Chapter 41

September 4th, 1977

Cont.

Again…

They had made it to the Forbidden Forest, and were stealing along just inside the tree line, towards the spot where Lily thought she had seen the movement.

James felt at home in the forest from the many nights he and the Marauders had explored the grounds on full moon nights or elsewhere, when they could convince Remus.

Lily slipped along beside him, gracefully dancing through the shadows and over roots even more silently than James was.

When she stopped, balancing on a tree root and scanning the surrounding forest, James grinned up at her.

"How are you so quiet?" He whispered incredulously.

Lily grinned, "Years of sneaking through the woods playing hide and seek with…" Her smile faded as her voice dropped below even a whisper, "…Sev."

James faltered for a brief second, his smile fading. Turning his focus back to scanning the trees, he spoke, "I'm sorry about your friendship with Snape."

Hearing it out loud, he winced. The sentence had sounded better in his head. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Lily shrug. "It's okay, not your fault. I should have known." Steeling herself, Lily turned to the forest before James could say anything more. "I think it was just up here."

James shook himself as Lily hopped from the root and wove her way through the trees. Breathing for a second before he followed her, he turned after her.

At a gasp from Lily, his eyes went wide and he rushed toward her, not bothering about being quiet in his rush to get to her.

"Lily?"

The girl was stopped in front of a tree, one hand held out in front of her tentatively while the other covered her mouth. Coming up behind her, he opened his mouth to ask her if she was okay, until his gaze fell on what had her so shocked, and he fell silent, the arm which had been reaching for Lily dropping to his side.

Collapsed against the tree, in between the roots, was a man – his skin was tinged a mottled green, with subtle, swirling patterns stretching up his neck, stopping under his jaw and disappearing into his dark blonde hair. Up his arms, various scrapes and scratches littered the skin, and there was dried blood under his fingernails.

James' eyebrows drew together in concern as he recognised the signs, and he crouched down in front of him, holding up his hands placatingly.

Maintaining eye contact, James spoke lowly, "We don't want to hurt you."

Something hardened in the man's eyes and he shifted, looking between Lily and James, "It was your kind who killed my mother."

Far from the soft tones James was expecting, the firm voice of the man – though James was starting to understand that he was far from human – made James withdraw backwards slightly. He shared a quick glance with Lily, and the Head Girl crouched down beside him.

"I…apologise. We were unaware of the crime committed against you, but know that we will punish the ones responsible should they ever reveal themselves."

James started at the words, and the tone Lily was using. He had never heard her talk in such…dignified tones (not that he thought anything about her was undignified, just that she was usually open and not at all like the pureblood girls he had grown up knowing).

The…man seemed to respond to the tone, however, straightening up and looking at Lily with a critical eye, "You speak as if you were of the Court."

Lily bowed her head, "Alas. I have only read of your customs. I have never been so honoured as to meet a member of the Court. Until now."

James was perplexed, but Lily seemed to know what she was doing, so he shut up and let her do her thing – which was quite spectacular to watch, he had to admit.

The man laughed – a sound which seemed to startle him if the confused look that flashed across his face briefly was anything to go by – and smiled weakly at Lily, "I like you, little Snidget. Against my better judgement, I like you."

Lily smiled gently at him then frowned in concern as he winced, closing his eyes in pain. Reaching out tentatively, she slowly placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping it in place as he jerked, eyes opening wide.

Keeping her eyes on his, Lily spoke gently, her voice losing its dignified quality and slipping back into her usual soft tone, "Let us help you."

With another glance at James, the man locked eyes with Lily again, and ever so slowly, nodded.

A/N: song rec - 99 Ways by Eskimo Joe