*lowers to knees, clasping both hands together with guilt* My apologies are long and extensive, my life has taken a turn for the crazier. So without further ado, here is the new chapter (after months, which should not have happened, another guilty look) Thanks goes to my lovely Beta and all of the wonderful readers and reviewers with so many kind comments to give. Enough said, I now present the fluffy but foreshadowing chapter 4!

Disclaimer: I wish I was the brilliant JK Rowling, sigh....

Instinctively, Lily clasped a hand over Petunia's mouth. She whipped around to look at James in terror, only to see him gone. Lily could hear running footsteps along the corridor, making her tremble with fear.

She nearly emitted a scream of her own when a jet of light hit Petunia, causing her to become motionless and a hand grasped at her wrist firmly.

"In the cupboard!" James whispered tersely, his face paler than a ghost.

Lily began to run as quickly and quietly as she could when she turned around to look back. Petunia's rigid body did not stir from its pitiful position on the living room floor. For a split second, Lily stopped and looked back, trying to ignore the fact that the lethal footsteps were nearing closer from the back door at the other end of the house.

"We can't just leave her there!" she mouthed to James desperately, who was almost dragging her towards the cupboard anyway.

James ignored her outraged comment and only pulled her into the cupboard with force. Lily was unsuccessful in squirming out of his iron tight grasp. Slamming the door of the cupboard with surprising strength, James immediately took hold of a silent Harry (magically silenced, as Lily later found out) and gestured to Sirius who had his wand at the ready. The blond child whimpered quietly in the corner by Harry, Lily's face trembling with pity at the sight of the weak child. He no longer has a father because of me, Lily realized with a jolt. By now, James and Harry had changed their appearances into those of their normal selves, something Lily did not understand. Sirius gave a tense jerk of a nod to James and pressed Lily's hand into his.

"What are you doing?" Lily whispered furiously, her mind spinning. "We have to take the child and Petunia! They'll be killed!"

Sirius did not listen and before Lily could protest, she experienced the familiar, uncomfortable feeling of being squeezed into a tight bottle. Within a matter of seconds, they had thudded onto wet, soggy grass of a place unknown.

Lily jumped to her feet, heart still thudding out of her body and whipped around. The majestic Hogwarts towered over them, and Lily almost lost her breath upon returning to the old school that was once their safest haven. She observed their surroundings quickly. They stood in front of the tall gates, a small distance away from Hogsmeade where… Lily's heart almost stopped; where Sirius discovered Pettigrew to be in league with Voldemort. Surely there were a substantial number of Death Eaters roaming around the place, looking to torture anyone they could find.

James must have had some type of idea of how they would get into Hogwarts. Once on grounds, they would be able to explain everything to Dumbledore. Where was James anyway? And Harry?

Lily spun around again, seeing no other silhouette other a worn looking Sirius who was busy sending out a Patronus to Dumbledore. She felt like she just got kicked in the stomach, all the wind knocked out of her. There was no way they could have been intercepted and attacked, dear little Harry and vibrant James, absolutely no way—

Lily ran toward Sirius and nearly threw him to the ground in her frustration. She shook the tall, dark haired young man with unexpected strength, fury taking over her.

"Where is he?" Lily cried with wild, blazing eyes. "Where's Harry and James?"

Sirius only pulled her into a tight embrace, holding on to her for dear life but Lily squirmed away.

"Where are they, Sirius?" she shouted, vision beginning to blur with hazy tears. "Answer me, damn it!"

Lily could not breathe; her husband and son were missing, gone, vanished without a trace. Sobs choked from her throat in great waves and she did not care if she was loud enough to attract the attention of the Death Eaters.

"I don't know!" cried Sirius madly, forgetting his masculine charms and indifferent macho attitude for a change. "I don't bloody know!"

Pop. A tiny sound interrupted the emotional chaos of the scene closer to the Forbidden Forest. But no other signs of human life followed.

Lily's heart dared to hope nonetheless and before Sirius could cry out a word of warning, she ran in the direction of the sound, ignoring how there was a great chance of the source not coming from her loved ones.

It was a long distance to reach the forest and while she raced to the site, Lily briefly reflected on the possibility of her dying because of her stubbornness. At that particular moment, Lily was happy to accept death as a good friend, almost ready to welcome it with open arms. If Harry and James were not found, then she would most willingly accept decease as her punishment.

The sound had come from the trees in the distance, Lily wondered, also oblivious to the footsteps of Sirius running after her.

Lily stopped dead in her tracks, the balloon of anticipation punctured by the image she prayed she would never witness. James lay still on the ground, face bloodied, glasses astray and a hand lying limp on his side. Harry was sprawled next to him, mouth moving continuously but no sound issuing from his lips with a face turning bright red from his silent cries.

Lily let loose a long and heart rending scream, unable to bear it any longer. She did not care how many Death Eaters heard her at that point, they could all come and finish them off if they so desired.

Lily almost tripped in her rush to attend to them, her heart howling with grief and rage. She picked up Harry, who was turning even redder in the face from his silent shrieks. Lily whipped out her wand and tried her hand at every healing spell she knew. From the look on Harry's face, the pain was not alleviating; more so, his expression told Lily that the intensity of hurt was increasing.

"HELP ME!" Lily howled, about to pull her long hair out of her scalp from her sense of helplessness.

Lily's eyes were blinded with steady tears and slowly, her world began to grow darker with ebony clouds dancing around blurry trees. Six eyes of sharply contrasting colors stuck out clearly amidst the overpowering dark. What grand shades they were too, Lily vaguely observed before the blackness swept over her. Electric blue, bold gray, and deep depths of obsidian. But none as capturing as the twinkling hazel and emerald green orbs Lily loved most of all.

Harry had become a man. Tall and broad shouldered with James' messy, raven hair and bespectacled face… Lily's heart swelled with pride at the sight of her son. He stood before two stones and as Lily watched with horror, Harry collapsed on both knees in front of the hard slabs of rock, eyes moist with sorrow. Lily peered at Harry's face. There were premature lines of distress on his face, and though he looked amiable enough, Lily perceived a sense of pain in his aura. Poor dear; every bit of Lily ached at the sight of her beloved Harry looking so alone and lost in the world. He must miss them terribly, Lily thought and bent closer to see the names. Lily and James Potter.

Heart leaping wildly and breath hitched, Lily awoke with a muffled shout. Her bloodshot eyes took in the bland surroundings of a dimly lit infirmary. Lily could tell it was past midnight by the way in which the curtains were drawn around the windows and the natural stillness of sleep humming in the cold air.

Lily bolted upright, unable to quell her loud breaths of panic. Cold sweat beads lay wet on her forehead, and she touched her hair to find it equally as wet. A cold hand stroked her cheek, the callused palm gently stroking her face.

"Harry—standing—our—graves," Lily gasped between breaths frantically.

"No one's dead, Lily," James soothed. His voice took on a snarling growl. "If anyone's dead, it's Pettigrew."

The last name Lily wanted to hear apart from Voldemort was any mention of the traitorous rodent. She looked at the messy haired silhouette.

"James?" Lily cried, taking in the sight of his bandaged hand and cut up face. "What did they do to you?"

James kissed her forehead gently, his worn face looking older and more tired than Lily had ever seen.

"Go back to sleep love, I'm fine," he said softly, tucking a stray strand of Lily's hair behind her ear with tender care.

Lily relaxed but then, leaped all the way off of the bed. "Where's Harry?" she said fearfully, ready to scour the whole hospital wing in search of the toddler.

James put his uninjured hand on her shoulder to stop her in her tracks. "He's fine now," he told her quietly, a bit of the terror they experienced coming back in his features. James' face began to crumple with hurt and sadness.

"They Crucioed him," James said, voice cracking with emotion. "They wanted him, the Shield I put around Harry wasn't strong enough!"

Lily gaped at him in shock. "Harry? Crucioed?" she repeated after a dumb silence. "But, oh James!"

Lily fell onto the bed in James' arms, shaking uncontrollably. She had cried far too many times to weep anymore; now she just sat in muted silence, trying to find comfort in the fact that James was safe with her.

"How could they? Do they have no mercy?" Lily whispered, voice hoarse with grief. "He's just a baby!"

James only tightened his clutch on her, Lily wishing to just stay wrapped up in his arms and seek solace from the rest of the harsh world.

"Pomfrey fixed him just in time," James ventured to say at last, still looking upset. "If we had come a minute later—"

"But is he all right?" Lily interrupted, uncaring of how soon or late they had come to save her little son's life.

"He'll be fine. He's over there next to Pomfrey's room for observation," James said, stroking her hair methodically.

Nevertheless, Lily continued to quiver with emotion. "My Harry, what did they do to him?" she whimpered, aching with sadness.

Taking a glance at Lily's lined face, James gently settled her onto the bed.

Lily saw the small cot near her bed where James was eminently sleeping. She felt lost and alone without Harry already.

"Please stay," Lily whispered, edging over on the tiny hospital bed to make room for him to lie down.

"I'm right here, love," James said. "Harry and I are not going anywhere."

"Don't leave me, James!" Lily begged, almost pulling James down next to her. "I almost lost you both tonight, please!"

Maybe it was Lily's fanatical voice almost bursting with tension. Or perhaps it was the way her now long, auburn hair acted the part of a silky screen while her tired emerald eyes sparkled with anguish. Whatever the reason was, Lily noted how James took a long, good look at her, a flicker of regret crossing his face.

James settled next to her, rubbing his bleary eyes. "You should have never married me, Evans," he yawned.

Lily's mouth curved into a smile at last. "I would have led a wretched life without you, Potter," she murmured, putting her arms around James.

Perhaps there was some hope after all, Lily theorized sleepily. She had begun to doze off, in her visions the scene of Petunia slumped on the rug of her living room, a young widow because of their actions. The colors turned lighter, whirling into a cherished scene of Lily's childhood. Two young girls playing on the swings of a park, a boy with a dirty smock watching them with curiosity, shy eyes as dark as obsidian and a smile he reserved only for her. He never meant to slur her name, blinded with jealousy he could only watch Lily begin to fall for a dashing, raven haired young man…

Lily awoke once more, hair slick with sweat. Morning light happily poured into the room. Lily turned over to face a sleeping James, serenity on the former Head Boy's face as she had not seen in a long time. She let him sleep, her bruised mind forming yet another plan that she would force to succeed.

I need to see Harry. And then find Severus, Lily thought wildly. And I need to bring Petunia here with me.

Not a ridiculous cliffhanger for once, I know! Please drop a review, a lot of the input I've gotten from you reviewers has influenced quite a bit of this story. Until next time!