Chapter 21: Lily is okay
James:
It was Christmas. We were all supposed to be happy, but Cat, Remus,
Sirius and I were sick with worry. After sending my owl to Lily, I retreated to the
Common Room to find Sirius and Cat deep in concentration about a chess game
that, much to Sirius's dismay, Cat was winning. Remus was trying desperately
not to laugh at Sirius's vain attempt to capture Cat's queen, but Cat moved her
king, and.
"Checkmate!" she shouted. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to make
the announcements that I, Caitlin Buckley, have beat the unbeatable, Sirius
Black, in chess! Thank you, thank you," she said, bowing to her 'admirers' which
were really a few people giving her the thumbs up and going back to her
conversation. "Oh, hey James," she said catching sight of me. "Good God, what's
the mater with you?"
"Lily," I said. "She's next. I just sent her an owl with a warning. I don't think
it'll get there in time."
"James, go to Dumbledore. There's nothing else you can do, he can get
there quicker than any of us. Go!" shouted Sirius. I bolted out the portrait hole,
followed by Cat.
"James, how did you know," she panted trying to keep up.
"Intuition, conscience, inner voice?" I asked. "Why do you care, as long as
Lily's safe, you should be happy." I turned a corner and nearly ran into the man of
the hour. "Professor Dumbledore! You have no idea how happy I am to see you.
Where do I start? Lily's in trouble. I felt it, you have to get there, I sent her an owl,
but I don't know if it'll get there in time(A/N: As he's saying this, Lily's getting the
owl. They happen simultaneously)."
"Thank you James," he said, and turned on his heel and ran out the front
doors. I turned and ran out to the tree I sat in before I saw Malfoy walking
beneath me. Climbed in five seconds flat and sat there, thinking about nothing in
particular. I saw Cat and Sirius come running out of the castle.
"James!" shouted Sirius. "Where are you?"
"Sirius, over there, in the tree," said Cat. She pointed right at me and I
climbed even higher into the bushier branches.
"Sirius, give me a leg up?" asked Cat.
"When did you get so heavy?" grunted Sirius. "I used to be able to pick
you up with no trouble."
"When I came to Hogwarts, and don't talk about that now, James is right
above us," Cat whispered.
"Oh, I know you too well for your own good," I said to both of them,
blowing my cover. "I know that you, Sirius, give Cat piggy-back rides all over the
Common Room."
"Oh, and I, too James, know you too well for your own good," said Sirius.
"I also know that you, James."
"Say it and I swear I will pull you tongue out with my bare hands," I cut in.
"Good enough for me," said Sirius. "Come down and talk to us James, or
I'll start calling you Jimmy again."
"Seeing as you won't leave me alone until I come down," I said. "Why
not?" I climbed down and stood, facing them both.
"How did you know?" asked Cat. "Men don't have intuition, a conscience
or an inner voice. But now I'm thinking I shouldn't have said that in the presence
of two boys," said Cat backing away. "Oh well, the cat's out of the bag now."
"Ha! Good one," I laughed. "But seriously, that's what Lily said to me when
I told her."
"What? I don't get it," said Sirius. Cat and I sighed.
"Sirius, what's my name?" she asked.
"Cat," he replied, still in the blue. His eyes widened and he started
laughing. "Oh, I get it now. Good one." (A/N: I know that everyone, when doing
an L/J fic, use the Sirius/serious joke, so I came up with my own. Ta ta.)
"We should get back up to the castle. The feast will be starting soon," said
Sirius.
"Do you only ever think about food?" asked Cat.
"Pretty much, yeah," I said. "Except you should hear what he talks about
in his sleep."
"What?" asked Cat. "Or do I not want to know?"
"You don't want to know," I said. "Though I'm surprised you can't hear it in
your dorm. We've gotten a few complaints, he's practically shouting."
We walked slowly up to the castle. My stomach grumbled, and I realized I
hadn't had anything to eat all day. Cat got tired, so Sirius gave her a piggy back
ride. I could picture them together when we got older. It was funny, because I
didn't feel eleven. We entered into the Great Hall. It was decorated with giant
Christmas Trees and there were giant crackers all along the tables. Seated at the
Staff Table was Professor McGonagall, Professor Haynes, Professor Lacompte,
Professor Terra, Professor Luna and a few others I had never met before.
Unfortunately, Professor Custos and Professor Dumbledore were not seated
there.
"Guys," I said. "There are a few things I need to tell you, and we should
have Remus too. I'm gonna need some help."
"What is it?" asked Sirius, dropping Cat as Professor McGonagall gave
him a look.
"Ow, jeez Sirius, can I get a warning next time?" Cat asked. "James,
what's wrong?"
"I'll tell you after dinner. Maybe Lily will be here by then," I said. As we sat
down, the doors burst open and Professors Dumbledore and Custos ran in,
Professor Dumbledore carrying a passed out Lily in his arms and Professor
Custos leading the horse-faced girl I had seen with her at the start of the term.
"Lily!"
"James, come with me," said Professor Dumbledore, looking grave. "Mr.
Black, Mr. Lupin, Miss Buckley, stay here." Professor Dumbledore led me to the
Hospital wing where Lily was laid on a bed. Professor Dumbledore and I stayed
outside the curtain, while Professor Custos and Madame Pomfrey, the new
nurse, put Lily into a pair of pajamas. Lily's sister was left with Sirius and Cat,
which was unfortunate for her.
"Madame Pomfrey? Will she be okay?" I asked.
"She'll live. She's just been through a lot, got the remnants of the
Cruatious Curse in her muscles and her parents are dead. She's still out cold, but
she's in no way in mortal danger. Stop by tomorrow, I expect she'll be awake by
then. Professors," said Madame Pomfrey. "Could I have a word?" I sat outside
the curtain while I could hear them talking in low, fast whispers.
"James?" called Professor Custos.
"Yes?"
"Come in here, we'd like to talk to you for a few minutes before we go to
the feast," she said, voice shaking. I peeked between the curtains. Lily's hair had
bits of dried blood in it and her eyelids were fluttering. I walked through the
curtains, and saw Professor Dumbledore still looking grave, Professor Custos
was white faced and tight lipped looking down at Lily every few minutes, and
Madame Pomfrey was holding a piece of parchment with my handwriting on it.
"James?" asked Professor Dumbledore. "Did you write this?" He handed
me the parchment with my note to Lily on it. I smoothed it out, and gulped
answering. I had a feeling of what was coming.
"Yeah, I was warning Lily to get out of there. I guess I was tad too late," I
said, choking back tears. Many people would call me a cry baby, but I felt
responsible for her parents deaths.
"You weren't too late," said Professor Custos. "Do you know what would
have happened if Lily had been killed? You and she are part of a very important
prophecy. Have you ever heard of it?"
"Kinda," I said. I had heard of it from the poem sent to me by Voldemort
himself.
"Do you know what it says?" she asked.
"Well, I know that I'm supposed to create the person that defeats
Voldemort. Talk about pressure," I said. Professor Dumbledore laughed, but was
the only one.
"Yes, that is a lot of pressure. We won't tell you all about the prophecy
now, but lets just say that if Lily had died, well, who knows what the world would
be like twenty years from now. You may go James," he said, eyes dancing.
"Madame Pomfrey, can I stop by to see her tomorrow?" I asked.
"Sure, and bring Mr. Lupin. I need to talk to him," she said.
"James?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
"Yes?"
"Don't blame yourself for the death of Lily's parents. It wasn't your fault,"
he said, smiling.
"I don't," I lied.