A/N: Okay here it is! Warning again if you didn't see my note on the last chapter - the end of this chapter is heavier than usual. I'm putting in a warning for mild assault.
Chapter Eleven: Putting a Potter in their Place
The game between Slytherin and Ravenclaw that Saturday was long and tedious. The morning sky had been heavy with ominous dark clouds, and by time the teams took to their brooms the first drops had fallen. Within thirty minutes, the rain was coming down in torrents. Lily continually flew in circles just to try and keep herself warm. The chasers continually lost their grip on the quaffle, and all the players struggled to see well through the rain. Fortunately, Payne had listened to Lily's advice, and instead of flying around on the offense, the beaters hung back and guarded Scorpius at the goalposts sending well-aimed bludgers at the Ravenclaw chasers who tried to score. Despite the rain, both teams played hard, and the crowd was large and enthusiastic. It took almost two hours to finish the game, but Lily finally spotted the snitch hovering near the announcer's stand and managed to grab it before the Ravenclaw seeker who had also seen it, but lost his grip on his broom in the rain and slipped at the wrong moment.
The Lily slid off her broom, clutching the snitch tightly in her right hand, and was instantly greeted by wet, slippery hugs from her teammates. She was encircled in a group hug, lifted off her feet by Kale. Lily laughed, tipping her head back to the sky, ignoring the rain drenching her face.
"That was bloody brilliant!" Payne shouted above the pounding rain. "You were brilliant!"
Kale returned Lily to the ground, but Kenny pulled her in for a sudden hug, and Lily almost lost her footing in the muddy grass. Payne caught her by the elbow and held her steady.
"Let's move this celebration indoors!" Payne decided. He held up his hands and pointed towards the castle, signaling to the other Slytherins who had began to flood the field from the seats that it was time to move inside for the after party. The Ravenclaw team and supporters had already left the field.
Julianne and Leona caught up with them in the Hall and Lily met them with hugs.
"Lily! You were fantastic!" Julianne said, grasping Lily's hand tightly.
"Thank you! I was getting worried for a while. It was so hard to see anything in the rain I didn't think I'd ever see the snitch," Lily said.
The rest of the team hovered for a moment, watching Lily interact with her friends, but when Louis and Hugo joined them, Payne motioned for the team to follow him.
"We'll see you back in the rooms, alright Potter?" Payne said.
Lily waved at Payne to indicate she had heard and then turned to accept Louis' hug.
"Ugh, Lils, you're soaking," Louis said, wrinkling his nose and pushing her away. He smoothed his hands over his jeans and white cashmere sweater.
"Everyone is, it was raining outside in case you didn't notice!" Lily laughed.
"We had umbrellas, thank you very much," he said. "Also Fred cast a charm to keep us warm, which was quite delightful."
Lily rolled her eyes. "How nice for you lot," she said. "I didn't have those luxuries on the field."
"Lily!"
Lily looked up at the wound of her brother's voice and saw James making his way toward them.
"Brilliant playing, little sis," he said, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze.
"Really?" Lily said, looking up into his bright amber eyes.
"Really," he said, "you were great!"
Lily beamed at his compliment, then turned to greet the other cousins who had filed in behind James. Rosie pushed past James and gave Lily a hug, not commenting on her wetness as Louis had. Rosie wouldn't care about those sorts of things. Her fiery curls were wild from the wind and rain, but her blue eyes were happy and she laughed as she relayed to Lily how upset Amy Caldwell, the Ravenclaw captain, had been.
"She's a sixth year, you know? And she is furious that a second year beat her team," Rose said, still laughing.
"I feel a little bad for Lorcan," Lily said.
"Don't," Albus said. "Be proud for yourself." When Al spoke, Lily realized he was wearing a green scarf around his neck.
"Al, are you wearing Slytherin colors?" Lily asked, tugging at the scarf.
"Yeah, well, figured it's the least we could do," he said.
"We?" Lily glanced around at her gathered cousins and realized quite a few of them had something green on. Fred was wearing a Green knitted cap over his dark red hair; Roxie and Dom had both painted a green snake on their left cheek; Hugo and Rose were wearing green scarfs like Albus; and even James unbuttoned his black wool coat to reveal a green sweater.
She glanced at Louis and lifted an eyebrow. "Hey! I was wearing gloves, but Julianne was cold!"
Julianne lifted her hand and showed the deep green leather gloves she was wearing. They were obviously too large for her slender hands.
"Also we had a sign made for you, but with the rain it didn't work out," Leona said. She was, as usual for game days, wearing a green Slytherin sweater borrowed from Julianne, one of Lily's green and white scarfs, and a green ribbon tied over her blonde hair.
"You guys…" Lily felt strangely emotional seeing all her family supporting her in that way. "Thank you!"
"Alright, you get on to your party," James said. "I'm sure they're eager for their star player to show."
Lily felt a little disappointed to not be able to celebrate with her family as well, but she was eager to get to the Slytherin common room and join the party with her teammates.
Louis seemed to sense her disappointment. "Come sit with us at dinner," he said. "After your party is over."
Lily smiled and nodded her agreement. "Jules and Leona too?" Lily asked. Julianne rolled her eyes, but nodded and Leona shrugged. "Perfect! See you all then."
The cousins dispersed, and Lily gave Leona another hug. "Tell Lorcan hello for me. Tell him he played a great game, and hopefully there are no hard feelings." She said.
"I'll do that," Leona said. "I'm sure he's fine though. Lor knows that he can't win every game."
"Hold up a minute," Fred said, stopping the girls. He withdrew his wand and waved it over Lily, murmuring under his breath. When he had finished his charm Lily was pleased to see her Quidditch robes were clean and perfectly dry, as was her hair and the rest of her.
"Thanks Fred!" Lily hugged him quickly, then Julianne and Lily waved and hurried on down to the dungeons.
The common room was loud and riotous when the girls entered. Payne held the rooms' attention, standing on a table in the center of the room, holding a bottle of fire whisky above his head and chanting "Slytherin" in his deep, smooth voice. Others in the room had joined in the chant as they gathered around at the base of the table, grinning up at him. Leo and Geoff could be seen, standing on chairs near to him, both holding up a bottle of what Lily now knew to be some of Philmore Quitin's family's scotch.
"Well this is…exciting," Julianne said, standing close to Lily and clearly hesitant to move much further into the room.
Lily sighed. "I'm never going to get used to these after-game parties," she said. "Should we get something to drink?"
Julianne nodded and the girls walked together to the drink table. As usual, the table was full of options, many of them Lily knew were not appropriate for someone of hers and Julianne's age. She took two bottles of Butterbeer and handed one to Julianne. Another table nearby held an assortment of food and the girls both took a strawberry tart and headed towards a couple chairs in an out of the way corner. They hadn't made it that far before Payne spotted Lily's red head in the crowd and called her over.
"Oy, Lily!" Payne shouted for her and waved his arms, spilling his Firewhisky on his clothes. He laughed, and others around him laughed, but he continued to call for Lily.
With a sigh, Lily headed in his direction, Julianne trailing behind her.
"Careful you don't fall," Lily said when she was standing beside the table where Payne stood, a little unsteady after Merlin knew how much Firewhisky he had consumed. "Wouldn't want our captain breaking a leg."
Payne laughed at her and suddenly bent over, handing his bottle of whisky off to a nearby fifth year. "You're the real hero of the day!" He said. "You should be up here."
"What?" Lily asked, realizing his hands had started reaching towards her. "Oh, no, that's okay." She tried to back away, but the crowd had pressed in around her, making escape impossible. Payne hooked his hands beneath her armpits and lifted her off the ground and up onto the table next to himself in one swift motion. Lily let out a slight yelp and dropped her tart, though managed to hold onto her Butterbeer with minimal spills. "Payne!" She glared at her captain as she tried to maintain her balance.
Draping his arm around her small shoulders, Payne quickly worked the room into a new chant: "Potter! Potter!"
Lily felt a blush rising up her neck into her cheeks. She hated all the attention being on her like this. She wanted to go sit in the corner with Julianne and eat and drink in peace, while quietly observing the room around them. She tried to avoid eye contact with anyone in the crowd, feeling immensely uncomfortable, but as her eyes roamed over the heads of the gathered students, she caught Scorpius' silver eyes on her. He was staring hard at her, a slight smirk fixed on his face.
"I'd like to get down now," Lily said to Payne.
He kept his arms firmly around her shoulders. "Everyone's cheering for you, pet! Enjoy it!" He grinned and reached out to the guy who was holding his bottle of whisky. He took a long drink and offered it to Lily.
Lily tried to smile at the attention, and not let on that she was feeling immensely embarrassed. She refused the offered Firewhisky, but took a drink from her bottle of Butterbeer, trying to distract herself from the situation. Payne scoffed, used his free hand to remove the Butterbeer from her grasp, passing it off to another student, and again handed her the bottle of whisky. Julianne was still standing just beside the table, offering Lily her most sympathetic smile. Lily took a short sip, but quickly passed it back to Payne. Despite her embarrassment, as the students surrounding them continued chanting her name, Lily had to admit there was something exciting about it all. No one was glaring at her, or teasing her for being a Potter or a Slytherin. She felt wanted, and she felt like she belonged. Without realizing it, Lily had started to smile, a real true smile. She relaxed under Payne's arm and as he started to sing the lyrics to a song by the popular Scottish band, the Snitches, loudly, and slightly off key, Lily found herself singing along. He smiled at her and pulled her close to himself, rocking back and forth as they sang. Others in the room joined in and some started dancing.
"Malfoy!" He called out, spotting Scorpius by the drink table. "Join us!"
Scorpius wandered closer, but shook his head. "I don't think that table will hold all three of us, mate." He laughed slightly.
Payne laughed, but would not be refused. "Come on, where's your sense of adventure!" He removed his arm from Lily's shoulders and reached his hand out towards Scorpius.
Taking Payne's hand firmly, and with the help from a couple other nearby students, Scorpius was boosted up onto the table with the other two. The table was made of strong wood, and seemed steady enough, but the surface space was narrow and with three together, they all now stood very close. Lily once again wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment. Payne seemed perfectly delighted with the new addition, and laughed heartily. Ignoring her discomfort for the moment, Lily allowed herself to enjoy the sound of Payne's deep laugh. He rarely seemed to express this jovial side of himself except for after winning a game or when he had clearly had a bit to drink; Lily liked him when he was like this though and not as serious and austere as usual.
"Lily get in the middle so you don't fall off," Payne directed suddenly. He pulled on her arm, and she wavered slightly. He held her left arm and Scorpius grabbed hold of her right arm instinctively. Stabilized between the two of them, Lily stood still and fought the growing blush in her cheeks.
"Alright you lot, listen up!" Payne spoke loudly to the crowd, calling everyone to quiet and attention. "Last year, Slytherin took the Quidditch House Cup for the first time in over a decade!" Cheers erupted throughout the room, but Payne quieted them down. "I don't know about all you, but I quite liked that feeling. This year, as the Captain, I plan on getting that cup again, and for every year that I am in charge. How does that sound?" Louder cheers took over the room. He held up his whisky bottle and anyone else holding a drink held up theirs as well. Payne took a drink from the bottle. "And this is the keeper that's going to help us get there!" He acknowledged Scorpius by handing him the bottle of Firewhisky. "Right, Malfoy?"
Scorpius took the bottle, seemed to consider for only a moment before holding the bottle above his head and shouting to the gathered group: "To the cup!" He took a long drink of the whisky and laughed.
Lily glanced up at him, feeling surprised by his laughing tone; it was an unusual trait for him to display, but Lily liked hearing him laugh.
"And to the seeker that got us there last year and will again this year!" Payne shouted out at the crowd again. He and Scorpius both held Lily's arms up in the air. "Lily Potter! The best damn seeker there is!"
Lily knew controlling her now blush was impossible. All eyes turned to her, and most of the room broke out in cheers, chanting her name again. Lily couldn't keep her eyes from drifting over to Cassie and Nicollet sitting at a table in the corner of the room with a few second year boys. None of them were cheering. She ignored them and glanced down at Julianne who was grinning broadly, but also had a somewhat apologetic sparkle in her eyes.
Payne took the bottle of Firewhisky back from Scorpius and handed it to Lily. "For the cup!" He said.
She took it, rolled her eyes and held it up to the room, repeating Payne's declaration. "For the cup!" She said, then drank and tried not to squeeze her eyes shut as it burned down her throat.
Payne grinned at her reaction to the drink and took it back, drinking more himself. Soon the whole room was chanting "For the cup!" Payne was laughing charmingly at everyone, while Lily continued to wish she could slip off the table and disappear into the crowd for a while. Scorpius was still grinning and laughing occasionally and seemed unaware of Lily's nervousness beside him.
"This is what it feels like to be one of us," he whispered into her ear suddenly.
"One of you?" She asked, unsure of his meaning, and also caught by surprise at his lips suddenly pressed against her ear.
"A Slytherin, one of the team, someone popular…" he said, grinning. "How do you feel about the attention? Think you can handle it for the next few years?"
"I guess…" Lily said. She smiled slightly at the idea of being popular and part of the group.
Payne handed the whisky back to Lily before shouting into the crowd again. "Hey! Someone turn up the music. It's time to really get this party started. Who's going to dance with me?"
Lily wasn't surprised by the amount of girls who suddenly started edging closer to the table eager to get in line to dance with Payne. As the music swelled in the room — she wasn't sure how or by who — Lily felt herself becoming less nervous. She took another long drink from the bottle before Scorpius took it out of her hand.
"Slow down Fireball," Scorpius said, laughing as Lily turned to him with a smile. "This stuff will go straight to your head. Why don't you stick with Butterbeer leave the whisky for the grownups." He took a drink.
"Are you calling yourself a grownup and implying I'm not?" She asked. "You're barely a year older than I am!"
"I'll be fourteen next month," he said. "That's officially grown up. You're just a kid." He winked at her and took another drink, holding the bottle unnecessarily close to her face.
Lily glared. "And you don't get to boss me around!" She took the bottle back and took a sip.
Payne stepped between them suddenly and dropped an arm around both their shoulders. "Oy, it's a party! Why are we arguing?" He squeezed them both tightly and then suddenly kissed Lily's cheek, laughed, and then turned and kissed Scorpius' cheek as well, laughing again when Scorpius pulled away and rolled his eyes. "Let's dance!" Payne decided. He leapt down from the table in a swift motion that Lily thought looked a lot easier than it could have been, then turned and held out his hands to Lily.
Hesitating for a brief moment, Lily held the whisky bottle tightly in her left hand and bent forward on the table until Payne could reach her. He held her securely at the waist, lifting her easily off the table and putting her down carefully on the ground.
"Dance with me," he commanded, dragging her to the center of the crowded room and holding her free hand with his as he started to dance.
Lily felt all her nerves returning, but also felt herself enjoying the moment more than she would have expected. Others had gathered around them to dance as well; she saw Kale and Kenny dancing next to them, and even Leo and Geoff had dragged a couple third year girls over to dance with them. She glanced back to the table and saw that Scorpius was no longer there, though she couldn't see where he had gone, and before she could stop herself, she found herself wishing he would come and join them.
Payne was soon distracted by a fifth year girl and abandoned Lily. Kale and Kenny moved into the space he had left and started dancing with Lily. Kenny eventually moved away, but Lily was relieved to see Julianne joining them. Kale took one of Lily's hands and one of Julianne's, and spun them both under his arms. Lily was slightly surprised to discover that someone as large and awkwardly shaped as Kale was surprisingly good on the dance floor. She laughed as he released them and broke into a round of dance moves on his own. People near them cheered for him. They danced for nearly an hour, until Lily finally felt herself overcome with exhaustion.
"Jules, I'm beat!" She said, moving away from the throng of students.
The crowd had thinned a bit after a time. Some of the younger students had drifted out of the common room to find other Saturday afternoon activities, while some older students had coupled off in corners or, Lily had noticed, even down the hall to their rooms. Payne was still the center of attention, though she noticed, he had become fixated on standing anywhere near where Regina happened to be. Regina, however, was not giving him the attention he seemed to desire. Lily had noticed Scorpius dancing a while ago with Delia and some other third years, but she had become determined not to notice him after that and now had no clue where he was.
Julianne followed Lily down the girls' corridor to their room, both girls bringing along a bottle of Butterbeer and some chocolate from what was left of the food tables. Julianne flopped on her bed, stretching out her whole body.
Lily laughed. "You look like Styx," she said. "I'm going to take a shower and finally change out of these game clothes."
"I'll be right here," Julianne said, snuggling up with a blanket.
After her shower, Lily dressed in a black skirt and white button up shirt embroidered with a silver and green snake. It was one that Victoire had ordered special for her, and wearing it now made her feel bold and excited. She pulled her white stockings up to her knees and finished the outfit with a pair of black laced boots. She did her makeup briefly, which had become a habit for her since returning to school, and used a charm to dry and curl her long hair. She had to wake Julianne from a nap when she was ready, and then the girls went up together for dinner.
"Jules, are you still alright eating with the Gryffindors?" Lily asked as they approached the Great Hall.
Julianne glanced towards the Slytherin table briefly, but nodded. "Sure," she said. "For tonight."
Lily smiled gratefully to her friend and led the way to the Gryffindor table where she saw many of her family already gathered, and Leona was already sitting beside Hugo. Lily paused next to James and Bea and greeted her brother, wrapping her arms around his neck in a brief hug. He returned it only slightly, but once again congratulated her on her Quidditch victory that day before she moved down the table to sit beside Louis.
After dinner, Julianne chose to return to the common room while Lily joined her family and a few other Gryffindors in the outer courtyard. She found herself chatting easily with Louis, Hugo and their Gryffindor friends, and she finally got to know a couple of the Gryffindor girls in her year, whom apart from seeing in class she hadn't ever had a chance to speak to or befriend.
As she said goodnight to the Gryffindors, Lily realized she felt happy, truly happy. She had spent the day enjoying her time with both Slytherins and Gryffindors, and she hadn't once felt upset or embarrassed about being with either house. Smiling, she began singing to herself softly as she made her way towards the stairs that would lead her down to the Slytherin rooms.
The castle was dark and quiet, being just past curfew, and having lost herself in her song, Lily hadn't noticed anyone else around her, so she was surprised to hear someone calling out to her.
Lily turned towards the voice, wondering who was calling to her. Three tall, older boys were walking towards her from down the corridor past the staircase. From the distance, she couldn't decipher their house robes, and she couldn't see their faces in the shadows.
"Hello?" she said slowly, a little uncertain. She took another step towards the staircase that would lead her down to the dungeons.
"Hold up there," one of them said.
She kept walking, realizing she did not recognize the voice at all. She couldn't entirely explain why the pit of her stomach had started to feel tight and all the peace and happiness she had been feeling only a moment before had suddenly vanished and a feeling of dread now spread across her skin like frost on a windowpane. She felt instinctively that stopping would be the wrong choice in that moment.
"I said, hold up," he said, a little louder and rougher than before.
Lily still hadn't slowed, but the boys were taller with longer legs and caught up to her quickly. One of them grabbed hold of her arm just as she reached the top step. He tugged hard, forcing her to spin around to look at them. Up close now she realized the top halves of their faces were covered with black masks, and their robes were plain black without identifying emblems. From their height and bulk, she assumed them to be sixth years at least.
"What do you want?" She asked, trying to keep her voice both polite and in control at the same time. Lily did not intimidate easily, but something about these three made her feel very uncomfortable.
"We wanted to talk to you," the tallest of the three said. Besides their very slight differences of heights, they looked rather similar, as far as she could tell through the masks — all dark haired and light eyed, each equally broad and muscular. She assumed they could be Quidditch players.
"About what?" She asked.
The one in the middle scoffed. "You think you're something so special, don't you? A Slytherin breaking the rules of the houses and doing whatever the hell she wants with anyone she feels like." He shook his head. "That's not how it works."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, shaking her arm free from his hold. "I really need to get back before curfew." She started down the steps, but the trio followed her closely.
Lily still couldn't explain why she felt so nervous. She had never felt this way before. These three students made every nerve in her body alert; she felt even the hairs on her arms prickling with nervousness. It could be the masks, or their intimidating size, or the fact that it was very late and every other student was in their room by now. Her instincts told her to run or to scream or to fight, instead though she forced herself to stay calm and keep walking normally.
Unfortunately, she realized too late that she should have listened to her instincts. Five steps from the bottom, one of the three reached out and grabbed her arm. He grabbed her hard enough for her to lose her balance. She tripped and tumbled the last five steps down to the bottom and ended in a heap on the stone floor.
As they clambered down the steps after her, she tried to get herself to her feet, but they reached her before she was standing completely. The three of them stood, towering above her as she knelt, halfway to her feet, and she realized they were smiling a little. It terrified her.
"What do you want from me?" She asked.
"We think it's time someone breaks down some of that pride of yours and put you in your place, little Potter," one of them said.
Lily couldn't find any words, and before she had a chance to try and think of any, the three of them were nearly on top of her.
"Leave me alone!" She nearly screamed.
"You think you're something special because you're a Potter and a Slytherin!" The tallest of the boys, the one who was simply standing back and watching, now taunted her. "You think your whole family is special and your circumstances put you above the rules…"
One of them reached out, yanked her up to her feet, and aggressively started pulling her Green sweater off her.
"I don't know what you're talking about! I don't think any of that!" She said.
"There's nothing special about you, Snake. I don't know why everyone thinks there is. You're just a spoiled little girl in need of a good lesson in humility and respect," the tallest said again. She tried to hold onto her sweater and push the guy away from her, but he suddenly threw out a quick, strong arm and hit her hard across the face.
Lily's face stung from the hit and she momentarily stopped fighting back. He pulled her sweater the rest of the way off and tossed it to the floor. She couldn't understand who these boys were or why they were so angry with her. All she wanted was to get away from them, but she felt completely helpless. She didn't know what else to expect from them. She didn't know what they wanted to do to her, but when he started roughly ripping her white button up shirt open, tearing the buttons from the thread, she started to get a pretty good idea.
"Please stop," she said. Again trying to push him off. She managed to get one of her hands close to his face and scratched hard with her sharp nails.
The guy pulled back, briefly shocked, holding a hand to his face. When he removed his hand, she saw that he was bleeding.
"Bitch!" He screamed at her, and he hit her again, harder than before.
The third guy who had been standing aside and watching, moved quickly around behind Lily and grabbed hold of her arms, twisting them behind her back and holding securely. She tried to wriggle free, but he was very large and much stronger than she was.
"All you Potters are the same," the tallest one said. "You think nobody can touch you and you can just get away with whatever you want in life, just because your daddy used to be a big deal." He stepped forward, pushing aside the guy who had been standing in front of her, and finished opening her shirt himself. "We're doing the world a favor by putting you in your place." He said.
She could feel the cool air of the dungeons against the bare skin of her stomach and chest. Fear and anger were battling for emotional priority, and she desperately wished she could think of some way to get herself away from this situation. The next moment though, the tallest guy had shoved her hard onto the ground, causing her to yelp in surprise and pain as her head hit the floor and he climbed on top of her, straddling her stomach; she could barely even catch her breath with his weight on top of her. The other guy who had been behind her held her arms above her head now, firmly.
"Get off!" She tried to shout, but it came out more as a breathless gasping sound.
He laughed a little, then bent down and kissed her roughly.
She whimpered and wriggled her petite body, trying whatever she could to move from him, even though she knew it was useless. She kicked her legs out, trying to dislodge him from on top of herself, but the third guy took hold of her legs and held them still.
"There's nothing special about you," the guy sitting on her said, placing his hands on her body and letting them roam beneath her open shirt. At the same time she felt another pair of hands on her legs, sliding upwards towards her skirt. "And we're going to make sure you never feel special for anyone ever again." He kissed her again, this time biting her lip.
She shrieked in pain and kicked her legs out again.
The hands holding her legs grabbed hard and held them in place, fingers digging in above her knees. A hand slid beneath her skirt again, but in that moment she heard someone shouting from away down the corridor, saw a brilliant flash of light, and the guy sitting on her froze and fell flat on top of her, completely immobile.
Lily gasped as his whole weight collapsed on top of her. A moment later there was another shout and flash as another spell was attempted, but this one seemed to miss its target. The guy who had been holding her legs jumped out of the way and pulled out his own wand, preparing to retaliate. She could see him aiming it somewhere down the hallway away from her, but couldn't move her head to see who was there. He and the third guy suddenly grabbed their friend's limp body and together dragged it with surprising strength and speed, off of her, up the staircase and out of the dungeons.
Lily stayed perfectly still, trying to force herself to regulate her breathing. She hadn't realized how difficult it had been for her to catch her breath throughout the past few minutes, but now she drew in long painful breaths, feeling the cool air slightly soothe the heaviness in her chest where moments ago that guy had been sitting on her and touching her. Her lip burned, her face still stung from where she had been struck, and her whole body ached from being aggressively handled, but she didn't move or look to see who had come to her aid. She was embarrassed and angry and still feeling a little bit confused and scared. The emotions swirled through her brain like a hailstorm and she couldn't calm herself down enough to think. She was vaguely aware of someone saying her name, but there was a pounding in her ears and her own breathing sounded so loud, she couldn't quite understand who was talking or what was being said.
"Lily!"
She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and took another slow breath; it seemed to get stuck in her lungs and she coughed.
"Lily, answer me." His voice was closer and louder, more clear, and very firm.
"Yeah…" she managed to respond a little breathlessly still.
"Lily," he said again, and this time she started to recognize his voice.
"Yeah," she said again, "I'm fine."
"Umm, no you're not," Scorpius said. He was kneeling beside her. When she finally managed to look at him and register who he was, the expression on his face startled her. He looked angry, fiercely angry, but also intensely scared. She didn't know how to interpret it entirely, but his silvery eyes shined with his emotion.
"I'm fine," she said again, determined to make herself sound certain, though her voice wavered. She started to sit up, and he instantly reached out to give her a hand. She shook her head.
"Lily, let me help you," he said. "Please." His voice was gentle, but firm.
Despite her instinct to pull away from him again, she let him help her to her feet. Her legs were shaky underneath her own weight, and her head still felt cloudy and loud like she had stuck her head under water and couldn't quite get herself out again.
"We should go to the Headmistress," Scorpius said.
Lily felt suddenly very aware of him; his breathing, his words, his body next to hers, close but not too close. She stared at the stone wall and did not answer him.
"Lily," he said again in that firm, calm way.
"What?"
"We should go to the Headmistress," he said again.
"What? No. Why would I do that?" She said. "No."
"But you need to…" he hesitated. "You need to talk to somebody."
"No," she said again.
"Professor Willoughby then," he said. "Let's go to him."
"No," she said. She felt very certain in her words.
He was quiet for a moment, but she knew him well enough to know that his mind was working hard. Finally he spoke again. "Lily, you need to talk to somebody about what just happened."
She shook her head slightly. "I'm fine. I want to go now."
"You're not fine," he said.
She didn't speak for a minute. She was trembling so hard she was afraid that if she tried to talk he would hear her voice shaking. She held her hands in tight fists, her nails digging into the palm of her hand, trying to stop her trembling.
"Lil, it's me. You don't have to pretend with me." He said. He moved away from her for a moment and retrieved her sweater from the ground. "Let me take you to the nurse at least. You should be inspected," he said.
"No," Lily said again. "I'm fine."
Scorpius let out a slightly exasperated sigh.
"I'm fine," she said again, but this time her voice quivered and she felt a burning sensation in her eyes. "I'm fine," she said more loudly. Her emotions still battled inside her head.
Scorpius knew her well enough to know that she was only a moment away from completely crumbling. He also knew that she was not about to change her mind.
"Come on, let's go," he said. He thought about putting his arm around her, but she looked so tense, and he didn't quite know how to remind her that her shirt was open and he was trying hard not to stare at her chest.
"I don't want to go to the infirmary," she said. "I'm fine."
"If you try to tell me you're fine one more time…" he said, shaking his head. "You're not fine."
Her trembling had taken over her body in a way she couldn't control, but she forced herself to straighten up as tall as her short height allowed. "Don't try to tell me how I feel right now," she said. "Don't tell me how I feel. You don't know anything about how I feel." Her voice started rising. "I don't want to talk to anyone or see anyone."
"I'm sorry," he said, quickly trying to calm her down again. "Come on, let's go back to our rooms. You don't have to talk to anyone about anything."
She didn't move right away.
"Lily, come with me now," he said. Again his voice was calm, but firm, and this time he took hold of her elbow.
She flinched.
"Lily, you can't stand here in the hallway all night," he said.
She nodded slowly and he was finally able to lead her down the corridor to the Slytherin doorway. He said the password and the door opened. At this late hour, the common room was fortunately empty; everyone was already in their rooms for the night. He led her into the common room and over to the couch by the fireplace. She didn't make any effort to move away from him and she didn't speak. He didn't know what to say or do.
She stood beside the couch for a moment, still without speaking.
"Lily, tell me what I can do," he said.
"I'm fine," she said again. "You can go."
He scoffed. "I'm not leaving you," he said.
"I'm serious, please go." She said.
"I'm not leaving you," he said again.
"I'm just tired. I'm going to go to bed," she said.
Scorpius couldn't decide if she was being serious about being okay or just trying to get rid of him.
"I'm really okay," she said. She even smiled a little, though it was obviously not real. "Nothing even happened. I'm fine. Really."
"Are you bloody joking?" He asked, finally feeling a little angry at her determination to seem okay.
"I'm fine, Scorpius," she said.
"You were attacked!" He said, his voice getting louder and angrier. "If I hadn't stopped them you know exactly what would have happened."
"But you did stop them, and so nothing happened," she said. She was still trying to get her shaking under control, but she was determined to sound confident. The only thing she was certain of at that moment was that she wasn't going to let herself cry in front of him.
"Nothing happened?" He said, growling slightly as his anger got the better of him. "I can see your tits, Lily!"
Lily seemed to only just realize that her shirt was open. She let out a slight gasp and grabbed at her open shirt to cover herself.
"I tried not to look…" he said slowly, seeming to feel a little apologetic for losing his temper on her.
"Oh god," she said. "Oh god." She held her arms tightly around herself. She tried buttoning her shirt back up but her fingers fumbled on the buttons, and he noticed quite a few of them seemed to have been ripped off. "I'm fine." She said again. Her fingers kept fumbling, but she kept trying to button her shirt. "I'm fine," she said again. "I'm fine." She tried harder to get the buttons to cooperate, but she felt her eyes burning again and this time she didn't know how to stop the tears from spilling over. "I'm fine…" something inside finally snapped and she lost her voice as the tears came.
She started to cry, and she couldn't stop.
Scorpius didn't seem to know what the best action was at the moment to not upset her, but he also knew that all he could think of was holding her and taking care of her. He put his arms out towards her slowly and waited, wondering if she would let him hold her.
She continued to cry and continued to try to button her shirt, but with little success. Scorpius dropped her sweater on the floor and took one of the heavy knitted blankets from the back of the couch, shook it out, and wrapped it around Lily's shoulders.
She let him put the blanket around her, standing perfectly still but continuing to cry. She hated herself for crying, but she couldn't stop.
"Do you want to sit?" He asked.
She barely even nodded as a response but sank onto the couch, clutching the blanket more tightly around herself.
Scorpius sat as well and waited quietly for a moment. Eventually he couldn't stop himself from saying something. "What can I do?"
Lily managed to suppress a sob as she turned her watery eyes towards him and answered in a stifled voice. "What can you do?"
"Yeah, what can I do? How can I help you?" He asked.
She shook her head slightly. "There's nothing you can do."
"I need to do something," he said.
She stared at him, sniffling slightly to try and get her crying under control. "Why?" She asked finally.
"You were hurt tonight," he said. "Those bastards hurt you, and as much as I want to find them and bash in their faces, I don't even know who they were, so what else can I do?"
Lily was momentarily overcome by surprise and gratitude for the ferocity with which Scorpius spoke. She knew he was very serious.
"You've already done enough," she said. "You saved me, Scorpius. You saved me from them." She let out a slow, very shaky breath. "You're right. If you hadn't come along when you did, they wouldn't have stopped…" she squeezed her eyes shut for a minute, trying to block out the memory of their bodies pressed on top of hers, hands holding her down and touching her in places she didn't want to be touched. She let out a breath. "You saved me," she said again. "Thank you."
Scorpius hesitatingly reached out and touched her hand. Her whole body jumped in response and he pulled away.
"I still think we need to talk to somebody," he said. "The headmistress or Professor Willoughby should know of this. We need to find these guys and make sure they are punished, or expelled."
She shook her head. "I didn't see their faces," she said. "They wore masks."
"Cowards," he muttered.
"I don't want to tell anyone," she said. "No one can know."
"You can't let them just get away with this," he said.
She shook her head. "It's over."
"What if they try it with someone else?" He asked.
"They won't," she said.
"Lily, guys like that don't just give up," he said. "They didn't get what they wanted, they won't stop. They'll try with someone else…"
"It wasn't random," she said.
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't just because I was alone and convenient," she said. "They were waiting for me."
"How do you know?"
"They said things," she said. "About me."
"What sort of things?" He asked. He felt his anger rising again as he realized that Lily had been intentionally targeted.
"Things about me being a Potter and a Slytherin and thinking I'm better than others or something like that…" she said. "They said they were going to break my pride and teach me that I'm not special…" her voice caught as more tears choked in her throat.
"Bloody bastards," he said.
A few slow tears leaked from her eyes and she tried to wipe them away. Her cheek ached when she touched it, and she pressed her hand over it gently. She ran her tongue across her lips to feel the spot where she had been bit and realized it was swollen and still tasted like blood. She suddenly had a strong need to be alone, away form Scorpius and his well-intended conversation.
"I think I'm going to go to bed," she said.
"Oh?" He said. He seemed surprised.
She stood up. "I'm tired."
"Okay…" he said. He stood too. "If you're sure there's nothing else I can do…"
"Scorpius, like I said, you saved me tonight," she said. "Thank you, truly."
He nodded.
"I'll see you at breakfast," she said.
"Are you sure you'll be up to it?" He asked.
"I just want to put this whole thing behind me as quickly as possible. I don't want to think of those guys or what could have happened ever again," she said. "I'm going to take a shower, go to bed, and get up and get on with my day tomorrow like nothing ever happened."
Scorpius frowned. He didn't believe what she was saying, but she seemed so sure of herself as she said it. "Okay then. I'll see you at breakfast."
Lily walked away from him swiftly, heading to her room. Scorpius realized she had left her sweater and picked it up, taking it back to his room to keep for her.
Lily opened the door to her room quietly to not wake her roommates. She closed the door and stood silently for a moment to listen to their heavy sleepy breathing. No one stirred; she was relieved to not have to make conversation and pretend to be okay with Julianne or Kenny.
Moving past the beds and through the closet to the bathroom, Lily felt her body screaming in pain. She wanted to crawl into bed and sleep and forget everything like she had told Scorpius, but she knew that would never happen. She knew she would never forget a single second of the events of the night. She turned on the shower and let the water steam up as she removed the blanket she had still been clinging to. She folded it carefully and set it on the counter top. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Lily froze. Her shirt had not been successfully re-buttoned, and she realized exactly how much of her body Scorpius had seen. She felt humiliated, but also realized she was grateful for the kindness he had shown in not caring about her partial nudity. She removed her shirt completely and deposited it in the hamper that stood in the corner of the bathroom. She saw bruises on her arms, stomach, and neck from where she had been grabbed and rough handled by the three guys. Her cheek was red and swollen from where she had been struck and she wondered if she would bruise. Her lips were dark and puffy, and her face was bright red and splotchy from tears.
She started crying again as she removed her skirt and climbed into the hot shower. The water felt too hot on her sensitive skin, and she winced as she forced herself to finish the overly-hot shower, scrubbing hard at her body with the eucalyptus soap as though she could somehow wash the night away. She remained in the shower longer than usual, and when she finished she pulled on her green bathrobe and fell into her bed, eager to sleep away all her thoughts and emotions.
Styx seemed able to sense her distraught state and curled up on the pillow next to her head, purring encouragingly into her ear as she finally drifted off to sleep.
A/N: I wasn't going to stop here, but if I didn't, this chapter would have ended up twice as long. That being said, the next chapter is going to pick up directly where this one ends off, and that should be ready soon. Thank you for all the lovely reviews and messages from the last chapter. Please please review this and let me know your thoughts. XO