Lily

Chapter Thirty Seven:

When Lily woke up, Sirius was in the hospital wing, sitting on her bed and Harry was standing by her side.

"They don't believe us." Harry was saying to Sirius, "They don't believe that Voldemort's back."

"Harry." Lily said, alerting him that she was awake.

Harry immediately knelt by her side and watched her with concerned eyes.

"You okay?"

She nodded her head slowly.

"You really scared me, Lil." Harry said.

"I was scared too." Lily admitted, "But I told you, I'm with you. Until the very e-"

The door to the hospital wing began to open and Sirius quickly morphed back into his dog form. Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge walked into the room, the latter looking rather antsy.

"Well then, here you go." Fudge said, trusting the bay of prize money at Harry.

"No, I don't want it." Harry said, "It belongs to Cedric."

Fudge looked away.

"Yes, well, it's yours now." He said, before excusing himself and rushing out of the room.

Harry stared down at the bag of money in his hands. He looked up at Dumbledore glumly.

"I really don't want it." He repeated.

"I'm sure you'll find some use for it." Dumbledore said.

Harry reluctantly put the bag into the pocket of his jacket. Dumbledore looked over at Lily.

"And how are you doing?" He asked her sincerely.

Lily glanced at Harry before speaking.

"I'm alright." She lied.

The truth was, she was quite shaken up but the whole experience. She was terrified of Voldemort and what it meant now that he had returned.

Dumbledore nodded, but gave her a look that said he didn't believe her.

"Well, should you need to speak to anyone, I am always available to listen." The headmaster said, "Or to help find a more skilled listening ear."

"Sir?" Harry questioned.

"I'm sure you are familiar with the muggle practice of therapy, Harry." Dumbledore said.

"Yes, but sir-"

"There have been a few experimental wizard therapists, and I have recently come into contact with a witch who I believe could help you quite a lot, Lily."

Lily looked down at her hands. She heard about therapy, but never from the right kinds of people. The Dursley's had a neighbor who Petunia found out went to therapy and the family often discussed the matter as though it was a shameful thing.

"I-I dunno." Lily said.

"Well you don't have to make a decision now, of course." Dumbledore said, "But should you change your mind, owl me and I will get you her contact information."

Lily nodded. Dumbledore left the room, and Lily pushed the idea of therapy to the back of her mind, for now. The next few days passed by quickly. Lily stayed in the hospital wing even though she had no physical pain. Madam Pomfrey provided Lily with potions to help her sleep at night and a calming draught whenever Lily felt too distressed. Before she knew it though, Lily was sitting next to Harry at the end of term feast.

Dumbledore made an announcement up at his podium about the tragic death of Cedric Diggory. He told the students and staff that the rumors were indeed true, and Voldemort was back. At this, several people gasped and began to whisper. Dumbledore asked the students to remain strong and in unity in the upcoming challenges they were soon to face.

Then, it was over. Lily was boarding the train to go back to living with Harry and the Dursley's. As she walked with Hermione down the aisle of the train, she spotted Draco. He was standing in the hall as well.

"I'll see you in the compartment soon." Lily promised her.

"But Harry-" Hermione began to protest.

"It'll be fine." Lily said.

Hermione glanced at Draco before signing and walking away. Lily walked up to her friend.

"Hi." She said quietly, "Can we talk?"

He nodded and lead her to an empty compartment.

"So..." Draco said awkwardly.

"I saw your dad." Lily said, getting straight to the point, "He was there, in the g-graveyard."

Draco put his head down in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Lily." He said eventually, "I don't know what to do..."

"I don't blame you for what he did." Lily said softly.

"What happened in the graveyard?" Draco asked, "My dad won't tell me when I get home, but I want to know the truth."

Lily inhaled sharply.

"If you don't want to talk..."

"I-I was... I was put under the c-cruciatus curse, by him. V-Voldemort." She said.

Draco flinched at the name, but gestured for her to continue.

"And I... I couldn't do anything. Harry was going to die; I was going to die... and I couldn't do anything. I felt just so helpless, like I used to feel when I was with Marge. I... I don't know." Lily said, looking out the window, eyes tearing up.

What happened next surprised her. Draco quickly leaned over and embraced her in a hug. Lily began to cry a bit, not able to hold back her tears.

"I'm so pathetic." She whispered, "I just feel so weak."

"You're not weak, Lily, but that's something you have to see for yourself. There's a reason the hat placed you in Gryffindor." Draco comforted.

"You think?" She asked, as he let her go and she wiped away her tears.

"I know."

Lily looked at him.

"What's going to happen to us now that he's back?" She asked.

"I don't know." Draco admitted, "My father will be furious to know we're friends."

"Then don't let him know." Lily said.

"What? But Lily-"

"I don't think we can keep doing this." She said, "Keep hanging out together when anyone could see us and tell your father. We have to be more careful. What if... what if we kept being friends, but, like in secret?"

"Like how we used to." He recalled.

"Yeah."

They both weren't too happy with the arrangement, but neither could come up with an alternative.

"So... Potter's probably going crazy wondering where you are." Draco said.

"Yeah, I better go before he does something drastic without me." Lily joked.

"See you." He smiled.

"See you."

And she left the compartment to find her brother.