Disclaimer: You know the drill, having seen it in many other fanfics... nothing belongs to me, except for a few characters and the plot; the rest belongs to JKR, one of the people who reviewed, or a singer/band that I decided to 'borrow' the music from. Or rather, from what my cousin told me to put in here; my name is Kira, it has a K and an R, but no J, and so I can't be mistaken for J.K. Rowling. I am not a professional writer, and do not get paid for anything I write (cuz I'm not professional.) Now, going on to my own stupidity, and not borrowing from my cousin. I may sing, but I am not a singer, so any songs I use are not my own (unless otherwise noted, which probably won't happen). So umm yea, that's the disclaimer.

One Side note though, I do recognize that this does not go along with the books, but that's the beauty of fanfics and creative license… it doesn't have to be exact, cuz that would just be boring

Onto the Story:

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Chapter 3: Hollow

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After giving a brief account of what had happened with Voldemort, the newly unbound James and Sirius led Lily away to Fortescue's while Peter, Remus and Arabella finished conferring the events with Mad Eye Moody. Lily, still in shock about what had happened, just sat mutely at a table with James while Sirius went to go get some mint chocolate chip ice cream for her, cookie dough for James and blueberry for himself. James tried to get Lily to convey some sort of emotion other than what seemed to be stunned silence, but to no avail.

James was a little worried. This was not the Lily that he had known for the last 5 years. Normally when Lily was upset she'd scream and throw things, usually at him. Granted normally he was the reason for why she got upset, but even so. But this was just complete and utter silence, and it unnerved him. Finally Sirius came back with their ice cream. James, not know what to do, just accepted his ice cream and let Sirius try to pull Lily out of her shell.

Sirius, having a little experience in this area, was able to pull Lily out of her shell enough to take the ice cream offered and to make short responses when necessary. James wasn't altogether sure how he'd managed to do that, but he was glad that Lily was now somewhat representing a human in place of the stone statue that she had been mere minutes before.

Just as he and Sirius had finished their ice cream (Lily about a third through hers) Peter, Remus and Bella joined them.

"What'd they say?" Sirius inquired.

"Well, they think that Voldemort was just here to show off and that maybe Lily should stay with someone from our world until school starts up again," Bella stated, putting a soothing hand on Lily's shoulder. Lily just looked up at her with dead eyes in response.

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As Lily gathered her few meager belongings, she reflected on the time spent with her mom before she had left for her aunt Jo and Uncle Tim's house in the countryside.

"Are you and daddy going to be okay with out me?" she asked her mother, knowing full well that she didn't want to be in the house anyway. Petunia was planning her wedding to be held mid September, and was ordering Lily around constantly anyway. Lily had become a bit of a recluse in her own house, staying out of everyone's way so she didn't have to help with the 'horse and pig wedding', as she had dubbed it.

"Yes, Lily," her mother laughed. "You won't be missing anything anyway, just wedding details for a wedding that you won't be able to attend because of school. You can't miss anything and affect your chances of becoming Head Girl in two years time anyway. Don't worry; just concentrate on how much fun you'll have with Jo and Tim. We'll be fine." She smiled fondly at her youngest daughter, and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Now, I don't want to hear any of problems at your Aunt's house, I know how you're new friends have had something of an influence on you."

Lily smiled at this, remembering the splash that Sirius had made, quite literally, when being introduced to Lily's family. Her mom liked Sirius very much, as well as James, who Lily was barely managing to not kill, she'd promised Remus and Sirius that she'd try to tolerate him, but she still couldn't stand the way he walked, talked, breathed and that kind of thing.

"Unfortunately dad and I wont be able to take you to Kings Cross Station this year, but we'll be sure to pick you up for Christmas. Even so, I want you to have a good first term, be on your best behavior, but don't sacrifice any fun for good behavior. Use your good judgment."

"I will mum. I'll miss you, but I'll owl you to let you know how things are going."

"I know honey, just have fun with your cousins." With that she hugged her daughter and helped her drag all her things downstairs so they didn't have to do it half-asleep the following day.

With a sullen sigh, Lily grabbed threw her things into her school trunk and hustled it to the stairs. At the sight of Lily standing on the landing, Sirius came up and grabbed her trunk for her, knowing that she'd probably rather get this over with sooner rather than later. At the door Lily said goodbye to her cousins and Aunt, her Uncle being at his job. They hugged their farewells and watched a hollow girl walk in the mid-morning sun to a car that held what little she had left that she cared for.

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A/N: not very long but if I'd added much more to it, it might have ruined the story.