A/N: Sorry for the wait you guys, it's been intense with my new job! I do hope it will be worth the wait, although I'm worried you won't like this! Let me know what you think, and thanks to everyone for your continued support! 100 reviews?! I can't believe it, you guys are amazing!

Aurelia Rose Fawley felt sick to her stomach upon seeing James together with Lily. Day in and day out, he never seemed to be apart from her. It was nauseating. She also felt sick thinking about what had happened with Sirius at the party, and at the fact that she had hurt him so terribly – and still was.

But now there they all were, all but her of course, happily seated together by the Gryffindor table, like the perfect group of friends that they were. The perfect group she'd never really been part of. James had his arm casually thrown over Lily's shoulders, both laughing at something Peter had said, where he sat opposed to them next to Mary. Remus seemed to be explaining some homework to Marlene, and Sirius was just barely listening to Peter, paying much more attention to his breakfast. And there it was… breakfast. Even the thought of breakfast nauseated her.

The blonde left the Great Hall without eating, heading to potions class, where she once again was paired up with Regulus. And while the boy had clearly attempted to help her, back at her cousin's wedding, he was still an annoying Slytherin prat whom she'd rather not have prying in her personal life.

It had been weeks since Sirius' birthday, and she hadn't talked to him since. She couldn't exactly blame anyone but herself for her loneliness. Well, anyone other than James, that was. James, the boy she loved; the boy who didn't want her.

It shouldn't be surprising to her, really. She had always known that Lily Evans was far prettier than her, and smarter for that matter, and she should've known that any boy would be stupid not to choose her over Aurelia Fawley – the dull, invisible Hufflepuff. The dull Hufflepuff with a horribly dramatic life. It seemed like everything that could possibly go wrong in her life, did. Her brother and cousin had gone and joined the Dark Lord's forces, James had left her for Lily, Sirius Black had kissed her and nearly proclaimed his love for her, and now she was bloody…

"Fawley? Fawley!"

Shit. She was ruining the potion. Thick black smoke was leaking out of their cauldron, and Regulus Black was looking at her as though she had snapped his wand in two.

"Right! Shit! I'm sorry, Black, I just… I wasn't paying attention!"

"Well no shit! What the hell is going on with you? I leave you for two minutes and our entire potion is reduced to black goo! If only Slughorn would see sense and place me in advanced potions with Severus," the raven-haired boy sighed, vanishing the spoiled potion with a flick of this wand.

"What was that? Snape is good at potions?" the blonde asked, brows furrowed, as a lump of nervous energy appeared in her stomach.

"He's applying for mastery, why do you ask?"

"Well… Needless to say… I could use some help."

"That you certainly could. He usually spends his evenings working on his potions in an abandoned classroom on the fifth floor, I'm sure he won't mind helping Lucius' cousin. So long as you don't tell my brother and his despicable friends."

"No risk of that…" she mumbled, turning her gaze towards the floor at the mention of the Marauders, at the thought of James.

"Tell him I sent you, if you wish. I don't think you could get much worse than this, and if you're going to be my partner for the entire year, I'm not sure how I'll be able to keep my grades up."

Nearly twelve hours later, the Hufflepuff found herself in abandoned classroom on the fifth floor, in a heated discussion with Severus Snape. Now, Snape wasn't her favourite person; far from it. And he wasn't the first person she'd think of when she needed help with something. Yet, there she was, searching him out late at night, asking him for a favour. By Helga, was she desperate.

"Don't think you can come in here, making demands. You might be a little princess over with the Gryffindors, Fawley, but not in here."

"Lay off me, Snape. Can you make the bloody potion or not?"

"I'm perfectly capable of brewing it, Fawley. But if you require my silence, you're going to have to give me more than that. Why not go to St. Mungos?"

"And have them tell my parents that I'm carrying a bastard child at the age of sixteen? Have you lost your wits?"

"And the father?"

"Well, it's not one of your precious Slytherins if that's what you're worried about."

"So?"

"He wants nothing to do with me. Now, will you help me or not?"

"It's Potter, isn't it?"

"I'm warning you, Snape. If you think for one sec…"

"Does he know?"

"No."

"It would take me a full moon cycle."

"And you won't tell anyone?"

"What good do you reckon that would do me? Brewing an illegal terminus potion for an underage, pure-blood witch? They would have me burned at the stake."

"But you'll do it?"

"Yes, princess. I will help you," the tall boy replied mockingly, nonchalantly turning his gaze back to the potion he was currently brewing.

"Why?"

"Because you're not the only one who's been screwed over by that swine."

Aurelia was just about to defend James, when she realized that Severus was, to some degree, right. Sure, he was more entitled to feel that way. James had been picking on him for as long as she could remember, but had he really screwed her over? This… situation was just as much her fault as it was his, wasn't it? And while she wanted nothing more than to hate him for breaking her heart, she couldn't. There wasn't a single part of her that hated him, and if he changed his mind, she would take him back without a doubt. It didn't really matter how stupid that was of her, because it was never going to happen. She knew that. While she loved him with her entire being, James had never loved her the way he loved Lily. He never would.

"I'll owl you, when it's done. It's going to be around Christmas, though. Will you be here for the holidays?"

"I'll find a way to stay here. How about you?"

"Hmph, as though I have anywhere else to be."

"Well, neither do I."

"Alright. I trust you won't tell anyone about our agreement?"

"Oh please, Snape. Do you really think I want anyone to know about this?"

"Fine. Six weeks it is, then."

She didn't cry until she'd made it to the fourth floor. She realized then, that she hadn't cried because of that at all before. She had cried over losing James, she had cried over losing her friends, she had cried over hurting Sirius. Hell, she had even cried over kissing Sirius. But she hadn't cried about the… situation before, despite having lingering suspicions for weeks.

Six more weeks. Six awful weeks to go. She would have to stick to herself for another six weeks, at least. She would have to stay away from all of them, her friends, for six weeks. But then again, she wasn't even sure there was any friendship left after everything that had happened. So, she had six weeks of suffering alone, and then, just in time for Christmas, she would have to face her nightmare – alone.

Crying over it was inevitable, and once she had started, Aurelia could not stop. The tears were so thick they were clouding her vision, but she didn't slow down until she walked right into something, or rather, someone.

"Oh my, are you alright?"

The voice was soft, friendly, and the young witch wanted to answer it, apologize for walking straight into the girl, say she was fine – but she couldn't. There was a lump in her throat, stopping any sound from coming out. So, instead, she nodded and wiped the tears out of her eyes with the sleeves of her robe, clearing her throat before looking up again to meet worried, emerald eyes.

"I'm Lily," the girl in front of her explained, a kind smile gracing her face – perfectly accompanying that soft voice. The red Head Girl badge was pinned neatly on her robes, and her auburn hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She was perfect.

Aurelia wanted to hate her. Hate her for suddenly taking an interest in James after all these years, for taking him away from her. She wanted to hate her for being so damn perfect all the time, and for being so excruciatingly nice. She couldn't, though. Hating people wasn't exactly something that Aurelia Fawley was very good at – despite how much she wanted to.

"I know," the blonde murmured in response, turning her grey gaze down at the stone floor, so that she wouldn't have to look at Lily Evans a second longer.

"It's after curfew. You shouldn't be out here all by yourself. I'll walk you to your common room," Lily offered, but as she put a hand on her shoulder to lead her downstairs, Aurelia flinched, jerking her body away from the other girl so abruptly that she nearly fell over.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Aurelia shook her head in response, wrapping her arms securely around herself, wishing that they were his arms. His arms that were more likely to be wrapped around the perfect redhead later that night.

"I can find my own way back," she mumbled, pushing past the muggleborn and continuing her rush down the stairs on her own. In a way, she was glad it was Lily she had ran into, and not James. She couldn't possibly face him. And while facing Evans was awful, she didn't seem to know about anything. She didn't even know who Aurelia was. And that was something she could appreciate – being invisible.

She couldn't remember who she had been before she met James, if she'd even been anyone at all. She had been miserable then, and she was miserable now. The only difference was the memory of a short glimpse of light; just pure, golden light and laughter. While she was immensely grateful for having gotten to feel like that, she wondered if it made the loneliness worse; having known what love like that felt like. Nobody needed her now. Nobody was missing her. And so, she couldn't deny that it was tempting, the option of having someone need her for the rest of her life – to never be alone again. Aurelia longed for that so much it hurt. Yet, she knew that wouldn't be fair. It wasn't fair to place that kind of burden on anyone, let alone a child.

And either way, she couldn't possibly be stupid enough to have a child amid a war, at the mere age of sixteen. And with a blood traitor for that matter, a blood traitor who didn't even want her. So, she told herself she'd made the right decision going to Snape. As long as he didn't tell anyone, it had been the right decision, and no one else would know; not James, not Evans, not her family, and definitely not Sirius. At least it would be her secret, and in six weeks, she wouldn't have to try so damn hard to be invisible anymore – although that was something that seemed to come naturally to her.

A/N: I know, I know, it was a bit on the short side but I've been kind of low on imagination lately. Either way, I really hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you think about the recent developments! If you liked this (or hated it, what do I know?) let me know in a review (because they mean the world to me), and please do follow and favorite! It makes my days to hear your opinions on this story!