The next morning, James regretted being moved out of the infirmary. When he knocked on the closed door, Cait was the one to answer, and her eyes narrowed at the sight of him.

"Is Lily-"

"She's busy. Do you need something?"

"I just need to talk to her."

"She's busy," Cait said again, even more coldly.

Before he could try to convince her to let him in, she had closed the door in his face.

It took him a full day to catch Lily alone, but determined stalking soon yielded results. When she arrived at the infirmary the next morning, James was waiting by the door.

"James," she said coolly.

"I am so sorry, Lily. I didn't think it would upset you to-"

"To see you snogging another woman?"

"If I'd known that you had feelings for me, I never would have-"

"I don't."

If hearing that from Sirius had felt like a punch in the gut, it was nothing compared to hearing it from Lily herself.

"I know you're arrogant enough to think that every woman is head over heels for you, but I'm not. I just think you should be careful. Snogging Anne Ferguson could get us into trouble. That's all."

"Oh. Right." He swallowed hard. "I'll be more careful from now on."

"Good."

She walked into the infirmary, closing the door behind her. James stood there for a few seconds, gazing after her. Then he left.

As soon as she was out of James's sight, Lily felt some tears spill over.

"No," she muttered to herself. "I'm not going to cry over James bloody Potter."

She wiped the tears away and turned back to the cauldrons, but even brewing potions had lost its appeal. Instead, she sat on one of the empty beds, newly made now that James had left.

The door opened, and Lily prepared to tell James to go away, but it was Cait.

"You need to get out of the castle and away from James. Come with me to the village next door."

Lily laughed unhappily. "I can't, remember? Technically I'm a fugitive."

"What are the odds Severus Prince will be in that village?" Cait said. "And no one will tell him. The only ones to know will be you, me, and Brian."

"Brian?"

"He invited me to go, and I asked if you could come along."

Lily hesitated. It was safer to stay here, and it would be better to spend her time trying to save her parents. She felt a sudden surge of anger. How had she let James Potter distract her from the only thing that mattered?

"Come on," Cait said. "We'll go for a couple of hours. That's all."

If Brian was going, this could be a good opportunity to speak to him and get more information. Lily had already tried to subtly get information from Cait about a rebellion, but Cait had little to tell her. At dinner, she had tried the same with Graham, and later with Duncan, but both had remained maddeningly tight-lipped.

"They don't let information go very far," Cait had told her. "They tell on a need-to-know basis."

"They don't trust me," Lily realized.

"Well, no. There's at least one spy among us, don't forget."

As if Lily could. She didn't know many people in the castle, but every time she met someone new, she felt a new twinge of suspicion. At least one of them had tried to turn in muggleborns to Severus Prince. At least one of them hated her with enough of a passion to want to destroy her. Which one of these friendly faces hid malice underneath?

Lily got the impression that Brian might be more willing to give her information than his family was. She needed to know what was happening; how else could she change the future?

This was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

"Fine, I'll go."

Still, when she saw Cait's delight, she felt rather guilty for having an ulterior motive for going with her.

It was a muggle village, so the three of them walked there, shedding their robes so that they were just in muggle clothes. Brian and Cait walked ahead while Lily purposely followed a few paces behind, doing her best to pretend she didn't notice their obvious flirting. Instead, she took in the beauty of the day; it wasn't raining, for once, and the landscape was stunning. The woods and rolling hills looked like something out of a painting, almost too perfect to be real.

"Lily!" Cait bounded up to her and grabbed her elbow. "I'm sorry. We were being so rude… why are you walking so far behind?"

She steered Lily forward, putting Lily between her and Brian.

"Is this your first time in Scotland?" Brian asked her.

Lily looked between them with a small smile; both of their cheeks were tinged with pink.

"Yes," she lied. "And this is my first time really seeing it in daylight. It's beautiful."

"You should see Hogwarts in the daylight," Brian said. "Our castle is lovely, but it can't quite compare to Hogwarts."

"Brian," Cait chided. "I'm sure Lily doesn't have fond memories of Hogwarts, after what she and her friends went through there. And she wouldn't want to go back, not while those English aurors are there."

"It's fine," Lily assured her.

If anything, thinking of Hogwarts filled her with a wistful sadness. It was true that she'd now had one nightmarish experience at Hogwarts, and she would certainly never think of the dungeons fondly again. Even so, one nightmarish night couldn't cancel out seven years of happiness.

"I met Severus Prince, once," Brian said suddenly. "When I was in school, he visited. He was trying to recruit people from my class to join the aurors. He's certainly… passionate about his beliefs. Convinced several of my classmates to join. There was a lot of violence against muggleborns at school after that… some of them had to leave school early. Now they aren't allowed at Hogwarts at all."

"It's disgusting," Cait said, shaking her head.

"Not everyone is like that, at least," Lily said quietly. "It's good to know that there are people like you and Cait, and your family. People are willing to fight for muggleborns and their rights. It gives me hope."

"Glad to hear it," Brian said. "And we're happy to have you at the castle of course."

"Thank you." Lily searched for something to say, anything that would get him to speak about a rebellion. "So does your family help muggleborns relocate, or do they-"

"My family has been helping muggleborns escape to Scotland, then finding safe places for them here. Sometimes that means finding them new identities, or safe marriages."

Lily gathered her courage. "And what about after that?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"That's helpful, yes, but how are we going to change the laws?"

Brian blinked at her. "You don't need to worry about that, Miss Evans. It sounds as though my father is happy to let you stay and help Cait. Perhaps he'll even find a good marriage for you. You're safe."

"It isn't enough for me to be safe," Lily said hotly. "We need to change things, so everyone is safe. We need to fight."

Brian was now looking at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"We've already put our lives and safety on the line for your kind. You would ask more of us?"

Lily felt a small pull of shame.

"Miss Evans, even if there were something planned, I wouldn't tell you. You and your friends could be spies. We had to execute a spy only a few months ago, a man masquerading as a fleeing muggleborn."

"Lily isn't a spy," Cait said firmly.

"Cait, you wouldn't know a spy if one came and bit you on the nose," Brian said with a laugh.

Cait frowned. "I would."

"You're too trusting," he said, suddenly serious. "That could kill you one day."

Lily decided to change the subject. "So what are we doing in the village?"

Although Cait still looked irritated, she answered. "I have a friend I'd like you to meet. I think you'll get along."

As they approached the village, Cait and Brian fell behind.

"I'm sorry," Lily heard him whisper to her.

"Thank you, but it's not me you should apologize to."

Lily wished the ground would swallow her up, especially when Brian caught up to her.

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans," he said quickly. "I meant no offence."

"It's fine," she assured him.

The muggle village was small, with a smattering of stone homes. Brian and Cait greeted various people along the street, and Lily couldn't help but marvel how much better integrated into muggle society Brian and Cait were than most of the wizards and witches she knew in the 1900s. For one thing, the fashion between magical and muggle societies wasn't so different, except for the robes. Were Cait and Brian unique, she wondered, or was wizard society just much less isolated in the 1700s?

Then again, it could just be Scotland, Lily mused. Perhaps the Scottish witches and wizards had closer ties to their muggle neighbours, and that was why they were generally against the laws that England had passed. And this closeness could be why the English witches and wizards felt threatened, especially since the statute of secrecy had been passed only fifty years ago.

Cait and Brian took Lily around, showing her the various sights. Lily looked at everything with great interest. So much was different compared to her own time, but some things were the same, too. Among the strange sights and sounds and smells, her gaze was drawn to the familiar: a mother comforting a crying child, friends greeting each other warmly, and a grey cat grooming itself on a step. And, of course, she couldn't help but notice that Cait seemed to have forgive Brian, because whenever they had a moment, they were flirting again.

Cait eventually knocked on the door of a stone house on the edge of the village, and a beaming woman let them in. The woman introduced herself as Bertha, while Brian whispered something in Cait's ear.

"Um… Lily? Would you be okay with it if I run to do a quick errand while you get to know Bertha?" Cait asked quietly.

Her eyes flicked to Brian, and Lily knew exactly what sort of "errand" she would be doing.

"If you're certain you want to," she said.

Cait's lips twitched. "I am. But you're sure you don't mind?"

Lily nodded. "I'd love to get to know your friend. Be… um… safe."

As soon as they left, there was a moment of heavy silence. Bertha had moved to the window to watch them go, and she turned back to Lily with a sigh. To Lily's surprise, Bertha pulled out a wand, and conjured two teacups.

"I hope he doesn't break her heart," she muttered.

"You're a witch!" Lily said.

Bertha smiled kindly at her. "You're surprised."

Bertha's first statement finally registered through Lily's surprise.

"You don't think he likes her?" Lily asked worriedly. "He seems to…"

"Cait's been infatuated with him ever since school," Bertha said. "I just find it a little odd that he's paying attention to her now."

"Sometimes people's feelings change over time," Lily protested.

Bertha shook her head. "He just seems the sort to want a bit of fun before moving onto the next witch."

That hadn't been Lily's impression at all. She considered Brian again. He was the polar opposite of his brother, both in appearance and demeanour. He was a stocky, blond man with an easy smile that lit up his face, especially when Cait was around.

"I think he really likes her," Lily said.

"I hope you're right," was all Bertha said.

Bertha offered her some tea, and Lily took it gratefully. They sipped in an uncomfortable silence.

"You have questions," Bertha finally said. "You can ask."

"Why does a witch live in a muggle village? Are you muggleborn? Are you here because of the new laws?"

Bertha shook her head grimly. "If I were here because of the new laws, I wouldn't have my wand."

Lily started. "What?"

"They're snapping the wands of the muggleborns they're sending away from wizard society. You didn't know?"

"N-no." Lily realized she was trembling.

"You're muggleborn?"

Lily nodded once.

"That can't be easy," Bertha said. She hesitated, then said, "My husband's a muggle. That's why I live here."

"Does he know you're a witch?" Lily asked.

"Yes. But I can't exactly bring him into wizard society at the moment, so we live here. And the Ferguson castle is so close, I'm not entirely cut off."

"Marrying a muggle can't be legal," Lily realized.

Bertha laughed shortly. "No, definitely not. If we're caught, the sentence is death. If a muggleborn marries a muggle, it's fine, but they don't want to dilute the blood of a pureblood."

"Why do they let muggleborns marry purebloods, then?"

"Their purebloods spouses protested too much. I don't think the Ministry is thrilled by the loophole, but they respect it."

Lily was quiet, fiddling with the handle of her teacup.

"Why did Cait bring me here?" she asked. "She said she thought we would get along."

Bertha raised her eyebrows. "Perhaps she did."

"But?"

"Cait always has her reasons for doing things, and she's been talking to me about you. She wants you to stay at the castle, but she's worried Duncan won't let you stay forever unless you become legal."

"She's trying to scare me into marrying someone." Lily said. "Unbelievable."

"She doesn't want you to end up like me," Bertha said drily. "Stuck in a muggle village."

"You're unhappy?"

"I didn't say that." Bertha smiled. "For many witches and wizards, my fate is the worst fate imaginable: cut off almost entirely from a world I belong to. But hiding isn't the worst thing in the world, when it's with someone you love."

There was a sharp knock on the door, and Bertha stood.

A voice came from the next room over. "I'll get it, if you're busy."

Bertha sat back down. "Thank you."

A tall, thin man came into the room, smiled in greeting at Lily, and opened the door.

"Can I help you, Mr…?"

The answer was one word, but it was enough to send a chill up Lily's spine.

"Prince."

Bertha shot to her feet. "No-"

"Avada kedavra!"