Lily Evans
This was a mistake.
Lily Evens truly hated herself then and there. She had thought it would be a good idea to try and reach out to her sister again.
The redhead had asked Petunia to meet at a muggle restaurant to have a meal, she had promised there would be nothing magical involved in their evening. Surprisingly her sister had agreed.
But that wasn't the mistake.
Trying to be true to her word, Lily had decided she would leave her wand behind and pretend for a little while that she was normal.
To be fair she needed it, she had been horribly stressed with the war and her relationship with James.
The young man had been pestering her to move in with him and it had scared Lily how quickly things were moving. She loved James, she did, but she was nineteen, she should be out enjoying herself, not planning the rest of her life, that is if she would have one what with the war targeting people like her.
This was a horrible mistake.
All Lily had wanted was to pretend that she was normal for a little while, like she wasn't fighting in a war. She was so awfully stressed. Then she saw the wedding ring in James' pocket and she had cracked, no she shattered. Everything had been moving far too fast for her.
James wanting to move in together, James wanting to propose, joining the order, Sirius and Remus arguing, Peter being distant, Marleen and Dorcas going into hiding. It was just so much stress she couldn't handle. So she called Petunia and organised to meet up.
It had all been going surprisingly great until her sister brought up James. The older woman had asked if they were still dating, and Lily had tentatively told her that they were taking a break. Petunia had rolled her eyes and said "Good riddance", before going on a rant about how Lily could do so much better and settle down with a "normal" man with a good respectable job like her Vernon. This was where Lily had scoffed.
"That fat whale? I would rather be with James any day over Vernon"
After that comment, the two sisters continued to argue until Lily stormed off, dread in her heart from the realisation that her sister would never change. The redhead had wrapped her coat tightly around herself in a sort of embrace and had started the walk home to the small apartment she and her friend Alice shared.
This was an incredibly stupid mistake.
Lily found herself cutting through an ally behind the sweet shop she always passed on her way home. She knew where it led, and even though it was very dark she didn't mind. She wasn't worried. She would get home fine, the person she could hear walking behind her since she left the restaurant was simply heading the same way as her. There was no need to panic. He wasn't following her. She was fine, she was a witch. A witch without her wand.
She was in trouble.
But there was no need to panic because she could see the end of the ally. The person walking her way from the opposite side of the ally was just cutting through like her. Taking a shortcut. She wasn't being surrounded, she was fine. She would get to the end of the alley and make it home and have a hot chocolate with Alice. She would be fine, she wouldn't leave her wand behind ever again. The person speeding up behind her just wanted to get home quicker. No need to panic. She would go home and write to James, the witch decided. And drink hot chocolate with Alice and snuggle with her cat Crookshanks and eat some- there was a hand on her shoulder pulling her back. Pushing her into the wall. Two faces smirked at her.
But Lily would be fine. She was a witch, without her wand, and she was better than these thugs. She would be fine, she was fine. They were pulling on her clothes, and she was struggling, one of them grabbed her arms so she couldn't punch them or hit them. But she would be fine. She was one of the smartest in her year and she knew a wide range of spells.
But she didn't have her wand.
Who was she kidding? She was fucked! Well and truly fucked! Especially when they threw her on the floor, one of them was holding her arms down. She was kicking her legs and screaming. It made no difference. They were smirking and she was screaming. Why was no one helping her? One of them was pulling at her pants the other covering her mouth. She needed help. No one was coming. She bit down hard on the hand keeping her silent and tasted blood. The hand was gone and she heard the man behind her grunt. She was offered a moment respite from her struggle, and she panted hard. Lily tried to assess the situation, to try and find a way out of it. She was being attacked by two muggle men, she didn't have her wand and she was in a dark alleyway that anyone could miss. At least one of the men was momentarily distracted, what with his bleeding hand and all. She tried to remember a spell, any spell. If she could just try, wandless magic wasn't too hard. Was it? She couldn't remember, but she was screaming again. Crying too. She kicked her left leg up suddenly when there was a sharp yank on it. She hit a face. One of her arms was free and she could hear someone cursing, and grunting. She was too focused on trying to free herself from his grip. The person at her feet was gone. Lily swung her arm up and heard a crunch. Her other arm was free. She scrambled away from her attacker, she had hit his nose, and there was blood.
"Piss off!" she shouted shakily when he reached for her again. She grabbed his arm, pulled it forward and twisted. It was starting to come back to her, the lessons Marleen had made all the girls take in basic self-defence. The fog was clearing from her head. She could think again. She poked him in one of his eyes with her free thumb. He tried to pull his arm back but she was still twisting and she heard a pop sound. Lily let him go then, wanting to pick up her bag and run back home. But she remembered then that there were two men. She turned around then to look to see where he had gone but found him on the floor. He was being kicked in the stomach by someone.
A third man, taller than the other two and much bulkier. He was wearing a biker's jacket and a pair of shades over his eyes that didn't quite hide the scar that cut through his left eyebrow down to the bottom of his eye. His hair was black and styled in a buzz cut and he had a very angular jaw and a crooked nose as if it had been broken a few times. He gave her other attacker one last kick before he wiped his bloody knuckles on his cargo pants before he turned to look at Lily. She couldn't help but stare transfixed as he walked her way, only to pass her and walk towards the man she had dealt with. The stranger looked over the thug as if appraising her work before he threw a few extra punches. Once he was satisfied he stood up straight and turned back to Lily.
"You alright miss?" His voice was ruff as if he was used to shouting lots.
Lily swallowed and nodded, not trusting her voice not to crack if she spoke. She felt like she had to be brave in front of this man. He raised a sceptical brow before leaning down and grabbing the bag that she dropped. He held his hand out with it for her to take, but he wasn't standing close enough for her to simply reach out and grab it.
She would have to walk towards him.
He was staring at her still with his hand out, so she took a step forward and another before her legs buckled. She was about to hit the ground before the strange man reached forward and caught her.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
The man just stared at her for a moment before laughing.
"You were just attacked and nearly raped Doll. I think it's normal not to be doing so good after an ordeal like that so what you apologising for?"
Lily just shrugged and took her bag from him after she had gotten back to her feet.
"Thank you, for helping me."
It was his turn to shrug then.
"Any decent person would do it, besides it looked like you were doing alright on your own."
Lilly knew she was not handling it on her own, but she appreciated the words never the less. She looked at her attackers, both knocked out on the floor, then back at the strange man, and decided she could do with a hot chocolate. Remus makes the best hot chocolates. Maybe she would add some firewhisky to it.
"I'm going to go, but really, thank you for the help."
The man furrowed his eyebrows and frowned.
"Two things, one: you planning to just leave these two here? No police? And two: I can take you home, I'd prefer to know you got back safely."
Lilly shook her head.
"I don't feel like getting the police involved, and I can get myself back safely. Thank you though."
The man raised an eyebrow and looked her over. She was in her torn coat and messy hair, clutching her handbag to her chest.
"You sure Doll? You didn't look too good before. It isn't any trouble for me to take you home. I don't mind."
Lilly sniffed, affronted at the idea of being some damsel in distress, despite the fact no one would fault her for it, considering the situation she was in.
"I am perfectly fine thank you very much. I can get home on my own."
He chuckled at her stubbornness and held a hand out towards the end of the ally.
"Be my guest then Doll."
He started as if daring her to try, so she did. She might have been shaken up still, but she was a stubborn redhead and she would live up to her title. She took a step, then another, and another, all in the direction of the main street. It was going well for her before her legs buckled again and she fell right into the open arms of her saviour. He sighed before picking Lily up bridle style, ignoring her protest, and continued to walk to the end of the ally before plonking her onto a motorbike. He picked up a helmet off of the handlebars that seemed to have just appeared and handed it to her.
"Sorry Doll, I'm taking you home, you're in a right state. Stick the helmet on and tell me where I'm headed."
He swung onto the motorbike and sat in front of her, Lily wrapped her arms around his waist, begrudgingly accepting his help. He turned around to face her again, a light smirk resting on his lips.
"The names Ares, by the way."