One day at the beginning of February, Lily and Savannah had a free period so they decided to take a walk around the grounds. Lily, her red hair down, was all smiles as her and Savannah talked.

Savannah had her hair pulled up in a tidy ponytail and her robes hanging perfectly from her petite frame. She was still doing well, trying to 'fix' herself. She still wasn't talking to Dalton- it had been a week- and she felt that that was helping her to gain some more independence. She still couldn't fathom talking to him, what with how mad she was at him.

Then a Slytherin their age named Emily Brooks came stalking up to the two girls. Emily Brooks was a bigger girl with a head of messy brown curls, with brown eyes that were too close together. Up until first year, Emily Brooks had not had any friends at all. Everyone she went to school with prior to Hogwarts found her far too annoying and clingy. Savannah became friends with her at the beginning of first year, and Emily was hardly seen not clinging to Savannah's side, constantly around her. Savannah had been friends with a girl named Alexis Parkinson, who was also in Slytherin, since they were seven years old. And so it became the three of them: Savannah, Alexis, and Emily. Then in third year Savannah started becoming friends with a Hufflepuff named Jacey Williams, so the three girls started hanging out with Jacey and her friends more often. Shortly after this, Emily decided that Savannah had 'never treated her like a real friend' and was 'the reason she cried herself to sleep at night.' She called Savannah all sorts of names, even going so far as to spread rumors about Savannah and to write her hate letters. It got to the point that Savannah wouldn't eat at all and couldn't be dragged out of her bed to go to classes. What was truly unexpected was that Alexis would take Emily's side. And so the trio of girls broke apart. Savannah started getting anxiety attacks. That's when Savannah was first broken. She and Jacey remained friends for years, even after Jacey transferred to Beauxbatons in the beginning of fifth year. They kept in touch for awhile, but slowly the letters stopped coming. There was no ill will between the two.

And that day in the beginning of February, Emily strode up to Lily and Savannah. She looked at Lily. "I don't know why you hang out with trash like that," she said, gesturing to Savannah with a sneer on her face.

"You know even her parents hate her, right?" She continued, not even stopping when Savannah started backing away slowly. I have to get away. I can't handle her again. If I stay, I'll do something I'll really regret and I won't be fixing myself. If I stay, I'll probably end up throat punching the bitch and getting myself expelled.

"You're so pretty and sweet, Lily. So why do you hang out with such an ugly, mean piece of trash?" Emily continued.

Savannah had turned around and was walking casually away, trying not to let Emily's words bother her.

Emily tried to say more, but Lily cut her off. Her hands curled into fists at her sides as she leaned closer to Emily and told her, "Savannah is one of the best people you'll ever meet. She's loyal. I know your backstory. I know you didn't have any friends before Savannah, and from what I gather, you still backstabbed her. She's one of the most kind, wonderful people I know who doesn't deserve hate from anyone, most certainly not a low life like you. After all these years, you still bother her. Why? She was nothing but kind to you from what I remember and yet you still insist upon trying to make her life hell. Is it because of your shitty self esteem?  If it is, that's still no reason to ruin Savannah's. She's beautiful, kind, intelligent, and brave. That's much more than I can say about you."

After Lily was done speaking, she turned sharply and followed Savannah. Her red hair hit Emily in the face as she left, leaving Emily stunned as the perfect, goody-two shoes Lily Evans followed Savannah Stone.

"Sava! Wait up!" Lily called as she jogged to catch up with the blonde.

Savannah stopped and waited for Lily. "Thank you," she whispered. She meant it, for much more than just defending her back there. She meant it for giving her a chance and for being the best friend that Savannah could ever imagine having, and for being there for her when she felt like she had no one in this past week.

Lily seen all of that conveyed in Savannah's eyes, so she smiled softly and hugged Savannah tightly. "I'm so glad I have you, Sava."

Savannah smiled. "Me too, Lils."

The two girls continued on, heading back inside to start towards the dungeons for Potions.
——
"What happened this morning?" Dalton asked as soon as Savannah and Lily had sat down at supper that evening.

"Emily Brooks has been going around the school trying to convince people that Lily is a bitch. No one's buying it, but still."

Lily and Savannah exchanged a glance. "Brooks cornered us and started asking me why I hang out with someone like Sava," Lily explained.

"That bitch," Dalton cursed under his breath.

"Lils took care of it. I had to leave, otherwise I would've throat punched her," Savannah explained.

Dalton smirked. "You should have."

Sirius had overheard all of this, so he was glaring across the Great Hall to Emily Brooks.

He looked over to Savannah. He hated that anyone would say things like that about her. She was so quiet, never saying anything bad about anyone.

Dalton sighed. "Sava, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have embarrassed you like that. I.... I just thought that it would help you and Sirius get together. He'd be really good for you, Sava. The way he looks at you, the way he talks about you. I just want to see you happy, and I really think Sirius could make you happy."

Savannah smiled. "All is forgiven, bub. But, I can't put Sirius through that. I'm broken and I can't have someone else fix me. I have to straighten up. I don't want to hurt him, Dalton," she explained.

Sirius sighed, understanding exactly what she meant. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help it. He would wait for her for forever, if that's what it took. He would make her happy, but only when she was ready. He would let her take as much time as she needed.

Lily had been watching and listening as well, so she took Savannah's hand under the table and squeezed it, giving Savannah a reassuring smile.

Things were finally looking up.