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This fic works on the understanding that Lily and the marauders settled their differences and became sort-of friends in their sixth year. This has been written years, so may seem a little juvenile (lol we're talking 2007 here) …but I just rediscovered my favorite fandom and am posting it, slightly 'revised'.

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Scanning the Marauders Map in the dimly lit dorm room James's squinting eyes came upon something he didn't expect to see, and what stung him greatly. In a classroom, just off the fifth floor corridor, was his best friend and the girl he'd had a crush on since...well since he knew girls existed.

Dropping the map he all but ran out of the dormitory, leaving a very curious Remus behind, sat on his bed with half a chocolate frog hanging from his mouth.

'What the hell's going on? Why would they be in a classroom alone together? If he's doing anything I'll kill him.'

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Meanwhile...

"Please Sirius, can't you just heal them?"

"No. Not this time. It's not right what he does to you!" Sirius shook his head and his long soot-black hair rustled around his stony face.

Lily's face, however, was openly pleading, her eyes wide and full of tears "Please! I can't go to Madame Pomfrey again."

"If I heal them now I'll be healing them for you all next year too, and this can't go on! Tell someone Lily please."

Her hair shook now, though it shone brilliant reds and coppers. "No one will understand." her voice sounded dejected.

"I don't understand!" He was getting frustrated now. Every time she came back from a holiday it was the same, even now near the end of sixth year, and he saw no way of changing that unless she sought help from someone.

"Please Sirius, he doesn't mean it."

"Humph!"

"No, he doesn't!" Her hands shook as she tried to reason with him. "He loves me, he does. It's just when he drinks he..."

"Hit's you!" finished Sirius angrily. "Lily, when he drinks he hit's you! Now that isn't the behavior of someone who loves you! Trust me!"

"But he's my dad!"

Sirius lost his temper and grabbed her elbow exposing her thin pale arm. "If he loved you he wouldn't do this to you Lily!" The bruises were clearly visible, purple and angry looking.

Finally the tears came but she stood firm. Shaking her hair once again she raised her chin up to his and said, "He does. It's not his fault it's the drink! I thought you understood? You know what its like not to have a perfect life!"

Sirius would have replied if it weren't for catching sight of something on her neck that had been hidden by her hair. "Lily, what's that?"

She could see where his eyes lay and moved away from him quickly. "Nothing."

"That was not nothing, Lily! Is there something on your neck?" he backed her into the wall and lifted her sheet of thick red hair to see finger shaped bruises around the side of her neck; one for each finger tip. "Wah...?" He moved away and could feel the anger bubbling in his chest. Striding back into the middle of the classroom he nearly lost control. "He need's killing! He needs murdering! Someone should do this to him and see how he likes it!" His fist smashed onto a desk and made Lily jump. "He grabbed you by the neck, Lily! By-the-neck!"

Her tears dropped from her eyes with no resistance. "It was my fault, I..."

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!"

This shut her up and she wiped at her face quickly, trying to hold back sobs.

"I can't believe you still think you deserve this! After all this time! You're supposed to be smart!"

Suddenly the door opened and in strode James looking mutinous. "What's going on!" he declared loudly, staring at Sirius and then looking over to Lily. His stern expression faltered when he saw she'd been crying.

"Show him your neck!" said Sirius quickly, pointing an angry finger at a protesting Lily. "Show him! Show him what's going on!"

"No! Sirius!" she pleaded. Of all the people she didn't want to find out and in comes James Potter. She tried to straighten her expression as she turned to him "It's nothing, really Potter, Black's just being stupid."

"Me! ME?! Look at her neck Prongs! Look at her neck and her arms and tell me who's being stupid!" he almost shoved a very confused looking James towards her.

As Lily kept her eyes on the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks, James leaned closer and scanned her neck. Suddenly his eyes grew wide with realization of what he was seeing. "Who did this!? WHO DID THIS!? I'LL MURDER THEM!!"

"James..." she could hardly talk when she saw the fierceness in his eyes and his name came out as a whisper.

"I'M GONNA MURDER THEM!! WHOEVER TOUCHED YOU I'LL MAKE SURE THEY NEVER DO IT AGAIN!" He was livid.

"James, please..."

"It was her dad!" said Sirius, looking a little thankful to have someone else in the room who felt the same as he did.

"Your dad?!" asked James, his eye's still on her, scanning up her arms as she tugged her jumper down to her wrists.

"He doesn't mean it."

"Oh here we go! 'He doesn't mean it. He loves me.' Lily it's wrong!" Sirius sounded scathing and cold.

"But he does love me..." she all but whispered.

James ran both hands through his hair forcefully. Of all the things he had been expecting to come across, this was not it. "How long has this been going on?"

"Years." answered Sirius, even though the question wasn't directed at him.

James spun round. "Have you known about it for years?!" his tone was harsh again.

Sirius seemed to recognize it. "Look, at first it was just some bruising she wanted me to heal, said she'd fallen into a suit of armor. Then it was a black eye, told me a snowball had hit her in the face at Christmas...I only worked out she was being hurt on purpose after she came back from last Christmas break with black and blue legs. I've been trying to get her to go tell someone."

Reaching out suddenly and grabbing her by the wrist James went to tug her to the door. "Come on."

"James, no! Where are you going?" she tried to struggle away from him.

"We're going to tell someone right now!"

"NO!" she wrenched her arm from his grip and backed against the wall again.

He turned and watched her through angry eyes "Lily Evans, we're telling someone! If you don't do it, I will!"

"No you won't James Potter!" she tried to sound strong though her voice shook with emotion. "You dare tell a living soul and I swear I'll never talk to you ever again and that's a promise! I'll make your life hell if you say a word to anyone!"

"But you've got to…"

"No I haven't! And I won't!" maybe she would have looked comical if the situation wasn't so serious.

The door opened once more and the friendly face of Remus Lupin appeared with a small smile on his lips. "Hello. What's going on here?"

Sirius answered with a flat voice. "Close the door Moony."

Remus did as he was told and looked around.

"Oh great! Yeah, this is fantastic! Let's let all the chuffing marauders know! Why not?! Where's Peter? He'll feel left out!" Lily was flailing her arms around, a little thankful to be feeling something other than hurt.

"What the..." but Remus didn't finish. Lily sat quietly, tears leaking from her eyes every so often as Sirius brought Remus up to speed with what was happening. With obvious similarity to his friends, Remus too became angry once he'd seen the damage Lily had suffered at the hands of her drunken father. He too wanted to tell a teacher and get her to the hospital wing but she kicked up a stink to which he finally relented.

"You can't go back there though Lily." Remus whispered as he sat next to her, stroking her back soothingly. "Where will you go this summer?"

She eyed him with confusion. "Of course I'm going back there for summer."

"No chance!" James had been silent for a while, listening to Lily's protests and reasoning and trying to keep his anger from bursting from him. Even at seventeen he often found it hard to control his temper if it was something he felt strongly about.

"It's not you're decision." muttered Lily, her eyes defiantly on his.

He pleaded now "But Lily what if he does it again? What if it's worse next time?"

"It won't be, he's promised me."

Sirius snorted but James ignored him. "Lily I can't sit by and watch you go back, knowing you're in danger."

She laughed a little wryly. "You make it sound like he's a death eater or something. Trust me, he was so ashamed when he did this," She motioned towards her neck. "And I'm sure he'll not do anything again. He's getting help."

James rubbed his tired eyes with his hands. Really this was the first night back from Easter break and he was supposed to be getting rest after running around for two weeks with Sirius till all hours of the morning. Whilst Sirius had been bringing Remus up to speed with things, he had thought up a plan though he wasn't sure how agreeable she would be to it. He knelt in front of her now and looked into her pale face. "Ok, ok...promise me something."

"What?" she asked cautiously, a little uncomfortable under his stony gaze.

"Promise me that if something like this happens during summer...no matter how small...you'll come to my house."

She looked at him a little gone out. "Excuse me?"

James continued, "Promise you'll come to my house. You know where it is, you and Mary came that once, even if you only made it to the front door before storming off. Just promise you'll get out of his way and show up at mine. No matter what time of the day or night! Promise me that. Promise me that and I won't go and tell McGonagall."

She frowned at him but nodded nevertheless. "I promise."

He nodded and stood, letting out a long sigh. "You're probably better off getting Remus to heal your bruises rather than Padfoot...Moony's the best at that sort of thing."

Remus gave her a small smile as she rolled up her sleeves to reveal the extent of her injuries; his smile quickly faded but he healed her anyway.

"Thank you Remus." she said in a small voice, "I don't know what it is about healing charms, I can never do them..."

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Thank you for taking the time to read! Could I be cheeky and ask you to take a few more moments to review? Update won't be too far away… x