Lily ran and ran until her legs could take no more. Her legs collapsed beneath her and she fell to the floor. By now she'd reached the Forbidden Forest and it was beginning to get dark, how long had she been running for? She forced her body to balance on her feet and tried to get her bearings. How far in was she and what time was it? For the first time in her life, Lily Evans sat down on the floor and, feeling sorry for herself, curled up into a ball and decided to just give up.
Rattling the staircases, James stormed towards the common room. His face was tear streaked and no one needed to see that. The fat lady didn't even ask for the password and as she swung open James glared at her. Who was she to demand what he should know? He flew up the stairs and slammed his dorm door faster than you could say sherbet lemon. He took one look at Sirius and collapsed. "I've lost her Pad, she's left me." Then with a sob, he curled up into a ball and decided to give up on life.
The next few weeks leading up to Christmas saw many of the 6th years pass by in a daze. Lily and James didn't speak at all and walked round like ghosts most of the time. Lily had always been one to flounce off her figure but recently people had begun to notice that she had adopted the polar neck and tracksuit bottom appearance. Most assumed it was due to the break up, but surely if she'd ended it she wouldn't be so distraught? Others speculated that she had resorted to self-harming, however no one mentioned it to either James or Lily. Lily had become an outcast. She never spoke to anyone and was constantly studying. Sian had mentioned to Lupin and Sirius that she cried herself to sleep most nights and left so early in the morning that no one knew where she went. Peter was smug. His plan had worked perfectly and soon she was sure Lily Evans would drop out of Hogwarts for good. He had begun to worm his way into James' good books by complementing him and telling him that Lily was never good enough. Soon, he would be close enough to destroy him completely as well. It was only a matter of time.
Lily found a haven in the library. Books took her mind off things. The people in books always got their happy ending, well, they good guys anyway; that didn't matter anyway, she wasn't a good guy anymore. James couldn't even bring himself to look at her. She understood how much it hurt though; because she loved him more than she thought was possible. He made her feel safe and protected. Now, she was even more vulnerable. Marcus' looks and smirks in the corridors made her blood curdle, and she would bow her head and hurry past. She'd shoved all of her strappy tops and cropped jeans to the bottom of her chest; what would people think if they saw her scars? She'd accepted that Sev had won, this was all his fault.
James decided that he didn't need Lily. There were plenty of girls around Hogwarts who were fit enough to replace her. He'd taken to attending all of the parties Hogwarts had to offer, often pulling a different girl every time. His life was a blur. Nothing mattered or made sense without her. He couldn't think straight, he kept making rash decisions and regretted them afterwards. Like the Monday before Christmas. He was drunk on firewhiskey and had his arm around the waist of a Gryffindor 6th year when Lily had come around the corner. Their eyes met and Lily's steamed over with tears. James had stared at her for a while before turning to the girl next to him.
"See that bitch there babe? Yeah, she was my mudblood girlfriend! Pfft, what a mistake that was!"
Lily's face crumpled and she turned and ran back down the corridor. James regretted it the morning after. He wanted to apologise, but facing her meant looking at her which risked the rise of his feelings again. That wasn't going to happen this time.
Before she had encountered James on that Monday, Lily had been getting changed in her dorm. She pulled her jumper off, revealing the scars up her arm and around her wrist. She's managed to tame her hair and it was almost back to it's original length. As she tossed the jumper onto her bed, Sian walked through the door. Looking up, she gasped at the sight of Lily's scar. MUDBLOOD in deep cuts was inscribed into one arm. Lily grabbed her shirt and shoved it on, before rushing past Sian.
"Lily wait! We need to-" The door slammed behind her.