A/N: Sorry for starting this chapter so late, I've been really busy with Christmas and stuff and all the extra stories I'm writing. I think that Misty and Sabrina will not be mentioned much in this chapter, sorry for the inconvenience!
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"The cliques are slowly forming." Arabella commented at breakfast, a few weeks into the term. She spotted a group of blondes laughing and striking numerous, not entirely appropriate poses for boys that passed them by.
"They're probably from Hufflepuff. Those blokes are brainless as all get out, I'm telling you." Remus added, stirring his porridge around and adding lumps of sugar.
"Ugh. More of that disgusting oatmeal," Lily said, looking rather ruffled and red in the face as she sat down between the two.
"What? You don't like the meals here?" Remus asked, slightly bewildered.
Lily shook her head, causing wispy strands of hair to fall out of her bun. "It's not that. Oatmeal reminds me of home."
Arabella tried to look sympathetic, but her face was contorted so she looked like she was going to sneeze. Lily let out a long sigh and poured herself some orange juice.
"Hey, flying lessons today you guys! I just heard it from some Ravenclaws!" James said excitedly, running over to the table.
"No way! I could've sworn Dumbledore canceled lessons after what I heard last year!" Remus exclaimed, just as ecstatic as James.
"Flying lessons? You mean we get to fly… on brooms?" Lily asked, looking up at the two. Her stomach suddenly started churning, remembering the incident she'd had with Danny.
"Well of course we fly on brooms! We certainly don't fly with dustpans!" James said laughingly.
"Of course not, but… even me?" Lily said, panicking. Her fear of heights had somehow increased since the expedition to King's Cross.
"Especially you, Lily Evans. Muggles need to be able to accept the wizard's modes of transportation, so we don't die out and such." Remus said, matter-of-factly.
Arabella gave him a queer look. "Have you been rummaging through the Ministry's pamphlets on the safety and benefits of riding broomsticks?"
Remus looked guilty. "My dad's head of the Department of Wizard Transportation."
James laughed loudly. "Man, remember that time we got to have a go on those new… what were the called? Butterflies 200? Something crazy like that and the brooms turned out to be hexed!"
Lily looked uneasy and a bit sick. "I can't fly. I can't fly on a broom. I have a terrible fear of heights. I get nauseous just looking at airplanes."
"What are airplanes?" James asked, looking perplexed.
"Great, hulking pieces of metal that Muggles fly in the air to transport them from one place to another," Arabella said absently.
Lily nodded mutely, looking around for something for her to breathe into. James handed her a paper bag with a sympathetic smile.
"It's not all bad, Lily. Flying is fun!" Remus said cheerfully.
"Please don't say anything. I'm going to be sick." Lily said, turning a pale green. She retched, and James' immediate reaction was to lay a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Do you want me to get the nurse or something?" Arabella asked nervously, getting up and inching away from a very green Lily.
Lily waved a hand as if to tell her off. "I'll… I'll be fine."
Arabella sank back down on her chair and sighed. "This day is not starting off well."
James shrugged. "We've got a reluctant damsel on our hands, Remus. What ever shall we do?"
Remus grinned mischievously. "I say we make her fly on your broom, Mate." He
mimicked an Australian accent to near perfection.
"I think you're both loonies. I can handle it… I think." Lily said, trying to stand up. Her knees gave way suddenly and James caught her by both elbows before she crashed to the floor. She looked up and flashed him a smile of gratitude.
"Are you sure about that?" James whispered. She attempted to swat him away but all he did was hold on to her arm as he, Remus and Arabella escorted her out to the Quidditch field for the flying lessons.
"Is this optional by any chance?" Lily protested weakly.
Arabella sighed loudly. "Lily, you're never going to overcome your fears unless you face them!"
"But I don't want to face them now! How about in three years?"
Neither James nor Remus replied to her protests and they all simply kept walking.
"Five years? Or, or how about if I were to never fly! You know, it could be… er… hazardous to fly because I could… hit a bird!" She whimpered, fighting for any excuse she could get her hands on.
"Oh honestly, Lily. James will fly with you!" Arabella said, and with a final tug she pulled Lily into one of the lower bleacher seats.
"You think I sincerely need someone to help me fly a cleaning utensil?" Lily asked incredulously.
"Lily, James won't really be helping you… he'll be giving moral support… on another broom," Arabella said, fighting to twist out of Lily's strong grip on her arm.
"Hey, there's Misty and Sirius and Sabrina. Let's go say hi!" She continued, trying vainly to escape now.
A tall, graceful lady with silky black hair suddenly swept on the scene. She held a shiny broom in her hand and gave out some stern looks to some boys in Ravenclaw who were messing around.
"Welcome to your first flying lesson, class. I am Madame Florin. Today we will start with the basics of handling your broom and learning how to mount and kick off."
Lily laughed a little too loud. "That really confirms my fears, thank you Madame!"
Arabella elbowed her sharply in the ribs. Lily looked guilty and then hiccoughed loudly.
"Anyway," Madame Florin said and she gave Lily a sharp glance, "I want all of you to grab a broom and spread out."
"Ok Lily, please get up for Arabella and James." Arabella said, speaking to a rather giddy Lily like she was a two-year-old.
"Is someone coming to help me fly? Or am I on my own?" Lily asked seriously.
Arabella and James exchanged nervous looks. "Listen, Lily. The whole point of flying is the ability to do it by yourself. All of us will be flying there with you." James said.
"Ok." Lily said and stood up and brushed herself off.
"Lily, are you ok?" Remus asked, coming over to them. Lily picked up a splintery old broom and whirled around to give him a huge 100-watt smile.
"I'm fine. I go to a place where some old fool teaches me how to transform a desk into a skunk and whatnot. Now I'm going to go fly on a Muggle cleaning utensil. I'm fine," she said and started laughing hysterically.
"I wonder if we should place her in one of those places where mattresses line the rooms." Sirius said, coming over to watch this entertaining scene of Lily rolling on the grass with tears in her eyes.
"Mattresses? That'd be fun!" Arabella said, her eyes lighting up.
"We should do something about Lily. If we're not careful, she'll go from happy to mental in a couple of seconds," James said, looking at Lily nervously.
"Three…two…one…" Sirius said sarcastically.
"Up you go, Lily. That's a good girl," Arabella said, assisting James, Sirius and Remus in picking her up and dragging her to an open space.
"Can you stand properly enough to mount your broom?" James asked, testing the waters by taking his hands away. She swayed slightly as Remus, Arabella and Sirius dropped their hands as well.
"I'll be fine guys. I'm just really… not prepared to do this," she said, getting nervous butterflies in her stomach as the rest of them mounted their brooms. Lily knew it was time to face the music, sink or swim, take the final step. She reluctantly swung her right leg over the broom. Her stomach plummeted slightly as the broom sunk faintly under her weight.
"Guys! LOOK! I DID IT! I'm ON THE BLOODY BROOM!" Lily screamed, gripping the splintery handle and hoping she didn't receive a cut.
Arabella flashed her a thumbs up and shot up in the air, practically dragging Lily with her. Lily shrieked loudly and James quickly flew over to see if she was ok.
"I'm fine, James. Thanks for being concerned," Lily said once she regained her composure and breath. She tried to keep the frustration and sarcasm out of her voice, but hints were surfaced.
"I just don't want one of my friends hurt with me so close," James said sincerely.
"Accidents happen," Lily said acidly and tried to move forward.
"Lean forward more, you're too tense," James remarked and flew off to talk to Sirius and Remus.
Lily suddenly wished she had something hard to throw at everyone who'd ever treated her like a piece of glass.
"Hey Lily! Isn't this great, flying and all? I've never done this before, and I grew up with two brothers who are Quidditch fanatics!" Arabella called to Lily, daring to try a loop-the-loop.
"It's great all right," Lily muttered. A blonde girl, shrieking and laughing loudly, suddenly hit her broom. Lily was caught by surprise and her hands flew off the broom to protect herself from another contact with the impudent girl. Lily shrieked in shock and horror as she was flipped upside down, her knees the only thing hooked to a piece of wood hovering a good 50 feet in the air. Despite her situation, she suddenly happily thanked her parents for strict ballet training.
"SOMEONE HELP ME! I AM GOING TO FALL!" she screamed.
And without further warning, the broom flipped itself right side up. Lily had only enough time to put her arms on the handle before it went hurtling at top speed towards the lake.
Are brooms really supposed to do this? Lily thought, panicking thoroughly.
"Whoa! Is that supposed to happen?" Sirius asked, watching Lily hurtle through the air.
"Oh my God! Lily's going to get killed, someone help her!" Arabella shrieked loudly.
"I'm on it. Remus, Sirius, you guys fly near me in case I need backup," James said, racing towards a doomed Lily.
"OH, PLEASE STOP YOU STUPID PIECE OF…WOOD WITH…HAY ON THE END!" Lily cried, tears now freely streaming down her cheeks.
The broom, seemingly cursed, screeched to a halt in midair. The impact sent Lily flying off the broom and falling into the fathomless lake.
Lily felt excruciating pain and cold as she broke the surface and tumbled into the frosty darkness. The icy water stabbed at her like thousands of tiny needles pricking her all over. She couldn't even think a single thought, but what she realized was that she was doomed to die, and no one was going to rescue her. An ominous, large and shady creature unidentifiable at the time loomed over her…
"Ooh…" James let out a strangled cry as Lily, looking as lifeless as a rag doll, slammed into the water.
"SIRIUS! REMUS! I HAVE TO GO DOWN THEE!" James hollered to the other two, panting and trying to keep up with him. He swiftly removed his robes and dropped them carelessly off the side of his broom.
"James, you're an idiot! You'll never make it!" Sirius yelled back to him.
"Yeah, you can't even properly dive off of my diving board, what makes you think you can jump from here?" Remus remarked.
James lowered the broom just inches above the water. He grinned back at the two anxious boys wringing their hands furiously.
He saluted them and jumped into the icy depths, a short sleeved shirt and slacks the only thing weighing him down.
I can't very well strip, just in case Lily's alive, James thought wryly, scanning the darkness for any kind of sign to lead him to Lily.
A matter of seconds later, he was forced to surface minus the redhead. He quickly drew in a sharp breath and went down under again. This continued for several long, anxiety-filled moments until he spotted something moving behind a bush of kelp.
LILY! His heart raced when he realized who it was. Her hair was out of its orderly bun and floating around her eerily pale face. He didn't dally in staring at her oddly pretty features and quickly came to whatever senses that hadn't been squashed temporarily by the cold and grabbed her around the waist. To his horror and to measure out evenly the latter, he felt he was losing the oxygen in his lungs. Frantically swimming faster and faster towards the little dot of sunlight he'd focused his attention on, he felt Lily starting to stir.
They both broke the surface and left James gasping for breath as he hoisted himself and Lily onto the grassy bank. Sirius and Remus cautiously flew over, accompanied by Madame Florin and Arabella.
"DEAR LORD! IS LILY OK?" Arabella shrieked, dismounting her broom with the others and running towards them.
"Yeah, yeah she's fine. Get me something warm, fast!" James said distractedly as he searched for his abandoned robes. Sirius handed them to him and he quickly covered a blue-lipped Lily with them.
"We should get her to the Hospital Wing immediately!" Madame Florin shrilled, hustling them all away.
Suddenly, Lily stirred again and coughed some water up.
"LILY! GOD GIRL, YOU GAVE US ALL SUCH A HUGE BLOODY SCARE!" Arabella screamed with joy, running and tackling Lily in a hug.
"Miss Figg, please contain yourself!" Madame Florin said angrily.
Arabella quickly backed off and went to stand with Sirius.
"Lily, are you ok? Can you hear me?" James asked, sitting near her and stroking her wet red hair.
Lily's eyes fluttered open. "I'm… giant… octopus…fine…" Thus saying this, her whole body went limp and fell against James in a dead faint.
"EEE!" Arabella shrieked, running towards Lily again.
"I'm serious, we have to get her to the Hospital wing before something really bad happens to her from being in the cold!" Remus said, wringing his hands nervously.
Madame Florin whistled loudly and almost whacked Remus in the head with her broom as she ran to conjure up a stretcher.
"I'm so sorry, Lily," James said sadly, watching her float alongside the rest of them.
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a/n; HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Foolish mortals! I present you with the world's greatest cliffhanger! Enjoy ripping your hair out in agony! * salutes *