Jeez, for some reason ff.net doesn't want this part to be shown. I've been trying forever to get it up. I'm hoping to write more, but I'm suffering from un-temporary writer's block. Frodo, it seems, has left on a long vacation and didn't tell me where he was going ahead of time. I've started the next part, however I'm not sure when I'll finish it. I'm hoping to get Lily to Hogwarts in the next few chapters, but the ending of this chapter is inevitable and needed to be where it was. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Lily Potter, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black all belong to J.K. Rowling.

Part Five:

Letters in the Vault

Obtaining her money from Gringott's was an easier task then she thought it would be. The goblins didn't care about her name or former occupation, only that she had her key and that she knew her vault number. Other than that, the identity of Lily Potter was a mystery to them. She waited for a few moments until a goblin was free to take her down to the vault. She quickly opened it when she arrived. The piles of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts never ceased to amaze her. James had inherited a small fortune from his parents and she'd received the equivalent to get her through a Muggle college from hers. Combined, the two had a large sum between them. Lily swept a pile of Galleons into her leather bag, then decided to grab some smaller change incase she needed it. After she had placed the Sickles and Knuts into her bag, she noticed a small square piece of parchment in the corner of the vault. She pulled it towards her and noticed that it was made of the same heavy parchment as the Hogwarts letters, however it was simply addressed "Lily Potter" in black ink instead of the normal emerald green.

"Are you ready to go?" the goblin asked her from the cart. Lily hastily pocketed the letter and closed the vault door. The ride back to the bank was bumpy and felt like the roller coaster ride that Petunia had dragged her on when they were little. The minute the cart came to a stop, Lily jumped out clutching her stomach and forgetting about the parchment in her pocket. She stumbled towards the exit, clutching her bags and trying not to be sick.

"Lily Potter!" a familiar voice called out. Lily turned around to see Hagrid standing by the door, his face with a reddish tint to it. "Where are yeh goin'?"

"I'm going to stay with Remus until the beginning of the school year," Lily replied curtly. She was a grown adult; she could make her own decisions.

"But Dumbledore told me teh take yeh to Hogwarts meself," Hagrid protested. Lily shook her head and looked down the street. Remus was standing in the distance looking worriedly up and down the street.

"Hagrid, tell him where I went, will you? I'm a grown adult, I can make my own decisions." Hagrid looked thoughtful then slowly nodded his head. Lily walked down the street towards Remus without saying goodbye to Hagrid. As she walked, she opened her bag and got out six Sickles. When she reached Remus, she pressed them into his hand.

"Let's go," she said. Remus began to lead her towards the wall that led to the Leaky Cauldron. He pressed several bricks on the wall and silently walked in.

"We're going to have to take the Muggle underground," he said, laughing at Lily's confused look as he held the door to Muggle London open for her. Lily nodded and followed him out the door and towards the stairs that would take them to their destination. Hagrid's worried look started to play repeatedly in her mind. Why would Dumbledore want her at work a week before the term started? He could come and get her if he wanted to.

"Down here," Remus said, handing some Muggle coins to the woman in a booth. He went through the gate and beckoned for Lily to follow him.

"Why so silent?" Remus asked, looking concerned. The train doors opened in front of them and they walked in and sat down. Lily put her head in her hands and shook her head.

"They all treat me like a child," she whispered. "When are they going to realize that I'm an adult and I can make my own decisions and even though I spent the last eleven years in St. Mungo's, that doesn't make me a delinquent!" she raised her head an sat back in the seat with the last statement. She felt Remus's arm reach out and wrap around her shoulder.

"I don't think that you're a child," he said. Lily was about to shrug off his arm, but then thought better of it. She liked the feeling. She leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. "And I'm glad you're back," he whispered. It was the last thing he said for the rest of the ride.

~~

"This is my room," Remus said as he showed her around his small cottage on the edge of a small village. The cottage was neat, yet somewhat shabby, almost like Remus himself. Lily let herself be led to the next room. It was very small and had a small bed frame and mattress in the corner. A small chest of drawers stood against the wall. The room was well lit and friendly, although shabby. Remus walked over and put Lily's bags on the bed. "This is my guest room, but I guess that you can tell I don't have guests very often," he said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I understand," Lily said. She knew that it would have been more appropriate to fall into Remus's arms in a bone-crushing hug and exclaim the rooms' perfection, but Remus would be more embarrassed then happy over the not-so subtle lies. She knew that he didn't get very many guests because few wizards would associate with a werewolf, no matter how tame he was. It was the kind of bigotry that followed somebody, no matter how kind and loving, through their entire life and nothing would ever change that.

"Bathroom is the second door on the left and don't go in the room at the end of the hall," Remus concluded the tour, knocking Lily out of her train of thought. She was about to ask why, but then realized that it was probably the room that Remus used for transformations every month.

She looked at her watch. It was late, but not late enough for her to go to bed. She yawned, placing her hand politely over her mouth. Remus looked at her and laughed. "Go to sleep," he said. "You've had a long day."

"I'm not tired," Lily insisted, punctuating the sentence with another yawn. Remus laughed again and grabbed her bags and dumped them on the floor. He took out his wand and waved it. Sheets appeared on the once barren mattress and after a moment, a dark forest green comforter appeared on top of the sheets. Lily walked over to the bed and lay down on it.

"Lily?" Remus asked, his wand pointed at the floor. Lily sat up on the bed looked at Remus. "Do you ever miss him?"

"Every day. But it hurts too much to think about it. I spent the last eleven years trying to get over what happened. I don't want to think about it now." Lily's tone had finality to it that Remus hadn't heard from her in a long time. He decided it would be best to simply nod and whisper "Nox" and leave the room. With his exit, Lily lay down once again on the newly made up bed. Contrary to her yawns, she wasn't tired at all. Remus's question had struck a nerve with her. She really didn't want to think about James and about how he was gone and she survived. She didn't want to think about how she'd never see him again, about how ordered her to run He'd known that he wouldn't be able to hold Voldemort off by himself. He'd known that he was going to die that night. And he'd left her, alone and powerless, to fend for herself. Why didn't he know that she didn't want to live without him?

Lily's thoughts soon clouded her head. James...Sirius...miscarriage. Nothing seemed to be right about the situation at hand. Her thoughts then abruptly turned to Remus and how she had felt when she was with him today. It had been like the early days with James. When she'd left for the vault he had been so happy that she was going to stay with her, so unhurt by her earlier accusations. The vault.

Lily sprung out of bed, ignoring the loud creak it gave off. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the parchment envelope with her name on it. She could barely see, only natural light filled the room and that was gone, it being late. Lily took a few quick steps over to where Remus had put her bags and put her hand inside one of them. After feeling around inside of it, she determined that the bag held nothing more then some books and other possessions salvaged from the wreckage at Godric's Hollow. The second bag contained the robes she had purchased earlier that day. However, the third bag had what she had been looking for: a long narrow box. She pulled the box out of the bag and opened it, the contents sliding into her hand.

"Lumos," she whispered. The wand let off a dampened glow. Lily triumphantly walked back over to the bed and lay down, the wand light flickering next to her on the bed. She slowly pulled the letter out of her pocket and opened it. She pulled out a small photograph and a folded piece of parchment. The photograph was of James and her on their wedding day. James was laughing and waving at the camera. She wore an expression of doubt but suddenly the photographic Lily began to laugh as Sirius jumped into the picture. That was just like him, always the center of attention even when it was clearly an event made for somebody else. Lily gave a short laugh, then turned her attention to the parchment. Her hands suddenly became clammy as she unfolded the paper and began to read it.

My dearest Lily,

If you are reading this now, I'm probably dead. I put this letter into the vault a few days ago and plan to remove it before you would see it, unless something has happened to me. I want to let you know that I love you, and no matter what happens in the next few weeks, I'll always love you. I have the feeling that something is going to happen to one of us. Peter has changed and I'm getting nervous. I want you to know that there is enough money in the vault to support you for a long time. I also want you to know that it's ok. I never blamed you for the loss of our child. I won't blame you if you choose to move on with your life. Please don't spend your life in sorrow. I hated it when you were sad and it would bring me peace to know that the Lily I fell in love with was happy and content.

I love you and will cherish you forever. Remember me.

James

"Oh James," Lily whispered, her eyes filling with tears. She quickly whispered "Nox" under her breath and threw her wand aside. It made a satisfying clatter as it hit the ground. Lily rolled onto her side, clutching the letter to her chest. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. He'd known she thought to herself as she slowly cried herself to sleep.

~~

Red Caps or Grindylows, both would be easy enough for a first year to tackle, Remus thought. It was after midnight and he sat awake in his living room, his copy of Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them open on his lap. No matter how many books he checked out on defense against the dark arts, it never changed. The dark creatures were supposed to be the easiest thing to teach a beginner to deal with. They all told him to leave curses until the third or at least the fourth year. However, none of the books suggested which creatures or curses to teach or where he might be able to obtain one without having to travel to Japan to capture a wild Kappa. Sighing, he picked up his copy of the Defense teacher's edition textbook. There was no address in the back, not even a Muggle telephone number. He flipped through the book again, stopping on the page that said, "Obtaining the Dark Creature." He'd already read it three times and every time it said the same thing. We do not supply the creatures, but only the text in which to learn about them from. Angrily, Remus threw the book across room. At least he knew where he could find a werewolf, seeing that the book said it was an appropriate creature to end the dark creatures' curriculum with.

Remus put his head in his hands. He hadn't brought an easy task upon himself, yet he was determined to see it through to the best of his ability. He felt his eyes starting to close, telling him that he should go to sleep. For once, he obeyed and drifted off into a light slumber.

Twenty minutes later, a loud knocking on the front door woke him up. Startled, he jumped to his feet, the book sliding to the floor with a crash. Remus glanced at the clock. It was almost one in the morning. Nobody ever came that early, not unless they bore bad news. He quickly walked to the door and opened it, then almost slammed it in surprise. Instead of the ministry official he'd been expecting, Sirius Black stood at his front door.

"Moony," he whispered. "I'm free. I'm out, they somehow found out that Peter was the Secret-Keeper, not me. Dumbledore came and got me out this morning. I need to stay here for a few nights, until things get settled," Sirius pushed his way past Remus and into the house. Remus followed him in a stunned silence, stopping only when Sirius came to a halt.

"What is she doing here?" he asked, his voice low. Remus looked up. At the entrance to her room stood Lily, her face streaked with tears and her hands clutching a piece of parchment.

"Sirius," she whispered. She stepped towards him, causing him to take a step backwards into Remus. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Sirius asked quietly, his voice containing a level of anger that Remus heard only when he was speaking about Snape. "Sorry that you kept me locked in Azkaban for eleven years? Sorry that you're here, betraying James' memory. You just got out and already you're hitting on one of his best friends. Whore," he turned his back on Lily. Remus looked over his shoulder at her. She had tears streaming down her face. "Moony, I would have expected better from you," he said, his voice full of disappointment. He quickly walked around Remus and towards the door.

"Padfoot, wait," Remus yelled after him. "I'm not doing anything with Lily. She's simply staying here until the next term at Hogwarts starts in a week. Now before this gets blown too far out of proportion, I think that we all need to get some rest. Padfoot, you can take my bed. Lily, go back to the guest room. I'm staying out here." Surprisingly, the two both complied with what he had said. He watched as they both disappeared down the hall. It wasn't going to be an easy task, but somebody had to do it. Somebody was going to have to fix what had gone wrong. And most likely, once again, the task was going to fall to him.