Please, read and review. Nothing you recognize is mine, it's all J.K. Rowling's =]
Lily woke up the next Saturday day hopeful that things would be different. Severus had made plans with her to meet under the giant oak tree by the Great Lake that afternoon and she was glad for it. She was always worried about her best friend; things were bad in his home life and there were rumors about the Slytherin boys that she didn't like to hear. Lily hoped that Severus was smart enough not to get involved in anything illegal or full or dark magic.
It was still early, so Lily decided to go to breakfast by herself. All of the girls in her dormitory were still sleeping and, knowing from experience, they did not like to be woken up. As it was the weekend, Lily was able to take an extra-long shower and dress in her normal clothes instead of the required school uniform. She chose dark jeans that flared out at the end and an emerald green t-shirt that brought out the color of her eyes.
It was a solitary walk to the Great Hall that morning but Lily wasn't lonely. She used the time to reflect on her first week back to Hogwarts. Prefect duties plus the new workload the Fifth Years were experiencing were taking up a lot of her time and Lily already knew that it was going to take her away from her friends. With her relationship with Petunia getting worse and Severus drifting away, Lily needed her friends now more than ever.
"I don't know what I was thinking Sirius," Lily overheard a deep voice talking from around the corner.
"Come on James," Sirius replied. "She's just a girl."
"When will you get this? Lily Evans is more than just a girl; she's my dream girl."
Lily couldn't understand what she was hearing. This whole time she thought that James asking her out was some bet made by Sirius. She wasn't sure how to handle the fact that James Potter actually liked her. She was flattered by how he felt, but he couldn't possibly expect that she would say yes to him; he's so arrogant and egotistical. She hated how he played pranks on everyone and hexed Severus in the courtyard.
Lily ignored what she heard and continued her way to breakfast, but not before giving James and Sirius a chance to get there before her. When she got to the Great Hall, she saw the two boys sitting with Remus eating and laughing. Lily took her seat a little way down from them and ate in silence. She gave the boys a glace out of the corner of her eye; James was smiling at what Sirius and Remus were saying, but anyone looking at him could tell he wasn't happy.
Lily ate her breakfast quickly and then left the Great Hall. She felt bad for how she made James feel, but she knew that he would get over it. He was James Potter and some other girl would catch his attention soon. Right now, all Lily wanted to do was sit under the oak tree with her book and wait for Severus.
"Hi Lily," a male voice spoke causing Lily to stir from her novel.
"Severus," Lily exclaimed, getting up to hug her friend. "I hope your first week back is going better than mine. All of this homework is a bummer."
"It's going well," Severus replied.
"Is everything okay Sev? You sound sort of off."
"I need to talk to you about something serious."
"If this is about that jerk Potter asking me out—"
"It's not, and I know you hate him enough not to go out with him," Severus smiled. "Lily I can't hang out with you anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"We can't be friends."
"Sev, what's going on?" Lily became incredulous and upset at what Severus was telling her. "Does this have anything to do with the older boys in Slytherin? If it is, I can handle them."
"Lily," Severus said angrily, "they'll hurt you. They told me to stop talking to you and they'll leave you alone. Please, I'm doing this for you."
"Sev, you're my best friend. Why would you let someone come between us?"
"Lily, you don't understand. They're working for someone who hates—"
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A quiet voice came from behind them.
"Lucius, I was doing what you asked. Just leave her alone," Snape replied.
"You're finally cutting ties with the Mudblood then?"
"How dare you!" Lily screeched. She took out her wand and pointed it at the Seventh Year.
Lily realized that she had made a mistake as soon as she pulled out her wand. All of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Year Slytherin males walked out from their hiding places within the Forbidden Forest.
"Snape," Lucius snapped. "Use that spell of your around the area so no one overhears us. We're going to teach your little Mudblood some manners. How dare she think to speak to people above her status? Lestrange, make sure Severus gets a good look at this."
Snape cast the Muffliato spell that he created. Instantly, the area that the group was in could no longer be heard from outside the perimeter. Rodolphous Lestrange bound Snape to and Malfoy's favorite henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle, made sure Lily could not escape.
"Now Snape, this is a warning to you," Lucius said while pointing his wand at Lily. "Mudbloods don't deserve to be in this world and if you're a blood traitor, you'll get the same as her. Crucio!"
The last thing Lily knew, before everything went black, was the agonizing pain searing through her body and someone's screams which she was pretty sure were her own.
"So guys," Remus said as he sat down in the Great Hall. "What are the four of us going to with our Saturday?"
"Well, we still haven't done a prank for the beginning of the year," Peter said.
"I don't want to do a prank," James replied.
The three boys looked at him shocked. James Potter, the head Marauder did not want to do a prank.
"James, mate," Sirius started. "Is this about Lily?"
"She doesn't like it when we prank people. If I want her to like me, I need to stop."
"That's surprisingly mature James," Remus said, giving his friend a small smile.
"Let's just work on updating the map," James said.
"Okay, let's do it outside though so we don't get caught," Sirius said.
The four boys walked outside and Sirius became pacified with their new task. It was a beautiful fall day and the boys wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. Remus set up his bottles of ink and spell books by the giant oak tree that they were fond of. The map the boys were making was almost completed, it just needed some finishing touches. They were able to see everyone who was on Hogwarts property, wherever they were, as well as seven secret passageways that led out of the school. The only thing they had left to do was put a password protecting enchantment on the parchment so no one else could read it.
As they looked over the map, James's eyes instantly looked for Lily's dot. He didn't see it in any of her favorite places; she wasn't in the common room, her dormitory, the library, or anywhere else. When James started to look at the grounds on the map, he became worried. Lily was with Severus Snape inside the Forbidden Forest. He knew that they were close friends, but he wasn't sure that Lily was aware of the large amount of Slytherins lurking in the trees near her.
"Hey guys, look at Lily's dot," James told the other boys.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Mate, just because you're obsessed with her doesn't mean the rest of us are."
"No, look at her dot. It's surrounded by Slytherins. She might be in trouble, I'm going to go find her."
"Okay, we'll come with you. Any chance to curse a Slytherin," Sirius laughed.
The four boys walked toward the Forbidden Forest keeping an eye out for Slytherins lurking around. James became more anxious with every step. Lily's dot was moving away from Snape and two other Slytherins were closing in on her. Upon showing this to the rest of the Marauders, James took off at a run towards the trees.
"I can't hear anything going on," James whispered to his friends. "I bet Snivellus used that Muffliato spell. Remus, do you remember how to take it off?"
"Yes, stand back and I'll do it," Remus replied. He muttered the counter-curse and was almost sorry he had; the first thing the boys heard was an ear-splitting scream.
James was horrified. Lily was on the ground with her limbs contorted horribly and she was screaming. Snape was looking on helplessly while bound to a tree while the rest of the Slytherins were around her laughing. Lucius Malfoy stood over her, his cold eyes shining with glee, performing the Cruciatus Curse. Without thinking, James pulled out his wand and stupefied Malfoy. He was enraged and didn't hold back with any of the spells he shot off.
Soon the area was full of the four Gryffindors shooting off spells. They had the advantage of taking the Slytherins off guard, but soon the Slytherins were cursing the Gryffindors back. James and Sirius were taking on three different Slytherins at once while Remus was trying to make sure Peter didn't get himself killed. By the end of the battle, all of the Slytherins except for Snape were unconscious; they wound up leaving him bound to the tree looking on at all of the destruction. Peter's nose was bleeding, Remus had a black eye, and Sirius's arm was turning a nasty shade of purple. No one looked worse than James, except for perhaps Lily.
James was bleeding from his head, he had a gash on his chest, his arm looked to be broken and he couldn't put weight on his right leg. None of that stopped him from picking up Lily in his arms and carrying her back to the castle. Lily was unconscious and covered in bruises; it looked as though she was kicked as part of her torture.
"I'm taking her to the Hospital Wing," James grunted and started walking towards the castle.
"James do you want one of us to carry her?" Sirius asked.
"No, I've got her."
They walked in silence to the Hospital Wing as quickly as they could with their injuries. James just wanted to make sure Lily was okay. He didn't care about anything else, not his injuries, not the weird looks he was getting from people in the halls. He completely ignored Professor McGonagall when she shouted out at them. Remus stopped to explain briefly that they saved Lily from being attacked and that McGonagall should bring Dumbledore to the Hospital Wing.
Once there, Madame Pomfrey immediately snapped into action and brought Lily to a bed. She fixed Sirius's arm and Remus and Peter's cuts, but James wouldn't accept help until Lily was better.
"Potter," Madam Pomfrey snapped. "You need to be treated immediately. There is nothing I can do for Miss Evans until she wakes up. We do not know the extent of her damage, but rest assured that I am monitoring her vitals for any changes."
"Fine," James snapped. "You can treat me, but I'm not leaving here until she wakes up."
"I expected nothing less from you, Mister Potter," a quiet voice spoke from behind him.
"Headmaster," James said, nodding his head in respect. "I'm sure McGonagall has told you what happened."
"She did James," Dumbledore replied. "I am impressed with the bravery you and your friends have shown earlier today, you may have even saved Miss Evans's life. I have inspected the area and found no one there, nor was there anything that shows someone was there except for a bit of rope by the base of a tree."
"That was Snape's, he was tied there."
"Ah, I see. Well, Mister Potter, I will be conducting interviews with all of the Slytherin males from Fifth Year and up. I want you four to stay away from the Slytherins for the time being, no retaliation will be tolerated. Is that understood?"
Dumbledore fixed each of the boys with a stare until they nodded. "Poppy, I am giving James my permission to stay by Miss Evans's side for as long as it takes her to recover. The rest of you, however, should go down to the Great Hall for some dinner and then back to your dormitory."
Madame Pomfrey did not look happy, but allowed James to stay. With a flick of her wand she conjured a chair for him to sit on by Lily's bedside. James, after saying a quiet goodbye to his friends, sank in the chair and held Lily's hand willing her to open her eyes. Remus, Sirius, and Peter did what they were told and went down to the Great Hall intending on telling Lily's friends what happened.