Team: Chudley Cannons
Position: Chaser 1

Prompt: Write a non-romantic story about James and Lily

Optional prompts: (opening sentence) It had happened again, (style) memoir), (word) instinct

Word count: 1, 071

It had happened again.

Madame Pomfrey brought me the news along with my breakfast, as she gently sponged Dittany onto the worst of my wounds from the previous night. I dreaded the full moon enough without worrying about what James and Sirius would get up to without my attempts to control their tempers. Even their plan to become Animagi seemed slightly less terrible if it meant they wouldn't be able to get into anymore bad situations.

And judging by how many people were in the Hospital Wing alongside me, it had to be one of the worst.

Once Madame Pomfrey declared me ready to leave my curtain-surrounded hospital bed, I set about trying to find what exactly had happened. Sirius and Lily were both either sleeping or unconscious, as was Evan Rosier, but I wouldn't have talked to him even if he wasn't. So this information has mostly come from Alice Fortescue, who was awake, only minorly injured, and happy to talk to me.

It all started when James, Sirius and Peter, presumably after leaving me with Madame Pomfrey, ran into a group of Slytherins trying to hex someone. Alice pointed the someone out to me since they were asleep in the bed next to Lily- it was Daisy Robins, a Muggleborn Gryffindor in second year. Daisy's shouts was what first alerted Alice to what was going on, since she was patrolling (she's one of Hufflepuff's prefects) just around the corner. It was also what alerted James and Sirius to what was going on, since Alice said they all arrived on the scene at about the same time.

The first spell was shot by Sirius, taking down Avery temporarily by means of the Tarantallegra spell. That was when the Slytherins actually noticed James, Sirius and Peter; though Alice said she didn't think they had noticed her yet. Daisy was still alright at this point, albeit absolutely terrified. Wilkes shot a spell towards them, but missed and shattered a window instead. Sirius took on Wilkes while James battled Rosier, and Mulciber shot several stinging hexes at Daisy. At least a couple hit their mark, as she was screaming on the floor seconds later. Two other Slytherins, Macnair and Snape, were watching from the sidelines. Alice had been about to interfere in the duels, but abandoned them in favour of comforting Daisy.

The duels were interrupted a short while later, but not by Alice and not before James managed to defeat Rosier with an Impedimenta Jinx and turn on Snape instead. Instead it was Lily who jumped beneath the two parties, glaring daggers at James who had just used the Densaugeo curse to grow Snape's teeth past his chin. "Why do you always pick on him, Potter!" she shrieked, "he hasn't even done anything!"

"Not done anything?" James retorted, fury in his raised tone. "Evans, look what he's done to Daisy!"

"That wasn't Severus, that was Mulciber," Lily snapped, "you're making excuses!"

Macnair then said something to Snape along the lines of needing a mudblood to defend him, though Alice admitted she had been so disgusted by his slur that she hadn't really heard the rest of the sentence. I think I would have done the same.

That, Alice said, was when things turned truly nasty. Sirius threw a spell at Macnair which ended with him spewing slugs all over the floor. James and Snape aimed their wands at each other, but Lily jumped between them just as Snape cast first. Lily was hurled into the air and held by an ankle, desperately trying to hold her skirt up while screeching obscenities. James, acting out of instinct rather than sense according to Alice, hit Snape with a Stunner which sent both Snape tumbling backwards and Lily crashing to the floor as he lost consciousness. Lily had fallen on her back and sustained a nasty head wound that Alice patched up as best she could, which was why she was in the Hospital Wing.

With Snape, Macnair, and Rosier all out of action, plus Avery dancing too hard to prove much danger, it was just Mulciber and Wilkes against James and Sirius. Reinforcements for the Gryffindors came in the form of Mary MacDonald, who was also in the Hospital Wing due to an unexpected curse from Avery. That was when Alice had tried to intervene, only to be hit by an unknown curse that had left her unconscious until she awoke in the Hospital Wing some time later.

Alice paused then for a drink of water, and I looked over to where Sirius was unresponsive in the opposite bed. His injuries were the only ones unaccounted for in Alice's tale. With his duvet pulled up to his chin I couldn't see any obvious wounds, but Alice's expression when I asked her confirmed that something serious had befallen him.

"It was some form of dark magic though not something I'd come across in Defence, so I assume one of the Slytherins invented it." she explained to me. Privately I expected it to be Snape, having experienced a few of his home-invented curses in the past, but I didn't mention it. "I woke up in time to watch Madame Pomfrey treat him, and though I didn't see much there were wounds covering his chest. But she healed them with a spell and a potion, so he should be fine."

I shuddered at that, thanking Merlin that both Sirius and Lily were alright. Alice hadn't mentioned anything happening to James or Peter, and since they weren't in the Hospital Wing I assumed they were both fine and in Gryffindor Tower.

After thanking Alice and checking with Madame Pomfrey that I was fully discharged, I left the Hospital Wing and journeyed down to Gryffindor Tower to find them. Which is where I am now, though I'm by myself since James and Peter have gone down to lunch. I'm not hungry so I left them to it.

I won't pretend that the mention of the Dark Arts hasn't made me nervous. I know the teachers are trying to shield it from us, but we all know from the Prophet that Dark Forces are rising fast. I just hope that when the time for all out war does come around, we can defend ourselves better than Sirius, Lily, Mary and Alice did yesterday.

I'm still exhausted from last night, so I'll leave off here to catch up on some sleep.

Author's Note:

It's a little late, but it's here all the same. Writing in 1st person is a new experience and one I think I need more practise in.

I'm ill and tired so will write a proper AN later.