Hey guys… So yeah, Tonks is younger, but I try to justify Remus and Tonks' relationship because in actuality it's a little creepy. Also, Sirius is Tonks' cousin, but he didn't associate with his family, and even if he did, Tonks' family wouldn't have been mentioned or seen at any of the Black's family reunions. :D

James, still a little hazy and shocked from the scream, threw open the door and ran down the steps, pushing his way into the common room. There was already a crowd that seemed to be circled around something.

"Get out of the way!" A girl yelled from the other side of the room. There was such a commotion her voice was only just heard.

James identified that girl, who was now frustrated and angry. Her red hair was tangled and messy. Lily.

"DID YOU HEAR ME?" Lily screamed over everyone. There was an eerie silence. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

A scuffle of students parted to the center of the room, until it fell silent again. James heard the taps of Lily's shoes. She ducked out of his sight.

"Er – Excuse me," He pushed his way through students, who only glanced as he made his way to the center of the circle. When he finally reached the center, he froze.

Lily was kneeling over what appeared to be a young woman, though James couldn't see her face as Lily's hair created a curtain. The girl wasn't moving.

When James found his voice, it was rough and dry. "Lily?" He said, breaking the silence.

She looked up at him, her cheeks stained with tear tracks. Her green eyes were slightly red.

"She's dead, James," Lily murmured. A nervous hum of whispers spread through out the room.

James walked over and knelt down next to Lily. He grabbed her hand that was resting on the cold floor.

The girl's head was turned to the side, but her raven black hair was distinctive. Though he wouldn't tell himself, James knew who it was.

Lily ducked her head into James's shoulder, and James instinctively put his arm around her. He buried his face in Lily's hair and shut his eyes so hard that it hurt.

Again, the crowed scuffled to the side, parting for a group of students that just entered the room.

"Peter, stop Remus, don't let him in, DO IT!" James recognized Sirius's voice, returning from there patrol.

"I can't, he's already -"

"Adelaide?"

A tangible, glass like silence echoed in the room. Just in the one word, the name, James heard the strangled pain. Lily buried her head deeper in the crook of James's arm, and his arms tightened around her.

"Adelaide?"

His voice was raw and breaking, sending shards of glass into James's heart. Lily whimpered.

Remus's quiet footfalls reached the body, before he crashed to the floor. James couldn't look. He just couldn't.

But he did.

And he saw Remus, clutching the cold hand of a beautiful French girl. He saw Remus's scarred face, so painfully contorted and broken, looking down at her eyes.

Again, as Remus collapsed into himself he cried out.

"Adelaide."

For a moment, no one moved. The Gryffindor students were frozen in this morbid tableau of three students kneeling around a porcelain body, clutching each other and hanging on for their lives.

And that was the last time Remus ever said Adelaide.

Adelaide was retrieved by McGonagall and Dumbledore in a matter of minutes. She was sent home from Hogwarts for a small, family funeral.

None of the students were permitted to attend.

Remus was sitting out on a dock that stretched over the Black Lake, starring into nothing. Though they had tried, Sirius, James, Lily and Peter couldn't bring him back. He wanted to be alone.

Lily had her head in James's lap on the shore of the lake, and Sirius was walking up and down the rocky sand. Peter turned in for dinner, though the others didn't feel like eating.

"James," Lily whispered, looking up into his hazel eyes. "I found something."

James, who was tired in every way, looked down at Lily. "Yeah?"

"On Adelaide, when we first found her." Her eyes were unreadable, containing something she couldn't understand. "It was tucked into her hand."

James, slowly coming back to life, shook his head. "What?"

Lily sat up, slightly shaking, and pulled a note out of her chest pocket. She opened it.

James tilted his head to see it, but Lily began reading.

"To the blood traitor and mudblood," Lily's voice shook, but she pushed on. "Your choice was clear. Our message is clear, as well." Lily crumpled the letter in her fist. Again, she looked at James.

James recognized the look in her eyes now. It was pleading. Pleading for forgiveness.

"Lily," James muttered as he wrapped his arms around her. "Don't you dare. Don't you dare blame yourself for this."

Her voice came out muffled. "It's directed to me, specifically, it's all me."

James pulled her up and straightened her. "Lily, I want you to listen to me. I can't loose you. Not now, not ever. Do you think they would've done this if Remus hadn't saved you? What would've happened to you? Believe me, Lily, no one blames you, it isn't your fault."

The fierce glow of his eyes almost convinced Lily. Almost.

"I couldn't show Remus." She looked away, ashamed. "I can't, can I?"

James thought about it briefly. "No," He decided. "He'd never forgive himself."

James wrapped his arms around Lily again, grateful for her life. Grateful for his life. For their life ahead.

"It's started then, hasn't it?" Lily asked, resting her head in the crook of his neck. "There's no going back. We have to start preparing."

James looked out. Sirius kicked a pebble. Remus, a distant figure, sat, morbidly looking across the water. He looked down and his and Lily's hands, intertwined on his lap.

"Not right at this minute, we don't," James said, admitting to himself that he wasn't ready for change. "We can sit her for a while, and pretend nothing's changed."

"We can't be here forever, James."

His eyes sparkled when Lily looked up. He had a small smirk.

"Always the downer, aren't we, Evans?"

Lily laughed and hit his arm. "Stating the facts, Potter. You can't ignore them and just sit here."

He glanced down into her glowing green eyes. "You're probably right." He nodded. "For now," he rested his head on top of hers. "Humor me."

Lily smiled a ghost of smile. "Okay."

Sad, I know. I'm generally a morbid person. You should see the plays I'm writing.

The next chapter jumps into the future, and this story is gonna be winding down!

Reviewreviewreview?