Drowning

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize from the wonderful Harry Potter books.

(A/N: Moving along… Thanks to my beta Saryah, and my great friends Kitty and Kayla. And Alicia who is a grammar Nazi…any grammar mistakes…BLAME HER!)

Chapter Three

Bumps and Broomstick Boys

A light. A dim, foggy light. This is it, I'm done for.

Here I come, Daddy! I could just see him, running to greet me at the golden gates, with that big old grin I like to think he reserved for me.

Well, that is,if I make it there after what I did…

I felt a tingling sensation in my toes that soon overwhelmed my body as I regained my senses.

A cool, wet droplet slid down the bridge of my nose. A frigidly cold wash cloth was being tenderly dabbed on my temple.

"W-w-what h-happened?" I stuttered gracefully as I tried to lift my body into a sitting position. Immediately, a blinding, throbbing pain shot through my head.

"Shhh, dear. Lie back down. You're alright, but you've got a nasty bump on your head."

What? I lifted my hand and cautiously fingered my forehead until I felt the swell and my finger moist with warm liquid. Blood. My knees turned to jelly, making me thankful that I was not standing or else I would've collapsed.

"It's alright, just drink this." The nurse eased open my throat in preparation to slide some potion down.

"What is that?" I questioned groggily.

"This is to help ease the pain; it's very strong though so you only need a quick sip. I'm going to leave the bottle here through the night, so in case you wake up with a wretched pain,you can take a small sip. A small one though, too much is fatal."

"Ok." I agreed simply as the need for sleep overwhelmed me and, within in moments, I was highly concentrated on the back of my eyelids.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed through our small house, chasing my mother, trying to stop her.

"Get away from me!" She yelled back in my face, tears streaming with no end.

"Mom…mommy…I'm sorry."

"Leave me alone! Find some other family to torture, why don't you!" I ran through the hall, up the stais, only trusting my memory, for my vision was blinded with the continuous flow of salty tears. I grabbed my new trunk my parents had purchased me for Hogwart's and threw all my clothes and necessities in. Lugging it down the stairs, falling repeatedly because of my vision impairment and the weakness it brought.

In the living room, hunched awkwardly over the couch, my mother was in a sobbing fit, with Petunia in a heap on the ground wearing a blank look and silent tears. With a loud BAM my trunk reached the final step, catching their attention.

An awkward silence, only the tears uniting us.

"Murderer," my sister hissed, throwing my mother into another series of uneven howls. I didn't want to deal with this, I couldn't. As I opened the front door, having NO idea what was coming for me, my mother finally spoke.

"You….were a mistake." It was if someone had speared a stake through my heart.

Just as I was about to click the front door shut, I turned and hoarsely whispered, "I love you."

All around me, heavy rain drops were littering the pavement. My vibrant hair was a tangled mess, drenched in water. My face was soaked from the mixture of salty tears and pure rain drops. In the distance, I watch a blue car sink into the horizon until it's no longer visible.

"Goodbye…" I feel myself whisper as if the wind will blow the message into the ears of my family. But they won't. A lot of things won't happen. Dropping onto the road, I wonder what to do with my life.

SWEET MERLIN! The fiercest pain I have ever experienced in my pathetic 16 years of life coursed through my head. I reached for the potion on my bedside and threw my head back as I let a few drops slide down my throat.

Immediately, the pain began to lighten, and I replaced the bottle on the bedside.

Well, on second thought…

It could be easy. Just a few big gulps, and I'm done. No more long restless nights of longing for my father and family. No more tear stained pillow cases. No more…me.

No one would miss me. Scarlett may shed a tear or two, but that's just for pity's sake. Petunia and mother would probably rejoice at the fact that they no longer have to pay my tuition to Hogwarts.

And I could spend eternity with my dad. I reached for the long glass, filled with death.

Bringing it to my lips, I heard a voice. One, then two…then a total of three voices. I replaced the bottle on the nightstand and peeked out the curtain which was drawn around my bed. I saw a few empty beds down, was another bed with a curtain drawn around it. Occupied.

"So how are you feeling, mate?" A voice belonging to Sirius questioned.

"The day after is always the worse." Remus' familiar sweet but strong voice answered.

"This one seemed extra painful." Cute little Peter stated.

"You have no idea, Peter."

I wondered where James was, the four never did anything with out each other. And I'm sure if Remus is hurt or something James would be the first by his side.

"So how's Lily, James?" Remus asked. My ears perked up at the mention of my name. Eh? What's going on here?

"She woke up this morning for a few minutes, enough to take some pain killers. She's out now, probably until tomorrow afternoon." Heh heh. That's what they think…

Then a silence. A dead unnatural and somewhat awkward silence until Sirius spoke.

"Bloody hell, James. It's not your fault. You opened a door, she wasn't paying attention. So will you stop moping around?"

I ran into a door?

I ran into a door.

My clumsy idiot meter is skyrocketing.

I heard a grumble of a response.

" Is that a yes?" I guess he nodded because Sirius said, "Good…" Another short silence.

"Am I really acting that bad?" James asked in that easy laugh.

"Yea, it was depressing. Almost as depressing as that time you lit my cat on fire, and killed it." Peter said forlornly.

"Uh…you were only one who thought that was depressing, Pete…"

I heard exaggerated movements and lots of laughing. Why wasn't the nurse hearing this?

Then I heard Remus yell, "Ouch! No roughhousing by the handicap…" And there was silence, until they all started laughing hysterically.

I felt the corners of my mouth tilt upwards with their sweet nonsense. Maybe life does have some joy. Maybe I do have something to live for…


The sun rose bright with a feeling of accomplishment.

"Good morning dearie." The nurse smiled warmly as she continued bustling about from bed to bed. I noticed that the sheets around Remus' bed were drawn and he was sitting up with a tray propped and filled with some sugary treats I'm sure the nurse didn't approve of.

"Ah, she awakes." Remus smiled as he popped in another one of the treats that only the Marauders could have been responsible for.

"Good morning, Remus." I combed my hand through my untidy hair that was falling awkwardly over my shoulders and pulled it back with an elastic tie. "So why are you here?"

He finished chewing and swallowed before saying, "What can I say, I get sick easily. I'm here practically every month!"

"Yeah, I noticed. You must be a walking germ." I made an exaggerated shudder followed by an effortless grin. Life….ah, for once I was going to bask in the rays of its warmth.

"I know, but the sad thing is…that was not the first time I've been called a walking germ."

Just then the door burst open to reveal a grinning James. He sped straight to Remus' bed and threw off his sheets.

"Alright, up….out. C'mon. Time to go." James grabbed the pile of Remus' clothes and threw it on his bed.

"Ah, wait a second Mr. Potter, what do you think you're doing?" The nurse stood with her hand on the hips of her apron and a stray curl dangling impatiently in front of her face.

"He's fine. He's done. Two days is all he needs, thank you so much for everything," James said quickly as he continued to usher Remus to the restroom so he could change.

An oh-I-give-up-sigh came from the nurse as she left and carried on with her previous chores. Once James was sure that Remus was in the lavatory getting washed up and changed, he came over towards my bed. I self-consciously ran my fingers through my ponytail to feel for any bumps. He grabbed the plastic uncomfortable chair and set it next to my bed.

He smiled at me while a few moments of time just fluttered past our faces.

"Hi." His boyish grin was captivating.

"Hi."

"How are you? Does your head still hurt?" His sincerity was odd, life had been so hard for me a few months ago, but now I'm finding friends in all the unexpected people.

"Well, right now...I'm good."

"Me too." Our eyes locked for a moment. A moment that seemed like eternity.

"Ok, ok. I'm dressed. Now why did you so savagely rip me from my bed?"

"Hmm?" James eyes turned off me to look at Remus, "Oh, right. Well I got a letter from the parents….big news!" James stood up so he was standing in between me and Remus.

Remus moved his arm in a carry-on motion.

"Well, you know how my birthday is in exactly one month, two weeks and 4 days?"

"Sure."

"Well, mum and dad said…for my birthday they would get me…" James stood there for a moment letting the excitement set in, when he didn't say anything for a moment, Remus got impatient

"What?"

"Drum roll please."

Remus and I looked at each other doubtfully.

"Drum roll. Please."

I tapped my fingers on the bed side table in a rather weak beat. Remus followed with a roll of his eyes as he clapped pathetically.

"A…..Thunder Chaser 1500 Silver Edition!"

"Are you serious!...I didn't know they were on the market yet…that's bloody brilliant, James!" The boys whooped in a rather hilarious matter.

"Is that a broom stick?" I asked cluelessly.

"A broom stick, Lily? Oh no, not just any broom stick. It's the top of the line broom stick which our favorite chaser is endorsing."

"Oh, you can't be serious. Richard Cunningham is using the Thunder Chaser 1500 Silver Edition?" Remus raked a hand through his hair and left it there with an expression of complete awe.

"Yea, pretty cool huh?"

"Cool? That's incredible!"

Another short whooping ceremony.

"Ah huh. You came here at…. 8:00 in the morning to tell Remus about a…broomstick?" I did not understand this.

"Ah, my fair Lily. A broomstick by any other name would smell as sweet…"

I will never understand these boys…

(A/N: Hey there. Chapter 3 is a bit..dramatic eh? Haha. But that's the beauty of it all. Reviews are great….just like you! Love you guys!)

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