teeth and steeling herself for the inevitable.

"Where's Remus?" She asked, rolling her eyes at the confused look he shot her before continuing, "You're here, so Remus must be Head Boy. Dumbledore's not dotty enough to trust Black in a position of power, and Peter only encourages the lot of you." It would be okay to share Heads duties with Remus Lupin, she decided. He had shared prefect duties with her during their fifth and sixth years, and they got along all right. As long as his friends weren't always around, everything would probably be just fine.

"You forgot one other option, Evans." James pointed out, and she was momentarily distracted by how unnatural his usual smirk was looking on his face, "Sorry to disappoint."

It took a minute for his words to sink in, and when they did, Lily could only gape in disbelief.

"YOU?" She blurted, "Impossible!"

He laughed at her reaction, but it was oddly without mirth and he seemed to deflate before her eyes. The response – or lack of – was so disconcerting that her anger drained away, leaving her feeling uncomfortable and vaguely confused. Now that her attention had been drawn to it, she could see the badge he wore pinned to the front of his school robes.

"Potter," she began hesitantly, "Not to offend, exactly, but – why?"

He shook his head ruefully and shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine, Evans. Maybe he thought I could do some good." And Lily was once again caught off guard by the wistfulness and determination that he had unconsciously infused into those words.

"We," she started before she fully realized she was speaking, "We could do some good."

"We." James agreed, and Lily was struck by the different type of intensity she now saw in his eyes. She shivered, confusion and slight recrimination following the gesture, and averted her gaze, looking back to the trunk she still had to take to her room.

"I should unpack." She said quietly, chancing a glance in his direction. He only nodded, and for a moment she thought he looked just as bemused as she felt.

Shaking the idea from her mind, she started pulling her trunk up the stairs towards her new room, pausing half-way up at the sound of his voice.

"See you later, then... Lily." He said, and she was suddenly utterly convinced that this was all a strange dream.

"'Bye... James." She answered, continuing on her way up the stairs without looking back.

It hadn't been a dream, though sometimes it still seemed like it was. The two of them became a surprisingly good combination, and he worked hard in the beginning to gain her trust, to prove his change was genuine. They had taken their time falling in love, and while they didn't marry straight out of Hogwarts, Marlene had teased Lily that being an eighteen year old bride was close enough.

Marlene McKinnon remained Lily's closest friend all the way through Hogwarts. She had also joined The Order of the Phoenix upon graduating, and was the Maid of Honour at Lily's wedding.

The entire McKinnon family had been murdered the year before, their name joining the list of others who had been almost or completely wiped out in Death Eater attacks. The McKinnons were gone, as were the Fenwicks, whose son Benjy had also been in the Order, as well as the Prewitt twins, Gideon and Fabian, who were killed in a battle against five Death Eaters, taking the Prewitt family name with them. Their sister, Molly, was the only one of that family to survive, but she had long ago become a Weasley. The Bones family finished off the list, as Edgar and his wife, along with his parents were killed in another surprise attack, leaving behind his sister Amelia, and newborn daughter Susan, who had been staying with her aunt for the evening.

Edgar had been a member of the Order too, and Lily wasn't blind to the trend. James' parents had also been killed their seventh year, leaving them as the very last of the Potters, and though she had turned away from being an Auror, she had still stood on battle ground as a member of the Order. She was one of the few who had faced battles involving Voldemort, himself, and both she and James had managed to come out of them alive all three times – an honour that only Frank and Alice Longbottom could also claim.

She had even tried to get in touch with Petunia, which had been difficult to say the least. But she had seen an announcement in a Muggle newspaper, celebrating the birth of Petunia's son, Dudley, a week before her own baby was due. The thought of her nephew gave her the strength to dial the phone number, and she waited as it rang, hoping against hope that her sister would answer.

"Hello, Dursley Residence." A familiar voice greeted, and Lily steeled herself before voicing a reply.

"Petunia? It's Lily... Please don't hang up." She said, adding the last part quickly at her sister's angry gasp.

"What do you want?" Petunia asked, and Lily could tell she was gritting her teeth.

"I... I wanted to say congratulations. About Dudley. I read the announcement in the newspaper, I'm very happy for you." She said, "We're going to have a baby boy too, any day now, actually. We're going to name him Harry."

"I don't care if you're happy, or what you name your little freak," Petunia fumed, "You just keep your kind away from us, all right?"

Lily cringed at her sister's words, an unwelcome sinking sensation appearing in her stomach in anticipation of her reason for calling.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. We're in a war." She said, her words purposefully blunt as she could sense her sister's growing impatience.

It seemed that the effort was a success, as though Petunia didn't say anything, she was still staying on the line. Lily quickly explained, details spilling from her lips in an attempt to make sure her sister heard everything. She laid out the issues that concerned them, explaining the rest in only vague terms as she knew Petunia wouldn't stand to hear it all.

When she was done, there was another brief silence before it was pierced by her sister's shrill voice;

"You're all INSANE! You stay away from us, Lily – I'm warning you! You couldn't protect our parents, so don't bother with me! Just STAY AWAY! I GUARANTEE THAT'LL HELP!"

Petunia slammed the phone down before Lily had time to form a response, and she hung up after a moment of dial tone, knowing that all she could do now was speak to Dumbledore and hope for the best. It had been silly of her to entertain – however briefly – the thought of a baby Dudley and Harry, playing together like friends. She had lost her sister a long time ago, and Harry and Dudley would probably never even come face-to-face.

Harry had been born on schedule, along with Alice Longbottom's Neville, as the prophecy said, though she tried to banish it from her thoughts as often as possible. She had never been a believer of Divination, and only the fact that Dumbledore believed it made her pay it any mind.

At twenty years old, Lily had learned things she'd craved for, and things she'd never, ever wanted to comprehend. She had lived a lifetime in only a fraction of the time, but there were still things left to learn.

Petunia had taught her anger, but she would learn forgiveness through the thought of Dudley Dursley, and at her end would hold no ill will towards her sister, achieving a sense of peace the other would never have. Voldemort and the Death Eaters had taught her hatred, but from Severus Snape, she would relearn how to hope, as she became one of the few to know the secret of his change in loyalties before the war was over. The war had taught her the true meaning of darkness, but Dumbledore showed them the light over and over again, and she would learn that there was no point in fighting if you didn't allow yourself to feel what you were fighting for.

James had shown her love, and would continue to, every day of his life. But Harry would teach her devotion, and she would learn the hows and whys a person can give of themselves entirely for the sake of someone else.

Life had taught her to be afraid, but at the end, when she stood and faced her death, she would learn that without fear, one could not be brave. She would know that her entire life had somehow lead directly to that moment. She would take that moment, she would rise above it, and she would make it hers.

Though Harry Potter would be hailed as the Boy-Who-Lived, Lily would be the true heroine of that war, as the sheer power of her essence – the collection of contradictions that had made her who she was, lingered in the air long after she was gone. No one would know that the girl forever caught inbetween the two worlds had ended up saving both. But that was okay, because in the end, she didn't need glory. The decision she made that day at eleven years old had introduced her to the missing part of herself, and the love she had for that little boy was powerful and tangible enough to connect with him in the aftermath of her death, and reside there within his veins for years to come.

At twenty, Lily Potter was not a fan of Divination. But a year from now, as she puts her son to sleep for what will be the last time, she will sing the same song her ten year old self adored;

"Limitless, undying love which shines around me like a million suns, it calls me on and on, across the universe..."

This time, when she gets to the chorus line, she will not laugh.

fin.