Disclaimer: We definitely don't own the lovely characters of Rowling's seeing as how we're always complaining about school and she's no longer in school. We do, however, worship those characters.
Amulet Girls' Note: Hello! Sorry for the long wait, but we were just trying to be cool and were trying to get this awesome chapter out. It switches back and forth point of view-wise, but it's relatively easy to follow and it breaks up the tension of the situation and adds a little bit of comedic relief. Hope you enjoy, and drop us a shout if you have the time. I should have the next chapter out soon, as long as my lovely co-author can make an outline of worth. Also, sorry for the typos; we didn't get a lot of time to go over this before we put it up. But, I'm sure we'll go back and fix it soon!
Peace!
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Stealth
Lyla's Point of View
"Ms. Winchester, for the last time, when I know something, you will know something," Madame Pomfrey said sternly to Blair as we followed her around the hospital wing.
"But how can you not know what's wrong with him?" Blair prodded a look of worry on her face as James was being laid up in his bed. "You have to know. It's your job."
The lines on Madame Pomfrey's face thinned and hardened. "Ms. Winchester, Mr. Potter fell from his broom a hundred or so feet in the air. He broke several bones and is still unconscious. His bones are healing and until he becomes responsive again, we won't know anything. I have told you all of this already, so please, let me be to do my job." Madame Pomfrey turned from Blair, Alexa, Sirius, Remus, and myself and went to James's side. "I'm going to have to ask all of you to leave."
Blair slowly turned to face the rest of us, the saddest look on her face. We were all worried for James, but none of us seemed as worried as Blair. We were all scared about what was going to happen to him, but none of us seemed as scared as Blair. I stepped forward to take Blair into my arms. "It's going to be alright," I tried to comfort her. Alexa leaned in closer to Sirius as we all looked on James's seemingly lifeless body.
"What if he doesn't wake up?" Blair asked, her voice hitching mid sentence.
"Blair, he'll wake up, don't worry. I'm sure that this happens all the time in the Quidditch world; and I'm sure they all walk away perfectly normal," Alexa reassured her.
"Actually there have been recorded incidents of death," Sirius said, clearly not even thinking. Alexa gasped and quickly hit him. "Oh no, I didn't mean that. Well, I mean it's true, but I know James will be fine. I'll just be quiet now."
As much as we all wanted Sirius to be wrong, we knew he wasn't. James had been unconscious since he fell and from the way Madame Pomfrey was acting I could tell that even she was highly concerned, which was not good. "I'm sorry but you all must leave now," Madame Pomfrey said as she ushered us to the doors of the hospital wing. "It is getting late and I can't have this many students in my wing."
Blair went to protest but it was Remus who stepped forward to speak. "Madame Pomfrey, we understand that you can't have all of us in here, but we are asking you to understand that that is our best friend in that bed," Remus powerfully said pointing to James. "We are all extremely worried about James and if even one of us can stay we would greatly appreciate it."
Madame Pomfrey thought about it hard, looking from James to us. She let out a sigh of defeat. "If your Head of House says that it is alright I will allow for one of you to stay whenever you like, providing that it does not interfere with your studies." For the first time since the accident a slight smile graced Blair's delicate face. "Having some friends around may help him recover faster."
"Thank you," Remus said expressing all of our gratitude. Blair hugged me tighter and I could feel the slight relief she felt. "Well, I guess we should find McGonagall," Remus suggested.
"No need Mr. Lupin, I'm here." McGonagall was walking toward us, a concerned look on her face. "How is he Poppy?" she asked Madame Pomfrey.
Madame Pomfrey remained silent as she stood by James's bed causing Professor McGonagall to move away from us and closer to James. Madame Pomfrey looked back as us as if to make sure we were out of hearing range. As she leaned closer to McGonagall, we all stepped a little closer to eavesdrop. "I'm afraid it's not good Minerva. The boy has been non-responsive since he fell. His vitals are stable, his bones are healing, but I fear that he may not wake up. Usually I would have some sort of response by now."
McGonagall shook her head and stepped a little closer to inspect James. "Have you told them any of this?" McGonagall asked looking back at us. We quickly looked away attempting to play it cool and act like we weren't totally listening.
"No, I didn't want to worry them. They all are very upset and scared and I didn't want to make it worse."
"I understand. Thank you Poppy." McGonagall patted Madame Pomfrey on her back and then turned to us. She solemnly approached us and said, "How are you doing?"
"Professor, we were wondering if one of us could stay with James," Remus asked.
"Mr. Lupin, you all may visit Mr. Potter whenever the designated visiting times are set. All students have to follow the rules, I cannot make exceptions for any of my students," McGonagall said.
"Please Professor," Blair said pleading with her. "We won't let this get in the way of our studies and we won't have to tell anyone. Please, we just want to be with James."
After McGonagall still didn't respond, Sirius stepped forward and threw an arm around McGonagall's shoulders. "Now, Minnie, you know that we are your favorite students and we know you secretly love us." Sirius flashed a big smile at McGonagall. What looked like a smile appeared on McGonagall's face.
"Alright, I will allow one of you to stay with Mr. Potter even after visiting times. But if you're out after hours you must inform me and you must check in with Madame Pomfrey," McGonagall said giving in to Sirius's charm.
"Oh Minnie, I knew we were your favorites," Sirius said giving Professor McGonagall a hug.
"Mr. Black, I must ask you to release me from this hug," McGonagall said sternly as Sirius released her. "Now if one of you would like to stay with Mr. Potter you may, but the rest of you need to return to your dormitories and get some sleep."
"Who wants to stay?" Alexa asked.
Blair stepped forward and said, "I'll stay; I'm really not very tired anyway."
Even though Blair said she was fine and not tired I could tell that she was indeed tired and she was an emotional wreck. "Blair, I think you could do with a bit of rest. We've had a long day and I think you should sleep," I suggested.
"Lyla, I'm fine. Besides, we've all had a long day and we all are tired, so it doesn't really matter who stays. I'm going to stay." I could tell by her tone that there would be no further discussion. I nodded my head and gave her a hug.
"Alright, good night, we'll come and check on you in the morning," I said.
Blair hugged me tighter and whispered, "Thank you."
The rest of you, come with me," McGonagall said. "Ms. Winchester, you must stay in the hospital wing all night. By no means are you permitted to leave, do you understand?" Blair nodded her head in agreement. "Very well, Poppy, I am allowing Ms. Winchester to stay if you are in agreement with this."
"That is fine with me Minerva. Ms. Winchester, come with me, I will get you a blanket," Madame Pomfrey said before going into her office to retrieve a blanket.
"Good night you guys, see you in the morning," Blair said waving goodbye.
We all said our goodbyes and then followed McGonagall back to Gryffindor Tower. We walked in silence partly because we were all worn out from the emotionally trying day but also because none of us really knew what to say. None of us had any answers and that was definitely something that I wasn't used to. I was used to knowing. I could answer nearly every question in my classes and if I couldn't, I could always find the answer in some book. There was no book for this, nothing for me to reference. We had to just wait in oblivion, and that was the worst part, not knowing.
When we reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, McGonagall spoke the password, "Snapdragon." The painting slowly swung open revealing the portrait hole that led to the common room that undoubtedly deserted given the late hour. With everything that had happened none of us had even realized the several hours that had passed by. "Now, I advise you all to get a good night's rest. While I know that this is hard on all of you, I find that often the best thing to do is to return back to your normal routine and go about things as usual. As I'm sure you well know, Mr. Potter is being given great care and you have nothing to worry about, but if you should need to talk to anyone, you may come to me."
"Thank you Professor," Alexa said gratefully after McGonagall finished her spiel.
"Yes, well, good night," McGonagall replied turning from us and disappearing down the dark seemingly never ending corridor.
After ushering through the portrait hole we all just took up residence on the nearest couches instead of going up to our dorms. Remus and I sat down on a couch and Alexa sat in one of the large leather chairs with Sirius at her feet. "What a long day," Sirius mumbled rubbing his eyes and then taking Alexa's hands and wrapping them around him.
"It all just happened so fast. I don't even know how it happened," Alexa said. "One minute James was up in the air and the next he was plummeting toward the ground."
"Yeah, what exactly happened Pads?" Remus asked a curious look on his face.
"I don't even know. I had just deflected a bludger away as James was yelling at Caradoc and then I turned to watch Carry catch the snitch and then when I turned back to go celebrate with James he was on the ground," Sirius explained trying to make sense of all of it in his mind.
This was the first time that I had really thought about it since it happened, and there was something about it that perplexed me and just didn't sit right. "It's not like James to just fall off his broom; he's too fit a flyer to do that. There had to have been something to knock him off," I said just thinking out loud.
We all sat there for a moment wracking our brains for any clue as to what happened, but nothing came. "I'll talk to the team tomorrow to see if any of them noticed anything," Sirius said.
"Well, I think we should take McGonagall's advice and get some rest. Even though tomorrow's Sunday and there's not a lot to do, I'm sure we'll be spending quite a bit of time with James," Remus suggested getting up from the couch. "We also need to get out of these clothes." He grabbed my hand and pulled me up off of the very comfortable couch.
"Remus is right, come on Alex, let's go to bed," I said beckoning Alexa to follow me. Alexa and Sirius sluggishly moved from their spots and then we all suddenly were over come with tiredness as we neared the steps leading up to our respective dormitories.
Alexa and I climbed the stairs to our dorm with no hurry or purpose. After we changed out of the clothes that we had been in all day and slipped into some more comfortable clothes we reconvened on my bed. We leaned back on my huge fluffy pillows and let out twin sighs. We both just sat there motionless staring up at the ceiling. "How you doing sis?" Alexa asked finally breaking the silence.
"Pretty good, how about you?" I asked her back.
"I'm scared," she simply replied.
"Me too," I said. "Me too." We linked our arms together and just sat there; sharing every feeling we were feeling with each other without speaking a word. After what seemed like an hour slipped by, we drew my bed curtains and got beneath the warm covers of my bed just like we had when we were little and one of us had had a bad dream. Except this time, that nightmare was real and there was no waking up from it.
Alexa's Point of View
When I woke up the next morning, it was to Lyla rummaging through her drawers at a frantic pace. I closed my eyes and waited for Blair to throw a pillow, the alarm clock, anything at my sister to get her to shut up. The assault never came though and as I rolled onto my side; I realized that the smell from the pillow I was laying on was Lyla's perfume. I sat up in what I now knew to be Lyla's bed and looked over at my sister.
She was standing on one foot presumably looking for her other sock and Blair's bed hadn't even been slept on when I looked over. That's when yesterday came back in full force. James; the Quidditch match; the hospital wing. "Lyla?" I asked and she finally realized I was awake when she looked over and sent me an understanding smile.
"It's not a nightmare," She told me while pulling out her other striped sock and putting it on her bare foot. Finally shoving her stocking feet into her trainers, she came over and started to pull a brush through her mussed hair. Jumping from the bed and over to my dresser, I pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a grey sweatshirt before going into the bathroom and washing my face.
When I came out of the bathroom, Lyla was waiting for me next to her now made-up bed. Going over to the mirror I decided that my hair was a lost cause and I threw it up in a quick bun while shoving my own feet in my boots. "Let's go find the guys," I said and after grabbing my wand and shoving it in my pocket, we left the room. As we were walking down the stairs, we saw Remus sitting at the edge of the boy's stairs.
He stood as we approached and wrapped Lyla's hand in his own while pointing me towards the stairs. "Sirius needs your help with something, Alex. He won't come down stairs." I rolled my eyes and left Remus and Lyla to go on without us to the hospital wing while I made my way up the stairs to the sixth year dormitories. As I neared the door, I saw Sirius standing in the door way and conversing with someone or something.
"Sirius, if this is some kind of ploy to get me to sleep with you I'm going to have to kindly refuse." Turning towards me, Sirius rolled his eyes and held up Captain Awesome. I couldn't help but make a joke. "If the Captain is joining us though, I may have to reconsider." With raised eyebrows Sirius thrust Captain Awesome towards me and then tugged me towards the stairs while shutting the door to his room all in one motion.
"I know that that fantasy will be on your mind for the rest of the day, Alex, but I actually wanted to bring him to James." At my 'aw' noise, he tried to remain tough especially since we had reached the common room, which was packed due to the late hour. "And I can't carry him around because that would make me look like a prick."
Pushing Sirius with my hip, I said nothing as we made our way out of the common room whilst dodging questions from all of James's fans that were either legitimately concerned about him or just in need of the newest gossip. When we were out of the common room, it was obvious that we were going nowhere fast because the corridors were extremely crowded. "What is the deal?" I asked and Sirius shrugged while steering me over towards one of the many paintings adorning the walls.
He maneuvered the painting aside, revealing a suspicious looking hallway. "Stop being a baby, Alexa. Man up and get inside that tunnel." Sirius said in a joking manner while keeping a steady hand on my back and 'urging' me forward. I hesitated then stuck Captain Awesome out in front of me like he was going to save me or something. "For Merlin's sake," Sirius muttered and then he lit his wand and pulled me along behind him.
"You don't have to be so mean," I muttered from behind him and when he stopped I squeezed the bear closer to my chest while breathing in what I had become accustomed to realizing was Sirius' shampoo.
"I'm sorry, Alexa, it's just that James is laying in the hospital up there and I feel like I have something to do with it." Allowing Sirius to wrap his arms around me in a hug, I let my forehead rest against his chest, listening to his heart beat through the thin material of his shirt.
When we started moving again, it was at a faster pace and this time we moved with a purpose. "It wasn't your fault, Sirius. You were doing your job at your end of the field so you shouldn't feel bad. James wouldn't want you to go soft on him now. Especially since Gryffindor won and only has to play Hufflepuff and Slytherin again to get into the cup match."
Sirius smiled down at me and in the slight light of his wand his teeth glowed bright white. "You really have no idea who we play or when do you?" He asked and I smiled again, knowing that I had succeeded in making him smile even if I didn't know a millimeters worth of information on Quidditch. "Come on; the entrance is just around this corner."
We came up to a blank wall and at my skeptic look, Sirius waved his wand using some sort of spell that I couldn't comprehend and a slight outline appeared. After a moment, the outline solidified into a door that we stepped through to enter into the back of the store room. All around us, the smell of medicinal disinfectant seeped through the air and I gagged when I ran into a shelf full of vials. I made sure nothing got on me or the teddy bear before I followed Sirius out of the room and into the hospital wing.
As we appeared in the room, I noticed that Blair was sleeping somewhat awkwardly in a wing backed waiting chair while Remus chatted quietly to Madame Pomfrey. Making my way over to where Lyla sat on James's bed, I put Captain Awesome in James's arms while laughing slightly at the sight. "I never thought I'd see James Potter ever look this vulnerable. Not even in his sleep. The teddy bear really adds to it though." Lyla said as we seared the vision into our minds.
"Just because he's passed out with a bear doesn't mean he's vulnerable." Sirius said, coming up behind us and looking helpless before his best friend. He reached out and smoothed down the end of the covers before catching himself and folding his arms across his chest. "Anyways, Captain Awesome is a living creature with a soul."
"Of course he is, Sirius. No one said that he wasn't very special to us all." Remus consoled as he came up behind Sirius and looked down at James. The turmoil playing on his face was enough to make a care bear cry. "I feel so helpless." He voiced aloud; unlike Sirius, Remus felt best when he could actually express some sort of emotion. Even if it was said in a calculated and perfectly composed voice.
Lyla stood and went to stand next to her boyfriend. "What did Pomfrey have to say about him? Is he any closer to waking up than he was last night?" I asked Remus while trying not to let the dread that something could really be wrong seep into my mind again. It was silent for a moment as we all watched James for any sort of movement.
"It's the same as he was last night," Remus said while giving up on just standing around and sitting on one of the empty beds next to where we all stood. Eventually we joined him on the mattress. "She did say that she'd never seen a more dedicated girlfriend in all her years." He motioned towards where Blair had her head resting on the mattress next to James's prone body. I looked up to Lyla who was looking back at me with wide eyes.
Sirius, noticing the quiet, looked back and forth between James and Blair and then Lyla and I. "You know something!" He accessed in a louder than needed tone. I put a hand over his mouth as Madame Pomfrey looked up from her table at the front of the hospital wing. "You two know something about this ongoing attraction that neither is willing to talk about." He said around my fingers.
I looked at Lyla who was continuing with her silent routine. Of course, I couldn't keep it up. "I'm pretty sure that Blair still has extremely strong feelings for James." I put my hands over my mouth after I said it and then looked over at the girl in question to make sure she was still in la la land. Sirius looked at me in triumph before shoving Remus a little.
Remus, I noticed, also looked more than a little smug. "Wait a second," Lyla said, "You two know what's going on too. I can't believe you were just going to go on with this little charade." Sirius looked around then rolled his eyes and motioned that we all lean in. After we had, he took the extra precaution of putting a muffling charm on the curtains that surrounded us. Remus then pulled the curtains shut for extra protection while rolling his eyes at Sirius.
"What we know is pretty much classified information and the only reason we are telling you two is because you have let us become privy to the fact that young Blair still feels for James." Remus began to tell us. Sirius rolled his eyes and began to make weird facial movements. I hit him. "As Sirius feels the need to point out, it has come to our attention that James still loves Blair."
"Which we know because of the fact that her name has been said sometimes during the night when we're all asleep." Sirius raised his eyebrows up and down in a lewd gesture which made Lyla and I practically squirm away from him in horror. It was actually pretty funny though if I didn't think about the fact that it was James he was talking about.
A thought struck my mind when Remus began to laugh at his friend. "And how would you know what James has been up to in the middle of the night?" Sirius turned towards me with a maniacal grin on his face. "Never mind, I just want to forget about the fact that I even asked that question." I blushed cherry red before Lyla saved me from all my misery.
"Sirius is just one of those people that wake up sporadically through the night because he has nightmares of James leaving him for another person. There's nothing for you to freak out about; except for the fact that your boyfriend may be in love with James also." Lyla sent Sirius a sickly sweet smile and as Sirius made his way to rebuttal, Remus stepped in as was his forte.
"Anyways, before we get into an all out war that will cause us to leave the hospital wing, let's focus on the finer points of why we're muffled behind these curtains. James likes Blair; Blair likes James; they love each other but are stuck in this rut and can't be together? That's completely ridiculous if you ask me." I put my elbows on my crossed legs and then thought about what Remus had said.
"Well both of them don't want to be the first to admit their feelings incase they aren't reciprocated." Sirius said while leaning back on his elbows and stretching his long legs out between Lyla and Remus.
Lyla rolled her eyes at the obvious statement and donned her planning face. "Let's think logically for a moment. Say we lock them in a room together and force them to confess their feelings for each other. They might hate us but in the end they would thank us when they have babies together."
"But then there's always the chance that neither will actually say it and will find a way out. James is a cheeky bastard like that, you know?" I said while nudging Remus in the side. "What would you do, Lupin?"
Remus peeked his head through the curtains and took a look at Blair's sleeping form. Then, with a hopeful glance, he looked towards James who was still lying still. "I think that the best chance we have at getting them back together is to force it to happen."
"I like where this is going, Remus. Perhaps if we planted the seeds of the idea in each of the respective person's mind then eventually that idea would evolve into a full out attraction." Sirius mused while nodding his head and sitting up straight while folding his legs.
"They already like each other," I pointed out and Sirius shushed me while rolling back his shoulders as if he was getting ready to run a marathon. "Does no one else find anything wrong with his plan?" Remus looked like he was on board so I turned towards my saving grace.
Lyla looked from Sirius to me and shrugged. "He actually has a good point. Sure some of our plans never go through and some blow up miserably in our faces, but usually the plans that involve one of his plans actually work." I gaped at my sister, my own flesh and blood, and then looked towards the triumphant Sirius.
"How much are you bribing her to say these blasphemous things? Are you plying her with best friend hugs? I thought we talked about this before." Rolling his eyes, Sirius just turned away from me whilst neither denying nor confirming anything that I had just said. "I'm really hurt, you guys. But I'll go along with your plan to get...Blair!"
Everyone whipped around as the curtains were pulled open and Blair appeared in front of us. Even though she had spent the night in a hospital wing, sleeping on a hard backed chair, Blair still looked like she had just gotten the best sleep of her life. She looked around at all of us sitting on the hospital bed and then quirked an eyebrow.
"Sirius, you have your plotting face on. What's going on you guys?" I looked to Sirius who, as always, was quick on his feet.
"Actually, you look beautiful as always today, Ms. Winchester. I have no idea what you're talking about when you say my plotting face either. This is just the face my beautiful bone structure forms." Sirius smiled at Blair before hoping out of bed. Forgetting that my hand was in his, I face planted onto the bed and basically ate sheets.
"You totally suck." I said as the rest of my friends filed off the bed. When I got back up, Blair was sitting back in her seat watching James with such a strict face that I wondered if she wasn't going to be a full-time caretaker when she got older. "Have you guys even heard anything about how James is?" Blair asked as we all gathered around. At that point, Madame Pomfrey came out of the woodwork and shuffled us out of the way as she poked and prodded James with all manner of professional looking medical supplies.
Sirius wrapped an arm around my shoulder, leaning down to whisper in my ear as Blair questioned Pomfrey with quick precision. "When James wakes up, you and I are going to go on the offensive and put some hot thoughts of Blair in his mind." I looked up at him and sent him a quick smile. "You know that if you have anything to add that would be great."
Leaning in towards him, I acted like I was just being a happy little girlfriend. "If you are implying that I will be talking about my best friend in that way just for the sake of James's image and your sick mind, I'll have to make sure that you won't be able to get pleasure in that way for a long time." Giving him a swift pat on the stomach, that may have slightly knocked the wind out of him; I leaned in towards him and laughed.
"Duly noted." Sirius nodded while pinching me on the arm. I smiled sweetly while he rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair. "Well, thanks for everything Poppy! We know that our boy is in good hands. Now, Blair if you would." He gestured towards the door as Madame Pomfrey walked away from James muttering to herself and writing in the air with her wand.
Blair looked at Sirius like he was crazy. "I can't leave him, Sirius. What if he wakes up and no one is here to see him?" She folded her hands and wrung them out, then stopped and clenched her hands to her side.
"He'll be fine, Blair. We were just going to pop down to the great hall and get something to eat really quickly." Lyla said as she took Blair's hand and led her towards the door. Blair took a deep breath, looked towards her 'patient' and then followed us out of the door. The mad house that appeared outside of the hospital wing doors made us all step back. "I guess James has more than a few admirers."
"Screw 'em all," Sirius said while standing up tall and basically clearing a path with his presence. "Let's get some lunch."
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Lyla's Point of View
"Who do all these people think they are?" Sirius asked bitterly, a certain jealous anger stirring behind his eyes.
"Sirius, they're all just concerned about James too," Alexa said trying to calm Sirius as we made our way through the seemingly growing crowd that blocked the entrance to the hospital wing.
"Rubbish! They are all posers! They don't even know James; I don't even know half of them," Sirius spat getting extremely protective of James and their friendship.
"Oh, come now Pads, you know who they are; plus a good portion of them are girls," Remus said in a joking manner.
Alexa's mouth dropped and smacked Remus on his arm and after Sirius agreed she hit him too. We all laughed, even Blair laughed. After the joke had passed, though, Blair's face slipped back into worry and sadness. We tried to get Blair to eat something but it was no use; she just wasn't hungry and you could tell that she was just buying her time until she could rush back to James's side. Wanting to give Blair a break, Remus and I offered to sit with James for today. But, Blair being who she is said that she would love for us to come and sit with her and James. Finally, we all just decided to spend the day in the hospital wing keeping vigilance over our dear friend.
After making our way through the hordes of people, we finally were safe behind the large doors of the hospital wing where everything was quiet. James was still motionless in his bed showing no sign of change since the last time I saw him. As we brought several chairs up to his bed I just wished that he would wake up. Several vases of flowers and many boxes of treats were positioned on his bedside tables along side Captain Awesome who was with James even when we couldn't.
We took our seats and anticipated the long day we had in front of us. Sitting next to me, Remus took my hand in his and gave me a smile. Feeling the burden of silence, Sirius spoke. "Blair, did you happen to see what happened when James fell?"
Blair looked up from James to face us. "No, I didn't. I have been wracking my brain all night and I just can't come up with anything," Blair said. She shook her head as she thought for a moment. "I keep replaying the game over in my mind but it's almost like it goes fuzzy when it comes to that part." Sirius nodded his head sharing in her frustration and then cupped his jaw in his hand and put his thinking face on. "Does the rest of the team know anything?" Blair asked hopefully.
"We don't know," Remus said. "We were planning on talking to the team soon to see if they saw or noticed anything."
"I think they should also come in and see James. Madame Pomfrey really hasn't been letting in anybody except for us, but I think they will want to see him," Blair said shifting her gaze back to James.
"Lyla and I could go round up the team and bring them on by if Madame Pomfrey says it's okay," Remus offered.
Just as Remus said this, Madame Pomfrey came out from her office. "Ah, here she is now," Sirius said. "Poppy, how are we doing today?" he cheekily asked her.
With a smirk on her face and her eyes narrowed on Sirius she replied, "I am doing wonderful today Mr. Black. And how are all of you?"
"We are doing lovely, just lovely," Sirius said laying it on thick. "Listen, Poppy, we were thinking about bringing the team by. How does that sit with you?"
"That shouldn't be a problem. However, I do ask that they only stay for a short time and I must demand that you call me by my title Mr. Black; we must uphold a certain amount of professionalism," Madame Pomfrey said sternly to Sirius.
Sirius quickly got up from the rickety chair he was sitting in and took Madame Pomfrey's hands, a sincere look on his face. "Oh, my lady, don't worry, I'm all about professionalism," Sirius said with a wink. Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes, pulled her hands away and then turned to return to her office.
Sirius returned to his seat and Alexa just looked at him with a strange face. "You are bad," she said laughing.
Sirius looked utterly shocked. "I have no idea what you speak of, I am goodness reincarnated," he said with a boyish grin.
"Hah! You are unbelievable," Alexa said back. Sirius grabbed Alexa's hand and placed a kiss on the top of it.
"Don't worry, you are the girl for me," Sirius said in a husky tone. "Although, Poppy's got a little something." Alexa quickly snapped her hand away from Sirius and started to list the number of things that were wrong with the statement he just made. Sirius leaned over in an attempt to kiss Alexa but she quickly leaned away evading his lips. After much struggle, Sirius managed to get a kiss on Alexa's cheek.
Alexa swiftly took her hand and rubbed the place on her red cheek where his lips had touched. "I rubbed it off," she said childishly, sticking her tongue out at him.
Sirius feeling the burn of her actions, he retaliated by saying, "Hey, Alexa, why don't you stop fooling around so we can get some work done." Alexa went to rebuttal, but she was quickly cut off by Sirius, "Remus, would you and Lyla mind getting the team?"
"Not at all," Remus said, laughing at his friend and my sister. He stood up from his seat and extended his hand to me. He pulled me up and we made our way to the door. As we slipped through the doors of the hospital wing, the crowd in the corridor had dwindled significantly and there was much more room to maneuver. Remus slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close as we headed down the corridor toward Gryffindor tower. "How're you holding up?" he asked rubbing my shoulder.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him. "I'm doing okay I guess, just worried. How are you?" I asked him back. I felt Remus let out a deep breath as we walked and his silence caught my attention. "What's wrong?" I asked looking up at him.
"This whole thing is just eating me up inside," Remus said. "I should have seen what happened. I should have seen it so I could have warned James."
I stopped walking, holding Remus back with me. "Remus, none of this is your fault. There is nothing you could have done to prevent this," I said, hating how Remus was feeling.
"I should have seen it coming. I had the perfect view from the announcer's booth; you can see the whole field. It's my job to watch the game and I missed it," Remus shook his head in shame.
I stepped up close to him and wrapped my arms around him. He squeezed me tighter as if he was afraid I would disappear. "James wouldn't want you to be like this. You are not at fault here, we all know that. The only person blaming you is you."
"I know. It's just, what if he doesn't wake up? What if he never comes back from this?" Remus frantically asked. Remus didn't act like this often, and to see him like this was very different, it even made me a little scared. He was always so put together, always remaining calm; but this thing had torn him apart. If Remus could barely keep it together, how were any of the rest of us supposed to?
"Stop," I said firmly pulling away from him. I took his face in my hands and forced him to concentrate on me. "We cannot think like that. We just can't, okay? James has never given up on you or any of us, he always believes in us. So, now it's our turn, now we have to believe in him; believe he will wake up, believe he'll be fine. We can't give up. Promise me you won't give up on him Remus."
Remus reached up and slowly brought my hands down from his face and held them. "I promise," he said softly. He pulled me into a hug. "I love you."
"I love you too," I said into his chest. "Come on, we need to get the team." He released me from his strong hold and we continued on our journey to find the team.
When we got to the common room, luckily most of the team was already in there. I quickly sent Marlene and Thomas to go get the remaining team members, Caradoc being one of them. If anybody saw anything, Caradoc would be the guy. He was the closest to James and he had been talking, or rather yelling, with James before he fell. After the whole team was gathered, we all headed on the trek back to the hospital wing.
"How is James?" Carry Clark asked. "I tried stopping by earlier today to see him, but Madame Pomfrey wasn't allowing anyone in."
"Yeah, she's kind of got the wing on lock down, there were just way too many people out in front the hospital wing," I explained. Carry shook her head understandingly. "James is doing pretty well though, I guess. He still isn't conscious but his bones are healing."
"That's good. It was a particularly nasty fall, it's amazing he's not worse off," she said.
"Did you see what happened Carry?" I asked hoping we could finally get some concrete answers.
"Well, no, not exactly," she said sadly seeing the disappointment in my eyes. "I caught the snitch and when I circled back around to meet the rest of the team, James was about to hit the ground. It was so odd; I don't think any of us really even realized what had happened." Although there was yet another person who knew nothing, I wasn't too discouraged because Carry was a bit preoccupied with catching the snitch and all.
Back in the hospital wing there still was no improvement in James, but I immediately noticed a significant difference in Blair. She was laughing, smiling and didn't have her eyes glued to our stoic friend. I followed her eye-line to see what was leaving Blair in stitches of laughter and my sister shaking her head and hiding her face in embarrassment. When my eyes settled in the middle of the room, I immediately threw my hand up to my mouth to try to camouflage my blatant laughing. There, smack dab in the center of the room were Sirius and an enchanted Captain Awesome doing a synchronized dance that was awash with suggestive, and frankly blush worthy, moves; there was even music playing softly in the background. I honestly couldn't decide if I was more disturbed by Sirius dancing like that or the fact that Captain Awesome, a child's plaything, was dancing like that; but I couldn't deny that it was pretty hilarious.
As I looked back to make sure everybody else was watching this, I saw Remus roll his eyes and take residence in the seat he had occupied earlier. I quickly rushed over to the chair next to him, making sure never to take my eyes off the dance before me and leaned in toward Remus, "Are you seeing this?" Remus nodded with a smirk and just shook his head. While Sirius and Captain Awesome were doing some sort of convulsive zombie walk thing, I looked over at Alexa who was muttering the words 'Oh my God' to herself. She looked over, and after seeing the whole Quidditch eating up her boyfriend's display of dancing merit, she mouthed to me, "Kill me." I just laughed and turned back to Sirius.
Sirius and his bear did a quick spin move and then the music abruptly ended as the finished in a bow. The room was dead silent for a moment and then suddenly erupted with cheers and applause, as well as a bit of laughing.
Sirius came up from his bow with a pleased smile on his face and breathing heavily. He quickly made Captain Awesome jump up into his arms and removed the enchantment Awesome had been under. Basking in the praise and attention he was receiving, Sirius came over to where we were sitting, returned Captain Awesome to his perch beside James and then fell tiredly into his chair next to Alexa. "You embarrass me to no end," Alexa muttered to Sirius, still hiding her face in shame.
Sirius looked baffled at Alexa. He looked like someone had just ripped his heart out. "Sirius," I said, hoping to lift his spirits and ego, although it really didn't need it, back up, "I thought it was phenomenal."
His face became cocky again; he stuck his tongue out at Alexa, and then turned to me with a sweet smile. "Thank you, Lyla," he said angelically. Turning back to Alexa he said in a harsher tone, "And that is why she is my best friend."
The rest of the audience gathered around James's bed as Remus said, "So Pads, you decided to unveil it?"
"Well, Moony, Awesome said he wanted to do it, you know, for James. I tried to talk him out of it but he said he was going to do it with or without me; and you know I had to back up my boy," Sirius said in all seriousness to Remus. "He is nothing without me and I am nothing without him." Alexa let out an embarrassed noise. "And to have my teammates here to see it is just the icing on the cake."
"All I have to say is thank you for that," Thomas Jones said through remaining laughter.
"Oh, you're tremendously welcome Sir Thomas," Sirius said enthused by the praise.
The room got quiet as we all shifted our attention back to James. Sadness and worry floated through the air and infected all those around. "He doesn't look good at all," Marlene said a quiver in her voice. Utter silence blanketed us again, this time even worse.
"Um," Sirius said breaking the crippling silence, "We also asked you guys to come down to see if any of you saw anything the day of the game. Maybe if you saw what happened it could help James get better."
The team searched each other for answers but none of them had any. "Sirius, almost all of us were at the other end of the pitch. We only saw him falling, not what caused him to fall," Carry said.
Well this whole ordeal was an epic fail. How was it that nobody saw what caused James to plummet to the ground? It was so unlucky that the whole team happened to be at the other…. Wait a second; the whole team wasn't on the other end of the pitch. I
quickly turned in my chair to face the team and scanned the group for one person in particular. Caradoc was sitting in the very back, as far away as possible, looking off into space a blank look on his face. It was almost like he wasn't even there. He wasn't happy about coming down here in the first place and since he's been here he hadn't said a word.
"Caradoc," I said causing everyone to turn on Caradoc. "You were back where James was because you were playing keeper. Surely you saw something."
We all watched Caradoc, who barely even acknowledged that there was a question posed to him, anxiously. "I didn't see anything," Caradoc said listlessly. "I flew ahead of him to better see what was happening down at the other end."
"You left your post?" Sirius asked in an edgy voice.
"Yeah, I did. It's not like anybody was coming, they were all too wrapped up in the snitch grab," Caradoc said sending some attitude back at Sirius.
"That's no excuse, Caradoc," Sirius said angrily. "If you had just stayed where you were supposed to be, James may be fine or at least we would have known what happened!"
Caradoc furiously got up from the bed he was sitting on, "Oh, don't even give me this crap Sirius. I've had about enough of you!" Caradoc stepped closer causing Sirius to instinctively get up from his own chair and close the distance between the two of them. Remus quickly stood between the two boys and Alexa grabbed Sirius to restrain him.
"Sirius, don't," Alexa pleaded, "Please just walk away." Sirius, fire building behind his eyes, stared Caradoc down and then turned away to be calmed down by Alexa.
"Caradoc, I think you should leave," Remus said austerely. "Thomas, make sure Caradoc gets back to the common room; he needs to just cool down." Thomas nodded his head and got up to usher Caradoc out. As Thomas tried to guide him out, Caradoc snapped yet again. He stormed out of the hospital wing mutter shouting several things as he left, Thomas trailing after him.
The remaining members of the team were less than thrilled with their teammate's behavior. "He is such an ass," Marlene vented. "On behalf of James, I'll personally make sure he gets some sense knocked into him." She stood up from the chair she had occupied and the others followed. "Well, we'll get out of your hair. Let us know if anything changes." We said our goodbyes and I went to let the team out of the wing.
"What on earth was all that ruckus?" Madame Pomfrey asked rushing out of her office.
"Oh, sorry about that Madame Pomfrey, there was just a minor disagreement, but it's taken care of," I explained quickly hoping to put her at ease. "It won't happen again, I promise."
"You're right it won't; I cannot tolerate this sort of behavior in my wing," she said definitively.
"I understand, and again, we're sorry," I said again. She nodded her head and then returned back to her office. I turned back to the rest of the group who were back in the normal positions and looked as if they hadn't moved from them since we arrived. I too returned to my spot. "Caradoc knows something that he's not telling us," I said pointing out the elephant in the room.
"He is such a prat!" Sirius so wisely announced. "But, yes, I agree, he knows something."
"Well, we're just going to have to figure out what he knows," Alexa said like it was no big deal.
"And how exactly do you suggest we go about it? He's not exactly forthcoming. He's already pissed and if we approach him again, I can't even imagine what he would do," I told her.
"I wasn't planning on asking him, that's just foolish. I will just have to break out my stealth moves again and snoop it out," Alexa said acting like she was all that.
Blair piped in for the first time, "You honestly can't be serious Alexa." She raised her eyebrows at Alexa when Alexa gave her a questioning look.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Alex asked an underlying tone of hurt in her voice.
"I just meant that you don't have the best track record of being stealth," Blair said honestly.
"She's right Alex, you are impossibly clumsy and that usually causes your plans to fail," I added strengthening Blair's argument.
Alexa shook her head at our betrayal and said with vindication, "Whatever. I'll show you that Stealth is my middle name." Well, this should be interesting.
Alexa's Point of View
Who cares if stealth really isn't my middle name? I really don't; and trust me, it's not like if that word actually was my middle name that it would make a difference. If you want to be a smooth operator, a smooth criminal, if you would, then all you have to do is believe in yourself. So after the very strong and accusatory glances that were given to me in the Hospital Wing, I decided that it was time for me to show everyone just how good my detective skills are.
"Alexa, what are you really going to do? Caradoc is a class A observer, seeing as he has to be when out on the Quidditch pitch," Remus asked me as we walked out of the Hospital Wing later that afternoon. Putting my hand up to my chin in mock concentration, I smirked to myself.
"It's really very simple, young Remus. You see with Caradoc pretty much hating me already, he won't be paying me any attention which will make it easier for me to sneak around him and see who he's talking to, what he's doing, etc." I told my friend while Sirius laughed from beside me and Lyla rolled her eyes. Blair, of course, was with James who hadn't moved from his unmoving position. "Shut up, Sirius. You know the rules."
Sirius scoffed. "Those rules are stupid. I can make jokes about whomever I want to make jokes about, regardless if you are my girlfriend or not." He stuck his tongue out at me and I held up three fingers before pointing to the one in the middle. Walking ahead of him, I turned around to walk backwards and face my friends.
"Read between the lines, Black You'll be cowering at my awesome skills once I have mastered the extreme stealth that my family heritage has always pos--," The word possessed was a bit mangled, however, as I tripped over my own shoes and fell backwards into someone. "Sorry about that," I smiled a bit evilly I must say as I recognized the person. "Caradoc."
Turning back towards my friends, I sent a conspiratorial wink over my shoulder. Caradoc obviously didn't want to talk to us though and he turned and brushed pass me with a gruff, "Parker." I didn't take that as a brush off and thus kept talking. "Yes, well, it was excellent seeing you too! Well, I'll just be off. In the other direction, that you're not going in, because I'm not stalking you."
"Smooth," Lyla said while pulling me along. I stopped and drug my feet into the ground to keep from going anywhere and when she turned back to look at me I pointed to where Caradoc had just disappeared. "What the heck are you doing, Alexa? The common room is this way and as much as you like to hang around in dark corridors, I'm not really a fan." Rubbing my temples, my feet began to pull me in the opposite direction.
"Yes, well that's all very nice, but this is my chance so I will have to see you later." Waving bon au revoir, I took off after Caradoc, who luckily for me, wasn't using his long legs and was just moseying down the corridors. Stalling my walk to a crawl, my eyes focused on the boy I was trailing. Admittedly, I was actually doing a good job by staying in the shadows and keeping to the walls.
After following Caradoc around numerous bends and hallways, up stairs and through doors, he finally stopped outside of a set of doors. Slipping through them before I could get near enough to stop him, Caradoc was gone and I was left outside in the corridor. "Well, this sucks." I mused and was about to turn around when I heard noises from inside the room. It wasn't just Caradoc who was rendezvousing in this abandoned room.
Pressing my ear up against the door, I strained to hear anything that would help. Through the thick, solid door, I could hear only mumbles in different tenors. "Think, Alexa, think." I said to myself and that's when I noticed the completely random bench that was sitting outside of the doors. "Score." While it was totally random and I was a bit skeptical of the bench, I wandered over while trying to figure out a way to push it up further and look through the glass windows into the classroom.
With much exertion and cursing, I managed to move the bench a total of three inches before I remembered my wand. With a swish and flick, the bench was floating slightly above the ground and was ten times more moveable than before. After the bench hit the ground with a muffled thump, I stowed my wand behind my ear for quick access in case things got sticky, and then climbed aboard my makeshift stalking tool. The windows into the room were the kind that were like frosted glass and as my luck would have it, the windows opened in and not out.
Pushing the creaky slate just enough that I could see what was going on, I prayed that the noise wouldn't be heard over the loudness that was happening inside. With wide eyes, I looked on to see the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and Caradoc standing around while the Captain of the team stood before them all. "I'm not going to just sit around and watch Potter lay on a cot, Simmons." Caradoc had his arms crossed as he stood before a tall brunette boy.
Grant Simmons, the chaser and captain of Ravenclaw's Quidditch team stood before Caradoc, staring him down and leaning against an abandoned teacher's desk. "If you weren't willing to help us then why did you even come here? Listen, I'm not trying to ruin your little friendships or whatever it is that you have, but if you're going to finish this without visiting the Headmaster, then you'll have to listen to me." Grant pushed off the desk while walking over to one of the girls that if I remember correctly played seeker.
"I've had enough of all of this, Grant. If Dearborn here wants to rat you out then let him, I'm cold and I'm tired and I really just want to go back to the dorms." Tara Jackson was now my biggest threat as she walked towards the door. Freaking out, I tried to jump down from the bench while shutting the window quietly, but Grant stopped my freak out by putting a hand on Tara's shoulder.
"Listen, if I had known that what you guys were going to do was going to put Potter in a flipping coma then I never would have let that quaffle through the hoops. It was supposed to just distract from the snitch. Honestly, if your seeker can't catch a little gold ball then my work is done." My eyes widened as I stood on my tip toe's more to get a better look at what was going on. If the Quidditch team was closing in around Caradoc or if it was just my imagination, I wouldn't know seeing as Tara pretty much bitch slapped Caradoc for no reason.
"I could have caught that damned snitch if it wasn't for that little Clark girl pulling me back and Hooch refusing to foul your team." Tara said with a viciousness I didn't know the girl could possess. Pushing her dark hair from her eyes, she backed off and went to stand next to Grant.
Rubbing his hands over his face, Grant looked around at the rest of his silent team. "We just need to get this down right now. Which one of you actually sent that bludger towards Potter?" The quiet looks were sent around the half circle with accusations running wild in each person's eyes.
"Holy shit!" I whisper shouted as my eyes landed on the boy who had sent a bludger towards Thomas Jones early in the match. In my haste to see what was going on, my foot slipped on the edge of the bench and with a clang I fell from the blasted plank of wood, slamming the window and emitting a squeak as the bench clattered to the ground. "No, no, no." I muttered over and over again as I tried to right myself and the bench while remaining inconspicuous as if I had just passed by.
Just as I flopped onto the bench, the whole Ravenclaw team and Caradoc came out of the room to find me chilling outside their meeting area. "Alexa, what the hell are you doing here?" Caradoc asked stunned as I tried to look like I wasn't doing much of anything. And what was with everyone wanting to know what I was doing at a place or why I was there? I go to school here too!
"You know, just taking in the air. Not spying of anything, but if I had been the stealth I would have applied would have been great." Looking down at my fingernails, the sighs that were emitted from above me caused me to clench my toes. Outwardly, I tried not to show any emotion.
When I looked back up, the team had circled around the spot I had taken on the bench and their captain was eyeing me in contempt. "You know, don't you? I can't believe that you followed Dearborn; I thought you two had broken up?" The question was aimed more at Caradoc than at me and I felt my eyes widen. They thought that I had just followed my boyfriend or that he had brought me here.
"So right!" I shouted while at the same time Caradoc said, "No way." I shot a glare over at Caradoc while standing from my spot on the bench and making my way towards the other end of the hallway. I had to get the heck out of dodge before they thought I was going to rat them out. Which I totally was going to do, but they didn't need to know that.
Right as I made my way to walk out, Grant stepped in front of me. "What did you hear?" I played dumb and shrugged my shoulder while he put a hand out to stop me from going anywhere. "Don't play stupid with me, Parker. You heard something and I'll be a Hufflepuff before I lose my badge because you want to play with the big boys."
"First of all, do you even hear yourself right now? It's just a Quidditch game for Merlin's sake. Really, it's not that big of a deal." I said while looking at this seventh year boy and rolling my eyes. "I don't exactly know which one of you put James in the hospital wing, but I do know that if you just come forward you can't possibly be in that much trouble. "
"We'll all be suspended. Especially Cameron since he's the one that hit the bludger." Tara said while stepping up to me too. "You can't just walk off and do your little loyalty, Gryffindor pride thing. If we go down then we're going to take you too because as of right now you know something and are withholding information. And how would your precious Potter feel about that?"
"Better yet, how would Black feel?" A boy who stepped from the sea of faces asked me. I presumed this to be Cameron and with a roll of my eyes, I pushed out of Grant's hold.
"You guys take the whole 'Quidditch is our life' thing to an all new level." Muttering 'freaks' under my breath, I grabbed Caradoc's arm and drug him out of the circle after me. "Just tell somebody, because if it's not done by tomorrow I will." I said with one last shrug and then pulling Caradoc behind me I rounded the corner from where the team had met.
Caradoc opened his mouth to say something as an uproar opened up behind us. "Alexa, wait." He said and I ignored him as I soldiered on through the corridors. No, I didn't know where we were going, but I was pissed that these Quidditch obsessed people would put someone's life in danger just to win a match. And what was more, even though I was through with this boy, he was still being a complete idiot and hurting my friends. Was it not enough to get back at me with my ex-best friend that he had to betray his team too?
When Caradoc stopped moving and my arm practically wrenched from its socket, I stopped and turned around. Unleashing my full fury upon the blonde haired boy, I basically beat him senseless. "You have got to be freaking kidding me when you tell me that you went behind James' back, your own flipping team, and almost got him killed. You are freaking crazy and really, in all honesty, if you weren't a Gryffindor I would let Sirius and Remus have you right now."
"You don't know why I did this, Alexa. You can't begin to understand why I did this." Caradoc began to defend himself and I rolled my eyes while beginning to walk away. Halfway down the corridor, however, my anger got the best of me again.
"No, maybe I don't understand why you did it, but I do know that no matter what it was I would never betray someone who stood up for me. Someone who even when I was a total ass was nice to me and didn't let his best friend beat the shit out of me." Walking up to him, I pushed Caradoc in the chest with all the strength I had, pretty much disgusted that I ever dated this guy. "You are a freaking traitor, Dearborn, and you're going to be lucky if James doesn't kick you off the team for this. Have fun as a social pariah."
Stalking down the corridors, I made it back to the Common Room with a new record time. "Snapdragon." I told the Fat Lady with a purpose and instead of berating me like she usually would, she swung open and I walked through the opening without stopping. When I reached the doorway, I looked around to see where my friends were and saw them by the fireplace. Sirius, of course, saw me first and was happy to jump off the couch to see what he could do.
"What's going on, Al? What did you find out?" He asked and while I sat down in his vacant spot, I put my feet over the couch's arm. Sirius sat down next to me while Remus and Lyla gathered around.
"I know who it was and you guys aren't going to like it." I said while putting my hands over my eyes and then rubbing my sore shins. That bench really was solid.
"Wait a second," Lyla asked and I looked over to where she was sitting with her knees hugged to her chest. "You actually went stealth?"
"Oh, yeah," I nodded with a look of accomplishment on my face. "I went stealth."
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Baby Blue's Note: So, I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter as much as we enjoyed writing it. It was a lot of fun to switch up point of views too. Anyways, put us on shout to tell us what you think about what we've been doing so far. You guys are the best and thanks for all of the last few reviews that were given for the last chapter.
As my co-author said before, peace.