*** I made some adjustments to the previous chapter. Lily was kept in the bathroom all Sunday and this is Monday morning. Just wanted to clear that up *******

Although no one was up yet, Lily still felt ridiculously embarrassed walking down the corridor dressed like a tart. Her shoes made a 'clip clopping' sound as she moved and the skirt bounced furiously with her steps. She decided to say that someone had switched her clothes in the night as a joke and would get back to her dorm to change them as quickly as possible. Her clothes had been burned as soon as she changed to hide the evidence as Marcus described it. The worst part was the Slytherin attire was the only thing covering her scars from the night before, and they were even more embarrassing. The first chance she got, she was leaving class to be ill in bed.

Realising it was a school day, Lupin groaned. James had been worrying about Lily all day yesterday. Her roommate Sian said she didn't hear her come in on Saturday or last night. She'd been missing since she went to meet Peter on Saturday, but Peter never left the common room. Remus hated to judge people, but there was a part of him that guessed Peter was somehow involved. Revenge on James perhaps; for everyone knew how the rebellious Potter would do anything to make Lily happy. He was a different person around her. They fitted together like a jigsaw; that was why Remus couldn't let his feelings of affection for Lily hover at the surface any longer. He had to bury them deep within his soul to make sure no one ever discovered his thoughts of betrayal. It could never be anyway, he was a werewolf who could damage anyone who grew close to him. For Lily's protection, he vowed from that moment to never act upon his feelings towards her. He was still allowed to be worried about her though and he had this dark concern that somewhere, she was hurting.

Peter awoke satisfied. Marcus had spoken to him after the cleansing and it sounded as if Lily was at rock bottom. Once she cracked and her relationship collapsed, James Potter would lash out at anyone and wouldn't have time to blame Peter for everything. It could all be Lily's fault and she would soon be the talk of the school, he heard Severus was quite harsh with the knife. She was only a mudblood after all, no precious blood spilt.

Lily's first class: potions, with James. Perhaps she could politely explain to the professor that she wasn't well at all and would happily copy up what she had missed later. She'd come to a decision about James anyway. She had to end her blissful happiness so as to protect him. If he knew then he was sure to have it out with Marcus. She knew he was brave and would easily take injuries to protect her, but she couldn't and never would, expect him to put his own life at risk for hr. It wasn't fair. Plus, she wasn't good enough for him. He was a pureblood and she was muggleborn, he deserved better. She knew he didn't care but other people would talk eventually. Their separation was inevitable but how to break it to him? At that precise moment, the bell sounded for first lesson. With a deep breath Lily bowed her head and shuffled quickly into the classroom before anyone could say a word.

James waltzed into potions ten minutes late and received only a nod and a grunt in response from the teacher. He slid into his seat next to Lily and was relieved to know that she was there and ok. He pulled out his books and ripped a piece of paper from the middle of his jotter.

Evans,

I've been worried sick about you. Where were you?

Don't even THINK about ignoring this message.

Potter x

P.S. You should wear that uniform more often cus you look hot, but what's with the sudden change of allegiance?

He slid the note to Lily's elbow and nudged her bare knee with his own. She flinched at his touch and without moving her head to she grabbed the scrap of paper and scanned it. Flipping it over, she wrote a quick, painful twenty one words:

We need to talk. After school by the black lake. I know you won't let me down, you never do.

Lily.

She slowly pushed the note towards him, without any eye contact. She watched his face scrunch up at her words but he slowly nodded. Inside, Lily felt sick at what she had to do. But she had to do it.

When school finished, James decided to visit his dorm quickly. He entered the door to find Sirius and Lupin playing cards.

"S'up Prongs!" Sirius questioned as he recognised the look of despair that lingered over his best friends features.

"Nothing Pad, just Lily wants to speak to me now but she isn't herself and I'm really worried. What if something's happened and I haven't been there to protect her? I couldn't take that Pad you know that." James ran his fingers through his black mop in frustration. None of them said another word and James proceeded to grab his robe before leaving the room (slamming the door in anger and confusion for good measure).

"Something tells me that we're going to have a broken hearted guy return through that door Sirius." Remus uttered.

"I hope you're wrong Moony, but I'm afraid I feel the same. If she hurts him, I'll look at her in a whole new light. I won't be afraid to tell her that either." Sirius shrugged. Remus fought those devil emotions and simply replied:

"Me too."

Lily was waiting by the lake for twenty minutes before James' silhouette emerged from the castle. She had changed into her own clothes but her scars were covered thoroughly. This was about to be painful enough as it was. As James approached she couldn't help herself from grabbing his face and peacefully kissing him goodbye.

"James, before I start, I need you to understand that you must not interrupt me and this is the most painful thing I will ever have to do in my life. The past couple of months have been utter bliss with you. You're my soul mate, my Romeo, my everything. With you I feel accepted and whole. However, some things have happened over the weekend which made me understand just how precious you are to me. I can't tell you what those events and anyway, they don't really matter. What matters is that they made me realise that I am not good enough for you and never will be. You could get anyone you wanted and you don't deserve second best. I love you so much but I have to let you go. It's the only way that I can protect you, just like I know you would always have done for me. I will always love you James Potter, but I have to finish it here." She risked a glance up at his eyes and she suddenly felt weak at the knees. She was falling into the deep blue irises which surrouded his soft, sad pupils. Tears began to pour down her face and she knew that if she stayed any longer she would cave.

"Goodbye Potter." And with that she turned away from him and ran into loneliness.