Lily had been staring at a plain white wall when Madam Clare walked in.
"Oh, thank heavens child, I thought you'd never wake!" Madam Clare said cheerfully. Humming a happy tune, she began stirring and mixing a number of potions beside Lily's bed.
Lily tried to speak, but it felt like her mouth was glued shut. She concentrated hard on what happened. She had been tortured, experienced severe pain - and then James' face came into her mind, a loving, caring face.
"Well, I suppose you want to know what happened." Madam Clare said briskly.
"Now, we don't now the first part, you'll have to tell us that, but based on the circumstances, your friend Sarah has not been dealt any punishment except 20 points from Griffindor - for extreme stupidity when it was clear a teacher should have been involved. Your -ah- classmates, however, didn't get away so lucky."
Here Madam Clare paused to gently lift Lily's mouth open, then pour the potion in. Handing her a large slab of chocolate, Madam Clare sat down on the bed next to her.
"Now, of course the Headmaster doesn't want you to explain your tale until you're ready - who would you prefer talking to? Me? Sarah? A teacher, perhaps?"
"James," Lily found herself saying.
"James?" Madam Clare repeated.
"Oh, no dear, you must be confused, James is the one who -"
"I mean," Lily interrupted, "I would like to speak to James first, please."
"Are you sure? Not Sarah? She's been in here day in, day out....."
"No. How long have I been in here?" Lily wondered.
"A week," Madam Clare replied, "And I was just going to ask the Headmaster if a stronger revitalizing spell could be tried on you-"
Lily tried to move the chocolate toward her mouth, but found she was heavily bandaged.
"Are you sure you want to talk to James?" Madam Clare asked again.
Lily nodded.
"I'll send him in them," Madam clare muttered, "Honestly, he's been waiting outside the Hospital wing, Dumbledore won't let him in, of course, his friends seemed to be playing a joke on him when they moved a chair beside the door -"
Just then, James walked in, and started to run towards Lily.
"Lily!" James cried. He was by her bedside in a second.
"Potter, don't you dare touch that young lady. If you do-"
"Madam Clare," Lily inturupted, "Can we have some private time?"
Madam Clare looked shocked.
"Five minutes," She said stiffly,
"I'll be in my office."
Lily waited for the tap-tap of her high heels to disappear before turning to James. He looked pretty close to tears from relief.
"Honestly, Lily, a week? Don't ever do that -"
"What happened James? Why did you do that?"
"Lily, you have to believe me, I didn't know that it was the Room of Darkness."
"Oh thats what it's called? Well, I sort of figured out it wasn't an ordinary room when-"
"Lily, I didn't know, -"
"I don't care if you didn't know, James. See all these cuts on me? See this hospital bed I'm in? You caused that James. You and some cocky idea."
James bit his lip. She was right, all fingers were pointing at him. But then, didn't she remember-"
"You know what else I caused, Lily? I caused your life to be saved. If it weren't for me, you'd be dead."
This was Lily's turn to feel the guilt. He was right. Lily thought some more, then asked,
"Will you start from the beginning?"
Here James started from his idea of the beginning.
"I was the one who sent you that perfume, Lily. I was so glad of myself, my awesome idea, how it couldn't go wrong. But then, when I got back to school I realized how hard it would be for me to admit it to you. I started looking for dramatic opportunities. When you feel down the stairs I wanted to start of conversation - a real one - but then you ran off. I picked up the books you had dropped, and realized it was a hopeless situation until Sirius suggested an idea. I ran into the first room I saw in the Charms corrider, quickly placed your books on a desk at then back, then ran out. It was Me, Sirius and Peter who had done that whispering."
"But," Lily asked, "How come I couldn't see you?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," James said, and Lily felt like she wouldn't believe any story of how James was invisible.
James continued on,
"Then I shut the door and locked it. We ran off. Now all we had to do is wait for a while, then I could open the door for you, and act like the hero, admitting to you that I - I sent you the perfume.
"The plan was going great, until Remus told us that you were in the Room of Darkness. We ran back down there and tried to open the door, but nothing worked. I couldn't hear you, Lily. I was" -Here James found it especially hard to admit his feelings -"I was scared. Then I came up with an idea. I grabbed my broomstick, and ran up to the North Tower. I flew down to the small window of the room of darkness, and I broke in. Once inside, I heard this chilling voice. It sounded like it was all around me. I felt pain shoot up through my legs - and I realized that this is what you must have been experiencing. Because of me, you were hurt and nearly dead."
"What did the voice say?" Lily asked in a whisper.
"It said, 'go away mudblood', and that you were already dead." James replied. He realized it must of hurt Lily to be called a Mudblood.
"Oh, thank heavens child, I thought you'd never wake!" Madam Clare said cheerfully. Humming a happy tune, she began stirring and mixing a number of potions beside Lily's bed.
Lily tried to speak, but it felt like her mouth was glued shut. She concentrated hard on what happened. She had been tortured, experienced severe pain - and then James' face came into her mind, a loving, caring face.
"Well, I suppose you want to know what happened." Madam Clare said briskly.
"Now, we don't now the first part, you'll have to tell us that, but based on the circumstances, your friend Sarah has not been dealt any punishment except 20 points from Griffindor - for extreme stupidity when it was clear a teacher should have been involved. Your -ah- classmates, however, didn't get away so lucky."
Here Madam Clare paused to gently lift Lily's mouth open, then pour the potion in. Handing her a large slab of chocolate, Madam Clare sat down on the bed next to her.
"Now, of course the Headmaster doesn't want you to explain your tale until you're ready - who would you prefer talking to? Me? Sarah? A teacher, perhaps?"
"James," Lily found herself saying.
"James?" Madam Clare repeated.
"Oh, no dear, you must be confused, James is the one who -"
"I mean," Lily interrupted, "I would like to speak to James first, please."
"Are you sure? Not Sarah? She's been in here day in, day out....."
"No. How long have I been in here?" Lily wondered.
"A week," Madam Clare replied, "And I was just going to ask the Headmaster if a stronger revitalizing spell could be tried on you-"
Lily tried to move the chocolate toward her mouth, but found she was heavily bandaged.
"Are you sure you want to talk to James?" Madam Clare asked again.
Lily nodded.
"I'll send him in them," Madam clare muttered, "Honestly, he's been waiting outside the Hospital wing, Dumbledore won't let him in, of course, his friends seemed to be playing a joke on him when they moved a chair beside the door -"
Just then, James walked in, and started to run towards Lily.
"Lily!" James cried. He was by her bedside in a second.
"Potter, don't you dare touch that young lady. If you do-"
"Madam Clare," Lily inturupted, "Can we have some private time?"
Madam Clare looked shocked.
"Five minutes," She said stiffly,
"I'll be in my office."
Lily waited for the tap-tap of her high heels to disappear before turning to James. He looked pretty close to tears from relief.
"Honestly, Lily, a week? Don't ever do that -"
"What happened James? Why did you do that?"
"Lily, you have to believe me, I didn't know that it was the Room of Darkness."
"Oh thats what it's called? Well, I sort of figured out it wasn't an ordinary room when-"
"Lily, I didn't know, -"
"I don't care if you didn't know, James. See all these cuts on me? See this hospital bed I'm in? You caused that James. You and some cocky idea."
James bit his lip. She was right, all fingers were pointing at him. But then, didn't she remember-"
"You know what else I caused, Lily? I caused your life to be saved. If it weren't for me, you'd be dead."
This was Lily's turn to feel the guilt. He was right. Lily thought some more, then asked,
"Will you start from the beginning?"
Here James started from his idea of the beginning.
"I was the one who sent you that perfume, Lily. I was so glad of myself, my awesome idea, how it couldn't go wrong. But then, when I got back to school I realized how hard it would be for me to admit it to you. I started looking for dramatic opportunities. When you feel down the stairs I wanted to start of conversation - a real one - but then you ran off. I picked up the books you had dropped, and realized it was a hopeless situation until Sirius suggested an idea. I ran into the first room I saw in the Charms corrider, quickly placed your books on a desk at then back, then ran out. It was Me, Sirius and Peter who had done that whispering."
"But," Lily asked, "How come I couldn't see you?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," James said, and Lily felt like she wouldn't believe any story of how James was invisible.
James continued on,
"Then I shut the door and locked it. We ran off. Now all we had to do is wait for a while, then I could open the door for you, and act like the hero, admitting to you that I - I sent you the perfume.
"The plan was going great, until Remus told us that you were in the Room of Darkness. We ran back down there and tried to open the door, but nothing worked. I couldn't hear you, Lily. I was" -Here James found it especially hard to admit his feelings -"I was scared. Then I came up with an idea. I grabbed my broomstick, and ran up to the North Tower. I flew down to the small window of the room of darkness, and I broke in. Once inside, I heard this chilling voice. It sounded like it was all around me. I felt pain shoot up through my legs - and I realized that this is what you must have been experiencing. Because of me, you were hurt and nearly dead."
"What did the voice say?" Lily asked in a whisper.
"It said, 'go away mudblood', and that you were already dead." James replied. He realized it must of hurt Lily to be called a Mudblood.