Lily closed her eyes and, all of a sudden, she was eighteen years old again.
She was late for Transfiguration, so she was running as fast as she could up the lawn. Running so fast, in fact, that she didn't see the Slytherins until she entered the Entrance Hall, where they were barely a foot away.
"Oh, look, it's Mudblood Evans," Mulciber sneered. "Don't let it touch you, it might have a disease!"
Lily glared at him. Mulciber was very short, at least as small as Peter, but he was strong, both physically and magically.
"Look, I don't have time for this," Lily sighed, trying to push her way through them. "I'm late for Transfiguration and McGonagall's going to kill me."
"Oh, you're not going anywhere," Mulciber blocked her path. "Come on boys, let's show her what happens to those who oppose the Dark Lord!"
Instantly, there were half a dozen jinxes hurtling at her. Taken by surprise, Lily's shield wavered and broke down at the first jinx to hit it. Her face exploded in pain so intense it felt almost like someone had poured liquid fire over it. Her vision blurring, she sank to her knees.
"Stop," she pleaded, her voice feeble. "Stop it…"
"We've only just begun, you pathetic little-"
Mulciber was cut short by roar of fury.
"Back away!" it cried, echoing around the entrance hall. "Back away from her!"
Lily, practically blinded from the jinxes, only heard what happened next.
The Slytherins started to gabble nonsensically, terrified. From the sound of their footsteps, a few had attempted a runner, but their footsteps were cut short by ear-splitting cracks.
"We'll have your wands for this! All of you!" the voice raged, coming closer all the time.
And then there was a low whispering above her. Lily couldn't hear the words, but she knew that it was a spell to heal the jinxes.
Slowly her eyesight began to return. Above her she could make out a blurry figure. And then it became a man. And then it became… Dumbledore.
His face was livid, but as he realised that Lily could see him, he smiled reassuringly, his eyes warm.
"Don't worry, Miss Evans," he said soothingly. "You'll be fine."
"They… jinx me… for… Voldemort…" was all she could manage; her body, though no longer covered in boils, was sore and aching.
Dumbledore grimaced.
"I expected as much," he said simply. "Professor Slughorn will be here shortly. Can you walk to the hospital wing, my dear?"
Tentatively, Lily placed some pressure on her leg and winced. One of the jinxes must have broken her leg, as it gave way immediately.
"Ah," Dumbledore said, prodding her leg with his wand. "It's been broken with mildly strong Dark Magic. You'll have to stay a night or two in the hospital for Madam Pomfrey to fix it properly."
With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore had summoned a stretcher and levitated Lily onto it.
"I'll be up to see you later, Miss Evans."
Dumbledore turned back to the Slytherins, who, to Lily's amusement, were tied up and gagged.
"That was you're last chance, all of you," Dumbledore stated calmly. "I told you after you cursed Mr Pettigrew that any more attacks on my students and you'd be expelled. And besides, I think it's clear to who your allegiance belongs, don't you?"
Mulciber had only just begun to stutter an answer, when the stretcher began to ascend the stairs.
Even though her leg was throbbing violently, Lily had wished she could have heard the Slytherins' excuses - she could have done with a laugh.
And then, Lily opened her eyes… To find herself standing before Dumbledore's desk.
The man himself sat behind it, leaning back in his chair looking thoroughly exhausted. He gave her a weak smile as she appeared.
"So, Lily," Dumbledore greeted her. "Today has been very eventful. The truth of said events, however, is very hard to understand. If you will bear with me, I will explain all that I know for sure."
Lily nodded.
"But first we must learn to communicate. Of course, the magic which we are about to attempt has never been performed before, our situation being a rather unique one. If you wish to speak with me, you will need to speak through me. It works like this."
Dumbledore pulled his wand out of his robe, holding it firmly in his long fingers. He placed his other hand onto the desk.
"Now, place your own hand onto mine." Dumbledore instructed.
Reaching forward, Lily placed her hand onto Dumbledore's… and immediately pulled it back again.
In the split second in which Lily had had her hand on Dumbledore's, she had felt him. Not just his skin, but everything underneath. It felt like their minds had touched. Lily had never felt anything like it. Every aspect of Dumbledore, from his life to his thoughts, to his secrets, to his opinions had been open for Lily to browse at leisure. Lily knew that this connection would probably work two ways.
"That was something I didn't expect," Dumbledore frowned. "Perhaps we should make an agreement, yes?"
Lily nodded.
"I will agree not to browse your private thoughts and memories, if you in turn do not look at mine. You agree?"
Lily nodded again.
"Good," Dumbledore smiled. "Now place your hand onto my own and try to cast the Patronus Charm. You know how to make them speak."
"Expecto Patronum!" Lily exclaimed.
Immediately, her doe patronus erupted from the tip of Dumbledore's wand and, in Lily's voice, said "Like this?"
"Exactly like that," Dumbledore beamed. "Now, I ask you to be silent whilst I explain everything. Afterwards, you are free to ask any questions you may want."
Lily nodded, eager to hear what Dumbledore had to say.
"Lets see… Where do you start, with something as complex as this? The prophecy, yes," Dumbledore nodded. "As you know, when Sybil Trelawney applied to join the staff here at Hogwarts she made a prophecy predicting that either Harry, your son, or Neville Longbottom, Frank and Alice's son, would be the one to finally kill Lord Voldemort. Now, that night, there was an eavesdropper outside the room. Up until now, I have not revealed the true identity of the eavesdropper to anyone - but now I tell you. It was Severus Snape who overheard the prophecy that night."
Lily hissed in rage.
"He ought to die!" the voice that came from the doe was not at all like Lily's - it was cold, cruel, vicious. "He ought to die for what he's done to my family!"
"You do not understand, Lily," Dumbledore looked at her calmly over his half moon glasses. "This was when Severus was loyal to Voldemort - he did not know that the prophecy referred to you and James, or Frank and Alice - what did it matter to him if some faceless, unknown family were murdered, if it meant he would gain favour with his master?
"When he realised how Voldemort had interpreted it, he hastened to me to beg my help. It seemed to him that if I wanted to, I could protect your family, and more specifically you, from Lord Voldemort indefinitely. Evidently, he placed his faith in the wrong person. He also asked Lord Voldemort to spare you, which I believe he tried to do?"
"Yes, Professor, but why? Why try to save me?"
And, to her dismay, Dumbledore smiled.
"Alas, love once again proves to be a greater magic than all of Lord Voldemort's powerful, but frankly quite vile, curses and enchantments. You remember your close friendship with Severus when you were a child?"
Lily nodded. Of course she did.
"Well, Severus never quite forgot that sweet, kind young girl that he used to lay with beside a pond, while the snow fell around them. He never stopped loving you, even when you married the man he despised above all others. He never forgot what a precious person you are, Lily Evans."
For a moment, Lily felt like flinging the table at Dumbledore, and screaming and shouting at this foolish old man for his trust and his willingness to see the best in people. Of course Snape hadn't left the Dark side - no one did, not now, not ever. How could he be so stupid?
But Lily forced herself to be calm.
"You believe this story, do you, Professor?"
"I trust Severus Snape completely." Dumbledore's voice was gentle, but firm.
"Okay."
Lily still wasn't convinced, but that didn't matter now.
"Now, we return to the night of your's and James' murder - I have to ask you something, my dear - who did you and James give the role of Secret Keeper to?"
And then Lily realised - she had been so busy pondering how Harry had survived and how Voldemort had died, that she had completely forgotten the most important aspect of it all - how had Voldemort found them?
Anger rose like a black tide in Lily one again. Wormtail, the man who James and Lily would have given everything had sold them and their infant son to Voldemort. That pathetic, cowardly little -
"It was Wormy," Lily said sharply, her voice shaking with rage. "We thought… we thought Voldemort wouldn't expect us to give such a big responsibility to him. And we shouldn't have - he betrayed us, didn't he?"
"It does, indeed, look that way," Dumbledore gazed at her sadly. "In a few hours, I will Apparate to the Ministry and explain to the Minister the truth of the matter - for now, I shall search for Mr Pettigrew myself. Hopefully, I should be able to catch him and have him in Azkaban by tonight. For now, you should return to your sisters' - Harry will need you. You can do it the same way you got here - just think of your most vivid memory of her.
"Now, I must leave to find Peter - with every passing moment our chances of catching him thin." Dumbledore stood up. "Goodbye for now, Lily. I will see you again later today, and I will explain the rest, as well as answering any questions you may have." Dumbledore swept over the other side of the office and opened the door.
Lily closed her eyes.