Disclaimer:

I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter Eleven:

Cannonball

"That was a great match, Prongs!"

Sirius was walking towards me with a swift step, and Marlene on his arm.

"Thanks, at least I didn't fall off my broom," I said causing Sirius to snigger.

"Peter is over there," he pointed to the fireplace where Peter stood some in a crowd of partygoers, "he wants to talk to about something."

"About what?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you."

On my way to Wormtail, I ran into Dorcas, one of Lily's friends. Her blonde hair sparkled and shone brightly under the low light of the buzzing common room. She was very pretty, I had never noticed.

"Hey, James!" she said rather happily.

"Hey, Dorcas, how are you?"

"I'm very good, and so are you, at least at flying," she laughed softly, and so did I.

I didn't know what she wanted or was up to, but Peter was leaving the fireplace and was coming over towards me. Dorcas' head spun around and looked directly at Peter.

"Well, I'll see you later, I guess," she said, and quickly departed before Wormtail reached me.

"Wait, Dorcas," I said, "where's Lily?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, "I haven't seen her since the match . . . I bet she's doing homework."

And with that, she left.

"What did she want?" Peter asked, intrigued.

"To be honest, I really don't know . . . anyway, Padfoot said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, I did, it was actually about Lily."

"What is it?" I asked, thoroughly interested.

"Today, at the match . . . I saw her . . ."

"Yes . . ."

"Well, Severus was there too. And he came into our stands, and was talking to Lily."

"What were they talking about?"

"I don't know, but whatever it was she didn't seem to happy about it."

"But, I saw her after the match, she seemed very happy," I said, recalling her joyous smile from earlier.

"I'm just telling you what I saw, it didn't look too good, James," Peter's tone was very serious.

"Do you know where she is?" now that I thought of it, I hadn't seen her since the match, something was wrong.

"No, I don't know where she is, you have to find her though," he said, grabbing my shoulder.

He was right. It was up to me. I didn't particularly know why, and I don't think Peter knew either, but Lily was missing, and she needed me. I started to make my way through the common room, dodging shoulders, and compliments on the match. I was at the portrait, when I got confronted again, this time by Remus.

He was standing alone in front of the porthole, his arms crossed, and his head bowed. He looked like he was sleeping. But when he raised his head, I knew he was well awake.

"What's the matter, Remus?" I asked, eyeing him carefully.

He didn't answer at first, but instead he just stared at me, his eyes a bright yellow color. I could see that he was distraught. The distress in his body language was enough to tell me something was wrong.

"I don't feel too well, James . . ."

"What do you mean?" I asked, already having an idea.

"It's happening . . ." he emitted a low growl, "I'm turning . . ."

"What?!" I said wildly, "it's not even the full moon yet! Not for two more weeks!"

Again, he didn't say anything. I could see he was already slowly losing consciousness, his eyes growing smoky, and lifeless. He wasn't lying.

"PETER!" I bellowed, as the teen wolf fell into my arms, "WORMTAIL!"

I knew he heard me, because I heard a loud squeak from some where amidst the partiers.

Without even thinking, I opened the portrait for the door and stepped out, heaving Remus along with me. His breathing was getting faster and faster, as was mine, out of fear. Peter caught up with us as Remus and I reached the third floor. We were headed for the Hospital Wing, which was located on the first floor.

"What's going on?" Peter asked frantically.

"He's turning!" I grunted, slinging Remus' arm over my shoulder.

"But the moon!"

"I know! Just help me!"

Peter ran to my side, pulling Remus' other arm over his shoulder and lightening the weight off of me.

I could see long gray hairs beginning to grow on Lupin's back. He was getting heavier too. He would take form in an hour. Having done this many times I knew how it worked. It was just this time, something was different, very different.

"Lily! You don't understand!"

My feet stopped moving, all on their own. My heartbeat slowed for a split second. I could feel my eyes widen, and I got a tingling feeling down my spine.

"I said leave me alone, Severus!"

Lily. This is where she had been. With Snape, in one of the first floor hallways. Somewhere amongst chasing down the voices of Lily and Severus, I had let go of Remus, making Peter carry all of the weight. My footsteps echoed and reverberated thrift the corridors. I could hear Wormtail calling after me, but it didn't matter, Moony had completely slipped my mind.

"Lily, will you please just hear me out," Snape said, not noticing that I had arrived on the scene.

"No, I already told you, I don't want anything to do with- James?" Lily said, her head cocking at the sight of me.

"Oh, Lily, it's so good to hear you say that . . ." Snape said, stepping forward and opening his arms to embrace her.

"Stay away from her!" I bellowed, making sure my presence was fully known.

I was shaking with anger. Sniveling Snape really had the gall to talk to her after he had called her a mudblood? My hands curled into fists, trembling with angst.

"Stay out of this Potter, this has nothing to do with you!" The greasy-haired boy hissed at me.

My arms yearned to reach for my wand, I would have given anything to hex him right then and there.

"James . . ." Lily cried, "don't do it . . ."

She knew what I was thinking. Snape whipped out his own wand, actually making me flinch with the verocity he used.

"Sectumsempra!" He screamed.

I dodged the green colored curse, hitting the floor with a thud. I barely had time to pull out my own wand before he sent another one flying at me.

"Protego!" Lily roared, coming to my aid.

Her barrier charm deflected the second curse and dissipated it. Lily's hair poured behind her in waves as her spell blew warm winds back at her and I.

"So, you're taking his side?" Snape spat, when Lily stopped her spell.

"There are no sides, Severus. I told you I want nothing to do with you, and it's exactly for this reason. There is so much anger inside you, and instead of dragging with it, you just lash out."

"But you see, it's all his fault, I would never act like that otherwise, you know me, the real me!" Snape retorted.

"I don't think I do anymore . . ." Lily said helping me back on my feet.

I dusted myself off and simply looked at Severus. I saw the pain in his eyes, and for the first time I truly realized all the hurt I caused him. I was no better than the fifth year who bullied Lily on the Hogwarts Express all those years ago.

"James!" it was Peter this time. He came carrying a half turned Lupin, who looked completely gone, in the sense that his mind had already succumbed to the beast. "He needs help! I don't think the Hospital Wing is such a good idea anymore!"

I reached out to help, but my hands was singed by another curse thrown by Snape. It barely missed me.

"You," I heard him say, "this is all your fault. You're the reason she hates me . . ."

"You did it to yourself," I said turning away again.

"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK TO ME!"

"SEVERUS, NO!"

This time I could hear wind up. His wand lashed through the air. He built up a curse that I had never even seen before. It's light was a strange tinge of purple, and it's speed was faster than I could react.

There was a howl, a scream, and then silence. Nothing but silence.

Author's Note:

Okay . . . I'm really sorry for how long this took. If you were an avid reader of my story then I am truly sorry, but I want to reassure you in the fact that I have way more ideas to express in my future chapters. With the time it took me to write this, I have gained more ideas and more concepts, so beware for why happens next. Stay tuned readers, it only gets better from here.