Alice, Marlene, and Lily had their wands raised and ready for a confrontation in case the Slytherin called Caden in front of them who had pointed them in anger did something.
"Caden, Mason that's enough, those two got what they deserved anyway and the teachers could be here any minute," said the 7th-year prefect wanting to avoid another conflict.
But the reality was that even though the things they were saying about the Malfoy's not backing Severus and therefore Evans were true, neither he nor any of the other prefects wanted to get into trouble with Severus.
They weren't afraid of him, but they also didn't want to be against him without a very good reason, and everyone in Slytherin knew that Lily Evans was all Severus used to think about, and even though it didn't seem to be the case lately, they couldn't be sure.
So best to avoid conflict.
"Fine..., our mistake, come on Caden," Mason said lightly.
" Alright, you can take them," said Caden reluctantly stepping aside so they could pick up Potter and Black who were being held by the other 4 Slytherins.
The three of them nodded without another word, the sooner this was over the better for everyone.
They quickly went over to help Potter and Black to leave, while the 4 Slytherins who were holding them back let them go without thinking too much.
Marlene went over to help Black while Lily and Alice tried to help Potter.
"Sectum" shouted Caden suddenly as he raised his wand and cast a spell at the backs of the three who were now trying to help Potter and Black.
"Diffindo" cast Mason seconds later with a nasty grin.
James and Black who were being helped up by the girls were the first to see the shameless and despicable actions of the two bloody Slytherins.
"Lily...!" shouted James with the last of his strength trying to warn her that these two had tricked them in order to attack them from behind.
...
Today Honeydukes was quite busy as usual with the visit of Hogwarts students.
Remus looked through the pile of sweets in the shop, picked up two packets of chocolate frogs, and continued to look for things of interest to him.
Along with him was Peter who was looking at the lollipops at the other corner.
James and Sirius had already rushed off to make massive purchases of supplies without even thinking about the value of the things.
Of course not everyone had that luxury, Peter and Lupin didn't have that much money.
One would think that Sirius in his current complex situation would be more careful with his savings, but the Potters were his new family so it was understandable that he had no such financial worries.
Remus could only sigh, the two of them were still so childish, immature, and greedy.
After walking through Honeydukes, Remus noticed that James and Sirius were no longer in the shop, which was unusual.
Remus walked over to Peter who was still looking at the different sweets.
"Where are Sirius and James?" asked Remus once he reached their side.
"They left" Peter replied lightly as he continued to look at the sweets he would select to buy.
"Huh?... Left? Why and where?" asked Remus again intrigued.
Peter stared at him for a moment, before answering.
"Just think, what could make those two leave this place so quickly?" smiled Peter.
"Lily..." Remus answered automatically, maybe the only things that can distract James from Lily are pranks and sweets..., but it also worked both ways as Lily could also be a distraction for all these things depending on the day and the situation.
Peter nodded his head.
"Turns out the two of them overheard some 7th-year Ravenclaws passing chatting about Evans and her date with one of their friends," Peter explained.
"And they just went to check to see if what they were talking about was true," he added with a smirk.
" So, it was that..." Remus shook his head, sighing, he knew that James was sure to go mad with jealousy when he found out about this and drag Sirius along with him.
After all, he and Peter weren't interested in spending their day in Hogsmeade spying on Lily.
Remus and Peter were the two sanest and calmest Marauders, though both were also the loneliest of the group.
On the other hand, Sirius and James had always been chasing and flirting with girls, lately, they had both reached their hormone-fuelled period, and each was busier and more interested than ever in chasing their girl.
Well..., Sirius focused on chasing dozens of girls as usual and he succeeded.
James did too, but he always focused more on Lily, now the one thing that filled his mind and dreams was only Lily Evans.
Remus was sure that if James would have matured a bit, his intentions and attempts with Lily would have worked, but James was just immature, childish, somewhat arrogant and he got carried away a lot by Sirius's crazy/foolishness.
And it was a reciprocal thing as Sirius always got carried away by James as well.
'Those two can't stop pranking around with people' Remus thought, and he knew it was no surprise that Lily kept rejecting James when she made it clear that she didn't like men like that, she preferred an ordinary, polite, mature man who was natural and intelligent.
And James Potter still lacked the maturity to fulfil these requirements...
Despite this, Remus did his best to help James to be with Lily or to make a good impression on her.
James may have been immature but he was a good person and Remus at least managed to make Lily understand this..., it was difficult, but he did it.
It was the best he had been able to do so far for his good friend.
Remus and Peter paid for their purchases at the register and went out to browse the other shops.
Later, after leaving Honeydukes, Remus and Peter had gone to other shops as they slowly made their way to where James and Sirius were supposed to be, but they were in no hurry to interrupt them while they watched Lily.
When Remus and Peter left Zonko's Joke Shop, the sky was darkening outside, the weather was getting even colder and it looked like it was going to rain.
Remus told Peter that they had better go and find Sirius and James, so they both hurried on, but on the way, they both came to overhear the conversation between a Ravenclaw and one of the professors in Hogwarts.
The Ravenclaw student seemed to be telling him about the situation that some Slytherins and Gryffindors were going through.
Hearing what he was saying, Remus and Peter tensed immediately and ran in the direction of their friends.
The professor, who heard all this, also rushed to the scene.
But the heavy mist that had suddenly started to cover the whole town made things difficult for them... even so, they all tried to make their way to the alley.
...
After Lily along with Alice and Marlene crouched down to help the two marauders to stand up, the three of them heard Potter's desperate scream and turned to react to the sudden attack from the two Slytherins.
Luckily they managed to react in time to defend themselves, but their protegos barely managed to withstand the spells as they hadn't had much time to prepare them perfectly and this caused them to be pushed back by the pressure...
The two Slytherins did not waste the disadvantageous situation they were in and cast several spells that put the three of them in a difficult situation.
The other Slytherins saw these actions and also felt that they were despicable, but they didn't bother to say anything, many in their house did that sort of thing.
And they as prefects didn't usually do anything, they just didn't intervene unless they had no choice.
The third 7th year Slytherin who wasn't part of the prefects also decided to join in all the fun.
But despite the initial disadvantage, Lily and Alice were able to recover, but Marlene was not so lucky and when the third Slytherin interfered, she was overwhelmed by the pressure.
The three lionesses tried to support each other together against the three Slytherins, though the situation was far from good as the others could intervene at any moment.
And to make matters worse, they couldn't afford to dodge the spells the slytherins were casting because behind them were Potter and Black with barely any strength left in their badly treated bodies.
This exchange of spells went on for a few minutes until finally Alice and Lily got the upper hand, Marlene was still having a hard time but was holding her own.
But when the three Slytherins saw that things weren't going the way they had expected and both Alice and Lily were better than they thought they were, they quickly shouted orders to the 5th-year prefects to intervene.
Why the 5th-year prefects?
Because they were the ones they could actually intimidate.
The 5th-year prefects doubted whether to intervene, first, they looked at the 6th and the 7th-year prefects waiting for them to say something, but they didn't say anything...
Yes, it wasn't their business and they wouldn't interfere.
Reluctantly gnashing their teeth knowing that they were alone in this decision, the two 5th-year prefects had no choice but to act, it wasn't convenient to go against three 7th-year students who were even rumoured to be death eaters...
Yes, their actions were despicable, but in Slytherin that was the way things were and they couldn't change it on their own.
Quickly the two of them raised their wands and attacked Lily and Alice.
Now it was 5 against 3... and 2 dead weights that only made it harder for the Gryffindor girls.
Gradually the situation became more and more worrying, Alice and Lily began to suffer some bruises and cuts but they were still able to hold their ground...
On the other hand, Marlene looked even worse than them, it wouldn't be long before she would run out of strength to resist.
And the three vicious Slytherins didn't seem to have any plans to stop until they had left them in a similar state to Potter and Black.
While the two fifth-year prefects just obeyed and the other three prefects watched as no one came into the alley.
It was then that the weather suddenly started to get quite cold... the sudden grey clouds in the sky started to cover the whole town with a dense fog.
The three prefects who kept watching that no one was coming were worried and warned them to finish up soon and leave once and for all.
The three Slytherins nodded reluctantly, but they too knew that they had already taken enough time and if a teacher arrived and they were present it would be very problematic.
With that in mind, they decided to bully the girls in front of them by ordering the two fifth-year prefects that instead of directing their spells at Alice and Lily as before, they should now direct all their spells at Marlene along with Potter and Black.
This only made the situation even more difficult for Lily and Alice who didn't want to leave the others unprotected...
Trying to help them only ended up hurting themselves and they ended up taking even more damage for worrying about others.
When the three Slytherins felt that it was enough and that the gryffindors already had suffered enough, they decided to leave, even though they might not have been left in a state like Black and Potter, it was acceptable as they would understand not to mess with the Slytherins.
When the Slytherins finally left... the cold, thick fog finally covered the entire village and the sound of crackling breaths began to be heard.
But Lily and the rest were too exhausted to care about this.
...
Severus and Olivia continued walking for a few minutes through the different shops without mentioning again what was going on in the alley.
And although a part of Severus was very concerned and intrigued to know what happened, he decided not to intervene, he knew that those Slytherins would not risk killing Lily and that was enough to appease his inner Snape who was struggling to get out and go help her immediately.
When they left the scene of the conflict between the Slytherin and Gryffindor, only half an hour passed and the whole of Hogsmeade suddenly fell into chaos...
It started with the weather getting pretty awful, the sky began to be covered in thick grey clouds, moving quickly, covering the whole town.
Then several bolts of lightning began to strike, the cold wind began to blow with such force that Olivia buttoned up the elegant coat she was wearing and put her hands in her pockets as she watched the sudden change in the surroundings.
A great storm was brewing.
Severus was unaffected by the change in the weather, but he felt in the Force the sudden presence of the dark side...
The wind blew again and Olivia shivered.
Even Severus thought that the temperature had also become too cold despite the fact that cold weather was normal for this time of year.
"Severus, how about we go inside somewhere? We can warm up there," Olivia suggested.
He agreed and they both walked over to one of the locals.
It was then that Severus felt in the Force the presence of some creatures that had a connection too strong with the dark side, even more than the acromantulas or any other creature he had ever seen...
'It's almost as if the dark side of the Force is a part of these' thought Severus very intrigued and trying to draw conclusions of what this phenomenon could be.
" Born from the dark side..." Severus muttered to himself looking up at the sky, as Olivia walked into one of the shops and gestured for him to come in next to her as well.
The fog descended quickly and enveloped the village.
Severus already had a guess as to what would happen.
The air seemed to crackle.
And even the Force began to permeate the dark side, Severus could sense the danger...
He stopped walking and stood outside the entrance of the shop for a few moments while all this was going on.
It was then that Olivia, who was already inside, opened the door and stepped out.
"Is everything alright, something's wrong, why are you standing there?" she asked curiously as she saw Severus standing in the doorway still, it was then that a shiver ran through her body as if her instincts were telling her that something was about to happen.
"I just want to see what's going to happen," Severus replied lightly as he looked at the surroundings covered in a thick fog.
It was then that Olivia realised that something was wrong...
The sky darkened, the thick fog covered the whole village..., you couldn't see more than ten metres away.
It was then that the sound of crackling breaths began to be faintly heard...
'This mist-like breath, and this feeling of cold and hopelessness...' Olivia thought as she looked at Severus and the surroundings.
"No way, Dementors!" shouted Olivia as her eyes widened in surprise, she quickly pulled out her wand and looked at Severus.
"Yes..., the question is... What are they doing here?" said Severus calmly as if he was unconcerned by the presence of these evil and nauseating creatures.
A Dementor is a dark and sinister creature that has no soul of its own, in the magical world they are considered the darkest creatures on the planet as they feed on people's happiness leaving their victims with only feelings of despair and sadness.
Olivia couldn't understand how he could be so calm in the face of this situation but she didn't want to think about it too much either at the moment.
"Severus we'd better get inside, it's dangerous out here."
"Oh, yet if we go in we'll be trapped, I mean, isn't that just like leaving us at their mercy," Severus said.
At his reply cold sweat began to appear on Olivia's beautiful face, and she shivered with cold, she had to agree with him, but it was inevitable to feel safer inside than out in the fog.
Severus just looked up with a calm gaze, but he couldn't deny that he was extremely intrigued about these unique creatures.
'Dementors can't die...' thought Severus, that was one of the most interesting characteristics of these dark creatures, they were even immune to the Avada Kedavra Curse and as well they have a natural and extremely strong affinity with the dark side of the Force.
Many in the village had already fallen to their knees, trembling under the influence of the Dementors.
'It's definitely hit everyone' Severus thought as he sensed in the Force the surroundings, he could tell where these creatures were as their presence was extremely strong in the Force.
Olivia managed to stay upright, though her face was drenched in cold sweat, she had a determined look on her face.
Moments later Severus sensed some of these creatures approaching his position...
Severus turned right in time.
"Expecto Patronum!" cast Severus quickly and a luminous silver mist puffed from the tip of his wand, and a black hooded figure, hovering above the ground, stopped right in Olivia's face and recoiled, shrieking, hissing furiously.
Now that Olivia and Severus had a better look at the Dementor, they could both see that it was humanoid in shape and about eight feet tall, but when levitating it reached an even greater and more intimidating height.
The appearance of this creature was similar to a wraith with long black robes covering its body.
The Dementor that Severus had repelled turned and looked in her direction, instantly Olivia felt a shiver and sweat cold as she saw its face...
The Dementor had no eye sockets, its mouth had only an empty hole and its body appeared to be in a state of decay as its hands were crusty, grey, and bone-like, it gave a feeling of death and pure fear.
The Dementor in front of them hissed furiously and tried to move forward again, but it couldn't because it was blocked by the silver mist of Severus' Patronus, which, although not a fully corporeal Patronus, was wide and strong enough to avoid the Dementor.
Olivia finally recovered.
"Expecto Patronum!" she cast as well, and from the tip of her wand also came a silver Patronus mist.
Instantly two more Dementors appeared, hissing furiously.
But other wizards also came out of the room to help with the situation outside and quickly conjured their Patronus.
Severus sensed in the Force a large number of Dementors all over the village, he knew someone was controlling them and he doubted it was the Ministry of Magic.
For now, the situation wasn't too bad as there were several capable teachers and wizards throughout the town who could repel the Dementors, most were now in groups as they drove the evil creatures away and others were helping those who had fainted or who simply couldn't move due to fear or other reasons.
It was then that Severus sensed in the Force a large number of Dementors approaching the alleyway where Lily and her group were.
And he knew that she was now in great danger...
...
As Alice, Lily, Marlene, James, and Sirius rested after the painful beating they had suffered at the hands of the bloody Slytherins, the sound of crackling breaths grew louder and louder in the thick fog.
The five of them had been so exhausted that they hadn't had a chance to bother worrying about the shiver that ran through their bodies as the fog blanketed their surroundings.
But now the sense of danger and cold was something they couldn't help but feel.
Out of pure instinct, Lily turned just in time and shouted with all her strength: "Expecto Patronum!"
And from the tip of her wand emerged, not a uniform silver cloud, but a silver animal, dazzling and blinding.
A beautiful silver doe instantly surrounded the group of 5 and protected them from several black hooded figures hovering above the ground and advancing in their direction, these figures stopped a few feet away and the beautiful doe quickly pulled them back.
These Dementors surrounded them and increased in number.
'Four, seven, ten, eleven, fifteen Dementors!' thought Lily surprised and worried, her skin complexion pale and weak, she had little strength left and in that Patronus, she was using all the strength she still had left.
Lily couldn't believe this, the Dementors should be under the control of the Ministry of Magic, they should be in Azkaban, not here, in Hogsmeade, on a weekend like this.
While the beautiful doe protected the group by keeping the Dementors away...
The cold exuding Dementors gathered and surrounded them as they flew around them without any restraint, moving without a sound as they sucked in all the light and heat from the environment with their breaths leaving Lily and her group completely isolated and helpless.
The fifteen Dementors applied a pressure in the atmosphere that prevented the tired and weak Gryffindors from moving, the five were helplessly on the ground, if it wasn't for the corporeal Patronus that Lily successfully cast earlier, they would be lost by now.
From time to time the Dementors were trying to get past the doe, but they had been unsuccessful in their attempts.
All the Dementors hissed, and to the horror of the group, they saw the Dementors make a united move and some of them were able to get past Lily's silver doe.
Alice, James, Sirius, and Marlene tried to raise their wands to conjure a Patronus, but they could barely move due to the pressure and their already weak bodies.
Finally, all 5 of them were surrounded and Lily's doe couldn't do anything this time, it was all over...
Lily thought to herself that maybe her life was destined to end like this.
She regretted not being strong enough to protect her friends, she regretted falling for the Slytherins' tricks, she regretted putting Marlene and Alice in danger, and the feeling of desperation from the Dementors overcame her.
And this feeling was felt by everyone in the group as the Dementors got closer and closer to them...
A Dementor rose up in front of Lily and opened the hole it had as a mouth...
A tear fell from Lily's eye and suddenly a bright silver light emerged from the dementor's mist, emanating from a beautiful four-legged figure that sang and galloped loudly.
It was similar to Lily's doe but brighter, more imposing, and more alive and the feeling was different...
The five of them slowly lifted their heads with the little strength they had, trembling a little from the effort.
They all fell silent, unable to understand where this Lily-like Patronus was coming from.
It glowed so brightly that it even began to sweep away all the pressure in the air.
The figure surrounded the five of them, chasing away all the Dementors, illuminating the entire alleyway and dispelling all the Dementor fog around the group.
After chasing the Dementors away, the doe turned and galloped over to Lily...
It approached her until it was only inches away, then bent its head to stare at Lily.
Their eyes met and they stared at each other.
"Sev...?" whispered Lily completely shocked and surprised by the presence emitting from this doe similar to her Patronus, she could swear she felt Severus, she doesn't know how to explain it but she knew he was there.
Something told her it was her Sev.
The doe in front of her just looked at her for a few moments until it came even closer to Lily and with its nose gently wiped away the tear that had fallen from her eye.
Lily was stunned silently, unable to comprehend what was happening, all her mind was thinking of was different memories with Severus when she saw this beautiful doe.
The instant the doe wiped away her tear, her figure began to disperse in a silver cloud until finally disappearing completely.
Everyone who saw this was dumbfounded as to what the hell had happened.
But one thing was certain, that doe had saved all five of them.
Suddenly several screams could be heard in the far out distance:
"SIRIUS!"
"JAMES!"
"LILY!"
"ALICE!"
"MARLENE!"
Awakened from their trances they all turned around quickly, still shaking.
There they saw Remus and Peter along with a teacher and the young 7th-year Ravenclaw boy running towards where they were, their faces hard, intense.
Lily was silent, unable to hear what the people who had just arrived began to say to them, she was too lost in thought.
It wasn't until the young Ravenclaw helped her up that she reacted, waking slightly from her trance.
"COME ON, EVANS! YOU MUST GET UP AND GET OUT OF HERE!" the Ravenclaw shouted.
"W-what-?" Lily stammered, but the professor didn't give them time to say anything else, he helped the 5 of them up with his wand lightening their bodies.
" Everyone quietly, don't do anything rash, I will take you to get medical attention immediately, help each other walk and be extremely alert, the surroundings are not safe," the professor said seriously and they all obeyed.
As they walked through the streets of the village they all saw several crowds of people, apparently in different parts of the village along with the students, villagers, and teachers, huddled together in groups.
The teachers, some students, and a few other wizards used their Patronus to protect the crowds.
'BY MERLIN, THERE ARE HUNDREDS, NO... PROBABLY, MAYBE THOUSANDS OF DEMENTORS' they all thought as they looked at the horrifying scene.