Only You

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the characters in it, nor the RIGHTS to either. This is not infringing on any copyright, so don't try to sue me. You'll lose. Not only because you're wrong, though, but because I have a team of kick-ass lawyers who hold managerial positions at the Blockbuster on my corner. No, I don't own Blockbuster either, kthx.

Summary: After a traumatic event, Lily Evans is stuck between a rock and a hard place. It seems she finds no solace in her usual friends, or in her family. Who can she run to? LEJP & LERL.

Warnings: Hmm… For this chapter? Violence. I don't think it will be too bad, but it isn't spiffy magical violence; so don't be expecting a few cheap spells.

Chapter 3: In Which Miss Evans is Forced to Cause Bodily Harm

Lily wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, but she awoke in her bed. Staring at the ceiling, she began contemplating. Perhaps telling Potter hadn't been the best idea… After all, he wasn't exactly kind to Him in the first place. She rolled over, shutting her eyes to try and force the images that were forming out of her mind. She'd begged him not to be drastic but judging by the look in his eyes…

She sat up quickly, realizing she must have been half-mad to tell him. It was Potter, for chrissakes, he was uncontrollable and would do anything for attention. Beating the shit out of her… attacker? No, that wasn't right, she could have fought back… she just didn't… Beating the shit out of Him would definitely bridle attention from the masses… but not the kind she wanted. Jumping to her feet and not even bothering with changing before she left (how had she gotten into her pajamas in the first place?), Lily darted into the commons area and over to James's dormitory.

"STUPID." She grabbed a pillow and threw it at the wall. James's pajamas were discarded on the floor, his uniform and bag gone. He'd already gone to breakfast. Potter would see Him at breakfast. Potter had little to no self-control. Lily's thoughts darted everywhere before she finally decided she had to stop him. He didn't deserve this; it wasn't His fault. She ran back to her room and pulled her robes on over her pajamas, sliding her feet into her bunny slippers and heading downstairs.

When she reached the Great Hall, she didn't even think twice about what had happened there so recently. She had to stop Potter from making a fool of the both of them, and hurting Him in the process. She pushed the doors open, heading inside and immediately toward the Gryffindor table where he sat. James looked pleased to see her until he noticed the look on her face.

"If you hurt him, or make a scene, or do ANYTHING, James Potter, I will make you regret being born a man." She threatened, tears welling up behind her eyes. He looked up at her.

"Evans, you have to do something. That's just… wrong… what he did. I'm not saying that because I dislike – or rather, hate – him. I'm saying it because this just made me hate him even more. What he did is unforgivable." His dark eyes bored hard into hers. "So, no matter how much you threaten me, if you continue to simply take it, I will do something." Lily's face burned in anger and frustration and the embarrassment of having everyone find out."

"I trusted you…" She whispered, taking a step back, hurt evident in her eyes over all other emotion. She slapped him. "I TRUSTED YOU, YOU BASTARD!" With that, she ran from the room, finally letting her tears fall. She didn't bother using a different route as she'd planned to, running right past the place of the Incident, which only caused her to weep more. This can't be me… this can't be happening! Lily Evans would never let someone do this to her… and she'd certainly not let them get away with it, or break her to the point of constant tears. Her mind raced and she only managed to reach the second floor corridor when she broke down, feeling her legs give out.

"NO!" She shook her legs, shaking her head at the same time in disbelief. "Don't… please… I need to keep going… if I don't stop… maybe it won't catch up with me…" She pulled her knees to her chest, and buried her face in them. She heard someone come up behind her. "Get away from me. I don't want to talk about it." She grumbled out, moving one hand inconspicuously to get her wand from her pocket.

"Lily." It was Remus. "What just happened in there?" He knelt beside her. "Are you okay?" Lily brushed tears from her eyes as best she could then looked up at him, studying him for a moment before glaring.

"No. I am not okay, and I will not be okay anytime soon, so just leave me alone." She pushed him away, struggling to her feet and letting them carry her to the hospital wing. James had sufficiently ruined her potion, so she may as well just ask for one this time.

When she entered the room she saw one of those 'Break the Silence' signs and she almost laughed. Three days ago she would have dismissed it and not even taken notice. Now, she just thought it was silly. As if a poster could convince someone to tell a school official that they'd been violated. Not that she had anything to report. It was her fault in the first place, she should have screamed or fought back. She sure as hell could have, everyone would have expected her to. After all, she was the Headgirl. If she couldn't do anything when stuck in that position, how could anyone else be expected to?

"Madame Pomphrey?" She asked quietly. "I uh… need a potion." She found her voice caught in her throat when the woman asked her what kind. "F-for uhh…" She stumbled over her words, biting back tears. "Against…" She just couldn't bring herself to use the word. Finally, she headed over to Pomphrey's store of potions and pointed out the one she meant. A gasp escaped the woman, who clearly 'expected better of Lily' but she gave her the potion nonetheless. Disappointment was clear on her face as Lily took it quickly.

"…Thank you." She murmured, avoiding her gaze.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me, dear?" Pomphrey asked cordially. "Anything at all?" She apparently couldn't believe Lily would run around having wild, risky sex. Non-consensual sounded like a better explanation.

"NO. There is NOTHING I'd like to tell you and I'd appreciate people getting OFF my BACK!" She shouted. "I made a stupid mistake, okay?" She headed for the door, but hesitated. "…Don't… You know, tell anyone, okay?" She didn't look back but knew Pomphrey had nodded. Once she had, Lily took her leave. This time, Kelsey caught her.

"Lils!" She exclaimed, smiling until she noticed the shameful tears pouring down Lily's face. "Are you okay? Why were you in the Hospital Wing?" Lily looked up at her, choking back sobs.

"Kel… I think… I think I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore." She said finally, hoarsely. "Do you know where Potter is?" Kel nodded, saying she'd been talking to Sirius moments before and that they were together. "Tell him that I'm with Dumbledore, will you? I've got to go." She gave a plaster smile to the girl who gave a weak one in return, then went to deliver the message. She was obviously still confused, but Lily's smile, however fake it was, had reaffirmed her faith in the girl. She swallowed hard and began the journey to the Headmaster's office.

Kelsey Jenkins had always been a good student, especially for a Gryffindor. Though she didn't compare to Lily, she was close to runner-up, which was what made them good friends. She'd seen the distress in Lily's eyes when she requested Kel to be an errand girl. Normally Kelsey would have jokingly said 'I'm no owl' but at the look in her friend's emerald orbs, she knew she had to help with whatever was bothering her friend.

Needless to say, when she came up on a large circle of students near where she'd last seen Sirius and James, Kel smacked her forehead. This would not be good. Pushing her way through the crowd, she finally reached Sirius. "What's going on here?" She demanded. He grinned a bit.

"Snivellus is getting what he deserves. S'about time, too, I was worried Prongs had gone soft when he became Headboy." The black-haired boy bragged.

"Help me get through." Kel said. It was more of a demand than a request and Sirius grinned a bit.

"Fiesty. I like that." He led her through the crowd, keeping a hand on her lower back to make sure he didn't lose her. When they got to where the actual fight was taking place, Severus looked like death had come and went, and James was still beating him senseless. Primatively, even, James's wand had been forsaken near where Sirius and Kel now stood. Severus's eye was blackened, blood and possibly a broken nose mangled his face, there was a huge gash up his abdomen and various other scrapes and bruises. James had been ruthless. Kel ran over, pulling him off of Severus, who was now coughing up blood.

"JAMES POTTER WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" She demanded shrilly. The crowd immediately thinned. Sirius looked annoyed.

"What are you doing?" The black-haired boy shot back. "This isn't your business."

"Our Headboy was about to kill a man because he simply dislikes him! Without magic, even!" Kel ran to Severus's side, casting various healing spells on his cuts to try and get them to seal up. The worst, however, probably the initial blow which was inflicted with a wand, was still bleeding profusely and too large for her to fix. She whispered mobilicorpus and threw a glare at James. "Fool." Another glare at Sirius. "And you too, for encouraging this!"

Just as she reached the end of the corner, Kel remembered her reasons for being there. "Oh, and Potter? Lily wanted me to tell you that she's going to see Dumbledore. I don't know what about, but I figure you do judging by the ridiculous look on your face." Sure enough, James looked like he knew what a fool he'd made himself to be. If Lily was going to Dumbledore and wanted James to know it, she was probably talking to him about what had happened. He felt awful.

Standing, he looked to Sirius. "Thanks for backing me up, mate, but I can take it from here." He patted Sirius on the shoulder and the other Marauder nodded in confusion.

"No problem?" He obviously wanted an explanation, but James was not about to give it to him. Instead, he headed for the Head Common. He'd talk to Lily about it when she came back, knowing this would be her first stop. He didn't want her hearing about what had happened from anyone else. Looking down at his bruised and bleeding knuckles, James winced a bit. Perhaps he ought to get that looked at too.

As Kel was on her way back to Gryffindor Common Room, she ran into Remus, looking flustered. "What's up, Remmy?" She asked cheerfully, as always.

"Have you seen Lily?" He asked in a strained tone. He was obviously worried.

"She's up in Dumbledore's office." Kel explained easily. "Why are you looking for her?"

"She was really upset about something, and wouldn't even talk to me." Apparently, Kelsey found this even more interesting than he had.

"OH MY GOSH ARE YOU SERIOUS!" She exclaimed in disbelief. "NO WAY. Just, no. Way." She shook her head quickly.

"…I think I'd know, Kelsey." Remus mused, raising a curious brow. "Anyway, thank you. I'll go find out what's wrong, thank you." He started toward the headmaster's office. Kelsey watched him go in confusion. Had Lily gotten over Remus that fast? Or maybe something had gone amiss in the library… Whatever it was, Kel sprinted for the Gryffindor Common to discuss it with their other dorm-mates, Jenn Williams and Aurélie Durand.

When Remus reached the Headmaster's Office, it opened for him. He chuckled a bit, hoping Dumbledore had done that intentionally, knowing full and well the man was at least slightly omniscient… however that worked. Pushing the thoughts from his head, he started up the staircase. When he reached the door to Albus's office, he heard Lily stuttering out.

"I… I don't want anyone to know about this, Sir. It's… I just… You understand, don't you?" A pause. Remus assumed Dumbledore had nodded, as she continued. "Two days ago I walked in the Great Hall and asked Remus to meet me in the library. When I left, he came up behind me, scared me a little, and we talked for a few moments. He returned to the Great Hall and I started toward the library." Another pause and he heard Lily take a deep breath.

"Near classroom 3-A I was grabbed from behind. I-I…" He could hear her starting to cry. "I thought it was Remus again so I just sort of laughed, but then…" She was fully sobbing now. "Then he pulled me into the classroom and pinned me to the door. I-I saw that it wasn't Remus." She choked out.

"Miss Evans, who did this… Just a moment." Dumbledore turned his gaze on the door and it swung open, revealing Remus.

"I was just waiting for Lily, I wanted to talk to her…" He explained calmly. Albus nodded.

"You can talk in here once she's finished." Lily clammed up immediately, it seemed.

"I can come back later, Sir." She said quickly, heading for the door.

"Miss Evans," the old wizard began, "I was under the impression this was bothering you enough to make an unannounced visit." Lily turned, giving him a strained look.

"I don't want Remus to know." She whispered. "Please, Sir…" Remus put a hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Lily…" She shrugged him off.

"Don't touch me." She whimpered out. "Please. Just leave." She didn't meet his gaze.

"Lily, you can tell me what happened. You can trust me." It sounded so much like what James had said that she grew scared.

"You say that, but how do I know? Potter said that too and… He was going to hurt Him."

"Hurt who?"

"…Severus." Remus's gold eyes flashed dangerously. It seemed James wasn't the only one who would jump to protect her.

"What did he do?"

"Nothing!" Dumbledore, who had already put things together, piped in.

"Miss Evans, Mister Lupin, if you could take this outside. I have a few legal matters to attend to. I understand your distress, Miss Evans, and will have it taken care of."

"No!" Her outburst was a surprise to both men. "Don't! Severus didn't do anything wrong, it was my fault! I should have stopped him! I could have screamed! Or fought back! I'm the best witch in the school, for Merlin's sake!" By now, Remus realized what had happened.

"I'll kill him." He started from the room but Lily grabbed his arm.

"Remus, no!" She pleaded. "Don't you get that I don't want him to be hurt? It was my fault." Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"Miss Evans." She turned her attention on him. "Whether or not you want to press charges is your choice, but know this: it is not your fault. It's never the fault of the person who is victimized that they were harmed. You're clearly suffering from this." Lily's gaze softened slightly and her grip on Remus's arm loosened. "And although whether or not you let him get away with this is your business, those who do something about it find that, win or lose, they have faced their attacker and shown them for what they are. I've never met a single person who's regretted it."

Lily looked over to Remus and, though his eyes were still firm with hate for Snape, he nodded to her. She closed her eyes and seemed to ponder a moment, possibilities whirring through her head. Would she really still feel better if she lost? Opening her eyes, she looked to Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore, Sir…" She took a deep breath. "My answer is…"

A/N: -is an evil whore- Yes, I know, big cliffhanger. If you review the new chapter will come faster so… REVIEW! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! –points to purple/blue button- REVIIIIIEEEEEEWWWWW. –done begging for reviews-

.oOAurelieOo. – I like my drapes black or blue, thanks.

Sapphire Stalker – No, I knew what I was writing. But, thank you for trying to fix it.

Everyone else – No special words, sorry, but thank you for reviewing! You're my inspiration!