Lily

James had walked Lily to the girls' stairs in the Common Room, much later that evening after the two had made a quick stop at the kitchens in order to retrieve a small quick meal.

He had deposited her at the base of the girls' dormitory stairs, his eyes bright and cheeks still flushed.

His expression was still imprinted on the back of her eyelids.

Her brain was spiraling in the worst way possible; he was all she could think about as she showered and prepared for bed.

James Potter being the someone she thought about - in general - hadn't been something she'd consider a possibility up until a few months ago at the start of the term.

Unfortunately, Marlene wasn't asleep yet.

"How did your date - I mean, patrol - end up going today? Any… incidences?"

Lily slumped onto her bed, dismayed at being caught out. She glanced around the room, pleased to find that at least the other girl's bed curtains were pulled closed. "Have I told you how much I bloody hate you lately?"

"Nearly every day," Marlene sang quietly so as not to disturb the other occupants. "Were you able to… relieve some stress?"

"Go to bed, you deviant," Lily hissed, using her wand to charm her bed curtains shut, grateful that the lights were off and Marlene wouldn't have been able to catch sight of her flushed cheeks.

In the morning, it was no better.

She woke flushed and anxious, tying her hair down into a low ponytail to wash her face. She checked over her appearance in the mirror; there were faint marks at her collar bone, and lower still - but James had been mindful enough to keep her neck alone.

Truthfully, it irked her that she wasn't as annoyed as she should have been for him leaving any marks on her - but God, if she couldn't help but recall the touch of his lips on the spot he tended to favour above her breast. His tongue soothing the spot, followed by his gentle fingers.

Lily splashed a second wave of cold water over her face for extra good measure, hoping to calm the heat in her cheeks. Her eyes were bright as they stared back at her.

Thank God it was a Sunday. She wasn't sure if she would be able to face any professors with the images of last night swimming in her peripherals.

Decision made, she'd likely stay in the dorm all day, catching up on homework.

Emmeline and Marlene were the only others left in the dorm.

"Dor left to meet Beatrice," Emmeline explained without looking up from her book as she lounged at the foot of her bed.

"So they must've had a nice time yesterday?" Lily surmised with a smile.

Marlene waggled her brows. "They nearly missed curfew," she said with a smirk. "Seems like she wasn't the only one."

Lily's smile was quickly gone as she narrowed her eyes warningly. "I -"

"Don't want any excuses about Head Duties," Marlene sighed. "If you're not ready to share any sordid secrets, I'll allow it - for now , that is." She pointed at Lily. "Just don't get too deep where we can't help you."

Lily cast her eyes to the side towards Emmeline, who was watching them with a neutral expression. She laughed lightly, though even she could hear the tones of nervousness in the sound. "I'm not hiding anything - I mean, not really ," she said lamely at their twin looks of dubiousness. "Really, you lot, I've -"

"Lily," said urgently from the doorway.

All three girls twisted their heads to look.

"Brigid?" Lily asked.

The 5th Year was panting, pale. "You'd better come straight away. Something… bad appeared."

Lily was immediately all business. "Where?" She grabbed her robe from the edge of her trunk, pulling it on over her lounge clothes. "What was it?"

Brigid winced, shaking her head. "You'd better just come. It's in the Entrance Hall."

Lily was already at the door, prompting Brigid to turn around and follow her down the stairs. "Is someone hurt?"

"No," Brigid said from over her shoulder as they rushed down the stairs. "I was actually just on the way to breakfast to meet Susie. I don't think a lot of people have seen it yet, because it's still pretty early, but…"

Brigid's words were validated by the near-empty Common Room. Only a few other students were up, lounging in front of the fire.

Lily rushed past them without a greeting, nerves slowly rising in her stomach. She knew Brigid was a constant gossip, had learned that the girl's … visual improvements had cemented her as a top-tier social butterfly - but Lily had yet to see the girl like this; serious and somewhat scared.

"Have you reported this to anyone else?" Lily asked as they exited through the portrait hole and began the trek to the main floor.

"You're the first person I thought of," Brigid said sheepishly. Her footsteps turned into skips as they traversed down the moving stairs. "I probably could have gone to McGonagall…"

"It's okay," Lily assured as the girl looked back up at her abashedly. "Is it really that… bad, Brigid?"

Brigid was still pale, she noticed. The younger witch nodded as she swallowed hard, turning her head back around to focus on the rest of the stairs.

Just as Lily expected would occur in the time of their descent, there was already a small crowd settled in the space of the Entrance Hall. She couldn't see what they were staring at - it was just below them, perhaps over the side of the stairwell wall where anyone would see coming out of the Great Hall.

Lily twisted around the last step, pushing through the small group of students. A few of them gasped as she moved past them, tittering with tension, while others - she was nervous to find - simply chuckled or scoffed, making it harder for her to shoulder and elbow past them.

A few rows from the front of the crowd, Lily's stomach churned at the sight that was revealed in front of her.

DEATH TO ALL MUDBLOODS AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM

The sudden sound of her rushing blood deafened her and Lily swallowed the hard lump in her throat, just as she heard another student snort, knocking elbows with his neighbor. "Pirton was just the start. I mean, of the blood traitors."

She glanced over. Avery and Mulciber. She did a cursory search for Snape, but saw him absent.

Mulciber grinned, his smile demented. "Finally getting what's coming to them for helping the m-"

Lily stepped forward, retrieving her wand from her robe's pocket. "Move on!" she called in a stricter tone, unable to keep the anger from her voice. "Return to your Common Room or move on to the Great Hall!"

She heard scoffs of annoyance and turned to glare at the two 7th Year Slytherins. "Now, please," she hissed, the adverb merely used in an obligatory manner.

The smarter of the students had already begun to disperse, but Mulciber and Avery shifted between their feet, eyes narrowed. From behind them, she could see Brigid, now joined by Susie, waiting anxiously at the bottom of the stairs.

Lily jutted her chin towards the Great Hall. "Great Hall or return to the Dungeons."

Avery huffed, crossing his arms. "You think I'm going to take an order from -"

"Your Head Girl," she cut in sharply. "Move - now - before I hand out a detention and report you to Slughorn."

"You'll get what's coming," Mulciber hissed as he grabbed at Avery's arm to pull him along.

For a brief moment, Lily considered her options; adrenaline was already beginning to hum in her veins and she was able to stare them down as they backed away from her.

She could teach them a lesson; rise to the bait and cause a scene, showing them exactly what a Mudblood was capable of. The wood of her wand was warm in her hand, the feel of it reassuring. Her fingers tightened around it.

The possible consequences of her pushing back were too risky, though. Any existence of internal confrontation fled from her, leaving her stomach and throat tight.

Instead, with a bracing breath, she turned their back on them - they weren't stupid enough to fight her with her back turned - and faced back towards the wall and the freshly written words scrawled in what appeared to be black ink from a paint brush.

"Brigid?" she called from over her shoulder.

"Yes, Lily?" replied the girl's timid voice.

"Could you please go get McGonagall? I don't have the password to the Headmaster's tower with me."

"I'll grab her! Susie, please come with me. I don't want to go by myself," Lily could hear the witch plead. Susie must've huffed, but acquiesced to the request.

Lily glanced back over her shoulder, grateful to find the Entrance Hall now empty. Raising her wand, she tried the first strong cleaning spell she could think of; but the ink merely began to bleed.

She tried it a second time, which at least stopped the trickle of ink, but did little to the words themselves. Her next charm was an even stronger charm; one she'd learned in Potions to remove stubborn spills from cauldrons.

Nothing. The ink continued to glint in the morning light, as if it were freshly painted.

She could feel herself slowly start to become incensed, casting a stripping spell, often used to remove the varnish off of gadgets and utensils. This, at least, cut through the top coat of whatever magicked ink they'd used.

She cast it again; and again, and then again - and while her efforts finally began to blur the lines of the words, the threat remained before her, its warning apparent.

DEATH TO ALL MUDBLOODS AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM

Her stomach was beginning to churn, her chest tight as she re-cast the spell a sixth and seventh time, her wand's movements becoming less and less steady. But still, she continued, flinging the charm at the wand over and over until -

"Hey," said a voice from beside her, a hand reaching out to grasp at her forearm.

Lily jumped, looking up to find James watching her with concern.

"Oh," she said hollowly, glancing behind him to find a pale-faced McGonagall.

Lily looked back towards the wall, somewhat ashamed to find that, while the words had begun to lighten, the stone blocks of the wall had also been eroded from her spellwork. "I didn't realize -"

"It's okay," he murmured to her, pulling her away from the wall.

"I'll summon Dumbledore," McGonagall said grimly, raising her own wand to cast a - to Lily's surprise - a Patronus charm; a small, lean cat that disappeared into blue light. "Potter, I believe Professor Flitwick's expertise may be necessary for this," she murmured. "Would you please collect him?"

"Professor, I should -" he began to protest, but McGonagall shook her head.

"I need to speak with Evans," she said with little room for argument. "Lily?"

"It's fine, James," Lily confirmed, stepping away from him to nod at McGonagall. "Flitwick will know how to remove this."

She could feel his eyes on her face, but she refused to look at him, keeping her eyes on McGonagall's own face - her expression forlorn and dismayed. She expected him to protest further, but he surprised her by dropping the hold he had on her arm and leaving them. She couldn't help but raise her eyes towards his back as he headed towards the stairs, catching his eye for only a moment before he disappeared up the stairs.

"How utterly disappointing," McGonagall murmured, eyes tracing the words. "I'm sorry this has happened, Lily."

Lily turned on her heel to look back at the wall, sensing as the professor came to stand beside her. "I'm a bit surprised something like this took this long," she admitted under her breath.

"No other vandalism or circulating propaganda?"

Not that Lily had seen or been privy to - but she wasn't stupid. She knew there were likely flyers or pamphlets out there, spreading the Dark Lord's word. She just hadn't seen any out in public.

"None," she sighed.

She debated with herself for a moment, trying to decide if she should share the small bullying acts that had been committed against her; but what would that do? Create more of a stir? Having a Head of House give a stern talk regarding bullying would likely encourage their efforts.

Her goal was to avoid shining a light on their harassment, giving them the pleasure of attention the opposite of what she'd tasked herself with - even if Dumbledore and McGonagall had asked her - and her alone, at the time - to report any Pureblood Supremacy rhetoric being shared.

Lily's attention was pulled away from the wall as the bustle of students could be heard descending the stairs. Her eyes met McGonagall's, who gave her an assuring nod. The older witch conjured a large dark tapestry to cover the vandalized wall as Lily left her side, coming to stand at the foot of stairs and direct the traffic of students towards the Great Hall.

"Carry on," she said patiently, catching sight of the craning necks and wide-eyes. "Don't let your breakfast get cold," she added with brevity. A few of the students chuckled, the notion of cold food impossible for the House elves to achieve or allow to happen.

It was an issue for Lily, however, as she stared at these student's curious faces as they passed by, to stop the words from flashing across her mind's eye.

DEATH TO ALL MUDBLOODS AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM

To those who support them.

Threats against her , she was used to. She knew she was scarcely accepted due to her blood status - but never before had the biased ideology targeted those who aided Muggleborns.

Lily thought of the attack that had happened just two days prior - of the list of wizards and witches who had perished from the explosion.

"So what's happened?" Marlene's voice asked from in front of her, shaking Lily from her thoughts.

Those who support them.

Lily's eyes skimmed over Marlene's concerned expression, her curious eyes flicking over Lily's shoulders to examine the tapestry McGonagall had summoned. Marlene's hand was on Lily's arm to grab her attention, the touch familiar.

She swallowed hard, conscious of the other students passing close enough to hear. "I'll tell you later," she said lightly. "Just some stupid vandalism."

Marlene's grin turned gleefully excited. "A Marauder type of vandalism?"

Despite the amusement of her friend, Lily couldn't bring herself to muster up more than a weak smile. "No, not them."

Marlene's brow dropped as her grin fell. "Oh. Bad?"

A group of students appeared then, having ascended from the corridor that led from the Dungeons - Slytherins. They were giggling, taking behind their hands as they looked towards Lily, where McGonagall's tapestry was hung against the wall - no doubt already having knowledge of what was behind it.

From behind them, she caught sight of Snape's familiar hair, his blank expression as his eyes met hers.

Lily's stomach turned and she forced herself to look back at Marlene's concerned face, conscious of the group of Slytherins' attention. "I'll tell you later," she repeated. "Grab me a biscuit and some jam? Not sure when I'll get to eat."

Marlene nodded, still frowning. "I'll grab it before I head to the Library with Emmeline. We still meeting there?"

Lily shook her head. "I was probably going to just hang in the dorm after this."

"You sure?"

"Sure," she smiled as convincingly as possible. "I'm waiting for James and Flitwick."

"Alright then," Marlene murmured, backing away. "See you later, then."

Lily watched as her blonde friend approached the door to the Great Hall, the witch ignoring the smaller group of Slytherins who hung back by the doorway, chatting idly as they continued to glance towards the tapestry. Snape must have entered the Great Hall.

She took a step forward and opened her mouth to tell them to move along but was stopped short by another voice.

"Move on!" James called in his Head Boy Voice , stern with no-room-for-challenge. He was descending the stairs with Flitwick, the short wizard behind him by a flight.

"Why, Potter?" one of them called back, annoyed. Wilkes, Lily recognized.

"Crowd control," James replied, unimpressed. "Fire-hazard. Get inside, or else."

She had expected Wilkes to reply, but someone cut in. "Or what, Potter?" Lucinda Talkalot threw back, her tone flirty.

Lily wanted to hex her.

"Head into the Great Hall or somewhere else," James repeated, addressing the group as a whole and ignoring Lucinda.

The group finally relented, shuffling in through the doors as most of them threw dirty, unhappy looks back at the Head Boy and Girl.

"Everything alright?" James asked as he approached her.

She nodded, tongue stuck to the root of her mouth.

Those who support them.

"Hello, Miss Evans," Professor Flitwick greeted. "If you'll excuse me…"

James opened his mouth to speak, but Lily acted as if she didn't see, following closely behind Flitwick as he neared McGonagall.

"Minerva," called the Charms Professor. "Have you had a chance to examine the spellwork?"

"Thought I'd leave that to you, Filius," McGonagall said bracingly, raising her wand to banish the tapestry.

DEATH TO ALL MUDBLOODS AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM

"By the stars," Flitwick murmured, covering his mouth in distress. He glanced over, catching sight of Lily standing just behind him.

Lily remained purposely focused, her eyes trained on the wall.

Flitwick stepped closer, lifting his wand to cast some sort of revealing charm. "Confractus Spoliare? "

"That was me," Lily murmured, a tad sheepish.

The Charms Professor nodded approvingly. "A strong spell; one I likely would have attempted, Miss Evans. Though, seems a tad…"

Lily smiled meekly. "I tried it a few times. It wasn't working."

"No worries, dear," Flitwick reassured. "We will have this fixed in no time. No need to stick around."

McGonagall nodded. "I'll check for Dumbledore in his office. Let me know if you need anything, Filius. Miss Evans, Mister Potter, you are excused."

James caught Lily at her elbow, pulling her towards the stairs. "What happened?"

Lily shrugged, looking over her shoulder to watch Flitwick work. "I don't know; Brigid grabbed me from the dorm. She saw it when she came down for breakfast."

James made a sound of disgust. "What the hell are they thinking? This was a student?"

"I'd assume so."

"We'll catch who did this," he murmured, his tone sure. "Whichever idiot thought this was a smart thing to do."

They wouldn't, probably. Unless the perpetrator had actual ink on their hands. The student would get away with this, pleased with themselves because they were able to get the students talking, rile them up. Lily only hoped that the actual phrasing itself would be forgotten, having gotten it taken care of so soon. But the way the gossip-mill worked…

"Lily?" James's voice asked gently.

"Sorry, what?" she asked, turning to look up at him.

He was watching her closely, studying her expression. "It's just - well, do you want to get breakfast?"

She shook her head, stepping out of reach. "I should probably head back to the dorm - I meant to -" she searched for something to fill in the lie, but couldn't.

"Lily," he said, the sound of it almost disapproving.

"Go," she insisted, ignoring him as if she didn't hear him, already turning on her heel towards the stairs. "Have breakfast with your mates, I'll see you later."

She couldn't decide if she was disappointed or not that he didn't follow.


James

Watching her escape up the stairs left James feeling bereft; at war with himself on whether or not he should chase after her.

His feet felt like they'd been filled with lead though; even though his stomach was screaming at him to go after her.

What if she regretted last night? Was that why she was fleeing from him?

He shook himself, annoyed at his own, internal uneasy thoughts. If she hadn't wanted to do it, she would've stopped him. He knew that.

She would've stopped him from helping her undress; from nearly taking off her knickers and leaving her exposed to his hungry eyes. Fuck , she wouldn't have let him practically have sex with her if she hadn't wanted to; he knew that much about Lily.

"Hem, hem," Flitwick cleared his throat to catch his attention. "Looks like things are all set - for the most part that is, Mr. Potter."

James turned, his eyes straying towards the now-blank wall, the disturbing threat no longer painted across the stone.

Instead, he could see the path of Lily's spells; the line of raw, eroded stone visible against the aged wall.

"Miss Evans has quite the strong arm," Flitwick said wryly as he began the trek up the stairs.

"That she does," James murmured, his stomach unsettled as he studied her spellwork more closely.

The words across the wall were still fresh in his mind: DEATH TO ALL MUDBLOODS AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM

Like hell, he'd let whoever did this get away.

He turned on his heel and headed into the Great Hall, ready to lay plans with Sirius as soon as possible.