Standing Strong

Summary: Can Dumbledore reunite the Gryffindores and Slytherines? Can Lily and James put aside their differences? Can the Marauders overcome all obstacles? But most of all can they stand strong?

Disclaim: All characters, places ect belong to J.K.Rowling unless of course you dont recognise them.

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A/N: Ok well this is the next chapter I hope you like it and thank you to my reviewers. I am going to get on with it now I hope its interesting and all the rest of that sort of drivel i come out with: ) This chapter by the way is relevent and is very full of feeling and past events and that sort of thing.

Chapter Four: A Feeling Shared.

James cautiously approached Lily's bed. He sat in the chair that had been placed by her bed. Things had improved slightly in Lilys general appearence; her face was no longer tear soaked, he cheeks had a slight pink tinge in them and her eyes were now closed. She looked calm, peacful. It brought images from a fairy tale his sister had been besoted with. Sleeping beauty. When the princess had been pricked by the spinning wheel and would not wake until she had been kissed. It crossed James's mind...no. He couldnt believe he had just thought it.

James didnt know whether to be bored or uncomfortable. He couldnt leave because she had to be spoke to as soon as she woke, and yet here he was waiting , but how long would he have to wait.

Time slipped by. Three hours he had sat drinking pumpkin juice and having the odd conversation with Matren Potts as she did her cleaning rounds and helped the students that came from various lessons and then left. When she did wake James was so unsuspecting he jumped out of his chair. He became nervous. Matren Potts would not come to help calm Lily down it would appear she had been given her orders.

Lily sat up breathiing heavily, shaking and looking continuously around the room gripping the sides of her bed so hard her knuckles had turned white.

James aproached cautiously and placed a hand gently on Lilys shoulder, he moved it when she flinched.

"Lily" he said gently to gain her attention. Instantly James regretted it, but at the same time knew it had to be done. Lily's eyes showed pure panic, he felt his heart melt there and then. It was not going to be an easy task.

"James" Lily whimpered pitifully and lifted her hands and began to cry. If James's heart had not already melted it would have broken.

He moved closer to Lily and took her in his arms. He held her gently and akwardly and let her cry. He felt the dampness of her tears through his shirt and smelt the salt from them. He held her until her body stopped heaving and he could not hear any more of her sobs.

He placed Lily back against some propped up pillows and passed her some tissues. She sat and nervously looked around her.

"Lily...I...need to ask you something. If thats ok?"

"What?" Her voice had taken a sharp tone and he eyes still wavered around the room. James found himself at her mercy he took her hands in his and tried to keep eye contact with her.

"Lily when we were talking in the library, about our ideas, can you remember them. You left me a bit in the lerch." James thought he had better take things slowly.

"I know what we're doing. We're writing about the polyjuice potion and finding subsitute spells and potions for it, and shapshifting potions and spells and object transformation. Then..." Lily's eyes widened and she looked at James.

"I...I dont know what we said after that. James did you leave me" Lily had tears falling one at a time down her face. James handed her more tissues.

"I didnt leave you. But the reason you cant remember if we talked about anything else is because you sort of collapsed. Matren Potts explain what was wrong with you to me. I'll tell you what it was but first i need you to tell me what you felt, so that it will be easier for you to understand what i will tell you?"

"James...it was awful. They died they all died. Some women they were so scared and they couldnt get help i coulnt help." James listened without interupting. He didnt know who she was on about he would ask that later if he needed.

"I had to watch. There was a man and a small boy. The women had a baby. A little boy. He had blue eyes. They were wearing hoods, dark hoods. But the main one he was taller, he wouldnt listen and...and he wouldnt look at me i didnt know why it was happening." Lily's rambling had turned into hysterics now and James held her hand tighter than before. He knew what she was feeling. He had felt it himself. He had watched people die. He knew what it felt like to be helpless.

"Lily who are the people you saw and why couldnt you help, were you tied up or was a spell used?"

"I dont know there was nothing there. No ropes and I didnt see or hear anyone place a spell on me. I dont know who the people are, I dont know. Their families might not know James. I wanted to help I really did...it wasnt my fault was it that I couldnt do anything its just that i couldnt move. Nobody would pay attention to me. They couldnt hear my screams in amongst their own." Lily had stopped being hysterical but her eyes were empty.

"It wasnt your fault Lily. You did what you could. And your screams were heard. I heard them and I will do something about them."

Lily had a genuine gratitude in her eyes as she looked at James.

"What about the corridore?" She asked like she had woken from a week of sleep.

"Oh erm...well Sirius, Remus, Peter and I are all working on that but I dont think we've found the right one yet. When you feel better I would like you to come too." James looked at Lily who nodded a little. He had to lie he couldnt tell her that it had been put on delay. Nor could he explain that it had only been quite a few hours ago that he had explained this to her.

"Lily can you describe everyone you saw?"

"The man had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes he wasnt very tall, about medium height. The two women; one had blonde hair and blue eyes she was tall about 6 foot. The other one had really short black hair, they both tried to stop the tall hooded man from getting the baby. She was a bit shorter than the other woman but taller than the blonde haired man. There was a boy about seven or eight years old. He had brown hair, big brown eyes. And then lastly was the baby...he had lovely baby whispy brown hair and blue eyes really round blue eyes."

It may have looked like Lily would not be able to cry anymore but she proved James wrong and cried. He hugged her again and looked at her. She was still nervous and still looked constantly around the room. She was paraniod. He could sense it.

"What happened to me James?"

James explain everything to Lily that Madam Potts and Dumbledore had said about the crossing of magic. It desturbed him to see that Lily obviously couldnt understand why or how she could be involved in what she saw.

"Lily you could be involved in a good way. Maybe your suposed to help now, help get the people that did it. You couldnt do anything then but you can now. It may take time Lily, you may have to wait for what you want but you can do something about it."

"You sound like an expert James." Lily had calmed down dramatically. James had chose not to tell her about the heart attack. He didnt want to alarm her and Matren Potts had pretty much told him it was a one off.

"I've just been in the same position before, i know how you feel. I know how much it hurts to see and hear people die without being able to do anything to help them or save them. I sometimes wonder whether it would be cowdice to want to die before someone so that you dont have to go through the pain of losing them yourself or whether it cowardice to not jump in front and save them and just worry about how you'll get your revenge later."

"You've had a crossing of magic as well?" Lily was astonished. It as not something she had ever heard of or read about and yet she had had one and so had James she thought.

"No."

"What happened?" Lily asked. James didnt know whether to say or not. The only person he had ever talked to was Sirius and that was only because Sirius was like a grandson, son and brother to his family and him. Then again Lily looked desperate and she had confided in him. When he thought about it they had both shared the same feelings at some point in their life.

"Voldemort and Deatheaters came to my house. Me and my grandad were playing chess in the front room. Mum and sister were cooking and my dad was inbetween the two rooms doing various things and offereing advice on his cooking and chess skills." James smiled slightly remembering the way his dad would throw around advice sometimes about things he had never heard of. James continued.

"My grandad shoved me in this large unit cubbard thing and put some spells on it quickly and told me I needed to be safe. I didnt...well I still dont understand why he felt the need to hide me and save me quickly but he wasnt as urgent with my mum, dad and sister."

"I dont think your grandad thought or felt any less of your mother, father and sister than he did you. I think it was just a case of you were there for him to save and I think he knew and trusted your mum and dad enough to know they could look after themselves and your sister as best they could."

"Maybe. Well anyway they all fought, with the exceptance of my sister she didnt even have a wand yet." James felt a hard lump rise in his throat and his voice go high for a moment.

"Thats what hurt the most. She was the last one to be killed. It didnt have to be that way. If I had helped her at least we both would have stood a chance, at least I had a wand and knew how to duel." James stopped for a moment to compose himslef. He would exchange thoughts and feelings with Lily but he was not ready to let her see him cry. Ready, he thought. Why would he need to be. It was Lily they never really got on and why did it matter?

"James you couldnt have done anything. Who do you live with?"

"No one. On my own...well no thats not true. Sirius and I live together. It was hard on him. For reasons of his own he's been living with my family for the last two years. He was out that day with some family that he's still in touch with."

"It must have been awful, how did you get out?"

"My grandad didnt die straight away. He let me out and he talked to me. He told me that I wasnt to worry and that I would be in my seventh year soon and that whatever troubles I had before and any squables were stupid. He told me that when I left Hogwarts everything was different, your not always going to be in with people you like and he said I should love and the most important thing I should do if anything was to build bridges. Those were his last words when he left so to speak." James stopped and had a distant look in his eye.

When he looked up to Lily who had not spoken in some time he found her looking at him with admiration in her eyes, eyes that glistened with tears.

At that moment both James and Lily had a mutual understanding of one another. They had shared something that like Lily was connected to the magic connected them to each other. It was something that they would also keep to themselves and treasure, it is a rare moment when you find yourself at the mercy of someone that just two days ago would only just have the patience to listen to you let alone anything else. Lily would not sleep by her own will, so Matren Potts slipped a sleeping drought into Lily's pumpkin juice. James stayed until she was asleep. He didnt want to return for when she woke again, he decided he would leave that time for her friends. It would be at least another three hours away.

James had a long wait until dinner tonight for the prank so he would have to go straight to Dumbledore and then back to lessons. As James headed towards Dumbledores office he felt a funny feeling. He felt as though what had been shared to him was something for him to keep. He wasnt entirely comfortable telling Dumbledore everything. So he would just tell him the bare details. He would tell him that death eaters and Voldemorte had killed a blonde haired man, a black haird woman and a blonde haired women, an eight year old brown haired boy and a baby with big blue eyes and whispy hair.

A/N: OOOO. Yeah anyway. Enough of my stupidness. I think I kinda quite like this chapter...I didnt at first but its growing on my now I've read for the hundreth time. God it sounds like Im reviewing my own story. Anyhow hope YOU all like it and please please please review because i do love you all so very very much! (I'm in a good mood, you can tell right!)