AN: Surprise double update!

Lily woke up a few hours later, having fallen asleep after exhausting herself trying to think of ways she could escape or ways to trick Severus into agreeing to let her leave. She heard voices in the hallway, loud and angry voices and she quickly jumped off her bed and looked around for somewhere to hide.

Of course, there wasn't really anywhere she could hide, there was only the window, the table she'd been drugged at, and the bed.

She could hide under the bed, but that was always the first place that people looked.

"If she's not here, then you have no reason to object to my searching the premises." She knew that voice. She hadn't heard this tone in years, but she recognized the voice and almost felt bad for whoever it was directed at.

"Actually, I have plenty of reasons to object to you searching my home." Severus shot back, and any sympathy she'd had vanished. "I have a right to privacy in my home, having you demand to search-"

"Severus." James' voice was getting closer. "Remus said that you were talking to Lily right before she disappeared."

"Is it a crime to talk to wedding guests? What do you care what happens to some mortal anyway?" Severus tried a different argument. "You have never cared what happened to them before. What is so special about this girl?"

Lily flinched, forced to remember that even the good side in fairyland, wasn't actually good. James was here to help her, but that didn't mean that he hadn't allowed Charity to remain trapped here, and other mortals like her that were glamoured to serve the fae.

"I do not condone violence against those who can not fight back. Nor have I ever allowed for my people to-"

"Save the speech for someone else. You are breaking the law right now!

"That is no way to talk to your prince!"

She heard footsteps now, and ran to the door. They were in the hallway. "James!" She banged on the door. "James, I'm in here! Help!"

"You are not my prince." Severus continued on. They couldn't hear her.

"I am your prince, though I understand that you do not like it. Just because you have a problem with me does not mean you are allowed to take my guests while attending a party at my home. A party you had no business attending."

"I did not take her and she was not your guest." Severus sighed. "How do you know she did not just go home?"

"Then you had someone else take her." James said. "We tracked her to the forest a half mile from your estate, and then all traces of her disappeared."

"How dreadful. It sounds to me as though something from the woods might have got her."

"Sounds like… Might have… I am not stupid, Severus. If you were using any more qualifiers- Just tell me where she is and we can settle this peaceably."

"Peaceably? I think you had your chance at settling things peaceably. And then you forced your way into my home and accused me of kidnapping a random mortal girl."

"She is not random." James' voice was low and threatening.

There was a pause, and Lily wished she could see through the door.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that Lily Evans is not in this building."

Severus hesitated for only a moment, "I have already explained to you that I am not okay with you barging into my home and upturning my life because your half-breed, mortal adjacent friend lost the redhead. Get out of my house-"

"Tell me that she's not here and I will leave."

Lily banged on the door again. She knew that Severus couldn't lie, but she also knew that he wasn't just going to admit that she was here.

But they still couldn't hear her.

"She was here a few hours ago." Severus said, which was true and misleading and Lily held her breath. Severus sighed loudly. "Malfoy and some of the other members of the Court of Death believe that she is the one the prophecy speaks of."

Lily banged on the door halfheartedly.

"So you are telling me that Malfoy brought her here?" James asked.

"I am not going to accuse him of anything. I have considered Lucius to be a friend of mine for a long time."

"Who else was here?"

"Are you sure you want to stand in the corridor while we have this discussion?" He managed to spin just the right amount of bitter distaste into his tone to make it sound convincing, to make it sound as though he was being honest and giving James vital information.

"I do not care where we are, so long as you continue to talk."

Lily kicked the door now, hearing their footsteps retreat. It did not achieve anything but sending a jolt of pain through her body.

"What did you do that for?"

Lily screamed as she turned around, finding Sirius and Peter looking at her from the otherside of the room.

"What the fuck? How did the two of you get in here?" Lily asked, looking around the room.

Peter shrugged and Sirius laughed. "We are here to rescue you, Red. Remus is worried sick and James is tired of playing nice with Lord Fuckwit, so come on. Back to the castle we go." He waved his hand as he pushed a brick on the fireplace behind him, causing one fo the wooden pillars to shift forward, leaving a narrow gap that was just wide enough for them to squeeze through.

Lily raised her brows and stared at the escape she never would have found.

"We can't leave yet," Lily shook her head. "Charity is still here- I unglamoured her and I promised her that we'd get out together."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course you did. Any other promises you need us to fulfill for you while we are at it? Where is she?"

"She said that she had chores to do." Lily shrugged.

"I can find her." Peter shrugged. "I will meet you in the forest in twenty minutes."

"If you are late, we will leave without you." Sirius shrugged and then he reached out and pulled Lily toward the passage with him. She was still wearing the ridiculous dress that Severus had picked out for her, so she had to wiggle a bit to get through the opening, but it was a relief to be out of that room and nowhere near Severus.

Of course, that relief was short lived. As soon as Peter disappeared and the beam was back in place behind them, Lily had to trust Sirius Black of all people to get her out of here safely. And she couldn't help but feel as though they were going to get caught.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Lily asked, holding onto his arm as he led her through the nearly pitch black passage.

"Yes, Lily. I know where we are going." He couldn't lie, so that should have been more comforting, but then he followed it up by saying, "I am almost certain that I know where we are going. I have never been in these tunnels before today, but I was paying attention when Peter showed me the way."

"Why does Peter know-"

"That is none of your concern." Lily tightened her grip on his arm unconsciously, letting her fear show. That was breaking her rules. "I apologize for interrupting you. I only meant to say that there is a lot going on in fairyland that you are not aware of. Snape almost got to Peter, but he did not. Though he might have allowed Snape to think that he got him."

Lily chewed on her lip. "How does Peter spy on Snape if he can't lie to him?"

Sirius laughed. "Very carefully."

They continued through the maze of tunnels in silence after that. It didn't take them all that long to make it to the edge of the building. Soon Sirius was taking his arm back from her and shifting something on a wall that Lily couldn't see. She hadn't realized that he'd probably been able to see the entire time that they were in the passage, due to his advanced eyesight.

There was the sound of stone grinding on stone and then light seeped in through the cracks.

Then they were staring at the edge of the forest.

Lily had been in the Forbidden Forest many times, but the forest always looked more intimidating when you were looking at it from the fairyland side. Maybe it was because it was impossible to forget what you might find in it's shadows. Also this wasn't the path that Remus had sworn up and down was safe for her to use. There were no enchantments keeping the monsters away from this section of the forest. This was where they lived. If she went in there, she was an intruder.

"Are you sure we have to go in there?"

Sirius shrugged. "There is nothing in there that I can not protect you from."

Again, how sure he was of himself did not make her more comfortable with what they were about to do. He took her by the arm and started leading her into the trees.

She watched the ground, careful not to trip over any roots or step in any traps. But while she was watching her feet, one of the trees reached out and grabbed her by the arm that Sirius didn't have, her injured arm. She was jerked back, but Sirius didn't let go. Lily bit down hard on her tongue to keep from crying out in pain.

He pulled a dagger from his belt and slashed at the branch. Lily managed to keep quiet and Sirius pretended as though he wasn't even impressed. Lily was impressed with herself though and she gave him a weak thumbs up. He narrowed his eyes at her as though he didn't know why she was doing that and then grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him, making sure she stayed close this time.

They stopped rather abruptly, and Lily ran into his back. "We wait here." He said, nodding at a tree that didn't look any different than any of the trees around them. Lily trusted him in this though, and so she leaned against the tree to catch her breath, cradling her arm against her chest.

Sirius grabbed her good arm again and pulled her off the tree just in time for the trunk to open like a door. Peter and Charity slipped out and Lily had to bite down on her tongue to keep from screaming again.

"Is he back yet?" Peter asked, looking around.

"Any minute." Sirius looked back toward the castle.

"Lily?"

"Charity!" Lily rushed up to the girl and carefully threw her arms over her. "Are you alright?"

"I knew you were going to try and get out, but I didn't think you'd work that fast!" The girl laughed. She was shaking though.

"Lily did not really have much to do with it." Sirius cut in.

"I knew you would come for me though," Lily grinned at him, but then she frowned. "I mean, I didn't think you would come for me, but I knew that Remus wouldn't leave me to rot. And James seems to like me well enough."

"James does not like you well enough. I like you well enough." Sirius grinned, but there were points in his smile that made her question what he meant by that.

"Sure, you do." Lily said quietly, glancing over at Peter and keeping a hand on Charity.

"What year is it?" The girl asked, drawing Lily's attention away from the fae.

"What?"

"In the mortal world, what year is it? I just realized that I have no idea how long I've been here. Not really."

Lily was afraid to tell her now. "It's 2020."

"Four years?"

"Mortal world is fucked. You should not be sorry you missed it." Sirius shrugged. But then he looked back at the manor and then at Charity. "We will make sure that you get home."

"Thank you." Charity said quietly, looking down at the ground.

"Alright, I am ready to get out of here," James' voice came from a shadow and Lily was sure that she wasn't going to get out of the forest without screaming and giving away their location. "We should assume that he already knows that she is gone." He looked over Lily, his eyes curious.

Lily looked away from his gaze. She tried to focus on how they were going to get back to the castle without Snape catching up with them. She tried not to think about how things would go down if he did catch up with them.

She felt a hand on her arm and looked over to find James looking at her carefully. "Are you alright, Lily?"

Lily blinked at him. "Yes." Her voice squeaked.

"How did you manage to leave?" He asked.

"Sirius and Peter-"

"No," James interrupted. "How are you not trapped in his manor right now?"

Lily took a breath and squared her shoulders. She'd already decided to stop showing her fear when it came to these males. "I can't be glamoured." She shrugged, though she immediately felt as though she'd just divulged more than she should have.

James seemed to agree, because his eyes went wide and he looked around. Sirius and Peter, who had a gentle hold on Charity, were already leading the way through the forest. "I would keep that between us, if I were you." James said.

"Do you know why though?" Lily asked. "Why couldn't he trap me there? He was going on about some prophecy, could that have something to do with it?"

James didn't look at her as he started after his friends, offering her his arm. She only hesitated for a moment before accepting it. "It might. If you are the one that the prophecy refers to."

"Do you think I am?" Her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat.

"I have no way to know for sure. Prophecy has never been exact or literal. Your name could be stated clearly in the prophecy and there would still be a chance that it had nothing to do with you." He glanced at her. "There was a prophecy about me when I was born, as there are prophecies about all princes when they are born. It stated that I would bring destruction and violence to the castle. That I would gut the nobility."

"That sounds horrible." Lily wondered if any part of the prophecy had come true yet, or if the reason that he'd changed so much had been to try and avoid the prophecy.

"Yes, it did. And growing up knowing that no matter what you do, you are destined to destroy the castle and gut the nobility, well it does not incentivize you to play fairly or to try for any other sort of fate." It had been the opposite of what Lily had thought, but it still made sense to her. He'd become the boy that everyone had expected him to be.

"So what changed?"

James smiled at her. "My understanding of the prophecy." He shrugged. "Remus was cursed to be a werewolf, he could not set foot in the mortal world without bringing danger to those around him, he was shunned from his home, and so I took him in. I brought destruction and violence to the castle. I elevated Sirius and Peter to noble status, and in doing so, offended so many nobles that they either turned in their colors, or I took them from them. The nobility is a quarter the size it was the year I was born. It has been gutted."

Lily frowned. "So what does the prophecy say? The one that Snape thinks is about me?"

"Pick up the pace, you two!" Peter called back at them.

James looked at Lily for a long moment and then relented.

"The one with the power to vanquish the darkness approaches. Born to mortals on the other side of the forest, born as the first month dies, Death shall mark her as his equal, but she shall have power that Death knows not. One shall die at the hand of the other, for life is forever at odds with death. The one true queen of Fairyland approaches."

Sheh hadn't expected him to have the entire thing memorized. Not when he hadn't even given her a single line from the prophecy that was about himself. "The one true queen?" Lily laughed. "Snape thinks that I'm the one true queen? That sounds like something out of a storybook."

James smiled at her, though he didn't appear as though he thought there was anything amusing being said, only as if he couldn't help but smile. He shook his head and schooled his features, his hair bouncing off his antlers. "I know it is a lot to take in," He said, his voice taking on a softer lilt than she'd ever heard him use. "But there are a great number of people who are putting stock in this prophecy. There are parts of Fairyland that are dying. The earth is turning black. It is destroying people's homes."

"So the black earth is the darkness?"

"That's what is being speculated." James looked ahead of them and then back at her. "We can talk more at the castle. We will have to ride quickly to get there before Snape and his men do."

"He doesn't own me. I never agreed to stay with him." Lily looked over and saw that there were three horses waiting in a clearing.

"I know that, that is why we were able to get you out so quickly. However, he does not know that Peter has such intimate knowledge of his home, or that he would use it to help me. I am also not supposed to break into people's homes and accuse them of kidnapping. Even if it turns out I was right." He winked at her and then reached out toward one of the horses. "You will ride with me. Sirius," He looked at his friend. "Ride out ahead and make sure the trail is clear."

He looked at Peter and Charity as he climbed onto his horse and then offered Lily his hand. "How did you break the magic that bound her?"

Lily took his hand and bit her lip. Once she was snug against him on the back of the saddle, much closer to him than she'd ever been to any fae, she answered. "I hit her really hard on the head."

He chuckled. "Really? That worked?"

"Yes." She nodded. "I stole the idea from a movie."

"I watched a movie with Remus, once." James laughed again. "Brilliant. Alright, let us get you back to the castle where you will be safe. Remus is rather worried about you."

Lily nodded and tried to decide where she was supposed to put her hands. She had to hold on, but did she wrap them around his waist, hold onto his shoulders, try and hold the saddle? What was the right thing to do here?

She bit her lip and then quickly wrapped her arms around his waist, not letting herself contemplate the problem for any longer.

After her arms were there, James tensed and Lily was sure that she'd done the wrong thing. Before she could apologize and tear her arms off him, he placed a gentle hand atop where her's were laced together. She flinched at the pressure on her wrist and he slid his hand over to her good arm.

His hand was warm, but his touch sent a chill up her spine. "I was worried about you too." He said quietly. "I am very glad that you are okay. We will get your wrist fixed as soon as we get back to the castle. We have the best medics."

Lily bit down harder on her lip. The fairy world had definitely been a lot easier when she was a kid and Remus never left her side. "Thank you for coming to get me."

"I told you that I would keep you safe." James removed his hand from her hands and took hold of the reins again. "I would never go back on my word."