Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I am not J.K. Rowling, meaning I do not own any of the characters, objects, scenes, plots, etc., you may recognise. The Virnaline Solution mentioned in this chapter comes from B.C. Daily - bcdaily on tumblr - and her fanfic Commentarius. The purpose of the solution is not mentioned, so I have borrowed the name and properties, but nothing more.

A/N: Well, Chapter Three did not take as much time as I had anticipated. The first chapter took over a month to complete, the second only twelve days, so, I hope I won't be one of those authors who leaves their work WIP for years or abandons it in between. Thanks to all my tumblr followers, as well as supporters and Ao3 supporters as well!

Please leave reviews! They make me and all other authors out there feel great!


23 June 1976

"Evans! Go out with me?" Benjy Fenwick asked.

Lily tucked a lock of flaming auburn hair behind an ear shyly, her hand then returning to close her copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' from the 'Muggle Classics' section of the Hogwarts Library. This classic was her favourite book, and she couldn't resist yet another read. Delicately flipping the front cover and the more or less two hundred pages she had read so far onto the remaining pages, she looked at Fenwick from underneath her lashes and gave him a smile. "Well, that depends," she smirked, sliding the book a few inches in front of her and propping her forearms on the table in the Library. "How many other witches are you currently shagging?"

"Cheeky," he laughed, smoothly reaching a hand out and swatting at her hair, which was pulled into an intricate plait today, though Lily could not figure out who she had dressed up for. Perhaps it was for the handsome, fit Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain who was standing in front of her right now, the one who she was sure had noticed her over the last couple of weeks even though he was a year above her. "Well, if you want the real answer, it's nil, but if you wanted to feel the burn of jealousy, I'd tell you it's five."

Lily could hear the students sitting at nearby tables and the atmosphere grow excited with the ample conversation brewing. Feeling a sudden urge to give the gossip mill what it wanted, Lily gave Benjy a wider grin. "I don't shag blokes who are currently involved with someone else," she replied, giving him a wink. "It goes against my values."

"What are your values, then?" he whispered, leaning across the table, planting his palms firmly on her 'Pride and Prejudice' and bringing his face so close to hers that their noses were just centimeters apart.

"Oi! Lily! You alright?" Marlene called, walking next to Lily and poking her umber wand at Fenwick's chest, shooting him a glare so angry and so heated it could have burnt a hole in his head. "Stay away from him, Lily, Lupin caught him, ah, spending time Gillian Greengrass in a classroom on rounds last night."

Lily realised the implications of Marlene's words and blushed furiously. "I - er, that is - I assumed he wasn't attached to anyone at the moment," she spluttered, snatching her book from underneath his palms and hugging it to her chest with her left hand. "Guess I was wrong. Thanks, Mar."

"Anything for you, Lils," Marley drawled, twirling her wand.

Fenwick scowled and turned to Marlene irately. "Oh, go fuck off, won't you, McKinnon?"

Marley gave him a disgusted look as she looked him from head to toe, her gaze lying slightly longer on his nether regions. "Well, I certainly can't say I've fucked worse than that," she replied scathingly.

Lily repressed a snort and curled the fingers of her free hand around the wrist of Marlene's wand hand, pulling her away from Fenwick. Dragging her best mate through the Transfiguration section, she let out a bark of laughter and shook her head teasingly. "That was disgusting, Mar, you didn't have to look the slimy bastard over like that."

"I think I deserve more credit for that witty comment," Marley scoffed. "I mean, how many people would have thought to say that?"

"Your brother, for one," Lily giggled, letting go of Marlene and stopping at a shelf to look for a Transfiguration tome she had wanted to borrow for weeks. She ran a hand over the spines of a row of books on human Transfiguration, absentmindedly chewing on her bottom lip. "He's a really good person, but he's got your dirty, dirty mind and swear-your-arse-off attitude."

"Fuck you."

"See, I'm currently interested in fucking Benjy Fenwick, even if he is taken, so please don't show interest in me now. You had five years for this."

"Doesn't the same logic apply to Fenwick? He's taken too, so you shouldn't show interest in him now either."

"Hm. Oh, here it is," Lily chirped, pulling a large, thousand-page volume of The Basics of Transmogrification of the Kingdom Animalia. "I asked around for it a few weeks ago, Madam Pince said Greta Catchlove had borrowed it, though Merlin knows what she'd want with it. She doesn't give a damn about her studies, much less Transfiguration, and only sucks up to Professor Flitwick so she can retain her important position of lead vocalist of the Frog Choir -"

"Evans, you're rambling, hurry up and get to the point," Marlene groaned, snatching the textbook from Lily's arms. "The fifty-seventh edition?" she marvelled, tracing a finger down the spine curiously. "Whatever happened to the first fifty-six?"

"The Hogwarts Library is being restored, and all of the volumes except for a few lucky ones were in horrible condition," Lily frowned, taking the textbook back and hugging it to her chest along with her other book. "Apparently there are about a hundred volumes, and the fifty-seventh, sixty-ninth, and ninety-fourth were the only ones available."

"Merlin, you're such a swot, Evans," a new, calm voice announced. Sirius Black was just visible, Lily noted, and she could see him from the corner of her eye. "When I check out books, I certainly don't find out what happened to the other copies." He took a step closer and shot a grin at Marlene. "Always charming to see you, McKinnon."

"I'm rather glad I can't say the same for you," Marlene scowled, crossing her arms and turning back to Lily. "Is this the kind of filth that finds its way into the Library these days? Don't you call it a holy and sanitary place, Lils?"

"Ouch," Sirius grumbled. He shook his head, his hair swishing in long, black waves as rearranged his slightly put-out features. "Well?" he asked expectantly, piercing Lily with his silvery eyes. "Why on Earth would you try and find out why copies of a book went missing?"

"It's so she knows when to check out a book she's been waiting for, Black," Mar drawled, relaxing slightly. She raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "I don't reckon you know how to check one out anyway."

Sirius licked his lower lip as he looked Marlene over in a way that would have made most girls swoon. "That's where you're wrong. You see, McKinnon, I think I do," he smirked, leaning against a bookshelf. "I can't say the same for you," he mocked, repeating her angry words from before.

Rolling her eyes a bit fondly at Marlene's indignant snort, Lily turned away and walked towards the centre of the Library. "I'd appreciate it if you kept the flirting to a minimum, thanks," she muttered. Trudging in silence, but not without an amused smile plastered across her face, not less than half a minute later, she approached Madam Pince and gave her an amicable smile.

"Hullo, Madam Pince, do you mind if I borrow The Basics of Transmogrification of the Kingdom Animalia?" Lily whispered, thrusting the tome and her copy of Pride and Prejudice forward.

"Where did you acquire that book from?" the elder woman snapped, pointing peevishly at the classic with her feather duster. "Will you be borrowing it as well?"

Lily nodded without a second thought. "I fancied another read," she informed Madam Pince.

"Very well, then. Take good care of the books. If I see so much as a tear, I will inform the Headmaster and see to a detention, do you understand? I will not go through any more restoring without a pay raise!" Madame Pince pulled out her wand from a pocket of her black dress and Summoned a scroll of paper, grasping it with her wand hand delicately before placing the feather duster back into the same pocket, feathers peeking out of the niche in the fabric. With her wand, she snootily curved her wrist, as though writing, and a few words began to appear on the parchment. Satisfied, she Banished the scroll, retrieved her feather duster, and placed her wand back. Without another word, Madam Pince stormed off, duster, spectacles, and all.

Giggling to herself, Lily located the exit of the Library and began to shuffle out of the huge, wonderful section of the Hogwarts Castle. As much as she appreciated the Library, she'd had enough of it for the day and wanted to see her other mates as well. She had hardly seen Emmeline for the duration of the week and wanted to question her whereabouts. Besides, she would rather be anywhere than around Marlene when Sirius was chatting her up. She tended to get incredibly furious and put-off, and that was a Marlene McKinnon everyone sincerely avoided.

Lily didn't have to go far to find Emmeline, however. Not more than two paces after exiting the library, Lily found Emma grinning and absentmindedly humming to herself as she twirled a lock of her chocolate-brown hair around a slender pointer finger, all the whilst approaching the library with a spring in her step. She seemed to be so cheerful that she didn't even notice Lily give her a friendly grin and waggle her fingers until she spoke.

"Hey there, sunshine! Where've you been this last week?" Lily chuckled, waving her free hand, the one that wasn't clutching her precious books to her chest, in front of Emma's distracted, dreamy face. Emma snapped at once and blinked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Er… hello, Lils," Emmeline choked out, untangling her finger from her hair and placing her arm back down at her side, blushing uncomfortably and looking down at her feet. "Fancy seeing you here?"

"Fancy, indeed," Lily replied, a sneaky smirk creeping over her features. "But that's not what I asked you. You see, you seem so, how do I put this, cheery and almost lovesick, yeah? Why, and where have you been?"

The moment the word lovesick tumbled out of Lily's mouth, Emma's head snapped up and she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, averting her eyes as though the thought of facing Lily was unbearable. "I - erm, I've been, y'know, busy."

"Busy?" Lily teased, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that explains the swollen lips and frazzled hair."

Emma gasped and put a hand to her mouth, feeling her lips with fumbling fingers. "Oh, fuck," she muttered frantically, her eyes widening in embarrassment.

Lily laughed and walked to Emmeline's side, putting an arm around her shoulders. "So, it is someone, isn't it," she whispered into her mate's ear. "Don't worry, you look fine. So who's the lucky bloke you've been seeing?"

Emma hissed angrily at Lily and broke away from her embrace. "It's no one you are acquainted with," she snapped, straightening her glasses, which had slid down the bridge of her nose. "And it's none of your business, either." Lily's jaw dropped as Emmeline crossed her arms over her chest and stormed off, leaving her feeling hurt, confused, and positively giddy. Emma had a boyfriend! Emma was snogging someone! Emma was -

Lily stopped her fantasies as soon as they had began to swirl around in her brain. Even if Emmeline was happy, she reminded herself, that doesn't mean that the fact that she refused to disclose her secret lover's identity meant that perhaps it was someone she was embarrassed of.

But Em would never be embarrassed of anyone she cared about. So why would she behave like this? Lily thought, the very question tantalising her, prodding her, teasing her as she ran after Emmeline. "Emma!" she called. "Ems, I'm sorry! Wait up!"

But Emmeline had already travelled too far for Lily to catch up. Sighing wearily, Lily realised that if Emma didn't want to be found, she couldn't be found. Lily ultimately decided just to return to the dorms and deposit her books there so she could return to reading them afterwards. She had done quite a bit of reading that day and preferred to pursue another activity.

"Lily," a cold voice spoke, interrupting her silent musings. Clenching her fists and tightening her grip on her books, she turned around to face the person to whom the incredibly familiar yet heartbreaking voice belonged to.

He hadn't changed a bit, Lily thought, scanning his pallid, unregretful face. His black, beady eyes seemed cold, distant, and empty, lacking sympathy for the girl he had once called his best friend, whom she so relentlessly defended only for him to throw her heart away with a single word. "Severus Snape," she drawled, trying her very best to disguise her pain and sorrow with scathing remarks, though it was growing difficult. "Come to snivel? Have you come for my forgiveness? Because I will assure you, I have no intention of forgiving you any time soon."

Snape's lip curled as he pierced Lily with his eyes. "And what would I want with a Mudblood?" he shot back coolly, taking in her indifference as she returned his smirk with one of her own.

"You're right," she returned, shoving her emotions to the back of her mind as she quirked an eyebrow. "I wouldn't want anything with a Death Eater either."

Snape's white knuckles clenched around his wand, a blackthorn wand with a unicorn tail hair core. "Believe it or not, you would want a lot. The Dark Lord requires followers with skill like yours, courage, and you would fit seamlessly into his ranks. You would be well-protected under his umbrella."

"Sod off, Snape. I'm not interested. If all you wanted was to recruit me, my answer will always be no," Lily replied harshly. In fact, if it wasn't for this conversation, Lily would have thought that Severus had given up on trying to befriend her once more for good, as he had not spoken to her since last Wednesday, his last unfutile attempt to apologise.

"Very well. That is not all I wished to inform you of, however," he snarled. Then, he practically spat, "I see you've been getting cosy with Potter, Black, and Lupin."

"I can be mates with whomever I like," Lily said plainly. "You don't get to dictate my life like you did before." She stuck out a finger and waggled it innocently. "They are my friends," she added, though she was only really friends with Remus. She knew Severus would become ludicrously vexed at this statement, and continued to fuel his anger. "I'm studying with them this evening."

"Really, Evans?" he whispered, taking a step closer to her, while she mirrored his action by stepping backwards. He had never called her Evans before, and while it hurt, she maintained her composure as best as she could.

"Oh, yes. You see, they've been absolute darlings, angels, when you think about it, really, while you've been off gallivanting with your Death Eater friends, Severus, and they were even like this before you called me that awful slur. I just refused to see it because of how you shaped my views of them. Remus has been very kind, offering me advice that didn't involve joining the Death Eaters, something you did the whole bloody time. Sirius has been sweet as well, encouraging me for my meeting with Professor McGonagall and telling me I'm talented, and it doesn't matter what the Death Eaters like you say about me! And Potter, he's been brilliant," Lily whispered. "He's not cocky, or arrogant anymore. He's just been honest and kind."

"Shagging him already, aren't you?" Severus asked in a deathly whisper. "Moved on from me, and you're already letting him in your knickers?"

"What was there to move on from, Sev?" Lily asked, raising her voice to its original level. "You were never my boyfriend. We never dated. You didn't even treat me like a proper friend, Severus! You told me when people fancied me so I wouldn't court them. Why? You didn't let me dress up when I wanted to because someone might see me looking pretty. Why? It hurts, Severus! You act like I was - I was your property, for Merlin's sake!"

Severus ignored everything Lily just said and returned to what she had mentioned about the Marauders. "Remus Lupin, the werewolf?" he practically shouted, seething in anger. A vein was throbbing in his temple, but for once, Lily didn't care. "The werewolf who endangers everyone, who thinks life is a game we're all playing? You're calling him wise? And Sirius Black? The prat you swore you would never give a second glance? You think he's sweet because he encouraged you? Come on, Lily, you act like I never did that! I told you you were talented every day! I told you I cared so much, I encouraged you, I grew up with you… Lily, how can you ignore all of this? And as for Potter, I don't know what the hell you're playing at, but this is the same git who bullied me for five years! He embarrassed me! He made fun of my background just as much as he would make fun of yours, had he not been incredibly pro-Muggleborn! He's heading for hell, for death… You swore never to be friends with Black or Potter, Lily, what happened? You can't be friends with bullies!"

"That's not what I hear," Lily replied, unfazed. Though she wasn't physically shaken, her heart was completely broken. "You used that dirty, dark spell on Potter, twice! Once, down at the lake when you called me a Mudblood, and a second time when Potter defended me, told you that I wasn't your property! He nearly died, Snape! How do you explain that? There might be no difference between you and the Marauders, but at least they don't use dark magic on people, at least they don't hang out with the wrong crowd! You, Severus Snape, you will get me killed, mark my words! You chose to befriend Death Eaters, knowing that though I was Muggleborn, and you supposedly cared for me! I might be selfish, but this is the limit, Severus!"

"FINE! GO SHAG ALL OF THEM! OR BETTER YET, DO IT ALL AT ONCE!" Snape roared, turning on his heel and running away, but not before kicking the nearest wall with a strength Lily never knew he had. However, before he could continue running, a jet of purple light hit him square in the chest and he collapsed onto his back, his arms and legs snapping together, at his sides.

"YOU BLOODY FUCKING BASTARD!" a voice yelled. Lily watched helplessly as Sirius raced onto the scene from behind the same wall, his wand dangling loosely in his hand.

"Padfoot!" Remus beseeched, following close behind. "Padfoot, undo the body-bind now! You can't interfere, this isn't any of your business!"

"Did you hear what he said to Evans? Did you see that? He - he wounded her, Moony! How can you let her deal with this on her own after she defended all of us like that?" Sirius snapped. He turned to Lily and his expression softened. "Evans, are you alright?" he asked, taking a step closer to her and extending an arm out.

"NO!" Lily screamed, a sob hitching in her throat. "PUT HIM RIGHT!"

"And what good would that do? He'd only attack us back with dark magic!" Sirius argued, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Well maybe you SHOULDN'T HAVE CURSED HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE!" she snapped, feeling a single tear run down her cheek. "After I said all those kind things about you, you still had the audacity to run in and curse Severus? And why were you even listening in the first place?"

"She's right," a quiet voice interjected. James stepped forward and undid the Full Body-Bind with a simple 'Finite'. As Severus snapped up, scrambling to his feet hurriedly without grace, James looked him in the eye, his gaze unwavering. "Get out of here, Snape," he addressed calmly.

Snape drew out his wand and pointed it at his forehead. Potter didn't react as Snape narrowed his eyes at him. "YOU!" he shrieked, his hand shaking with fury. "I lost MY Lily because of you! Look, you've corrupted her! She's defending bullies now! She's yelling at me! She -"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Lily dropped her books, ran forward, drew her elbow back while fisting her right hand, and bashed her knuckles against his nose, making contact with a sickening 'CRACK'. Blood spurted out of Snape's hooked nose as it began to settle in an awkward, deformed shape. Lily drew out her wand disgustedly and vanished the blood on the back of her hand.

"I AM NOT YOUR PROPERTY!" she roared as Snape looked at her in disbelief, his jaw dropping. The sickening red fluid began to pool into his open mouth, something he didn't react to, his face growing even paler by the second. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT - ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT TO ANYONE!"

Snape blinked at her one last time before dashing off, forgetting that Lily was supposed to be his.

Lily let out a shaky breath and a sob, not caring that indecent tears were pouring down her face. It hurt, it hurt so bloody much. He had continued to try to lay claim on her, trying to claim something that never was his. It hurt, and she wouldn't forget who she wanted to believe started it.

Lily turned to James and, in one fluid movement, pushed herself onto her toes and slapped him across his right cheek with as much force as she could muster up. She glared at him, seething, ruing the moment he had appeared in her life, and let him see what he had done to her. "You started this!" she cried, reaching for her eyes to wipe away the betraying tears. "You -" she sniffled, "- you made him like this! You bullied him until he joined the Death Eaters, until he practiced dark magic with them! He just stood there as Mulciber hurt Mary, did you know that? Mulciber claims he shagged Mary for a laugh, and said when she didn't reciprocate, he hexed her with different spells that landed her in the Hospital Wing for two whole weeks, and it was so scary, so creepy! But it was really rape and Muggleborn prejudice! The Sev I knew would have never watched when I or my friends were being hurt!" Lily blubbered for a few seconds before continuing. "I'm so scared, Potter, I lost my best friend and though Marlene and Emmeline are there for me, I lost the first person who told me what I was, that I belonged, that I was talented… I'm not alone, but in a way, I've lost everything! Don't you see?"

James stood in silence as she wept uncontrollably for a moment, before hesitantly placing his hands on the back of her head and pulling her in towards his chest softly. He stroked her hair and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Evans, I really am. I had no idea you were hurting this much."

Lily let him hold her for a minute, her arms hanging at her sides, as she shed a couple of tears, inhaling his lovely scent of peppermint and Scots pine like she had done a week and a half ago in bliss, a captive of her own senses, before she pushed his torso away with her palms and wiped her face furiously. Her cheeks and nose had gone red, and she chewed on her lower lip before allowing her temper to flare.

"An apology doesn't make everything better, Potter! I could've accepted Severus' sorries, his 'I promise never to do it again', and 'Give me another chance, Lily,' but I didn't! I'm self-respecting, and I do what's right, even if no one else does, so please excuse me while I laugh at your antics!" Lily tittered hollowly before turning to Sirius and Remus.

"I need you all to stay away from me. I need a break. I need a break from everything," Lily snapped, taking in a deep breath to steady herself. "Don't talk to me. I don't want to hear any trouble from you lot. I am hanging by a thread now, and I'm losing my mind. I can't lose my mind now. Everyone I care about is counting on me. I need to make them proud, and you will not get in the way of it. If I lose my mind, I lose everything. Do you understand?"

Remus put his hands up and nodded solemnly. "I swear I will keep them out of trouble, Marauder's Honour," he promised warily, giving her a hard stare. Sirius, on the other hand, was harder to convince.

"Lily. Fucking. Evans. You are not doing this," he said in response to her rambling. "You are the bravest witch I've met, and you never back down from a challenge or obstacle, so pray tell why you are shunning people who do care about you?"

"You don't care about me," Lily hissed. "If you did, you would never have provoked Snape like that."

"That was foolishness on our part," Sirius insisted, "but if we didn't care, we wouldn't be here now. I for one refuse to allow you to ignore us. We are here to take care of you, Lily," he finished softly.

"I don't need you to take care of me!" she replied, the sobs threatening to return. "I'm not a child! I'm almost a grown adult, and I don't need you to - to dog my footsteps and tell me who to be friends with and who to not!"

"Fine," Sirius snarled, accepting her decision. "But if you think even for a damned second, Evans, that we don't care about you, then we will very much tell you to go to hell."

"I think my life is already a living hell. Things can't get much worse."

"Oh, yes, they can," a nasal voice taunted from behind all of them. As if cursed, all four of the children turned to face Emma Vanity, the Head Girl, twirling her wand between two fingers, a nasty smirk playing on her face.

"Vanity, fuck off," Sirius growled in his gruff, irate voice. "Unless you want me to do it for you."

"I am the Head Girl, and I have been told that the four of you, two Prefects included, assaulted and physically harmed a student in Slytherin house, so I will not fuck off, Black," she drawled, her voice bored but her interest in the situation far from that. "Look at Evans' uniform," she smirked. Lily looked down her front and saw a huge splotch of a dark red substance splattered across her grey jumper. Lily gulped nervously before looking back up and meeting Vanity's eyes.

"Fine. Do what you must," Lily replied to everyone's very noticeable surprise. Emma Vanity's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing once more. "But go ahead and ignore the verbal abuse and slurs thrown at the Prefects, alright?"

Everyone relaxed visibly at this except for Vanity, realising that she was only allowing her sarcastic humour to burst out. "Five points from Gryffindor for that smart-arse crack," Emma sneered. "Oh, and twenty-five points each from Gryffindor for harming a student, as well as detention tonight for all of you," she added before lazily walking off, throwing her blonde hair over her shoulder, offering a smug smile to Lily.

Sirius waited until Vanity was out of earshot before exclaiming "The NERVE of that bitch! How dare she take a hundred and five points from Gryffindor while leaving Snape guiltless? We didn't even hurt him that badly! It was nothing Poppy couldn't fix in five seconds!"

Lily burst into tears again as Sirius completed his angry rant. For a minute the corridor was silent and nothing could be heard for the exception of Lily's sobs. No one dared comfort her after what she had done to James for coddling her.

At last, her tears subsided. Lily took a sharp albeit watery inhale before looking up at the ceiling. "That will be my first detention," she whispered through a stuffy nose. "I had a perfect record! But now…"

"I'll vouch for you, Lily," Remus offered. "I'll go to McGonagall and take the blame for the punch. Besides, Vanity can't prove the blood was there. Scourgify!" Remus cleaned the blood off of Lily's jumper with a quick movement of his wand, and once more, the grey sweater vest was clean once more.

"No," Lily sniffled. "I deserve to be punished. I shouldn't - I shouldn't have punched him. It's my fault. Don't go to Professor McGonagall with this."

"Lily, you make it so hard not to," Sirius said softly. "We'll take the blame for you, we've gotten into trouble for this before. It's alright."

"No," James said, speaking for the first time in quite a few minutes. "She needs to serve the detention. Punching Snape was her call." When Sirius and Remus gave him a queer and angry look, he merely shrugged before walking off.

"For once, I agree with Potter," Lily sighed, rubbing her eyes to rid her face of the last stray tears. "It doesn't matter, really. It's just a - a detention. No permanent black marks. I'm fine."

"If you say so," Remus replied, giving Lily a dubious look but otherwise not bothering to argue with her like Sirius would have, if Lily hadn't interrupted.

"Anyway," Lily sniffled one last time, allowing a small smile to take over her lips, "does this mean Potter's forgiven you, Sirius?" Sirius raised an eyebrow, and Lily elaborated. "He was with you and Remus, which I don't think he would've been if he still hated you for, you know, what you did."

Sirius shrugged noncommittally and turned towards the corridor James had walked off in. "I dunno. Maybe he has. He was just sticking around, so I guess he's half-forgiven me."

"That's brilliant," Lily grinned weakly, trying to move on from the previous topic as best as she could. "You had the whole school on edge, y'know. Everyone noticed the fact that the four Marauders weren't speaking, and we were all worried for you."

"Worried?" Sirius smirked. "Why, this is the first time the Lily Evans has been worried for us troublemakers, the infamous Marauders! This should be marked in a calendar! It should be celebrated!"

"Alright, now shut up."


"So you punched Snape?" Alice asked in awe as Lily nodded vigorously. Lily had retreated to the dorms after picking up her books and promising to meet Sirius and Remus in the Common Room for their detention. They had all received detention slips just a few minutes before in the Common Room, and they were all to help Professor Kettleburn clean the Kneazle cages, which had just arrived, as well as vaccinate the creatures as well. It wasn't a harsh task, for Professor McGonagall had reviewed the situation and decided that the exaggerated punishment originally given to the four teenagers was quite unnecessary. Lily had then trudged into the girls' dorms and sat herself upon Alice's four-poster, detailing her woes to the kind and loyal girl. Lily often wondered why she hadn't been sorted into Hufflepuff, and the easiest answer was the fact that Alice had a rebellious streak and loved to fight back, and wasn't one to sit silently while people were being hurt.

"I punched Snape, alright. And then, I told him I wasn't his property. The wanker didn't even bother to say anything! He just ran like his bottom was on fire!" Lily bemoaned, pouting for Alice, who laughed.

"So what did you do after that?" Alice asked eagerly, feeling new respect for her mate.

"What do you think I did?"

"I dunno, you tell me."

"I slapped Potter," Lily giggled. Looking back on it now, the whole situation was rather funny. At least, the fact that Lily had stood up for herself and resorted to physical means to change the situation was rather amusing, as it was something Lily would never do in her right mind.

"I don't believe it! Swear to Merlin?" Alice gasped, her eyes widening. Lily grinned at her surprise.

"Yes, I swear. But he had it coming. He's the whole reason for why Severus is like this now!"

"He's annoyed you loads of times in the past Lily, but you always hexed him. Why did you slap him now?" Alice wondered, cocking an eyebrow.

"I was already into it, y'know? I had just punched Snape and slapping Potter instead of hexing him seemed like a good idea, so I, er, used quite a bit of strength. I swear he still had red on his cheek when he walked away!"

"The poor bloke, though, Lily. He only performed the countercurse on Snape, he didn't even hex him! If anyone deserved it, it was Sirius."

"It was pent-up anger, and he was the closest person," Lily explained abashedly, realising how stupid her actions were. "Besides, he's not faultless. He was the main person bullying Severus all these years."

"Is it true?" Mary gasped, bursting through the door. She didn't wait to make sure it shut properly, allowing it to bang against the wall with a force so hard it caused paint to chip off of the wall. "Did Lily really receive a detention?"

The upbeat witch ran towards the bed and hopped onto it, turning puppy eyes onto Lily. "Some Slytherin sixth year says you punched Snape. Is that true? Oh Merlin, I hope he deserved it!"

"He fucking did!" Alice exclaimed in response. "He tried to tell Lily that she belonged to him, that he had the right to control what she does and doesn't!"

Lily winced at this statement. "I… I wouldn't say that," she muttered, turning a shade of crimson.

"Then what would you say?" Alice demanded, giving Lily a furious look.

Lily withered under Mary and Alice's scrutinous gazes. "I don't know," she admitted. "I really don't know."


"Then, when Wormtail tried to Banish the mosquito, it attacked him, and it was a bloody magical one, you know that? So then, it bit him so many times that by the time it was done with him, his face was a red, swollen mess!" The corridor echoed with laughter as James and Remus lauded Sirius for the fantastic story. "We took him to Madam Pomfrey, but even she couldn't set him right, so then, Dumbledore had to come, and Dumbledore tried really hard, and finally managed to Vanish the bites, even the ones on his arse! It was hilarious! It's too bad you lot were in detention when that happened. Don't you agree, Evans? Evans? Hey, Evans!"

Lily's head gaze snapped up from where it was focused on her feet's rhythmic footsteps. "Sorry, what?" she stammered, blinking wildly.

"You alright?" Remus asked, giving her a strange look. He looked her over as they continued towards the large oak doors at the entrance of the interior of the Hogwarts castle. "You haven't said a word this whole time."

Lily blushed under the intensity of the boy's glance and shook her head, offering him a small smile. "Sorry, just thinking."

"If you had studying to do, being the swot that you are," Sirius scoffed, "we could always cover for you, you know."

"I don't need your sympathy or for you to treat me like I didn't deserve this," Lily bit harshly, despite the fact that they were being rather kind to her. "I punched Snape, it was my call. My choices affect what happens to me," she repeated the mantra she had been chanting in her head the whole way to Hagrid's hut, where they would be meeting Professor Kettleburn.

"Well, Evans, looks like you've been thinking quite a bit," smirked Sirius, draping an arm over her shoulders.

"What if they take away my Prefect's badge? What if they write Mum and Dad, and tell them I've been getting into fights?" Lily suddenly burst out, chewing her lower lip. "What if I can't get Head Girl because I punched a student? What if I'm expelled for this?" she shrieked, putting her hand up to the hair band holding her high ponytail in place. She pulled it out of her hair, only to loop her auburn hair through it once more and secure a lower ponytail frantically.

"Merlin, Evans, keep your knickers on!" James snorted, rolling his eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, Moony over here is a Prefect too, and he's got just as many detentions as us. Plus, he's still alive." He opened his eyes wide at the last word as he said it, as though explaining it to a four-year-old.

Sirius leant over and whispered conspicuously into James' ear, "You just had to slip in something about her knickers, didn't you, Prongs?"

"I heard that," Lily snapped, stepping away from Sirius and crossing her arms over her chest. She shot a glare at the other jet black-haired boy and scowled at him. To her surprise, however, James blushed and lifted a hand up to run through his hair, averting his eyes as though he'd be caught for thinking something dreadful or indecent if he met her unwavering gaze.

"Our little Prongs is blushing, look at that! A bird makes him all flustered and hot and bothered!" Sirius teased, whacking James on the back. James only let out a small "Oof!" at the action but otherwise didn't react to his comment.

"I bet he's thinking about you without your knickers right now, Evans," he grinned wickedly, turning to Lily with a mischievous glint in his stone-grey eyes.

Lily's jaw dropped in indignance as she pulled out her wand and cast a quick 'Langlock!' on Sirius. Sirius clutched his throat momentarily before glaring at Lily and walking in silence, though it wasn't as though he could speak anyhow.

Remus patted Lily on the back. "Good going," he muttered through the corner of his mouth. "If you hadn't done that, I would've."

"They're both incorrigible," Lily sighed, reaching forward to push the grand, polished doors open. They had arrived at the entrance of the school at last, which meant that they had to enter the grounds at this point and exit the castle.

Lily realised, after shoving at the door with a single hand fruitlessly, that perhaps it required a bit more force, so she turned so her shoulder was facing the door. Then, pushing with all her might, she at last forced the door to open just a crack. Sirius, Remus, and James stepped forward to help as well, but the excess force was so much that the door not only opened quickly, but also caused everyone to tumble out of the castle, through the door, and onto the pathway.

"Fuck," Sirius wheezed, getting to his feet slowly. Remus nodded painfully and stood up as well, followed by James and Lily.

They all slowly began to trudge forward, and for about three minutes, they had nothing to do but continue forward in silence.

It wasn't as though they had nothing to say to each other. It was far from that. But in truth, it was because everyone had something to say to themselves.

Lily watched as the three boys walked along the dirt path. They all had their own style of walking. Sirius, always elegant due to his upbringing, had an extremely straight posture, and he had casually slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers. Remus was slightly slouched, his shoulders almost straight, but not quite, and James was visibly hunched over, looking at the ground in front of his feet. Though, this wasn't his normal, confident posture. She wondered if Sirius' betrayal had really affected him that much. Perhaps it had.

Turning right at the fork in the path, the foursome walked for a last couple of minutes before at last, Professor Kettleburn waved the students over from Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

Lily stepped over a particularly large pumpkin and walked towards Kettleburn, feeling rather helpless and confused. This was her first detention, and she had absolutely no idea how it was supposed to commence. Even as a Prefect, all she had ever done was hand out detention slips. She'd never had to supervise one.

"Excellent, excellent!" Professor Kettleburn's booming but lively voice declared as Sirius stepped forward and grinned at the elder man. "You children got lucky," he mused, scanning the boys' and Lily's face. "Mister Filch was supervising the other detention tonight, and it just so happens that you were assigned to me instead. Oh, how I detest that creeper," he shuddered.

Lily let out a small giggle and all eyes turned to her. She promptly blushed. "Sorry - it's just that I hate him too," she said hastily.

Kettleburn's eyes grew wide as he processed the familiar red hair and emerald eyes. "Lily Evans?" His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Why - Miss Evans! You have a detention!"

"I was aware, Professor," she replied as calmly as possible, for if she had not retained her composure, she might have snorted or burst into laughter at the elder professor's astute observation. Sirius, however, had no problem in showing his disdain and let out a small chuckle, one that James shared with him. The two boys met eyes briefly before averting them again.

"I'm sorry," he said kindly, glancing at the boys with a disapproving 'tch!' and a shake of his head. "I regret that you were placed into detention with this lot. A first detention should not be spent with the likes of these troublemakers."

"At least she's worried about us," Sirius piped up, while Professor Kettleburn clicked his tongue, murmuring "I would be as well" under his breath.

"Well, then!" Kettleburn attempted to clap his natural and prosthetic hands together, but ended up only scratching himself, which he didn't take kindly to, grumbling at the offending appendage. "I believe you are aware of the task you are to complete tonight. You will be helping me take care of the Kneazles tonight, as I received a new shipment of them. It sounds rather tame, but believe me, the Kneazles are more difficult to work with than I imagined, and they are highly suspicious of beings. Come along!" He gestured towards the entrance to a clearing in the Forbidden Forest and began trekking that way with one-and-a-half prosthetic legs.

The boys fell behind the grey-haired professor, while Lily maintained herself to the right of Kettleburn, who was humming "An Eye for an Eye, A Heart for my Heart," a Celestina Warbeck song that had come out the previous year and had become quite popular with the older population as it was quite similar to one of the talented witch's previous songs as well.

Kettleburn pushed aside a tree branch, which he foolishly forgot to hold so the other students could pass through, so unfortunately, when he let go of it, it sprung back and whacked Lily's forehead with a huge 'THUD'. Lily fell backwards onto her bottom and put a hand to her now-bleeding forehead.

"Is that what an empty head sounds like, Evans?" Sirius teased. Lily scowled, but winced in pain, as a pair of large hands grabbed her upper arms and lifted her up to her feet. Momentarily panicking, Lily didn't realise that someone was actually helping her up and perceived it as an attack, but when she felt the ground underneath her feet, she realised what had actually happened. Lily didn't have to turn around to tell who this person was. The scent… the peppermint and the Scots pine. The winteresque scent that she had smelled from this close proximity for the third time now.

Lily's head snapped around and found herself face-to-face with James. She stepped back, pulling herself away from his grip and gingerly touched the gash on her forehead. Feeling a sharp pain, she drew her hand back and saw the blood coating her fingertips and shuddered slightly. Though she was used to seeing others' blood, seeing her own was difficult for her.

James immediately drew out his wand with his right hand and took Lily's chin with the thumb and forefinger of his left. "Hold still," he murmured as he gently brought her face closer to his. Lily could feel his warm breath on her face, her heart rate rising, and mistaking his actions, pulled away immediately, blinking quickly, her rapid breathing subsiding.

James gave her a small but amused smile. "Merlin, Evans, I'm just trying to heal it," he said, rolling his eyes. "Episkey," he chanted, forming a circular motion with his wand. Lily felt her forehead grow warm, and for a few seconds, she waited patiently for the feeling to subside.

"Is it fine now?" Lily asked as soon as she felt all of the remnants of the magic disappear. The gash had cooled down substantially, and she was sure that the spell had been performed correctly as well.

"It's alright," he replied, his eyes flickering to the now-healed wound. "There's just a bit of blood there - but I think you can Vanish it yourself, yeah?"

Lily nodded and pulled out her wand, using a simple 'Terego' to clear the blood off of her forehead. With this, everyone walked into the clearing, ducking underneath the branch this time carefully to avoid the same fate that had befallen Lily.

The large clearing was bounded by aspen and white poplar trees, with smaller bushes and shrubs darting the open space. A bit of grass covered the dirt ground, but otherwise, the clearing provided the perfect space for someone to place creatures that had been received.

"There you are, I was starting to think you had gotten yourselves lost!" Kettleburn yelped hastily, snapping up from his crouched position on the floor, where he was examining a beetle climbing up a blade of grass. Jumping to his feet with a sprightly strength Lily hadn't expected from a man with only half a leg, he gestured to his surroundings and gave his students a smile. The professor was surrounded by at least a hundred cages of hissing, snarling, and yipping and yelping creatures. The cage nearest to Lily rattled as she watched a paw with several sharp claws bat at the bars preventing the creature from escaping. It looked rather threatening for a moment. Lily bent down and examined the creature inside the cage, taking care not to touch it.

The ginger-haired Kneazle inside the cage bared its teeth and hissed, spraying saliva all over the bars. The saliva immediately Vanished, as though an enchantment had been placed upon the housing for the creature to repel the fluid.

"The saliva of the Kneazles is corrosive, as these creatures have not been given the proper vaccination to remove these properties. You will be doing this today," Silvanus Kettleburn announced. "You should all remember this as we went over it in third year. Therefore, to prevent the cages from destroying, a Vanishing spell has been placed upon the cages. Be careful, however. Should you come in contact with the saliva of a Kneazle, you must pour this mixture of Essence of Dittany and Blood-Replenishing potion immediately upon the area of contact, understood? Failure to do this will result in disaster, blood loss, and ultimately death." When the students nodded grimly, Kettleburn flashed them all a pleased grin to lighten the mood. He placed eight bottles of the mixture into the hollow of the tree nearest to him. "Very well, then. First, I would like for you to put on these dragon-hide gloves." Producing four pairs of thick, scaly brown gloves from a rucksack on the ground, Kettleburn handed each student two gloves. Lily slid one onto each hand, pushing her fingers through the designated slots. The gloves were too large, but as soon as she had comfortably adjusted her fingers, they shrunk until they were skin-tight, giving the redhead more control over her movements. Flexing her fingers a few times, Lily returned her gaze to Kettleburn, who was burrowing through his green rucksack once more. This time, he drew out four clear droppers and the same number of bottles that were filled with a deep blue, almost purple fluid.

"In here is an extremely weak poison," he informed. "It is the Virnaline Solution, and you will learn to brew it in sixth year. Though it is weak, it is complex, and difficult to concoct. If you squirt exactly three drops of the solution using these droppers engineered specifically to help with subduing Kneazles into an ear, the toxin will cause the Kneazle to sit down, falling into a sort of trance, and cooperate with you. Then, you may help inject the creatures with the vaccination, and before they regain their wits, you must clean their cages and return them to their places. Once you have done so, you are free to leave." Placing the materials into the same hollow, he turned back to the students, grimacing as Sirius snorted.

"That's all?" the long, black-haired boy asked arrogantly. "We've done loads worse."

Lily felt the need to interject as she spoke up. "Black, Kneazles are more intelligent than twelve of you," she frowned, glancing down at the ball of ginger fur in the nearest cage once more. "They'll not make this easy for you. I say you'll last about two minutes before you need to pour dittany onto yourself. You'll have to be extremely careful."

Professor Kettleburn nodded solemnly at Lily and drew out his chestnut wand from his silvery robes. "Miss Evans is quite right," he concurred, piercing Sirius with his chocolate brown eyes. "Don't expect this detention to be a laugh. To vaccinate the Kneazles, all you must do is take one of these syringes and inject the fluid into the abdomen of the beast." He showed them a few syringes with needles he had pulled out of his pocket. "They will refill themselves endlessly. The syringes will be in the hollow as well." He counted four syringes and dropped them into the hollow. Then, before anyone else could get a word in, he waved his wand once, and four clicks could immediately be heard. "Enjoy!" With this, Kettleburn disappeared, walking into the woods.

Loud purrs echoed throughout the clearing as the Kneazles crawled through the now-open doors of their confines. Lily instantly whipped her wand out and turned her attention to the little monster at her feet. The pointed ears of the cat-like creature twitched as it bared its teeth at Lily. A number of thoughts running through her mind, Lily's first reaction was to attempt to Immobilise the Kneazle. Shooting a clever 'Immobulus!' at the creature, she watched in awe as it rolled over, dodging the jet of blue light nimbly with an agility only a cat could have. In retaliation, the ginger-haired animal leapt towards Lily's feet, sinking its fangs into her black clogs.

She shrieked in surprise, but didn't move her foot, instead shooting the Kneazle with another Freezing Spell. This time, the jet of light hit its target, and the creature froze in place, blinking furiously. Lily bent down, first replacing her wand back into a pocket, before gently grabbing the Kneazle by its midsection with both hands and pulling it away from her shoes. The beast momentarily resisted, as the force with which it had latched onto her boots was quite strong, but tugging just a bit more, Lily pulled it away, leaving her trainers with two huge holes that she fixed with a quick 'Reparo' after placing the cat on the ground. The fabric of her shoes mended quickly, knitting itself together, and satisfied, Lily Summoned a dropper and a small phial of Virnaline Solution. They zoomed into her hand and she placed them into her lap, along with the Kneazle.

Removing the stopper of the phial and placing it on the ground, Lily then took the dropper with her thumb and forefinger, and slid it through the neck of the little bottle. Squeezing the rubber head, she allowed the dropper to fill itself, and then carefully put the vial on the ground. Lily gently pinched the ear of the cat and turned it so she could drop the solution into the ear of the cat, then squeezed the head three more times. The ultramarine-coloured solution dripped into the appendage, and once it did so, the cat immediately shuddered, as the 'Immobulus' enchantment had come undone. However, the Kneazle did not return to its aggressive state. Instead, it remained unmoving in Lily's lap, only purring softly.

She rapidly Summoned a syringe and rolled the Kneazle onto its back. Locating its stomach, Lily pushed the needle into the abdomen of the small beast and pressed the plunger downwards, allowing the fluid to enter the bloodstream of the Kneazle. Once the entirety of the vaccination had been emptied into the creature, Lily pulled the needle out gingerly and drew the plunger back upwards. The clear fluid refilled the syringe once more, and Lily placed the Kneazle onto the ground delicately. Then, pushing herself up, she dashed towards the cage of the creature, and casted a 'Scourgify!', cleansing the dirty cage. Immediately, all of the grime in the cage Vanished, leaving it a sparkling, clean silver. Lastly, she gathered the Kneazle into her arms and placed it into its home once more, before closing the door and locking it with the 'Colloportus' charm. The cat remained inactive, and blinked dolefully at Lily, purring all the whilst.

Sighing, Lily placed the poison, dropper, and syringe into her pocket and drew out her wand, getting ready to tackle the dozens of other Kneazles that required her attention.

Approximately a bit more than an hour later, Lily was complete with her Kneazles. She had vaccinated all of them, and had only run into a spot of trouble with a couple of creatures that had been spraying saliva at every being possible, though it was nothing the dittany, Blood-Replenishing potion, and a few Stunning spells couldn't fix. Everyone had completed the detention mostly unharmed, save for a few scratches here and there, though Kneazle scratches were completely harmless.

"That was surprisingly difficult," Remus commented as he slid his arms out of the arm-holes in his coat. He'd put his coat on again after the detention as it was a frosty evening, but now, as they entered the Common Room, crawling through the portrait hole, the fire warmed up their persons rather substantially, and there was no need for additional heat.

"You have certainly used that word a lot today," James snorted. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned, suddenly pulling his wrist towards his face. "Aw, shit. I missed Quidditch practice. Gideon's going to murder me in my sleep." Gideon Prewett, the Quidditch Captain, was in his final year at Hogwarts and was the youngest of three siblings. His sister Molly was eight years older than him, and his elder brother Fabian had graduated only three years previously. Gideon also happened to be the Head Boy.

"Head Boys and Prefects can't murder people, the bloody goody two shoes. They're a real pain in the arse, them," Sirius grumbled.

"I take that quite offensively," Remus retorted, "and I do believe Lily does as well."

"I don't mind. I have people call me that on a regular basis," Lily scoffed, shooting a dirty look at Potter. "It's better than what some other people have called me anyhow."

The atmosphere instantly tensed up, as they collapsed into squashy armchairs by the fire. For a few minutes, no one said anything, and Lily revelled in the silence she had been waiting for all evening. Though the boys were nice to work with as they were good-natured and humorous, they could get a bit much, and Lily really needed the break.

Lily almost didn't notice Alice as she crawled into the loveseat beside Lily and tapped her shoulder. "Lils," Alice whispered. "You alright?"

Lily turned her head to the right and smiled gently at her friend. "Yes, I'm fine."

"How was your detention? Was it fun?" Alice prodded. "I love Kneazles. I love cats, too. Did you like them?"

"No, unfortunately," she muttered, smirking slightly in memory of the one Kneazle that nearly dismembered Sirius. "They were a bit much."

"Oh. Well, you could always get a Cruppy if you liked," offered Alice.

Lily grinned at this. "Al, as much as I'd love to, Petunia's allegedly 'allergic' to dogs, and supposedly 'allergic' to magic. Since a Crup is both, I think not."

"Worth a shot," Alice shrugged. She dug a hand into a pocket in her sunny yellow jumper and pulled out a sickly green Acid Pop that was wrapped in clear cling film. "I began sucking on it earlier, but I never finished it, so I held onto it," she explained when Lily quirked an eyebrow. Alice peeled the plastic off and stuffed it back into her pocket, before placing the sweet into her mouth and shrieking as the magic began to work its magic. Lily presumed that the lolly was burning a hole in her tongue. It only really happened to some people, but she had never been incentivised to try one.

"If you need help fixing that, the spell's 'Episkey'," Lily informed Alice. Her frantic mate nodded and attempted to cast it, something that sounded like 'Ehhhpizzi!' spilling out of her mouth, before Lily realised that she couldn't cast it. Pulling out her own wand, Lily correctly cast the healing spell and Alice sighed in relief.

"That's better, thanks Lily!"

"Do you have another Acid Pop? Or a Chocolate Frog, perhaps?" Remus asked from his spot on the couch he was sharing with James.

"Sorry, I don't," Alice frowned, searching her pockets once more. When she found nothing, she gave him a sad smile. "I'm low on sweets today. I handed out quite a few to some first years who were crying after being bullied by some vile Slytherins."

Remus nodded grimly. "There certainly are more of those attacks nowadays. Bullying is far less extreme than what happened with those Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs."

A thought suddenly occurred to Lily. "Can - can students from Houses besides Slytherin become Death Eaters?" she asked tentatively. Sirius' eyelids, which were shut before, flickered dangerously.

"Why do you ask?" he growled, pushing himself straight. "Did you want to join little Snivellus and his gang of big, bad bullies?" he asked overbearingly, in a mock-baby voice.

"Of course not," Lily spat, disgusted by the very thought. "But could a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor be one, hypothetically?"

"Hypothetically speaking, yes," James sighed, blankly staring at the ceiling. "There are loads of Ravenclaw Death Eaters, and possibly a few Gryffindors, but I don't know about Hufflepuff. They're too nice. But as long as you're Pureblood, maybe even Half-blood, and not a so-called 'Blood Traitor', they'll take you."

"That's quite dark," Lily muttered in response. "Do you reckon there are Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Death Eaters at Hogwarts?"

"That's enough," Sirius snapped, standing up. "I don't think you need to know any more, Evans. Asking a Pureblood who fancies you -"

"- Padfoot, stop -" James interrupted, but Sirius cut him off.

"No, Prongs. Evans, look. Unless you're trying to be a Death Eater, there's no reason for you to know this, got it? This is dangerous information, and you're a Muggleborn," he said angrily. "If you want to know who the Death Eaters are to protect yourself, I'd tell you myself, but something about you tells me that it's not the reason why you want to know."

Lily winced internally, realising that he'd hit the mark. Still, she put up a facade of indifference. "There's absolutely nothing else. Are you implying that I would act upon the information?"

"Sirius, stop," Remus growled, turning to the young Black. "Are you trying to start a fight?"

"No. All I'm saying is that Evans just wants to hear us say Snivellus' name so she can fight back and deny it all she wants. She doesn't want to believe that her mate is a Death Eater, that he wants to kill people like you -"

"Lily, Marley and Dorcas are meeting me for Herbology homework, want to come?" Alice asked suddenly, jumping to her feet and grabbing Lily's wrist, not giving her a choice. Lily shot one last angry look at Sirius before leaving through the portrait hole with that sweet angel she knew as Alice.