Disclaimer: I am seriously done with these disclaimers, next time I start writing a story, I will have one big disclaimer in the first chapter that looks something like this: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER, THE HARRY POTTER CHARACTERS, OR ANY OF THE SONGS THAT THE CHAPTERS MAY OR MAY NOT BE NAMED AFTER (THIS DISCLAIMER IS GOOD FOR ALL CHAPTERS, SO DO NOT EXPECT ME TO HAVE A DISCLAIMER AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH CHAPTER, THIS IS IT, FOLKS! )
It would be lovely, huh?
A/N: As always, I was ecstatic to see all the advice and praises from the reviewers: COSMOPOLITAN (read her amazing one-shot, Reporter Girl) VIOLIN GHOST (I highly recommend reading her story Divulgence) PRPLESOCKERSTAR (Ode to the Fallen is unbelievably great) SHETLANDLACE and IWISHIWASATHOGWARTS! Do I need to tell you that these people are amazing? You already know they are.
Lily flooed into the cottage that she would be renting with the very last box, her old trunk that she used at Hogwarts. "Is that it?" Sirius, who was helping her move in, asked. "Yes," Lily answered.
Sirius heaved a sigh of relief, "Thank God, Lily. Could you possibly have had any more boxes? How did you fit all that stuff in your old flat? And did you really have to bring all that furniture, too? The place comes furnished."
"Of course it is, except for the kitchen chairs, the couch, and whatever else you took."
Sirius smiled sheepishly and explained, "I needed some things for my own flat, and James told me to do what I wanted with his place, as long as I didn't sell it or set in on fire." Lily smiled sadly; James hadn't been seen nor heard from for three weeks now. Even still, Lily always asked Sirius, "Any word from James, lately?"
Sirius would smile sadly at her and answer the same way, "No. James was never one to sit down and write a long, newsy letters, so I don't know where he's even at.." And every time, Lily knew he was lying.
"Well, this is it. All the stuff is in." Alice said contently, looking around at the flat that was now belonged to just Frank and her. It was stacked with boxes that contained Frank's things. Alice sighed happily, "All we need to do is unpack."
She looked at Frank, who bent down and kissed her. "How about we take a little break first?" he whispered. Alice smiled into his lips, "Yes, a little break might be nice."
"Do you need any help unpacking?"
Lily looked up at Sirius; she was surprised he had offered. "No thanks, I'll be fine. Thanks for offering to help, though."
Sirius stared at her. "I wasn't offering to help," he said slowly, "I was going to suggest you get Alice to help you with that. She was the one that kicked you out of your flat, wasn't she?"
Lily rolled her eyes and said, "She didn't kick me out. I volunteered to leave so Frank could move in." Now it was Sirius's turn to roll his eyes, "Whatever."
Lily walked over to look at a singed spot of the carpet in a corner of the hallway, "Sirius? I thought you said that James told you not to set the house on fire?"
Sirius grinned mischievously, "I didn't do it intentionally. It was an accident! Anyway, if he ever comes back, he won't notice, you know why? Because, you, Miss Evans, where remarkable in Charms class back at Hogwarts, and I'm sure you can fix that. For you, it will be as easy as Beatrice Scurns in fifth year."
Lily raised her eyebrows, "Beatrice Scurns? That Hufflepuff girl? Honestly, Sirius, didn't you have any standards at all?" Sirius shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Not really."
And then, clearing his throat he made a sweeping gesture and said grandly, "As your landlord, I request that you ignore the leak in the sink that James and I never fixed, not bother me, and pay a simple renting fee of a million galleons a month." Seeing the look on Lily's face he added, "Okay, so it's not a million galleons a month, but wouldn't it be great if it was?"
That night, when Lily was left alone and too exhausted to finish her thoughts drifted to where they always did, James. She would replay every moment they had spent together, trying to find the exact instant when their relationship turned sour. Where did it go wrong?
Lily thought about this at night, every night, because that was the time of day where she felt the most alone. Alice, after all, had Frank, and even Sirius had Charity. Nighttime was when she realized just how alone she was and how much she missed James.
James was the friend she went to when she couldn't sleep, when she needed to talk, or when she just needed to be. Lily had never realized how dependent on him she had become since Alice's "death."
But now that Alice was back and he was gone, Lily thought that maybe she needed James for more than moving on after a loss of a friend. But then again, maybe she didn't.
After all, she needed him now that she had lost a very important friend: James himself.
The kettle whistled and James got up from his chair and ambled over to his stove to make the tea. He looked down at his reflection in the teapot and shuddered, if someone saw his current state, they certainly would not recognize him as the great James Potter.
His usually messy but clean hair was filled with dirt and grime, and his hair stood up at strange angles, giving off the vibe of a mad scientist. He grimaced as he realized that he probably didn't smell too good, seeing as he was living in a tent in a muggle forest. He was given a few weeks off work to "get his head and act together," as Mad-Eye had put it.
And indeed, James was falling apart. He was suddenly more alone than he had ever imagined he could be. He still had the Marauders, and they were like his family, after all, but suddenly his friends were not enough. He felt like no one wanted him. Alice had gone, and he had let Lily go when he left her. But now he knew how badly he had wanted to stay.
It was the right thing to do, he tried to convince himself, She didnt' want you. For her, it was nothing more than a frienship. Get a hold of yourself, James. He straightened his shoulders as he drank his tea, James Charlus Potter did not fall apart over women. But then he glanced back at his reflection in the pot, yes, yes he did.
"Save her, I beg you," Severus Snape croaked, "Keep her safe." Dumbledore folded his hands and stared long and hard at Severus.
"When I told the Dark Lord of the Prophecy, I did not realize that it spoke of her. I would never have told him if I had known," Severus pleaded.
"So you felt no remorse when you thought that you were killing someone else? Another person's life had no value to you?"
"No, that's not what I meant! I need you to…just please, promise me that you'll keep her safe. I'll do anything as long as you promise to save her life."
James missed her.
He couldn't deny it any longer. He missed every single little thing about her. He missed the way her eyes would light up when she laughed, her smile. He missed the scent of her hair and her tenacity that matched his own.
He missed things about her that he hadn't even realized she did until he had left. Like the way she would baby him sometimes, by making sure he had something to eat or clean socks to wear. He missed the feeling that he would get when she looked at him with that look of hers, like could see right into his soul. He missed coming home and seeing her there, staying up late talking or not talking with her, waking up with her by his side. He needed her.
James missed her, but he knew that he would never go back and tell her so. She didn't need him.
As Lily was lying in her bed that night, she thought about what would have happened if she had told James to stay; to stay with her. Would they have gotten together? Moved in together and gotten married? Have children? What could they have accomplished together if he hadn't left? Without even realizing it, Lily had been dreaming of building a life with James. She wondered if he had thought about having that kind of life with her too.
Suddenly, she remembered the look on his face when she asked him not to go; there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Followed by disappointment when she couldn't ask him to stay. Lily threw the sheets of her and got out of bed, not really sure what exactly she was going to do.
All she knew was that right now, she needed to go and try to save a life.
A/N: Yeah, this chapter took me a really long time to write, and its still a little short. I've had a bit of writer's block. The problem was that I knew where I wanted to go with this story, I just wasn't sure how to get there. Does that make any sense? Anyway, there should only be one or two more chapters left, and then perhaps an epilouge. So please keep reading, and review!