James Potter groaned, and painfully opened his eyes, squinting at the bright sunlight beaming into the hospital wing. He slowly sat up, reaching for his glasses on the bedside table. His eyes widened in delight as he saw the piles of sweets on his bedside table. He briefly wondered why he was in the hospital wing, then it clicked. He and Lily had gone to the Ministry of Magic. James' eyes darted around the hospital wing urgently, looking for Lily. He finally found her, lying on the bed next to his. He wondered if she had any recollection of last night's events at all.

Dumbledore swiftly entered the hospital wing, and headed towards Lily and James. James groaned. He's probably going to tell us off for doing something so stupid, he thought. Us being the Heads doesn't help things, either. James and Lily calmly waited for Dumbledore to speak.

"What you did at the Ministry last night is a complete secret. So, naturally, the whole school knows," he beamed, his eyes twinkling merrily. Then he suddenly frowned. "What you did was very unwise. Now both of you will most definitely be on Tom's target list."

James rolled his eyes. "I beg your pardon, Headmaster, but isn't everyone on his list right about now?"

Dumbledore nodded his head ever so slightly. "Yes, I suppose you are correct, Mr. Potter. But there are some people in more danger than others. Like you two, for instance."

Suddenly Lily spoke up. "Sir? W-what happened after I fainted? Wh-why are we…alive?" she asked shakily.

Dumbledore gazed at James with a great respect. "I believe Mr. Potter knows why you lived, Ms. Evans." James' eyes widened, and he averted his eyes from Dumbledore's penetrating stare. He blushed, ruffling his hair nervously.

Lily stared at James curiously. "He knows? What happened?"

Dumbledore moved his gaze from James to Lily. Took him long enough, James thought embarrassedly. "Well, seeing as Mr. Potter seems unable to communicate for the time being, I will tell the story as I believe it happened. Right after you went unconscious, Miss Evans, Tom said the first part of the killing curse. Mr. Potter here, after deciding he would die to save you, leapt in front of your limp body. This shocked Tom so much that he stopped mid-curse. Mr. Potter weakly muttered the disarming curse, and blacked out. That is where I come in. Tom and I had…er…a bit of a duel, nothing big. Eventually he disapparated, fearing the Ministry Officials were on their way. I then brought you two safely back to Hogwarts to be treated."

Lily's eyebrows flew up alarmingly. "What do you mean, Potter was going to die for me?" she asked, amazed.

Dumbledore beamed. "Yes, Mr. Potter was going to die for you. Ah, the power love has over us, eh, Mr. Potter?" James looked down, seemingly extremely interested in the pattern of his quilt.

Lily gazed at James suspiciously, as if believing this was all a trick. Then she quickly looked back to Dumbledore. "What happened to the Death Eaters?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, they escaped as well. But Mr. Potter sure left his mark on them, did you not?" Dumbledore grinned down at James, very proud of what he had done. "And you, Miss Evans, left your mark on Tom. I am very proud of you both. Few grown wizards would have the courage and intelligence to take on Tom and his followers. As I told you, Miss Evans, you two will make a great team someday." Lily blushed, sneaking glances at James.

"Sir?" James asked anxiously. "Er…well…why couldn't Voldemort touch Lily? When he tried, he let go of her like it caused him pain."

Dumbledore's eyes gained a sparkle of comprehension. "Ah. Very interesting, Mr. Potter. You might want to continue to stare determinedly at your quilt, because this might cause some mortification. James loves you so much, Lily, that Tom could not possibly keep hold of you for long, because he does not understand what love is. You see, love is a sort of…protective barrier, if you will. Love can do great and powerful things."

Dumbledore was right – James blushed an even deeper crimson and looked away from Lily, careful to avoid her glances.

"S-So…Potter saved me? He was going to…to…die?" Lily exclaimed, shocked.

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, Mr. Potter here was quite ready to die for you. The ultimate sacrifice."

"Are you sure that's what he was doing?"

"By the look of Mr. Potter's face, I am quite sure."

"Oh. Well…er…thank you, Potter," Lily muttered nervously. "That was…erm…very…nice of you."

James merely shrugged, continuing to stare at his blanket with a sudden fascination, his face a dark crimson. Dumbledore beamed at the two of them, and suddenly grabbed a chocolate frog from Lily's stack of sweets. Lily tried to digest this new information. Potter was going to die for me? He … he would have died FOR ME! Why? He's gone bloody insane, that's why! What would he do THAT for? She thought, rubbing her eyes in confusion. She looked over at James. He was still determinedly looking away from her, staring at the wall nearest him.

After gazing at the two a bit more, Dumbledore sat up from the end of James' bed. "Well, if you don't mind, I have to go meet some people from the Daily Prophet in my office. I have to try to convince them to keep your story out of the paper." He quickly left the hospital wing, leaving James and Lily in an awkward silence.