Chapter Fifteen: On the Edge

Complete and utter contentment: this was the first emotion Jack felt when he woke up the next morning. Opening his eyes, he gazed up at the ceiling and for a split second, he didn't really know where he was. He quickly remembered why he was in this strange place. Looking down he saw the mass of black curls and felt the weight of Lily's head resting on his shoulder.

"Are you awake?" she asked, sounding strangely awake.

"Yes," he said, tipping her chin up towards him. "How long have you been awake?"

"A little while," she said, kissing him briefly. "I couldn't move because you've got a death grip on my waist."

"Damn straight," he said, pulling her closer to enforce his point.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I was tired," he said smugly.

Lily withheld her laughter and tried to say in a responsible voice, "We really shouldn't have done that. We're supposed to be resting."

"I didn't hear you complain last night," Jack reminded her, kissing her forehead.

"Well…no, but you know what I mean."

"I don't care if I have to stay in bed all day long. I wouldn't give last night up for anything," he told her firmly but with a touch of humor.

"Jack, you make it sound like that's all I'm good for!" Lily said, rolling onto her side and propping herself up by her elbow.

"I never said that," Jack replied quickly. "I happen to know there are many things you're good for."

Lily continued to blush. "What are you planning on doing today?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I think Harry and I are just going to hang out around here. Everyone thinks I should take it easy so I doubt he'll let me do anything strenuous."

"He better not," Lily said definitively. "I better get up and get ready though. It looks like I overslept."

Jack grinned evilly before pulling her back just as she started to get up, "You can go when I'm done with you."

Ginny and Lily spent all day and most of the early evening shopping for wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses. Lily decided she was going to have Mea as her maid of honor, and Hermione and Ginny as her bridesmaids. They also went to a special card shop and ordered invitations.

After such a long day, Lily had to admit she was glad when Ginny suggested they go home. They'd been in London, so they apparated to Hogsmeade together and decided to walk through the small town instead of simply going straight home.

"We got a lot done today," Ginny said happily as they hurried along the small residential street.

The weather was warm for January, and earlier the sun had shone brightly against the bareness of the wintry terrain. Now the sun was dipping below the horizon as night was about to set in.

"Yeah, thanks for going with me to do all this stuff. I never would have been able to get it all done without your help," Lily said sincerely.

"Oh, it was fun! And I really think Jack's going to go wild over your dress."

"I hope so," Lily giggled.

"What do you suppose they've been up to all day?"

"Who knows? Talking about Quidditch, probably," Lily laughed.

Ginny nodded her head and laughed. They walked the rest of the way to the house and up the stairs to the front door. Ginny unlocked the door with a wave of her hand and held it open for Lily as they both rushed inside into the warmth.

"You're home," they heard a happy voice to their right call. They turned and saw Harry and Jack sitting the couches that faced opposite each other in front of the fire.

Harry jumped up helped Ginny remove her cloak. Jack stood up as well, but it took him longer to get to his feet. By the time he was upright, Lily had already made her way over to him with her cloak dangling over her arm.

"Did you two have a good day?" she asked with a smile.

"Yep," he said. "We spent most of the day lying around. Harry made us lunch and then he had someone come out to the house to measure both of us for suits for the wedding."

"Oh, really?" Lily said, looking over at her father.

"Yes, I took very good care of your boy," Harry assured. He walked over to her and took her cloak. He pecked her on the cheek before he walked to the closet to put the cloak away. "What did you two do all day?"

"We went shopping for dresses and got the invitations sorted out," Ginny explained. "Is anyone hungry? I should start tying to figure out what to fix for dinner."

Lily and Jack had settled back down on the sofa. Jack leaned against the back of the couch and wrapped an arm around Lily, pulling her down to rest her head on his chest. They both sighed and sank further into each others' arms.

Harry followed Ginny into the kitchen and watched as she buzzed around looking in cupboards and draws for food to prepare.

He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms lazily over his chest. "You haven't said hello to me properly, Mrs. Potter," Harry said in a low voice.

Ginny turned and smiled at him, "That's true, Mr. Potter. I haven't." She sauntered over to him, swinging her hips and batting her eyes. "Can you possibly forgive me for such a huge error?"

Harry smirked, "I might be persuaded to." He reached behind Ginny's head and pulled her up to him. She stood up on her tip toes and wrapped her arms around his neck as her lips touched his.

It never failed to amaze him how wonderful it felt to hold her in his arms like this. It was like coming home. Each and every time he kissed her it felt like that was the only place he was ever meant to be. He knew now it was the only place he ever wanted to be.

He held her to him for several more minutes before he pulled away. "I think we'd better stop before I do something I'd rather not have my daughter catch me doing," Harry groaned. Ginny smiled at him and looked around him into the living room.

"I don't think that will be a problem. It doesn't appear that they've noticed."

Harry looked over his shoulder and saw Jack and Lily sound asleep right were they'd fallen on the couch. "Well…I guess they're a little more tired than we thought," Harry said laughing. "Should we leave them there?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, they'll be more comfortable upstairs. Why don't you wake them and tell them to go lay down. If they're hungry later you can tell Lily that I'll leave some food they can munch on."

Harry nodded and walked into the living room. He leaned down and touched Lily's shoulder. He waited until she opened her eyes before he said, "Hey, why don't you guys go on upstairs?"

"Yeah…I guess I dozed off there for a second," she looked over at Jack who was still snoozing. "Looks like we both did."

"Your mum said to say she'll leave out some food if you get hungry later."

"Thanks Dad, I'll wake him up and we'll go to bed."

Harry kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight sweetheart."

"Night," she said, smiling sleepily.

Harry returned to the kitchen while Lily turned back to Jack.

"Are you dreaming?" she whispered in his ear. She watched as he scrunched up his face in response. "Because if you're dreaming it better be about me."

Slowly his lips curled into a smile and he opened his eyes to look at her. For a second or two he simply looked up at her, taking in the way the hair that had fallen out of her pony tail to frame her face shined in the candlelight. He could see the darker specks of green in her bright eyes. She was the definition of beautiful when she was like this; relaxed and untroubled.

"Well?" she said expectantly.

"Well what?" he asked grinning.

She playfully hit him on the arm. "What were you dreaming about?"

"Ouch," he said in mock pain. "I can't believe you'd hit an injured man!"

Lily laughed at his joke. She laid her head back down on his chest and snuggled into the warmth radiating from his body. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her to his body.

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "The dream I was having isn't one I'd tell you about with your father in the other room."

"Well, so long as I was the star of your dream," Lily responding, lifting her head so she could place and easy kiss on his lips. "Why don't we go upstairs and get some sleep? Mom said she'll leave us something if we get hungry later."

"Sounds like a plan."

Lily stood up and held out her hands to help Jack to his feet. "I feel like an old man," Jack said once he was finally upright.

"You're getting better. It's just going to be a while before you get your strength back," Lily assured him. She took one of his hands and wrapped it around her neck and encircled his waist with her other arm to help him walk up the stairs. He still had a bit of a limp on the side where he wound was.

"I'm not getting better fast enough for me," Jack grumbled as they walked toward the staircase.

"Oh Lily," Ginny's voice said behind him, "You forgot your bag in the kitchen."

Lily turned her head and saw Ginny walking towards them with the bag. "Thanks," Lily said as she took the bag in her hand and tried to juggle Jack at the same time.

"Do you need some help? I'm sure Harry can get him upstairs for you," Ginny suggested.

"He doesn't need help," Jack said grumpily.

Lily couldn't help but laugh. Jack really did hate being taken care of like he was an invalid. "That's okay, I think I can handle him on my own," Lily said over her shoulder as they continued taking small steps to the stairs.

"Goodnight, Jack," Ginny said loudly so he would hear her as they started up the stairs.

"Goodnight Aunt Gin. I love you," Jack called in a stained voice.

"I love you too," Ginny said, smiling as she turned and went to join Harry in the kitchen.

A few minutes later Jack and Lily made it to the top of the stairs. "Are you alright?" Lily asked when she saw Jack's pale face.

"Yeah, I'm just a little winded. What's in the bag?" Jack asked.

"Oh, we went shopping for some things I'll need while I'm here. I didn't have any pajamas with me so I bought some."

Lily let Jack catch his breath before they continued on to their bedroom. Once inside, she led him to the bed and sat him down. "I need to change your bandages."

"So you and Ginny had fun?" Jack asked as he watched her walk away.

"Yeah, it was nice," Lily called from the bathroom. She returned moments later with some potion bottles and bandages. "It was good just to have a relaxing day. It was kind of…normal."

"It can be like that all the time, you know," Jack told her. "We can have a normal life. We will have a normal life."

Lily smiled at him. "Jack, as long as I have you I don't really care about normalcy all that much."

Jack returned her smile and let her tend to his injury. He watched her the whole time. He saw how careful she was not to hurt him, the look of concentration that overtook her face, and the loving way she tried to ease his discomfort by simply smiling at him or kissing his forehead. She may be a brilliant dueler and she may make a better than average auror, but he could tell she was born to be a healer.

"All done," she declared about ten minutes later.

He nodded and put on the shirt she handed him. It was one of Harry's old shirts that he'd been given to sleep in. He always slept in his boxers, so there was no problem there. She helped him stand up and led him to the overstuffed chair so he could sit while she turned down the bed. Once she was done she helped him back to the bed and assisted him in lying down.

"You really don't have to take care of me like this," Jack affirmed once he was lying flat on the crisp sheets. The feeling invoked memories of the night before and he couldn't help but smirk at the recollection.

"I like taking care of you. It makes me feel needed."

"I do need you," Jack affirmed quickly. "I need you more than anything."

"Well then, don't complain when I want to look after you. It's only because I love you. Now, I'm going to go get ready for bed," she said, walking to the bathroom.

She closed the door, but from where the bed was positioned in the room it didn't really matter. He couldn't have seen anything even if she'd left it open. A few moments later there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Jack called from the bed.

The door opened a hair, and Harry's head poked out from around the wood. He clearly looked relieved to see Jack alone in bed.

"She's in the bathroom," Jack explained, answering Harry's question before he could get it out.

Harry nodded and entered the room properly. "Gin asked me to bring this up here," he nodded down at the tray in his hands. There were two bowls of soup and several slices of homemade bread. "It's got a warming charm on it so if you get hungry it will be ready for you to eat."

"Thanks, Harry," Jack said, trying to sit up to go take the tray from him.

Harry held up his hand in protest, "Don't even think about it! I don't want Lily out here angry with me!"

"Sorry," Jack mumbled, settling back down in bed.

"Well, have a good night's sleep," Harry said as he laid the tray down on the dresser and headed back to the door.

"You too. Goodnight, Harry."

"Goodnight, son." Jack waved his hand when Harry was gone and the door locked with a click.

Once out in the hallway, Harry met Ginny coming back up the stairs. "Are you sure you don't want me to make you something for dinner?" she asked once she reached him.

"No, I'm not hungry, thanks though, love."

"What's that look on your face for?" Ginny asked, withholding a laugh.

"Well, it's just that…should I be allowing that in my house?" he asked, inclining his thumb in the direction of Jack and Lily's room.

"Allow what?"

"Them…sleeping together under my roof. I mean she is my daughter and all…" his voice trailed off into nothing.

Ginny chuckled and pulled Harry towards their own bedroom. "Oh Harry, honestly, they share a room at Ron and Hermione's house."

"How long have they been doing that?"

"I don't know…Perhaps a year, maybe a little less."

They reached their bedroom door and Ginny opened it and closed it once Harry came through. "Really, Harry, it isn't that big of a deal. Lily is of age and that's not just some random boy she has in there. That's the man she's dated for years and her fiancé."

"I know that…it's just…I don't know. It's never bothered me before now." Harry removed his shirt and trousers, leaving him standing there in his boxers next to their bed. "I don't want to think about my little girl having sex with her fiancé just down the hall."

Ginny laughed out loud at the look on Harry's face.

He turned his head to look at her menacingly. "You think this is funny, do you? I'll show you funny!" He was in front of her in a second, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She squealed in protest as he carried her over the bed and threw her down on the soft surface. He straddled her hips to prevent her from struggling and began an intense ticking session.

Within minute Ginny had tears of laughter welling in her eyes, "Harry! Stop!" She gasped.

"What's in it for me?" he said over her fits.

"I won't laugh at you ever again!" she promised, still squirming.

"Good," Harry said, falling to her side and lying on his back. "That's all I wanted."

"Really?" she whispered seductively in his ear. "That's all you want?"

"Yep," Harry said, sounding unmoved by her advances.

She smiled and snuggled closer to him. He wrapped an arm protectively around her waist as she laid her head in the center of his chest. They remained silent for a few minutes.

"Jack loves Lily, Harry. He would never do anything to hurt her. Frankly, I think it's amazing that Lily is able to overcome everything that Malfoy has done to her. If that were me…I don't know if I'd ever be able to be intimate again."

Harry sighed and kissed her forehead. "I know she's a strong girl. I know she must trust Jack a lot to be with him after everything. It's just strange for me, that's all. She'll always be my baby girl."

"But she's not a baby," Ginny said softly. "She hasn't been in a long time."

"I know."

"And besides," she said, wanting to change the mood. "You would be a fraud if you thought they shouldn't be together in that way."

"Would I?" Harry said, raising his head off the bed and looking at her curiously.

Ginny just rolled her eyes. "Come on, Harry. I was fifteen when we were first together," she reminded him. "Not to mention the fact that I don't even know how many times we've done it in my parent's house."

"Why, Ginerva Potter, you make it sound like I couldn't keep my hands off you!"

"Well, you couldn't," she stated bluntly.

"Oh, you'll pay for that," Harry said rolling them over so he was in the dominate position. He didn't really know what he meant to do, but whatever it was he forgot about it instantly when he saw her lying there beneath him.

"If this is you version of punishment then I think you need to take a few lessons," Ginny lightheartedly teased.

"I think there is far too much talking going on here," Harry stated as he covered her mouth, preventing her from protesting any further.

The door to the bathroom finally opened, and Jack looked up to see Lily enter the room. He immediately felt his chest tighten and found it hard to take a deep breath. She was wearing something he'd never seen her wear before. Ever since they started sharing a room, or really ever since she started living with them, she'd always wore a t-shirt and boxers to bed. Sometimes she wore different kind of shorts and sometimes when it was just the two of them she would only wear a long t-shirt. But tonight she was wearing none of the above.

Tonight she had on a silky pale blue spaghetti strap nightie that ended just above her knees. Her hair was down from her previous pony tail and fell in waves around her face, over her shoulders and down to her waist.

"Jack," Lily said uncertainly.

He looked up and felt his cheeks warm when he realized he'd been staring, "Sorry."

"Is something wrong?" she asked, walking over to stand on his side of the bed. He was sitting up against the pillows with his legs stretched out in front of him. When she got close enough he took both her hands and held them away from her body so he could have a better look.

"No…um…it's just that I've never seen you in anything like this before," he managed to say as she started to get nervous.

She looked down at herself and frowned. "Oh well, we were shopping today and Ginny said I should get something that I can sleep in. I told her what I usually sleep in but she wouldn't have it. She said that I'm a woman now and I'm getting married so this is what I should wear. You…you don't like it?" she asked hesitantly.

Jack shook his head, "No, I like it…I love it actually. You caught me off guard a little bit. It's definitely different."

His eyes met hers and he could tell she was still very timid. He cupped her face in his hands and brought her down to him. As their lips met she sank down to sit on the edge of the bed. Her hands came to his face when he deepened their kiss. Pulling her closer he felt her gently slid her leg over both of his and straddle his hips. His hands fell down to her thighs, where the material from the nightgown had bunched up. He could feel her shallow breaths and slowly he moved his lips from hers and placed several open mouth kisses along her jaw line and neck.

"Jack," she whispered, sounding like she'd just run a mile.

"What, love?" he asked against her throat.

She swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat and tried to get some oxygen back in her lungs. "We…we shouldn't do this…You need to rest. You're tired," she vaguely pointed out even though she tilted her head and closed her eyes as his lips tailed down her neck and over her shoulder.

"I want you," he said in her ear just loud enough for her to hear.

"But you're--"

"Shhhh," he hushed. He took hold of her hips and gently eased her body over to the side so she was lying down on her back with him above her. He raised his head to look her straight in the eye. "I love you."

Her breath caught with how much emotion and passion that seemed to fill his features. "I love you too," she responded sincerely.

He captured her lips once more in his to silence her from saying anything else. He waved his hand and cast a silencing charm over the walls around them. He brought both her hands above her head and intertwined his fingers with hers.

She looked up and saw Malfoy's face above her. He had that look on his face.

"Awww, must be nice to be with someone you love," he said. He too had her hands above her head, but he was gripping them tightly and pinning her down with his body.

"What are you doing to me?" she asked frantically. She looked around and saw that she wasn't her room at her father's house any longer. "How did I get here?"

"What does it matter?" he asked coldly. She felt him forcibly knee her legs apart and she started to panic.

"Stop it! Let go of me!"

"I don't think I will," he said, sinking his teeth into her neck.

She somehow managed to get one of her hands free and her fist collided with his jaw. Hard. She saw his head fly to the side and heard him curse in anger. In a moment of weakness he let go of her and she managed to get up off the bed. She ran to the door but found that it was locked. She turned around and saw him bet up off the bed and walk over to her slowly.

"Keep away from me! Just leave me alone!" she cried, sinking to the ground and hugging her knees to her chest.

"Now were would the fun be in that?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. She saw him ball up his fist and pull back his hand ready to strike. She hid her face in her knees and shook like a small child having a nightmare.

"Please don't," she begged, tears falling from her eyes and into her open mouth as her body shook violently with broken sobs.

"Lily, it's alright!"

"No, stay away!" she yelled.

"Honey, its me--"

She looked up, blinded by her tears and tackled Malfoy to the ground. They landed in a painful heap with her half on top of him. She heard him groan in pain and she pushed up on his abdomen and looked down. It took her a tense second to realize that wasn't Malfoy that she'd tackled to the ground…

"Lily, it's Jack…you're okay," Jack soothed as he held his hands up so she could see them but spoke in a tone that held nothing but love.

"Oh God," she breathed rolling off him. She sat up and held her face in her hands. "What have I done…?"

She heard him struggle to sit up beside her, and before she could look down, she felt his warm arms wrap around her. "Shhhh, everything's okay. It's just me. I'm not going to hurt you."

She tried her hardest to fight the tears, but when the weight of what had just happened pressed down on her chest, she could do nothing but give herself over to the sadness and frustration. Her shoulders shook and again, tears made rivers along her cheeks. She realized Jack still had his arms around her and she looked over at him through bleary eyes.

"Jack, I'm… so…so sorry," she hiccupped.

"Lily, its okay. You didn't do anything wrong," he tired to sooth but she shook her head.

"I don't know what came over me. One minute I was here and the next I was there and he was there and he…Merlin, what's wrong with me!"

This time it was Jack's turn to shake his head. "Nothing is wrong with you! It's him! He's a sick vile man! There is absolutely nothing wrong with you!"

She wiped at her tears angrily and looked at his jaw. "Oh no, I hit you, didn't I?"

"Not hard," he weakly tried to tell her.

"Not hard? Jack, you're already bruising!" She ran her hand over the darkening spot and more tears escaped her green eyes. Her eyes traveled down and got really wide when she saw his shirt wet with blood over where his wound was healing. "You're bleeding!"

She hopped up and ran into the bathroom. She was back by his side in an instant with a wet washcloth and more bandages and potions. She removed his shirt and cried even harder when she saw the drenched bandages.

"I'm so sorry…God, how could I have done this," she said, unable to bring her voice above a whisper.

"It's alright. You didn't think it was me," Jack reminded her.

He watched her with concern as she took off the bandages and stopped the bleeding. Her tears never stopped the whole time she cleaned away all the blood and put the new bandages on tight. She stood up and helped him get back over to the bed. He caught her hand when she tried to back away from the bed once he was comfortable.

"Lily, come here," he told her in a gently firm voice.

She shook her head and looked him in the eye. Her eyes held such sadness that he'd never seen before. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she'd been crying for days and her face stricken with tears. He took hold of her other hand and pulled her to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"I hurt you," she stated flatly. "I didn't mean to but I did."

He brought his hand to the back of her neck and guided her into his chest. "I'm fine, baby. Listen to me. I know you didn't mean it and I'm fine. It's okay."

"No, it is not okay," she said forcefully. She didn't move her head from his chest. Instead she reached over and gripped the clean shirt she'd only moments ago helped him into. She held on to him like a lifeline. "I can't even make love to my fiancé without him interfering."

He could see that she was panicking by the quick shallow breaths she was taking. He rubbed her back and eased, "Shhhh, just calm down for me. Okay, love? Slow deep breaths."

Slowly but surely he brought her breathing back to normal. Her tears stopped falling from her eyes like a rainstorm and her body seemed to relax against him.

"Come here and lay down with me," he tenderly commanded.

"But what if I--"

"You won't," he cut her off. "Now come here."

She reluctantly crawled over and lay down next to him in bed. He enveloped her in his arms once more and this time she rested her head on his chest without being asked or guided to. He felt her bat her eyes against his bare skin.

"Why? Why is it always me? What have I done to deserve this?" she asked in a small voice.

"You haven't done anything," he assured her without any doubt.

"But you haven't either and now its affecting you…I'm so sorry this always gets in the way of us. It isn't unfair to you. I shouldn't ask you to be with me when I've got all this baggage I have to deal with."

He tilted her head up so he could look her in the eye. "Lily, do you love me?"

Her eyes clouded with tears once more. "You know I do. But that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't have to handle all my problems--"

"I love you too," he talked over her rant. She shut her mouth and gapped up at him. "I love you, Lily Potter, so much it hurts sometimes. I wake up in the morning and you're the first thing on my mind. I think about you all day long. I'm going to marry you this spring and I'm going to do my best to make you the happiest woman on the planet. You are absolutely everything to me. I know we've had rough times and I'd be a liar if I told you I don't have days when I'm doubtful. But at the end of the day you are the only thing that will ever make me happy. You are worth fighting for, and believe me I intend to fight for us. I'm not going to let some idiot like Draco Malfoy take you away from me." He watched her for a few moments before asking, "Am I worth it? Am I worth fighting for?"

Tears fell down from her eyes. She never broke eye contact with him and found his hand resting on his chest. She laced their fingers and slowly nodded her head.

"I need to hear you say it," Jack enforced. "Am I worth it?"

Again she nodded her head but this time she found her voice to say, "Yes, you're worth it."

"Okay then," he smiled, and wiped away the tears that had just fallen on her cheeks. "Now, all that I ask is that you stop crying. It kills me to see you cry. Just let me hold you and try to make it better. Let me take care of you the way you take care of me," he pleaded.

She slowly nodded her head and gave him a smile. Resting her head back on his chest he felt her let go of a shuddering breath and relax even more. The tension in her body seemed to ebb away as he rubbed her back with his hand and whispered loving words into her ear. Soon she left go and gave into beckoning sleep. Only when he knew she was finally resting did he summon the blankets wandlessly with his hand and close his own eyes to welcome sleep.

When Jack opened his eyes the next morning, he almost forgot the events of the previous night. That was until he looked down and saw Lily's puffy eyes from crying. He winced as he rolled her over off his chest and onto her back. He wanted her to sleep, but more importantly he wanted to talk to Harry about what happened last night. He pulled the covers up under Lily's chin and stood up on shaky legs. His side was definitely sorer, this morning and his jaw was killing him. His only consolation was that Draco Malfoy would be waking up with similar pain as well.

He walked to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and stepped out into the hallway. It was clear that no one was else was upstairs so he turned to the next obstacle: the stairs. He sighed, completely disgusted with himself that something as simple as a staircase could be so painful. He took his time, taking one step and at a time and finally made it to the bottom in one piece.

"Harry," he called to the empty living room.

"Harry's not here, Jack," his aunt's voice called from the kitchen.

Jack hobbled over to the doorway and found her sitting at the kitchen table with the paper and a cup of tea.

She looked up at him and her jaw dropped. "What on earth happened?" She asked, hurrying over to him. She helped him over to sit at the table.

"I'm fine," Jack assured, holding is side. "It's not that bad."

"No, what happened to your face?" she asked, pointing to his jaw.

He had completely forgotten. "Oh, um…that's what I wanted to talk to Harry about. Where is he?"

"He went to see Tonks Lupin about having her talk to a few of his classes. He shouldn't be gone long. But in the meantime you'd better tell me what happened," she said with her hands on her hips.

"You'd better sit down," he advised.

She nodded and took a seat next to him. "Maybe its better that I tell you first anyway rather than Harry…"

"You won't find out until you tell me," Ginny said impatiently.

"Well, Lily and I went to bed last night but we…we didn't go right to sleep," Jack began.

"Liked the nightgown, did you?" Ginny said, smirking.

Jack felt his cheeks warm with color. "Yeah," he said looking away. "It was very nice. Different. I've never seen her wear anything like that before."

"Well, she's a lady. She has the right to be seductive when she wants to be," Ginny told him smugly.

"Anyway, we were…well we were quite in the middle of something if you get what I mean and suddenly she starts screaming at me."

"Screaming," Ginny repeated.

"Yeah, she was asking me what I was doing and how she got here. I could see in her eyes that she didn't know it was me. I tried to get her to focus on me but she got her hand free and punched me in the face."

"So that would explain this little number," Ginny assumed, indicating his bruised jaw.

"Yeah," he said, tenderly touching it. "She kind of stunned me a bit and she got up from the bed and ran to the door. It was locked obviously and when I walked over to her she started screaming at me to leave her alone. She tackled me to the ground and that was when she realized it was me," he concluded, letting go of a breath.

"Was it a flashback?" Ginny asked, standing up and going to get her wand to see if she could do anything about his jaw.

"No, she was there with me one minute and then she was with him," Jack said firmly. "He's never been able to do that before. Before when she's had the episodes when she's been awake it's almost like she goes into a trance or something. But this time it was different."

"Oh dear, poor thing. She must be terrified," Ginny said regrettably, glancing up at the ceiling.

"She was really upset that she hit me last night. I told her it was nothing, but you know how she is."

Ginny nodded. "You will have to tell Harry, of course."

"Tell Harry what?" a voice asked from the backdoor. Jack and Ginny both turned their heads and saw Harry standing there with an apprehensive look on his face.

"Hey Harry," Jack said with a fake smile.

"What's going on? Who cleaned your clock?" he asked, walking over to Jack and tilting his head up towards the light to get a better look.

"Your daughter did," Jack said once Harry was done with his examination.

"Excuse me?" Harry looked at Ginny with a shocked expression.

Jack launched into his story once more; telling his godfather everything from beginning to end and ignoring his own embarrassment at certain times. Harry sat down next to Ginny, and by the time Jack was finished he had a firm grip on her hand below the table.

"What are we going to do?" Jack asked after the room was silent for a few minutes.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do," Harry said angrily, standing up. "I'm going to track down that son of a bitch and introduce him to my own fist. See how he likes dealing with someone his own size."

"Harry, calm down," Ginny advised.

"No, I will not calm down, Ginny," Harry yelled, now pacing the room. "The man comes into my home and kills Lily's mother in cold blood. And now he's putting my daughter through hell! Well, enough is enough! He's going to wish he'd never heard my name by the time I'm through with him. He's going to--"

"Harry, stop," Jack said forcefully looking over Harry's shoulder and into the door leading to the living room.

Harry slowly turned around and saw Lily standing there, wearing her robe and with tears running down her face.

a/n- Please review!