A/N: I'm sorry, I know I said the dark times are behind us but I can't help what trouble the characters get into!


My mother is standing right there.

"I wasn't there for you." I want to shout. I glance at Petunia. "I wasn't there for you either." Petunia overlooks me. My voice is broken, my heart is getting there.

My mum is wearing her favourite yellow short-sleeved t-shirt with a picture of a smiling bee across the front. Her chest-nut coloured hair is cropped to her ears.

The side of my mum's mouth pulls up at me, her eyes kind and proud. Suddenly, they roll upwards into her head and she falls rigidly backwards. Her green eyes glaze over on impact, unseeing and inert. Petunia is now on my side of the barrier, also unable to reach our mother who lay, dead, on the floor.

"Not even a goodbye?" Petunia hisses into my ear.

The room is abruptly fills with blaring noise. A deafening, rushing sound blasts through my ears. My stomach drops because I'm falling.

Lily sat up in bed as her eyes flew open simultaneously. She was panting and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. It took her a moment to realize her alarm was going off. Her hand came down in one violent motion and hit the alarm off so hard the clock toppled off the bedside table.

"Lily, what in Merlin –?"

Jacinta sat up, rubbing her eyes and scowling when the clock banged noisily across the floorboards. Her tresses of long, black hair were flattened at the back from sleep.

Lily wasn't paying attention to her, she was still breathing heavily from the nightmare. She struggled to differentiate her dreams from reality, thinking back to the last night and early morning of that day's events.

James's expression darkened. "I'm going to fucking murder him."

He strode forward, attempting to shove past Sirius. Both Remus and Sirius were on him in two seconds, wrestling him back into a chair. Lily looked on in anxiety, wondering whether her involvement would improve or worsen the situation. Peter still hadn't moved from his seat next to the chess table – he stared at the situation with darting, panicky little eyes.

"Don't be –," Sirius let out a breath when James finally relented and collapsed onto the chair to listen. "– a git!"

James glanced over at Lily and his jaw clenched. His cheeks were shaded with anger-induced tinge.

"James, surely you aren't stupid enough to not realize that you getting revenge is what Marv wants?" said Lupin, panting.

"I'll gladly give it to him."

"You need to go to Dumbledore."

James stared up at Remus incredulously. He released his tense hold on the chair.

"You've got to be kidding."

"Why not?"

"We can take care of them ourselves! We don't need Dumbledore!"

Remus flicked his sandy brown hair from his eyes and grabbed James by the scruff of his robe, forcing him to listen. He ignored the growl of irritation he received.

"James, you never listen to authority. That needs to change. The war between the Marauder's and Marv Colette's group has been on since second grade and quite frankly, I'm sick of it. But this is different. Look at her!" James's shadowy eyes flickered over to Lily in spite of himself. "You can't involve her in this. They crossed a line. He hurt her – you need to, for once, do the right thing and tell Dumbledore."

"The hell I do," snarled James.

"Listen to Moony you bloody wanker!" complained Sirius.

"Sirius got there in time," croaked Lily, her voice hoarse from screaming. She was worried James thought Marv had done the deed. James raised one eyebrow scathingly, still looking up at Remus from under his lashes.

"And if he hadn't?" replied James through clenched teeth. Lily didn't know what to say.

"When are you going to understand that this isn't a game? Those Slytherins can be, and are, dangerous! They proved that tonight!" Remus was frustrated with James's stubbornness.

James's eyes flashed, welcoming the challenge. "Dangerous." He repeated. "Really now."

There was a short pause before James grabbed Remus's wrists and wrenched them off the front of his robe. He rose from the chair in one motion.

He turned and stalked away, gliding agilely up the stairs to his room. Lily could tell by the tense muscles of his neck that he was trying, with every inch of his body, to control himself.

Lily blinked twice – three – four times in a daze. She tried to recall the day…it was a …Wednesday. How could so much have happened since last Friday?

"Lily?" repeated Jacinta impatiently, her tone sharp. Chelsea stirred restlessly; sitting up on her bed on Lily's other side. Lily realized Jacinta had repeated her name at least three times.

"Sorry, what?"

"Where did you go last night? Were you 'catching up' with James the whole time?!"

If she hadn't been dead tired, Lily would have laughed. "No, the detention remember?"

"Oh yeah…"

They both got out of bed. Jacinta looked at her properly for the first time and blanched.

"Oh my god, Lily? What happened to your face?"

"Huh?" Lily poked her cheek and winced. She'd forgotten how hard Marv had beaten her. "Oh yeah…I fell over in detention."

Jacinta narrowed her eyes at her.

---

Lily strode purposefully to breakfast. Her robes were mended, good as new – unfortunately she couldn't fix the dark bruise running along her left temple and cheek. She had come to the conclusion that she really didn't want James to do something brainless on her behalf. Now all she had to do was find him and tell him that. Whether it would help or not was a different story.

With a deep breath to calm her suspense, she approached the double doors to the great hall, flanked by Chelsea and Jacinta.

"Miss Evans!"

Lily refrained from rolling her eyes at the sound of her head teacher.

"Yes Professor McGonagall?" said Lily politely, turning to face her.

"You girl's carry on," said McGonagall, fluttering her hand as if she were shooing a pixie.

Jacinta and Chelsea continued through the doors, Chelsea casting one last curious look over her shoulder before she was out of sight.

"Miss Evans, let's proceed to my office."

---

"Take a seat dear," said McGonagall, waving at the comfortable-looking chair facing her desk. Lily swallowed in apprehension and sat across from her. McGonagall took a long sip of what smelt like herbal tea before setting it down and looking up at Lily. She was wearing a cerulean, intricately patterned robe with a high collar.

"How are you feeling Lily?" asked McGonagall, looking across at her sympathetically.

"Uhh, I'm alright, thanks."

"I heard that your mother has passed away. I offer my deepest condolences."

"Thanks." Lily looked down to her folded hands, no longer able to tolerate the scrutinizing look she was receiving. What am I supposed to say?

"Your sister Petunia," – Lily's head snapped up – "Has made it very clear to me that she wants you present at your mother's funeral on Saturday."

"She…has?"

"Indeed. She will not go ahead with it until both her mother's daughters are present."

There was a long pause. Professor McGonagall waited patiently.

"Okay. Does that mean I'm leaving Friday night?" That's only two days away…

"Only if you desire – it is your choice."

"I want to," said Lily. Strangely, she felt like she was lying. "How long for?"

"I'd say a fortnight would be sufficient. Re-bond, catch-up."

"Okay," nodded Lily, dreading the thought of two weeks with a murderous Petunia. Two weeks without James. Will you shut-up about him already?

"It's settled. You can fly reasonably well can't you?" said McGonagall, her voice turning from soft to business-like.

Lily nodded, smiling slightly.

"Good. I'll organize a guide to get you safely home."

Lily nodded and rose from the chair, slinging her bag over her shoulder and freeing the clumps of long red hair which had become caught under the straps.

"And Miss Evans?"

"Yes Professor?" Lily halted in the doorway.

"You took Professor Duritte's patrol shift last night didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Did you happen to see Marv Colette?"

"No Professor."

"Alright. Be off to breakfast now or you'll be late."

---

Lily pushed on; it was an effort to stay awake. Even to blink. It was even more of an endeavor pretending to have interest in pointless conversation when for all she knew, James was cooking up some idiotic plan in the free time he was supposed to be using to study.

To get to Potions from Astronomy, she agonizingly had to walk past the Portrait Hole, knowing he was a password away. She glanced longingly over her shoulder, dragged away from him by the jostling crowd. How did it come to this? She thought, James Potter. People kept enquiring about her cheek. By late afternoon, half her year knew she 'fell over in detention'.

The current talk of the school was the rise in the dark arts. The Daily Prophet had scours of missing and murdered, splashed across its headlines. Lily began to realize that while her own world had crumbled apart, the wizarding world may just follow her lead.

Some (it was unfair to condemn them as an entire house; not all of them were evil) of the Slytherins behavior only became worse at this current climate. The rise in dark arts and that of a mysterious wizard who was becoming known as "Voldemort" meant the heightened persecution of muggleborns and their supporters. The head teachers didn't tolerate it, scores of Slytherins and a few Ravenclaws already having been given month-long detentions for making their sentiments physically known.

If it wasn't for the truth that Lily was ravenous, she would have skipped dinner and headed straight for the dormitory. Barely any seventh years were present at the meal, either too busy studying or too lazy to leave their common-rooms.

"I'm done, I have to go!" said Lily hastily. Jacinta stared at her, one eyebrow raised as she downed a few last mouthfuls of juice and slung her bag over her shoulder. She didn't want to attract any attention by running through the school like a 'banshee' again. Instead, she power-walked away from the hall trying to pay no heed to the terrified part of her which didn't want to be alone in the halls again.

She had barely reached the second floor corridor when she definantly heard somebody. She knew it wasn't her imagination this time; the person wasn't exactly trying to be quiet. The corridor was so prone to echoes; she couldn't pinpoint the direction of the stranger.

Lily cowered in apprehension, protecting her face with her hands when she saw the flash of green which meant Slytherins robes.

"Lily?"

Her mind was blank; the only coherent words formed were he's back.

"LILY!" Lily's hands lowered from her face when she recognized the voice.

"Oh…Oh…hey Sev," said Lily shakily. He looked concerned, his hands were half extended towards her, as if he was about to shake her. They dropped to his sides and Lily looked back at his face.

"Are you…alright?" said Severus hesitantly. Lily was sick and tired of hearing those words, no matter the kind intentions behind them.

"I'm –," she couldn't finish her answer. She'd told the lie 'I'm fine' too many times in the past week. "So, what are you doing here? Dinners in session," continued Lily hastily changing the subject.

"I was just up at the hospital wing."

"Why?"

"I was visiting my friend Marv – do you know him? Marv Colette, the Slytherin seeker."

Lily's stomach dropped. "You're friends with him?" she whispered.

"Yes…Are you acquainted with him?"

"You could say," hissed Lily, her nostrils flaring. Her heart rate still hadn't returned to normal, Severus had really startled her. She didn't realize how much Marv had rattled her.

"Did he…" Severus's tone became dangerous. "…hurt you?" Severus ran a long pale finger along the bruise etched across her cheek. Why would you care? Lily wanted to shout. After all, I'm just a filthy little mudblood!

"No," snapped Lily, leaning away. Her best friend! Buddies with Marv Colette. "I have to go."

---

Lily literally burst through the portrait hole. Panting, she stared around the room in search of the Marauders. She could have jumped for joy when she spotted them. Her second of excitement popped when she noticed James was absent. Sirius was asleep, lounged across the rug before the fire. Remus was also dead to the world, sprawled haphazardly across the sofa. Books were strewn, open and closed across the floor.

"Peter?" asked Lily tentatively. She'd never spoken to the quietest Marauder before. He looked up timidly from his book. He was the alone, sitting at the small table near the window.

"Oh! Hello there Lily – can I help you…?"

"Yes, is James in his bedroom?" asked Lily. She was too desperate to even feel ashamed of her need to see him. His void of patience with her was endless. Peter shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry Lily, I don't have a key to the prefect's bedroom. You'll have to ask one of those two," he grinned, pointing Sirius and Remus. Lily grimaced and turned to face them. She peered over the edge of the couch to see Remus snoozing peacefully, deeply asleep and rather haggard looking.

Her eyes shifted to Sirius. He was snoring, drooling over the rug. His foot twitched at random moments. She knelt by him and cautiously placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"Sirius?" whispered Lily. His eye-lashes fluttered and he grunted. Lily felt a warm emotion trickle through her. He was almost brotherly.

"Sirius," repeated Lily more loudly, shaking him. His eyes flashed open. They swung from the ceiling to Lily's face. He raised one eyebrow.

"Where's –,"

"You know," breathed Sirius, cutting her off. He grabbed the front of her robe and brought her down so that her ear was beside his mouth. "You are starting to become my personal ghost. An annoying, sixth year, girl ghost." He released her.

Lily beamed and thumped him on the shoulder. He groaned groggily and sat up, scratching his knee. "What do you want from me Evans?"

"Can you let me into the prefect's bedroom?"

"Ah," sighed Sirius. "Of course. You two better not have too much fun up there, it's me and Moony's room as well you know."

Lily thumped him again, harder.

"Damn it woman," complained Sirius, rubbing his shoulder and getting up. Lily didn't bother asking why he referred to Remus as Moony.

Students were starting to file in through the Portrait Hole, slow-moving and full from dinner.

"Hurry up," muttered Lily impatiently.

"Shut it," replied Sirius, pointing at her mouth. His hands delved into his robe pockets, patting his pants before finally dragging out a key.

"Can't she just use Alohamora?" asked Peter squeakily.

"No Wormtail, only prefects can get in with magic," retorted Sirius impatiently, handing Lily the key and lying back onto the rug. "Even the kid knows that." His voice was muffled and lethargic again.

In truth, Lily hadn't known that. It was just by chance she'd decided to ask permission. She shook the thought away and bounded up the steps three at a time.

The door swung open after several seconds of rough yanking and twisting. Lily wondered how James had gotten the stiff door open so quickly last time. And he had been carrying her!

She entered the room to find him sprawled across the bed, sleeping soundly. It wasn't a disappointment, she thought to herself, closing the door behind her. Even though she had waited all day to talk to him, being with him was fulfilling enough; conscious or otherwise. Her green eyes reflected the light from the lamp beside his bed.

"Lily," mumbled James. His eyes were still closed. How does he do that?

"How did you know I was here?"

Lily waited. No reply came. On closer inspection, she realized he had still been sleeping. Unfortunately her 'closer inspection' of poking and prodding had woken him up anyway.

"Lily?" said James disbelievingly. His eyes were narrowed against the light, lashes fluttering.

"Sorry," she whispered, "I didn't mean to wake you."

She sat onto the bed and lay back so that they were lying next to one another.

"I hope you've been studying," scolded Lily, punching him playfully on the arm. He laughed quietly. James cleared his throat and sighed.

"I forget how little you know about me."

"The rest of your friends were studying!"

"Oh really. What were they doing when you found them?"

"Well Peter was reading!"

"And the other two?"

"Fine, whatever, they were sleeping," huffed Lily.

James grasped her hand and held it against his heart. It was beating calmly. She watched him close his eyes.

"So I was thinking," said James.

"Well that's a worry," muttered Lily. He nudged her playfully.

"Anyway," he emphasized. "We haven't had an official first date yet."

"I know, it's appalling isn't it?"

James ignored her. "Would you like to have dinner with me by the lake tomorrow?"

Lily furrowed her delicate brow. "Sure, but how will you get us dinner?"

"The elves are more than willing to help."

Lily gasped. "You know how to get to the kitchens?"

"Well if you want I'll take you for a tour instead of a picnic," laughed James at Lily's excitement.

"No, the lake sounds good," said Lily wriggling to lie on her side and face him.

"Good?" he pouted, mirroring her posture and turning to face her. He leaned his temple onto his palm, propping his head up with his elbow.

"Great," amended Lily. "Perfect."

James looked up from their hands, still intertwined, to her face. His ray of darkness swept across his features leaving them stony.

"What's wrong?" asked Lily, alarmed by his sudden stillness.

James didn't reply. His expression was pained when he removed his free hand from hers to slide the back of his fingers gently down her cheek. Oh, thought Lily, understanding.

"It doesn't hurt," lied Lily, patting her bruise softly.

"It doesn't matter," came James's sharp reply. His upper lip was curled. "I swear if Sirius hadn't already sent him to the hospital wing I would have done it myself…"

"Don't be stupid," said Lily seriously. "Remus is right, you need to be the bigger person here and go to Dumbledore if they do anything worse."

"Not you too," groaned James. "I'm a man Lily-" she rolled her eyes "-if I go to Dumbledore I might as well kneel before Colette and clean his shoes."

"Whatever," muttered Lily, giving up for the moment. The atmosphere was too quiet, too peaceful to be disturbed by arguing. She wormed her way closer, resting her head upon his arm.

"Shall we carry on from where we left off yesterday?" joked James, his voice unintentionally seductive. His hand released Lily's, leaving hers on his chest. Lily's eyes snapped open to stare at James when she felt his cool palm running up the back of her thigh. She closed her eyes unwillingly, completely tranquil. His touch was feathery light, at some points it was just his fingertips caressing delicate patterns into the smooth skin of her legs. A trail of goose bumps was left behind each trace.

She laughed and slapped his hand with a resounding whack! when it nudged up past her skirt hem. James's hand came up from between them to grasp her jaw instead, holding her there so he could lean in and press his lips against hers, none to gently. She responded with just as much strength, pushing him back and running her tongue along his bottom lip. She could feel him smiling against her mouth when he unexpectedly pulled away.

Lily was on the verge of complaining when she heard the bedroom door close with a click. Reluctantly, she turned her face away from James to scowl lightheartedly at Sirius and Remus. They were grinning, their eyes shifting from Lily's scowl to James's irritation as if they were watching a Quidditch match. Remus dumped his school bag by the door and kicked his shoes off, Sirius doing the same. They wandered over to their own beds, not saying a word but making up for it with smirks and stifled laughter.

"Tomorrow, dinner by the lake."

Lily understood his murmur to be a goodbye. She kissed him discreetly once more before hopping off the bed and walking to her own dormitory, wishing she could sleepover with the Marauders instead. She backtracked on that thought, questioning her own sanity.

---

It's just a day; Lily comforted herself walking to breakfast. Surely I can wait a bloody day to see him.

Indeed she could, she must, but not without relentless impatience. The afternoon classes were filled with activities and challenges that, two weeks ago, Lily would have found fun. At present, they seemed to be cruelly slow obstacles, stopping her from seeing a boy who was, at times, only a wall away.

When the last bell rang, her reaction was unpredictable. She had been imagining herself all afternoon, jumping up and dashing through the grounds to the lake. Instead, she calmly told her surprised friends she would be with James for dinner and headed off, her pace a slow walk the entire way.

---

Lily advanced on him, watching his face. His eyes were focused far off into the distance, the dark brown turning to liquid chestnut in the light of the sun setting over the lake. He was relaxed on a tree root, huge and thick, protruding through the snow. The tree itself hung beautifully over him, towering majestically over her.

"Hey you," murmured Lily, almost feeling like she was disturbing the calm on his face. She pushed a few hanging branches aside. His head swiveled, a smile tugging at his lips from the sound of her voice. She plopped herself down beside him, following his gaze to watch the orangey glow fading behind the mountains that protected Hogwarts. The full moon peeked through the clouds before being obscured again.

"The elves will bring us food in around-," – he checked his watch, flipping his messy hair out of his eyes – "-half an hour."

Lily nodded. She felt a tad guilty. Somehow, taking advantage of the elves kindness felt immoral. Her thoughts on elves were wiped from her mind when he spoke.

"You know what I decided?" asked James.

"What?"

"I don't like double standards."

Lily waited for him to see her confused expression. "Oh gee, that explains everything!"

"Well," continued James, ignoring her. "I figure since I know a fair few of your secrets…it would only be fair for you know one of mine…"

"Only one?" complained Lily.

James rolled his eyes. "Stop complaining and thank me," said James condescendingly.

"I'll thank you when I hear a worthy secret," protested Lily.

A short pause.

"I'm an animagus," admitted James quickly. "Sirius and Peter are too."

Lily's foot stopped kicking at snow. It froze, as did every other limb.

"I turn into a stag, Sirius – a bloody huge, black dog and Peter turns into a rat," James smiled at the last few words. She could feel his eyes on her, waiting for her reaction. "Oh yeah, and we're unregistered."

"Un-registered?" repeated Lily, finally finding something to say. "Un-registered? James, do you have any idea what penalty you would get if you were –,"

James placed two fingers across her lips.

"That's why it's a secret Lily."

Lily pushed his hand from her lips. "Well…what do you want me to say? I mean I'm pretty impressed, it's an amazing achievement for students our age!"

James shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"What about Remus?" realized Lily.

"Sadly, that's not my secret to tell…maybe you can ask Moony one day yourself."

Lily nodded, not sure if she would ever have the audacity to.

"So was that worthy enough? Where's my thank-you?"

"Thanks," Lily shot back. Why bother arguing with a Marauder?

"I didn't mean through words."

Lily shivered at the deep tone in his voice. Her lips twitched reluctantly into a nervous smile, desperately aware of how close his chiseled body was. She turned away from the sunset to lock her green eyes onto his fiery coffee.

"Then what did you mean?" asked Lily sarcastically, her chest soaring in response to the hungry look on his face.

He leaned in, melting into her from all angles. His soft lips assaulted her own, his hands on her hips, dragging her into him. She reveled in the warmth radiating off his skin, bringing a stinging life into her frosty lips, her rosy wind-burnt cheeks.

He smelt better then the night itself, his scent more earthy than the forbidden forest watching them. Lily pulled away, dragging in a breath she didn't realize she had desperately needed.

Their lips met again. Lily ran her hand down his tense neck, he gasped unwillingly, reeling.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this sweet."

James's reflexes were a second faster than Lily's. She pulled away in alarm half a second after he already had. He stood up silently, his eyes darting around the darkening evening, his breathing still heavy. Lily spotted the source of the mocking voice at the precise moment James did. They emerged from behind the thickest part of the tree trunk, four of them. Four Slytherins. Lily recognized them as being Marv's pals, a few of them even on the Slytherin Quidditch team.

They advanced slowly, skipping across tree roots towards them. Lily barely took notice of James shifting his position to protectively block her from view. Her emerald eyes were trained on the approaching group, which, she couldn't help but think, reminded her of dementors on the hunt.

They were only six feet away now. Lily was motionless, unsure of what to do.

"Potter," nodded a black haired boy politely. "How coincidental, seeing you here tonight. And your friend," he added, peeking around James to show that he knew Lily was there.

His tone was pleasant…but it was laced with something that made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand vertical. She could feel goose bumps prickling to life on her arms underneath her robe.

"It's funny, we were just visiting Marv at the hospital wing!" said another boy. He was also black-haired and Lily realized he, and the boy who had spoken before him were twins.

"The prick deserves what he got," snarled James.

The amused sneers were wiped from all four faces to be replaced with vehemence.

"Marv is too unwell to play at the semi-finals this weekend…was that your little plan Potter?" asked one of the twins, voice hard.

"Lily," James addressed her, not turning his head away from the four muscular boys. "Get up to the castle. These guys are just going to have a chat with me now – go and wait for me at the dormitory."

Lily didn't move. He was lying.

"Lily," he repeated, more harshly now. "Get – out of here."

"No –,"

"Well it seems we agree on one thing mudblood!" one of the black-haired twins cut her off.

"Shut the fuck up Damon!" roared James.

Damon's smile increased. His voice was velvety soft. "Unfortunately we can't let her go Potter. You see, without her, how else would we teach you a lesson?"

Everybody moved so fast – Lily didn't know how she was suddenly in Damon's grip while James was struggling against the other three. She flinched at the contact when Damon held her roughly by the scruff of her robe, slamming her against his side. Her hand reached instinctively for her wand. She died a little inside when she found an empty pocket. The movement didn't go un-noticed by Damon. She gasped in dis-comfort when she found her own wand-tip pressed against her neck.

"Move again and I'll hex you with delight mudblood," purred Damon, digging the tip further into her neck. She scrunched her nose with the effort it took not to moan.

"Don't make this harder for yourself Potter!" barked Damon's twin while the other two Slytherins forced him to his knees. Lily quickly assessed that their chances of escaping them were slim – especially with the brawniness of the group.

"Piss off Julian you wanker," snapped James, looking up at the other twin. Julian approached him slowly, smiling. His fist came back, faster than lightening before it swung forward and hit James's cheek so hard his neck snapped back. James's pulled his head forward and silently spat blood onto the snow in front of him.

James's hooded eyes locked for a second with fearful emerald and he remembered what he was fighting for. His wrists twisted ruthlessly from the other's grips. He was on his feet before Julian could take a step. James grabbed the brown-haired Slytherin by the shoulder and brought it down, connecting his knee with the boy's gut.

He wheezed, his face contorted, and fell backwards into the snow, coughing. The blonde Slytherin pummeled James from behind, aiming for sensitive ribs. He succeeded in making James cry out before he turned on him, parrying his punches away. All wands lay forgotten on the floor in their frenzy. James ducked another swing and his fist connected with the blonde's mouth.

"Petrificus Totalis!" yelled Julian, snapping out of his observations. James froze, still as ice. He was standing, expression blank.

"Hayden, Marcus, get up you useless … idiots," said Damon softly, still holding Lily. The tip of her wand was still pressed into Lily's neck but it had grown numb. Lily looked upon the scene as if she was a spectator, feeling it was too dreadful to be real.

Hayden and Marcus got up, wincing and shooting death stares at the frozen Gryffindor. James had his head down, his hand in the process of wiping away the blood pouring from his lips.

"Restrain him," whispered Damon. Confused, they did as he said, each of them holding an arm each behind James's back.

"Brother," Damon addressed his twin. "You take the head; I want to make sure he's watching."

Julian nodded, leering, as he sauntered over to James. He grabbed him by the hair and forced his frozen neck backwards so that James's furious eyes were looking at Damon.

"Un-freeze him," purred Damon. Julian grinned and whispered the counter-curse. James coughed, more blood soaking the already-stained snow. Lily noticed he tried not to wince at Julian's ruthless grip on his hair, the movement making his probably-broken ribs burn.

"I can see why she interests you," said Damon conversationally, looking at Lily's half irate, half pained expression. "She isn't plain like most of the sluts around here…however…her blood is still tainted…"

Damon's hand released the scruff of her robe to glide his pale fingers across her collarbone. He leaned in and smelt her hair, his eyes rolling back into his head in over-acted ecstasy. He was dangling her like bait.

"Fine," croaked James. Lily's eyes flickered away from Damon's sneer to see James's expression morph from fury to persuasiveness.

"Fine?" repeated Damon, glancing at James, perplexed.

"Name your price," clarified James, blood trickling off his chin. "What will it take for you to leave her out of this?"

"Hmmm," mused Damon, his eyes eager. "Glad you caught on. My request is very simple and unusually fair. Your buddy Black injures our seeker – we get even. Did you really expect we wouldn't in turn, make you incapable of playing?"

The injustice of it all made Lily very aggravated. Sirius had been helping her! The Gryffindor's had been provoked! This wasn't getting even.

"Marv attacked me! Sirius was just – just stopping him!" objected Lily, no longer able to keep quiet when Damon pointed her wand away from her neck and towards James. Damon's mouth came to Lily's ear in a flash.

"Do not speak unless spoken to mudblood," murmured Damon coldly. Lily felt his hand move from her collarbone to her neck, enveloping it. She fought the instinct to struggle and froze.

"Damon," croaked James. He cleared his throat. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Gladly!" exclaimed Damon. Lily's eyes widened in horror, watching Hayden and Marcus smile to one another and crack their knuckles with intent. James closed his eyes.

"Wait," James spoke softly. Hayden paused in the act of preparing to thrash him. "Don't make her watch."

And that was all it took. It was now or never. Despite being scared stiff, Lily saw her chance. Her hand shot towards the glint of wood which protruded off the top of Damon's pocket. Her fingers seized it and she whirled out of his grip, sliding under his arm.

"Expelliarmus!" she cried, aiming Damon's own wand at him. Her wand flew out of his hands and landed somewhere in the dimness. "Petrificus Totalis!"

He snapped, rigid as a block and fell backwards into the snow.

"Accio wand!" she shouted, now aiming her wand at Julian's. His wand flew from his outstretched hands into her own.

"Mudblood slut –!"

"Reducto!" screamed Lily. Sapphire streaks shot from her wand towards him. She winced when Julian was blasted into the air and landed in a crumbling heap as a result of her spell.

She turned wildly back to Hayden and Marcus, expecting an ambush. They weren't even looking at her. They were beating James to within an inch of his life.

"No –!" gasped Lily, breaking into a run, her scarlet hair swinging wildly.

"Get – off!" shrieked Lily, forgetting about magic for a moment and attempting to rip Hayden off James with her bare hands. She pulled ruthlessly at his robe to no avail. It was like trying to move a brick wall. James's yelp of pain was like a knife into her very ears.

"Incendio!" screeched Lily, aiming her wand at the frenzy in general. Fire shot from her wand tip like a flame-thrower, scattering Hayden and Marcus instantly. They scuttled like cockroaches from the heat, revealing James. He looked like a pile of blood and robes, sinister crimson stains leaking through the snow around him.

"James - ?" she croaked. The fire died from her wand-tip, plunging them back into weak evening light.

"It's worse than it looks," James managed to whisper. Even on his death-bed he was trying to re-assure her.

"Shut up," she meant for it to sound frustrated, but it barely surpassed a whisper. She tucked her hair behind her ear and approached him, crouching beside his droopy eyes. She ran a hand through his hair, keeping it away from his face. It came back covered in dark, slippery blood.

Violent hands grabbed at her, uproar ensued.

"Now you're going to get it –,"

"Little mudblood bitch!"

She vaguely recognized the voices to be that of the twins. Lily wasn't a screamer, but at this she couldn't control herself. She was being shoved back and forth between the two like a Quaffle. Stumbling, her hands stained with James's blood shot out to cushion her when she went crashing into the ground.

From the corner of her eyes, she became aware of James struggling to get to his feet. No!

"Pathetic," hissed Damon. His voice smoked in the frosty evening air. Lily clutched her head in pain, groaning as Damon grabbed a fistful of her hair and hauled her to her feet. She felt a sickening, heart-stopping sense of déjàvu. Damon struggled to hold her still while Julian punched her repeatedly. She gasped for air, instinctively trying to bend over. Lily thrashed about, unable to believe this was happening again. I won't get lucky this time.

A dreadfully low growl quaked through the air, almost shaking the very snow. Both Damon and Julian's heads whipped in the same direction. Amusement was wiped from their faces to be replaced with terror.

"Run!" Damon bellowed at his brother, shoving Lily to the ground. "You can be the tasty distraction!" he hissed down at her.

They fled. Lily almost couldn't bear to look. She forced her head to face the source of their fear, eyes focusing.

There, huge, hairless and half-upright, crouched a werewolf.


All spells are real, I looked them up to make sure!