A/N I haven't done a disclaimer yet so now I will.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the daring, sexy, strikingly, handsome Marauder's with the exception of Aden. Although I would love to own Remus. Anyone else you recognize belongs not to me, but to the brilliant J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Sixteen: Pieces Of Me part 1

Lily didn't know where she was going; she just followed the first route in her way. Burning tears were acid on her cheeks. She found herself in front of the Fat Lady idly flipping through a magazine.

"Augery Call!" Lily stumbled through the portrait hole and ran into someone. She couldn't take it. She collapsed on the floor and sobbed uncontrollably. The world was suddenly so lonely and cold. Her heart felt like a pile of ashes.

Lily didn't know when or for how long she lay there crying on the floor. It was a blur. But then, someone wrapped their arms around her and cradled her back and forth. She sat there for an eternity; trying to grasp the world she knew was slipping away. The chaos in her mind tried to consume her, and the only thing that kept her from insanity were those strong arms. She anchored herself to them and waited out the storm.

James was just coming down the stairs and heading for the portrait to go to breakfast. Cursing himself for oversleeping and cursing his friends for not getting him up.

Just as he was about to open the portrait it swung open and closed on a fiery haired girl. James could hear her sobbing and saw the tears on her cheeks. But what stunned him was that the tears were not water, they were fire.

Lily collapsed before him and lay crying unceasingly on the floor. He was shot to the heart to see the object of his affections so hurt. He went down to his knees and rocked her back and forth, trying desperately to calm her. In the end he just waited for her to stop on her own, she clung to him as if trying not to fall.

When she finally lifted her head to see who had held her, James saw the fire still trailing down her face. Lily didn't seem to notice it. Green met hazel.

"Thank you." It was choked, but sincere.

"No problem." James could not fathom what had caused his delicate flower to be so ripped apart. As if a child had picked her and ground the flower beneath his heal. He thought it better not to ask; if she wanted him to know she'd tell him in her time.

Lily didn't move. She sat there, unable to tear her eyes from James. He reached out and tentatively tried to brush away the lingering flames. To his surprise they did not burn, and he lifted his flame-covered fingers to his eyes to examine them.

Lily gasped. She touched her face and also pulled away with flames. "Fire tears? It's not possible."

James gave a slight laugh. "Anything is possible in a magical world."

She looked at her watch. "I need to go." She faltered a moment, seeming as if she might start crying again. "Tell everyone I'm sick, would you?"

"Sure." Lily got up and walked to the girl's Dorm stairs. She glanced back at James and went up into the waiting shadows.

"Where did she go?" Hannah looked at Andromeda who sat dumb in her seat.

"Andromeda? What's that?" Jen snapped her fingers in front of Andromeda's face. "Hello?"

Wordlessly she passed the letter to Hannah. She read through the letter twice, not quite believing it the first time. Then she dropped the letter and ran towards the hall motioning for Jen and Andromeda to follow.

They had almost made it to the seventh floor when James rounded a corner and stopped them.

"Lily's sick." James said.

"But—we thought…" Andromeda trailed off at a sign from James.

"She doesn't want to be disturbed. She's sick." He gave them a pointed look and kept walking.

"He doesn't know does he?" Jen glanced up the remaining stairs.

"I don't know. But he must have talked to Lily." Hannah turned around and walked to class.

"Should we check on her anyway?" Andromeda asked.

"I don't think so. She'll come when she's ready." Jen winked. "Or we'll just go up after class and force her to talk to us."

Snape walked aimlessly through the corridors not sure where he was going or even if he was supposed to be in class. At first he started wandering because an unlikely guilt lay heavy in his heart. He had heard Lily's anguished cry, seen the tears raging down her cheeks like an angry river. He had heard her denial of the truth, and seen her run from the hall.

It was unusual for Snape to feel such guilt. A week ago he would have said they'd had it coming.

But a week ago their death would not have been his fault. An uncomfortable lump had settled in the pit of his stomach. Yet that was almost unnoticeable compared to the soreness of his muscles. The pain was to the effect that he had torn every ligament in his body.

Imagine his surprise when he walked into the Library and straight for the most secluded corner there was. It had been their spot. Now it wasn't even his spot. A series of memories replayed themselves in his mind.

Just as he was about to sit down a girl caught his attention. He turned slightly to see the surprised form of Hannah sitting in one of the armchairs. Upon seeing her Snape had to wonder if this really was coincidence.

"Hello Severus." Hannah said stiffly. Why now? She wondered to herself.

"Hannah." He replied just as stiffly. But then his shoulders slumped in defeat. He couldn't do this. To Hannah it looked like he had crumpled inwardly.

"Are you feeling alright?" Her voice was cold, distorted by an emotion Snape couldn't place. If anything was conveyed in her tone, it wasn't concern.

He began to say in an equally cold voice that yes, he was fine. But he stopped himself. "I'm sorry."

"And what have you to be sorry for? Wait a moment." A malevolent glean entered her gaze. "Maybe I can think of something." She started ticking off the list with her fingers. "You insulted my friends and family. You tried to kill my cousin. You broke my heart more than once. You charmed me as a snake charms its prey. And you…" She trailed off.
Tears glistened in her eyes for a split second.

A thrill of fear ran through Snape as each of his emotions tried to gain dominance.

"Please Hannah, I beg of you, forgive—…"

"I know what you did last night Severus." Steel edged her voice; it cut the air like a knife. "And it's not anything I could ever forgive."

She turned to walk away but Snape spoke before she could leave. "Hannah, promise me something if you won't forgive me. For old times sake." She stood there listening. He took that as a yes. "Promise you won't forget that I'll always love you."

"Why promise something that's already imbedded in my soul?" Snape glanced at her hopefully. "But remember this Severus, I will never love you again."

She left him there, staring at the ground as if his whole life lay shattered there. Snape couldn't help but feel through the emotional fog that clouded his brain, as if maybe something significant had just happened.

The months seemed to blur together for Lily. After two days of being 'sick', she had gone back to class and back to living. Although it was painfully obvious how cautious everyone was around her.

That fateful day in her Dorm Lily had bottled some of the flaming tears to see if they would go out. They didn't. So that jar had continued to live on her nightstand as a reminder that the fire within her had to keep burning.

Valentine's Day had slipped by with only a bouquet of red roses from James, which she discreetly dried and preserved with spells.

As spring gently replaced winter Lily seemed to awaken from a deep slumber. It was very much as if she really were one of the flowers that sprouted up through the soil. The only difference was that her petals weren't quite so pure and white. Their color was hard to determine, but it was certain she was a tainted rose and always would be.

A/N Hello! I'm now in High School and bogged down with assignments and a social life that is barely sustaining itself. I'm getting most of my writing done on the weekends so delays may become frequent. I apologize a trillion times over. What did you think of the chapter. It is what we authors like to call a 'filler chapter'. It's basically irrelevant information designed to keep you interested so you stick around for the juicy stuff.

Poll: If you were James what would you do about Lily?

If I received this question from my Humanities teacher I'd probably have to write a five-paragraph essay on it.

Celina K2

Or

GoldenLocket14