A/N: Hey hey! Yeah, I know, two updates in one day! Yay for me ;)
As the weeks passed, I watched with a sick feeling, unable to look away, as the thick friendship between the love of my life and the bane of my existence grew even more.
As the war continued outside the castle walls, it made itself ever more present within them. The animosity between Slytherin and Gryffindor reached such a peak that students - mostly Slytherins - began openly attacking their classmates in corridors.
I could see the emotional toll this was taking on Lily, who was rarely seen on her own anymore, mostly due to her blood status. Potter, Black, Lupin and even Pettigrew -who were all half-bloods at least- escorted the redhead to all her classes and activities.
I was somehow glad for this... it was aggravating that it had to be Potter who did it, but I was glad she wasn't alone, wasn't tempting fate. Because, for some reason, Lily had been a popular target for random hexes or curses thrown between classes.
Somehow, in a twisted, sick way, I was lucky...I had never been present as such an incident happened with Lily. I can't say what I would have done if I had...
As more time passed, the first Quidditch match if the season drew nearer. The morning of the match was, as was the custom, greeted by taunts and sneers by the opposing houses and their supporters.
I saw Potter sitting over at the Gryffindor table. The red and gold clad team was sitting all around their captain, planning some last minute moves.
What, I couldn't say. I had never been a fan of Quidditch. It was petty and just another reason Potter had to feel good about himself.
In our first year, Lily had wanted to go to the game with me, but I had refused. Not wanting to offend me, she had stayed behind as well, keeping me company. In the following years, my dislike for the sport had only grown, and so neither Lily nor I ever went to a match.
Sometimes, when we sat in the library on those Saturday mornings when the school was desrted of students, I caught her looking out of the window and onto the pitch. Even though I probably should have, I enjoyed those moments with her too much to forgzt my pride and just accompany her to the game.
Today would be the first ever Quidditch game I went to. My friends had pushed me into going, and I had had no real reason to say no. The prospect of staying inside the castle all alone was just too depressing to contemplate. Plus, I really wanted to see Gryffindor lose their first match against Slytherin...
And so I found myself filing out of the Hall that morning along with everyone else. I took a seat in the green and silver end of the stands and waited for the game to start.
As my gaze swept the other end of the pitch, it was caught by a flash of bright red in a sea of gold and crimson. Lily. She was here. At a Quidditch match. At the first Quidditch match in her six years at Hogwarts.
I snatched Mulciber's binocualrs from him and looked through them, trying to get a closer look at her. Even from this distance, I could see the excitement on her face, the glee at finally being here. It made my stomach squirm to know that she was here without me.
A strange mix of pride and trepidation crossed her face and I took off the binoculars to see what she had seen. Potter and Avery were walking toward each other across the pitch. The two captain reluctantly shook hands when they met in the middle, and then mounted their brooms and took off into the air.
The referee released the Quaffle and the game began.
I found it was just as dull and uninteresting as it hab been when I was a child. And so, instead of watching the fantastic saves and unbelievable scores that were being made on the field, I decided to put the binoculars back on my eyes and stare at Lily.
Her hair was wilder than it had been before, and her face was red despite the October chill. She had a huge smile on her lips and was talking animatedly to Lupin, who was sitting next to her, probably explaining the different moves and techniques Potter and his team used.
From across the stands, I clenched my fists in annoyance as my Lily talked to the werewolf.
I stiffened as a sudden look of horror crossed their faces and they stood up in shock. I looked around the pitch, wondering what might have caused such a reaction.
It wasn't long until I found the source of their distress: Potter was lying on the grassy field, his arms stuck out at unnatural angles and his broom hovered some fifty feet above him.
There was a moment of total silence, in which I glimpsed Avery on his broom, his beaters bat still raised and a smug smile on his face, before everything erupted into movement.
Black landed some distance away from Potter and sprinted to his side in a rush, fropping to his knees by his brother's side. He was soon followed by the remainder of the Gryffindor team. On the other end of the field, the Slytherins flew to the ground and jumped of their brooms, striding to their locker rooms lazily.
I turned around and started making my way out of the stands. I had no desire to see the whole school fawning over Potter's well-being. The last thing I saw before getting out of the stadium was, as always, Lily, running down the steps to the field, trying to get to Potter.
She was the first one in the Hospital Wing. Even before Black. I watched from a safe distance as the matron finally came out to let the visitors in. She rushed inside, her face tear stained and red. Black. Lupin and Pettigrew were right behind her. The last thing I saw before the door slammed shut was Potter lying unconscious in his bed and Lily pulling up a chair and sitting down next to him.
I spent the next few hours hiding in the Hospital Wing corridor. I saw many people come and go, professors, other students, even Hagrid came by to see if Pretty-Boy-Potter was all right. I was surprised when I saw Black walk out of the double doors. The surprise faded when he came back a few minutes later, his arms stacked with all sorts of food. That was typical.
I never saw Lily, though. It had been ten hours since she had entered the Wing and it was well after visiting hours. But she still hadn't come out. The fact that she was still in there bothered me to no end.
An hour or so later, Lupin and Pettigrew made their way out of the Wing, both looking extremely worn out. Black wasn't with them...and neither was Lily.
As the two passed the dark alcove I was hiding in, I caught a few words of their conversation:
"...think that we should have woken them up?" Pettigrew was asking.
Lupin just gave him a look, "You really want to be the one waking Lily up and telling her to leave? Boy, I thought you were smarter than that..."
The other's retort was lost on me as they rounded a corner and vanished from my sight. But their words still echoed in my head after they were gone. Lily really was still in there...and she was asleep...by his bedside...
My gut wrenched at the thought and my decision was made in seconds. I had to see for myself!
So I left my hiding place, my limbs aching from spending so much time in such a small space. I made my way to the big double doors and opened them, careful not to make a sound.
Potter's was the only occupied bed in the ward, and the curtains were drawn around it, hiding him from view. I stopped just outside the curtain. What was I doing? Why would I want to see Lily with that arrogant bastard? I should be running in the opposite direction, try to get away from here! But all these very good objections didn't keep me from parting the curtains around the bed.
And there she was, siiting in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs. She was sleeping, her head on the edge of Potter's bed and facing away from me. Lily sleeping would have been a beautiful sight, were it not for the hand she was grasping tightly in hers under her cheek. His hand. He was asleep on the bed, his face turned in Lily's direction.
Black was also sleeping on a chair on the other side of the bed, his feet propped up on the bed.
It would have been a peaceful sight, had it been anybody else. But the fact that it was them and that it was her somehow defiled it.
With one last look at the three of them, I wrenched the curtains back in place, not caring if anybody heard.
A/N: I know, it's short! Please don't kill me! Well, at least it was quick right? Right?
Well, I'll post one last chapter with the ending soon :D
Love y'all! XO XO Anna