A/N: I don't own anything.

Frank wasn't even aware of what was happening until he was sitting on Lily Evans' couch drinking hot cider. "Frank…" Lily said quietly, as she fixed her self her own cup of cider, "Is everything all right?" Frank drew in a breath preparing to say everything was fine, just fine, but then he stopped himself. It would have been an insult to her memory to lie. "No," he said flatly, "she's dead."

Lily froze. Then after a moment she sat down next Frank and said softly, "Yes, yes she is." Frank looked at Lily and asked point-blank, "Do you miss her?"

Lily looked at her cider and whispered, "You have no idea how much I miss her. Every day." Then she looked back up at him, "How much do you miss her?" Now it was Frank's turn to look away. Staring at an open window he said in a clear voice, "You have no idea how much."

Then, more quietly he said, "I miss her every waking moment, and I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face. It feels like I'm missing an arm or a leg, something I never thought I could live without. Sure, I'm breathing, but its not really living. It wouldn't be the same. It won't be the same, ever. Nothing will ever be right without her. That's how much I miss her."

Lily was speechless. What he said was so profound, like something a person in love would say, and looking at him, she knew he was speaking the truth.

She sighed, unsure of what to say, but decided to try anyway, "I'm so sorry Frank, its been hard on all of-" But Frank wasn't listening, instead he was staring at a picture on a nearby table. It was of Alice, on her birthday last year. She was sitting at a table feeding being fed a piece of cake to James. Both of them were laughing. Lily looked at it too. So all night long, they sat on the couch, side-by-side, staring at the picture of their friend until both of them fell asleep.

James was sitting at his kitchen table that morning drinking coffee and thinking. He was thinking about the night he had gone to meet Alice, the night she was killed. James had been up half of the night every night wondering what it was that she had wanted to tell him. It was big, whatever it was. Even though Alice was dead, and he should be thinking of more important things, it still bothered him.

He sat there for over an hour, trying to think of every possible thing she might have wanted to tell him. After that, he tried to think of anyone who might have known. Dumbledore probably did, Dumbledore knew everything, but he would never tell. Alice and her mother were hardly close, which left Lily. James looked at his watch, it was a Sunday, and it wasn't too early. James stood up; a visit to Lily seemed to be in order.

James apparated outside of Lily's apartment. Even though he could just appear in her front hall, he preferred to be polite, especially with Lily, who had sent a wooden spoon that beat him over his head repeatedly at him the first time he came to pick Alice up for a date. James knocked on the door twice. No answer. It wasn't locked, so James let himself in. "Lily?" he called. There was no answer.

He proceeded from the front hall into the sitting room. But once there, he stopped. There on the couch, were Lily and Frank, together. Frank was leaning on the armrest, and Lily was leaning on Frank, her head resting on his chest. They were both sleeping. James' mind was reeling. Lily and Frank? He couldn't describe the strange feeling that flitted through him. But the next thing he knew, he was saying loudly, "What is this?"

That woke up both Lily and Frank. Lily gasped, and Frank sat up, positioning Lily next to him. James looked back and forth between the two while still speaking too loudly, "What's going on here? What the bloody hell are you doing?" Frank stood up, curious. James looked angry. Why would he be angry? "I better go," Frank said, addressing Lily, "Thanks for the cider; for everything." "Anytime Frank," Lily responded, keeping her eyes on James.

As soon as she heard the door shut, she started yelling, "What do you think you're doing? Barging into my flat like this? And then shouting all over the place?" "What are you doing? With him?" James countered. "What's wrong with Frank?" Lily demanded. She was angry now, let him draw his own bloody, misguided conclusions, she thought to herself. "Why do you even care?" she exploded, waving her arms wildly, "What does it matter to you? What right do you have to break into my flat and start screaming and making wild accusations and inquiries into my private life? Please tell me, James Potter, why you are entitled to do any of that?"

James blinked, slightly taken aback by her response and then shouted, "I didn't make any accusations!"

"They were implied!" Lily screeched. "Well," James stammered, "I don't think you two make a good couple, that's all, and your taking it rather fast, aren't you? Unless it was just a random hook-up?" To this, Lily didn't reply at first, but then she said coldly, "Well, lucky for you, that's none of your business, so no one really gives a damn about what you think."

The next thing James knew, Lily had pushed him out through the threshold of her apartment. "Stay out of my flat and out of my life, James Potter," she said icily as she slammed the door.

After her row with James, Lily sat at her kitchen table, holding that picture of Alice. The one of Alice and James. Lily sighed. They looked so happy. He was laughing, which was quite a contrast to his face minutes before, which was furious, right up until the point that Lily had pushed him out the door. Then, he was just plain incredulous. Lily laughed humorlessly. "He probably wasn't expecting that," she said aloud. But something was bothering her in the back of her mind, at first, she could quite place it, but then as she looked back at the picture, she realized what it was. Alice was staring meaningfully at James. And Lily understood. As waves of grief, remorse, and a little guilt washed over her, she knew what Alice would have wanted her to do, what she had to do.
When Lily stood in front of the little house in Godric's Hollow, she seriously considered turning back. But Alice's face flashed through her mind and she knew that she couldn't. So Lily closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and knocked twice. No answer. The door was unlocked, so after noting the irony of the situation, Lily let herself in.
James was sitting in a small room in the back of the house. It had light lavender walls, a large window that faced the garden in the back, and plants. So many plants of all shapes and sizes. It was her room. And she had loved plants. One of Alice's thumbs was actually green, because she had been bitten by a plant that turned the flesh green.

Now though, most of the plants were dying. James was horrible with plants, he could kill them just be looking at them. But right then, he was sitting in Alice's office with a box out in front of him. He couldn't seem to get any farther though. His row with Lily didn't help. He was out of line, and he knew it. She was right, if she wanted to have a relationship with Frank, that was her business, no one else's. But had Lily really had to push him out the door? He still couldn't believe she had done that. Alice was never like that, how had she become friends with some like Lily? How could she have fallen in love with someone who hated plants?

He sighed and looked back at the box, willing it to pack itself. He didn't know how long he sat there on the floor of Alice's office, staring at the box before he heard the crinkling of paper behind him. And footsteps. And then, ever so softly, a hand on his shoulder and a voice whispering.

"James?"

When Lily found James he was crouched on the floor looking so small and so lost and so helpless. Seeing him like this made Lily feel even more remorse. Tentatively, she reached out to touch his shoulder.

"James?"

She crouched down next to him; he turned around slowly, expressionless. "James," Lily whispered, "I'm sorry. For everything. I'm sorry for yelling at you, for pushing you out, for saying those things. I'm sorry for every single thing I've ever done to you, even when we were at Hogwarts. And especially, I'm sorry that Alice is gone. I miss her. We all miss her. I'm so sorry, James." She studied his face for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak.

"No," he said slowly, "I'm sorry." James drew in another breath and continued, "I'm sorry for bursting into your flat this morning, for walking in on you and Frank. I'm sorry I was so rude about that. Frank's a nice guy, really, and he's lucky to be with a girl like you. I was just surprised, that's all. It's just that, well, you were like Alice's sister, which made you like my sister, which made me a little defensive. And I know you're not the type of person who does one-night stands, nor is Frank, and that was out-of-line for me to suggest. Basically though, I'm sorry for the way I acted this morning and I wish you and Frank the best of luck."

Lily laughed, "Frank and I aren't together. You came up with that yourself, and I just let you think that because made me so angry. You can really make me mad, I'll tell you that. First, you barged into my flat and wake me up on a Sunday morning; Second, you find Frank and me together; and thirdly, you start assuming things and making wild accusations at me. So I responded in the only way I could think of at the time. What were you doing there anyway?"

James sighed, "I had some questions for you." Then he explained what had happened the night Alice died. Lily listened without interruption, but then, at the end, he added, "I miss her so much. I was going to ask her to marry me."

Lily was not sure how to respond to this so she looked around the room and said, "You're trying pack up her stuff aren't you?" James nodded.

"And how's that going for you?"

James laughed humorlessly, "Awful." Lily picked up a crumpled up piece of paper and made a face. "I could help you," she offered. James looked at her. "That would be fine," he said slowly, "Since you were her best friend and all." Lily nodded determinedly, "We'll get through this." Both of them sat in silence for a while staring at the room filled with Alice's stuff, both near tears. "Lily?" James suddenly said.

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong with us?"

Lily sighed and put her head on James' shoulder, "I don't know James, right now, I guess we're all just a little unwell."

Alice cracked her eyes open. She was lying on a cold stone floor. It was dark, wherever she was, dark, wet and cold. Like a dungeon. Her body ached everywhere, she felt like she had been beaten. Looking at her surroundings, she decided she probably was. Memories of that night were slowly coming back to her, like a trickle of water. She tried to sit up, but she couldn't. Alice gasped, I have to find James, she thought, I never told James. She kept trying to get up, to walk away. Eventually though, Alice was too tired to keep fighting. The last thing she remembered before going back to sleep was, I need to get out of here, I have to tell James the truth.
Lily was lying on her own bed that night, think about the past to days. Everything Frank had said, everything James had told her. She gasped as the things started making sense; the puzzle pieces were fitting together.

I miss her every waking moment, and I can't sleep. It feels like something's missing, and life won't be real without her.

The words of someone in love.

I was going to ask her to marry me.

But he hadn't yet.

A ring that she was wearing and yet had tried to conceal.

Because the ring wasn't from the person everyone thought it was from.

Lily tried to draw in one ragged breath, but she could barely breath She couldn't believe it. And yet she knew it was true. It appeared that there were things Alice didn't tell Lily after all.

A/N: So she's not dead! And what is it that Lily has figured out, if you can get it on your own, kudos to you, if not, my apologies for being confusing and all will be explained in the next chapter. Okay people, so, I have over a hundred hits and a bunch of story alerts, so how is it that i have almost no reviews? Review! Review! Review! It takes like thirty seconds! Please!