AN: Alright. Here we go again. I think it's been about a month since I finished up Let Me Love You, and that was more than enough time for me to start missing posting a new chapter every weekend. So here we are, back at it with something very different! This is sort of inspired by The Cruel Prince in certain areas, definitely inspired by the world Holly Black built, but the story is it's own thing. Which I haven't done in a while, since I've been doing movie aus for the last year and half or so.

I've been having a lot of fun writing this story, and I really hope you like it! Let me know what you think!

Lily pulled her purple jansport backpack back onto her shoulders after almost tripping over a hickory tree root that seemed as though it might have just jumped out of the ground, catching her ankle on purpose.

Of course, under normal circumstances, that would be ridiculous. But these weren't normal circumstances. She had an invitation from Remus Lupin, a fairy changeling that she'd grown up next door to, tucked into her jacket pocket and she was currently walking through the Forbidden Forest. A forest that was known as simply The Great Forest on the mortal side, but Lily knew better.

She hadn't been in the Forbidden Forest in over five years and it was proving to be far more challenging than she remembered it to be. Though Remus had always been with her before, and he knew the ways of the forest, just as he knew the ways of the fae. But he wasn't able to escort her through the forest this time, and she had been so confident that she would be able to do it on her own so she'd turned down his offer of sending a friend to collect her.

The fae were tricky to navigate.

You never knew what they were thinking, which could be said about humans as well, but when it came to the fae, they almost always wanted something from you, and it was almost always something terrible. Even if that favor was for Remus and he would be the one pay for the favor in some way, she wasn't sure she would be comfortable walking through the forest with someone who wasn't Remus.

So while she trusted Remus as much as she trusted anyone, she didn't know who his fae friends were nowadays, and she definitely didn't trust them. Remus had grown up in the mortal world, and as far as Lily could tell from her previous visits to the fairylands, that had made him a different kind of fairy. Remus had empathy, a trait she'd never seen in any other fairies.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and jumped over another malicious root, narrowly avoiding stepping into a ring of small white topped mushrooms. She cursed under her breath and made herself stop walking so that she could take a moment to reorient herself.

She looked around the forest, trying to find some path or trail that she was supposed to take. Remus had always made this look so easy, and she had vivid memories of very specific parts of the wood that she hadn't come across yet. Landmarks that she'd been counting on to get her through to the other side.

She hadn't seen the thousand year old hickory tree, covered in more knots than leaves, she hadn't seen the boulders that Remus said had once been giants before they stepped on the tale of a passing fae and she cursed them to stone. She hadn't seen the pond where the water shimmered like liquid moonlight, where she'd once seen a unicorn. All she'd seen so far, where trees that all looked identical to one another.

She huffed, and sat down on a fallen log.

The forest was coated in magic. She should have guessed. Mortals weren't welcome in fairyland, why wouldn't the folk take precautions to prevent them from just coming in whenever they wanted.

She saw something move out of the corner of her eye and sat up straighter.

She couldn't tell herself that it was just a shadow. She knew that there was someone there, she could feel it. The little hairs at the base of her neck were standing up, there was a buzzing running through her arms. These were all things that Remus told her she was not allowed to ignore if she wanted to come with him.

She pulled out a small coin from her pocket and placed it on the log next to her. It was a small trinket, but Remus had told her that smaller fae liked coins, and they were easy to carry around. She didn't know what they would use them for, but then again, most people offered them honeyed milk, and they were probably very capable of putting honey in milk themselves.

She wasn't going to pretend that she understood the folk. She was just going to follow the advice that Remus had given her and hope for the best.

She bit the tip of her tongue and shook her head. She shouldn't be gambling with her life like this. The creatures in these woods, folk and otherwise, were dangerous. One of them might decide to kill her just for the hell of it. They could glamour her or kidnap her for tricks and jests. They could cut off her ears or put rocks in her pockets and toss her into a lake. She'd heard stories. From Remus, from other mortals who had made it out of fairyland alive, from the fae who had committed these 'pranks'.

The buzzing in her arms intensified and she forced herself to take a slow breath and remain calm.

But when she looked to her left, there was no folk there, only a stag.

Lily let out the breath she'd been holding and then laughed. "Only a stag," She said, picking up the coin and putting it back in her pocket. "I got myself all worked up for nothing." She looked back at the creature, who had no reason to fear her, as he'd probably never seen a human before, not when he'd been living in these enchanted woods.

"You wouldn't happen to know how I can get to Remus Lupin, would you?" She asked the deer, who's warm brown eyes watched her carefully.

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms and bit the tip of her tongue again. "You're not just a stag are you?" She asked quietly. "Please forgive me for my poor manners." She bowed her head at the stag and thought about reaching into her pocket to put the coin back on the log. But the stag didn't do anything. It just continued to watch her.

And then Lily wasn't sure if she'd been twice foolish now. Was this just a normal stag? She hadn't been around any, this could be normal behavior.

But the one thing that Remus had drilled into her over and over before they entered fairyland together for the first time, was that she had to trust her instincts.

If something felt wrong, that's because it was.

Something felt wrong, and so she had to behave as though something was wrong, even when everything seemed fine. Folk with a plan were good at making everything seem fine.

"I know you're not a deer." She said, trying to keep anything but deference out of her voice. "And I'm in your forest, so I'm going to leave you be, and get on my way. Alright?"

The stag continued to look at her as though it didn't understand what she was saying, but this creature couldn't hide the intelligence that Lily could see in its eyes.

"Alright then," She nodded again and then took a few steps backward. She wasn't thrilled about the idea of turning her back on this creature, but she also couldn't navigate the forest floor without watching where she was going. She could trip over the root or accidentally step into a fairy circle.

She ended up walking kind of sideways, able to keep her eyes on both the stag and the ground.

And when she was far enough away from the stag that it disappeared from view, she turned forward and jogged for a good five minutes.

Then she stopped and cursed some more.

She was lost. Horrible, horribly lost, in the most dangerous place she could think of.

"You are lost."

Lily screamed and turned toward where the voice had come from. There was a boy, not much older than her, sitting on a low hanging tree branch, one leg propped up on the branch, and his elbow propped up on his knee. He looked harmless at a glance, but Lily zoned in on his pointed ears, his extra sharp canines and the small antlers poking out from his dark hair.

He was fae.

More than that, he was the stag from a few minutes ago. Part of her was glad to find out that she'd been right about the animal. Part of her was simply terrified.

He smiled in delight at having frightened her. "I did not know that I would frighten you."

There was no apology, and he couldn't say that he didn't mean to frighten her, since that would have been a lie.

She bit down on her tongue and nodded. "It's quite alright."

"Because you are in my forest, right?"

"It's not my forest," Lily nodded again. She tried to recall all of the rules, but she'd never met a fairy creature without Remus before, and she'd always just taken his lead.

"Remus told me that you would be here." The creature said, hoping down from the branch and landing gracefully on his feet. "Though you, Lily Evans, are a lot more jumpy than I remember you."

Lily pressed her lips together. Remus trusted whoever this was enough to tell them about her, and while some fae would think it a lovely trick to send some dangerous beastie after their friends while they're lost in the woods, Remus seemed more human than fae most of the time. He wouldn't do that to her. He always put her safety above everything else when he invited her to fairyland.

"I don't like being lost," She said.

"I do not imagine that anyone would enjoy being lost." The fae nodded. Lily noted the thin crown of golden twigs and leaves he was wearing as he stepped into a pool of sunlight, his face no longer hidden in shadows and Lily nearly gasped.

"Your highness," She quickly dropped into a bow. How the hell did Remus get him to come and fetch her?

"Please rise, there is no need for such frivolities just now. It is only you and I in these woods, and I am doing a kindness to my friend. He was unable to come and fetch you himself, so I offered to do it for him."

He was telling her the truth, he was unable to lie, but there was something that he wasn't telling her. Remaining vague and walking around the truth were how fairies deceived.

"Is Remus alright?" Lily asked as she rose, not sure if she was allowed to look him in the face or not.

"In most senses of the word." The fae shrugged. He looked over her, and did not chide Lily for looking back at him. "You have not asked for my name," He was smirking. "Does this mean you remember me?"

Lily shifted her weight from one foot to the other and then stood straighter again. There were many princes in fairyland whenever she had been there. Because she only went on special occasions, and so royalty from all around came to celebrate.

But there was only one High King, and he had only one son. "Prince James," Lily bowed her head again. And when she looked up, his warm hazel eyes were swimming with mirth and mischief. Eyes the color of the forest on the last day of autumn. She remembered James of course. It would have been hard to forget about him, or his friends Sirius and Peter.

They were not the cruel creatures that Remus warned her about, but they were the creatures that Lily remembered in her nightmares. She'd seen anyone of them curse mortals to hang from their toes until just before they would lose consciousness, give them tails when they deemed something they had done annoying. She'd seen Sirius with his hands wrapped around another fae's neck, murderous rage written across his face. She'd seen Peter use his silver tongue to talk mortals and fae alike, into doing whatever he wanted them to do. She'd seen James dangle a creature out a window, holding them only by their wrist.

They were cruel, but Remus had always considered them friends, reminding her over and over that there were no kind fae. She wondered if perhaps they had turned against him and that was why he had been unable to walk with her through the forest.

"Should I be worried for Remus?"

"No." He shook his head. "He is looking forward to seeing you. I do not understand why he likes you as much as he does, but I suppose we all have our pets."

Lily scoffed, her cheeks heating up, "I am nobody's pet!"

James grinned at her, exposing his incisors. "You are, and you should consider yourself lucky that you are his." He spun away from her and started into the forest.

Her cheeks still felt splotchy, but she started following after him.

He didn't say anything, and she was glad. Navigating a conversation with the fae was exhausting. There was no chance to let your guard down. Besides, she'd just shouted at the High Prince, if he wanted to, he could punish her for that. And she didn't fancy being a toadstool or a leaf bug. Nor did she want to spend the better part of the day upside down.

She stepped where he stepped and held onto the straps of her backpack.

His antlers are bigger than they were the last time she saw them. They stood now at about seven or eight inches tall, enough to be noticeable, but not tall enough where he really has to worry about them knocking on the lower hanging branches that they walk under. His hair was the same, like thistles in may. The color such a deep black that nothing reflected off any individual strands. His skin as rich and vibrant as the clay Lily would find near the riverbank. He was a creature of nature; wild and inhuman.

Lily tried to keep her breathing normal, keep her fear under control.

"I am surprised that you are so quiet." James mused after ten minutes or so.

Lily pressed her lips together and James turned his head to peer at her over his shoulder.

"Remus told me that you were quite curious." Why had Remus been talking about her? "He said that I should not take offence to any of your questions."

"I know how to conduct myself in fairyland." Lily said in response.

"Running around, lost in the Forbidden Forest is how one ought to conduct one's self in fairyland?" James laughed, loudly and without restraint. And why should he not? He had nothing in these woods to fear. Lily flinched at the sound however, looking around herself for any danger.

"I didn't mean to get lost," She clenched her hands into fists around her straps. "I thought I would remember the way. I didn't think that it would be glamoured without Remus with me."

"Ah," James nodded. "It is rather impossible for a mortal to make their way through the woods alone. But do not fret, you made it quite a ways on your own and we are almost at the royal estate."

"The royal estate? Why are we going there? I'm meant to be going to a wedding, I think. Mary MacDonald's wedding?"

"Yes," James nodded. "She wanted to get married on the castle grounds and I have no reason not to humor her. She and Reginald are good friends of the crown. I also consider them to be friends of mine when I am not wearing my crown," He winked at her, but his joke didn't land as he'd wanted it to. She continued to frown at him. "I am being as polite as I can be, Lily. Yet you are still nervous. What are you worried about?"

"Saying the wrong thing," She blurted out. Being able to lie was her one great advantage here, and yet she still went about blurting out the truth.

"And what do you think the consequence for saying the wrong thing would be?"

Lily shrugged and James started walking slower so that they were far closer to walking next to each other than him leading her through the woods.

"I once saw you string someone up for an entire night."

"And?" James narrowed his brow as though he were waiting for further explanation. "You do not like being upside down?"

"The man could have died!" Lily almost shouted. "I've also seen you and your friends curse people with tales, erase their mouths, chase them down with a swarm of hornets, turn them into snake or frogs-"

"And if I give you my word that I shall use no magic on you, will that ease your nerves?"

Lily shook her head. "No, I'll make no deals with you. I'm not stupid."

He frowned again. "I was not insinuating that you were stupid."

She nearly rolled her eyes. "I know you weren't, but still. I'm not making any deals with you."

"A deal requires you to do something for me as well, I was only offering to put you at ease."

She narrowed her brow now. "Why?"

James smiled now. "You are Remus's friend. I do not wish you to be uncomfortable this evening." He tilted his head. "I suppose I could glamor you into feeling at ease…"

"No!" Lily nearly shouted, and then looked around them to make sure that she hadn't caught anything else's attention. "No, thank you."

"Right, no magic." He reached up and ruffled his hair. "Why do you wish to come to fairyland if you do not like magic?"

"I like magic plenty." Lily argued, despite herself. "I simply don't want you to use magic on me. Maybe if I had magic of my own, I'd feel differently, but I don't have any. So I don't want you to trick me into feeling at ease, or to trap me in a deal."

"I was not attempting to trap you." He said plainly, truthfully.

"That doesn't mean that you won't try in the future."

James nodded. "That is true."

They walked in silence again for a few more minutes. "I always liked you." James said out of the blue. Lily felt like she was just one giant bundle of nerves. Every time he opened his mouth to say something, she almost flinched, thinking me might web her toes or cross her eyes. "I know I teased earlier about not understanding why Remus likes you, but I always liked you too."

But then he said that he liked her. Twice. "What?"

"You haven't been to fairyland in a while. I have missed you. Remus used to bring you around a lot more often. I asked him why he stopped but he did not want to tell me. Though I have a few guesses." He stopped walking and turned around to face her. "We should dance tonight," Lily was holding her breath now. "Not the entire night of course, I know you came to see Remus, but you and I should dance at least once. Do you think that would be alright?"

Lily looked from one hazel eye to the other, trying to figure out what his game was. "That might be alright." She said quietly, not wanting to definitively say 'yes' or 'no.'

"You are still anxious." He sighed and then spun back around and kept walking.

"Yes," She nodded and jumped over another twitchy root as she followed him. "I don't remember feeling like this the last time I was here. Maybe it's just because it's been so long. Or maybe it's because I'm older and all of this seems more real now."

"It has always been real," James held out his hand and a low hanging branch in front of him moved upward, out of their way.

"I know it's real," She said quickly, eyeing the branch as she walked past it. It stayed where it was until she was out of the way and then lowered back to where it had been. "I was a kid the last time I was here though, only seventeen. My brain wasn't fully formed and all that. Consequences didn't seem as dire as they do now."

"No harm should come to you while you are here," James said, his tone suggested that it was an offhand comment. He said 'should' instead of 'shall,' but it still made something in Lily's stomach calm. He wasn't promising that nothing would happen to her, but he was saying that he thought she should be relatively safe, and he was the prince, so that had to mean something.

And she hated being this tense. When she'd gotten Remus' invitation, she'd been so excited to go back to fairyland. She'd been excited to be invited back into a world that was so full of magic. And yes, some of that magic was horrifying and made her belly turn to lead, but so much of that magic was beautiful.

She took in a deep breath, even the air smelled like magic. A mix of damp forest and nostalgia. Stepping into this place had felt like waking up on Christmas morning in her childhood bed, or sitting up in her old treehouse, looking through the star catalog that she had Dorcas had put together. It felt like her mum's homemade chicken soup and watching cartoons all day because she had a stomachache and a test she didn't want to take at school.

But this wasn't just a memory. This was something that she could step back into.

Lily took another deep breath, but this time to steal herself. "I'm sorry," She said, something she'd never heard a fae say, and so she showed her humanity. "I don't know why I'm so on edge. I appreciate that you took the time to show me the way through the woods and I would love to dance with you later."

James looked at her over his shoulder, a small smile on his lips. "Are you sure? You need not dance with me if you do not want to. I would hate for you to say yes simply because you feel you have to."

"Good, but no. I'm sure I'd like to. Dancing with the fairy prince will make me feel a bit like Cinderella I suppose."

He tilted his head to the side. "Who is Cinderella?"

"A girl who loved magic and went to party she was told not to go to."

His head stayed tilted to the side. "Did someone tell you not to go to this party?"

"Yes. I told myself not to go." Lily laughed. "Which was stupid of me, because I knew that I was going to go as soon as I saw Remus's handwriting."

"Then why did you tell yourself not to go?"

"Because I'm a grown up now," Lily smiled at him, pushing her hair behind her ear again. "I have a job, and responsibilities and bills and plans that I had to break to be here. And it's not as though I could explain to anyone where I was going. They'd think I was crazy if I tried to tell them."

"Being grown up does not sound all that fun."

"And now you sound like Peter Pan."

"Is he a friend of yours."

"No." Lily shook her head. "And I don't think being grown up is all that bad. Maybe for other people, because they grow up and stop believing in magic. But I don't have to do that, because I know that it's real."

James had slowed down again so he was walking beside her. "Living without magic would be truly awful."

Lily shrugged. "I don't like it. But other people don't know any better."

"You should come to fairyland more often then." He declared. "If you like magic as much as it sounds like you do, you could stay if you wished."

Lily laughed. "Well, I don't know about that. You seem quite welcoming, but most of the fae that I've met don't like mortals all that much."

"No, I suppose they would not make you feel at home." And he looked truly distraught over that. Then he was smiling at her again and Lily was hit with the truth of just how very attractive he was. It hadn't hit her in full the first few smiles he'd given her since her fear had been messing with her head. But now that she was calmer, well his smile made her heart race for different reasons. "Can I ask you what you have in your bag?"

Lily cleared her throat and pulled at her straps. "Well, you didn't think that I'd be wearing this to the wedding, did you?" She asked, looking down at her jeans, trainers and jumper. "And I brought peanut butter and banana sandwiches."

"Not all of our food is unsafe for mortals to eat," James reminded her.

"I know, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Someone gave me a laced blueberry tartlet when I was twelve and I couldn't speak coherently for almost three days. My mum took me to the doctors because she thought I was having a stroke." She shook her head. "Though Remus used to bring me fairy sweets sometimes." She looked at James for a moment. "Can I ask you something about Remus?"

James shrugged his shoulders and then nodded.

"Why hasn't he visited me? It's been five years now. I was surprised to hear from him at all, happy of course, but surprised. His parents haven't even seen him." He hadn't even answered her letters these last couple years.

James' hand went back to his hair.

"I will let you talk to him," James said. "It is not my place to divulge other creatures' secrets."

It was a good answer, the answer that he should give, but it only served to twist Lily's stomach into more knots.

"We are here," James' voice changed as he pulled back the last branch and revealed the ivy-covered castle nestled between the hills. It reminded Lily of old Disney movies, but gave her the feeling of practicing tornado drills at school. James was smiling at her, and her friend was just over the rolling hills that separated the castle from the wood, and so soon she was smiling again too.

"It's more beautiful than I remember." She said quietly. James seemed to like that answer.

"I wish I could see it through your eyes." He said, just as thoughtful as he'd been earlier. "You look awe inspired."

"I am," Lily grinned at him.

"Good," James nodded. "Let us go and find, Remus. I am sure the two of you have much to catch up on."