Here is Chapter Three! I will be posting regularly from now on.

Enjoy, let me know what you think so I can improve on my writing!

hogwartsharpist, thank you so much!

And without further ado, Chapter Three...

Chapter Three

Lily looked up at the ceiling she knew all too well. She was one big jumble of sheets, clothes and limbs. It had been four days since her mum and dad had picked her up from the train station. She had exchanged goodbyes with her friends and had promised to write to Marlene and Alice, she had also managed to glare at the Marauders before turning on her heel to meet her Petunia-less parents.

She hadn't managed, however, to turn fast enough before she saw Remus and Peter laugh, Sirius Black wink at her and the detestable James Potter blow a kiss at her. Now in her room, she sighed as she remembered how furious she was at the boys who had mortified her as her undergarments flew through the common room.

Lily turned around and screamed into her pillow, she didn't even know why she wanted to muffle her exasperated yell, she was alone after all.

Mum had said something about the hospital needing nurses there to help out.

"It is accident prone season after all!" She had said as she kissed Lily tenderly on her fiery hair, and she quickly made her way out that morning.

Her father stood beside her as her mother had kissed her, he then kissing Lily on the forehead and muttered, "I'm off to work, but I'll be home as soon as I can to spend time with my Lilykins."

Lily had laughed at this, "Dad, when will you stop calling me that!"

He had smiled lovingly back at her, "Never, munchkin."

Petunia had made previous arrangements and had left, before anyone else, to meet her boyfriend/future to be fiancé/future to be husband/walrus.

Lily sighed again as she was brought back to the present. Walrus Dursley was a good for nothing, obnoxious, sad excuse of a man who had no business with her bloody sister. A whale of a man who should better leave her family bloody alo-

SWOOSH

Lilly's heart gave a painful thud. She quickly stood up and reached for her wand that was laying by her on the bed. She mustered all of her Gryffindor courage and walked quietly towards her door. She had heard it come from downstairs, she walked quietly and slowly towards the stairs. Her heart was beating erratically and it was deafening her, she knew it could only be trouble, she gripped her wand tighter and made her slow, cautious decent.

The Wizarding World was at war and as a muggle-born she was to be caught at the wrong end of a wand, that's why she knew she had to be strong. To protect those who she cared about, her defenseless family who was almost completely unaware of the danger that was forthcoming. She wouldn't allow anyone to hurt her if it meant that there would be no one left to protect her family, her friends, and all those who couldn't protect themselves.

The Ministry of Magic had allowed the temporary use of magic for underage wizards, it had to be strictly justified. You couldn't run around casting unnecessary spells, for example, but it was likely that no one would notice considering that the Ministry currently had a lot on their hands.

Lily reached the landing and noticed that, even if it was an early hour in the morning, the house was dark. The sun had hidden itself behind cold, dark clouds. There was an ominous feeling that loomed in the stillness of the house, her heartbeat thumped against her chest, threatening to rip through her skin.

There was a shuffle in the drawing-room, some muttered, unintelligible voices. She walked through the dark hallway and stopped at the door that lead to the drawing-room.

One, shuffle shuffle, two... footstep footstep, THREE!

Lily blasted the door and instinctively through a stunning spell at the first person she saw. She heard it hit its mark and a loud thud followed.

"Stupefy!" Someone yelled from within the dark room.

Lily shielded herself and threw another stunning spell before they could retaliate. As the words were about to leave the tip of her tongue she felt a curse hit her square on the chest.

"Expelliarmus!" A man had said and Lily's wand flew into the drawing room to the enemy before she blew back and hit the opposite wall. Lily felt a thunderous crack spread through her back as she connected with the cement wall and whimpered in pain. She fell onto a feeble wooden table that succumbed under the pressure of her fall and together with the table, she fell to the floor.

She knew this was it, she had no wand and it was two against one. Lily felt proud, at least, because she had managed to stun one of her opposers. She wanted to cry, the pain had centered on all of her rib cage, and it was hard to breathe, but she knew if she was going to face death she wasn't going to give them what they wanted. She wasn't going to show the pain and fear she felt, she was going to be strong and face them with the courage that she pretended to have at the moment.

There was heavy breathing in front of her and she heard them walk out of the drawing room. They made their way towards her. Lily was trying to get up but she suspected that she had at least a few broken ribs, she was struggling to breathe but didn't dare to look up, not just yet. That was when she heard it.

The woman gasped, "Oh no!" She said, Lily recognised it as a voice she knew too well.

"Bloody hell!" Said a deep voice, Lily had never been so happy to hear. James Potter's voice.

Lily looked up then, at her friends, and they suddenly became blurry with the tears that rolled down her eyes.

It was just them, she thought, Merlin, it was just them.

She let go of the valiant facade. She sobbed and flinched as the pain in her ribs increased with ever sob. She thought she was going to be strong, she thought she wouldn't leave without putting up a fight. But here she was, completely useless and defenseless, even though it wasn't an enemy. Her pride failing her as she wailed in relief and pain.

"Oh Lily," Marlene said kneeling beside her, "I'm so sorry, you scared the bugger out of us. Attacking us like that! You even stunned Sirius! It's okay dear, James will fix you up, you know I'm terrible at healing."

Marlene rambled on, trying to make her feel better. Lily was crying harder now, she didn't know why, maybe it was because she thought she was going to die. She was embarrassing herself in front of that prick who she couldn't have been more happy to know it was him and not a Death Eater.

"You bloody..." Lily tried, flinching, "Arse holes!"

Marlene laughed kindly, "I'm happy you're okay, Lils. Now get to it, James, I'm going to go laugh at Sirius."

She stood up and headed to the drawing-room to find a motionless Sirius. James crouched next to Lily, he could smell her soft sweet smell, vanilla and something floral, mixed with the iron smell of blood. She looked up at him with huge, shinning, green orbs.

"I'm so glad you're here." She said in a soft voice. James felt a pang in his heart, she seamed so fragile, so helpless that he couldn't help but think what could have happened if she had actually been alone to deal with a real enemy.

James smiled a little and nodded, wanting to hold her tight but he knew it was an action that wouldn't be welcome, she was probably still mad at him after the common room episode. He was taken by surprise by what she said, Lily Evans was actually glad that he was here with her.

"May I?" He asked, Lily was surprised by the tenderness of his voice, she merely nodded when he asked to lift up her shirt.

Under different circumstances he would have rejoiced in the opportunity to do this, but he felt remarkably guilty as he was the one that had caused her this pain.

"Lily I can't... I need to move you." He looked around for a place where he could lay her down and have a full view of her injuries, the small hallway made it quite difficult to do so.

"I'll be careful I promise." He reassured her as she looked panicking into his eyes.

Lily knew James was a trustworthy man but that didn't mean he wasn't a complete arsehole. He had grown into a fine man but he still did immature things, he had certainly matured as Frank had said but he was still James Potter, an incorrigible boy. But now, something about the way he looked at her and the way he touched her and even the way he spoke, there was something different. Something that made her nod, something that made her nudge into him once he picked her up, something that made her trust him to take care of her broken bones and trust him like she never did but everyone else always did. She was always mad at him because of something he usually said or did, they were never civil with each other until recently. Her opinion of him had started to change, and even though Lily couldn't even admit it to herself, she honestly liked James as a person.

They walked into the drawing room. She gasped a little when he sat her on the sofa, the slightest movement made her feel an immense pain in her rib cage.

"Sorry," James kept saying as he moved his hands to get the fabric of her shirt out of the way.

"Sorry," he said when he thought Lily winced at the pain he caused when he moved his fingers over the right side of her abdomen. When in reality Lily winced at his touch, the pain forgotten, as his cold fingers ran over her warm skin and she winced again when she thought about how much she liked it.

James looked at her and found that she was already looking at him.

"This... might hurt a little." He said as he brought his wand to her right side, hovering over a broken rib. She nodded and heard him whisper a healing charm.

It was hot, excruciatingly hot and then it was cold, freezing cold and then crack. Her broken rib cracked into place and she whimpered embarrassingly, she felt the pain pass through her whole body. She felt as she slightly slipped into unconsciousness, the edges of her vision going black, only to be brought back by James's eyes.

Worried hazel eyes looked into her green ones. "Sorry." He muttered.

"I thought you said a little." Lily said releasing a shaky laugh. She stopped abruptly when she felt more pain, but this time on her left side.

Shit... James thought, One hell of a spell you threw there.

"Turn around." He said examining her left side as she turned on her side. She gripped his sleeve and her left hand was over her head so it wouldn't be in the way.

Crap, crap, crap, crap... He sighed as he saw a greenish, blue bruise over her broken ribs on her left side. He knew they were broken, it was unmistakable after all, the bones were noticeably disarranged under her skin. He silently prayed to Merlin that she hadn't punctured anything. He couldn't deal with any more guilt.

Three broken ribs, James, that's the way to Lily's heart.

"Again, this might hurt a little." He said and Lily heard the reluctance in his voice, she knew it was not going to be 'just a little' as he said.

James hovered his wand over the broken ribs and muttered the spell, stronger this time. Again Lily felt the unbearable heat trickle through her bones, then the freezing sensation and then CRACK.

Lily almost ripped James's sleeve clean off but before she could do any damage to his shirt she slipped, once and for all, into unconsciousness.

Sirius laughed behind him, "Well, shit." He said, "Was it too much to bare? She's out cold."

"Shut up, Sirius, I want to see how you deal with all those broken ribs. How many James?" Marlene said as she swatted Sirius's poking hands away from Lily's face, "Stop. Touching. Her."

"Three." James said glumly and both Sirius and Marlene looked at him.

"Aw, come on mate. It was an accident!" Sirius said trying to make him feel better. "To be fair, she attacked us."

"Yeah, we didn't even know if this was her house. We couldn't know what to expect," Marlene said patting James's shoulder. "And if someone blasts a door open and starts to bloody shoot hexes at you, that's the reasonable thing to do."

"Blast her against a bloody concrete wall? That's reasonable?" James demanded as he brought his hand to his hair and pulled it frustrated.

"Oh, come off it, Prongs. Lily fucking stupefy-ed the shit out of me, and I'm not holding it against her!" Sirius barked laughingly.

"Nothing you didn't deserve, you arse..." Marlene said as she crossed her arms.

"Are you still sore because I slapped your bum?" Sirius smirked.

"Ugh! You're a bloody-" Marlene started but she stopped when she saw Lily move slightly on the sofa.

Her eyes fluttered, she could feel wet tears, and then she opened them. She was met with three pairs of eyes staring down at her. She suddenly felt extremely self conscious. Her shirt was up to the edge of her bra, her hand was in James's and there was a throbbing pain on her chest where the curse had directly hit.

"I... er... " Lily sat up, even if her body screamed to lay back down. She released James's hand as kindly as she could and tried to stand up, just then her knees gave way and she stumble forward, only to be caught in James's arms.

"Easy there, Lils." Marlene said, slightly amused at her friend's close proximity to her cousin. "Soo! Happy Christmas!"

Sirius laughed, "C'mere Mar, I want a Christmas hug just like the one Prongs is giving our Lilyflower."

Lily looked at James's arms around her and then up at him, she felt a weird sort of tug in the pit of her stomach. Had his eyes always been so beautiful? There were so many colors in his hazel eyes and she felt her cheeks heat up as she noticed the way he was looking at her.

She was only brought back when Sirius cleared his throat loudly with a smirk on his face, Marlene elbowed him on the ribs and looked pointedly at him.

"Er... " Lily said as James lightened his grip on her and she unwrapped her arms that had wrapped around his middle unconsciously. But against her better judgment she kept a hand on his shoulder, just as a precautionary measure, of course.

"Isn't Christmas tomorrow?" James asked, "I could've sworn it was..."

"It is." Lily replied hoarsely, "These two are just daft."

"Oi!" Sirius exclaimed, looked at Marlene with a smirk and he wiggled his eyebrows, "We're not daft, we're rather smart, aren't we McKinnon?"

"Wipe that look off your face," Marlene said rolling her eyes, "And I know it's not Christmas yet, that's why we're here."

Lily narrowed her eyes, "Why are you guys even here! And you didn't even warn me or didn't even send me an owl. Nothing! And then this happens! I just think next time you should at least give me a heads u-"

"Lily..." Marlene sighed. "Just listen will you!"

"Yes, you at least owe us that! After all you-"

"Padfoot, hush now..." James said, telling Sirius subliminally in three words that he would beat the living daylights out of him if he held her responsible.

And as Sirius has been best mates with James for so long he just laughed, knowing James would actually go through that. Lily looked at the exchange and quirked her eyebrow. She then set her gaze on Marlene who simply shook her head.

"Moving on!" Marlene said. "So as you know James here is my cousin, unfortunately." She was interrupted by a 'HEY!' from James, "Whatever James... Anyway, Mum had to leave and Dad went with her, some Ministry business bollocks. Dorea and Charlus, you know, James's parents, had something with the Ministry as well, Charlus being the Head of the Auror department and all. Dorea having to leave as she is an auror, and she's working together with Charlus. Who, incidentally-"

"Bloody hell, Mar!" Sirius interrupted her rant, "What she meant to say is that she's staying at the Potter's for the holidays, and as I live there, I will be there too." He added with a wink.

"So, I don't want to be alone with these two dimwits..." Marlene sighed pointing at James and Sirius.

"So, would you do Marlene the favour of staying at the Potter Manor, for her benefit." James finished. He hoped he had masked the fact that he wanted her to stay at his house for his benefit. One quick glance at Marlene and Sirius and he knew he wasn't fooling them but Lily hadn't caught on.

"Oh." Lily looked up at James who found the floor very interesting. Was she being asked to go to the Potter's house, James Potter's house to be exact?

"Oh, Lily! You mustn't say no. You can't do this to your best mate! Please!" Marlene pleaded. As normal, theatrical Marlene, she fell to her knees in front of Lily and begged. Lily could already see her fake tears accumulating in her eyes.

"Marlene, I... I don't know! Stop looking at me like that! You too, Sirius! I need to ask my parents and I don't even know what they'd think of me spending the holidays somewhere else."

Marlene raised her eyebrows, "Lily, you're miserable here! You've only sent me two owls and I can FEEL your boredom! Your Mum isn't ever here and your Dad, I love the man Lils, but he's a tad off his rocker."

Marlene was right, she was miserable here. She would give anything to leave and spend the holidays with her best friend, and even if she would deny it to anyone who asked, she wouldn't mind spending the holidays with Sirius and James. They would surely have a remarkable time and the fact that there were no adults just closed the deal. But Lily knew that she shouldn't go, not when it was at James Potter's house, the boy who she's sworn to dislike greatly. Her parents will gladly say no and she had only wait until they came home so she could ask. Then no one could do anything because their decision was final.

"Marlene... I honestly don't know. I reckon my parents want me here considering that I spend most of the year at Hogwarts and-"

"LILYKINS!" They all turned towards the sound of Lily's dad opening the entrance door. Suddenly Marlene's eyes lit up, a glint of mischief in them.

"Mr. Evans!" Marlene called sweetly and made her way towards the entrance hall, disappearing behind the archway.

"Oh, Marlene, my dear! What a surprise!" Daniel Evans exclaimed with a laugh.

Lily turned to Sirius, "Clean this up." She said pointing at the chipped door, at the burn marks where the spells hit, and at the toppled and broken furniture.

"What about me?" James said rather fidgety. Who could blame him? Lily's dad had just appeared and they were in her house and she was touching him.

"You'll serve as a distraction until Sirius is finished here." Lily said smugly, she noticed how uncomfortable James became once her father had appeared.

Still feeling shaky she wrapped her arm around James's, she told herself she was just putting a show for her father but honestly she kind of liked it.

"Lily...?" James started as they walked towards the entrance landing. Before he could ask what she was doing they came into Lily's dad's view. He let go a Marlene who had hugged him fondly and quirked an eyebrow up at Lily and James.

"Sir." James said, his Adam's apple bobbing as he extended his unoccupied hand towards him. They shook hands tightly, "I'm-"

"Dad, this is James Potter. Fellow Gryffindor, Marlene's cousin and a friend of mine." Lily smile politely looking at James, "James, this is Daniel Evans, my father."

Daniel Evans nodded, letting go of their painful handshake, "Friend, ei?" He said eyeing their interlaced arms.

Marlene and Lily wanted to laugh as James looked terrified, he wouldn't mind Lily holding him like that but considering that a very large, muscular man stood in front of him, he was quiet.

"Ah, you must be Lily's dad!" Sirius said as he joined them. He extended his hand and shook Daniel's roughly, "Sirius Black, sir, Lily's best mate."

"Daniel Evans." Mr. Evans said, surprised that there was another person there, another teenage boy no less. "Lily, may I have a word with you."

Daniel Evans walked over to the kitchen leaving the four alone. Lily nodded and shifted her weight so she wasn't leaning on James, she walked slowly wondering if she wasn't too lightheaded to walk on her own. Before she could figure it out, Marlene grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the kitchen.

"Lily, what is going on?" Daniel said as he looked at Marlene and Lily walk in.

"Um..." Lily bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

Sensing her nervousness, Marlene spoke up, "You see, Mr. Evans, my parents had very important business errands to run. They left me with my Aunt and Uncle and I'm staying there over the holidays. Those two, my cousin and his best mate, live there and I'm miserable! So I was wondering..."

Marlene looked down and scuffed her shoe on the kitchen's tile floor, "I was wondering if Lily could spend the holidays there with me and my uncle and aunt."

Lily looked at her father, she knew he was going to say no right away. But when she met his eyes and saw that he was actually considering it, Lily started to panic.

"Marlene, this is solely up to Lily and her sister." He said.

"What?" Lily was utterly confused.

"I was going to tell you," he smiled shyly. "The Dursleys have kindly extended an invitation for Christmas dinner with them tomorrow. I know how much you... disagree with them so I am not going to force you to go. Now that this opportunity has come up, I won't be worried about you spending Christmas alone!"

"So she can come?!" Marlene exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"I can?" Lily felt lightheaded, even worse this time.

"Only if your sister agrees to it. If she does, you have my permission and your mother's as well." Daniel smiled thinking he was doing Lily a favour, he had no idea what he had done. Lily was about to spend the next week and a half at the Potter's and she was beginning to freak out.

"Very well, then!" Marlene exclaimed happily, "We should go rely the news!"

They spun around and walked over to where the two boys had been waiting awkwardly for them.

Before they pushed the door open Daniel called after Lily. "Oh, and Lily dear? It would be great if you warn me, beforehand, if you will have friends over."

"Sorry dad, I honestly had no idea they would show up!" Lily called over her shoulder.

Once they were out of the kitchen, the girls saw the two boys sitting on the polished wooden stairs. Marlene shrieked and clapped her hands. "The Potter residence has a new member!"

...

"Dorea! Dorea!" Charlus yelled as he held the unmoving body of his wife, "Dorea... please, don't leave me."

He pulled her closer to him, hugging her to his chest, sobs overcoming the full grown man as he held his wife on the ground. Death Eaters had just attacked their campsite, where they had been hiding as they waited for further instructions from the Minister himself. The Head of the Auror Department and his wife had protected everyone giving them time to flee to safety. Fighting alongside them, were the McKinonns who did so valiantly. Thanks to them there were no casualties and the Death Eaters had fled.

"Charlus..." Came a weak voice from his chest. "I can't breathe, you big oaf!"

Relief flooded Charlus's expression. "Oh, thank Merlin you're alive!"

"Alive? Of course I'm alive, love, you didn't think you could get rid of your old wife that easily, did you?" Dorea said weakly, a trickle of blood running down her brow.

"Oh, thank Merlin, thank Merlin." Charlus repeated as he kissed Dorea all over her face.

"I reckon it's past twelve, eh? Isn't it Christmas?" Dorea wondered. "Is it okay if I wish you a happy Christmas?"

"Of course, love, it's okay. Everything's okay." Charlus planted a loving kiss on his wife's lips.

Thank you so much for reading!

Couple of things: Yes, our lovely teenage crew aren't all 17 yet but considering that there is so much going on in the Wizarding World, they might just overlook a minor instance in which a wizard uses a healing charm. Padfoot on the other hand is 17, so he is legal and can do as he pleases.

Please review, let me know what you think, and thank you again for reading,

-foreverandalways'7