Author's note: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.
Dedication: For Gwen at the Hogwarts forum's Gift Tag! (About 1000 years late, but we're here)
Hogwarts: Assignment #7, Flying Lessons Task #2, Write about purposefully trying to hurt someone
Warnings: Canon Muggleborn-Pureblood power dynamics, canon bullying (Mary McDonald mentioned), school fight/getting attacked when breaking up a fight
On and With Purpose
Aim, throw your best shot right at me
'Cause pain, I can take it easily
Did you really think I'd fall to my knees
Just to pray for some sweet simplicity?
-"Power," Bastille
Lily shook as Alice, arms wrapped around her shoulders, led her through the castle. They walked through beams of autumn sunshine from the windows as they navigated the halls, but Lily still felt dazed from hitting her head. They took a right by the statue of Brutus Icarius the Sixth and a Half which was when Lily managed to unlock her jaw and speak.
"This isn't the way to the infirmary," she said.
"We're not going to the infirmary, love," Alice said. She drew her wand and with an impressive silent spell, unlocked a nearby Charms classroom. She guided Lily inside and shooed away Peeves, who was busy carving a cuss word into a desk. Alice was just about the only person Lily had ever seen Peeves obey.
She sat Lily down and locked the door behind them before pushing back Lily's hair.
"I'm going to tie it up so it's out of the way, okay?" Alice said softly. She did and the more her fingers pushed into Lily's hair, the better Lily could breathe. Obviously, as per usual, Alice looked composed and put-together. The scarlet headscarf she was holding back her hair with accented her house tie's colours, her make-up was perfectly applied, and the earrings dangling at her ears looked elegant and timeless.
"Alright," Alice said once she'd gathered up all of Lily's curls. She knelt before her and tilted Lily's head up by pressing two fingers under her chin. Lily closed her eyes; she didn't want to think about the black eye and puffy lip and the probably broken nose that Alice was examining. She could feel the injuries pulsing, sore and sensitive. The air rushing through her nose felt especially cold and invasive. In the peace of the empty classroom, she felt her adrenaline start to lower and realized that the coppery taste in her mouth must be blood.
"Okay," Alice said finally. "Okay, I can fix this…"
"We're not going to go to Madam Pomfrey?" Lily asked quietly, reopening her eyes to assess the situation. Alice was squinting as she examined Lily's face, biting her tongue in concentration.
"One second, love, I need to focus…" Alice said. She raised her wand towards Lily's face and Lily tried not to go cross-eyed.
Alice whispered a spell so quietly that Lily couldn't tell what it was. Still, her nose felt much better afterwards.
"Where did you learn healing magic?" Lily asked.
"I've been taking lessons with Flitwick after hours," Alice said. "I figured it would look good on my Auror application."
Lily resisted the urge to reach up and touch her newly mended nose as Alice swung her backpack off her shoulder. She fumbled around the inner pocket until she found a small blue jar, unscrewed the lid, and tilted the jar forwards to show Lily the ointment it contained.
"Bruise removal paste for your eye," Alice said. "I keep it handy because Frank is as clumsy as can be. May I?"
"Yes," Lily said. Alice applied the balm around Lily's hurt eye as gently as she could, but Lily still winced a little bit. Still, she tried to sit still for Alice.
"You shouldn't have done that," Alice said finally.
"Done what?" Lily asked. "Stand up for Mary? Because those boys have made her life hell since the last Hogsmeade visit and I can't stand just watching them harass her…"
"You shouldn't have put yourself in the line of fire like that," Alice said. She twisted the cap on the small jar and it was in the briskness of the motion that Lily saw that Alice was…
"Are you angry?" Lily asked.
"Yes, I am," Alice said frankly. She tossed the jar back into her backpack. "I'm angry that someone hurt you. I'm furious that they did it on purpose and that they were such cowards that they cursed you from behind. I'm mad that we'll probably never know which one did it. I'm mad that Severus Snape was one of them and you'll still think of him as a friend after this because you've still got far too much hope in things. I'm angry that they'll most likely get away with it, whoever they are."
Lily opened her mouth and closed it again.
"I don't understand," Lily said. And, truth be told, the notion that Alice was mad or somehow disappointed in her turned Lily's stomach into something of a rock quarry.
Alice sighed and knelt in front of Lily.
"It's getting worse out there," Alice said. "The seventh years, we see it better than the rest of the students, I think, because we see what we're about to graduate into and we read the papers and talk to Ministry of Magic recruiters and so on, but… the violence out there is only just beginning, Lily. You and I and virtually every other Muggleborn in the country are in trouble."
"I know," Lily said, now a little offended that Alice thought she was somehow out of the most terrifying loop of her life. "I can read too."
"I know," Alice said. "But I don't think you understand. Lily, now is not the time for you to be making trouble with the Slytherin boys and putting yourself in the line of fire."
"You're about to become an Auror," Lily said. "No, don't look at me like that, they'll accept your application because you're brilliant. You're going to hunt dark witches and wizards for a living—and you're telling me… to do what? Not to stand up for my friends? To let things happen around me even when I know they're wrong? You're Gryffindor's Head Girl! How can you tell me to hide because there might be a fight or..."
"No," Alice said. "I'm telling you not to turn your back on a pack of pureblood boys with a track record after calling them out. That was the stupid part, Lily. They could have fired absolutely an curse or jinx into your back, anything at all and they would have covered for each other and told everybody that it was an accident. You're meaningless to them, Lily. Not only do they think of you as disposable, but they will be taking active steps to get rid of people like you as soon as they leave this castle. You're vulnerable, Lily. We're vulnerable."
Lily took a deep breath.
"I…" Lily sighed. "I felt safe at Hogwarts. When I was home for the summer, I kept expecting something to go wrong, but at Hogwarts…"
"Hogwarts is a school," Alice said gently. She put a hand on Lily's leg and squeezed her knee, but didn't move her hand away. Her thumb started running in gentle, comforting circles. "A good school, but just a school. It's still a reflection of the outside world."
"Which is falling apart," Lily said.
"Only for now," Alice said. She put another hand on top of Lily's. "Lily, I love how soft you are, and how gentle and loving and trusting you are. But those things might get you in trouble. We live in a world where people are going out of their way to hurt us on purpose, and so we need to act with purpose to protect ourselves. You need to start thinking a little bit more selfishly. Channel your bravery inwards. It's not fair, but we need to be smarter, we need to take care of ourselves more, worry about how we might get treated… I'm graduating soon, Lily. You'll likely be the next Head Girl, and then who will get you out of trouble?"
"I suppose I'll have to learn healing spells," Lily said quietly.
Alice smiled. "They're useful, yes. Besides, Flitwick likes you. It shouldn't be a problem."
"It won't be a problem," Lily said.
"I know it won't," Alice said, squeezing Lily's hand. "You're strong enough to handle this and gentle enough not to let it change you."
Alice hesitated for a second before leaning forwards to kiss Lily, softly on her split lip—and by the time Lily was awake enough to register what was going on and how light the touch had been, Alice had knelt back down and was only offering Lily a sad but warm smile.
"Hey," Lily said, when Alice knelt back down. "Take your own advice. Kiss me with purpose."
Alice smiled and then she did.
Stacked with: Hogwarts; Shipping War; Spring Bingo; Link Maker
Individual Challenge(s): Gryffindor MC (x2); Rian-Russo Inversion (Y); Ethnic & Present; The 3rd Rule (Y); Hold the Mayo (Y); Lunar Era (Y); Short Jog; Greatest Gift
Word Count: 1423
Spring Bingo
Space (Prompt): 3E (Copper)
Shipping Wars
Ship (Team): Lily Evans/Alice Longbottom (Gilded Lily)
List (Prompt): NA