Lily's Bad Decision

by Dementors hate chocolate

Lily realizes Severus was right about James: he really is an arrogant toerag, and Lily can't deal with it anymore. She leaves James, partly because he's a jerk, and partly because she remembers Severus. Contains some swear words, torture scenes.

22. The Trial

I don't own Harry Potter.

Thanks for reviewing: I'm a Witch So Deal With It, hummingpetal, Professor Radar, Saint Snape, Eawynne, Jaspreet, duj, anotherboarduser, Saramagician, LordBan, flame55, Whitelion, and guest

Hope this isn't too long for ya!

Chapter 22 "The Trial"

Kingsley and Severus quietly made their way through the old house, searching each room as they passed it. But there was no one to be found. Severus thought he heard a light rustle behind him at one point, and whirled around, but there was nothing there. Kingsley looked at him questioningly, but he just shook his head. He felt his heart sinking as each room turned up empty. Maybe Lily wasn't here...unless their was some secret passage somewhere. They finally came to the last door, and it was locked.

Severus raised his eyebrows; none of the other doors were locked, perhaps they were in here?

"Alohomora," Severus whispered, and the lock clicked and the door swung open slowly. There was somebody in this room, lying unconscious on the floor.

"Lily!" Severus cried, dropping to his knees beside her. What had he done to her? Dried blood crusted her cheeks from two deep slashes, and blood drenched her ripped blouse. Her face was pale and colorless, and Severus feared for the worst. "Lily?" He grabbed her up in his arms, holding her tightly, praying she wasn't gone, that he wasn't too late. He patted her cheek desperately. "Lily, please wake up,"

"Here, let me try," Kingsley stepped forward, and Severus jumped. He had forgotten the Auror was there as soon as he had caught sight of Lily. "Enervate." Kingsley said, touching the tip of his wand to her chest.

After a few seconds, Lily opened her eyes blearily. She tried to focus on who was holding her, hoping it wasn't James, because she didn't have any more strength to fight him. When her vision cleared, she saw two black eyes staring worriedly at her, and she relaxed, relief washing over her.

"Severus." she buried her face in his neck and cried heartily, letting everything out.

"I'm sorry, Lily," Severus said desperately, running a hand through her hair. "I should have been watching you, protecting you..."

Lily cried harder at that statement, and hugged the man she loved tighter.

Kingsley was looking around the room. Something was clearly amiss. Where was Potter? Why would he just leave Lily here for them to find? Something wasn't right, he could feel it...

Suddenly, a stunning curse flew from nowhere, hitting Kingsley in the chest, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Severus whirled around at the thump, but he didn't see anyone. The next second, he had dropped Lily to the floor, because he found himself strung up by his ankles as if by some invisible rope. Lily yelped as she hit the floor, and struggled to stand up.

Severus' wand had fallen from his hand in surprise, and he watched in shock as it picked itself up from where it was lying and shot through the air to the corner of the room, where a disembodied hand caught it. Soon, the hand was joined by the rest of the body, when James Potter pulled off his Invisibility Cloak. He chuckled as Severus struggled, twisting madly in the air.

"Oh, Snivellus, I knew you would come. That's why I didn't kill her yet." Potter pointed at Lily. "But I did leave my mark. Show him, Lily."

Under James' control, Lily lifted her shirt, and the words James had carved there stood out against her pale skin, burning red with inflammation. She couldn't look at the horror on Severus' face, the guilt, and then the fury.

"Now you know she's mine. And everyone will know. She has always been mine." Potter laughed. "But now that you're here, it's time for both of you to die." He swished his wand at Lily, and she flew into the wall, giving a yelp of pain.

"You bastard, Potter! I swear to God, I'll rip you limb from limb! I'll kill you!" Severus screamed, as Lily lay motionless, crumpled in a heap on the floor.

"Yeah, go ahead and try it. I've got your wand, or have you forgotten?" Potter cackled, and a fury rose in Severus like never before. It was different from the anger he felt when he was bullied at school, because there was someone else involved here this time, it wasn't just about him. It was the desperation, the guilt, the anger that swirled inside him and made him feel like he was going to explode. And then suddenly he found himself on the ground, rushing at Potter, who had a look of confused shock written across his face.

James' wand tumbled to the ground as Severus knocked Potter to the floor and slammed his fist into that hated face. Everything else was lost in Severus' mind. Only one thing was important to him at that moment: beating the living hell out of James Potter. Despite the few punches Severus had landed on the other man's face, it was a bloody mess already, lip swelling up and nose broken, pouring blood onto the filthy floor.

But Potter was bigger and stronger then Severus, and was able to flip Severus off of himself once he came out of the shock of Severus attacking him. He kneed Severus hard in the stomach, and Severus fell, gasping for breath; it felt like both his lungs were gone. He got another kick in the face, and Potter stood above him laughing.

"You always were so weak, Snivellus," Potter pulled him up by the front of his robes, blocking Severus' furious punches, and smashed his fist into Severus face again and again, relentlessly, until Severus could barely see out of his puffed and swollen eyelids.

"James!" Potter turned, and Lily kicked him hard in the crotch before he could do anything to her. He let go of Severus and fell to the floor, howling.

"Crucio!" Lily pointed Severus' wand, which she had retrieved from the floor, at James, and he writhed on the ground, screaming.

"How do you like it?" Lily said quietly, staring at James. "It doesn't feel very good, does it?"

"CRUCIO!" James screamed again. Lily wondered briefly why he didn't stop her with his mind, and then she knew. His mind was enduring intense pain, and he couldn't focus on controlling her. Lily reached into James' pockets, searching, while James screamed through another Cruciartus curse. She finally found what she was looking for: the small silver knife that James had used on her.

"And I bet this isn't going to feel good, either, is it?" She whispered in his ear, and slashed his face.

"Please, no, please!" James begged, tears of agony rolling down his face. "Please, stop! I'm sorry!"

Lily looked at him amused. Sorry? He was sorry? "I really think it's too late for that, James. It's too late for apologies." She slashed the other side of his cheek, as he had done to her, and crucioed him again. She felt free, light-hearted. To watch James scream and flail in pain, by her doing, after these years that she had spent with him, was glorious. There was no way she could describe it, but she felt alive every time he screamed. Every tear, every drop of blood that fell from him gave her strength, and she wanted to hurt him more, and in worse ways.

"Petrificus totalus!" she cried, and James became stiff as a board. She knew he couldn't control her now. His mind was frozen, just as it was when he was in pain. She had found the potion's weakness. She had broken away from him, she was safe, but he wasn't. She kneeled beside him, and saw fear in his eyes for once. It was finally the other way around. She felt strange, like she was high on revenge, detached from this world.

"You took my heart, James Potter. It's about time that I should take yours, don't you think?" Lily stabbed the knife into James' chest, right above his heart, and twisted it sharply. Even though he couldn't scream, or react in any way, the pain in his eyes was enough for Lily. "Or maybe that's not enough? Maybe I should hit you where it really counts." She jabbed the knife into his crotch and laughed.

"Lily!" Kingsley, who had come to, grabbed the woman's arm before she could do anything else. After everything, he didn't want to see both Severus and Lily thrown in jail.

"Stop! He deserves it! Can't you see?" Lily screamed and fought against Kingsley.

"Yes, he does. But two wrongs do not make a right. And there is someone else who needs your attention right now," Kingsley nodded to Severus, who was groaning on the floor, and that strange feeling began to leave Lily as she took in Severus' bleeding, broken face. She felt horrible; she had become as bad as James, with the knife,and the curses. How could she have done such things? It was just that feeling that had come over her: a feeling of control, teaching James a lesson.

Before releasing him from the body bind, Kingsley waved his wand, and ropes twirled out of the end and bound James tightly. The man began to scream as soon as his voice was free.

"You bitch! You little bitch!" he howled at Lily.

"Silencio." Kingsley said, and James lost his voice again. "You're going to go to Azkaban. I hope it was worth it for you." He grabbed James' arm and hauled him up before glancing at Lily.

"I'm going to take care of him. Once you two are cleaned up, just come to my office, and we'll try and sort everything out, alright?" he patted Lily's shoulder gently. "I'll see you later." Kingsley picked up James wand before leaving the room and stuck it in his robes. He was intending to bring James to the hospital to quickly heal the wounds, and then to the Ministry. He was slightly tempted to just let James bleed out, but he did have a conscience.

Lily knelt beside Severus as he sat up, trying to breath through his broken nose and spouting blood everywhere.

"Oh, God, are you okay?" Lily caressed his swollen face and he gave a grimace.

"I'm alright. But we need to get you fixed up, your shoulder..."

"Oh, Sev," she hugged him tightly to her chest. She wanted to hold him this way forever. He was her savior, the one who pulled her from Hell and brought her to Heaven. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Lily, I've always been here. You just didn't see it." Severus chuckled wetly, spraying blood on his shirt.

Lily wiped the blood from his lips with a slender thumb and smiled sadly. "I know. I regret that more then you can ever imagine. But now I know. You saved me. And I will always remember that."

"I love you, Lily, and I will always be here when you need me, no matter how small the thing might be, or how big."

Lily kissed Severus, sweet and deep, but she could not convey all the emotion she was feeling right now. The relief that James was finally gone was overwhelming. And now Severus was here, and they were together, and they were alive.

And then she remembered. Her heart sunk as she looked at Severus. She had to tell him about the baby. Would he leave her when he learned the truth? No, he wouldn't, he loved her too much.. didn't he?

"Severus. James...he..he.." her voice broke, too upset to continue.

Severus sat up, sensing something was wrong, and took Lily's hand in his own. "Lily what did he do to you?"

Lost for words, she gestured to her stomach. Severus frowned. Didn't she remember that he saw the words? "We can heal that, Lily. You don't have to live with it forever." he lifted her shirt up so he could inspect the scratches. After a few seconds, the words James Potter became etched into his brain, and he had to look away.

"No," Lily said quietly, and Severus looked at her.

"What?" Severus was confused; what was she saying no to?

Why was this so hard to do? Was it the humiliation, or the fear that he would leave her? "It's not that. Severus..I'm ..I'm pregnant."

Severus didn't reply; his brain was frozen, his mouth wouldn't work. He wanted it to, he wanted to talk to Lily. She was looking at him with an expression of...what was it? Fear?

"Oh, I knew you would be upset. Please don't leave, Sev," Lily cried, putting her face in her hands. She knew his reaction was normal, but she couldn't bear that shocked look on his face.

"Lily, I.."

"If you want to leave, go now, I don't blame you. I know you.."

"Lily! I'm not going to leave you." Severus gathered her in his arms, and she fell apart. "I will never leave you, no matter what. I'm afraid you're stuck with me forever. This is just one more battle we're going to have to fight Lily, but I'm not going anywhere."

Lily sobbed out Severus' name, holding onto him for support, grasping him like she would die if she let go. She loved him so much, words were just not enough. He was always there for her, when another man might have run away, he was there, beside her, and she knew he always would be.

"We should go," Severus pointed out. Kingsley had helped them so much, but it would be worth nothing if he was thrown in Azkaban. But now that they had Potter, the jury would have evidence, and he couldn't possibly be imprisoned, could he?

Severus scooped his wand up, Lily still clinging to him, and he picked her up in his arms. He would never let her go again. He would watch her from now on and protect her, even though Potter was going to prison. Lily didn't even notice him picking her up and heading out of that room, out of the house into the fresh air. She was too upset, and the only thing she knew that she was with Severus now, and she was safe. So she didn't have to know where she was, or where she was going, because as long as Severus was with her, she would be fine.

"Lily, I think we should go to the hospital. I think they would do a better job healing us then I would, and I don't want you exerting yourself." When Lily didn't reply, he took that as a yes, and kept a tight hold on her as he Apparated to Saint Mungo's. The other patients stared at them as they came into the waiting room, and the receptionist gave them a wide-eyed look.

"This woman needs medical attention immediately. She's lost a lot of blood." Severus said as he went up to the receptionist, pushing a woman with a teapot stuck to her head aside.

"I'd say you need attention, too, sir," the receptionist said, noticing the results of the fight between him and Potter.

"That's not important right now. Lily just needs to be taken care of."

"Alright, just bring her through that door," the receptionist pointed to a white door to her left, and Severus thanked her before going through it.

"Lily, we're at the hospital," Severus whispered in Lily's ear, but she didn't notice; she was still sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder.

Two Healers came toward them, wearing identical white outfits with the red Healer's emblem stitched into them. "Do you need help?"

"Yes, Lily, she's lost blood, if you could fix her up..." Severus said. Enough with the questions, wasn't it obvious that they needed help?

"Alright, we'll take her, and then somebody will be right here you to fix you up," one of Healers, whose name was Meredith, said a bit too cheerily for Severus' liking.

"Can I come with you? I promised her that I would stay with her." he was reluctant to let Lily go alone after what had just happened. Potter's abduction of her was still too fresh in his mind.

"If you must. Just follow us, then." The Healers led them to a small private healing room, and Meredith nodded to the small bed that was there. "Put her down, and we can get to work."

For a moment, Severus thought Lily wasn't going to let him go, but then she relented and fell onto the soft, clean bed sheet.

"Can you give her something so she calms down?" Severus said, worried about how hysterical Lily was.

"We'll take care of that, if you'll just stand back..." the other Healer, Angela, said and plumped up the pillows under Lily's head.

Severus watched as two Healers worked quickly, giving Lily potions and chanting healing charms over her. He heard their intake of breath as they removed her shirt and saw the words carved there. Meredith's brow creased as she waved her wand over the cuts and nothing happened. after a few more tries, she took a different route, and dabbed a potion on it, but it remained the same.

"He cursed it," Lily said. "It can't be removed." a tear dripped down her cheek, even though they had given her a Calming Drought. Severus felt anger boil inside him again. Damn Potter. Now Lily would be reminded of him every time she saw those ugly marks.

"Well, we'll see. They're not bleeding anymore right now, so we can try different things on them later." Angela said.

After a few more minutes, they had cleaned Lily up, and closed up her shoulder and cheeks. Meredith ran her wand over her to detect any thing else that was amiss, and a look of horror came over her face. She sat beside Lily and squeezed her hand tightly. "You were raped?"

Lily nodded slowly, avoiding Severus' eyes.

"What?" Severus yelped. "You didn't tell me that. When did he do it?"

"Severus, there's nothing you can do now. It's done." Lily said softly. She didn't want to tell him, because she knew it would upset him, and there could be nothing done about it now.

"I'll go and.." Severus slammed his fist against the wall, searching for something bad enough to do to Potter.

Lily sat up and looked pleadingly at Severus. "Please don't do anything. I don't want you to get in more trouble then you're already in."

Meredith cleared her throat. "Do you two want to be left alone? We can leave.."

"No, just finish healing Lily." Severus said, trying to control his anger.

"We're pretty much done here. Oh, Lily," Meredith glanced at Severus quickly before speaking quietly to Lily. "You do know you're pregnant, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." Lily snapped, not wanting to think about it at that moment. They would deal with it later.

"Alright." Meredith sensed the young woman didn't want to talk about it, and that was fine. She didn't know what happened here, but obviously there was some man that was abusing Lily, and this Severus had rescued her. He cared about her a great deal, as was indicated by the way he was looking at her with concerned eyes and the anger in his voice when he heard that she was raped. "Here are a few potions for you to take. They'll increase healing. And we'll check in on you later after you rested and see what we can do about your cuts, okay?" Meredith repaired Lily's shirt, and handed it to her, and she put it back on.

"I can't stay. We have to go." Lily stood, a little wobbly. "Your trial."

Severus' heart sank; he had almost forgotten. "Yes, I need to go. You can stay here, Lily, if you need to." He didn't want her passing out if she needed to rest.

"No." Lily said firmly. "I'm coming with you, and I'll stand by you." she touched his still swollen face. "But please let them heal you first, Sev."

Severus didn't really care about the pain that he was still feeling from the beating, but Lily's pleading eyes made him give in, and the two Healers led him over to the bed and started working on him while Lily stood by and watched him this time. Severus was relieved somewhat when they healed his nose and he could breathe normally again.

"Okay, you're good to go. And please, come back so we can help you remove those marks," Meredith looked sympathetically at Lily. "And good luck with your trial."

Lily grasped Severus' hand tightly as they left the room, and glanced up at him. His face looked much better, but now without all the swelling and blood to cover it, she could see the nervous expression on his face.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly as they made their way down the corridors and through the waiting room.

"I'm fine," Severus said trying to hide the fear in his voice, but not succeeding very well. Lily squeezed his hand tighter, but didn't say anything else. Severus kept a tight hold on Lily as they Apparated to the Ministry and arrived in the Atrium.

Severus led Lily to the lift, listening to people talk around him, but not really hearing them. They got off on the correct floor, and Severus headed straight for the Auror office. He looked sideways at Lily. She was doing better after they gave her the Calming Drought, but he was afraid she would become hysterical again as they got nearer to the fact that he might be going to jail. Kingsley met them at the door; he had been pacing the office, waiting for them.

"You two look better," he said, noticing their less bloody appearances. "I was able to get them to reschedule the trial. They're setting it up now. Potter is going to be tried with you, since it's a connected case. You'll be more likely to be let off now that he's here."

Severus nodded, his throat feeling too dry to talk.

"We could head down to the trial rooms now, if you want." Kingsley suggested, and didn't wait for a response. "Follow me."

Kingsley led them back to the lift, and they exited on the correct floor. It was a dark corridor, and there was an ominous air about it.

"There's a waiting room over there," Kingsley pointed to a door on the right side of the corridor. "We can wait there, it shouldn't be long."

As they passed another room, they could hear someone yelling inside."You bastards! I didn't do anything! The bitch deserved it! Let me out!"

Lily shivered. "Is that James?" she asked Kingsley, and he replied with a nod and a grimace.

"Yeah, we're keeping him locked up until the trial."

"Who's out there?" James screamed, obviously hearing their voices. "Let me out."

Lily noticed that Severus' muscles had tightened up, and she glanced at him; he was staring hard at the door with a tight-lipped expression. He was thinking of what Potter had done to Lily, how he took advantage of her, beaten her, hurt her.

He wanted to kill Potter, and it must have been evident by his expression, because Lily said, "Please don't, Sev. Leave it alone. He's gonna be thrown in Azkaban. That will be a greater punishment then dying."

"Come on," she dragged him after Kingsley, trying not to feel fear every time James yelled.

The hard wooden benches in the waiting room were uncomfortable, and probably were intended to be that way. Kingsley paced across the room while Lily sat with Severus. She didn't know if she would be in trouble for using an Unforgivable either, but what was the worst that could happen? All of three of them being thrown in Azkaban? As long as James was in a separate part of the prison, and she and Severus were relatively close, she might be able to survive with that.

A man suddenly entered the room, and cleared his throat importantly. "We're ready for you, you can follow me now."

Severus stood, and Kingsley gestured for them to hurry up. They followed the smug-looking messenger to another room in the corridor, and got a surprise when they entered. The room was huge, with benches that rose in tiers toward the high cathedral-like ceiling. Two high backed-chairs with clanking chains stood in the middle of the room, eager to hold prisoners. Kingsley gave Severus an apologetic glance before pointing to the nearest chair. Kingsley gripped Lily's arm softly to remind her that she had to let Severus go, and led her over to a smaller bench that was to the side of the circular, almost stadium-like room.

Lily stifled tears as Severus sat in the chair, and the chains snaked around his arms and legs, binding him to the chair. He didn't deserve this!

Severus felt very small and vulnerable somehow as he sat there, feeling the cold metal chains tightening around his body. He looked up at the stern faces of the jurors and started shaking uncontrollably. He could tell nothing from their expressions; he just wanted this to be over. He wanted to know what was going to happen, he couldn't wait anymore.

And then they brought Potter in, screaming and fighting against his two captors. They pushed him into the other chair, and the chains wrapped around him.

In the row closest to Severus and James sat the judge, Humphrey Andrews, head of the Wizengamot. He was an older man, with a short, dark grey goatee and a plump belly. He stood when everyone was seated, and the courtroom doors were closed.

"Are we ready to begin?" the other jurors all nodded in unison, shifting in their seats.

"The accused: Severus Snape and James Potter, in a connected case. Mr. Snape is accused of using the Killing Curse on a fellow wizard and claims it was in self defense. Said deceased wizard Sirius Black was acquainted with Mr. Potter. They are accused of using Dark Magic to control Miss Lily Evans and torture her, also using the Cruciartus curse. There is evidence that Mr. Potter used the Killing Curse to murder two elderly muggles that lived in the house next to Miss Evans." the court scribe read out from a sheet of parchment.

"Are there any witnesses they would like step up and defend either of the accused? Speak now." Judge Andrews said.

Lily leapt to her feet at once, and Kingsley joined her.

"I would like to defend Severus, and testify against James Potter."

"Very well. Please step up on the witness stand." Judge Andrews waved his wand, and an old battered stand appeared in front of the judge. Lily walked nervously up to it and stepped up. "And I presume you're Lily Evans."

"Yes."

"What is your relation to the accused?" the judge asked, watching the young woman.

"Severus is my fiance." Lily said quietly. She had to think about that for a minute, she had almost forgotten they wanted to get married with everything else that happened.

"And your relation to Mr. Potter?"

"He was my boyfriend. My ex-boyfriend." Lily emphasized firmly.

"And I was the better one. I showed you a better time then he did, didn't I?" James blurted out, unable to help himself. He needed everyone to know that he was the best, he especially bested Snape.

Severus' face twitched angrily, but he didn't reply. He didn't even look at the offensive man. He was afraid that if he did, he would say something that would jeopardize himself.

Lily ignored James, but she blushed and hung her head slightly at his words.

"Is it true that Mr. Snape killed Sirius Black?" the judge asked, wanting to get on with the trial. He had no patience for stupid remarks.

"In defense! Black was..he was doing things to me, and Severus tried to stop him, and.." Lily felt herself breaking down, and she began sobbing uncontrollably. All those people staring at her, James behind her, and Severus' life on the line...it was too much, it overwhelmed her at that moment.

Kingsley grasped her shoulder tightly to show he was there, and he silently begged her to calm down. This was Severus' chance to get off, and the judges had to believe that she was a capable witness.

Severus watched Lily crying and his heart sank. He should be standing next to her, comforting her. He rattled his chains restlessly, and James looked over at him and shot him a sneer.

Kingsley handed Lily a hankerchief, and she hurriedly wiped her face.

"Did Mr. Black and Mr. Potter use Dark Magic on you?" the judge asked after a minute.

"Yes. They used some old dark mind-controlling curse, and a binding potion. We were able to remove the curse, but the potion is still running through me. I can feel it. But it wasn't James. It was only Sirius. James was trying to help." Lily's eyes suddenly glazed over. "STOP!" she cried, and gripped the edges of the stand hard. She was fighting it through pure determination, but James still was able to put words in her mouth.

The judge looked confused. "What are you talking about, Miss Evans?"

"It's him!" Lily pointed at James. "He's making me...Severus killed Sirius, he wanted to, he wasn't protecting me, he was doing it for personal gain...you need to take James out!"

Severus shot a glance at James, who met his eyes. He gave him a look that said, "See? I always win. I'm better."

"You mean that potion in in effect now?" Judge Andrews asked, looking interested. "He's controlling you now?"

In response, Lily headed to James, her steps jerky as if she was fighting against her own body, and sat on his lap. She leaned forward and kissed him passionately, and then pulled herself away quickly, and fell to the floor, gagging with disgust.

Severus' face was white with fury, and James laughed. "See? This trial is for nothing. Poor Lily is just confused, after Snape killed her best friend, and Snape gave her a love potion. I'm the only one who's ever been there for her."

"You son of a bitch!" Severus screamed, unable to hold in his feelings anymore. "Leave her alone! Stop controlling her! It's over, everyone knows what you did, you can't defend it anymore!"

"Enough!" Judge Andrews said angrily. "Remove both of these men at once. Bring them to the holding room until we've finished with the witnesses. There is too much interruption."

A few wizards who were standing on the sidelines came down and tapped their wands on the chains so they fell off, and grabbed the two men and led them out.

"Severus!" Lily cried after him, and he looked back at her anxiously, but his gaze was cut short by the heavy wooden door closing between them.

"Now, what were you saying?" the judge addressed Lily.

"Severus is innocent! James needs to be locked away so he doesn't hurt anyone else." Lily said quickly. She was glad they had taken James away so she could speak freely, but did they have to take Severus, too?

"Do you have proof that this curse and potion that you claim Potter put on you exist?"

Lily glanced at Kingsley, who smiled and pulled a book out of his robes. "Page 274. You'll find the Binding potion, and the page that describes the curse in there as well."

He handed the book to another wizard standing nearby, who brought it to the judge. The judge flipped to the right page and was quiet for a minute while he studied it. "Very well. This does seem to describe with what just happened here. Now, how did all of this start? How did Mr. Snape know that you were in trouble?"

"Sirius and James went to his Potions Shop to get the ingredients they needed for the potion, and he heard them talking about controlling me. So he visited me, and I told him everything was okay, and to come back tomorrow. I was planning on breaking up with James, but then James and Sirius came over right after Severus left, and gave me that potion. They crucioed me so I would open my mouth." Lily felt herself losing it again at the memories flooded her mind, and she paused to take a deep breath so she wouldn't lose control. "James was going to make me marry him. Sev came back the next day, and he knew something was wrong, but James told me not to tell anyone, or he would hurt them. So I told Sev to leave, and I ran away. Sev went after me, but James and Sirius had already found me. They started fighting. They made me hurt Severus. But I broke free of his control, and Severus took my wand. James ran, but Severus fought Sirius, and then James. But Sirius attacked him from behind, and then he started groping me and kissing me and just..being himself. Severus warned him to stop, and when he didn't, Sev... Sev killed him."

The judge nodded slowly, taking Lily's story in, and letting her go on. This was a difficult decision.

"But Severus came to Kingsley and told him what happened." Lily said desperately. "He did the right thing."

"One could argue that point." Judge Andrews said. "Why didn't he come to the authorities before going after you?"

"There wasn't time!" Lily said desperately. Why couldn't they understand that Severus did what he thought as best?

"I heard there was another incident today, in which Mr. Potter was finally arrested." The judge raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, Potter had taken Lily when we left their house to come here, and Severus went after him." Kingsley said. "I caught up with him in Hogsmeade Village, where Potter had taken Lily to the local Shrieking Shack. He had tortured her before we got there. But I took Potter, arrested him and brought him here while Lily and Severus tended to their injuries before coming."

"And what injuries did you sustain?" the judge looked at Lily; she seemed perfectly fine right now.

"He stabbed me several times, and he did this." Lily lifted her shirt a few inches so that they could see the words 'Forever' carved into her. The judge gave a small intake of breath, and the jury started whispering amongst themselves. "They're cursed. They can't be removed. He also..he raped me before Severus could come." Lily felt that humility and defeat take over her again, and she reached out for Kingsley. She needed a sympathetic human touch right now.

"But Severus came, and fought with James, and saved me. And I love him for that. James is a pig, and deserves to die with the dementors in Azkaban. Severus is innocent."

The judge looked around at his jury. "Does anyone have any other questions for Miss Evans?"

The jurors shook their heads, and Judge Andrews waved his arm. "Very well, you may take your seats," he nodded to Kingsley and Lily. "Mr. Snape and Potter can be brought back in."

"Oh, Kingsley, it doesn't sound good," Lily whispered to the Auror as they took their seats.

He patted her hand. "Don't worry, it's not over yet. There's still a chance."

Lily nodded, but felt hopeless as she watched the door for Severus to be brought back in.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOo

Severus glared at James Potter as they were thrown into the separate holding cells by their captors.

"I think she likes me better," James snickered, lounging on the cot in his cell. "Did you see the way she kissed me?"

"Shut up," Severus snarled, turning away from him.

"You should have heard her scream, Snivellus. It was like music. She loved it. She told me that you never did it with her. Are you afraid that you aren't as good as me? You know she's pregnant, right? By me, of course." James chewed a nail as he watched Severus shake with fury. "I gave her all the pleasure you can never give her."

"You raped her, you bastard!" Severus spun around, tight-lipped and white with fury. His eyes glowed with loathing as they landed on Potter.

"Oh, if that's what she says. But she was the one one who begged me to do it. And did you see my artwork, Snape? Beautiful, isn't it? James and Lily Forever..." James laughed. "I win, Snape. I got Lily in the end. I marked her. And she belongs to me forever."

No words could express what Severus was feeling at that moment. Why did they have to put them in the same room? Now he had to listen to these comments until they brought him back to the trial. He sat on his own cot, and put his head in his hands. If only he had gotten to Lily sooner...

"She tasted delicious, Snape. Her skin is just so wonderfully soft and supple, you know. It's just..ahh."

Severus knew it would make him look childish, but he put his hands over his ears anyway and closed his eyes. He did not want to listen to this. James shook his head and laughed at Severus' action, but he continued talking about Lily and what he did to her, how much she enjoyed it.

"Hey, let's go." One of the wizards banged on Severus' cell door after about ten more minutes. "They're ready for you again."

Severus and James were brought back in, and Lily noticed the strained look on Severus' face as he entered the room. What had James said to him?

They returned to their chained chairs, and when they were settled, the judge questioned Severus.

"Severus Snape, it is true that you killed Sirius Black?"

"Yes." Severus answered truthfully.

"And why didn't you use another spell? Maybe a stunning spell, perhaps?" Judge Andrews questioned.

"I just..I don't know. I wanted to protect Lily, and I saw that the only way to do that was if Black was gone forever."

"You mean murdering him was the only option that came to mind?"

"He was... defiling Lily and I wanted to stop him! I warned him, I told him to stop, but.." Severus spat, trying not to thin k about Black's filthy hands on Lily.

"You really think he was going to listen? Or did you just want an excuse to use an Unforgivable?" Judge Andrews raised his eyebrows.

"No, that's not the reason."

"Then why didn't you use a non lethal spell?" The judge asked again.

"You have no idea how I was feeling at that moment. What he was doing to Lily, what he and his friends did to me in school." Severus blurted out angrily. This man, sitting so high and mighty above him, would never understand the position he had been in, watching Lily being terrorized by Black.

"So you have a past together?" James chuckled at that and Judge Andrews shot him a look. "Could this possibly be about revenge, then?"

"No! He was hurting Lily, and I needed to stop him!" Severus cried out.

"Very well. You admit to Killing Sirius Black?"

"Yes, I said that already." Severus said, getting impatient now. Was the judge deaf?

"And you admit that you could have used a different spell, but in the heat of the moment, you made a rash and unwise decision?"

"Yes." Severus sighed as he answered.

"Very well." The judge addressed James. "Now Mr. Potter, do you plead guilty to the actions you are accused of?"

"As I said before, Lily's confused. I'm not to blame here." James said smugly.

"There are three people who are speaking against you. And there is evidence that you killed two innocent muggles. In addition to that, there are the matters of using Dark Magic, kid-napping, torture, rape, and using Unforgivables." Judge Andrews looked at James.

"Well, none of that is my fault. I was looking out for myself, and for Lily's best interests." James lied.

"Do you have evidence to support that? We have evidence against you." The judge held up the book, and James' mouth dropped open.

"Where did you get that?" he turned to Kingsley and Lily. "You went to my apartment? That's breaking and entering."

"A woman's life was in danger, and I'm an Auror. I have authority.." Kingsley said hotly, and James snorted.

"Authority. I'm a big bad Auror..oooohhh, I'm scared." James mocked.

"Enough." The judge slammed his hand on the banister in front of him. This man was really getting on his nerves. "Do you have evidence, or not?"

"Well, my word is my evidence." James said arrogantly. He shouldn't even be here. He was just trying to take back what was rightly his.

"I'm afraid that's not enough. May I see Potter's wand?" One of the wizard prison guards handed it over, and the judge touched the tip of his wand to it, and performed a reversal spell so they could tell what charms James had performed. It showed all the dark curses, the stunning spell he had used on Lily, the Killing Curses on the two muggles.

"I think that's enough evidence for me." The judge said somewhat decisively.

"What about Lily? She attacked me, used the Cruciartus on me." James said angrily. Why should that evil little whore get off free?

"Is this true?" The judge addressed Lily.

Lily slowly nodded. If Severus told the truth, so could she.

"When did you attack him?"

"When Severus came to rescue me, after James tortured me." Lily replied from her seat next to Kingsley.

"I think we're ready to rule," The judge turned to look at his jury. "Those in favor of clearing Lily Evans of all accusations?"

Most of the jury raised their hands, some shooting sympathetic glances at the young woman.

"Well, I think I will rule on that one. You were under extreme mental distress after this man tortured you and took advantage of you. You were not thinking straight, you were desperate. There was no lasting damage to Mr. Potter. So you're free to go. You suffered a traumatic experience, and you will be given help at St. Mungo's. You are cleared."

Lily stared at the judge. He dismissed her actions because he claimed she was under mental distress? What about Severus? He was under distress watching her be attacked by Sirius. Surely he would rule the same way for Sev?

"As for you, Mr. Potter. Those in favor of life imprisonment in Azkaban?" Everyone in the jury raised their hand, and the judge turned back to face James."You are sentenced to Azkaban for your disgusting actions. There is no excuse for what you have done, and now you must face the consequences of your actions.."

"What?" James howled in protest. "That's not fair! And Lily gets off! The bitch is crazy! SHE needs to be locked up, not me!"

"I have ruled. There is no arguing. Please remove him from this courtroom and ready him for the journey to Azkaban."

James howled again as two prison wizards brought him away. Lily felt a little bit of satisfaction seeing him get what he deserved, but she was still worried about Severus.

The judge was whispering to the wizards on either side of him with a frown on his face, and they passed on whatever he had told them to the other jurors. The jurors talked amongst themselves for a minute, and the judge said, "We'll take a vote." A little more the half the jury raised their hands, and the judge looked a bit disappointed before turning to Severus.

"I must admit, this is quite a difficult decision to make. Although we sympathize with the reasons why you used the curse, even though you should have used a different one, and you were trying to protect the one you loved, we cannot let it go unpunished. There for you will be receiving a short sentence. We must make an example. We do not wish to have people go around thinking they can use the Killing Curse and possibly get off. You are sentenced to three months in Azkaban."

The jury stood as the judge said, "Thank you for attending this trial. We believe all decisions were fair and just. They cannot be changed. You may go."

The jury started to leave, going through a separate door that stood by the fourth row of the benches. The two prison wizards un shackled Severus and hauled him up. He was as white as a ghost. Lily rushed to him, and threw her arms around him. How could they do this? How could they send Sev away?

"Oh, God, Sev. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

Kingsley stood behind them, looking disappointed. But at least it was only three months. It could have been alot worse. He could have received a life sentence.

"Lily, I'll be back. It's only three months. Then I'll be back." Severus tore his arms out of the wizards' grip so he could hug Lily tightly, trying to convince himself as much as was her.

Lily started sobbing again, and Severus stroked her hair. "Please don't, Lily. I'll come back."

"Sir, we need to go." One of the wizards said, grabbing his arm again.

"Sev!" she kissed him hard, put all her love into that kiss, until he was pulled away from her. "Severus!" she cried as he was dragged away from her by the wizards.

"I love you, Lily. I always will. Always."

And those were the last words she heard him utter, and the last thing she saw was a lone tear dripping down his cheek, and splashing onto the ground. The doors swung shut behind them, and then Kingsley and Lily were alone in the quiet, empty courtroom.

Lily stood in shock for moment, her hands still out reached toward the door and to Severus. After a minute, when it finally sunk in that he was gone, she fell to the floor, her face in her hands, sobbing hear-wrenching sobs that tore at Kingsley's heart. He knelt beside her and embraced her, trying to offer words of comfort, the logic that Severus would be back, it was only three months, but she wouldn't hear any of it.

"Lily, let me bring you home, you can rest, be with your family..." Kingsley said softly, but there were only tears in reply.

Lily gripped Kingsley's robes tighter as it felt like her heart was breaking. Would Severus even be the same when he came back? She had heard things about Azkaban, what it does to people, how the dementors suck every good feeling out of you until you're not you anymore. She suddenly remembered a conversation that she and Sev had when they were children, lying on the cool forest floor in their secret clubhouse. It had been before they had gone to Hogwarts. She had asked Severus to tell her about the dementors again, because she was afraid if she used magic outside school, they would take her away. Severus had replied that the dementors are for people who do really bad stuff, and that she wouldn't go to Azkaban because she was too...and he had never finished that sentence. What was she, too good? And what about Severus? He wasn't a person who did bad things, and still they through him in with the dementors.

The pain in her heart started dropping lower, and becoming more intense, and she suddenly gasped and clutched her stomach. Waves of pain rolled through her body, and she pulled away from Kingsley and threw up on the floor.

"Lily, are you alright?" Kingsley asked her worriedly, and she shook her head, still clutching her stomach. She groaned and sat down hard, crying in pain now.

"Come on," Kingsley said, helping her up and supporting her. "I'm bringing you to the hospital."

Lily clutched Kingsley, holding on to him. In her mind, he was the only one that had been there for other then Severus, and she trusted him for that. He had tried to help them. Kingsley Apparated straight to St. Mungo's with Lily, wondering if she was having some kind of panic attack or something.

The same two Healers that had treated her earlier in the day took care of her again, and brought her to another healing room. Meredith looked suspiciously at Kingsley. "Who are you? Where's the other man, Severus?"

"I'm a friend."

The woman looked down at Lily, who had curled into a ball on the bed. Kingsley noticed spots of blood on the clean white sheet, and looked alarmed. "What's the matter with her?"

"She's having a miscarriage," Meredith said grimly, glancing at Angela.

"She's pregnant?" Kingsley said, surprised, and it was Lily who answered.

"James, the bastard. I'm about a month along. I just learned about it today."

"Is she going to be alright?"Kingsley, though he didn't realize it yet, had stepped up to the plate to take care of Lily now that Severus would be gone for a while. He had grown attached to the two in the short time that he knew them, and he felt responsible for Lily now.

"Can you please wait outside, sir?" Angela gave Kingsley a gentle push in the direction of the door. "We'll call you when we know."

Kingsley reluctantly obliged, and the Healer shut the door behind him. He paced back and forth, hoping, praying that Lily would be okay, because if she wasn't, and Severus got out, expecting to find her waiting for him, and she wasn't..he didn't even want to think about the pain Severus would be in.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to Kingsley, Meredith came out and gave Kingsley a sad smile and his heart dropped; what happened?

"I'm sorry, the baby is gone, but Lily is fine."

Kingsley breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure how Lily felt about the baby, but he was just glad she was okay.

"She's resting now, if you want to come see her later, that'll be fine." Meredith looked at him, hesitating before asking curiously, "What happened to Severus? I treated the two of them earlier and I heard that he was having a trial."

"He got sent to Azkaban for standing up for the one he loved." Kingsley replied and Meredith put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, poor Lily! She must be heartbroken!" Meredith wiped a tear away. "I'm sorry, I just get so attached to my patients. Sometimes it's not a good thing."

Kingsley knew exactly what she meant as he caught a glimpse of Lily when Meredith went back into the room. He already felt like Lily was a sister to him, and like Severus was a brother, and he felt horrible for everything that had happened. And the Ministry was supposed to be here to help and protect. How could something like this happen? And an innocent man was thrown in jail for killing a criminal. Kingsley swallowed, trying to ignore the burning lump in his throat. No, the world wasn't fair. Nothing ever was. But you had to deal with it, you couldn't linger over it and wonder what would have happened if you'd done something different. Because there was always going to be at least one 'if'.

Kingsley sighed as he walked away. Maybe once Severus got back, they could have a happy life, now that Potter and Black were gone. But he would watch out for Lily until then, and keep her safe.

Oh, did I do okay? There's still more to come, don't worry.

I know James deserved to be killed, but at least Lily got some revenge on him! Teehee.

I didn't want to send Sev shouldn't to prison, but he shouldn't have used the Killing Curse. It's called Unforgivable for a reason. But I didn't want to send Lily, because they had to be apart for a while to strengthen their love. But at least Sev won't be gone long, so it's okay, right? Right? Please don't hate me.

And I just love Kingsley, I didn't really mean to write him so protective, but I'm glad it turned out like that, cause lily needs someone by her side right now while she waits for Severus to come home.

Also, about the miscarriage..I don't know if Lily and Sev would be the type of people who would kill an innocent kid, but I'm sure she wouldn't want to have that kid around, when it would remind her of James. She would go through so much pain everyday, because it would remind her of what James did to her. So I thought this was the best way. I hope it wasn't too fast after she just found out herself, but I wanted her to be with Kingsley, and after everything that happened to her, it was kinder to just get it over with quickly so she wouldn't have to worry about it.

Ok, I'm really rambling here. So just let me know what you think. Love you guys, love your reviews, keep 'um coming!

Dementors