A/N Sorry this took so long. I had writers block, I know where I want it to go but its getting it started lol. I know this isnt very long but chapters will get longer I promise. Thank you to everyone who reviewed :)

Chapter 2

Denial

"Get your hands off me Potter" screamed Lily as she fought to leave his arms.

"No, you can't even stand Lily, what happened to you?" argued James concern evident in his voice as he tightened his grip around her.

Lily fought harder as the tightened grip reminded her of memories she would love to forget.

"Lily who hurt you" asked Sirius as he tried to help James to hold the struggling girl.

"No one, its nothing, just a fight with my witch hating sister" yelled a hysterical Lily.

"James mate let go of her, look at her she's terrified," ordered Sirius letting go of Lily.

He knew that look in her eyes, he couldn't place it though but he knew one thing. He didn't like it.

"Thank you," muttered Lily as she slipped to the floor.

Panic consumed Lily how was going to get out of this one, there was no way, she could argue with him and then walk out. She had no friends to come and save her either. She didn't need to think of a reason though; someone else did it for her.

"Lily, are you feeling okay? You look like I did when I had that stupid stomach bug over the holidays" asked Sirius.

He knew what was wrong with Lily was not an illness but he wanted to give her a way to explain it, if she wanted them to know she would tell them when she was ready.

Lily looked startled but grateful for the save.

"Yeah I have, cant get rid of the bloody thing" answered Lily.

"Well the best way to get over it is to rest, here let me help you up, you can sleep for a bit and we'll wake you when its time to get changed, yes I know you have prefect duties with Remus but I'll cover for you with him" said Sirius as he picked her up and placed her on the seat.

Sirius sighed to himself as he covered the petite redhead with his cloak, she tried to protest but he did it anyway. What could be wrong with her? Who had done this to her? He looked down and noticed Lily had fallen back to sleep, he motioned to James to join him outside.

"What was that about Sirius? We need to find out who's done this to her, why did you stop me questioning her?" shouted James as soon as Sirius had closed the door.

"Look mate did you look at her? Did you see the terror in her eyes when you grabbed her? Something has happened to her over the summer. Go ahead and force it out of her, if you want her to close off from you completely," retorted Sirius.

James stopped. Maybe Sirius did have a point there, if he pushed her she would probably never tell him but he wanted to know so badly who had hurt his precious red head. When he found out, he would kill the person responsible.

"Now are you calm enough to go back in and not spook her?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah I think so," muttered James running his hands through his hair. "I'm not letting her out of my sight though"

Sirius nodded in agreement and quietly reopened the compartment door. His heart ached when he looked at Lily. Something or someone had broken her over the summer. Though she had argued the feisty spirit had gone but what could have done this to her, she was so strong, nothing bothered her. He sighed and promised himself he would help her no matter what.

For the rest of the journey the marauders quietly played wizard chess, well as quietly as you can play it anyway. Soon it was time for Remus to do prefect duty, Sirius went with him to speak to the head boy and girl and tell that Lily wasn't feeling very well but he would help Remus to patrol instead.

Almost as soon as they had left the compartment Lily started to shift around and moan in her sleep. James glanced at Peter who had fallen asleep, before he walked over to Lily. Gently he sat down and placed her head in his lap. She started to calm down as he gently stroked her head, and moved into his hand. James smiled sadly, this was what he'd always wanted, to have Lily safe within his arms but he would do anything for the circumstances to be different. He kissed her softly on the head, praying that soon he would know what had happened but for now he would be content to watch over her and make sure no further harm came to her.

The hours slipped by and soon familiar landscapes slipped into view, Sirius and Remus came back and announced that they were nearly there and it was time to get changed.

"Lily." A voice broke into her dreams, she didn't want to wake up, this was the best sleep she'd had in years so she grumbled and rolled over. She heard quiet laughing, a door shut and then the voice again.

"Lily come on, its time to get into your robes we're nearly there."

Slowly she opened her eyes to see the smiling face of Sirius Black over her. Gently he helped her to sit up.

"I can be a gentleman when I want to be," laughed Sirius seeing the questioning look in her eyes. "Now you have to get changed, I got your trunk down for you."

With a wink Sirius left the compartment.

Slowly being careful not to jolt her ribs she opened up her trunk, wondering about what had caused this sudden change in the marauders. They almost seemed to care about her. She couldn't let them though, as soon as they got to know her and care about her, they would begin to hate her. Everyone did, it was much easier to keep you distance. She needed to keep away from them; quickly she got changed, hoping she could slip out of the compartment.

A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts.

"Lily are you done in there, we're here, the others have gone to get a carriage" asked James,

Lily sighed, there went any thoughts of slipping out. She'd better just play along for now. Opening the compartment door she joined James and then went to find the others.

This was going to be a long year.