Chapter Seven:
"Come Clean"
Hilary
Duff
"Lily? Lily!" a horrified voice called out.
"It's no use, she's unconscious. She'll never hear you." Another proclaimed.
"Back away from Miss Evans!" a professor shouted over the din, "Leave her some room to breathe! The girl is injured because of you two! I want you both to stay go straight to your head of house's office. Potter, Black, don't give me those looks, you march on up to my office right now! You too Mr. Malfoy, Snape, get down to those dungeons immediately."
"But Professor, Lily!" a young man interrupted.
"I said to march, Potter!" the professor yelled.
A hazy blackness filtered around in Lily's head. She couldn't open her eyes, feeling totally helpless. She wanted to cry out to the people speaking around her; telling them she was alright, all she needed was a way to find out how to actually use her body again. It was like she didn't have any control over any sinew in her, everything was limp, and no matter how hard her brain commanded the muscles, it seemed as though they just waved the messages off and remained in their docile state.
There was a rustling of robes, someone whispering an incantation, and suddenly Lily was lifted up and floated along, the sounds of a crowd of students running up the stairs ahead resounded around her. She felt a warm hand in hers, and with all the strength she had, Lily opened her eyes and turned her head to see Remus, her dear friend, holding her hand, and for a fleeting moment she glimpsed Meredith walking alongside him, looking nervously at her. Remus' eyes flashed relief when he saw Lily open her eyes, and as soon as she had opened them, they closed, her eyes rolling back into her head.
"Professor McGonagall! She just opened her eyes and squeezed my hand!" Remus' voice sounded far away, like he was shouting from miles away…
"Mr. Lupin, try to keep her conscious. Miss LaBelle, run ahead and try to cut off Potter and Black, and then bring them with you to meet Mr. Lupin and I back in the hospital wing as soon as possible."
"Yes professor!"
All of a sudden she couldn't hear anything, but by the warmth of her hand she could tell that Remus and Professor McGonagall were still near. Her heart fluttered, remembering that Meredith was going to bring James to her… James was going to be by her side soon. Then she slipped further into a silent darkness, feeling and seeing nothing.
The Hospital Wing, 7:30 P.M., approximately eight hours later
James, seated in a chair next to Lily's hospital bed, stared at his knees, his head in his hands. "Those damn Slytherins!" He thought to himself, cursing them for stirring up that fight. Every so often, he would look up to see the school nurse bring over a goblet of potion for Lily to take. This usually took a while because Lily was still, for the most part unconscious. So far, Madam Pomfrey had to force down her throat about 10 different potions.
There was a knock on the double doors on the other end of the wing, and then four figures slipped in, walking fixedly over to where James and Lily were. When they stepped into the light being cast by the lamp next to Lily's bed, James recognized the rest of the Marauders and Meredith. Immediately, Meredith went to Lily, getting onto her knees at her bedside. This was the tenth time that they had visited, the first couple of visits interrupted because they were forced out by professors rushing about, insisting that they were making too much noise. James, however, refused to leave Lily's side, no matter what. He didn't even leave with the rest when Professor McGonagall had shooed them, forcing them down to the Great Hall to eat.
"Prongs," Sirius said, holding out a basket of food, "We, Moony, Wormtail, Meredith and I, went down into the kitchens and the house elves gave us all this food to bring up to you because you didn't get to dinner."
James nodded, taking the basket from him. It was heavy, and for the first time in hours, he realized that he was hungry. Cautiously, he opened up the wicker basket and found it to be stuffed to the brim with picnic type food. He smiled, remembering all the times they had gone down into the kitchens to nick some late night snacks.
"Thanks a lot guys," James replied gladly, "Here, take some Cauldron Cakes. I owe it to you for bringing this up here."
As James took out a plate that the elves had packed and a turkey sandwich, each of the three Marauders standing around the bed reached over and took a Cauldron Cake from the basket. Remus took two and handed one over to Meredith, who was still kneeling on the other side of the bed. James glanced at Lily, who was still unconscious, watching her as she breathed in and out, her torso rising and falling in an even manner. James sighed. When was Lils going to wake up?
(A/N: I know you're all wondering when the musical is going to kick in, but it's coming, don't loose faith!)
A half hour passed, and none of them said much of anything. Remus, noticing that the other guys were getting kind of tired standing up, pulled some chairs over and they appreciatively sunk into them immediately. James lifted his head from his hands where it had rested for the last fifteen minutes to see a large bolt of lightning slash across the curtained window. All of a sudden, rain began pouring from the sky, making ceaseless tapping noises above their heads.
(A/N: ha-ha! Here it comes! I told you it would!)
Meredith stood and walked over to the window, past the bedside table that was full of various candies and cakes that had been brought in by some sympathetic Gryffindors, a few Hufflepuffs, and a small amount of Ravenclaws, who had seen the duel and what had happened to Lily. Meredith lifted the translucent curtain and peeked outside. The sky was dark with thick black clouds, and the rain splattering the pane was coming down harder than ever. She leaned her head against the cold glass and sang softly, which caused the others to look up, listening intently.
"Let's go back, back to the beginning, back to when the earth, the sun, the stars all aligned. Cause perfect didn't seem so perfect. Trying to fit a square into a circle was no life I define."
James picked up the next line, taking Lily's cool hand in his, staring at her eyelids, trying to remember the time not long ago when those emerald eyes were open and sparkling. This morning, only hours ago she was bright and bubbly, laughing and hugging, not a care in the world, but now she was being force fed potions and things just to keep her from dying.
"Let the rain fall down, and wake my dreams, let it wash away my sanity Cause I wanna feel the thunder, I wanna scream Let the rain fall down I'm coming clean I'm coming clean. Ooooh"
There was a very slight pause, as all of them were listening to it slashing the windows and the dull thudding of the hammering rain pummel the castle roof. Remus heaved himself from his chair and went over to the same window and wrapped his arms around Meredith's waist, singing into her ear.
"I'm shedding, shedding every color, trying to find a pigment of truth beneath my skin. Ooooh"
Meredith turned her head and faced him, singing her line back to him, taking her arms up and grabbing her elbows, leaning back a little into Remus' grasp.
"'Cause different doesn't feel so different, and going out is better than always staying in, staying in."
Suddenly, Sirius began singing, taking over the chorus and sitting up better in his chair, looking over from Meredith and Remus to Lily lying in bed, to James who was slouching back in his chair, and finally over to Peter, who had fallen asleep. Disregarding Peter, he let his voice join in.
"Let the rain fall down and wake my dreams let it wash away my sanity, cause I wanna feel the thunder, I wanna scream Let the rain fall down I'm coming clean I'm coming clean I'm coming clean Ooooh yeah"
James, unwaveringly looking at Lily, decided to sing the next line,
"Let the rain fall, let the rain fall, I'm coming…"
"Let the rain fall down and wake my dreams, let it wash away my sanity, cause I wanna feel the thunder, I wanna scream, let the rain fall down, I'm coming clean Hmmm, Ooooh" Meredith and Remus sang, shifting their gaze back to Lily, whose eyes were fluttering as if they wanted to open. Unexpectedly, Lily's voice, soft and weak, but still pretty, sang out into the instantaneously silent ward.
"Let's go back, back to the beginning"
"LILY!"
All at once, the three alert Marauders and Meredith rushed over to her bed and embraced her, crying out different things, but all bearing the same basic message- Thank God you're all right.
A/N: Hello all ye people!! J I love saying that!! Lol anyways, thanks for all the reviews! I love you guys, honest. It's summer! Yay! But it'll all end soon, but if y'all give me, say, 7 reviews, I'll post chapter 8, capisce? And please tell all your friends that they should r&r because that's really nice!!
Thank you reviewers!!
Evil Punk Not: yeah, I missed having this one updated too… but now I'm back!! :-D
Timra: Thanks, I was hoping that it wouldn't come off too, well, stupid… but it wasn't that bad, was it?
SALLY!: of course I will, Pettigrew torture is the best! (Just wait 'til you see the next chapter!! Pettigrew Bashing at its best!) Lol!
Andie Potter: Yeah, I know the feeling, I couldn't post up ANYTHING for four months. That just sucks. I feel your pain, and thanks for finding a way to review anyways. (And if you haven't noticed, I'm a huge fan of fantasy things, ya know, princess in a tower kinda stuff… I'm a hopeless romantic… sigh):-D
OjosAzules: Gracias! Merci! Thanks! I'm trilingual!! Sort of… anyways, thanks, and if you keep on reviewing I will!!
eMeRaLd!
