"Listen, why don't you all stay here with her? I'm going to go take a walk." A familiar rough voice said.
"Come on, Sirius," another familiar, female voice said. "We all know that's a lie. Sit back down and shut up."
There was a heavy sigh and then a ringing silence. It pressed on my ears and made my head ache. I wanted to open my eyes and tell someone to start talking to fill the silence but I couldn't move a muscle. I could hear my own breathing, slow and deep and my heartbeat was present, steady and strong just like my breathing.
What had happened?
Flashes of memory came back to me slowly. I remembered being on my broomstick and then I was flying towards the snitch and then I was flying but without my broom this time. A rushed voice, saying my name over and over again, agonized. Who had it been? They had been so concerned. I remembered a different voice, saying something in broken words that I couldn't understand.
The voice that spoke next was closer to me than the first two. It too was familiar but it was softer and kinder. My mind flickered to Remus. What was said next confirmed that:
"It would be stupid to take down those beaters," he said slowly and reasonably. "You'd only wind up in detention."
"It wasn't my intention to get caught." Sirius growled from a little bit farther away. He must be at the end of the bed.
Bed?
My sense of touch had returned to me without me noticing it. I had been too busy processing slowly what Remus had said, trying to piece together what on earth he was talking about and then factoring in Sirius's response. Now, I could feel soft but stiff sheets surrounding me—the type of sheets that always belonged in a hospital. I could feel a soft pillow holding my head carefully like an angel caressing a child.
I wished I could talk. Despite my sluggish mind, I had a perfectly sarcastic remark on my lips, ready to be used against a defenseless and unsuspecting victim but with me lying on what I assumed to be a Hospital Wing bed nearly unconscious, I could hardly fire it off.
"I have an idea--," Sirius's voice started.
I was finally blessed with use of my vocal chords again. "So do I," I said, surprised at how raspy my voice sounded. "Why doesn't everyone just shut up?"
"Holly!" Lily cried.
I flinched. She might have only said my name in a slightly louder than normal tone, but to me, it was a bellow in my ear. I assumed that she had to be right next to me. "Lily," I moaned. "Please don't shout."
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
I still hadn't opened my eyes until that point. When they were open, the soft light of dusk assaulted them, making me flinch and squeeze them shut again.
Something smooth was forced into my hand and I could barely hold onto it. I squinted through my eyelids to see that Remus was holding a vile in my grasp. It was filled with a soft lilac potion that I was clearly supposed to drink.
"Now?" I mumbled brilliantly.
"Now." He said.
With Lily's help, I was able to sit up even though I was slumped forward pathetically. I still hadn't regained any ounce of my usual strength. I carefully put the potion to my lips, tilted my head all the way back and let the liquid slide down my throat—I barely had to swallow it. I slumped forward again and thrust the now empty vile into Remus's general direction.
As the potion started to take effect, I moaned quietly and rubbed my temples slowly. My sense of hearing was slowly returning to normal so that I didn't hear everyone breathing with perfect clarity and I was able to open up my eyes and not have them blinded by the almost non-existent light coming through the windows.
I fell back onto my pillows and experienced a small explosion of pain in my shoulder, making me cry out. My hand automatically flew to my left shoulder as the pain very slowly receded. "Holy crap," I seethed through my teeth as I massaged it. I looked down and saw that I had a bruise of alarming size spreading from my upper arm to my neck, all of it in various shades of blue, purple, and black.
As I was staring, somewhat fascinated by the color range that my skin could put on display, Lily said, "It was terrible what those bastards did to you. We were nearly all ready to take the pair of them down right there on the pitch. Well, James and Sirius were, at least. It took the entire team to hold them back." She threw a slight smile, half smirk over her shoulder at James, who was sitting beside her, and Sirius, who was at the end of the bed, beside James.
I didn't know quite what to make of that statement. The fact that all of my friends had been ready to rip the Slytherin beaters apart because they'd shot two Bludgers at me, made my chest tighten considerably. I was definitely not used to that sort of behavior on my behalf. Well, quite frankly, it reminded me a lot of what Ellie would do. She would have a field day if she ever found out that my first Quidditch match resulted in me being in the hospital for—wait, how long had I been there?
"How long has it been?" I asked, staring at Lily.
"About eight hours," she said. "Madame Pomfrey didn't let us come in until about fifteen minutes ago. She and Professor Slughorn took forever to sort you out. From what we overheard, one Bludger separated your shoulder and tore several muscles. And then the other one cracked your femur, which is really saying something, Holly. He must have really hit it hard because the femur is the hardest bone in the body!"
"And knowing that didn't exactly help calm us down," James supplied.
"Anyways," Lily continued after glancing at James. "They were working on your for hours and even had to call Dumbledore because they couldn't repair the muscles connecting your shoulder blade to your shoulder. It was scary, Holly. I hadn't realized how much damaged those Bludgers had done. And your head! My God, those idiots!"
Lily had shrieked so loudly that all of us jumped at James put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
Remus picked up where she left off. "The force of the impact put a tiny crack in the back of your skull but luckily, Madame Pomfrey could handle that by herself. And Professor Slughorn made a dozen or so potions that you have to drink. You've only got thirteen more to go."
I groaned in horror, my mind picturing the number of foul potions my stomach would have to put up with. "I thought you said there were only a dozen?" I said weakly to Remus.
"That was figuratively speaking," he said, helpfully.
I sighed. Like Ellie always told me, there was no point in moaning and groaning over things that will help you get better. Every single time I got sick as a child, she would tell me that. It gave it a somewhat nicer way to look at it, that these potions were to supposedly help me...
Lily again was able to help me sit up and, curious, I checked my right thigh. The bruise was worse than my shoulder, with a black spot in the middle of it all, and looking like someone's throw up had saturated my skin, turning it the various shades of green, yellow, purple, blue and black.
"Like I said, it was awful," Lily said when I had put the covers back over my leg and used my one arm to move myself higher on my pillows.
I couldn't bear to be on the subject of my well-being any longer, so I thought about something else to ask, though everything that came to mind would eventually lead back to my injury so I soon gave up, asking one of the lighter questions.
"Has anyone told my grandmother about my injury?" I asked, my mind flying back to the note that I had received with my broomstick. I would ask that next, I decided.
"Actually," Remus said, looking quite amused. "She's already been and gone."
"What?" I said, aghast. "Who told her about it?"
"Dumbledore," Sirius answered.
I set my head back briefly. "I bet she was freaking out," I mumbled.
"That," James said, chuckling. "Is an understatement."
"Typical," I said.
I didn't have any trouble picturing just how hysterical my grandmother was when she came flying into the castle and demanding to see me. I could picture her, striding up the corridor in her favorite lilac blue robes, bursting into the Hospital Wing and demanding to know exactly what had happened. Perhaps, when she had calmed down, she would have patted my forehead in a motherly sort of way, maybe shedding a tear or two and then leave much more slowly than when she had arrived.
Pulling myself out of this oh-so-lovely vision of hysteria, I asked the group, "Did you meet her?"
Sirius, for the first time since I woke up, grinned, along with everybody else. I took that immediately as a yes but also felt a great sense of anticipation. Ellie knew how uncomfortable I could get when it came to everybody knowing that I had a daughter at home, the said grandmother taking care of her while I completed my education, so it made me wonder how my newly acquainted friends would have reacted to that.
"She is a fascinating person," Sirius said.
"And funny," James put in.
"She's very kind, Holly." Lily said. "You're lucky to have her."
"Yes, I am," I said. Boy, was that an understatement. For all that Ellie had done for me I should be worshiping the ground she walked on. The previous year, when I had come back to school after giving birth to Olivia, I felt immensely guilty for leaving her with Ellie to take care of while I was off having fun—well, not exactly having the time of my life but without the responsibility of taking care of my own daughter.
"She's the one that told us what exactly was taking them so long to heal you," Remus explained. "Though you can't repeat that because she said that we weren't to tell that she spilled."
I grinned. "How long has she been gone?" I asked, wishing that I had woken up sooner so as to talk to her and offer some comfort.
"About half an hour," Lily said. "She asked us if we could send an owl when you were awake. She said that someone called Olivia was worried. I think she said she was a good family friend or something." Lily's eyebrows pulled together, trying to remember. "She didn't say it very clearly."
I chuckled. "Olivia is my daughter, actually." I said, unabashed. "Olivia gets worried very easily. I don't know where she gets it from when Ellie is as strong as a rock. Well, Olivia's still not used to me being gone for so long."
I had expected an uncomfortable silence but Sirius immediately asked, "How old is she?"
"She'll be three this November." I said, smiling at my toes, concealed by the bed sheets. That reminded me. "I still have to ask Professor Dumbledore if I can leave that day so that I can make her birthday. I was going to ask after the match. Well, guess I'll have to wait until I get out of here. When can I leave?"
"Madame Pomfrey said that you'll be able to leave on Monday." James said. "And seeing as we have a practice that day, I won't make you participate. My approval however was quite unnecessary because Madame Pomfrey said that you can't play for at least a week." James frowned.
I laughed at both James's remarks and tone and the look of disbelief on Lily's face. I shoved James's knee with my foot. "You shouldn't sound so concerned for my well-being, James. It's annoying." I teased.
James grinned sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders while Lily rolled her eyes and the rest of us laughed.
* * *
You would think that I'd be miserable being stuck in the Hospital Wing all by myself, having to stare at the walls, watch the sunlight creep slowly across the room and try not to go mad from the silence—if it were silent. It wasn't silent for one reason: I did not spend a single moment of Sunday alone. I had a whole stream of visitors: Sirius, Lily, James, Remus, Peter, Harmony, Selena, Andrew and Jonathan and several other Gryffindors who came in with the sole desire to shake my hand and introduce themselves.
"I think we'll have to start beating them off with a stick," Sirius joked after Bobby Shaft, a very kind Gryffindor fifth year, had left, to be replaced with Lily.
I had to admit, the crowd of people who wanted to talk to me, congratulate me on my awesome play and abuse the Slytherin beaters was pretty awesome but there was something that topped everything.
It was right before lunch, when James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily were all standing up, ready to go to the Great Hall to eat and bring me back some proper food, as Madame Pomfrey only let me have soup and biscuits, when the Hospital Wing doors were thrown open dramatically and Ellie walked in, wearing lilac robes and a purple ribbon in her snowy white hair.
"Ellie!" I cried, surprised and joyous at seeing my favorite person in the world—perhaps second favorite. Personally, Olivia and Ellie tied for first.
Ellie swooped down, somehow managed to put her arms underneath my shoulders (pain reducing potions made this gesture almost completely painless on my part) and hugged me. Pulling back, she kissed my forehead and then surveyed me.
"You're pale," she said. "You haven't had any decent food in you for a while, have you? No sugar."
"Quite right," I said, adding a tone of annoyance in because sugar really is what kept me going, sadly enough. Not like I was going to complain about it. And I really did want some steak and potatoes instead of boring chicken soup and bread.
"We were just heading to the Great Hall to sneak her back some things that she could really sink her teeth into," Sirius said with an unexplained smirk.
"Good man!" Ellie said enthusiastically.
She sat down on the chair to my immediate right and the rest of them sat down too, Lily taking the seat next to Ellie while the three boys sat on my left.
"So," I said cheerfully, able to finally pull myself up to talk. "You've met these three idiots?" I jerked my head at the three Marauders, who smirked.
"Yes, and you two," she included Lily in this statement, "Sure know how to pick your men."
Grins appeared on Sirius's and James's faces while Remus looked a little pink in the face. Lily turned scarlet unknowingly while I threw my head back and laughed. I knew that Lily probably despised that sentence but I found all of their expressions—to Lily's poorly disguised mortification to Ellie's innocently confused look—utterly hilarious.
"Handsome devils, aren't they?" I joked, nudging Sirius, who was closest, with my foot.
"Oh yes, they're really something. You two need to be careful, you know." Ellie said seriously. "Good men are hard to come by and these three will top them all so, try to keep them close."
I was about ready to bust a gut over everybody else's expressions. Lily was just about ready to bury her head in her hands. Remus was blushing as well but James was grinning like crazy. I knew that he didn't mind Ellie's statement in the slightest; he wouldn't mind if Lily kept him close.
After I had recovered myself…somewhat, I was able to ask Ellie a few questions.
"So, how's Olivia?" I asked, taking deep breaths to calm myself.
"Oh my, Holly, that girl is going to be a handful when she gets older!" Ellie said dramatically.
"Like she isn't already?" I teased. I knew full well what Olivia was like when she was running with a full tank of pure, disruptive energy. It gave me a slight pang though. It was a reminder of how much I was missing while I was here at school. If not for Ellie, I would have dropped out as soon as I knew I was pregnant. Ellie had said that no granddaughter of hers would stay under her roof with an attitude like that, and I knew that that was most definitely an idle threat, but I did not want to disappoint her. So I stayed in school.
"She comes from a long line of strong women," Ellie said, looking extremely proud.
"That's a scary thought," James said. "Let's hope all that strength hasn't culminated into Holly. Otherwise, those beaters are as good as gone. Not like I'm complaining."
I chuckled darkly. How lovely that would be. But for some reason, I didn't feel all that angry about it. I saw injuries as being part of the game and personal grudges came with the territory. I wouldn't have been surprised if Jeremy Wilkes paid those two beaters off, because he couldn't get on the team himself. I certainly don't doubt that he would stoop that low. The bastard was a sore loser.
"I wish I could have been there to watch you play," Ellie said in a faraway voice. "I would have loved to see you fly again. You should fly more often now you've got some instruction again from a decent captain."
"Decent?" Lily snorted quietly.
James, who had looked smug at Ellie's compliment, settled a half-hearted glare on Lily, who was giggling in her seat. I grinned, watching them closely. I made a vow to myself to get those two together, with Sirius and Remus's help, of course. Merlin knows I wouldn't be able to pull off something like that without the help of two of the four Marauders.
Ellie glanced at James and Lily as well before raising her eyebrows at me. I grinned wickedly, my mind searching for ways to execute a plan. Sirius and Remus would be a big asset. They were much more creative and I was sure that they wanted those two together as much as I did. I might request Ellie's help as well.
"C'mon now, you two," I said. "Stop flirting."
I had prepared myself inwardly before I had even sucked in breath to say it. To me, it was more or less a test. If Lily and I were on that line between friends and best friends, then she wouldn't take it personally. James wouldn't mind in the slightest so there was no need to worry about him. Lily might murder me for planting images in his mind though. Like he needed any help.
Predictably, Lily gasped, horrified. Grabbing the pillow at the end of the bed next to me, she chucked it at me. "Holly!" she cried, her cheeks flaming up. "Shut up!"
I was laughing hysterically again. I was certain that I hadn't laughed more in my entire life. I threw the pillow at an unsuspecting James, hitting him squarely in the face and nearly sending his glasses off his nose. I grabbed the pillow behind me to block his deadly missile and it quickly became a full out war. Even though my head was hurting that it was fit to burst, I laughed while I fought off attack after attack from Sirius. Ellie tried to get us to stop, if only half-heartedly. If she really wanted to stop us, she would stop us in a heartbeat. But she knew as well as I did that exercise was the best way for me to recover.
The Hospital Wing pillows were perfect for a pillow fight. They were large and poufy and with enough force, enough to knock someone backwards off their chair, which I did to Sirius. He stared up at me with a bewildered expression and I laughed down at him but a second later, I was assaulted with a pillow, aimed at me by Remus.
I chucked one back at him.
Lily and James seemed to have taken this as a personal battle. While they were both laughing their heads off on the bed to my right, they were both determined to knock each other off and onto the floor. I knew that Lily loved it because to her, it was most certainly payback for all those years James had annoyed her to death by chasing her, determined to get her to like him.
But then Madame Pomfrey turned up.
"Merlin's beard, stop it, stop it!" she shrieked, coming up the ward with her wand held in front of her. With a flick, all of the pillows stopped in midair. "What a disgraceful thing to do. Disrupting this sanctuary. I should give all of you detention for disturbing Miss Matthews, who is recovering from a severe Quidditch injury!"
Madame Pomfrey looked equally appalled and murderous but I spoke up. "Actually, Madame Pomfrey, if you're going to give anyone detention, it should be me. I'm the one who started it by provoking Lily."
"Oh really!" Madame Pomfrey cried, flitting over and forcing me to lie down. (I had gotten on my knees in order to better defend myself from Sirius's powerful blows.) I went down easily enough, Madame Pomfrey putting a fresh pillow underneath my head and pressing another potion from the wide array of bottles on the bedside table into my hand. "Drink up for your headache!"
"It's not that bad," I complained. I hated taking the potions and, unlike most kids that come through here in their school career, I did not complain every single time I had to take one.
But the look on Madame Pomfrey's face made it clear that I was not to even argue about it. I drank to spare my life and my clean school record.
The potion tasted like bubblegum, a vast improvement from the four previous potions I had been forced to choke down. Clearly, this was my punishment for disrupting the peace, even though I was the only patient in the Hospital Wing.
"You lot, shoo!" she cried, turning to James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius. "Leave her alone with her family. And make sure that you don't disrupt her like that again!"
"Don't I have a say in whether they leave or not?" I asked innocently.
"No, you do not." Madame Pomfrey said tersely before shepherding the three Marauders and Lily out of the Hospital Wing. All of them waved before the two largest doors were slammed shut on them.
I sighed and chuckled. My headache was gone, thanks to the potion and I settled back on my fluffy pillow comfortably, interlacing my fingers and resting them on my stomach while Ellie settled herself back down after straightening all the knocked over and misplaced chairs.
"Those are a good lot of friends you've made, dearest," she said when she had sat down.
I nodded. "Yes," I agreed. "Quite good."
"They're surprisingly mature for their age," Ellie continued. "I was surprised, actually. Those boys look like they've got some prankster blood in them."
I chuckled at the understatement. "Right again, grandma. James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew make up the four Hogwarts Marauders, the best generation of Hogwarts pranksters yet." I said.
"And what about Lily?" Ellie asked.
"Cleverest in our year and the school for that matter, James and Sirius right behind her." I said. I explained a little bit about the Hogwarts social system.
"What's the relationship between Lily and Mr. Potter?" she asked.
I grinned. "James has liked Lily since third year, technically speaking, but she had despised him long before that. Ever since she turned him down for a Hogsmeade trip our third year, he's been begging her for a date." I explained. "The moron won't take no for an answer but he's matured a lot over the summer and I think Lily might be warming up to him. However, he makes one wrong move and she's back to hating his guts, unlike all the other girls in this castle."
"Tell me about the other two," Ellie requested. "Sirius and Remus."
"Sirius is mostly a playboy," I said. "Most of the attention he gets is from the ladies but at least he doesn't have an outrageous girlfriend track record. I would say that he's the least mature out of the whole lot of them but only for his jokes."
"And Remus?"
"Remus surprised me, actually." I said. "I was talking to him on the train and I noticed that he had a very unprejudiced look on life. It was refreshing. He's probably the only one that can make James and Sirius feel ashamed of themselves…sometimes. He's prefect this year."
Ellie was quiet for a few seconds, studying my face closely and then a wild grin broke on her face and she looked ecstatic. "I knew that you were going to make friends this year, Holly, I simply knew it. These old bones of mine know a lot of things and you making friends your last year of Hogwarts was one of them."
I scoffed playfully and rolled my eyes. "Of course, grandma." I said. I smiled. "But I'm glad you're right. And I know that I'm lucky to have them. It's been really weird though, them having my back all the time. Like yesterday, when I came to, Lily told me how the whole lot of them were ready to jump on those beaters and how it took the whole team to restrain James and Sirius. I'm not sure how I should feel about that."
"You should enjoy it, dearest," Ellie said. "You deserve having friends like James and Sirius and Lily and Remus. And you should have your eyes peeled for a good date-worthy young man as well."
"Grandma!" I cried, horrified. Did she really think I was going to go on a dating spree with an almost three-year-old daughter at home? My God! "That is one thing that you're going to be wrong about." I lowered my voice and leaned towards her a bit. "I'm not looking for a date, grandma. Not with a daughter at home who needs me. I don't have time for romance."
Ellie didn't look the least bit miffed. In fact, she looked all the more determined. I could sense where this was going. She was going to deal that Manly Support card. She was convinced that I needed someone to help support me when she was more than enough for me. Was she trying to get rid of me or something? I highly doubted it because she would have said something to me…most likely. Was she really unhappy with me living with her?
"You need a young man in your life, Holly." Ellie said.
"Why don't we take this a little slower?" I suggested, resisting the urge to roll my eyes and sigh. "Can't I just settle with having real friends for the first time in my life and then once I'm good and used to the idea, then I can move on to romance?"
Ellie examined my face, closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine, but you never know, Olivia might like a father."
"What?" I shrieked. I pushed myself up with my good arm, my left arm being handicapped with minor bruises. Still hurt like hell when I moved it upwards. But I didn't care about that. What the hell was Ellie talking about? A father? As in, I married someone? "Ellie," I said, using her real name for once in a long time. "What the hell are you talking about? What brought this on? Has Olivia said anything about her not having a father?"
I felt like my chest was empty and not filled with my heart and other organs. I had thought that Olivia wouldn't even notice; her being different for never having a proper father. I didn't realize that it might come up; that I wouldn't have to explain for a long, long time.
Ellie was straight-forward about it like she always is. "Our neighbors came over a few days ago. You remember John and Kelly McIntyre and their daughter Samantha?"
I nodded. The McIntyre's had always been kind. They were one of the few wizard tolerant Muggles who dropped by our house occasionally. I wondered what on earth they were doing at Ellie's house when it wasn't even a holiday.
"Well, apparently Samantha had a little talk with Olivia and when they had left, Olivia asked where her father was." Ellie said. "I told her that I didn't know and that, when she was old enough, you would tell her."
My chest gave a twinge at that. What was I supposed to tell her? I hadn't even told Ellie! She seemed to be thinking along the same lines because she said, "Holly, I think that you should tell me who he is."
I didn't need to ask to know who "he" was. The father of my daughter. Well, I didn't consider him her father because he had refused to support me in any shape or form. He had completely ignored me, making it clear that I was on my own. I did not feel that Olivia needed to know this. I did not want it to make her feel unimportant because she wasn't. Far from it. If I ever got married, that man would have to prove to me that he loved my baby girl.
"I can't tell you, grandma." I said, closing my eyes and tilting my head back.
"I have a right to know, Holly." Ellie said sharply, surprising me.
But I shook my head. Yes, she had more right than anybody to know who the father was but I couldn't bring myself to it. No. I just couldn't. If I told Ellie and it disturbed her enough, she could decide to throw me out just like my dad did. You might say that you couldn't imagine her doing that, and I couldn't either but what terrified me was that it was a possibility, if slim.
"Holly, please."
"What will be gained by admitting it?" I whispered. "You'd throw me out in a heartbeat."
"Holly!" Ellie gasped. "You know I would never do such a thing! How could you even think that?"
My eyes had unexpectedly watered and a tear escaped my hold. I turned my face away, ashamed. I felt Ellie grab my hand in her two wrinkly ones but I did not turn to face her. I simply kept my eyes shut and waited.
"You are my granddaughter, Holly," she said, her voice hushed. "And I love you. I feel like I need to know this piece of information in order to protect you. I want you to tell me, in time. I won't bring it up again because I know how uncomfortable it makes you. But please do not think so badly of me that you think you can't come to me. I won't let anyone put you through something like that again."
More tears slid by. I wanted so badly to hug her but I couldn't bring myself to look at her still beautiful, aged face. She kissed my hand, gave it a squeeze and I heard her stand up.
"Make sure to write and fill me in on everything," she said. She sighed. "I love you, dearest."
I heard her move down the Hospital Wing and I knew my chance was slipping away. I felt a great surge in my chest and I turned around just as Ellie touched the handle to the double doors. "Grandma!" I cried.
She turned and looked at me and my tear-stained visage.
"I love you, too."
She smiled that grandmother smile and then left with a swish of her lavender robes.
I spent the next half hour crying and trying to get myself together before the others came back, sneaking me food. I felt so sorry for myself. I could barely stand the thought of Olivia being back home, wondering who helped produce her. Sweet Merlin, I could barely stand the thought. It made me shudder and gasp and cry even harder—silently, of course—every single time I pictured it.
I was lucky: I had been in control of myself for fifteen minutes by the time Sirius showed up. I had wiped my nose and my face clean and taken my noon-day potion already when the double doors flew open and banged shut as Sirius strode up the ward, looking for all the world like he owned the place.
I managed to smirk a greeting. "Where are the others?" I asked.
He pretended to look offended. "Why, Holly! Are you implying that I am too much for you? That I'm a pain?" he said, halfway through the action of pulling up a chair. He spun it around at the last second and straddled it, putting his arms on the back of it and resting his chin on them.
I rolled my eyes playfully. "I can't imagine what gave you that idea," I teased. "Because I shouldn't have to say anything of the sorts."
"You should be nicer to your delivery boy," Sirius said, pulling a brown paper bag out of his pocket and handing it to me. "You're lucky I don't charge to the sickly folk."
I scoffed. "I am not sick." I said firmly.
"You're in the Hospital Wing," he stated.
I sighed, deciding not to keep up the argument, instead opening the bag to find that they had gotten me two delicious sandwiches, a sliced apple and a Fizz Pop, something James must have thrown in. It was a treat found in Hogsmeade. The sliced apple had to be Lily's addition. Only she would put in something that healthy.
"Turkey and cheese!" I moaned gratefully as I pulled it out. The bread was really thick and soft and there were two slices of yellow cheese in between thinly sliced turkey. Sweet heaven. "My favorite."
"Good." Sirius said, looking highly relieved. It made me laugh. "It took us forever trying to sort out what to get you. Lily insisted on at least one healthy thing while James wanted to load you up with sweets. Remus took care of the sandwiches for you while the other two bickered."
I chuckled, my mouth full of sandwich. I swallowed and, realization hitting me, said, "We need to get those two together. You agree?"
"Indefinitely, Miss Matthews," Sirius said. "Do you have any ideas?"
"A few," I said honestly. "But if Remus agrees, I say I should leave that up to you. You two are the big pranksters. Surely you can turn some of that into good, productive use for once?" I teased.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at me playfully. "Are you implying that we are disrupters of the peace?" he demanded.
I widened my eyes in fake alarm. "Of course I wasn't!" I said before laughing. It was so much fun chatting with Sirius. It had worried me, being friendless for so long, making me wonder if I had lost my gift for sarcasm and harmless banter. It was all resurfacing now while Sirius talked while I ate. It was mostly plans revolving around how to spark the elusive relationship between Lily and James.
"I say we wait it out," I suggested after I had finished my meal and was sucking on the Fizz Pop, constantly having to take it out of my mouth and not because it kept tickling my tongue and inner cheeks but because if Madame Pomfrey saw me with it, she'd think I'd committed murder for the fit she'd throw.
"Wait it out?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah," I said. I readjusted myself on my bed, sitting up straighter. "As everyone's already noticed, she's already warming up to him. If we just make sure that nothing happens to jeopardize that, then I think a relationship will spark on its own. What do you think?"
Sirius considered this and then grinned at me. "I agree to that but it wouldn't hurt to nudge them in the right direction," he said.
I grinned back. "No, it wouldn't hurt at all but it can't turn out to be too much of a good thing, you know. If it's obvious that we're trying to get them together, Lily will be sure to back out of it so we must tread softly." I said.
Sirius chuckled at my choice of words and I scowled at him.
* * *
I was let out of the Hospital Wing the next day but didn't go to my lessons; just taking it easy in the common room. It was dead boring and when the boys plus Lily would stop by during their breaks, I would laugh with relief at having a distraction. I'd never realized just how lonely you can get when the common room is devoid of anyone to talk to hours on end.
With the others there, it really livened things up. I did notice that Sirius and I were constantly making eye contact and that my stomach would flop unexpectedly whenever that happened. I was trying not to be too fussed about it. If these were the beginnings of romantic feelings, I was going to squash them before they could develop.
I was nearly skipping with happiness as I went down to dinner with the others. They'd just finished their lessons and I had to discuss tactics with James…unwillingly, I might add. He started it, I swear. One minute he was talking to Sirius and Remus about something, the next, he swarmed over, interrupting Lily and my conversation and started badgering me about Quidditch.
"What do you think we should do about those Slytherin beaters?" he asked, walking backwards so that we could talk face-to-face—literally.
I sighed. My arm was linked with Lily's and my other shoulder was still bandaged and itching. I did not need James's obsession with Quidditch to bother me now. "James, I said let them be!" I said, exasperatedly. James was obviously about to open his mouth to object so I continued in a louder voice, "Injuries are a part of the game and I am more than willing to accept that. Get off my back about it!"
"Yeah, Potter," a snide voice suddenly sounded from directly behind us. I looked over my shoulder to see the aforementioned beater, Chase Mason. "Leave the girl alone. She's already got protection from her dyke friend. She should've been around when she got knocked up."
My stomach was on fire but that must've been nothing compared to Sirius and James's anger. I knew full well that I wouldn't do any damage to Chase Mason with my shoulder banged up so I put all my efforts into restraining Sirius. I used my own anger against his, seizing his arm in an iron grasp and shifting all my weight onto my back feet and hauling backwards.
Lily, on the other hand, was trying desperately to restrain James as he was ready to pounce on Chase, who was laughing openly.
Helpfully, Fate dropped by in the shapes of Harmony Bishop and Anthony Morales, who were both able to push James and Sirius back.
"Get a move on, Mason," Harmony snapped to Chase.
Cackling, Chase and his other buddies moved up the corridor and out of sight.
We waited several seconds before Anthony and I released Sirius's arms and Lily took her hands off of James's shoulders, looking down, her hair effectively shielding her face. My attention was diverted by that. Was she embarrassed about touching James like that? Was that proof?
Sirius gruffly walking past me in the direction of the common room made me concentrate on what had just happened. Again, I felt that strange pressure in my chest. This time, I'd actually witnessed their defense in the flesh. It was alarming, actually. The intensity of their anger had me, for a second, breathless.
Lily came over to stand by my side after thanking Harmony and Anthony. "They probably aren't going to go to dinner at all tonight," she said in a quiet voice. "Do you still want to eat?"
I shook my head. I knew that I wouldn't be able to stomach anything after that.
It was tense in the common room. Nobody said anything for what seemed like a very long time. We all simply stared into the fire and Lily and I occasionally glanced at each other. I stole a glance at my watch and saw that it was seven thirty. I was starving. Proven by my grumbling stomach. We could still catch a late dinner.
I looked up at the others. James's face was blank but thoughtful. Sirius looked pissed off. Remus was silently doing his homework, naturally. Peter had his hands in his lap and was looking at the floor. Lily was curled up on an armchair and was…was I seeing this correctly? I blinked…several times. Lily was staring at James Potter of all people! She had to have been doing it unconsciously otherwise she wouldn't be caught dead looking at James for any stretch of time.
I allowed myself a smile before an almost unnoticeable shift of weight brought my gaze back to Sirius. He was still angry.
I stood up. "Come on, you lot." I said, grabbing my bag off of the floor and slinging it over my shoulders so that it freed my hands.
"What?" James said blankly.
"I don't know about you but I happen to be famished." I jerked my head at the portrait hole. "Let's get some dinner before I collapse from starvation."
"I'm not hungry." Sirius said gruffly.
I know that I was all deeply impressed and touched by their defense but considering that it had happened two hours ago and Sirius was still pissed as hell…that was out of line. And it made me angry in return.
I seized Sirius's arm and hauled him off the couch, surprising him to silence. "You're always hungry. Stop denying it. You, you, and you!" I grabbed James's arm too and towed him along as well. They came easily enough, not even saying anything against my forcibly removing them from their stupors. Remus, Peter and Lily followed.
While tension still radiated off of Sirius despite his previous stunned silence from my actions, I acted completely normal, thank you very much. I got Lily and Remus talking easily and James occasionally made a comment. The odd one out was Sirius…
By the end of the meal—in which time I'd successfully lured James out of his unfeeling state and got Lily back to normal—Sirius's moodiness finally pissed me off. As we left the Great Hall and I saw him stuff his hands into his pockets and hunch his shoulders, I unlooped my arm from Lily's and stopped the procession to give him a hearty smack on the back of the head.
"What the hell was that for?" he demanded.
"For ruining the evening," I snapped. I did not give him any time to respond nor did I stick around to see his reaction. I continued on my way with the others, not caring whether or not Sirius followed. We'd be free of his black moods if he decided to take a walk. Maybe the fresh October air would clear his head and make him realize that the situation was not bothering me in the slightest when I was the victim.
Lily and I settled into a nice conversation over a game of wizard chess in the girls dormitory while the other girls took showers and got ready for bed. Lily was enveloped in my stories of Olivia and Ellie and what it was like to be pregnant.
I found this particular part amusing. "Well," I said with a chuckle as I prodded my knight forward to meet Lily's bishop. "When she would twitch, it tickled most times. Ellie would find me laughing hysterically in the kitchen for no apparent reason. It's right under the ribs. It drove me crazy!"
Lily laughed. "Are you sad about being here with Olivia at home?" she asked, capturing a pawn of mine and setting it off the board.
"Sometimes." I said. "Most times. That was why I was crying the first night. I had had a dream about Olivia. She was crying continuously the month leading up to September first. She's old enough to understand that I won't be seeing her for a while." I managed to keep the real hurt out of my voice but I was sure Lily picked up on it a bit, for the changed the subject.
"I remember, growing up, we had a neighbor who got pregnant and she was always giggling hysterically. Apparently, her little boy was a feisty one."
The next morning, I was the first to get up. According to my alarm clock, it was a half hour before it was time for me to get up and I couldn't keep myself still so I got up and dressed for the day, glad that I'd be going to my lessons. After brushing my teeth and grabbing an elastic band and my bag, I trudged downstairs into the common room.
Not many students got up at seven in the morning so the common room was completely empty. I walked over towards the dead fire and gasped wildly as I saw a figure on the couch. Sirius was slouched, half lying on the couch, raising his eyebrows at me as I quieted myself.
"My god, Sirius! You scared me half to death!" I said stiffly, slightly annoyed as I dropped my bag on the floor by the armchair and sank onto it. "What are you doing, lurking in the common room this early?"
"Lurking?" he repeated, sounding amused. "I was simply sitting here, completely innocent. You're the touchy one. I didn't even move and you half-shrieked."
"I didn't shriek at all," I muttered mutinously. "But you did not answer my question."
He cocked an eyebrow. "I couldn't sleep," he said.
"Really? And why is that?"
"Search me."
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my arm chair, considering him. "Have you finally cleared your head?" I asked.
He swung his legs onto the floor and sat up. "If you are referring to my hotheadedness of last night compared to my current state, then yes, I have cleared my head, Miss Matthews."
"Good." I said flatly. Even though I'd just sat down, I stood back up again and grabbed my bag. "Then, good day to you."
And I walked out of the common room.