Hi everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read up to here. I just wanted to let you know that while there will be nothing explicit, there is some clear non-con stuff here.
I also wanted to let you know that updates will likely be a bit slower for the next little while. I'm still plugging away at this, but December is going to be a crazy month, so updates will be less frequent.

By now, James had accepted that no one was coming for him. There would be no daring rescue, and though he reminded himself that he didn't want one, part of him still ached for one. It wasn't even so much because he was afraid to die, but because he wished he could have seen Lily one last time before he did.

But he was going to die among enemies, after who knew how much more pain and suffering. The last time Severus Prince had tortured him, before he left, James had begged for Severus to kill him. Severus Prince's response had been to spit on James, and James hadn't had the strength to wipe it away.

James was curled in on himself for warmth, but he still shivered steadily. The dungeons were cold, and Severus Prince had taken his shirt. The stones under his bare skin seemed to steadily suck what little warmth he had out of him. Once again, his back had been stripped open, and countless cuts over his body stung. Every breath was painful; James was sure that Severus Prince had broken some ribs with several well-placed blows. Even lifting his head had become an insurmountable task.

To distract himself, he thought of Lily. He conjured her image in his mind, lingering on each detail: her gap-toothed smile, her eyes, her red hair. After a time, he closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, she was there, standing at the door. It was as though his wish for her had been strong enough to summon her there, but that wasn't possible. James wondered vaguely if he was hallucinating, although it was a bizarre thing to imagine, because why would Lily be wearing Hufflepuff robes?

She began to cry. Lily was beautiful when she cried, James thought. Perhaps not everyone would think so, but James did. He loved how her entire face would flush, how her bottom lip would tremble. It wasn't that he liked seeing her upset, but he always felt privileged that she allowed him to see her vulnerable. More than that, he liked seeing her, and if this was the last he would see of her before he died, he was grateful to see her in any state. If this Lily was a hallucination, she was a welcome one.

She moved to kneel at his side. She held out a hand, as if to touch him, but she paused, her hand hovering between them. Now, his own eyes were stinging, because he would do anything to feel Lily's touch again.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, and…"

She clasped her hands in her lap, not meeting his eyes.

"Lily? Could you…" he swallowed hard. "Would you touch me?"

He knew the hallucination would refuse, because he doubted a vision was capable of touch. Still, he was disappointed when she responded.

"I don't want to hurt you," she whispered.

"Please…"

She cupped his jaw with a gentle hand, and he looked at her with a dawning sense of horror. If she was real, then that meant that she was in real danger.

"I've messed everything up. They're coming for me," she told him, her voice breaking. "I'll try to get you out, but…"

Now that she said it, James thought he could hear distant footsteps in the hallway. His stomach clenched.

"Lily… you shouldn't have come. You should have left me."

"I could never leave you," she said. "I love you too much."

"Run, now!" he pleaded.

"It's too late for that," she said.

James hesitated. He wanted to continue to beg her to go, but this could be the last time they had together.

"Help me sit up?"

"Won't that hurt you?"

"No," James lied.

Lily gently helped him sit up, until his cut back was pressed against the wall. James bit back a groan, but it was stifled as Lily kissed him, hard. He could taste tears on her lips. He wanted to touch her, but his hands were chained. When he opened his eyes again, it was to see her face, the face of the person he loved most. Not a bad way to die, he thought.

Severus Prince and several aurors ran into the room, disarming Lily easily. She stayed close to James as she faced them.

"You said you would let James go if I came. I'm here," she said.

"I lied," Severus Prince said, prompting laughter from the aurors.

Lily held tightly to James as Severus Prince approached.

He sneered. "What a touching scene."

"I'll do anything you want, if you let James go," Lily said.

Severus Prince paused. James didn't like the new glint that had come into his eyes.

"Anything I want? And what would I want with a mudblood like you?"

Even as Severus Prince said it, James could guess. Severus Prince came close enough to Lily for James's skin to crawl, and he whispered something in her ear, something audible to James and Lily, but not his auror friends.

"Would you let me fuck you?"

Lily didn't hesitate. "Yes."

The corners of Severus Prince's mouth turned up in a small, unpleasant smile.

"Well, I did promise Anne I would let you go," he told James. "And what use do I really have for a filthy blood traitor like you?"

"No… No-" James said.

Severus Prince pulled James to his feet, away from Lily's grasp.

"Don't hurt him!" she protested, but one of Severus Prince's aurors held her back.

"Throw him into the forest," Severus Prince said, shoving James into the grasp of one of his aurors.

"But he needs medical attention. If you leave him in the forest, he'll die," Lily gasped.

Severus Prince grinned. "Exactly."

"No… please…" James begged Severus Prince. "Please, hurt me instead, kill me instead… let Lily go…"

Severus Prince ignored him, his attention solely on Lily.

"James!" she shouted after him.

Her screams at Severus Prince, begging for his life, followed him down the hall. They passed some students on the way out the castle door, who all looked extremely disturbed by the sight of him. Finally, they reached the edge of the forest and threw him to the ground. He landed hard among the roots and dirt, and as he watched the retreating aurors, his vision began to fade.

The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a black dog running across the castle grounds.

After James was gone, Severus Prince sent the remaining aurors away.

"Have a seat," he told Lily.

There was only one seat in the small room, a small wooden chair flecked with bloodstains. She stayed where she was and crossed her arms.

"There's no need to be polite," she said, sounding braver than she felt. "We both know that this isn't that kind of visit."

Severus Prince smiled slowly. "As you wish."

He approached, and she resisted the urge to flinch away.

"You know, Severus, I am sorry that I left you under that bed. I never dreamed that it would take them so long to find you. I didn't mean to hurt you."

By now, Severus Prince's sallow skin was flushed with anger.

"Apologies won't save you," he said. "It's far too late for anything to save you. Let us be very clear, Lily Potter. I am going to fuck you, multiple times. I'm going to torture you. And you're going to tell me anything I want—do anything I want—because you'll be so desperate for it all to stop."

Lily swallowed hard, but she kept her expression neutral. She was sure James had been brave; the least she could do was meet her fate with the same courage as her husband.

"Nothing to say?" Severus Prince murmured.

He was very close to her now. She spat directly into his face. Her satisfaction at seeing his surprise was brief, as he quickly retaliated by slapping her. Her hand flew to her stinging cheek.

"Your husband begged me to kill him, you know," Severus Prince said. "You will beg the same a hundred times over, and even then I'll keep you until I grow tired of you."

"Your life must have been horrible," Lily said quietly, "for you to do such horrible things. I feel sorry for you."

Severus Prince grabbed her arm and shook her. "No one feels sorry for me, mudblood," he spat. "My life has been fine. Do you know why I do such 'horrible' things? Because it brings me pleasure." He pointed his wand at her and said, "Crucio."

"There's nothing to do but wait for him to have her executed," a voice was saying, distant but familiar. "They sometimes execute them outside, next to the forest."

"They didn't for your friend… Bertha, was it?"

"No," agreed the first voice, sounding worried. "No, you're right about that. There's no guarantee that it would be outside."

James blinked open his eyes, taking in the forms of Sirius and Cait. He squeezed his eyes shut again, his blurred vision making him nauseous. He couldn't remember what was happening, or where he was. All he knew was that he was in the worst pain he'd ever been in.

"So what should we do?" Sirius asked. "We can't invade the castle, just the two of us. And thanks to Brian, I'm sure everyone knows to be on the lookout for a black dog, so that's no help either."

"I don't know what to do," Cait said, her voice breaking. "Poor Lily…"

Lily.

James's eyes flew open again.

"Where's Lily?" he said, his voice raspy from disuse.

Cait hurried over to him. "You're awake. How are you feeling?"

Everything was coming back to him. The pain, the torture room, Severus Prince, Lily screaming as they took James away…

"She's with him?" James realized, his breaths coming faster now.

"Calm down," Cait told him gently. "You're hurt badly-"

"How long has she been there? How long have I been asleep?"

Cait and Sirius exchanged a look.

"Two days," Sirius admitted.

James attempted to get to his feet, and Cait barely managed to catch him as he fell.

"You're sick," she said. "Lily wouldn't want you hurting yourself. Lie back down."

"You don't understand," James gasped. "He's-"

"Thank you, James, I don't need to use my imagination to know what's happening to Lily right now," Cait snapped. "I've seen you, haven't I?"

"Cait's right, Prongs," Sirius said cautiously. "You can help us come up with a plan while you lie down."

"Right. A plan," James said.

"Prongs…" Cait said. "You always call each other by those stupid nicknames. Padfoot… that's because you're a dog?"

Sirius nodded.

"So what the bloody hell is a prongs?" Cait asked.

"I'm an animagus as well. I can turn into a stag…" James trailed off. "Severus Prince doesn't know about that."

Cait folded her arms. "No."

"Cait-"

"Not now, at least," Cait said. "I would be a terrible healer if I allowed you to charge into danger in this state. You can't even stand. We'll have to wait a day and reassess."

"And what if Lily doesn't have a day?" James demanded.

"She does," Cait said. "If Severus Prince was executing Lily, he would be telling people. No, I think he's drawing things out."

James felt sick again, and this time, it had nothing to do with his blurred vision.

"I'm sorry," Cait said quietly. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't been too scared to go with Lily… if I hadn't contacted Brian-"

"You couldn't have known," Sirius said. "Right, James?"

James forced back any anger he felt. There was no point in getting angry at a friend.

"Right," James said.

"So, we wait," Sirius said.

"We wait," Cait agreed.

James felt a sudden lump in his throat. He closed his eyes and tried to rest. The sooner he felt better, the sooner he could help Lily. He just hoped that it wouldn't be too late.