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Lily was still at the Quidditch pitch, waiting for Alexandra, when suddenly, James Potter himself came up to her. Lily's eyes widened in surprise. "Hey."

"Lily, can you come with me?" James asked with a small smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm waiting for Alexandra." Lily smiled awkwardly though she herself was feeling hurt since Alexandra had made her wait for so long.

"It was Alexandra who asked me to pick you up. She's in the hospital wing." James said seriously.

Lily's face fell in worry, her heart dropping. "Why? What happened to her?"

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In the hospital wing, Alexandra was sitting beside Ria's bed. Ria was smiling at her weakly, too pale for Alexandra's liking. She felt guilt, sadness and hurt at everything she had learned. If only she listened...

"It was Lucius Malfoy and his Slytherin gang." Ria coughed out, dark blood falling on the white sheets. "This was why I broke up with you last year. James saw me being attacked and he protected me. That's why we started dating. We didn't want to break your relationship with your family. James is still in love with Lily, a-and I'm still in love with you."

Alexandra looked at her with mixed emotions at that. Why was it the only thing she needed to hear a few months ago was something she didn't want to hear now?

"I know you love Lily, Alexandra." Ria squeezed her hand. "But you must be careful. They might be doing the same to Lily as well. Protect her, Alexandra. Protect her." 

Alexandra sighed shakily before nodding. She placed one last kiss on Ria's forehead and smiled softly. Lily Ria Elton was her first love. That would never change, but she had one true love and that wasn't Ria. It was her Lily. Lily Marie Evans. And she knew just what she needed to do.

Outside the hospital wing, Lily looked at James in shock after hearing everything. From what the Slytherins had done to Ria to what they did to protect Alexandra and Lucius' relationship, it was too much for Lily to take. And she felt sad at the circumstances of what happened to them.

"We were both still deeply in love with you two." James smiled sadly and squeezed Lily's hand. "We tried finding a cure for Ria, and no matter how much it hurt us seeing you two together, we made our choices. And we knew this was what we chose. We deserved every bit of hurt."

"James..." That was the only thing Lily could say because she didn't know what to tell him. All she knew was she felt sorry for everything. James smiled genuinely at her and nodded, knowing that it was not him she loved. It was Mudfur in Lily's heart.

The door to the hospital wing suddenly opened, and Alexandra stood there looking at the two. She smiled weakly at Lily and nodded before turning to James. She felt like an idiot. How could she have not noticed that there was something bad happening to Lily and to Ria? How could she have been so blind? And to think that it was her brother who did that.

"Can I talk to you?" Alexandra spoke quietly. James hesitated before nodding. Lily nodded at the both of them before going into the hospital wing, squeezing Alexandra's hand on the way. Silence fell upon the two Marauders as they stared at each other.

"Lily?" Ria said weakly when she noticed the Prefect come into the hospital wing.

Lily smiled back at her and sat down. "Hey."

"We'll find a cure. Together." Ria squeezed Lily's hand and blinked back her tears. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry this happened to you. To us. I know you and Alexandra are happy so before I die, we have to cure you, okay?"

Lily let her tears fall and smiled at Ria. "You're not going to die. We'll figure it out."

"Take care of her, Lily." Ria said softly. "I know I hurt her. I loved her. I still love her. But only you can make her happy." Lily couldn't hold in her sobs anymore as she hugged Ria. Ria let her tears fall silently, hugging Lily back just as tight. It's not only their name they had in common, but also their love for Alexandra. The difference was Alexandra only loved one of them, and that Lily was never leaving Alexandra. No matter what.

"Mudfur – Prongs?" Sirius, Remus and Peter had just arrived at the hospital wing and looked at the two Marauders in front of them with surprise, seeing how they were staring at each other. Then, James looked around him and let his tears fall. The hardest part about what happened between them was losing his friends. He knew it was his fault because he kept secrets from them, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

Alexandra hugged James tight and let her own tears fall. She missed her best friend. Honestly, losing James felt like losing a part of herself. It hurt her even more than losing Ria. The Marauders weren't just a group of pranksters or a group of friends. They were a family. More of a family than the Malfoys could ever be.

Sirius, Remus and Peter joined the hug though a bit confused, but seeing how Alexandra and James were now good made them feel complete as well. They were finally complete. The Marauders were back. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Mudfur were back. And they would never be broken up again.

They finally pulled away and Alexandra and James explained what happened, leading to a dramatic crying mess in Sirius, Remus who was trying to hold his tears back but failing to do so and Peter who was in between laughing at Sirius and crying for what happened.

"Hey, I love you guys." Alexandra suddenly said with a soft smile, making the four boys look at her in slight confusion. She just had to get it out. She knew what she had to do, and she couldn't just go like that. Not without telling them that.

"Mudfur?" James asked in worry. "What are –"

"I just missed you, Prongs." Alexandra grinned at them and hugged them once more, blinking her tears away. She was going to miss them. This decision she was about to make was going to break her and everything she was. But it was what she needed to do.

The doors to the hospital wing opened, making the Marauders pull away from each other. Lily looked at them with a soft smile. "I'm glad you're fine."

Alexandra's expression faltered before she smiled at Lily. "Lily, can I talk to you?"

"Sure." Lily said unsurely and the Marauders nodded at each other before going into the hospital wing.

Alexandra took Lily's hands and smiled softly at her. "I love you. And I'm sorry."

Lily looked at her in confusion. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I'm going to have to break our promise." Alexandra let go of her hands and turned away from her. "I'm sorry." She started walking away from Lily and let her tears fall. Lily stood there, frozen, with Alexandra's words ringing in her head. She snapped back to her senses and chased after the Marauder.

"Xandra, no." Lily hugged Alexandra and buried her chest into Alexandra's back, her tears wetting Alexandra's shirt. "No. You can't do this to us."

"James... James loves you." Alexandra's voice cracked.

"No. No, you're the one I love." Lily cried out and shook her head.

"He's waiting for you." Alexandra tried getting out of Lily's grip but Lily just tightened her hold on her.

"Don't you love me anymore?" Lily whispered brokenly, not understanding why Alexandra was suddenly saying this. What could have happened to make Alexandra say this? They were just fine a while ago. So, why?

"Damn it." Alexandra turned around to face Lily, her tears running down her face. "I love you so much. So much. But I can't do this anymore."

"I don't understand." Lily wiped away her tears. "You promised me –"

Alexandra shushed her and smiled weakly. "There are things I need to do. And I can't do them with you by my side. To wish for an us is to wish for our end. We're not meant to be together, Lily."

"I love you." Lily whispered to her. She didn't understand. She felt hurt and broken, and she hoped those three little words were enough to make Alexandra take everything back and change her mind. She hoped she was enough.

"I'm complete." Alexandra whispered back. It hurt her to make Lily cry like this, but one day, Lily would understand. She was doing this for Lily's good. She was doing this to save the Wizarding World.

"Thank you for the four months, three days, eight hours and two minutes of love that I will cherish for the rest of my life." Alexandra wiped away Lily's tears. She hugged Lily tight, the two of them sobbing hard. One was confused, one was conflicted.

But one thing was sure. They still loved each other. Alexandra kissed Lily on the forehead and walked away, leaving two broken hearts and an unfinished story.

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