James stirred, he didn't know how long he had been out but his head pounded, he must have lost concentration in a fight again, Lily would kill him for worrying her. Lily, he moved his hand around the side of his bed, he couldn't touch her soft hand or find her long auburn locks. He frowned; maybe she had stepped out for coffee. "Padfoot." James rasped, he heard the distinct scraping of a chair.

"James." Sirius called softly, James could feel Sirius caressing his forehead softly, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Like crap. Lily would kill me for getting hurt so bad." James whispered back, struggling to open his eyes, "Where is my flower power though?"

Seriously, where was Lily, she should be back by now. And then it hit him like a speeding train, the memories of that night. No. NO! Lily. No. Harry. No. No. No.

James' eyes flew open, he sat up, struggling to untangle the sheets and bandages wrapped around him. He felt Sirius' hands restraining him, joined by another strong set of arms.

"James" Remus said frantically. "You need to calm down."

"NO" James screamed in pain. "Let me go. LET ME GO. LILY. HARRY. GONE. DEAD." James sobbed, burying his head in his hands. "Why am I alive?" He moaned. "WHY AM I ALIVE?" He screamed at the walls. Sirius and Remus held on to James, tears rolling down their face as they let James sob. After a while Remus wiped his eyes and held James' face in his hands. "Harry is alive, James. It's a miracle but Harry is alive and Voldemort… Voldemort is gone."

To Remus it looked like James couldn't comprehend a word he said. After a while James slumped back. He couldn't be so lucky- they couldn't be so lucky, two Potters surviving the killing curse. "Harry is alive?" He asked in a hollow voice.

"Yes." Sirius said.

Hope raised its head in James' heart. He tried to control it, curb it, not give in it to it. "And Lily?" His voice betrayed him by sounding hopeful.

Both Remus and Sirius looked away. James slumped back trying to stump the volley of tears in his eyes. He had things to do; desperately he looked around the room to help calm himself when his eyes fell on the calendar. 3rd November, he had been out for three days.

"Three days?" He asked startled by this information. "I have been out for three days?"

"Well, you took a hard hit. The entire wall and a bit of the upper floor fell on you." Sirius replied.

"And Harry? How did he survive?"

Sirius shrugged. "Dumbledore says" Remus replied "that Lily died to protect Harry. Her sacrifice left a magical shield on Harry and that is why Voldemort was not able to kill him."

"And Voldemort? Is he dead?"

Sirius shook his head. "We don't know." He replied, "When Hagrid reached the cottage, Harry was in the nursery with Lily and Voldemort's wand and robes. It's as if he just vanished into thin air but Dumbledore reckons he won't return for a while."

"So, there is a chance that he will return?" James asked, voice heavy as tears kept leaking out of his eyes.

Remus nodded solemnly as Sirius muttered, "If we go by Dumbledore's theory."

The three maurauders collapsed into pensive silence.

"Where is Harry?" James asked after a while.

Both Remus and Sirius grimaced. After a quick non-verbal exchange Remus answered the question.

"With Petunia."

James stared at Remus. "What?" He asked trying to stay as calm as possible.

Sirius kept a restraining hand on James' shoulder, his expression wary.

"Dumbledore wouldn't listen to us." He added. "He said he would put up blood wards around Petunia's house. Lily's sacrifice would help him in ensuring Petunia's and Harry's safety."

James glared at Sirius.

"It was for the best." Remus said with a shrug. "Two days ago, Alice and Frank were captured and tortured for information on Voldemort's whereabouts. Had Mad-Eye and Dumbledore not stepped in on time, both of them would have faced permanent damage as it is they would be spending weeks here."

"It is still not safe out there. Voldemort might be gone but the war is still going on." Sirius said with a grim expression.

James nodded, years of losing everyone he loved to the war, had taught him to push his emotions back and think of the future, he had promised himself that he would deal with all his emotions after the war.

"Then I think we should go get Harry back. Lily would kill me if I leave Harry at Petunia's mercy."

"We will, Prongs." Remus said. "But let's just let the healers look you up first, okay?"

"I feel fine." James said trying to move out, but fell back in bed, groaning in pain.

"All your bones were shattered, James." Remus said, "I will take some time for SkeleGrow to work."

"Yeah." Sirius added, nodding. "By the way, how did you survive? Voldemort normally does not leave survivors behind."

"He didn't intend to either." James said darkly, "He used the killing curse, but I dodged, missing it narrowly, the curse hit the wall behind me and it collapsed. It happened so fast, I don't think he stopped to check if the curse hit me."

Sirius and Remus nodded. There was a soft knock on the door.

Augusta Longbottom stepped in, with little Neville on her hip. "Has he come around yet?" She asked Remus, who had stepped forward before noticing James sitting on the bed. As soon she noticed James she rushed to him.

"Oh! My dear boy." She said hugging him close. Augusta Longbottom had always been a "tough old cookie" as Frank had put it. James broke down, after his mother and Aunt Althea, his Aunt Augusta was the only mother figure left in his life. Sirius had tactfully picked Neville up from Augusta's arm and Remus and he busied themselves with playing with Neville.

After a while, Augusta wiped her tears and then wiped James' tears. "Shh… That's enough." She said, "You have to be strong for Harry. He needs you." James nodded mutely, wiping his tears.

"How… How are Frank and Alice?" he asked his voice hoarse.

"They will be fine, it would take some time but they would be fine."

Sirius and Remus moved closer to James' bed. Neville squirmed in Remus' arms, asking to be put down. Remus put Neville down on James' bed. Neville crawled to James who picked Neville up.

"Mile." Neville commanded tapping James' cheek with his tiny, plump hand. The boy was a copy of his mother, inheriting her round innocent face and authoritative nature.

"He wants you to smile." Augusta said, running a fond hand on Neville's head. "This boy is a Hufflepuff in the making."

All three Marauders cracked a grim smile. Augusta picked Neville up, who waved at them with a wide grin, showing off his little front teeth.

"I will drop by later. I need to get Neville home, before coming back to check on Alice and Frank."

James nodded as Augusta kissed the top of his head. "Get well soon, Jamie. And remember you are not alone."

The door had barely closed behind Augusta when a young healer walked in. James looked up and his breath caught in his chest. The woman who walked in was Lily's friend and colleague, Charity Burbage. She took one look at James and quickly turned to Sirius, as James tried to wipe his tears on the bed sheet, everything reminded him of Lily, how was he supposed to move on with life without her. Never in his entire life had he imagined that he would have to live without Lily by his side.

"It would take him sometime." Charity was saying. "I would keep him here till tomorrow, his bones will mend by then, but he would need plenty of rest for the bones to set in, once the bones have set in, he would need plenty of exercise."

Remus and Sirius nodded. Charity turned to look at James and gave him a watery smile. "Get well soon, James." She choked out before turning quickly and walking out.

AN: So another chapter. I hope you like it. In case you don't get the reference of Augusta Longbottom being James' aunt please check out Welcome Home Harry- chapters 17 & 18 and Yours Forever Prongs- the first four chapters in the least.

*Laughs evilly for successfully tricking readers into reading other fics* ;)

Anyway, Happy Reading. Please do read and review. I always, always, always need your reviews.

Much love

The Fishes