DISCLAIMER: ALL HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and the respective publishing companies. I do own Jenn Parksen, Lori Wilson, and Monica Sinclair as well this twisted version of the plot. This is, of course, a simple Fan-Fiction that I have written in order to retain some semblance of sanity and dignity.

Chapter 23: A New Beginning

James was the first of the six to wake up. He looked around the room and for a few minutes couldn't figure out where he was. For a split second he thought they were back in the Room of Requirement but then everything came rushing back and he realized that they were in an old classroom up on the fifth floor. Climbing to his feet he took a moment to stretch out his back and shoulders before he walked slowly over to the walls and lit a few of the lights that hung there. As the soft glow spread out into the room, the others began to stir. Checking the time, James was surprised to discover that it was well after midnight and that they had slept through supper.

While the others stretched and worked out cramped muscles from having slept in the chairs, James went over to see if there was any food on the buffet, and was saddened to find that they were as empty as they had been after their lunch had been cleared away. At that moment James wished they were back in the Room of Requirement, for at least up there they had never gone hungry no matter what time of day it was.

"Any food Prongs old buddy?" Sirius queried as he wandered in the direction of the table. "I am so hungry I could eat an elephant!"

"Sorry, Pads, nothing here but nice shiny clean dishes. Don't reckon you want to try your teeth on any of those," James quipped with a sad smile.

Sirius pouted as he came to a stop beside James and stared with mournful longing at the empty plates. James gave him a quick sympathetic pat on the shoulder and then headed into their room so he could use the restroom and change his clothes. Lily and Jenn were walking side by side towards their room while Lori stood talking softly with Remus for a few moments before heading after them. Remus moved towards the buffet table and stood silently beside Sirius for a moment before he too went to change his clothes.

After ten minutes or so the other five began to appear one by one and all of them were a bit surprised to see Sirius still standing there with a look of dazed fascination as though he was trying to will food to appear on the empty platters that adorned the buffet table. The last one to come back out was James and when he caught sight of Sirius he walked over and gently took his arm and tried to pull him away from the food. When that failed to draw Sirius's attention away from the empty dishes James sighed and headed back to the chairs where everyone was sitting once more.

"We need to do something to get his mind off food," James murmured to the others as he approached them.

"I think we could all use a distraction," Remus replied as he glanced over to James.

"Why don't we go to the kitchens?" Sirius whined as he wandered over dejectedly and looked to James.

"Dumbledore told us not to leave," Lily replied sadly, as if she too wouldn't mind sneaking in some food.

"We have the cloak," Sirius retorted. "No one would ever know we'd snuck out.

"Moody can see through the cloak, Sirius," Jenn spoke in his general direction. "He will be wandering through the castle patrolling along with the other Aurors that are staying in the castle. Besides, Dumbledore is bound to have some magical means of knowing when the door is opened and whether it was opened from the inside or out. He would not what to chance anything further happening to us."

Sirius saddened at Jenn's logic, for he knew that she was right. Depressed now, Sirius slumped into the chair next to hers and hung his head in a puppyish fashion.

"Why don't we read?" Lori asked softly from where she sat.

Total silence met her suggestion. Lily looked as if she was about to fall over a huge cliff, while Remus and James looked thoughtful. Jenn's face closed up and Sirius looked as if he might cry but his mind was on food, not the book. As the silence dragged on Lori began to regret ever bringing up the book. She was just about to take back her suggestion when James spoke up.

"It would get our minds off of food," he softly whispered as he watched Lily's face.

Lori stood up and walked back into the girl's dorm and a few moments later returned carrying the book. Lily flinched visibly at the sight of the dark green cover. James walked over and held his hand out for the book, Lori handed it over without a word and everyone braced themselves for the shock of magic that they had been anticipating. When nothing happened James frowned down at the book and opened it up.

As he flipped through the pages he saw that every single one of them were blank. "Nothing." He whispered fearfully as he looked up to meet everyone else's eyes. "It's all blank."

Everyone exchanged nervous glances with each other except Jenn. She sat there thinking hard, after a minute or two she turned her sightless eyes in the direction she had last heard Lori's voice.

"Who touched the book first after the night of the battle in the forest?" Jenn asked softly.

"It was not where we left it in the Room of Requirement, so it would have to have been either Avery or those two thugs that always follow him," Lori replied slowly. "Why?"

"What if," Jenn began, "the book reflects how the future would be based on who held the knowledge of the book in their hands? What if, the book had fallen into the hands of Voldemort, and the reason that the book is blank is because in the hands of the Dark Lord Harry Potter doesn't exist. With the knowledge in the book, Voldemort could destroy you both before Harry could be conceived, let alone born."

A deathly silence settled onto those in the room as they contemplated the implications if Jenn was right. Lily went stark white as her eyes sought and found James for a brief moment before they fell onto the book that he held tightly in his hands.

"Maybe that's not the reason the book is blank though," Remus challenged suddenly. "What if it was wiped blank because when Avery touched it, it sought to protect the knowledge it held from those who would destroy the future."

"Then why wouldn't the words come back once we took the book back?" Sirius asked softly.

"Maybe it depends upon who holds the book," Jenn replied. "Maybe only one of us can affect the book with a touch." As she said this she turned and faced Lily's general direction. "It wasn't until you picked up the book that it changed the last time, Lily."

Lily shook her head frightfully as her eyes remained locked upon the green cover of the book. James stepped forward before he knelt beside Lily's chair. He didn't offer her the book; instead he took her hand in his and looked up into her eyes as they moved to meet his once more.

"Lily, no one will make you take the book this time. If you choose to have nothing to do with it, we will understand. But, if you should decide otherwise, we will be here. We will not leave you alone to face whatever the future holds."

"We could turn the book over to Dumbledore, if you would like," Lori added softly as she watched Lily's face.

Lily shook her head at this suggestion. In her heart, giving the book to Dumbledore would be admitting failure. Somehow, she knew that the knowledge was meant for her. She found the book, her touch triggered the last change in it, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the moment she touched the book it would reveal the knowledge that lay buried inside it.

Slowly she slipped to the floor onto her knees and faced James as he sat holding the book on the floor in front of her. Hesitantly she reached out towards him as he lifted the book to her, their eyes dancing with fear as they gazed into each others eyes.

"Don't let go," Lily whispered so softly that James barely heard them. Nodding he pushed the book closer as her hands closed on one end of the cover.

For a split second, nothing happened as they both held one end of the book. Lily let her eyes slip down in that time before she looked up to meet James's eyes once more. The moment she looked back into his eyes though, the magic of the book came swirling out of the book in an angry torrent.

Once more a screeching wind whipped through the room tearing at the faces of those who sat watching. Lori was thrown to the ground and the chairs nearest were pushed clear across the room with the force of the wind. Jenn screamed in terror as her chair tipped over backwards and rolled several times, only to crash into the table. Sirius threw himself towards her, only to be ripped away and flung into the wall near the Study Hall. Remus alone remained strangely untouched as the wind savaged the rest of those in the room.

In the center of the storm, Lily and James still held the book between them as a blue light seeped from the book. Like a fog it slipped from the pages and swirled around them, blocking out the room and everything in it. An eerie silence engulfed them as the misty light surrounded them.

An icy numbness began climbing up their fingers as they continued holding the book. Up their arms the coldness rushed moving through their bodies like lightening before it penetrated their hearts. At the same time a second light began to drip out of the book onto the floor. Like before, this second light was blood red in color and it pulsed as though it lived. Outwardly it crept, not towards the walls this time, but towards those who had been scattered about the room.

Outside the misty blue light Remus watched in horror as the bloody light touched each of those scattered about the floor. He stepped forward, as though he would pull them free from the light, but was blocked by an unknown force that held him firmly in place. Screaming in frustration he beat his fists against the invisible wall while he helplessly watched the others disappear in a wash of red.

Back inside the blue light the silence was broken; first by the wailing cry of a child in distress and then by a high pitched laugh that was horribly cold and familiar to those inside the light. As the laughter died down a new sound replaced it. A woman's voice that slowly grew in strength as words began to echo and swirl about the pair.

"Two hearts joined by the fates,
A bond of love births hope for the future,
Three sacrifice all they hold dear,
One left to suffer alone in the darkness.

Shadows in the heart will destroy,
Soundless are the cries of those lost,
Forgiveness brings hope for tomorrow,
Madness pushes the light away.

Sides have been chosen,
Lines drawn in the sand,
Time runs shorter and years pass,
The hope of the future is in your hands."

As the last of the words died the light surrounding them faded into nothingness. James and Lily faced each other with tears burning in their eyes as the words of the prophecy echoed around them. It was several minutes before they noticed the sound of another in the room. James regretfully tore his eyes from Lily's to look upon the crumpled form of Remus sobbing loudly only a few feet away from them.

Lily closed her eyes when released from James' gaze and sagged visibly as she struggled to understand what had happened. She opened them slowly and peered out at those who lay unmoving against the far wall off the room.

"No," she whispered fearfully as none of them moved.

James whipped his heard around at the sound of Lily's voice and followed her eyes until he saw the crumpled forms of the others. Jerking to his feet he stumbled over to Sirius and carefully turned him over. Searching frantically he tried to find a pulse, praying that his friend was alright.

Lily began crawling towards Jenn and Lori. Her strength failing her as her fears overwhelmed her. As she collapsed to the floor the door to the room burst open with a thundering crash. Lily saw three shadows in the dim light of the hall for a brief instant before she blacked out from the ordeal.

James looked up tearfully from where he was frantically trying to wake Sirius; fear was etched in every line of his face.

***THE END***

AN: Well, it's finally over… It's taken me far longer to get everything edited than I thought it would but I'm glad it is finally done. I wish I had felt confident that these past six or so chapters had been improved but I'm afraid all I did was fix some spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes instead of altering the story-line as much as I originally intended and part of that was because I kind of got burnt out on this story and part because I was so caught up in the other stories that I've been trying to write. I may come back at some point and make changes to this story once I feel I can give it the attention it needs but in the mean time I'll leave it where it is.

Part three will be posted once I have at least a third of the chapters cleaned up. I don't have a target date to give you right now though because I've got too many projects on the burner right now and would really rather not start something new until I get a few of them finished. If you are interested in seeing what I am working on, you can view my profile where I have my agenda for the month posted towards the bottom.

My thanks to everyone who stuck with me during the sporadic updates over the last handful of chapters. - Jenn