It was late; the corridors were darkening ever more by the second. Lily was not concerned however as she moved back towards the Gryffindor common room, she had stayed with Professor Slughorn, revising one of the potions they were studying. It was nearly silent in the castle; the only sound she could hear was that of her own footsteps.
She rounded the corner towards the stairway leading to the entrance hall, when from behind the shadows appeared three large figures.
She did not know what hit her – quite literally. Pain flooded the side of her face, as she was sent flying backwards, until her back slammed against the far wall. Tears blurred her vision as she slid to the floor; she wanted to know who…
"Look at her, pathetic mudblood!" A voice snarled at her, it was one she vaguely recognised, often followed closely with another equally spine chilling voice.
"Is she crying?" Another voice drawled mockingly, there was no mistaking this as she saw a black and white blur before her through the tears. Lucius Malfoy.
She felt something hard collide against her stomach as she lay there, it forced the air from her lungs, she felt a sharpness as the object retreated. Something wet and heavy almost landed against her face after a hawking noise, there was no need to enquire what it was.
"Listen to me you pathetic, disgusting mudblood, you do not belong here," His voice was sharp, there was no hiding the threat in his words. "Things will get worse for you, do us all a favour, and die."
"Lily, please, just let me take you to the hospital wing!" Sophie stressed as she sat beside the shivering redhead, it had been such a shock to find her in this state, her brother had called her when no one else had been around.
"No." Her words were firm, weakened by the hiss of pain she let out as Will muttered another spell, the cracking noise letting her know that finally she was healed. "Thank you for helping me, but I don't want to deal with Madame Pomfrey, and the questions they'd ask."
"Lily, someone beat you up, we can do something about that!" Will half yelled at the eleven year old, tempted to simply walk away to the Headmasters Office, but he was already held to one promise.
He'd been searching the corridors for anyone who might have been out after hours, he was on the second floor near to Moaning Myrtles bathroom when he had heard running behind him, he turned and saw the creepy Slytherin kid who watched Lily constantly, he paused only to catch he breath before telling Will that Lily was in trouble in the dungeons, not far from the potions classroom, but as Will ran towards the dungeons, the boy pleaded with him not to tell a soul that he had talked to him. There was no time to argue.
"You need to realise Lily that this type of behaviour can't go unpunished," Will told her, he was angry with himself for being too late, by the time he had arrived she was alone and crying in the corridor, he had felt a sense of real guilt, misplaced perhaps, but still. "It's not right, it never will be, and for these idiots to think they've gotten away with it…"
"Will, please, just- just drop it, please," She stretched her arms up, content at last that she was fixed before locking her eyes on will, trapping him in her emerald stare. "Thank you for your help, but that is all."
Sophie looked at her brother, he seemed taken aback by her attitude, Lily had always been for the time he knew her a sweet little girl, but it was clear she had some of the usual Gryffindor bad attitude. He looked at Sophie before shrugging his shoulders, there really wasn't much else he could do.
Sophia looked at the little girl beside her, stubborn, of course she was.
"Will you let me know if it starts to hurt, it shouldn't now, but just in case," Sophie said finally, Lily nodded before getting up and walking to the girls dorms without another word. "Who found her?"
"That kid, Severus Snape? Yeah, he came running up to me and told him that Lily was in trouble, he asked me not to tell her," Will replied looking tired, he rubbed his hands over his face and moved to the place Lily had just vacated beside Sophie.
"The kid who watches her all the time, what was he even doing out of bed?" Sophie asked sounding surprised at that small turn of events, Will shook his head, he had no answers, and right then and there, the options had been limited as to what he could do, and his first issue was finding a little injured redhead alone in the Slytherin dungeons. "I know who did it, so do you, bloody Slytherins. But then, it also creeps me out that he's bee following Lily around."
"Morning Lily, you alright?" Isabel asked the following morning, her tone bright and carefree, not a single clue about the horror Lily suffered in the darkness. She smiled at the redhead who pushed herself up in her bed and looked around with bleary eyes. Isabel frowned slightly in the moment. "Are you ok? I mean, you look pale?"
"Yeah, fine," Lily replied, her voice sounded rough, as if she'd been eating sandpaper and it had ruined her throat, Becca appeared beside Isabel, her brows furrowed as she looked at Lily.
"Maybe you should head to the hospital wing?" Becca suggested as she watched Lily crawl form her bed and trudge towards the bathroom. She shook her head, her red hair tumbling as she did so form a bun, and disappeared behind the door.
The silence of the bathroom was a welcome relief from the constant noise that seemed to interrupt her sleep, only to realise it was the sound of her own whimpers filling her dreams. She looked into the mirror, and not for the first time, she wished her mum was there, to hug her and tell her it was all going to be alright.
There was a knock at the door and it was pushed open slowly, Gypsie put her head around and smiled comfortingly.
"The others went for breakfast, I said I'd wait for you," She told Lily, the redhead knew that meant the other two had disappeared so Gypsie could find out what was wrong, but their intentions were from a good place. It was hard to be angry at Gypsie in the worst of situations, with that bubbly smiling of hers, and tumbling blonde hair. She was the picture of happiness and innocence. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah Gypsie, I'm fine, I'll be out in a second."
She could feel eyes on her as she walked into the great hall, she looked up, and firstly saw Leigh and Sophie side by side, watching her closely, almost seeming surprised by her presence in the great hall – clearly they had expected her to hide away, maybe take the day off, but Lily was not going to let some fool force her away. She looked around the room, people were chatting, and laughing, no one was any the wiser to anything having happened last night, why would they be? A small first year lost in the dungeons was hardly news, and whoever had beaten her up clearly did not want to advertise the fact.
She moved towards Isabel and Becca, both were talking animatedly to Sirius, James and Remus, as Peter sat along side watching with wide eyes.
"Morning Lily," James said as she sat down by Becca, she smiled and reached for some toast. She felt eyes on her again, but when she looked to Leigh and Sophie, they were happily chatting away to Isabels older brother a dark haired boy who Sophie had all her attention on. Will was talking to Sirius cousin Andromeda, his head girl. She looked around the other tables before finding her self locked into a dark cagey stare, the blackest eyes she had ever seen. "He's been watching you since you walked in."
Lily tore herself form his gaze and shrugged at James.
"He can stare all he wants."
She was not sure when she made the decision, but at some point during the course of that day a decision was made. She wasn't going to let anyone bully her, or anyone else. There was no excuse.
She looked at her friends, all so accepting of who she was, a muggleborn, she had magic, it was a part of her, she was learning things, but she'd always been able to do it… When she was seven years old her sister had laughed at her calling her carrot top, teasing her about her gingery hair. Promptly Petunias own brown locks turned the brightest shade of ginger Lily had ever seen. Petunia had cried and blamed Lily, but at the time her mother and father, Rose and Christopher, had been unable to explain the change.
She had proved herself repeatedly to the others in her class; Professor Slughorn in particular was very fond of her, often remarking he had never seen so much natural talent in a student before.
She would never seek to cause arguments, but she would not allow herself to be bullied. It wasn't right or fair.