After breakfast, James and Sirius left to talk to a few men who could spread word quickly throughout the town about the darkness.
Remus and Peter stayed with Lily, both had received instructions to not draw attention to themselves while James and Sirius were gone. Apparently Lily was trusted not to draw attention to herself, because she got no such instructions.
But Reus was a werewolf, Lily was a mortal and every single person in the tavern seemed to know Peter. With James gone, apparently people figured it was alright to approach them now.
"You were at the wedding, right?" Lily jumped in surprise when a trio of fae appeared at her right. She'd been busy watching a young fae girl flirt with Peter. She had wings and Lily was trying to come up with a subtle way to ask Remus what kind of fae she was, a way that wouldn't have offended the girl had she happened to overhear.
But then she had her own fae to entertain. A boy and two girls who could have been her age, they could have been much older, she had no idea as it was nearly impossible to tell.
"Were you all at the wedding?" Lily asked, not sure how to handle this. Remus jumped in though and she was grateful.
"Benjy!" Remus held his hand out and the boy, Benjy, clapped his hands and smiled at him.
"We did not expect to see you lot here."
"Didn't expect to be here." Remus shrugged.
"Giving the mortal a tour?" He asked and one of the girls laughed.
Lily held out her hand to Benjy with a tightlipped smile. "My name is Lily Evans, it's nice to meet you."
Benjy's smile dropped and he slowly took her hand. Remus had always told her not to give her name so freely, but there was something about knowing that she couldn't be glamoured that made her feel a bit braver. Maybe it was naive, maybe it was a little stupid, but Benjy didn't seem like he was a threat, and she didn't feel as though she had anything to fear from him. And wasn't the real first rule of fairyland to trust your gut? Closely followed by, never let them see you frightened.
This was why Remus' mother had told him that he couldn't tell her about the charm.
"Benjy Fenwick." He responded carefully. Lily released his hand and then held it out to one of the girls.
"I'm Gwenog Jones. This is my sister,"
"Hestia."
Lily nodded. "I was at the wedding, but I did not get a chance to meet you three there."
"Yes," Gwenog nodded. "We heard about what the Court of Death did. Did you see him?"
"Severus?" Lily asked. "Yes-"
"No," Hestia interrupted. "No, not him. Did you see him? He-who-must-not-be-named?"
"Oh," Lily looked toward Remus, but he was looking at his empty bowl. "No. He wasn't there."
They seemed disappointed, but relieved at the same time. "Probably for the best. You would not have survived had he been there." Benjy shrugged.
"He does like to kill mortals," Gwen said quietly. "Though there have been lots of whispers about you." She tilted her head in accusation.
Lily raised her brow. "What are they saying?" She was pretty sure that everything that had happened wasn't known by the public yet. James had told her to keep it to herself, so she assumed that he and the boys had kept it a secret yet.
Hestia looked at her sister and then toward the door. Lily realized she was checking to see if James was coming back in when she spoke up, "They are saying that you are the Prince's new pet. That that's why he saved you from the Court of Death."
Lily bit the tip of her tongue between her teeth and turned to look at Remus, trying to gauge his reaction before she said anything more. He had a slight grin on his face and was still looking down at his bowl, and she didn't know what the smile was about, but she took the smile to mean that he was expecting her to react how she wanted, that she wasn't in any real danger from these three. It wasn't a warning, it was permission, and she took it.
"What is with the fae?" She asked, turning back to face them. "Why does everyone think that I have to belong to someone? Do women here not have agency over themselves?"
Hestia sat up straighter, eyes narrowed. "Of course, we do. But we're not mortal. We're not fragile-"
"Please save me the condescending song and dance." Lily interrupted. "I know that you and I have our differences, but do not stand in front of me and suggest that I am weak, or less deserving of respect."
"You may not like it, but you are weaker than fae."
"How strong you are physically is not the only measure of one's strength." Peter chimed in. Apparently, the girl who had been flirting with him had left.
"Well said, Pete." Remus clapped him on the shoulder. "And here comes James, looking quite pissed off, so I'd leave now Benjy. Nice to see you again."
"We don't think she's-"
"Save it, Hestia." Gwen grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the table.
"I told you not to attract attention." James said, his glare fixed on their retreating figures.
"We figured it would have attracted more attention had we made a scene and told them that they weren't allowed to sit with us." Remus shrugged.
"Besides, it was only Benjy." Peter waved away James' concern.
Sirius looked around the tavern and then took his seat. "Peter is probably right." He nodded. "Benjy has never meant anyone harm. Gwen and Hestia are pretty harmless too."
"What did they want?" James looked around the table, his eyes stopping at Lily.
"They wanted to know if I was your pet." Lily said honestly.
James' eyes widened, "My… why would they think that?"
"Golly gee," Remus muttered.
"I wonder what would make them think that," Peter said quietly, and Lily felt her cheeks heat up. She had not been expecting that reaction from them. Like at the wedding, she had the feeling that she was missing a piece of information.
When she looked back at James, briefly at first, but then she caught his eye, she noticed this his pointed ears were red. "I hope that you were able to set them all straight." He said before he quickly slid back into his chair, avoiding her gaze.
James doesn't like you well enough.
She had thought that Sirius had been teasing her at the time, she thought that he was trying to tell her that James didn't like her, or something else, but watching James' ears flare red again, and hearing the shift in his voice, a few things started to click into place. Perhaps she'd heard the emphasis on the wrong word.
She'd known that they had been flirting of course. And she had been flattered, she had enjoyed feeling the butterflies in her stomach and having the points of his smile aimed in her direction. And the idea that a prince fancied her… well Lily had always liked the idea of living inside of a story book.
But this wasn't a story book, and James wasn't a character, he was a real person, same as her. Being a prince was a privilege and came with a lot of material goods, but it was also a job, and not an entirely glamorous job.
James wasn't just his crown, he was also a boy who enjoyed spending time with his friends and who took care of them fiercely. He kept his promises, even the ones that he wasn't magically bound to.
And looking at him now, Lily thought that she might fancy him a little bit too.
She looked away, hoping that no one was noticing the heat staining her cheeks.
"She did set them straight," Remus nodded. "Hestia wasn't happy about it though." Peter snorted.
"Hestia is rarely happy about anything." He picked up his mug and took a swig. "Anyway, if we are done with the lecture, how did things go with your meetings."
Sirius sighed, "Same as they went last time. They said that they are not going to leave until they have to."
"I understand their position." James said. "I just do not want anyone to get hurt. If the darkness gets to their houses before they are able to get out, the houses could collapse on them like they did in the first town that the darkness overtook."
"It destroys buildings too?" Lily hadn't fully understood what the problem was before. The death of the land was terrible, but it was a long-term problem. It led to food shortages and perhaps water shortages, but if it was destroying manmade things as well, then was it also dangerous to people? "What would have happened to us last night if the darkness hadn't avoided me?"
The boys all looked around the table at one another and then Remus looked at Lily. "There are a few people in the hospital back near the castle. No one can figure out what to do for them."
"And these people are being stubborn about leaving?" She asked, looking around, but knowing that none of the people here knew about the problem yet.
"This is their home," James shrugged. "I offered them shelter on the castle grounds, but asking people to pack up and leave their home is not something that weighs lightly on them. They will come when they have no other choice and then we can protect them."
Did he mean to say 'we?' What could Lily do except protect a small circle of earth and bleed flowers into the ground?
But she nodded anyway.
"We should probably get back on the road." Sirius said.
"Lily might want to rest," James looked toward her and Lily, who had never liked asking people to make accommodations for her, nodded.
"If we need to get back, then we can go, but I wouldn't mind trying to sleep for a few hours."
"It took a lot out of you, red." Sirius nodded. "I will go get you a room from the bartender."
"Bring us back some ale too," Peter nodded.
"It's not even noon," Remus laughed.
Sirius and Peter shrugged.
Lily was nervous about breaking away from the group again, since she'd been kidnapped last time that she'd left all of them at once. But Remus seemed to know what she was thinking and said something about needing a bit of rest himself. So, when Sirius came back with a room key, they walked up the stairs together to find the corresponding room number.
"You like him." Remus said once the door was closed.
"Oh, let's not play this game," Lily sighed, falling face first on the bed. It wasn't as soft as her bed in the castle, but she was going to pass out very quickly. She could feel her bones relaxing in a way they hadn't been able to back at the camp. Her body was so sore, and so tired. "At least not now."
Remus was quiet and Lily turned her head to look at him, knowing her friend well enough to know he wasn't relenting, only thinking.
"Are you okay?"
Lily sighed. "I am acutely aware of what kind of sacrifice is necessary now. My fingernails hurt. What happened to the people who didn't get off the land in time?"
He sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his palms over his thighs. "It's like the life was sucked out of them. They're still alive, but they aren't. Not fully anyway."
"Do I-"
"No," He shook his head quickly and Lily relaxed again.
"This is all a lot to take in. When we went there yesterday, I didn't really think that anything was going to happen- I mean, I hoped. I've always wanted to feel like some part of me belongs here, but I didn't think that…" She trailed off, her head throbbing.
"Rest, Lily. We can talk more later." He slid off the bed, so he was sitting on the floor, his back against the side of the mattress. "I'll keep you safe while you sleep."
"Thank you," She said quietly, "For being here and for not making me ask."
"That's what friends are for."
"That and marshmallow banana sandwiches." Lily agreed, hardly hearing Remus laugh before her body caved and she fell into a deep sleep.
When she finally woke, it was a soft and warm sunlight that greeted her, letting her know that they had all collectively agreed to let her sleep until she woke up. She still jolted upright and looked around for Remus.
She found James and Peter instead, sitting at a small table in the corner of the room, a deck of cards passed out between them, though they were both looking at her now, instead of at whatever game they'd been engaged in a moment ago.
"Are you alright?" James asked.
"Why did you let me sleep so long?" She asked, looking out the window to see the sun setting over the trees.
"We did not really let you sleep." Peter shrugged, looking back at his cards. "We tried to wake you a few hours ago."
"We were going to fetch a mediwitch if you did not wake up before sunset." James said, also looking out the window.
Lily took a deep breath and took stock of her body. Her thighs were still sore from riding the horse, but everything else seemed to have righted itself. Her head wasn't throbbing, her bones didn't feel fragile, her joints were back to being easy to move and she no longer felt out of breath.
"Well, that's interesting, but I feel better now." Her stomach growled. "Hungry again, but better. Things don't feel like they're about to fall off or apart anymore."
Peter snorted. "I am very glad that your body is not about to disassemble itself in front of us." Lily smiled at him. Of the three boys, Peter was always the one that she'd had the hardest time getting a read on. He was never as loud or confident in the pranks and antics that he participated in with James and Sirius. He was quieter, calmer, and because of that, he had spoken to Lily a lot less than the other two. She liked him fairly well now.
"That would be quite tragic," James looked back at his cards.
"Where is Remus and Sirius?"
"Getting dinner." Peter nodded toward the door. "Sirius and I have been distracting the mother hens among us."
"She was near catatonic."
"She was sleeping."
"We could not wake her."
"She is awake now."
James scowled and Lily grinned at him. "I appreciate you looking out for me, and I think it might have been a bit more than just sleep, but I am okay."
Peter looked back and forth between the two of them and then muttered something quietly beneath his breath. James' ears flared and Lily was not upset that her hearing couldn't pick up whatever Peter had said.
Lily stood up from the bed and stretched her arms over her head. She kind of wished she could sleep like that all the time, though she didn't like that she had worried them.
"We are glad that you are alright," Peter said, folding his cards since James was no longer paying attention to the game and standing up. "It was a bit strange that we could not rouse you in the slightest."
"That does sound strange." Lily agreed.
There was a commotion in the corridor outside their door and Lily took a step away, getting flashes of the false door when she was being held captive, of Severus stepping through the door when it remained solid for her, her breath caught in her throat.
But no one stepped through the door. Remus pushed it open and ran inside, Sirius on his heels.
"Were you two racing?" Peter asked. "You forgot the food."
"Red! You are awake, that is brilliant, because we have a new crisis to deal with."
"Has the darkness spread here already?" James asked, his eyes narrowing.
"No," Lily and Remus answered him at the same time. They all looked at her and she shrugged. "I'd be able to feel it."
"No, it is not the darkness." Sirius said, shaking his head as he tried to catch his breath. "It is him. Riddle is here, and he has brought his Court of Death with him."
AN: Thank you so much for reading and enjoying this fic! I'll see you next weekend with another chapter!
Reviews are gold!