Disclaimer :: Still don't own anything you recognize from Harry Potter, or from anywhere else for that matter.
-More Mistakes Fixed!-
BURN THE R.U.M – Thank you so much for pointing out that mistake I made in saying Romulus was older than Remus. It was another thing with my bad editing. In my other story, the character who turned into Remus had an older brother. I was going through and changing the names and I totally forgot to change that. I'm glad you pointed out the mistake. It was one of my bigger and more embarrassing ones. One day I'm gonna get this whole editing thing right!
REVIEWERS::
PeRkieGuRL – Yes, I've read about half of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! Good book! Thanks so much for reviewing!
Phire Phoenix Clan – Hehe, I'm evil! Well, here's your next chapter!
Wow, not much babbling! Coolness. I'm gonna start the chapter before I start talking about something totally random, like Lars Fredrickson... (He's one of the members of my favorite band, Rancid. He's from Sweden. Read my profile for more info if you're unbelievably bored.)
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"RUN!" shouted Sirius. No one needed to be told twice. All three sprinted forward; the Death Eater's spell narrowly missing James. For what seemed like an hour, they ran blindly, dodging spells. They could not try to protect themselves, for fear of hitting each other. As they ran, the storm broke, making it hard to see where they were going. They could only hope it also made it harder for the Death Eater to see where he was aiming.
"Crucio!" The Death Eater missed again.
"Impedimenta!" Another miss. Damn, thought James. He didn't know how long they could keep running before one of them was hit.
"Imperio!" Everyone was still on their feet.
"Stupefy!" There was a loud thud somewhere behind James that told him they'd lost a member of their party. Without even thinking, he turned around to see Lily lying, crumpled, on the ground. The Death Eater was advancing on her, stooping down...
"Impedimenta!" came Sirius's voice. In slow motion, as if time had slowed down the Death Eater was blasted backwards. When he hit the ground, time sped up again. It didn't take long for him to recover, and soon he was back on his feet. James had his wand out now (luckily he carried it with him even in the summer), holding the Death Eater off while Sirius sprinted forward, scooped Lily up into his arms, and ran. James stood for a moment, as if frozen. He did not want to start a duel; it was too risky in the rain. He was already soaking wet and could hardly see. On the other hand, he didn't want to run, leaving himself vulnerable.
"Expelliarmus!" yelled the Death Eater. In that moment, James made his decision. He dodged the spell and ran, zigzagging between the trees, making himself harder to aim at. After what seemed like forever, they came into a clearing. The overlook was just ahead. Sirius was gently putting Lily onto a bench when James came storming through the trees, closely pursued by the Death Eater.
"Ha, I've got you cornered now, boy!" The Death Eater advanced on James, who was now at the overlook railing. "You can't run anymore." James took a few discrete steps to the side. For every step the Death Eater took, James took two to the side. As he watched, Sirius realized what James was doing. The Death Eater thought he had James now, and was not paying attention to what was happening. He continued to advance, and James continued to step away, until they had made a complete circle. Now it was the Death Eater with his back up against the railing. He raised his wand,
"Stu—" He never finished his spell, because at that moment, Sirius lunged at him, pushing him right over the edge of the railing. He rolled a few feet and out of sight. The two boys peered over the edge of the railing.
"Do you think he's dead?" Sirius asked.
"No, but we're at quite an altitude. No one can endure a fall like that without sustaining some injuries." James answered solemnly. Sirius grinned at him.
"You sound just like McGonagall," he said. James grinned back, and turned to Lily. She had not yet regained conciousness.
"We've got to get her back to the cabins. She'll probably need medical attention." James said. Sirius nodded in agreement. James picked her up. As he looked at her, he tried not to think whether or not she would step on his foot again when she heard he had carried her. He tried to concentrate on how good it felt to have her in his arms. She looked so peaceful and beautiful, even though her hair was soaked and she was unconscious. This was the way she was, really. Peaceful and beautiful. He'd never seen her angry at anyone, besides himself. If she had one ounce of meanness in her, she always saved it for him. Even though this was the case, she would always stay beautiful in his mind. Suddenly, he noticed Sirius looking at him. He shook his head and said,
"Come on, I think it's a pretty long way back."
* * *
Twenty minutes later, James and Sirius trudged into the main lodge. They took Lily straight to the presiding medi-witch, whose quarters were in the back of the lodge. James put her on a bed, and the medi-witch, who said her name was Mademoiselle C'estine (A/N: I'm not good at French names) and whose French accent was quite thick, came over to take a look at her.
"Ah," she said after a moment. "Stunning spell eh?"
James and Sirius both nodded.
"Ze 'as some cuts and bruises, but zey will 'eal. Now, she needs rest. She will be all right in a few days. What 'appened?"
"In short, there was a Death Eater at the wedding, and she was attacked," James explained.
"Ahhhhhhh," said Mademoiselle C'estine knowingly. "Second one tonight." The boys noticed a figure in the bed next to Lily's. They presumed this to be Lena, and hoped she would recover as well.
When they were satisfied that Lily would be alright, they left the room. It was obvious that someone had seen them come into the lodge, because when they came out of the medi-ward, there was a crowd waiting for them, showering them with questions and demands for explanation.
"What happened?"
"Where'd the Death Eater go?"
"Did anyone die?"
They ignored all the questions being thrown at them. They were both extremely wet and tired, and did not particularly want to be bothered. They trudged back out into the rain, which had not yet let up, and returned to their cabin. They found that Peter, Rae, and Ellie were all there when they got back. They had been talking, but became quiet when they saw James and Sirius standing in the doorway. Ellie stood up.
"There you are," she said in relief. "We sent Remus out to see if you were at the lodge. What happened? Where's Lily?"
"In the medi-ward," said James as he flopped down into a chair. "She was stunned, but the medi-witch says she'll be ok."
"Did you get rid of that Death Eater?" asked Ellie.
"Temporarily."
"It's a good thing neither of you were hurt," said Rae. "Lena's going to be ok, just out of commission for a day or two. What happened after we all went inside? We felt so bad that we didn't stay and help."
James and Sirius had no choice but to relate their story to their friends. They all listened and watched attentively throughout. The story had just ended when Remus came in. He informed the group that there had been no further developments on the attacks, but for everyone to keep a lookout for anything suspicious. Soon after, the girls left for their cabin, and the boys started getting ready to go to sleep. Everyone but James, that is. He was still thinking about what had happened that night.
"She could have died. Or worse," he said, almost to himself. Sirius overheard.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it, she's going to be ok," he said.
"Yeah, because you were quick enough to stop that Death Eater. I hate to think what he would have done to her if you hadn't been there," said James ruefully.
"There's no way you can tell. What's done is done, and she's all right. That's all that really matters."
James wasn't really in the mood to argue with Sirius at the moment. He didn't reply, just crossed the room to get his pajamas out of his suitcase.
* * *
Where am I? thought Lily as she sat upright. This is weird, I don't remember ever seeing this place before, she sat up straighter, until a pain in her back stopped her short. Ow! I definitely don't remember that! She settled back down a bit and looked around her. It looked like she was in a smaller version of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. There were beds along the wall, and an office for the medi-witch or wizard. She wondered what had happened, why she was there. She looked around for someone she could ask, and she saw that the next bed over was also occupied. The curtains around it were drawn, but Lily wondered who occupied it.
She heard voices from outside the door and in came a young women, dressed in a medi-witch's clothes.
"Yes, you may see 'er now, but only for a short time," she was saying, in a thick French accent. She was talking to someone behind her, and as they rounded the corner, Lily saw who it was. And he was not someone Lily wanted to see in her present state. It was James. He came over to her and pulled up a chair.
"Hey, how are you?" he asked.
"Fine."
"Listen, everybody else will be along in a bit," he said, sensing that she didn't want to be alone with him. "I just wanted to see if you were awake yet."
Somehow Lily didn't think this was the only reason he had come alone, but she didn't give him a chance for further explanation.
"What happened to me?" she asked. "I mean, I remember Lena being attacked and the Death Eater chasing us through the forest, but what happened then? Did I black out or something?"
"You were hit by a stunning spell. Sirius stopped the Death Eater from... doing whatever it was he was going to do to you and saved you."
"That's it? Sirius just got rid of him?"
"No, he chased us to the overlook, and when he tried to corner us, we pushed him over the edge. We're not sure what happened to him, but he hasn't been back, that's for sure."
"What happened to Lena?"
"She's alright. In fact, she's right over there, in the bed next to you."
"Oooohhh, that's who that is. Good, I'm glad she's ok."
At that moment, the rest of the group came noisily into the medi-ward.
"Lily!" Rae squealed and hugged her.
"Hey everyone," Lily said as she hugged back. Everyone pulled up chairs or made themselves comfortable on the bed next to her.
"So, did you hear all about what happened last night?" asked Ellie.
"James and I were just talking about that."
"Ooooooh! You know he carried you..."
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The plot's pickin' up! This chapter was a bit short and dramatic for me. Usually my writing is more funny and fluffy, but I'm trying to keep the story balanced. Keep a lookout for more updates. The next chapter will be the beginning of 7th year at Hogwarts!