Enduring Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of its characters…

A/N: This fic is AU… so don't come up to me and go 'oh that never happens' cause I know it doesn't. This is a fanfic, not a copy of the real thing. (Sorry if that sounded harsh and rude, I've just had some people email me it before so yeah.)

TWO -×- A Hint of Hope

She woke up. Her eyelids were still heavy. She felt weak. Weak, tired and dehydrated. She lifted a hand and felt her cheek. It was wet. Had she been crying in her sleep as well? No wonder she felt dehydrated. She looked up at her surroundings. It was the Astronomy Tower, and she was still in her corner. She'd been there all night. She looked out of the balcony. There were no traces of sun; it was a dark and gloomy day. You'd think that after a week, your break up would be old news, wouldn't you? But no, not if you were James' ex. Not if everyone believed that you did the 'unspeakable', even if others had done it before. Not if everyone thought you deserved to die, even if it wasn't that big a deal what you did. She couldn't believe how blind and dumb they were. She didn't do anything that others hadn't done already, in fact, it wasn't even her doing. Why would she ever do something like that? This was her they were talking about!

Jasmine Brown… you Slytherin slut! I don't know where you got that proof to get me onto the Hogwarts-Hated list, but you won't get away with it. Even if you've managed to break up James and I, he will never be yours! He will never go out with you. You will get what you deserve… one day… Lily thought. She probably would have cried again, but seeing as how she'd been crying every day and night for the past week, she didn't exactly have any more water in her body to form tears in her eyes.

She tried to stand, but her legs were numb and powerless. She had to hold on to a nearby table to heave herself up. She began towards the door, dragging herself along, using the lines of the tables for support. She felt like she would collapse any second, but she stayed strong until, all of a sudden, it was as if her legs were no longer there. It was as if the jelly legs curse was put upon her. She fell, her arms no longer able to support her. She fell, and let out a cry of pain. Her eyes were tightly shut as she felt like a thousand knives were piercing her, slicing off the skin on her legs bit by bit, but of course, she knew it was a spell, but who did it, exactly?

She heard the door creak open in front of her, then, a gasp. Oh great, don't tell me they found me again! Is there no where I can hide? But instead of the shouts, abusive punches and kicks and rude remarks she was bracing herself for, she heard a familiar feminine voice say, "Lily! What are you doing here? You look terrible! Don't tell me you were running from –," but the speech stopped there, as if the owner of the voice just realized the truth: Lily had been hiding yet again, just like she had a week before.

You lied to all of us and stepped out of line, Lily Evans, but nobody deserves this kind of treatment, especially since…She thought.

Lily opened one eye and tried to lift her head to see who was there. Black shoes… red and gold rimmed robes… a Gryffindor? She observed, but before she could see any more, she felt an overwhelming dizziness mixing with the headache she'd had before, then, everything went blank.

The dark-haired girl who stood before her sighed. I come here to finish some work, yet I find the most hated girl in school lying sprawled across the floor with countless numbers of injuries… Man, she looks a state! And it was true. Her hair was a disheveled mess, her robes were tattered and torn, she had bags under her puffy red eyes, and worst of all, she had bruises and cuts all over her body, some which were still bleeding.

The lady sighed again. Poor Lily. You'd think they'd be nicer to the Head Girl, but I guess…

Somewhere not so far away, a growl of a dog was heard.

-×-

Lily's eyes snapped open; she sat up in bed, breathing very heavily with cold sweat on her forehead. She'd had another nightmare, but this time, they'd killed her. Yes, she had had recurring nightmares for a week, yet they felt too real to be nightmares. Thank Merlin… it was just a dream…Lily thought. Wait… where am I? She looked around. White curtains, white beds…

"Oh thank Merlin! You're awake! It's about time too; you've been asleep for two days! All the members of staff were worried about you"

Lily looked up. "Madam Misha? I'm in the Hospital Wing? But how?"

"I don't know, dear. I heard a knock outside the door then I found you there. Oh, and there was also a note –"

"A note?" Lily questioned, "May I see it?"

"Um… yes, dear, but first, your medicine." Madam Misha rushed, as she pulled out a bottle of rather mushy looking grey stuff that stunk of smelly feet. Lily gagged. She had no intention of downing that stuff. "Now, dear, medicine first, then note. No medicine, no note."

Oh great, blackmail… staff are allowed to do that? Lily reluctantly removed her hand from her mouth. "Was there a… name on it?" She wanted to say at least a 'thank you' to the person who'd saved her… and, she supposed, she wanted to know who, in this school, would still help her, unless it was one of the teachers, but they wouldn't just… leave. In class, Lily had the Profs to defend her, but afterwards…

"No, dear, I'm sorry," She answered whilst shoving the fowl-tasting medicine down Lily's throat. Lily felt like she was going to puke, whist Madam Misha fumbled around, and finally pulled out a scrunched up piece of parchment and handed it to Lily.

Lily, who was still recovering from the medicine, took it with a shaky hand, and then began to read silently to herself.

Madam Misha,

I found Lily looking like she'd been dragged through a bush backwards and bitten by flobberworms (though that was probably not the case)…

Lily begged to differ, but continued reading.

Please let her stay in the Hospital wing for at least three weeks where she may be able to have a long rest so she can heal properly. She will probably be safer there anyway. Please take good care of her.

Thanks.

Lily felt her eyes begin to water. She'd recognize the handwriting anywhere; after all, it was the handwriting that had copied her work so many times in the past. Bella! You still care…

-×-

A/N: Another chapter done. Yay! :D Hope you liked that… it wasn't as sad as the last one, well, at least Lily isn't COMPLETELY alone now, but what was the dog doing there? And what exactly did Lily 'supposedly' do? I'll leave you guys to puzzle on that… for now, anyway.

Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for the reviews! You don't know how much they mean to me, seeing as I don't usually get any anyways. Thank you all!!!

I'm hoping to get another three reviews, then I'll update again!

-3 Always,

-3 Cryst

AKA LivingDreams