"Hey, Evans," James said, walking into the hospital wing with a smile on his face. He evidently had forgotten that when he had last spoken to Lily she was livid with him.

"What do you want, Potter?" she spat. She was the last person in the world who would show her vulnerability while lying in a hospital bed.

James was taken aback. "Um, I was just coming up this way and ran into Katy and Emma. They told me you were awake so I came to see how you were doing," he explained.

"I'm fine," Lily said evenly. She tried to sit up to show him how "fine" she really was. She gathered all her strength and sat up. She tried her hardest not to wince from the soreness in her body and prayed that James wouldn't notice. But of course he did. And when she fell back down on her pillow, he had to mentally super-glue his feet to the ground to keep from catching her.

Where were these impulses when she was getting attacked? he thought guiltily.

"See, I'm fine. Now unless there's something else you need…" she said, trying to push him away from her physically and mentally unstable self. Because, all though she was physically and mentally vulnerable, she was not emotionally vulnerable. Or so she thought.

"Yeah, you should probably get your rest," James said dejectedly. "Get better soon." But as he was just about to leave the door…

"Wait! Potter!" Lily called.

This was it. Lily was going to tell him that all she could think about while she was dying was James and she was going to proclaim her love for him.

"Can you bring up the Head paperwork? While I'm up here I might as well record the points taken and given and the detentions given by the prefects."

That was definitely not what he was expecting.

"Oh! And if you see Danny, could you tell him I want to see him?" she added.

Way to kick him while he's down, Lily.

"Sure, Evans. Well, goodnight," he joked, trying to lighten his mood.

"Sleep tight," she replied with a yawn.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite," he chuckled as he walked out the door. But if he had turned around he would have caught Lily immediately sit upright, stare at him quizzically and then fall back down in pain.

"Lily?" she heard someone call. Lily turned her head. Emma walked in carrying a platter of random food.

"Hey. Where'd Katy go?" Lily asked.

"We ran into Remus on the way to the kitchens and he asked to talk to her… alone" Emma replied, implying that Remus and Katy alone could lead to "frivolous activity."

Lily sighed. Katy was boy crazy sure, but Emma knew that Katy and Remus weren't into each other that way. Actually if Lily thought about it, Katy would be much better suited for Sirius out of all the Marauders. They were both loud and funny. They loved to flirt (although Sirius usually took it further than Katy ever did) and loved to have fun. They were happy-go lucky people.

And Emma herself would be better suited for Remus. He was quiet and calm, just like Emma. They were both happy people, but a much more silent sort of happy than the happiness expressed by Sirius and Katy. And while Sirius and Katy were both very smart, Remus and Emma were harder workers.

Of course, if Emma started dating Remus and Katy started dating Sirius, Lily would have to spend more time with the Marauders and the only two left would be Peter and James. Lily couldn't really decide which boy was worse right now.

"You know, if you don't like the food, you don't have to eat it," remarked Emma.

"Why wouldn't I like it or eat it? I'm starving!" Lily exclaimed.

"Well, you've just been staring at if for the past couple of minutes and just a second ago you had a pretty grossed out look on your face."

"I was thinking of Peter and Potter," laughed Lily, "Not that delicious food."

"Good. I'll be right back," said Emma suddenly. When she came back she had tons of pillows and propped Lily up with them. Lily was immensely grateful. The two friends laughed and talked and ate and ate some more, both glad to just be in the other's company.

"She's okay, Remus. Don't worry," Katy said immediately. She knew that was exactly why Remus had pulled her away from Emma.

"Thank Merlin," murmured a very stressed Remus. He was so angry with himself. He hated being a werewolf. He hated causing people pain or agony. He, once more, felt grateful he had friends like James, Sirius and Peter.

Katy could see the pain etched on Remus' face. She instinctively hugged him.

"It's not your fault," she whispered. But he immediately pulled away.

"OF COURSE IT IS!" he yelled. Katy cringed. Remus had never yelled or even raised his voice at her before.

"Sorry," he said, more quietly. "But how could this possibly not be my fault? Was it someone else who chased Lily into the Forbidden Forest? Was that another person trying to kill her?"

"Yes, Remus, it was! You know you have no control over yourself when you're a werewolf. You were not trying to purposely kill her that night. That was a whole other… being," Katy said, trying to convince him; trying to help him. Katy had known Remus was a werewolf since 3rd year. She had been very interested in the nicknames of the Marauders and tried to figure them out. She couldn't figure out the other boys', but she finally got Remus'. And once she told him she knew and wouldn't tell anyone else, Remus told her about the other boys and their animagus forms. But they didn't know that she knew.

"What if James and Sirius hadn't been there? What if I had killed her?" he whispered. "I don't know what I would do with myself…"

"Don't talk like that! It doesn't even matter. They were there and they always will be. You don't have to worry, Remus. We all care about you and we won't ever let something like that happen," Katy said.

Remus looked at her. Although she was the only one of his friends who knew about his other self and was not an animagus, she offered something his other friends couldn't, being guys. She was sensitive and somehow understood what was going on in his head. He was so grateful to have the people in his life that he did, but thinking about that luck and what a horrible "thing" he became just made him feel more guilty.

"I got to go. Thanks for telling me she was ok," Remus said, turning away.

"Hey, Remus," Katy said, grabbing his shoulder. "If you ever need me, I'm here for you." She smiled as he left and went to go eat with Emma and Lily.

The three girls laughter in the hospital wing was suddenly interrupted when Dumbledore walked in.

"Hello, sir," greeted Emma with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Miss Rogers," he replied, "and to you as well, Miss LeCompte," he added looking at Katy.

"Hullo, Professor," said Katy. "I expect you're here to speak to Lily. Come on, Emma, let's go."

"Bye, Lils," she said giving Lily a hug.

"Ta-ta, Love!" giggled Katy as she blew a kiss to her while skipping out of the room.

Lily sighed contently. "Bye, guys," she called after them.

"Those are two great friends, Miss Evans," Dumbledore remarked after Emma and Katy were long gone.

"Yeah. I know," she said with a smile.

"Ok. Down to business," Dumbledore started.

"I'm so sorry, sir! But I'm afraid I lost it!" Lily blurted out.

"What?" said a completely confused Dumbledore.

"Your present for Professor McGonagall. I left it by the house by the Forbidden Forest," Lily confessed. She lowered her head in shame.

"Lily, Lily," Dumbledore chuckled while lifting her head up, "Your safety and well being is much more important to me than a bracelet. I'm sure Minerva will understand. But what I have to ask you to do, Lily, is very difficult. I need to you to tell me everything you remember from two nights ago after you left my office."

Lily took a deep breath. She had been mentally preparing herself for telling the story all day. So she began. She blushed from embarrassment when telling about buying a belated Christmas present for her boyfriend. She rushed through being attacked by the werewolf so much that Dumbledore asked her to slow down. She forgot parts and had to go back to them. And she shed a few tears when describing watching the torture of the young centaur. At the end, Dumbledore thanked her; made sure he got the name of the horrible wizard correct and left.

By the time she was done telling her story, Lily was exhausted and sad. She leaned against her pillow and turned her cheek to feel the coolness of the unused half of the pillow on her cheek. She sighed and snuggled herself warmly under the blankets. Dumbledore had turned out the lights and suddenly she felt extremely safe. All of the sadness she had felt only moments before turned into a feeling of security and calmness. At the exact same time, James entered the room and sat in the little corner where he had been sitting for the past couple of days. After Lily fell asleep, James watched her. Suddenly, he walked up to her bedside. She was so peaceful, lying on her side with half of her face on the pillow.

"I'm so, so sorry," he whispered. Slowly, he bent down and kissed her smooth cheek. Then he finally left to go get some sleep himself.

It was 3 o'clock in the morning and the whole castle was asleep. The whole castle, that is, except for two seventh years in their respective beds. One lay tossing and turning, falling asleep and then waking back up from his nightmares, nightmares of his horrible actions that haunted him when he was awake and when he was asleep. The other lay calmly awake. She thought of her friends and of their actions. She recalled her intense worry for one of them and her pity for the other. As she lay there, she decided she would rather be in front of a warm fire instead of in the frigid dormitories. She took her blanket off her bed, wrapped herself in it and walked down the stairs to the Gryffindor commons as it trailed behind her like a cape.

At the sound of someone downstairs, the other decided that he would rather be in the company of anyone else other than his tormented mind. But being inside his own mind so much he forgot how cold it was, he forgot to bring his own blanket. Down in the commons, he immediately recognized the girl staring into the fire and thought 'Just who I wanted to see.' She looked up when she heard him walking down the cold stone steps.

"Oh hey, Remus," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, Katy," he replied.

"What are you doing up?" she asked out of curiosity.

"I guess I could be asking you the same question, but I just couldn't sleep," he confessed.

"Same here. So why did you come down?" she asked.

"I heard you down here."

"How could you possibly have known it was me?"

"I didn't. I would just rather be with anyone than myself right now."

Katy looked at him, unsure of how to respond to that. She patted the seat next to her on the couch. "Come. Sit next to me," was all that came to her. Numbly, Remus did as he was told.

"Do you want to talk about it? Some more, I mean," Katy asked, correcting herself.

"No. Not anymore. I just want to get over it," Remus replied monotonically.

"Um. Ok. Well, how were your classes today?" Katy continued.

"Ugh," Remus sighed. "Never mind. Mindless talking isn't going to help anything. I don't think I'll be actually ok until Lily is out of the hospital wing."

Remus looked so depressed; Katy didn't know what to do. Then she remembered her mum.

"I have an idea to make you feel better. My mum used to do this to me all the time before I came to Hogwarts. Actually to tell you the truth, she still does it when I'm upset at home. Lay down with your head in my lap," she instructed.

Remus hesitated but did as he was directed. Once he was settled, Katy started stroking his head with her fingers and playing with his hair. At first, both Remus and Katy felt kind of awkward. But as she continued, Remus felt more and more comforted and Katy, feeling him at ease, relaxed too. Remus gave himself over to the feeling of Katy's fingers combing through his hair as if he was a child, knowing nothing of the cold face of the real world, only the comforting touch of a mother.

The next thing Katy knew she was waking up in the commons with a sleeping Remus in her lap. She looked down at him and noticed that his face was no longer tired and upset but relaxed and peaceful. She smiled to herself and knew that she had done him good.

"Hey, sleepy head," she said, nudging Remus awake.

For a second he was disoriented, until he realized, with some embarrassment, that he had fallen asleep on Katy's lap. He sat up abruptly as his face turned a slight red.

"Sorry, Katy. Didn't mean to keep you here all night," Remus muttered almost incoherently.

Katy smiled. Remus was so cute when he got flustered like this, which was pretty often considering he was so shy.

"It's no problem. Remember? I'm always here if you need me. That's what friends are for," she reminded him.

"Thanks, Katy. For everything," Remus told her sincerely.

"You're welcome. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to go shower," she said with a smile.

"See you later," Remus said as she went up the stairs.

He left the common room and went to his own dormitory. Something Katy had done last night made him feel better. Was it something she said? Or was it seriously just her combing her fingers through his hair? But he suddenly knew what it was that made him feel so much better. It was exactly what Katy had said it was. It was that he knew she was there for him, even while he was going crazy. While he was waging war on himself, she was trying to stop the fight. She knew best, there was no doubt in his mind.

He opened the door to his dormitory to find, with no surprise, that at 40 minutes until the start of class, not one of his mates was up yet. Usually James was a relatively early riser. But he had been having some well… issues lately.

"GOOD MORNING!" Remus yelled. Both Peter and James nearly jumped out of their beds. Sirius, being Sirius, just covered his head with his pillow.

"Come on, Siri," Remus reprimanded. "You have to get up if you're going to shower."

"Maybe I won't shower," mumbled Sirius through the pillow.

"Ha. Well, I know you're a fairly good looker but honestly, Sirius, you think you can get girls smelling like that?" laughed James.

"Heeeeyyy. I don't smell!" exclaimed Sirius. He could stand being yelled at but a blow to his ego, no matter how big it was, was too much to handle. He jumped up to smother James with a pillow, but James jumped up before Sirius could get to him.

"I call first shower!" he said running towards the bathroom.

"Um… I DON'T THINK SO!" shouted Remus, who was already standing by the bathroom door. He opened it, dashed in and locked the door behind him. This swift action was followed by a loud thud as James ran into the door. Remus smiled to himself and turned on the water. His friends were all that mattered to him. If it weren't for them, he'd probably be in some deep pit of depression by himself. But they reminded him what having fun and living life was all about. They got him through every day.

Once again, the blinding whiteness of the hospital wing awakened her. Lily's hand immediately went to her cheek and she smiled, filled with a happiness that seemed to give her energy to sit up. Before she could even think of what had caused this sudden burst of joy, Danny walked in.

"LILY! How are you feeling?" he exclaimed, quickly giving her a tight squeeze she readily returned. It felt so good to be in his arms, but the embrace felt somehow different than the last hug she remembered.

That doesn't even make sense! How can a hug feel different? she thought.

But it did. It somehow seemed less intimate… less loving than this "phantom hug." She brushed the idea from her mind.

"I'm good. Good? I'm great!" she replied with a big smile. "How are you?"

"Good… good. School has been tough, like always," he said with a grin on his face. Lily felt a fleeting emotion of… was that disappointment… surge through her. Contrary to her independent nature, Lily had wanted to hear that Danny had been by her bedside; that his days had been torture waiting to see if she was going to be ok. But that feeling vanished almost as fast as it had come.

"So, I heard from Katy and Emma that you're still planning on having the New Year's Eve. Is that true?" Danny asked.

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?" she responded. She expected him to say Well, jeez, Lily! You were attacked by a werewolf AND the cruciatus curse! You should be getting sleep! That wasn't exactly his reaction.

"That's exactly what I thought you should do. No need to ruin other students holidays," he said with a loving smile towards his seemingly brave and tough girlfriend.

"Well, I better run. I've got to get to class. Bye, Lils," he said while leaving a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Bye, Danny," she answered, feeling somewhat dejected. But just as she was about to go back to sleep, a bunch of people entering the hospital wing aroused her again.

"YOU CANNOT ALL GO IN TO SEE MISS EVANS! SHE IS RESTING!" bellowed Madame Pomfrey. But all the people seemed to ignore her.

"Aw, come on. It's just for a second because we don't want to be late for classes now do we?" Lily heard a sickeningly sweet Sirius plead.

"Well, I guess not. Make it fast," agreed Madame Pomfrey finally.

"LILY!" he yelled, rushing toward the red-head to give her a bear hug.

"Hey, Sirius," Lily laughed. "Hey, guys. What are you all doing here?"

"We came to see you before classes start," answered Emma.

"Yeah, we didn't know that James, Peter, Sirius and Remus would want to come too, but apparently they did," continued Katy.

"How come both James' AND Peters' names come before mine?" Sirius whined.

"Because they're more important than you," Emma countered.

"Well, then how come I'm last?" asked Remus.

"You're right, Remus! What a silly mistake. Sorry, Lily, I meant to say that James, Peter, Remus and Sirius wanted to come up with us," Katy corrected.

"James and Peter are still ahead of me," Remus whined.

"Don't push you luck," Katy warned with a smile.

"Never mind," Remus mumbled, but he had a huge grin on his face.

"Aaaannnddd," James added, "We brought you up some DELICIOUS food!"

He pulled a platter that held fruit, toast and tea out from behind his back. Everyone could tell that at that moment, Lily only cared about the food.

"Thanks, guys," she said, in-between mouthfuls.

"It was all, James," Remus told her. Great. So now Lily had to thank James, individually.

"Oh. Er. Thanks, Potter," she muttered.

"No problem," he answered. But much to Lily's surprise, James didn't add his usual cocky smile or even smile at all. Just a regular "No problem." And for some reason, this disturbed her.

"So do you know when you'll be out of the hospital wing?" asked Peter.

"I think I'll be out later today. I'm feeling much better!" she replied with a grin.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Emma.

"OK, well, we better be off… classes and all," mumbled James.

"Yeah. Bye, Lils!" said Katy, blowing Lily another kiss.

"Hey, Katy! Just so you know… you can blow me a kiss ANYTIME!" called Sirius after her.

"I better catch Sirius before he gets castrated," called Remus, while running after Sirius.

"I'll see you after classes, Lily," said Emma, waving good-bye.

James was left a lone in the room with Lily. "Here, I brought you the records you asked for," said James submissively.

"Thanks, Potter. Well, I guess you better head off to class as well," said Lily.

"Yeah. Right. Well, bye," he said. And then he was gone.

"Oi, Prongsie," whispered Sirius during Potions class. James glanced over at him and noticed Sirius was trying to pass him a note. It seemed odd to James, considering Sirius just usually spoke (often very loudly) during class if he needed to tell James anything.

James stretched his arms up and yawned. As he brought his arms back down, he grabbed the note from Sirius' hand. Even more odd, the note had his name written on it in pretty handwriting, not Sirius', or Remus' or Peter's for that matter, normal chicken scratch. He opened the note in his lap.

Hey James!

I heard about this New Year's Eve Ball you and Lily Evans are planning. I don't know if you have to go with her, but I thought I might as well ask you before any other girl did. I've kind of liked you for a while now, and I was wondering if you like to come with me to the New Year's Eve Ball.

-Caitlin Maxwell

James stared at the note. He hadn't really thought of inviting anyone to the Ball. For some reason he had just expected to go with Lily, which was stupid considering she had a boyfriend.

Why not? James thought. It's not like I actually have a chance with Lily. I might as well just get over her. Or try to…

And Caitlin was not a bad choice either. She was a curvy, tall brunette with long legs and a beautiful smile. James looked over at her, expecting her to be staring at him instead of paying attention to the class, which she actually was. So not only was she hot, she was apparently smart as well. James could see himself getting along well with Caitlin, instead of the constant fighting he had been enduring from Lily recently.

Hey Caitlin,

I would love to go to the Ball with you. I'll talk to you after class.

- James

James folded up the note, wrote Caitlin's name on the front and gave it to Sirius. The first stage to recovering and getting over Lily would be to get into someone else.