James was forced roughly away from Snape. A grim-looking wizard bound his hands together with a flick of his wand, while another did the same to a scowling Sirius. Only Lily was left with her hands free, presumably because her arm was too broken to bother with. She cradled her left arm with her right hand, her face pale and drawn. Still, when he caught her eye, she attempted to offer him a small smile, although it came across more as a grimace.

Before he could even try to talk to her, one of their captors took hold of him and apparated away. When James opened his eyes, he could see a form in the distance, familiar even in the dark. Usually, the castle had many windows ablaze with light, even at night (a fact James was all too familiar with, after seven years of sneaking out at all hours), but tonight, only a few, solitary windows spotted the castle with their light. It was early August, James reminded himself, so no students would be up late studying or making mischief. But even without its characteristic glow, seeing it felt like coming home. Despite the grim circumstances, James was comforted, because what harm could really come to them at Hogwarts?

With a series of cracks, the other witches and wizards from the hill appeared one by one. Sirius tried to jerk out of a witch's grasp without success; Lily swayed on her feet. The last to appear was Snape, who strode towards the castle, dabbing at his nose with a handkerchief.

As James was pushed along behind him, he couldn't help but think something very strange was going on. First of all, he had never seen Snape with a handkerchief before, never mind one black and lacy. For another, he had never seen Snape dressed so strangely. Also, if Snape was new back in this time, why did he appear to be the leader of this sinister group? And why, if Snape knew who he was, had Snape called James "mudblood"? Something wasn't adding up.

The walk to the castle was a silent one, mostly because Sirius was gagged after an initial stream of insults directed at Snape. They walked through the gates, then into the castle. Their footsteps echoed strangely in the abandoned the entrance hall, which looked much the same as James was used to. If they were in a different time, Hogwarts didn't show it.

Snape led the way down the stairs, deep into the heart of the castle, if "heart" could be used to describe a place so dismal as the dungeons. For the first time, James got the sense that they had travelled through time; Slughorn had done the impossible and made the dungeons—or at least the potions classroom—feel welcoming. No one had made any such visible attempt here.

Their captors took them to a part of the dungeons James had never been in before, and he soon realized why. Here, there were no rooms suitable for classrooms. Instead, there were cells.

James, Sirius, and Lily were shoved unceremoniously into one of them. As the cell door locked behind them with an ominous click, James looked around the small space. It was large enough for the three of them, but barely. Besides themselves, there was nothing in the cell except for a bucket.

As their captors left, James was grateful that they had left a torch lit. It crackled to itself on the wall across from the cell, and while it provided only minimal light, it was better than nothing.

Lily had wandered to the far wall, running her good hand along the stones.

"Someone's carved things on the wall… names, dates… do you think they…?" Her voice started to tremble, and she abruptly stopped speaking.

Sirius made a muffled noise through his gag, looking exaggeratedly down at his hands, then back at Lily.

"Oh, right, sorry…"

"Lily…" James said quickly, but then paused. It would be stupid to ask how she was doing, when the answer was obviously "not well."

"I'm fine," she said, understanding the unspoken question.

She struggled one-handed with the ropes around Sirius's wrists. Once freed, Sirius pulled away the gag.

"That was disgusting… tasted like someone's old sock…" He spat through the bars. "Bloody mess we're in."

Lily sank down to the ground as Sirius freed James's hands.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to…"

Once again, she was quiet, blinking hard. James sat down beside her, and Sirius slid down the wall to settle beside him.

"I can't believe Snape is here," Sirius muttered. "What shit luck that is."

"He's not," Lily said. "His name is Severus Prince."

James frowned. "Severus Prince…"

He was certain he had heard the name before, but where? After wracking his brains, he placed it; he was sure he had a distant memory of Professor Binns droning on about something in History of Magic class, and that name featuring prominently.

"Prince was Severus's mother's maiden name, so I think it could be his ancestor," Lily added hesitantly.

"Makes sense," Sirius muttered. "Apparently being a git runs in the family."

Lily pursed her lips, and for a moment, James thought she might argue, but she said nothing.

"Severus Prince. History of Magic class. Sound familiar?" James said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "No one stays awake for that class except for-"

"Me," Lily finished.

A deep furrow appeared between her eyebrows as she thought, an expression which James had always admired from afar because he thought it was cute. Now, the same thought came to his head, although he pushed it away, because this was certainly not the time to be thinking romantic thoughts about Lily. No matter how much he wanted to smooth the furrow with his thumb, they were in horrible danger, and she was hurt, and she may not even want him to touch her, anyway.

"Severus Prince," she murmured. "Something to do with the 1700s, or the 1800s…"

"Thanks, Evans, that really narrows it down," Sirius said.

She shot him a dirty look, before her face returned to its expression of concentration. "There were laws, weren't there? Laws that were super discriminatory to muggleborns."

James nodded slowly. "This is sounding familiar…"

"Oh, yeah," Sirius said with a shrug. "The 1743 laws."

Lily and James both stared at him.

He looked uncomfortable under their gazes. "My parents talked about the laws a lot. 'The good old days': that's what they called the 1700s. Under those laws, muggleborn witches and wizards weren't allowed in wizard society. They were thrown out; unless they were married to a pureblood witch or wizard, they were thrown out to muggle society, and many of them were burned by the muggles as a result."

Horror was dawning on Lily's face. "Yes… I'm remembering this now."

"The English passed the law in 1743, but the Scots weren't very happy with it," Sirius continued. "They sent some English witches and wizards to enforce the law here."

"And Severus Prince was one of them," James finished grimly.

James remembered now. Severus Prince wasn't the leader of the group, but he was the most notorious. His cruelty was enough for him to make it onto the pages of their history book multiple times, usually in connection to some horror, like torture or rape. Ironically, James recalled, while Severus Prince seemed to hate muggles and muggleborns, he had a fascination with their torture methods, leaning towards things like whips and chains and beatings over the cruciatus curse.

And they were currently at his mercy.

James's stomach clenched. He looked at Lily, her eyes swollen, her arm at an awkward angle, her face tight with pain. Then he looked at Sirius, who was trying to appear nonchalant, but James could see the tension—the fear—underneath.

He didn't know what was going to happen, but he did know one thing: James was going to protect his friends, or he was going to die trying.

Eventually, the torch burned out, and their quiet conversation turned to silence. All of them were afraid, Lily knew, but it had been a long, difficult day, and they were all tired. As the minutes passed, James's breaths evened out, and his head came to rest on her shoulder. Lily stayed very still so she wouldn't disturb him.

Even earlier today, she never would have allowed something like this casual touch, but so much had changed over the course of a day. James had been there for her when her parents had died; he had, for some unknown reason, followed her through the stones. That night, despite her discomfort, despite her fear, she was grateful to not be alone. She was grateful to have friends with her. Who knew that she would ever consider Sirius Black and James Potter her friends?

Lily shifted to try to get more comfortable, and pain shot through her arm. She inhaled sharply.

"Alright, Evans?" Sirius whispered.

"I thought you were asleep."

Sirius scoffed. "James can sleep anytime, anywhere. I can't."

"Me neither," Lily said.

"Your arm looks like it hurts like a bitch."

"You have no idea," she said drily.

After a moment of hesitation, she said, "thank you. For following me, I mean."

Sirius didn't respond for several long seconds.

"James really likes you, you know," he said.

She was glad that they were in the dark, because she felt her face flush.

"Oh," she said, unable to think of something more articulate to say.

"Don't break his heart," Sirius said. "If you don't have any feelings for him, you should tell him soon."

She got the sense that he was done talking, and so she bit her tongue, even though it was hard. She wanted to tell Sirius that he was being unfair. Why would she be thinking about romance at a time like this? Her parents had just died, and she was back in a hostile time, and she was in pain. Even if she could sort out any feelings she had for James, romance was not her priority right now.

Sirius was just trying to protect his friend, she reminded herself. There was no point getting angry with him.

Soon, Sirius also fell asleep, leaving Lily feeling utterly alone. But the weight of James's head, and his gentle breathing, comforted her. She closed her eyes, and could feel herself starting to slip off into sleep as well, when footsteps sounded down the hall.

James and Sirius jerked awake.

Severus Prince loomed in front of the bars. With the torch lit behind him, he was a hellish silhouette, his face obscured by shadow.

"Your trial will be tomorrow," he said.

"Trial for what?" demanded Sirius. "Surely travelling to Scotland isn't a crime."

"For possessing wands as mudbloods, for one," he said.

"James and I are purebloods, not that it matters," Sirius snapped back.

While it was a reflexive remark, and a true one, Sirius neglecting to mention Lily felt like a blow.

Severus ignored this comment entirely. "And, for… James, was it? I'm afraid he's in extra trouble," he purred. "Attacking me, a high-ranking auror… that will come with extra punishment."

His shadowed face twisted into a nasty smile. "Which will happen now."

Before she had time to think about, Lily had moved in front of James. Sirius stepped into line beside her.

"No," she said sharply.

Severus let out a small laugh.

"And what are three wandless mudbloods going to do to stop me?"

He was right; there was nothing they could do but watch as James was dragged from their cell, leaving the two of them behind. Lily watched numbly as Sirius shook the bars of their cell, then kicked the heavy bucket in the corner. He swore passionately, holding his foot.

"Stop," Lily said. "Hurting yourself isn't going to help James."

When Sirius turned to her, his eyes were ablaze. "If anything horrible happens to him… well, just remember that you got us into this mess."

Lily felt tears well in her eyes. She turned away so Sirius couldn't see them.

Time passed agonizingly slowly. Lily began to pace, relishing the pain in her arm, because at least it was a distraction. When another set of footsteps approached, Lily and Sirius both ran to the bars.

"James!" Lily cried.

But even without seeing whoever approached, she knew it wouldn't be him, because those weren't James's footsteps. These steps were light and rapid, almost scurrying. For the millionth time that night, Lily wished for her wand.

A young woman with dark hair stepped into view. She was beautiful in a severe way, with sharp features only emphasized by her hairstyle; her hair was tied into a tight bun, with no stray hairs at all, which was a feat that Lily thought had to be the result of magic. She was dressed in a dark red dress, with robes overtop. In one hand, she carried a lantern; in the other, her wand. Several more wands were tucked into her hair, and Lily immediately recognized one.

"That's mine!"

The witch, while young, shot her a withering look that Lily expected to see from someone much older.

"Alohomora."

The cell opened, and the witch put down the lantern to pass them their wands. Stunned, Lily accepted hers, gripping the smooth wood tightly.

"We'll need to move quickly, while everyone is asleep," the witch said, speaking with a thick Scottish accent.

Lily didn't know why this witch was helping her, but she didn't question it. Questions could come later.

"We can't leave without James," she said.

"He's with that slimeball Severus Prince," Sirius added.

The witch shook her head. "We'll have to leave him."

"No!" Lily and Sirius said together.

"Listen," the witch said sharply. "I'm risking a lot to help you. I can't reveal that I'm involved in this, do you understand? If we charge in on Severus Prince, he'll know that I'm freeing muggleborns, and the entire operation will be compromised."

"Then Sirius and I will charge in," Lily said. "We'll meet you somewhere."

"This castle is hard to navigate when you don't know it well," the witch said.

"We know it well," Sirius said.

The witch looked at them suspiciously. "How?"

"Long story," Lily said.

"Do you know the statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor?"

Sirius nodded.

"I will meet you there. If you aren't there within the hour, I won't be able to help you."

At the end of the hall, Lily saw two bodies and faltered.

"Are they dead?" she whispered.

"Yes," the witch said shortly.

As they followed her through the labyrinthine hallways of the dungeons, Lily tried not to think about how their lives were in the hands of a cold-blooded murderer. This woman had killed two wizards… but she had done it, Lily reminded herself, to save Lily and Sirius.

With her wand back in hand, Lily felt braver. She would face Severus Prince again, and this time, she wouldn't lose.

"They'll be down that hall," the witch said, nodding down yet another dark hall that crisscrossed through the dungeons.

"Thank you," Lily said.

"Don't thank me yet. You're doing a stupid thing, you know." With a sweep of her cloak, the witch turned and hurried away.

"Ready?" Lily asked Sirius.

He ran a hand through his long hair, which had come loose during the events of the night.

"Let's do this," he said.

They crept down the hall, towards the one door with light slipping through the crack underneath. They shared a look—Sirius nodded—and Lily shoved the door open, pointing her wand inside. She was ready to face Severus Prince, to fight. She was not ready for what was there.