It had been just over a week after Mad Eye had died, and the world already seemed a bit less bright.

Throughout the day, Lily would catch herself thinking about him at very random moments - and burst into tears shortly after.

Not that she did this around James or Harry. The grief they felt was beginning to take its toll on all of them. James was becoming something of a recluse, hardly speaking to anyone, including Lily. She noticed that no one in her family was eating anymore.And Harry...Not only was Harry coping with the death of his teacher, but her was also coping with the crushing weight of the prophecy.

Lily remembered when she and James had first been told about the prophecy, she nearly had a nervous breakdown.

Shortly after Harry came home for the summer holiday, she and James had spoken to him about the prophecy. They told him that he was not alone, and that they would stand by him every step of the way. This seemed to comfort him, though they knew he was still have a hard time with it.

James and Lily had decided to give him time, knowing Harry would come to them if the needed anything. They had also told him to confide in Ron and Hermione, though Lily had the feeling that he would have done that anyway.

James and Lily were sitting in the kitchen talking about Harry when James began to stare out of the window.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"You know how you said that you wanted to strangle Fudge?"

Slightly confused, she replied, "Yeah."

"Well here's your chance," he said, pointing out of the window.Lily turned to see Fudge, nervously twirling his ridiculous green bowler hat, striding up their drive.

"He's got some nerve." she said angrily just before the doorbell rang.

"Well go on, answer that door. It will be the highlight of my day if you strangle the idiot."Lily smile before she left the kitchen, with James not far behind her.

By the time she reached the kitchen, her pretty features were arranged into an angry expression.

She opened the door and said, "What do you want?"

Fudge gaped nervously at her furious expression for a moment before he managed to say, "Ah, Lily, s-so nice to see you. I-I was thinking, considering that the wizarding world is at war, we should let by gones be -"

"You can't be serious." Lily interrupted.

"Well, I -""And here I was thing that you were coming to apologize for dragging my family's name through the dirt for the past year."

"Yes, about that - I want to try and make it up to you. I was hoping to speak with James -"

"Wait here." Lily said, gesturing for James to join her.

"What?" James asked quite rudely.

"Ah, James, I'd like to offer you your job back."

James and Lily exchanged almost amused looks before he replied, "You know what? That sounds great, but I've got real work to do," before he slammed the door in his face. Lily looked at James in awe.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered. Barely able to speak

"What, did you think I'd go back to work for them after what they did?" James asked as a smile flitted across his face.

"You know, I think that's the first time I've seen you smile since - well - "He bent his head and kissed her.

"I'm sorry that I've been out of it since Moody died, but he was practically my brother, and Moody, so tough, so high-"

"You don't have to explain. I miss him too."He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head when they heard a voice say,

"You know, I'm gone most of the year and you have to do this now?"

James and Lily broke apart to see Harry walking up the stairs. Lily rolled her eyes as the doorbell rang again.

This time, it was Tonks, though Lily barely recognized her. Her usual short bubble-gum pink hair was now a mousy brown color, giving her a rather depressed look.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked as she pulled Tonks inside. Lily gave James a look that clearly said they needed some time as she led Tonks into the kitchen.

"I don't want to bother you, Lily, but I don't know what else to do."Lily waved her wand and two cups of tea appeared in front of them.

"Now then, what's wrong?" she asked kindly. Tonks ran her finger around the rim of the cup and began,

"I got out of St. Mungo's a few days ago after - after what happened at the Ministry.

Well, Remus came to see me." Lily nodded. Tonks continued, "We got to talking and...he suddenly got all wierd qnd left." Lily could hardly contain her smile.

"And?" she prodded. "And things were just getting good and all of a sudden he just stops."

"I've known Remus since we were eleven." Lily said. "And if I know one thing about him it's that he is one of the most stubborn people that I know."

Tonks smiled briefly at this.

"Don't give up on him just yet. Maybe I'll have a chat with him."

"Thanks a lot, Lily."Tonks stood to leave. Lily pulled her into a supportive hug and said, "Don't give up yet. He'll come around sooner or later." She smiled back gratefully before leaving.

XXXX
A few days later, James talked to Remus, but to no avail. Remus was being ridiculous, in Lily's opinion. Though, to give him some credit, at least he was no longer denying the fact that he's too dangerous for anyone, so that had to be some kind of progress.

A few weeks later, Remus and James were sent on a mission for the Order; they were to keep a look-out on a werewolf colony. Even though Lily knew they wouldn't be making contact with anyone in the colony, and that they would be back in twenty-four hours, Lily was still very worried. Lily knew that if she sat at home while they were gone, she'd only drive herself crazy, so she and Harry went over to the Burrow.

When they arrived, Molly was looked very flustered.Once Harry had gone off to find Ron,

Lily asked, "Are you alright, Molly?"

"Is it that obvious?" Lily smiled.

"I'm afraid so."Molly sighed and said,

"It's just that, well, do you remember how last year Bill said that he was seeing Fleur Delacour?"

"Yeah,"
"Well, two weeks ago, Bill proposed to her," Molly said flatly.

"You don't sound too thrilled about it."

"They're just so different, though! And they're rushing into this because You-Know-Who is back in the open. Everyone thinks that they could be dead tomorrow. I'm sure you remember how it was, Lily, couples were eloping left, right, and center."Lily grinned.

"Oh, I remember all right. James and I were one of many."Molly blushed slightly.

"Well, that was obviously different," she dismissed. "Bill just seems so young to be getting married."

"Molly, you only think he's too young because he's your son." Lily said softly. "He's twenty-five. By the time James and I were his age, we had escaped Voldemort-" Molly shuddered "three times, had Harry, survived yet another attack and helped bring about the end of a war."Molly was about to reply when Fleur came gliding down the stairs.

"Oh, 'ello Lele." she said as she spotted Lily.
"I 'ave just seen 'Arry, so I though you would be 'ere as well."

"It's good to see you again, Fleur."

XXXX
A few days after Harry's birthday, the Weasleys and the Potters went to Diagon Alley to get the kids' school supplies. Hagrid met them at the Leaky Cauldron for "extra security", he, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Once they met up again, they told Lily and James that they had seen Draco and his mother in Madam Malkin's. Once they had gotten home, Harry had told his parents that he, Ron, and Hermione had followed Draco into Knockturn Alley, how Draco wanted something fixed, threatened Borgin, and also said that he thought Draco was a Death Eater.

After Harry left, Lily stared at the floor thinking. As much as she hated to think that Voldemort would recruit a sixteen year old to be a Death Eater, she knew it was a possibility. After all, all of the information that the Order had was that Voldemort was very angry at Lucius. Not to mention, Voldemort was the same wizard who wanted to kill an infant because he might have posed a threat.

"What do you think?" she finally asked James.He shook his head. "I don't know."

"I think I'm going to see Narcissa."

"Are you kidding?" James asked, sounding shocked.

"No," she replied calmly.

"I can't talk you out of this, can I?"

"Not a chance."

Not looking very happy, James sighed and said, "If you're not back in an hour, I'm coming after you."Lily smiled and kissed him.

"I'll see you later."

XXXX
Lily was able to get into Malfoy Manor undetected. After searching through the first floor, she found Narcissa Malfoy alone in a drawing room.Narcissa heard the fast steps and turned around.

Utter shock came across her haughty, yet beautiful features when she spotted Lily and said,

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought we could talk." Lily said simply. Narcissa's haughty look returned as she said,

"What could I possibly have to say to you, Mudblood."Lily didn't even flinch.

"When you think about it, we do have a lot in common. She took a step closer.

"We both chose our sides at a very young age, and now our sons must suffer because of those choices."Narcissa's face became slightly alarmed.

"What do you know?" she said, barely above a whisper.

"I'm not that dense, you know. My guess is that your Master is very upset with Lucius. In fact, I'll bet you're quite glad that he is in Azkaban - at least he is not suffering from Voldemort's wrath. And now, to make Lucius pay for the incident at the Ministry, he has recruited your only son to serve him instead.Narcissa did not reply. She didn't have to.

"You don't have to stand by a decision you made all those years ago," Lily continued.

"We can protect you and Draco, and Lucius, when the time comes. You know as well as I do that I'm not telling you this as a friend; I'm even saying this to you as a woman. I'm telling you this as a mother....Just think about it."

Before Narcissa could respond, Lily Disapparated.

HaHaHa! Will I re-write Draco's fate? Or will it be the same "The boy who made all the wrong decisions for all the right things" ?? Read to find out!

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~Ananyaa.