Dear Lily
Lily had been tossing and turning in her bed the whole night. She couldn’t sleep a wink, because of the guilt gnawing at her consciousness.
Before she had left the Marauders alone, she was able to catch onto bits and pieces of information about their plans that revolved around Severus.
All she had managed to put together was “the Forbidden Forest” and “past curfew.” The information was vague, which was not anything particularly useful.
She couldn’t do anything if she barely knew anything.
Lily sat up in her bed. What was she thinking? Of course she could do something to help Severus if she really wanted to.
The question Lily asked herself was did she truly want to help the boy? Again, he betrayed her by calling her a Mudblood in front of a large crowd, when she was trying to help him. He was also a lost cause, since he had started to drift onto a darker path.
But he had been her best friend at some point. He was the one who brought her into the realm of magic. He was the shoulder she cried on whenever kids picked on her for her fiery red hair. He was the one who grew out his dark hair so she could play with it.
Oh Merlin, Lily was an idiot. She couldn’t believe she had conceded into James’ plea to help conspire another Severus prank. It seemed as if this time around it was a fairly dangerous one as well. She had practically encouraged it by giving in.
Lily plopped back down on her bed. She bit her nail nervously, thinking about what to do.
Truthfully, deep down she didn’t want to help Severus or even deal with him at all. All she had ever done was help him, and in return he had called her a Mudblood. She needed a bit of distance between them for now, and hoped for James to give him a wakeup call.
On the other side of the page, though she didn’t want to help him, the guilt gnawing at her was killing her. She had gotten involved, prompting Severus' demise.
Lily needed to be the one to fix her immature mistakes, which meant her final decision was to help Severus.
She hopped out of bed, careful to not wake anyone as she quietly snuck outside the Gryffindor dorms. She scribbled down a note on her bed, leaving it in case anyone noticed she was gone, so they wouldn’t panic.
Lily strolled down the empty corridors, admiring each animated painting on the walls. She was not afraid if she was caught by Filch, since she was heading to Dumbledore’s office for help. She couldn’t get any form of punishment for breaking the curfew.
Lily didn’t know how much time had passed until she finally made her way to the Headmaster Tower. She blushed guiltily, realizing she had stalled a bit of time.
But it was fine, Severus was strong. He could hold out a bit longer, since James did say he wouldn’t go too far. He would be fine.
When she finally made it outside Dumbledore’s office, she gasped in admiration. She stared in awe at the large doors, admiring its ornaments and designs.
Taking a deep breath and gathering her courage, she knocked three times on the door.
“....”
She awkwardly stood there for a moment, waiting for the doors to open with her fingers fiddling. Would it even open? Was he even awake? Maybe she should knock again. Or maybe she should return to her dorms.
She was lost in her thoughts before she jumped back as the doors opened with a loud creak. Surprised, she looked up to see Dumbledore towering above her, who seemed very surprised to see her as he gave her a questioning gaze.
“Miss Evans, what brings you here so late at night?” Dumbledore asked gently as he gestured for her to enter.
“It’s um, uh, something to do with Severus,” she stumbled across her words as she timidly entered the room.
Lily stepped into the grand room and her mouth opened in awe. It was like an oxymoron, very chaotic but elegant at the same time. The room could only be described with one word; unique. It perfectly suited Dumbledore’s quirky personality.
As she looked around, she noticed Dumbledore hadn’t been alone. Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn were seated in the room, their gazes curious to see her.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to interrupt,” she immediately apologized with a bow to the two professors. “There’s something urgent I need to tell Dumbledore, I’m sorry to intrude.”
That prompted a laugh from Slughorn. “Don’t worry about it Miss Evans, we were just talking about something trivial.”
Dumbledore had made his way back to his desk, pouring himself a cup of steaming tea. “That trivial thing happened to be what Miss Evans came to me about,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Slughorn and McGonagall both raised an eyebrow. “You came here about Severus?” McGonagall asked.
Lily was caught off guard. “Yes, I am.” She was a bit curious about why there were two professors discussing Severus in Dumbledore’s office, so she added, “Did something happen to him?”
Slughorn scoffed. “Just a few unpleasant rumours going around. Nothing concerning.”
“Professor Slughorn,” McGonagall shot a sharp glare at him.
Dumbledore just sighed as he lowered his teacup. “It should be none of your concern. You have more important matters to care about, such as what exactly you want to talk about Severus that you must come so late at night?”
Lily was nervous, and couldn’t get the words out of her throat. She looked back at Dumbledore, and was calmed as she saw his gentle eyes.
Lily took a deep breath before letting it out. “I think James and his friends are going to prank Severus somewhere near the Forbidden Forest.”
“Prank? That’s hardly a problem.”
McGonagall shot another glare at Slughorn. “Ignore him, just continue,” she kindly urged the girl.
Slughorn just responded with a forced smile.
“Well, I don’t know much. All I know is that past curfew they’re going to meet Severus for a prank.”
”Why is that so concerning? It’s just a prank.”
”Professor Slughorn, just zip it,” the woman growled. “You’re not helping.”
Dumbledore tapped his fingers on his teacup, signaling them to stop. McGonagall instead shot a look of fury at Slughorn, while the Slytherin pretended he didn’t see it.
Satisfied, Dumbledore focused his attention back to Lily. “And how exactly do you know this?” He asked her.
Lily dropped her head in shame as she focused on her twiddling fingers. “Potter wanted me to deliver a letter to Severus for a prank, so I did because I was still a little mad at him. I then overheard them talking about the Forbidden Forest and past curfew, so I think that’s part of their plan to prank Severus.”
Lily realized how wrong it sounded, and her consciousness was being beat up hard.
The red haired girl looked up, her eyes brimming with tears after realizing her mistake. “I’m sorry, I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have given Severus the letter, and I should’ve reported it earlier.”
Lily stood there with her eyes watering, her hands clenched into a fist at her sides, expecting to be scolded by the three.
Instead, she was surprised with a warm hug.“Don’t cry, Miss Evans. The important thing is that you did the right thing in the end.” Dumbledore’s gentle voice said.
She looked over to McGonagall who gave her a disappointed expression, but she didn’t seem angry.
McGonagall sighed. “He’s right, don’t focus on what you could’ve done, but what you can do right now. It’s okay, Lily,” she reassured the girl.
“It’s commendable that you are standing up for Severus after everything. I’m very proud of you,” Slughorn added.
Lily’s eyes widened. She had expected to be reprimanded a bit, but instead she got praise instead. Her welled up tears had disappeared, and her guilt had been alleviated, giving her a sense of relief.
“So you said the Forbidden Forest, but do you know exactly where?” Dumbledore asked the girl after handing her a tissue.
“I’m afraid not.”
Dumbledore hummed. “It’ll be difficult to find them then.” His twinkling eyes looked at the phoenix cage thoughtfully. “But it wouldn’t be impossible.”
“So we can find them?” Lily asked hopefully.
“Yes. We’ll just have to split up and look everywhere for them!”
An expression of confusion flashed across Slughorn’ face. “We?”
“Yes, everyone in my office right now will split up and look for those five mischievous kids.”
Slughorn seemed incredibly grim, opposite to McGonagall who seemed eager to help.
“Of course!” McGonagall said as she stood up and prepped her wand.
“If you say so…” Slughorn grudgingly grumbled.
Dumbledore gave a bright smile and pushed his office doors opened. “Let us go then. And Lily, you come with me.”
⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒
Lily and Dumbledore had been searching for a long time, with no avail. The shivering cold and the darkness gave her the shivers. But at least with Dumbledore by her side, she wasn’t so scared.
Suddenly, further into the horizon were flashes of lights. Dumbledore and Lily looked at each other as they both noticed the lights, and gave each other a nod.
They speedily approached the little lights until they became bigger, with the sounds of screaming and shouting carried in the wind. Lily began to panic as she noticed the growing intensity of the shouting and flashing lights. Dumbledore noticed it as well and grimaced.
The old man suddenly stopped Lily, and outstretched his hand to the fiery girl. “We cannot let this continue. I’ll apparate us to the scene immediately.”
Lily grabbed the hand without hesitation, before she was swiftly sucked into a whirlwind.
Suddenly, she found herself in a completely different setting, with her head spinning as she tried to process what had just happened.
Apparation felt horrible.
Lily had no luxury time to think about how she felt about the teleportation, and quickly got herself together.
She took a few steps ahead, and that was when she could feel some kind of squishy liquid underneath her. “What is this…” Lily looked down at her feet.
Dumbledore who had been scanning the scene looked down where she was looking.
It was Sirius Black, sinking in a mud full of blood.
Lily yelped and stepped back. She turned her head around instead, and her eyes were met with another horrifying scene. She grabbed onto Dumbledore’s sleeve, who was assessing Sirius’ well being. She was unable to get a word out.
Dumbledore didn’t need her to say anything and he turned around. His usual bright twinkling eyes immediately furrowed into fury as he saw what was happening.
Peter and Remus were scattered, sprawled on the ground as they bled akin to Sirius. Severus was towering over James, who seemed to be unconscious. Severus then raised his wands with his bloody hands, ready to throw a spell at James.
Dumbledore was quicker than him, and waved his wand silently, resulting in Severus’ wand to fly out. It was verballess magic.
Severus turned around immediately, locking his hazy eyes into Dumbledore’s eyes.
Severus seemed as if he was driven to insanity, like a wild beast. He was covered in blood and wounds, but he still stood tall and proud. Lily couldn’t recognize her once gentle childhood best friend, as she stared at him in horror.
“Stop this madness at once.” Dumbledore roared.
But Severus did not stop.
So Dumbledore knocked Severus out.
And Lily fainted.