Chapter 7
A few weeks after the attacks, nerves seemed to settle and the students at Hogwarts fell back into their carefree lives. October had been good to the castle, so far only bringing mild fall weather. The students were excited for the Halloween feast, well all the students except Lily and James. They would have to set up all the decorations for the feast and had been planning it for weeks.
"If I have to hang up one more pumpkin from the ceiling of the Great Hall I am dropping out" Lily groaned, as she finished the decorations for the feast that evening.
James chucked and pulled her into a hug. For about a month now James and Lily had been a thing. At first the school had been shocked. Someone had finally gotten James Potter, the most sought after boy in the school. Lily had made a bunch of enemies instantly, every girl in the school who had dreamed of standing arm and arm with James despised her.
The Slytherins who had been in the attack had still not returned to the school, which wasn't a terrible thing. All "Mudblood" insults had stopped, and no one has been out after hours except the perfects doing their rounds since the Slytherins had left.
James and Lily sat down at the empty Gryffindor table, admiring all their hard work. The ceiling in the great hall was full of lit up Jack-O-Lanterns, orange and purple streamers filled the perimeter of the room. The tables were covered in orange and purple decorative table cloths, with big pumpkin centerpieces down them.
James had asked the school ghosts to do a show in the space above the tables after the feast. For the grand finale James had charmed each pumpkin on the ceiling to explode and rain candy down on the tables. This would be the best Halloween feast since James and Lily came to the school and they were excited, despite how exhausted they were.
Lily and James retired to their common room for a few hours before the feast. Once they got there Lily collapsed into her chair and sighed.
"What's on your mind?" James asked, sitting on the armrest of her chair and throwing his arm around her.
"Nothing" She replied with a grin, reaching up to plant a kiss on his lips. "I can't wait for the feast to be over and Hogsmeade tomorrow"
"Ah, speaking of which, I haven't formally asked you to go with me" He said with a grin before taking her hand, "Lily Evans, will you do me the honor of going to hogsmeade with me?"
"Well" She said dramatically, getting up and pacing to the fireplace "I've had a lot of people asking me" She turned to look at him and grinned "But I guess so"
James jumped up and grabbed Lily's hand "Really?" He gasped, mocking her playfulness.
"Of course, James" She chucked and they fell down on the couch together.
Lily and James met Sirius, Remus, and Peter at their normal spot at the Gryffindor table for the feast. Looking around, the decorations all looked perfect and Lily sighed with relief.
"You guys did great!" Sirius cheered as they sat down at the table.
"Thank you, Padfoot" Lily replied with a grin.
"What did you call me, Lil?" Sirius asked, shocked.
"Padfoot, why?" she answered.
"Prongs must really be wearing off on you" Sirius teased.
"Oh come on, Padfoot" Remus began "Like Lily isn't already a Marauder"
"True, true" Sirius began, but fell silent when all the food magically appeared on the table.
If anyone knew how to eat, it was the marauders. Lily watched in amusement as all four of them instantly dug in, shoving as much food as they possibly could in their mouthes. Turkey and mashed potatoes and carrot cake filled their plates. Lily chuckled to herself and took a sip of her pumpkin juice before beginning to eat.
The feast went smoothly, and once everyone's stomachs were full the Hogwarts ghosts appeared from the walls. Lily watched in amusement as the ghosts put on a play for the students before heading off their separate ways. Mere seconds after the ghosts were done Lily heard what sounded like a million popping noises above her head; and watched as each pumpkin she had carefully places up there burst into a show of light. Candy rained down on the students who cheered with amusement.
The next morning Lily got up bright and early to shower before going to hogsmeade. She was careful to leave James's room quietly, as to not disturb him as she made her way to the bathroom. She stripped down and set the water to hot.
When Lily got out of the shower she changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a Gryffindor T shirt. She pulled her long red locks into a loose french braid down her back and made her way to the common room. When she got there she spotted James sitting on the couch with his feet kicked up on the coffee table.
"Good morning, Lily" He said with a smile, getting up and grabbing her hand.
"Good morning, James" She greeted, taking his hand in hers and pulling him towards the door. "I'm so excited for Hogsmeade today" She squealed.
"Slow down, Lil" James laughed, while being pulled after her.
They made their way to the Great Hall which was returned back to normal from the feast the previous evening. Sirius and Remus sat at their normal spot at the Gryffindor table.
"Where is Pete?" James asked, sitting down "I wanted his Herbology notes from yesterday"
"I don't know, he said something about 'personal business' and left early this morning" Remus answered with a shrug.
"I miss the old Wormtail, ever since we met up at your house" Sirius said, pointing at James "He's been acting weird"
"Yeah i've noticed it too" James agreed with a nod.
"I wonder what's up with him" Remus added.
The group went about the rest of their morning chatter, Peter not crossing their minds again. After breakfast they all made their way over to Hogsmeade.
"I've gotta go meet up with someone" Remus said when they got there.
"Ooo does Moony have a date?" James teased.
Remus's cheeks flushed red and he nodded before making his way off to The Three Broomsticks.
"Well it looks like it's just us" Sirius said with a grin, squeezing between Lily and James and throwing an arm over both of their shoulders.
First they went to a school supplies store so LIly could buy more ink, then they made their way down to The Three Broomsticks to get a drink and chat.
When they got to The Three Broomsticks Sirius instantly started flirting with their waitress who just sighed and rolled her eyes at him. After she took their order and left Sirius turned to LIly and James with a grin on his face.
"How do you think it went?" He asked, beaming.
"I think she's a bit old for you, Sirius" Lily said, giggling and James nodded in agreement.
"The ladies can't resist me, Lil" Sirius said with a grin "She will be back"
The group laughed and talked like this for hours, everything was perfect when Lily was with her friends. Sirius ended up getting the group free drinks with all his hard work flirting, and was beaming with pride.
James held Lily's hand as they walked out of The Three Broomsticks and made their way back to the castle. On the way back they spotted Remus with a 6th year Ravenclaw named Mackenzie Scott. Sirius left James and Lily to go bug Remus and they made their way to their common room.
Lily plopped down into her chair and kicked her feet up. James sprawled out on the couch. They sat like that in silence for a few minutes before James spoke.
"Hey Lil" He said, getting her attention.
"Yeah" She replied, turning to look at him.
James stood up and walked over to her chair, grabbing her hands and pulling her up. "I love you, Lily" he said, looking right into her emerald green eyes.
"I love you too" She said with a smile.
Lily sat in the stands at the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match. Remus sat with her, and Mackenzie on the other side of Remus. Remus had been hanging out with Mackenzie a lot lately and Lily made a mental note to ask him about that later. Lily had never really gotten into Quidditch before but she was excited to see James play.
James was the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, and Quidditch was his life, besides Lily and his friends. He had been pumped for this match for weeks. Slytherin was a tough team to beat, but he was sure they could do it.
The game started out slow, neither team letting the other score. Eventually Sirius scored the first point for Gryffindor and the game was off. James searched desperately for the golden snitch, knowing that as soon as he caught it they would win the game.
Points were being scored left and right and before he knew it, it was 60-40 Gryffindor in the lead. James spotted the snitch almost exactly in between him and the Slytherin chaser, at the same time she did. They both sped off towards it, desperate to be the one to grab it first.
James reached the spot of the snitch at the same time the Slytherin chaser did, colliding head first with her. She shot upwards and maintained her balance but James had been knocked off his broom and was falling from 200 feet in the air. The air was rushing around him, and all he could feel was the wind in his ears. He reached around, arms flailing in all directions but his right hand had a tight grip on the snitch.
Sirius watched in horror as James fell, everyone frozen in shock. If James hit the ground from that height he would be dead for sure. Without a second thought, Sirius zipped towards where James was falling, reaching an arm out and grabbing James's leg. Now they were about 20 feet in the air. Sirius had a good grip on James, and steadied himself for a minute before a bludger hit him right on the back of the head.
Now James AND Sirius were falling, and they hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Professors and students rushed towards them, forming a circle around them. James's eyes fluttered open and he released the snitch from his hand, before passing out.
Lily Evans was livid. The crowd around the boys was so thick she couldn't get near them. In a fit of rage she started pushing students aside, grabbing them by the hair and pulling them back. She even punched a girl for telling her to "Wait in line to see James and Sirius"
When Lily finally reached the boys she gasped, James's leg was bent the wrong way. Sirius's head was bleeding and they were both out cold. Lily dropped to the ground and grabbed James's hand. Shortly after she got there, Madame Pomfrey did too. She ordered Remus and Peter to levitate the boys to the hospital wing, and followed behind them with Lily.
When they got to the hospital wing Madame Pomfrey ordered Lily, Remus, and Peter to leave while she did her work. Lily sat down in the hallway outside the hospital wing.
"Why don't you come to the Gryffindor common room with us, Lily?" Remus asked.
"I'll stay here, you go on without me" Lily replied.
Remus turned to Peter and told him to go to the common room without them."I'll stay here with you, Lily"
So the two of them sat. They leaned against the wall and sat in silence. They heard someone's pained scream beyond the door. Lily teared up a little bit, and Remus threw his arm around her shoulder and comforted her. Once she had calmed down he pulled away again and sat with her. Lily fell asleep leaning against the wall.
Thank you all for reading and reviewing! I'm getting so many more readers than I could of imagined and I love it! Leave reviews and let me know what you all think! I try to update pretty quickly, but sadly I will not be able to update as quickly this next time. Tomorrow I will be leaving for a vacation and won't have wifi connection for a few days. I'll probably update in like 5 (? Probably) days, then i'll be back to updating regularly. Thank you for your patience!
