We burst back into existence on the grounds just in front of Hogwarts gates.
A wretched, broken scream of pain ripped through the air. "Ahhhh!"
It was Jared, still thrashing against the ropes except blood was flowing fast and thick from his right side. He'd been Splinched.
"Sectis!" I yelled and the ropes were cut through. I ripped open his shirt to find a large cut down his torso. It was like the flesh had been carved by a surgical knife and scooped away.
Jared spasmed, his eyes rolling back in his head.
Then, without warning, he passed out.
"No... Vulnera Sanentur… Vulnera Sanentur…Vulnera Sanentur…" I passed my wand over the gash over and over again. Soon, the blood flow became but a trickle and the skin began to knit over itself.
"Somebody help! He needs healing!" I shouted, but I wasn't shouting at anyone in particular. I just felt so desperate. Even though I'd done what I could to mend him, I knew it wasn't enough. He'd lost too much blood and my Healing skills weren't powerful enough yet.
"It's all right," Aberforth said to me. "I've sent a Patronus to the castle-"
His words were cut short when Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix, came swooping down to us.
"Fawkes!" I whispered. "Help, please."
Fawkes gently laid his head against Jared's side and tears escaped his magical eyes.
The angry red wound stopped bleeding completely and healed to a normal skin color. Jared started to breathe normally, if not a little shallowly, but he seemed to be very much alive. I let out a heavy sigh of relief and pressed my fingers against my eyelids.
Then a goat Patronus, which Aberforth must have sent to the castle while I had been healing Jared, trotted up to us before disappearing.
Soon, Professor McGonagall came running up to the gates. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed and quickly unlocked the gates for us. Fawkes alighted with a soft squawk.
"Is he-?" she said fearfully, staring at Jared but Aberforth quickly shook his head. Professor McGonagall nodded. "Conjuris tabulus!" she waved her wand in a complicated figure and suddenly, a stretcher appeared before our very eyes. Another wave of the wand and Jared was magically lifted onto the stretcher.
I grabbed Professor McGonagall. "Professor, where is Dumbledore? I have to let him know-!"
"Calm yourself, Raylynx. The Headmaster knows. He is here, at Hogwarts. He arrived less than a minute ago and he's waiting for you at the Hospital Wing."
Sirius' POV
The Hospital Wing had never been so packed.
Marlene, Lily, Peter, and Emmeline had not woken yet; they were in hospital beds, bandaged but still unconscious.
Madam Pomfrey was tending to some terrible burns Hestia Jones had on her ankles and back of her legs and Professor Sprout was dabbing some thick purple paste onto Gideon Prewitt's shoulder.
James, Alice, and Frank were sitting beside Lily's bed. James was holding Lily's hand gently. Alice was silent as she sat beside Frank. His hand was on her knee, meant to calm and soothe her, but Alice's tears were falling steadily down her face.
James said that she had been in a right state ever since they had Apparated in front of Hogwarts to discover that Bellatrix's Killing Curse had managed to hit Julian Sorentis. He was in a separate bed, a row away, his eyes peacefully closed and his hands on his chest, holding his wand. Surrounding his bed, sobbing silently, were his parents and his sister, Lorraine.
Remus sat by the window, his arm in a sling. He was morosely looking out the window as the weak sunlight fell on his face. I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that all of this was, in some nonsensical way, his fault. I could guess the justifications playing out in his head: The Shrieking Shack had been built for him and the Death Eaters had used it successfully. But really, I thought it was bloody lucky that he knew about the Shrieking Shack. In fact, it had been Remus who had led us to the Shrieking Shack. It had gone like this: the Task had long since started and we were all still searching for Lily. We had just about scoured the entire castle and I was trying to persuade the ghosts to join our hunt when Marlene's friends from Letra Damien came running up to us, out of breath and frantic. They were shouting in French at rapid speed and it took a while to calm them down. When we could understand them, the story went something like this: They had just heard Karkaroff saying to some Hogwarts Slytherins that he'd done it- that he'd succeeded in cursing Jared. He had been so proud of himself that one of the Hogwarts Slytherins had reprimanded him, reminding him to stay focused because the job was not finished until the Hogwarts Mudblood had been reduced to a corpse and thrown out in the middle of Hogsmeade for all Mudbloods to see.
We'd all started sprinting and as soon as we were out of the grounds, we'd Apparated to Hogsmeade.
From there, we didn't have a clue of where to go. Someone suggested the old mountain caves beyond the village and we were halfway down the village lane when suddenly, Remus stopped dead.
"What is it?" I said, turning towards him.
Remus blinked. "Nothing…"
"Well, come on!" I said, and started running full-speed again.
But Remus hesitated once more. "Sirius, wait."
Then his eyes widened and he started to walk the other way, then jog…
"Moony?" I called after him, and the others stopped to turn back and look at what we were doing.
Remus started sprinting full sprint exactly the way we'd come from.
"Remus!" Dorcas called, and we all ran after him, all the way to the Whomping Willow. It was quite a sprint. We were all breathing and sweating hard.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" A branch was lifted and touched the knob.
We slid down into the passageway, one after the other, and ran to the Shrieking Shack. Once we'd entered the fight, there was no time for questions. But I still wondered about Remus: How had he known?
Fabian Gideon was conversing in rapid whispers with Professor Dumbledore, who stood tall and frightening. He was absolutely furious. He'd gone to the Ministry of Magic expecting the Death Eaters to attempt to infiltrate and overthrow the government; instead, they'd come to Hogwarts. Standing with Professor Dumbledore were two other men, the Auror Alastor Moody and another Ministry of Magic worker named Arthur Weasley. I knew he was distantly related to me, but as the Weasleys had long since been denounced as the biggest group of blood traitors possibly, I'd never met him growing up.
Unconsciously, my fingers had found themselves in a fist again. I couldn't stand this tension. When was Marlene going to wake up?
I was sitting beside Marlene's bed, across from Dorcas, and I looked at her weary, sleeping face. It was the most vulnerable I'd ever seen Marlene. I gently reached out and took her hand. Marlene, please, be all right, be all right.
The minutes passed.
My other hand had curled up in a fist again.
Damn it!
Where is Raylynx?
She'd shouted at us to go, and we had. Upon arriving on the grounds, the entire audience began to shift towards us and somebody screamed when they saw Julian. The Heads of House rushed in and it was mayhem. But throughout the chaos, I couldn't help but think of the others every second.
Just as I thought this for the thousandth time, the hospital dorm burst open and McGongall came rushing in. Madam Pomfrey hurried to her and they both brought in a stretcher, carrying Jared, the Letra Damien Champion. He looked utterly broken- for a moment, I thought he was dead. But then Madam Pomfrey began to clean his wound and he stirred, moaning softly in pain.
Then, Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, who was vaguely familiar… probably due to his resemblance with the Headmaster, strode in. Upon his entrance, Dumbledore broke from the group he had been standing with to cross the Hospital Wing and speak with his brother. Aberforth regarded him almost coldly, barely moving his lips in response to Dumbledore's questions.
"You did well with Jared's wound, Raylynx. You saved his life." Madam Pomfrey gently laid a hand on Raylynx's shoulders. I hadn't seen her come in. She must have been behind Aberforth. Or had she? I didn't remember. She was so easy to overlook.
But I looked at her now. The bottom of her cloak was burnt and her shirt ripped at the collar. Her shoulder was burnt; the clothing there burned away and her wrists and hands were disturbingly bloody. Two different sets of handprints were bruising on her neck and her face was covered with small cuts.
But she didn't seem to be in pain. She didn't seem to feel anything. She was staring hollowly over at the congregation around Julian's bed. She looked so empty. I felt that if Moony was to crack open the window and let in a little breeze right now, she'd be blown away and disappear entirely.
Alice saw her and broke away from the others to dash up to her and hug her tightly. As soon as Alice's arms were around Raylynx, Alice began to sob uncontrollably. Her entire body shook as she buried her head into Raylynx's neck. Her tears dripped down the handprint bruises and splashed onto her torn shirt. Raylynx gently wrapped her arms around Alice and soothingly shushed her. She herself did not cry. Tired as she looked, she stood tall for Alice. But she hardly looked like herself anymore. She looked as though she had gone through a whole century alone, in the short time of the Third Task. She gently reached out and wiped away Alice's tears.
I dropped my eyes away from them.
Raylynx's POV
When Alice had finally calmed herself, we walked over together to the row of beds where Emmeline, Peter, Lily, and Marlene were recovering.
Immediately, James and Dorcas rose and came to me.
Without any words, James grasped me tightly in an embrace and Dorcas led me over to her chair to sit down. I sat down blankly before I realized I was sitting besides Marlene and across from...
But he wasn't looking at me. I felt a sense of relief. Here, in this chaotic and nonsensical mess of things that were happening faster than my mind could process, was one thing that made sense: Sirius Black was ignoring me.
In that fact, there was some measure of comfort, something I could recognize.
Everything else was complete and utter chaos.
For example, Julian wasn't- Julian couldn't be…
And Professor Maudrick... I had to tell Dumbledore about Maudrick- How he had rescued me and died rescuing me. I blinked, hard.
"They're all going to make it," Poppy comforted me as I reached out and held Marlene's hand.
They can't. They can't all make it.
Julian is gone.
Professor Maudrick is gone.
My mother is gone.
My father is gone.
Riley's family is gone.
Countless others, too, are gone.
This is war.
And it's not possible that all of us can make it.
Despite myself, my eyes flickered up to Sirius. Old habit. Bad habit, I chided myself. Only this time, his eyes slowly found mine too.
We were both holding Marlene's hands and in the instance his eyes held mine, I had never been so aware of being connected to him, being connected to Marlene, and being connected to my own heart, still pounding furiously, still going strong…
I am alive, my eyes were saying.
And his responded firmly to mine, I know.
I turned away, looking down at nothing.
But I was still looking.
I was still alive.
Sirius' POV
The following couple of weeks were a messy affair.
The Ministry of Magic turned to Dumbledore for explanation and help, but (not surprisingly) what they learned from Dumbledore and his suggestions for action pitted them against their greatest financial supporters.
I wryly recalled my grandfather receiving an Order of Merlin, First Class award for donating a huge sum of money to the Ministry some years back.
Yes, these insane pure-bloods had played their cards well. The Ministry's hands were tied. Instead of rounding up the prisoners, they were the ones who found themselves bound. Name the Blacks criminals? Name the Malfoys as Dark Arts maniacs? Everybody already knew, of course, but to declare it officially was to declare war. And it was so obvious that we were in no position to win.
Parents were taking no chances. They came in flocks to take their children away from Hogwarts, as if their homes were any safer. I was almost thankful for my parents' blatant disregard for me when they pulled Regulus out of school, but not me.
Though there was a night, after I thought he'd left, that I thought I heard the tune of his music box in the corridor not far from the Gryffindor common room… But when I went nobody was there. I must have imagined it.
That music box…
I always sensed Regulus' unhappiness with being the younger brother, especially with being my younger brother.
I didn't know what to do about it. Most times we got along fine, thick as thieves, but as soon as it involved more than just the two of us, as soon as it involved the rest of my family…
I'd tried to do what I could. Merlin knows I didn't ask to be the oldest son of this lunatic family. So when my cow of a Mother gave me the traditional Black music box with a sharp frown of disdain and disapproval, I was quick to pass it down to Regulus.
I'd wondered what he'd done with it after I gave it to him. He'd never brought it out in front of me, but every time I happened to glance upon it at home, it was clean to the point of shining- obviously some meticulous care had taken place there. I often suspected it was Kreacher, that foul house elf, but other times I found myself imagining, well, hoping, really, that Regulus actually cared about it not because of its blood purity, but because I had given it to him to say the words I didn't know how to put into words: Our bond isn't like the rest of the family. Our bond is beyond pride. We are brothers.
"Padfoot."
I looked up to see James.
"Padfoot, we've got to get down. The funeral's about to start."
I got up numbly, unable to look James in the face.
Why was it so easy to treat James like my brother and so hard to maintain that connection with my real, blood brother?
We had only been two little boys, playing in the afternoon sunlight, sometimes with Andromeda, even Narcissa. Had that really been so long ago? To me, it seemed like only seconds ago that he was my little brother, doing everything I told him to do without question, and now, he was so far out of my grasp I couldn't even protect him if I tried.
James and I were shortly joined by Remus and Peter and the four of us joined the procession that was starting in the Great Hall.
We sat together on a bench and numbly listened to the speech being made about Julian.
I wasn't paying attention.
Never been one to pay attention to what everybody else was.
It was a bad habit of mine. A habit picked up from living with a lunatic family whose every word was filled with disgusting hypocrisy and prejudice. I tuned things out and instead chose to look at the place least likely to draw attention from anybody else- that way, even if it wasn't much, at least it wasn't corrupt, at least it was an open space for me to breathe, at least it was mine.
And now, as predictable habit, my eyes were involuntarily drawn to the place nobody ever looked at: at a girl sitting besides a window, where the strong golden afternoon sunlight pierced through and lay on her hands.
Her eyes were looking not towards the procession, but outside, out towards the grounds of Hogwarts, and I knew without knowing how I knew- out towards the tree besides the Great Lake.
What was she hearing? I wondered. Maybe the voices of the dead. She doesn't need this man up hear giving a eulogy to know what death sounds like.
The procession ended and I saw her slip away, out of the Great Hall.
I turned away instinctively, but something caught at me.
"Pads?"
James was looking straight at me. "Padfoot, what's up?"
His steady gaze shook me.
What am I doing here, with a crowd of Gryffindors, of good people, of those who, on the whole, are untainted by misery and corruption?
I don't belong here. There's nothing that can be mine here.
The things that I can do are so limited. I cannot escape from the madness that devours those in our family. Try as I might, I am already too far gone. I've been too far gone from the very beginning, ever since I was born. It's in my blood. It's my destiny.
Prongs isn't like that. Wormtail isn't like that. Even Moony isn't like that… It's just me. I can't be saved.
Raylynx's POV
I was halfway up the tree, dangling precariously at the edge of the branch, hanging about ten feet above the water's surface when I heard a voice somewhere below me.
"You probably shouldn't be doing that."
"Why not?" I replied.
"You're injured, aren't you?"
"A little," I said carelessly, learning over the water's edge to peer at my own reflection.
"Hey! I mean it, be careful," Sirius warned. I could see his face plainly now, peering up at me between the branches. The dappled sunlight laid itself gently over him and the light wind played with his hair.
How ironic was it that the entire course of history was changing and he still looked just as handsome as ever.
"Come down," Sirius said commandingly. "Here, I'll give you a hand."
I barely heard his words.
What were their last thoughts? Did they even have time to gather up one last metaphorical, profound statement before the last wisp of their being passed away into nothingness? Or was it only the most animalistic pain and panic?
"Fine. Fine! Ignore me, why don't you?" Sirius grumbled. "Don't know why I thought you'd listen to reason…"
He turned and started to walk away and there I was, just staring into the water's edge.
Then, without warning, my hands slipped and I slipped off the branch and dropped straight into the water.
The first thing I felt was the cold, the utter lack of warmth, of breathe, of thought.
Pure sensation, pure freezing.
And then, after some time had passed, the purity became a kind-of passage.
Dimly aware of the bubbles escaping my lips, I opened my eyes.
As I was underwater, my vision was blurred but I could tell from the dim, oscillating ray of light filtering down to me that I must be very deep down in the lake, very deep down indeed.
How deep do I have to go before I meet Julian again? How much deeper to meet Professor Maudrick, then my parents?
Two hands gripped my waist like a vice and jerked upwards- I burst back into sound and color. I heard the gasping of breath, both mine and another's. I felt the warmth of the sun spread on my skin and the slightest breeze on my face.
"What were you thinking!?"
I opened my eyes to see bright, bright light, and then- a very pissed off face.
"That was a bloody stupid thing to do!" he shouted at me as he grabbed my arm and began to pull us both back to shore.
I gulped water as he splashed himself out, but I managed to reply, "I didn't ask for you to save me."
He turned towards me fiercely and opened his mouth, but no words came out. A moment later, he shook his head angrily and began to stride away.
"Is it because most people say thank you?" I asked, rising to stand waist-high in the water.
He didn't turn, though, until I added, "But we aren't most people."
Then his unfathomable grey eyes found mine, searching for the meaning behind my words.
Finally, he murmured, "Get out of the water. You're going to get sick."
Regulus' POV
Most of the Slytherin parents had used the excuse of 'safety' to pull their children out of Hogwarts. Of course, there wasn't any place that was dangerous for us right now. We were reigning. The TriWizard Cup had shaken the long-established hierarchy of the Ministry and of Albus Dumbledore. And the Ministry was utterly helpless, hands tied as it stuttered over its own history of corruption.
"Heh, didn't know it was this easy to topple a Ministry," Rosier snickered. "If I'd have known, I'd have done it myself. Don't even need the Dark Lord-"
"Watch what you say," Malfoy cut him off, his silky voice dangerously threatening. "It was all made possible only by the Dark Lord's calculations. Do not question his intelligence."
A group of us were sitting around the table in Malfoy manor, surrounded by fancy silver plates and goblets heaped with extravagant food, half of which would go to waste. I grimaced slightly.
"Is it not to your taste, sir?"
No, it's not to my taste. The whole lifestyle... I want to vomit it up, all of it. I want to starve myself from this life. Can't I start over again?
Before I could stop myself, I thought of Sirius and of Raylynx. My heart thumped. I imagined, for the billionth time, what my life might have been like if I had been in Gryffindor. But then Yaxley coughed and I remembered that if I had gone down that path, the people sitting around this table, dining with me, would have slaughtered us all. Especially my cousin Bellatrix. I watched her as she made a sneering insult about Dumbledore to Avery. Besides her, Narcissa poured Malfoy more wine. My grasp on my goblet tightened, but I managed to keep my voice calm as I replied, "It's fine, Dobby." Under Malfoy's stare, I replaced the follow-up of "thanks" with "Don't bother me unless I call for you, elf." Dobby slunk away as though I'd hit him. Guilt seeped through me as I thought of my own house elf, Kreacher.
I thought about what I had just said and how the harsh words had fallen too easily from my lips. They didn't sound forced anymore. I was becoming the lie I so desperately hated. I was trapped in my own hideous, creepy mask. It's only a matter of time before I go mad... I smiled wryly. Yes, all Blacks go mad. It's not fair to blame just dear Bellatrix, is it? As much as I despise her, I'm not so far behind myself. But maybe it'll be easier to live with myself once I lose my mind. In losing the chance for redemption, savages lose their conscious morality, too. Isn't that a sort-of salvation, too?
Sirius' POV
We aren't most people.
I'm a Black. I'll never be the same as others. Even amongst purebloods we Blacks are known for the madness that eats away at our sanity. The only person I shared it with before was Regulus, but he wasn't by my side anymore. Even though I'd never intended to, I was guilty of throwing him away. I remembered Raylynx's accusation to me: You left him behind. I swallowed hard. She could not have known what that meant to me.
And even now, when she had said to me so stoutly: We aren't most people, she could not have guessed that my fears about being different had consumed me for the past seventeen years. But I knew now, even though I couldn't bear to admit it, that it was time for me to turn my back on Regulus and find new ways of being with people. I could no longer focus on my madness. I had to use new things to define myself. Like this war.
It was a group of us gathered in Dumbledore's office.
He looked as solemn as I had ever seen him, his eyes closed and his forehead resting against his fingertips. When he opened his eyes, the normally bright twinkle was completely gone, dimmed away.
Silence settled in, but none of us dared to look at each other.
By us, I meant myself, James, Remus, Peter, Marlene, Dorcas, Lily, Raylynx, Alice, Jay Salinger, William Darcy, Andromeda, and Professor McGonagall.
Finally, Dumbledore opened his eyes and looked upon us all. He began to speak, quite slowly and quietly, "It is with great despair that I say this. But given the present circumstances, I think it is no longer possible to hide the state of affairs. Even within these walls, I am aware that clashes occurred and injuries sustained."
His eyes flickered to Raylynx and I, too, recalled that night when in handing Moony chocolates, I had recognized her ashen face and realized she had been tortured. Even before that, years ago, that night in front of the kitchens… And then the fiasco that was the TriWizard Tournament...
Dumbledore continued, "I am afraid that I must ask you to consider your graduation as a pathway to continue the battle in a far more overt and dangerous fashion. The Dark Lord is on the move. Tragedies, such as the one that has taken place here at Hogwarts, will occur all over the world, and they will only grow in degrees of cruelty and violence unless there are those brave enough to fight against Lord Voldemort. It is unfair that this burden should fall upon your lives, but that is what we face. You all face the choice between what is right and what is easy. I ask that you join the Order of the Phoenix, the secret organization devoted to bringing down Lord Voldemort. You will risk your lives over and over again. I have no right to ask you to join, but here I am, asking you."
It was like someone had lit a fire inside my head. This is it. This is where I belong. My place is in a war, against those that have made my life hell so far.
"I'm in," I said firmly, and the fire in my heart was such that I could taste the smoke at the back of my throat.
There was silence.
"Count me in, Headmaster," I repeated fiercely. "I'm ready."
Andromeda's dissenting voice arose from the back of the room. She sounded almost hurt. "Sirius, this isn't mere words anymore. This is your family you're talking about killing! I know they're wrong, but how…? Why are you so eager to kill? Are you that desperate to prove whose side you're on? They're family!"
"Family," I replied quietly, staring straight into her eyes. "Family, huh? I disowned them before they disowned me. They're not my family. These friends gathered here…" I glanced at James, Remus, and Peter. "This is my family. And you're right- I cannot step aside and let my family be harmed."
Andromeda's eyebrows furrowed and she looked as though she were about to cry. But she turned away from me and to Dumbledore.
"I can offer my home to you and I can offer you my healing skills," Andromeda said to Dumbledore, "but I cannot give you my wand. I cannot slaughter my own family, though they have disowned me."
Dumbledore inclined his head towards her. "I respect your decision, Andromeda. I thank you."
Andromeda shot me one last broken, angry look before she walked out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her.
Something in my heart hurt, but I was determined to declare my allegiance so that no one could ever doubt where my loyalties lay.
"I'm ready," I repeated again, loudly. "I'm ready."
Am I talking to Dumbledore or to myself?
Dumbledore frowned slightly at me but he inclined his head again and responded, "Very well, thank you. You are a member of the Order of the Phoenix."
"I'm with you," James said, stepping forward to clasp his hand firmly on my shoulder. "Count me in."
Remus came forth to my other side and nodded his head, "For the cause and also to repay you, Headmaster, for your kindness."
Dumbledore's gaze softened as he regarded James and Remus.
Peter coughed and mumbled for a little bit before he squeaked out, "Yes. Yes, of course. Me too. Yeah."
Raylynx's POV
Strangely, none of us girls looked at Dumbledore.
Instead, we looked at each other.
Marlene, Lily, Dorcas, Alice, and I all looked into each other's eyes. And there we found the same thing. There were no thoughts of glory or heroism, instead there was only a foresight of what terrible loss might come. Even in winning, we were choosing to slaughter our innocence. And yet, yet where else would we rather be?
This was our place in the war and Dumbledore was offering it to us. It was the natural course of events, and in that naturalness, there was paradoxically, a place of peace.
"Yes." Marlene spoke first and she stepped forth to align herself with Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter.
"I will join," Dorcas nodded, her face grim, but determined.
"As will I," Alice said, taking Dorcas' hand.
This whole time, Lily and I stared at each other.
In both our eyes, we saw the desperation and fear we felt for our family and for our friends, even those who had already joined the ranks of the Death Eaters, and most of all, we saw that we were both Muggle-borns, and that the stakes were high here: We had everything to gain, but also everything to lose.
We were trying to overcome our own disbelief of the situation, unable to take in how our lives had led us to this point.
I shook my head slightly. No, Lily, we have to accept it. Only then… only then can we make a change, for better or for worse.
Without looking away from her, I spoke aloud, "Yes. I'm joining."
Lily's eyes filled with tears and she spoke softly as she finally said, "Yes. Me too."
James' POV
She was sitting alone, her head turned towards the setting sun.
I didn't dare sit next to her, only called her name softly, "Lily."
She didn't move.
So she was crying, then.
I slowly settled down next to her and took her hand.
She still didn't turn towards me, but I could feel her fingers trembling in mine.
"Lily, won't you talk to me?"
She was still for a second, but then, with her head still turned away from me, she shook her head.
"I don't want to make you angry," she said quietly, and I could hear the tears in her voice.
"I won't be," I promised immediately, but she didn't respond.
I hesitated, unsure if what I was about to say would make her even more upset, but I felt that it was a risk I had to take. "Lily, is this about Severus?"
Lily stiffened.
"I'm not mad," I murmured to her. "I'm really not. It's only natural. He was your friend."
Lily turned to me then. The deep orange light from the sun fell on her face and I could tell that her face streaked with tears.
"But it's not worth your life, Lily. Don't ever prioritize him over yourself, you hear? Or elseI really might hate him," I finished seriously.
Lily tried to smile at me, but the next minute she'd burst into tears anew, only this time she buried her face in my neck and wrapped her arms around me.
I gently kissed the top of her head and wrapped my arms around her.
"I'm here for you," I whispered to her and as I looked out into the setting sun, with shadows settling all over the landscape of Hogwarts, I made that a promise.
I'm going to protect you, Lily Evans.
I love you, Lily. And I'll make sure you know until the day death parts us.
