Over the first few days of school, students shook themselves out of their holiday stupor and fell back into their routine at Hogwarts. As September waned, and the professors no longer dragged on about the importance of O.W.L.s, the fifth-years found themselves looking forward to out-of-school distractions. Signs went up in common rooms about the first Hogsmeade trip, to be held the last Sunday of the month. By now Lily had come to relish Thursdays: she had some of her favourite classes; she was able to spend time with Severus; and she had little contact with the Gryffindor boys.
She started the morning with Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Verteidigen was the opposite of last year’s professor, Professor Cauda, in every way. Whereas Cauda expected rote knowledge to be absorbed and repeated, Verteidigen expected the students to use their wands and their minds, to apply, and sometimes alter, the theory to fit the circumstances. From Defence, Lily went to a double-block of Potions -- by far her favourite class -- with the Slytherins. The Gryffindors, save herself, didn’t like the Slytherins, but the only class she shared with her oldest and dearest friend was Potions, and she took the opportunity during each Potions class to sit with him. After Potions (and lunch) came Ancient Runes. It was one of the few optional classes on her schedule and thus one of the few periods where she didn’t have to endure the Gryffindor boys. There were three other Gryffindors in Runes and Lily would usually sit with one of them depending on her mood. Lily sometimes sat with Remus in class, sometimes with one of her own dorm mates, and sometimes with Winifred Reed from Ravenclaw. Winifred was a small, shy girl who didn’t have many friends among her own outgoing housemates, and Lily was happy to be with anyone who needed a friend.
Lily had free time after Ancient Runes and usually used that time to work on homework before heading out to Herbology. Today, she found herself a table at the back of the library and pulled out her Rune dictionary and her copy of Spellman’s Syllabary. She opened to the page that Professor Lingua had mentioned in class and started reading for an essay about which runes carried the most significance in ancient magical texts. She was so engrossed in her reading and translating and didn’t hear anyone approach her table until someone bumped into her arm as she was writing. She looked up with a stern frown and saw she was surrounded by Slytherins. She recognized Severus’s friend Mather Mulciber standing over her with Peyton Wilkes and Albin Avery, along with some of the girls in their year, Alina Prothero and Xavia Dawson, standing behind him.
Putting on the politest face she could manage, Lily asked, ‘Can I help you?’
The Slytherins glanced between Mulciber and Lily. ‘I think you can,’ he said snidely. ‘You can leave.’ His friends smirked, but Lily played dumb.
‘I didn’t know you could reserve tables in the library, but if you need this one, I’m happy to study somewhere else,’ she said as sweetly as she could. She even smiled at him. Lily watched the blood rush to his face while his friends glared at her; Xavia and Alina even started hissing at her as though she were something foul.
‘I meant leave the school, Mudblood,’ he sneered. ‘Your kind shouldn’t be allowed to exist, let alone go to school with true wizards and witches.’
Lily took a deep breath and tried not to let the insult affect her. She knew –Mudblood†was one of the most vile things he could call her, worse than any rude Muggle slang she might hear outside of school. But it didn’t work. She felt herself blush which caused the Slytherins to laugh maliciously. Before she could respond, she heard a voice say, ‘Let her be, Mather.’
Mulciber whipped his head around to see Severus standing between the two nearest bookcases. His dark robes mingled with shadows at the back of the library. Lily wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there before intervening. ‘This isn’t your fight, Severus,’ Mucliber said curtly.
‘It shouldn’t be a fight at all,’ Severus said quietly. His voice lacked Mulciber’s fire, and he lacked Mulciber’s charisma. He wouldn’t be able to sway his housemates like Mulciber could. ‘She’s just doing her homework; she isn’t bothering anyone.’
‘That that old duffer let Mudbloods in bothers me, Snape, so whatever this one’s doing,’ he hissed, stabbing his finger in Lily’s direction, ‘bothers me.’
‘Mather,’ Severus said, ‘just let her do her homework.’ Lily knew he wouldn’t beg, not to them, not in front of her, not at all, but she knew how much it upset him that his housemates, his friends, were harassing Lily.
Mulciber took one look at Severus’s face and huffed, disgusted. ‘This isn’t over, Mudblood,’ he said, knocking into Lily again as he left the library.
Severus dropped into a chair across from Lily, and his eyes raked over her face. ‘I’m sorry, Lily. They shouldn’t have said that,’ he told her, genuinely upset.
‘I appreciate you sticking up for me, Sev, but why do you hang out with them at all?’ Lily queried. ‘There are people, in your own house, who are much nicer than Mulciber, Avery, Wilkes, and Rosier.’
‘I live with them, Lily. You’re close with the girls in your dorm, right?’ He watched her nod, still frowning at him. ‘I can’t isolate myself when I have to share my room with them.’ His voice dropped even lower. ‘Besides, they’re not really all that bad. You know how I grew up.’ He caught her eye and she could see the old anger burning there. ‘I’m not going to be that alone, or weak, ever again,’ Severus said. ‘And my dorm mates can help me with that.’
‘How, Sev, by following Voldemort and putting Muggles in their place?’ Lily accused, glaring at him. ‘You’re not weak, and you don’t need them,’ she said. She ran a hand over her face and sighed wearily, placing her hand gently over his on the table. ‘Sev, I’m worried about you.’
Severus looked from their hands into her eyes, and Lily couldn’t bear the sadness she saw there. She knew it tore at him to constantly be torn between her and his Slytherin friends, but she would rather he pick her, once and for all, and try making friends outside of his house.
‘I’m fine, Lily,’ Severus said brusquely. He pulled his hand out from under hers. ‘There’s no reason to worry,’ he told her, but he wouldn’t look her in the eyes.
A few minutes passed while Lily and Severus sat in -- for the first time ever -- a tense and awkward silence. When the bell sounded, Lily with a lot of reluctance and a little relief slipped out onto the grounds for Herbology.
Professor Sprout was a fair teacher who was very dedicated to her subject. Lily liked the class as, generally, plants in the Wizarding world tended to behave like plants with a few exceptions. That stability would be a comfort after her awkward encounter with Severus. However, Herbology was also the class that afforded the Gryffindor boys the most opportunities to wreak havoc. Lily hoped that the Gryffindor boys would keep a low profile today; she didn’t want to deal with them on top of her run-in with the Slytherins.
Unfortunately, the Gryffindor boys started a ruckus when James and Sirius began tossing dragon dung at one another. Soon the entire class was in the middle of a disgusting fight before Sprout put a stop to things and awarded both boys detention for their antics. Lily felt lucky to escape unscathed. She and Mary hung back as Gryffindors and Ravenclaws covered in dung exited greenhouse five. Anyone hit with dung would be cleaning up before dinner, and Marlene, Linda, and Nancy were unfortunate enough to have been caught in the fight. Lily and Mary wanted to give them all a wide berth. When the dung-covered students were all finally gone, Lily and Mary carefully picked their way out of the room.
Coming into the Entrance Hall, Lily spotted the fifth-year Slytherins heading toward the Great Hall. Mulciber stopped short when he saw her, motioning to his friends to follow him to where Lily and Mary stood. Lily noticed Alina and Xavia slip into the Great Hall with the other Slytherin girls, but Mulciber had Wilkes, Avery, and now Evan Rosier at his back. With dismay, Lily saw Severus also slink into the Hall, avoiding the row he knew Mulciber was going to instigate.
‘Well, if it isn’t the Mudblood and a blood traitor,’ Mulciber sneered.
For once, Lily wished she’d been involved in the mess the Gryffindor boys had created in Herbology so that she’d be in her room now instead of here. She also took a moment to hope that some professor would finish dinner quickly and come find them. She knew that wouldn’t happen, so in the most tired, bored voice she could manage, Lily said, ‘Leave us alone, Mulciber.’ She made to step around him, but his friends fanned out, effectively blocking Lily and Mary from truly entering the castle. The door at their backs was open, but there was not room to proceed further into the building.
‘I don’t think we will,’ Mulciber said, gesturing to his friends. ‘I think it’s time you learned that you don’t belong here.’ He pulled his wand out and the others did the same. Lily brought hers out and pointed it at him. She wasn’t sure she could defend herself against them all, but she knew she’d try. She was therefore surprised when only Mulciber stared down his wand at her; his friends trained their wands on Mary. ‘I think we’ll keep this just between friends,’ he said. ‘Now you’re going to walk right out that door and find your own way home. You don’t belong here.’ Mulciber flicked his wand in Mary’s direction. ‘Her we’ll let stay. Pure blood isn’t bad blood, even if this one acts traitorous.’
Lily looked around and took stock of their situation. There was no way she could get around the boys as they had her and Mary boxed in, but she thought a few well-placed non-verbal spells might do the trick. She started with a quick Confundus Charm to Avery and Wilkes who were standing furthest from Mulciber. When she noticed their wands waver, she cast a quiet Expelliarmus at Rosier, but as Rosier’s wand slipped from his hand, Mulciber shouted something Lily didn’t recognize. She threw up a shield charm as quickly as she could, but it wasn’t quite big enough. Whatever Mulciber threw at her hit the shield with yellow sparks, skirted around the far side, and grazed Mary.
Mary let out a wail of pain and fell to the floor. Lily spared her a glance from the corner of her eye and cast a spell Severus had created; she hoped he hadn’t yet shown it to his dorm mates. With a flick of her wrist, Mulciber was hanging upside down by his ankle, but poised to strike again. A shouted Expelliarmus stripped the Slytherins of their wands, and as Wilkes and Avery came out of their confusion, Lily shouted Incarcerous to bind them all as she ran to Mary. By now the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors who’d had to clean themselves up before dinner were starting to drift into the Entrance Hall. Lily heard shouting all around her, but her focus was on Mary. Mary’s eyes were closed and she’d gone very pale, but Lily couldn’t find any marks on her. She felt someone jostle her shoulder and saw the Headmaster beside her with Professor McGonagall on his heels.
‘Very quick thinking, Miss Evans, but I think we need to get Miss MacDonald to the Hospital Wing. Don’t you agree?’ he asked, gently moving her up and away from Mary’s prone body. Professor Dumbledore conjured a stretcher and levitated Mary onto it, then turned to the crowd. ‘Ah, Mr. Lupin, perfect! Would you please accompany Miss MacDonald to the Hospital Wing? Tell Madame Pomfrey I’ll be there shortly.’ He turned from them as Remus directed Mary’s stretcher out of the hall. ‘I think that dinner is still being served,’ Dumbledore said to those now crowding the scene. ‘Go along and eat before it’s gone.’ Though spoken as a kind suggestion, everyone knew that Dumbledore wanted the Hall cleared.
As the crowd thinned, Dumbledore turned to McGonagall and said, ‘Professor, would you mind escorting these gentlemen,’ he waved at the Slytherins Lily bound, ‘to my office and waiting with them for me? Also, please ask Professor Slughorn to join us. As their Head of House, he should be present when I speak to them.’
Lily was aware that someone’s arm was around her shoulder, and she turned to see Marlene with tears in her eyes. As quiet as she could, Marlene asked, ‘What happened to you two?’
They were startled when Professor Dumbledore interjected, ‘That’s something I, too, would like to know.’ He led Lily to an unused bench on the far left side of the Entrance Hall and bid her to sit. Marlene moved to sit down too but glanced quickly at Dumbledore first. He gave a slight nod, and she joined Lily on the bench. Lily wasn’t sure where to begin; she was too worried about Mary. Dumbledore peered at her with his blue eyes and told her, ‘Start wherever you feel it’s necessary, Miss Evans, but I ask that you start soon.’
Lily looked up at him, and he patiently gazed back at her. ‘Well, sir, it started this afternoon. I was in the library and some Slytherins-’
‘You mean Mr. Mulciber and the other boys we found here with you?’ Dumbledore interrupted.
‘Um, not all of them. Evan Rosier wasn’t in the library, but the others were, and Alina Prothero and Xavia Dawson were there too. I was studying when Mather came over and was just generally rude.’
‘I hate to ask this of you, Miss Evans,’ Dumbledore said gently, ‘but I need to know what you mean by that.’
‘He started calling me Mudblood.’ Lily heard Marlene gasp and felt her friend’s hold on her tighten, but there was another muffled cry somewhere near the hallway that led to the kitchens and dungeons that Lily couldn’t place as there was no one there. ‘And he said I didn’t belong here.’ She looked over Dumbledore’s shoulder at something only she could see, remembering the afternoon. ‘Severus got them to go away, but as he left, Mather said he wasn’t finished.’
Lily returned her gaze to Dumbledore’s and could see his troubled thoughts reflected in his eyes. ‘And just now, Miss Evans? What happened?’
Lily took a moment to organize her thoughts. ‘There was a little bit of, er, a, ah, scene in Herbology, sir, that Mary and I managed to avoid. We let everyone leave class before us so they could get cleaned up in time for dinner, so when we came in, no one else was here. We came into the castle as the Slytherins came up from the dungeons, and they all went in to dinner except for the four you found here. Mather started in on how I shouldn’t be here, and he and the others cornered me and Mary in the doorway without a way past him. That’s when he drew his wand. He pointed his at me, so I trained mine on him, but the others focused on Mary. I knew I couldn’t defend against all four, so-‘ Here Lily looked down as her cheeks burned with shame. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t know what else to do, so I Confunded Peyton and Albin and made Evan drop his wand, but Mather saw and sent some hex at me that I didn’t recognize.’ Lily’s breath caught and she choked back tears before ploughing on with her story. ‘I thought I put up my shield in time, but apparently I wasn’t quick enough because whatever Mather did hit Mary. She screamed.’ Lily couldn’t hold the tears at bay any longer, and they rolled silently down her face as she continued. ‘Then I hung Mather, disarmed them all, and bound them, and that’s when everyone came in.’
Marlene rubbed her hand slowly up and down Lily’s back to calm her. ‘Thank you for that, Miss Evans. I’ll be sure to question Mr. Mulciber about what, specifically, he used so that we can better care for Miss MacDonald.’ Dumbledore turned to Marlene and said, ‘Miss McKinnon, would you mind walking with Miss Evans to the Hospital Wing? I think you’d both like to see Miss MacDonald, and Miss Evans, I think you could use a Calming Draught. I’ll send Madame Pomfrey a message, and she’ll have one ready for you.’ He then turned and left the girls where they were, striding off toward his office.
Lily leaned her head on Marlene’s shoulder, but the latter made to stand. ‘C’mon,’ she said. ‘Let’s see Mary and get you to calm down.’ She reached down and pulled on one of Lily’s hands. ‘What happened was awful, but you were wonderful!’ Marlene praised.
Lily let out a watery chuckle. ‘Thanks.’ She sobered and heatedly said, ‘I should have done more.’
‘You did the best you could in a very bad situation, which is better than what I would have done.’
Together they walked the silent castle corridors until they reached the door to the Hospital Wing. They arrived as Remus and his friends were leaving though Lily noticed both James and Sirius seemed red-faced and out of breath. She didn’t think to question it; she didn’t want to deal with them. She pushed her way past the boys to get to Mary. Behind her, she heard Marlene mutter, ‘Thanks, guys,’ before tuning out everything but the pale brunette on a cot under the right-hand windows. She thought of how pleasantly the day had started and shook her head at the thought of the Hogsmeade trip the girls had planned for Saturday. None of that mattered as she picked up the cold, limp hand of her best friend.
The Heart's Translation by noblefate
Chapter Notes: This chapter is lovelier due to my amazing beta Royari.
Standard disclaimer: I'm just playing with JKR's toys.