Lily, James, and Sirius

The stone steps leading up from the cellar were narrow and steep, with torches spaced far apart, casting a dim light. The cracks in the stone slabs were perpetually damp. Lily Evans climbed the steps, having just come from Professor Slughorn's office, her mind still immersed in a Draught of Living Death.

Slughorn kept her a few hours longer tonight; on the table sat a small crucible of half-cooked sample, purplish-black, with a layer of mist floating on its surface.

The professor explained the mixing steps in detail, and there was another ingredient she couldn't name. The professor said it was the most difficult ingredient to control in the Draught of Living Death; adding even a fraction too much would ruin the entire pot of medicine.

Then let her try it herself.

Lily began stirring, and the color gradually transitioned from a deep blackcurrant purple to a soft pale lilac purple, until all the purple faded completely, transforming into a completely transparent, Aguamenti.

The crucible contained a perfect Draught of Living Death, as clear as a mountain spring, without a trace of impurity or turbidity.

When gently shaken, the liquid flows smoothly over the crucible wall without leaving any sticky residue, only a very faint wisp of cool wormwood fragrance floats on the surface, and after standing still, it emits a very faint pearly white shimmer.

Finally, a red mint leaf was added; upon touching the liquid, the leaf turned into fine white ash and vanished without a trace.

"The standard for a perfect score on the NEWT exam, Lily, you're only the second student I've ever taught to achieve this level in third grade." The professor, his round, chubby fingers interlaced on his stomach, smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits, then pulled a thick book from his drawer and pushed it towards him. "Take this home and study it; this talent can't be wasted."

As he spoke, he stuffed something into her pocket—as usual, a small bag of Candied Pineapple.

Lily happily accepted it, but it was so sweet that she decided to leave it all for Marcia and Susan, and not touch a single piece herself.

She still had a smile on her face when she left the office.

The cellar floor was very stuffy; the stove had been burning all night, and the air was filled with the smell of herbs and burnt crucibles.

Her face was still warm from the fire, and she loosely wrapped her scarf around her neck, her red hair falling over the shoulders of her Gryffindor robes, as she walked up the stone steps to the upper level.

She put the book "Advanced Potion-Making" and a whole bag of Candied Pineapple into her small purple Handbag, thinking about the color of the potion she had just brewed as she walked. She hummed an off-key tune, her steps light and quick.

The music stopped when we turned the corner of those stone steps.

There are people in the Corridor.

The torches were far apart, casting uneven light, leaving a dark section of Corridor between the two beams of light. There, three figures could be seen.

One of them was forced against the wall, his back pressed against the stone wall, half of his arm white and covered with a layer of frost.

His face was sallow, his hair was shiny black, and he hunched his shoulders.

Severus.

Standing opposite him was a man with messy, sticking-out hair, glasses perched on his nose, and a wand held high, the tip almost touching Severus's face.

James Potter.

There was another person leaning against the wall, with black hair, longer and smoother James's, his shoulders draped over the stone wall, twirling his wand in his hand, his eyes looking at the other end of the Corridor, as if he had nothing to do with this.

Sirius Black.

Lily stood on the stone steps, her eyes blazing with fury.

These two again, it's always the same.

She'd seen it too many times—in first grade, second grade, third grade, and now since the start of this school year.

Every time, it was Severus alone, cornered in a Corridor by these two, or these two with two more people. Every time she rushed over and shouted, these two would lazily disperse, uttering a few unpleasant words as they left, only to return the next day. And every time, all she could do was shout once.

Lily tightened her grip on the Handbag strap for a moment, then loosened it again.

She knew perfectly well why she could only shout each time: because she couldn't beat them.

Potter and Black were the two most ruthless fighters in the entire third grade; their spells were fast and accurate, so it was pointless for her to rush in.

Shouting would at least make those two lose interest and disperse, saving Severus from getting hit twice as hard.

She had been holding back this frustration for the past two years, and each time she felt the same helplessness.

Seeing Severus trapped there, she wanted to rush up and fight back for him, but she couldn't. She knew better than anyone that she couldn't. She looked down at her hands, opened them, clenched them, and then opened them again.

A sentence suddenly popped into my head; it happened several months ago.

That time she asked Regulus why some people just love to bully others.

Regulus didn't answer her directly. Instead, he asked her if she wanted to be able to stop something like this from happening again on her own. She froze, her eyes brightening for a moment before dimming again, because she knew she couldn't do it.

But Regulus made her believe in him, and she believed him more than she believed in herself.

This phrase has resurfaced now.

Lily held onto his hand this time and didn't let go.

She recalled everything she had practiced that year, one by one.

Repeating spells and hand gestures to the air in Abandoned Classroom; secretly making feathers float in the air while your roommate is asleep in your Dormitory; making Paper Crane fold their own wings while facing the moon outside your window on a night when the power goes out at home.

Regulus stood opposite her, crushing every spell she unleashed, and then said, "Again."

This time, perhaps it will be different.

She drew her wand and began to walk upwards.

"Two against one," she said, her voice echoing crisply through the stone walls from the top of the steps, "Is that all you've got?" James turned around, saw who it was, raised an eyebrow, and the fierce look on his face vanished, replaced by a nonchalant grin. His cane tip pointed steadily at Snape's face, and he drawled, "Yo, Evans."

"Potter," Lily stepped forward, her red hair swaying over her shoulders, her green eyes gleaming in the torchlight, "Put your wand down!" "That's none of your business," James shrugged, lazily nodding his wand toward Snape again, "I was talking to Snivellus, did that bother you? Go back to your tower."

"Speak?" Lily's anger flared instantly, her eyes glaring at him. "You call that speaking?"

"He's a jerk," James said matter-of-factly, raising his chin. "You didn't hear what he just said; he was absolutely asking for a beating."

At the base of the wall, Sirius finally turned around, glanced at Lily, and his eyes were full of "I've seen this kind of nonsense eight hundred times, what's so special about it?" After glancing at her, he lazily looked away.

Lily noticed the look in his eyes.

They were even angrier. One of them took action, while the other watched from the side. Both of them felt that this was a matter of course and that they could bully someone with a clear conscience.

"Get out of here, Evans," James waved his hand dismissively, like shooing away a fly. "This is a boy's business, not yours."

He stammered, unable to finish his sentence, and simply retorted with an even more aggressive statement, "Anyway, this is none of your business, get out of here!"

"I think it's none of my business," Lily took another step forward, raising her voice, "I see you doing this every time I pass by. You're not annoyed, but I am."

"Annoying?" James chuckled, raising an eyebrow before giving her a proper once-over. "Evans, what did you eat today? You're so irritable."

He grinned, deliberately drawing out his words: "Just to protect such a Snivellus? The kind of friend you make, tsk, that's really low-class." Lily stopped a few steps away, wand in hand, not pointing at anyone yet, but the anger in her voice was rising.

"If you're so capable, let him go and find someone who can fight just as well as you. What kind of skill is it to bully someone who's alone?!"

James chuckled, glanced at Snape, and then looked back at him.

"Him? He didn't seem like he was alone when he was being stubborn just now," the tone was undisguised contempt. "That snotty -Snivellus was just teaching me what jumping meant."

Lily frowned and pressed her lips tightly together.

She'd known James Potter for a long time; he'd been like this since his first day at school.

Arrogant, cocky, a jerk, he always has a group of people around him, and he always thinks the whole world is his playground.

What's most infuriating about him isn't his foul mouth, but that he doesn't think he has anything wrong with himself.

Bullying people is as natural to him as eating and sleeping; the angrier you get, the more energetic he becomes.

"James Potter," she pointed her wand at him, "If your mouth were any less impressive than your skill, Gryffindor would be half as shameful."

James was taken aback for a moment, then grinned, looking quite pleased.

"Oh," he tilted his head, looking her up and down, "so you can swear, Evans. I thought all you knew was 'stop' and 'don't do that.'" He chuckled, "Come on, say a couple more, let's hear how fresh this is."

Lily glared at him, her eyebrows furrowed. "You think everything's a joke? You corner someone, two against one, and when they yell 'Stop!' you just tell them to get out of the way? Who do you think you are?"

"I thought I was James Potter," he shrugged. "Are you satisfied with this answer?"

"I'm not satisfied," Lily's voice rose, utterly unforgiving. "I think you're just an arrogant jerk who's never been knocked off Broomstick before, so you think no one in the world can handle you."

James raised his eyebrows even higher, let out an exaggerated "Wow!", and glanced at Sirius.

Then she turned back, the smile on her face fading slightly.

"Fine, Evans," he said casually, "You're really determined to be a hero today?"

"I'm not here to be a hero," Lily said, pointing the tip of her cane at him. "I just can't stand your behavior."

Snape's face twitched as he stood by the stone wall.

James realized that while his other skills were average, his instinct for fighting was innate.

He narrowed his eyes, his playful expression fading slightly, but he was far from serious.

He just felt that Evans, who usually shouted a couple of times and then turned to find the professor, seemed Taiyi today. "What's wrong?" James laughed again, "You still want to fight? With me?"

"You'll see once you try." Lily stared at him, her green eyes blazing.

Sirius turned his head over from the other side of the wall, having originally not intended to get involved in this.

Snape's words were still echoing in his mind: knocking on the door, those people, these past two years.

He understood what Snape was saying immediately, and he was currently seething with anger.

Then Evans appeared, red-haired, green-eyed, and sulking, arguing with James. Before, she would only tell him to stop, but now she knew how to shut James up.

He actually pulled out his wand, looking like he was about to get serious.

They're really getting into it.

That's interesting.

Sirius's worries were quickly dispelled by this new experience.

His eyes darted around, a wicked idea popped into his head, and a malicious smile crept onto his lips.

He didn't say anything, and simply changed the direction of his wand.

Lily's cane tip was already raised, aimed directly at James.

A whistle, sharp, loud, and crisp, echoed through the empty Corridor.

Lily and James both looked towards the base of the wall.

Sirius left the wall, grinned at James, clearly looking on with amusement.

He pointed his wand at Snape, Silencio, two beams of light shot out from the tip of the wand.

The first one, red, hurtled towards Snape by the wall, striking him squarely in the chest.

Snape slammed backward, his head hitting the stone wall with a dull thud.

The wand slipped from his hand and rolled to the side on the ground.

Before he could catch his breath, a second spell struck him— Petrifying Spell.

His limbs stiffened instantly, and he was as if nailed to the wall, with only his black eyes still able to move.

James glanced back at Snape, then turned back to Sirius, laughing, "You certainly know how to pick your time."

Sirius put his wand away, leaned back against the wall, and lazily nodded at James.

The place is cleared; you can handle the rest.

Lily's face flushed red. "You guys..."

She abruptly turned her wand towards Sirius, her voice trembling with rage, her breathing rapid, her chest heaving. "You're really something, sneaking up on someone who can't move!"

Sirius didn't even lift his eyelids, leaning lazily against the wall, his posture and expression conveying the same message.

I won't fight you, but James wants to fight you, and I'll watch the show.

James chuckled and took a step forward, standing right between Lily and Sirius.

"Hey, Evans," he said, raising his wand in a light tone, "I'm your opponent. Don't get distracted."

He drew Lily's attention back to him.

In that brief moment of distraction, James made his move.