Lily was slumped in the armchair at the back of the library, her eyes bloodshot. If Sian found out then she would definitely tell James. As she buried her head in her arms, she heard heavy footsteps approaching and felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. As she lifted her head, Lupin's face came into view.
"What do you want?" she whimpered, her lip quivering.
"To make sure you're ok Lily. What the hell happened to you?"
"None of your business Remus!" Lily went to stand up but Lupin's hold strengthened and she fell back in the chair, her tears pouring.
"Oh Remus, this is such a mess! I feel so alone all the time and I'm tired of the stares and glares I get. James hates me and I can't handle this anymore."
"You know you always have me here Lily." Lupin felt his boundaries collapsing. This is what James had done to her. He had been wrong the whole time, they weren't meant to be together. Now he was with her, her face puffy and tear stained, yet she still looked beautiful. His eyes found hers and instinct took over. His hand still on her shoulder, he leaned forwards and kissed her. Lily was shocked and stunned, her body froze. Before she had time to pull away, the nearest bookcase fell over and there stood James, his expression furious. He strode forwards and grabbed Lupin by the scruff of the neck and thrust him against the wall. Lily jumped up and pulled at James' arm, begging him to let go. James saw red and punched Remus straight in the face, blood pouring down his face. Remus cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Lily screamed at James and pounded his chest.
"James! Stop it!"
"How could you! I loved you and you split up with me to be with my best friend! I thought you were special Lily, but you're just like every other tart in this school!"
"James you need to calm down!" Lily kneeled next to Lupin and muttered "Episkey. Now go to Madame Pomfrey Lupin. I need to talk to James." Lupin stood up and left the library with a harsh glare from James. Lily turned to him. "We need to talk. There are things you need to know." She took his hand and led him to a tree near the lake and sat down beneath it. She thought she saw someone near to them, but when she looked again there was no one in sight. "What I'm going to say is very hard for me, so please don't interrupt." James just looked at her and nodded. So Lily began.
"It was the night I was supposed to meet Peter. He never turned up and I was waiting outside Moaning Myrtle's toilet when some Slytherins grabbed me and I woke up chained to the some chair in the middle of the toilets! Turned out to be Marcus Lee and Sev….Severus. There were a tonne of other people too but I don't remember them very well. Anyway, Severus had a knife and he and Marcus were talking about cleansing and dirty blood," Lily winced and rolled up her sleeve to reveal the scars on her arm and pulled at her trouser leg, revealing the anklet of scars on her ankle. James went white. "To cut it short, it was a bit of a blood fest. He cut my hair and stuff and then I was chained to the sink all night. I couldn't tell you James, you'd have flipped on them! Plus they threatened that if I said anything they'd get you and I couldn't stand that." She was crying now, and James was just looking at the scars. Suddenly he reached over and pulled her into a hug.
"It's ok babe, I'm here now."
Watching the two embrace, Peter was sat under James' invisibility cloak, and he overheard everything.