Author's note: I bet some of you want to kill me right now, leaving it at a cliffhanger. But I had just wanted to update so fast that that was the result. I'll try not to put cliffhangers in the future, but I make no promises.

Chapter 8

"She's not breathing," said James. He had tears in his eyes. He check for a pulse. "She has a pulse," stated James. He sighed with relief. "I'll just grab my wand..." he said, then realized that he had forgotten in the house. So had everyone else, with all the excitement.

"James, do you know how to preform CPR?" asked Remus. James nodded. "I'll have to do that, before she loses her pulse," he said.

He gave the red-head CPR, trying to much not to let the tears in his eyes obscure his vision.

After a few minutes, Lily choked up the water. Her eyes fluttered open and looked around her. James, Remus and Sirius were staring at her. She looked at them for a moment before collapsing into James's arms.

James quickly carried Lily back upstairs, and placed her in his bed. He found his wand on his bedside and dried her off. He conjured more blankets and placed them on her. She shivered a little bit, before falling asleep. James then dried himself.

James watched her sleeping. She had a few scratched on her head, and he had also seen a few on her arms and legs. She was still wearing her skimpy little night gown.

James lay down next to her and held off the urge to hold her tight and never let go.

When he woke up, Lily was still sleeping. He quietly slipped out of bed and made his way over to the shower. He turned the water on hot, trying to warm him up. He was still a little chilled from the night before.

When he got back, Lily was still sleeping. He kissed her forehead and he went downstairs.

He sat down to breakfast and looked up at his mother. She was looking at him intently. "What?" he asked, rather harshly. He had not much sleep the night before and was feeling particularly grumpy at the moment.

"How's Lily?" Mrs. Potter asked. James shifted uncomfortably. "I know what happened last night," she added. James looked at his mother. "Who told you?" James asked gruffly. "Remus, and before you go and massacre him, I pushed him to tell me. He came down after you brought Lily up, and I caught him having something to drink. As you know, Remus is not much of a liar. Plus, he was a bit out of breath, as if he had just ran a mile. Once I coaxes him to tell me, he told me everything," she said. James hung his head. "So it is true?" she asked. He nodded.

"Why?" asked Mrs. Potter. "Lily seems like such a nice young woman." James shrugged. "I don't know," he said. He looked down at his food and sighed. "I'm not very hungry," he said, before excusing himself from the table.

James went back up to his room. Lily was still sleeping. James checked her pulse and her breathing. Everything was normal. She shivered slightly. James conjured what seemed to be the 4th blanket, and placed it on her. He kissed her forehead, like he did whenever he left the room, and made his way to Remus's room.

"So, how is she?" asked Remus, as James sat on Remus's bed. Sirius was sitting on a chair, reading a magazine. "She's breathing, and her pulse is okay. But she's still a little chilled," James replied. "Is she awake?" asked Sirius. James shook his head. "No, but she kept shivering," he replied. "How many blankets do you have on her?" Remus asked. James thought for a moment before answering, "I'm pretty sure it's 5." Remus nodded thoughtfully, before sitting on the bed next to James. "If she becomes colder, try getting an heating pad and put it under the mattress," he told James, who was nodding his head. "I'll go check on her now," he said, before leaving the room.

"He's hopeless," sighed Sirius. Remus smiled. "No, he's in love," he answered. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Who need love when he could have any babe in the school?" Sirius asked. It was Remus's turn to roll his eyes. "Sirius, James knows that, but he still wants Lily. What does that tell you?" he asked. Sirius shrugged. "That he got hit in the head one too many times with a bludger," Sirius joked. "No, that he truly loves her, you idiot," Remus replied. Sirius shrugged once more, before returning to his magazine.

James tiptoed into his room. He saw that Lily was awake, looking scared.

"Hey love," James said. "Hey," said Lily. "Come here." James was puzzled but happily obliged. He knelt down in front of his bed and before he knew it, Lily slapped him. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you woman!" said James, rubbing his cheek. "Do you know what suicide means?" asked Lily. James nodded. "Taking your own life, which I wasn't going to allow you to do," he replied.

"Well, I never asked to be saved!" Lily yelled. She was sitting strait up, her hair messed up. "Well, you never asked not to be saved!" yelled James. "Suicide James! Means that they don't want to live! Means that I don't want to live!" yelled Lily. "But, I do! You might think that life is terrible and you want to get away from the pain, but what about the pain you'll cause other people! What about your friends? What about Remus and Sirius? What about me?" James replied, the anger visible in his voice. "No one would care!" she yelled, a few tear drops falling from her eyes. "I would care," James replied calmly, brushing the tears off of her cheek. Lily collapsed into his arms and began to sob, her whole body wracking. James held her tight, and stoked her hair.

"Lily, why don't you go take a shower," suggested James, after Lily had stopped crying. She nodded and left, not saying another word to James.

"That was some fight you two had," said Remus, as James walked out of his room. "You heard it?" James asked, grimly. Remus nodded. "Hard not to. Plus, it didn't help that Sirius pratically dragged me to the door," Remus added. "Hey!" exclaimed Sirius. James rolled his eyes.

Lily took a hot shower. It felt good against her cuts and scrapes. Her wrists still had the cuts on them, but they were smaller. She washed her hair, trying to get the smell of the lake out of her hair. She finally got out, and wrapped a towel around her. She quickly slipped out of the bathroom and made her way towards her room. She stopped in front of James's room when she heard James and Sirius talking.

"James, please tell me your not insane," said Sirius, barging into James's room. He was picking up a sweatshirt off the floor. "Just because I pick up after myself sometimes doesn't make me insane. You should try it sometime," replied James. Sirius rolled his eyes. "I meant, why do you have to love Evans?" Sirius asked. "Why?" asked James, puzzled at why Sirius was asking him a question that he already knew the answer too.

"Why? Well because I'm curious," Sirius replied. James rolled his eyes but said, "Fine, I'll tell you for the hundredth time. Because she so unique and different. Because she cares more about school than her looks. She doesn't know how beautiful she really is. She cares about everyone else, and she comes last. Because she's not some flaky girl that can't hold a proper conversation. Because she's passionate about what she believes in. She always never lets anything bother her," "Except you," pointed out Sirius. However, James ignored Sirius's comment and continued. "She's always puts her whole heart in whatever she does, and she doesn't care what others think..." "James, okay, okay. I get it," said Sirius, holding his hands up in defeat. James looked at his best friend and shook his head.

Lily, on the other side of the door, gasped. Who knew James thought that much of her? Maybe Remus had been right...

"Hello Lily," said a voice behind her. She turned around quickly and was face to face with Remus. "Oh, hello Remus," said Lily, her cheeks turning crimson red. Remus smiled. "I see you were eavesdropping on James," he stated. "No," said Lily, quickly. Remus raised his eyebrow at Lily. "Oh, fine! Yes, I was. I heard my name come up and I wanted to see what was to be said about me," she said, looking at the floor.

"And what did you hear?" Remus asked. Lily blushed harder, but shook her head. "Something along the lines of 'Lily's amazing, she beautiful, smart and not flaky'?" Remus asked, knowing only too well the speech James told them whenever he talked about the red-head. Lily nodded. "Do you believe me yet?" he asked. Lily looked deep in his eyes. "Yes," she said, before rushing off to her room, her face very red.

Lily quickly got dressed and settled herself on her bed. She looked at her mini calender. Only three weeks before school would start back up soon. Lily sighed. Her friends hadn't written to her yet. It didn't seem right. Nothing was right at the moment. Lily had escaped to James's, Voldemort had killed her parents, James was being nice, Lily was trying to kill herself, and James was saving her. To Lily, all this was not right.

Lily got a craving for some chocolate and decided to go downstairs to find some. She quietly slipped past James's door, and made her way towards the stairs. Hoping that no one was downstairs, Lily made her way to the kitchen.

Once inside the kitchen, Lily was relieved that no one was around. She opened the pantry and found a bar of chocolate. She quickly grabbed it, and went outside for a walk. She sat down by the willow tree, which had now become her favorite spot to sit, and began munching on the chocolate. She looked out to the lake, and memories of the previous night crept into her mind.

Lily shuddered and tried to forget them, but the image of the water coming closer, her screams echoing in the night, would not stop haunting her. She closed her eyes, trying to think of something happier. James suddenly popped into her mind, making her feel warm inside. Lily gasped and opened her eyes. Her heart was racing. "The image of James did not just do that!" she thought. Lily finished her chocolate bar, then went back inside the house.

She decided she needed to write to her friends. But a voice in the back of her head told her that her friends didn't care. She tried ignoring it, but whenever she put her quill down on the paper, the voice continued to tell her that her friends don't care. Lily, frustrated, deposited her quill and looked around her room. Her eyes fell on a piece of paper.

She went over to it and looked at the paper. It was her suicide note. Lily grabbed the paper and tore it up in a many number of pieces. She went out onto the balcony and threw it. She watched the pieces fly away and land into the water. "Like it knew that that was the way I tried to kill myself," she thought involuntarily. She shuddered at the thought.

She sat down on the balcony and watched as the Marauders came out of the house, all in their swim trunks. Lily couldn't help but blush.

"So James, want to go swimming?" asked Sirius, after James had finished picking the stuff on the floor. "Sure, I guess. I think I'll ask Lily if she wants to join us," said James. "Prongs, do you think that's such a good idea after last night?" Remus asked. James shook his head. "You're right," he said. The boys each went to their own room and changed into their swim trunks.

They made their way downstairs and went out towards the lake, not knowing that a certain red-head was watching them. The put down their towels and waded in. James lazily floated on the top, trying hard not to remember the nights events. He looked up at Lily's balcony, only to find Lily staring at him. As soon as she saw him staring she looked away.

James smiled. She was watching him. Him, James Potter was being watched by the most beautiful girl on the planet. He caught her looking at him again and he motioned for her to come and swim with him. She went inside her room and James wasn't sure if she had saw him.

Lily hastily looked through her trunk and found her swim suit. She put it on and grabbed a towel.

She made her way downstairs and went outside. She saw that James, Remus and Sirius were all staring at her. She had on a white bikini with colored polka-dots on it. James seemed to be almost drooling. She put down her towel and joined the trio in the water.

Author's note: So, Chapter 8. Finally. It was taking me a while to write this one because I sorta got in trouble and I got less time on the computer. So, the winners to my contest are: Pontas-Metallika

BoOkWoRmof2005

audreyblaine

spaz82

LilyXJames

maraudersrock77

Yay to all of you!