Surviving the Forbidden Forest
Back in the Gryffindor dormitory, the four girls immediately crowded around Lily, surrounding her. Mary planted her hands on her hips and stood beside Dorcas, deliberately putting on an imposing air. "All right, confess. Who do you actually like?"
"Why do I have to like anyone? I like myself more than romance." As Lily spoke, she took complete makeup sets out of her suitcase. "These just arrived at Tales of Blossoms. One set for each of you."
The moment Marlene saw the exquisite cosmetics, she excitedly lunged forward. "Merlin, Lily actually got a set for each of us! Muggle cosmetics come in so many varieties?" Her eyes filled with envy as she marveled at the rows of shades.
Dorcas opened a lipstick and tried it directly on her arm. Everyone's attention was instantly captured by the cosmetics.
"There are pitifully few kinds of cosmetics available in the wizarding world. I was just worrying about finding something I liked. Lily is practically Merlin descended to save me."
Marlene became Dorcas's testing canvas, her entire arm covered in lipstick marks of every color.
"Our Lily is beautiful and capable. Whoever manages to win her over must have ancestors who did good deeds." Alice put her cosmetics in order while packing the textbooks she needed for class the next day.
"Absolutely. There have always been plenty of boys after Lily." Mary looked down as she painted her nails and added casually, "But quite a few older girls have told me that if Muggle-born witches want to stay in the wizarding world long-term, they'd better settle on someone to date while they're still at school."
Dorcas didn't grasp the deeper meaning. "What does that mean?"
"It means that if Mary and I don't choose someone to date and marry early on, there'll be fewer and fewer suitable candidates later. After all, we're both Muggle-born wizards." Lily felt nothing but sadness at the thought of choosing a partner and marrying herself off early just to stay in the wizarding world.
"Don't dwell on it. We're only first-years, and there's plenty of time ahead." Alice spoke up to dispel the gloomy atmosphere. "We have classes all day tomorrow, so everyone should get some rest."
They all began to feel sleepy and soon put out the lights and went to bed. Lily lay quietly until her roommates' breathing grew steady and they were fast asleep, then slipped out of bed.
"I hope I don't get caught sneaking out tonight."
She climbed down the ladder, casually wrapped a scarf around her neck, threw on a thick cloak, and walked slowly toward the empty common room. Lily knew James and the other three hadn't stood her up; they were hiding beneath the Invisibility Cloak.
"Potter?"
Suddenly, someone gently tugged the scarf from around her neck, and it vanished into thin air. Lily frowned. "Potter? If you don't come out, I'm going straight back to bed."
"Don't go back." James poked his head out from beneath the Invisibility Cloak. The red scarf was already wrapped around his neck. Lily glanced at it helplessly. Never mind. Since he was already wearing it, she couldn't be bothered to make an issue of it.
"Come on. I'll cover you, and we can walk together."
"James, the Invisibility Cloak is too small. It's already crowded with four of us." Lupin's muffled voice came out of thin air.
"It's all right. I know the Disillusionment Charm."
Lily was secretly relieved. There really wasn't room for a fifth person under the Invisibility Cloak, and she had no desire to squeeze in with four boys anyway. It would be far too awkward.
"All right, then." James watched as Lily raised her hand and sent out a flash of white light, casting the Disillusionment Charm on herself. The next second, her figure vanished completely.
"Let's go. We'll get there and back quickly. We have classes all day tomorrow, and I don't want to be late and get punished." Lily gently took hold of a corner of the Invisibility Cloak so they wouldn't get separated.
The Forbidden Forest was steeped in a bone-chilling dampness late at night. Dead branches crackled faintly underfoot, thick black mist coiled around every tree trunk, and the heavy canopy blocked the moonlight, letting through only scattered patches of pallid light. The five of them treaded softly deeper into the forest for nearly an hour, but saw no sign of a deer herd or a centaur, let alone a gentle, silvery-white unicorn.
Lily's legs ached, and she couldn't help protesting under her breath. "My legs are about to fall off. James, where exactly are those unicorns you mentioned?" They had ventured a long way into the Forbidden Forest, and she remembered that Hagrid kept a large group of furry creatures there. The spells these first-years knew were nowhere near enough to deal with them.
"Let's go a little farther. Maybe we'll see one up ahead." James was getting a little anxious too. He was the one who had invited Lily out, yet there wasn't a unicorn in sight. He felt Hagrid had fooled him. "Strange. Why isn't there a single unicorn?"
Lupin's nose twitched slightly, and his frown deepened. "Something's wrong. Something is coming toward us."
Lily went rigid. Looking at Lupin's grave expression, she asked in a slightly trembling voice, "W-what is it?"
Lupin was startled by her sudden voice. Lily hurriedly pressed him, "You just said something was coming toward us?"
"I can only sense danger. I can't tell what it is." Lupin spread his hands, indicating that he couldn't tell them anything more.
Peter was shaking all over with fright. Already extremely timid, he stammered, "W-what's coming?"
Lily gave a bitter laugh inwardly, feeling that her luck was terrible. It went without saying: when the protagonist entered the Forbidden Forest, she was bound to encounter a big boss. Nine times out of ten, she had run into acromantulas. As soon as the words were out, a dense, sharp rustling of countless crawling creatures came from the ground.
Lily had no time to think. She immediately layered multiple Protego charms over herself. Masses of dark shapes poured out from beneath the roots of a thick old oak. Countless acromantulas swarmed out of their nest, their hard black shells gleaming coldly in the faint moonlight. Eight crimson slit pupils stared fixedly at the five of them, and their enormous fangs ground together with a grating creak. Several in the front were as large as adult hunting dogs, and their ranks blocked every escape route.
"James, anything you'd like to say now?" Sirius gave a bitter smile and looked at James.
James was momentarily at a loss, stammering without managing to say anything.
Terrified, Peter immediately shrank behind Lupin and hastily drew his wand. But the only spells he was good at were prank spells, which were useless against giant spiders. James waved his wand repeatedly, casting Impedimenta, but the thin barrier had barely formed before a jab from a giant spider's pincer shattered it.
"There are too many! We have to find a way out!"
Lily kept layering Protego charms over herself. Her own magic was practically limitless, but the fact that she could escape safely didn't mean the other four could get out unharmed.
"Lily, I'm sorry. I've failed our future son..." James was convinced he wouldn't survive the night.
"Shut up, Potter." Lily really couldn't bear to listen to his wild fantasies at a time like this.
"James, think of something! We're really going to die!" As the giant spiders closed in around them, even the normally daring Sirius began to panic.
"Incendio!" Lily sent several bursts of flame exploding ahead of them in quick succession, then reached out, grabbed James, who was closest to her, and sprinted forward. Fireworks instantly exploded in James's heart. Out of everyone here, she grabbed me first. She really does have feelings for me!