DISCLAIMER: I own all these characters! NOT! I wish I did though… sadly, none of them belong to me. *sniffs* If they did belong to me, well… I'd have so much money I wouldn't know what to do with it!

AUTHORS NOTE: Chapter eight! So, I'm quite disappointed… you guys do realise I can see how many hits there's been on my story... is it really THAT hard to review? If you've read it, can you let me know what you think, even if it's just to tell me that my writing is useless? Because if nobody tells me what they think of my writing, well, then I won't know what you all think of it! Okay, little rant over… here's the chapter where everything kind of changes, secrets are revealed…

Oh, and you'd never believe what has happened! Yes, I've said a couple of times throughout the story that I ship Snily, but recently… I've started falling for Jily. I guess I can't help it, but now I'm stuck in the situation where I love both SO MUCH! Aggh, just adding to the complications… but I am tending towards shipping Jily… partly because James is just so damn perfect, and I'm becoming a bit attatched to him in this story, and also partly because of a video I've found on YouTube, called 'You wouldn't let me let you go.' It's amazing, and so heart-breakingly perfect… and it's got me hooked on Jily. Weell… little rambly thing over, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!

"Mommy?" ten year old Neville asked. "Why do I have a different last name from you?"

Lily sighed as she saw Neville gaze up at her with curiosity, and knew it was time that he knew the truth, even if he hated her for it. He deserved to know.

"Sit down here, Neville. I have a story to tell you."

And she told him everything, about how she and James weren't his actual parents, that Alice and Frank had been cursed by Bellatrix Lestrange, how they'd died to save him. She told him about Voldemort, and the prophecy that could have referred to either him or Harry, and about Severus Snape, the man that saved their lives. But she didn't tell him about how Dumbledore thought that Voldemort might rise again; he was too young to know that, just a child who needed to be a kid whilst he still could. And when she finished talking, Lily sat there nervously, looking at Neville as he thought about this information.

"That bad man could have killed you?" Neville asked, looking worried. "I don't want you to die, ever!"

Lily breathed a sigh of relief then, but she felt sadness returning when she thought of how different life could have been. Someday Neville would realise what losing his parents meant, and she hoped when that happened he wouldn't hate her for it, and that he could remember his parents as heroes…

…..

It was a dark, stormy evening, and Lily could feel that sinking feeling in her stomach, that niggling sensation that was telling her something wasn't right, something bad would happen. She shook it off though. 'Just nerves,' Lily told herself. 'Everything will be fine.'

She was with Alice and Frank, and they'd found out about one of the Death Eater's hiding places, which they would ambush tonight. Lily wished James could come, she felt safer with him around, but James had been injured recently, and whilst magic had practically healed his injuries, he needed his rest. Lily was glad that he wasn't with her though; if anything went wrong tonight, if she died, then at least James was with Harry, and Harry would never be alone.

She crept along the dark lane behind Frank and Alice as silently as she could, nobody talking for fear that they'd be heard.

They continued on for a few more minutes, until Frank broke the silence and whispered softly 'almost there'. Lily looked up at Frank and smiled, losing her concentration for a few seconds, then she felt her ankle twist as she stepped in a small pot hole in the ground.

"You okay?" Alice asked as Lily winced from the pain.

"I'll be fine," Lily said, sitting down on the ground and taking out her wand. "You two go ahead, I'm good at healing spells, I'll be okay in a minute."

Alice nodded reluctantly, then she and Frank both continued heading towards the Death Eater's hideout.

Lily cradled her foot carefully with one hand and held her wand in the other, muttering incantations to heal her ankle. She'd always been good at healing spells, and though she preferred not to heal herself, Remus Lupin would help her out usually, she was finished healing her ankle in just a couple of minutes, and she stood up, gingerly testing her ankle. Satisfied that she was fine, she turned towards the Death Eater's hideout and walked straight into Sev.

How she'd missed him, but her shock in seeing him was replaced by horror as she realized her worst nightmares had come true… Sev had a cold, dull look in his eyes that made her feel uneasy, and the sleeve of his robe was pushed up high enough that she could see the bottom of a Dark Mark tattooed into his arm.

"Lily…" he said, looking at her with concern. "You shouldn't be here, it isn't safe."

"Oh, but it's okay for you, is it? What, you're a Death Eater now?" Lily pushed past him, but Snape grabbed her arm.

"Don't, Sev! Let me go!" she cried, but he didn't release her, just stared at her with those black eyes, and then she heard the screams…

…..

"Lily!" James cried, as she bolted upright in bed. "Lils, what's wrong?"

"Th.. th.. their screams, James! I've never heard anything like it in my life, I never want to hear them again…"

"The nightmare again?"

"The same one. Always the same."

"It'll be fine," James said, rubbing her back gently.

"No, it's not fine, James! Can't you get that? Every time, I wake up and tell myself it's just a dream, but it's not! It's real, and I see it in my head every time – their screams, my heart pounding as I race to save them, but I'm too late! I hide in the shadows terrified, too cowardly to stop those Death Eaters from torturing them. I see the whole thing, but I don't do anything, that's what I have to live with!" Lily yelled, tears beginning to drip down her face.

"It's not your fault."

"But it is! It's all my fault… if I'd just been braver, tried to save them…" she broke off, the tears now streaming down her face.

"Shhh, it's okay, we'll be okay…"

"No, it's not okay, it never will be!" she shouted as he tried to comfort her. "You don't understand, just leave me alone, Potter!"

And with that, she fled from the room, and James could hear the door slam as she ran out of the house. He felt guilty for upsetting her, yet confused. He had tried to comfort her, but all he'd done was make it worse. Lily said he didn't understand, and that hurt. He'd been through almost as much as her, lost people he loved too. But what hurt the most was that she'd called him 'Potter' again. It had been years since she'd called him that, and he knew he was losing her. Lily Evans, the only girl he could ever love, was slipping further away from him with every word he spoke.

AUTHORS NOTE 2: Please, please, PLEASE review! Thanks!