Paradise: (excited) Padfoot, Padfoot, Padfoot
Sirius: (amused) what, what, what?
Paradise: Looky, looky, looky (grinning, brings up the computer screen and points at the number of reviews)
Sirius: 84 reviews...annnd...?
Paradise: (shakes him, in full excitement mode) DO YOU REALISE WHAT THIS MEANS
Sirius: I will do when you tell me... (Turns slightly green) and stop shaking me, I'm getting nauseous
Paradise: (lets him go) this means...ONLY 16 MORE REVIEWS BEFORE IT HITS 100 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHH! (Jumps around, happy)
Sirius: (rubs ears) I did not teach you to make that unearthly sound Paradise
Paradise: I can't help it eeeeeeeeeeehh!, I'm too happy eeeeeeeeeeehh!
Sirius: (pouts) I want to be happy to, let me try, let me try (clears throat) !
Paradise: (giant sweat-drop as she covers her ears) I think that was a cross between an evil madman and a donkey
Sirius: What? You didn't like it?
Paradise: Er...just leave the squealing to me Padfoot, but anyhoo I'm so excited I can't believe the review count has reached over 80 hehe! Its soooo close to 100, can you believe it. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST, AW JUST COME HERE (gives Molly Weasley style hugs to every one of the reviewers)
Sirius: I wanna hug, I wanna hug (jumps into the crowd and hugs everyone)
Paradise: (grins) Well as you can see, this is a faster update...kind of...took two months, but still shorter than nine. I would say I am satisfied with the result of the last cliff-hanger chapter, it AND the reviews just drove me to get this one done as soon as I possibly could and I am happy to say I've finally reached CHAPTER TEN (grins). Originally there were only going to be eight believe it or not, but I must say I'm happy with the added stuff.
Sirius: Yep like me having a girlfriend (grins) can't believe you didn't even write I was going to have a girlfriend in the original, it was all James and Lily...actually it still is and Remus got nearly two whole chapters to himself and you gave me one where I was being called OLD (snarls)
Paradise: (sweat-drops) ahh so you have been reading (the snarling continues) aw come on Padfoot, you're just too good as being used for comedy
Sirius: Why can't you use Peter?
Paradise: (eyes narrow, evil glint in eyes) I prefer extreme, humiliating torture for him actually, but I'm going soft on him in this story, BUT MARK MY WORD HE WILL SUFFER IN MY NEXT ONE MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sirius: (claps approvingly) you've been practising
Paradise: (grins) yep, oh and here's two things from our wonderful reviewer Horse Crazy Bookworm (give Padfoot a kiss on the cheek and hugs him)
Sirius: (squeezes her really hard, nearly causing her to choke) I feel so loved, thank you Horse Crazy Bookworm. (Lets her go) now that comes up to 4 hugs and 3 kisses (grins brightly)
Paradise: (confused) Excuse me?
Sirius: (brings out a chart) see, the X's are kisses and the circles are hugs and I had 4 hugs and 3 kisses as well as candy and brownies, while you only got 3 hugs and brownies (grins superiorly)
Paradise: You also got a poke from Eye-of-the-Kyuubi (smirks, pointing to it on the chart) so HA!
Sirius: (grumbles and rubs his arms) it's still stinging you know
Paradise: Good times (laughs)
Sirius: The point is (brings back his chart) that this just proves the reviewers love me more (smug)
Paradise: (eye twitches) that...doesn't...prove...anything
Sirius: (still smug) de-ni-al
Paradise: I AM NOT IN DENIAL (stomps foot childishly)...wait... (Realises something and grins slyly)
Sirius: (confused and somewhat scared) ...what?
Paradise: I have proof the reviewers love me more
Sirius: (cantankerously) oh yeah! How?
Paradise: I have 84 reviews (grins)
Sirius: So!
Paradise: (grins) see, you might have hugs, kisses and stuff, but I got 84 REVIEWS, which is all for my story that I wrote and THAT is way more than what you got, plus the 3 hugs I got too.
Sirius: (eyes go wide, shocked) WHAT?
Paradise: (laughs) got you and if I reach 100 then there's no way you can catch up to me. BOOYA!
Sirius: (eyebrow twitch in irritation and points at her) oh yeah well...well I...
Paradise: (smug) yes?
Sirius: ... I don't know but I'll think of something (completely defeated)
Paradise: Sure okay, take your time (laughs and turns to the reviewers) thank you to those who reviewed my last chapter, they were the best and I just loved reading them and thank you so much for the advice for the spelling mistakes I've made (blushes) I just put too much faith on Word spell-check to get my mistakes, even though I still double check myself (rolls eyes). But I hope this chapter is better (smiles).
Sirius: (sour face) can I say it now?
Paradise: (cheerful) sure
Sirius: (brings hands together and pleads to the reviewers) give some love, I'm deprived, I'm starved of it and its all Paradises fault
Paradise: HEY (offended) and that's not what you're supposed to say.
Sirius: (ignored her and watches the reviewers, you all nod happily. He grins brightly and whoops) YAY! I LOVE YOU GUYS, COOKIES FOR EVERYONE.
Paradise: Can I have one?
Sirius: No, get your own
Paradise: (pouts) Sore loser. Now just say it already...
Sirius: (sticks his tongue out at her and smiles) enjoy...
Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything of Harry Potter, that's ALL J.K Rowling. Also I do not own Kathrine Stelfox; this character belongs to my dear friend Aysha.
"JAMES".
Remus scream reverberated through the air as he watched in horror as James was lifted into the air by the blast and landed with a thud on the ground a few feet away, James scream was louder and more pain-filled than his.
James chest ignited with excruciating pain and his arms automatically circled around his chest as he curled up tightly, his eyes shutting tight as he tried hopelessly to cease the torture. He was dimly aware that the back of head and back were aching too, probably caused by the hard landing, but all that mattered was the rising throbs that racked his chest. He groaned painfully, the cold snow not helping as it pressed into his body, soaking his clothes.
Anger filled Remus as he quickly turned to the Slytherin boy, his wand poised in his hand. Avery was shrieking in his own agony as he was clutching his face, which was covered in red puffy boils. Remus felt some satisfaction as James spell did hit the Slytherin, but he wasted no time and held no mercy as he quickly disarmed and stunning Avery, who feel to the ground, hands frozen to his face and Remus ran to his fallen friend.
"James! James, are you alright?" asked Remus frantically as he skidded to a halt at James side and fell to his knees. Remus knew it was a stupid question, but it couldn't help tumble out of his mouth.
James didn't say anything, he couldn't form the words as his breath was caught in his throat and the pain just kept on rising that he couldn't concentrate on anything other than that. He felt Remus place a hand on his shoulder and heard him repeat his name. He peered up at Remus and he could see the worry on his face, but James could not bring himself to talk.
So to ease his friends increasing concern he managed a small shake of his head, moaning slightly as a pang of pain passed through his head. James squeezed his eyes shut tight again, waiting for the never-ending pain to go.
Remus slowly pried James arms away from his chest and inspected his front. He cringes at what he saw. James robes were torn and tattered, his white shirt underneath his robes was exposed and he could see glimpses of angry red and black marks on his skin.
The wounds on his chest were close to being completely healed when he saw James torso this morning as he was changing into something warmer, but the red swelling bruises that marred his chest now looked much worse than the ones caused by the Bludgers. James gave out another painful moan and his heart dropped as he saw tears stream down his friends face. It was just another sign of how much James was trying to tolerate the pain.
"Hold on James, let's get you to Madam Pomfrey", said Remus as he started to slowly lift James up.
James cried out in protest as his chest constricted to the movement and one hand shot out and grabbed Remus forearm. Remus stopped and gently lowered him back down, helpless and extremely worried now.
"W-wait", panted James, his breathing heavy and his face pale. He couldn't do anything, the slightest movement hurt so badly. James tried to slow down his breathing and took slow deep breaths to calm himself down, he felt like he was going into a panic attack and he clearly remembered how that turned out for him before.
"James?" Remus concerned voice floated into his ears and he looked up at his friend and smiled weakly.
Remus returned the weak smile, but could not find any comfort in it. His best friend was in pain and he didn't know how to get him help without causing him more pain. If only he could yell for help, but he knew no one would hear him, the duel had moved away from the Quidditch pitch and now they were in the middle of the deserted snow covered grounds.
Remus looked around hoping to spot any student or professor outside, but he knew it was hopeless as everyone was inside preferring the warmth of the castle instead of the bone-chilling December snow.
Just as Remus thought about quickly going to Hagrids Hut and getting help, at that moment the Gryffindor Quidditch team made their appearance.
Remus sighed in relief when he saw Sirius walking with the rest of the Quidditch team talking to Dan.
"SIRIUS", Remus yelled and James groaned at the loud noise penetrating his eardrums, Remus cringed apologetically, "sorry Prongs".
Sirius head snapped up and scanned the area in front of him and he came to a complete stop at what he saw, this caused some of the other players to bump into him and scowl, but he took no notice in them.
Sirius heart rate plummeted as he saw James lying on the snowy ground, curled up with his arms wrapped around his chest, Remus kneeling next to him, completely panic looking and Avery a few feet away, frozen on the ground with his hands clutching his face.
"What the hell...?", and without missing another beat he quickly ran over to them, the rest of the team following behind him.
Sirius skidded to a halt next to them and dropped to his knees like Remus had and helped him sit James up gently, making the hurt black haired teen lean against his shoulder.
The team gathered around them and most of them cringed at their captains damaged chest, they already had an idea on what might have happened as they glanced at the frozen Slytherin, most of them casting deadly glares.
"James?" said Sirius worriedly as his friend was not responding as much as he'd liked. James only groaned, trying to move into a more comfortable position against Sirius and stilled, breathing heavily, his arms still wrapped around his chest. Sirius turned to his other friend, his eyes brimming with concern, "Remus what happened?" he asked.
Remus pried James arms off his chest again and answered Sirius, "we were coming to watch the tryouts, but then we ran into Avery"; he nodded at the paralysed Slytherin lying on the snow a few feet away from them. "He said a few things about Lily and er...me", he whispered the last part so the team wouldn't hear him; he still didn't find it comfortable being surrounded by a crowd. "And you know James, he got angry and they started duelling. Avery hit him with an exploding spell Sirius I think it might have damaged his chest".
Sirius cursed and nodded, he turned his head to James and saw his friend taking deep breaths to calm himself down, "James? James", he said trying to get his attention.
James cracked his eyes open and looked at Sirius, "yeah?"
"We're going to take you to Madam Pomfrey; do you think you'll be able to stand?"
"Not Ma'am Pomf'ey", he groaned and sank further against Sirius. Everyone chuckled at him and Sirius jostled him a little, still waiting for an answer. James groaned again and nodded, "I t-think I c-can manage".
Sirius and Remus looked uncertain, but nonetheless Sirius took James arm and placed it over his shoulder slowly, while Remus moved to James other side and placed his arm around James waist, minding the damaged chest and they both slowly lifted him up. The team moved back giving them some room, but stayed protectively close, just encase one of them needed their help. James cried out as they straightened up and his legs threatened to collapse, but Sirius and Remus tightened their hold around him and they slowly started walking towards the castle.
Sirius turned to the team, "Call Madam Hooch, tell her what happened. She can deal with that spineless git", growled Sirius as he nodded to Avery.
Everyone nodded and Emily, Mary and Brady ran back to the Quidditch pitch to find her, while Andrew and Dan walked towards the Slytherin and started to nudge and prod him with their boots and broomsticks clearly wanting to annoy him.
The walk back to the castle was a long one. They had to stop several times for James to catch his breath or to wait for the pain to subside. Sirius and Remus kept exchanging worried glances whenever James would groan and lean against them heavily. The look of extreme pain did not leave from James face, he tried to give his friends a reassuring smile, but they weren't fooled. James could not hide the pain from his hazel eyes and that told them everything.
"Hold on James", said Sirius as they reached the stairs and started climbing up, he worried at how pale James was getting and the sheen of sweat covering his face.
James managed a nod and tried to ignore the pain as he concentrated on climbing each staircase at a time.
It took them a while but they finally reached the Hospital Wing. There had never been a time where Sirius and Remus wanted to completely destroy the staircases of Hogwarts, but now after the staircases changed route on them three times and they had to walk around to get to the Hospital Wing, it was hard not to.
They walked into the Hospital Wing and looked around, the Wing was completely empty. Sirius and Remus quickly but gently placed James on the nearest bed. He gasped as he lied down and clutched the sheets underneath.
"Where-where is she?" asked James as he turned his head around, trying to see if he could spot her somewhere.
"I'll go check her office, just relax James", said Remus and he ran to Madam Pomfrey office.
"That's easy for you to say", James said quietly, shutting his eyes and trying to relax his muscles.
It was a minutes later when Madam Pomfrey came rushing out, making a direct beeline towards Sirius and James with Remus following close behind her. Sirius had an amusing thought as he saw the nurse frantic face and quick pace, race toward them. If anything or anyone had the misfortune of being in her way, they would have been roughly pushed aside, completely ignored.
Being already experienced with Poppys strength of pushing obstacles away, Sirius quickly got out of her way, letting Madam Pomfrey stop near James head. She gasped as her eyes landed on the damaged chest and not wasting another moment she quickly started to perform a diagnostic spell.
"What happened?" she asked briskly, continuing to examine the wound without looking at the hovering two boys.
"Avery and James had a duel and James got hit by an exploding spell," explained Remus quickly, keeping it brief and to the point.
Madam Pomfrey gave a frustrated sound and gently opened James shirt. They all cringed at the large bright red and black bruise forming on his chest. It looked more horrible than the Bludger wounds he had.
"Was it the expulso spell?" asked Poppy.
"Yes", Remus confirmed quickly.
"Mr Avery must like to hold grudges", she mumbled, the two Marauders looked at her confused and she explained, "He must have put a lot of angry and intent into the spell. It can only cause this much damage if the caster really want to cause a lot of harm", she said sadly. She never liked the thought of students hurting students, not while she had to be the one to heal them. She hates the animosity that runs between rivalling pairs, good usually never came out from it.
She started prodding the wound, careful not to touch the obvious tender areas. James shifted uncomfortably, his hand weakly coming up to swat her hands away.
"Mr Potter...Mr Potter", she said gently trying to get his attention, but James had his eyes closed tight, unable to concentrate on anything cause of the pain.
She moves closer to him, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder, "James?"
"Ma'am Pomfrey" he said weakly, moving his head slightly towards her and opened his eyes "it hurts".
Her eyes soften and she nods, straightening up. "I'll get you the pain-reducing potion. You're in luck, Professor Slughorn finished it last night and I was able to restock my potion cupboard this morning", she smiled at him reassuringly and hurried back to her office.
At that moment James gasped and convulsed in pain as it shot through his chest, he cursed softly and curled up waiting for it to pass; he quivered in relief as his muscles relaxed and the pain passed.
Sirius watched James and couldn't help the helplessness and anger surface, "I'm going to kill that bloody no-good Slytherin", he growled out, "I bet the only reason he was there was so he could spy on the team. Bloody sore loser".
Remus agreed and placed a hand on Sirius shoulder trying to calm him down. He wanted nothing more than to do the same and kill Avery for the torture James was now going through, but unlike Sirius he could not act upon his emotions, fearing of the werewolf reaction within him.
James looked at his friends and smiled, he knew what they were thinking just by looking at their expressions, "don't worry guys, I'm s-sure we'll come u-up with s-something really g-good for Avery" he laughed lightly and uncurled himself, trying to relax and show his apprehensive friends that he was fine.
"Oh you can definitely count on that Prongs. Maybe we can leave something permanent this time", mused Sirius with a grim smirk.
Remus nodded, "I always say he needs a new look. He's becoming very dull to look at lately".
"Lately? The pricks been an ugly pack of troll feet since the day we meet him Moony", stated Sirius.
"Last time you said he looked like giant dung".
"No I said he smelled like one".
Remus and James laughed and Sirius beamed, glad that he was able to lighten the mood somewhat.
"Here it is", said Madam Pomfrey as she came out of her office and made her way back to them. Sirius and Remus immediately helped James sit up slowly and she gave him the vial.
James took the vial and gulped it down; he made a disgusted face at the taste of the potion, but in mere minutes the pain in his chest lessened and numbness settled over him. He gave a huge sigh of relief and relaxed back onto the propped pillows.
"Thank you", he smiled at Madam Pomfrey, "I don't feel the pain anymore".
Madam Pomfrey nodded, relieved as well and then swatted his hands away from his chest as he poked and prodded his wound. It did not hurt when he touched it, but he did feel the warmth of the wound. Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over it and assessed the wound with her medical skilled eyes.
"It seems you are going to have to continue using the pain-easing cream Mr Potter. The potion has helped you with the pain but the bruising will not go away so easily by itself", she told him sternly.
James groaned. He was happy when he found out the tub of cream had stop refilling itself, meaning that he wouldn't have to use it any longer and Lily wouldn't unwillingly have to take care of him. But now thanks to his desire of Quidditch –again– and his plain bad luck he was back to square one.
How was Lily going to react to this?
He envisioned an enraged Lily glaring down at him as he tried fruitlessly to explain himself, her emerald eyes blazing with anger and her hair as red as fire, flying around her. He shuddered and cringed at the images passing through his mind.
"You feeling cold James?" asked Remus concerned as he noticed him shiver.
James shook his head, "no, just got a not-so-nice mental image of what Lily's going to do to me when she finds out I got hurt again".
Sirius cracked a grin, while Remus chuckled, they too visualised Lily shouting and ranting at James carelessness, "Aww mate want some company when she decides to have a crack at you", said Sirius.
James looked at him and laughed weakly, rolling his eyes; he did not find the idea of a girl yelling at him in front of his friends appealing. "I'll pass Padfoot".
Sirius stuck his tongue out at him, "kill joy".
Remus just rolled his eyes, amused.
"Well I say Miss Evans anger will be well placed Mr Potter. She had made a great deal of effort to help you recuperate and now the process must start from the beginning just because of your habit of getting into trouble", stated Madam Pomfrey sternly, eyeing her patient with a potent stare.
James glared at her, "well she wouldn't have to make such an effort to look after me if you just had let one of the guys help me or let me do it myself".
Madam Pomfrey didn't seem fazed and waved her wand, gesturing to his wounded chest, "clearly I cannot trust you to look after yourself Mr Potter; you have proven that now and many times before".
James just grumbled at her, he couldn't deny that she wasn't right, but it still wasn't pleasant to hear. He sighed, resigned and swung his legs off the bed, ready to get up. But Madam Pomfrey had different plans and she blocked him, gently but firmly pressing him back down on the bed by his shoulder.
"And what trouble are you trying to get yourself into now Mr Potter?"
"I'm trying to go back to the Head dormitory", he glared at her, placing his hand on her arm that was on his shoulder ready to take it off. He suddenly did not like the look on her face.
"Oh no Mr Potter, it's been proven that you cannot keep out of trouble long enough for you to heal appropriately. So as agreed before you are staying here until you are".
James gapped at her and his grip subconsciously tightened on the matron arm, the remaining colour on his face draining away, leaving him nearly as white as the Hogwarts ghosts. The other two Marauders stepped a little closer, becoming concerned for their friend's health.
"NO! No way. I...this...", James stumbled for words as he let go of her arm and tried to come up with something so he can leave, "P-please Poppy, I won't do this again, please don't keep me here, I'll dieeee".
The matron rolled her eyes, looking at him, not at all deterred by his pleading tone, being already subjected to it many times before, "I am a Healer Mr Potter; no one is going to die on my watch, especially not you".
A whining noise came from his throat and he tried the puppy-dog look Sirius was so famous for and added his own famous pout for extra measures "please Poppy".
Madam Pomfrey straightened up and crossed her arms against her chest, "Good effort Mr Potter. But no".
Sighing in desperation, he turned to his friends for help, but they could only shrug as they were helpless to do anything to save him. He turned his pleading gaze back on the nurse, her posture never changing.
"Please Madam Pomfrey. I won't leave the Head common room. I'll be more careful, I won't go anywhere near the grounds or Hogsmeade or..." he swallowed thickly, "or the Quidditch pitch and...and I'll... I'll let Lily t-take care of me without a-any complaints", that took some effort to get out, "...and...and I'll do whatever you'll say, just please don't make me stay" James pleaded shamelessly.
Off to the side, Sirius and Remus were trying unsuccessfully to stifle their laughter, watching James crumbling in front of Madam Pomfrey was something they never got tired of seeing.
Madam Pomfrey kept looking at him sternly, her lips pressed together in a thin line. She always wanted the best for her patient, always giving them the best treatments, the best care and being overprotective and unyielding, it did not take long for the patient to give in and go by her way. But James Potter. James Potter was always the exception to that. Maybe because he was her best friends son or she knew him before he came to Hogwarts or because she knew and treated James for various ailments and injuries for so long that she knew when he was being serious or not about his health.
Sure she knew how much he hated it in the Hospital Wing and only kept up pestering her so she could let him go, but just looking at his pleading face, his hazel eyes shining with pervious unshed tears –obvious due to the pain he had suffered moments ago– and the compete soul-crumbling whimpering noises he was making, he was making it hard for her to not change her mind.
Maybe...maybe just this last time she would give the boy the chance to leave and maybe she could...a wicked thought popped into her mind. She was protective of him, oh yes; there was no doubt about that. But she knew two more people who were even more protective of him and what better chance not to get her head chewed off and have them bombard into Hogwarts wanting a full update, than to make the boy do it.
Outside she was still looking sternly down at him but inwardly she was grinning, a wicked glint briefly passing through her eyes before she composed herself.
"Fine, Mr Potter".
James blinked up at her, disbelief colouring his features, "ser-really?" quickly covering up his blunder. He didn't want the Sirius-serious joke to detour him at this moment.
To the side Sirius was pouting as he reluctantly withdrew from telling his favourite joke and Remus patted him on the back, grinning.
"Really", she confirmed with a sweet smile.
James gave out a whoop of joy and jumped off the bed, grinning at his two friends, who gave him thumps up, grinning madly themselves.
Here came her favourite part. "Following a few conditions, of course".
James immediately deflated and groaned, turning to her, "which are?"
Poppy smiled, "I'll expect you to come for your regular checkups as usual. You are to listen to Miss Evans and do what she says. You must not leave the Head dormitory, except for meal times. There will be no QUIDDITCH", she stated firmly in a furious tone. James flinched but nodded hurriedly.
"You will only attend the Christmas Ball if I see you are well enough to go", James had no complaints to that, he was a hundred percent sure now that he wasn't going, "and you can have the honour of telling your parents of your current condition", she finished with a satisfied grin.
It took a moment for the last order to click into his mind before...
"WHAT?" James exclaimed, looking at her in horror, "no way. No way. Why can't you do it?"
Poppy shrugged, both of them knew very well why she wouldn't, no need to say it out loud, "these are my conditions Mr Potter, take it or leave it", she repeated like she did before.
James growled at her. He should have seen this coming, the topic of telling his parents had never came up, so he figured she already told them or that they would stay blissfully unaware of his suffering, but alas when has anything gone his way so far this year.
Giving out a big sigh, he relented, "fine I accept".
"Good choice Mr Potter", she nodded, inwardly she was jumping for joy.
Sirius and Remus were quietly snickering, but quickly covered it up by clearing their throats or whistling when James and Poppy turned to look at them.
"Mr Black and Mr Lupin please take Mr Potter to the Head dormitory and only to the Head dormitory", she hissed, narrowing her eyes at them and they smiled slightly nervously back at her, "and as I expect he will stay there".
She turned back to James when she said the last part and James saluted and grinned at her, nodding his head. She looked at him steadily for a moment before waving her wand at her office door and summoned a box.
"Here are some more pain-reducing potions, take them only when you start feeling the pain become unbearable, I don't want you to use it too often and cause you to overdose. The vials will refill themselves when all of them are empty".
James nodded again and took the box from her, "thanks Poppy".
She smiled at him, "and remember to tell your –".
"Yes, yes I know. Tell my parents why I have a massive bruise on my chest and listen to Lily and not leave the Head common room", he cut her off, annoyance lacing his voice, "Can I go now?"
She grinned, "Yes you can".
James shrunk the potion box and placed it into his pocket before quickly jumped between his friends and headed for the door before she had a chance to change her mind. Sirius and Remus saluted Madam Pomfrey as well and followed quickly behind their leader.
James led them all the way to the Head common room floor, sure that he made a good amount of distance between the Hospital Wing and himself. He slowed down and let his friends catch up to him.
He came to a complete stop and leaned against the wall and tried to steady his breathing. He wasn't feeling in any pain thanks to the pain-reducing potion, but he still felt incredibly tired and just wanted to relax for the rest of the day.
Sirius and Remus quickly reached him and stopped to catch their breaths, chuckling at him, clearly amused about the whole mad dash from the Hospital Wing. But their amusement quickly changed into concern when they saw James leaning heavily against the corridor wall, steadying his heavy breathing.
"You really shouldn't have ran so fast Prongs", said Remus.
"Yeah I was sure you were going to fall when you jumped off that one staircase when it decided to move", added Sirius, grinning.
James stuck his tongue out at his friend and straightened up, running a hand through his wild hair, "I just didn't want to give Poppy a chance to change her mind".
Sirius laughed as Remus rolled his eyes at the typical response and they all started walking in a slower pace to the Head dormitory.
Time went on slowly to the annoyance of the three Marauders. Peter had joined them about an hour later and got a full update on what transpired within the last few hours when he asked what they had been up to.
Remus managed to get his three friends to start working on their assignments and kept saying if they did it now they wouldn't have to worry about it later. This resulted in Sirius scoffing and chucking a cushion at his friend, which was thrown straight back at him just as hard, causing Sirius to topple over the side of the armchair he was sitting on.
That lasted an hour or two, before Sirius got extremely bored and started running around the room in his Animagus form, barking and leaping over the furniture, jostling his friends from their writing and making James and Peter laugh, while Remus fumed in annoyance. When Padfoot ran past the table, moving it and causing it to spill ink all over Remus's work, he had enough and practically leaped at the dog when he finished the full circuit around them again. Both of them wrestled around the room for five minutes before Remus successfully pinned the struggling dog underneath him as he sat on top of his back, forcing Padfoot to shift back to Sirius.
"You're such a killjoy Moony", Sirius stated depressingly.
"And you're such an annoying prat Padfoot", countered Remus as he got up and helped Sirius up too.
"You know", both boys turned to James who spoke. James looked at his friends in amusement, tired eyes glistening with laughter, "you're going to have to clean this mess up".
He gestured to the room and Remus and Sirius were surprised to see everything from stack of books to lamp stands littered all over the floor. Sirius pouted and Remus hit him over the head, clearly saying it was his fault, but nonetheless both of them started to clear everything up.
Time went on pretty normally after that.
After only having one third of his assignment done, Peter stuffed it into his bag and left, quickly telling his friends that he was late to met Melissa again at the library. Sirius and James rolled their eyes, obviously where else will a Ravenclaw be, while Remus scold them and told Peter they'll see him later.
Both Sirius and James adjourned from their assignment half an hour later as well, satisfied that they at least got one done, while Remus finished off his second one. James asked about the try-outs, seeing as he and Remus never made it to watch and Sirius informed them that they manage to narrow it down to two good players, now they just had to decided which one would be playing in the next match and which one would be back-up in the next practice. James was certain now that he wouldn't be able to play in the next match; there was no chance Madam Pomfrey was going to let him get on a broom or even his parents.
Thinking of his parents, James cringed. Don't get him wrong, he loved his parents, they were the best he could ever ask for, being so nurturing, caring and understanding. But being their only child they were both very protective of him, he wouldn't be surprised if his mother told him he was going to spend the holiday at home, so she could personally look after her boy and they would come in to collect him. His father would probably lecture him about not duelling if you're injured and discussing the importance of self-preservation.
He didn't really want to think about writing the letter to break the news to his parents yet, so he distracted himself by engaged Remus in a game of chess, winner playing Sirius. They occupied their time by playing various other games too, most being Exploding Snap and Gobstones. James also showed Remus and Sirius the Muggle games Lily had brought with her like Ludo, Snake and Ladders, Monopoly and Checkers.
It took Sirius a while to understand that none of the game pieces were going to move and that yelling at the tiny pieces was not helping. He even kept on complaining about the snakes on the board, which weren't eating his piece when he landed on it and spitting it out the other end or the ladders not moving his piece up the board, he grumpily had to move his piece by himself and complained even more when James kept on winning.
"That's it, this game is rigged", he stated, swiftly getting up and sitting on the couch with his arms tightly wrapped around him, a sour look on his face.
James laughed and Remus smirked, saying, "You're just not good at Muggle games Padfoot. Come to think of it you're not very good with Magical games either"
Remus got nailed in the face with a cushion for that remark, "shut up Moony", Sirius scowled playfully.
There was an hour left before curfew when Sirius and Remus left. James had to keep reassuring them that he was fine and the pain-reducing potion was stilling working as he had felt no pain at all since coming out of the Hospital Wing. After five minutes of continuous reassurance, the two Marauders finally left, leaving the head boy in much needed peace.
James closed his eyes with a sigh, leaning back into the cosy armchair he had moved to, soaking up the fireplace heat. Finally being able to rest completely and let his tense muscles relax.
After a few minutes he started to feel really sleepy, but didn't have the heart or energy to get up, change –he was still in the tattered robes– and get to his bed. So he nestled into the armchair further, making himself comfortable and fell straight to sleep.
"Why did you drag me here Moony?" whined Sirius, he looked around in dismay as books flied around them finding their places.
"We're here to make sure Peter isn't still loitering around", said Remus as he walked ahead looking into every aisle of bookcases.
"Why can't you just let the man have a decent snog", said Sirius bluntly as he trailed along.
"I don't want him getting into trouble; he hasn't got the Marauders map or the invisible cloak with him".
"Who's he going to get in trouble with?"
"GET TO YOUR COMMON ROOM THIS INSTANT", Madam Pince voice roared within the library and they heard quick footsteps of students running out.
Remus raised his eyebrows at him with a look.
Sirius sighed heavily, "Ok, fine".
They continue with their search. They explored a few sections, but couldn't find any tell-tale of their small friend. They even split-up, Remus checking the 'keep quiet' areas and Sirius checked the 'good possible snogging' areas, but to no avail.
They met back up in the Potions aisle, Sirius –fed up– even risked Madam Pinces wrath by calling out for their friend. He was smacked in the head a moment later by Remus who frantically looked around and then threatened to silence him if he did it again.
"Maybe he isn't here", Sirius groaned and stretched, sighed in satisfaction when he heard a few crack resound around his body, "ah that's better".
Remus made a face, "can't you do that in your own time", it's not that it disgusted him or anything, he was used to it since Sirius started doing it their fourth year, but it was just the cracking sound always reminded him too much of his transformation and he rather avoid anything that reminds him of the painful nights he has to go through once a month. "Maybe you're right, let's go. We only got fifteen minutes before curfew".
Sirius shrugged, he didn't really care if they were out after curfew, wasn't like he never done it before.
Remus rolled his eyes, "come on".
They made to walk back to the library entrance when they both heard hushed voices whispering just a little ways away from them. They both stopped and looked at each other, Remus shrugged and Sirius grinned, both thinking the same thing. They turning and headed slowly in the direction of the voices.
The voices were getting louder and Remus ears perked, he recognised those voices, there were three to be exact and he was quite surprised to find all three still out and about, being as they were sticklers for the rules.
"Is...that Lily?" questioned Sirius, surprised and he looked at Remus for a confirmation, he knew the sandy haired boys hearing was much better than his.
"Yeah", they came closer, "as well as Alice and Kathrine".
The two boys ducked into an aisle just behind the whispering girls and quietly tip-toed to the edge. They were eavesdropping they knew, but they were Marauders. It was a part of their job description, so...no problem. They peaked from the edge of the bookcase and watched as the girls conversed.
"...and you possible can't be this dense", hissed Alice as she stuffed all her papers into her bag, rather forcibly.
"I have my reasons Alice, why can't you just let me do it on my own", said Lily, she zipped up her bag and handed some papers to Kathrine, who took them from her and was watching them anxiously.
Alice scoffed and zipped up her own bag, slinging it over her shoulder, "Yeah right. The Ball is only a week away. A week Lily and you still haven't asked him or even told him. This clearly means you can't get your arse in gear on your own".
"I am going to tell him", glared Lily, her voice rising slightly.
"Oh yeah, when?" countered Alice just as loudly, glaring straight back.
Kathrine shushed them nervously, looking around; clearly wishing her friends wouldn't start a fight right now.
Tell who what? Why is Alice so mad at Lily? Remus watched and he thought he had an inkling of an idea on who they were talking about. But he wouldn't jump to conclusions, he didn't expect Lily to just up and start having feeling for James, it might not be him at all, it could be someone else and he knew how much that would hurt James when or if he found out, but he made it clear that he knew what the red-haired girl felt about him.
"... I love Lily, have for a long time. I just know she doesn't feel the same way".
"...I already know what she thinks of us… what she thinks of m-me, I thought it might have changed, but I see it hasn't".
"She doesn't need to know, like she would care".
Remus sighed. It hurt for James; he could see it in his friend's eyes. To spend so much time with the girl you love, to care for her so deeply and to enjoy every moment with her, only to know she wants nothing to do with you, hurt James. But he had no choice but to live with it, James had come to realise his feeling and knew they would never be reciprocated.
"I can't believe this", whispered Sirius in shock, watching his girlfriend and his fellow Gryffindors.
Remus nodded sadly, "yeah I know".
"Can't believe Lily hasn't got a date yet".
Remus eyebrow twitched in annoyance and he hit Sirius over the head, "idiot".
"Ow...what?" Sirius rubbed his head and turned back to the girls, pouting.
"Maybe we should continue this discussion somewhere else guys", whispered Kathrine as she tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear and looked around, making sure the Liberian was nowhere in sight.
"No I want to hear it, I want her to give me another excuse why she can't tell James she loves him", hissed Alice impatiently.
Kathrine, Remus and Sirius eyes went wide at the same time and Sirius nearly fell over as he leaned in too low, but quickly caught his balance.
Lily blushed and glared harder at her friend, "it isn't an excuse. You know why I'm reluctant to tell him".
Alice crossed her arms and shook her head, "I know I know, you think he doesn't have feelings for you anymore and you're just going to be like every other girl he's dated. But Lily a blind person can tell he still does have feeling for you and anyone can tell he treats you more differently than any girl he's gone out with".
"Really Lily? Is that all your worried about?" asked Kathrine in astonishment.
Lily blushed again, but sighed with a nod.
"Well that's pretty stupid", the words tumbled out of Remus mouth before he could stop it and he resisted the urge to smack himself on the forehead as all three girls turned to look at him and Sirius in surprise.
"Now who's the idiot", whispered Sirius as he walked out of their hiding place and joined the girls in the next aisle. Remus followed him desolately.
"Sirius? Remus? What are you guys doing here?" questioned Kathrine surprised as Sirius came to stand next to her, giving her a charming smile.
"We were just making sure Peter wasn't still here, until we found you girls", answered Sirius.
"And spied on us", said Alice, turning her glare on them.
Both Marauders shrugged, not caring and Remus looked at Lily with eyes as serious as she ever seen them.
"You love him?"
Lily blushed at his direct question and denial was ready to tumble out of her mouth, but she couldn't say them, there was no point denying what was true and what everyone knew. She sighed and nodded, "yes I do".
"For how long?"
Lily looked at all four of them, uncertain if she should tell them anything, but these were her friends, they wouldn't make fun of her about this, not when each one was sporting serious looked on their faces.
"I actually started liking him since our summer holidays, maybe even before then, but it's only been recently that I've started to realise I love him", she answered quietly.
Sirius and Remus looked at each other and the black-hair teen shook his head, a small smile on his face, "you sure taken your time didn't you".
Lily blinked at him, slightly startled. Did she really take so look to see what was in front of her, she remembered her encounter with Severus and she grew sombre. Yes, yes she did.
"Do you really love him? Really understand him now?" questioned Remus, he couldn't let his friends get his hopes up.
Lily looked at him, did she? She slowly nodded, "yes I do. I really do. I've been wrong about a lot of things and just been ignoring all the signs and I never opened my eyes enough to realise what I was doing".
Lily hugged her bag against her chest and looked down, "I hurt him intentionally and unknowingly haven't I? I found out everything from Severus".
"Snape?" startled Sirius.
Lily nodded, "yes he let it slip when we bumped into each other, about what he and the Slytherins been doing to James and you guys. It took me a while to figure out but when it did, it all made sense", she looked at the two Marauders apologetically, her green eyes shining brightly; "I'm sorry Remus, Sirius".
Both of them smiled, finally they thought.
"Don't worry about it", said Sirius.
Remus nodded, Kathrine and Alice watched them confused. Kathrine turned her head to Sirius, "what are you guys talking about?"
Sirius shook his head and smiled down at her, "I'll tell you later, it's a long story".
Remus chuckled and motioned to Alice he'll explain later when she opened her mouth to continue. Alice huffed stubbornly and turned to her best friend, Lily gave a small smile, "don't worry I'll fill you in on everything".
Remus walked up to Lily and placed a hand on her shoulder, "there's something more important you have to do right now Lily" she tilted her head to the side, "it time you've told him. No more holding back".
"B-but..." Lily stammered.
"Are you a Gryffindor or not Evans?" stated Sirius, hands on his hip.
Lily sighed, "I am", and she laughed lightly as her friends grinned at her. "But I haven't been acting like one lately have I", most of them scoffed at her and she grinned too. It was time to change that.
"Come on let's get out of here", said Sirius and the group quickly made their way out, making sure they didn't bump into Madam Pince on the way and they dashed out of the library.
Lily walked with her friends back to their common rooms, being a Head Girl ensured that they didn't get into trouble if they stumbled into any teacher as it was already past curfew. They dropped Kathrine off near her common room, Sirius gave her a quick peck on her cheek and bid her good night with a big smile, she grinned at him, squeezed his hand, which was clamped in his, gently before saying good-night to the rest of the Gryffindors and gave an encouraging smile to Lily and walked the short distance from her common room.
The rest made their way to the Gryffindor common room and when they reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady, Sirius turned to Lily before going in with a big grin, "now don't chicken out Lily-Pad. You'll be hearing from me if you do".
Lily rolled her eyes and smiled, "How many time do I have to tell you to stop calling me that, do I look like the thing a frog jumps on".
Sirius opened his mouth to answer, obvious going to say something that would not end well for him before Remus quickly slapped his hand on top of his mouth and laughed nervously.
"No you absolutely don't", he glared at Sirius warningly and removed his hand. The black-haired teen pouted, but said nothing. Remus patted Lily on the shoulder, "You can definitely do this, no point holding it off any longer".
Alice grinned, "I better hear all about it tomorrow and don't leave out any details got it".
Lily smiled at their way of giving her encouragement and nodded, "good-night".
"Good-night", they chorused and entered into the portrait hole.
Lily turned and began her walk to the Head common room. Her heart was pounding; she could practically hear it in her ears. She was so nervous. How was she going to do this, how does one tell another they love them? Should she say it straight out? Maybe do a little small talk and then say it? How would he react? Will he laugh at her? Mock her? No, Remus and Sirius didn't give any indication that James would do that and she knew he would never do that to her.
She took a deep breath, "I can do this, I can do this, I can do this" she kept repeating those words over and over again in her mind, growing strength as her inner-voice became stronger and more confident, "I am a Gryffindor, I can do this".
She reached the Head common room sooner then she liked. She stood outside for a few minutes before shaking her head; she could do this, she will do this, no more holding back.
Lily straightened her back, took a deep breath, and let go, steadying her nerves before saying the password and walked in.
It's time.
A/N: Right so...finite on chapter ten (grins) it's a lot shorter than most of my chapters and I... (Taps two fingers on her chin) don't know if you count this ending as a cliff-hanger...is it? And if it is did it work...again?
I tried my best to make Lily come to realise that it's high time to tell James how she feels and to stop holding back and Alice, Sirius, Remus and Kathrine were there to listen and push her in the right direction. I went over that scene loads of time and I hope it's good, I didn't know any other way I could portray it then keep it as how I've written it originally... I don't really want to stray away anymore, it just makes it harder for me to think of something good and bind it with what I already got, plus I've started my last year in university (sighs), don't get me wrong it's great to be nearly finished, but it doesn't let me be as creative as I usually am, especially when I got stacks of books glaring at me on my desk saying "get to work, get to work" (glares straight back at said books).
Hope you like what I've done with James, the beginning and middle were so easy to write, practically just flowed out of my hands (laughs) plus it helps I got my draft (grins)and I had fun writing about the guys playing with the Muggle board games and Sirius getting frustrated with it (laughs), hope you liked that part.
Also believe it or not I estimate one or two more chapters before I completely finished with this story. Originally I'm stopping after James and Lily both get their issues out of the way and finally admit their feelings for one another and I would really like to stay with my original draft, but the Christmas Ball has become a coming-up main event in the story and I just don't think it's fair if I don't include it, so I ask shall I finish off with everyone attending the Christmas Ball or leave it to my original?
I'm happy to write it, I've already got some ideas (grins) but early warning: it will take a while to come out as it will be another and last unplanned chapter, but I have a feeling it's going to be fun to write hehe!
Well enough of my rambling. Please review and I hope I didn't do so much spelling mistakes in this chapter, but I will thank you if you'll let me know what I've done wrong so I WILL correct it (grins)...so...PLEASE REVIEW and let's reach 100 reviews, you can do it guys.
Sirius: you talk too much Paradise.
(Sweat-drops and blushes in embarrassment) shut up Padfoot.