So here it is, guys! The next chapter! Sorry it's taken a bit of a while, I was really struggling with it and ended up scrapping everything I'd written so far and re-writing it from James' POV. Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who left reviews! Please review this chapter and tell me what you think!

James' POV

'Come on, you wouldn't even know I was here!'

James sighed in exasperation and pushed his way past his best friend, who was doing his best to try and remain in the compartment where the girls would be changing into their robes.

'I mean it, Sirius,' Danni was saying, 'Get out now.'

There may have been a frown on her face, but her eyes were smiling, James noticed.

'Padfoot, I'd leave now, if you know what's good for you,' he said with a rueful smile, taking the chance to glance at Lily. She wasn't looking at him. 'I wouldn't put it past these girls to hex you into the middle of next week.'

'Presicely, Potter,' Mary said. 'I take it you both value your testicles in their current position?'

Sirius winced, and his hands flew down to the crotch of his jeans, as if he was making sure that they hadn't already been cursed off. Everyone laughed.

'Okay, okay,' he said in resignation. 'I'm going. Don't want you unleashing your wrath on them.'

He followed James out of the compartment and slid the door shut.

'We should probably do the same,' Remus said. 'We'll probably have to evict whoever's in the compartment we left our trunks in, though.'

'Oh yeah,' Sirius said as they set off down the corridor, which was thronged with the usual excited first and second years running up and down, giggling madly, and guys lingering outside compartments they had obviously been sharing with girls and had now left, like the Marauders, so the girls could change. 'Where did we leave our stuff, anyway? I can't believe we were in there so long. It's all your fault, Potter.'

'Me?' James said as they reached a compartment that was empty, save for two tiny second year girls.

'You were the one who wanted to talk to Lily,' Sirius replied as the girls scuttled out of the compartment, shooting Sirius wide-eyed glances. 'And then practically didn't say a word all journey!'

'Yeah, well,' James said as he hoisted his trunk off the rack and pulled his school robes out. Why hadn't he made more of an effort to talk to Lily? She hadn't exactly been inviting conversation, though, staring resolutely out of the window for most of the train ride, pausing only to scowl at a crude comment or bit of banter. Still, he should have tried to talk to her about something, even if it was only Head's duties. His stomach leaped in his chest as he remembered that this year, he'd be sharing a dormitory with her. Surely, surely, this would be the chance that he was after, the chance to show her that he'd changed?

But, he cursed himself, he hadn't changed in her eyes, and considering his behaviour in the Prefect's compartment, he couldn't blame her. Suddenly, he felt ashamed. It must have been so frustrating for her, to have him acting like a complete arsehole all this time. Merlin knew how he got irritated with Sirius at times, when he wouldn't let something rest. She must have thought that this was the perfect opportunity for a fresh start, a decent end to her school career and the possibility of chucking him in detention a few times. But no, she'd been landed with him, just as she'd always been. He didn't blame her for reacting how she did.

Now was definitely the time to change. He wouldn't ask Lily Evans out again, he promised himself, not until he was confident her opinion of him had changed. He wouldn't give up on her, but he'd try a damn sight harder to win her over the hard way, the way he'd never tried before. By being her friend.

'You coming, Prongs?' Remus said, staring at him questioningly as he held the compartment door open. The train had come to a stop whilst he'd been daydreaming, James realised, and the train was emptying.

'Sorry,' he said, hauling his trunk up onto its wheels. 'Was miles away.'

Remus gave him a knowing smile, and James tried to avoid his eye. He didn't want another Lily centric discussion, or a reminder of what a prat he'd been to her. He therefore pushed past his friend, rather more forcefully than he should have done, and made his way outside, where he found Sirius on his tiptoes, straining his neck to see where Lily and her friends had got to.

'They can't be that far away, they were only one carriage down,' he was muttering to himself, and James smirked.

'Talking to yourself again, Padfoot?' he said as he came up behind Sirius. James laughed to see him jump. Fortunately for James, Sirius was interrupted in his reply by Peter.

'There they are!' Peter squeaked, pointing over the heads he could barely see over, towards where the carriages were waiting. James followed his arm, and saw a flash of red hair before it was swallowed by the darkness of the interior of the carriage. The door slammed and the carriage set off.

'Well, that was nice of them to wait,' Sirius said, shooting James a glare that plainly said he'd get his revenge another time. 'Come on.'

He led them through the crowds to the nearest carriage, and they all got in. When Peter had at last closed the door after shutting his robes in it first, they jolted off up the driveway to Hogwarts. It was chilly outside, and it was with warm relief that they traipsed up the front steps and into the Entrance Hall, where they were jostled by the moving press of bodies into the Great Hall.

'Where have they got to?' Sirius demanded as he looked up and down the Gryffindor table, but James wasn't listening. He'd heard something behind him, and whipped his head around.

It was the new Hufflepuff Prefect; a boy James remembered was called Gilbert Oliver, that he had heard speaking.

'...Sprout met them in the Entrance Hall... something to do with Helen Kelley... McGonagall was there too, for Celia's friends...'

'Shh!' he hissed to Sirius, who was rambling away about something petty. 'I've just heard someone say something about Celia's sister.'

'Who, Helen?' Sirius said, leaning in closer to catch James' whispered words.

'Mmm, said something about Sprout meeting someone in the Entrance Hall, and McGonagall being there for Celia's friends.'

'Doesn't sound too good,' Remus said from across the table. 'Do you reckon that's where Lily and Mary and that are? With Professor McGonagall?'

'Sounds like it,' James said. 'And no, it doesn't sound good.'

At that moment, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and in walked tiny Professor Flitwick, the Charms professor, carrying the customary Sorting Hat and stool that were almost as big as he was, followed by a gaggle of first years, all who seemed determined not to be at the front of the group.

James lost concentration as he watched student after student approach the stool and disappear under the hat. His eyes kept flicking to the door of the Great Hall, or along the Gryffindor table, though he knew Lily wasn't there.

Almost as soon as the final student had been sorted and the stool and the hat cleared away, the door of the Great Hall creaked open and three girls crept in, their eyes swollen and puffy. They made their way to the Hufflepuff table and sat among students James knew to be fourth years, exchanging muffled whispers and receiving shocked looks and hugs in return.

These girls were Helen's friends.

As soon as the food appeared on the plates, a wild chatter broke out, emanating from the Hufflepuff table.

'That's right, did you hear?'

'The Kelley girls, Celia's in Gryffindor...'

'Those girls who came in were Helen's friends...'

'I can't believe it!'

James caught snatches of rushed conversation that he tried to keep up with as he loaded his plate, but as he did so, the doors of the Great Hall opened for a second time, and in walked Lily and her friends. They looked like they'd been crying.

Beside him, Sirius waved, and the girls made their way over. James scooted along the bench, creating a space, but to his disappointment (not that he could blame her), Lily took the space next to Remus, and Tarragon sat down next to him. Sirius had made room for Danni, and Mary, after casting a glance at the space next to Peter that he had hurriedly created, sat down in the rather smaller space on Remus' other side.

'Is everything okay?' Sirius said as they sat down.

'We overheard Gilbert Oliver saying something about Helen, but we didn't quite catch everything,' James said, looking questioningly at the girls, but nobody seemed to want to speak.

'They were attacked,' Danni said, finally. 'Celia and her dad are okay, they're in St Mungo's. But...' at this point her eyes welled with tears, and she couldn't go on.

'Helen and their mother were killed,' Mary finished in a small voice.

James gasped in shock while Sirius laid his hand on Danni's arm before enveloping her in a hug, raising his hand to brush away her tears.

'That's terrible,' Remus said. 'What happened? Who attacked them?'

'Death Eaters,' Lily said, speaking up for the first time. James noticed her voice was cracked with emotion. He so wanted to reach out and comfort her, as Sirius was doing for Danni, but he knew the likely reaction he'd receive.

'The scum,' Sirius said vehemently as he stroked Danni's hair. 'Poor Celia.'

'I can't believe it,' James said, glancing again over at the Hufflepuff table, where the girls who had arrived shortly after the Sorting Ceremony were sat, tears in their eyes, their housemates gathered around them in comforting protection.

'Is Celia okay?' James asked.

'Professor McGonagall said that she was in a critical condition, but that she should be okay,' Mary told him. 'She's probably not going to come back to Hogwarts.'

Nobody ate much after that, and the feast passed quietly. After what seemed like an age, the last of the puddings cleared, and Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat.

'You may have heard smatterings of gossip concerning two students,' he said, his clear blue eyes surveying the hall dolorously. 'It is with a heavy heart that I now inform you that earlier this morning, Helen Kelley of Hufflepuff House was killed along with her mother as they left their home, in what the Ministry of Magic tells me was a Death Eater attack. Her sister, Celia, who is in Gryffindor, is currently in St Mungo's, as is her father. They will hopefully make a full recovery.'

He paused here as his words were taken in by students around the hall, some of whom leant in to converse rapidly with their neighbours. Others were still simply staring at their headmaster in disbelief.

'Helen was an incredibly kind and bright student, and had much to offer her friends, her house and her future. Sadly, at the malice of the so-called Death Eaters, this has all been taken away. I would ask you now to raise your glasses to Helen Kelley, and remember her.'

As James raised and drained his goblet, he couldn't help but look at Lily. Her eyes were red, but she wasn't crying.

'Professor McGonagall told me to let you know that we won't be having our meeting with Dumbledore this evening,' Lily said across the table once they had all been dismissed. 'We're going to have it tomorrow instead, at eight. I hope that's okay.'

'That's fine,' James said, grinning at her in what he hoped was a non-creep-about-to-ask-her-out way. 'How do we get to know the password, though?'

'McGonagall gave it to me,' she replied as they accompanied their friends out of the Great Hall. She glanced around her to check that nobody was listening before she leaned in close to him. James took a sharp intake of breath as he felt her warm breath on his face. 'The password's Constantine.'

The girls walked slightly ahead of the Marauders, their heads together. Tarragon and Danni had their arms around each other. James was sure that they were talking about Celia, and even Sirius had enough tact to leave them alone. However, on the fifth floor, James and Lily peeled themselves away from their friends, bidding them goodnight, and proceeded to walk, in silence, to their new dormitory.

James wished he could think of something to say, but was drawing up blanks, aside from the usual cocky drivel he usually spouted when he talked to her. He was seriously resisting the temptation to nervously ruffle up his hair. She hated that. Eventually, they reached a portrait of a stately looking warlock with a broomstick, and Lily gave the password.

As she entered the room, she gave a sharp intake of breath, and once he had joined her in the room, James felt like doing the same. It was an incredibly handsome room with an ornate fireplace built into the wall opposite the door, a fire crackling merrily in the grate. To the right and left were doors opposite each other that presumably lead to the bedrooms. They were exquisitely carved with the Hogwarts crest, James noticed. In the room they had entered was a large, green sofa that stood facing the fire, and a desk on one side, a bookshelf on the other, leaning against the wall. On the either side of the fireplace were two large Gryffindor banners.

'I suppose they change according to the house of the Heads,' James said, breaking the silence.

Lily nodded wordlessly, crossing the room to peer into one of the bedrooms. 'This one's yours,' she called, and James went to join her. It was indeed his, as his trunk and other personal items were placed around the room. The bed was something else. It was a vast, canopied tester bed with an embroidered coverlet and what looked like a feather mattress. James thought it was well worth becoming Head Boy just to use this room. He came back out and closed the door to find that Lily was inspecting her own room.

'Are you going to bed now, or...' he trailed off as she came back out of her bedroom. He didn't know what to say. Somehow, he wanted to apologise, to offer to start again, but he didn't know how to phrase it.

'Oh,' she said, avoiding his gaze. 'I was going to sit here a while, actually. I'm not really tired yet...' she trailed off, but her tone made it quite clear to James that she'd be sitting alone.

'Right,' he said. ''Night then.'

''Night,' Lily replied, giving him a ghost of a smile as she settled herself on the sofa. James turned ruefully away from her and began to walk towards his new bedroom, but he had barely reached the door when there came a strange noise from behind him. He turned around, and saw Lily, her head in her arms, her body shaking with sobs.

'Hey.' James crossed back to her and was sat beside her in an instant. 'Don't cry.'

It was pathetic, but he honestly had no idea what to say. He longed to take her into his arms and comfort her, but, as he had thought in the Great Hall, that would definitely exacerbate things.

'I'm sorry,' she said thickly, her head still on her arms. 'It's just, I can't believe what's happened! We were just sat there today on the train, laughing away without a care in the world! Laughing while Celia was getting attacked and her mother and Helen getting killed!'

'We had no way of knowing that,' James said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. 'We shouldn't feel guilty for something we have no control over.'

'I know, but I just feel so bad for Celia. And her poor mother. And Helen! I can't believe it's happened!'

'I know it's bad now,' James said, 'but you've got to look on the bright side when these things happen. Celia's okay, remember? She's going to be all right. It's horrible that Helen and Mrs Kelley are dead, but I doubt Helen would want you to be this upset.'

Lily gave a sniff and raised her head, her beautiful face was red and her eyes swollen, but she didn't meet James' eye. Instead, she stared into the flames.

'I never thought this would happen to anyone I knew,' she said in a calm voice. 'It all seemed so far away, all the stuff that's been happening outside. I've either been in school, hearing gossip about what's happening, or at home, in the Muggle world. It all seems so real now.' Her eyes flicked sideways, and for a moment, they locked onto James'.

'I know how that feels,' he said quietly, his heart skipping a beat as she looked at him, and sinking when she looked back at the fire. 'You never think something is going to happen to you, or people you know. And so when it does come, it hits you like a train.'

He reached out his hand and put it gently on her shoulder. For a moment, she moved her hand as if to place it on top of his, but then she stiffened.

'I'm sorry for this,' she said quickly and in her usual, brusque tone she reserved for him. It felt like a draft had entered the room and swept away the calm, quiet atmosphere that had been here before, an atmosphere that James felt Lily didn't irrevocably hate him. He withdrew his hand, his heart heavy as she got up and wordlessly and without a backward glance, went into her bedroom.

Ooh, so what happened there? Poor James, I do feel a bit sorry for him. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!