The adrenalin bumping in her blood made everything strangely clear but at the same time, her surroundings were also mashed up together in a perfect mix of confusion and haste.

Was James alright? His terrifying scream still echoed in her ears.

What about Harry? Could she straight up leave, seek sanctuary somewhere - anywhere, with her little boy wrapped up in her arms, leaving her husband? Apparating seemed to be a good idea, but her bravery called to defend the possibility of safing her whole, albeit small, family. James needed her - Harry needed her!

The seconds rushed by although they appeared to be agonizing hours in disguise. How should she handle this? Could she even accomplish anything? 'Brave, headstrong and stubborn, I see.', the distant voice of the Sorting Hat rang in her mind, 'There is just one place for you.

Gryffindor!'

Lily could feel the menacing presence before she could see him. Did that mean James failed her, was Dumbledore's warning for naught, had Peter stumbled in keeping their secret? Far away she heard a voice that ordered her to step aside but no matter how one approaches such a demand she would stand her ground and fight. That was the moment she realised that the most important question hasn't been asked yet. Where did she leave her godforsaken wand?

...

Green light was all she could remember next and a sudden rush of panic flew over her whole body. "Harry!", a terrifying scream, her own she realised, engulfed her while she hectically scanned her surroundings, "Harry!" Again and again she called after her baby boy with no answer in sight. All around there was darkness.

When some strangely familiar mumbling voices were heard in the background, Lily felt soft shades of warm orange light touch her sweat stained skin and she was suddenly looking straight into the questioning eyes of Mary MacDonald.

"Lily?", her voice was soft, warm and a little confused, "Are- are you alright?"

When no answer was given, another worried voice joined that of her friend: "Should we maybe take her to the hospital wing?"

"Is she alright? She doesn't look so good."

"I don't know. Is she ill?"

"Maybe a nightmare? Should I wake up a prefect?"

While others were hurriedly conversing in the background, Lily's gaze was still frozen on Mary's slightly sleepy looking eyes. The features seemed younger and despite the obviously tired undertone strangely soothing. There was something familiar about them, about the whole scenery in fact. But Lily's panic filled mind was still caught in the middle of a devastating storm of fear and confusion. At least there were no more screams and more importantly there was also no Dark Lord lurking behind her. In fact no malice could be sensed at all, only the odd smell of parchment, girl's perfume and clean feather beds. A warm, homely feeling of safety and –

She shifted her head to examine the red curtains near her – Hogwarts?

"M-mary?", puzzled and worn-out she looked back at the petite girl dressed in frilly nightclothes and came to only one conclusion, "Am I dead?"

A slight pause in the girl's breathing was the only indication her question seemed to have registered, before Mary finally answered: "No, silly. It was only a nightmare. It's ok." With a nod of her head she told the others to go back to sleep, although they stopped putting on their robes and shoes, the situation was not yet resolved. "Should I wake up somebody, Mary?", Emma Boyce helplessly stood in the middle of the dorm, exchanging worried glances between the the other two girls, "Maybe McGonagall?"

"No, it's ok. I handle this. Lily just needs some rest. And so do you, you can go back to sleep. No worries." It was amazing how easily Mary could de-escalate a situation like this. Her gentle voice was oddly soothing and commanding at the same time that it put everybody at ease. Even Lily seemed to be amazed how much this – whatever she encountered after facing You-know-who reminded her of the real Mary.

The commotion slowly died down but the warm orange lights still remained.

"Lily", the voice of her friend reached her ears, "Whatever it was, it was only a dream. You gave us such a fright when you started screaming, but its ok. If you want you can talk about it."

The redhead only shook her head, still amazed that whatever this was, it seemed real and false all at once. "I", she started, "I need to find Harry. He- he's only a boy. What if he is dead?"

Mary had sat down on the edge of what appeared to be Lily's bed and started to caress her back with calm and strong strokes of her hand, "Lily, it's ok. I'm here. You can tell me. No one is dead. You are ok."

"B-but what about Harry?", her concern was beginning to resurface after the last silent minutes and the spiral of fear engulfed her once more, "I need to… I … he, he needs me. He's in danger. I need to fight. I need.. I .. Where is my wand. I need my wand- otherwise I can't help. I'm so stupid, I left it one the table… I need to … How can I be so stupid. I… I… my wand.."

During her hectic mumbling, Mary felt that the situation slipped out of her control and she did the only thing she could think of. With purposeful determination she snatched the wooden stick that lay on top of Lily's school uniform and pushed it into the palm of her friend, "Lily, It's ok. Your wand is right here. Everything's fine, see?"

The moment her fingers gripped the magic item, Lily's eyes lost focus, her weird rambling stopped, and the world became black once more.

...

AN: I always wondered why Lily didn't have her wand at hand, to me it just seemed kind of stupid really but that's what I like about her. She isn't perfect and I want to portray her that way. Without any character bashing, so in this story there will be no good and/or bad guy. Everybody is grey, flawed but has their share of good qualities as well. I know this theme has been done to death but sometimes I'm a little sad there aren't more 'second chance' type of stories. I just love them. If you noticed agonizing mistakes in spelling, grammar, etc. please tell me (I'm no native speaker but trying to do my best and have fun at the same time). Till next time.