Name: Reckless Abandonment
Author: Nesma
Disclaimer: Obviously not mine.
A/N: Chapter 6 is shorter but still good. If you like it, leave a review. Also, check out my profile for a link to my Tumblr page. Otherwise, enjoy.

"Have you seen the headlines?" Marlene asked fearfully, as she shoved the Daily Prophet into Lily's face.

Lily quickly scanned through the article once, and then reread it again as the shock and anger boiled in the pit of her stomach.

"MARCUS ABDUNEUR DECLARED INNOCENT!"

Marcus Abduneur, a forty-five year old Wizard who has been accused of utilizing Unforgivable Curses on Muggles and Magical Citizens and bribery has been declared innocent this early morning.

Many wizards and witches have testified against him. While countless have testified, no empirical evidence has come to light to prove Abduneur's guilt. Though many believe he's a Death Eater (follower of You-Know-Who), there appears to be no markings on his arm and he has been examined several times by the Healers at St. Mungo's Hospital. Further inspection on his home revealed no traces of dark magic. His co-workers and neighbors have all praised him to be a wonderful person, "It's just difficult to imagine a man so kind as him to be accused of such dirty, awful tales!" claims his neighbor who wished not to be named.

While the Wizengamont released this information early in the morning in hopes of preventing outrage in the Wizarding Community, they have grossly underestimated the organization within the wizarding community. Several Wizards and Witches have procured petitions against the innocence of Abduneur, but suspiciously, many who sign the petition seem to disappear. While the Ministry of Magic is doing investigation, they do not believe there is a connection.

The lawyers of Marcus Abduneur released a statement to the Daily Prophet declaring that Marcus Abduneur is thankful that the Wizengamont has realized his innocence and would appreciate it if the public respects his family's privacy during this difficult time. Abdunneur was not able to be reached for additional comment.

Lily's hands were shaking with fury as she looked around at her friends whose heads were bent low. "He got away" Lily said incredulously.

"What do you expect? He has loads of galleons, he's able to get top notch attorneys and it probably helped that he donated a huge sum of his money to that 'Protect the Muggles Organization.' It's on page 20B, there is a small comment from the PTM giving their thanks to Abdunneur…" Marlene trailed off miserably, as she took a gulp from her pumpkin juice.

"You're kidding!" Lily said, flipping through the pages before she found the small, minuscule article on the PTM. "This... it's just…"

"Sick." James said in a monotone, as he took a seat next to Lily. "We do need to talk about this though…" James said briskly to Lily.

"What's there to talk about? Except that he's a sick, twisted old man who has nothing better to do than to obsess over the 'quality' of blood…" Lily said venomously.

"I'm guessing everyone else at Hogwarts has the same idea. We need to pull Jacob from patrols for a little while. Which means, we have to alert the changes to the teachers at once or have a mini discussion with the professors." James finished quickly as Lily balled her hands in fury. Absolutely hating the fact that James was right in this moment.

"Ugh. You're right. We have twenty minutes before we have to get to class. If we hurry, we can easily change the schedule and send the copy out to the professors. And if we need to fine tune or if Professor Slughorn wants additional precautions then that can be easily ironed out in the afternoon." Lily said, as she jumped to her feet, and grabbed a piece of toast.

"Alright, let's go." James said, grabbing a couple of muffins and following Lily towards the entrance.

"Wait. Lily." James said quietly, grabbing Lily's arm and pulling her away from the doors.

"What? James-"

"Look at the Hufflepuff table…"

Lily's eyes scanned the sea of yellow at the Hufflepuff table and quickly found Abigail.

Though Abigail seemed to handle the loss pretty well, a light seemed to have gone out from her. She was cautious when helping the first years, as if she was worried they would hurt her. Her mood tend to swing but she was still a nice enough girl to be with. Yet, more then once had Jacob taunted her, even gloated in her face that it was his father that killed her parents, and his father that brutally tortured her younger sibling. Though Abigail resisted temptation of hexing the living daylights out of Jacob, she once told Lily it was because she knew justice would be served.

Now, with the trial done and no hope of an appeal, Lily wasn't so sure that Abigail could continue resisting temptation.

"Listen, you go up to the common room and I'll stay near by – the professors are here she won't do anything, but I'll stay here. Just in case." Lily said quietly into James' ear. He simply nodded and darted out of the area.

Lily stood where she was, she leaned against the pillars and let her right hand clutch her wand that was hidden within her robes while she focused on Abigail. Abigail was surrounded by her friends, she was getting occasional pats on the back or a friendly shoulder squeeze but Abigail seemed completely oblivious to those around her.

Lily's stomach twisted in guilt. She couldn't even began to imagine what Abigail was going through. Abigail and Lily had held enough conversations where they were more than acquaintances but less with friends because of the tutoring service that Hogwarts offered.

Abigail had shown her photos of her younger brother, with his brown hair and dimples he was one of the cuter toddlers Lily had seen. While before Abigail would incorporate a yellow ribbon or a brightly colored accessory to her uniform, all Abigail wore now was black. Abigail was hopeful, always positive always cheerful, and now it looked like she wasn't any of those things anymore.

Lily looked around the halls at the other victims of Abdunneur's. There was Nancy Steward, a third year in Ravenclaw whose muggle parents were driven into insanity by the crucio curse. Jason Young, a sixth year in Gryffindor whose older sister was raped, tortured, and murdered only a few streets away from the Ministry. There were more hopeless faces, more dishearten looks that were due to Abdunneur's actions in this room. Then lastly, Lily's gaze fell on Jacob.

Lily felt her face burn and her grip on her wand became tight. Jacob showed no sign of remorse, instead, he was laughing along with his buddies. He made pointed looks at his father's victims and then he made fun of them. His laughter was ringing loudly in Lily's ear while the depressed looks of Abigail, Nancy, Jason, and so many others filled her vision.

Alerted though, she watched as Jacob pushed himself off the Slytherin table and made his way to the door. Lily's eyes narrowed as he took the long path towards the door, which involved passing the Hufflepuff table. Lily immediately made a bee line towards the table and was thankful to see that Abigail's boyfriend, Victor, was engaging her into some conversation while Jacob slowly made his way down the table.

Lily quickly caught up to Jacob, "James and I need a word with you out in the corridors." Lily said quietly while Jacob had this smirk on his face and his nose high in the air. Jacob looked behind him to find his friends laughing and pointing at Lily, "Sorry about that, my friends, they're quite happy today." Jacob said to Lily smoothly, flashing her a smile.

Lily just gave a curt nod, afraid that if she opened her mouth or did any other movement, then she might hex or punch Jacob. Here Jacob was, smirking, laughing, and smiling almost proud that his father got away. To make things worse, Jacob was obviously showing off his father's 'innocence'.

"Of course." Jacob said, beaming brightly as he followed Lily's quick strides.

It would have been too easy, too perfect if Lily and Jacob made it to the corridors quickly. Instead, Jacob's bag accidently hit Abigail's back, causing her to spill her pumpkin juice down her front.

Jacob sneered at her, while his friends commented on Abigail's savagery. Victor tried talking to her, soothing her, she completely ignored him and jumped off her seat and went after Jacob.

"ABIGAIL! NO!" Victor yelled as he grabbed a hold of Abigail's arms, while her friends quickly rushed around her. Jacob, merely turned around and gave Abigail a look that conveyed his 'superiority' over her.

"Let me GO!" Abigail wailed, as she tugged on her arms.

"You see, this is why father feels like muggle borns should be exempt from this school, they exhibit such… violence." Jacob said arrogantly, looking at his friends for their support. "It really endangers the real witches and wizards." One of Jacob's friend remarked loudly, before throwing Lily a dirty look.

Lily's took a deep breath in, as her lips went into a grimace as Professor Sprouts quickly rushed over to Abigail who was putting up a decent fight. She was causing a commotion, her sobs were heard and every so often the name of her brother slipped her lips.

While every other table in the Great Hall, except for Slytherin, were politely turning away or sneaking glances, the Slytherin's table was roaring with laughter. With pointed fingers and mocking looks, they were being absolutely cruel to Abigail.

"Come on Jacob, let's get out of here…" Lily said, taking a few steps before realizing that Jacob wasn't trailing her. Instead, to Lily's horror, he and his friends were doubled in laughter, openly mocking Abigail's grief and agitating her even more.

"Jacob, that was an order." Lily hissed, and Jacob looked up at her. A new look was in his eyes, bravery, arrogance, and joy were clearly there. "Why should I follow some mudblood like you?" He said, as his friends just howled. Though, their laughter died in their throats the second their eyes landed on a livid looking Professor Slughorn who had joined Professor Sprouts.

"This is disgusting! Let's go Jacob! Fifty points from Slytherin, I would have never expected such behaviors from you!" Professor Slughorn said horridly, as he pushed Jacob to the door.

Lily bitterly turned to Professor Slughorn, as he viciously scolded Jacob while Jacob's friends just lingered behind before following the pair out of the hall. Lily quickly turned her attention back to Abigail who was fully crying, and sobbing on the floor. Victor was patting her back slowly while Professor Sprout was a bit ways talking with Professor McGonagall, who each glanced over to Abigail.

All of a sudden, Lily felt a hand land on her shoulder. She jumped and almost shoved off the hand before she realized it was James.

"I'm guessing he didn't leave quietly?" He whispered into her ear.

Lily shook her head, she was biting her lip while she stood memorized by the sight of Abigail's.

"I hate him. He fucking had to do something to her, he just 'bumped' his bag into her back-"

"An accident, right? I overheard him and Slughorn talking." James muttered while clutching Lily's shoulder.

"He called her a savage, and let his friends make fun of her. I don't care that he called me a mudblood-"

"He did what?" James seethed, as he painfully gripped Lily's shoulder.

"But look at her… her brother and parents gone. She did nothing to him, absolutely nothing." Lily hissed, quickly pushing James off as she marched towards the door. James was quickly at her side.

"Well, I just talked to Dumbledore – we have to go into an emergency prefect's meeting. Everyone will be missing first class today. They will be excused but we have to lecture them about these things. Dumbledore things this is going to happen many more times." James bitterly snapped while Lily just groaned.

"Have they been alerted?" Lily asked, as she took the stairs two at a time, not bothering to look where James was.

"Yeah. Heads of houses are rallying them up and bringing them to the Head's Common Room. We're also going to have all the heads of houses there to supervise." James said.

"Right. Whatever. So we're going to be telling them what, exactly?" Lily asked at the top of the stairs as she came to halt. When she didn't hear an answer, she turned around to see James a couple steps below her, he was staring straight up at her.

"I… have no idea." James said slowly, bending his head down. "I'm assuming we're telling them about the change of rounds-"

"So that filth doesn't get hurt-" Lily said hotly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"And lecturing them of appropriate behaviors when a 'tragedy' or a 'scandalous' news piece is released-" James continued, ignoring Lily's comment.

"As if the Slytherins will listen-"

"Will you stop it?!" James snapped, his eyes hard on hers. "I get it. You're pissed. But we have to deal with this fucking mess, and if you're going to be too emotional to help me-"

"Relax. I'm fine – don't worry, I'll just suppress my 'mudblood ways'-" Lily started, rolling her eyes as she made her way to continue walking, only to have her path blocked by James.

"Don't CALL yourself that!" James angrily said, as he took a few more steps and was only inches from Lily's face. "The sarcasm, the anger, whatever it is it has to stop. We cannot go into the meeting angry or the Slytherins are just going to be vicious, they already will be but we don't need to make matters worse." James said, his nose scrunched up as Lily took a deep breath.

"Okay. I'll stop." Lily said quietly, taking a careful step backwards as she crossed her arms. An awkward silence filled the air as James looked over the railing while Lily turned her eyes up to the ceiling.

"I suppose they're waiting for us?" Lily asked timidly.

"Yeah. They are. We should go in." James said, as he walked up the stairs and passed Lily.

"Wow. That sounds intense, I thought the prefects were only suppose to miss the first morning class? Not the entire morning!" Marlene said as she served some rice onto Lily's plate.

Lily was resting her head on her arms. "Yeah. That's what James and I thought but the Head of Houses went on and on, and every time a Slytherin would interrupt it would take five minutes to get everyone to shut up." Lily muttered, as she lifted herself off the table in time to get her plate full of food.

"Well. Do you think it helped?" Emmeline said, as she scooped up rice into her mouth.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I think it helped those who actually cared, because we did go over how to handle another Abigail situation. And that was helpful, because all of the Hufflepuff prefects were at a loss of what to do and there was a ton of questions of 'what is acceptable' and what not." Lily said, as she salted her potatoes.

"Wow. I just… it's hard to imagine Abigail acting out like that-" Marlene started.

"Completely out of her character." Emmeline said, waving her fork. "But that poor girl, I guess what happened to her… there isn't exactly a 'normal' way of dealing with these things are there?" She asked, placing her fork next to her plate.

"Well, the professors are hiring some more healers – healers for the mind though, to help counsel the students who have suffered losses like Abigail, that way, the whole student body won't have to witness their breakdowns." Lily said, as she played with the food on her plate.

"You think there are going to be more?" Alice said in a shocked tone.

"The professors gave some really horrible statistics, there are some predictions that by the end of the year, more than half of the student body will have experienced a loss of a friend or family member." Lily said quietly, as her friends around her dropped their forks and spoons noisily on the table.

The week had been long, after the whole Abigail breakdown and Jacob's 'disgusting behavior' (though Lily had a few more adjectives to describe Jacob) the days just seemed to stretch. Everyone was restless, and it seemed that even the teachers were excited about the weekend. Whether it was because of the illusion of a break or because of –

"It's the first Quidditch match of the season! Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw and you're claiming that you have too much homework?!" Emmeline screeched incredulously at Lily in the girl's dorm rooms as Lily rolled her eyes.

"Well! I do… that transfiguration essay is going to take me forever! There is no way that I'm going to get it done with all of the stupid Head Girl duty stuff I'm supposed to do!" Lily said, while taking a few notes on her parchment. Lily was sitting cross legged and leaning against her trunk, she ventured a look over to Emmeline's bed where she was lying on her stomach, gaping to where Lily was sitting.

"Lily. Let me get this through your head, and hopefully, for the last time. We are ALL screwed for this Transfiguration class! There is nothing that can be done, it's like fate has casted McGonagall to personally make our lives miserable by transfiguring worthless objects and humans and whatever else we are asked to do. No matter what, we are doomed. So there is no point of wasting energy on doom? You might as well go enjoy life. Which means going to the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match!" Emmeline yelled out, just as Alice walked through the doors.

"Lily not wanting to go to the game or something?" Alice asked, as she flung her robe on her own bed.

"Yes! Something is deranged in that girl! She wants to spend her time on that basted Transfiguration essay!" Emmeline said while making wild hand gestures towards Lily, while Lily just covered her mouth and started to giggle.

"Oh. But we're all doomed for that class anyways." Alice said, taking a seat next to Emmeline who just gave a pointed look at Lily while waving her hands at Alice. "You see! She sees the reason!"

"Plus, I'm sure McGonagall will be furious if you don't show up to support Gryffindor. Isn't she a crazy Quidditch fan?" Alice asked, looking between the two girls.

"Yeah! Exactly! She'll probably fail your essay if you don't come out! Who'd a figure too! I mean, Professor McGonagall, I'd have pegged her more as a cat lady then a sports fan to be honest…" Emmeline trailed off as the girls just erupted into giggles.

"Don't worry. I'm coming out. I just… ugh, I get caught up in this homework sometimes and just really, really worried that I'm not going to finish it." Lily said in a dishearten tone, as she threw her parchment and quill into her overflowing, messy trunk.

"You. Not finish an essay? Impossible. Plus! You have James as a friend, he could help you out!" Emmeline said, as she fell back on her bed.

"Yeah, but I'd feel so guilty he's already got a lot on his mind… plus his Head Boy duties and Captain of the Quidditch team. Me asking him for help would just make matters worse."

"Lily. You guys spent an hour 'talking' after we left weeks ago. You guys actually hang out willingly, remember before when you use to scream bloody murder if you were asked to even go near him?"

"Oh come off it Emmeline, I was never that bad!" Lily said quickly, before adding quietly, "Was I?"

Alice and Emmeline exchanged glances before nodding. "It was… bad. I mean, you had your reasons – he was acting like a jerk half of the time and an arrogant toe-rag, but a lot of the times it felt like you blew things out of proportion." Alice said, while wringing her hands together and refusing to meet Lily's gaze.

"Well. I've gotten better. So no big deal. It's water under the bridge." Lily said, focusing her gaze on the wood finishing on the walls.

"So… was it really just, 'talking'? Hey! Ow!" Emmeline blurted out quickly, Alice had given Emmeline a backhand slap which snapped Lily out of her stance.

"What?! Yes. Of course. I have a boyfriend, who I love…" Lily gushed, but the words sounded foreign and completely odd in her mouth.

"But…" Emmeline started, lifting her eyebrows in a suggested manner.

"What?! But, what?" Lily asked aggressively.

Emmeline had pulled herself up and staring down at Lily. "It just seems like you're not excited about the relationship anymore with Steven."

"I live how many miles away from him?!"

"Still! It just doesn't sound like you're into it and you're spending a lot of time with James-" Emmeline argued as Lily felt something in her snap.

"Because I have to! Merlin! He's HEAD Boy, I'm forced to work with him weather I like it or not! It's not my fault that Steven isn't around, or that he isn't a wizard or else I WOULD be spending my time with him and dragging him around the castle at night…" Lily's voice was growing louder with each word, her angry was obvious.

"Okay! Okay! I get it! I'm sorry! It wasn't my place to judge!" Emmeline said quickly, throwing her hands up as if in surrender. It was only a question." Emmline said quietly while Alice just looked down on her lap.

Lily stared at them before leaping to her feet. "I need to go to the owlery. I've been meaning to send this letter." Lily said briskly, tugging her bag up to her shoulder before stomping out of the room.

Dear Lily,

The autumn leaves here remind me of you so much. I see red everywhere, and then, I automatically think of you. My thoughts are always on you. It also means that winter is closer! And then you'll be home soon and we can spend all our time together.

School is quite a bore. Chemistry is just… frustrating. I know how to do the stuff and I know how to get the right answers but just because I don't do it my teacher's way then it means I'm completely wrong. So stupid. The only bright side is that dad has been showing me around the bank more often. I kind of like it. Maybe it's a future job possibility?

But how's your week? Your mum told me that you had some trouble earlier? Hopefully it wasn't academic related! But you know you can always write to me about it? I know you told me that boarding school has its own odd drama that is difficult to explain but I'm a sharp guy, I'll get it if you take the time to explain.

I miss you terribly. I love you.

Love,
Steven

Lily was curled up in a ball on her favorite arm chair in the Heads Common room. Her feet were tucked neatly underneath her and the fire was crackling as she bit her lower lip.

As much as she hated the relationship with Steven, as much as she dreaded seeing him and talking to him there was still that tug, that hold on her heart that refused to let him go.

She could easily break his heart, with one letter she could smash it into a thousand little pieces.

With a heavy sigh, Lily picked up her own parchment and wrote a letter back.

Dear Steven,

I'm sorry it took me so long to reply. School has been hectic and it seems like my mom told you about the 'troubles' up at here. It's not academic trouble as much as some student was being really rude and obnoxious which rubbed off the wrong way with one of the girls here. It was a nightmare, I had to go to this lecture which just told me how to handle 'difficult' situations. It was… dumb.

But it's over and it's the weekend. Which means I can finally relax. Our school is having its first football match over the weekend. It's not a big rivalry, but I'm still going to go out to see it. Besides, our school has an amazing football team so it's always fun to watch them.

Good for you! I'm sorry that your chemistry class is giving you so much trouble. If I still had my notes I would give them to you, but alas, my friends and I had a note burning party last year – I didn't care for Chemistry. But a job at the bank… wow, that would be really cool. I can't wait to hear more about – only a few more months and we'll be reunited! Yay!

Anyway, I hope this letter finds you well. I miss you.

Love,
Lily

Rereading through the letter, Lily quickly sealed it away. Lily stared wistfully in the fire, and she suddenly had a vision, or this dream like state where she could see herself just chucking the letter in the fire. However, the dream or vision didn't end there. This other Lily, this angrier Lily just kept throwing all these letters, the letters she wrote and Steven wrote all in the fire. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes had this mad look. And just as suddenly as it came, the vision or dream left.

Instead of giving into temptations, second nature, or whatever it was. Lily just stood up and made her way to the portrait hole, ready to send another love letter to Steven.

A/N: Love it? Hate it? Review it!