Rating:
PG
House:
Schnoogle
Characters:
James Potter Lily Evans
Genres:
Action Romance
Era:
Multiple Eras
Stats:
Published: 06/07/2003
Updated: 01/08/2013
Words: 389,988
Chapters: 59
Hits: 80,010

Lily Evans: A History

Bethany

Story Summary:
A story of Lily's life from pre-Hogwarts to marrying James Potter. How she coped with growing up with Petunia to her friendship with the four boys that would change her life - and eventually the course of history - forever.

Chapter 12

Posted:
07/18/2003
Hits:
1,216
Author's Note:
Continuing the honour; may I present a few quotes from this chapter that will hopefully spark your interest?

Chapter 12 - The Best Christmas
"Whoever said life isn't ironic should see us now," Remus
muttered, wiping the sweat off his brow. "How is it again that the worst
trouble I could possibly get in this year had nothing to do with
Sirius, James, or Peter?"
	Lily sat back on her knees, her back aching so badly she could
scream, and glared at Remus. "A review of last evening is in store, I
believe. It began with you bewitching snowballs. It continued on to us
running into the castle, trying to get away from said bewitched
snowballs. And then running face first into Professor Walsh -- who, by
the way, is, by far, the meanest teacher Hogwarts has probably ever
seen -- and then, of course, let's not leave out the fact that some of
your snowballs hit Professor Dumbledore. A.K.A. -- Headmaster of
Hogwarts." Lily rubbed her lower back tiredly and moaned. "There are
muscles in my body hurting that I didn't even knew existed!"
	Remus, red faced and rather embarrassed that he didn't seem to be
as good as getting himself out of trouble as Sirius and James were,
continued to scrub the dungeon floor, silently. After all, he had asked
Lily how he got in this mess. But that didn't necessarily mean he
wanted to hear it so bluntly.
	They finished somewhere in the proximity of midnight and nearly
crawled back to Gryffindor tower. Lily laid out on the hearth rug in
front of the fireplace and closed her eyes. Remus fell back on the
couch just behind her and the two laid in silence for the better part
of a half hour.
	"Lil, you awake?"
	"Barely."
	Remus turned on his side, grimacing as he did so. "How come you
didn't go home for Christmas?"
	It was a question he probably wouldn't have asked at any other
time. But something about laying in the silent, nearly dark common room
at one o'clock in the morning after spending three hours cleaning the
dungeon Potions room did weird things to a twelve year old boy. Or, at
least, this twelve year old.
	Lily turned over on her back and stared at the ceiling for a
moment. "I wanted to."
	"But you didn't," Remus pointed out, unnecessarily.
	"No. My mother told me that my sister, Petunia, has been in a
foul mood lately, more so than usual, and I didn't want to face it."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "My sister hates me, anyway, since I came
here. Summer is bad enough, so I try to avoid her during the year."
	"How could she hate you?" Remus asked, sounding quite surprised.
	Lily chuckled. "Oh, easy enough. Let's see -- I'm a freak, I'm a
witch; and let's not forget, I'm a freak because I'm a witch. It's good
enough reason for her."
	"How stupid," Remus mumbled, not directly to Lily, but she agreed
with him all the same.
	"How about you?"
	"What about me?"
	"Why are you here and not at home?" Lily asked, glancing up at
Remus. He was also laying on his back, staring at the dancing shadows
the fire was casting on the ceiling and walls.
	"My mother passed away two months ago and my father disowned us
both when I was bitten."
	Lily's eyes flew open and she sat up, ignoring the pain in her
back. "What?" she asked, her hand automatically flying to her mouth.
	Remus didn't turn to look at her, but she could still tell his
eyes were watering more by the second. He took a moment to answer, and
when he finally did, his voice cracked at first: "My mother died two
months ago. She had a stroke, I think is what the doctor said. Our
Muggle neighbours took her to a hospital instead of a Healer. They
didn't know any better, of course. And my father left when I was four
and was bitten. I haven't seen or spoken with him since."
	Lily felt her own eyes watering, but said nothing. There was so
little she knew about the people around her, the kids she saw day in
and day out. James, Sirius and Peter must have known, though. She could
remember a day or so that they stayed to themselves more, but thought
nothing of it. "Remus, I'm so sorry."
	"Thanks," Remus said, his voice barely above a whisper. "But it's
ok--I'm ok." He stood up, arching his back slightly and groaning. "I
think I'm going to go to bed. See you in the morning."
	Lily watched him climb the boys staircase with a heavy heart.
Slowly, she got to her feet, climbed up to her own room, and slipped
into a nightdress. The fire in her room had went out, leaving a chill
on the floors and in the air. Trying not to think of Remus, she laid
down on her bed and stared out the window into the cold, winter night.

 					*	 *

	"There was some sort of explosion, but we can't...."
	Lily slowly walked up to a house, following the voices that came
to her ears. People were talking here and there, but she could only
catch bits and pieces of their conversations. The ground was bitterly
cold, and, with a shock, she realized that she was still in her
nightdress and barefoot.
	 "...Yes, very sad, indeed. Muggles saw it all..."
	"...preformed Memory charms on them..."
	Lily stood in front of a small cottage, staring at the gravel
walkway that led up to the open front door. A wizard in long black
robes rushed by her, but didn't seem to take notice of her. Curiously,
she walked forward and up on the small porch. The front door was blown
open and barely hanging on its hinges. There was a plank hanging under
a small mailbox that read 6 Lakey Drive.
	Her bewildered eyes flickered into the house as she slowly
entered it. Lily gasped as she walked into the living room. The
furniture was turned over and some of the tables, blown apart.
Knickknacks that used to line shelves now lay broken across the rug and
Lily's eyes followed the line of debris into the kitchen where she saw
two bodies laying on magical stretchers. Two wizards were talking near
the bodies, and still, they hadn't seemed to notice Lily.
	"According to a friend of theirs, You-Know-Who had been trying to
recruit them hard." He looked around sadly. "This is what happens when
you refuse, I guess. Doesn't say much for the future of the wizarding
world, does it?"
	"No," his companion replied, shaking his head.
	"I knew Ted, nice fellow. Worked at the Ministry since
graduating. Their daughter, Allana, was suppose to start Hogwarts next
year." Lily's eyes wandered from the wizards to a third, smaller form
laying on the floor near the back door, covered in a white cloth. Tears
choked her throat as she realized it was those people's daughter.
	"Lily!"
	Lily gasped, looking around. The wizards didn't notice her yet,
but someone was calling her name. But who...?
	"Come on Lily, snap out of it!"
	The voices of the wizards that she was straining to hear were
fading now, and everything seem to be shrinking in size. Lily's head
was pounding and she grasped it, closing her eyes.
	"Lily?"
	When she reopened them she was laying in her bed, sweat dripping
off her brow. Remus was standing above her in the morning light that
was spilling from the window. He looked very worried. "Are you ok?" he
asked, his eyebrows furrowed. Lily tried to speak, but her throat felt
raw and over used. She moaned, turning over on her back. She swallowed
hard, trying to reclaim her voice. Remus stood up and poured her a
glass of water, handing it to her. She took it, gratefully, and brought
it to her lips. The coolness of it rushed down her parched throat,
opening it up. "What happened?" she croaked, trying to avoid Remus'
piercing gaze.
	"I could ask you that," he replied, sitting on the bed opposite
of her. "I could hear you screaming all the way over to my dorm. When I
got here, you wouldn't wake up and..." his hands twisted before him
slightly. "It was weird--Lily?"
	Lily had stood up, grabbed a cloak and put it over her nightdress.
She rushed out the door, leaving Remus to follow her. "Wait! Lily,
where are you going?"
	"I have to see Professor Dumbledore," she replied, running down
the stairs at break neck speed. She was nearly to the portrait hole
when Remus caught up with her.
	"Professor Dumbledore? Lily, it's too early..."
	"I don't care. I've got to." She climbed out of the portrait
hole, Remus on her heels. She went down the stairs as fast as her legs
would carry her, barely recognizing Remus' steps behind her. "You don't
have to follow me."
	"I do," Remus replied. "You look like you might topple over any
second."
	Lily said nothing, only continued running as fast as she could
down stairs and then down the empty corridor with the stone gargoyle at
the end. When she arrived, she stopped so suddenly that Remus nearly
knocked into her. "Frizzy Whizzbees," she said. The gargoyle didn't
move. "Oh no, he's changed the password--"
	"Ice Mice," Remus said behind her and the gargoyle sprang to the
side. "After you, Miss Evans," Remus smiled, extending his hand to the
moving staircase. Lily rolled her eyes and climbed onto the stairs.
When they arrived at the top, Lily went to push the door open, but
Remus stopped her. "Are you ok now? Do you want me to leave?"
	"Erm--" Lily couldn't decide if she wanted to do this by herself
or with someone who had been with her.
	Before she could decide, however, someone said, "Good morning,"
in a pleasant voice from behind them. Both students jumped, spinning
around to face Professor Dumbledore standing in the now open doorway.
	"G-Good morning, Headmaster," Lily and Remus muttered together.
	"Could I help you with something?" Dumbledore continued, as if
finding two students in their nightclothes at his door was rather
common.
	"Yes," Lily blurted, but her throat seemed to close up after that
word. Remus looked as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't. The
Headmaster pushed the oak door open to his chambers and motioned them
inside. After they were seated before his desk, and Dumbledore had
taken his seat, Lily found her voice. "I had another one," she blurted,
glancing quickly at Remus.
	"I see," Dumbledore said, looking quite serious. His blue eyes
turned to Remus. "Could you excuse us for a moment?" Remus nodded,
giving one last worried glance at Lily, and walked out of the office.
When the door was shut behind him, Lily's eyes flickered up to meet
Dumbledore's. "Please tell me everything that you remember."
	Lily launched into a story about the house, vaguely remembering
the address she'd seen outside the door. She told him of the bodies,
and the girl who was suppose to start school next term. When she
finished, she shivered, pulling her cloak around her tighter and
watching the Headmaster expectantly. "Has it happened yet?" she finally
muttered after several long, intense moments of silence.
	"Not that I'm currently aware of," Dumbledore replied, looking
thoughtfully at his fireplace. "That doesn't mean we aren't too late,
but there's a good chance we're not. Tell me, Lily, what happened
before you went to bed last evening?"
	"Remus and I served detention with Professor Walsh," she started,
thinking. "And then went up to the common room. We... talked for a
while, then went up to bed."
	"If I may ask, without prying too badly, did you talk about
anything that effected you? Say, emotionally?"
	Lily remembered the heavy feeling in her chest as Remus told her
about his parents. The anguish and horror of knowing his mother had
died without Lily ever knowing, and his father disowned him for
something he couldn't have helped. She had taken that feeling upstairs
with her, where it stayed in the back of her mind until she fell
asleep. Slowly, she nodded. "Yes, he--we talked about his parents."
	"I see," Dumbledore said, knowingly, nodding his head. "And the
last time you had a vision, were you emotionally upset that time?"
	This time Lily had to think for a few long minutes, back to that
night sitting in front of the fireplace with James. Actually, she had
been upset about the meeting Dumbledore was attending that would decide
the fate of the school, and thus her magical education. She raised her
eyes to find the Headmaster watching her expectantly. "Yes," she
answered, nodding as she remembered. "It was the day of the meeting you
attended, about the school. I was upset because if they had closed the
school, none of the Muggle borns would've been able to practice magic
anymore."
	"Thank you, Miss Evans," the Headmaster said, standing up and
thus dismissing Lily. "I will call on you if I should have the need,
but as of right now I need to be in contact with someone at the
Ministry. If I am correct, you may have saved the lives of three people
today. You should be proud."
	Lily nodded and left the chambers. But as she walked back to the
Gryffindor common room with Remus, she didn't feel proud. She felt
chilled to the bone, and scared. What if she hadn't helped? What if
they still died? What if her visions were nothing but the future, a
future that couldn't be changed?

				*	 *

	Lily found herself distracted the rest of that day, and didn't
sleep well the next night because of it. Half of her was afraid to
sleep, thinking that with everything on her mind, she would be forced
to witness someone else's death. So instead she tossed and turned,
dreading the moment when she would finally fall asleep. Having caught
only an hour or so sleep (but thankfully no visions), the red head
stumbled out of bed and into the shower the next morning. Even the
mirror had some disapproving remarks as she passed it on the way out of
her room.
	"What a way to spend Christmas Eve," she muttered as she climbed
out of the portrait hole on her way to breakfast.
	"That's not a cheerful mood I hear," remarked the Fat Lady.
	"And you won't hear one until I get some sleep," Lily mumbled
back, slowly descending the stairs. The Great Hall was empty save for
two Hufflepuff seventh years. Lily sat at the Gryffindor table by
herself, ate a small breakfast, and wondered idly where Remus could be.
	The corridors were empty as she wandered aimlessly around. Her
eyes burned, her head felt heavy, and, all around, Lily felt miserable.
She wondered what had happened with the people she'd had the vision
about. If they lived, or if they died anyway.
	Late that afternoon, Lily had had about enough. She hadn't seen
hide nor hair of Remus all day. Or the Headmaster. Or even any of the
teachers except Walsh and the caretaker. With her mind abuzz with
things that could possibly be happening, she finally set off for the
Headmaster's office.
	"Professor Dumbledore? Could I speak with you a moment?" Lily
asked as she walked in his office, unsure if she should have done so
without being granted entry. The office was empty except for a fire red
bird sitting on a perch behind the Headmaster's desk. Lily walked
slowly over to it, studying the creature and trying to figure out what
it was. Whatever it was, it was ugly. But one of those weird things, it
was so ugly it was cute. Perplexed, Lily approached it and the bird
lowered it's head so they were eye level.
	"Hello," Lily said unsurely. The bird merely blinked at her. "I
wonder what your name is?" The bird continued to stare at her with big,
beautiful eyes that seemed as curious about her as she was of it.
"Well, I'm not bound to get an answer from you, I suppose," she said,
feeling incredibly stupid for talking to a bird in the first place.
	"I'm sure if Fawkes could talk, he would have a great many
wonderful tales to tell."
	Lily gasped and spun around. Professor Dumbledore was standing at
the top of a staircase, an amused look in his blue eyes. Lily stuttered
uncertainly, backing away from the bird. "I-I'm sorry, Professor
Dumbledore."
	"Don't be," he said, waving his hand as he descended the stairs.
"Fawkes is a phoenix. Very loyal animals, they are. If you can tame
them. Which is very hard, indeed. They make highly useful pets,
however. They can carry immensely heavy loads, and their tears have
healing powers." Lily stared at the ugly bird for a second longer,
trying to imagine such a small animal carrying loads of anything.
Professor Dumbledore descended the remaining steps and sat behind his
desk. "I take it you didn't come to talk to me about Fawkes, though."
	"Oh!" Lily blushed slightly, turning away from the animal. "I was
wondering, that is; if you can say, what happened with the family...?"
	"Nothing as of yet. We have positioned Aurors around the home and
some stronger protective wards, but so far all is quiet."
	"Oh, ok, then." Lily stood dumbly in the middle of the room for a
second. "Well, I'll just go, then."
	"Very well, Miss Evans." Lily left the Headmaster's office, not
feeling nearly as bad as she had. With the added security, perhaps the
family would be ok. And with that load off her mind, Lily went straight
to Gryffindor tower and to bed.
	At some point, Lily had heard her mother tell Petunia that she
shouldn't try to "catch up" on missed sleep, that it wouldn't do her
any good. But that didn't stop Lily from sleeping twelve hours. At
seven thirty Christmas morning, she awoke, feeling much better than she
had the day before, and even more so because she had had a vision free
night.
	She had no more sat up and glanced at the foot of the bed at the
stack of presents when Remus burst in her door, carrying a messily
wrapped box of his own. "Happy Christmas!" he said, sitting the box
down next to the stack of Lily's gifts.
	Lily rose an eyebrow, staring at Remus uncertainly. "Where were
you yesterday?"
	Remus blinked. "The infirmary. You know, the full moon...?"
	"Oh." Lily felt heat rise to her face as she noted the dark
circles under his eyes and the ashen look his skin had taken. "I didn't
even remember. I could have came and visited..."
	"I slept the day away, I wouldn't have been good company." Remus
looked at the stack of presents at the foot of Lily's bed. "Well, come
on then, open them!" Lily sat in the floor and began ripping into her
presents.
	There was a beautiful gold necklace from her father with a charm
in the shape of an "L" on it, a jewelry box with pictures of lilies
engraved on it from her mother, and a stick from Petunia (Lily rolled
her eyes and threw it out the window). She also had a box of Bertie
Bott's Every Flavour beans and Chocolate Frogs from Kassie and a hunter
green jumper from Alexis, Madison, Gabrielle and Kathleen. After
putting all of this aside, Lily glanced curiously at the box Remus had
brought in with him.
	It was a small box, wrapped in a way only a male can wrap --
messily, with a large (if not slightly flattened) red bow on top. "But
I didn't get you anything," Lily said, biting her bottom lip and
looking at Remus.
	"This isn't just from me. It's from James, Sirius, and Peter as
well. Just open it." Feeling bad, Lily pulled the bow off and ripped
back the paper. Inside was an envelope addressed to Miss Lily Evans.
Curiosity peeked, Lily opened it and read the letter inside.

Lily,

Happy Christmas! We wanted to get you something that you would like,
but we couldn't think of anything. So, instead, we had a grand idea.
But you have to get dressed and come down to the Great Hall to get it.

The Marauders

	Perplexed, Lily looked up, but Remus was gone. Shaking her head
in amusement, and wondering exactly what the four boys could be up to,
Lily got dressed and went downstairs.
	The first thing she noticed when she turned the corner into the
Great Hall was that the four house tables were gone. Replacing them was
one long table set up in the middle of the room, decorated with
bouquets of red flowers. But what was most shocking were the people
seated at this table.
	"Hey, look! She's here!" James said, standing up.
	"About bloody time!" Sirius remarked. "Geesh, it takes girls
forever to get ready."
	"Hush Sirius," Olivia Potter hissed, smacking him lightly on the
back of the head. Beside her James' father, Harold Potter, laughed to
himself. Lily approached the table slowly, looking quite shocked, she
was sure. Olivia came over and hugged her, kissing her cheek lightly.
"Lily, dear, it's so good to see you again."
	Finally snapping out of her daze, Lily hugged the older woman
back, grinning. "Wow," she muttered. "I never imagined..." Olivia made
Sirius move over and Lily sat between James and his mother. A few
moments later the remaining staff showed up, and not one of them
appeared surprised to see Sirius, Peter, James, or his parents at the
table. Breakfast appeared on the table and everyone started filling
their plates.
	As everyone engrossed in different conversations, Lily grinned at
James. "Are you always this full of surprises?"
	"Yup," James replied. "I couldn't leave two of my friends here at
school with no family to celebrate Christmas with."
	"So Lily, how has your school year been so far?" Olivia asked,
pulling Lily's attention away from James. But even as she spoke with
Olivia and Harold, Lily could feel herself grinning with the warm
feeling her in her chest. That they would do something like this, for
her (as well as Remus) was beyond her imagination.

				*	 *

	After breakfast, Lily walked around the castle with James and his
parents. Olivia and Harold had also attended Hogwarts, and were eager
to see how the grounds had changed since they were there (even though
he hadn't much, according to them, and probably wouldn't for years to
come). They circled the grounds and were just about to head back inside
when a snowball came hurtling through the air and hit James square in
the back. Lily groaned, thinking of her last snowball fight and not
looking forward to another one.
	James turned around, outraged, only to spot Sirius a few feet
away, laughing so hard he was doubled over.
	"Think you're funny, do you?" James asked, picking up a fist of
snow.
	He threw it, and missed Sirius by a few feet, at least. "That's
pathetic!" Sirius taunted, picking up another snowball and throwing it.
It whizzed past James, who moved out of the way, and landed on Peter's
head.
	"HEY!" Peter screamed, ducking another snowball. He made his own
snowball and threw it back, only to hit Remus.
	"I didn't do anything!" Remus yelled.
	"Guilty by association!" Peter retorted, pointing to Sirius, who
was standing behind him, making faces. Remus picked up a snowball and
looked to be aiming at Peter, but then at the last moment turned around
and nailed Sirius in the face with it.
	"ARG! I didn't DO anything to you!"
	"You were thinking about it!" Remus retorted, ducking out of the
way of a snowball thrown by James, which hit Sirius in the face. Sirius
threw one back, but Remus jumped out of the way, Peter ducked and it
hit Lily on the leg.
	"Watch it!"
	Splat!
	Four hit her at the same time. "That's it! This is personal,
now!"
	And with those words an all out snowball fight erupted on the
grounds between Hagrid's hut and the castle. Without anyone actually
meaning for it to happen, the group split up in girls versus boys when
the two Hufflepuff seventh year girls came out and teamed up with
Olivia and Lily. James' father had disappeared somewhere, which left
the eight of them having it out with snow.
	Using her wand, Olivia conjured up a sort of wall out of the snow
that stood as a shield between them and the boys. They carved out
openings to throw snowballs out of. Lily ducked under her opening when
a snow ball came hurtling at her, and only stood up when she heard it
splat against the wall. "Ha! That is the worst aim I've ever seen!"
	"Oh yeah!" Sirius yelled back. Lily threw a snowball at him, but
the boys had come up with a mound of snow around themselves that
reminded Lily vaguely of those used in wars, and Sirius ducked just in
time.
	And then all at once the snowballs stopped coming from the boys
and Emily, one of the Hufflepuff girls, gave a perplexed look at the
other three. "Are they giving up?"
	"Highly unlikely," Olivia replied. "In fact, I'd say we'd best be
careful from here on out. They are scheming over there."
	No truer words had ever been spoken. Olivia had no sooner said
that than four snowballs came hurtling across the field, only they
didn't hit the wall, but avoided it.
	"What the...?" Lily muttered.
	"Hey, what's it doing?" Emily shrieked, running from a snow ball
that was chasing her. It never hit her, only circled her head. When she
went to catch it, it avoided her grasp and continued to swerve before
her. Lily and Olivia also had their own snowball chasing them about.
Every time Lily made a grab for the snowball, it moved expertly from
her grasping hand, only to return a minute later.
	"I've had enough of charmed snowballs to last me a lifetime!"
Lily screamed, running after her snowball that effectively avoided her
fist. Olivia noted that the number of charmed snowballs were
increasing, and was having quite a time trying to walk without three of
them circling her head.
	"Finite!" Lily cried. The snowballs didn't drop to the ground, or
stop encircling her head. "Arg! Finite!" James, Sirius, Peter and Remus
were on their knees, beating their fists at the ground in laughter.
	"James Potter, uncharm these snowballs this instant!" Olivia
cried.
	"Can't do!" James yelled back.
	"We don't know the counter curse!" Peter continued between
laughter.
	Lily stopped fighting and running from the snowballs and noted
that the snowballs stopped, too. They simply hovered around her head.
Annoying, yes -- but it did give her time to think. She mentally ran
over the spells she knew, but none seem to have the effect she was
aiming for. Suddenly a thought occurred to her; spells had a way of
reflecting what she was thinking rather than saying. So Lily brought
her wand out, concentrated really hard on what she wanted to happen,
and gave it a flick. The balls stopped in mid-air and then fell to the
ground.
	Lily, feeling rather smug, put her wand up and looked around,
expecting praise. Instead she was greeted with six blank stares. Only
James seemed impressed; like she had proved something he had thought
all along. Lily didn't know what their expressions meant. The two
Hufflepuffs looked slightly scared, and their gazes made Lily feel
insecure and uneasy. Was it wrong? Should she not be able to control
her spells like that?
	Olivia was the first to snap out of her daze. "We should probably
head in and get dry robes on before the lot of us get sick," she
instructed.
	The Hufflepuffs, still staring oddly at Lily, headed into the
castle without a word. Olivia waited until James, Sirius, Peter and
Remus had cleared the doorway before pulling Lily's sleeve to hold her
back. "Lily--"
	"I swear, I don't know how I did it!" Lily mumbled, not meeting
Olivia's gaze. She fumbled with her robes, pulling them tighter around
her. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again."
	"Lily, you misunderstand me. I, well, I've only seen one other
person do that. Command their magic like that."
	"James," Lily whispered, hesitantly meeting the older woman's
eyes.
	"He told you?" Lily nodded, turning away from Olivia and heading
into the castle. She stopped at the doorway and turned back, blinking
back tears determinedly. "It makes us different, doesn't it? And when
those Hufflepuffs tell everyone, I'll be outcasted here, too. Won't
I?"
	Olivia rushed up to Lily, wrapping her in a tight embrace. "No,
darling, you won't be. It makes you special. Very special. Don't let
anyone tell you differently."
	Lily nodded, not really believing her, but wanting to so badly it
hurt. She hesitantly pulled away. "I want to change before dinner."
	"Ok," Olivia replied, letting her go. Had Lily turned again, she
would have seen the deep look of worry - and pride - Olivia had on her
face as she watched her walk down the hall. "You will save us all,
Lily," she whispered. "And you don't even know it."

					*	 *

	Christmas dinner turned out to be an affair that Lily was sure
she wouldn't forget anytime soon. To say that having the Marauder s
around made life interesting was putting it quite mildly. They told
jokes, sang Christmas carols (accompanied by the suites of Armor) and
James and Sirius began duelling while explaining animatedly a story
Professor Binns had gone over in History of Magic. Although Lily hadn't
remembered it as they told it.
	"And then," Sirius said, holding his wand high above his head
threateningly, "Eric said 'I, too, want this land. And I will duel you
for it!'"
	"You will, and you will lose!" James cried. He flung his wand to
the side and proceeded to tackle Sirius, both boys falling to the
ground and pretending to throw punches at one another.
	"And the towns folk cursed them both into stone," Remus
continued. Both he and Peter brought their wands up.
	"Don't even think about it, Lupin! Pettigrew!" McGonagall cried,
bringing her own wand out.
	"I wasn't actually going to curse them, Professor," Remus laughed
as James and Sirius broke free from their 'fight' and began laughing.
"I don't even know that spell."
	"Nothing would surprise me," the Transfiguration teacher mumbled,
sitting down once more with a hand over her heart.
	Professor Dumbledore chuckled, applauding as the four boys bowed.
"Very well done, though as I remember, Eric did duel York and won."
	"We didn't like that version," James admitted.
	"It didn't matter, because the towns people over-ruled their
Minister six years later and destroyed most of the land in the process.
Making way for the Albanian forest and magical creatures to live there
now, without much interference from the wizarding world," Remus
explained, sounding very much like a text book. Or, better yet, the way
their History of Magic teacher taught class.
	"Thank you, Professor Lupin," Sirius stated sarcastically. "We
liked our version much better."
	"What about the battle of--" James began, but Professor
Dumbledore stood and effectively cut him off.
	"As amusing as it is to be taught a different course of history,
I believe it may be time to retire," the Headmaster said, even though
all four Marauders were groaning.
	"Do we have to?" Sirius and James whined.
	"Don't question Albus," Harold said sternly, glaring at the boys.
"We need to get going, as well."
	James, Sirius and Peter whined, complained and in the end
followed Olivia as she said goodbye to everyone outside the Great Hall.
She hugged Lily tightly, telling her to owl should she need anything.
	James lagged behind, talking to Remus and was last to pass Lily.
He stopped, grinning at her. "I guess I'll see you when school starts
again."
	Lily nodded. "Thank you, James. You have no idea how much this
meant to me." James looked as if he didn't know what to say. Especially
when Lily leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He just stared at her, a
slight blush colouring his cheeks.
	"Oy! James, hurry up!" Sirius called from outside.
	"I guess I have to go. See you," he said, running to catch up
with his friends. Lily watched them leave and then turned to head to
the common room. It seemed so strange to be once more engulfed by the
silence of the castle, without Sirius, James, Peter and Remus
constantly talking or joking. So lost in her thoughts she ran into
Professor McGonagall. "Oh! Sorry Professor," she said quickly.
	"Do watch where you're going, Miss Evans," McGonagall exclaimed,
straightening her robes. "I was just looking for you. Professor
Dumbledore would like to see you."
	"Ok," Lily responded, perplexed. She followed her Head of House
to the gargoyle and up the now familiar steps to Dumbledore's office.
When she stepped inside, he was placing a bowl in front of Fawkes.
	"Good evening," he greeted, smiling happily at her.
	"Good evening," she replied, watching him with interest. "You
wanted to see me?"
	"Yes. I thought you would be interested to know that Death Eaters
attacked the home of Mr. and Mrs. Longmire today."
	Lily gulped, stepping forward. "And?"
	"And all three are very thankful to you, Lily. Our Aurors managed
to capture three Death Eaters, and the family is safe." Dumbledore
smiled widely, looking very proud. Lily couldn't help the smile that
broke out across her face.
	Maybe the future wasn't as bleak as she thought: perhaps there
was hope after all. With that thought in mind, she bid the Headmaster
good night and went to bed; only tonight she was thinking about how
great her day was. Possibly her best Christmas ever.

--End Chapter 12.

Whew, almost forgot to add author's notes. :D Not that I don't talk enough as it is, right?

First off, I want to thank everyone who responded to my plea for help for an editor. I have a lot of wonderful people say they would be very happy to help. And now I have a great editor. *And* a wonderful British woman has agreed to help me with my language errors. :D

Second of all, I have created a mailing list for updates. Many of you who have asked for me to email you, have emailed me about the story, and then some random people (kidding!) have already been sent invitations to join. If not, and you are interested in joining, click on the following link:
Click to subscribe to Lilyupdate

Last off, I'm going to be in surgry next Tuesday to have my tonsils removed (blah) so I'm going to try to update three times before then, twice if I can't swing the third. And then I'll be out of work for two weeks, so I'll have time to write more, if I'm not wishing I was dead. x_X

Replies to various reviews that have asked questions:

Molly being in this fic was a mistake. I stuck her in there, trying to just touch base with some of the characters from HP that we won't see in this story, and in doing so forgot that Molly went to school way before the Marauders. Oops :D

I don't plan on focusing on Kassie, but as someone who is going to get very close to Lily, she will have to have part in the story line. But for those of you who said you don't like her, I'm sorry to say she isn't evil.... yet? ;)

And yes, there is a chapter where Harry is born. But please don't look into it more than that: there will be no sexual content in this story. But people have kids everyday, just more of a twist when there are certain Marauders running around. But as Harry is a very big event in Lily's life, he has to be added in.

Ok, I'm going to stop rambling now. Review please!!

<3 Bethan