-1Missing Dreams

Chapter 8

"Miss Evans," Dumbledore sighed as he sat behind his desk and folded his hands over a large book that was laid on the top, his blue eyes no longer twinkling at her. "I need you to tell me everything that you saw."

"Can we simply wait until James get's here with his parents?" Lily asked as she played with a piece of her long auburn hair.

"They're walking up the stairs right now, if I'm correct," Dumbledore told her with a small smile just as the door opened and James walked in followed by an older version of him. Harold Potter could easily be passed off as an older brother to James. He had nary a gray strand in his messy black hair that he must have passed on to his son and minimal wrinkles around his eyes. He was a very handsome man.

And the woman behind him had to be one of the most elegant, beautiful people Lily had ever met. She had long, dark brown hair that cascaded down her back in perfect waves. Her blue eyes were a dark blue that was a contrast to her perfectly white skin, not a blemish showing. In an odd offset to the picture though, Nichole Potter was wearing a pair of ragged dark blue pants and an oversized shirt that looked as if it could be her husbands. No one had ever seen the Minister's wife so laid back and out of her elegant, ordered clothes.

"You must be Lily," Nichole smiled as she noticed the red headed girl sitting in one of the large overstuffed purple chairs. "I'm so happy to finally meet the girl that James has been talking about for so long!"

Lily blinked in confusion as she felt the older woman's arms wrap around her body.

"Mom," James said softly as he walked over to a chair and sat down. Leave it to his parents to embarrass him. Not that she didn't already know that he was in love with her and had been for a long time, but there was just something about hearing your parents say it out loud - especially to the girl that you like, that made it so embarrassing.

"James," Harold laughed as he shut the door and walked over to sit next to his wife, taking her small hand in his much larger one. "Let your mother have her fun."

"You wouldn't be saying the same thing if Grandma was doing it to you," he muttered quietly as he slumped down in his chair, ignoring Lily's questioning look.

"Now Miss Evans, since everyone is now present, I believe that you have a story to tell," Dumbledore announced as he peered over the top of his crescent shaped glasses.

Lily sighed and dragged her hand through her hair as she gathered her thoughts. "I was down by the lake thinking about things when all of a sudden this pain speared through my head. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground and it feels as if I was transported somewhere else somehow. I'm standing in front of this door - a door that everyone knows," Lily said as she shut her eyes to better imagine the scene. "I was in front of the Potter's door. I hear a voice in my head - one that everyone knows. He's telling someone - the Death Eaters, to open the door. I feel his triumph when they finally get through all of the spells locking the house. He's thinking, I'm going to get them, I'm going to show them what happens when you stand up against me."

James looked over at Lily with wide eyes, his heart beating frantically in his chest. She saw and heard all of this. She truly did have some kind of link with the darkest wizard to roam the Earth in ages.

"Yet when they go through the house, no one's there. Not even a House Elf. I can't even describe the amount of anger that was in him at this moment. It felt as if his whole body was shaking with rage. And through it all, I hear one voice. The same voice I heard at my parents' house," she murmured as she opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, avoiding the pitying eyes that were around her.

"Oh, Lily dear," Nichole Potter gasped, tears in her eyes for the young girl who had already suffered so much in the year. Now to be plagued by thoughts of Voldermort was horrible.

"It's okay," Lily said, not looking from the ceiling.

"No, it's not dear. You've had a hard enough year as it is," Nichole argued as she let go of her husbands hand and pulled the girl into her arms in a hug.

Lily blinked in surprise as she lightly returned the hug, frowning when she noticed the Minister's grin.

"Nikki honey, I think that you're scaring the poor girl," Harold laughed as he patted his wife's back.

"You come home with James during Easter break and spend the time with us," Nichole demanded in a soft tone as she pulled away from Lily. "It'll be nice having another female in the house for once."

James frowned at his mother, not trusting what she was up to. "I thought that you hated female companionship - you always complain about those lady luncheons that you go to," he said skeptically.

"That's because they're all stuffy old women with nothing to do with their lives," Nichole said, waving away his concern.

"I don't know Mrs. Potter, I wouldn't want to put you guys out or anything," Lily said nervously.

Before she could reply, Dumbledore cleared his throat, causing everyone to look at him questioningly.

"I suggest that we argue on this fact a little later. More importantly, we need to figure out what Miss Evans' connection to Voldermort is."

"You're right," Mr. Potter nodded as he laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them.

"Is this the first time that you've experienced this Miss Evans?" Dumbledore asked her.

Lily nodded her head as she played with the hem of her standard black knee length school skirt.

"Have you ever had the feeling that someone was watching you? That someone was in your mind?" he asked her.

Lily shook her head. She didn't know why but she felt as if she was six years old and being questioned on who broke great-grandma's prized vase.

"Are you sure about this?" Mr. Potter asked his eyes intense as he stared at the nervous seventeen year old.

"Yes. I would know if someone was in my mind - I've never felt that veil like feeling when someone enters your mind," Lily answered, now staring at her feet as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"I need to shine my shoes," she said softly, not realizing that she said it out loud until she looked up and noticed that everyone was staring at her like she was crazy.

"Oops," she grimaced.

"Oh, James, I'm so glad that it's someone that I could love myself," Nichole laughed as she ran a hand down the long length of Lily's hair.

"Uh," Lily stuttered, unable to believe what she just heard from his mother's mouth.

"Mom!" James yelped, his blue eyes wide, and his cheeks a soft pink as he pushed his glasses up his straight nose.

"What it's true! And there's no need to be nervous dear, I know that we're a crazy bunch but we're fun," Nichole tried to reassure Lily with a grin, not realizing why she looked so nervous.

"Mom, please," James pleaded, looking to his Dad for help. "Dad."

"Nikki, leave the poor girl alone," Harold chuckled as he started to feel sorry for his son.

"What? Lily am I bugging you?" Nichole asked with a frown as she looked from her husband to Lily, finally noticing the look on the poor girls face. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"It's okay," Lily mumbled as she tried to will the blush out of her cheeks.

"What about me!" James wanted to know, causing everyone to look at him. "I was embarrassed too! But does anyone say sorry to me? Ever… no!"

"You don't need people apologizing to you," Lily told him with a pat on the arm. "It'd just go to your head."

Nichole looked at Lily and laughed. "I really do like you," she said with a grin.

Lily blushed again, looking down at her lap. She had forgotten that they were there for a couple of seconds. She was so used to not thinking about what she said to James that it had just come out of her mouth.

"See the abuse I get at home and at school!" James huffed, looking at Dumbledore with a depressed look. "I'm not appreciated."

Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head, his long white hair staying in place still. "I suggest that you are careful with your thoughts until we know if the same connection is on his side."

"Yes, sir," Lily nodded, knowing that this was coming.

"And Miss Evans, no more incidents like the one with Mr. Malfoy, okay?" Dumbledore asked her with inquiring eyes.

Lily couldn't help but feel as if she had been betrayed by the last person that she had trusted. He knew that she had no control over it. Why else would she have taken millions of anger management classes when she was home? Why would she have asked Dumbledore for a specially made room for her so that she could cool down when she got pissed off.

"Yeah," she snapped as she stood up suddenly and pushed the chair back with enough force to push the chair back a couple of feet. "It's not like I can control what I have. But you know what, so that you can save your face, yeah, I'll watch my powers that I haven't been able to control since I've gotten them. No problem!" she snapped as she stormed across the room and out of the door.

"Lily!" James yelled as he raced out of the room after her. This was becoming a regular scene with him running after her lately.

"Lily wait up! I don't run very well!" Nichole panted as she tried to run after the young girl.

"Why is it always my fault!" Lily screamed as she suddenly stopped, causing James who was only a couple of feet behind her to almost run her over in the middle of the damp hallway.

"What?" James asked her as he tried to catch his breath. Who knew that such a little thing could run so well.

"It's always my fault! My parents are killed in front of my eyes, and it's my fault! I'm not a pureblood witch yet I have all of this power, and it's my fault!" she screamed, ignoring the shocked look on Nichole's face as she came to a stop behind her son.

"I get taunted and teased ruthlessly by the blonde git and his moron friends and finally it's too much for me," she said, a hitch in her voice that caused Nichole to automatically walk over to her and envelope her in her arms. "So I finally decide to show him how weak I am, and it's my fault."

"It's okay sweetheart," Nichole tried to soothe, rubbing her back gently. "It's not your fault; they just need someone to blame it all on."

"But why me?" Lily asked as she lifted her head from Nichole's shoulder- which was exactly her height, and looked at her with shinning green eyes.

"Because they think that you're weak," Nichole answered, feeling her heart break at the broken look on Lily's face. She looked as if she had lost everything that had ever been important to her - yet she had if you thought about it. Her family had been destroyed.

"But I am," Lily cried as she laid her head back down on Nichole's shoulder, not noticing when James came behind her and started rubbing her head like he would usually do when they were in bed trying to go to sleep.

The motion usually made her calm down, but it felt as if nothing at that moment was going to help her. It was almost as if she had fell into a pit of depression and nothing was going to grab her out of the dark - again. Every time it started to get better the next day it seemed like she was at square one again.

"Come on," Nichole ushered as she noticed people started to walk through the hallway. Classes must have been ready to start and she didn't want Lily to be the center of attention. "Let's find somewhere private," she said with a suggestive look at her husband who was standing off to the side.

"Right - Room of Requirement, or the Head's dorms?" Harold asked.

"Our dorms are closer," James suggested as he backed away from his Mom and Lily and sighed. He was starting to feel a tension headache forming behind his eyes. It wasn't right that someone who was so small and fragile could have so much going wrong in her life. Someone as beautiful inside as she was outside had such a shitty life while he had everything that he could ever want handed to him… well besides the girl, but regardless.

"James," Nichole whispered as she nodded towards Lily who was still in her arms, too scared to let go.

James bit his lip to keep from screaming at someone for breaking her to the point where she was starving for any contact as he bent and scooped her light body in his arms and cradled her close to his chest.

There had to be something that he could do for her. Something that he could do that would make it all right, because he honestly didn't know how much more of this that he could take. Seeing her this hurt, this shattered was tearing him in pieces. It didn't matter if he wasn't her boyfriend or not, he had to help her, he had to make everything right in her life-even if he died doing it.

..0.0.

Hours later Lily was in bed sleeping peacefully thanks to the sleeping potion that Harold had slipped into her drink, and all three of the Potter's were in the common room sitting around the fire in silence.

His father had cancelled all of his meetings for the day to help his son through his obvious discomfort and feeling of helplessness.

"I have to figure out something to do," James said suddenly, breaking the silence that had been around the room ever since he had carried Lily up to her bed thirty minutes ago.

"She needs to see something stable in her life. Something that isn't going to change," Nichole agreed with him. "And you're just the person to do that James. Don't think that she's going to be better over night, because it's not going to happen, but just be there, show her that someone is going to be there for when she falls."

James looked at his mom and nodded, his blue eyes looking deep into hers to see if she was trying to tell him something subconsciously. "It's just so hard to sit here and wait for it to happen," he told her with a shake of his head as he looked around the room. Lily demanded that he put everything in its place, so it was defiantly cleaner than his room. Every book lay in its place, every chair faced the right way. To say that Lily was crazy was an understatement.

"I want her to come home with you James - I don't care what you have to do to get her to the house, but I don't want her to stay here alone," Nichole demanded, showing the stubbornness that James had inherited from her. It was a trait that many were shocked to see.

"Don't worry I'll drug her if I have to," James smiled. "I have the law on my side."

"Hey don't put me in this!" Harold laughed as he ran his hands through his thick messy black hair, his eyes twinkling as the faint lines next to his eyes deepened with the smile.

"Come on Dad, you wouldn't convict me, now would you?" James asked as he tried to flutter his eyelashes the way his mother did to get her way.

"That is just wrong and disturbing," Sirius laughed as he walked into the room as he always did, as if he owned it.

"Like you don't try it," James shot back as he hit Sirius on his arm when he got close enough.

"Yes, but I don't look like an idiot when I do it - and I get my way," he smirked as he walked over to Nichole and kissed her cheek. "Hi, Mom."

"Have you been staying out of trouble?" she demanded as she hugged him and ruffled his hair lovingly. It didn't matter that she didn't carry this boy for nine months; all that mattered was that she loved him just as much as she loved her own son.

"Always," he smirked as he took in the flowery scent that she always wore.

"And how about the female hearts?" Harold laughed as he clapped the boy on the back.

"Broke far and wide."

"That's my boy," Harold grinned, then cleared his throat as he noticed his wife's glare. "What I mean, is be careful."

"Right," Sirius agreed, still smirking as he sat down on the arm of the chair that Nichole was in. "So what are we talking about?"

"Lily," James said automatically.

"How is the little bean?" Sirius asked, having been worried about the girl since she had ran into the Great Hall a couple of days ago announcing that the Potter's were in trouble.

"Sleeping, but not good right now," James sighed as he slumped back down on the couch and took his glasses off so that he could rub his eyes in frustration.

"What's up?" Sirius asked as he walked over and sat next to James, shifting on the couch so that he could look at him in the eyes. His best friend didn't look good. There were bags under his eyes that were never usually there, his hair looked like it had withstood a hurricane, and his face was taut with stress.

You could tell that he was worried for Lily's health, but who was worried that he wasn't sleeping at night?

"She … I don't even know how to explain it," James sighed as he opened his eyes and looked at his best friend. He was dressed up in a pair of dark blue pants and a white button up that was rolled up to his sleeves. His hair was carefully styled in a way that James knew that there was a date planned soon.

"She's depressed and close to being suicidal," Nichole said calmly, yet her eyes were stormy at the thought. "All because of a maniacal, psychopathic, blood thirsty bully!"

All three boys looked at her with gaping mouths. It wasn't often that she couldn't come up with insults that stung. Only when she was extremely mad did her tongue get so tangled that she couldn't figure out what to say.

"What?" she shrugged. "He pisses me off. Who the hell does he think that he is? He's no better than anyone else who was born."

"Calm down, we didn't say differently," Harold told her as he checked his watch.

"I take it's time to go?" Nichole asked, noticing him checking the time.

"It's almost curfew for the boys if I remember right," he told her with a knowing look towards the boys.

"Okay," Nichole sighed as she got up and brushed off the seat of her pants in habit. "Give me hugs," she demanded as she walked over to Sirius.

Releasing Sirius, Nichole reached for James. "Stay strong and be there for her."

"Thank you, Mom, I love you," James told her as he hugged her tight. Regardless if it was cool for guys his age to be attached to their mother's or not, James didn't know what he'd do without her in his life. She was one of his best friends.

"You boys behave," Harold said as he slung his arm around his wife's slender shoulders and started to usher her towards the door.

"We will be the best we could be," Sirius promised with a smirk and a wink, knowing that Harold knew what went on behind closed doors in the school.

Harold simply snorted as he dodged his wife's questions on the meaning of that.

Waiting until the door shut, Sirius turned towards James. "So what are we doing about this problem?" he asked with a serious look on his face that was rarely there.

James sighed. He knew that his friends would always be there for him when he needed them, but there was simply nothing that he could figure out to do for her.

"I have to keep an eye on her Sirius. Make sure that she doesn't do anything to herself."

"You'll have my help," he told him solemnly.

"I know mate, I know." James sighed as he ran his hands through his hair.

"So who's the lucky girl tonight?" James asked with a smirk.

"Elaine Singleton," Sirius said with a satisfied smirk. "And she's going to be worth the chase mate."

"Nice," James nodded with a grin. "Nice rack."

"I'm off to pick her up then," Sirius smiled. "You know how to get a hold of me if you need me."

"Thanks."

Watching Sirius walk out of the room, James couldn't help but be grateful that he had such great friends. He couldn't imagine how Lily had gotten so far in her life without the kind of companionship that he felt with his friends. He would have gone mental long ago.

They were always there when he needed them. And Lily… well it was time that Lily realized that she had the same thing in him.