crossroads ✿ jily

Chapter Nine - Off Course

Lily and Sirius both looked up, startled, as the door to the classroom flew open with a bang. They'd been working on their potion for Dumbledore since dinnertime...they were shorthanded because Tim had gotten sick over the weekend and couldn't come down to mix in the first half of the last batch of ingredients. Lily was exhausted, but one look at the frantic eyes of the younger girl who was now hurrying toward them was enough to wake her up.

"You'd better come," the girl said firmly. Lily glanced down at her robes and saw she was a Slytherin. Frowning, she asked,

"What's wrong?"

"There's been a fight...a bad one. Someone needs to come."

As she said this, the girl's eyes flicked over to Sirius. Lily barely noticed, however...she was already moving toward the door. "How bad?"

"There...I think there are some serious injuries. I didn't see the whole thing...just the end..."

"Who was it?" Sirius asked, walking out the door right behind Lily. She had half a mind to tell him he didn't have to come, but then thought better of it...she might be glad for some help.

"Your cousin," the girl replied, her voice taking on an accusatory note. Everyone knew that it had been a huge scandal in the Black family when he'd been sorted into Gryffindor...and it had only escalated from there. His cousin, who was the same age as Lily, was one of the worst the Black family had ever produced, and it made Lily shudder to think what she would become once she was beyond the restricting confines of Hogwarts. Now she knew she wanted Sirius to come with her and see what this was about...she herself held a limited amount of sway with Slytherins, and Bellatrix Black in particular wasn't exactly a rational person.

Lily didn't voice any of this aloud and didn't ask anymore questions, though...there wasn't any time to do so. Turning, the girl led them down into the dungeon area and before Lily knew it she was staring at the most bone-chilling scene she'd ever personally encountered. The first thing she noticed was Bellatrix slumped against the wall with her eyes closed, her chalky face covered with a sheen of sweat, and there were a couple of Slytherins kneeling beside her. Lily couldn't tell if she was conscious or not, so she let her eyes wander to the opposide side of the corridor where the lone figure of her opponent lie...and Lily's heart jumped to her throat at the exact moment both she and Sirius began running.

It was Arabella. She was lying on her stomach, unmoving and frighteningly still, and Lily could only see the back of her head...she'd recognize her long, thick black hair anywhere. The moment Lily reached her she was on her knees and shaking her gently by the shoulder.

"Bella?"

Arabella made no response, but Lily could hear her shallow breathing and felt a wave of relief sweep over her...but it only lasted seconds as Sirius crouched down one Bella's other side and swore viciously. Lily glanced over at Bellatrix and saw that she was indeed passed out as well, and then saw that there were more students than she'd originally realized standing in a tentative circle around the scene...and suddenly the gravity of the situation hit her like a fist to the stomach. This had been no mere squabble.

"We have to get her back to the common room," Sirius said urgently, interrupting her thoughts.

"We have to get someone," she countered insistently, her voice shaking.

"Like who?"

"We have to get them both to the hospital," she said, forcing herself to think through the sickening leaden feeling in the pit of her stomach. She gently turned Arabella towards her as she spoke and was confronted with the sight that had caused Sirius to curse moments before...one entire side of Bella's face was purple with ugly bruising. Her bottom lip was split open and swollen, the blood from the wound still caked on her chin, dried and mixed with dirt. The red wounds were made even more ghastly-looking by the pallor of Bella's skin...it was pale, almost white. Lily swallowed the lump in her throat and resisted the urge to throw her hands over her eyes.