"Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love."

— Rainer Maria Rilke

Fairytales are at the core of our literary past, but people often scorn them. "Unreal", they say. "That's not what the real world is like." The real world, what is that? I see fairytales in my world. How is my world any more real than theirs?

Maybe they don't like fairytales because they don't want to be disappointed. "Strong" women say to themselves, "I don't need a knight in shining armor to come carry me away. I will save myself." These people are wrong. You can't save yourself, nobody can. Fairytales are half right; every girl needs someone to come sweep them off their feet. However, fairytales are missing half the story. It's not just the boy who saves the girl, the girl saves the boy too. They save each other.

This is the story of a boy and a girl who need to be saved more than they know, and this is the story of how they do it. Together.

"Shove off, Potter." I said, irritated. "I don't need this right now. Not now." I sighed. Especially not now, not after what had just happened. I didn't want to fight back with him, the usually anger that popped up at his sight was gone. As much as he teased me, he could never make me as mad as the previous hour had. Not that I didn't hate him, like usual. I wasn't growing soft like Alice says. But I never hated him this much, not this rage that filled every part of my body, and refused to be vanquished. Not even Potter could make me angry right now. For the first time in my life, he was second on the list of people I hate.

"Not now, you say. But maybe later…" he said with a sickening face. "I think after all this time I deserve a smooch."

"I think after all this time you deserve a slap across the face." I said, turning and slamming my hand into the side of his head. While he was in a daze, I ran off down the corridor. There was a girl bathroom around the corner, a place James wouldn't follow me. Hopefully.

The bathroom was empty, everyone was still in the Great Hall, dinner had only just started. But I didn't feel like eating. Not after seeing Severus. Not after the things he had said to me, with his "friends" encouraging him. Friends, I scoffed. Bosses, more like it. No good, all of them.

There had been a part of me that had hoped Severus would have valued our friendship a little more. After the conversation from the night previously, I thought he felt sorry for what he said. I might have forgiven him for calling me mudblood, but not for associating, even sympathizing with the people who caused such harm and destruction. Not after I told him so many times how I felt about it. I was never going to forgive him.

Sev had been my best friend, my first friend, in the wizarding world. I had been the first person to reach out to him, after living his horrid life with his family. We had always been there for each other. Why didn't he want to escape that dark world for a lighter one? Why did instead of righting his families mistakes, he go make his own? It made no sense to me. Now as I looked at my closest friend, I was filled with hatred and disgust where their used to be admiration and comradery.

I slipped down onto the floor, and put my head in my hands. I never, ever thought I would hate anyone as much as I hated James Potter. But things, as today had shown me, were subject to change. Sev, poor little Sev, the target of all of James' torturing, was becoming more then just a harmless boy with some dark interests, he was becoming a Death Eater.

"Well mate, back to the Great Hall, then?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah." James said. "Sure, in a minute."

"Mate, she isn't coming out of there anytime soon." Sirius said, "and you can't go in there after her. Not after last time."

"I know." But James knew there was something wrong here. As much as he had teased her before, she had never let down her guard around him. She was always tough Lily, strong Lily, not going to let you touch me Lily. But here, she had barely retorted back at him. She slapped him, yeah. She had done that plenty before. But the slap hadn't even seemed like it had been intended at him. The usually angry fervor in her eyes was gone, replaced by something else, something hopeless. He had never seen that in her before. If there was something wrong with his Lily, he was going to find out what it was.

"You coming or what?" Sirius had already started down the corridor before he had realized James wasn't following him.

"Nah," James said, resuming his usual swagger. "I've got a stash of Honeydukes up in my room. And I have a letter from my parents I have to respond to. " This was true, and James had only just remembered it. Now he had two things to worry about.

James could see Sirius' eyes falter. "Really? They're back from the mission? Do you need me to come up with you?" Even Sirius, who everyone thought to be the least sensitive of the marauders, knew when the subject of one of their family comes up, it's like walking on eggshells.

"No, I wanna be by myself, you know?" He knew for a fact Sirius did know. It had only been a few weeks ago, when his last letter from his parents arrived, that Sirius had spent the entire afternoon alone in the dormitory, when he could have been out snogging girls.

"Yeah." He said. "See you, Prongs."

"Yeah, seeyah Padfoot."

James felt heavy, his legs like lead. There was always things going wrong for him, but when Lily, perfect Lily was in trouble, things must be bad. Sixth year, the Mauruders had decided, was going to be party year. It was turning into a bit more than that.