Lily understood the anger and frustration all too well. She was still working through it herself. "When I first asked him about it, he said that it was about you four, the Marauders, four stupid boys who did stupid things. Which means that when he was making his decision, he didn't even consider Harry and I. And we know Remus wasn't around, so it was probably more about you and Sirius."
If his fingers wrapping around hers was just a little too light, Lily wasn't going to complain. She assumed this was James' way of grounding himself against his growing hurt and annoyance.
"I also asked why he didn't tell anyone, and his reasoning was that nobody had the resources to keep his family safe. He pointed out that Dumbledore did nothing to protect the Longbottoms despite their child possibly being the one in the prophecy, calling us the 'Golden Couple'..." She leaned in closer to rest her forehead against his for a moment to help them both calm down a little.
While she was still torn on how to treat Peter after everything, it was obvious that this was bothering James far more than it was her. "I told him that I can empathize with him wanting to do whatever he could to keep his family safe, and that if we knew we would have done what we could to help, but I don't think he believed me."
Lily felt terrible, not wanting to cause her love more distress. "You can be, I agree," she responded honestly. "He also told me that he never even considered talking to me, because in his mind it was the Marauders, and Lily. Which made me feel like a right idiot for thinking that he and I were friends."
And then there was the unintended side effect of that. "His words had me questioning whether I was simply tolerated because I was your girlfriend, then wife, or if Sirius felt the same way Peter did. I mean, Remus and I knew each other before you and I got together, but I know that Sirius wasn't thrilled with my returning your interest."