“Please stay,” Lily begged.

In the past year, as Lily began dating James, she had been pulled into many of the Marauders’ antics. Their latest mission, however, concerned her more than the others had.

“Come on, Lily, you’ve asked me a million times. What makes you think that this time will be any different?” The stubborn look on her friend’s face showed her she would have little hope of winning this battle, but she had to try; James was counting on her.

For the past three weeks, the usually trouble-seeking Marauders had set aside their pranks for a more noble cause. One by one, they were talking their classmates into remaining at Hogwarts for the Christmas break.

Lily’s goal was to convince stubborn Seth to stay, with her warm heart and sustainable logic, to stay. Seth was the only seventh-year Gryffindor boy who was not part of the Marauders, though Sirius often complain about the fact that they had chosen Peter over him. He was as much of a Marauder as possible, the exception being that he didn’t turn into an animal in the light of a full moon. Despite that, he was the hardest of anyone to convince to do anything.

Lily decided to try a different angle. “I’m just hoping you’ll come to your senses. Maybe all of sudden it will dawn on you that Voldemort --” the name caused both Lily and Seth to flinch “-- is out there killing people.”

“Lily, please, don’t use his name!” This gave Lily a glimmer of hope; maybe it wasn’t such a hopeless cause. If he feared the name, then maybe, just maybe, he would understand the danger.

“If you’re so scared, then why are you going?” Lily prompted.

“Because I have to--”

“No, you don’t! Hogwarts is the safest place for you to be right now!”

“My parents are out there, though! Don’t you understand? If something happens to them, I’ll feel so guilty. I have to see them just in case something happens that I can’t control,” Seth said with such a passion that Lily knew he was a lost cause. She had to keep trying, for James’ sake. If anything happened to Seth while he was away…well, it would tear the hearts of all the Marauders. No matter how many his faults were, he was like a brother to them all.

“Don’t you care about your friends here? If anything happens to anyone it would only make things harder for us all,” Lily pleaded; Seth had to see reason.

He must have seen something on her face finally, because suddenly he was very understanding. Wrapping her in a hug, like he had done so many times before, he said, “Nothing’s going to happen to me. Don’t you worry.”

With that, he pulled himself out of the hug and went to pack his bag upstairs. Lily watched him leave, and then went to find James.

~*~

Lily found James with the rest of the Marauders in the Prefects’ bathroom. Remus had told his friends the password, and they used it when they needed some place to talk privately.

Seeing James, Lily felt guilty. They had trusted her to get Seth to stay, and she had failed them.

“What did he say?” Sirius asked eagerly when he saw Lily standing there.

Lily stood there, quiet. She didn’t say a word, nor did she make any sound.

Figuring something was wrong, James got up and walked over to her and gave her a big hug. “He’s not staying, is he?” James asked, his voice filled with worry.

Lily shook her head and began to cry. She felt like she let them down, that she was the worst person in the world. They had depended on her to do one thing, and she had failed them.

Her face must have displayed her emotions because Sirius then joked, “Well, it’s only one person. Nothing that bad can happen!”

Lily was cheered up at the thought. Even though Seth was a Muggle-born, there were still so many others who were in the same boat as him; they might get through the Christmas break without any losses.

~*~

Lily sat in her room on the first day of the break. She didn’t think that she could bear to see Seth leaving, and her mind was going through any scenario that might make him stay. It was breaking her heart to see someone so close to her leaving with the chance of never coming back.

Finally, she resolved to distract herself -- the time would pass faster. She went to the library and tried to get started on the load of homework that all the professors had handed out. It was impossible to study, however. The large room gave off an eerie, abandoned feeling with only two occupants, and Madame Pince kept her black, beady eyes on Lily at all times.

If homework couldn’t distract Lily, nothing could. She returned to the even more deserted Gryffindor common room and climbed the spiral staircase to her dormitory. A pile of nicely wrapped packages sat on her bed. She examined the tags: To: Lily, From: Seth; To: James, From: Seth; To: Remus, From: Seth; To: Sirius, From: Seth; To: Peter, From: Seth. Lily laughed to herself; he was so much like the Marauders, able to get past the trick staircase without a problem. Then tears sprung to her eyes once more. She shoved the gifts under her four-poster, lay down, and cried herself to sleep.

~*~

On Christmas Day, Lily made her best effort to be cheerful. Only one more week until the end of school break, when all the students would be back, safe within the Hogwarts grounds. She was determined to keep thinking that everyone would come back unharmed. This line of thinking was keeping her safe from the fear that was fighting within her.

She walked down to breakfast alone, determined to show no sign of sadness. She was so into her own thoughts, she cringed when a loud voice broke through.

“Lily! Lily!” The frantic voice of Lily’s best friend April gave her a rush of dread. Something had gone wrong - she could feel it with every fiber of her being. April skidded to a stop in front of her. “Lily, I’m so so sorry. Please don’t feel like its all your fault.”

Lily was confused. “What are you talking about, April. What’s going on?” Lily said, knowing that something bad must have happened for April to act this way.

“You don’t know. Well, Lily… Seth is dead.”

People in the corridor turned to the two of them, watching and wondering what happened, and Lily just couldn’t handle it anymore.

~*~

Lily sat in the dormitory, crying. When April had told her the news, she had gone up to her bed in the tower, unable to face the Marauders. Since everyone was in the Great Hall, she had found some peace and quiet.

The truth was hard to face, though not as hard as it was going to be to be around the Marauders again. They had trusted her to make sure that he stayed back, and in the end, he had gone, and was killed. If only she had done what she was supposed to, then he would be sitting here with her, alive and joking.

When Lily finally managed to stop crying, she fell asleep from all the effort that crying had taken from her.

~*~

Hours later, when she woke up, Lily wondered why she had gone back to sleep. Then she remembered what had just happened: Seth was dead.

The necessity of getting up was quite the battle, but Lily knew she had to go check on the Marauders. She needed to see how they were handling it. They wouldn’t be crying outright, but they would definitely be hurting badly. Between the two, hurting had to be worse, since there was nothing you could really do about it.

Walking into the common room, she saw that they weren’t there, but April was. “Where are they?” Lily asked, hoping her friend would know where they went.

“Outside on the grounds, near the Quidditch pitch.”

Giving April a nod as if saying thanks, Lily turned and headed out the door, going to make sure the Marauders were okay.

~*~

Lily found the Marauders exactly where April said they would be. James and Sirius were above, flying; Remus and Peter were sitting in the stands, looking up as if their friends flying was the most interesting thing.

It didn’t look like anyone had noticed her enter. Even as she sat down next to Remus, they were all caught up in their own thoughts about Seth and other things related to him, most likely. Lily was content to sit here and wait for them to come back to the real world, even if it took all night.

Luckily, it didn’t that long.

Noticing the sun going down, James signaled to Sirius to come down to the ground. James was crossing the pitch, towards Remus, Peter, and Lily before he realised his girlfriend was sitting there, waiting for him to come down.

“Lily.” James only said her name, but she knew that he was hurting.

As quickly as she could, without looking like she was rushing, she went over to James and wrapped her arms around him. As if automatically, he wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m so sorry…” Lily started. When James looked like he was about to speak, she silenced him with a kiss. “Don’t say that it’s fine. Your friend just died, and I know that it must be hard. Don’t push me away, either. I’m going to be here for you and your friends, if you ever need me.”

James surprised her by saying, “I always need you.”

Lily didn’t think about it then, since she knew he wasn’t in the best shape at the moment. But later…well, later she was going to think about it.

~*~

Standing by the lake, Lily was hit by so many memories. Memories of sitting there with Seth, just talking. He was one of her first friends; he was a Muggleborn and understood the ridicule that was given to them. Though he never did understand one thing…

Pushing that thought away, Lily was brought back to the present when James came and stood next to her.

They stood together, in silence, for a few minutes before James spoke.

“Lily, I’ve been giving this some thought lately. We’ve been together for a little over a year, and I‘ve loved you my whole life.”

Lily was confused, she knew this already. Why would he say this now?

“Well, what I’m trying to say is,” James said while getting down on one knee, “Will you promise me that you will marry me?”

Lily looked up, surprised. How could he be proposing? His friend just died!

Seeing the confusion and surprise on her face, James quickly added, “I know that Seth just died, and I know that it is hard on us all. I also know, though, that I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If something happened, and I never got the chance to be with you, and have the prospect of eternity in front of us…well, I don’t think I would be able to handle that.”

“Um, James…” How could she say, ‘no,’ now? “Maybe we should wait until this passes, until you have a clear mind.”

“Please, Lily!”

“I will marry you-- if this is what you want after a little while longer,” Lily promised. She hoped she was telling him the truth.

“Okay,” James agreed, with a half-hearted smile. Lily smiled back and wrapped him in a hug.

~*~

Lily and James entered the common room to a somber silence. Sirius, Remus, and Peter sat around the fire unable to break free of the feeling of being dead themselves.

“I just wish I had been there when he left,” Remus said at last. “I had a gift for him that I decided to give him when he got back because I was too worried to go see him off.”

“I doubt he could use it now, Moony,” Sirius grinned gravely.

Lily jumped from her seat, startling all of the Marauders. “I can’t believe I forgot! I’ll be right back!” She flew to the spiral staircase on the right side of the room. Pulling the parcels from under her bed, she begged to any god she ever heard of that this would help her friends.

James gave her a disgruntled look when she returned to the common room, “Presents? Lily, this really isn’t…”

“James, they’re from Seth.” The words brought an array of emotions. Excitement, curiosity, and remorse flooded from each person.

Lily handed out the parcels, which each Marauder held like it was their baby. They peeled back the paper with the utmost care and slowly a smile crept to their faces. Lily sighed with relief at the sight. It took her several moments to realise that she still had a gift for herself in her hands, as she watched the boys examine the gifts.

A leather-bound book, Butterbeer for the Witches’ Soul, lay on her lap. She noticed a page marked and quickly turned to it.

A thin piece of parchment read, “Dear Lily, I know that you’re not happy with me for leaving, but I know what I’m doing. If I should die, I’ll be happy that I had been able to see my parents once more. This is important thing to me, second being the happiness of you and all my friends. Please read this quote and take it to heart; if you don’t need it now, you may someday. All the best, Seth.”

“What does the quote say?” Remus asked. Lily was surprised to discover she had been reading out loud.

“A great man’s greatest good luck is to die at the right time.” Lily looked up at the Marauders, though her vision was blurred by tears. “There is no better time to go than after you have told the people you love that you love them,” Lily declared.

No one could argue with that.