Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.

As he hurried along the hallways of Hogwarts, Christopher Potter would have liked to stop and reminisce, but he had a mission. He had to tell his son that Lily, Peter and the others were okay.

"Hello," Christopher greeted the Fat Lady. "So lovely to see you again. The password is Tiddleguppelyhunks."

"You got it," said the Fat Lady with a yawn. "But next time could you come a bit earlier. It must be nearing dawn!"

"Yes m'am," said Christopher as he walked into the Gryffindor common room, energized by the adrenaline rushing through his veins.

It only took the former Gryffindor a moment to orient himself and head over to the staircase that led to the boys' dormitories. Once he arrived at the top of the stairs, Christopher knocked on the door and let himself in.

The three boys were on the floor playing Exploding Snap to keep their minds off of what was going on. All three of them looked up when Mr. Potter entered.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" asked James.

"Hey Mr. P!" called Sirius as he waved.

"Do you have some news?" asked Remus hopefully.

"I do indeed!" said Christopher joyfully. "James, your mother says to clean your dormitory; it's a pigsty."

"Dad," groaned James. "Just tell us!"

"Fine, fine, Lily and Peter are both fine. All the missing students were found and rescued."

"What about a girl with really strangely colored hair? It might have been orange or green, I can't remember. Is she okay?" asked Remus worriedly.

"If she was taken captive then she's fine. I was told that all of the students were found and I only know of one that was seriously injured. They are being checked out at St. Mungo's as we speak and then they will all return to where they belong. My guess is that most of them will be back by this a bit later this morning," said Christopher reassuringly.

"Thank Merlin," all of the present Marauders said in unison.

"Unfortunately, I must be going now. If I hurry I might be able to get home in time to get an hour of sleep before I have to go into work. Get some sleep guys and count your blessings that it was me and not Mrs. Potter who decided to visit!"

"Bye Mr. Potter," said Remus and Sirius as James said "Bye Dad!"

Mr. Potter waved and exited the dormitory. He was just about to step out of the port hole when James called, "Wait!"

Mr. Potter turned around and James said, "Thanks dad, for coming and all…"

"No problem son," said Christopher as he tenderly ruffled his son's hair. "You know what? I like that Lily girl. She's very polite, strong and brave."

"Yeah," said James with a grin.

"She's very beautiful too, even covered in dirt and blood," said Mr. Potter, not thinking about what he was saying.

James' eyes widened as he asked, "Why was she covered in blood? What happened? Was she hurt really badly?"

"She was hit with a cutting curse of some kind during the battle, but she pretty much healed it all up herself. She must be very talented and smart to be able to do that," finished Mr. Potter, hoping to distract his son.

"Is she really okay now?"

"She's fine. The Healers will probably give her a couple of potions and she'll be right as rain. The wound probably won't even scar. It's kind of too bad, that would be a wicked scar. Though I suppose a girl wouldn't see it as something to show off."

"Probably not," said James, a smile returning to his face.

"Well, I have to get going now; I'll see you at Christmas then?"

"Yeah. Oh and dad?"

"Yeah James?"

"I asked her out and she finally said yes," said James proudly.

"About time," said Mr. Potter. "Ask Lily to come over for your mother's Christmas Eve ball."

"How did you know I was talking about Lily?" wondered James.

"As if you would talk about any other girl," scoffed James' dad. "Bye!"

"Bye," said James. Then he went up to his dormitory and went to bed, finally able to get some sleep.

-----

"There you go Miss Evans, just one more potion and you'll be free to go," said the elderly Healer that had examined Lily.

Lily made a face but drank the potion anyways. "Has anyone ever thought of maybe putting some sort of flavor into the potions? Muggles do it with their medicine. They put in flavors like cherry, grape, orange and blubblegum," said Lily.

"Hmmm," said the Healer. "My nephew works in Potion making, I'll have to ask him if that's possible when I see him at Christmastime."

"It would certainly make this whole process more pleasant," said Lily with a smile. She was feeling much better now that she had been properly healed by a skilled person.

"Yes it would," agreed the Healer with a smile. "Now just make sure that you see Madame Pomfrey twice a day for some salve to get rid of that scar. Other than that you're in tip top condition! Have a nice day."

"You too and thank you," said Lily as she hopped off of the hospital bed and went to the main desk to sign out. Then she was walking to the nearest fireplace to floo back to school when Vicky caught up to her.

"Hey," said Lily.

"Hi," said Vicky with a grin.

"What's up?"

"Well, my parents are here to take me home and they are not happy about this whole incident. They've basically forbidden me to leave the country ever again, but this whole thing has made me want to come back even more. I'm more needed here than I am back home. So I just wanted to say that hopefully I will see you again soon," said Vicky.

Lily pulled Vicky into a hug and said, "I'm glad that we friends now and I couldn't have gotten through all this without you. I surely would have lost my mind if I was left alone in that cell."

"Same here," said Vicky. "I have to go now, but don't forget to write to me. Remus has my info."

"Don't forget to write back!"

"Definitely. See ya later Lily! And don't get yourself into any more trouble."

"Fine, I'll give up my obsession with walking down dark alleys in London by myself at night, if you insist," joked Lily.

"Now I really do have to go, bye!"

"Bye!" said Lily waving wildly.

Vicky waved back with just as much enthusiasm. Both girls erupted into giggles because they both knew that they looked ridiculous.

"Hey Lily!" called Peter, diverting Lily's attention away from Vicky.

"Hey Peter, how are you?" asked Lily.

"Much better now," said Peter. "Are you heading back to school?"

"Yup. Dumbledore left instructions for us to floo to his office. I was just about to leave," answered Lily.

Then Lily and Peter got in line for the fireplace and flooed back to school. When they arrived in Dumbledore's house they found that the other six Hogwarts students who had been captured were waiting for them.

Once they were all settled into comfy armchairs Dumbledore said, "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you all safe and well again. You have all been through a terrible ordeal so if you would like to take the day off of classes tomorrow you may. Now I think that it would be best if you all went to your dormitories and got some sleep. Except Miss Evans, I would like to speak with you for a moment."

The students slowly trickled out of Dumbledore's office and made their ways to the dormitories, except for Lily.

"Ah, Lily. How are you faring?" asked Lily's Headmaster and mentor.

"Fine. Malfoy actually only tortured me because he somehow found out I was muggle-born, not because of, well you know," Lily explained.

"That bodes well for you," said Dumbledore. "As you well know, Voldemort has learned of our kind and has begun to try and recruit people like us. I believe that he will soon know of you if he doesn't already."

"Yes I know," was Lily bitterly as she avoided the old man's gaze by staring down at her hands.

"In other news, as you know muggles can not enter St. Mungo's because of the enchantments on it, so I went to your house to inform your parents of the attack. I spoke with your step-mother. She wanted to withdraw you from Hogwarts and keep you at home, but I convinced her that Hogwarts was the safest place for you right now, that if you went home so soon after the attack it would possibly put your family into danger. She agreed and said that you could remain here for now, but looks forward to seeing you at Christmas. A time at which I assured her that you would all be safe. Also, you should know that while I was at your house I added a few protective spells to the ones you put up last summer."

"Thank you Professor," said Lily gratefully.

"Anytime Lily, now I think you should head up to Gryffindor Tower and wake your friends; they'll be happy to know you're safe. Especially Mr. Potter, he was very worried about you," added Dumbledore with a knowing smile.

Lily smiled back, said good-bye and then left to reunite with her friends. First she checked the common room, but as it was six in the morning on a Sunday, it was deserted. Then, because she heard quite a commotion coming from the boys' dormitories, Lily decided to go up to see Marlene and Alice and let the Marauders celebrate Peter's return first. She would go to see them afterwards.

However, when she got up to her dorm she found that all of the girls were sleeping and she didn't really want to wake them. That, and her bed looked so inviting and she was so tired. She lay down on it, only anticipating taking a quick nap while waiting for her friends to wake up, but within a minute she had fallen into a deep and restful sleep.

Hours later Lily woke up to the sounds of her friends trying so hard to be quiet that they were being louder than if they had not been trying at all.

"Shhh! Marlene you're going to wake her up!" whispered Alice loudly.

"It's not my fault I'm clumsy! And who puts a trunk in the middle of the room anyways!" Marlene hissed back.

"I wouldn't have to put it in the middle of the room if you didn't…" Alice retorted.

"Hey guys," said Lily sleepily as she sat up. "What time is it?"

Marlene and Alice quickly stopped their fighting and ran over to Lily and hugged her tightly.

"Don't you ever scare us like that again! Do you hear me Lillian Marissa Evans?!" ordered Marlene as she tried to stop tears of joy and relief from running down her cheeks.

"We were so scared Lily," whispered Alice as she wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

"So was I," admitted Lily as she grinned through her own tears, glad to be reunited with her friends.

For a few minutes Alice and Marlene chatted away about nothing at all, trying to make it seem as if everything was okay, but the tears that threatened to fall from their eyes every time they looked at Lily was pretty much a dead giveaway.

Finally Alice decided that she and Marly had been selfish enough and she said, "Now Marly, we should let Lily go find James now."

Marly added, "Very true. He's been out of his mind waiting for you to wake up. He would have come up here himself to watch you sleep if he could figure out how to get up the stairs."

"And just so you know," Alice called after Lily as Lily went into the bathroom to shower, change and primp. "We know that you are dating James now!"

Lily didn't comment, but she turned her head and grinned at her two best mates over her should before she disappeared into the bathroom.

"Took them long enough," Marly muttered to Alice.

"They are so perfect for one another," sighed Alice. "It's so cute."

"Obnoxiously. I'm just glad that we don't have to watch them dance around each other anymore. The sexual tension was killing me!" joked Marlene.

Twenty minutes later, Lily was showered and dressed and looking for James.

"He's probably at dinner," said Alice as she consulted her watch once the three girls had left their empty common room.

"Whether he's there or not, that's where I'm going," announced Marlene. "I'm starved!"

"Me too," said Lily.

"I expect you would be," said Alice. "When's the last time you had a decent meal?"

"Lunch on Friday, maybe," said Lily after thinking about it for a while.

"Let's make this double time then," said Marlene. She grabbed Lily's and Alice's hands and started to run through the halls, skillfully weaving around students and teachers and dragging her friends with her.

Everything was going smoothly until Marlene looked behind her at her laughing friends. This caused her to not see the group of four seventh year Gryffindor boys walking to dinner in front of her. The result- a massive collision.

"Ugh," groaned Sirius from the bottom of the pile of bodies. "What was that?"

Remus, who had somehow managed to end up closer to the top, said rather cheerfully, "I think we were knocked over."

"No really?" James, whose face was being elbowed, said sarcastically. "I couldn't have guessed."

"Can someone help me?" yelled Peter from his awkward position. His left leg was under Sirius and his right leg was resting much closer to James' crotch than he ever wanted to be.

"Who is this?" asked Sirius as he pinched someone.

"Ouch!" yelled Marly. "Sirius you are such a pervert!"

"Oops," said Sirius innocently. "Hello Marlene."

Her response was to somehow smack him in the back of the head.

"So who else is here?" asked Remus.

"I am!" said Alice.

"Me too!" said Lily.

Remus craned his head and saw that the person who was draped over his back was in fact Lily Evans. "Hi Lily!"

"Lovely day isn't it?" said Lily smiling at him.

"You wouldn't be able to get off of me by any chance would you?" asked Remus politely.

"No," said Lily. "My right arm is somewhere near Sirius' head, my left leg is underneath Alice I think, and I think it's Peter who is on top of Marlene, who might be on my other leg.

"We might be able to get out of this if Sirius stops trying to tickle me!" said Marlene in between her laughs.

"I think I can wiggle out of this," said Alice as she worked to free herself.

With much groaning from everyone else as people were shoved, elbowed and kneed, Alice, who was on the very top, freed herself. She walked around the pile a few times, took a few steps back, got closer and then said, "Aha! Remus shift your right hand to the left, but don't grope Lily, then move your left leg to the right, but try not to hit Peter's foot because then the Potter line might end with James."

Remus did as he was told and then Alice instructed, "Now Lily, see if you can lift yourself up a bit so Remus can get out."

Lily did this, but caused much complaining from the people who had to support her weight. Remus quickly slid out, not wanting James to get any ideas. Remus then joined Alice in surveying the still tangled teenagers.

"Now Peter," said Remus. "Alice and I are going to pull you out, but for Merlin's sake don't kick James!"

Alice and Remus grabbed Peter by his robes and slowly dragged him out. Once he was free James let out a dramatic breath. "That was a close one!"

Marlene, who was now freed, jumped out of the pile. James then rolled off of Sirius and Lily was thus moved onto James.

"Hello," she said as James' eyes gazed all over her face, drinking in the features he had missed.

"Hello," he replied with a grin.

"I hate to break up this love fest," said Marlene in the background. "But Lily hasn't had anything to eat in two days, so we should make our way to the Great Hall, now."

Lily blushed and rolled off of James, who then stood up and helped her up.

"I hate you McKinnon," said James jokingly as he and Lily walked with the rest of the group towards the Great Hall.

"It's good to have you back," James whispered to Lily before joining the conversation about the upcoming Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

She stood up on her tip toes and whispered in his ear, "It's even better to be back."

James responded by gently enveloping her hand in his. She looked up and him and gave him a smile, which he returned.

A few minutes later they walked into the Great Hall. People stared at the pair and whispers sprang up behind them like wildfire.

"Why are people looking at me like that?" Lily asked Marlene, who was sitting on her left.

"What did you think they would do when you walked into the Great Hall holding hands with James Potter? You remember, the one you once said you despised?" said Marlene casually.

"They're just settling all their bets," said Sirius who had overheard the question. "Speaking of which, Peter, you owe me seven galleons."

"And you, Padfoot, owe me thirty," said Remus gleefully.

"All three of you blokes owe me something too," said James grinning.

"Ah James no! Please no! We made that bet back in fourth year! You can't possibly expect us to do that! Remus, don't these bets have an expiration date?" asked Sirius desperately.

"I'm afraid not," said Remus sullenly.

"Please James, anything but that!" Peter begged.

"What is it?" asked Lily.

James burst out laughing.

"It's not funny Prongs!" said Sirius.

"Oh Padfoot, if you were me you would think it was hilarious," said James, who had stopped laughing, but was still grinning madly. "And besides, if I had lost, I would have had to do it all by myself. This way, the three of you get to be embarrassed together."

"What is it?!" asked Marlene impatiently.

"They have to shave their heads and be bald for the next two months," James said.

The three girls and James started laughing. The other Marauders just sat and sulked.

"I was hoping that you had forgotten," muttered Remus sourly.

"How could I forget that?"

"Speaking of bets," said Alice. "Marlene, you owe me one hundred chocolate frogs and three butterbeers."

"I do not!" protested Marlene.

"Do to! You bet me that Lily would never ever say yes to James!"

"He was being a prat that day!"

While Marlene and Alice continued to bicker and the Marauders begged James not to make them shave their heads, Lily just sat quietly eating her dinner, savoring the taste of food and the company of her friends. She felt happier than she had in a long time; she was even able to ignore the anxious feeling in her stomach that was caused by the thought of going home for the approaching holidays.