Chapter 14

Lily and Sirius were still waiting for James to wake up, Madame Pomfrey had come by earlier to explain to them that James would not wake up until sometime the next day. Sirius and Lily were resolute though, and decided not to leave until it was time to sleep. That time came and went, and Sirius and Lily eventually made their way back to their common rooms. Sirius walked Lily back to the Head's Common Room to make sure she made it back safely, then made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Lily lay in her bed that night, and sleep was hard to come by. Now that her mind had slowed down and she was able to think, she wanted to know who had done this to James. Her mind slipped immediately to Snape, but it didn't stay there long. As much as she new Snape had changed, she still could not convince herself that he was capable of such a vicious attack. Her mind was unable to think of anyone else that would want to hurt James, so the question in her mind still remained. She finally fell asleep late during the night, but her sleep was plagued with horrible dreams of what might have happened to James if Sirius and Remus hadn't arrived when they did.

Sirius had a similar problem falling asleep, but for a different reason. Sirius had no doubt that Snape was the culprit. Sirius was very aware of they type of people Snape associates with, as some of them were members of his biological family. He knew that Snape was capable of evil. The reason Sirius was kept awake was because he was plotting his revenge. He had finally come up with something appropriate to make Snape understand that Sirius and his friends and adopted family were not to be messed with. He too, fell asleep late during the night, but his dreams were filled with the slightly wicked thrill knowing that his prank would finally get his point across to the person who had caused his friends so much pain.

The next morning Lily grabbed two pieces of toast from the Great Hall then made her way to the hospital wing, she had gotten up extra early to ensure that she could see James before she was forced to go to classes. The hospital wing was quiet. James was one of only three patients in the hospital wing, they were all still asleep when Lily arrived. She made her way over to James and sat down in the same chair she had been seated in last night, and took his hand in hers again. James' skin had gained a lot of its color back, the simple fact was that James looked remarkably better than he had the night before, but Lily knew she wouldn't be comfortable until she saw James's eyes looking into her own. As if someone was listening to her thoughts, James stirred a little. It was as if James was fighting to remain in a deep sleep, but was losing. Lily remained quiet, not wanting James to wake until he was meant to. She didn't have to wait long. Finally, a few minutes after he had began to stir, and an eternity for Lily, James eyes slowly blinked open as he groaned in obvious discomfort.

"Lily?" James asked faintly.

"I'm here James, you're gonna be okay." Lily reassured.

"What happened?"

"You were attacked while you were flying. Sirius and Remus went out to meet you and found you laying on the ground. You had a huge gash on your side and lost a lot of blood, but Sirius and Remus found you in time. I was so scared." The last part came out almost as a whisper. Her fright was immediately apparent to James, and despite his weakened state, he tried to reassure Lily.

"I'm okay Lily, you said so yourself. I'm not going to make it that easy to get rid of me, not when you're just getting used to me being around." James joked lightly and managed to make Lily smile.

"You better not. I should go get Madame Pomfrey, she should be able to give you something for the pain." Lily said as she got up to fetch Madame Pomfrey.

Madame Pomfrey bustled over to James and looked him over. She checked the gash on his side, which still looked nasty in Lily's opinion, but said that James was going to be fine, and if he was careful he would be allowed to leave in a few days. She gave him a pain relieving potion, that worked immediately, Lily could see his face relax and she sent down for breakfast. A house elf popped in quickly and James ate it all.

"Thank you for being here Lily. It really means a lot to know you care so much. I'm sorry you were so worried." James said to Lily.

"I'm your friend James, of course I'm going to be here, you would do the same. Sirius stayed with me until we had to sleep last night, and Remus and the others all waited outside, so I wasn't the only one worried and here. But you're welcome anyway."

Their conversation was interrupted, when the rest of their friends burst in. They all ran over when they realized James was awake, and Sirius was obviously relieved. They chatted for a little while longer before Madame Pomfrey came back in and shooed them out so James could rest and they could go to class. They all told James they would be back after classes. Sirius and Lily exchanged a relieved look as they walked to potions that morning, their friend was well on his way to recovery.

Severus Snape was in a fabulous mood as he woke up the next morning. James was dead. He almost wanted to dance a jig. Things would turn around for him now. He made his way down to breakfast a little later that morning, he had slept well the night before, knowing his plan had succeeded. He sat down with his small group of friends and dug into his breakfast, noticing that James's friends, including Lily, were not in the Hall. Someone must have found him, and were now telling his friends the oh-so-terrible news, he though gleefully. His good mood could not be hampered, or so he thought anyway.

The first crack in his good mood came as he was making his way to his first class of the morning. He overheard a conversation he originally thought would only improve his mood.

"Did you hear about James Potter?" One Ravenclaw said to another.

"No, what happened, he wasn't at breakfast?"

"I heard from one of the Prefects that he was attacked last night, they found him nearly dead on the Quidditch Pitch." This was when the first crack appeared. The Ravenclaw had said nearly dead, not dead. He hoped that maybe the Ravenclaw just didn't know the final story.

The second crack appeared just before class started. Sirius, Remus Lily, Alice, Frank and Peter all walked into potions class that morning. Worst of all, they didn't look like they had been grieving.

The third crack, which shattered Snape's happy mood, appeared when Sirius sent him a look that would've killed anyone else. It was then that Snape realized that Potter hadn't died. Potter had somehow managed to survive a perfectly planned attack. Black clearly knew he had done it. That wasn't something he was worried about, because he knew Black would never be able to prove anything. His mood sufficiently put back in place, Snape knew the only thing he could do was lay low, he wouldn't do anything to call unwanted attention to himself, lest he give himself away. Now he would have to try and come up with a new plan. He would have to wait, too soon and it would be too obvious, but Potter would get his eventually.

Sirius saw Snape sitting in his usual place, and was infuriated when he saw the elated look Snape was unsuccessfully trying to hide. If he hadn't already been convinced, that look would have been enough to convince him that Snape was the bastard that nearly killed his friend. It didn't matter now though, because Sirius already new how he was going to get back at Snape, his plan would take place three days from today and Snape would never see it coming.

Lily too had seen the poorly disguised look of glee on Snape's face and the doubts she had about his guilt instantly went out the window. She found herself not as surprised as she would have been three days ago. Snape's recent actions had revealed his dark side, but she couldn't believe he had sunk so low as to attack someone, especially someone with their back turned. Lily felt a wave of revulsion wave over her as she thought of Snape. She no longer felt any pleasant emotions towards Snape, only regret. Regret that she had wasted six years being friends with someone clearly evil while reviling someone she felt she could no longer live without. One thing was for sure, Lily would never again waste her time with Severus Snape.