It was a rainy spring afternoon and Lily, Poppy, Lysander and Scorpius were all huddled around a table at the library. The seventh years' NEWTs and the fifth years' OWLs were less than a few weeks away and so the place was packed full of students who were doing their best to cram some last minute study in.
Lily was almost beside herself with worry. Though her grades had markedly improved since Ebele had taught her how to control her magic at the dueling tournament, she couldn't shake her long held view of herself as a complete mess-up when it came to academia. Scorpius was doing his best to allay her fears by giving her practice quizzes and heaping praise on her whenever she got something right, but she couldn't help but worry that she simply wasn't smart enough.
'Until when were Porlocks classified as beings by the Wizard's council?' Scorpius asked her, glancing up from where he held her Care of Magical Creatures text book open in his hands.
'Fifteenth century' Lily responded nervously.
'Exactly! That's right!' Scorpius told her enthusiastically, causing Lily's face to relax into a hesitant smile.
'Yes, but in which country are they still classified as magical beings?' Poppy demanded. 'That's bound to come up on the test'
Lily's face fell.
'Er- I dunno- I mean… Greece?' Lily winced at her own guess. Poppy gaped at her.
'They only live in two countries in the world Lily- come on!'
'Oh!' Lily slapped a palm to her forehead. 'Ireland?'
'Well done!' Scorpius said loudly over Poppy's 'Well duh'.
'My mam recons she's seen them in the forests of the amazon though' Lysander piped up excitedly. 'Except that they were gold and had big curly horns and six legs-'
'Kind of sounds like they weren't Porlocks then' Poppy said flatly.
'Do you think maybe I could go live in the forests of the amazon instead of doing this test?' Lily asked gloomily.
'You'll be fine' Scorpius said for what seemed like the hundredth time over the last month. He put a hand across the table to squeeze hers as he returned to scanning the text book in search of another fact to test her on.
'You're bound to do better than that mess over there' Poppy noted with a snort.
Lily turned warily around to try and see what she was looking at over her shoulder. Sitting at a table right behind them were James and Johnathan. James had his forehead planted firmly on the desk whilst Johnathan appeared to be attempting to return his friends attention towards the text book he was holding out.
'James- mate, you know this one! Incantation to summon a Patronus!'
James kept his forehead to the table as his shoulders slumped in defeat.
'Rhymes with 'come-on-bro, ya-so-dumb!' Lily called out to him. James's head shot up and his face lit up.
'Expecto Patronum!' He yelled triumphantly. But his expression of glee soon dissipated as Lily's words sunk in and he turned to shoot her an annoyed glance. His face only grew darker when he noticed Scorpius sitting across from her. Jonathan was looking over at Scorpius too now, an unreadable expression on his face, and somehow Lily felt suddenly self-conscious.
'What is he doing here?' James demanded. 'Sixth years shouldn't be taking up space at the tables. It's not like they have OWLs or NEWTs or anything important to be studying'
'I'm happy to stand if anyone needs a spot' Scorpius responded calmly. A quick survey of the room made it obvious to everyone that nobody was currently wandering around looking for somewhere to sit.
Lily eyes flashed with irritation.
'He's helping me to study James. Besides it's not like there aren't any other sixth years here' Lily let her eyes flicker over to where Albus and Thomas sat a few tables away and then further beyond that to where Horon Carrow could be seen snickering about something at a table filled with his usual cronies.
James turned around to look over at Albus with disapproval.
'Merlin, it's as if he likes being holed up in here'
Apparently having felt the numerous sets of eyes on him, Albus looked up and frowned at the sight of his siblings staring at him. He got up out of his seat and sauntered over to them with a questioning expression.
'Are we having a family meeting or something?'
'We were just wondering what on earth you're doing here when you don't even have to be' James said with overt disgust.
'Well that's the thing about getting really good grades- you kind of have to study consistently, not just right before the test' Albus told him smugly.
James made a face at him before lowering his head back down onto the table in defeat.
'Besides-' Albus went on, ignoring James's dramatic display. 'I'm keeping an eye on Carrow'
'That sounds unpleasant' Lily quipped.
'What?' Scorpius was instantly concerned. 'Why? What's he been doing?'
Lily let out a sigh. Scorpius had been worried about Carrow's reaction to finding out about their relationship ever since their photo had appeared in Witch Weekly. He seemed convinced his tormentor was going to try and hurt Lily in some way just to spite him. Lily knew that he had a reason to be worried- it had happened before with his friend Timothée Bonaccord. But she still couldn't help but feel that his anxiety over the matter was an overreaction. She certainly wasn't afraid of Carrow.
Albus scrunched up his face, looking as though he'd just swallowed a particularly nasty Bertie botts bean. He looked over at James to check that he wasn't listening, but the older boy had gone back to wallowing in self-pity whilst Johnathan attempted to get him to focus again.
'Just saying nasty things about my sister' Albus muttered, lowering his voice so that James wouldn't hear him. 'I got him with a hex last time it happened though, so here's hoping he's learnt his lesson'
Scorpius stood suddenly up out of his chair, his face pale with anger.
'What's he been saying?'
'Scorpius!' Lily hissed, pulling on his arm in an attempt to get him to sit back down again. 'Who cares what that twat thinks or says?'
But Scorpius continued to look gravely into Albus's eyes, waiting for an answer.
Albus shifted uncomfortably.
'It's not worth repeating' he said tensely.
Scorpius's expression darkened and his eyes shifted over to where Carrow sat on the other side of the room. Lily stood up out of her chair too, so that she could wrap her arms around Scorpius's torso in an attempt to prevent him from going over there, which seemed just like what he was considering doing.
'It's not worth getting detention over either!' Lily said firmly. She was talking to Albus but her message was for Scorpius too.
'I know that' Albus said haughtily, 'Which is why I make sure to only hex him when there are no professors around'
Lily rolled her eyes. He was taking this 'making sure nobody bothers her' business much more seriously than she had thought he would.
Lily felt Scorpius tense in her arms. She looked up only to discover that Carrow had now gotten up out of his seat too and had locked eyes with Scorpius in a loath-filled exchange.
'What are you looking at?' Carrow seethed at him from across the room. 'Filthy, mudblood loving, blood traitor'
Though the library had been quiet before, it was now so deadly silent that Lily could hear the sound of books being shut as dozens of students put aside their study to watch the ensuing drama. Lily took ahold of Scorpius's hand and squeezed it, partly to ensure that he didn't reach for his wand, as James, Johnathan and Albus all had.
'Are you jealous because you aren't getting any mudblood love Carrow?'
Poppy's tone was high and patronizing, causing several groups of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students to burst out into giggles.
'I'd be happy oblige' she added, blowing him kisses.
Carrow looked so taken aback by Poppy's offer that he grabbed his bag and swiftly exited the library. Lily had never seen him move so fast.
Albus looked over at Poppy with awe.
'That seemed about six times more effective than a hex'
'Some types of cleverness can't be learnt from a text book' Poppy replied with a shrug.
The rain continued all the way through to the weekend. Lily began to wonder if the sky was just as stressed about exam week as she felt. When Sunday finally rolled around, it was almost a relief to have the distraction of working at the Three Broomsticks her help her take her mind off them.
But her work shining goblets wasn't the only thing keeping her mind off of her studies. On top of that Lily had a very important meeting planned in the Shrieking Shack that evening. It had been almost three months since Professor Raleigh had disappeared, and Lily was becoming frustrated by the lack of information about his whereabouts. Knowing she was personally invested in his capture and would go out of her way to get involved, her father refused to tell her a thing about the Ministry's investigation. Thus Lily had resolved to take things into her own hands, starting from tonight.
She emerged after a long shift at the old inn, appearing outside it's back doors with a determined expression in her eyes. It was still pouring down, but despite this, Lily walked right out into the rain, pulling her apron off as she went. She was eager to get to the Shrieking Shack before her friends arrived in order to make sure all her preparations were in order.
'Where are you going Potter?'
A low voice sounded from behind Lily, causing her to jolt and turn around.
Her face fell into an exasperated expression, a groan escaping her lips at the sight of Horon Carrow. He was standing a few meters behind her. His palid skin looked even more sickly now that he was soaked with rain, but his dark eyes danced with a malicious glint. Lily felt somewhat unsettled to see him there alone without his usual crowd of Slytherin followers. Judging by how heavily water-logged his jumper looked, he must have been waiting out there for her for some time.
'None of your business' Lily shot him a disparaging glance before turning on her heal to walk away.
But no sooner than Lily had turned her back on him, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder blade. It was as though an invisible dagger had pierced into her flesh and was digging it's way further and further inside her.
An involuntary cry of pain erupted from her throat and she stumbled forward against one of the old wooden whisky cellars that were lined up behind the inn.
'Did that hurt Potter?'
Carrow's voice had lowered to a whisper and yet she could hear him more clearly than before. He had closed the gap between them and was standing right behind her.
Anger pulsed through Lily's veins and she turned, readying her palms to let the full force of her emotion hit him. But he was quicker.
'Stupefy!'
Carrow's spell hit her straight in the chest, forcing her back up against the outer wall of the cellar. She couldn't move- couldn't even blink. Yet he was still moving towards her, his wand raised.
The boy came to a stop with his face only a few inches from hers, his lopsided smirk twitching wider, his eyes taunting her. He raised his wand to her face and traced the tip of it along her cheek.
'You think I'm going to let you ambush me with your weird squib powers again like in fourth year?'
Lily desperately wanted to yell back that he was the one who was ambushing her, but she was unable to move her mouth- or any part of her face for that matter- at all.
'That's not going to happen again' Carrow hissed, his face so close that she could feel his breath on her skin. 'Squibs shouldn't even be at this school, let alone allowed to use their twisted version of magic against real wizards like me'
The only response that Lily could make was via an indignant huff of air through her nose. She very much wanted to let the anger she was feeling rush out of her but her palms were stuck frozen against the cellar wall.
'Speaking of wizards like me…' Carrow said softly, continuing to tickle her skin with his wand. 'I heard you've got a bit of a fetish for the pureblood sons of Death Eaters'
A shiver ran down Lily's spine. She turned her eyes, the only part of herself that could still move, up to glare at him with a fierce hatred. So this was the nasty rumor he had been spreading about her that had caused Albus to hex him. If she could only figure out a way to move again, she would surely do much worse than a meger hex.
Lily's anger soon transformed into a panicked revulsion however, as Carrow moved his wand tip from her cheek across to her mouth, trailing it over her bottom lip with a sadistic grin on his face.
'This is what you want isn't it? To have the attention of a real, pureblood wizard. It's what you crave, isn't it Potter?'
A fear, deeper and stronger than anything that Lily had ever felt was bubbling up inside her. Carrow swiftly pocketed his wand, only to raise his hands again and move them towards her neck. He took ahold of her Gryffindor tie and roughly pulled it out of her knitted grey vest.
Lily tried to scream but as her lips wouldn't open, it came out muffled as though someone were holding a hand over her mouth.
'What's the matter?' Carrow snickered as he began lazily undoing her tie. 'Would you like to hear a story about all the mudbloods my mother tortured when she was working for the Dark Lord? Would that help to turn you on?'
Lily's heart was thudding against her chest and her skin was crawling. Every inch of her body was screaming out in disgust, trying to move away from him but to no avail.
Carrow slid her tie out of her collar and stuffed it inside one of his trouser pockets, before leaning against her and putting his mouth to her ear.
'Isn't that what he tells you when you're together- about how many muggles his grandfather murdered?'
Lily felt his cold fingers curl under her chin, forcing her face to tip upwards.
'Won't he be surprised to hear he's not the only one who knows how to get you in the mood?'
Another scream emerged and then died in her throat as Carrow's corse lips pressed roughly against hers. He had one hand gripping the front of her neck, the other holding her chin tightly between his thumb and forefinger. Lily willed herself to move, her heart searing with panic. The longer his loathsome mouth stayed pressed over hers the more she felt as though she were being swallowed up by a hideous darkness that she would never escape from.
Then, suddenly, a great animalistic roar filled Lily's ears. As Carrow's head jerked backwards, Lily caught sight of his expression of utter horror. Something had pulled him off of her from behind and was now dragging him across the wet ground away from her.
Lily blinked droplets of rain out of her eyelashes and followed the blurry brown shape that was hauling the sickly looking boy down the footpath. As the enormous creature let go of Carrow and stood up tall, towering over him, Lily was finally able to focus her vision.
Lysander. It was Lysander. The realization that she was saved caused Lily's chest to tighten and her eyes to blur up again with tears.
The great grizzly bear that she recognized instantly as her best friend pushed its enormous front paws down onto Carrow pinning him down. It then bent forwards until its nuzzle was almost touching the boy's face, before opening its jaws and roaring furiously into his face. Carrow screamed pitifully. He looked as though he might feint, so pale and startled was his expression.
The bear raised it's head again, baring it's teeth. It looked so ready to tear Carrow apart that the wild thought occurred to Lily that perhaps it wasn't Lysander after all. But just before its sharp teeth reached Carrow's neck, the creature sat back up on it's hind legs allowing him to scramble free. The Slytherin boy fled for his life as the bear continued to roar after him.
Then suddenly it was quiet again, so quiet that all Lily could hear was the sound of the rain and soft footsteps. Lysander, now a boy again, walked swiftly towards her. He pulled out his wand and cast a spell in such a low whisper that it hardly registered in Lily's ears. She fell instantly forwards and might have landed on her face if Lysander hadn't been there to catch her.
It was a while before Lily registered the fact that she could now move again. She heard the sound of her own sobs before she knew that she was crying. Lysander was hugging her tightly, not saying a word. She had no idea how long they stayed like that. Everything felt foggy and unreal.
Then, before she knew it, Lysander was guiding her gently down the path that lead through the woods and towards the Shrieking Shack. They entered through the hole in the wooden boards that Lily had made in third year when she and Scorpius had snuck out to meet Nicolas at the Hog's Head. Lysander had his arm around her all the way, supporting most of her weight as she numbly put one foot in front of the other.
They found themselves alone inside the shack. It was still early and Poppy and Scorpius were yet to arrive.
Lysander still hadn't said a word and even though they had arrived he continued to hold her propped up gently against him. Her chin rested on his shoulder as he patted her back.
It was Lily who broke the silence.
'You won't tell Scorpius will you?'
Her voice sounded shaky and hoarse, even to her own ears.
'You haven't done anything wrong Lubotubilly' Lysander said. His voice was as soothing as a calm ocean breeze.
'Carrow did this to get to him- to upset him' Lily choked out. 'I don't want him to succeed'
'Carrow should be expelled for this' Lysander replied. He sounded just as tranquil as always, but there was conviction in his voice.
Lily closed her eyes. She bent her head down and let a sigh escape her lips into Lysander's shoulder.
'Please Lysander'
The feint click of the lock on the trapdoor sliding open caused Lily and Lysander to break apart. Scorpius emerged from the tunnel to find them standing only a foot apart, their arms still encircling each other.
Lily quickly regretted looking over at him. His eyes widened at the sight of her red eyes and tear blotched cheeks.
'What's going on?' Scorpius asked immediately. 'What's happened?'
Lysander let his arms fall from around her and return to his sides. As he stepped backwards, Scorpius quickly took his place in front of Lily in a few quick strides.
'Nothing' Lily mumbled, taking a step back herself. Scorpius's mouth fell open in protest, causing her to quickly backtrack.
'I mean nothing and everything' she corrected herself in a fluster. 'OWLs are right around the corner and we still don't have any leads on Raleigh'
Scorpius frowned and he turned his head to the side as he watched her in a gesture of disbelief.
'Isn't that why we're here now?' Lysander interjected gently. 'To find a lead on Raleigh?'
Lily nodded quickly, wiping any residual tears from her cheeks with the cuffs of her sleeves.
'That's right' she said firmly. She strode determinedly past Scorpius, dodging him even as he put his hands out to try and catch her. She stopped in front of the fireplace and bent down to light it with her outstretched palms.
'Lily, are you sure y-?' Scorpius began to ask loudly. But Lily cut across him.
'Did you bring it?' She turned to flash him a forced smile.
Scorpius's face hardened. Wordlessly, he reached a hand into his trouser pocket and retrieved a jar full of black powder.
'Good' Lily said at the sight of it. 'We should start, she'll be waiting for us on the other end'
'But what about Poppy?' Lysander asked, looking around in search of their silky blonde haired friend. He looked over at Scorpius for an explanation.
Scorpius shrugged. 'I didn't see her at all on the way over here' he said roughly. Lily could sense that he still wasn't entirely convinced by her explanation and was having trouble moving past this and focusing on the task at hand.
'We'll just have to start without her' Lily concluded. She looked meaningfully over at Scorpius, who was still holding the jar tightly in his palm.
Scorpius let out a sigh. Then he walked over to where she was kneeling in front of the fireplace and removed the cork from the jar. He threw the contents at the fire with such rigor that Lily had to lean back to avoid the shower of sparks that flew out from the flames.
Out of the fire, a set of round, smiling white teeth appeared shinning through the flames. Tight textured curls framed the grinning face of Ebele Akingbade.
'How long were you going to make me wait, English girl with the spirit of a fox?'
A/N: Thank you so much for all of your super supportive lovely reviews ;_; You guys are really holding me together right now. I'm constantly amazed that you can be so kind and constructive about my work despite only knowing me through this story. Every single thing you write to me really does help me so much with my motivation to try and write better and to write more.
