Remus wiped a rag over the final nameplate on the 1924 Quidditch trophy – which, surprisingly, had been awarded to Hufflepuff over Slytherin by quite a margin – and set it down on the desk in front of him. "Professor, would you like me to start another?"
Professor McGonagall looked up from her marking, taking in the clock on the other side of the wall. "If you could start one of the ceremonial goblets, Mr Lupin, that should suffice. How are the rest of you getting on?"
Sirius groaned theatrically and spat on his rag. The House Cup of 1957 was an old friend, at this point. He lost the amount of times he'd been in this room, staring at his own reflection in hundreds of metals until his arm gradually began to ache. They'd been in detention for hours and his patience was starting to wane.
"Minnie, this is pointless" Sirius exclaimed, earning a raised eyebrow from his Head of House. "You have to admit, it was a great prank."
Professor McGonagall continued to look unimpressed. "Mr Black, the merits of your actions are non-existent. Perhaps, if you wish to stop spending time in detention, you could all learn from other students, who seem to have no problem with abiding by the very simple rules of this school?"
"Bo-oring" Sirius sing-songed. He placed the House Cup down on his desk, signalling he was finished, but made no effort to pick up another piece of silverware.
James was biting back a smile when their detention-keeper turned on him: "something funny, Mr Potter?"
"No, Professor" the Head Boy answered. He wished that, just once, he could think with his brain instead of his bravado.
"I'm sure Miss Evans is very disappointed in your presence here" McGonagall made the low blow. "I know we certainly expect better of anyone elected Head Boy or Girl. It would be a shame for the Christmas Ball not to have a leader because you decided that mischief was more rewarding than any alternative."
"Burn" Peter muttered under his breath. James made a mental note to throw his filthy rag at him when McGonagall wasn't looking.
There was a knock at the door and Professor McGonagall called out: "come in."
The Marauders were surprised to see Amos Diggory at the door. The Hufflepuff usually radiated an undercurrent of happiness – a bit like an excitable puppy – but tonight he was trembling, and white as a sheet.
"Mr Diggory, are you alright?" McGonagall was out of her seat and the four boys followed suit. Peter was nearest to the door and pulled out a chair for the Prefect, gesturing for him to sit down.
"Sorry to interrupt, Professor" his usual voice, bright and booming, was barely above a whisper. "But Professor Dumbledore sent me to find you…there's been…there's been, um-" he took a shaky breath and a tear fell from under his glasses "there's been an…incident involving a Gryffindor student. A muggleborn. He's asked you to go to the H-Hospital Wing im-immediately."
"What's happened?" James pressed, resting a hand on Diggory's back, feeling his body wrack as he sank deeper into sobs. "Has someone been hurt?"
"That's quite enough, Mr Potter" McGonagall chastised. "Mr Diggory, please accompany me to the Hospital Wing, I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will have something that can assist you. Gentlemen, I will dismiss detention for this evening and will see you at the same time tomorrow."
Amos allowed himself to be guided from the chair by the Head of Gryffindor house. He was still choking on his own wails when he spluttered: "I-I found her, Professor, I thought…"
Professor McGonagall nodded. Her lips were pursed. On the outside, she was the measure of cool, calm and collected. On the inside, she could feel the panic rising in her throat. "Was the student hurt badly?" she asked, trying to lead him to the door.
"It just…it shouldn't happen, should it?" the Hufflepuff protested through his tears. "And not to…not to Lily."
Remus dropped the goblet he'd been holding. It clunked on the floor, causing Professor McGonagall to jump. The colour had completely drained from her face. The Marauders watched as she caught a breath, gathered herself, and ordered Diggory downstairs.
She paused at the doorway and turned to the young men in her charge.
James and Sirius were, naturally, halfway behind her, on auto-pilot. She could see the clouds in Black's eyes, and Potter had gone a peculiar colour. Both their wands were out, tucked up their sleeves, like they were about to blow the castle apart. Remus, ever the responsible one, had bent to pick up the goblet he'd been cleaning, but his hands were shaking too much to grab it. Peter was frozen. He just couldn't move. That didn't surprise her.
"Gentlemen, where in the name of the Four Founders do you think you're going?"
"Minnie, you are joking" Sirius scoffed. "We're coming with you."
She closed the door. "All of you are to listen to what I say next very clearly: I do not know what has happened to Miss Evans, but if any one of you causes distress in the Hospital Wing, or anywhere else in the castle" she looked pointedly at Sirius' sleeve "I will have you expelled faster than you can say Quidditch. Do you understand?"
As she swished out of the room. James turned to Sirius, his voice cracking: "this is my fault."
Sirius shook his head. "Prongs, if it's the Slytherins, it's on them. And everyone in this room."
"I shouldn't have left her alone I-"
"Not now, Prongs" Peter urged, finally gaining momentum. "We have to get to the Hospital Wing. Lily needs us."
"Yep" Remus agreed, his eyes aflame "and then we need to go and have a little chat with Dolohov and his bunch of imbeciles."
What none of them realised, not even McGonagall, was that the Marauders wouldn't be the ones to tear the castle down that evening.
They'd leave that to the law-abiding students amongst them.
"Tell me again, from the beginning" Marlene was leaning against the wall to keep her legs from buckling, supported by Bert MacMillan, who had a tight grip on her elbow.
They were outside the Hospital Wing. Dorcas and Alice were inside, but Marlene couldn't face it. She'd taken one look at Lily, small and unconscious in the stark white bed, covered in cuts and bruises, and had to leave.
"We were walking on the third floor, round the corner from the Head's office, and we heard" Bert paused, taking in the look on the Gryffindor girl's face, who nodded for him to continue "we, um, heard laughing and like this…cracking sound? There were maybe four or five people around her, she was on the floor, just not moving. They had green scarves pulled up over the bottom of their faces, you know? So you could only really see their eyes. Amos and I started trying to stun them, but it was too late, they left, and she was just…"
He didn't need to finish the sentence. The two Hufflepuffs had thought the Head Girl was dead, that was all there was to it. Tortured and beaten to death by a group of Slytherins in the middle of her own hallway.
"Dolohov, Nott, Snape?" Marlene pressed.
Bert shrugged. "It all happened so quickly, Mar, I-I'm so sorry. If I knew, you know I'd tell you. But it was just so…brutal. I just can't believe it."
As Professor McGonagall brushed passed them, reaching out to give Marlene a quick squeeze on the shoulder as she barrelled into the Hospital Wing, the blonde took a deep breath.
"Will you go and get Dorcas and Alice for me?" she asked "I can't stand going back in there. There's something we need to do."
"Of course" Bert smiled weakly at her.
Marlene leaned her head back against the wall. She was kicking herself for being a coward. Gryffindors were supposed to be brave, loyal, and she couldn't have stayed in that room for more than a few minutes. One of her best friends, one of her sisters, lay broken in a bed twenty feet away and she couldn't go in for fear of completely losing it.
"I'm sorry" she verbalised it to Dorcas and Alice as they came out to meet her. "I should've been in there."
"You will be when she needs you, that's all that matters" Alice reassured her.
"If we're not all expelled by then" Doe added, twirling her wand between her fingers. "You ready?"
The three girls didn't need to speak. Alice could have sworn that she could feel electricity crackling around the trio as they walked, down, down, down, until they reached Dungeon Thirteen./
Marlene pushed it open and, just there he was, just as they knew he would be, his head in his hands as he tried to stop crying over his Potions textbook.
Severus fucking Snape.
He hadn't meant for it to go that far.
He didn't think they would actually hurt her.
He had to keep telling himself that, that he thought they were just going to scare Lily, maybe stun her, just to prove a point.
They'd acted like animals. Worse than animals. And once he'd smelt blood, once they'd started to chant the word mudblood over and over again, once he'd brought his heel down on her nose and cracked it as Dolohov and Nott cast pinpricks and cut slurs into her body – pushing up her skirt and ripping the top buttons from her shirt in the process, just to check what colour her dirty blood was, there was no going back.
He was one of them now.
Snape was so engulfed in his own grief that he didn't hear the door creak open.
He did notice when the first potion bottle smashed, though.
"Hi, Severus" Dorcas' voice was soft as she absentmindedly drew her wand in a line, sending bottles and cauldrons crashing to the floor. "Been up to anything fun this evening?"
"Can't help but notice that your robes are a bit bloody, mate" he hadn't heard Marlene approach him, and her wand was on his neck before he could move. "Just at the bottom there. Mind if I see your shoes?"
"Accio wand" Alice hissed. His prized possession flew into her waiting hand. They all knew that he could cast dangerous non-verbal spells, but with three against one, and one of those three being Dorcas, the girls were feeling good about their odds.
"Explain something to me" Dorcas was on the other side of the desk to him now. "How did it feel, hitting a girl when she was completely unconscious?"
"I don't know what you're talking about" he spat.
"No? Then what are the waterworks for? Bad news from home?" Dorcas asked sarcastically, perching on the desk in front of him.
"Bet it must have been nice" Marlene picked up the thread "having her just how you wanted her for a change. Didn't knock one out while you were there, did you?"
"What happened to her shirt, Severus?" Dorcas continued, locking eyes with him. He felt his body start to rise from the floor, completely against his will. "It had three buttons missing and was ripped to pieces. Did you do that to her?"
She wasn't breaking eye contact, and, as he continued to rise above their heads, he was trying desperately to think of the counterspell, but his mind was filled with the image of Lily, her white school shirt torn and blushing with her own blood.
"Please, I-" he tried to get the words out, but they weren't coming "I didn't know…"
"So you weren't there?" Marlene questioned, reaching out to touch the bottom of his robes. When she looked down, the tips of her fingers were stained scarlet. "Because this doesn't look great for you, Severus."
"I didn't think she'd get hurt" he was whimpering now, he could feel his throat constricting, and he didn't doubt that Marlene was choking him as Dorcas held him up. They'd always been a formidable double act. "Please know that."
"Bit late to beg now" Alice piped up from her place in the doorway.
"So Lily just means nothing to you?" Dorcas was looking for clarity as she threw Snape against the cauldrons on the top shelf. They crashed to the floor and she heard his gasping deepen. She could see Marlene's eyes clouding over, and she reached over to lay a hand on her forearm. They weren't done with him yet, and they needed him conscious for what came next.
"Funny thing, isn't it? Because she cares about you, even though you're the shittiest person to ever exist" Marlene added, releasing the grip on his windpipe. "That's the only reason you could get her, isn't it? Because she'd speak to you? And then those cowards jumped? Pretty basic, if you ask me."
"Not to mention spineless, but I suppose that's to be expected of your kind, isn't it?" Dorcas experimented with drifting the bottom of his robes towards the lanterns in the room. He cursed as he felt the flames lick the leather of his shoes, daring to sink a little lower.
"But even Slytherins don't work alone" Marlene pointed out "who else was there with you? We'd like to talk to them too."
He choked out a bitter laugh. "You'd lose."
"Would we, or would you, for ratting them out?"
He didn't have an answer for that.
"And to think, all this because the boys put a stupid potion in your pumpkin juice at dinner" Marlene sighed, tightening her grip once more as Dorcas collapsed a line of bottles above his head, causing them to smash and shower him with glass. "Imagine being so entitled that you think the only way to get your own back is to attack the Head Girl? A girl you grew up with, a girl you've kissed, Severus! A girl you love. You're pathetic."
"I'm bored now" Dorcas admitted "so here's what's going to happen. You're going to give us the names of the other people involved tonight and you will never speak to Lily again."
"Or else?"
"Or we'll kill you." Marlene said it quietly. "It's really as simple as that, Severus. Nobody would miss you. You're nothing to anyone."
He'd been scared of that emptiness his whole life. But just look at the things he'd done to the only person who had ever made him feel like he was truly someone.
"I'll tell Dumbledore you're threatening me" he hissed, swinging his legs as he attempted to catch one of the lanterns and steady himself.
"And why would he believe you?" Dorcas smiled. "When you've just seriously assaulted the Head Girl on school grounds? He doesn't have any reason to trust you."
Marlene flashed her brilliant white teeth, they glinted in the flicking lights like the open mouth of a shark, "and we're model students."
"You can't get me to talk."
The three girls laughed.
"Oh, Severus" Alice said, shaking her head and closing the door. "You really shouldn't have said that."
They weren't getting what they wanted. They'd tried almost every hex they could think of, and, even as Severus Snape lay on the floor, spitting blood into the stonework, they were still missing one name.
"Who was the leader, Severus?" Alice asked, getting increasingly angry.
One eye swelling shut, he continued to shake his greasy hair, signalling that he wasn't giving them up.
"It has to have been Dolohov" Dorcas breathed in Marlene's ear "I'm sure of it."
Marlene nodded gravely. "Only one way to get it out, then."
Dorcas' face changed "you're not serious?"
The blonde shrugged. "Someone has to do it."
"Mar, you'll be expelled. You'll be sent to Azkaban, for fuck's sakes."
Marlene smiled grimly. "It will be worth it if Lily can get justice. Besides, she'll be waking up soon, and I don't want her to be alone when she does."
Dorcas shook her head "Mar, you can't."
"Watch me."
Sirius and Remus had abandoned Peter and James in the Hospital Wing. After an intense discussion in the Astronomy Tower, they'd decided to follow their initial instincts, with Remus stopping off at the dormitory to pick up the map first, so that they'd know where to go to find the boy they wanted to talk to.
"Looks like the girls have gotten to him first" Remus remarked, showing Sirius the map.
Sirius had grinned, despite himself. "Leave it five minutes, let them have some fun, and we'll join them."
Peter had been asked to stay with the two Hufflepuffs, who were still clearly shaken up by the ordeal of finding Lily. James, confused at finding the Head Girl's bedside empty, had plonked himself down in the chair and prepared himself for the Sleeping Draught to wear off. He was quite sure that he wouldn't be the first person she wanted to see when she woke up, but he didn't want her to be alone.
Now the remaining two Marauders were slipping their way down the dungeon stairs, Remus casting a quick alohomora onto the door they needed.
"Evening, ladies. Can we join the party?" Sirius smirked, bowling into the room and allowing Remus to close the door behind them.
"Not now, Black" Marlene's voice was poisonous.
Sirius frowned. He could feel the rage radiating off of the three witches, but something felt…darker than he expected. He wasn't sure what was going on in this room, but judging but the mess that Snivellus was in, the girls were dealing in tit-for-tat.
Turning her back on her Quidditch partner, Marlene let out a deep sigh. "Severus, I don't want to do this" she said plainly "but we need the final name, and so I don't have a choice. Do you understand?"
His eyes were wide. He knew where this was going.
"Mar, don't." Dorcas tried again, but she was silenced by her best friend raising her hand. Marlene McKinnon had gone to another place entirely, she could feel it.
Sirius didn't trust the sound of Marlene's voice, and took a few steps towards her. She kept her back turned to him. There was no-one else in the room for her now, it was between her and the snake on the floor.
Marlene raised her wand, took a deep breath, and screamed it: "cru-"
She couldn't finish the Unforgiveable, as a fist jammed itself into her open mouth. She screamed louder this time, not even forming words.
"Mar, you can't take it back once you've said it" Sirius' voice was quiet in her ear. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, and she bit down on his fist in an attempt to eschew him, but it wasn't going to work. "You can't take it back" he repeated it, over and over, as Alice cast a quick petrificus totalus on Snape. The Slytherin's eyes remained fixed on Marlene, as if he was waiting for it – the outcome of the inevitable pain he'd been feeling all evening. They both knew it was the punishment he deserved.
Remus worked quickly, cleaning up the room with a few flicks of his wand. "We need to go, now" the Prefect said hurriedly. "Padfoot, can you?"
"I'm sorry, Mar" Sirius whispered. She felt his wand in the small of her back as he cast immobulus and threw her over his shoulder.
"He deserved it" Dorcas said to Remus as they made their way up the stairs, Alice and Sirius (and an incapacitated Marlene) following behind them.
"Are you trying to convince yourself, or me?"
Dorcas was quiet. "She really scared me in there."
Remus nodded. "Would you have done it? If it had been her?"
"Yes" her answer was instant "but doesn't that make us just as bad as them?"
"I think it's a bit more complicated than any of us understand" Remus admitted. "But now you need to go and see Lily. Be there when she wakes up. Sirius will take Marlene back to our dorm. I think she probably needs a bit of help tonight."
That was one thing that they could all agree on.
Marlene's mouth was dry and her heart was pounding. "I don't know how you can bear to be in the same room as me" she forced out, turning to face the boy next to her.
They were sat on Sirius' bed. He'd been holding her hand since he'd lifted the immobilising charm, stroking small soothing circles with the pad of his thumb.
He shrugged in response to her statement. "Easy. You're still you."
She shook her head in protest. "Am I?" she asked "aren't I just as bad as him? Worse?" She didn't wait for Sirius to answer. "I was ready to use an Unforgiveable on him. I would have ripped the dungeon apart."
"You would have torn the whole castle to bits" Sirius corrected her, giving her hand a squeeze. "It's that pain-in-the-arse determination that everyone loves about you."
"Not when I'm like that."
"No" he agreed "not like that. But, the thing is, most people would have done the same. They'd at least think about it, wouldn't they? If someone hurt James, Remus, Peter, any of you…I'd destroy them."
Marlene let out a brittle laugh. "Maybe we're the mad ones."
Sirius considered the possibility "well, you did bite me."
He took a deep breath before continuing to articulate the mess of thoughts in his head: "None of this is split into black and white, Mar, not really. There's no clear cut with most normal people and good and evil – it's just hurt people hurting other people, and the cycle continues until everyone snaps. That's what war is."
Marlene sighed heavily, feeling her bones creak as she propelled out the last of the evening's energy. "What in Merlin's name am I going to tell Lily?"
"The truth" Sirius said simply "you always do."
"She's going to be furious" Marlene lamented, flopping back on the mattress.
"If you could let me know when you're planning on telling her, I'll get the popcorn in and plop myself in the front row" Sirius smirked, expertly cracking the tension in the room "I haven't seen a good catfight since Alyssa Rowe and Penny Garcia."
Marlene snorted. "You only liked that fight because it was about you."
"I don't know" he rested his head next to hers "you had to give Penny points for using a gravy boat in battle."
"Alyssa catapulting stuffing balls was a treat for everyone involved" the blonde reminded him. No-one had been safe once she'd lost control of the catapulting charm and, naturally, the Marauders had orchestrated an epic food fight to accompany the screaming. Marlene had spent three days trying to shampoo the mint sauce out of her hair.
"It's tough when you're irresistible" Sirius remarked, earning a punch on the arm from the girl beside him. "What? It's true – you should know."
"You're such a charmer, Black" Marlene drawled, propelling herself into an upright position once more. "I should go to the Hospital Wing. She's probably awake by now."
Sirius put his hand on her arm. "Not tonight, Mar. Leave it to Doe and Alice. James and Pete will take the night shift. You need some sleep. And a nightcap."
Marlene knew better than to argue with Sirius Orion Black. For as stubborn as she was, he was worse and, as he pulled a bottle of Firewhisky from the trunk at the end of his bed, she wondered what she'd do without friends like these.
In a twisted way, she was lucky to have friends that she wanted to kill for. Maybe that was what war was really all about.
"You're staying here, tonight aren't you?" he checked, passing her the bottle, having taken a sharp swig himself.
She hadn't considered any other option.
Her Quidditch partner threw her a baggy t-shirt and some loose Quidditch shorts. "Sleep tight, McKinnon."
And just like that, she was out like a light.
Lily Evans had woken drenched in sweat and gasping, as if she was being pulled from the other side of a nightmare.
Except she wasn't. She was, however, in the Hospital Wing.
"What the-"
"Merlin's tits, you're awake!" Dorcas exclaimed from the chair closest to her. She looked terrible, like she'd been crying for hours. "Lily, how are you feeling?"
The Head Girl tried to push herself up in bed, but found that she could barely move her arms. Looking down, she could see that her chest was wrapped in bandages, and panic clogged her throat. "Doe, what-"
And then it hit her like a hammer.
Snape, Dolohov, mudblood, that debilitating blow of red light.
She wasn't aware that she was crying until Alice appeared to her left, leaning in over the bed to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "You beautiful, brave girl, Lily Evans" she muttered. "Do you remember much?"
Lily didn't trust herself to speak more than one word: "Severus…"
"Yes" was all Dorcas allowed herself to say in return. "We've had a word with him this evening. Mar's still…decompressing."
"Ah, Miss Evans!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed. "Glad to see you're awake. Shall we have a little chat, my love? I'm sure this is all a bit discombobulating. I think Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore will want to grab a word before you doze off again, but we'll make sure they don't keep you too long." The matron shot a pointed look at the two Gryffindor girls around the bed "some privacy, please."
Madame Pomfrey drew the curtains around Lily's bed with a swish of her wand and cast silencio around them. This conversation was for caregiver and patient only.
"I'm very sorry that you're here, Miss Evans" the nurse said softly "this is getting out of control. How much do you remember and, more importantly, how much do you want to know?"
Lily was silent, unsure of how to respond. What was she going to say to Madame Pomfrey, to McGonagall, to Dumbledore?
Severus' face was playing on a loop in her mind. She couldn't shake him.
"I was in the hallway outside the office" Lily said slowly, pausing to wet her nervous mouth, "and someone said something about a mudblood…I saw…I saw red light and then I must have been knocked out. I suppose I…was I attacked?"
Madame Pomfrey nodded. Her face wasn't giving anything away. "You haven't answered my second question" she pressed the Head Girl. "How much do you want to know?"
"All of it" Lily replied.
She needed to know what he had done.
She had to hear it.
Lily wasn't sure how much time passed as Madame Pomfrey, holding one of her hands the whole time, calmly explained the injuries that she had suffered that evening. From pinpricks across her body, to slurs carved into her chest, into her thighs. The crowning jewels of a broken nose, an accompanying black eye, and two fractured ribs.
"I want to be very clear, Lily" Madame Pomfrey said softly "regardless of the fact that you were unconscious, what has been done to you is incomprehensible. You might find yourself having nightmares, flashbacks, and panic attacks. I want to stress that this is all completely normal and you mustn't be ashamed or embarrassed by anything you feel about this. It was an attack by cowards, Miss Evans, and no-one deserves to be treated that way.
"Thankfully, there's no lasting physical damage. Your ribs need rest, but should be fine in a few days after one of my infamous maladies has finished brewing. The words have been scrubbed – they were on with an illusion spell, so it looked like you'd been physically cut into when you hadn't. Your clothing was ripped, but I don't believe that anyone…took advantage of that situation."
Lily was going to be sick, she was sure of it. Her teeth were chattering against her will, as if she'd been dunked into an ice bath, they gnashed along to the beat of his name in her head: Sev-Sev-Severus-Sev-Sev-Sev…
How much had he known?
"Thank you for being honest with me" she murmured. "Can I see Professor Dumbledore now? I'd like to get some sleep soon."
Madame Pomfrey lifted the protection of their private bubble. "We'll keep you in until the weekend, Miss Evans" she reiterated. "I'll be back shortly with some Pepper Up for your shock, and a strong dose of Sleeping Draught."
The nurse passed by Professor Dumbledore on his way through the stark white curtains. His hand raised, as if to knock on the frame. "Miss Evans, may I?" he asked.
Lily pulled her bedsheet under her chin, suddenly very aware of the fact that she was only really wearing bandages. "Of course, Professor."
He settled a jar of Raspberry Bonbons on the small table beside her. "I seem to recall that these are your favourite" he said with a tight smile "and I believe they are excellent in any form of recovery. Providing, of course, that Mr Potter doesn't eat them first."
"Potter?" Lily frowned.
"Ah, yes. I believe he's taking the night shift, as it were. Much to Madame Pomfrey's chagrin, of course."
Dumbledore leaned back in the chair, slipping his glasses from his nose and cleaning them with the sleeves of his purple and orange robes. "Miss Evans" his tone had shifted to serious, as if he was about to give Lily her own start-of-year speech "I am incredibly sorry that this evening has transpired the way it has. For students within Hogwarts to attack Muggleborns…it is unforgiveable."
"I want you to think very carefully, Miss Evans, about what happened this evening. Anything you can recall, I would urge you to share it with me at the earliest opportunity. These students are an undeniable danger to others in Hogwarts. If they dare to attack the Head Girl, they know no bounds, and I intend to expel anyone involved for the safety of all who seek sanctuary here."
"Of course" he stuck his tongue out as he tackled a particularly grimy bit of his lenses "inevitable vigilantism will follow, in fact, I believe it already has this evening, but I'll let Miss McKinnon tell you that tale when she sees fit. I will not let my school become a battleground, Miss Evans, and I hope that you understand that."
He continued rolling his half-moon glasses between the two folds of his sleeve. "With that in mind, is there anything you would like to share with me?"
Lily fidgeted with the corner of her bedsheet, weighing up her options. She knew that Dumbledore was no fool, and she didn't doubt he had more information about the evening's goings-on than she ever would.
"I think Dolohov was one of the students" she admitted "but I can't be sure. It happened so quickly."
"No-one else?" Dumbledore popped his spectacles back onto the end of his nose and peered over at her.
She shook her head, praying that she was imagining the blush on her cheeks. "Not that I can say with any certainty, Sir."
He nodded slowly. "Very well, Miss Evans. Please rest and, if you remember anything over the coming days, it's never too late to tell myself of Professor McGonagall. Of course" he paused "some people are caught up in a tide of hatred. Some we can save, some we cannot."
"Mr Potter!" he called out, signalling the end of Lily's time with the Headmaster. "I believe your turn for lookout has come" he rolled his eyes at the Head Girl good-naturedly. "Rest, Lily. I've no doubt I shall see you soon."
"Evening, Evans" Potter grinned, acting as if they'd bumped into each other in the street. He pulled a deck of cards from his back pocket. "Don't fancy a game of Exploding Snap, do ya?"
Thankfully, Madame Pomfrey took that as her cue to return with an immense Sleeping Draught.
"You can go, you know" Lily told him, taking her first sip. "I'll be fine."
He shrugged, popping a bonbon into his mouth. "I'd like to stay, if that's okay."
She was fast asleep before she could give him an answer.
He stayed until the bell rang for Transfiguration the next morning. He didn't close his eyes once.