Sixth Year
Lucinda Talkalot is Quidditch Captain of Slytherin. Emma Vanity was the captain before. James is Captain for Gryffindor.
With Severus no longer a boundary between her and the other Gryffindors, Lily grows closer to her housemates, finding several good friends, but there is still a hole left by Severus.
Blood tensions and prejudice is growing. Lily can no longer patrol on her own after another attack, this by Rosier and Wilkes. The worst part of it was that Severus was there— he stood by and did nothing.
It is the night after the full moon, Lily always insisting that Remus rest instead of patrol for two days around the full moon in either direction. James appears out of nowhere and defends her, backing them down the hallway and around the next corner before grabbing her and retreating into a nearby secret passage. He heals her wounds, and she finds her feelings towards him thawing.
He ruins the tender moment by cheekily asking her out. She flushes to the roots of her hair and wrenches herself out of his grasp. He follows her easily, not letting her go in case she encounters more Slytherins.
Remus is growing depressed. He, of course, possesses all of the same hormones as other teenage boys, increased, even, because of the high-instinct nature of the wolf, but he feels as though he cannot get close to a girl.
He doesn’t tell the other Marauders his feelings, citing studies and lack of interest as the reasons for his lack of romance. He was sure, quite rightly, that they wouldn’t understand. It is in this capacity that Lily becomes a special comfort to him.
She says that she understands, and she does, better even than he’d thought. As the prejudice grows worse still, the few Muggleborns at the school are under constant duress, and anyone who associates with them is as well. The teachers do their best to keep it to a minimum, but the upper-level students are left mostly to fend for themselves.
Even if there was someone that Lily really wanted to date, she couldn’t bear to put them in that kind of danger. Remus is not willing to risk a girl’s safety by allowing her to get romantically involved, despite Lily’s repeated assurances that it’s unlikely that the girl would ever be hurt by him.
Indeed, as Lily was well aware, it was as much about Remus feeling unworthy of the affection as anything. He had always felt as though he was worth less, was less human and therefore less important than the rest of the student population. Lily tries to make him see, citing Hagrid and Professor Flitwick as examples of successful people who are actually less human than he! Lily stops pushing after their first conversation about it, watching as even Remus’ practiced control began to fray, and understanding that this causes him a lot more grief than he wants to let on.
The Dark Lord is out in the open, and people are disappearing or showing up dead left and right. Every day the paper reports more and more random attacks on Muggles, and Lily grows worried for her parents and sister. Her only comfort is in the closeness of Severus’ family, hoping that their proximity will keep evildoers at bay.
With tensions growing and instances of magical conflict on the rise, the atmosphere and offerings of Hogwarts were constantly changing throughout the 1970’s.
Beginning in 1975, a “special elect” class was offered for high-level sixth and seventh-year students— known only as the Special Defense class, the limited number of spots quickly became highly coveted among the eldest students.
The inaugural class was made up mostly of Ravenclaws— who else looks into extra classes late in the year?— setting a high bar for the curriculum but failing to develop any way to practice practical application. The competition for the class in its second year, however, was fierce. Fights were breaking out between students (primarily Gryffindors and Slytherins, as one may imagine) on a daily basis, and even Lily had to admit that books could only teach so much.
The need for more than could be offered in a schoolroom combined with the friendly competition within most of the class to spawn a sort of dueling club. While not officially sponsored by any teacher, it was understood that as long as matches took place in public areas, the club would not be disbanded. The matches grew to be something of a spectacle within the school— some enterprising students (such as the Prewett twins) made a small fortune selling related items.
Several of the Ravenclaws became entrenched in the world of professional dueling, and after weeks of pleading and cajoling the class was given leave to take a field–trip to the annual Dunstable Dueling Championship.
An attack occurs while they’re there, and the Gryffindors from the class separate from the others, banding together to defend the masses. Lily is the first to speak.
“Who’s already read the chapter on group dueling?”
The slightly sarcastic question breaks the tense silence of the tight group and they scatter as the Death Eaters come nearer, working in small groups and pairs, fighting back to back or side by side. Lily and James are protecting a group of pre-Hogwarts children when Lily, panting, says that they can’t continue this way, it’s too dangerous.
“I told you.” James had tried briefly to convince Lily and the other girls to find the teacher and return to school, but they’d refused.
“Not for me, you prat.” He turns away, assuming that they’re done, but she stops him.
“Wait— Sirius can apparate, yeah?”
“Yeah…”
“Get him, will you please? We’ve got to get these kids out of here.”
They appear only moments later. There are seven children in the group, and Sirius takes them to Hogsmeade two at a time. On the last, he and James exchange a look, and suddenly Lily find herself in pinched and whirled as she’d brought along. Sirius disappears before she can stop him.
Lily is absolutely seething with rage, and she shakes, her hair crackling as she sputters incoherent curses. The children start to back away, frightened, and her attention is caught as the little girl to her left suddenly turn bright orange- the color of the sparks along her hair. She looks at her in shock as her little storm calms.
Suddenly what’s happened hits her and she takes them to Aberforth, whom she’d met quite by accident once while escaping some Slytherins. She uses the Floo to talk to Dumbledore, who comes through and takes her with him back to the battle.
Lily immediately charges back into the fray, seeing that more Death Eaters seem to have arrived and that a considerable number of people are now on the ground. Lily has taken out one Death Eater already and is dueling a second when she hears someone shout “Sectumsempra!” and she freezes— that was Severus’ curse. In that moment’s pause she is hit with the Transmogrifian Torture Curse, used generally by those who cannot produce a powerful enough Cruciatus. It causes lightning fast modifications to the body, an extremely painful process for those not natural Metomorphaguses.
Even as she writhes with pain from the changes and tries to throw off the curse, to move, to something, an image of that little orange-turning girl pops unbidden into her head. Sirius, upon seeing the situation, Banishes Lily, [A/N: I'm not sure why I chose Banishing] taking her out of the line of fire and breaking the curse. Unfortunately, she is propelled right into the blast of an object that had just been Confringo-ed.
At this point, Order members and Aurors have arrived and the battle is coming to a close, Death Eaters disappearing with swirls of their eerie robes left and right. At this point, Dumbledore, who has managed unscathed through all the fighting, with his beard thrown over his shoulder and robes clutched in a wrinkled hand, Summons the students and Apparates them into his office at Hogwarts.
Remus wonders aloud how he managed to Apparate into Hogwarts as James rages at their new location, wanting to retaliate for a Jelly-fingers hex that nearly cost him his wand. Until he sees Lily, that is. She and Marlene are leaning against each other, Lily still injured and Marlene, having already been counter-cursed, recovering from an Entrail-Expeller.
All of the students, alone in Dumbledore’s office save for the old-looking Phoenix, take stock of one another. None of them are entirely unscathed, but Lily is unquestionably in the most pain, her wounds unable to be tended without a skilled Healer because of the shrapnel. She breaks the silence.
“Where are the others?”
Caradoc Dearborn scoffs, wincing as this causes his deboned shoulder to jiggle foreignly.
“Left with the teacher, cowardly gits.”
Weak as she is, Marlene is as sharp-tongued as ever.
“What’d you expect of Ravens and Snakes?” It had become a habit of the Gryffindor girls to refer to all of the houses by the animal in their name.
“No need to be cruel, Marlene. Besides, you’ve forgotten Amelia.”
Lily’s voice shows the strain of the vast expanse of injured skin— her clothes are full of holes and even burned to her skin in some places. Amelia Bones, whom Lily referred to, was the lone Hufflepuff in their class.
“Ebbelide is going to be pissed about bissing dis!” Benjy crowed thickly through his insistent runny nose.
Lily and Marlene both laugh, and then both groan, neither quite capable of moving without pain. Suddenly James reappears, no one having noticed he’d gone.
“The Headmaster’s locked us in.” Everyone begins to speak at once, exclamations of surprise, fear, and confusion echoing from every corner. “I reckon it’s to keep us from going back.”
Lily gasps painfully as his words reveal Sirius’ face, his eyes swollen shut.
“Sirius! Bring him here.”
James leads him over. Lily performs the countercurse and the swelling begins to die. She smiles, opening a cut on her lip, saying, “Well, it’s not perfect, but it’ll do. Who else has a curse that’ll heal easy?” She starts to struggle to sit up, but Remus stops her.
“Rest, Lily, James and I can take care of it.”
She gives very little protest, in a lot of pain. Sirius kneels next to Lily as his eyesight returns. He apologizes gruffly for sending her into the blast.
“That was you?” He nods his head shamefully. “Thank Merlin you did. I don’t think I could have stood that curse another minute.”
He is surprised by her complete lack of blame for him.
“Lily?” She looks up at him again, arching a singed eyebrow. “Mind if I check something real quick?”
She shakes her head, dropping it back down to the floor and shutting her eyes. When he starts to lift up her robes, she tenses and opens them again, but decides against protesting. Sirius makes a frustrated noise.
“James, mate? Come here, I can’t see clear enough.”
James stands, making his way over from where he’d been healing Benjy’s shriveled ears. “What is it, Padfoot?”
James takes pause at the way Sirius is holding Lily’s robes. Sirius is unabashed.
“I need you to look at this mate,” he lowers his voice, “sometimes the curse he was using on her can leave disfigurements. Check, will you?”
James does so, looking at her legs, about to proclaim them normal until her realizes that the skin doesn’t seem quite smooth under her knee-high socks.
“Evans?” He calls towards her face. “Mind if I take these off?”
She groans her assent. He pulls them down, gasping a bit at the rough, mottled skin.
“Shit.”
“Shit is right!” This time it’s Marlene, over James’ shoulder. “What the hell happened?”
Marlene reaches down to touch the skin, and Lily jerks in pain. The skin ripples where touched, changing form. James shuts his eyes as he directs his wand at Lily, Stunning her. At Marlene’s defensive stance, he runs his hand tiredly through his hair.
"It’s for the best. When she wakes up she’ll be good as new."
Soon enough Madame Pomfrey has arrived, taking care of Benjy’s Bogey Curse, curing Sirius’ remaining conjunctivitis, and, upon taking in Lily’s condition, instructs the rest to follow her to the infirmary. They all would have come anyway.
She sets to work on Lily as McGonagall works through the remaining injuries— James’ gashes, Remus’ welts from a Stinging Hex, and getting Caradoc Skele-Gro for his deboned shoulder.
“Mr. Dearborn, you’ll have to stay overnight. Ms. McKinnon, here is some Replenishing Potion, go back to your dorm, take it, and get some sleep. The rest of you may go.”
Sirius and James linger, and Remus stays with them. McGonagall, who was going to assist with Lily, turns back to them with her best glare.
“Can I help you?”
Sirius and James try to charm her into letting them stay, Sirius citing that her worst injuries were his fault, and James that she’d want to see a friendly face when she woke.
“Absolutely not! Come back in the morning.” When the boys protested, she became stony. “Not another word. Miss Evans requires a great deal of care, and she deserves privacy.”
It’s then that the boys realize that Pomfrey has been cutting off some of her clothing. This time they respectfully file out. In the morning, they are there when Lily wakes, meeting Severus heading away from the Hospital Wing. Suspicious and antagonistic, they jeer at one another, but do not stop. They are there when she wakes. She is not upset at the blast or the Torture curse. She’s very grateful to Sirius.
“If I’d have stayed under that curse any longer, my whole body would likely have been like my legs. It would’ve been harder to reverse too. In a way, the cuts and such took my mind off the weird achy feeling from the curse, too. Don’t feel bad. Besides, maybe it was a good experience to have.”
Even for an optimistic person like Lily, that was a bit much. The look the boys exchanged was not lost on her.
“You know what I mean,” she laughed, “now I know that I can take it. It wasn’t pleasant, but I think it could’ve been worse. I’m just glad it’s over and we’re all safe.”
Before the boys can respond, Madame Pomfrey bustles in, and immediately shoos them away.
“Who said you lot could be here? Get to class! Miss Evans needs her rest!”
A worried Alice came to visit her later, with Marlene and a fuming Emmeline in tow. Frank and Emmeline had had a project to work on and weren’t able to go, and both were seriously miffed. Alice didn’t partake in the dueling class, per her parents’ wishes.