That night, back in the common room, Lena found herself face-to-face with Jack, who rounded on her quickly, upon seeing her sitting in a chair completing homework. Not waiting for Lena to notice him, Jack pushed the book down roughly into her lap.
"Why would you walk away with that filthy Mudblood?" he hissed. "What is wrong with you?"
"S-She's my friend!" Lena stammered bravely, shocked by his sudden approach and aggressive demeanor.
"She's filth," Jack growled. "Dirty. Fucking. Blood."
"Jack—" Lena tried, desperately wanting to change his mind and protect her friendship with Kara.
"Shut up," he barked, cocking his arm back before bringing the back of his hand against Lena's face in a swift, heavy blow that felt almost like a punch.
Lena choked back a sob, feeling the burn of his blow and feeling incredibly grateful that it was late enough for them to be the only ones in the common room at the time.
"Get out of my sight," Jack said, the demand clear.
Instead of going up to the dorm room, though, Lena bolted for the common room door.
"Lena!" he shouted after her, advancing in her direction.
But she was too fast and was halfway down the hallway outside before he made his way out of the portrait.
On instinct, and without thoughtful intention, Lena found herself at the Gryffindor common room portrait. It was late, but she prayed that when she knocked, there would be someone – anyone – in the common room.
"What do you want, Slythershit?" a young Gryffindor said, rolling his eyes as the portrait swung open. "You're not supposed to be here."
"I need to see Kara," Lena told him simply. "P-Please."
Hearing the sound of tears breaking her voice, the boy reluctantly nodded his head and ran back inside. Moments later, Kara was running for the door and presenting herself in front of her friend.
"Lena!" Kara cried. "What are you doing here? It's past curfew, and—"
"Kara… Do you remember when you leant me your sweater? And said I could keep it?" Lena choked out.
Kara nodded.
"Can… Can I have it back?"
Brow furrowing as she quickly realized that something was very, very wrong, Kara moved closer and took Lena's hands, asking, "Lena, what's the matter? And what's… Lena… What the hell happened to your face?"
"P-Please, can I have your sweater?" Lena repeated, her voice continuing to break throughout the request as she stood shaking in front of her best friend. "It'll make me feel better when I'm alone."
Kara's heart constricted at the unfairness of the request. How could she ask that of her, when they were only friends? How could she say it that way, like Kara's sweater was supposed to comfort her? Wasn't that something lovers did for each other? The Gryffindor hated how unfair it was. How unkind the universe had been to her in bringing Jack into their lives. How terribly painful it was to imagine what Lena had seen in the mirror every time she closed her eyes. This is too hard, she thought. All I want is to kiss her.
But Kara waited to ask her next question until the sweater was off and handed to Lena. Before she could ask, Lena held the sweater up to cover her face and sobbed into it.
"Lena… Lena, what happened?" Kara pressed, putting her hand on her friend's quaking shoulder. "Lena. Lena, talk to me."
Finally, Lena looked back up, moving the sweater so that it was no longer covering her face, allowing Kara to get a closer look at her split lip.
"What happened?" she repeated.
Lena lied on instinct, saying, "It's nothing."
"It's not nothing," Kara said harshly. "He hit you, didn't he?"
Lena bit her lip reflexively and yelped when her teeth hit the break in the skin there.
"Oh, Lena…" the younger girl breathed, pulling Lena into her arms and holding her there as she shook from crying uncontrollably. When Lena finally started to calm, Kara sensed her eyes darkening and fists clenching as she told Lena, "I'm going to fucking kill him. I'm going to use the cruciatus curse on his scum ass and drag it out until he wants to be dead."
With that, Kara started to pull away, reaching for her wand, but Lena stopped her hand and quickly blurted, "No! Kara, you can't!"
"Yes, I fucking can."
"No. No. You're not like that, Kara. That's not who you are. You'd go to Azkaban for the rest of your fucking life. You don't want that. I don't want that. I need you safe… I… I need you here."
Kara blushed at her words, wanting nothing more than to believe them, but knowing full well that Lena had to choose Jack.
"Just let me kill him," Kara pleaded. "Let me hurt him. Let me teach him a lesson, at least. He hurt my best friend. I can't let him get away with—"
"It's not your job to put anyone in their place, Kara," Lena scolded her. "You have to promise me you won't go near him."
"I can't promise you that," Kara said simply, gripping her wand tightly in her fist.
"Yes, you can," Lena challenged. "And you will."
"No!"
"Yes. Promise me now."
Seeing the serious and pleading nature of Lena's eyes, Kara knew she had to do anything and everything she wanted, so she agreed, "Alright. Alright. I won't hurt him. But… your mother at least needs to know."
"My mother won't care, Kara," Lena countered. "I'll be fine. I'll be okay."
"Don't go back to him," Kara pleaded suddenly, pulling Lena back into her arms and holding her there. "Don't. Please."
"I have to, Kara. This is my life. My family and my name are all I have."
Kara wanted to scream. It wasn't true. She had Kara. But because that didn't seem to be Lena's priority, Kara resigned herself to respecting that and allowing her to make her own choices. Despite how much it ground up her insides.
Then, Kara confessed, "I'm scared for you to leave."
"I'll be okay. It'll be okay. I have to go, Kara. I have to."
"Promise me I'll see you in the morning," the blonde begged. "Please."
"Kara… I don't think… I don't think I can."
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Kara managed to croak out, "I understand. Just… Stay safe, Lena. Please, at least do that."
Hesitantly, Lena told her, "I'll… I'll be safe," and gripped the sweater tightly in her hands. "Thank you for this."
Kara nodded and whispered, "Anything for my best friend. Anything."
Lena gave her a sad, half-hearted smile and squeezed her hand, giving her one last hug before saying, "Goodnight, Kara. Be good."
Normally, the prefect would've said 'okay,' but given the circumstances, she didn't have the enthusiasm to agree, so she simply shrugged, making Lena bite her lip with concern.
"Goodnight, Kara," Lena whispered, wiping her eyes as she turned away, leaving Kara with a terrified, sinking feeling in her gut.
Back in her own dorm – luckily, she didn't run into her fiancé – Lena curled up in her bed, sobbing into Kara's sweater and holding it tightly until she finally fell asleep.