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The boy grinned as he pulled Lily further into the forest. “Just a little bit more.” He said to the girl behind him. The two of them had been walking in the woods for almost a half hour.
Lily nodded, even though Amos wouldn’t be able to see her from back there. ‘Amos is acting very strangely.’ She thought. ‘What is he up to? He’d better not get us in trouble for being here. I think there’s a reason why this place is called the FORBIDDEN Forest.’
They passed through a few more brambles, until Amos abruptly halted and spun towards Lily, still gripping her arm. “We’re here.” He announced.
Lily looked around her in dismay. The pair was at the entrance to a dark cave. The sunlight barely made its way through the trees, providing a grim and shadowy atmosphere. Bushes rustled ominously all around them, and trees swayed in a wind Lily hadn’t noticed. She shivered and pulled her cloak more firmly around her shoulders. “Are you sure, Amos?”
Amos grinned. “Oh, I’m sure baby.”
Lily’s frown deepened. ‘Baby? What’s gotten into him?’ “Are you okay? You’ve been acting a little strangely lately.”
Roughly, Amos said, “Shut up, Mudblood.” Lily gasped in indignation and shock. He gripped her other arm painfully, and pushed her up against a tree.
“Amos!” Lily cried. “What are you doing?”
Amos didn’t answer except to grin at Lily evilly. Lily increasingly became aware of how much danger she could be in. Amos was clearly not himself, and they were far away from anyone else, should help be needed.
Real fear began to seep into her bones as Amos tried to force her arms above her head. Lily began to struggle, but she was no match for the finely toned Quidditch muscles. He easily held both of her hands above her head. Lily sank against the large tree on her back, trying to get away from the crazed look that haunted Amos’s eyes. The look that haunted his once gray eyes...
Lily gasped as the Amos in front of her started to melt. Unfortunately, his features mainly faded into those of a boy she knew...
“You.” Lily accused.
“You’d better believe it, Mudblood.” Rodolphus Lestrange spat.
“What are you doing here?” Lily exclaimed.
Lestrange smirked. “A good friend of mine let me back into the castle, where I knocked out your pretty little boyfriend. A little Polyjuice Potion goes a long way. It was obviously supposed to last longer, but the bloke who made it must have messed it up somehow.” He scowled at Lily for a moment, as if this was all her fault.
Lily was flabbergasted. “But- why?”
Lestrange’s face darkened even further. “For many reasons, Evans. You’ve proved to be a big inconvenience to us and our cause all through school, as has Potter. And now we have the perfect way to remove that little thorn from our side...”
His fingers worked their way to her throat, tightening their hold. Lily choked as her air supply was cut off, as she gasped for air. She could feel the hopeless tears begin to fall freely from her eyes. She would never see Alice or Alex again. Her tears grew into fearful sobs. She would never again laugh at the pranks of Sirius, Remus, Peter... or Potter... all thanks to the bastard standing in front of her...
A surge of anger flared up inside of Lily, and with it, a burst of strength. She struggled to lift her leg, which had become a whole lot heavier, and kicked Lestrange with all of the force she could muster.
His smirking face contorted into one of pain as he grabbed between his legs. Lily flung herself away from Lestrange, but he had not yet let go of her. Lily’s robes ripped as she came crashing down on the forest floor.
Her throat throbbed, as did her head. Lestrange seemed to have gotten over his pain somewhat, and advanced on Lily, eyes flashing. “Why, you little wench!” He yelled, raising his hand.
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James bolted out of the doors and ran across the sprawling lawn as fast as his legs would let him. He quickly found the trampled down branches and twigs where Lily and Lestrange had probably come through, and he pelted into the trees.
His heart pounded, but not from the exercise. He was afraid... deathly afraid for Lily. He was supposed to be with her at all times, to prevent her from being around the person she was with now. It wasn’t just his conscience bothering him though... he knew he liked, maybe even lived, Lily. It was his entire fault that she could be in danger...
James pushed himself harder, faster. His mind told him that Lily could be with Lestrange willingly, but his guts, and common sense, told him otherwise. Lily could be hurt, or worse...
With an abrupt halt, James stared at the clearing before him for a split second before reacting. Lestrange was towering over a terrified looking Lily, his hand held as if he was about to hit her. A strange anger grew inside James, boiling in his eyes. He ran forwards, dropping the Invisibility Cloak behind him. He burst out of the bushes, and pummeled into Lestrange. The boy that was two years older than him let out a sharp breath of surprise. James didn’t give him time to react, and punched Lestrange as hard as he could, wherever he could. It wasn’t long before he himself was hit in the arm, but that was the first and last time he was scathed. Lestrange soon found himself not able to fight back against pure anger, and shoved James off of himself.
Not willing to get back into a fight he couldn’t win, Lestrange sprinted as fast as he could into the forest, blood pouring from cuts on his face. James made to go after him, but a small choking noise from near the tree made him turn around. Lily was still on the ground, her legs pulled into her chest. Tears were pouring from those emerald eyes James loved so much. Taken over by heart-wrenching concern, James rushed for her.
Kneeling by her side, James softly whispered, “Lily? Are you okay? What did he do to you?”
Lily tried to answer, but only a rasping sound escaped her mouth. Unable to talk, she gestured towards the red finger marks on her throat, starting to bruise. James’s eyes flashed at the swollen shape of her slender neck and her ripped robes.
“That little bastard.” James growled. He slowly helped Lily to her feet. “Can you walk?” he asked her tenderly.
Lily nodded, and took a shaky step forwards. The little step however, threw her off step, and she started to teeter on the ground. In a flash, James was by her side.
He slipped a comforting hand around her waist. Feeling her cold shivers, James draped his warm cloak over her shoulders as well. He picked the Invisibility Cloak up off of the ground and slid the thin material into his back pocket.
Lily cuddled up to James, needing his support to walk.
Quietly, with the silent tears running down Lily’s cheeks, the pair slowly made its way back to the castle.
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By the time Lily and James reached Hogwarts, Lily had stopped crying. With a little hesitation, James opened the door to the castle. Most students had gone to Hogsmeade, but the few left threw strange looks at the girl and boy walking in. Some of the Slytherins smirked and opened their mouths. James shot them a single defiant glare, daring them to say anything. They swallowed nervously and looked away.
When they came upon an empty stretch of corridor, James gently asked Lily, “Do you want to go to the Hospital Wing or the common room?”
Lily mutely raised a finger, and pointed towards the Gryffindor Tower. James nodded at Lily’s decision, and helped her up the winding stairs. Lily seemed to be gaining energy with every step. When they reached the common room, James grimly looked at the girls’ stairs, which would shriek if he stepped foot on them. “Can you get up there by yourself?” He asked.
Lily shook her head sadly.
“Do you want to wait in the common room?” James asked.
Lily violently shook her head at the prospect of everyone coming back from Hogsmeade to see her looking like a mess.
James sucked his breath in. “Well, then there’s one other option, but you’re going to have to trust me.”
Lily nodded slowly. James took a big, nervous breath, and led Lily up to the boys’ dormitories. Lily’s eyes widened as she saw where they were going, but allowed herself to be brought up the stairs.
She automatically wrinkled her nose at the messy state of the room. Lily sat down on one of the unmade beds as James turned around to put something back in his trunk.
As soon as she sat down, Lily noticed how exhausted she was. Without pausing to think, Lily slipped down and into a restful sleep.
“Whenever you’re ready Lily, we can go back down-” James turned to find Lily asleep, coincidently, in his bed. He smiled to himself and tucked her in. He stood back up, and immediately noticed how drained he was. He had enough time to grab a pillow and blanket before he fell asleep on the floor alongside his bed, and Lily.
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Author’s Notes:
So, what did you guys think? Was it good, bad, what? I need feedback people!