DISCLAIMER: I still don't own any of these characters… *sighs*

AUTHORS NOTE: Well, here's chapter 5! Sorry about the delay in uploading this, I've been sick lately! :( Anyway, hope you like this chapter; it includes the Marauders this time! Yes, I know, I haven't really been writing about Neville… sorry about that. Also, I realize that in the books, Sirius Black should be locked up in Azkaban, and Peter Pettigrew is 'dead', but I've recently become… attached to all of the Marauders (if any of you have read the fan fiction 'Secrets are Walls that Keep us Alone' you'll understand why), and I thought that since I'm keeping James alive, might as well keep the other three Marauders around… I apologise if you don't like this. Oh, and in this chapter I tried to appeal more to the Jily shippers… even though I am a Snily one… but since I included Lily's history with Snape, it's only fair to include her history with James!

Please review! I haven't been getting many reviews, and I'm beginning to wonder whether anybody actually reads my writing…

"Hello James, Lily," Lupin said, standing awkwardly at the doorway to Godric's Hollow with Sirius and Peter, the other two Marauders. "We got your Owl about the Longbottoms."

"Such a sad thing," Peter Pettigrew, normally the quietest of the Marauders spoke up. "Frank and Alice were really kind people. They didn't deserve any of this."

"Nobody should have had to suffer at Voldemort's hands," Lupin said. "But life isn't fair. We have to move on, start our lives again, forget about the past."

"Dumbledore thinks he will rise again," said James. "What if he's right?"

"Then so be it. But we can't sit around all day worrying about our future. If we learn anything from all of this, it should be that life is short; anything can happen. We all just need to live life, enjoy ourselves. Have fun in every moment while it lasts."

"I second that," joked Sirius, and they all laughed, and just for a moment it felt like their schooldays again.

"How are the boys?" asked Sirius.

"Good, they seem to both like each other," Lily said, smiling, and they all headed into the nursery to go see Harry and Neville.

Both boys were fast asleep; Harry was cuddling a soft toy owl, and Neville was curled up in a little ball still clutching the rattle that he'd been playing with earlier.

The mood in the air lightened as they watched Neville blink his eyes open sleepily, yawn widely, stretch, then curl up in a ball and fall back asleep again.

They all tiptoed out of the room again, as quietly as they could so as not to disturb Harry or Neville, and then they ate lunch together.

It was just like old times again, the five of them all laughing together, teasing James and Sirius about how much trouble they were at Hogwarts. Everybody was careful not to mention Voldemort, or Frank and Alice. And in this moment, they could pretend like nothing bad had ever happened, that it would all be okay, nothing would ever go wrong again…

…..

Lily sat down next to the four Marauders, laughing as Sirius and James teased Remus. She hadn't known them for long, but they'd all welcomed her, and she felt now that she had a place to belong.

It had been nearly a week since Lily had that fight with Sev, and she'd felt alone, distrustful. Then Remus came and talked to her, invited her to sit with the Marauders at meal times, and things started looking brighter for Lily. She found that she laughed more, lightened up. Lily had never had that with Sev. He'd been the one she'd look to when she needed someone to confide in, but she'd never looked to him to make her laugh. Yet she still missed him – the way he'd do the sweetest things like picking the first spring flowers into a bouquet for her, or sit there for hours with her, just content to talk.

Lily didn't know how, but suddenly things had become much more complicated than she could ever have imagined them to be. She thought she understood everything about life, but it turned out she was wrong. How could you still care for someone when they betrayed you? How could you be both amused, yet annoyed by the same person? When you trust nobody, how can a simple act of kindness by one person open you up again? The questions all whirled around in her mind, barely making sense. Lily wished she knew the answers to all these questions, that she knew the solution to her problems.

And she found that she hated Sev, yet she was afraid of losing him forever…

...

After Sirius, Remus and Peter had left, James wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulders.

"It'll all be okay, Lils," he murmured. "You know that right?"

"Yeah… but James, I'm scared," she whispered back. "What if… what if…" she choked out, too scared to finish her sentence.

"Look at me," he said, caressing her face and holding it up to his. "We have each other. We'll be fine."

"You think so?"

"I know." He leant down and kissed her lightly. "I'll never let anything happen to you, ever."

…..

James wasn't sure how it happened, but somehow he ended up falling for Lily. How it came to be, that he fell in love with that girl, with her flaming red hair and her bright green eyes that glared at him every time she looked at him would always be a mystery. He knew she disliked him, possibly even hated him. So why was it that he cared so much about her?

James knew he should change himself, be a better person for Lily, but somehow he never did. He'd always be that boy who annoyed her, picked on the guy who she used to be best friends with. Of course she still cared about Snivellus, she always would. And deep down, James knew that Lily would never like him if he kept acting so mean towards him.

Little did James know that Lily would change him, that one day she'd be able to stand his presence, even love him. He would become a better person one day, for her. For James would always do anything for Lily…