Harry walked into the house with Lily next to him as he heard the sounds of footsteps. Barely a few moments later, Jacob came rushing out.

“Harry! Lily! Are you two alright?” Jacob asked hurriedly.

“We’re fine, Uncle,” replied Lily. “Harry’s uncle chased us, but we got away!”

Jacob frowned. “Why would he chase you? I thought they would be glad to have Harry out of the house.”

“They would be glad to have me out of the house, but if I’m there, they have someone to torment, so they probably don’t want to let that go,” sighed Harry.

Ava walked into the room while Harry was talking with a couple of glasses of water, which she handed out to everyone.

“Who do they think they are? Treating children like that!” raged Ava.

Jacob nodded along. “I have half a mind to go set them straight!”

Harry smiled. “There’s really no need for that. Nothing you say would affect them other than make them hate you as well. I’d much rather not have anything to do with them anymore.”

Jacob and Ava still seemed to fume, but looked a little pacified.

“It’s getting late and the two of you must be tired. You two should head to bed. Lily, could you show Harry to the guest bedroom?” asked Ava.

“Sure, Aunty!” replied the ever-cheerful Lily as she dragged Harry along.

Harry hurriedly magicked his stuff to follow behind him as they headed to the bedroom. A few short moments later, they found themselves in the same bedroom Harry had woken up in a few days prior.

“You’ll be staying here for the foreseeable future, Harry,” said Lily.

Harry thanked her and walked into the room and placed all his stuff in one corner.

In the meantime, Lily entered the room, closed the door behind her, and took a seat on the bed.

“Today was really exciting, right?” asked Lily.

“Yeah, it was,” replied Harry with a smile as he took a seat right next to her.

The two stared at each other for a few moments before, driven by impulse, Harry leaned in and locked lips with Lily.

Unlike last time, Lily was not taken aback. Instead, she actively took part in the kiss. Their kiss slowly transformed from a soft kiss on the lips to a passionate make-out session.

Harry felt his desire for Lily build up steadily. Lily wrapped her arms around Harry and a pleased moan escaped her lips.

That was the breaking point for Harry. Thoroughly turned on, he pushed Lily onto the bed and climbed on top of her.

Harry was about to bend down and take her lips once again, but he noticed the look on her face. He had expected to see at least a hint of lust on her face and maybe some affection, but what he saw was a look of abject horror. He could see her shoulders shivering and her lips quivered as her eyes welled up with tears.

Harry quickly pushed himself off of her. His lust vanished and instead, he felt a strong sense of worry for her.

“I’m so sorry!” said Harry as he helped Lily to sit up. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Lily took a few moments to get her emotions into control. Eventually, her quiet sobbing stopped, and she finally turned to Harry.

“I’m sorry, Harry. It’s nothing you did, I promise,” she said, then paused. Her expression morphed into anguish, loneliness, anger, and despair.

Harry tentatively reached his hand out and softly placed it on her hand. Lily jerked lightly at the touch but didn’t take her hand back.

“Like you said to me a while back, if you need someone to talk to, I’m here,” said Harry. “You can talk to me about anything.”

Lily glanced up at Harry’s face, her face a mess of tears, but she gave him a small smile.

They sat there for several minutes. Harry sat quietly, allowing Lily to think things through. Eventually, Lily moved her hand a little and intertwined her fingers with Harry.

“It’s not the nicest of stories you know?” asked Lily. “Still want to hear it?”

“Of course,” replied Harry, squeezing her hand lightly, “If you are okay with telling me, then I’d love to listen.”

Lily took a deep breath before she turned to Harry. “Remember how I said that pure-blood families have their own problems and hurt their own family members?” asked Lily, to which Harry answered with a nod.

“That was something I found out the hard way. My real name is Lilith Thorpe. I’m the only daughter of one of those so-called ancient pure-blood families.”

Harry widened his eyes in surprise. He opened his mouth to speak, however; he thought better of it and quietly waited for her to continue.

Lily smiled sadly. “Till I was ten, my family was extremely loving. My father used to dote on me and my mother spoiled me at every chance she got. My older brother also seemed to love me in his own way, at least that’s what I thought.”

Lily took a deep, steadying breath before she could continue.

“On my tenth birthday, we had a party like every year. I was, of course, the center of attention. My grandparents couldn’t make it, but all my other loved ones were around me. I was extremely happy. That was, until my brother and his friend asked me to go with them because they wanted to show me something.”

Lily’s grip on Harry’s hand tightened as a quiver made its way into her voice.

“The party was almost over. Some guests had already left, so I followed them. I mean, why wouldn’t I? It was my brother, who I loved. The place they led me to was one of the unused rooms in the house. At first I thought they had found something interesting and wanted to show it to me, so I entered the room excitedly but the next thing I knew, the door slammed shut and my brother’s friend grabbed me from behind and pinned me to the ground.”

Lily’s eyes welled up as she recounted. Her voice was shaking badly. Harry put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her.

“My brother,” she continued, a note of venom in her tone, “got on top of me and started saying the most horrible things, like how I stole our parent’s affection and how he wished I was never born. Then he started punching me in the stomach. No matter how much I cried and pleaded, he just continued hitting me and ripped my robe apart.”

Lily choked up and had to stop speaking for a few minutes before she could continue. Harry held her trembling body and comfortingly stroked her back to calm her down.

“His friend jeered the whole time and kept egging my brother on and even told him to strip me naked so they could,” she trembled harder, “en-enjoy me.”

Harry grit his teeth and gripped his fist while trying his best not to show his anger.

“I had given up hope and just when my brother was about to rip the rest of my clothes off my body, the door opened,” she said, her trembling calmed ever so slightly, “my mother had been looking for me and had apparently heard some noise coming from the room and looked into it.”

Harry released a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

“She was beyond livid. From what I remember, she even had her wand in hand and would have cursed the both of them if my father hadn’t stopped her.”

There was another note of venom in her voice when she said ‘father’.

“I passed out right after, so I’m not sure what happened to my brother and his friend, but when I woke up, I heard a commotion outside my room. I somehow got up and peek through the door, despite my bruised and battered body, just to see my mother and father arguing. At first I thought it was about what to do with my brother but I have never been more wrong in my life,” she said, “My father felt I was a stain to the family’s honor and he wanted to get rid of me. He thought it was my fault my brother acted that way, that I somehow seduced him and tried to play the victim.”

Harry was gobsmacked. “No…”

Lily chuckled weakly at his expression. “I told you, right? Pure-blood families are really messed up.”