Chapter Sixteen
Lily walked in through the large double doors of the quidditch pitch to find the Gryffindor team practicing. As she walked to a seat in the stands, she saw Travis guarding the hoops and waved. He waved quickly then turned back to the game. As she sat, her eyes became affixed on James, as he flew after the snitch. He saw her suddenly and waved. Lily smiled and waved back. Then he blew a kiss to her, making her blush madly.
Then unexpectedly, the snitch flew right past her face and it frightened her enough to gasp and lean back in her seat. James speedily flew past, dropping something at her feet. It was a flower; a lily.
She picked it up, and bringing it to her nose, she blushed again. She knew that his open admiration had to stop, though she was thoroughly enjoying it. She always had fun with James, which is why she valued him so as a friend. But she needed to help him understand that that's all they were - just friends. And last thing she needed was a fight between Travis and James . . .
She was watching James fly around chasing the snitch, dodging the other players dramatically, causing her to laugh. Then he pulled up, directly up, on the snitch's tale. Then he disappeared into the clouds and Lily shook her head with a smile. He really was a great guy - Lily knew that now. After seven years, and aside from his immature tendencies, he obviously cared for her and he treated her special.
She thought back to the letter his father had sent him. Did James talk to his parents about her? The thought flustered her. James Potter, that handsome popular kid who picked on her forever, was actually 'seriously considering pursuing' her? That thought got her excited and she giggled. And in return of his obvious affections, she had turned him down by remaining friends and pursuing another person. She sighed regretfully.
She looked up, anxious to see James for some reason, but he was no where to be found. She looked to where Travis should have been by the hoops, but he too was gone. Fear set in as she saw something falling out of the sky. Squinting her eyes and grabbing the bar in front of her, she gasped.
It was James.
Instantly, she pulled out her wand, racking her brain for some spell that would stop his fall. For some strange reason, he was off his broom and unconscious, and that scared Lily to the point where she couldn't think straight.
"What-is-the-bloody-spell..." she muttered to herself. But her mind was blank - nothing intelligent was instantly coming to her mind like in class. She dropped her wand, leaned over the bar and screamed.
"JAMES!"
He hit the ground with a hard thud. Lily wiped furiously at the tears forming in her eyes, running off the stands out to the middle of the field where he was.
"Oh, my gosh, James! Are you all right?" She didn't really expect him to answer - of course he wasn't all right! Lily was the first person to reach him, the other team members running up behind her. She fell to her knees beside him, his unmoving body panicking her. There was a large gash on the side of his head open and bleeding profusely. Along with a black eye and a bloody lip, Lily didn't want to move him for fear of any broken bones.
"Oh, James." she cried, ignoring the people behind her. "Please don't be dead!"
Please open those beautiful hazel eyes of yours that can see into my soul and give me some sort of relief that you still live, she thought.
He stirred suddenly and opened his eyes for one moment and locking them with Lily's, she felt her heart skip a beat. Then he closed them again, a small smile forming on his lips.
"Ow," he said hoarsely, causing Lily to laugh through her tears. He nodded off again, back into unconsciousness. The team captain had retrieved Madame Pomfrey and a floating stretcher. She elevated him onto it and ushered everyone off the field.
After standing and wiping her eyes, she looked around in frustration.
Where on earth was Travis?
---
In the hospital wing, James was lying on the bed, ever still. Lily was sitting on a chair beside the bed, with Remus, Sirius and Peter standing around, desperately trying to lighten the mood.
"Well, he's definitely looked better." Sirius said to Peter, who only nodded as he looked at James' head bandage.
"Oh, shut up, will you?" Lily said. "He's your best friend - he should have your compassion."
"Though I'd have to say, Pad, he has also looked worse." Remus said, smiling at the other two.
"Yes, Moony. That he has." Sirius said solemnly.
"Though last full moon, he looked a little too close to death for my liking." Remus said, looking guiltily at James. Lily stood, suddenly angry.
"Remus, of all people, I thought you would speak better of your friend!" she said loudly.
"Lily, you just don't understand us. He'd say the same thing about us if we were in his position." Remus said agreeably.
"No, I don't think he would! He was attacked, Remus! And he didn't-"
"Miss Evans!"
They all turned to see Madame Pomfrey standing in the doorway, with narrowed eyebrows and hands on hips.
"Of all people," she continued in a small voice, "I thought you would understand the importance of keeping quiet in the hospital wing!" She snapped quietly, causing Sirius and Peter to snicker in the corner. "Now, all of you must leave, as I must administer the next dose for his healing."
"Madame Pomfrey, please," Lily begged as she walked them out the door, "Couldn't I please just sit with him tonight? In case he wakes up or something?"
"Absolutely not! Now get, or I shall call the Headmaster!" And with that, she shut the doors.
Lily turned, sulkily watching the other remaining Marauders walk away.
"Don't worry, Lily. He'll be fine." Remus said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He's come through much worse." Then he walked away in confidence, leaving Lily behind with much doubt.
Just as Remus walked around the corner, Travis came around, headed for the hospital wing, and Lily was instantaneously furious.
"You!" she said fiercely.
"Oh, goodness, Lily! I've just heard." he said, gasping for breaths.
"Just heard my foot!" she said, storming up to him and shoving him roughly up against a wall.
"Whoa! What's going on, Lily?" he asked in concern.
"Like you don't know!" she yelled, shaking an angry finger in his face. "During this entire incident, you were no where to be found! Then James turns up beaten to a bloody pulp! Things are not looking in your favor right now, Travis King, so you better fess up!"
A few students walking by the hall saw Lily and heard her raised voice, causing them to hurry along in their walking, scared that she may turn her wrath on them next. But Travis was not daunted.
"Lily, I . . . I don't have an excuse, and I don't know what to tell you except the truth. Last thing I remember, I was guarding my post at practice, then I wake up, laying on the ground of the Forbidden Forest with this in my hand." He said with fear in his voice as he held up a wand.
"Oh, wow. Your wand." she said sarcastically.
"No. Not my wand. I don't play quidditch with my wand, Lily. Now, look here." he said, pointing to the handle of the wand where there were two engraved letters. "B. B."
"What is this, Travis? What does it mean?" Lily asked, the accusation gone from her voice.
"I don't know, Lily." he said, completely confused.
"So, you're not the one who hurt James?"
"No, and if I did, then I wasn't in my right mind!" He shook his head in bewilderment. "Jeez, Lily! Why would I give a flying flip about James, anyway?"
"I don't know, maybe because you might be jealous of all the attention he gives me?" she said obviously.
"I've got nothing to be worried about there," he said, waving her off.
Lily raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe you should."
"What's the supposed to mean?"
"Travis I'm not going to discuss this with you right here and now. All I'm saying is I want you to stay away from James. He's my friend, but he cares a great deal for me, and . . . I don't want you to be all up in his face, okay?"
"Huh?"
"Just listen, Travis. I'm only going to say this once. Leave. James. Alone. If anything happens, if you try to mess with him in anyway, we are through. Clear?"
"Yeah, we're clear." Travis said, relaxing. Lily stood on her tip-toes and kissed him quickly on the cheek, then took the wand from his hand
"Thank you. Now. I'm going to explain all this to the Headmaster. You need to shower - you smell bad." Then she turned and disappeared around the corner.
---
A/N: There - whatcha think of that?
And I wonder what happens next...
-snickers-
man, I forgot how much fun it was writing the beginning of this fic!
REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!
-grin-
