A/N: I wanted to post this little ficlet that I wrote when I was bored and looking for muse. It was originally found on my tumblr - riverssongs.

Lily was sitting in the common room reading the latest paper of Marlene's. It was complete rubbish, and she knew that it was going to be a long process to get her friend to a stage where it was acceptable to hand in. It was like the girl hadn't gone to classes in three years, her paper was so far off the mark. Lily shook her head, some of her red hair falling out of her braid as she tried to nicely edit her friend's awful paper.

Giving a sigh of frustration Lily decided that she would just have to take a break. Placing the paper on the table in front of her she stood up to take a walk to the kitchens. Moving out of the common rooms and down the stairs she drifted through thoughts of charms and potions, of papers and readings. She didn't notice as she almost ran right into Sirius Black who was holding a Slytherin up by the collar.

"Where did they go, Avery!" Sirius yelled at the boy. The slytherin, probably a couple years younger than they were looked at him scared. "Tell me where they took him, do you want him to get hurt? Do you want him to get hurt and for it all to be your fault?"

The boy shook his head. He was terrified, that much Lily could tell. "Sirius, put him down right now! What do you think you're doing scaring a kid like that?"

Sirius dropped him roughly and looked over at Lily. The anger in his eyes was obvious, his kind grey eyes were now piercing her. "They took him," was all he said.

Avery ran off, heading down the stairs towards the dungeons at an alarming pace. Sirius considered going after the boy, but knew that the chances that the kid would tell Sirius about where his older brother and his friends went was slim.

"Who took who?" Lily asked confused.

"The slytherins took James."

"They took James?" Lily asked for clarification. Things had been escalating around the castle, and Lily knew that some of the older slytherin students had been getting themselves involved in the movement that called themselves the death eaters. She worried about Severus, who often was seen with the boys that were making it known where they stood on the blood purity issue. "Why were you trying to shake it out of that boy?"

"Because the last I heard from James he was going to have a little talk with that runt's brother. Who had decided to hex a hufflepuff into saying anything that came to her head. Which included telling the entire NEWT level Care of Magical Creatures class about her vivid sex dreams."

Now that sounded like something the Marauders would do to someone they didn't like. The slytherins were getting out of control, they were trying to make Hogwarts a living hell for anyone that was born from muggle parents and now were extending their hatred to wizards who believed in equality. Lily was concerned now, knowing that the eldest Avery was capable of a lot of cruelty.

"Where's that thing of yours, the one that tells you where people are?" Lily asked. "And don't pretend like you don't know what I am talking about, I know that you have something like that, you lot have an uncanny ability to find people."

Sirius frowned. "James had it. He was checking on someone… Well I guess that doesn't matter. I don't have it, so that's why I was about to force that kid to tell me."

Lily shook her head. This was really bad. "Okay, where would you think they would go with him? I would guess somewhere in the dungeons."

"I think I know a place," Sirius said confidently. He started to run down to the dungeons, sure that Lily would follow after him.

Lily followed him, having trouble keeping up with the pace. She knew that she should have listened to Mary and started jogging with the girl in the mornings, but she just hated waking up. Now she knows it would come in handy when things with the oncoming war just beginning. She would need to know how to run. Racing after him she followed as he took turns into a part of the dungeon that she had never been in before. It was a rarely used corridor and the stones looked as though they would crumble at any moment. Finally Sirius slowed down and Lily stopped, placing her hands on her knees and taking deep breaths.

"Wow Evans, you need to work out," Sirius said as he turned to face her.

Lily raised an eyebrow, not amused by his comment. "Yeah I know, thanks," she replied. "Now where the hell are we?"

Sirius looked around before giving his answer. "Old part of the dungeons. Used to be a classroom wing before they added the east wing on the third floor. Haven't you read Hogwarts, a history?"

"No, but I am surprised you have. Why do you think he'd be down here?"

"It's close to the Slytherin common room, it's generally abandoned… and one of these rooms used to hold detentions. Back when detentions were more… physical than they are now," Sirius explained.

Lily nodded and started to check the doors along with Sirius. They passed empty classroom after empty classroom before they started to hear a groan. Lily's head shot up as she heard the low moan and raced towards the noise. Sirius followed her, eventually getting in front of her, blocking the door.

"James would kill me if I let you go in there first," he told her. He cracked open the door and peered inside. "Okay, we're good."

Sirius opened the door wider and walked in. Lily followed behind to see that the room was covered with whips and small batons and bats. Corporal punishment tools. In the center of the room, shackled by his ankles, lied James. He was curled up in the fetal position wheezing, struggling for breath. "You okay mate?" Sirius asked.

"Never… better…" James spit out. Lily noticed a tooth and blood came out with it. She ran to him and crouched down to look at him. He was battered, and that was an understatement.

"Oh James…" she sighed, putting a hand in his messy hair. His face was bloody, a gash cut just below his eyebrow and his other eye was black and blue. "James we have to get you to the hospital wing."

James lifted up his face just enough to look into her green eyes. He saw the tears running down her face and he gave a slight smile. "You found me, Ginger."

"Yes, yes I did," she said in reply, wrapping an arm around him as Sirius lifted him up.

"You really do care about me, don't you Tulip?"

Lily shook her head, tears still streaming down her face. Even when he was bruised and broken he was still trying to hit on her. "I guess I do, you idiot."