Chapter 10: Falling For You
Start of Spring, Lily's Sixth Year
March fluttered in on the wings of songbirds and it seemed everyone in the castle was ready for summer. The library was empty, save for a few seventh year witches studying for NEWTs. All regular studying was replaced by walks by the lake and gobblestones in the courtyard. Lily was the only sixth year in the library but even still she had positioned herself far back by an open window. The crisp spring breeze was causing Goosebumps to rise on her arms but today was the first day it hadn't rained in weeks and Lily didn't dare waste the chance to have a open window in the stuffy castle.
"Ahem."
A female voice interrupted her study session. Lily glanced up at the witch in question and was astounded when she saw the shiny Head Girl badge on finely pressed Hufflepuff robes. Dorcas Meadows sat across from Lily with a shy smile, placing her bag on the table.
This was only the third conversation Lily had ever had with Dorcas in her life. The first had been with James in the library, the second had been a passing in the hallway…and now this. Lily had wondered if they ever replaced Miranda Folcom as Head Girl when Miranda was pulled out of Hogwarts by her parents at the start of last term. As far as Lily had been aware, the Head Boy in Ravenclaw had been running everything.
"You're Head Girl?" Lily was unable to squash her surprise.
Dorcas grimaced. It wasn't until this year Lily had even known Dorcas' name and Dorcas didn't look like the social type. Her thin black hair was pulled into a braided bun that looked like it had been smoothed down by gel, to keep it from fraying. Lily licked her lips and put down her quill to examine the witch with careful eyes.
"I was runner-up." Dorcas replied, "When Miranda left, Dumbledore handed the badge over to me."
"Oh." Lily smiled, unsure of what else to say, and put her chin in her hands.
Dorcas glanced at Lily's left wrist, where the golden watch that Lily had gotten for her seventeenth glimmered in the sunlight.
"That's classic." Dorcas pointed to the watch in awe, "It looks new."
"Thank you." Lily smiled, touching her watch fondly, "My friends got it for me for my seventeenth a few weeks back."
"I got one from my dad for my seventeenth," Dorcas seemed to be trying to make friends with Lily and Lily didn't mind, as there was something about Dorcas' uptight apperance that reminded her of a younger Petunia.
Dorcas flashed the face of her silver watch in Lily's direction. Lily saw a bunch of hands pointing in all different directions and was suddenly thankful for how simple her watch was. Lily found most interesting that the smallest hand pointed at the small-engraved word 'threat' on the edge of the face. Other words included safe, sick, and late. The sides of the watch looked to have small diamonds and the silver looked finely made.
Lily remembered what James had said about Dorcas' pureblood family inheritance. Dorcas herself said that her family was in trouble for fraternizing with muggles and muggleborns. Dorcas had said that her father died not too long ago. The reasons were not stated but Lily had a feel of foul play in the story.
"The large hands tell the time, the small ones keep track of the lunar cycles, and the smallest ones coincide with my surroundings." Dorcas' explained as Lily examined the witch's watch, "It's been warning me of a threat since I put it on." She added softly as an afterthought.
"James said he thought mine ought to simply tell me the time," Lily tried to ease the tension by outstretching her arm to show Dorcas her watch, "It's not like I need to track moon cycles."
Dorcas agreed as she examined the watch, "It was clearly goblin made. Very simple. I like it. James Potter got it for you?"
Lily smiled appreciatively, "James," she awknowledged the Captain of quidditch, "and our other mates. You might know Remus Lupin—he's a prefect."
"Actually, your friend Remus is who I wanted to talk to you about." Dorcas pushed her fringe back into her tightly knitted bun, automatically switching into a tighter tone.
Lily brushed her fingers through her hair and sat back a bit in her chair, "What about him?"
"He can't do rounds for the next couple of days."
Lily immediately sat upright with awareness; she'd noticed Remus was missing on the full moon again. She had been watching specifically for the full moon, suspicions having grown about his condition the more she hung around him.
"Is he alright?" her concerns made Dorcas pause, as if to consider Lily for a moment.
"Yes." She stated, avoiding Lily's green eyes, "He went to visit his ailing mum."
"Of course." Lily countered cynically.
She'd heard that excuse before of course because Sirius, Peter, and James had been making excuses for at least four years surrounding Remus' often disappearances. It was Severus Snape who first noticed the inconsistency in excuses. He was also the first one to point it out to Lily seeing as he was obsessed with getting the boys into all sorts of trouble. Severus' fascination with the four boys had led the Slytherin to theorizing that Remus Lupin was a werewolf.
Severus had been adamant for Lily to agree until the very end of their friendship in fifth year. That might explain why she was suddenly so stubborn when it came to Remus Lupin and the illness he probably had.
Dorcas seemed to sense Lily's sudden interest, "Remus says she gets ill quite often."
Lily realized that Dorcas knew something and Lily wondered if all the teachers knew and a few selective students. It was hard for Lily to admit that Severus had been right about something…and that something wasn't anything to joke about. Everything fit into place, all the puzzle pieces lined up for Remus Lupin to be a werewolf.
Two days ago, Professor McGonagall had given Remus the homework three days ahead of time. Last night, James had been forcing Remus to eat his weight in chicken of all things, despite Remus' claims he wasn't in the mood. More than once Lily had seen drawings of the lunar cycle in Remus' planner. More than once she heard his mates call him the rather odd nickname 'Moony'.
It was easy to ignore what her gut was telling her about Remus, it was hard to imagine that her brain was logically telling her that it was right.
"So," Dorcas leaned forward, pushing a timetable at Lily and causing her to startle, "I need someone to cover his rounds."
"Remus has all the single first floor rounds doesn't he?" Lily pushed her hair back so she could lean forward and look at the timetable that Dorcas was pushing.
Dorcas nodded, pointing to the two times she needed filled, "I already asked two of the other free prefects but they could—"
"I'll take all his shifts." Lily interjected, surprising Dorcas yet again.
"You're sure?" Dorcas' brown eyes were apprehensive; "I was going to suggest you switch with a double—since you're muggle born you shouldn't be doing rounds alone."
"I'm fine." Lily assured the Head Girl, "If it's a late shift I'll make one of my mates come with."
Dorcas nodded and started scribbling Lily's name over Remus' in red ink, "Why not take your boyfriend?" Dorcas recommended as she fixed the timetable, "He's certainly handy with a wand."
"My boyfriend?" Lily furrowed her eyebrows together and tilted her head, bemused.
Dorcas sniffed as she rolled up her parchment, "Yeah, he's been great. I caught him numerous times sticking up for the younger kids getting bullied by—"
"I'm sorry." Lily apologetically cut her off again, "But I don't have a boyfriend."
Dorcas stopped her rant and eyed Lily suspiciously.
"Potter and you? Right?"
Lily opened her mouth in astonishment and then closed it. Dorcas seemed suddenly highly embarrassed and her face was ashen. Lily's face had to be bright red. Dorcas pushed the timetable into her bag and stared at Lily with utter confusion.
"No." Lily finally managed to pull a word from her vocabulary.
Not seeming to understand what she'd just suggested, Dorcas shrugged, "Oh, well, still. You should take him with since he wants to be Head Boy so badly."
"He doesn't." Lily half laughed, half gasped at Dorcas.
Dorcas just gave an airy laugh, "You sure? The way he was trying to pass out detentions? I mean the boy tried to dock points off a dunce three weeks ago."
"Not James." Lily shook her head in denial, red hair slapping against both sides of her face, "James isn't—and we're not—"
Dorcas put a hand on her hip, "Does he know that?"
"What." Lily laughed, "He's one of my friends—one of my best friends."
Dorcas pursed her lips, "Okay, sorry I asked."
Trying desperately to change the conversation Lily nodded to the pitch, "Are you going to the match this weekend?"
Dorcas shook her head, "Nah, Hufflepuff doesn't stand a chance."
Lil shrugged, "I bet for Hufflepuff."
"Only 'cause Slytherin is the competition." Dorcas laughed, "Later, Evans."
Dorcas singled her leave with a head tilt in Lily's direction.
Lily stretched and sighed, remembering that there was game tomorrow making her skin crawl. She didn't want to go to the game because she knew her mates weren't going. James said he needed to worry about Ravenclaw, not Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Remus was apparently visiting his mum. Lily had no idea what Sirius and peter were doing but she had a feeling it wasn't quidditch.
Lily wondered why Dorcas was so sure James and her were more than just friends. James was wonderful and brilliant but she didn't fancy him. Lily knew that James fancied her but he was James and she couldn't even think about him that way.
Frustrated, Lily packed up her things and stomped back to Gryffindor tower alone. She wondered if she ought to go flying, her head was pounding from thoughts of werewolves and James Potter.
Of course, James Potter of all people spotted Lily when she entered the common room, first. He jumped out of the armchair he'd been lounging in lazily and waved at her, a smile wide across his tan face. He was alone and she saw no signs of the other three boys at all. He came over to where she stood in half a daze, throwing an arm around her jovially.
"Where've you been?" he asked, voice light.
"I could ask the same of you," Lily demanded harshly, causing James to wince and reset his glasses on his nose, "You weren't in divination or potions."
"Erm, okay." James glanced back to the couch he'd left, "I was napping."
Lily didn't doubt he'd been sleeping. She wondered if he stayed up all night with a werewolf.
"Wonderful." Lily managed to sputter out; biting her tongue before she said anything else.
"What've you been up too?" he asked again as they made their way over to the couch he'd just abandoned to greet her.
"I went to class, went to the library," Lily counted off with her fingers, "You know, boring stuff."
"Yeah did I miss anything in class?" James ruffled his hair awkwardly, "I slept through my alarm."
"No, James." Lily sighed, falling into the cushions of the sofa.
He crossed his arms and stared down at her with a smirk, "You aren't mad that we all ditched you in classes are you?"
"No." Lily stared at him, her mind swirling with thoughts of boyfriends, werewolves, and Head Girls.
"Liar." He accused and he laughed when she gave a snotty turn of her cheek.
He fell into the sofa beside her and tickled her side before grabbing a magazine he'd dropped on the floor. Lily read over his shoulder for a few moments before speaking up again. She was determined to get one of the boys to talk to her about Remus.
"I ran into Dorcas Meadows." Lily swallowed when she saw his eyes light up with recognition.
"Love her." He said into his magazine, not glancing at her.
"Bully for you then." She pushed down on the magazine pages, forcing him to grin at her.
"I love you more." He teased, slapping her playfully with the pages and causing her to flush to the tips of her hairline.
"Shove off." She pushed him with no conviction and he rolled his eyes.
"What did Meadows want?" he complied with her prying.
Lily tapped her foot rhythmically, "Well, she said Remus was going to miss rounds."
James' face fell, "yeah." He muttered, "He's really upset about that, sorry Lily."
Lily didn't know how she could tell, but she knew James was lying to her, or at least stretching the truth.
"Okay." She slinked away from the touch of his hand on hers and stood up, straightening her robes, "Are you sure you aren't going to the game?"
James grinned up at her from the sofa, "Do you want me to go with you?" the question was pointed and subjective.
"No." she lied hastily.
"Okay then." James smiled to himself and opened his magazine back up, "I'm sure I'm not going."
"Git." And she turned, making him chuckle.
She shot him a glare only to laugh when she turned and saw he was sticking his tongue out at her childishly.
"Grow up." She accused him.
"I'm trying, Evans." He grinned like he knew something she didn't, "Maybe by the weekend."
"I doubt it." She stuck her tongue out at him, earning a laugh from James.
"Want to go flying with me before the match?" James asked her before she walked out of earshot.
"Sirius busy?" she asked.
"No," his hazel eyes twinkled, "I just want to hang out with the only girl in my life."
"What time?" Lily smirked, putting a hand on her hip and glaring playfully at him.
"Seven thirty am sharp and I don't expect you to be a minute late with that new watch." James warned her with a wink and a point at her watch.
"Okay." She laughed; waving goodbye and she could not stop smiling to herself the rest of the night.
Even in her anger over the boys still not telling her about Remus (she was determined to let them tell her) Lily hadn't taken the watch off since they boys had surprised her on her birthday. She fiddled with the gold clasp as she sat in class the next day beside Sirius, listening to the muggle studies Professor drone on about politics in the muggle world. Sirius said he took the class to learn the basics of muggle hardware and Lily noticed he often kept very precise notes on the workings of most electronics. Currently though, the young black haired Gryffindor was leaning into her shoulder, grinning as she fiddled with her watchband.
"Get bored of that yet?" he nodded to the golden trinket.
"Kinda." But Lily said it with a soft, dramatic, perfectly planted sigh that clued in to Sirius she was anything but truthful.
"You haven't taken that off since the moment we gave it to you, have you?" he elbowed her.
Lily let go of the watch and shot him an indignant look, "Of course not," she replied with a haughty shake of her head, "I plan on wearing it until it falls off my wrist."
"Good." Sirius chuckled, "I battled fifty dragons and a goblin for that watch."
"Was that before or after James saved you from a dementor?" Lily turned her sparkling eyes to see that Sirius was grinning sheepishly.
The boys had told her a million different stories on how they came across the watch. Remus was the only one who told Lily the truth: that they found it in a watch shop. Sirius was probably on his sixth story and his last one involved pirates. Lily smiled triumphantly at Sirius, waiting for his reply.
Sirius' handsome face was crooked as he tried not to laugh out loud. "After of course."
They both cackled under their breath and Lily sighed contentedly against his arm, leaning against him like he was supporting her upright in her chair. Professor Quirrell, the muggle studies Professor, sent the pair a warning scowl from over the book his was reading. Lily and Sirius exchanged a smirk because Quirrell had already chastised them once for interrupting class.
Quirrell often threatened with extra work but the thought made Lily laugh. The assignments that were given in the class were the assignments Lily hardly worked on. Lily only took muggle studies to see her world from the eyes of the magical world. Quirrell excused the class early because he had to go help the Care of Magical Creature's professor with proper disposing of a troll carcass. Quirrell announced homework was to be an essay on the finer workings of the muggle political system through the ages.
"How does one even come by a troll carcass?" Sirius commented humorously as Lily put her things into her shoulder bag, "Why can't we have lectures on that?"
Lily laughed, "I have no idea."
"Apparently it had been living in the mountains by Hogsmede." Lily heard a Ravenclaw speak up from the front of class, "when it died the townsfolk started complaining about a nasty smell."
"I mean trolls smell bad alive or dead." Sirius disparaged as he and Lily made their way out the door of the classroom as the rest of the class discussed how to properly get rid of a troll.
"Have experience with trolls, Sirius?" Lily poked him in the stomach with a playful finger.
"Yeah, my mum."
Lily threw her head back and laughed out loud, causing a few students to turn and look at the pair. Sirius chuckled too and threw an arm around her shoulders, lazily leaning on her as they walked down to the main floor of the castle.
"Are you going right to the field?" Sirius quipped as they decided the moving staircases together, "I know you told James last week you'd go watch Gryffindor practice."
Lily sighed heavily and nodded, "I know I told him I would but I've got two quizzes now and—"
"Come on," Sirius pleaded, "Remus is still in Hospital and Peter is going out with some girl tonight."
Lily's face warped immediately to a concerned look at Remus' name. Sirius saw her shift in mood almost instantly and instantly waved her unease away.
"Remus is fine, Lily. He just had a really bad cold."
"Can I see him?"
Sirius looked apprehensive, his fingers were tapping on her shoulder, like he was trying to control himself.
"No." he said quietly.
She opened her mouth to argue, and then closed it quickly.
Lily knew she shouldn't pry but Remus had been out of class for two days. Dorcas Meadows was out for any help she could get on rounds since she'd accidently scheduled Remus who, she claimed, as seeing his ailing mother.
Now Sirius declared Remus was the ailing one.
Lily reminded herself that if the boys were keeping it a secret that there had to be a good reason why. Lily comprehended that wizards were not accepting of muggleborns so she imagined Remus' werewolf kind weren't exactly welcomed with open arms either. Sirius noticed her wavering look. He stopped walking and pulled her to a halting stop as well. He stared down at her with knowing grey eyes.
"What's wrong Lily?"
"Nothing." She said it too fast and she shrank into his arm, trying to hide the ugly blush creeping up her neck by twirling her hair around her finger.
"You were about to argue with me and then you stopped." Sirius peered at her with a stern look that would've made Professor McGonagall second-guess herself, "You never miss out on the chance to argue with me."
"Nothing." And at Sirius' persistent stare she put the firm pressure of her hand against his elbow, "Nothing."
"Nothing seems to be a whole lot of something." Sirius unwrapped his arm from around her shoulders and they stopped in the middle of a moving staircase.
She said with more conviction, mimicking a tone James often used with Sirius to shut him up, "I'm fine, Prongs."
That shut him up all right. Sirius stared blankly at her, processing the words that came out of her mouth. Wondering if she ought to not have had so much nerve, using the nickname the boys gave him, Lily flushed lightly. Instead of showing her nervousness she pointed her nose in the hair and pursed her lips at him in such a way that her sister Petunia would've been proud. Sirius brushed back hair from his face, swallowing before speaking again.
"You can go on lying, Lily. I'll figure out what's bothering you eventually." He spoke to her like he was speaking to a child, "Besides, I'm not Prongs. If you're going to try and use the nicknames, use them properly."
Lily cursed under her breath and turned around harshly. Lily had only heard the boy's use the nicknames when they were together. It was hard for her to guess who was who and clearly she'd guessed wrong. Sirius grabbed her hand to stop her with a chuckle. He turned her so that she was facing the direction they'd previously been going.
"Prongs," he used the nickname cheerfully now, like he was teaching her to say it, "is currently at the quidditch pitch waiting for his two best mates to go support him in training."
"I don't want to go to practice." She moaned, "And your nicknames for each other are stupid."
Sirius placed a hand against her forehead, feeling it with a anxious look on his face.
"What?" she pushed his hand away with a grumpy look.
"Trying to see if you've caught Remus' sickness." Sirius said with worry, "You're turning down quidditch. You've got to be dying."
Lily glared and Sirius pulled a half a smile before dragging her along against her will. As they got closer and closer to the Quidditch Pitch her nerves raced higher and higher. The Gryffindor team was already in the sky practicing and it took Lily only seconds to spy James by one of the posts, shouting directions to Shawn Jones.
He had a quaffle in one arm and a stopwatch in his other hand, face staring up at the sky full of broomsticks. Sirius shouted James' name and waved, prompting James to look down at the first level stands where Sirius had picked to sit. Lily had to be twenty feet from him, but she could still see the sparkle of his hazel eyes. She smiled softly and went to sit down, only to land on the hard ground.
"What the Hell?" Sirius laughed as Lily stared up at the dark blue sky with mirth, "You alright?"
"Fine! Fine!" she demanded, swinging back up to her seat before Sirius could help her.
Lily forced herself to glanced back at the pitch where James had gone back to his players and didn't notice her small slip. She hoped. Sirius however, had noticed the entire ordeal and was staring at Lily like she was a puzzle to be solved. Lily ignored him and rubbed the sore spot now growing up her backbone.
Lily tried to ignore the growing discomfort in her tailbone (and stomach) by focusing on the plays Gryffindor was practicing. James had them working on all matters of the game, even down to basic flying maneuvers. Lily could see why, as the last game was against the Ravenclaws who had a wonderful defense this year despite previous years of poor teamwork.
"How's the team look to you, commentator?"
James' voice startled her because it came from just above her right ear. She glanced up and saw he was on his broomstick, floating just above her shoulder. She blinked rapidly at him, trying to properly tell him how she thought his team looked in top shape. Normally she would've goaded him but he was smiling at her and the sunlight was slightly blinding her, giving her a sudden headache.
"Fine." she squeaked, brushing her red hair back theatrically.
"That appears to be the only word Lily can get out today." Sirius commented suspiciously from Lily's right, "fine."
James smirked and Lily looked at the ground, wondering what on earth was causing her head to spin like she was on a ride at the muggle fair. Sirius was being awfully observant. Observant was normally a trait she reserved for herself but Sirius' eyes were scanning Lily and James up and down like he was figuring out a difficult rune.
"They look fantastic, James." Lily looked up at him, smiling and recognizing his signature lopsided grin.
Sirius, just then, started laughing out loud. James and Lily sent him glared and he apologized through laughter.
"Are you mad?" Lily snapped at him.
"No, but you both are." He barked, wiping a tear from his eye as Lily and James shared a look.
"I think Anna's dives need more work." James ignored Sirius' continuing chuckles and pointed to his seeker making dives in the far right corner of the field, "Not quite at a perfect angle."
Lily swallowed, "At least Jones is doing well."
James' face shadowed, "Yeah," he agreed, "She'll do." Then he reached down to ruffle her hair, "Can't wait to fly with you tomorrow."
James smiled at her and she smiled weakly back, suddenly realizing that he was awfully close. She readjusted her position on the bench so she was closer to Sirius and James left them to go shout at Shawn for hitting another player.
"I changed my mind," Lily commented as she watched Shawn and James have a shouting match in the middle of the field, "He is mad."
"What's wrong?" Sirius pestered her as Anna flew by with a salute at Lily.
"I told you, nothing is wrong." Lily refused to look at Sirius, she was staring at James.
"Are you worried about Remus? Because he's supposed to be evicted from the hospital later."
"No."
"Are you worried we're going to lose the match?"
"No."
"Is this about James' birthday tomorrow?"
"N—oh my god." Lily sat up in her chair in a panic and turned her head to show Sirius her revelation, "His birthday is tomorrow!"
"Same day as the match." Sirius grinned like Christmas had come early, "Isn't that why you're going flying with him?"
Lily slapped her forehead, "Normally he bloody prances around the halls reminding everyone about his birthday! I can't believe I forgot! Oh my god!" she stared at amused Sirius, "Why wasn't he prancing around reminding everyone? Doesn't he know I'm horrible at birthdays? I can't even remember my own! Sirius what do I get him?"
Sirius ignored her, too caught up in his strange joy, "Merlin today's been great."
"No it's not, you boys bought me this lovely watch! And I don't even remember his bloody—" she was working herself up into tears and Sirius saw it was time to start calming her down.
"Lily." Sirius put a hand on either of her shoulders, staring pertly at her, "Breathe. Just bring a birthday banner, or make some smart comment at tomorrow's game. James has never been one for gifts."
Lily swallowed, not able to control the few tears that slipped from her eyes as she struggled to calm down. Sirius shook his head sadly at her and she bit her lip, feeling like the worst friend ever.
"If it makes you feel better," Sirius looked like he was choosing his words carefully, "James probably won't take offense to you forgetting his birthday."
"What?' she implored, hitting him, "Why not?"
Sirius gave a little snigger and grabbed the spot she hit like he was wounded, "Well," he enlightened, "I think you'll find he's just as bad as you on the birthday front."
Lily snorted, "You lot bought me a gorgeous gift and you expect me to believe James forgot my birthday?"
"He forgot mine." Sirius shrugged, "and we bought your gift the night before your birthday."
Lily refused to believe him and pushed him away, "Fine," he grinned at the word choice and she made a frustrated noise, "I mean, okay! Whatever! I will make him a bloody card or something!"
Sirius shook his head and sat back so he could stare at the players circling the field on their brooms, "Merlin, Evans. You are one wreck of a witch today, aren't you?"
Lily crossed her arms and grumbled; "I've been putting up with four wrecks since start of term."
"Ouch." He pretended to look hurt, "If you weren't having a meltdown I might take offense."
"I'm not—" but Lily stopped her sentence when Remus Lupin appeared in front of the stands in a thick traveling cloak despite the weather.
Lily noticed he was walking with a slight limp and she immediately pushed all her annoyances with the boys and their secret away. She jumped from her seat, racing over to Remus and throwing her arms around him. He smelled like the Hospital Wing and pumpkin juice. Remus hugged her back, unsure, as she clasped him tightly.
"How're you feeling?" she asked, pulling back to examine his face.
Remus was blushing, "I've never been better." He said, eyes glancing behind Lily to where Sirius sat, "How are you lot?"
"Lily's gone mad. James has been mad. Same old, same old."
"I have not gone mad." Lily snapped at Sirius before kissing Remus' cheek, "I've missed you Remus."
Remus flushed and muttered something about having nothing to miss as they went to take seats with Sirius again. A new look had overcome Sirius and when Lily glanced over to ask Sirius to make some room for Remus on the end, Sirius' face was now calculating. Sirius didn't even try to argue as she pushed Remus into the seat she'd abandoned. Remus let his head whip back and forth between the pair in confusion.
"Am I missing something, Sirius?" Remus asked Sirius whose nose was twitching like a dog might, sniffing the air.
"No more than I, mate." Sirius said cryptically.
Lily twirled her hair around her finger and bit her lip as she stared at Remus for a confirmation that he was a werewolf. Didn't they have wolfish characteristics? She'd read that somewhere once. Still, as Lily stared at the young boy, all she saw was the same brown haired wizard she'd met six years before. No trace of wolf tainted his pale face, until he grinned a wolfish smile, stretching his mouth from ear to ear.
"I think you've been doing too many of my rounds and losing sleep." He stood up, rocking a bit on his banged up leg. Lily saw Sirius move to help Remus but Remus steadied himself without help.
"It was only two more sessions of rounds than my normal amount." Lily answered, "I didn't mind at all."
"Well, thanks." Remus put a hand on her shoulder, "Dorcas was freaking out all last week trying to get it covered."
Lily decided it was now or never, "She said your mum was ill."
Sirius' head tilted and Remus let his hand drift from her shoulder. Lily noticed both boys looked uncomfortable.
"She was." Remus' voice was flat, "I must've caught whatever she had."
"Your mum is always ill." Lily's voice was just as flat; she could tell they weren't planning on telling her.
"Runs in the family I guess." Remus responded before turning away and muttering, "James alright?"
Sirius sent her a glare and started telling Remus how James was, despite the fact that James was only a broomstick away. Lily huffed and sat down on Sirius' other side, deciding whether she should just go ahead and tell Remus she knew the secret now. Somehow that didn't seem very tactful. Sirius and Remus had stopped their conversation and Sirius was glaring at Lily now.
Remus stood up to limp over to the field when James dismounted his broom a ways away to talk to Anna. Lily watched him go.
"Why is he limping? Mum pass him that too?"
"I don't know." Sirius glared at her even more.
"What?" She demanded.
"Your smart."
"Well spotted." She laughed acidly.
Sirius shook his finger at Lily and leaned in closer to her, "You've finally guessed haven't you?"
There was a pause. Sirius would be the one to see something before the others. He had Lily's mannerisms down. They stared into each other's eyes, like they were having a conversation. Lily blinked.
"Why don't you take a guess Sirius." she demanded.
"Don't push it, Evans." Sirius warned, but before she could argue with him he stood up and went towards the field.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To talk to Remus and James." He answered, with a wave, dismissing her, "You aren't invited."
"Don't be rude." She shouted at him.
"Don't be nosy!" he shouted back, albeit more playfully.
The morning of the game came quickly, too quickly for Lily who had about five seconds worth of sleep all night. The air was warm for the season, and as Lily reached for her school uniform in her trunk she decided to pull out only her white oxford and black slacks. Mary offered a maroon sweater to go outside with, as it was chilly without the sunshine. Lily also put on her broomstick necklace, a birthday gift from her father. The golden watch at her wrist caused the sleeves of the button down to slip up her arm.
She spotted James' flyaway hair approaching her as she finished getting her broom from the broom shed where she had stored it. He had his own broom slung about his shoulders and was wearing a smile only for her. She bit back her own stupid grin and closed the door to the broom shed.
James pulled up beside her, knocking at her broomstick with his hand. She ignored him and dug her hand into her back pocket, grabbing his birthday card.
"You look gorgeous." He said, ruffling his black hair, trying to make it look even messier than it already was.
She took the compliment as she passed over her homemade birthday card to the quidditch captain. James took the card with curiosity, his glasses sliding down his nose as he held it away from his face. The parchment was thick, almost cardboard, but it was Lily's favorite because it was colored with wildflowers. James opened the card up and stared at it. Panic ensued almost instantly. Lily couldn't draw for sickles and her penmanship was too curly when she wrote with a fountain pen instead of a quill.
It wasn't much.
It simply said 'happy birthday' on the inside with little snitches and quaffles surrounding the flower boarders.
"I know it's stupid, I mean you got me this gorgeous watch but I thought, it's quidditch and you'll be focused and—"
"Hey." James stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder with a soft laugh accompanying his kind eyes, "I love it."
Lily glanced up hopefully and saw his hazel eyes were shining, "Yeah?"
"Really." He leaned into his broom; "I also want to talk to you."
"About what?" Lily brushed her red hair over one shoulder so she could probably gaze into his eyes.
James shrugged halfheartedly, "Sirius told me you guessed about Remus."
"Oh."
Remus Lupin being a werewolf was at the back of her mind, surprisingly. James was currently front and center in her brain, shining like a beacon.
James smirked at her doubtful features, "You know my best mate has a fetish for moons and you look less disturbed about it than I was when I found out."
Lily shrugged, "I've been wondering for a while." She kicked at the grass, "You boys need to work on your secret keeping." She looked back up at him, "Does Remus know that I guessed? I don't want him to think this changes anything."
James laughed again, as if sharing a private joke with himself; "we'll all sit down with Remus soon, okay? You can ask him to tell you, it's better coming from him. The story that is."
"Sirius said not to push him." Lily countered.
"Sirius is a pushover himself, that's why." James scoffed conceitedly, "He can't handle a single pitiful look from that werewolf. I can." Then he faltered and sent her a new smile, a shy one, "At least," he acted like he was sharing a secret with her, "I can most of the time."
Lily just nodded, not really knowing what to say. James ruffled his hair and laughed lightly again, just staring at her. He still had her card in his hand. Lily pointed to it.
"I can hold that if you like, so it doesn't get ruined." She offered.
James raised his eyebrows, "Nah," Lily watched as he tucked it inside the pockets of his robes.
She noticed he wasn't wearing his quidditch gear; it appeared they were going for a leisurely flight. "I'm going to keep this with me, my good luck charm."
Lily bit her lip to hold back the smile she had been dying to spread since James' arrival to the pitch. She leaned against her broom, examining him adoringly.
"I guess you don't need my good luck then?" she baited.
James mounted his broom quickly and leaned on it so the handle was facing the dark blue morning sky, "If it were a game, yes, I'd want more luck. This is just a birthday flight."
Lily smiled, finally, letting a giggle escape, "Seventeen."
"So old." James moaned, kicking off so he was hovering just above her ear, "Soon I'll be in my twenties!"
"The horror!" Lily replied, mounting her small broom and leveling herself so she was facing him, "Your twenties!"
They let their brooms rise steadily, keeping pace with one another, grinning.
"I have to be an adult then," he scoffed, "Do adult things."
They're brooms had reached the top of the stands. Lily was waiting for James to decide on a route for their flight. Lily saw him glance back towards the black lake.
"I don't see you being an adult anytime soon," Lily laughed while he determined which route to take, "What with the quidditch and the jo—"
One moment she was teasing James and the next the wind was whistling through her hair, as the broomstick underneath her seemed to be thrown out of her grasp. All she could hear was the window whistling through her ears. She heard a scream and wasn't sure if it was her own but it was too late to think any further on the subject. She felt her body hit the ground and the world went black.
The next thing she knew, she was in the Hospital Wing, laying on one of the stiff beds. Lily recognized the arched ceilings from a visit to the Hospital when she was thirteen and caught a cold. Then Lily remembered flying with James.
"James!" Lily tried to sit up but two hands pushed her back down and shushed her.
"He just fell asleep!" Sirius appeared over her, hissing a warning, "It's taken me ages to calm him down!"
"Mr. Black do not shove Miss Evans whilst she's healing!" a second voice commanded.
Lily turned her head against the pillow and saw the healer, a young woman with blonde hair and deep set blue eyes, was staring down at Lily with a few bottles of tonic in her pale hands.
"What happened?" Lily whispered frantically, her eyes checking to make sure James was okay.
James looked fine; she could now see that he clearly wasn't a patient like she was. James was on top of freshly pressed sheets, snoring against the pillow. The windows surrounding Lily told her it was late, probably after dinner. Flickering lamps and torches lit the large wing designed to be a sick bay for Hogwarts students.
"You fell off your broomstick, Mr. Potter was only just able to stop you from breaking your neck." The healer explained as Lily started to examine her own body.
Lily's arms were covered in bruises; she touched one of the larger purple spots by her elbow and winced. Sirius held the hand she pulled back and Lily noticed that Sirius' eyes were glowing black without the sunlight to turn them grey. She thought he looked a bit more like he came from the purebloods when he acted this way.
"He said he managed to levitate you at last possible second, so when you hit the ground, your head missed." Sirius glanced back at their best mate, who, despite sleeping, had lines etched onto his forehead.
"I ruined his birthday." Were the only words she managed to get out.
"Forget about his fucking birthday," Sirius exclaimed in disbelief just above a whisper.
"Mr. Black." The healer warned as she lifted Lily's blankets to check underneath them, Lily saw a large bruise on the side of her body.
Sirius ignored the healer and leaned closer to Lily's face, "You didn't fall off your broomstick. Everyone in this school knows that you know your way around a broom. Someone hit you with a curse."
"Mr. Black." The healer put her foot down, "Miss Evans needs rest, and if you don't be quiet I will kick you out."
"Yes ma'am." Sirius sat down beside lily's bed, crossing his arms like a child put in time out.
The healer finished her check up and touched Lily's forehead lovingly, "Don't worry dear, I've given you thee tonics. Your bruises will be healed by tomorrow. No harm done." As she went back to her office she glared at Sirius, "You and Potter only get five minutes more, Black."
"Yeah, yeah." Sirius waved her threat away as he jumped up and onto the bed, positioning himself right next to Lily.
He carefully maneuvered himself so that he was sitting cross-legged on the end of the bed, staring at her. He was watching the healer leave, eyes pointed, as soon as she closed her office door he blurted out his questions to Lily.
"Spill, Evans. What happened? Dumbledore suspects foul play but not a single person saw anything but your body falling to the ground!"
Lily groaned and pressed her hand to her forehead, "I don't know, it happened so quickly. It was like someone yanked the broom out from under me."
"A simple summoning charm could've caught you off guard enough for you to fall off." Sirius guessed, putting his chin in his hands, contemplating, "But who would do that?"
"Any number of purists I'd expect," Lily said coldly.
Sirius went rigid and then said, "Yeah, I'd considered that. There were an awful lot of them in the field when you were too." He turned his eyes on her, "Dumbledore spoke to a few of them."
"Who was there?" Lily questioned, playing with the edges of the bed sheet.
"Shawn Jones. Your old mate Lori. Snape was there. Coeur and his mates."
Lily bristled and Sirius nodded his conformation of the name. Lily remembered the last bruises she'd gotten from Coeur and didn't fancy any measure of idea that he might still have it in for her. Lily knew Coeur and James didn't have a great background with each other.
Lily turned her head to look at James. She felt so constrained in the rigid hospital bed sheets so she pushed them off and ignored the body aches so she could stand up. Sirius jumped up to help, somehow knowing not to demand her to get back in bed. She walked slowly over to where James was sleeping.
"What time is it?" she asked Sirius.
"Almost two in the morning." He replied, "Remus convinced Healer to let us stay. Remus and Peter would've stayed but Remus is still—frail."
"I can't believe he fell asleep." She chuckled down at James.
"I almost stunned him." Sirius grinned at her, "He was freaking. I heard Shawn Jones say James wouldn't let anyone but Dumbledore near you."
Lily nodded, touching Sirius' shoulder for help standing again. Her legs felt very wobbly. Sirius noted this, tightening his hold around Lily's waist. James had his seventeenth birthday ruined because she couldn't stay on a wayward broom. He had spent the entire birthday in the hospital wing, over her lifeless body. Lily smiled and shook her head as she stared down at him, sleeping because he'd probably wanted to be there when she woke up.
"You like him." Sirius was not accusing, just stating a fact as they stared down at him.
Lily played with the golden watch on her wrist absentmindedly, "I didn't realize it until, what, five minutes ago?"
"Shocking incidents typically have a way of bringing out our deepest considerations." Sirius smiled as if sharing a joke with himself, "and falling 50 feet from a broomstick is quite shocking to all parties involved."
"You're telling me." Lily mumbled somewhat unhappily.
Sirius unwrapped himself from her waist and Lily slowly made her way back to her bed, sighing deeply. Sirius chuckled from where he leaned up against the bed James was snoring on.
"You know, he quite fancies you too."
Lily sent Sirius a warning look as she climbed back into her bed, moaning as stiff bed sheets prodded all her bruises. Sirius came over and pulled the sheets up, brushing her hair out of her face like she was a child.
"You should tell him." Sirius sat down on the floor by her bed again.
Lily stared at the ceiling, "I just want to be friends." She turned her head so that she was looking across at James' bed, "we're really good friends."
"Yeah," Sirius' voice sounded dark, "it's probably safer that way anyways."
"I don't think his blood status matters anymore." Lily whispered back.
Both of them were quiet, thinking their own separate thoughts. Lily drifted in and out of sleep, if the Healer made James and Sirius leave—the boys had come back at some point and they'd come back with Remus and Peter. When Lily woke up to the sun peeking over the mountains through the windows she also woke up to her friends. A wide smile broke her face as she sat up in bed and Peter shoved a plate full of her favorite breakfast foods in her face.
Behind Peter, Remus was holding a glass of milk and he looked better than he had since the last time she saw him. "Eat," Remus pointed to the plate Peter was holding in front of her, "you'll feel better."
"Thank you." Lily took the plate from Peter and noticed the bruises on her arm had all but disappeared.
"You look better," Sirius exclaimed, examining her arm, "Those tonics are magic. They heal Remus up pretty quickly too."
"She probably gave her the best tonics too." Remus answered, sitting on the edge of Lily's bed.
Sirius took a sit on the floor again, apparently his favorite spot. Peter sat down on the edge by Lily's arm, biting into a muffin. Lily's eyes sought James' last. He was standing there, just staring at her with his eyes vivid behind black frames. She didn't know why, but she felt the urge to hug him—an impossible feat with her current predicament.
They both blurted out apologies at the same time.
"I'm so sorry I wrecked your birthday."
"I'm so sorry, I didn't even see—" James stopped halfway through his sentence, staring at lily incredulously, "Did you just—" James looked at Sirius and pointed at Lily, "Did she just apologize?"
"I mean, she did wreck your birthday." Peter shrugged and Lily poked him with her fork.
"You don't need to apologize." James said fiercely to Lily, "How could you know some bastard wanted to kill you?"
"Well." Lily chortled, "I'm sure they only wanted to injure me. Death is a little dramatic, James."
"She's not taking this seriously." James shook his head at the other three.
"I am too!" Lily argued, pouting, "but I just think that if we don't know who did it then we can't do anything about it. Move on."
"I have three guesses who." James muttered unhappily, dropping into the bed across from Lily's and crossing his arms.
"Yeah well, unless you can prove it." Lily muttered back before biting into one of the succulent peaches Peter had brought her.
"What I want to know," Sirius' voice rose from the floor, "Is why it's illegal to use truth serum in these circumstances."
"Yeah," Remus chuckled, "Kinda like how you wanted to use truth serum on me when you swore I threw out all those old newspapers you'd been stashing in our dorm."
"They all had bikes for sale in them!" a piece of egg came flying over the edge of the bed, hitting Remus in the chest, "You numpty."
"He didn't throw them away," James scolded Sirius from the bed, "I threw them away. We couldn't get to our trunks. There were so many papers."
Silence.
Then a soft, "We're over, Potter." Came from the floor.
Lily laughed, then moaned and pressed her hand to her side. Slowly, she lofted up the bedspread and checked only to see her abdomen was still red. It looked like the most damaged parts of her were still healing. James had noticed her distraction and when she looked back up he was staring at her like she was a dying unicorn on the side of the road. Softening her facial expression she forced a smile at James.
"Please tell me you didn't spend your entire birthday in the Hospital Wing." She already knew the answer but she wondered if James would lie.
"It's fine," James said fiercely, "it was just my birthday."
"James, no!" Lily frowned, "You didn't get a proper birthday! Even I got a proper birthday!"
James shook his head at her and slid off the bed so he could walk over to hers. Lily felt her breath hitch in her throat as he leaned down and lightly kissed the top of her forehead. She eyes quickly searched for Sirius, but he was blocked since he was on the floor.
"Don't worry about it." He ruffled her hair as she stared at him in shock at his touch, "I'll have another birthday next year, and the year after that, and then again, until I'm 102. You can show up to all those to make up for it."
"I will show up for every single one." Lily swore, hoping James didn't notice the red creeping up her throat.
Peter snorted, "I won't." He declared, "I'll stop coming around his 90th birthday."
"Ouch." James punched Peter in the arm, "Thanks, Pete."
Peter grinned, "Can't party if I'm dead, Prongs."
"Please," Remus snorted over his plate of kippers, "You'll outlive all of us, Wormtail."
James stole a piece of bacon off Lily's plate and sat down on the floor somewhere near Sirius. Lily took the glass of milk from the bedside table and sipped it thoughtfully. The only sound was chewing mouths and the gentle breathing of the five Gryffindor's. Lily had a hard time moving her abdomen but her arms and legs felt fine. She wondered if a purist had been the one to curse her broomstick. There had been at least twenty other students in the stands, even that early. Most students went to watch warm ups or set up benches with posters.
As sad as it was, Lily and James flying together had probably caught a decent amount of attention even if they hadn't been asking for it. Coeur had it in for Lily and James. Lily would put all her money on Coeur being the root of the problem but they had no proof. Sirius said Dumbledore had spoken to most of the students there and no one saw anything. Or if someone did see something—they certainly weren't saying anything.
The next day Lily was cleared and she went back to classes. Slytherin had beat Hufflepuff in the game that Professor McGonagall commentated for while Lily was recovering. Lily kept her beliefs about Coeur to herself, even when Professor McGonagall had come to do a check up before Lily left the Hospital. Lily knew the Professor could do nothing if she had no proof and as far as anyone else could tell—Lily simply fell off her broom.
"It's not the first time a commentators been attacked or sabotaged." Lily was reminded by James, "Remember Aaron Tyler."
Aaron Tyler had been the commentator before Lily. He'd been knocked out and bludgeoned by Gregory Mills and other students multiple times. Aaron had stepped down from his position after falling out of the stands a few years back and when Lily had taken over Gergory Mills had left her alone on the basis that Lily made it clear she wouldn't take any of his talk. Coeur was les talk and more doing. Coeur was dangerous.
Lily's suspicions were confirmed when she was walking to class with Remus. Sirius, Peter, and James weren't around so they were easy targets: muggleborn and a werewolf. Coeur passed them in the dungeons as they went to potions. His face turned into a cobra like sneer when he spotted Lily.
He commented as he passed them, "Shame that your boyfriend was there to save you from breaking your neck."
Lily stopped dead in her tracks, mouth open wide in horror as Coeur kept walking. Remus grabbed her by the elbow and towed her along through the dark corridors.
"He's not worth it." Remus reminded her as she debated going after Coeur, "He wants a reaction from you."
Lily grimaced at the ground, "He's not even my boyfriend." She grumbled.
"Of course that's the only thing you care about correcting." Remus sighed, "Merlin, the both of you are hopele—"
"Lily!" A small torpedo-like body came crashing into Lily, tiny arms enveloping around Lily's waist.
Anna peered up at Lily with bright blue eyes. Anna's sleek hair was in pigtails and a potions notebook was crushed between the girls. Lily grinned at the fifth year, letting anger from Coeur dissipate. Lily felt like she hadn't seen Anna in ages and missed the peppy blonde in her life.
"I was so worried." Anna exclaimed, "James said you were fine but I hadn't seen you!"
"You know me," Lily joked, "I can't walk onto the Quidditch pitch without giving everyone something to talk about."
Anna laughed but she was still hugging Lily tightly, not letting go. Lily hugged her back, happy that out of all her friends, Anna had been one of the girls to stick by her side through everything.
"You are going to have to let her go to class eventually, Anna." A new voice entered the conversation.
Lily looked up from Anna's shoulder and felt her heart melt. James had materialized in the corridor and Sirius was at his side, ever the faithful sidekick. James' hair was falling into his eyes and his glasses were lopsided like his smile. Lily admired his robes as he walked towards them, noting that they looked newer. Anna only squeezed Lily tighter before planting a kiss on Lily's coloring cheek.
"Come see me at dinner." Anna demanded, pulling away from Lily and shaking a finger, "Promise."
"I promise." Lily told Anna as James came around Lily's other side.
James placed his hand on the small of her back, causing her body to go rigid at his tender touch. Lily couldn't help looking at James in wonder at his kindly touch and when she looked back at Anna a moment later, Lily saw Anna's eyes were trained on James' hand placement as well. James didn't seem to notice everyone's fascination with his hand, as he only pressed it deeper into Lily's back to push her lightly. He was trying to guide her.
"Come on, or we'll all be late."
Lily exchanged one last look with Anna as they turned away and Anna's hand was waving dramatically between James and Lily.
"What's going on?" Anna mouthed.
Lily shrugged, not knowing herself. All she she knew was that she didn't like when James' hand fell away from her as they entered the classroom.
Next time: Spring Training: An Excerpt
"You forget that parents are informed of any misdoings and I feel like I get a letter every week about one or the both of you. I do not want a single letter more. Do you both understand?"
"I thought we'd been rather good, honestly." Sirius said as he scrubbed beside James, "I haven't even tortured Snape for a week or two."
"We've just been in the wrong places at the wrong times, mum." James tried to console his mother, "And the purists have been—"
"James Potter." James' mum put down her cup of tea in horror, "I told you to watch out for them! And now you tell me that they're the reason you keep getting into fights and people keep falling off broomsticks?"
"Mum," James groaned, "these idiots have just been listening to stupid propaganda and are trying to label me as a blood traitor."
"Nonsense. We can't be blood traitors if we stay out of the war." Mrs. Potter's face was stone-cold, "Besides, our history dates back to ancient India. Everyone knows that Potter is one of the oldest and most respected wizard family in the world."
Sirius chuckled and said softly, loud enough so James could hear, "not for long."
James nudged Sirius so hard; the dishes fell back into the sink and splashed dishwater everywhere.
Only one more quidditch game left: Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw.
Only two more chapters left: Spring Training and Post-Quidditch Depression
Let me know what you are most exited to see? Drop me a review!
xxx