Chapter 12

Lily woke up hours later. She felt her body enjoying the comfortable bed. She thought that she was in her bed in the Girl's Dormitory. The sunlight though she noticed was coming from the wrong side of the room. Her head still throbbing, Lily opened her eyes and instantly recognized where she was. She recognized the Hospital Wing. She tried to say something but moving her mouth was too much of a work and Lily soon lost interest in saying anything.

She tried to move and grunted in pain. Her head was racking itself for an explanation. She knew she had been in danger. She tried to remember what had happened. She closed her eyes again.

The Washambella? Was that it? No, she remembered other things. Her fight with Lessa and Leidianna, her father's death, Sirius and Peter telling her they were Animagus.

"Ms Evans?" The voice was familiar in Lily's mind. Who's was it? "Are you awake dear?"

She soon recognized it then, the nurse, Madam Pomfrey.

"For a while there you had us worried, we thought that you were dead."

Lily didn't register half of what the nurse was saying. Lily groaned and opened her eyes. Madam Pomfrey was inches from her face making Lily close her eyes immediately.

"Don't be scared, you just had a bad experience in the lake, that's all."

It all came back in a jolt, it rushed back to fill Lily's hole in her memory. She has almost drowned in the lake.

And James had been there.

He had done nothing to save her.

"How long have I been here?" she asked.

"Two days. Your lungs were quite filled with water. It's such a delicate process and painful if you are awake. I thought it better to let you sleep it through without feeling any of it."

She stopped listening again and fell back asleep.

When she woke up again it was night. The windows were open and a slight breeze was blowing in. She turned her head at the sound of footsteps and saw Madam Pomfrey walking toward her with a bottle and a spoon.

"How are you feeling, Ms Evans?"

"Better," Lily answered. 'So long as I don't think about what happened.' The thought of James scared her. Yet, her heart told her that he was innocent, her brain accused him. Madam Pomfrey handed her the spoon of green liquid. Lily drank it savoring. It tasted nutty and was actually good, until she swallowed it and then it tasted like she had swallowed a frog, it slimed down her throat, clinging to the walls. She tried swallowing a couple of times to get rid of the sensation.

After the potion Lily felt completely awake. Madam Pomfrey jostles out of the room to return with a tray of food for Lily, Lily smiled and ate the food, and at the end she felt better for it. She was alone for a few minutes when the door opened again and in came Remus followed by Lessa, Peter, Leidianna, Sirius, and James. James and Lily's eyes met and she fainted.

…oOo…

It took a while for Lily to awaken. Madame Pomfrey was hauled away from her office by the shrieks of Lessa and Leidianna.

"What's all this?" she asked. She pushed passed all of them where Lily lay. "She's fainted, relax."

When Lily opened her eyes again she made sure to follow the nurse's every move with her eyes. "Please, let them leave," Lily pleaded. "I don't feel well."

Lily refused to look at any of them for fear of looking at James. "Please, leave," she said loud enough for them to hear.

"Lily, we were worried about you, sweet."

"GET OUT!" Lily shouted, crying. "Get out!"

"Ms Evans, please," Madam Pomfrey said "relax. You need –"

"I need rest, I need sleep. Please tell them to go!"

Madam Pomfrey looked at Lily, who was staring at her eyes full of fear. Lessa and Leidianna were at the door gently being pushed out by Remus who was also leading Sirius and Peter out.

"Leave," Lily said knowing that James remained.

"No."

Lily's eyes remained on Madam Pomfrey.

"Please Madam Pomfrey, I need to speak with Lily," James said.

"I hope is for the best young Potter," she said walking back to her office.

"Lily, look at me," James said moving closer.

"No," Lily whispered turning her head away from him and echoing his earlier reply.

"What happened in the lake?"

"I almost drowned," Lily said, shaking.

"That, I can conclude on my own. You are scared of me Lily," James whispered. He was at her side by the bed.

"Yes, I am frightened of you," Lily whispered.

James sighed. Slowly he reached forward and held her hand, immediately he felt her muscles tense and her hand grew cold, he went higher touching her arm and her shoulder, slowly he touched her chi and turned her face to look at him.

"Have I ever," James said his voice hoarse. "Done anything to hurt you? Anything against your will?"

"No," Lily said seeing him for time in three days. He had dark circles around his eyes and he looked worried and drained. Above all he was hurt. He no longer reminded her of that boy that had wrestled in the water.

He had been worried for her.

"Stayed all night and day. He had to be threatened to get rest or he wouldn't come back." Madam Pomfrey had said all those months ago.

"Because," Lily said. "I saw your face. I saw your smile before everything went dark. I SAW YOU!"

James backed away. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that someone with a wand disarmed me and removed by Bubblehead. I mean that when I was looking for help I saw you and you smiled and you touched my lips and you left. YOU WERE THERE JAMES! THAT'S WHY I CAN'T BEAR TO SEE YOU!"

"No!" James said. "I wasn't there!"

"That's bollocks!" Lily shouted. James was at her side in one stride. He held her face with his hands.

"I would never do anything to hurt you Lily. Nothing. EVER."

"But I saw you!"

"It wasn't me!" James whispered fiercely.

"How is that possible?" Lily shouted.

"I don't know. But I will swear on anything that it wasn't me. I will do anything."

He held her face close to him their forehead touching. Lily looked at him. James Potter had warmth in his heart and love and life. The one that left Lily was hollow. "Believe me sweet, believe me."

Lily looked at him. "I believe you, James."

He hugged her, pinning her hands to her side. He took all of her and hugged her burying his face in her hair, breathing in her scent and touching her. Lily cried her face on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," Lily whispered.

James let go of her. "I'm sorry, I should have been with you." He traced her face. "You are alive," he said.

Lily nodded.

"I am sorry to interrupt," said a voice from the entrance of the ward. Lily and James turned to see the headmaster standing by the door and behind him stood Sirius, Remus, and Peter. "Ms Evans, how are you feeling?"

"Better," Lily said not wanting to shout at him that she was almost drowned by someone who was still loose on the grounds and had tried to kill her before by sending Washambellas. "Yes, I am better."

"Would you mind telling me what happened in the lake."

"What's there to tell?" Lily said. "I almost died."

"Please Ms Evans begin." Dumbledore looked old and grave.

She told him everything, he didn't interrupt but Sirius, and Remus did. "That's not true!" "It couldn't have been James!" Lily ignored the comments and went on.

"Very well, Ms Evans, now let us hear Mr. Lupin account on the situation."

Remus nodded at Dumbledore and turned his gaze to Lily, staring at her directly as he spoke. "I jumped in with Lessa and we started racing with James and Sirius to see who would get there first. We were ahead, and I was sure we were going to win when Lessa told me to stop because she had heard something. We stopped and looked around us waiting for something to attack us when Peter appeared shouting random spells to the Grindylows that were attacking him. We helped him fight them off and we went back toward the surface.

"He told us how he lost you for a while and that you might have been following a Hinkypunk ("Those don't live underwater," said Lily.) Thinking it was him. It wasn't until then that it hit me that you still hadn't surfaced and you couldn't go to the mer-people because you didn't know the location. I waited a couple more minutes and then Sirius and James came out holding Leidianna who had been attacked by the Grindylows so they returned. When I saw you weren't with them I jumped in, looking for you. I heard a second splash and then Lessa was with me.

"We looked for you. We separated each taking a different ways of the lake. I swam to the forest of the Grindylows and searched among them. I found a wand and recognized it as yours. I found you minutes later, deadly pale. I thought you were dead. Lessa found me seconds later fighting Grindylows. Together we took you back up. Once on the surface we screamed for help, Sirius and James jumped in. He brought you out. Sirius and Lessa ran to get Madam Pomfrey. Leidianna was hysterical you were blue and weren't moving. When Madam Pomfrey arrived she cast a spell that had you vomiting all the water out of your lungs. I didn't realize it until today that when James moved forward you went hysterical. You were terrified of him." Remus took a deep breath.

Sirius who had been looking at Lily the whole time spoke to Dumbledore, even then his eyes remained on Lily. "James was with me the whole time professor. We separated for five minutes to seek out Leidianna. He couldn't have had time to find Lily, disarm her, remove the Bubblehead charm, and find me and Leidianna." Sirius' voice was firm. He was stating facts.

Lily cleared her throat and took James hand. "I know it wasn't him. James would never do anything to hurt me." Lily's throat felt tight and her eyes burned, but Lily Evans did not cry.

…oOo…

Overall it wasn't the perfect way to end the Easter Holidays. Of course, rumor spread that Lily had almost been murdered, no one wanted to say James' name as the possible perpetrator. It took a lot of patience from Lily and many jinxes from the Marauders to convince the school otherwise.

Even though Lily was fine, James seemed worried about something. Every time she would bring it up, James would easily change the subject. Finally one day, Lily managed to pin him down.

"James is something the matter?" It was sometime in May that Lily managed to get him to answer her questions. "You have that face on," she said.

"What face?"

"The one that makes me feel as if you are eons away from here and that you know something I don't."

"I am just thinking," James said looking at her,

"About?" Lily pushed.

"Your mother dies in September, sweet, your father in March and you have had to many close encounters with death. First the Washambella, now this…" His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I guess I'm just too popular," Lily said trying to make light of the situation. James barely cracked a smile.

She too was worried.

…ooOooOooOoo…