Golden Years

Lily sat in the hospital wing, staring at the floor. She didn’t move, barely blinked, barely breathed.

“Lily? Hey, babe. Please tell me what’s happening?” Marlene asked from where she was sitting beside her. “Lily?”

“She’s hasn’t spoken since she came in,” Madam Pomfrey said gently. Lily didn’t acknowledge the conversation.

“What the hell happened?” Dorcas asked. All of the girls were there, trying their hardest not to overwhelm Lily.

“I still don’t know. She hasn’t spoken. All I know is that the Headmaster is coming to speak with her,” Madam Pomfrey said before walking away.

“Dumbledore?” Alice asked. She looked at Lily. “Christ, Lils, what did you get yourself into?”

“I don’t think it was voluntary,” Mary replied. “Lily, please say something.”

Lily remained silent, not even looking at her friends. Marlene gently took her hand and placed it on her wrist. She got no response.

“Miss Evans?” Marlene heard from behind her. Dumbledore was their, McGonagall by his side. Lily looked up. “I understand something terrible has happened. Please tell me what’s wrong?”

McGonagall gestured at all the other girls. “Ladies, please wait outside until we’re done speaking with Miss Evans.”

“Professor, can’t we stay?” Dorcas asked.

“I’m sorry, but no. This should be a private matter.”

“Please, Professor-“
“No. Now, please go wait outside.” McGonagall’s words were final. Alice huffed and left with Mary. Dorcas hesitated for a minute, casting a despairing look at Lily, but then she turned and left as well.

Marlene began to stand to go and wait with the others, but then the hand on her wrist tightened.

“She stays,” Lily implored, looking at McGonagall. “Please.”

Marlene stared at McGonagall, silently begging for her to agree. McGonagall looked at Dumbledore, who simply nodded.

“Alright,” she allowed. “But please begin to tell us what happened.”

——————————————————————————————

“Hurry up, clean your robes, we have to get out of here,” Lily heard. She stopped in the hallway, not making a sound. Who else was out of bed? And why?

“Calm down. No one else is awake, we’ve got time.” A new voice said. “And besides, what would they do if they caught us? We’re faithful subjects of-“

“Not yet,” the first speaker hissed. “He hasn’t accepted us yet, and that means we can’t get caught until we get his attention. Now paint the sign and let’s go.”

“Ok, ok, god, it wouldn’t kill you to chill out.”

Lily crept closer towards where she heard the voices. Silently, carefully, she inched with her back to the wall until she could hear them just around the corner. She went stiff, heart pounding. What was that noise? It was…. It wasn’t right, somehow.

“Ok, let’s go. If this doesn’t get us somewhere, nothing will,” the second voice said decisively. Lily listened as the two ran the other directions, their footsteps fading into silence.

Except it wasn’t entirely silent. There was a soft whimpering noise, almost too quiet to be heard. Lily got as close as she could, listening for other sounds. When she heard nothing, she rounded the corner, intent on finding the cause of the noise.

And she found it.

Lily retched pathetically at the sight. A student, an older girl, lying on the ground. Her shirt was torn open, and blood seemed to cover her body. It seeped outwards, staining the ground.

Lily snapped out of her horror and rushed forwards. The girl was still alive, if she could stop the bleeding, if she could do something-

The girl caught sight of her. She reached out weakly with a bloody hand, grasping for some semblance of comfort. She opened her mouth, trying to speak.

“Please,” she rasped with a hoarse voice. “Please.”

Lily sat against the wall and cradled the girl’s head in her hands. “I don’t know what to do, what should I do, how can I help, what should I-“

“Stay,” the girl whispered. “Please don’t let them come back. They said I’d die alone, I don’t want to die alone, please, please-“ her voice broke as she sobbed. She shuddered as she wept, gripping Lily’s hand as tight as she could.

Lily didn’t realize she was crying too until her teardrops landed on the girl’s forehead. “Who did this?”

“They…. They wore…masks,” the girl gasped out. “I don’t know… please stay, it hurts so much, please… I don’t want to die alone, I don’t want to die, please….”

As the girl’s quiet whimpers faded, she closed her eyes. When Lily felt her stop breathing, she sobbed, collapsing back against the wall. She shook as the tears streamed down her face.

And there she stayed until morning, when Filch found her, still crying, a massive snake coming out of a skull painted in blood on the wall above her.

——————————————————————————————

“Oh my god,” Marlene breathed out when Lily finished retelling what had happened. “Oh my god.”

“This is…. horribly disturbing,” Dumbledore said quietly.

McGonagall turned to him indignantly. “Disturbing? Albus, this is horrific. Miss Evans, do you have any idea of who could have done this?”

Lily merely shook her head, then buried her face in Marlene’s neck. Marlene wrapped her arms around her friend, shaking slightly.

Marlene couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening. It felt as though the world around her was muted, except for the muffled sobs that came from Lily. She could hear those perfectly.

“Shhh, shh, it’s ok. I’ve got you Lils, I’ve got you. Shh, it’ll be alright, it’s ok, I’m here, I’m here,” she mumbled, trying to soothe her. It seemed useless as Lily shook harder. Marlene could feel her tears on her neck.

“Professors?” She spoke up. McGonagall and Dumbledore looked at her, their mutterings interrupted. “Can I take Lily back to the dorms? She needs rest, I’m sure Madam Pomfrey would agree.”

“I do!” Pomfrey called out helpfully from her office. Marlene stared at the professors, pleading with her eyes.

“Of course. Make sure she gets some sleep,” McGonagall said tightly. Marlene nodded and sank to kneel in front of Lily.

“Lils? Hey, babe, I’m gonna get you to the dorms, ok? Do you feel like you can walk?” Lily shook her head. Marlene smiled gently. “That’s ok. I’m gonna carry you, ok, Lily?”

Lily nodded. Marlene gathered her in her arms and began to walk out.

“Miss McKinnon?” McGonagall called.

“Yes, Professor?”

“Do take care of her.”

“Of course.”

——————————————————————————————

Marlene laid Lily in her bed as gently as she could. “Lils? You alright?”

Lily nodded. Marlene waited for any other response, but she didn’t get one. She turned to leave.

“Thank you.”

Marlene spun round, facing Lily again. There was no sign of her having spoken, but Marlene had heard her. “What?”

Lily looked pained for a second but she spoke again. “Thank you, Marly.”

Marlene softened. “Any time, Lily. If you need anything, shout for me, yeah?”

Lily nodded, apparently done talking. Marlene slipped out of the room as quietly as she could.

The rest of the group was waiting for her in the common room apprehensively.

“What happened?” Alice asked.

“Is Lily ok?” James interjected.

“The others are saying someone died,” Dorcas said quietly. Her eyes seemed to drill a hole into Marlene. “Is that true?”

The others went silent as Marlene dropped her head. “Yes,” she whispered, eyes closed tightly. She continued to keep her eyes closed until she felt a hand on her arm. She looked up, meeting Dorcas’ eyes. The shorter girl wrapped her in a hug, which Marlene reciprocated after a moment.

“What happened?” Sirius asked quietly. Marlene looked at her friends, all worried. She met Dorcas’ eyes again. There was fear there, and worry, but more importantly, there was support.

And so Marlene began to tell her family what had happened.
——————————————————————————————

“Jesus,” Remus breathed as Marlene collapsed onto the couch, emotionally drained. “Is Lily-“

“I think she’ll be ok,” Marlene said. “But she’s really torn up.”

“Of course she is, who wouldn’t be?” Dorcas replied from beside her. Marlene found herself leaning closer, seeking comfort. It appeared that her nervousness about being near her crush was canceled out by her worry. Dorcas, blissfully unaware of this, wrapped an arm around Marlene’s waist.

“Who was the girl?” Frank asked solemnly.

“I don’t know,” Marlene answered truthfully. “Lily didn’t know either.”

“This is….. Jesus Christ,” Sirius said heavily. “Isn’t Hogwarts supposed to be the safest place in the world?”

“It is,” Peter responded. “Which means the rest of the world is even worse off.”

“Don’t say that,” Mary rebuked him. “Surely, there’s somewhere safe?”

“If not here, where? You-Know-Who won’t even come near Hogwarts, he’s so afraid of Dumbledore. But now, now he’s got followers to do the dirty work for him,” James said.

“Can we stop?” Alice asked nervously. “I mean, this is crazy. This is fucking crazy, I can’t- I’m sorry, I can’t deal with this, I’ve got to go-“ Alice stood and exited the common room hurriedly.

“Alice! Alice!” Frank called. He got up and ran after her.

Marlene looked around the room. Mary had her face in her hands while Peter tried to comfort her. Sirius was leaning heavily on Remus, who was staring at the fireplace. James was pacing, running a hand through his hair, seemingly without realizing it.

“I only told you so Lily didn’t have to,” Marlene said, looking at each of them. “She’s been through enough, I didn’t want her to have to deal with retelling it.”

“We get it,” Dorcas responded softly. She took Marlene’s hand and pressed it between her own. “We won’t bother her about it. And we won’t go talking about what happened, either.” She pulled Marlene closer, gently running her fingers up and down her arm.

Sirius stared for a second, clearly about to say something, when they were all distracted by a noise from the girls’ dorm. They looked up.

Lily was standing there. “I guess you told them?” She asked quietly, looking at Marlene. Dorcas shifted next to her, almost protectively.

“Yes,” Marlene answered honestly. “I didn’t want you to have to tell it again.”

Lily tilted her head, thinking for a minute. “Alright,” she said. “But none of you can go spreading this around, ok?”

“We won’t,” Remus replied.

“Are you ok, Lily?” James asked quietly. Lily stared at him for a moment.

“I will be.”

——————————————————————————————

Lily sat alone in the common room. It was one in the morning, but she couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the girl’s face. The skull and the snake on the wall. The blood, flooding the halls of Hogwarts.

Marlene and Remus had tried to stay awake with her, but eventually both had fallen asleep. Lily had carefully gotten them both up to their beds and then returned to the couch in front of the fire.

She zoned out as she watched the crackling flames. What was happening in Hogwarts? First the little girl, with mortem itineribus written on the wall, and now this. Why was she always stumbling into awful things?

“Is this seat taken?” Lily jumped upon hearing a voice. She looked up, and saw a vaguely familiar boy beside her.

“Um, no. I’m not really good company right now though,” she answered truthfully.

“That’s ok, I haven’t been for awhile,”the boy laughed sadly. He sat down. Lily looked at him for a second, trying to figure out why she recognized him.

“Wait, you were the kid that ran off after Winnie-“ Lily cut herself off, realizing what that meant. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok,” the boy responded. He stared at the fire. “Winnie was my little sister. I’m Kingsley Shacklebolt.”

“I’m so sorry, Kingsley.”

“Nah, it’s ok. It’s not like you killed her,” he said sadly. “You were the one that found her though. Do you have any idea who might have done it?”

“No,” Lily answered. Kingsley seemed to shrink a little. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know. I don’t know who’s doing any of this.”

“I know. I just hoped- well, I don’t know. I guess I wanted to hear that whoever did it would get caught,” Kingsley sighed.

“Maybe they will be,” Lily said softly. “Maybe tomorrow, they’ll figure out who’s been doing all this, and they’ll catch them.”

“Maybe,” Kingsley responded. They fell silent for awhile. “I just can’t help feeling guilty. I was supposed to protect her, to make sure she was safe.”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Lily replied. “You couldn’t have known anything would happen.”

“I still should have done better.”

“Yeah, well, join the club,” Lily replied.

“What, you feel guilty too?” Kingsley asked.

“Of course I do! I couldn’t save your sister and I couldn’t save-“ Lily cut herself off. She still didn’t even know the girl’s name.

“Beatrice,” Kingsley supplied softly. “The girl who died last night was named Beatrice.”

“I should have gotten there sooner. I could’ve-“

“What, Lily? What could you have done?” Kingsley asked.

“I could’ve stopped whoever did it!” Lily cried. “I could have saved her.”

“Lily, Beatrice was a seventh year Ravenclaw, and she was smart. She had good marks in her classes, and she was really good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. If she couldn’t save herself, you wouldn’t have been able to either,” Kingsley said quietly. “You did what you could. You made sure she didn’t die alone. Sometimes that’s all we can do, bring a little comfort at the end.”

Lily went quiet, contemplating what had been said. Kingsley seemed to realize that she needed a moment, and he fell silent too.

“Thank you,” Lily said softly. She didn’t realize how guilty she felt until he told her she didn’t need to be.

“Of course. I probably need to go to bed,” Kingsley said, standing to leave. “And Lily?”

“Hmm?”

“Stay on guard, yeah? Somehow, Hogwarts doesn’t feel as safe anymore.”