~*~ Unless You Stand Together ~*~

~If one man alone

~Can accomplish great feats

~What can be said for two?

~And if those two men

~Were joined by another

~Who knows what they could do?

~So on our own

~We could be so great

~And our legend may last forever

~But just begin to imagine

~How many would live on

~If everyone worked together

As I have said, my summer was great. My birthday was my best yet, and I was truly content - something I hadn't been for awhile. The whole mood was destroyed once I got on that train on September first.

I had known something was wrong right away, once I had seen the looks on everyone's faces. I knew they knew something I didn't. Anxious to know what was wrong, I made my way up the train to find the compartment where Bella and Hilary were sitting. When I found it, James, Sirius and April were there too.

'Guys, what's going on?' I asked, putting my stuff down. Bella was stony faced. Hilary's eyes were red, and I could tell she had been crying. Storm Shadow sensed her distress and leapt up on her lap in what he must have thought was a comforting way, while Firregaze rubbed up against her legs, a fox.

'There were a heap of attacks last night,' James said quietly. 'Followers of dark magic. Heaps of people dead.'

I didn't know what to say. Why was Hilary upset? Had their parents... ?

'Who?' I asked, my voice quivering.

'April and Bella's dads...' Hilary whispered. 'Oh gods, no...' I said in a pained voice, looking at Bella. She nodded, and a single tear slid down her cheek. I held out my arms and she hugged me tight, tears beginning to fall.

The door slid open slowly, and I looked up, my arms still around Bella. It was Gray. 'Hi,' I said softly, tears in my own eyes.

'Hi,' he replied. His eyes were red, too, and got the feeling that he had lost someone as well. His eyes wandered to James's, and I could see them struggling to come to an understanding. They didn't like each other, but they had both suffered loss, and it was no time for arguing.

'Why did you all come to school still? Wouldn't you stay home?' I asked.

'There's no point, Lily,' Gray said. 'We have to face everyone sometime, and there's quite a few people that have been through the same thing. Besides, the Ministry's trying to cover it all up.'

'Why?'

'Because he's a stupid git,' Sirius said, fists clenched. 'Dark wizards killed my parents six years ago. They're getting worse, the attacks. And they aren't doing anything about it. The Aurors are being killed off like flies, and they don't care.'

'Our dads were Aurors,' April said quietly.

'Mine too,' said Gray.

There was a heavy silence.

'In a way, you're lucky, Lily. It's hard being a muggle born, but at least you're away from all this,' James said eventually.

'Half our family's gone,' Hilary said bitterly. 'It's practically Potter tradition to become an Auror. All of them that went to help last night, they were killed. Twenty-six of them. All dead, except for one.'

'Who?' I asked, as Bella wiped her eyes and straightened up. Gray came and sat next to me. Without meaning to, I took his hand. He gave it a little squeeze.

'Moody. But he's pretty messed up,' April said.

I leaned my head on Gray's shoulder.

'I'm sorry,' I whispered.

'It's the way he would have wanted to go, though. Out fighting.'

Bella and April nodded their agreement.

'You know, I feel kind of guilty saying this,' James said. 'But when I heard, I wished that it had been our dad out there fighting.' He swallowed, and we all looked at him.

'Not necessarily because I want him dead, but because he does nothing. I wanted him to be out there helping, not hiding us all away like he does. Because it feels wrong to have that protection when no one else does. It's unfair.'

Hilary nodded.

'I know what you mean. Sometimes it feels like he's not really protecting us, but his bank account and his business. And when someone dies, it's just another ditch in the road for him. He just moves past it like that.' She clicked her fingers.

'Why do people do this?' I asked, out of the blue. 'Take lives for fun?'

'Because it's a sick world, Lily,' James said, standing up. 'A sick world full of sick people that don't care about anything that really matters in life.'

And I don't think I could have put it better myself.

* * *

There was a rather subdued atmosphere in the Great Hall that night. Nearly everyone had known someone that had been killed our attacked. The first years lacked the usual nervous chatter as they waited anxiously to be Sorted. McGonagall came out with the hat and placed it on its three-legged stool and stepped back over to wait with the first years as the hat opened its mouth in song.

'A hat may be a hat,

It's very plain for most to see

But I bet your bottom dollar

There's not one smarter than me.

I know things others don't

I remember what others forget

Take note of what I tell you,

As it could be useful yet.

T'was four who built the Hogwarts school

And taught the lesson to be learnt

So when danger faces the school again

Those four founders shall return.

Two by mother, two by sire

First borns, fierce and strong

And these four shall come together

In their struggle to belong.

Your future does lie in their grasp

Although their destiny may seem small

And through their friendship and their love

They will somehow save us all.

Though all shall perish in saving lives

Their hearts will forever remain

And as the original founders four

Shall someday rise again

So four; now you know your fate

Please don't begin to fear

Our lives now rest within your hands

As times of darkness are so near

And Hogwarts students, promise me this

That you'll listen and take heed

The only way to conquer Is to unite in your time of need.

As dark times are approaching

This is a warning to you all;

Unless you stand together

Divided you shall fall.

Everyone remained silent for a minute or so following the song. James was one of the first to break it.

'Fess up, Sirius. We all know you're hiding Salazar Slytherin under your robes,' he said. Sirius looked scandalized.

'How did you know?'

A few people laughed, and a nervous chatter filled the room only to be hushed a minute later by McGonagall.

'When I call your name, you will go up to the stool and place the hat on your head so you can be sorted.'

Quite a few of the first years looked at her dubiously, and I knew exactly what was running through their minds. The hat sang - what next? And of course they all seemed rather shaken from what the song had suggested, on top of the uneasiness from the previous night's attacks. All in all, it wasn't a very cheerful sorting.

Conversation during dinner was very subdued. I was halfway through eating my roast pork in silence while listening to James and Sirius's fooling when I happened to look up and meet Paige's eyes. She had wormed her way back to popularity surprisingly quickly - I think her encounter with James and the love potion had somehow only added to her fame, which annoyed me to no attend. But at dinner that night, something was different about her when she met my eyes. There was more than just strong dislike in her gaze. It was hatred. Pure enmity. For the brief moment that we looked at each other, time seemed to stop. I took in everything: her long, fake red nails; her lashes, heavy with mascara; her blood red lips and her perfectly white teeth. And I began to wonder. If we couldn't even have a little inter-house respect, what chance did we have of standing together? I came to the conclusion that the sorting hat really was asking quite a lot, and I didn't like its chances.

'Lily, earth to Lily,' James called, waving his hand energetically in front of my face. I turned to look at him and smiled.

'What?'

'Who were you looking at?' he asked.

'Noone,' I lied. He narrowed his eyes and looked over to where my attention had been a moment before.

'Marc, huh? Lily likes Marc when she has a boyfriend?' 'God no,' I laughed.

'What's his name? Waterhouse. Lily Waterhouse... nope, doesn't sound right,' James said, shaking his head.

'What, and Lily Potter does?' Hilary interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

'Mm-hmm,' Sirius supplied.

'You want to know what sounds even better? Lily Evans!' I said with fake enthusiasm.

'Better than Lily Parkson, I suppose,' James grumbled.

'What don't you like about him?' I laughed softly, tossing my head back to get my hair out of my face. I glanced at Gray. He was sitting further up the table, talking to Rhys.

'Gray? He's annoying, isn't he?' asked Kelsey, who was sitting at my right. I looked to my left at Bella. She hadn't spoken all evening. I turned back to Kelsey and James.

'He just knows how to have fun. He's never gone too far.'

Kelsey raised an eyebrow amusedly.

'If you say so. But in my opinion he's gone too far plenty of times.'

'I don't know why I don't like him. Something about him annoys me. Not so much what he does, just him in general,' James said, shrugging. Sirius left his conversation with Remus a second time to add his bit to ours.

'Two reasons, Jamsie boy. One, you might just have a competitor in pranking. Two, he's got your girl.'

'My girl?' James asked, cocking his brow.

'Yeah. Her,' Sirius said, pointing to me. I rolled my eyes.

'Lily doesn't belong to anybody,' James said, and rather wisely at that. If there was one thing I didn't like, it was people thinking they owned me.

'But she is your girl, James. Not in the boyfriend-girlfriend way, but yours nonetheless. If she did belong to anyone, it would be you,' Hilary said thoughtfully. James grinned.

'Isn't it up to Lily who's girl she is?'

'Yup. And I'm all yours, Jamsie,' I said, fluttering my eyelashes at him in jest. I saw Bella smile out of the corner of my eye. I think James noticed too, because we both seemed to sense that now was a good time for another episode of 'The Homey Touches Show', as we had decided to name it after that incident with Hilary.

'All mine?' he asked.

'Wouldn't have it any other way,' I said dramatically, lowering my head so I was looking at him from under my lashes. Then I put on sudden expression of distress.

'But what about Gray?' I asked quietly in horror.

'I shall have to dispose of him,' James said, folding his arms.

'Oh no! You won't be too horrible, will you?'

'Not anymore than I need be. Then we shall elope to the Library.'

'The Library?' I asked dubiously.

'And there I shall torment you until I wear down your resistance towards me,' he said with a smirk. 'I have no choice but to use my last resort.'

I gasped.

'What?' I asked, trying to sound fearful.

'I'm going to make you scream so hard you -'

'Sorry James, but I don't want to sleep with you,' I interrupted wryly, raising an eyebrow.

'Damn,' James cursed. 'There goes plan A. I'll have to move on to the next girl.'

'Speaking of, then - how about Ms. Hooker over there?' Sirius asked, pointing out a seventh year Ravenclaw with rather tight-fitting robes.

As licentious as her clothes were, I didn't exactly want to give James and Sirius the chance to allow their hormones to dominate the conversation.

'Well, you know what, James Potter?' I asked as seriously as I could. 'I think you look like a hooker.'

James immediately smiled suggestively at me and fluttered his eyelashes.

'Hi, Lily,' he said in a oiled tone.

'James Potter, are you trying to seduce me?' I asked suspiciously.

'As sure as hell is hot,' he replied.

'What are you charging for the night?' I asked, laughing.

'For you? Cheap. I'll swap you your robes,' he said, smirking. Sirius snorted.

'Oh yes, they're going off cheap tonight. I'm almost tempted.'

James shot him a disgusted look.

'I wasn't offering myself to you. I was asking Lily. Besides, you do realise that makes you gay, don't you?'

'Geez, Sirius. You could have told me before we got involved,' Bella said, pretending to be angry. I was glad she had cheered up enough to join in the conversation.

'What horror, discovering your boyfriend's gay,' Hilary said.

'Who's gay?' Kelsey asked.

'Sirius,' we all said, at the same time Sirius said, 'James'.

'Right,' she said, raising an eyebrow in an oh-my-god-what-weirdos manner. 'I think I'll leave you guys to your oh-so-interesting discussion.'

'Thanks ever so,' James told her.

'James, did you just use manners?' I asked, pretending to be shocked. James scowled.

'If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's most probably a duck,' was his retort.

'If not, three out of three isn't too bad,' Sirius offered, and Bella laughed. He beamed.

'Feel special just because you made me smile, huh?' she asked. He grinned charmingly at her.

By now, everyone had finished eating. A Prefect stood near the end of the table and announced it was time to go up to Gryffindor Tower. The first years all stood to scuttle off after him. I stood and waited for Bella, talking to James while she quickly re-tied her hair, as her elastic had come undone. Before she had finished. Gray was at my shoulder.

'Have a nice conversation with the guys?' he asked quietly.

'Gray!' I said, slightly surprised.

'That's my name,' he said.

Bella stood up.

'Ready to go, guys?' she asked softly, her voice still shaky and small. I nodded and we made to leave. I walked next to Bella, and Gray soon fell into step beside me.

'Lily, do you like James?' he asked me after a minute or so of silence. I raised my eyebrow at him, a gesture that had been made a lot that evening.

'Gray, he's one of my best friends. Of course I like him.'

'But not in any other way?'

'No,' I said, frowning. 'Not in any other way.'

'Why do you spend so much time with the third years? You spend more time with James and his friends than you do with the other girls in your dorm.'

'Gray, stop being a jealous git,' Bella growled. I looked at her in shock.

'Lily and James are just friends. And we spend time with the guys because we like them. We know them a lot better than you and we are friends with them. But you can drop it right now because Lily doesn't like James. If she did, they would be going out by now and she would not have said yes to going out with you.' There was finality in her voice, and Gray dropped the subject.

'Sorry, but I'm edgy today,' he said, frowning. 'I'll see you later, OK?'

We had nearly reached Gryffindor Tower. I nodded. We both paused, and there was an awkward moment before we hugged. Gray moved off to find his friends.

'He doesn't even care,' Bella said quietly, her voice rather fierce.

'Care about what?' I asked as we waited in line to climb through the Portrait Hole.

'About his dad dying.'

That was not the answer I had been expecting.

'He just has a different way of dealing with it,' I said, sort of defensively.

Bella made no more comment on the matter.

* * *

That night, the tension was so thick in the dormitory that you could cut it with a knife. Dimness had swept over most of Gryffindor Tower like a wave sweeping over a beach. If someone hadn't lost someone the night before then they were pondering the matter, or thinking about the Sorting Hat's song. It had gotten to the point where making the slightest rustle of a blanket felt like a crime, and I couldn't stand it anymore. Ignoring the glares I knew everyone would be shooting at the ceiling, I hopped out of bed and slipped downstairs into the Common Room, taking my glasses and a book with me.

And who was I to meet down there, but James Potter himself.

'Why, what brings you out past your bed time, Jamsie boy?' I asked, sitting next to him on the couch.

'Hello, Lily,' he said cheerfully. 'I was just escaping an argument between Sirius and Remus. Yourself?'

'The tension in there is so thick I couldn't breath,' I said, rolling my eyes. 'It was driving me nuts.'

I turned to lean my back against the arm of the couch then lay my feet in James's lap. I put on my glasses to proceed to read when he interrupted me.

'Are you quite alright?'

'Yes, fine thank you,' I said, smiling sweetly at him. He raised an eyebrow.

'I'm glad you're comfortable,' he said.

'So am I,' I said, and returned to my book. I could feel James watching me.

'What?' I asked.

'Did I say something?' he replied innocently.

'Didn't have to,' I grumbled, my gaze dropping to my book again. Then James started tickling my feet.

'Stop,' I said, stifling laughter.

'No, it's OK. You carry on reading while I amuse myself,' he said, playing with my toes. 'James, I cannot read while you are... doing things to my feet.'

'Doing things to your feet, huh?' he echoed with amusement.

'Stop,' I said, smiling.

'You like it,' he observed.

'No I don't!' I said. 'It just tickles!'

When James didn't stop, I kicked him. He scowled and grabbed my legs and pulled me off the couch.

'Ow!' I said as I thumped to the floor.

'Oops,' James replied innocently. Too innocently.

'Come here, Potter,' I said, grabbing his ankle.

'You have a tight grip,' he commented.

'Thanks,' I said, yanking hard. He stumbled, and I yanked again so he fell. On top of me.

'Oof,' he said.

'Ditto,' I grinned, rolling over to get up, but James pinned me down.

'Get off,' I said.

'Nope, sorry Foxy.' He grabbed my wrist, but I rolled us over before sitting on his stomach.

'Foxy?' I queried, eyebrow raised.

'Mm-hmm. Foxy by nature and foxy by -'

'Having fun?'

My head snapped up. Gray was leaning against the doorframe at the bottom of the stairs, and I could tell he had been doing so for awhile.

'Hello,' I said. 'Can't you sleep?'

'What do you think?' he asked, straightening up. He walked over and sat on the arm of the couch that James and I had been sitting on minutes before. I swung a leg over James's stomach so I was no longer astride him but with both legs on the one side.

'Oh. Stupid question,' I said meekly.

'It's all right,' he said, still eyeing me and James.

I wasn't about to spring away from James, because that would make it look as if something had been going on. By remaining still casually sitting on him I was hoping Gray would understand that it was pure friendship-based fun. Although I was thinking that what James had been about to say didn't help the situation.

I slid down a little until my backside was on the floor and I was just leaning against him.

'Bella can't sleep, either. Or anyone else in my dorm, for that matter.'

Gray was looking at James, and I think he felt that it was his turn to say something, because he said, 'I couldn't sleep if I wanted to. Sirius and Remus are fighting.' Gray nodded.

'Don't you have a girlfriend, Potter?'

'So?' James asked coolly.

'So, I don't care, whatever floats your boat. But I don't think I'd be calling another girl foxy while I had another girlfriend.'

'I'm glad you don't,' I said, amusedly.

'Yeah, well - maybe it does float my boat,' James said, sitting up. I leaned forward while he did so, then leaned back against his knees once he had gotten comfortable. I winced to myself, knowing what was coming.

'She has a boyfriend,' Gray said bluntly.

'She is the cat's mother,' James replied.

'And the cat's mother might not have a boyfriend for much longer unless he gives her best friend a break,' I interrupted before they could begin arguing. 'Listen, Gray. I know that coming down stairs in the evening and finding your girlfriend alone with a guy in the Common Room isn't a great situation for you, but since the guy turns out to be her best friend, I think you can relax. You just have to trust me. And I'm going to make it clear right now: us going out isn't going to affect the relationships between me and my friends. I'm sorry, but my friends come first.'

Gray watched me a minute before nodding.

'Just as long as friendship remains as friendship, I don't mind. But don't expect me not to get a little annoyed when...' he trailed off and gestured at us. I nodded.

'Deal.'

'I'm going back up to bed,' he said, with a lingering glance at me.

'Night,' I said softly. When he had disappeared, I turned to glare at James.

'Don't deliberately annoy him. Especially since his dad's just died.' 'I tried to be nice,' James said, frowning. After a minute or so of silence, he stood. 'I'm going to bed.'

'I'll stay,' I said, not looking up at him.

'Goodnight,' he said, starting up the stairs.

'Goodnight.'

* * *

'Lily, can I ask you something?' asked Reilly, sitting next to me on the couch the next morning. We were amongst the few that were awake; it was around six o'clock, and not many had slept well that night. I myself had spent the night on the couch.

'Yeah?'

'Do you like James Potter?'

'Yes,' I said, rolling my eyes.

'You do? Like -'

'As a friend,' I interrupted.

'Oh. It's just you and him... and you know how you're going out with Gray...'

So this was what this was about. I suddenly remembered that Reilly had a crush on Gray.

'Only a fool would cheat on Gray Parkson, and I am not one. God knows if I did I'd be annoyed senseless for the rest of my life. He's not one to have on your off side,' I said firmly. 'But if things don't work out, I'll put in a good word for you.'

Reilly blushed.

'I don't like him -'

'I'm going to be funny here and say what everyone else would say in a time like this. That's about as true as James Potter and Lily Evans not being in love with each other,' I said dryly. It had become an annoyingly popular phrase around the school lately.

Reilly laughed.

'OK then, you caught me out. And I trust you - so don't tell anyone, please.'

'My lips are sealed.'

'Thank you. Well... I'm going to go for a run,' she said. 'See you around.'

'Bye,' I said.

I was thinking how amusing Reilly's little crush was. She seemed the tomboy type to me, a girl not interested in boys. But then again, you learn something new everyday.

It was about five minutes later that Bella came downstairs.

'I was wondering where you went last night. You didn't come back,' she said quietly.

'And I was wondering how you slept.'

'Not too good,' she admitted, and I could see it was true. Her face was pale and she had rings under her eyes. I remembered what Reilly had once told me when I had asked her why she ran everyday. She had told me that it cleared your mind. You had nothing to live up to out there.

'Bella, this may seem crazy, but do you want to go for a run?'

She looked at me, no surprise in her eyes as I had expected, and nodded her head.

'Okay.'

*~*~*~*~

Hi! Everyone find the new story alright?

Well, nothing to say at the moment. Hope you liked the chappie!

Byes,

SezZie

Oh yeah...........like my song? YEH WELL U BETTER! Lol. Took me long enough. And that's what our plot shall revolve around this year.

Well toodles for the second time!