Epiphany

13 ~ New Mutiny

The weeks after the party were quiet: the kind of unnerving silence that meant a storm was brewing. It was that awkward period between Autumn and Winter when the weather wasn't quite sure what to do with itself, the time when everyone's countdown til the Christmas holidays began, when Hogsmeade became bustling with bundled up students and the tension was undoubtably high. It only took a slight mishap to cause disaster.

In short, Lily wasn't surprised to see a crowd gathering around shouts and possible dueling. Of course, she was curious enough to find out what was going on.

"You bastard!" She couldn't quite make out who the voice belonged to, but the furious words were clear enough.

"You'd risk the safety of every blood student, all because -"

A loud bang echoed through the streets of Hogsmeade, birds flying in fright, and the crowd swiftly backed away.

Lily rushed towards the action, prepared to break up whatever fight was happening. She almost wasn't surprised to see Sirius Black and Severus firing spells back and forth. She was, however, disappointed.

"Oi!" She shouted with as must force as she could muster, surprising them enough so that she could cast disarming spells on the both of them. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Your beloved Snape," Black growled, his face contorted in bitter rage, "has been fraternising with the enemy! Did he tell you about his new tattoo?" He grabbed Sev's arm and pulled back his sleeve, revealing a -

- a Dark Mark.

Lily paled, a bubbling naseau rising in her stomach. The burned mark of a snake and skull was a well-known symbol of the Death Eaters, the cult who fought to rid people like Lily from the magic world. And every other world. Severus -

Her reaction seemed to be what Black had been expecting, for he calmed his anger and offered a grimace. As he release Severus' arm, the boy pulled away in clear disgust, taking no apparent notice of Lily and instead raising his hand to strike Sirius.

"Sev!" Lily half shouted, half sobbed. It couldn't be true, this just couldn't be happening.

He turned to her, only just recognising she was there and, in less than a second, his face snapped from hatred to an unreadable frown. He didn't seem to notice what she had seen. Perhaps he simply didn't care.

"Lily," He said, his voice so calm and quiet, with a hint of mock fear, "will you please ask Mr Black to refrain from using magic against me." It wasn't a question. He expected her to blindly trust him.

With a slow shake of her head, Lily turned and ran. What else was she supposed to do? Her best friend, only friend, of five years had joined the supporters of Voldemort. He had practically spat in her face and called her a mudblood. She supposed that would come later.

She ran and, before she realised it, she stopped outside of Teas & Trinkets, the chosen hangout of Marlene, Dorcas and Mary. Lily hadn't even thought to run to anyone, but apparently that wasn't strictly true. Talking with the girls wouldn't do any harm, surely?

She had barely srepped inside when she spotted James. He was sat in a booth - on his own? no, he was with someone. Lily was about to call out to him when he leaned suddenly over the table and kissed his, now visible, booth partner. Mary.

Lily couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

James and Mary rushed over as soon as they realised who she was, and Lily's sobs of "it's no bother" and "don't let me interrupt" did no good at convincing them she was fine. Moments later, an out-of-breath Sirius burst in, followed by Remus who immediately pulled her into a hug (which made her cry more, though the thought was appreciated).

The new arrivals filled James and Mary in on what had happened, Sirius apologising profusely and blaming himselt for starting it, which Lily quickly denied and thanked him for telling her. It was all too much, everyone comforting her, and suddenly it was James hugging her.

She wasn't sure when the change had been made, but she hadn't noticed til she was sobbing on his shoulder. Somehow, though this made everything so much worse, it shocked her enoough to stop her tears, and she was released from his arms. Not that she particularly wanted to be, but she was certain that James felt awkward hugging her in front of Mary. She would have to ask Dorcas how long those two had been seeing each other later, now was definitely not the time.

After a while, the group slowly escorted her back to the Gryffindor common room, the girls and boys split on their way to the dorms. It must've been the evening, because they weren't the only Gryffindors heading to bed. Lily suddenly became aware that they expected her to want to talk about it, which she most certainly did not. At that moment, she would've happily done anything else but that.

So, with a "thanks" and "goodnight" to the girls, Lily curled up in the safety of her own bed, where she could pretend nothing had changed.