Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own no part of Harry Potter. The genius that does is J.K. Rowling.

Chapter started: June 11 2012

Chapter finished: September 27 2012

Chapter posted: September 27 2012

James opened his eyes and winced at the amount of bright light that immediately assaulted them. His ears began to work soon after and he heard snarls coming from Remus as his friend fought to get to his bed around the mediwitch fearlessly standing in his way.

"Mr Lupin! I beg of you! Please calm down. If it worked they will be waking up any moment. Give me a bit of space to work in." The only response was a growl as he once again tried to dodge around her.

"Don't make me sedate you!" Her attitude at that moment showed why most people did what she said with no questions asked. James groaned and the werewolf growling at her became a mere thought in the back of her mind as Madame Pomfrey rushed over to him.

"What's going on?" James' tongue was dry and his voice was rough as he spoke.

"Miss Evans was successful; you are awake and right at this point that is all that matters," she was interrupted by a growl from the sandy hair werewolf behind her.

"Remus, stop!" His voice grew stronger as he silenced his friend and glanced at the bed beside him. Lily was lying on the white sheets completely still. Only the slight movement of her chest proved that she was still alive. Suddenly she sat up quickly and screamed. The sound was so full of fear and desperation that everybody froze before scanning to see the room to search for the source.

"Mister Potter, I know it hurts but you have to come to her side! She needs to know that you are alright." Madame Pomfrey rushed back towards them with a couple of potions in her arms which she then dropped onto the table before holding Lily down to the bed. The redhead was thrashing about and even James' hands and voice did nothing to stop her.

"You must stop! That will only hurt her. I can help you bring her back," a clear female voice called from near the window. James turned without letting go of his mate's hands and saw nothing there.

"Who are you?" He replied in a tense voice.

"A friend." The voice was nearer now, but he could still see nothing. Some papers rustled in a slight breeze. Remus was snarling uncontrollably now, sensing that his pack, his family was in danger and Sirius was standing silently at attention behind James. Madame Pomfrey was about to give Lily a potion when it went flying out of her hand and hit the wall shattering on impact.

"I told you that proceeding with that will only hurt her. I can help you bring her back if you will let me."

"Where are you?" The only answer to Sirius' question was a figure shimmering into sight right in front of them. He drew his wand and held it steady as he stared at her with hard eyes.

"Sirius stop. Who are you?" James' voice was as calm as it could be, knowing that his mate's life was in danger…again.

"As I said, I am a friend. Your mate found something of mine a while ago. A book, with a letter inside of it. A letter signed Corliss. Your mate then heard a voice on the wind. That voice was my own. I was the last born of the mermaids of my inheritance line. I had no children of my own and all of the females that had inherited the blood had already been hunted down. At the time that I wrote the letter in the book I had no idea if there were any of us left." James' eyes widened and he ushered her forward.

"That means that you are an elemental as well. You can help her."

Corliss nodded, "but everybody else has to leave the room. This is only for you and your mate. It is forbidden to show this to anyone else."

At these words Sirius raised his wand again, "we will not leave him. That will just give you an opportunity to take him away."

"Sirius do you care about me?" Sirius nodded right away.

"Lily is my life. If anything happens to her I won't be the same person. That is why I will do anything possible to save her. I need you to trust me on this. Plus if Corliss holds even a portion of Lily's power she can roast you in a second. Please," his eyes were pleading with his friend and once the four boys locked gazes, Sirius lowered his wand, Remus stopped growling and Peter stood and grabbed Sirius' arm to drag him out of the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey flicked her wand and the still unconscious Sage floated out of the room as well. Soon it was just the thrashing redhead, her anxious mate and the transluscent figure hovering between them.

"Help her please."

Corliss moved to the redhead's side, speaking as she did, "in the past when somebody was found to have the blood inheritance then they would immediately be paired with an older elemental of the same species ranking or a higher one to be taught control and self preservation techniques. Because there are so few elementals left and almost no mermaids remaining your mate was left to fend for herself. She is the reason that I have remained behind, not moving on. Somebody has to teach her what she needs to know."

As she spoke she laid her hands on either side of Lily's head and the younger girl stopped moving.

"What are you doing?" James was still worried, but the fear lessened when the tightness around her face slackened and went blank.

"I am transmitting my thoughts into her mind and telling her how to shield her mind from the dark feelings and the invading presence." She spoke slowly as if her mind was indeed someplace else.

"Invading presence? What do you mean? The darkness that was surrounding me?"

Corliss shook her head, "no, there is something else there, but I can't get a hold of it."

All the thoughts of another presence flew out of his thoughts when Lily opened her green eyes and blinked at him slowly.

"Where am I?" she looked around and groaned. "I might as well set up a cot in here and never leave. I am definitely here enough."

"I'm so glad that you are alright." James wrapped her in his arms and held her tight. Her small hands rubbed his back reassuring him that she was okay.

"James? We're not alone." Her voice was low and she pulled away a little bit.

"I know. Lily, do you remember the letter you found in that book? This is Corliss."

"But-"

"Use your senses. I trusted her and she brought you back to me."

Lily let her mind expand and what she felt when she found the place the woman was standing in made tears come to her eyes. She found acceptance, the desire to help, loneliness and the need to search for something, somebody.

Corliss took a step forward and placed her hand over Lily's that had fallen into her lap when James had pulled away completely.

"I can help you. As I was telling your mate earlier, in the past new elementals would get a mentor of sorts in their new abilities. One of the reasons that I have not moved on was so that I could be yours."

Lily nodded. Her mind whirling at the thought of being able to learn more about herself and her heritage. Then it stuck on something that the other woman had said.

"One of the reasons?"

"I am unable to find completion until I have been reunited with my mate. As you know, a mermaids ultimate power stems from the bond that she shares with her mate. Because of what happened I don't feel the draw to him anymore, but our bond is still there. I hope. I just can't find him with it." Corliss' face tightened her eyes deep blue pools of sorrow.

"What happened?" James asked quietly.

The woman shook her head, "now is not the time. Maybe another day."

Lily could sense that she was not going to talk about it tonight, so she moved the conversation to a more acceptable topic.

"You said that you could help? Help with what exactly?"

"Teaching you how to harness your abilities to their full potential and coaching you in the ways of the elemental. With so few of us left, it is important that we keep the heritage alive."

"Are there any more mermaids?"

"I haven't come across one until you. I was the last of my inheritance line, but that does not mean that there aren't others. Are you up for some history or should it wait?"

Lily thought for a moment, "I'm not sure, but we need to deal with our friends first."

"As you wish. Time is of the essence however, and there are many things that you must learn. Just call my name when you are ready." With a shimmer Corliss disappeared.

Lily stood slowly and James wrapped an arm around her waist to give her some extra support. They walked to the doors and opened them quietly. The scene outside was a little shocking to say the least. Sirius had Remus pinned to the ground and Madame Pomfrey was waving her wand above them. Sage had been propped up against the wall and was now awake and watching apprehensively.

"What's going on?" Lily asked the brunette in a low voice as she slid down the wall beside her.

Sage gasped and threw her arms around the petite redhead, "I'm so glad that you are okay. We got out here and Remus started going nuts so Sirius had to help Madame Pomfrey subdue him. It took both of them to calm him down. Did you know that he is a…?" Lily saw where her friend was going with that comment and knew that she had to explain, at least until Remus could speak for himself.

"Werewolf? Yes, I found out a while back, but that doesn't change who he is. He is still the mischievous, hardworking teenage boy that we have known for years."

Sage nodded, "I know. If I can accept you for what you are, why wouldn't I accept him for something that isn't his choice? You know me better than that."

Lily nodded, "you're right. I do know you. You are going to have to talk to him though."

"I will. Go help your mate calm down the wolf."

Without another word Lily stood and moved to the werewolf's side. She placed herself at his level and stared into his eyes, "back down. There is no need for a fight."

Her words were accompanied by a portion of her power, not to overwhelm or intimidate, but to assert her dominance over the wolf. His hackles rose, but the growling stopped, and the fangs were covered. Lily stood and watched as Remus came back to himself. He shook his head, as if there was water in his ears and groaned.

"Mister Lupin! I implore you not to lose control again! The situation could have gone from bad to catastrophic in a matter of moments." Madame Pomfrey felt that it was safe to approach once again and checked his vitals.

"Extenuating circumstances. It won't happen again." The blonde grunted from his place on the floor, while Sirius stood stiffly and moved to Sage's side. His body slid down the wall until he was also sitting on the stone floor.

"Please don't tell anybody about him. All of the professors know and the other students don't need to fear him. If you feel like you can no longer be around him at least talk to him first. What you do is up to you though." Sirius gazed into the brunettes eyes.

Sage nodded, "I know that he isn't any different than the Remus that I have known throughout school. Don't worry."

"You are much wiser then your years Miss Williams," blue eyes gazed over half moon spectacles and twinkled merrily at the group in various positions in the hallway. "Now if I may suggest we take this back into the hospital wing and out of the hallway?"

"James and I are going to do a bit of research. We'll see you guys later." Before leaving she knelt next to Sage and whispered something in her ear and when the brunette nodded she stood fluidly and walked away with James at her side.

They walked back to the heads dorm and Lily called out, "Corliss! We are alone. Please reveal yourself."

A figure shimmered into sight in front of them. A gentle smile on her face, "there's no need to yell. I am always around you. Are you ready to begin?"

Lily glanced at James and he nodded and opened his mouth.

"You mentioned earlier that all of the females in your inheritance line had been hunted down. Are there no males of the species?"

Corliss smiled, "yes there are, however females are the only ones that pass on the gene. It may pass through to a son, but it will end with him. Daughters will pass it through to their children. That is one of the reasons that there were so few of us to begin with. Between the merfolk that did not find their mates and the ending of the line at the males, not many of us were able to pass on the inheritance."

"Through the females? My mother isn't a mermaid! I am a muggleborn!" the path that this conversation was making Lily consider things that she never wanted to think about.

"Is it possible that you were adopted?" James looked at his mate and swore inwardly at the stricken look on her face.

She shook her head vehemently. "Not a possibility, I have a picture of me in my mothers arms on the day I was born."

Corliss placed a hand on hers, "If your lineage is that important to you, we just have to go back through your line. It is not an uncommon occurrence for the gene to skip a generation or more. It needs enough magic in the blood or it doesn't hold."

"I do want to know, but right now I don't if I will like what I find. If-" She was interrupted by James.

"If. That isn't a guarantee."

Lily nodded and placed the thought out of her mind for now. She gave Corliss her attention once again.

"From what I have seen you already have sufficient control over the use of your powers, but your mental defences are easily bypassed. What I would like to show you today is an elemental branch of occlumency. Earlier there was another presence in your mind, they got in through legilimency. Your mental defences were already down because you were in James' mind, but the elemental branch will teach you how to keep your own guard up, but tune certain people in."

"Okay."

"I will explain the basics to you and I have noticed that you have an aptitude for mental intelligences, those will help you greatly in this endeavour."

The next couple of hours passed in a blur for the two teens. When the three finally stopped it was dark outside and Lily was exhausted, but she was able to keep a solid guard up on her mind. James was learning regular occlumency and he was able to hide his mind as well.

"Corliss I am exhausted. My mental reserves aren't going to take much more of this."

"You already lasted much longer than I thought you would be able to on the first day. We will stop here for tonight and continue at another time. You have good control and a substantial block now. The invading mind will have to be a master of legilimency to get into your brain, but you will be able to feel them and prepare the appropriate internal defences ahead of time."

With those final words Corliss disappeared and Lily blew out a breath and fell back onto the bed. She fisted her hand in the back of James' shirt and the happenings of that day hit her like a ton of bricks.

"You okay?" James was a bit surprised at the rioting emotions inside the redhead and when she sat back up and leaned into him, he wrapped an arm around her waist and placed her legs over his own and seated her in his lap. She snuggled into his chest and whispered something too low for him to hear.

"What was that?"

"I'm so glad that you are okay. Don't leave okay?"

James put his fingers under her chin and brought her gaze up until it met with his. "Never. You mean too much to me for that. Don't even think about it anymore. I am yours for the rest of our lives."

"And I'm yours. Don't forget that." Their lips met and sparks flew.

Oh dear. I am so sorry it took me this long to get this chapter up. I had it about three quarters of the way completed on my computer for three and a half months. I will try to be better about the updating thing. I know lots of you are probably really mad at me for the long wait.

Review and let me know if you think it gets too mushy, or if there is too much mush.

Amber Eagle