Lily ran over to Remus and fumbled to find a pulse on his neck. Here hands kept slipping because of the blood. She finally found one. It wasn't particularly strong, but it wasn't weak either.
"We need to get him to Madame Pompfrey," Lily said looking over at James who was leaning against the wall his face scared and his hands in his hair. He stared at Lily with wide eyes.
"We can't," he said miserably.
"Why not?" Lily asked incredulously. What she knew about James was that he would do anything for his friends. Why wouldn't he take Remus to the Hospital Wing?
"He'll lose more blood if we move him," James said, "And he doesn't want to go."
"He doesn't want to go? Why the bloody hell not?" Lily said louder than necessary. If the situation weren't so bad James and Peter probably would've made fun of Lily for her language.
"Because," Peter said drawing Lily's attention, "Regulus, Sirius's brother did this. Remus doesn't want to get the kid expelled." Lily closed her eyes. Remus always the good guy, she thought.
"We are taking him to the Hospital wing," Lily said standing and whipping out her wand.
"Lily, he doesn't want to get Regulus expelled. He could never forgive himself," James said finally walking over to them.
"He will die if he doesn't go," Lily said standing up and facing James. "So I suggest you start thinking of a good story to tell Ms. Pompfrey right now." Lily turned back towards Remus and levitated him. she headed to the door with the levitated Remus. She turned around and said, "Oh and Peter stay with Sirius, I'll be back soon. James are you coming?" Lily and James ran out the door.
They reached the Hospital Wing in a matter of minutes.
"So," Lily asked, "What's our story?" She looked at James and he was staring at Remus with a panicked look on his face.
"I-I-I don't know," he stammered. Lily sighed and pushed open the doors.
"Wait out here," She said to James and walked inside with Remus.
Madame Pompfrey saw Remus and immediately ran over.
"Merlin, what happened?" Ms. Pompfrey asked.
Lily looked at Ms. Pompfrey, I have to sell this, she thought to her-self. Lily had always been good and making her-self cry, so she put on the water works and fake tears stared running down her face.
"We were fooling around with some potions," Lily bit out between fake sobs, "And he put in an ingredient which caused an explosion. I don't know how he got all cut up, but when I looked at him he was on the ground unconscious and bleeding. I-I—I'm so scared. Will he, will he be alright?"
"Yes deary, I believe he will be fine. Just leave him to me," Ms Pompfrey ushered Lily out and closed the doors. Lily wiped the tears from her eyes and walked down the hall a little before spotting James who was sitting on the floor, his head between his knees. He looked up when Lily approached.
"Nice work with the fake tears," James said standing.
"Yeah, well they weren't all fake," Lily said walking ahead of James. James reached out and grabbed her hand pulling her to a stop.
"You're angry with me," he said. It was a statement not a question.
Lily sighed and turned to face James. "Yes, I am," she said plainly. James nodded his head. "I'm angry at you because Remus could have died. You didn't take him to the Hospital Wing because he didn't want to get Regulus expelled. SO WHAT? So what if Regulus got expelled. We would have one less evil slytherin here and I'm perfectly fine with that. But if Remus had died, we would have lost one amazing, brave, wonderful person." Lily tried to walk away again, but James grabbed her waist and pushed her against the wall.
"If Regulus were expelled he wouldn't go to another school," James said forcing Lily to look him in the eye. "He would go straight to Voldemort. I don't like the kid, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and it would kill Sirius. He already beats himself up over not being able to help his kid brother survive his family." Lily stared at James with wide eyes.
"I didn't know," Lily said softly, looking at her feet. she felt ashamed. Did she really not care if people were expelled? Lily wanted to go run and hide. She heard James sigh and felt his hand under her chin. he tried to lift up her head so he could look her in the eyes, but she wouldn't have it. she turned her head and kept her head down.
James bent down a little so he could look at her even when she wouldn't raise her eyes. He smiled. "You know," he said, "If it weren't for you, Remus just might be dead." Lily finally met his eyes. James noticed with a cringe that they were watery. He pulled her in close and wrapped his arms around her. James held his breath as he felt her stiffen. Then her arms wrapped around his back and she relaxed finally letting her tears spill over. James let out his breath and hugged her closer.
After a couple minutes Lily stopped crying. She pulled back a little and looked up at James. He kept one arm around her waist as his other came and wiped the tears off her face. He smiled down at her as she looked up at him with he bright green eyes, eyes that captivated him. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead then turned to go. He heard Lily sigh and he could've sworn that it sounded disappointed. No, he thought, Lily would never want him to kiss her. They may be friends, but nothing more. Of course James wanted to be so much more.
"We should get back to Sirius," James said.
"Oh," Lily said surprised. James looked back at her. "I forgot about Sirius." A concerned look was plastered on her face. James laughed.
"You better not tell him that, I think he would die of loneliness," James joked. Lily started down the hall and caught up to James. She reached out her hand and grabbed his before taking off running, pulling him behind. A huge smile broke across James's face as they both ran back to the bathroom.
When they got there Sirius was awake. He jumped up and ran to James when they entered. James and Lily quickly dropped each other's hands, but a small blush had crept onto Lily's face.
"Remus, is he…" Sirius asked.
"He's alright, " James assured him. Sirius nodded, but the anxious look he wore was still there. James could tell he wanted to know about Regulus, but he felt too guilty to ask.
Thankfully Lily spoke next. "Ms. Pompfrey believed that Remus and I had been messing around with potions when it exploded. That's our story and we're sticking to it. Now Sirius sit down so that I can make sure you're okay." Sirius stared at Lily. Lily marveled at how vulnerable he looked, it was the complete opposite of what she was used to.
Sirius sat down and Lily healed his cuts. She made him follow her finger with his eyes and after a couple more tests she nodded that he would be okay.
"Thanks, Lily," Sirius whispered and Lily knew he was thanking her for covering for Regulus.
"Yeah, well you should thank James," Lily said before standing. She turned to James and Peter. "Make sure he gets lots of rest and food and water," she instructed. She started towards the door, but Peter stopped her.
"Lily could you help us bring him to the dorm?" Peter asked looking at her hopefully. Lily smiled and nodded. She went over to Sirius and put his arm around her shoulder and supported him on one side.
"Lily," Sirius said surprised. "Not here, we can't let James see us together, but don't worry we always have tonight," Sirius Joked. James slapped the back of Sirius's head and Lily laughed. It was nice to have Sirius back to normal.
They got him back to the dorm room. Lily looked around the marauder's room. It was a mess, well half of it was. The other half was clean and tidy. Lily laughed. She could tell which side each of them slept on. James and Remus were on the clean side, while Peter and Sirius were on the dirty side. Lily smiled fondly at Peter, James and Sirius. James and Peter were currently carrying Sirius to his bed because Sirius refused to walk, saying that he should be carried since he was injured.
When they finally got him in his bed Lily made her way through his dirty clothes and books that were strewn about. She stood by the edge.
"You can sit, you know," Sirius said patting his bed.
Lily laughed and made a face. "I'd rather not, never know who's been in that bed of yours," She joked. This earned a laugh from Peter and James while Sirius mocked hurt. Lily leaned down and kissed the top of his head. "Get some rest." She then headed out the door. James watched her go.
James sat in his room with Sirius. Peter had gone to get Sirius some food from the kitchens.
"So prongsie," Sirius said looking questioningly at James. "Our little flower was blushing earlier today when you two walked in form delivering Remus. What happened?"
James looked over at his best friend in the entire world, his brother and he said, "Padfoot, I'm in love with Lily." James waited for the yelling to start the, "what are you thinking's", but none came. James looked at Sirius and saw an amused look upon his face.
"Prongs, I already knew that. I mean you can't fancy a witch for 4 years and not fall in love with her, especially our Lillian. So the question is, what are you going to do about it?"
