Monday morning began the same way it had for the past few weeks for many people. The students of Hogwarts awoke and dressed in their robes, meandered down for breakfast and then off to classes.

For Destiny Yare, Monday morning began with her waking up to see Lily Potter's empty bed.

Lily had a tendency to get up early and wander around. She'd also said that McGonagall was having her do something, whatever it was.

Some irrational part of her wondered if Lily had lied so she didn't have to be around her. What she had told Lily about her parents would have made other people keep quite a distance. But Lily had seemed to be fine with it. Maybe she was just better at hiding her emotions than others.

Lily wasn't at breakfast, nor did she join Des as she walked to the Transfiguration classroom. When Professor McGonagall walked in, she surveyed her students, her eyes lingering on Des's desk, where Lily had always sat.

By the time lunch rolled around, there was still no sign of Lily anywhere.

"Hey Des," she heard, turning she found Chase smiling at her and approaching. "Is Lily coming?" he asked, sitting down. Des shrugged,

"I haven't seen her all day," she admitted.

"Oh," Chase muttered, "I hope she's okay,"

"Me too," Des admitted.

Lily's eyes fluttered open when the sunlight hit them. A searing pain flared in her head and she squeezed her eyes shut again. The chilly September air prickled Lily's skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all over her skin. The ground was cold and damp beneath her. Lily moved her arms to block the light but stopped when her chest exploded in pain from the effort. A cry came from her lips and she opened her eyes again, ignoring the pain in her eyes.

She lay naked as a newborn on the forest floor. Blood, dirt, and leaves caked her skin. Lily tried to right herself but every inch of her body felt like it was on fire. Lily cried out again, tears slipping down her face. She had no idea where she was in the forest.

Determined, she gritted her teeth and forced herself into a sitting position. Breathing hard, she steeled her nerves and pushed herself to her feet. She nearly fell before she grabbed the trunk of a tree to steady herself. Looking around, she saw no noteworthy landmarks. Her joints felt like they had been filled with cement. Her chest wounds had reopened and blood ran down her front, dripping onto the ground. There were many more deep scratches and cuts that littered her body, flowing blood. Worst was the deep bites that bleed from her right thigh. It was far too big for her to have ever done. There was something else in this forest…

She managed to release the tree and take a step forwards. The ground swayed and bubbled beneath her and her stomach jumped to her throat.

Lily fell to her hands and knees and vomited. When she regained her senses, Lily could clearly see blood and small bones mixed into her vomit. Unable to control herself, she hunched and vomited again.

Lily ended up sitting on a fallen tree for a fair amount of time. She couldn't remember anything from the night. She could generally recollect a few details, but this time she had nothing.

The sun above her peaked in the middle of the day and Lily decided to start making her way back to the castle. Her arms wrapped around herself for some form of warmth. The knew roughly what direction to head.

After what Lily estimated to be an hour of walking, she came across her clothes, ripped apart beyond repair.

She picked up her shirt that was torn down the back and along the shoulders. Her pants were worse, ripped to ribbons they would have served better as a giants tassel. Lily wrapped her shirt around her chest, tying it tightly. She grimaced as the filthy cloth pressed into her wounds. She picked up the rest of her clothes and continued walking.

Soon she was shivering from the cold. Her feet could barely leave the ground so the scuffed against the ground. She stopped short when she looked up and her vocal chords ceased to work.

She would have screamed, but the shock was just too much. She had to be dreaming there was no way, no possible way…

There before her stood a ginormous solid brown three-headed dog.

So, that was what had bitten her.

Blood loss, exhaustion, and strain weighed down on Lily as she stared into the dog's deep brown eyes. He hadn't moved, nor had Lily. This must be Fluffy. Harry had told her about how he had been released into the forest.

Lily took a wary step back, of course, a twig snapped. That was all it took for Fluffy to become enraged. All the heads growled and barked before charging Lily.

For the second time, Lily firmly believed she was going to die on Hogwarts grounds. She wondered if this was how her parents had felt when they were here; each year more deadly than the next.

Lily squeezed her eyes shut, ready to accept death by Cerberus hound when a new growl joined the mix. There was a loud crashing sound and whimpering.

Lily opened her eyes warily, terrified of what she may see.

Her jaw dropped as she tried to accept the scene in front of her.

Fluffy was being backed away from Lily by a car.

Whatever color it used to be, it wasn't anymore. Now caked with mud and rust, the car emitted a low rumbling sound that resembled a growl.

Fluffy finally conceded the fight after the car hit him for the third time. The giant dog slumped away, still growling.

The car honked after him.

Lily stood dumbstruck, watching as the car reversed to in front of her and popped the passenger side door open.

Unsure of what to do, she climbed in. Praying that the car would kidnap her and lock the doors forever.

The car then sped off, Lily observed it was steering itself. There were no hands on the wheel to her right. The windshield was so shattered Lily couldn't see where they were going. Suddenly, the ground became steadier. The door then popped open, revealing Hogwarts.

"Huh," Lily muttered. But before she could climb out the seat suddenly listed and sprung. Flinging Lily from the car and landing on the ground. She gritted her teeth at the pain and sat up in time to see the car speed back into the woods.

Classes were still in session so there weren't any student outside. Looking around, Lily saw that Hagrid's hut was the best option for her.

She had put on what was left of he pants so she wasn't entirely naked anymore, but walking into Hogwarts looking like a chew toy wouldn't be the best idea.

Lily approached the door of the hut and knocked. There was no answer.

"Hagrid!" she called. After a few more moments of nothing. Lily tried the door; finding it unlocked, she went in. Looking down, Lily saw that she was trailing blood and grime.

Lily observed the interior of the hut. It was small but cozy and warm. A fire sat in the fireplace and Fang lay lazily in front of it, picking up his head when she walked in, but putting it down when she waved at him.

Lily saw a small stack of blankets in the corner and picked the top one up. Hoping Hagrid wouldn't mind, she wrapped herself in the thick quilt. Blood still dripped from her body onto Hagrid's floor. After searching for a little while, she found a small bag with a few medical supplies. She found gauze and tape wrapped her leg and chest, along with a few other cuts that were still bleeding. Lily sat down by Fang to wrap her feet which were cut and scraped from the thorny forest floor. Fang regarded her for a moment before resting his head on her lap and letting out a long sigh.

"Me too buddy," Lily said to him, patting his head as she finished her feet.

She was about to lay back when she came to the awful realization that she didn't have her wand. She'd never found it in the forest!

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she leaned back and rubbed Fang's ears. This was by far, the worst day of her life.

Unable to stop, she drifted into sleep.

"Lily?" the deep voice drew her from her slumber. Fang's heavy head still rested on top of her. Hagrid stood above her, he held a bucket of… Something that didn't smell right.

Lily looked up at him,

"Hello," she muttered shyly.

"What are you doin' 'ere?" he asked, walking towards her. She looked at Hagrid, he looked so worried.

She had the assemble the words in her head before she spoke.

"Well," she started, "I was late to start with, so I was running, then I ran into Scorpius and my potion spilled and then the fifth year Gryffindors were all around the Whomping Willow, so I had to run to the forest," she explained. Hagrid nodded to tell her he was following. So she continued,

"Then I woke up this morning hurt and naked and confused, so I sat until I knew where the sun was going and then went North because that's where Hogwarts is, then I ran into Fluffy, and he wasn't very friendly, so he tried to eat me, but then an old car showed up scared him away and drove me to the grounds before flinging me out and driving away"

Hagrid was looking increasingly surprised,

"Then I thought, 'I can't go to Hogwarts like this!' so I came here because I thought you might be here, but you weren't so I let myself in and found your medical stuff and tried to treat myself. And then I noticed I lost my wand so now I can't take classes, and I'm gonna be expelled for not being responsible!"

Lily had started to cry again, Fang lifted his heavy head and started to lick her face. It stung a bit so Lily assumed there were some cuts on her face.

"Stop that," Hagrid said, although Lily couldn't tell if he was talking about Fang licking or her crying.

She never found out because Hagrid had leaned down and picked her up like she weighed nothing. She grunted a bit at first but then got comfortable as Hagrid started heading for the castle.

"So," he said, smiling at her, "You met Fluffy".

Lily nodded, "He's not too friendly," she told him. Hagrid laughed,

"Not really" he agreed, "I'll tell yer somethin'"

Lily smiled to show she was listening.

"When yer dad was in his firs' year, jus' like you, he wandered somewhere he shouldn't've and met Fluffy" Hagrid smiled.

"I remember this story," Lily said, "Fluffy was your test for the Philosopher's stone, doesn't he fall asleep to music?" she added.

Hagrid laughed, "Yep," he said, "Yer dad's always had a way of gettin' me to say a thing I shouldn't"

Lily smiled, "Well, thank goodness. He wouldn't have gotten far without you"

Hagrid blushed under his thick beard. Lily turned and saw that they were walking into the courtyard. Just a little ways from the Hospital wing. Hagrid took long strides, so Lily was through the doors in no time.

Hagrid explained to Madam Pomfrey what Lily had told him as she undressed and cleaned her wounds.

"I'll check on yer later Lily," Hagrid told her as he left. Lily waved and bit down on her pillow as Madam Pomfrey cleaned another cut.