She stirred in the thin bed that she had been lying on for the past three days. Her eyes flickered open, and her eyes fell on somebody. She couldn't tell who it was though: her eyes were blurry. There was a dull pain on the side of her head, and when she put her hand up to touch it, she realised her hand was bandaged.
"Woah, take it easy Potter," the boy said. Now she knew who it was.
She layed back down on the bed and pretended to go to sleep.
"Now, I know you're pretending, so snap out of it," he said.
"Go away," Lily murmurred.
"No," Cameron said. "Ariel and Kim are making me stay here until they get back."
"Why, where did they go?" Lily asked, trying to sit up. Cameron gently pushed her back down onto the bed.
"They went to lunch," Cameron said. "I already ate."
"Oh," Lily said. "So, why you?"
"Because I was the first person they came across that they knew you'd be semi-nice to. But I guess they were wrong."
"What happened?" Lily asked.
"You were hit in the side of the head with a bludger," Cameron said. "And then when you hit the ground, you crushed all the bones in your right hand. Madam Burnett wouldn't heal it, because of some thing or other, but she gave it a potion."
"I'm hurt beyond magical repair?" Lily asked, not wanting to accept what it reminded her of.
"Yeah," Cameron said. "But hey, blame whoever aimed the bludger at you."
"Somebody aimed it at me?" Lily asked.
"No," Cameron replied. "They were too late trying to stop it. They didn't want it to hit you."
"They better not've," Lily said. "They're my team mates."
"I know," Cameron said. "At least it's four months until the next game. You'll have time to heal."
"Why do you care, you're on the other team?"
"You're my friend," he said. "And Quidditch is just a game. It's about the fun, not the winning."
"Wow, you're the first guy I've met that says that," Lily laughed.
"And a smile," Cameron said, smiling. "I haven't seen one of them on your face in about a week."
"What day is it?" Lily asked suddenly.
"Saturday."
Lily groaned. She'd missed out on two days of classes? What on earth was she going to do?
"Don't worry," Cameron said. "Prefect shifts were covered, I've copied all of my Arithmancy and Charms notes, and Ariel and Kim have done the rest of your subjects, so you don't miss out on any work."
"Thank you," Lily said, taken aback. "I mean, wow."
"I should probably tell Madam Burnett that you're awake... I'll be back in a minute."
Cameron got off up the chair that was next to Lily's bed and went and knocked on the door to the woman's office. Lily looked around her. There were flowers on her bedside table, and some cards. And a letter, addressed to her in her father's messy handwriting.
She picked it up, and felt the pain in her hand. She looked at it for a moment, and then opened it with her left hand, which wasn't sore.
Lily, her father had written.
I'll come for it this weekend. You can keep the map though, it'll help you keep an eye on your brother. Just make sure he doesn't sneak out again. I'll get to Hogwarts around lunchtime.
Love Dad.
Lily groaned. She was up in the hospital wing. Hopefully James would tell him. Did James know?
"Miss Potter," Madam Burnett called, sweeping out of her office with Cameron close behind her. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Lily said. "Just a little sore."
"Sore where?"
"Um, in my hand, and where the bludger hit me..." Lily said.
"That's expected," the woman said. "We'll get you some food."
Madam Burnett stalked out of the wing to get some food for Lily from the Great Hall or the Kitchens.
"Cameron, did you tell James I was in the hospital wing?" Lily asked.
"Yes," Cameron said. "Why?"
"Because he's coming here now probably," Lily said. Less than a minute later, the doors opened, and in walked the famous Harry Potter.
"Lily! Merlin, what happened?"
"She got hit in the side of the head with a bludger sir," Cameron said.
"Don't call him sir," Lily said, going red.
"Oh, Lily," Harry said, going forward to hug his daughter.
"Dad, I'm fine," Lily said. "My head just hurts."
"Why is your hand bandaged?" Harry asked. "Why didn't Madam Burnett heal it?"
"I don't know," Lily said. "Dad, please stop fussing over me."
"Where's the thing?"
"It's in my dorm dad," Lily said. "You know, because I didn't want James to get it back."
"Right," Harry sighed. "So I guess you have to get permission to go get it..."
"I might not," Lily said. "Cameron, if I gave you permission, would you go to my trunk and get the cloak?"
"He knows about it?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Lily said. "He was there."
"I guess I could," Cameron said. "I just need to know where your common room is."
"I know where it is," Harry said.
"It's on the fifth floor is a spiral staircase on the side opposite to the bathroom, which you need to go up. The password to the door is the answer to whatever riddle the door gives. Girls dorms are on the left side, mine is the seventh storey one, and it's the first bed on the left. Got it?"
"I think so," Cameron said. "Password is the answer to the riddle, left side, seventh storey, first bed to the left..."
"Exactly," Lily said. "Hurry hurry."
Lily watched Cameron leave the wing, and she turned to her dad.
"You trusted a boy to go up there?" Harry asked his daughter.
"Yes," Lily said. "He's a prefect dad."
"Still, your uncle Ron was a prefect."
"I know," Lily said. "I'm not an idiot."
"Listen, fifteen year old boys shouldn't be trusted with going up to a girls dormitory," Harry started.
"Dad, calm down," Lily said. "I trust him."
They were interrupted in their little argument when Madam Burnett walked through the door with a tray of food. She gave it to Lily, who muttered her thanks, and then she went through to her office to get some papers. Lily started eating the soup with her left hand, because her right still throbbed.
"Mr. Potter," Madam Burnett said, coming back out of her office. "Haven't seen you in ages."
"Same here," Harry said. He'd first met Madam Burnett after the Great War of Hogwarts. She'd helped the aging Madam Pomfrey to find causes of deaths of the fatalities of the war, and helped to heal the survivors. It had been a lot of work, with over one hundred people dead, on both sides. "It's good to see you again."
"Now, on to the matter of your daughter. She was hit on the side of the head with a bludger, which I'm sure you know all too well about." Harry gave a casual nod of his head. "She also crushed her hand on impact with the ground. When she got up here, there were already some signs of magical healing, although the team members insisted that nobody had tried to heal her. Do you know what may have happened?"
"No," Harry lied. He was still really bad at it. "Is that why you didn't magically heal it?"
"Yes," the matron said. "Are you sure you don't know what might have caused it?"
"I suppose I should just stop trying to lie," Harry said. "Lily has always been able to do magic without a wand."
"Children usually grow out of that," Madam Burnett said. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Lily said. "But I don't see what that's got to do with it... I don't even know how to heal crushed hands."
"Sometimes instinct or unconscoius thinking can just take over," Harry said. "It happened to me quite a lot during my time at this school."
"So, even though I don't know how to heal it, I could have done it subconsciously?"
"Yes," Burnett said. "Well, I've solved that mystery now."
Lily picked up one of the biscuits that the matron had brought with the soup. Neither of the three said anything until the door opened again and Ariel, Kim and Cameron all walked through.
"OH MY GOD!" Ariel screamed, running up to the side of Lily's bed.
"Ow, Ariel, don't yell," Kim said. "You okay Lil?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lily told them. "Just a bit sore. The squealing isn't helping," she added to Ariel, who stopped doing so immediately.
"Um, Mr. Potter?" Cameron asked. "I have those things of yours."
"Thank you, uh..."
"It's Cameron, dad," Lily said. "Thanks Cameron. I owe you."
"We leave for lunch," Kim said, ignoring the others.
"And you wake up before we come back," Ariel said. "How dare you do that to us?"
"It's not my fault," Lily said. "If you want to blame anybody, blame Opel and Weere for not getting to the bludger in time!"
"You could've woken up sooner," Ariel complained.
"How long were you unconscious for?" Harry asked warily.
"Since Wednesday night," Cameron supplied. Lily glared at him.
"Why didn't James or Albus tell me?" Harry asked.
"Well, I told James," Cameron said. "He's in my house and everything."
"I don't think he told you because I sent that letter off to you without telling him I was," Lily said.
"And I told Albus," Ariel said. "Yesterday, when he asked where Lily was. I thought James would have told him. Or Triff, or one of the teachers."
"James and Albus don't talk to each other," Lily told them. "It's quite annoying really..."
"And Triff doesn't like Slytherins," Cameron said. "He really doesn't like Albus."
"Anyway, I'd better be off," Harry said. "Got a meeting with Shacklebolt at three, and it's one now. See you later Lily," he said to his daughter, kissing her on the forehead.
"Bye dad," she replied, rolling her eyes as she did so. As Harry left, he took the invisibility cloak from Cameron, but left the map.
"Cameron, we told you to stay with Lily until we got back," Ariel said.
"I asked him to go get something," Lily said. "Dad was here anyway."
"Fine," Ariel said, narrowing her eyes. Normally, that would mean a sign of trouble, but this time it meant that Ariel was going to give the benefit of the doubt.
"So..." Kim said. "When are you getting out of here?"
"I don't know," Lily said. "I guess whenever I get the okay to leave."
"Justin got back from St. Mungo's by the way," Cameron said. "They managed to wake him up."
"What was wrong with him?"
"He was hit with a combined Stunning and Disarming spell," Cameron said. "He wouldn't wake up because they were just trying to get rid of the stunning. He woke up Wednesday night, and he came back on Friday. He's alright though. Lupis and Kat have to rewrite the timetable again."
"Sucks to be them," Lily said. "Oh well. Tell Kat I'll keep my shifts if she's okay with that."
"Already did," Cameron smiled. Lily glared at him.
**
"So, it's Hogsmeade this weekend," Ariel said on Friday at breakfast. "You know, I don't see why they did a Hogsmeade weekend for the Harpies/Bats game..."
Lily's mouth dropped into an 'o' shape.
"What is that mouth for?" Ariel asked.
"I have tickets for that game..." Lily said. "Oh my god, I completely forgot. Rose gave them to me for Christmas."
"You can't go!" Kim said. Obviously she'd forgotten Lily's promise to take her.
"I have to," Lily said. "Rose gave them to me, and she went through a lot to get them. I have two tickets."
Kim and Ariel looked at each other. Neither of them particularly wanted to go if the other wasn't. Lily groaned. Neither of her best friends wanted to go with her...
She got a brilliant idea when she got to Charms. Sitting down next to Cameron, she pulled out her wand and her book.
"Glad to see you're back in classes," Cameron said. "You doing your shift tonight?"
"Guess I'm gonna have to," Lily said bitterly. She'd kept both of her shifts, and Cameron was still rostered on with her. "It's okay, we won't have to walk around much... just keep an eye on the map."
"Why didn't your dad take that by the way?"
"He wanted me to make sure James didn't sneak out again," Lily explained.
"Oh," Cameron said. "So, are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"
"I missed out on the last Hogsmeade trip, so yeah," Lily said. She didn't want to talk about the last Hogsmeade trip. That had been the day she'd met up with Cameron in the prefect's bathroom.
"What're you going to do?"
"Why is it any of your business?" Lily asked. She was about to pick up her wand and do the spell that Flitwick had written on the board when she realised her wand hand was still broken.
"Just wondering," Cameron said. "I'm probably going to buy some things that I need. I've got nothing else to do..."
"Are you going with anybody?" she asked.
"No, why?"
"Because I have a spare ticket to the match tomorrow, and you like Quidditch..."
Sorry, I forgot to add an author's note before I updated, so sorry if you were reading that and got another email.... it's no different apart from this note.
Big thankyous to people who reviewed!! I'm happy because more people are reading it now..
So those people who are getting mentioned are...
- Raindrops... love you babe
- Wunmiii (I think that's right, sorry if it's not!!)
- Semptember Equinox (glad you're hooked)
- and that's it i think... weird...
but a lot of people put it on favourties and alerts, which i'm also stoked about...
What I'm also stoked about is that I wrote a three page short story in twenty minutes =D
Anyway, press the button, you know you want to
Love Gabi xx
