Disclaimer: Yeah, I figured I should maybe do one of these again. I. Do. Not. Own. Harry. Potter.
I'm also going to reply to reviews this chapter!
THExHEARTx: You're one of my favorite reviewers. (Shh… don't tell the others.) Of course, it may have to do with the fact that you commented about my friend (By the way, her surgery has been scheduled.), but I also love that you love my story! Feedback from people like you is what makes the writing world go round :)
Magic is like Music: Sorry I had to do that to James! I didn't want to, but I wanted to help Lily actually realize how much she truly cares for him. He'll be better soon though, I promise. And from a previous review of yours where you said you'd like to see Harry's life growing up with James and Lily, I'm going to follow JKR's plotline of James and Lily dying. Sad, yes, but if I kept them alive, I'd have at least a hundred chapters, seeing how I'm on chapter ten and it's only October. Though, it would be cool to see Harry's life with parents. I don't know if I've got enough imagination for that though. It would completely change the story, you know?
The Awesomeness That Is Dumbledore: Yes, I know you reviewed on chapter 8, not 9, but I just wanted to let you know I really liked your review. It made me laugh, and I would like to know where you get these bloodthirsty hippogriffs because they sound awesome!
That is all. Now on to the story.
Chapter 10: Nightmares
I hate having to leave James for the night. I wish Madam Pomfrey would let me stay with him.
The walk back to Gryffindor Tower takes no time at all. I don't want to stay in the Heads' dormitories tonight without James in the other side of the tower. It would be too lonely, too quiet. I'm going to my old dormitory to spend the night with Alice, Marlene, and Mary.
"Well, hello, dear. I haven't seen you in a while," the Fat Lady says when I reach her portrait.
"Yeah, I live in the Heads' dorm now," I reply. "Balderdash."
The portrait swings open, revealing seven people sitting in the common room. It's late now, so I can understand why only these people are awake. But they're the people I want to talk to.
"What happened after we left?" I ask, sitting down between Remus and Alice. Remus and Sirius both look up expectantly. It appears they haven't been told the story yet either.
"Frank and I were dueling a pair of Death Eaters when James got hurt." Alice grimaces, no doubt thinking of the blood that seeped through James's shirt earlier. Alice, like me, isn't good with blood. She continues, "You and Sirius attacked that Death Eater who hurt James, but we didn't see who it was. I heard you shout to Remus and Sirius to take James to the castle, and you left. Not five minutes later, Dumbledore arrived with Mad-Eye Moody, the Head Boy from a few years ago Kingsley Shacklebolt, and several other people."
Frank, who is sporting several nasty bruises on his arm, interrupts briefly, "It was the Order of the Phoenix."
Understanding dawns on Sirius's face. "James and I want to be a part of the Order after school, when we're Aurors."
I nod. "Yeah, I think I'd like to be a part of it as well. I want to do something to help out our side of the war."
Alice nods too. "So do I, but back to the story. So the Order arrived, and it took the Death Eaters a few minutes to realize why some of them were falling. One of them shouted something to the others, and they scattered. Dumbledore came to us and asked what happened, and we told him James got hurt. He knew that already, somehow. He said he'd check on him later. Said James was in good hands. He told us to get back to the castle, and he and the Order went to look for lingering Death Eaters."
Remus, Sirius, and I are silent for a moment, taking it all in. It makes sense that Dumbledore came to the others' aid earlier. I'm surprised that Alice and Frank didn't see that it was Snape who cursed James. Sirius and Remus, thankfully, haven't told everyone who was under that particular mask. I'm completely disgusted with Snape, and he should be expelled, but I don't want him to be. I can't explain it, but it's true. I hate him for hurting James. I hate him for creating that stupid spell. I hate him for everything he's ever done in Voldemort's favor.
"Lily, what's wrong? You look ready to murder," Marlene says, looking at me warily. My anger at Snape must be reflected on my face.
I stand up. "I'm fine," I say in a cold voice. Marlene looks hurt, so I sigh. "It's just been a stressful day. I'm going to head up to bed."
Marlene nods, and I turn away from the group and trudge over to the stairs.
"Lily, wait!"
Turning around, I'm caught in Sirius's embrace.
"James will be alright, Lily. Don't worry too much for him. We'll visit him in the morning, and he'll be fine," Sirius whispers in my ear. I return the hug, grateful for someone to say the words I needed to hear. Remus, too, comes over to give me a hug.
"Goodnight, Lily," they both say as I walk slowly up the stairs.
Once in the seventh year girls' dorm, I change into the pajamas that are lying out at the foot of my old bed. I close the hangings and curl up under the blankets. Exhausted from the fight, I drift into an uneasy sleep.
The Great Hall is in pandemonium. I see James battling two hooded figures at once and rush to his side to help him.
"Lily! You've got to get out of here! It's not safe!" he shouts at me. He fires a jet of red light at one of the men, and he crumples to the floor, Stunned.
"No, James, I want to stay with you!" I plead, clinging to his free arm. He shoots another spell at the second Death Eater and pulls me aside once the masked man falls.
"It isn't safe, Lily!" he repeats. "Please, run. For me. Save yourself."
Terrified, I look around the room, really noticing things for the first time. Remus is moaning in the floor twenty feet away. Alice is being tortured by a very mad looking woman. Marlene and Sirius are battling four Death Eaters with difficulty. Mary has fallen to the ground under the wand of one Death Eater. I push against James, trying to get to my friends, but he won't let me through.
"James, let me go! I have to help them!" I shout. A jet of green light whizzes past James's head, but he ducks to avoid it.
He pushes me back against the wall, wrapping his arms around me protectively. "No! Lily, go! He's going to be here soon! You can't put yourself in such danger!" He looks down at me, begging me silently to leave this place.
James's gaze moves to the door as a loud crash is heard from the entrance hall. He steps away from me, turning around and pointing his wand toward the source of the noise. His eyes widen in horror as a tall, skeletally thin man walks through the doors. The man has red eyes with black slits for pupils. His face is flat, snakelike. He is pale as death with long, spidery fingers.
James shouts again, "Lily, go! You have to run, now! It's him!"
Voldemort's gaze locks on James when he shouts to me. His lips curling in an evil smile, Voldemort raises his wand. He shoots a jet of green light at James.
James falls to the ground at my feet, dead.
"NO! JAMES!" I wake screaming and thrashing around in my bed. Marlene tears open the hangings and grabs me by the shoulders, stopping the thrashing. Tears are cascading down my cheeks as she puts her arms around me, rubbing my back comfortingly.
"Shh, Lily, it was just a dream," she whispers. She waits for me to quiet down. The dream was so real.
The sobs slow after several minutes. Marlene pulls back gently and asks, "Do you want to talk about it?"
I nod, my breathing ragged. I take a shaky breath and tell her, "There was a fight in the Great Hall. Everyone was hurt. James was telling me to go because 'he' would be there soon. Then he c-came… Voldemort. H-he heard James shouting to me to run, and he sh-shot a curse that hit J-James in the back… J-James was d-dead." By the end of my little speech, I'm crying again. I doubt Marlene understood much of what I just told her, but she comforts me all the same.
"Oh, Lily, it'll be okay," she murmurs. "It was only a dream."
Marlene continues to comfort me until I fall back asleep.
In the morning, I rush down to the common room to see if Sirius and Remus are there. I must be the first person awake because nobody is in the common room. I sit down on one of the couches to wait for the rest of the Marauders. Slowly, the other inhabitants of Gryffindor Tower begin to wake up and go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Finally, Sirius, Remus, and Peter come parading down the stairs.
"Morning, Lily," Remus says softly, coming over to give me a hug.
Peter greets me somewhat shyly, saying, "Hi, Lily," and waving bashfully.
Sirius hugs me as well, no doubt knowing why I'm up so early. "Good morning, Lily-flower. We were just off to see James before going to breakfast. Care to join us?"
I nod, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I was just waiting for you before going to see him."
Remus falls back behind the other two to walk with me as we exit the common room. He looks over at me, eyebrows wrinkled in concern.
"Are you alright, Lily? Did you sleep alright?" he asks.
I shake my head. "No, I didn't. I was up half the night with bad dreams."
He nods once in understanding. "I'm sorry, Lil. What were they about?"
I grimace, but reply, "Scary, horrible things. I don't really want to relive them." If I talk about them, I'll no doubt break down again at the mental picture of James dead at my feet. No, stop thinking about it, Lily.
We walk the rest of the way to the hospital wing. Remus makes small talk to get my mind off of the nightmare. Sirius opens the hospital wing's doors and marches down to James's bed. He's already awake.
"Prongs!" Sirius shouts, jumping and landing at the foot of James's bed.
"Sirius," Remus and I both scold him. Too much movement might reopen James's cut.
James smiles up at me. "Good morning, Lily."
Sirius looks rather disgruntled and says sarcastically, "Yes, nice to see you too, James."
James grins up at his best friends. Peter sits down in one of the chairs near the end of James's bed. Remus takes the one opposite Peter, and Sirius stays on the foot of his bed. I hesitantly sit in the chair by James's head.
"How are you doing today?" I ask gingerly.
He shrugs. "Better. That potion Madam Pomfrey spread on it really helped. She says I can leave on Wednesday."
"Brilliant!" Sirius exclaims. "Then we can get back to pranking with those excellent supplies we bought at Zonko's!"
Peter, excited by Sirius's exclamation, says, "Ooh, yes! Prongs, we've got some great stuff planned! We'll tell you all about it later."
The boys go on to talk about future pranks and Quidditch while I just sit and listen. I zone out, and my mind begins to wander. It hits me again that James could've been killed yesterday. What if he had been? Oh, I don't even want to consider that. I glance back at him. He's laughing along with the others about something Sirius just said. Anger, hot, bubbling anger boils up in me again when I think of why James is in here. Snape is going to pay for what he's done. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know the Marauders will make him pay for this.
My mind then wanders to my dream from last night. Scenes from it begin to flash before my eyes. Marlene and Sirius fighting a hopeless battle. Remus moaning in pain on the floor. Alice being tortured. Mary under the Death Eater's feet. James dead.
I let out a shaky breath as tears collect once again in my eyes.
James looks over at me, concerned. Remus notices, and says, "Well, I don't know about you, Sirius, but I'm hungry. Let's go to the Great Hall for breakfast." He turns to James. "Knowing you, Prongs, you're likely dying here in the hospital wing even after one night, so we'll come back later and save you from what promises to be a very boring day."
Sirius looks back and forth from Remus to James to me. Finally catching on, he jokes, "Yeah, a growing boy needs to eat!"
Peter, still confused and a little slow on the uptake, shrugs but stands up to leave with Remus and Sirius.
"See you later, Prongs," Remus calls back as he starts to leave.
"Yeah, see you, Prongs!" Sirius practically shouts, loping toward the door.
Peter waves back and follows the other two quickly.
James turns his gaze from the door back to me. His hazel eyes look worried. "What's wrong, Lily? You're upset." He reaches over timidly to take my hand.
I exhale slowly. "I just had a long night. Bad dreams. Really, it's nothing."
He doesn't seem convinced, for he replies, "You don't have to keep your guard up, you know. I just want to help you to feel better."
The tears brimming in my eyes are beginning to cloud my vision as a single tear spills over. James reaches up to wipe it away with his thumb. I cave in under his gentle, comforting touch and recount the events of the dream for him.
When I get to the part with Voldemort, he asks, "Have you seen him, Lily? In real life?"
I shake my head. "No, I haven't. Why?"
His eyes widen. He tilts his head slightly to one side. "Because that's an exact description of what he looks like. My dad saw him once, and he left the memory in our Pensieve at home. I, being the nosy person that I am, decided I'd have a look at one of his memories, figuring it couldn't possibly be anything bad. It was from when the Death Eaters attacked the Prewett twins, Gideon and Fabian. You know them; they were two years above us. The Prewetts survived, don't worry. Voldemort himself showed up, and my dad caught a glimpse of him before he Disapparated. He was the scariest and strangest looking man – if you could call him a man – I've ever seen."
I don't know how my mind somehow formed an accurate picture of Voldemort, but it did. That's weird. It's also a bit frightening. How did I do that?
When I reach the final scene in my dream, the one where James dies, I stop. He watches me as my face contorts in both pain and fear. "What happened next, Lily?"
I meet his stare with once again tear-filled eyes and whisper, "You died." I shake a little bit from suppressed sobs. "I woke up screaming, and Marlene comforted me until I fell back asleep."
James is silent for a moment. Finally, he says, "It was only a dream, Lily. Don't worry, it won't come true." He sits up, against my feeble protests, and looks me straight in the eye. "I promise that's not going to happen. Ever."
I let out a small cry and lean into him. He wraps his arms around me and holds me. Instantly, I feel safe. James keeps me in his arms long after the tears subside, which is fine with me. James makes me feel so secure, so protected. I temporarily forget all about the dream. His strong arms tighten around me when I exhale shakily, wiping away the drying tears on my cheeks. I've been crying a lot lately. I don't often cry like this. It's making me feel like a human water fountain.
He pulls back a bit to look at me. He reaches one hand up to feel my forehead. "Are you alright, Lily? Are you sore or hurt from being under the Cruciatus Curse yesterday?"
I shrug. "Yeah, a little. It feels like a bad bruise. It hit my chest. I'm not sore anywhere else, though."
James nods. "Yeah, Crucio will do that to you. Sirius's cousin cursed him once, evil thing she is, and he said it felt like a bruise, too."
"What about you? Is the cut still hurting?" I ask, worried.
"Nah, it's fine," he replies.
He pulls open a few of the buttons on his pajama shirt, revealing the gash. I have to admit, it does look better. It looks like it's at least four days old. I reach out slowly to run a finger along the scabbed wound. He shivers slightly at my icy fingers.
"Madam Pomfrey wants it to be completely healed before she lets me out of here. That's why I'm here until Wednesday. Really, I feel like leaving now, but she won't allow it." He scowls at the thought of the next few days. I bet he's never wished he could be going to class until today.
"Speaking of Madam Pomfrey…" James sighs.
Madam Pomfrey bustles along the ward with the same steaming potion she put on James's chest yesterday. He makes a face at it.
"Yes, Potter, I know it's not pleasant, but it will heal this much faster than any other remedy I have," she snaps upon seeing his expression. "Miss Evans, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave. This will make him drowsy, and he needs his rest. You may come back to visit him later."
Grudgingly, I nod. "Alright. Bye James. I'll be back this afternoon."
I stand up slowly and walk to the end of the hospital wing. I turn and wave, smiling. He returns my smile and mouths, "Bye, Lily."
AN: Alright, there's Chapter 10! I planned this out a little differently, but then I decided to add Lily's nightmare. And about her crying so much. Really, she isn't a crier. She hardly cries, apart from life-threatening situations like this and the Quidditch fiasco, if anyone remembers it. I've got a couple of ideas for the next few chapters, including a prank by our favorite Marauders, once James is out of the hospital wing of course. Next week is Thanksgiving Break, so be expecting several updates within the week. Guess what, dear readers? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 premieres TOMORROW! A group of friends and I are going, and we're reeeally excited. I can't wait to see it! Just thought I'd let you all know.
Review, please!
- Paris
AN#2: It messed up the names in my review replies, so I thought I'd fix it.
- Paris
AN#3: It re-posted Chapter 9 as Chapter 10, so I'm trying to fix it. So sorry if it doesn't work immediately, but I'm trying my best.