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"Faster!" Alexandra tapped her foot impatiently. It was now morning, and Lily stayed over for the night. Alexandra had explained to her about the Marauders' situation and made Lily promise not to tell anyone else, and she asked Peter through their mirrors to tell Marlene and the others where Lily was to ease their worries.

"I'm here." Lily let out a sigh, coming down the stairs. "Why do we have to go so early anyways?" Alexandra would never admit it, but her heart did skip a beat when she saw how perfect her leather jacket fit Lily. Lily raised an eyebrow when she noticed Alexandra just staring at her.

"Hey, Alexandra?" Lily snapped her fingers in front of the Marauder's face. Alexandra snapped back to her senses and raised an eyebrow. "I asked why do we have to go to school so early?"

"That's because we're not going to school." Alexandra simply said as they made their way out of Alexandra's flat.

"What?" Lily asked incredulously. "Where are you taking me?"

"Here." Lily's eyes widened in horror when she saw the Shrieking Shack. What was Alexandra going to do to her? Was it her last day on Earth?

Alexandra rolled her eyes. "Here, Evans." She turned Lily around, and Lily's horror turned to confusion because they were in front of the hairdressing salon.

"Wha – " Lily was cut off because Alexandra pulled her into the salon.

The old man at the counter smiled widely. "Ah, Alexandra. Welcome!" Then, he turned to Lily. "And you must be Lily. Come on then, sit. I'll call Joenel."

"Thanks, Gregory." Alexandra led Lily to one of the chairs. "Don't worry. It's all on me."

"A-Are you sure about this?" Lily said worriedly. "They wouldn't cut all my hair off, right?"

"I think I'd be the one to do that first." Alexandra chuckled when Lily glared at her before taking the broken bracelet off Lily's wrist.

"Jamie! It's been a long time." The hair stylist, Joenel, came walking in and she was surprised to Lily. "Oh, who's she? Her hair is horrible."

Alexandra snorted, making Lily glare at her. "This is Lily. My girlfriend."

"She's also a Lily?" Joenel said in surprise.

"Hello." Lily smiled politely. Joenel grinned back at her.

"I'll leave her in your care," said Alexandra. "I'll be back soon."

"Take your time." Joenel smiled and started inspecting Lily's hair. "Dry and stubborn hair." Alexandra patted him on the shoulder and glanced at Lily through the mirror before getting out of the salon.

"So dry." Lily smiled nervously at the hair stylist's comments.

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After an hour, Alexandra was making her way back to the salon, holding a paper bag. They still had two hours before class would start. She entered and stopped in her tracks when she saw a woman with red hair had back turned on her. As the woman turned around, Alexandra's mouth opened slightly when she saw it was Lily.

Instead of her usually dry and lackluster hair, Lily's red hair was now shining and it looked like fire, attracting more attention. Lily's straight and stubborn hair was now curled at the bottom, the tresses framing Lily's face perfectly, and Alexandra could only stare at the Prefect and wonder why she had never noticed Lily's beauty before because as Lily started walking towards her, cliché as it may seem, everything faded away and she could only see Lily.

Lily smiled widely when she saw the starstruck look on Alexandra's face, hoping that the transformation had pleased the Marauder. Alexandra walked towards her slowly and stopped a few inches away.

"What do you think?" Lily smiled expectantly.

Alexandra snapped back to her senses and just nodded. "It's all right."

"What?" Lily raised an eyebrow at her answer.

"Go get changed so you'll look decent at least." Alexandra pushed the paper bag to her.

"Yeah, right." Lily smirked and took the paper bags. "I just saw your jaw drop." As she made her way to the bathroom, Alexandra stared after her with a slightly open mouth. Damn it, why did that simple comment from Lily made her cheeks flush and her heart beat faster when the only person who made her feel like that was Lily Elton?

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"Come on!"

"Oh, go on now, will you?"

Sirius, Remus and Peter were at the entrance of the Great Hall, ushering the people in as Alexandra requested. After reassuring Marlene and Lily's other friends, they set out to do what Alexandra asked them to do.

"Padfoot, Moony. There's Mudfur." Peter pointed to the gates where Alexandra and Lily had just arrived. The three boys put their thumbs up in approval of Lily's hair, and Alexandra winked at them.

"Well, you clean up nicely, Evans." Sirius said teasingly.

"You look wonderful, Lily." Peter grinned at her.

"Why thank you, Black, Peter." Lily chuckled at them before turning to the frowning Remus. "I'm all right, Remus. We're all right." Remus smiled weakly at her and patted her on the shoulder. Lily didn't know just how much those words meant to him. He knew he always had his friends behind him, and to hear it from someone else, it just had a different impact.

Alexandra suddenly took Lily's wrist and put something on it gently. "There. Is it okay?"

Lily's eyes widened when she saw it was a bracelet. It was not that extravagant. Just a simple, red braided bracelet. She smiled softly and admired it. Alexandra smirked and raised her hand, moving down the sleeve of her leather jacket a bit to reveal the same bracelet.

"Now, we're a match." Alexandra took Lily's hand gently in hers and intertwined their fingers, making their way towards the Great Hall. As they entered, they saw a crowd around the middle, making Lily confused.

"Get out of the way. Let them pass through." Sirius called out, and the crowd parted to reveal Bellatrix Black and three other Slytherin girls who had attacked Lily the previous night, kneeling down on the floor. Lily's eyes widened and she looked at the staff table, wondering why they were doing nothing, but the staff table was unbelievably empty.

Lily looked around the crowd for her friends and saw them smiling weakly at her. Sirius, Remus and Peter went to the Slytherin girls, holding Quaffles in their hands, glaring at the Slytherins and warning them not to try anything. Lily wondered how they managed to get Bellatrix to kneel down, but she then remembered these were the Marauders they were talking about.

As Alexandra and Lily stopped in front of the girls, Alexandra chuckled lowly at them. "Well, girls? Aren't you going to say anything?"

"What?" Peter raised his voice at them.

"Say, "Sorry Lily!"" Remus let out a scoff. From behind Alexandra and Lily, Ria and James had arrived, watching the scene with worry.

"Go!"

"What are you waiting for?"

"S-Sorry Lily." Bellatrix managed to stutter out, the rest of the girls following after her. She had to do it because her stupid blood-traitor cousin and her idiotic potential spouse said they'd do everything to make her last months at Hogwarts a living hell, and though she could defend herself, she wouldn't put it past them. After all, Alexandra Malfoy was the most influential student at Hogwarts. She would have to put down her pride this one time, and apologize to a filthy Mudblood.

"I don't think it sounded sincere." Alexandra scoffed and raised an eyebrow at the girls. She let go of Lily's hand and looked around. "Right?"

"No." Most of the students started murmuring in agreement and shaking their heads. Bellatrix had to bite her tongue to keep herself from retorting.

"Give them to me." Alexandra motioned to Peter and Remus. Remus and Peter threw her the Quaffles, which Alexandra caught in her hands. She glared at the four girls in front of her. "No one can ever hurt my girlfriend." She turned to look at Lily who was looking at her with a conflicted look. James and Ria had frowns on their faces as they watched Alexandra hand over the Quaffles to Lily.

"Lily, hit them on the faces!"

"Go, Lily!"

Most of the crowd started cheering for her. Alexandra smiled and took a step back for Lily to hit them.

"Lily! Lily!" They started chanting, and Lily hesitated as she turned the Quaffles over in her hands. As they chanted, Lily stared at the Slytherins who were starting to cover their faces with their hands. Lily suddenly smiled and placed the Quaffles on the floor, making their chants die down. The Slytherins looked up at her in surprise and disgust.

"Why?" Someone asked incredulously. Alexandra smiled softly, watching Lily. This girl right beside her had the purest heart Alexandra had ever met. She thought back to Lily's words the previous night. No, Lily's heart wasn't weak, not at all. It was strong just like Lily herself.

"Let's go?" Lily smiled at Alexandra. Alexandra intertwined their fingers once more, making their way out of the hall, none of them seeing how James and Ria stared after them with longing looks. As they made their way out, they ran into Professor McGonagall.

"Ah, good to see that you're okay, Miss Evans." Professor McGonagall nodded at her before looking at Alexandra. "Malfoy, Professor Slughorn says the whole of next month will do."

"Right on, Minnie." Alexandra grinned at her. The Professor simply sighed and walked away though there was a small smile on her face.

"What was that about?" Lily asked curiously.

"Nothing of your concern." Alexandra answered back and pulled her along. "Come on. Your hair's dry again." Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, inside the Great Hall, Sirius, Remus and Peter picked up the Quaffles, grinning at the kneeling girls.

"But us?" Peter chuckled lowly. "We're not as kind as her." Bellatrix and the others covered their faces again, nervous at what the three boys would do.

"One! Two!" As they raised the Quaffles, the Slytherins shrieked, making the three Marauders laugh. Seeing them like that made one student in the crowd smile sadly. He should have been there with them.

"Cowards!" Remus said teasingly, making the audience and the Marauders laugh.

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"Alexandra. We need to talk." Lucius suddenly appeared in front of her, looking at Lily and her friends with disgust. Alexandra hesitated before nodding at them and pulling Lucius away with a soft smile at Lily.

"You humiliated one of your potential spouses!" Lucius roared at her. "Father is livid, and he's this close to disowning you."

"Oh, really?" Alexandra raised an eyebrow. "Tell him he should talk to me first. I don't want you and your slippery tongue near me."

"I'm serious, Alexandra!" Lucius said seriously, glaring at his younger sister. "You've made a mistake being in Gryffindor, and you've made a mistake in being a Marauder. You've made a mistake in dating that blood traitor, and you're making a mistake again in dating that Mudblood –" He was cut off because Alexandra pointed her wand at him.

"Don't you dare call her a Mudblood." Alexandra said dangerously, glaring back at him with so much force that it surprised Lucius.

"You... You actually like her?" Lucius whispered lowly.

"Stay away from her, stay away from me." Alexandra glared at him one last time before turning her back on him and walking away. She had no idea if she was already feeling something for Lily, but she just felt anger in her when she heard Lucius talk about Lily like that. She hated that word, but to hear it directed at Lily? It made her feel like cursing her brother a while ago. And the thought was incredibly overwhelming for Alexandra.

Lucius stayed there for a few moments, his fists clenching. He couldn't let this happen. He had to do something, just like he did a year ago.

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