I don't own anything besides the characters you don't know and the pot! An A/N for my late chappy bottom! Which means you have to read to get it! Lol thanx,

FireboltPrincess

Chapter 5: Hidden Hearts

Lily screamed and threw her hands over her face. There was a thud and a tinkle on stone as Snape's wand hit the floor. Everything was quiet. Lily stood, gasping against the wall, as the thick cloud in front of her dispersed.

Snape lay motionless on his stomach. His wand was a few feet away, unused. Lily looked cautiously down the corridor.

Tall, handsome, and alight, James stood with his wand arm outstretched, aimed at where Snape had stood only moments before.

He lowered his wand, and walked slowly to her.

"Are you alright?"

Lily nodded, taking a shuddering breath. James kicked Snape over with the toe of his shoe. Snape's face was just visible from under the dark curtains of black hair. He looked untouched, his eyes were glazed and unfocused and a nasty smile still on his lips.

"Foul, greasy, son of a ---," James stopped in consideration of Lily's presence. "He attacked you?"

Lily nodded meekly.

"Why were you by yourself?"

Lily opened her mouth to explain, and then stopped. "Because," she answered very quietly.

"Where's Michael? You did leave with him, didn't you?" James said a rather cold and pierce to his tone of voice.

"Well...I...uh....he...."

"He ran off, got scared, huh? Thought you would be able to handle it all alone---"

"I was handling it. I was perfectly fine, I could've taken him," She motionted to Snape's motionless body.

"From what I saw, you didn't look like you had a handle on it. If I had been there, I would have knocked that slime cold, but Donahue ran away."

"What are you saying---" Comprehension dawned clear and cold. "Oh, so that's what this is about," Lily boiled. "You fancied a walk and decided to follow us to see what we were up to! You spy---"

"What! I would never----spy, par say---"

"Well, for your information, Michael and I are not anything anymore," Lily snapped, mentally kicking herself.

"Good, he was a git anyhow."

"You were just jealous! Just because I was happy and got what I wanted---"

"Jealous?! I was never jealous of him!"

"Because you couldn't have what you wanted and you decide to make everyone else pay---" Lily shouted fiercely

"Donahue is a prat; it would never have worked out! I was just hurrying along the process!" James yelled.

"You don't care if other people are happy do you? Just as long as other people have to suffer---"

"WHAT! I do care!"

"No you don't! You never do! You wouldn't even lift a finger if I wasn't happy---" she cried angrily.

"I WOULD DIE IF YOU WEREN'T HAPPY!" James bellowed.

Lily opened her mouth, and then stopped, staring.

James gazed back, his chest heaving. He couldn't take this. Everything he ever felt for her was pounding in his veins, coursing through his body. He felt seven years of emotion and fear, of love and hate, and of something he could never have swell inside him. He wanted her so bad, it hurt. He was reckless, and he knew it. She just stood there; looking so beautiful, so innocent. She would never know...never...

"Forget it," James muttered, feeling sick. He turned and walked down the corridor, leaving her in complete confusion.

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Saturday dawned clear and crisp, a high bitter wind nipped at the trees and grounds outside the castle. The morning sunshine leaked through the high windows in the girl's dormitories, slightly warming the quiet, chilly air.

Lily awoke to a loud and noisy dormitory, much unlike the hushed and mumbling that usually fills the dormitory in the mornings. Everyone was bustling about, getting dressed and talking excitedly.

"It's about time!" Jo said cheerfully, pulling on a thick maroon and gold jumper.

"We thought we were going to have to wake you up ourselves!" added Shirley, tying her school scarf around her neck.

"So come on! Get up!" Rose Vincent said from the corner. Rose Vincent was one of Lily's other roommates. She had short, bobbed black hair, very round eyes, and was, in Lily's opinion, extremely gossipy. Lily got along okay with Rose, but she wasn't one of the best people to hang around, especially if you didn't want to have gossip float around about you.

"Why? Where are we going?" Lily yawned.

"To the Quidditch match of course!" Shirley sighed impatiently.

"Get dressed! And hurry! We want to make it to the pitch before the end of term!" Jo laughed. Lily gave a weak, feeble smile and timidly got dressed.

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Lily, Shirley, and Joanna sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table, all clad in gold and maroon. They were giggling and laughing haughtily when a great band of cheering and roaring broke out all along the Gryffindor table. Lily looked up as James walked into the Great Hall; many of the Gryffindors greeted him with a smack on the back or a louder yell. He sat down at the other end of the table with Sirius and Lupin, looking very pleased with himself.

"Oh we had better win!" Jo said excitedly, as the three of them made their way down to the pitch with the rest of the crowd after breakfast.

"It's only one Quidditch match," said Lily, pulling her cloak closer to her as the wind blew hard and cold.

"Yeah, but still, we have to win." Lily rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

Shirley and Lily both said goodbye to Jo as she left and headed up the high tower where she was to commentate the match. The two of them pushed their way over and found seats in the front row of the Gryffindor section. It was about ten minutes, the stands piled up with excited students and the noise of happy spectators grew, then there was a cough and a "hello?" echoed throughout the stadium.

"Are we ready? Yes, alright then! Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season! I am Joanna Reeves, your beautiful host---" There was cheering from the stands.

"Miss Reeves, please keep to the match this time," Professor McGonagall said curtly.

"Right, you are professor! Now, I introduce to you, the fantastic, amazing, brilliant, and otherwise terrific Gryffindor team: Corbet! Hall! Johnson! Adams! Burns! Lange! Aaaaaand---Potter!"

The stands erupted into booming cheers and applause as the team walked out onto the pitch, clad in the usually gold and maroon uniforms. "And for the other team," Jo said unenthusiastically. There were loud boos from the Ravenclaw end of the stands.

"Mallon...Knell...Roberts...Waller...Zeller...Fitch...aaand---Donahue!" Cheering and thunderous cries filled the stadium as the teams walked into place. Lily felt a small twinge of guilt as Michael strode onto the pitch, talking boisterously to Abby Waller, a Ravenclaw chaser. Madam Hooch walked onto the pitch, wearing her white and black referee cloak.

"Captains, shake hands." Paige Corbet, the only girl and captain of the Gryffindor team, stepped forward and took Thomas Mallon's hand in a tight grip. Paige had sleek brown hair and a firm face. She was tall, muscular, and very rough.

"Teams, mount your broom..."

There was a moment of silence then....

Her whistle sounded and the balls were released. The two the teams shot into the air.

"And their off! Knell with the Quaffle, Knell to Roberts, Roberts to Waller---ah, and Waller drops it! Now it's Corbet with the Quaffle, Corbet to Hall, Hall to---oh she fakes it back to Corbet! Corbet nearing the goal, she leans back and..." Jo swore.

Paige had reared to throw the Quaffle when Zeller came zooming in, seized Paige's arm and swung her around on her broom. She dropped the Quaffle and did several cartwheels in midair, swerving back into control. The Gryffindor end of the stands booed heatedly. Paige circled up flustered, yelling angrily at Madam Hooch, her arms flailing around, gesturing to Zeller.

"FOUL! THAT'S A FOUL! CALL HIM OFF REF!" Jo yelled furiously into the microphone. Madam Hooch's whistle blew loudly.

"Penalty for Gryffindor!" There were loud and excited cheers.

Paige squared up in front of the goals and shot the Quaffle exuberantly at the right hand hoop. Mallon shot forward and caught the ball squarely in the chest, knocking him into a back flip on his broom. Jo swore again, but Professor McGonagall pulled the microphone away from her, muffling the curse.

"Sorry Professor! Won't happen again! So that was a near goal by Corbet. Now it's Waller to Knell, Knell to Roberts, Roberts back to Waller, and Waller shoots---SAVED! Fantastic save by Adams! Nice job team!" The Gryffindor stands exploded with cheers.

"Now its Hall down the pitch; Hall to Johnson, Johnson to Hall, Hall going straight for the goal, watch that bludger! ---GRYFFINDOR SCORES! WE GOT IT!" Jo's shriek was drowned by the cheers and roaring from the Gryffindor end. "That's ten-zero, ten-zero..."

"Gryffindor in the lead; Its Roberts to Waller, Waller to Knell, Knell to Roberts, Roberts---ouch!" A loud sickening crunch was heard as Stephen Roberts was whacked full face by a speeding bludger. The crowd gasped and winced as he shook it off, blood flying. "That must have hurt! Sorry mate! Don't know how many girls will go for him after that---"

"Miss Reeves---"

"Just kidding, professor! Well, that was Roberts hit by Lange's bludger! Still, ten-nil, ten-nil! Now, it's Corbet with the Quaffle, heading down the pitch, nice dodge Paige! Corbet to Hall, Hall to Johnson, and-----what the..."

Everyone was staring at the opposite end of the pitch. Many of the people in the stands had started yelling and cheering. James was speeding down towards the Gryffindor goal posts, Michael right on his tail. James was gaining speed as he dove down after the glittering Snitch hovering twenty feet from the ground.

"GO JAMES GO!" Jo shrieked onto the microphone. James was feet away from the sparkling ball, when two bludgers came streaking from both sides of him. James swerved suddenly to get out of the way, and Michael dove under him, so he was flying right beneath James. James outstretched his hand towards the Snitch glittering spectacularly in front of him. Unexpectedly, Michael threw himself and his broom upwards, colliding violently with James. James was thrown unexpectedly up off his broom. He flew a good ten feet into the air then began to plummet to the grassy floor, his body forming a graceful arch.

Everything seemed slow down and become silent to Lily. The people around her, their terror stricken faces, had all stopped cheering. Jo's commentary could no longer be heard. No one was standing anymore, no one was screaming, everyone was silent. All she could hear was her heart, pounding deafeningly in her mute world. All were watching James as he plunged to the ground. He fell, farther and farther into silence. Then, he neared the ground, and James's body hit the hard grass, crumpling with the force.

Screams pierced the silence. There was a loud shriek and a thud as Jo dropped the microphone up in the top seats. Lily found herself standing, amidst all the still, sitting people. Six blurs shot from the sky and down onto the ground next to the motionless body lay sprawled on the grass. Girls were screaming and yelling. A small, blonde girl next to Lily gasped and fainted, slumping down on her friends shoulder.

People were shouting from the field. Lily turned around and seized Shirley's wrist. She violently pushed her way down the stands and turned onto the field, Shirley on her heels. The Ravenclaw team had landed and was running over to the Gryffindor team who were bending over James's lifeless form. Professor McGonagall came hurrying across the pitch, her red and gold scarf rippling in the wind.

"Get him to the Hospital Wing, immediately!" She shouted frantically. "Miss Corbet, run and inform Madam Pomfrey that Potter is coming in! Now lift him up carefully---easy---quick!"

"Lily!" Jo came running up behind them, she was very pale, and her eyes were wide. She grasped Lily's hand tightly in her own.

"He...he---oh my..." Jo covered her mouth, looking over Lily's shoulder. Lily spun around.

Held up by Hall, Johnson, Adams, Burns, and Lange; James was being eased to the front doors of the castle. He looked dead. His once handsome face was chalk white and his nose and lip was bleeding so viciously, it was all over the grass in a matter of seconds. His once built and strong body was limp and straggly, mangled and ripped. He didn't look real at all. Lily's chest constricted and she felt her legs give way. Her knees hit the grass and she fell into darkness.

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Blurry objects moved in front of her, clouding her view. The back of her head ached and pained. Her arms were weak and weighed tons. She blinked furiously, but nothing cleared. She couldn't move; every part of her felt dead, cold, and heavy. She strained her brain, trying to recall what happened. Nothing but more pain flooded her mind. She surrendered and relaxed. She dropped off into drowsiness, half consciousness.

She dreamt of a deer, white and pearly, strong and built, falling from the sky and into her arms.

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"Do you think she will be alright?"

"Oh, yes, it was just a scare, that's all."

"I just about fainted myself---"

"Do you think that he will be okay? I mean to say---"

"I duno, he looked pretty bad from what I saw---"

Lily's eyes fluttered open. She was blinded by the sudden blast of bright white. There were foggy silhouettes of people sitting on her bed. She felt like she was hit over the head with a heavy mallet. Her head throbbed painfully and she groaned loudly.

"Lily?" A familiar voice sounded from above her. "Lily? Can you hear me? How are you feeling?"

She groaned again, attempting to sit up. Someone pushed her roughly back down and she fell onto soft pillows. "W-what happened?"

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright," The familiar voice of Shirley sighed.

"We thought you were hurt badly or something terrible---"

"What happened?" Lily interrupted, sitting up again.

"Um...well, you well....fainted," Jo said to her, walking from the window. Her face was pale and she was looking earnestly at Lily.

"Oh, sounds---lovely," Lily snorted. She shook her head and looked around the hospital wing.

Shirley was sitting on the end of Lily's bed, clutching the bed pane, her knuckles white. Joanna was looking out the window, her arms crossed and an oddly empty look on her face. There was no one else in the hospital wing, but a bed over by the window had long curtains pulled across it. Madam Pomfrey bustled over to her bedside table and set down a large bottle with red liquid in it.

"Good, Miss Evans, your awake I see---don't know how you could have slept through this entire racket." There was indeed quite a bit of extra noise coming from the corridor outside the hospital wing. Lily could see many people pressing their noses up against the glass of the door, peering in anxiously. They couldn't possibly be here for her...

Madam Pomfrey muttered disapprovingly as she poured a copious amount of the steamy red potion into a goblet and handed it to Lily. "Drink up."

Lily brought the goblet to her lips, the thick liquid dripping down her throat. Even though smoke was issuing from the potion, it was ice cold and tasted strongly of basil and dirt. Lily spluttered and set the goblet down, coughing.

"Careful Miss Evans, this isn't pumpkin juice," Madam Pomfrey said impatiently. She took the goblet and walked back to her office. Shirley was gazing at Lily, a peculiar curious look on her face.

"What?"

"Nothing, he---nothing, never mind," muttered Shirley. Lily looked from Jo to Shirley.

"What is going on?"

Shirley raised her head slowly and looked at Jo. Jo, who had been staring blankly out of the window, turned and sharply pulled back the hangings around the bed next to her. Lily sat up straight.

The entire Gryffindor team was standing next to the bed, soggy and quiet. They all looked up at Lily, and then bowed their heads silently. Sirius and Remus were sitting in two chairs, heads in their hands. Remus was so still, Lily thought he was asleep. On the bed, covered in pure white sheets, was James.

He had his glasses off and his face was terribly torn. There was a deep gash across his cheek and his bottom lip was badly swollen. He was still in his quidditch robes, which were bloody and ripped. Lily looked back at Shirley.

"Is he going to be....alright?"

"We hope so," Shirley replied solemnly.

"What do you mean "we hope so"? Is he going to be okay or not?" Lily asked, her voice shaking slightly. Not from fear, but from something else----almost anger. There was a moment's silence.

"Well?"

"Lily, we don't know. All we know is that he fell over twenty feet and hit solid ground," Sirius said hoarsely.

"Well, we won the match," said Paige Corbet optimistically. Everyone looked incredulously around at her. Shirley shook her head pityingly.

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It was late when Gryffindor team left the hospital wing and the crowd outside in the corridor dispersed. Lily, Jo, Shirley, Sirius, Remus, and the unconscious James were the only ones remaining. Jo and Shirley sat on the end of Lily's bed talking to each other in a whispered manner.

"He did it to get back at me---"

"I didn't know he held that much anger---"

"Donahue? Oh yes, he's a raging fireball thats for sure---"

"Will you please be quiet?" Sirius hissed loudly. Jo rounded on him.

"Well, we are terribly sorry that we were talking." She rolled her eyes as Sirius yanked back the hangings.

"Yeah? Well, some of us have a lot more we would rather cope with than listen to you three."

"Go and cope with it then!" Jo whispered hoarsely, shooting a look at James on the bed and Remus asleep next to him.

"You know, I could if you weren't even in here," He said tersely. "But seeing as someone can't control their emotions---" He glared at Lily.

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Lily spluttered.

Black snorted, leaning forward. "Evans, we all know why you fainted, admit it, you know it too."

"What are you implying?" Lily said in an undertone as Madam Pomfrey walked by, setting Lily's potion on the bedside table, muttering to herself.

"You didn't just faint coz you were scared. Oh no Miss Evans, you have it in for our dear Prongsie."

Shirley and Jo both looked round at Lily. She mouthed soundlessly, her cheeks flushing. Sirius smirked and leaned back in his chair.

"You're raving!" was the only thing she could manage to say. Sirius smirked ever larger. Lily turned frantically to Shirley and Jo sitting on her bed.

"I'm not....I swear..."

Shirley's jaw was slightly open and Jo looked stricken. Something inside Lily wouldn't let her say that Sirius was wrong, yet her brain struggled to get the words out.

Horrified, she flashed a glance at James on the bed and could have sworn she saw a muscle in the corner of his mouth twitch.

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So again I apologize for the real long wait. Ya'll are the best! I hope the next chappy will come out sooner then this one did. Tell me how ya think! Review for me or I may not keep it going........thats a hint. Lol anyway Haystack, im trying to get to the chapter dedicated to you, im going as fast as I can! Don't worry itll come sooner or later. Anyway review and hopes for the next one! Love ya,

FireboltPrincess