Author's Note: Okay, so there was no note before the last chapter, but I have a couple of things to say. I got a few reviews for Chapter One and I want to thank everyone who reviewed. They definitely helped out and motivated me to update. This update was really fast because I already had the chapter written and just had to edit, so unfortunately they won't all be this fast. It's a little long and I apologize for that. I just couldn't find a good breaking point to end the chapter at. If you're reading this, please try to take a few seconds and review. Last chapter I had around 80 hits and 3 reviews. If you have a second, just drop a note telling me what you think about my story. To clear something up, Morgan and Remus are neighbors and were good friends even before they went to Hogwarts. Thanks!

Disclaimer: This all belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am borrowing her characters only for my personal entertainment and that of users. I am not making any profits of her characters.

Here we go…

Chapter 2

James leaned back in his chair and looked across the table at Lily who had long since finished. She was conversing in hushed tones with Olivia, and James grinned. "Lily, can I listen?"

She glared at him. "Unless you want to hear gross girly things, then no."

"Ewww, I'll just mind my own business," James grinned.

"Good choice," Lily returned to her conversation with Olivia.

"They're probably just talking about classes or something. Girls are never talking about 'girly things' when they tell you they are. When they talk about those types of things they just make you listen." Sirius grinned at James. "Just thought you'd like to know."

James rolled his eyes, and glanced at Sirius' plate which was brimming over with Shepherd's Pie. "How many servings have you had?"

"This is my fourth," Sirius answered around a repulsively large spoonful of pie.

"That's disgusting, Black," Lily snapped. She shot a pointed look at Maggie. Maggie smiled, but didn't seem to register it.

"Sorry, Lily, love."

"Ugh, Black, just leave me alone." Lily began talking to Olivia again.

"What do you see in her?" Sirius asked, shooting a glare at Lily.

James smiled dreamily. "Everything," he said and didn't elaborate.

"We definitely need to talk."

James directed his attention away from Sirius and Lily and at Olivia's boyfriend, Andrew Vincent. Andrew was in James' year and house, and although he wasn't the trouble-maker that the rest of the Marauders were, he was their friend. Andrew knew about their secrets, but didn't have the courage to partake in their dangerous full-moon and after-hours adventures.

Ten or so minutes later, Lily finally ended her conversation with Olivia and beckoned to James. "Come on, we need to go meet Dumbledore."

James followed her as she tried to strike up a conversation. "So, James how was your summer?"

James' face paled slightly and he shrugged indifferently. "It was ok."

Lily remembered something she had read in her subscription to the Daily Prophet over the summer. The article appeared in her mind's eye as clearly as it would have if it were in front of her face.

Famous Auror Injured Indefinitely in Attack.

By Gaylord Harrison

LONDON- Last night, as dawn broke in the residential section of Diagon Alley in London, an attack was just finishing up and the second-in-command of the auror department, Alastor Moody went into the final house to check for any last survivors or bodies. He came out with alarming news. Harold James Potter, the head of the auror department, had been tortured to insanity by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, himself.

Moody claims he asked Potter a series of questions, none of which Potter could reply satisfactorily to. Moody apparated to St. Mungo's before meeting with the media, and got a team of healers to check over Potter. The healers confirmed all of our worst fears. Potter has been officially labeled insane by a team of the most qualified healers in England. As of right now, the rest of his family is waiting for news of what is to happen next.

His immediate family is made up of his son and daughter James Harold Potter, 17, and Kelsey Elizabeth Potter, 7 and his wife, Mariana Jones Potter. Sirius Orion Black, 17, is also said to be a close family friend of the Potter's, despite the seemingly natural blood feud between the two old, yet opposite pureblood families.

The final decision on what Mr. Potter's fate will be will be made by Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva M. McGonagall, second-in-command in the auror department, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody and the team of England's best healers who diagnosed Mr. Potter's ailment, along with Mr. Potter's wife, Mariana.

The house attacked belonged to long-time friend of Dumbledore and Potter, Sean Finnegan. Finnegan's son attends Hogwarts and is a fifth year. The Finnegans were not at their house when it was attacked. The attack is believed to be staged by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Although the Finnegans did not die, both of their next-door neighbors were caught in the crossfire and died. These two families were a half-blood family, the family of Mr. William R. Neubert, and the Indian-English family of Mr. Rian Patel. Altogether, six people lost their lives in this attack, and Potter lost his sanity. Potter was found in the Neubert home, and it looked as though he was trying to protect Mr. Neubert's youngest child, six year old, Alicia, who died in the attack.

Potter's only child, James Potter, 17, was at the scene of the attack, and although he did not see his father being tortured saw many others die.

More information will follow, be sure to check back to this newspaper for follow-up articles.

-July 16, 1976

Lily looked up at James. "Oh, alright. You seem down, if you ever need to talk, I'll be willing to listen"

"Really," James looked surprised.

"That's what friends are for, isn't it?" she asked. She grinned up at him. "I'd be a pretty lousy friend if I couldn't listen to you, wouldn't I?" She thought she saw a hint of disappointment in James' eyes, but it was gone in a flash.

"I'd do the same for you, Lily. If you ever need to talk, you know where I am." They reached the gargoyle; Lily stared at it in disbelief.

"He didn't give us the password," she exclaimed, "How are we supposed to talk to him?"

"Oh, don't worry. Ice Mice."

The gargoyle moved to reveal a swirling staircase. Lily stepped softly on in awe, but James just climbed up it as though he had seen something of the like a million times before. They reached the door of Professor Dumbledore's office and knocked several times. The door swung open of its own accord. James led Lily in. She gazed around in amazement at all of Dumbledore's instruments, but James went straight to Fawkes and petted the red phoenix. She was at her best stage, with a full coat of beautiful, deep red feathers. Soon Lily joined him in petting Fawkes.

"What's his name?" Lily asked curiously.

"Fawkes," James answered softly running his hand over the bird's head.

"How do you know him?" Lily asked James with inquiring eyes.

"Oh, my mum and Dumbledore are old friends, my dad was too." The sadness that Lily had become accustomed to seeing throughout the day crept into James' eyes again. "Plus, I've been up here more times than I can count," he added guiltily.

Lily smiled slightly and Professor Dumbledore entered the room. "James, Lily," he greeted. "Good to see you, have a seat." Lily and James both complied, sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk. "How have you two been?"

"Fine," Lily told the professor, smiling. They both looked at James, who shrugged yet again.

"Alright," he answered and didn't go into anymore detail, yet again.

Dumbledore looked concernedly at James but continued. Thirty information filled minutes later, Dumbledore wrapped up the meeting. "I think that's all. How does Thursday sound for our next prefects meeting?"

James ran through his mental calendar. "That sounds fine. Lily?"

"Fine."

"Alright, I'll meet with you two again at the beginning of October unless something important comes up. Miss Evans, you may leave, I'd just like a quick word with Mr. Potter."

Lily excused herself, but James stayed seated. As soon as the door clicked shut behind Lily, Professor Dumbledore leaned forward. "How have you really been, James?"

James hesitated. He didn't want to look weak in front of his headmaster, but he'd had no one to talk to ever since the attack. His mum and Sirius were both very fragile with the subject, and Remus already had enough problems. He needed to talk. "Not very well. Why?"

"I think you need to talk to someone."

"Yes, sir, I do. I'd be more comfortable talking to someone my age, though."

"Why not Mr. Black or Mr. Lupin, James?"

"Sirius is just as torn up about this as I am, and Mo—Remus, well, he has plenty of stuff on his mind."

"Miss Evans?"

"Lily?" James asked. "I don't know. I just started being on civil terms with her today."

"She cares, James. I could tell; I could see it in her eyes. Talk to Lily, she wants to listen and she wants to be the one to help you."

James nodded, "I'll definitely consider it, Professor."

"Ok, good. Well, you can go if you want."

James nodded and stood up. He paused as his hand was on the door. "Oh, and Professor, what are those things pulling the carriages."

"Sit back down, James."

James obeyed, walking back to his seat in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk. "They're thestrals. You can only see them if," James cut him off.

"You've seen death, I should have known. We learned about them in fifth year. That's what I was afraid of. They're just another reminder of this summer. How many other school activities are they at which we don't know about?"

"That's the only one."

"Good. Then I won't have to deal with any more reminders than I already have."

"James, I truly hope you have someone whom you'll talk with. You need someone to lean on."

"Thanks, Professor. Could I be excused now? I'm exhausted." In truth, James knew he wouldn't sleep, he hadn't slept since the attack, but that was beside the point. He needed to be excused from those penetrating blue eyes. James could tell that Professor Dumbledore knew he wouldn't get any rest, but he let James leave anyway.

James exited his Headmaster's office, and was disappointed that Lily hadn't waited for him. He had actually considered talking to her about the attack, but now he realized that he never should have believed that she would care. Why would she? She had never cared before this year, so why would she now? But then again, they had sworn to be friends. Weren't friends there for each other? But Lily wouldn't have had any indication that James needed a helping hand, after all he hadn't mentioned it and he had three great friends who he could have easily confided in.

Upset, more at himself than Lily, he snapped the password at the Fat Lady, who rolled her eyes at him. He stepped into the empty common room and again felt a twinge of disappointment. Lily wasn't in the common room, either. He slowly climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitory and entered it to greet the sight of a sleeping Remus, Peter and Andrew, and a staring Sirius. Sirius wasn't staring at him, but rather off at a blank piece of wall, his eyes glazed over. James knew that Sirius hadn't slept much since the attack, either. They were both still in a slight state of shock from the whole ordeal. "Hey," James said softly.

Sirius nodded slightly, his only acknowledgement of his best friend and his brother. James pulled off his uniform, stripping down to just his boxers, and climbed under the covers of his bed. He stared at the top of the four-poster. "Sirius?"

"Hmm," Sirius' answer was a one syllable one.

"Try to sleep, alright? I'm worried for the both of us. Neither of us has slept since it happened. I know it, Padfoot."

"I'll try, but I don't know what good it will do."

"Sirius, try. I think getting out of the house will do us both good. It held so many memories of him. While this place holds memories, far fewer have anything to do with him."

Sirius nodded, "Thanks, Prongs."

James turned over onto his side and drifted off into restless sleep.

The next morning Lily woke up fully refreshed and bounced out of bed, claiming the shower before any of her friends could. After she washed her hair and got out of the shower, she dressed in her school uniform. Then she began her toughest task yet: waking up her friends. She approached Olivia first.

"Liv, Hun, you need to get up."

"Lils, five more minutes."

Lily grinned, an idea popping into her head. "Mags," she screeched, "you know it's Liv's turn to shower."

Olivia flew out of bed and into the bathroom. She was very protective of her chance to shower each and every morning. "Lilllllllllllllllly," she moaned, as soon as she realized that Maggie wasn't even out of bed. "I hate you."

Nevertheless, Lily heard the shower starting and grinned, turning to Morgan. "Morgie, up, up, up."

"Lemme wait," Morgan pulled her pillow over head and burrowed under her blankets. "I don't need to shower. I did last night while you were meeting with Dumbledore. So, you can go bother Maggie."

"Fine." Lily turned from Morgan's bed and crossed the room to Maggie's. "Margaret Correnti, up!"

"Soon, soon," Maggie's reaction mirrored those of Morgan and Olivia.

"Liv's out of the shower," Lily pointed out, as Olivia walked out of the bathroom, her school uniform neatly in place. Olivia grinned, shrugging into her robe. Although she was difficult to wake up, once she had showered Olivia was very cheerful.

"Lils has a point, Maggie," Olivia called, and Maggie staggered into the bathroom dragging her uniform behind her.

Lily shook her head and glanced at Olivia. "You should go meet Drew. You haven't seen him in ages."

Olivia grinned, "You'll get this slob out of bed?" she asked, motioning to Morgan.

"Oh, yeah, no problem, go ahead. I know you want to."

Olivia grinned again. "Alright, I'll see you later, ok?"

"Sure, just don't forget to get your schedule."

"Yep," Olivia bounced out of the room and down to the common room. Lily smiled and then turned to Morgan.

"Morgan, you really need to get up, it's 7:00." Morgan finally rolled out of her bed and began to get dressed. When they were all ready, they grabbed their bags and headed down to the common room.

They entered the common room and there stood James Potter and Sirius Black, looking the picture of indifferent coolness. James was leaning against the doorframe leading to the stairs to the boys' dormitory, his hands in his pockets and Sirius had his arms crossed in front of his chest. They were discussing something quietly and seriously, and Lily saw an intense fire burning in both of their eyes. She knew that their aura of coolness was just a mask. Something was clearly bothering both James and Sirius and she and Morgan could both tell. Maggie was too wrapped up in subtly staring at Sirius to realize that something very serious was going on. "Come on," Lily murmured to her friends, "let's get out of here. I'm hungry." The three girls left the room, glancing over their shoulders at James and Sirius one last time before making their way down to breakfast.

They were surprised to see Remus and Peter sitting at the Gryffindor table. Lily led her friends to sit down across from them. "Hey Remus, Peter," she greeted them, serving herself some toast. "Where are James and Black?"

"Weren't they in the common room?" Remus asked in response.

"Yeah, but why aren't they down here? They love to eat; I figured they're always the first ones down here."

"There's something going on with them. I don't even know the full of it, but whenever something happens to one of them it happens to the other, and they tell Remus, or at least me varying amounts of information," Peter explained, pushing his eggs around on his plate with his fork.

"Well, they must have told you something. What's going on?"

"I really can't tell you," Remus said in a pained voice. "I'm sorry, but if you've been keeping up with the news, then you should have at least an inkling of what's happening."

"I think I do," Lily smiled grimly. "Hopefully if James and I get closer, then he'll tell me."

Remus and Morgan both looked at her strangely, but neither commented on Lily's desire to get to know James, her sworn enemy. Remus turned away from his conversation with Lily and began to talk with Morgan, whom he was very close with. Olivia reached across Maggie for the eggs and spoke to Lily. "We need to talk later."

Lily nodded, knowing that whether she agreed or not, Olivia would force her into talking. She dug into her sausage and eggs as James and Sirius entered and James sat next to her and Sirius sat across from Maggie. "Morning, Lily," he greeted.

She smiled a tight-lipped smile at him, so as to keep the eggs she had just put in her mouth from falling out. James grinned at her attempt at being as polite as possible and asked her to pass the sausage, which she did as she swallowed her mouthful of eggs. James took the sausage from her hand and served some onto his plate, before Sirius asked him for it.

"So, Maggie," Sirius asked, trying to start a conversation with his newest conquest. "How'd you sleep?"

"Oh I slept ok. I'm a little tired, though, as you can probably tell my thoughts are else where." James snuck a glance at Sirius, who was gazing concernedly at Maggie. He snickered very quietly and nudged Lily underneath the table. "Look at Sirius," he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck. "Do you think they have something?"

Lily grinned; she had been thinking the exact same thing. "Yes, Maggie's practically in love with him."

"Excellent, I think we have a job to do."

Lily grinned and looked over at Maggie and Sirius who were in the midst of an awkward silence. "They'll definitely need some help getting together," she told James, grinning back at him.

Just then, McGonagall moved up and down the table handing out timetables to her Gryffindors. When she reached James she said, "Potter, here's your time table. I suggest you reserve the pitch for try-outs right now so you have your choice of nights. You do get the priority because you're head boy so you have other commitments as well."

"Well, the try-out shouldn't be too long," he smiled at his transfiguration professor. "I'm just looking for a chaser to work with Morgan and me."

"Ok," Professor McGonagall continued to move down the table, handing out schedules.

Lily looked down at hers and then glanced to her right to James' to see which classes they had together. She saw that they had all the same classes and felt a sense of joy, that she knew she wouldn't have felt the year before. She knew James had changed for the better, but she had absolutely no idea how she felt about him. She would have to talk to her friends about that later. "James, what do you have first?"

"Double potions with the Ravenclaws, you?"

"Same, it's so good that we finally got the Ravenclaws, I was getting sick of the Slytherins. I guess McGonagall finally realized that Professor Dubois tortures us enough without his own house to favor too."

Lily discovered that Maggie, Sirius, James, Olivia, Remus, Morgan, Andrew and Peter were all in N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms and Potions. She and James also took N.E.W.T. Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Divination and History of Magic. Neither of them had any free periods, seeing as they were each taking eight classes. Remus and Sirius each took seven (they didn't take History of Magic), Olivia, Morgan, Andrew and Maggie took six (not joining the others in History of Magic or Divination) and Peter took five: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Divination and Potions.

"This year's going to be tough," James breathed, looking over her shoulder at her schedule. "Very, very tough."

When he had said it, James had had no idea how true his prediction would be. Two weeks into term he and Lily were swamped with enough work for the entire wizarding world, never mind just the two of them. Between their eight classes, head students work, prefects' meetings, weekly meetings with the teachers, and working all of this around James' attempt to set up a Quidditch try-out both were exhausted. "Merlin," James moaned, sinking down in an armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room, and dropping his bag on his lap. "I've never had so much work to do in my life."

It was 10 o'clock at night, and James and Lily had just returned from their meeting with the teachers, which had been scheduled for 9 o'clock because of James' seven o'clock Quidditch try-out, which had had about seventy Gryffindors at it. "Tell me about it," Lily collapsed on the couch across from him. They normally slept and worked in the Heads Dormitories. Because they had so much work, they felt like if they stayed in the Common Room they would get nothing done. But after two weeks of working their hardest, and with no end in sight, James and Lily were too tired to walk from Professor Dumbledore's office at the top of the castle to the Heads Dormitories which were located off the antechamber off the Great Hall. James glanced at Lily, "there is so much work. What do you say we get started?"

Just as they started to get their supplies out of their bags, they were pounced on by their energetic friends, who had much less work. "Jaaaaames," Sirius sang, arm around a slender blonde's waist, who must have been his fling of the week.

"Sirius," James greeted tiredly, looking up from the Transfiguration Essay on Animagus he had just begun. "What?"

"I have more work than I care to think about," Sirius said, "want to help?"

"Can't," James sighed, a miserable expression crossing his face. "If you think you have a lot of work, you haven't seen how much Lily and I have. Plus I need to schedule a meeting with the Quidditch Team to decide on our new chaser. How does Wednesday at 6 sound?"

"Can't," Lily said, not looking up from her essay. "Prefects' meeting."

"Wednesday at 9?" James tried.

"That's fine," Lily confirmed, and James sighed in relief.

"Wednesday at 9, locker room," he muttered to himself, noting it in his planner.

"Merlin," Sirius marveled, ignoring the girl next to him, who was beginning to look at little bit put-off at being ignored. "You're writing stuff down now?"

"Gotta," James had returned to his essay and Sirius was losing him fast. "Can't remember a thing, what with all the work I'm doing."

Sirius nodded and walked off with the blonde girl.

No more than five minutes later, Maggie walked over, followed by Remus and his girlfriend, Veronica Samuelson. She sat down next to Lily and glared across the common room at Sirius who was obviously flirting shamelessly, even from the distance that Maggie and Lily were at. "That girl is awful," she confided to Lily. "I hate her so much."

"Who is she?" Lily asked, glancing at the blonde and then looking back at her Transfiguration book.

"Ashley Little, sixth year Hufflepuff, complete idiot and ditz."

"Oh," Lily acknowledged Maggie's remarks, but didn't look up from her essay. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Maggie grimaced, but Lily didn't see it, already busy with her essay again. "Well, I'm not getting your attention, so I'll leave you to your work."

"Maggie, wait," Lily finally looked up. "I'm sorry. Work isn't more important than my friends. Do you want to talk?"

"Really, Lils," Maggie walked back toward Lily, James, Remus and Veronica. "It's ok. I know you're absolutely swamped with work, I'll talk with Liv."

"Are you sure? I feel like a terrible friend."

"Yes, its fine, Lils. You have ten times the work of any of us. Don't worry."

"Thanks, Mags." Maggie waved it off as she walked toward the stairs to the girls' dormitories and Lily returned to her transfiguration essay. When she had just finished, a familiar voice whispered in her ear. "Lils, hall, now."

Lily stood up and followed Morgan to the hall, registering that she was helping Morgan but hadn't helped Maggie earlier, and she felt awful. "What?"

"Remus is torturing me. Veronica is awful."

"You and Maggie should commiserate." Lily remarked, dryly. "She's upset over Ashley Little and you over Veronica Samuelson."

"Well, she is awful. Do you think Remus is happy with her?"

"Probably not. She's a snooty know-it-all, if you ask me. Don't tell Remus I said that."

"Has James said anything?" Morgan asked.

Lily smiled slightly at the irony of the situation. Normally, if any of the girls wanted to know anything about James Potter they'd ask one of the Quidditch players of the group, but now they were all turning to Lily, who was spending the most time with him by far. "Well?" Morgan prodded, shattering Lily's thoughts.

"No, not that I can remember. We don't really talk about those kinds of things, though. He's very loyal to his friends' secrets, so he really doesn't tell me much about his them."

"Alright," Morgan sighed, "well, you should go do your work." Lily and Morgan re-entered the common room, and Lily groaned for what felt like the hundredth time that night. The noise in the room must have escalated a hundred times with sixth and seventh years coming in because their 10:30 curfew had come around. Lily and James were allowed to be in the hall until midnight.

"James," Lily said, pulling James' attention from the last sentence of his Transfiguration paper. "It's really loud in here. Let's go to the heads' room. We can skip patrol tonight."

"Really?" James asked incredulously. When Lily nodded he continued, "Hang on I have to tell Morgan here something. Morgie!"

"Yes," Morgan turned around from her Remus-watching to face him.

"Quidditch meeting, Wednesday at 9, in the locker room. Does that work for you?"

"No, I have a date," Morgan called in a joking manner.

James grinned and said, "Alright, so Wednesday at 9. The only date you have that night is with me, Liv, Dylan, Johnny, and Ethan."

Morgan smiled, "alright."

James smiled slightly back, but couldn't help but notice the jealous look on Remus' face as he watched James flirt the slightest bit with Morgan. He decided he'd have to talk to Lily about it. "Oh and Morgie?" he yelled again.

"Tell Liv, would you? I haven't seen her all evening."

James glanced around the common room as Morgan answered. "I suppose I can do you that small favor."

James grinned and spotted Johnny, Dylan and Ethan sitting together and talking. He walked over to them. "Hey boys."

They all looked up and greeted him.

James continued, "I don't know if you all heard that, but Quidditch meeting in the locker room, Wednesday at 9." A look of concern crossed Dylan's face. He was a fifth year, and his curfew was 9 o'clock. "Don't worry, Dyl. I'll get permission from McGonagall. I was hoping to have it earlier, but there's a prefects' meeting at six, which I expect to see you at, John, and Dyl." Johnny and Ethan were sixth years and Johnny and Dylan were the Gryffindor prefects.

"Alright," Ethan answered for all three of them. "We'll be there."

"Have a nice time with Evans," Johnny called cheekily five minutes later as he left the common room for the Heads rooms with Lily.

"Watch yourself, Parker," James called over his shoulder as he exited.

Lily laughed. "You've got yourself a spirited team, don't you?"

"That's for sure, we're so loose, I'm sure McGonagall hates it, but I love my team to death."

"That's good."

"They're so much fun, Johnny is the cheekiest kid alive, but he's the best. Dylan is quiet, but he can pull a prank, together he and Liv make a killer prank team, they've gotten Sirius and me good a couple of times. Ethan is decisive, witty, quick and evasive, and obviously you know all the spirit that Liv and Morgan have got."

Lily smiled. "It sounds fun."

"Oh, it is," James assured her. "The sense of being united for a common goal, even if it is trivial, there's definitely some camaraderie involved."

"Come on," Lily said as they let themselves into the Great Hall, "we've got a ton of work to do."

They crossed the dark, cavernous room and made their way up to the antechamber behind the teachers' table, making sure to avoid any of the four house tables. James opened the door to the antechamber and held it for Lily. He followed her in and she made her way to another door, marked 'Heads' Room: Lily Evans and James Potter.' She whispered the password (Butterfly wings) and the door clicked open. James pushed it open and followed Lily in, waving his wand to turn on the lights. The room was illuminated. Their common room was a mini-version of the Gryffindor common room, with over-stuffed armchairs, a crackling fire and merry aura around it. Both of their bedrooms were elegant as well. They had king-size, four-poster beds and large rooms where all of their belongings were held. James and Lily hadn't started living in the Heads' rooms until the second week of school, because it was only then when Professor Dumbledore remembered to tell them about it.

James sat in an armchair and yawned before conjuring a table and beginning his schoolwork again. Around midnight James couldn't work any longer. He stuffed his books and papers back in his bag and shut his eyes tiredly, murmuring, "G'night, Lily."

Lily looked up and smiled slightly, a bit confused as to how he had finished all his work for the next day, which was a Tuesday containing: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Potions and Transfiguration. "Did you finish your work?"

"Believe it or not," James muttered half-asleep, "Since we didn't have Arithmancy, Ancient Runes or Potions yesterday, I did the essays assigned Friday over the weekend. I only had to do Defense, Charms and Transfiguration today. You can take a look at my essays if you need to."

"Ok," Lily returned to her work and James drifted off into yet another restless sleep, right there on his armchair.

Around one in the morning, when Lily had just finished her final essay, an owl swooped into the common room. She took the letter off its leg and saw that it was addressed to James, not her. "James," she murmured, shaking him.

"What?" he sat up straight and stared around every muscle in his body tensing considerably. He seemed cautious, paranoid even.
"It's ok. You just got a letter," Lily said softly, rubbing his back soothingly. Over the first couple of weeks of term, their friendship had blossomed. They spent a ton of time together and were on the verge of becoming best friends. They told each other everything, and they trusted each other indefinitely. James smiled slightly and took the offered letter.

Dear James,

Hi! How are you? I'm alright, but Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, Moody, the Healers and I have come to a decision, which the reading of your dearest father's will has brought about. Your father writes:

'If I am ever in a permanently impaired state, where I am unable to make decisions for myself and communicate them to my loved ones and am one any type of life support spells, then it is my wish to leave this world.'

Pertaining to your father's request- and the healer's have decided he is in a permanently impaired state- we have decided that we will be removing your father from the life support spells on Saturday, October 4. I have already spoken to Professor Dumbledore and you and Sirius will be taken out of school that day, so you can say good-bye to your father. The funeral has not yet been set, but it will obviously be at our church. Remember I will be there to talk to you and I don't mind if you talk to anyone in your year (obviously a friend). Do be mindful of how Sirius feels about this whole ordeal and don't pressure him to talk. I will see you on the 3 of October, after you finish the day's school.

Love,

Mum

James swore under his breath. "No, no, no, no, no." He dropped his head into his hands and shook it uncontrollably. "No, why, Dad, why? Don't do this to me, Dad. Sirius and I need you. You're my best friend, you and Sirius. No, no, no, no."

Lily looked on sympathetically and watched as James sunk deeper and deeper into his misery. "Go ahead," James told her, seemingly sensing her thoughts. "You can read it." Lily obliged James' wishes, and slowly unwrapped James' fingers, which were clenched tightly around the now completely crumpled letter. She worked it slowly out of the ball it was squeezed into and began to read. It was worse than she had ever imagined. Poor James, she thought, and sat softly on the arm of the overstuffed chair he had chosen, and murmured quietly, "Do you want to talk?"

"It's not fair," James cried, not sure why he was pouring out everything he had kept inside since that fateful day in July. "Why him? He was the best auror in the history of the Ministry of Magic. Great aurors survive the toughest battles that they're in, and yet he dies in a little battle in the residential section of Diagon Alley. He didn't even manage to fully protect the little girl. She's dead too."

"He's not dead, yet," Lily reminded James softly. "You still get to say good-bye."

"I know, but the letter makes it real. Before the letter, it still seemed like it never happened, but it really did, didn't it?"

"Yeah, James," Lily told him softly, not knowing what else to say.

James didn't seem to hear her, however. "He was the best dad ever. He always had a ton of work, to this day I don't know how he did it, but he did. Even with all his work, he always found time to play with me, do all the normal things Wizarding fathers do with their little boys. Teach them how to fly, how to treat the family house elves, whatever. Whenever there was something to teach me, he was always there to do it, no matter how busy he was. Same thing with Sirius. Dad always managed to help Sirius whenever he needed it. He was so supportive when Sirius ran away from his house last summer, and he's always been the father figure Sirius never truly had. Sirius' dad is a Death Eater and an alcoholic.

"Which brings me to yet another completely unfair thing: how come people like that, Death Eaters who beat their sons to no end, men who can't even manage to stay with their wives, boyfriends who can't bear the idea of supporting their girlfriends who they got pregnant, out of wedlock, murderers, rapists, people who commit capital crimes, how come they live, yet people like my dad, a great guy, welcoming to everyone, never hurt a fly, are tortured to insanity and then are killed because they are irreparably damaged and unable to live without spells, and it's their wish to die. Why is that fair, Lily?"

"Oh, James," Lily sighed, half-heartedly. She rubbed his hand comfortingly. "I just don't understand any better than you, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks," James sighed. "I wonder if my Mum wrote Sirius."

As though an answer to his question, a muffled knock came from the distance. "James, are you in there?"

Lily smiled, "how'd he ever get into the Great Hall?"

"I don't know, but he's certainly locked out of the antechamber. I locked that after myself. I'll go let him in."

"I'm going to go to bed. If you need anything just yell."

"Alright." Lily began walking away from James' side. He reached out and caught her hand.

"Wait. I just wanted to thank you. I needed to talk to someone. You were a huge help to me."

"I'll always listen, James," Lily said softly, reaching out and touching James' cheek softly.

"Me too, Lily," James looked her directly in the eye. The muffled knock came again. "I'd better go let him in. G'night."

Lily smiled weakly and walked toward her room. She let herself in and heard the door to the Heads' Common Room squeak open and Sirius say, "I am so sorry, mate," before she shut her door, and made her way into the bathroom.

It's not fair, Lily thought, fifteen minutes later, as warm water washed over her and she stared blankly at the white wall of the shower. Why does Mr. Potter deserve this? James and his family don't deserve this suffering. I wonder how much family he has. Lily grimaced, if it was the rumors she had heard were true, then there probably wasn't much of a Potter family left. Lily smiled slightly; Mariana Potter was brave to marry into the family. Lily grimaced; she wondered if Mrs. Potter's parents had been targeted as well. She then laughed slightly, realizing she had no idea whether the Potter family was actually targeted or not.

James let Sirius into the Heads' Common Room, and the first thing his best friend said was, "I am so sorry, mate," and pulled James into a brotherly hug. James clung to him, not caring that they were both 17-year-old boys, who weren't supposed to show any extreme emotion. They were brothers going through the hardest of times.

James pulled away, "Sirius, remember yourself. I know he was important in your life too."

Sirius grimaced, "only because my family could drop dead tomorrow and I wouldn't give a damn."

"That's not true," James told him.

"Well, I wouldn't care about my parents. I'd only worry about Andromeda and Regulus."

An owl tapped impatiently at the window and James went to let it in. He read the attached letter out loud to Sirius.

Dearest James and Sirius,

Upon further inspection of your father's will, Albus, Minerva and I found that your father has made specific requests for who says the eulogies at his funeral. Pertaining to his request, I would be honored if you two, and a fellow auror in the office would all write one.

With my love,

Mum

Sirius sighed. "Does she honestly think we'd say no?" Without waiting for James' reply he continued, "We'd better write back to make sure she knows we'll be saying one."

James nodded, already thinking about what he would say. It was going to be one of the most difficult things he'd ever done.

Sirius grabbed a quill and writing on the back of Mrs. Potter's letter. He attached it to the owl, which then flew back off into the night. Sirius looked at James. "Are you OK? You're obviously trying to be strong, but you know you don't have to be."

James' gaze flickered to the door of Lily's room and then back to Sirius. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "No, I broke down in front of Lily. It was really embarrassing. She was really nice though."

Sirius laughed the slightest bit, though they both failed to see the humor in the situation. "That's good. You needed to talk to someone. The only advice I can give is to always be there for her now, if she ever needs an ear."

James and Sirius talked late into the night, mostly reminiscing about their memories with Mr. Potter. Finally around 3 o'clock that morning Sirius fell asleep on the couch. As James was heading toward his room, he heard Lily call out to him.

"I couldn't sleep, because, well, I know this might be a little weird, since we just became friends and all, but, I don't want to impose or anything, but I was wondering if I could maybe come to your father's funeral? I've always respected him," she was rambling but couldn't stop, wondering why she felt like she had to prove her good intentions to James. "He was such a great auror and—"

"Lily, stop." James interrupted her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to justify yourself. I was wondering if you would come actually. That is, if you'd feel comfortable. It would just be me, you and Sirius. We'll have to ask Dumbledore."

"Alright."

"Thanks, Lily. For coming and all," James hesitated. "It means a lot to me and to my dad too. Obviously he won't know, but to his memory."

Lily smiled at James and hurried up to her dormitory, wondering why she suddenly got so nervous around James Potter, who had never made her the slightest bit nervous before.

James went up to his dormitory a while later. James collapsed onto his bed and sunk his face into his pillow. He thought idly about funeral arrangements and what he would say in his eulogy, but none of it seemed to truly matter. His father had been such a big part of his life and these sadistic men, with no purpose in life other than to terrorize innocent people or protesters, had taken something so precious, so rare from his father.

How could these men just steal life from innocent people for fun? It really was sick. Didn't they realize how incredibly precious something like life truly was? It made James want to throw up. Sure, his father had been a protester of Voldemort's actions, but that didn't make his life any less important or precious than an innocent bystander's. James sighed and turned over in his bed. How could this happen to him? It wasn't fair. James vowed then and there that when he graduated from school, he would do something, anything to thwart Voldemort's plans.

The next day was torture for James and Sirius. They spent breakfast surrounded by their friends. Lily, Olivia, Morgan, Maggie, Remus, Peter and Andrew were all huddled together with James and Sirius over several different newspapers and tabloids. James held them in one shaking hand, looking around at his family. "You guys ready?" he asked, fingering the string keeping The Daily Prophet rolled up.

Sirius spoke for all of them. "Well, we have to read it sometime."

DECISION MADE

Top-notch Auror to be removed from life support, per his request through his will, on October 4, surrounded by family.

By Gaylord Harrison

LONDON- As they went through his belongings, hoping to find some clue as to how to deal with this situation, so new to the Wizarding World, the committee making decisions about Harold Potter's future came across an important document: Harold Potter's will. The will stated that if Potter were ever in an irreversibly impaired state, to end his life.

And the Potters will do just that. On October 4, the most respectable family in the wizarding world will gather in Potter's room at St. Mungo's and end Potter's life. According to a statement by Mrs. Mariana Potter, the entire family will be there. "Harold has specifically requested by way of his will, for his life to be ended, and my family and I have decided it's only fair to follow his wishes. The entire family will be present on October 4, and we will make this ordeal as easy as possible. I can assure you his death will be quick and painless."

The funeral is already being planned and will take place on October 7 at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, a Catholic church where the Potters are regular parishioners. A source close to the Potter family said there will be eulogies by, a co-worker of his at the Ministry of Magic, his son, James, 17, and family friend Sirius Black, 17. Potter will be buried in the Holy Trinity Church's graveyard, Evergreen Cemetery, just blocks from Holy Trinity, which is a muggle church. Mrs. Potter said the funeral will be open to the public, but according to Alastor Moody, who has been appointed Head of Auror Department since Mr. Potter's injury, security will be very tight. The service will be conducted in a muggle manner, because the family expects both muggles and wizards to be in attendance.

--September 27, 1976

James sighed and looked around at his family. "Today's going to be tough," he told them. "No doubt the Slytherins will have something to say. Anyway," James continued, "I need to get going to class. Come on Sirius."

The two boys bid good-bye to their friends and hurried to class. They had Transfiguration first, and they entered energetically. James and Sirius had both surprisingly gotten sleep, even after the alarming news. When James and Sirius had expressed their thoughts to Lily in the Heads' Common Room that morning she said that the decision was a sign of closure on the situation and that made it easier for James and Sirius to accept, and therefore easier for them to sleep.

James slipped into his seat with Sirius next to him. As the beginning of the period came closer and closer, their friends filed in. Lily seated herself on the other side of James and everyone else sat around them. Lily wasn't surprised to see that Maggie sat next to Sirius. The Slytherins in the N.E.W.T. class came in after the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and they sneered at James and Sirius as they entered. "Potter, you should have known that your father wouldn't last in the end," Lucius Malfoy smirked at James, "And you, Black," he continued, turning on Sirius, "There's still time for you to redeem yourself. The Dark Lord could forgive you yet for your ignorance in this matter. Clearly, you can see the stronger side. Unfortunately, Potter, there is no standing invitation for a Mudblood lover to join such prestigious ranks."

Lily reached across the distance between her desk and James' and laid her hand on his arm. "Don't James," she murmured. "It's not worth it."

"Ooh, look," Malfoy sneered, now safely in his seat between Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange. "Potter's girlfriend is controlling him. How sweet." Malfoy's tone changed in a second. "His Mudblood girlfriend," he added.

"How's Daddy?" Sirius asked, finally retaliating.

Malfoy smirked yet again. "Fine, and his ego's really gotten a boost now, after all, we all know who finally got the great Harold Potter."

"Care to divulge the information, Mr. Malfoy for those of us who are not on the inside loop?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly, sweeping into the room just in time to hear Malfoy's final remark.

"N-no, ma'am."

"Alright, then I suggest you keep your remarks about your classmate's father to yourself. I trust you've heard of what's happened to Mr. Potter's father?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, then, I expected more out of you Mr. Malfoy," her expression didn't exactly back up that sentiment, "you should be supporting your Head Boy in his time of need, instead of mocking him. Detention, every night this week at 7."

"But, Professor—"

Professor McGonagall cut him off. "No, Mr. Malfoy, don't argue. Consider yourself lucky that Mr. Potter hasn't already given you detention, because as Head Boy he has that power. Now let's begin our lesson."

James and Sirius both let out a sigh of relief, and exchanged a glance. Their day was already awful. Professor McGonagall began to speak. The lesson passed incredibly slowly for both James and Sirius. They were impatient, and wanted everything to happen quickly so they could finally talk to Mrs. Potter. The class and the day passed slower than James could imagine. He was more fidgety than ever before and he could not pay attention to a word the teachers were saying. He noticed that Lily kept glancing at him worriedly, but even that didn't pique his interest.

After his last class of the day, James hurried out to the Quidditch pitch to fly around. He knew that flying would clear his mind like it always did. James dug his broom out of the heap in the Gryffindor locker room and brought it outside. He kicked off and began to coast through the air. He loved the feeling of the wind against his face and through his hair, and the view of the Forbidden Forest, just treetop following treetop as far as he could see. These feelings and views always helped James to think more clearly. James turned his broom to the left and he began to fly towards the Whomping Willow. This was James' favorite flying exercise. He would fly between the branches, trying to dodge them. It certainly wasn't the safest of activities, but it improved his flying skills every time he tried it.

A half an hour or so later, James turned his broom away from the violent tree, exhausted from trying to avoid its flying branches. He flew back toward the Quidditch Pitch, and noticed Lily standing on the grass in the middle of the pitch waiting for him. James landed next to her and smiled. "Hey, Lily."

"Where have you been James?" she snapped worriedly. "The guys have been worried sick about you."

James smiled slightly again. Flying really did help to clear his mind and calm him down. "They couldn't have been that worried. They had their ways of finding me if they wanted to."

"Really?" Lily asked skeptically. "And how exactly would they have found you?"

"Marauders' secret. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Lily laughed. "Keep your secrets, James. We do need to talk about a couple head things, though."

"Alright," James said, making his way towards the locker room and tossing his broom inside. He reemerged and smiled. "What do we need to talk about?"

"You seem cheerful. What happened?"

"I flew," James answered. "Flying always clears my mind. But you're changing the subject. What do we need to talk about?"

"Fine, fine, I'm trying to procrastinate. You know that. Anyway, we need to set up patrols for the year."

"Do they rotate patrol partners, or do they switch part way through the year?" James asked.

"Either way. I think we should just leave them with the same partners all year. We'll pair fifth years with seventh years of the same house, and the same gender. Does that sound okay?"

"Fine," they had reached the Heads' common room. James drew out a piece of paper. He scribbled names on it. "What will we do with the sixth years then?"

"They'll patrol together, but not with people from their house."

James wrote again. "In that case it will be: Remus and Dylan Finch, Patricia Parkinson and Zera Phelps and Johnny Parker and Rodolphus Lestrange on Mondays." James continued to write with Lily reading over his shoulder and occasionally making adjustments to his pairings. "No, that won't work. You'll have to put the Hufflepuff fifth and sixth year girls together. No, that's not right either. It'll have to be the Hufflepuff fifth and seventh year girls; it's alright that they're sisters."

"Can't we put Slytherins with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs with Gryffindors? I don't really feel comfortable have Johnny with Lestrange." James' eyes scanned the parchment for any pairings he disliked.

Lily sighed. "I guess it would make equal sense to pair Slytherins and Ravenclaws, after all, the Slytherins would be less likely to hurt the Ravenclaws and the Ravenclaws are smart enough to defend themselves if need be. Just don't tell anyone we changed the pairings because we don't trust the Slytherins."

"Don't worry," James said. "I won't. It just doesn't make me comfortable to leave my Quidditch players all alone with Slytherins."

"I can understand," Lily told him, sympathetically. "The change is fine."

"Thanks. Is there anything else we need to work on in order to prepare for the meeting tomorrow?"

"No, I'm heading for bed. Good night."

Just after 6 o'clock the next evening James stepped into the prefects' lounge, Lily immediately behind him. Apologetically, he smiled. "Sorry we're late; we just had a few arrangements to make before we spoke to you."

Lily picked up their speech, "There are very few things we need to talk about tonight. James and I will just tell you what we need to tell you and then it will be an open-ended discussion. You'll just tell us what students have been telling you."

"First, however, you should consider yourselves lucky. I know I've never been a prefect before but Remus has been, and he's had to patrol since the first night of school the past two years. Lily and I haven't been able to get the patrols put together since I've had a bad couple of weeks—"

"I should say so. May the most powerful side win," shouted Sirius' cousin, Bellatrix Black.

"Thank you for your input, Black," James continued coolly. "As I was saying, we just got patrols put together, and each of you will be paired with the same person for the entire year. Lily and I, as head boy and girl, will patrol together. Other patrol assignments along with patrol nights are posted on the back bulletin board. We won't change your patrol partners, so don't bother to ask."

Dylan Finch raised his hand. "Who will I be patrolling with?" he asked nervously.

James smiled. "Remus Lupin, Dyl. He's one of my best friends. Don't worry, he's great." James pointed to him and smiled again. "Remus, be nice. Dylan here is an instrumental part of my team this year."

Remus grinned. "I'll try my best."

"Don't worry," Lily said. "Remus doesn't bite, Dylan."

James inwardly cringed and watched Snape's reaction closely. After Snape had learned about Remus from Sirius the previous year, they all had been very cautious to make sure nothing reminded Snape of Remus' condition. Remus smiled weakly at Lily, who immediately realized what she had said, and wished she could take it back.

"Anyway," James continued, steering the conversation away from any potentially dangerous waters. "Does anyone have an idea for the first Hogsmeade weekend?"

Lily spoke up. "The head boy last year claimed it was tradition to have it on Halloween. Last year Professor Dumbledore gave us the day off from school and we got to go to Hogsmeade during the day and that night was the Halloween feast. We should ask him at our next meeting with him whether he'll let us do that, James."

James nodded his agreement, his mind already elsewhere. He had so many things to do and was already thinking about his Quidditch meeting. No more than 10 minutes later, Lily said, "Alright, we're done. James, do you have anything else to say?"

"Yeah, Finch, can you stay behind for just a second? I just have a quick question to ask you."

Dylan nodded and everyone else, including Lily filed out. "So," Dylan teased as he walked toward James, all of his previous nerves out the window, "are you going to claim Lily before I can grab her?"

"Oh, you'd better not touch her," James threatened. Ever since Dylan's second year and Johnny's third, the year they had joined the team, they had heard all of James' girl troubles, thrilled to listen because James was the coolest guy in the school and the most popular.

"I wouldn't dare," Dylan promised. "Anyway, what did you need me for?"

"We have to go see McGonagall so you can get curfew permission."

Later that night, after the prefects' meeting, James hurried down to the locker room to meet with his Quidditch Team. He barreled into the locker room to see his entire team seated there. "Well," he said, rubbing his hands together to warm them up from the cool nighttime breeze. "What did you all think?"

"You mean you want our in-put?" Morgan laughed. "Derek and Kate never did. You know that."

"I know that. This is your team, too. You deserve at least minimal in-put."

Johnny, Ethan, Anna and Dylan laughed at the last remark, but Morgan rolled her eyes in a fashion that reminded him strongly of Lily. "Morgan, you look like Lily when you do that. Where is Olivia? I told you to tell her 9 o'clock sharp." James glared at Morgan.

"I did," she snapped defensively. "I told her not to go see Drew tonight, because I knew she'd get caught up, but she ignored me. She said that I under-estimated her self control and stormed off."

"I'll get Drew later," James muttered under his breath. "Alright, we'll have to start without Liv then. This doesn't affect her that much anyway. We're selecting a chaser, aren't we?" James seemed to be trying to convince himself more than his team.

"Come on James," Morgan pleaded. "Lils will kill all three of us if you're late for your patrol. You don't want her to kill you know, just when you're getting her to like you do you?"

The entire team laughed as James blushed a deep red. "Ok, fine. Well, which ones did you like then, Morgan?"

Johnny made his opinion known. "I don't think we should take someone too young, like a second year. Dyl is young enough to train someone, and keep up the legacy I think that we should take third year."

"That's a good point, but I'm wary of taking a fifth or sixth year, because the team will be screwed in a couple years, after your class graduates, Dyl. I want to have one holdover after you graduate who was on the team with James, Liv and I," Morgan said.

"What about me?" The door flew open and Olivia stood in the doorway, staring into the room.

"Liv!" James exclaimed. "How nice of you to join us," he commented as she sat down. "Please, sit down."

Olivia grinned sarcastically and turned her attention to James. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Not much. We decided to take a third or fourth year because we want the legacy to continue."

"Well, you shouldn't have started without me. That wasn't nice. I have one of the best perspectives in finding a chaser, considering they shot on me."

"And, tell me, Liv. How is Drew doing? I didn't have much of a chance to speak to him today."

"I don't know I haven't spoken to him lately."

James laughed a loud and full laugh. "Oh, I forgot. Well, then, the more appropriate question may be how was your snog? Was it nice?"

Olivia blushed. "Very nice, thanks. Clarice Stevens is a very good chaser."

"She's in my year, too old," Johnny pointed out. "Anyway, you're just trying to change the subject, aren't you?"

Olivia blushed again, but James saved her. "Liv is changing the subject, but we need to get down to work. Who did you guys like?"

"I liked Chelsea Brown, personally," Ethan said.

"She's your girlfriend," Johnny laughed. "She's a fifth year, anyway. That's too old."

"Fine," Ethan sulked.

"I liked Bridget McEnberg, James."

"She was good, too. That's a good one, Morgie," Olivia agreed. "James, Bridget was really good, and she's a third year, so she's nice and young."

James grinned. "Did you all like Bridget?"

Johnny and Dylan agreed quickly, and Ethan huffily consented. "Ok, I'll tell her tomorrow," James said, "and I'll let you know what time our first full team practice is."

All too soon, in everyone's opinion (except the Slytherins, of course), Friday October 6, 1976 came too quickly and after he finished with the day's transfiguration lesson James got the bag he had prepared and made his way down to the Entrance Hall with Sirius in companionable silence. As they made their way down the busy halls trying to move against the throngs of people moving away from the Great Hall, there were many people already offering condolences. It was very overwhelming to James.

He, Lily and Sirius would be leaving Hogwarts as soon as they met in the Entrance Hall. When he got there with Sirius, he was surprised to see Lily there almost ten minutes early.

The three of them would be staying in a muggle hotel in London, called the Westin Hotel. They would stay together in the same room.

"Ready to go?" James asked Lily. She nodded, and the three set off out the great oak doors and down the lawn.

"We're taking the Knight Bus," James informed Sirius and Lily. They nodded and James fell into step next to Lily behind Sirius.

James smiled at Lily. "So, I didn't get much of a chance to speak with you today. How are you?"

Lily smiled ever so slightly. "I'm fine. But I'm worried about you. You're about to go through one of the hardest ordeals of your life. Are you OK?"

"Ok, I guess. I'm nervous. What's it going to be like without my Dad? I really don't know what I'm going to do without him. I'm so scared and so nervous, Lil. How do I actually know that I'm going to be alright, what if I can't go on without him? I know I manage to live without Liz, but this is my dad we're talking about Lil. I don't know if I can do it. How am I supposed to be able to do it?"

"I know you can," Lily told him emphatically looking deeply into his hazel eyes, brushing aside her confusion about James' incident with 'Liz.' "I know you can. You're so strong, Liv and Morgan told me how much you went through with Liz, and I know you can do it again."

"Dyl helped me tons with Liz's death though. They were the same year. I don't know how I would have gotten through Liz's death without Dyl and Sirius."

"I don't see what's different this time," Lily countered, desperately hoping she was helping James. "What year was it when Liz died?"

James, slightly hurt that Lily didn't remember, answered, "Sixth, last year."

"Last year you had your entire Quidditch team, Sirius, Remus and Peter, and Maggie. There's no difference this time. You have your family, friends, team, and me, who you didn't have last time, to support you. You are so incredibly strong, and you'll get through this."

'Thanks, Lil," James smiled, thankful once again for his new, but very strong friendship with Lily. "You're a great, great, great friend. I've told you that before haven't I?"

"I think so, but I take compliments more than once."

James grinned, "Good, I don't handle rejection well." (-Remus Lupin, The Potter Legacy: The Story of Lily and James. Chapter 17, Happily Ever After). Lily and James both laughed.

They reached the outskirts of the Hogwarts grounds and Sirius turned around and laughed. "What did you two do? Stop and make out underneath that giant oak next to the lake? I've been here for ages."

James grinned widely, and threw Lily a slightly suggestive glance, "I wish."

Lily laughed appreciatively, instead of what Sirius was expecting: an explosion to rival that of a particularly nasty volcano. While Sirius carefully examined Lily, James threw up his wand hand and the Knight Bus appeared with an especially large 'BANG!' "'Ello and welcome to the Knight Bus. My name is Stan Shunpike and I'll be the conductor tonight. James, how have ya been, mate? Saw the stuff about your father in the papers. Sorry, 'bout that. Is that where ya are headed?"

"Yeah," James said with some sadness, digging some gold out of his pocket. "Here you go. Keep the change. By the way, how is your son doing?"

"Oh, great. Sweet little thing, he is. Little Stan, Jr. is doin' great. I was so flattered when Maria suggested we name him after me I couldn't turn it down," Stan grinned around at them all and stuffed James' gold into his pocket while accepting Lily's in his other hand. James and Lily got onto the bus and were directed to the top floor of the violently purple triple decker. Because it was late afternoon, the beds on the night bus were already in place. James sat down on one, and motioned for Lily to join him. She sat comfortably next to him and yawned. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day, Lil. Get some sleep now."

Sleepily she nodded and leaned her head away from James as Sirius joined them.

James sat on a different bed and lay down to get some sleep, as did Sirius.

Much later, although they were still on the bus, Lily woke and looked around to see both James and Sirius sound asleep. She focused her gaze on James and contemplated her strong feelings for him. He had certainly changed since the beginning of the year, but Lily hated taking risks and did not want to set herself up for failure by believing in him. The more she thought about it, though, the more obvious it became: she already trusted James Potter. Unconsciously, over the past month, she had left behind Olivia, Maggie and Morgan and James had become her best friend and confidant. Now, she realized she was ready to take the risk. She wanted James Potter to ask her out again. And if he did...