A/N: Here it is, just like I promised, a fresh new chapter. Now I'm not sure how long Jinxeh and I can keep this pace up, but I promise to not let this story go that long again without an update.

I really do feel rather awful about that . . .

So this chapter is a combined effort by both Jinxeh and myself, which I think let this chapter really be pretty freaking sweet. I hope you all enjoy this chapter very much!

-A. Ravenlockes

Chapter 25: Lily's Tale

When Jean opened her eyes again, the house was restored and whole, not destroyed, like before she had fallen to the ground. She pushed opened the door from the kitchen and entered into the living room. Sitting on the sofa was a man with untidy black hair and round glasses; he was holding a baby boy who looked very much like him, even from a young age.

James Potter! Jean exclaimed these words, but they did not come out of her mouth. What came out instead was a foreign voice with a light British accent.

"And how are my boys doing?" she asked and watched Harry grab at the colorful smoke rings in the air.

"We're just fine, but I think Harry is getting a might tired," James responded scooping the boy up and putting him into her arms.

"It's getting late for him, especially since he didn't have his nap today." Jean realized that it was Lily's voice coming out of her mouth, and that she had no control over her movements. For the moment, it seemed, she was Lily Potter. With the boy in her arms, she climbed the stairs and headed up to Harry's room. She had just entered when she heard a bang from downstairs, and James shouted:

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

But Jean knew she had nowhere to run, she didn't have her wand or a means of escape. Only one thing was certain: she had to protect her son.

Without even realizing what was happening, the door slammed shut of its own accord and boxes piled up in front of it. She could feel a raw, ancient power coursing through her veins like never before. She knew that the Phoenix was coming to the surface.

From downstairs, she could hear laughing and someone shout, "Avada Kedavra!"

James was dead. There was no way she could deny that fact.

"Please, my life doesn't matter, but protect my son, please," she whispered to the empty room.

If this is what you want, then it is so.

Jean could feel a force pass from her and through tiny Harry in her arms.

I have done what I can for the boy, but you must do the rest.

The boxes flew from where they were blocking the door, and a shadowy figure walked into the room menacingly. Jean put Harry down into the crib and stood in front of it, her arms spread wide.

You have chosen death, therefore there is nothing I can do to save you . . . but your actions with my protection will save your son.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" The words poured from her mouth gaining some strength from what the Phoenix had just told her.

"Stand aside, you silly girl . . . stand aside, now." The voice was high and cold, sending chills down Jean's spine.

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead—"

"This is my last warning—"

You could defeat him with me by your side; there is still time, just say the word…

Jean ignored the offer. That wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. She could defeat him, maybe . . . but the chance that she might fail and put Harry in more danger was, although slim, not something she was willing to consider for even one moment.

"Not Harry! Please . . . have mercy . . . have mercy . . . Not Harry! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything—"

Then your decision is final, but know there is another . . . greater than your son that I will move on to.

What?! No! You must stay with Harry! Lily's thoughts rang clear as she argued with the Phoenix.

I cannot.

"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"

There was a tense moment and a flash of green light. Jean woke up, gasping for air.

She looked around her surroundings and realized that she was no longer in the front hall, but rather had somehow moved up into the destroyed part of the house: Harry's infanthood bedroom. Jean continued gasping for breath, as the vision was still fresh in her mind.

"It was so real . . ." she murmured to herself.

"That's because it is. Or at least it was," a familiar voice responded to Jean's comment. Jean jumped and looked around for the source of the voice. "Behind you, love."

Jean turned slowly and came face to face with a woman who looked remarkably like her. The long red hair, slender frame, shape of the face, and bright green eyes . . . all the same. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the charred remains of the crib. Jean shifted so that she was on her knees, instead of lying on the ground. She continued to stare at the woman in astonishment.

"Lily Potter?" Jean asked. The woman nodded. "But you're dead. I just . . . I just watched it happen."

"I know," Lily replied, "I keep replaying it over and over. I keep hoping it will change, but it never does. I should have fought him; with it I wouldn't have needed my wand. No matter now, I can't change the past." Lily paused for a second and sighed deeply. "Now it has returned."

"It?"

"The Phoenix Force," Lily replied, "I always figured it would come back for me."

"What do you mean?" Jean asked confused and then the realization struck her. "You possessed the Phoenix Force?" she asked in astonishment; Lily nodded.

"Up until the moment I died, trying to save my son," Lily said, "I was the host right before you were, Jean."

"How do you know my name? How are you still here?" Jean was bewildered and confused beyond all explanation. It was not possible for someone to come back from the dead. It just couldn't be done.

"It's rather complex, but you know the story of the Phoenix Force. It explained it to you before it inhabited you, did it not?"

Jean's memory was a little fuzzy concerning the Phoenix Force. She tried desperately to remember exactly when she had first known of its existence.

"I—I don't know," Jean replied, "I remember having a strange dreams when I was younger about this voice was talking to me. But…the Phoenix Force didn't manifest in me until a couple of years ago . . ."

"It was lying dormant then, until you had reached a stage where you could handle its power," Lily explained. "The same thing happened to me. The Phoenix came to me when I was eleven, right before I left for Hogwarts. It explained to me that its previous host had died, and though that physical body had perished, the force still lived on, but needed a new host.

"It told me that it was selective, though. It only picks those that have the greatest possible potential for power. It doesn't matter what the power is apparently, whether it is magical, mutant, or otherwise. In return for allowing it to inhabit you and bond with your soul, it helps you reach that potential."

"I don't remember this being explained to me," Jean protested. Lily shrugged.

"If what you said about dreams is true, you were probably too young to remember it."

"But how are you still here if the Phoenix moved on to me?" Jean asked.

"The Killing Curse is unique," Lily explained, sighing deeply. "It literally rips the soul from the body. When Voldemort cast it on me, he did not know that my soul was host to the Phoenix Force. Odds are, only those who are inhabited by the Force are the ones who know of it. When my soul was ripped from my body, he also ripped out the Phoenix Force; the two were literally one in the same.

"As the force can never perish, neither could my soul and memory, even though my body was dead. From what I can understand, there is a time of transition where the Phoenix Force is able to remove it's connection with the host's soul, my soul did get that leisure. Usually a soul is able to move onto the afterlife, or it can choose to remain behind as a ghost. I had no choice; because of the way that my soul ripped from my body and the fact that it was grounded in a being that can only remain in the realm of the living caused something very unusual to happen. When the Phoenix was ripped out of my body with my soul, it left to find its new host, you. But because of the rip, part of it was forced to remain behind. That is all I am, a remnant of a Phoenix past."

"How do you know so much about me? You knew my name, that I was a mutant . . . are you a telepath as well as a witch?" Jean narrowed her eyes, but Lily just shook her head.

"Like I said before dear, the only reason I'm still here is because part of the Phoenix Force was ripped from the whole," Lily elaborated, "but I'm still part of the Phoenix Force. I watched you grow up, just as the rest of the Phoenix did. I watched as you went to school, played as a child, as your powers manifested, as you grew into an intelligent, powerful young woman. I saw it all. But because of the violent way that I died, the remnant was trapped to this house and couldn't rejoin the whole."

"Does this mean that there are other Phoenix remnants out there?" Jean asked.

"To my knowledge, no. But that's always a possibility." There was a silence that hung between the two redheads as Jean searched for something to say. But all she could do was stare at Lily. She looked so sad and defeated.

"Why didn't you use the Phoenix to defeat Voldemort?" Jean asked. Lily smiled ruefully.

"For the longest time, I thought it was what my destiny was," Lily admitted. "With all his hatred for Muggle-borns, I figured about the time that I was a 5th year that it would be poetic justice for a 'mudblood' to defeat him. So I spent the last two years of my education preparing to fight him. And then . . ." Lily trailed off as a glassy look washed over her face.

"Yes?" Jean prompted.

"And then James Potter happened. Despite my friend, Snape's, protests, I fell in love with James."

"Snape? As in Severus Snape?" Jean asked shocked.

"Yes, we were childhood friends. We grew up just down the lane from each other. He was the one who told me I was a witch."

"Oh," Jean said quietly. Lily smiled.

"After James and I got married," Lily continued on, "I told James about the Phoenix Force. He was the first person I ever confided the information to."

"You didn't tell Dumbledore?"

"No," Lily said shaking her head, "I was too terrified to tell him. The Phoenix could sense in him a desire for power and would fight me, and sometimes take over me, whenever I wanted to tell him. The Phoenix, however, had no arguments when I finally decided to tell James. James also thought what I thought: that I would be the one to take on Voldemort. After arguing with the Phoenix further and eventually coming to an agreement, the three of us decided that telling Dumbledore about it was the best plan of action. Then I found out I was pregnant with Harry. From that moment on James would not let me out of his sight, and changed his mind about telling Albus, which relieved the Phoenix greatly. We all agreed that I would soon be in no condition to take Voldemort head on.

"Late in my pregnancy, Dumbledore pulled James and I aside at an Order meeting and told us about a prophecy that Sybil Trelawny had made. He felt that our child, our son, was the one referred to in the prophecy and he insisted that we go into hiding."

"And you never told Dumbledore about the Force?" Jean inquired again. Lily shook her head.

"James and I both thought that the Force would pass from me to Harry if I died," Lily admitted. "We thought that the Phoenix Force couldn't possibly choose someone else. We were both sorely mistaken."

"It chose me," Jean said softly. Lily nodded. "What happens now?"

"The Phoenix will become whole again," Lily said simply.

"But what will happen to you, your soul, your memory?" Jean asked. All Lily could do was shrug.

"We're about to find out."

There was a sudden rush of wind that rocked the house. A whirlwind swirled around the two in the room. Jean's head exploded into pain again and she cried out; Lily too cried out in pain. The wind continued to pick up and gained an orange tint to it. A shape, much like a large bird passed through the figure of Lily and she was gone, absorbed into the whirlwind. That same shape then flew directly into Jean's chest and knocked her back against the wall.

Once again, she lost consciousness.

xXx

"This is unacceptable!"

Scott Summers was beside himself with worry as he paced back and forth in the kitchen to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. It seemed that, at the moment, there was really nothing anyone could do but wait, pace, and worry. All of which Scott was excelling at for the moment.

Remus had gone ahead to Hogwarts to tell Dumbledore that the young redhead was missing, but there was nothing that the non-magical, newer members of the Order could do. Logan and the others had convened in the parlor room to discuss what to do if she didn't show up soon, but Scott couldn't handle that right now. They were saying the same things over and over again, and were getting nowhere, and so eventually he removed himself from the room. He was annoying the others with his pacing, anyway, so they were probably grateful for his sudden absence.

"How could she just leave like that?" Scott muttered to himself, running a hand through his slightly shaggy brown hair in frustration. If he'd known that she was 'going out for some air' like Logan had told him she'd said, he would have offered to go with her. How stupid was it, for any of them to leave Grimmauld Place alone like that? "God, Jean, where are you?"

"Scott?"

Scott turned around so quickly at the light female voice behind him, that he rammed his hip into an old wooden table. He paid this no mind, however, for it was an inconsequential thing when compared to Jean, who was standing pale and shaking in the doorway of the kitchen, looking at him with those wide green eyes . . . it was all he could do not to yell out in relief. None of her appearance registered with the worried teenager, he was just glad to see that she was alive. His relief translated into rushed footsteps and a tight embrace, which only added to Jean's current bemusement.

"Scott? Scott . . . " Jean seemed to be having trouble getting her words out, partially because of her overwhelming exhaustion, but mainly because Scott was squeezing the breath out of her. Finally, Scott let her go but only so that he could step back and take a look at her. He gently grabbed her arms, held her at arm's length, and looked her over, as though inspecting her. "Scott—"

"Jean . . ." Scott said drinking her in with his ruby quartz protected eyes, "Thank God you're all right! Where have you been? We've all been worried sick about you!" His voice was quite obviously torn between scolding her and just being relieved that she was all right. "Lupin already went to Hogwarts to tell Dumbledore we thought you were missing, Logan's practically making battle plans to find y—Jean, what's wrong?"

For the first time, Scott seemed to have taken notice of the weakened state that Jean was in. Her normally well-groomed red hair was in disarray and hanging all over her pale face, her green eyes were wide, awe-stricken, and her clothing was covered in dust…of course, the first thought to reach Scott's mind was that she'd been attacked by someone or something, and that put him on edge. However, before he could even begin demanding of her what had happened, there was a thundering of footsteps behind them, and suddenly the stairway leading down to the kitchen was filled with exclaiming people.

"Red! Where the hell have you been?" Logan was barking, while both Sirius and Remy were taking a slightly quieter, but just as urgent approach at questioning her. X-23 stood off to the side with Piotr, both looking moderately worried, but also slightly at ease now that their missing team member had been found. After another moment, Lupin was there too; he'd just arrived back from Hogwarts, and it shocked him to see Jean standing there, when he'd just gone ahead and reported her missing. It all happened as a blur to Jean; people suddenly appearing as though out of nowhere, all talking at once, confusing her . . .

Something inside of Jean crumbled as she looked around to the worried, confused, yet relieved faces that were surrounding her. She felt such love for these people, unordinary love, and recognition for people she'd only talked to out of duty . . . she was torn, unable to answer their questions, her mind reeling and her head feeling like it was going to burst.

She was Jean Grey, member of the X-Men, host to the Phoenix Force, and surrounded by the mutants that she thought of as her family. She was enclosed by them, she felt safe when they were around her, but she also felt . . . something more that hadn't been there before . . .

Then it dawned upon her.

She was also Lily Potter. The loving mother of The-Boy-Who-Lived, adoring wife of James Potter, member of the Order of the Phoenix, and formerly, and now also currently, host of the Phoenix Force. Seeing Remus and Sirius standing there, looking at her in such concern and relief . . . it was heartwarming, but also heartbreaking as all of her memories returned and bubbled up to the surface. Her James wasn't there with her, but these people loved her and were her friends . . .

Lily Potter, through the mind of Jean Grey, was back.