A/N: Hello everybody! I'm getting a bit better at updating. I cannot promise that this will be much good, whilst key information is revealed (you'll see), it is kind of a filler.

On a completely irrelevant note, I saw Insurgent last Thursday and it was nothing like the book. Evelyn was pretty and young enough to be Tobias' sister, the whole plot was based on this stupid box which doesn't exist in the book, Uriah was in it for all of ten minutes, Marlene was in it for like thirty seconds and Christina... I'm going to stop there. I suppose it was okay but argh! I don't know what I saw, but it wasn't Insurgent.

Anyway, I own nothing, no copyright infringement is intended and all credit goes to J K Rowling.

Please enjoy and have a wonderful day.

LILY'S P.O.V

"Well that," Sirius says, brushing the dust off of his jacket with slight aggression, "was fucking weird."

James casts Lumos and looks around. Nothing but overgrown grass, bushes tipped with spikes, rocks and a few trees for miles and miles. You can see scorch marks from our duels.

"We're about twenty miles away from the road," he says.

"Brilliant," Sirius says shaking his head, "just fucking brilliant."

"Sirius," Mar says, grabbing his arm as he stalks in the general direction of the road we fell from.

"Don't 'Sirius' me! We're lost, in the middle of nowhere, with no car and with Death Eaters tracking us. Am I not allowed to be slightly frustrated and desperate at this point?"

"You are, of course you are, but we're not going to progress any further if you don't –"

"Calm down? Are bloody stupid? We're in the middle of a war with our lives on the line and you want me to calm down?"

"I swear Sirius, I've had just about enough of you. If you're going to be so Merlin-damned negative all the way through this, then I'm not sure I want to be around you."

"So what? You're just going to leave me? That's just typical isn't it?"

"Just shut up, Sirius."

"I tell you what, why don't you –"

"For heaven's sake!" I cut in, standing between them, "grow up. We're going to get out of here and there's no reason for either of you to be bickering like toddlers all the way through it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do something useful."

"I'll come with you," Remus says.

I nod and we walk parallel to the road twenty miles above us.

JAMES' P.O.V

Marlene stalks off to where Alice and Wormtail are sitting on a boulder, in deep conversation. Lily and Moony stride off together, talking. Hmm.

"What are you scowling for, Prongs?" Padfoot asks.

"I could say the same for you."

"Yeah, well…" Padfoot pauses, he's not sure what to say for once. It's almost comical.

"You could apologise," I suggest.

"What for?"

"For talking to her like that."

"Like how?"

"You're didn't talk to her respectfully, lots of people have this thing about respect."

"Oh do they now?"

"Yes, I get it all the time with Lily. Just bring her flowers or something."

"You want me to bribe her into forgiving me?"

"It's not exactly bribing."

"Yes, it is. I'll think about it. Anyway, what's up with you?"

"Nothing, just the way Moony… oh I don't know. I don't like it."

"They're just friends."

"Yeah, I know. But still."

"Look, Prongs she loves you, and nobody else. You've got nothing to worry about between those two."

"I suppose you're right. How's it going with Marlene?"

"We argue a lot. Not like normal people do, but full-scale fights over really stupid things. Either I'm being too needy or I'm not caring enough, or she complains that she does all the work or I assume that just because she's a girl, she's not capable of doing the work, or I never do anything nice for her, or I do too much and it's cheesy… I feel like I can't win."

"You can't."

"Exactly, I don't really know what I'm supposed to say. She's comes out with things like 'look at Lily and James, look how perfect they are, look at all the kind and thoughtful things they do for each other, how come we're not like that?'."

"Lily and I are far from perfect."

"Come on, Prongs, you two are like a model couple."

"Seriously? We argue too and sometimes I don't see her for days and I've got no explanation as to where she went. She doesn't like talking about Snivellus or her family, or her sister, or my ex-girlfriends, or pretty much anything serious. Then there's the whole intimacy thing."

"Intimacy thing?" Padfoot raises his eyebrows.

"You know what I mean. You're lucky with Marlene, with Lily… she's amazing, beautiful, intelligent, brave and all that but there's none of the sexual intimacy at all."

"So the problem is sex."

"Isn't it always?"

"True, but maybe she's not that kind of girl. Does it really matter to you?"

"Not really, but –"

"It shouldn't matter. I may not know much about the whole relationship thing, but I know this: if you really love her, then things like that don't matter. If you truly love her, then that should be the only thing that matters, that you love her. Who cares why? Who cares about all the problems you guys have? The fact of the matter is that you love her, and if you love her, then you don't care about those things."

"Couldn't I say the same to you? If you truly love Marlene then all the arguments you have –"

"I see what you're trying to say, Prongs, I really do. But with all the arguments, how do I know she still loves me?"

"Ask."

"Did one of those spells severely fuck up your ability to think rationally?"

"No, why not ask her?"

"What do you mean, 'why not'? Because it's pathetic! That's why not."

"I'm sorry, can you think of a better way?"

"Um, no. Hence why I'm having this problem."

"Shouldn't it be kind of obvious if she doesn't love you?"

"You never know with girls like Marlene!"

"Just tell her how you feel about her, and then see how she reacts."

"This isn't some stupid movie where I run after her on a beach whilst there's a rain storm, I declare my undying love for her and we share a long passionate kiss and fall over in the waves. Anyway, we're in the middle of a war. It's not like my romantic woes are that big of a problem."

"Very true, where do you think Lily and Moony got to?"

LILY'S P.O.V

"Is everything okay?" Remus asks.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. What's wrong? "

"Nothing, I told you: I'm fine."

"If you're sure… you did lash out at Marlene and Padfoot for no good reason though. What was that all about?"

"I don't know. I'm stressed. It all gets a bit too much, you know? With the war, the Marriage Law, Death Eaters tracking us, the rest of my life all planned out, riddles and James…"

"What's wrong with James?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's just; you know when we were ambushed by the Death Eaters?"

"Yes."

"Well, James just stood there, completely frozen. What if I hadn't been that fast? How do I know I can trust him as my partner in war? I rely on him to help me and not to get killed in the process. I protect him, he protects me. We have each other's backs. What's the use in that if he can't move?"

"I think you're being quite harsh there, Lily. We weren't prepared for any of that –"

"You think the Death Eaters are going to wait to attack when we're prepared? That's no excuse, Remus, and you know it. If the Death Eaters had meant to kill us, I think they'd have been able to."

"It's not my place to tell you what to do, but if I were you, I'd cut everybody some slack. We're all going through tough stuff, the last thing we need is to be at each other's throats. Isn't that exactly what the Dark Side wants us to be? Divided?"

"That's correct in theory but –"

"But what?"

"But nothing," I smile, "I forget how good you are at being right sometimes."

"Exactly. Now, what are we looking for?"

"A road, cross, pass, anything like that. And stay away from shadows."

"Why?"

I begin to open my mouth but something catches my eye from the looming dark forest several yards away from us. I walk forward, casting light over the patch of darkness closest to me. It is pitch black all around us – probably midnight now. The forest gives the illusion that I'm standing in bright light, compared to the darkness which seems to swallow up the trees in the forest. I see what caught my eyes, a shard of glass. It sticks out like a sore thumb. What on earth is a shard of glass doing in the middle of nowhere? I bend down to pick it up, holding it carefully so as not to cut myself. I hold it up for Moony to see.

"What is it?"

"Glass, from a mirror."

"What's it doing here?"

"I have no idea. Should we have a look?"

"No, Lily. Not alone, we shouldn't. We should tell the others."

"Yeah, you're right," I say, but I'm only half listening. There's movement just ahead of me. I'm just a little too far away to see quite what it is…

"Lily, don't. Come back," he says, worriedly.

"I'll be fine. I'll just –"

"LILY, WATCH OUT!" he yells, terrified.

I whirl around. Something comes toward me, its face half a shadow.

JAMES' P.O.V

"Prongs," Padfoot whines, "they've been gone ages."

"I know," I say, pacing.

"Stop that," Marlene says and I stop pacing, "Somebody send a Patronus to go find them, I'll send one to Dumbledore, let him know where we are."

"Good plan," I say, casting the Patronus Charm as Marlene heads in the other direction, Padfoot running after her.

My stag prances from my wand and turns to me expectedly.

"Go and find Lily and Moony, let us know where they are. Bring them back if you can."

I don't know if stags can nod but if they can, then mine just did. I sigh a bit of relief. Magic like that drains me and now I feel tired. I really hope nothing decides to attack at this point because I am beyond exhausted.

LILY'S P.O.V

The figure emerges into the full light of my wand. It holds a knife. It wants to kill me. I know this much. But I can't kill it. It has the face of James.

"LILY!" Remus screams again, "what are you doing? Kill it!"

"I can't, it's James."

"No, it's not James! It's a monster."

He steps forward but is pushed back by an invisible barrier. The figure that looks like James, but is all wrong, steps forward and speaks. Its voice slices me in two, it quite literally gives me a splitting headache just listening to it.

"You wouldn't kill me, would you? That would be murder."

Then I feel the impact of the figure as it slams me to the floor, ridding me of breath. I feel a sharp pain from my hand, I realise I'm still holding the piece of glass. I let go of it and put it hastily in my pocket. My other hand pushes the creature with James' face back, stopping it's fangs from touching me. The figure loses James' face and I see it as what it really is – a monster. I kick up, the monster falling back as I jump to my feet, I point my wand at it.

"What do you want?" I ask, slightly breathless.

"Nothing," it hisses, "my master wants something. You need to stay here."

"Not very likely."

"You can't move," it says, "your love for him holds you back. Move and he dies."

"What do you mean?"

"See for yourself."

I look behind the monster, not moving my wand from it. I see James, tied by his hands, struggling, monsters of every description closing in. His body writhing in pain. I can feel the panic rising in my chest. Oh James…

"Make it stop. Stop it!"

"Of course, of course, when you give me the last piece."

"The last piece?"

"Of the Mirror."

"The mirror?"

"You have it and it is not yours, give it to me and he will live."

"What will happen when I give it to you?"

"That's none of your concern, now give to me."

I see a silver shape out of my eye and Remus' shouts.

"DESTROY IT!" I hear Remus say.

"I can't what about the real James?" I cry back at him.

"It's a mirror! It's not real. That's not James, the image you see isn't James, it's a mirror and you hold the final piece! Destroy it Lily!"

I decide to trust Remus and smash the piece of mirror on the ground, then stamp on it. The monster takes one look at me and then its eyes turn several shades darker until they're like black holes, sucking in all life and happiness. I take a step back and then the silver creature soars through the sky and chases the monster, which seemingly disappears. Then the silver creature slams into the thing the monster disappeared into and where I saw James writhing in pain… and it shatters. A mirror. I turn around, Remus stumbles, finally able to get past the invisible barrier.

"What was that?" I ask him.

"I could be wrong, but I think that was the Mirror of Illusio Exitiabilis."

"Which is?"

"The Mirror of Fatal Illusion. It looks into your soul and conjures up the image which would hurt and haunt you the most. Usually of a loved one. It could be used as a very powerful weapon, especially since if you are the desired target, you are not aware that it is a mirror. I could see what it was because clearly He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named didn't want to target me."

"So what did the monster want?"

"The last piece of the Mirror," Remus says simply, "the only reason you could tear yourself away was because the Mirror wasn't in its full power – you had the last piece. The monsters which inhabit the Mirror are made of the same substance of the Mirror which allows them to mimic what will shock you the most. By crushing that last piece and then that Patronus smashing the Mirror, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named won't be able to use it. Well done Lily."

"Did you say Patronus?"

"Yes."

"Who's is it?" I try and recall what the silver creature had looked like before it vanished into vapour once it had destroyed the Mirror.

"Prongs'."

"James? Where is he?"

"I don't know, send a Patronus back to him, they need to hear about this."

JAMES' P.O.V

"Hold on. You what?"

Lily and Remus just got back with possibly the most complex story I have ever heard. I can't believe I let Lily and Remus go by themselves. I should have known something like this would happen.

"Look, James, you don't need to worry. Your Patronus saved us and we're fine now."

"But you so easily could not have been! What if you'd died?"

"I wouldn't have died," she says defensively, "I had Remus and we found out some key information. This is what being in the Order is all about."

"What exactly did you find?"

"That He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Remus says, "is delving with Dark Magic, like the Mirror for example, now we know that it's not just monsters and creatures he's got, but cursed objects as well. This means we need to be careful with what we own and what we touch. I'm going to send a Patronus to Dumbledore, okay?"

"Sure, sure," I say, my eyes never leaving Lily.

"What?" she asks, catching me looking at her.

"Let's walk over there," I say, pointing to the rock a few paces away.

When we're out of earshot of the others, I sit down and Lily's head rests on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"Sort of."

Then she turns into my chest and cries softly.

"What is it?"

"When I saw you in the Mirror, you were screaming and contorted and I just… I never want to have to see that again. It's among the worst things I've ever seen. I thought they really had you and I can't really describe it, James. It was awful."

"I'm sorry you had to see that, maybe joining the Order was a bad idea –"

"No. It's the second best best decision I've ever made," she sits ups suddenly, all her tears gone, "we need to do this James. I need to help in some way or other. I will be fine. This is just war, isn't it? This stuff happens in war. I'm being stupid, forget about all of that. I was being selfish."

"Okay, but what was the first best decision you've ever made?" I ask, eager to change the subject.

"Marrying you," she says, smiling.

I kiss her softly on the lips because I love her, because I'm so relieved that she's safe, because of all she's been through, because I want to make her feel better, because it's not fair that she has to see and experience all that she's seen and experienced but mostly because I love her and she loves me, and that is truly beautiful.