James didn't get out of bed the next morning, and while Lily wasn't expecting him in classes, she also didn't see him at all during meal times.

It was only that night after dinner when she returned to their Common Room, that she saw him leaving his bedroom and making his way down the stairs. He didn't look good for having slept all day, his eyes were bloodshot and he looked completely worn out. He was levitating his trunk behind him.

He stopped on a step halfway down the staircase as he spotted her, and for the first time in her life Lily saw a pink tinge appear on James Potter's cheeks.

"Er... Morning – I mean, afternoon, whatever..." he stuttered, a hand jumping to his hair. But for once he looked as if he was trying to flatten it, not make it more messy. He sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night, Lily. I didn't mean to wake you up, that wasn't fair."

She blinked at him in surprise. In all her time at Hogwarts, Lily had never heard James apologise for anything. Ever.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, her surprise evident in her voice.

There was a awkward pause. They both looked anywhere except each other, shifting their feet slightly.

"So, are you going back home?" she asked finally, nodding towards his hovering trunk.

James pursed his lips and nodded, as if this was something he wasn't entirely looking forward to. "Yeah, my mum sent me an owl this morning. So I'm going to go stay with her for a few weeks."

"That's..." Lily trailed off, trying to find the right word. "Good," she finished lamely.

James nodded and began to continue his descent down the stairs. "Is there anything you need me to do before I go? I know you'll need to reorganise the night patrols-"

"Honestly, don't worry about it. Everything will be fine."

"Thanks," he said sincerely, reaching the bottom of the staircase. "Well, I best go say 'bye to the Marauders. Goodbye Lily."

"'Bye..." she murmured, watching as he left the room.

*

An hour or so later, Lily was patrolling the corridors with Severus Snape. The two had never been as close as they once were since Severus had used the word 'Mudblood', but she found herself talking to him about James's behaviour, as that was all that was on her mind. She conveniently left out the personal things he had spilled out to her the previous night.

Severus was frowning deeply, not at all happy having a conversation about James Potter.

"And he said sorry! I mean really, when have you ever heard James say sorry?"

He shot her a quick glance as he noted she referred to him by his first name.

"Maybe he has changed Severus-"

"No Lily. All that's changed is your feelings towards him," he replied bitterly. "You feel sorry for him."

Lily pondered this for a moment, and then shook her head

"No, I'm telling you, I honestly think this has changed him..." She trailed off and frowned, looking questioningly at a wand lying abandoned on the floor just in front of them. She stopped to pick it up, and realised she could hear yelling from around the corner.

She shared a quick look with Severus, and they both quickened their pace and rounded the corner.

Lily gasped at the site that greeted her.

Severus snorted. "Yeah Lily, he's really changed," he muttered sarcastically.

"Potter!" Lily cried in disbelief, rushing towards the commotion.

James was fighting with Regulus Black, straddling him as he dealt him blow after blow with his fists. His wand lay discarded a few feet a way from him.

Sirius was being held back by a very frustrated looking Remus Lupin, who was doing surprisingly well to hold on to his friend, as Sirius was thrashing wildly and trying to aim kicks at his brother.

"Peter!" Remus yelled, and Lily had never heard him sound so annoyed. "I said grab James!"

Peter Pettigrew looked worriedly from Lily to the two boys on the floor, then half heartedly tugged on the back of James's robes.

Lily made a noise of disgust and pushed Peter out of the way. "Potter, you're Head Boy!" she shrieked, grabbing James's wrist in mid-punch and dragging him upwards. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Him!" was all James could manage to shout at she yanked him to his feet. She'd never seen James look so furious, never seen the hatred in his eyes as he continued to glare at Regulus, who was hastily wiping blood from his nose. "He's joined the – joined the ones who killed my – who KILLED my-!" He suddenly turned his head away and raised a fist to his forehead in fury, but not before Lily saw angry tears spill out of his eyes.

Lily felt as if a lead weight had fallen into her stomach. She realised without him saying that he was talking about the Death Eaters killing his father.

"Is... Is this true?" she stammered, looking at Regulus. Regulus Black, into the Dark Arts admittedly, but still only a Sixth Year student. He had raised himself up onto his elbows, but was still lay on the floor.

She noticed an emotion flash in his eyes – embarrassment? Fear? Regret? – but before she could establish it his face was masked with cold defiance. "So what if it is?"

James moved as if to attack him again, but Lily quickly stood in front of him and grabbed him around his chest to hold him back. Sirius, still struggling in Remus's arms, managed to deal a hefty kick into his brother's ribs. "Pathetic scum," he spat at him, biting out his words through his anger.

"Okay," Lily said loudly as Regulus moaned in pain. She had to get over her shock and establish some order. "Remus – take Sirius back to your Common Room. Black – Regulus, I mean... Go. Just... go."

She shook her head sadly at him as he lumbered painfully to his feet. Severus, who had been silent throughout all of this, was eyeing Regulus with interest.

"Severus, take him back to your Common Room, would you?"

He nodded curtly and strode off down the corridor alongside Regulus, who was clutching his ribs and limping. He turned back after a few steps.

"My wand-" he started, and Lily tossed the wand still clutched in her hand.

She slackened her grip on James and looked at him pityingly. "Come on, let's get you back up to our quarters."

"No, I'm supposed to be going home, remember?" he muttered, gingerly sucking the blood off his split lip.

"Well your mum doesn't need to see you in this state," she said gently. "And I don't really want you to go to Madam Pomfry because she'll just ask questions. I can clean you up, so come on, no arguments."

Remus shot Lily a look of thanks as James stooped to pick up his wand, and then the three Marauders minus James murmured there goodbyes and walked in the opposite direction.

Neither Lily nor James spoke as they headed back to the Head Boy and Girls quarters, but she could tell he was still fuming. He collapsed onto the couch as they reached their Common Room, putting his head into his hands.

Lily fetched some ointment she had in her room (as Head Girl, you never knew what you'd have to deal with) and crouched on her knees in front of him.

"He definitely came off worse," she sighed, as she tilted his head upwards and began dabbing at James's lip. "Merlin Potter, couldn't you have just hexed him or something? What were you thinking?"

He glared at her. "I wasn't thinking, I just... And it felt better to hit him, I didn't even think of my wand."

Lily could understand this, but wasn't about to admit it.

"He's sixteen. Sixteen! He's just a kid... Why would he join them? Why would anyone join them?" James was murmuring, but more to himself than Lily.

Lily shook her head sadly as she dabbed at a small graze under James's left eye.

"There," she said quietly a few moments. "It might still hurt a bit, but... You can't tell by looking at you."

His eyes slid up to meet hers. She felt the same jolt in her heart as she had done the night before, as she saw how much emotion swam in his eyes. Hazel. She'd never noticed that.

"Thankyou," he said softly. "For everything. And... Sorry you had to deal with that."

"Don't be silly," Lily answered, waving her hand impatiently as if to brush off the comment. She noted it was the second time she'd heard him apologise in one day.

"Right. Well," James sighed loudly, pushing himself up off the couch. "I suppose I'd better get going."

"Okay," Lily replied awkwardly, also standing up. "Well, er... Goodbye. Keep your chin up, James." She moved as if to hug him, then thought better of it and took a step backwards, clasping her hands behind her back.

He smiled sadly at her before turning to walk out of the portrait hole. "See you, Lily."

*

Hello!

Thanks for all your lovely reviews, I WAS going to leave this at a one-shot, but I got the itch to add more. Sorry it took so long. Hope you like it, and sorry it's very angsty right now, but we'll soon get to happy James!

Please review!!