DISCLAIMER: as much as I would love to own HP, I don't. Oh well. I guess I'll survive.

Frank Longbottom cracked open his eyes. He was lying on a cold stone floor. It was dark, wherever he was, dark, wet and cold. Like a dungeon. His body ached everywhere, he felt like he had been beaten. Looking at his surroundings, he realized that he wasn't alone.

Bending over him in a concerned manner…was an angel. Not just any angel though, his angel. That was how he knew that he was dead. This sure wasn't heaven, but if she were here, he would take it. She was crying, his angel, and Frank wished with all his heart that he could comfort her. But he seemed unable to move, or even to open his mouth. He blinked, and his bleary vision cleared up some. Slowly, ever so slowly, he opened his mouth. "Alice," he croaked.

The angel froze. Then, just as slowly, she opened her own mouth and whispered, "Frank, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry Frank. I never told him. I was going to, but I never did. I'm sorry, Frank, I should have told him earlier, I should hav-" But Alice's words were silenced by Frank's lips, he had pushed himself up into sitting position and pressed his lips to hers.

Hungrily, he pressed them harder and she reciprocated his pressure. He could feel her hands twisted up in his hair as he pulled her closer to him. He had missed this, he had missed her. When they finally broke apart, he whispered, "You're not dead, are you?" Alice smiled slightly and whispered back, "No, not yet anyways." Frank sat back in order to get a better look at her face, "Where are we?"

Alice shrugged, "I'm not sure. Severus won't tell me anything. He's not exactly a nice jailer, but I think I'm supposed to be dead right now, so I'm not complaining." "Severus? Severus Snape? That greasy little Slytherin from Hogwarts?" "The very same," Alice replied, "We all knew he was a death eater. And he's our captor. Yes, our captor, you've been unconscious for quite awhile, though I'm not sure how many hours. I think we're in some kind of dungeon under his basement, but I can't be sure. I don't remember a whole lot exactly, normally, he keeps me under the imperious curse, but lately I've been able to fight through it for longer and longer periods of time."

Frank visibly flinched at the thought of his Alice under someone else's control through an unforgivable curse. "Alice," he said, "What else have they done to you?" Alice thought for a moment, "Not a whole lot, really, like I said before, I think I'm supposed to be dead, because no one except Snape ever comes down here. Sometimes he performs the Cruciatus curse on me, but I've learned to take it. It's not that bad. I'm strong enough to survive."

Lily couldn't sleep. It was well after midnight, but the events of the day were running through her mind. Frank had confirmed Alice's affair with him and had even suggested that Lily had feelings for James. The latter bothered her more than Alice's affair, only because Lily wasn't quite sure how she felt about James. She felt something more than friendship for him, but she wasn't sure if it was enough to actually be more than friends. And besides, he was Alice's. Even if Alice didn't really love him as much as she loved Frank, James was still hers. He was hers now more than ever now that she was dead. She remembered how close James had come to the truth before, but always narrowly missed the mark: the box with the letters from Frank and his assumption that Frank was secretly seeing one of the two friends (though he had thought it was Lily).

Suddenly, Lily sat up, something wasn't right. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew that something was wrong. Very wrong. You're just being paranoid, Lily told herself, but still, she turned on the light and got dressed quickly. And with perfect timing, an owl flew in the window. Recognizing it as one of the Order's owls, she quickly opened the letter.

Lily,

Frank Longbottom was captured by death eaters tonight just a few blocks from the Hog's Head. He saved Emmeline Vance, but he was taken. There is nothing we can do right now. However, we will have a meeting tomorrow at dusk. You know where. Burn this letter as soon as you read it.

Alastor Moody

Lily's hands were shaking. First Alice, now Frank too? Reading the letter over, she realized with relief that there was a chance that he still might be alive. But how long would that hold true? Voldemort and his Death Eaters were ruthless. He could be dead at this very moment. The only thing Lily knew is that they had not killed him on the spot. Tears filling up in her eyes, something occurred to her, both Alice and Frank were purebloods. The death eaters had a policy of not killing purebloods unless they need something from them. Lily could think of only two people that would know, and only one that she was willing to be with right now. Right now, as her friends were dying and her world was crumbling to pieces around her, she only wanted to be with one person, she wanted to be with James.

James was still sitting on the floor in front of that same box when Lily was lying in bed awake that night. There countless letters in that box. Countless love letters. They made him sicker and angrier with every one he read, and yet he could not make himself stop. He kept reading and reading and cursing them, Alice, Frank, and Lily. Reading them until he heard footsteps behind him. He knew who it was, and he didn't want to see her right now. He didn't really want to see anyone, but especially her. "James," Lily said, her voice cracking, "James…"

As he stood up and faced her, Lily saw. She saw the scroll in his hand, the one that would break his heart. She saw the anger and hurt and pain swirling around in his eyes. Lily took one look at him and knew that he needed her just as much as she needed him; at least for tonight. So without thinking or ever realizing it, Lily crossed the room and put her arms around him. She could feel James lean into her and put his arms around her. Lily sighed and leaned into him a little bit. It felt good, to be able to give someone half he burden, to carry it side by side together. And tonight, here in Alice's little room at the cottage in Godric's Hallow, it just felt right.

As soon as Lily put her arms around James, all anger at her vanished. The only thing left was the pain and heartbreak. He knew that it wasn't just his pain that he felt, he could tell Lily was in just as much distress as him. Give and take. He gave her some of his pain, and took some of hers. It was a pure and simple and sweet system. Holding Lily was the strangest experience of his life. There were no emotional attachments, no reason for them to feel this close, and yet everything that happened that night would bond them together forever. There was no need for words, no need to explain what was wrong, she understood. Being able to hold and lean on Lily made the heartbreak considerably less. After all, this is what everyone wants in life, right? Just someone who will be there in the middle of the night when you need them, someone who understands and knows what to do without you having to say a world. Someone to lean on.
"Frank?" Alice said, "How's Lily? Is she doing alright?" Frank grasped her hand and squeezed it, "Lily's coping just fine. She and James have certainly become fast friends." Even in the darkness, Alice could tell that Frank was smirking. "And what do you mean by that?" "I ran into Sirius Black the other day-"

"Don't change the subject!" Alice said quickly and playfully swatted Frank. "I didn't!" Frank replied, dodging Alice's hand, "Its part of the story! Now let me speak!" Alice folded her hands into her lap and said nothing. Frank took a deep breath and began again, "As I was saying, Sirius Black was telling me that Lily has been spending more time at James's house than at her own. Apparently, Sirius stops by at all hours of the night and, and Lily is always there, even sometimes when James isn't."

Frank couldn't tell what Alice's reaction to this piece of news was, "Alice, honey? Are you alright? Did I upset you? I didn't mean to upset you? You're okay, right? Please be okay." "I'm fine," Alice, said, finally finding her voice, "I'm just a little shocked, that's all. Lily and James never really hit it off before though; it just makes me wonder how they've changed."

"Are you bothered by it?" Frank asked, getting worried, Alice doesn't still care for James, does she? "No, no. I'm glad for them," and as she said it, Alice knew it was true, "I'm glad that they can be there for each other when I can't be. I'm glad that they have found someone, we all need someone right now." She leaned her head on Frank's shoulder. Frank smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. After a few minutes of silence, Alice whispered softly, "They aren't a couple, are they?" Frank hesitated, still worried about Alice wanting to be with James. Finally, he spoke, "No, they aren't a couple."

Severus Snape sat in an oversized chair at his house on Spinner's End. Staring moodily into the fireplace, he thought of the night Voldemort had sent him to kill the girl. The Dark Lord trusted him, even more so after he found the prophecy. He became even more of a favorite when he captured the girl. Severus sighed, that night had been on his mind for weeks.

Flashback

He was waiting for her, her owl had been intercepted, she would be here. And Severus would wait. Finally, after what seemed like years, he saw her. He had to act fast, before she saw him.

"Stupefy!" There was a flash of light, and she fell to the ground. He walked over to her, with his wand still drawn. She was defenseless, but just to make sure, he took her wand. Then he stood over her, preparing to do one final curse, the curse of death. "Avada Ke-" He stopped. The green sparks cast a green glow on her face, just for a second. But it was long enough for him to recognize her. She was that girl. Potter's girl, and Lily's best friend. Conflict raged inside of him. Bloody Potter's girlfriend, the one who would have his children and defeat the Dark Lord; or Lily's best friend? Where did his loyalty lie? Nearby, he saw a dilapidated cottage. He waved his wand and lifted her body up and floated it towards the cottage. Inside, there was lone piece of furniture: a small wooden table. With a second wave of his wand, the table transfigured itself into a life-size replica of Alice's body. He laid Alice's wand down next to it. Lily had won. In his mind, Lily would always win. Even though it had been years since Lily had so much as looked at him, she still won out over his hatred of Potter and his loyalty to his Master. So with one last look at the table- turned- dead Alice, he grabbed the real and very much alive Alice and disapparated.

End Flashback

Severus had been holding the girl captive ever since. He sighed; obviously he hadn't thought things through that night. Eventually, he realized, he would have to kill the girl. He can't keep her down there forever, especially now that Longbottom was stuck down there too. He'll keep her one more week. Just one more week. If he couldn't figure out a better alternative, then he would kill her. I stared into space and whispered, "I'll try Lily."

A/N: Questions? Comments? Complaints? you know what to do.