**







Tears continued to leak thickly from the corners of her eyes as she stared up at the sparkling green skull floating almost gracefully above their house, loud, heavy sobs still escaping her salty lips. They were gone. There was nothing she could do about it. They were gone.





People in dark robes continued to roam around in different directions, murmuring lightly under their breath, utterly puzzled, when a hand grasped her shoulder uncertainly. She gasped, knowing whom it had to be.





“Wh-what does it m-mean?” Petunia stuttered. Lily shook her head as she cried another loud sob.





“It m-means th-that Voldemort k-killed them.” Lily said with a mourning tone. Petunia let go of her abruptly and stepped away from her sister, shaking her head disbelievingly, bony hands covering her thin mouth. Before Lily could say a word, Petunia ran off in the opposite direction and down the hard sidewalk.





It wasn’t long before Lily couldn’t handle it any longer. They were in there, and she had to get to them. She walked past the mailbox and up the front lawn. Lily thundered up the steps and turned the doorknob roughly, the door rushing open and slamming against the brick wall with a terrible bang. The scent of coffee still lingered in the air from only a simple hour ago. They were still alive that hour ago. The thought just made Lily’s heart heavier than it already was.





Then she saw them. The man, whose eyes were wide with shock, and the woman, whose auburn hair was sprawled across the tile floor. Lily fell to her knees and bowed her head. How could this have happened? One moment, they were all sitting in the living room, enjoying the presence of one another, when the front door flung open, half a dozen shadows drifting inward. She remembered trying to save them, trying every spell she could think of, trying to get Petunia out of the house…







”So Lily, darling, we’re taking you to that Dragon Alley place tomorrow, then?” her father asked with a small smile. Lily smiled right back.



“Diagon Alley, Dad. And yes, we’ll have to go there tomorrow morning. So Petunia, how’s Vernon doing?” Lily asked with another sly smile. Petunia glared, but did not respond.





“Yes, Petunia, how is Vernon doing? He hasn’t been around lately.” Petunia glared deeper at her sister for bringing up the subject and Lily couldn’t help but slightly smirk.





“He’s fine, just busy with school.” She said quietly. Without warning, the front door swung open and smacked against the wall. A high cackle echoed through the room and Lily gasped in horror.





“Oh my god,” she said, eyes wide with fear and shock. “It’s him. Mum! Dad! Petunia! It’s him! You’ve all got to get out of here!” Petunia leaped to her feet and looked from her parents to her sister, utterly clueless on what to do. A tall shadow drifted over the light carpet and Lily tensed. She grabbed her sister by the wrist and dragged her along behind as she leaped up the steps two at a time. She heard a scream from downstairs, followed by another, and knew they were gone. Lord Voldemort had killed her parents.





“Petunia, we’ve got to get out of here! Go into your bedroom, lock the door, and climb out the window. I’ll meet you down there, okay?” Lily didn’t wait for her response. She shoved her sister into her bedroom and whipped out her wand. “COLLOPORTUS!” The door swung shut and locked. Lily thundered across the hallway toward her own bedroom. She was within arms reach when a hand grasped her from behind. Lily screamed.





“Oh no, I don’t think so, my dear. The Dark Lord has excellent plans for you,” a wheezing voice said from behind. Lily squirmed.





“Turn her around,” a voice from behind both of them said darkly. Lily turned abruptly to face a dark, hooded figure. Lord Voldemort was in her presence. “Well, well, look who we have here. Lily Evans, we finally meet. Drop her,” he commanded, and the man’s tight grip loosened greatly, dropping her to the floor. Voldemort approached her. “Do you know why-” he was cut off in mid-sentence. The front door had opened and she could hear new, panicking voices from downstairs.





“Come,” Voldemort commanded once more to the Death Eater standing before him and two more pounded up the stairs to join him, “we will meet again, Evans, do not doubt that for a second.” With a swish of his robes, Voldemort and his Death Eaters fled into the darkness, leaving nothing behind but sadness.









It all seemed to blur the harder she cried. Footsteps approached her, and a thin, balding man knelt down beside her.





“Pardon me, young lady, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave. This is a secu-”







“I just don’t understand why it happened,” Lily began quietly, cutting the man off in mid-sentence, “I never did anything to them. What would they want me for? My parents…they were just muggles…they had nothing to do with them…I’m the only witch in my family.” The man looked at her sympathetically, but rather than questioning Lily further, he stood up and walked away, leaving her alone in silence with her dead mother and father beside her.





“Come back,” she whispered thickly to her mother and father’s dead bodies, “come back…”

“Excuse us, ladies, but would you mind if we joined you on this fine day?” asked a sly voice from the compartment front. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were all standing before them, looks of pride plastered upon their smug faces. Lily rolled her eyes.









“What’s the occasion?” Amber questioned unsurely. Sirius smiled at her confidently and strolled up to the seat beside her.









“Well you see, Amber, there were no compartments available and we figured you all would welcome us with open arms as you always do. Am I correct, Moony?” Sirius asked with a hint of sarcasm. Remus winked at the girls and took the seat next to Nicole who rolled her eyes at the three of them. Peter, who seemed much less confident, took the farthest vacant seat from any of the girls and sat next to Remus.





“And where, may I ask, is your leader?” Lily asked in a fake tone of interest.









“Right here, my charming flower! Did you miss me?” she turned her head once more to face the compartment door. James Potter stood in front of them, his messy black hair ruffled and hazel eyes dancing with joy as they locked upon Lily. He had a smirk on his face and had a sense of pride that outdid them all. Lily cocked an eyebrow.









“Sorry to disappoint you, but no, I didn’t. Actually, we were just having a private conversation until you four barged in,” Lily stated in her usual aggravated tone. Remus gave his friends a look that read ‘I told you so’ but said nothing still. James fake pouted and took the seat closest to Lily, which was between her and Jade, who blushed a light pink as he sat down.









“So ladies, are we all ready for our final year at Hogwarts?” Remus asked casually. Amber rolled her eyes, but Nicole smiled sincerely.









“Well I believe that Miss Lily over here definitely is. She’s been made Head Girl.” Nicole smirked over in Lily’s direction. Lily, who had not expected Nicole to say anything of the sort, blushed a light crimson.









“Oho!” Sirius commented loudly. “Well Prongs, this just may be the year for you! You see Lily, our good pal James over here has been made a Head as well!” Sirius slapped his friend on the back who looked at Lily with an expression that read clearly “Sorry about him”. Lily simply gaped.









“You? Head Boy?” she asked, the statement not completely registering yet. James, who had also gone red in the face, nodded feebly. Lily continued to stare, but pulled herself out of the small trance quickly. Straightening up, she cleared her throat loudly, yet only responded with a small “I see.” Seeing the look of desperation for a new subject on Lily’s face, Jade cleared her throat as well.









“So, any new teachers this year? Slughorn get sacked yet?” she asked suggestively. James snickered.









“Why would we want Slughorn sacked? His parties are great…sometimes…” Sirius smirked at him, mischief gleaming brightly in his eyes. None of them had yet forgotten Slughorn’s Christmas party last year. It had been the most ‘exciting’ party yet, thanks to the Marauders…









“Well, at least none of those will be happening again.” Lily commented with a sigh of great relief.









“What do you mean?” Nicole asked her friend.









“You see, Nicole, since their Head Marauder is now Head Boy, I highly doubt there will be half as many pranks as there were before.” She smirked obviously and received a deep glare from Sirius.









“You just wait, Evans. Just because Prongs here is an authority figure-”









Amber snorted loudly.









“-doesn’t mean that we won’t be pulling any more pranks.” Lily looked at Sirius with mock belief.









“Okay, Black. We believe you.” Once again, Sirius glared. James looked down at his silver wristwatch.









“Oh shoot! Our Prefect meeting starts in two minutes!” Both James and Lily leaped out of their seats and bolted out of the compartment, not bothering to shut the door behind them. Only arriving a few seconds late, the two Heads slipped into a compartment full of students, walking in casually as if the fact that they were both desperately out of breath from running gave nothing away.









“Hello, everyone,” Lily began with a smile, “welcome to your first meeting of the school year. As you may know, James Potter and I are the Head Boy and Girl this year, and we’ll be giving you your rounds schedules, explain the jobs you’ll be doing, etcetera.”









“I’ve got your schedules right…erm…oh!”









James reached into his pocket and pulled out tiny bits of what looked like dust. He whipped out his wand, directed it at the miniscule specks, and muttered something lightly under his breath. Rather quickly, the small dots grew into a thick stack of papers, to which James began to pass around.









“These are your schedules for this year. It includes every corridor you are to patrol and what times you are to do so,” he informed. Slight murmurs spread through the compartment as students looked down on their sheet of parchment.









“Does anyone have any questions?” Lily asked kindly, emerald eyes dancing. Nobody raised his or her hand. “Okay then, you’re all free to go! If anybody has any questions at all, please feel free to ask either James or myself.”









The murmurs began to grow and soon students were

chatting happily, checking who was doing rounds with whom. Everyone cleared, and the compartment was soon deserted except for Lily and James. An uncomfortable silence quickly filled the air.









“So,” James began lightly, “how was your summer?” Lily’s eyes widened at his question. Two familiar faces flashed across her mind and, without warning, tears were slowly inching their way across the rim of her almond eyes.









“Erm…it was okay…how was yours?” This didn’t seem to pass. James easily caught the dread in her words and the shine of tears in her eyes.









“Evans? You okay?” he asked in a soft voice, sweeping the wisps of red hair out of her face. The tears weren’t even falling yet and he already knew there was something wrong. Lily jerked her head away abruptly.









“Um, yes. Yes, I’m fine, Potter,” Lily lied quickly, turning away from James while wiping her eyes. Instinctively, James began to reach out to touch her shoulder, but thought better of it, imagining her reaction.







“You sure?” he spoke to the back of her head. Her flaming red locks bounced off her shoulders as she nodded. Hating himself, James turned around and began walk out the door of the compartment, to leave Lily alone to mourn.









“James?” she addressed, taking him by shock. She had just called him by his first name…







“Yeah?” He answered, whipping back around. She looked at him, emerald eyes shimmering with tears.





“Thanks for caring,” she said with a watery smile, droplets of salty water now gliding freely down her pink cheeks. James smiled back lightly and walked out of the compartment.

The Boys’ Dormitory echoed with uncontrollable laughter. Sirius threw a feather pillow at Remus, who ducked at the last second, causing it to hit Peter. Peter smiled and threw the pillow back at Sirius, who got smacked in the face.


“You guys are such idiots! How can you honestly think that Julia Marshall is hot?” Sirius asked, putting the pillow behind him.


“You haven’t seen her yet, Sirius. Her acne cleared up a lot over the summer,”
Remus responded. Sirius rolled his eyes.


“Oh please. What about you, Prongs? You agree with me, right?” he pleaded jokingly. James grinned and reached across the sheets, snatching his own pillow and setting it on his lap.


“Whatever you say, Sirius. Now, was it just me, or did Evans seem a little off today?” he asked. Sirius rolled his eyes sarcastically and Peter fell back onto his bed with a loud groan.


“Oh come on, Prongs! Stop obsessing over her!” Peter exclaimed, annoyance seeping through each of his words. Before James could respond, Remus took the chance away from him.


“Actually, she did seem a little depressed when I talked to her,” he commented. James’ eyes opened wide.


“When did you talk to her?” James asked, surprised.


“I caught her before she boarded the train. We talked for a little while. Nothing really important though.” Remus answered.


“And what? You didn’t mention me?” James both looked and sounded very hurt.


“Of course not!” Remus retorted. “I’m surprised you even asked me!” James smiled jokingly and took this chance to throw the pillow that still sat on his lap at his friend. The room exploded into laughter once again as it it Remus so hard it knocked it over. Remus sat up and threw the pillow back at James who wasn’t able to duck in time and got smacked hard on the side of his head.


“Ouch, Moony! That one hurt!” James rubbed his cheek tenderly, but it was obvious he had been kidding.


“What? Me not mentioning you or me hitting you with a pillow?” he asked.


“Both!” and, with that, James grabbed his pillow again, walked up to where his friend was lying, and wacked him forcefully in the ribs. The laughter continued for another solid minute, yet faded quickly after.


“But seriously. When I talked to her after the Prefects’ meeting, I tried making a friendly conversation. I asked her how her summer went and she was almost in tears,” James said, sounding concerned.


“Just leave it, Prongs. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. She’s pulling you down! Think about it. You could have any other girl you wanted, yet you chose the only one you couldn’t have. Come on, James. You’re a Marauder! We never tie ourselves down like that!” Sirius finished. James was glaring at him deeply, yet he didn’t respond, afraid of what might slip out. Seeing the tension for a new topic, Peter finally spoke up.


“So, when are we going to start planning for our next prank?” Peter asked eagerly, sitting up quickly. Sirius grinned mischievously. Before he could say anything, Remus stole another chance.


“Not tonight. It’s almost midnight and we have classes tomorrow. We’ll start sometime this week,” he said, sounding final. No words of protest escaped any of their lips and sooner than expected, the group was sound asleep. Well, three of them were. James lay awake in his bed, mind focused on one thing alone. Lily Evans.


It had been a long six years and James still didn’t understand. He could get any girl in Hogwarts that he wanted, yet the one girl he truly desired wouldn’t even give him a chance. Why not? His brain was too tired to fathom any idea and desperately wanted to shut down for the night. James gave in easily and fell into a deep sleep.


James was at a Quidditch game. The field did not seem the slightest bit familiar, but he didn't think the slightest of it. He had the Quaffle in his grasp and was now speeding across the pitch, dodging random players from the opposite team. He was almost at the goalposts when a Bludger came racing his way. He swerved drastically, causing him to drop the Quaffle. It was Ten to Ninety with the other team in the lead. One of the other team’s players had snatched the Quaffle from under him and was now almost at him end of the goal posts. James urged his broom forward, trying to get it level with the person in possession of the large ball. He was almost there when he saw Lily Evans in the audience, watching him in pure awe. She smiled and winked at him, causing him to lose focus. However, this happened at just the wrong time because…


WHACK!


A bludger smacked him so hard he fell off his broomstick. He was falling. The wind blew quickly below him. He started to fall even faster. He was falling so quickly that…


The dream changed. James was in a dark room; too dark to make anything out. He heard voices from not too far away. He listened intently.


”It has happened, my lord,” a familiar voice said quietly. “I can tell you. They have made me their Secret Keeper.”


“Good,” a raspy voice responded happily. “Tell me. Where are they located?” The first voice took a deep breath.


“Godric’s Hollow.” Who was that?


“Very good. We leave tomorrow evening. You have done well. Now, leave me,” the second voice commanded. The person muttered something under his breath and soon, James heard footsteps coming toward him. The footsteps trailed past him and he heard a door swing open and then shut. The first voice began speaking to himself, saying things that James couldn’t understand. He heard vague hissing noises. Was there a snake in that room?.


Suddenly, the lights flickered on in the room in his dream and, before he could see anything, James woke up, heavy breaths escaping his lips. None of it was real. It was all in his imagination. James sighed heavily and fell back against his pillow, slowly falling back into a deep slumber.