You Saved Me

"Excuse me, sir," Alex said. He looked at the ground, not daring to look at. He didn't know whether Sirius had told his friend or not. Having one Marauder angry at him was enough for one day. He fidgeted for a second before realizing that if he didn't speak soon, then James would be pissed anyway. "I did as you asked."

"And now you're here for your payment," James surmised. He wondered how stupid these two boys thought he was. He would have some fun doing this at least. "Did you carry out your instructions to the letter?"

Alex took his chances. "Yes, sir." We asked her to sign the photograph you gave us. She was rather embarrassed. Rather violent reaction, though."

"That's all?"

Alex wondered once again how much James knew. He weighed the outcomes of his answers against each other. He swallowed loudly. "Yes."

James stepped closer to Alex. "That's not what I heard." He took out his wand and tapped it against his hand.

The two boys' faces went pale. They knew how violent his wrath could be. The boy next to Alex, Cameron, fell to the ground. He landed hard on his knees and began bowing.

"Please, sir. She harmed Alex and he attacked her. I couldn't stop him. I had nothing to do with it." Alex threw a look of disgust at his friend. Even if his statement did hold some figment of the truth, he hadn't expected his friend just to rat him out like that.

James seconded the look of disgust. Friendships seemed to crumble around him. It seemed like the other had no idea what loyalty was. He would have respected Cameron more if he had stood up for his friend. After coaxing the story out of a couple first years who had heard Alex bragging about it, he knew that Cameron had done nothing. He might have even let him off the hook a few minutes ago. Now, James turned to face Alex. He had an expectant look on his face.

"The girl attacked me. I was forced to take measures to defend myself." Everyone knew that Lily was an unusually talented witch. Maybe James would believe that he had done it in self-defense.

"You disobeyed my instructions and now you have lied to me," James stated. He slipped his wand back into his pocked. Cameron's face gained back some of his color as James extended a hand to help him. As Cameron got to his feet, James slid his left arm around his back. He leaned closer to his ear. "Don't ever try that again," he whispered. In the following second he punched Cameron in the stomach, hard. Cameron fell back to the floor that he had just exited.

Alex looked at James in dismay. James left Cameron to the floor and sauntered over to him. Alex bore a pleading expression. James raised his right fist again and Alex lost all hope. He made a desperate attempt and took a fighting position. He threw a punch at James's head. James sidestepped it and grabbed Alex's arm. He twisted it and forced Alex to his knees. Alex moaned and James released him. He stepped back to give Alex another shot. This time Alex attempted to kick him. The fight lasted less than thirty seconds. Alex cradled his broken arm. James stepped over him, without any mercy in his eyes.

Lily sat down to breakfast Thursday, two days after the rose had first arrived. She was alone, again. She shoveled a small portion of food onto her plate and looked around her. The rest of the Gryffindors were eating and talking. A low buzzing sound was created by the amount of conversations. When she had sat down in an already isolated area, the people around her had scooted even farther away, just like yesterday. She figured that that particular event was going to happen far more often than she liked. She got over her moment of self-pity and dug into her food. She would need her energy for this day.

She was still eating five minutes later when the letters started falling. She ignored them at first, until one landed right in front of her. Lily Evans was inscribed on the front it. She opened it and began to read.

Her eyes grew wider with every word. When she reached the end of it she looked around at everyone else in the Hall. Each one had abandoned their conversation in order to read the letter. As she watched, the laughs began. People began to glance over in her direction, half in disbelief. Then the conversation began again. She heard her name on the lips of hundreds. Cruel smiles rose to the rich students. Lily stood up and ran out of the cafeteria.

Up at the teachers table, all wondered at the strange letters that were falling like snowflakes. The teachers summoned them into their hands and began to read. A few laughed cruelly, in a parody of the students before them. Others, Dumbledore and McGonagall among them, shook their heads and let the letters fall to the ground. Of them, only the newcomer stood up. Justin Cooper looked at the spectacle in front of him and watched the girl running out of the door. He waited, wondering if any of the other teachers would claim seniority and take control. After ten minutes, no one had. He made his decision; he chased after her.

Lily found herself stomping towards the Marauders for the third time in as many days. She was hoping this wouldn't become a habit. It certainly wasn't a fun way to start her day. She finally found James and the others on a set of stairs, on their way to the Great Hall. She stopped right in front of them, forcing them to stop as well.

"What?" Peter asked frustrated. He wasn't a morning person. He hated it when people tried to get between him and breakfast.

Lily looked at Sirius once before dropping her gaze. She turned to glare at James. "I am not a slut!" she screamed. "I have not been fooling around, ever! And I am definitely not pregnant!" James just looked back at her with a confused expression on his face. He had no idea what Lily was babbling about. Lily walked back down the steps, pausing after a few seconds. She turned her head to look back at James. "I'll get my revenge. This time you've gone too far."

"What was that about?" Peter asked James. The quartet continued down the steps, watching Lily's retreating figure.

James shrugged. "This time, I can honestly say I have no idea. Why would Lily want to tell me that she wasn't pregnant?"

"Did you call her fat, mate?" Remus asked.

James shook his head. This was a bit odd, even for Lily. He really had no idea what she was talking about. He still felt a tad bit guilty for the Alex and Cameron thing. He had been planning to leave her alone for the next few days. He would still get rid of her, of course. He was just planning on giving her a few days to recover.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Sirius answered for all of them. "After all, she promised us revenge." James smiled at the thought. Lily Evans had spoken, if nothing else.

From the stairs above them, Crystal smiled. Lily seemed to have taken this blow hard, just like Crystal had expected. Lily had messed with the Marauders, one of which was her future husband. Lily was going down and Crystal was going to enjoy it. That low class girl shouldn't have been bothering the Marauders. She didn't deserve to be near them. She fixed her hair and snapped her compact shut. Lily Evans would be out of the way soon. She swept down the stairs, with an evil grin on her face.

Lily hid in an alcove behind a tapestry. As far as she knew, no one else in the school had discovered this place. Of course, none of the other rich kids would want to get their clothes dusty. She looked over the letter once again and let a few tears creep out. Here, in her secret place, she would allow herself that self-indulgence.

She heard a rustling noise and wiped her tears off with the back of her hand. She wasn't really expecting anyone to pull back the tapestry, but just in case.

So when the tapestry was gently pushed to the side, allowing the light to flow in, Lily was shocked. She saw the outline of a body climbing in next to her. "I thought I would find you here," a deep voice said with a tinge of amusement.

"Professor?" Lily asked surprised. She looked into the green eyes staring at her. She wondered how he knew to find her here.

"I always hid here when I went to school here," Justin answered serenely. He acted as if this was an everyday occurrence for him. "No one else ever found it. I guess it was due to the dust." He came to the same conclusion as Lily had. Lily vaguely remembered that he was a scholarship student. "I took my fair amount of beatings about being a scholarship student, too. Nothing of this magnitude, though." He looked at the piece of paper that Lily was still clutching.

Lily tucked it in closer to her body. "You must never have offended the Marauders," she said darkly.

Justin laughed and shook his head. "I can't say I did." He looked at her and tilted his head. "Of course, from what I remember of you, you wouldn't let a thing like this stop you. You protected me from the richer kids once." He smiled. "I suppose I should call them my students now." Lily laughed at that. "You always had backbone, even when you were little."

Lily chuckled weakly. "I don't remember that." She felt embarrassed at what her professor was admitting to her. She had actually saved him? She was sure she would have remembered his face. Grimacing on the inside, she remembered something else. She remembered joking with Kai about who got to date him. That seemed like it had been ages ago.

"Trust me, you did," Justin assured her. He stood up gracefully. "I have to go now, this probably doesn't look too appropriate. Are you going to be okay?"

Lily nodded. She stood up also, tucking the piece of paper into her pocket. She would keep it as a reminder. "Thank you, professor," she added on the professor as a last second thought. Justin certainly hadn't seemed like a professor for the last few minutes. He had seemed like just another desperate student.

Justin nodded at her thanks. He left the alcove, whistling a tune. The Marauders had been brats, even when he went to school here. Seeing Lily go up against would be interesting. He had faith in her. More importantly, he had faith in the little twelve-year-old that had shaken her fist at a seventeen-year-old for making fun of another boy's robe. Especially since that little girl had been wearing robes as scraped up as his.

Sirius nimbly leapt over a stick. He sat down on a log and set his bag down next to him. He pulled out a sketchbook and began to draw the woods surrounding him. He became absorbed in what he was doing. He sat completely still, except for his hand moving up and down the page.

"Hey," Lily said quietly from behind him. She walked up next to him and sat down on the log.

Sirius didn't acknowledge her at first. He stopped sketching and set his pencil down in front of him. He turned to face her, but didn't speak.

"I wanted to say thank you again." Lily finally said. Sirius still didn't respond. Lily sat there for a moment in silence before speaking up again. She looked over at his sketch. "That's beautiful," she praised him. "It looks like a photograph."

"It's just something I've picked up," Sirius answered her. He set it face down on the ground. As he did, the page flipped over and revealed another sketch. It was one of a slightly older girl. She had classic figures, slim and beautiful. She possessed flowing, dark hair. Her face was heart-shaped and angelic. Lily was astonished at the elegance the girl seemed to possess. She was one of those girls who only existed in books, or perhaps a painting of an angel.

"She's beautiful," Lily stammered out. Sirius followed her gaze. "Who is she?"

"Candice," Sirius finally answered her. He seemed uneasy. His eyes however, were sad.

"How do you know her?" Lily asked. Inside, she was crushed. Sirius had this beautiful girlfriend. She should have known. A guy like Sirius was bound to be dating one of the prettiest girls in England.

"She's a…friend," Sirius finally answered. He bent down and shoved the pictures back into his bag. He stood up and began to walk away from Lily, again.

"Wait, I thought we could talk," Lily protested. She ran to catch up with him. Again, it seemed a repeat of a few days ago.

"About what, Lily Evan?" Sirius asked with complete seriousness. He came to a halt and gazed into her eyes.

Lily found the look unnerving. "You like Quidditch?" She asked.

Sirius burst out laughing. That wasn't what he had been expecting. Then with Lily, nothing was as he expected. "Yes," he answered. "I like Quidditch."

"I'm going back to my house on Friday night," James told his friends. They were sitting in a circle doing various things. His announcement took them by surprise. They looked at him with a questioning stares. "My mom needs me to host an event. Some major deal is going on. You guys coming?"

They nodded. Their families would be invited to any big event, obviously. They would get points for having taken up some responsibility. At any rate, it was a way to visit London and get out of Hogwarts.

James went back to reading his book, his mission accomplished. At least the event would not be completely boring. He could spend most of the evening talking to his friends now. He looked over the different moves the Quidditch players were performing. He could use some of this in training tomorrow. They would win the house cup this year, as soon as he could find another keeper. The one he had now was a bust.

He looked up when he felt a wet sensation going down his back. Slimy was the way he would have described it. He jumped up and noticed that Peter and Remus were doing the same thing. He looked down and noticed a pool of liquid at his feet. He knew what it looked like. The others surrounding them were attempting not to laugh. They wouldn't laugh at the Marauders. They knew the consequences.

Sirius alone was unaffected. He felt something in his hand. He unfolded the piece of parchment and read it. Because you saved me it read. That explained what was going on. He didn't have to resist the urge to laugh.

James also grasped what was going on. He glanced around, like a predator, and spotted his prey. He approached Lily fuming. "Why did you do this?"

"Happy revenge," Lily answered. She put down the book she was reading. Justin had reminded her what the right thing to do was. She was standing up for herself. Whatever they dealt, she could return it with equal force.

"What the hell inspired this?" James growled. He hadn't done anything to this girl.

"A number of things," Lily answered, standing up. She stood there for a minute, as if debating the point. "I bet if I leave you alone for a couple of minutes even you might be able to think of a couple things." She finally answered him with a straight face.

James decided to let that insult go. "What makes you hate me so much!?" He asked quietly. He was James Potter. Women were normally swooning over him. He hated them for it, women that only wanted his money, but it happened. What was wrong with Lily that she wasn't dying to go out with him?

Lily took a step closer to him. "I hate the way your run your hand through your hair. I hate your cockiness, how you never wear the school uniform. And most especially, I hate the way that you think you can get away with anything and everyone will just automatically forgive you. I am sick of everyone bowing down to you, never offending you. Its over!" With that she calmly walked up to the room she shared with the other seventh year girls.

James continued to stand there, flabbergasted. He watched her go. Insanely, the thought that Lily looked pretty when she was angry crossed his mind. He finally stopped a younger boy who walked by him and ordered him to find a towel. The other Marauders were doing the same. After that, he sank into the chair that Lily had vacated. Maybe he had underestimated this girl. A smile eventually spread across his lips. He would have fun planning his own revenge.

A/N

Contrary to what it may seem like right now, this is still a Lily James fic, not Lily Sirius. It just seems that way for now. (In case anyone was worrying)

For guys names I've narrowed it down to Chase (SugarHi Marauders) Michael (Your yellow flower and MissMarauder4487)and Gabriel (MissMarauder4487) The character is slightly geeky, but really nice. So vote on your favorite name in the review.

Forever props to Rider Arya Svit-kona for beta. I have no grammar ability and she is awesome at fixing up the story. And plot ideas.

Review replies to people not signed in:

Love your story: thanks. I'm glad u think its original. That's what I was going for. Thanks for the review! Aria Cantanta: yeah. I hate it sometimes when the female is always being saved. Its great in some stories, but in others its overdone. I guess that why I like HP. Ginny is great! Thanks for the review. Opalshine: Thanks. I wasn't really planning on letting Snape have a big part. His friendship with Lily always kind of depressed me. I cried during that part in HP7. Buts it's a hilarious idea. Lol. Thanks for the review!

Thanks to all reviewers! You guys are the reason I write!!