1Chapter 2 - Tumultuous Times
Lily had been surveying James Potter for the first two weeks of classes, much to her own dismay. She had noticed that he still acted cocky and childish with the Marauders, still seemed to be a part of their pranks, and still managed to ask her out about ten times in the crowded halls. And yet, there was another side of Potter she was seeing now that the two of them lived in such close proximity. He didn't really need to study as hard as she did, always managed to finish his homework, read extra books on Transfiguration among other things, was extremely loyal and helpful to his friends as well as other students (particularly the first years she had seen him helping out), actually showed up on time for Heads' patrol every night, and was already beginning quidditch try-outs and setting up their practices. She could admit it— she was jealous of how he managed his time. Not only that, but she was incensed that he wasn't the asshole she always had made him out to be. Had she seriously been that short-sighted because he had always been following her around, asking her out non-stop, and thinking he was 'oh so hilarious' with all of his pranks? Did she really only focus on his faults and never see what he was really like? It was a bit annoying to consider all of this.
The Gryffindor girls, minus Alice, who had a boyfriend, and Christina, her best mate, all thought she was positively evil for not seeing how wonderful James Potter was. It was worse now that she had actually seen him be the nice guy they had always said he was. Before, she had never really noticed so she had never understood why they were so upset with her. Regardless of her now noticing a different side to James Potter, she still thought he was extremely annoying. That was most likely the reason that whenever they were around each other, it always ended in an argument.
During patrol, they would talk superficially for a while, and somewhere along the walk, he would say something and she would become upset. He never gave out any harsh punishments and especially avoided giving detentions unless they were necessary. This annoyed Lily because he shouldn't be so damn lenient. Once, they had passed a locked broom closet that had been making some, well, obvious noises and instead of unlocking it and giving whoever was in there detentions, he merely banged on the door, told Sirius to use a silencing charm next time and if he was not gone in another five minutes, he would let Lily give him and his new sweetie detentions. Needless to say, five minutes later, the broom closet had been empty. And yet, Lily could never say anything bad about him because all the other students thought he was doing a great job. That thought made her scowl.
Currently, the two of them were heading to a second Heads' meeting with Professor Dumbledore. James had taken them on a secret route from the Heads' Dorm to his office. He had said it was faster, but she really didn't like being in a secret hallway with James Potter. "Are we almost there? You said this would be faster."
James rolled his eyes at her impatience. "It's right up there."
Lily looked where he was now walking and was surprised to find that he was right. They had just come out from behind a tapestry. The walk had been cut down by about five minutes. "Oh."
They were in front of the gargoyles blocking the entrance of Dumbledore's office in seconds. James immediately said, "Cockroach cluster."
Nothing happened, and Lily was surprised. "He changed it? Why? I suppose we could just wait out here."
James shook his head. "Nah. He probably wanted me to have a challenge. Bertie Bott's? No wait, he doesn't like them. Acid pops? Licorice? Madam Rosmerta's Oak Mead? Butterbeer? Hershey's Kiss?"
Again, nothing happened. Lily just smirked. "Any more bright ideas, Potter?"
James ignored her and was just thinking to himself. Suddenly, his face brightened. "It's got to be his favorite. Lemon Drops."
Lily was surprised to see the gargoyles begin to move. James just laughed at her expression. "Come on, Evans. We don't want to be late."
Lily just huffed and started up the stairs ahead of him. She knocked gently on the Headmaster's door and only opened it when she heard Professor Dumbledore tell them to come in. "Hello, Professor."
Dumbledore just smiled at the two of them. "Come in, come in. We have much to discuss."
James and Lily took the seats he gestured to. Before Dumbledore could continue, James asked, "Where's Fawkes, Sir?"
Lily looked at James curiously. "Fawkes?"
Dumbledore gestured to the empty perch next to his desk. "Fawkes is my phoenix familiar, Lily. He is currently out doing a bit of business for myself."
James nodded at his words. Lily just looked surprised because she hadn't known Dumbledore had a pet phoenix, but resisted asking any further questions. Dumbledore began, "Well, I received your final list the other day for all the Hogsmeade weekends for the year. There was only a problem with the one date in March. It coincided too closely with our Spring Break. The rest can all go forward. That means the first one will be in two weeks. You will need to help the Heads of Houses collect permission forms from the third years." He watched both James and Lily nod at his words before continuing, "Also, you both didn't really specify about other activities you would like to plan this year. The Heads are in charge of graduation with the prefects, of course, but other than that..."
When Dumbledore trailed off, James interjected, "We had discussed having a Valentine's Day dance, Professor."
Lily nodded, but inwardly scowled at the memory. James had thought they should have a dance of some kind because all of the students expected it, but Lily didn't really care either way. It had ended in a rather long-winded argument over nothing. Dumbledore broke her out of her thoughts, "Well, you two can begin planning that before or just after the holidays. You both will compile the lists for those that wish to stay at the school for the holidays as well, but we needn't worry about that quite yet. I may also require your services for the Halloween feast, but I will let you know more about that in the coming weeks. Other than that, keep on top of the prefects and let me know if there are any troubles."
Dumbledore eyed the two of them and noticed their detached silence from each other. He frowned at their distance. "Anything else you two would like to add?"
They both shook their heads. "Good, James, I do have one question for you. Something I heard about just today."
James looked at him curiously and upon seeing a certain twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes, he gulped and sank a bit in his chair. Because of particular circumstances, he could not lie to Dumbledore ever. He answered him warily, "Yes, Sir?"
"Were you the expert behind the prank of dyeing young Mr. Snape's hair a sparkling shade of scarlet and gold, along with writing the words 'Gryffindor Forever' across his forehead?"
James paled a bit while Lily smirked at the look on his face. She expected him to lie, but was surprised when he answered honestly, although it looked somewhat forced, "Yes, Sir."
Dumbledore just smiled. "I thought so. A nice bit of magic, yes, but I think you can use your talents in more appropriate ways, hmm? It took Madam Pomfrey more than a few hours to rectify the change."
James just nodded. Dumbledore continued, "Ok, off you go, the both of you."
Lily was appalled that James hadn't gotten into any trouble. When they were both out of ear-shot, she heard James let out a long breath like he had just been called out by his parents. She rolled her eyes. "What makes you so special that you seem to get away with everything?"
James just looked at her thoughtfully as they walked into the secret tunnel toward the Heads' Dorm. He figured he could be somewhat honest, not like she would believe him anyway. "For reasons I will not go into, I am unable to lie to Dumbledore. By knowing I am unable to lie to him, he usually is more lenient. Plus, unlike you, he thinks most of our pranks are funny. I'm afraid that is all I can tell you."
Lily just rolled her eyes. "Righhhht. Who would actually believe that line of bull?"
James just remained silent and waited for her usual tirade that was coming. "I can't stand you, Potter! You and your self-righteous attitude! How Dumbledore and you are so chummy is beyond me. How come you and the Marauders get away with everything? That is completely unfair and you know it! When will you grow up!"
When James remained silent again, Lily just scowled and waved her hands in frustration. Looking extremely fed up, she tore off in a huff, not even going into the Heads' Dorm. James sighed. He didn't know how long he could continue holding his tongue and keeping his patience with her. He had no idea why she hated him so much. If anything, he had been walking on eggshells around her since they had arrived. He practically let her say whatever she wanted to him, not caring if what she said was false or hurtful. It was beginning to bother him, although what bothered him more was that he still liked her. Immensely. She was absolutely beautiful— there was no question about that. She also was incredibly kind to most people; he personally saw her go out of her way to help anyone many a time. She was brilliant, strong-willed, hard-working, and ambitious. She didn't let anything anyone ever said about her bother her; well, except for anything he said which usually bothered her. And yet, now that she had been so cold and biting towards him for the last two weeks, he, for the first time, wished he didn't like her so much. It would make things so much easier.
It had been another grueling two weeks. Homework was being piled on, and most students, fifth year and above were having trouble keeping up. James was one of the few who were somehow not finding the pressure to be exhausting. He had finally managed to get together a decent quidditch team in the little spare time he had. Today had been their second official practice together, and of course, something had to happen. He played chaser and had two veterans in the other two chaser positions, sixth year, Celia Hoyt, and sixth year, Jake Murray. His beaters were Sirius, who had been on the team with him since third year and a new recruit, fifth year, Mike Douglas. His seeker was another returner and the youngest, fourth year, Hailey Baker. His keeper was another new recruit, sixth year, Dan Owens.
The team worked well together so far. Hailey was so petite and a damn good flyer so you could barely see her when she was in the air. She had been an amazing find last year. Sirius, who was chaos unto himself in the beater position, had been working with Mike a bit extra and at the practice today, they seemed to be working on the same wavelength which was good. He, Jake, and Celia had been doing nothing but drills and developing odd plays to get the quaffle past their keeper. They all had been playing together for the last two years and were practically mind readers as to how each of them would play. Dan was good too, especially in anticipating a lot of their own chaser moves so James was hoping he would do just as well against the other teams.
Today, they had been forced to share half the field with the Slytherin team. He scowled at the memory. Of course, the practice was supervised so as to not let anything get out of hand, seeing as the first match of the season was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin and would take place in about a month and a half. This didn't stop the Slytherin team, however. Malfoy, being the stupid git that he was, shot a bludger directly at Jake, rendering him unconscious and in the hospital wing. Malfoy, of course, had said it was an unfortunate accident and he, as Captain, was merely showing his new beater the proper way to direct a bludger. Bullshit. Now, James had to cancel practice for the next few days. This put him in a foul mood.
As James finally approached the Heads' Dorm, he scowled again. Lily had also been driving him crazy. She was hot one minute and cold the next. Every other minute, literally sometimes, she would seem to be nice and then suddenly, she would freak out on him for some minute detail. He wasn't sure if she was simply mad at him or was having trouble coping with the stress. Besides occasionally asking her to the first Hogsmeade weekend (which was that coming weekend) which she had been outright refusing, he had no idea why she would be mad at him. He did practically anything she asked.
When he opened the door, he saw her sitting on the couch doing what appeared to be homework. She had books open, parchment everywhere, and her quill neatly in her hand. When she glanced up, her face soured. "Back so soon, Potter?"
James rolled his eyes. "I live here too, Evans."
"I'm well aware of that. I was just hoping for three hours of peace. You are back after an hour."
"So what if I'm back early? It's not my fault, you know. Jake's in the hospital wing. Besides, I can choose to end practice early whenever I want if we were all doing well anyway."
Lily narrowed her eyes at him menacingly. This was one of the first times he had actually defended his actions. Or he just wanted to fight. Fine. She could play his game too. "Get over yourself, Potter. You really think you are Merlin's gift to this world, don't you? Why don't you find one of the other Gryffindor girls who agree with you?"
James knew he shouldn't be doing this with her. He was tired, angry already, and she was pushing at his buttons. "Newsflash, Evans! I like YOU! Not one of those peons, not that you even care!"
Lily scowled. She was getting sick of him telling her he liked her. He hadn't shown her any specific evidence that this was true so it must be a joke or a bet with the Marauders. "Whatever, Potter. Why don't you leave me alone for once? All you seem to do is make my life a living hell."
When James turned back toward her, she imperceptibly leaned back from the fire in his eyes. She had never seen him look that angry before, especially at her, and it was more than a little unnerving. "FINE, Evans! I have been extremely nice to you for this whole month! I have done every god damned thing you have ever asked of me! I have let you rant all you want about how I'm the lowest of the low, and frankly, I'm SICK of it! I refuse to take any more of your crap! God only knows why I thought I liked you! You're impossible to please! IMPOSSIBLE! When will you ever get it through your head that I'm not an asshole? In fact, I'm one of the few nice guys in this institution! But you will never know that, will you? How about you leave ME alone, you damn princess!"
Lily was shaking a bit and looked in near tears by the end of his tirade. James let out a long breath, growling in obvious frustration. He was pissed, but he was more pissed at himself for losing it in front of her and almost making her cry. That was never what he wanted to do. It actually made him feel awful. He knew he should apologize, but he just couldn't do it at the moment. Instead, he stalked over to his room and watched as without his wand, it opened quickly and slammed behind him.
Lily remained sitting on the couch, absolutely stunned and horrified. The tears that had threatened to slip out eventually did. She shakily collected all of her things and ran into her room. Everything she was holding dropped to the floor as she made her way to her full bed. As she laid down on it crying softly, she tried to think James an asshole for everything he had just said and done, but for some reason, she couldn't. He was right. He was completely right about everything. That just made her feel worse.
As Lily made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning, she still felt awful. James had already left by the time she had gotten up that morning so she hadn't had a chance to apologize, not that she was sure she would have been able to say anything to him face-to-face. She had done her best to look unaffected and calm, but inside, she wanted to hide in her room all day and cry. When she made her way inside, she noticed a few Gryffindors stare at her curiously before she sat down next to Christina. Christina looked up at her with concern. "What's going on?"
Lily merely shrugged and forced herself to appear nonchalant. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine."
Christina slowly shook her head. "No, it's not. James came into the Gryffindor common room early this morning and was looking mighty pissed off about something. Even Sirius couldn't coax it of him. Now, he is just sitting with the Marauders in stony silence. I'm not the only Gryffindor who has noticed. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole school doesn't notice James being pissed off by the end of the day."
Lily glanced at where James and the Marauders were sitting and noticed his hardened expression right away. She again felt rather awful and depressed. "I don't really wanna talk about it."
Christina nodded, but still appeared concerned. "You know, you can always talk to me if you need to, right?"
Lily nodded. "I know. I just don't really know what to say just yet."
They both went back to eating. Lily noticed that dirty blonde-haired girl approach the rather stoic James out of the corner of her eye. She put her hands on the back of his shoulders, and Lily saw him visibly flinch at the contact. She leaned down and whispered something in his ear. He just nodded to her curtly before telling her what appeared to be 'just leave me alone.' The girl looked unconcerned, patted him on the back, and walked away. The Marauders got up to leave after that. As they walked past where Lily and Christina were sitting, Lily was positive Sirius was glaring at her, but the rest ignored the two of them. Lily and Christina soon followed suit and walked to Transfiguration.
James and Sirius were already sitting in the back. Remus and Peter had sat in front of them. Lily and Christina walked quickly over to the left where they usually sat. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and began class, "Ok, everyone. Today, we are going to try and do a bit of practical work. We are going to be using the 'mutatio' spell, which we had been going over in the last class. Now that we know the theory and have practiced changing our desks into small invertebrates, I now want you to be changing your desks into a mouse or another small vertebrate. This will be a bit more difficult so I will be helping. Go on then, off you go."
All of the students, save the Marauders, began attempting the spell straight off. Lily noticed Sirius, and even Remus, trying to coax James to open up, but James was refusing all attempts and remained sitting sullenly. None of them even tried to attempt the spell. Whenever Lily tried, her desk would turn into a slug with desk legs. Christina was no better though. Her desk shrunk a bit, but for some reason, it just turned green. After what was probably about twenty minutes of practicing, everyone's attention was drawn to Professor McGonagall when she spoke next. "Mr. Potter."
Everyone turned to look because you would have to have been blind not to notice that James was highly pissed off, withdrawn from all people, and was not attempting the spell at all. James glanced up leisurely at his name, but maintained his stony disposition. "Yes, Professor?"
Professor McGonagall frowned. James was usually always on his game in her class. She knew he was exceptional at Transfiguration, but he had always given her the respect of participating, regardless if he thought the spell easy. To see him slack off was a bit unnerving. "Are you or are you not going to attempt this spell?"
James looked her over and considered her words. He slowly pulled out his wand. Then, he merely looked at his desk, and without saying a word, moved his wand in a particular way. His desk immediately became a giant black dog that began running around the room. The Marauders all began to laugh, although no one knew why. Sirius was smiling, but he coughed into his hands— something that sounded like 'show off.' Professor McGonagall even looked a bit surprised and looked even more so when James coaxed the dog over to him, had the dog sit, and changed the dog back into his desk, again without a word. Everyone was wondering what she would do, but surprisingly, she simply sighed and patted him on his shoulder. "20 points to Gryffindor. Mr. Potter, please see me after class. The rest of you, please continue."
Everyone was positively mystified by what had just transpired. James was now staring moodily out the window, again doing nothing and not caring what people were saying. Lily knew he had just performed an amazing bit of Transfiguration, something they probably would not even get to until another four weeks or more of course work. Not only that— he had done it nonverbally.
After class, James waited patiently for every one of his classmates to leave before approaching Professor McGonagall. He was about to say something when Professor McGonagall cut him off with her hand, "No, it's nothing bad, Potter. I always knew you felt a little bored in my classes. Professor Dumbledore informed me near the start of the year that you had been studying his ancient books on Transfiguration over the summer and have become rather versed in the subject. I think it would be best if I merely scheduled an extra hour sometime where you and I could go over more advanced Transfiguration. I would still like you to attend the regular classes, if anything to refresh your memory and to help me with the other students."
James nodded. "Could Sirius come to the extra lessons too? He and I both have mastered the seventh year text already."
If Professor McGonagall was surprised about this request, she didn't show it. "That would be fine if he would like to come." She surveyed him as he nodded absently. "Is everything all right, Potter? You seem a bit off color today."
James shook his head at her question. "I'll be fine, Professor. Thanks for the extra lessons." Then, he suddenly gave her a devilish smile. "You know, you could always ask Sirius to tutor some students. I'm sure he would love that."
Professor McGonagall gave him a small smile in return. "Thank you, Potter, but I'm sure the thought of Sirius doing any tutoring would scare many students rather than help them."
James nodded and chuckled while he left. Professor McGonagall was curious as to his behavior, but was somewhat relieved to see him smile a bit. Hopefully, whatever was wrong would smooth over eventually.
By the end of that day, everyone knew something must have happened between James and Lily, although no one knew exactly what. From that day on, they never spoke to each other. Not one word. James always wore a stony expression whenever he was around her while Lily began to look more and more depressed. Sirius and Remus had tried getting James to just talk with Lily about whatever had happened, as he had never really discussed what had occurred between them exactly. Lily, similarly, was hearing from Christina and from Shelley (to whom she had written), to do the same thing. Needless to say, to get away from the pressure of their friends, both had stayed at school while everyone else went to Hogsmeade that weekend.
James was really more angry at himself for what he had said. He could tell Lily was taking everything he had said to heart or too personally and was being incredibly hard on herself. He highly suspected she wasn't eating right either. Every night, she holed herself up in her room. This made him feel incredibly guilty. He wasn't sure if he could apologize for what he had said though, mainly because minus the harsh words and his tone, most of what he had said was true.
Without speaking or deciding, both of them had been doing their nightly patrols solo every other night, like James had suggested on the Hogwarts' Express. When Lily would go, James would watch the Marauders' Map, just to make sure she was alright by herself. At first thought, other people might find this a bit stalker-like, but he didn't see it like that at all. The other students were rather harsh with her for whatever reason, and the Slytherins would probably love to catch her alone. Most of the time, she found herself out of harm's way. Sometimes he noticed that when she was done with her patrol, she would go up to the astronomy tower and sit for a while before returning. That was what she was currently doing anyway. It was late, and she normally started heading back around this time. He watched the Map a bit concerned for a few minutes, but became pleased when she began to leave the astronomy tower finally. He was about to close the Map and go off to his room before she got back, when he noticed movement in the hallway at the base of the astronomy tower. It was Bella, and surprisingly, Malfoy. James immediately pocketed the Map and grabbed his wand, hoping to head them off. He knew Lily could probably take care of herself, but not if she was caught by surprise.
James wandered quickly and cautiously over to the astronomy tower. Those two should not be out of bed; Malfoy wasn't even a prefect. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late to stop whatever chaos they were planning on starting. It had already been a few minutes. When he turned the corner, he was horrified by what he saw. Lily was on the ground, withering and apparently screaming, although no sound could be heard. He quickly saw Malfoy looking mighty happy with his wand out, and Bella was laughing quietly behind him. James immediately sent two stunners out at them. Malfoy was hit dead on, but the second one barely missed Bella. Bella just turned and smiled cruelly at him, "Well, if it isn't James Potter, coming to save his little girlfriend, although he should know he could have so much more with me."
Lily was shaking like a leaf and slowly began to pull herself towards the wall. She looked madly around for her wand, but it lay a few feet away behind James, and she had no energy whatsoever to even move. James had no idea how long she had been held under the curse, but it looked long enough to cause her to be weak to the point of almost unconsciousness. She needed to get to the hospital wing. He kept his wand out on Bella and said, "Shut it, Bella. What the hell do you think you two are doing, using the Cruciatus curse in Hogwarts? Are you out of your mind?"
Bella just laughed, "Come on James, what's the big deal? You know you should just join our side. Who cares about the damn muggleborns anyway? We could be great together, you know. The Dark Lord agrees because he knows I will take good care of you, and you'd be a powerful asset. Our parents thought we'd be great together too."
James' eyes narrowed on her, and he practically hissed out, "I just bet you would love that, wouldn't you, Bella? In case you have forgotten, my parents were appalled when your parents brought that disgusting agreement for us to be betrothed over to our house when we were TEN YEARS OLD. Not only did my parents vehemently deny the agreement, but I personally want nothing to do with you or your family, minus your cousin. Besides, aren't you promised to that Lestrange git, who graduated a few years ago? What do you care about me for?"
Lily was still breathing funny and was really weak, but even she was mildly concerned and appalled at the lengths pure-blood families would go in attempting to keep the bloodline pure. Bella just continued to eye James with interest, batting her eyes slightly at him, "But James, my parents would like for it to still be you, and you know it. Plus, you're much better to look at than Lestrange."
James' face immediately turned in disgust. He felt like a piece of meat. "You are sick, Bella. I have no idea what you are trying to pull, but by your actions tonight, Dumbledore is not going to consider them lightly. Now, lower your wand, and we will walk calmly up to the Headmaster's Office to sort this out."
Bella just sneered. "You wish, Potter."
She sent a curse flying at him, which he was able to deflect with a shield charm. He noticed her ennervate Malfoy, who sluggishly began to get up, but he was able to petrify her while her back was turned. Malfoy sneered at him. "Welcome, Potter. I can't say I'm surprised."
James shot another spell at Malfoy, but he dodged it. Malfoy laughed and suddenly made a slashing movement with his wand, muttered under his breath, and sent purple flames at James. Lily watched James' eyes widen in disbelief as he physically dodged the curse by running into the wall. He turned and looked back over at Malfoy, still looking rather stunned. "That's incredibly dark magic, Malfoy. What the hell do you think you are playing at?"
Lily was alarmed at how horrified James looked. She had no idea what curse he had fired, but it must be awful for James to be worried. Malfoy just snickered. "Can't handle it, Potter? How about your little girlfriend then?"
James' eyes widened. Lily was incredibly weak and probably wouldn't be able to take it. "No."
Malfoy began the curse and pointed his wand at Lily. Without thinking, James jumped in front of her and took the curse instead. He immediately fell to the ground unconscious. Lily was horrified. She knew she had to do something quick, despite her being weak. She grabbed James' discarded wand which had fallen at her feet and pointed it at Malfoy, who was now approaching her. She petrified him easily because she had caught him off guard. She pointed the wand at herself and removed the silencing charm. "James! James, can you hear me?"
As she rolled him over, she noticed he was struggling to breathe a bit, but was unconscious. This was bad. She had no idea what the curse did, but she needed to get help right away. Finding strength somewhere deep inside of herself, she pulled herself up to her feet and staggered along the wall. She headed straight to Dumbledore's office, which was a bit further away than she had thought, or maybe it felt that way because she was so weak and tired. Eventually, she reached the gargoyles. She knew she must be extremely pale because the light-headed feeling clouding her head was beginning to get worse. She had to be close to fainting. "Lemon Drops."
The gargoyles sprang apart. Lily made her way as quickly as possible up the stairs. She banged on Dumbledore's door, calling for him, saying it was an emergency. She was leaning against the wall by the door, breathing erratically, when Dumbledore opened. His eyes immediately widened, and he appeared deeply concerned when he saw her in such a state. "What is it, Lily? What's wrong?"
Lily closed her eyes briefly and tried to calm down. She wasn't even sure she could make a complete sentence. "Lucius and Bellatrix. Cruciatus. James tried to help. Lucius sent a dark curse; it looked like purple flames. James took it. He's hurt badly."
Dumbledore's eyes hardened at every word she was able to say. He immediately began to move, pulling her along carefully. "Where?"
Lily struggled to keep up. "Astronomy tower. Lucius and Bellatrix are petrified, I think."
Dumbledore nodded. "Fawkes!"
Fawkes landed on Dumbledore's shoulder as they walked quickly onto the now dismal looking scene. Dumbledore immediately crouched down to survey James. Lily leaned against the closest wall for support when they stopped. Dumbledore's eyes widened a bit with deep concern. "Fawkes, please take James to the hospital wing immediately and come back for Lily."
Fawkes gave a trill and landed on James' chest before they both disappeared. Dumbledore turned to Lily. "You were hit with the Cruciatus? How long?"
Lily was dizzy from all the activity and was leaning heavily on the wall. "I don't know, but I don't feel so good."
Dumbledore nodded as Fawkes returned. Fawkes offered his tail to Lily. "Touch his feathers, Lily. Please inform Madam Pomfrey that James was hit with the Attero curse and about yourself. I will talk with you more about what happened in the morning once you've had some rest. I will take care of these two students."
Lily was suddenly in the hospital wing. She had felt no sensation. She didn't even have time to admire the beautiful bird before he disappeared once again. She noticed Madam Pomfrey waving her wand wildly over James, who was lying unconscious in one of the beds, trying to figure out what was wrong. Lily's vision was swimming, and she felt weak on her feet. "Madam Pomfrey? Dumbledore told me to tell you that James had been hit with the Attero curse. I was hit with the Cruciatus. Is it alright if I lie down?"
Madam Pomfrey suddenly looked horrified at her. "WHAT? Lie down, child. Try and stay conscious til I have a look at you."
She immediately ran to the back of the hospital wing up to a tall, dark cabinet Lily had never seen her use before. She pulled out what looked to be about fifteen vials of potion and wheeled them over to James. She began administering them all immediately. "Unbelievable. Who would dare use such a horrible curse?"
Lily was surprised at the amount of potions being used to help James. After a few minutes, Madam Pomfrey brought two potions over to her. "Here you go, dear. The first will make you feel better while the second is for dreamless sleep. You need rest above all else."
Lily nodded and took the first potion. "Is James going to be ok?"
Madam Pomfrey sighed. "He's a fighter, that one. He'll be fine. He'll be unconscious for a few days and will have to take about ten potions a day for about a week, but he'll come out of it ok."
Lily took the dreamless sleep potion. It was a matter of seconds before she closed her eyes and was able to drift away from all the commotion of the evening.
