Golden Years

“WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP”

“Jesus Christ son of a fucking virgin what the hell.” Lily burrowed further into her blankets despite the overgrown toddler shaking her and shouting.

“Hogsmeade visit today! Let’s go, let’s go!” Marlene bounced around the room, shaking everyone awake. Mary flipped her off, Dorcas followed Lily’s example and just cuddled into her bed further, and Alice grudgingly began to get ready.

“I really hate you, I hope you know that,” Lily said. Marlene grinned.

“Hate me in Hogsmeade, Red.”

“I hate you here, I hate you there, I can hate you anywhere. I can hate you on a plane, I can hate you on a train. I hate you everywhere, you see. Now fuck right off and leave me be.”

“What the fuck Lily?” Alice asked as Dr. Seuss released Lily from his possession and she returned to her non-poetic state.

“Honestly, that was better than Shakespeare. That was better than Oscar Wilde. Emily Dickinson is trembling in awe. Sappho herself praises you,” Marlene said.

Dorcas merely tossed a pillow at the redhead, mumbling something about “murdering her and her fucking green eggs and ham.”

—————————————————————————————

“You were woken up early too, huh?” James asked as Lily plopped down near him.

“Marly is like a goddamn five year old on a sugar high during Christmas on Hogsmeade days,” she responded.

“Yeah, Pete’s like that too.”

“Really? I would have guessed Sirius.”

“Nah, he values his sleep too much,” James smirked. Lily stared for a few seconds. She remembered all the times she wanted to slap the smirk right off his face, but suddenly she can’t see anything besides the way it melts into an easy grin, how James’s brown eyes shine, and seem to have flecks of honey in them-

‘What the hell,’ Lily thought. ‘Why am I thinking about Potter’s eyes?’

“So, what are you planning to do at Hogsmeade?” Lily asked, attempting to hide her awkward train of thought.

“More of the same. Hogsmeade doesn’t really change, so its not like there’s much out of the ordinary to do,” James answered.

“Wow,” Lily said. “Even the infamous Marauders can’t find anything new or interesting about Hogsmeade?”

“You know, Evans, that sounds like a challenge,” James said. His eyes were glinting distractingly again, excited at the prospect of the dare.

“Maybe it was, Potter,” Lily said coyly. ‘What the fuck’ she thought. ‘Why am I flirting?’

‘Pretty boy,’ her hormones responded.

’Shut up,’ her rationality answered.

’Nice hair,’ her hormones replied. ’Smells good’

“Alright, Evans, I accept your challenge.” James broke into her argument with herself.

“I wasn’t aware I issued one,” Lily answered.

“Of course you did, and the terms are thus; if I show you something you didn’t know about Hogsmeade before, you have to wear my number at the next Quidditch game. If you win, well, what do you want if you win?”

“I want you to wear a pink tie and dye your hair bright purple for a week,” Lily responded.

“Damn, Evans, you don’t mess around. Alright, I agree to your terms. Do you agree to mine?”

“I do.”

“Excellent,” James said, offering his hand. “Then we have an accord.” Lily took his hand and shook it.

“Oh, and one more thing,” James said.

“What, Potter?” Lily asked.

“You’re not allowed to fall in love with me,” he replied cheekily.

“Won’t be a problem,” Lily answered. Her hormones didn’t agree, but she shut them up for the time being.

—————————————————————————————

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Marlene asked as Lily made to leave the group at the entrance to Hogsmeade. “Sneaking off to meet someone, are you?”

“I made a bet with Potter, so I’m hanging out with him for now. I’ll catch up to you once I win,” Lily responded.

“Once you’re done shagging, you mean,” Dorcas said. Alice snorted in surprise and Marlene laughed.

“Dorcas Eucalyptus Meadowes! Remus is a bad influence on you,” Lily said, pretending to be offended.

“My middle name is not eucalyptus, Princess. So stop saying random shit. It’s Elizabeth. You know it’s Elizabeth.”

“Sure. Just like Dorcas is your full name, and not actually Dorcastleshire.”

“It isn’t!” Dorcas cried out. Marlene was doubled over, and Alice was beginning to wheeze.

“Sure. Anyway, gotta go.”

“Get back here Evans, you villianous hell-beast!”

James was waiting for Lily outside Honeydukes. “Ready for the Grand Hogsmeade Tour, Evans?”

“Lead the way,” Lily replied. James brought her into the shop.

“Uh, Potter?” Lily said as James looked around to make sure no one was watching them.

“Yes Evans?”

“If you’re gonna show me the secret passage in the basement, you should know that Sirius already showed it to me.”

“Damn it,” James sighed. “There goes Plan A.”

“Let’s hope your other plans are better,” Lily said.

James led her into the small bookshop next.

“Know of anything interesting here?” Lily asked, curious for once. She had actually never found much out of the ordinary in the store, so the fact that it was on Potter’s list made her worried about losing the bet.

“Only one of the oldest surviving maps of the Roman empire,” James said, convinced he had won.

“Oh, wow, you totally got me,” Lily said. “Or at least you would have if we were in fourth year. Cas showed me that during OWLS to cheer me up after I was stressed.”

“Shit,” James said. “You’re joking.”

“Nope,” Lily responded smugly.

“Why would you cure stress from studying by studying something you don’t need to know?” James asked in astonishment.

“I like knowing things, especially about Muggle stuff. I miss so much learning in the muggle world when I’m here, it feels like-“ Lily cut herself off. Semi-heavy topics should probably be off limits for now.

“Like what?” James gently prodded. And somehow, the soft curiosity was enough to get Lily to open up.

“It feels like I’m not a part of either world. Because I have too much Muggle in me to be considered a full witch, and I have too much witch in me to be a Muggle, and now, I don’t belong anywhere.” Lily waited for James to call her ridiculous. Because of course she was a witch, and who cared about Muggles anyway? That’s what Severus had always said.

“Hey, Evans, look at me,” Jame said softly. “You are both Muggle and witch, and that’s incredible. You know what I’ve always admired about Muggles?” Lily shook her head. “Their ambition. Wizards have all this magic to help them, and yet muggles have been to the moon with nothing but dreams and, what’s it called? Science, I think. The moon, Evans! That’s amazing!”

Lily snorted as James gesticulated enthusiastically to express his excitement. “Didn’t know you kept up with that stuff, Potter.”

“Of course I do, Evans, it’s the fucking moon. So anytime anyone gives you shit for being part Muggle, tell them that. Tell them that Muggles have been to the fucking moon, and wizards haven’t. And if someone gives you shit for being a witch, hex them.”

Lily giggled as James finished his speech. “So what you’re saying is, if I’m part Muggle and part witch, I get the best of both worlds?”

“I said it in more words, but yeah,” James smiled back.

“Well, thank you for your rousing and encouraging speech,” Lily teased.

“Happy to help,” James said. “Now come on. We are gonna get some butterbeer, and then I am going to win this bet.”

“Not bloody likely, Potter.”

—————————————————————————————

“Hey everyone,” Lily said, sliding into the girls’s normal booth. They just stared at her.

“What?” Lily asked. “Is something on my face?”

They continued to stare.

“Ok, what the hell?” Lily asked.

“You were joking around with James when you came in,” Dorcas said in a hushed tone. “He was talking, and you laughed, then you answered, and he laughed.”

“Yes, Dorcas, that is what joking typically entails,” Lily answered.

“Since when do you do it with Potter?” Alice asked.

“He’s trying to be better, so I figure I can try too,” Lily responded. “Besides, he’s not so bad.”

“Not so bad?” Marlene questioned incredulously. “Who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?”

“Haha. Deeply amusing.”

“I’m serious,” Marlene said. “You have never liked James. Ever. You said he was too loud.”

“Pig-headed,” Dorcas added.

“Rude,” Alice contributed.

“Arrogant,” Mary threw in.

“Ok, yes, I did say all those things, but he’s trying to be less brash, kinder, less arrogant. If he’s going to try, I’m not going to discourage him by being rude,” Lily answered.

“She’s not going to discourage him. It must be love,” Dorcas teased.

“Ok, shut it, Dorcastleshire Eucalyptus Meadowesbrookeland.”

“What the fuck.”

“Why have you done this. Why must we all have different names in this group.”

“Shut up, Marigoldilocks.”

“You shut up, Alicenturies of pain.”

“Who the fuck picked that?” Alice asked angrily.

“Marlene.”

“Marlene.”

“Marlene.”

“Definitely not me.”

“I suddenly have Marleniophobia.”

“The fuck is Marleniopohobia?” Marlene asked as Alice moved away from her.

“The fear of ever being anywhere near Marlene.”

“Bitch, me too, the fuck?”

“What’s even happening anymore?” Dorcas asked exasperatedly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lily answered as James came up beside her with their drinks.

“Hey, everyone. Evans, if you’re ok with it, I figured we could take our butterbeer to go? Unless you’d rather stay?” James asked, handing her a drink.

“Nah, I’m good to go. Don’t get into too much trouble, alright? Listen to your mother,” Lily said to the girls.

“I do what I want!” Marlene said.

“You do what I want,” Dorcas answered. “Or else I’ll tell the house elves to stop making you chocolate biscuits.”

“Don’t you dare,” Marlene replied.

“Behave yourself then, and maybe I’ll sneak you into the kitchens to get some extras tonight.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Marlene said.

“It’s a date,” Dorcas responded. Marlene choked on her drink, and coughed violently as Mary pounded her back.

“Ok, let’s get away from these hooligans before they get themselves killed,” Lily said to James.

“Hooligans? Why I never-“ Alice said.

“You’re right,” James grinned. “These whippersnappers are too much to handle.”

“Whippersnappers?” Alice said, somehow even more offended, as James and Lily walked away.

“Where to next, tour guide?” Lily asked as they wandered down the street.

“The Shrieking Shack,” James answered confidently. It’s time for me to win this thing.”

When they got to the Shack, they stood in silence for a few minutes, taking it in. Lily had seen it many times, but it never stopped being a bit creepy.

“I can’t believe Remus has to stay in there. It sounds awful,” Lily said.

“Yeah, but it’s Remus. He’s the strongest of all of us. He’d just make comments about the awful decor.”

“Good point,” Lily laughed. “Now what has you so sure that you can win the bet here?”

James grinned. “This,” he said, pulling on a low branch on a nearby tree. The branch moved to reveal-

“A hidden compartment? In a tree?” Lily asked in astonishment.

“Neat, right?” James said. “Me and the boys found it in fourth year. We would hide our best prank supplies, notes, all kinds of stuff in it. It’s actually how Remus asked Sirius out. He was too nervous to do it face-to-face, so he hid a note in the tree and told Sirius to look for it. When Sirius came back, he just kissed Remus and the rest was history.”

“Not a bad story, Potter,” Lily said, imagining Remus being too awkward and forcing Sirius to look for the note. She giggled a bit.

“Does this mean I win?” James asked cheekily.

“Ugh. Yes, fine, you win,” Lily groaned good-naturedly.

“Yes! You have to wear the number seven on your back, Evans. I’m holding you to it.”

“Alright, alright,” Lily said.

“Oh hey, I meant to ask. Is it just me, or do Marlene and Cas act like an old married couple?”

“Cas?” Lily asked. She had never heard Potter use Dorcas’s nickname before.

“Yeah. Oh, sorry, is that just something you guys call her? Cuz I can stop.”

“No, its fine, just never heard you say it. To answer the question, they do tend to flirt without realizing it quite a bit. And they’re very touchy with each other. And they pretend to bicker a lot. You know, you’re totally right,” Lily said.

“Does Marlene have feelings for Dorcas?” James asked quietly. Lily opened her mouth to answer. But then she heard something, what sounded like a distant shout.

“Did you hear that?” She asked James.

“Hear what?” He replied. His eyes focused on something above her, and then widened. “Evans, look.”

Lily whirled around. Smoke was coming up from behind them. “That’s coming from Hogsmeade,” she said, glancing at James, who’s face had gone pale.

“Ok,” he said. “What do we do?”

“Ok, um, um, alright. Ok, wands out and at the ready. Stay with me at all times. Can you do a Patronus?”

“Yeah,” James answered. “Takes a bit of effort, but I usually get it in a few tries.”

“Send a patronus to McGonagall. Tell her that Hogsmeade is under attack.” Lily tried to think as James sent the Patronus. She didn’t pay attention to him as she considered possible courses of action.

‘They didn’t cover this in prefect training,’ she thought wryly.

“Lily?” James asked.

“Yeah?”

“I sent the patronus. Now what?”

“Now we go to Hogsmeade. We have to get the younger students and possibly injured students out,” Lily replied.

“Right. Let’s look for our group first so they can help us round everyone else up,” James suggested. Lily nodded, and the two began to move towards the burning village.

—————————————————————————————

When they arrived, it was chaos. Students were running around everywhere, firing off curses and hexes at random. James through up a shield charm as the pair waded through the waves of catastrophe.

“Sirius said he was headed to the Quidditch shop, and so was Marlene!” James shouted over the noise.

“Ok. Remus, Alice, Frank, and Mary were headed to Honeydukes. Which one first?” Lily shouted back.

“We could split up,” James suggested. “We’d cover more ground quicker.”

“No, we’d be easier targets that way,” Lily answered. “Which place first?”

“Ok, I guess Honeydukes. Remus, Alice, and Frank are good fighters, and Mary is good at shields lately. We could use their help!”

“Honeydukes it is,”Lily said, blocking a hex flying at them.

She and James advanced slowly, ducking into alleys to hide and make sure the path was clear before moving. It was still unknown as to who was attacking Hogsmeade.

The pair continued down a seemingly empty road when a jet of green light flew next to Lily’s shoulder. James pulled her away and into an alley as Lily fired a curse back. When the assailant dodged the curse, Lily finally got a good look at their face.

“Shit,” she gasped. “Its Death Eaters. James, it’s the fucking Death Eaters.” Lily panted out the statement as her vision bean to go blurry. She couldn’t breathe, something was pressing down on her chest, it was too heavy, she was suffocating-

“Ok, ok. I need you to stay calm, Evans, can you do that for me?” James said as Lily began to hyperventilate. “Come on, Lily, just breathe, nice and easy. That’s it, come on Lily. You’re alright, you’re safe. I promise you’ll be ok. We’re all gonna be ok.”

Lily calmed down slowly, her breathing evening out and the scared look fading from her eyes. As she did, she noticed how James was holding her carefully against his body, his arms around her waist, pulling her into him gently. She shifted slightly, and James let go. Lily couldn’t tell if she was sad or happy about that.

“Ok. I’m ok. Let’s go,” she said resolutely.

“Ok. I’ll do the shield, you hex him until we can get to cover.”

“Alright.”

James counted down, and they burst from they’re hiding place. James immediately produced a shield as Lily threw curse after curse at the Death Eater, who was forced to take cover. They made it down the street to Honeydukes and wrenched the door open.

“Lily?” Alice said, getting up from her place behind the counter. Lily ran to her and hugged her tightly as James did the same with Remus and Frank.

“Where’s Mary?” Lily asked worriedly as she released her friend.

“Back here,” came a voice from behind the counter. Lily walked towards it. Sure enough, there was Mary. It became apparent why she didn’t run to Lily when she looked at her legs. One of them was badly broken.

“Oh god, I think I see bone,” James said, turning around on sight.

“James, you’ve seen broken bones before. You’ve had them before,” Remus said exasperatedly.

“Yeah, and they’re still disgusting,” James shot back.

“Ok. I can’t really fix this without proper supplies, so there’s not much I can do but this,” Lily said as she performed a pain-relief charm.

“Oh no, this is great. Thanks, Lily,” Mary sighed out as the pain began to dissipate a bit "That's really nice. So much better."

“Ok, so Mary can’t leave, but what should the rest of us do?” Frank asked.

“You guys should leave me here and find the others, I’ll be fine,” Mary said.

“No way. You can’t even stand, let alone fight. Ok, Alice, Frank, you guys stay here. Protect Mary, and if we see any students, we’ll send them your way. Keep them safe until we can all leave. James and I will take Remus to find the others. Does anyone know where Dorcas is?” Lily asked.

“She said she was going to Scrivenshaft,” Mary answered.

“Ok, that’s just down the road. We’ll get her then take a left to get to Quality Qudditch, sound good?” Lily asked James and Remus, who both nodded.

“Lily?” Alice called as they were leaving. Lily turned. “Be careful out there.”

“Don’t worry mum. I’ll be back before supper, “ Lily grinned.

Once they were out on the streets again, the chaos resumed. Luckily, they managed to avoid a good bit of it by once again ducking into alleys. James and Remus threw hexes as Lily darted ahead, clearing the path for her. A Death Eater appeared in front of her, grinning maniacally.

“Stupefy!” Lily shouted hitting him dead in the chest with the spell. She knelt down beside him and pulled off his mask.

“Mulciber?” She gasped, recognizing her fellow student. He had always been demented, but she never thought he could do something like this.

“Lily!” She heard Remus shout. “We found Dorcas, come quick!”

Lily ran towards the sound of the voice, forsaking all protection in her hurry. She ducked into an alley, and ran straight into someone.

“Stupefy!”

“Protego!”

Lily’s spell bounced harmlessly off of Remus’s shield.

“Sorry,” Lily said, lowering her wand. “Didn’t realize it was you.”

“It’s fine,” Remus replied. “Come here, you’re the best at healing and we definitely need a healer.”

“What happened?” Lily gasped as she saw Dorcas and James around the corner. Dorcas was sitting on the ground, with blood on her shirt. James was pressing down on a spot near her left hip.

“I may have run into some minor complications,” Dorcas panted out. “Good to see you Princess.”

“Cas,” Lily said softly as Dorcas whimpered when James pressed down a bit harder "What happened?".

“We found her trying to fight off Death Eaters with a metal rod sticking out of her torso,” James said, still focusing on keeping pressure on the wound.

“Of course you did,” Lily said, shaking slightly but still rolling her eyes affectionately. Dorcas tried to laugh but it came out as more of a wheeze. “Ok, Cas, I’m gonna do a spell to check if the injury damaged any organs or could be infected. Then I’m gonna do a few things to prevent blood loss and get you mobile, alright?”

“Yeah, sure,” Dorcas groaned. “Just do it.”

“Ok, yeah. You’re gonna be alright, Cas. I promise.”

“I’m not five, Lily, you don’t have to act like everything is fine. Although, I’ve had period cramps worse than this, so I guess it’s not too bad,” Dorcas said as Lily smiled weakly.

“Ok, no organ damage or anything, but it got really close to an artery, so we really have to do something about blood loss. James, could you tear a strip off your shirt or something?” Lily asked.

“You know, Remus could have done it, but naturally its James who we want to have less clothing,” Dorcas mumbled as James did as Lily asked.

“Shut up,” Lily responded as she transfigured the cloth into a bandage. She carefully applied to the wound.

“Ok, you can’t move too quick, but we do need you to move. Here, Remus and I can help,” Lily said as she pulled Dorcas to her feet. Dorcas groaned, closing her eyes briefly and clenching her teeth.

“Ok, let’s go. Where are we headed?” She gritted out.

“Quidditch shop, Marly and Sirius are there,” Lily answered. Dorcas nodded and began to hobble forwards with Remus’s help. Lily and James put up shield charms and led the way.

Things were quieting down, and when they got to the main street they could see why. Aurors had arrived and were attempting to catch the Death Eaters, who were Apparating away.

“Look, it’s Dumbledore,” James pointed out. Sure enough, their headmaster was in Hogsmeade. He was helping to put out fires and talking to Aurors.

“Ok, that’s good, but we still have to find Marlene and Sirius,” Remus said. Lily thought of how scared he must be for his boyfriend, and she walked a bit faster.

“Remus, take Dorcas to the Aurors so she can get help. James and I will get Sirius and Marly.” She pulled James along.

“Ok, they should be just to the left here- oh my god.”

The Quidditch shop was blown to rubble. Even the walls had collapsed. The wreckage was still smoking too.

“Sirius!” James bellowed. “Sirius! Marlene!”

“Marly! Sirius! Where are you!” Lily screamed as James ran towards the rubble. She caught him by the wrist. “What are you doing?!”

“I have to find him. I gotta find- Sirius, where are you? Sirius!” James continued to shout, struggling against Lily’s grip. Tear tracks were evident against the dirt on his face. “Sirius!”

“James! James, we’re under here!”

James whipped towards the weak shout.

“Keep talking mate. Where are you?”

“We’re under the rocks, there’s a chunk of wall on my leg, I can’t move. Marly is unconscious, and bleeding. Hurry up, we’re being crushed!” Sirius answered. Lily joined James as they began to lift some of the wreckage with magic. They began to dig desperately with their hands as the heavier chunks were removed.

“Sirius! Sirius!” James cried out as he unburied his friend. He pulled him into a tight hug.

“Good to see you mate. Is everyone alright? Pete, Remus, the girls?”

“Peter. Oh god, where’s Peter?”

“We can find him in a bit, help me get Marly out,” Lily responded, frantically digging. The two boys helped, and they managed to get Marlene out.

“Oh god, oh god,” Lily said, cradling her best friend.

“I’m gonna be sick,” James said, leaning against Sirius, who was very pale.

Marlene’s entire right side was covered in blood. There was a gash on her forehead and bruises all over her body. Her left arm, which had been caught under a heavy rock, was broken enough to see bone. She also had burns all over, not unlike Sirius, who was also bruised and burned.

“Jesus, mate, what happened to her?” James asked, turning his attention to Sirius so he wouldn’t throw up.

“A Death Eater hit her with a cutting curse before he blew the place up. She was also the closest to the explosion,” Sirius answered.

“Ok, we have to get help, but I’m scared to move her. James, go get a professor, or an Auror, someone, anyone!” Lily cried out, still holding Marlene’s head in her lap, trying to staunch the bleeding. She now had tear tracks to match James’s.

“On it,” James said, running off. Sirius dropped to his knees next to Lily, stoking Marlene’s hair out of her face.

“She’ll be ok, Lils. It’s Marly, you know? She’ll be just fine.”

“Yeah, of course. Of course. She’ll be fine. Remember that time she broke her leg during a Quidditch game and kept flying?”

“Ha, yeah. And when she finally went to the hospital wing, she kept complaining that she was fine and it barely hurt?”

“Yeah,” Lily laughed. Or cried. She could no longer tell the difference.

“Ok, I got Minnie,” James said as he returned. Sure enough, Professor McGonagall was right behind him.

“Oh, lord. Ok, its not a good idea to move her, you did the right thing. I’ll do what I can, but she’s definitely lost a lot of blood,” McGonagall said as she began to heal Marlene. “That should be enough to move her safely.”

“Yeah, but she’s gonna be alright, right Professor?” Lily asked as McGonagall levitated Marlene steadily and began to walk towards the Aurors.

“I certainly hope so, Miss Evans,” McGonagall replied. A team of Healers surrounded her, and soon Lily could no longer see her friend or her professor.

“Peter!” She heard James shout, and turned around to see him envelope the smaller boy.

“Hey James,” Peter responded, returning the hug.

“Peter, where were you?” Sirius asked.

“Well, I saw James’s patronus headed up to Hogwarts, so I followed it. I sent a patronus off to the Aurors, and then I rounded up as many professors as I could and doubled back. I found Alice, Mary, and Frank holed up protecting other students, so I stuck with them to make sure the younger kids were ok,” Peter responded.

“He was really good with them, made sure nobody went hysterical or anything. It was actually really helpful,” Alice said.

“Alice,” Lily sighed out, hugging her friend. Alice gripped her tightly.

“I saw that you found Cas. She’s alright, the Healers managed to fix her up really quick. Where’s Marly?” Alice asked. Lily just held her even tighter. The days events began to catch up to her, and she started to cry.

“Oh, no, Lily. Oh god, what happened? Where’s Marly?” Alice asked.

“She was really hurt Alice. It was so bad, it was so bad, there was so much blood, and she was burned all over-“ Lily sobbed.

“Fuck,” Alice swore, bringing Lily closer to her. “Is she gonna be ok?”

“Is who gonna be ok?” Someone asked. Lily looked up to see none other than Dorcas, freshly healed.

“Marly got really badly hurt,” Sirius answered. The blood drained from Dorcas’s face.

“How bad?” She asked quietly. She looked almost calm, but Lily had known her long enough to tell she was scared to the point of shutting down.

“It was awful,” James replied just as quietly. Dorcas nodded once, and clenched her jaw. Her hands curled into fists and uncurled.

“What happened?” Dorcas asked in the same carefully controlled voice.

“We were in the Quidditch shop. The Death Eaters Apparated in to the village through there. One of them hit Marly with a cutting curse, and then blew the whole place,” Sirus responded solemnly. Dorcas just nodded again and sat next to Alice. Alice put an arm around her shoulder, but she didn’t seem to notice, only staring at the ground.

“Miss Eavns?” Lily perked up as McGonagall appeared.

“Is Marlene ok?” She asked.

“Miss McKinnon is being moved to St. Mungo’s as we speak. I thought you should know,” McGonagall replied.

“Yeah but will she be ok?” Dorcas asked, not even looking up.

McGonagall sighed. “I don’t know,” she answered. “She lost a lot of blood, had many internal injuries, a major concussion, and was burned quite a bit.”

“But there’s no way that she’d…. you know…” Lily trailed off, not wanting to even finish the thought.

“Honestly, Miss Evans, we’re not sure. Just in case, I will allow you to see her tonight. If you want to say anything to her. Perhaps even a goodbye.”