❀⊱━━━━━━━━━━━⊰❀

"Crinus Muto!" Professor McGonagall cast on herself, and her black and graying hairs all turned into a shade of maroon red. Some of the class applauded while there were 3 boys in the back, whispering and laughing. Lily clenched her fists at how noisy they were. She couldn't concentrate at all, and they were being so disrespecful.

"Is there something funny, boys?" Professor McGonagall asked coldly.

"Oh, Sirius just said white suits you more, Minnie." Peter said with a cheeky smile, making some of the class laugh.

"How dare you, Wormtail?" Sirius said incredulously before turning to Remus. "Moony, dear Wormtail is being an arse right now."

"Oh, Padfoot." Remus chuckled and ruffled his boyfriend's hair. "Wormtail should not be your concern right now."

Sirius was about to say something when Professor McGonagall spoke. "Detention, Mr. Black. Now, take out your Transfiguration books."

"Maybe, I can find out just how much hair she has left then." Sirius whispered to Remus and Peter, making them laugh silently.

Lily who was seated right in front of them rolled her eyes, thinking they deserved it. Although they stopped going after Severus ever since James Potter wasn't with them much this year, which everyone wondered about, they were still gits. Better but still gits.

She reached out of her bag to take her book but to her surprise, what she got was a letter with her name on the back and a white lily attached to it. What was this about? And when did it get into her bag?

"Hey, what's that?" Marlene whispered to her.

"I don't know." Lily whispered back in confusion, glancing to see if Professor McGonagall was there. When she was speaking, Lily quickly opened the letter

I know you don't love me anymore, but please don't act like you never knew me at all.

Lily's eyes widened at that. Who would send a letter to her when she had never even been in a relationship? James Potter? No, he stopped pursuing her at the end of their fifth year. She actually thought she would miss that, but it was more of a relief that James wasn't chasing after her anymore. But who? Who would do this and why?

"So, what is it?" Marlene whispered again, looking curiously at her.

"I –"

"Miss Evans! Are you writing letters instead of reading Chapter 3?" Professor McGonagall appeared in front of Lily with a frown on her face.

"Here we go, Miss Evans." Sirius said teasingly, making most of the class laugh while Lily bit her tongue to stop herself from yelling at him.

"I expected more of you, Evans." Professor McGonagall shook her head in disappointment. "Now, go to the Owlery and send your letter, will you? The next time I see you, I'd like to see you reading instead of writing."

"Sorry, Professor." Lily blushed deeply in embarrassment and took her bag, running out of the classroom. Whoever sent this letter and the Marauders who embarrassed her more would pay for this. Someone who was seated at the corner of the classroom watched her go with a worried look on his face. But did he even have the right to worry?

❀⊱━━━━━━━━━━━⊰❀

"Maybe, someone made a mistake." Marlene said to Lily as they walked to their way to the library.

"I-Ow!" Lily groaned when someone ran into her.

"Sorry!" The little first year, Christian Clarke, apologized and ran away. Lily just thought he was rushing and let it be.

"A mistake? But my name is on the back of the envelopes." Lily showed her once more the letters. As the week went by, more and more letters appeared in her bags with white lilies, causing Lily to be both frustrated and confused. "Look. I'm really sorry, Lily. I still love you."

"Maybe, it is for you." Marlene stopped walking then, her eyes wide in realization, and whispered. "Do you think it's James?"

"No." Lily shook her head, remembering the strange behavior of James Potter. "We never had a relationship, remember? And he stopped asking me out at the end of last year."

"Then who do you think it is?"

"I don't. But apparently, this person calls me Ri."

"Ri? Like Lily Marie?" Marlene asked in confusion as they sat down at the Great Hall.

"Here." Lily took out the other letters and showed her its contents. "I miss you so much, Ri. In case you want to visit me, I'm living at 120 - I don't even care where this person lives! Whoever they are, they're just annoying. I don't even know how they manage to put the letters in my bag."

"Oh, look there's a new one." Marlene picked up the unopened letter on the floor while Lily groaned in frustration. She opened the letter and read its contents to Lily."I know you're happy with him, but I really want to see you. Aww, poor – Hey, what are you going to do?" 

Marlene chased after Lily who suddenly stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, a determined look on her face. 

"Find a way to make this person stop." Lily stopped at the corridor and took out parchment and a quill. Enough was enough. She couldn't take this anymore. She needed to give a wake-up call to this person, whoever it was.

"They said they'll be waiting at the usual spot this Saturday." Marlene said to her, remembering the letter.

"That's good then." Lily said happily, finishing up the letter and putting it in her bag. "Let them wait."

❀⊱━━━━━━━━━━━⊰❀

The sound of the cue stick hitting a cue ball resonated throughout the Hog's Head. Lily, Marlene and Dorcas made their way into the pub. They went there after hearing that the bar had new pool tables courtesy of the owner, Aberforth Dumbledore.

"So, how did you make them stop sending letters?" Dorcas asked while they walked to one of the pool tables. She heard of the letters from Marlene and was just as flabbergasted as they were. Lily Evans? Love letters? Putting those together seemed unlikely.

"I gave them what they wanted. I agreed to meet with them." Lily turned to the man at the bar. "Three butterbeers please."

"Where?" Dorcas asked curiously.

"At the usual spot. Thank you." Lily paid for their Butterbeers and handed her friends each of them.

"And do you know where's that?"

"I don't know."

"Wait what? I thought you said you were going to meet with them?" Dorcas accidentally hit Marlene on the nose. "Sorry, babe."

"No." Lily let out a sigh. "And I just said that to make them stop."

"And that person is probably waiting right now." Marlene let out a sigh. Lily just rolled her eyes and finished her Butterbeer. Well, it was that person's fault for putting letters in her bag and embarrassing her multiple times. They should have thought twice before sending her letters.

"You have a heart of stone, Lils." Dorcas shook her head and handed Marlene a cue stick. "Stone-cold."

Lily sighed before picking up one of the cue sticks. She did not want to think of those letters anymore. Such a nuisance. So, she redirected her attention to the pool table. "How do you play this? Can you teach me?" She was just about to try hitting one of the balls when someone grabbed the cue stick from her harshly.

"Leave." A cold voice said. "This is my table." Lily snapped her head up and saw that it was Alexandra Malfoy who had taken her cue stick from her. This was the second time she ran into her in the 6 years that they had been classmates. For some reason, she never met Alexandra before this year. Well, Lily would admit she didn't really interact with anyone else other than the Professors and her friends and people she needed to talk to for her Prefect duties.

"Leave." The Marauder said once more while glaring at the three of them. Her glare stopped on Lily who was glaring back at her. This was the girl who threw the book at her head. Back then, she let it pass, but now, she had something important to do. As Alexandra picked up their bags on the chairs and threw them on the pool table, she sat down at one of the chairs with a distant look.

"Come on, let's get another table." Dorcas suggested while they picked up their bags.

"Wait." Lily looked at the table and spoke in a sarcastic tone. "I don't see any name written here."

"Come on." Marlene pulled her back.

"I don't see any." Lily said firmly and she glared at Alexandra who had her eyes set on the door, ignoring everything that was happening around her.

"Just stop it, Lils." Dorcas whispered to her. "I still want to live. Let's go." Though reluctantly, Lily let her friends pull her away and she stared at Alexandra who was still looking at the door. What was she looking at? It wasn't like the door was opening.

"Let's use this table. Come on, here." Dorcas brought Marlene and Lily to one of the other pool tables. Marlene noticed that Lily was still staring at Alexandra and gave her a nudge, trying to calm her friend down for she knew about Alexandra's infamous temper.

"Look, Marls. She doesn't look like she plans on playing." Lily let out a scoff.

"Come on, we'll teach you how to play." Marlene pushed her down towards the pool table.

"Position your hand like this. Spot it like this." Dorcas started explaining, but Lily wasn't listening at all. She was still looking at Alexandra who was reading a letter.

"She's not even playing." Lily started walking towards Alexandra, irritated at her attitude, but Dorcas quickly pulled her back.

"Just mind your own business." Dorcas sighed in frustration. "Don't mess with a broken heart." Lily raised an eyebrow at that, asking wordlessly if she had her heart broken, and Dorcas nodded.

"What? This girl was in a relationship?" Lily frowned and crossed her arms. She couldn't believe someone actually fell for this rude gangster. "Someone must have made a mistake."

"Oh, she was beautiful, Lils. A head-turner." Dorcas leaned in and kissed Marlene on the cheeks. "But only my Marlene turned my head." Marlene just rolled her eyes though she was blushing.

"She must've hit her head and came back to her senses." Lily said in realization, shaking her head with a sigh before she sat down by the pool table. "She should've gotten her girlfriend a helmet."

"Oh, come on. Look at her. She's beautiful and handsome." Marlene said and kissed Dorcas. "But not as beautiful and handsome as my Dorcas." Dorcas winked at her.

Lily scoffed and ignored their flirting which she would have rolled her eyes at if this was any other time, but she was too  absorbed in talking about Alexandra. "Being good-looking isn't enough."

"So you agree?" Dorcas asked while wiggling her eyebrows.

"Of course not." Lily answered immediately, albeit a little defensively.

"You didn't deny it the first time." Marlene grinned at her.

Lily looked at her in disbelief before sighing. "My point is even if you have good looks, you have to know how to treat a girl right. Not like her. So arrogant."

"Oh no, Lily." Dorcas sat down with them, putting the cue stick down as she explained. "Alexandra was a sweetheart. She treated Lily like a queen. Wait a minute. You have the same name as her. She's a year younger than us, Lily Elton."

Lily's eyes widened at that, but Dorcas continued on. "She still loves her. After they broke up, she never looked at anyone else. That is why her hair is messy and long. She says she won't clean up and cut it unless she and Lily get back together. Maybe she's here because she's waiting for Lily. Not you, okay? Lily Elton."

Lily and Marlene exchanged horrified looks, things slowly making sense. Could it be... Oh, they hoped for their lives they were wrong.

As Dorcas went back to the pool table, Marlene whispered to Lily. "Oh no, Lils. She really looks like she's waiting for someone. Could it be..." Lily stared at her in disbelief before looking back at Alexandra where there were some students going to her. Lily remembered they were some of the Slytherins in their year, and she frowned when she saw Severus Snape among them. He really did choose his path.

"Hey, it's our turn." One of them, Rosier, said. As the people around started whispering and coming closer to have a better view of the scene, Alexandra just stayed where she was, glancing at the Slytherins before looking back down. Lily, Dorcas and Marlene also stood up and moved to get a closer look.

"Hey. Leave." Rosier raised his voice.

"I'm waiting for someone." Alexandra simply said.

"Who? Your Ri?" Snape said tauntingly, making the others laugh with him.

"That's a good one, Severus." Mulciber said proudly.

"Ri?" Marlene whispered as she and Lily looked at each other with wide eyes. Oh shit. This was just confirming their suspicions.

"Hey, she's not moving at all." Mulciber said, coming closer to Alexandra and taking out his wand. "You think we won't hex you? You may be a Malfoy, but Lucius isn't here to save you."

"I said, leave." Rosier slapped the back of Alexandra's head, but to everyone's surprise, she did not do or say anything. "What now, blood traitor? Acting all tough with us?" Alexandra took in a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair.

"You're embarrassing us right now." Rosier muttered before he punched Alexandra in the jaw, making the Gryffindor fall off her chair. Lily held a hand to her mouth at that. She may dislike the Malfoy, but she didn't want her to get hurt.

"Look." Avery pulled Rosier back slightly as Alexandra started standing up. All of them had their wands out except for Alexandra. But she did something unexpected. Alexandra simply got back onto her seat, her eyes still set on the door. No matter what, she was going to wait. 

"Was that good? Or do you want more?" Rosier pointed his wand at her.

"Get the hell out of here!"

"Why isn't she fighting back?"

"You don't want to leave? Hey, go hold her." Some of the Slytherins started forward with their wands, and Alexandra started fighting back, pushing them away while getting hit with some of their spells. She grabbed her chair and sat back down in her seat. Lily's face was full of worry as she watched Alexandra try and fight them back with only her fists. Lily knew that Alexandra didn't really want to hurt them. Her perspective on the Marauder was changing a little. She did seem to have a little kindness in her.

"Lily, let's go." Marlene started pulling her away, but Lily's eyes couldn't move away from Alexandra, guilt bubbling inside her.

"Alexandra is really something." Someone said behind her. "She would do anything for Ri." The Slytherins started punching and hexing her again, but Alexandra's hold on the pool table tightened as she fought them off. Lily could only watch the scene with pity and guilt. She also felt her heart go out to the Marauder who would do everything to stay in her seat and wait for Ri.

"That's enough!" The owner of Hog's Head, Aberforth Dumbledore, Stunned the Slytherins with a wave of his wand. Sirius, Remus and Peter came running in after him as they went to Alexandra with worry on their faces. 

"Mudfur..." Peter cupped Alexandra's face with worry, inspecting her wounds and letting out a sigh when Alexandra gently pushed his hand away. "Mudfur, let's go. Moony, Padfoot, come on."

"You're hurt, Mudfur, come on." Remus tried to pull Alexandra away, but the girl shook her head, making them exchange glances. They knew how stubborn she was.

"Alexandra, you're hurt." Sirius bit his lip, hesitating to say his next words but deciding to say them anyway. "She isn't coming."

Alexandra tightened her hold on the pool table, a tear rolling down her cheek and mixing with the blood. She knew that. She knew Ri wasn't coming, but still, she had hope because of that letter she sent back. Alexandra waited. She even fought, just for Ri. But she didn't come. The pain from her wounds and bruises couldn't compare to the pain of having her hopes crushed. She just wanted to talk to her one last time, but she couldn't even be given that. 

That evening, Lily couldn't sleep at all, remembering how Alexandra waited and fought so hard just for Ri. Dorcas was right. She really was nursing a broken heart. Oh, if only Lily knew, she wouldn't have done the things she did. Then, an owl came to her window, making her eyes widen. It was another letter. With shaky hands, Lily pushed down the lump in her throat and opened it. 

Ri, I waited for you. Why didn't you show up?

Lily held the letter to her chest and frowned, feeling guiltier than ever. She should have just come clean about the letters instead of giving Alexandra false hope and letting her get hurt. Alexandra was a broken soul, and Lily might just have broken her more with what she did.

❀⊱━━━━━━━━━━━⊰❀

❀⊱━━━━━━━━━━━⊰❀