~ROAC~ (incomplete)

"You were meant to be mine.
I am all that you need."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hell happened?"

Remus was trembling ever-so-slightly. Lily's head was in his lap and he was making sure she kept her eyes open. Still, they had no time to waste. 

"Bell, go get a professor, Dumbledore, McGonagall, anyone!"

Immediately, the frantic brunette beside him stumbled to her feet and dashed back down the hall. Sirius' hands were curling and uncurling into and out of fists every few seconds as he took in the sight of Lily. She was bleeding from several cuts- no, gashes -along her chest and left leg. Remus had never seen any injuries like it. His first instinct when he'd found her like this was that a werewolf had infiltrated Hogwarts castle and was after Muggleborn students- but the full moon was yesterday, he remembered well, so it couldn't be that. Swearing to himself after every failed healing spell he knew, Remus had presently thought he needed help, someone to watch Lily while he went and got a teacher or vice versa, when he heard the familiar voice of Bell appear behind him, and there she was with Sirius.

"Who did this?"

"Snape."

Sirius growled, quite literally, and immediately reached for his wand, eyes flashing with red-hot anger. "Where did he go, that scoundrel, that-"

"James already went after him. You should stay here."

The disbelieving look he shot Remus made his scarred friend wince. "I know, I know- I want to throw him off the Astronomy Tower too, but you wouldn't be able to find him anyway, they're probably halfway across the castle by now, and-"

"Lupin? Black?"

"Professor!"

Remus felt a small wave of relief as Slughorn, followed by Flitwick, appeared around the corner, Bell leading them, though he was still deeply scared about Lily's wellbeing. Quickly, their owlish professor of Potions knelt beside one of his most-gifted students, eyes wide and worried. Lily didn't even try to smile and Remus felt his heart give a lurch. Sirius drew back for a moment, muttering something to Bell, and from the way her expression hardened, she was just as furious at Severus Snape as Remus and Sirius. And Lily- who knew what Lily's thoughts were now? Only she and James knew the full story of why she was lying here, wounded so badly, in the middle of the hall, but neither were currently able to express the facts those surrounding them so desperately wished for.

Barely a minute after Professors Flitwick and Slughorn started busying over Lily, both of them feigning calm through poorly-masked alarm and concern, a shout could be heard and all (minus the injured redhead, still shivering and crying from the pain on the floor) looked up. From the doorway to the Grand Staircase emerged a stony-faced James Potter, a thin figure slung over his shoulder quite unceremoniously. As soon as he saw Lily on the ground, his expression melted away into one of panic and immediately he jolted forward into a run, reaching the group just moments later. Remus had informed the professors of all he knew of the situation, so they understood James' 'parcel' was the reason for Miss Evans' suffering.

Dropping the stunned Snape to the ground a few feet away from Lily, James clenched his teeth. At Professor Flitwick's command, the Slytherin boy was released from the Body-Bind Curse James had placed upon the him and he stumbled up into a standing position almost woozily. The skin around his left eye was darkened and one of his fingers seemed to be bent in a way it was not supposed to. His stringy black hair half-covered his face, and after the briefest few seconds of silence, Bell leaped forward, Sirius beside her, shouting furiously at Snape. They managed to land a few hexes upon him before Professor Slughorn pulled them back by their very collars, insisting that if they injured Snape too much, he may not be able to perform the countercurse and save Lily.