Choosing
Disclaimer: I am Lily Potter, so I should be allowed to write about my life, but since I'm not, without the possibility of being sued that is, I do not own myself or any other people (clearly fictional characters) that I might mention in here.
I was wandering along the edge of the lake, brooding, as usual. Brooding is one of my worse habits, but I can't stop, just like I can't stop losing my temper, biting my nails, over-revising, sucking my thumb, slurping my soup, interfering, eavesdropping, twirling my hair round my finger… I think you get the picture.
Anyway, I was brooding at the edge of the lake, and you'll never guess what I was brooding about. No, it wasn't homework, actually. It was that horrible James Potter.
That awful boy had been annoying me again, and (surprise, surprise) I had lost my temper. This time, I had been quite inventive, telling him that I would rather go out with the giant squid than go out with him. True as this may be, I wouldn't touch the giant squid with a barge pole, so this was quite a confession. Unfortunately, Potter didn't know this, so the meaning of what I'd said was largely lost on him.
I tried to turn my thoughts to homework, but, having been up for most of the night, I was too tired. My leaden eyelids drooped like dehydrated flowers. I yawned, and began to stumble towards the castle.
Falling in the lake certainly succeeded in waking me up.
To my utter shame and horror, I realised that I couldn't swim. Yes, my sister, Petunia, had insisted on lessons, but I had never seen the point, so here I was, thrashing around madly in a close-to-freezing lake, with no-one but the giant squid for company.
My flailing prevented me from appreciating the full beauty of the dawn, and I was soon tired out. I tried floating, but it just didn't work – I kept catching myself about to fall asleep. I wondered how I'd managed to get so far out into the lake. I screamed a few times, but there was no-one except the giant squid to hear my call. The giant squid did.
I screamed louder as the tentacle broke the water, and did one of the stupidest things I have ever done: I tried to run.
Have you ever tried to run through water with only water to support you? No? Well, you've got more sense than I do. What I did only caused me to start sinking. That worried me.
I've only ever been scared of three things, and one of them is drowning. Another is the giant squid, and I'm not telling you the last one, because it's too embarrassing.
Of course, I panicked, and came as close to swimming as I will ever get. I kicked out for the shore and made it, in time to cough up two lungfuls' worth of water.
"Lily! Are you OK?" a familiar voice cried.
I wondered whether I should revise my opinion about Potter and the squid. "No, of course not," I choked.
The boy who had come to my rescue gently picked me up and carried me inside. I coughed up more water.
Potter was definitely better than the squid, I decided, the main reason being that the squid lived underwater.
"Ugh!" I said suddenly.
"What?" The boy carrying me sounded quite surprised.
"Not you. The water."
"Oh," he replied. "Of course." Very understanding boy, that.
We reached the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey made the usual fuss. "Look at her! What did you do to her? How on Earth did you get in that state?"
"Fell in the lake," I replied, but the question wasn't aimed at me.
The boy stared at Madam Pomfrey with eyes as tired as mine, while she hussled him into the bed next to mine. The potion came next, as vile as usual, both for him and for me. Finally, we were ordered to sleep.
I shuffled around in bed a little, and muttered a quiet, "Thank you," at the boy who had brought me in from the lakeside.
Remus replied, "It's nothing," just before I jammed my thumb in my mouth and fell asleep.
END
AN: Got you guessing there, didn't I? Review and tell me who you thought the mystery boy was.