Author's Note:Quick little thing! I've decided to make all the Fifth Years (Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Snape, Peter etc.) into Sixth Years! Bellatrix is a Seventh Year, and Sam is a Fifth Year. SORRY ABOUT THAT! I just can't think of what I would do for a sixth year, and it seems a bit more realistic this way!
Chapter 38
Crying, Worrying, and Remembering
James paced anxiously back and forth in front of the Hospital Wing's double doors. They had been closed and locked magically over three hours ago, and James hadn't stopped worrying about Lily and Sirius for one minute.
He could hardly remember anything after he had woken up in his dorm; it was all just a blur. He remembered waking up with the feeling that something was wrong, someone was in danger. Then, he had realized that it was Lily and Sirius who were in danger. He remembered the moment of frozen panic, then racing down the stairs. He could recall snatches of the battle against Bellatrix; tackling her—which had been immensely satisfying—and then her yelling as Slytherins scattered every which way.
James smiled grimly. At least he had taken a few out, and Bellatrix was now definitely going to be punished. Even Azkaban seemed too pleasant for her.
He could recollect her blasting back into the wall, and rushing to Lily. Sirius had been lying on a pile of rubble, unconscious, but he was mumbling, "Food… Mmm…" so James had assumed he was alright for the moment. At this point in his reminiscing, everything came into focus.
He could perfectly recall Lily; the deep gash in her arm, the sticky mass of it in her fiery red hair, the way she had been spread on the floor, her blood pooling out, no doubt having collapsed under the pain, and most of all, the way her screams had echoed through the corridor. He shivered at that particular memory.
James was racing down the stairs when he heard the screams. Terrible, anguished, agonized screams. The worst part was: they belonged to Lily. That was why he had been so bold, rushing Bellatrix like that. The red haze of anger in front of his eyes had made him unable to think clearly.
When the battle was over, and he had been crouched down by Lily, all he could think about was losing her. He didn't know what he would do if he had lost her—if he lost her now. The begging was the worst part of that moment; pleading with her to open her eyes, to come back to him, to just live.
Sinking down against the cold stone wall, he grasped his head in his hands and squeezed, as if he hoped to squash out all those terrible memories. For the first time in years, for the first time since he had lost the two people that had meant the world to him, he cried.
Author's Note: SNEAK PREVIEW! SAM FINDS OUT!
Sam skidded to a stop. James was sitting with his head in hands on the floor in front of the Hospital Wing doors. In a flash, everything fell into place. James looked as if he were crying.
James crying… Blood on the floor… The Hospital Wing….
James loved Lily. And Lily was in the Hospital Wing. And James was crying. And Lily was—No, she couldn't be. She couldn't be…. Could she?