Disclaimer: Me? J.K.? Actually, that's a good idea! All I have to do is find her private beach, kidnap her, lock her up in a chest, clip her hair now and then for my Polyjuice potion, and I'm set! Thanks for the idea!
Lily opened her eyes, and was thus startled out of her mind. I mean, you would be too if you woke up in bed, seeing your enemy's sleeping face in front of yours. The past day's events came tumbling back to her in a mad rush, causing her to close her eyes against the pain. Her parents were dead. James had saved her life. James's little sister was murdered. He had invited her back to his house when school was through. She had had another dream of Voldemort using the Crucaitus curse on her. She and James were – friends? Funny to think of him as that after years of hating him. Why did she hate him, anyway? Oh yes, he was cruel and evil. Was he? He saved her life, then comforted her. He had opened his heart and home to her. Yes, she could consider them friends. Missy was going to have a ball with this.
She was jerked back to the present. James's hazel eyes were watching her, sharp as a hawk. She tried a smile.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice hoarse, her throat raw.
"I was simply at the right place at the right time," he told her gently.
"Oh yes? And how did you come to be there?"
"I followed you," he said sheepishly.
"Stalker."
"Look, Lily, are you going to be okay?"
Lily sighed. "I'll have to be, won't I? Life will go on, and killing myself won't bring them back. The only thing I can do is finish school, and help bring the end to this Lord Voldemort. I feel foolish and weak now, for attempting to suicide over something I can't change."
"Lily, I have something to show you." He rolled up his sleeves, revealing shiny white scars on his wrists. "When my sister was killed, I cut myself. My mother found me right as things were going black. When I was better, she told me it wasn't my fault, it had nothing to do with me. Lily, all I can tell you, is that it wasn't your fault. Yes, they may have been looking for you, but you and your magic aren't the reasons you are an orphan. It's because Voldemort and his followers are evil. You and I will work together. We'll be the strongest witch and wizard this world has ever seen, and together, we'll bring down this mediocre wizard who thinks someday people will flinch at the sound of his name and call him You-Know-Who or something. That'll never happen, not if we have anything to say about it."
Lily hugged him. "Thank you, James. I don't know where I'd be without you."
"I do. You'd be a flat little red-haired pancake at the bottom of the astronomy tower."
"That's a very good point. Thank you, again." James blushed.
"Like I said before, it's not like we can have you jumping of buildings, now can we?"
"No, we can't have that. Okay, I'm going to take a shower. I feel…tainted." James nodded understanding. "Please don't tell anyone about, you know. I'll tell Missy and Joan, of course, and I guess you can tell the rest of the Marauders, I just don't want people around me all day saying, 'I'm so sorry!' I just want to forget about it. Well, as much as I can, anyway. Like you said, I can't change it. They're in a better place now, I suppose. Besides, you've got a Quidditch game today." James smacked his forehead.
"Against Slytherin! If you're okay, Lils, I'd better be going."
"I'm fine. Well, you know. Go on."
James gave her a daring peck on the cheek and fled quickly, blushing. Lily sat on her bed, dumbstruck, holding her cheek, as he departed. Holy crap! James kissed her! Yes, just on the cheek, but still! Lily numbly walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She turned the shower on as hot as it would go and stepped into the scalding rush of water. It felt as if her skin was being blistered off, much like the Crucaitus curse. Before her body got used to the temperature, Lily turned it as cold as it would go, sending the icy water cascading about her. Before she was accustomed to it, she turned it back to burning. For an hour, she alternated between the extremes, never giving herself a chance to get used to the water, shocking her body every few minutes. That's how she wanted it. Shocking, never feeling good.
While she was braiding her hair into pigtails with black ribbons, Lily heard James come back upstairs to change into his Quidditch robes. Lily put her Hogwarts robes and stepped outside. James was heading down the stairs just as he was. He looked at her lobster-red skin that had goosebumps on it with a strange expression, but didn't say anything.
"Shall we, milady?" He asked, offering his arm like a gentleman.
"Gladly, milord." She said, placing her hand gracefully on top of his. And so their friends found them, strolling the halls, talking like the English people of old.
"Oh my God Lils, are you all right? You look like shit," Missy said.
Lily decided to tell her friends later. She didn't want to ruin the happy atmosphere.
"No, I'm not all right, but I will be," she said, giving James a brave look. "It's not something I can change." She wiped away a couple of rogue tears.
"Lily, really, what happened?" Joan asked.
"I'll explain it later, it's not really something I want to talk about just yet."
Missy gave her a look and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by James.
"Gotta run," he said.
"Good luck," was the general statement made as James, Sirius, and Missy headed off to the Quidditch pitch. Lily, to everyone's surprise except her own and James's, gave the said dude a hug before he went off. Lily gave the others a don't-ask-because-if-I-told-you-I'd-kill-you-even-though-I-don't-have-to look. And no one asked. They climbed up the stands where Remus forced his way through the crowd so they could have front-row spots.
Some random Gryffindor was doing the commentary. "Today we have Gryffindor versus Slytherin! I give you GRYFFINDOR! Missy Lane—Chaser and Captain! Lucy Belle —Chaser! Gregg Standon—Chaser! Kady Wood—Keeper! Sirius Black—Beater! James Potter—Beater! And last but certainly not least, Ruthy Johnson—SEEKER!" The correctly named blurs zoomed out on their brooms, Sirius and James brandishing their clubs. "And of course," said the announcer, with much less enthusiasm, "Slytherin. Macnair—Chaser. Lestrange—Chaser. Parkinson—Chaser. Malfoy—Keeper. Goyle—Beater. Crabbe—Beater. Black—Seeker." The Slytherins flew out to considerably less applause than did the Gryffindors. Bellatrix threw them icy glares, then flew to hover next to her boyfriend.
Madame Hoonky opened the chest, carefully avoiding the bludgers. James and Sirius were on the balls in the blink of an eye, their first targets being Malfoy for James and Bellatrix for Sirius.
"Belle—Lane—Standon—Lane—Standon—Belle—Lane—Score Gryffindor! Parkinson—Macnair—Wood makes a nice save! Belle—Standon—Lane—watch out there, Missy!" she narrowly ducked a bludger which Sirius then proceeded to basically beat the crap out of, finally nailing Malfoy in the face with it. "Lestrange steels from Standon—Malfoy— Parkinson—Belle steals back!" the crowed roared its approval after booing the Slytherins. "And Gryffindor scores! BLOODY HELL!"
The horrified crowd watched as James raced to Ruthy, who had a bludger heading straight for her as she dove for the snitch. James was flat out on his broom, club raised, defying time to reach his teammate. He was too late. The bludger snapped Ruthy's broom, and as she was diving at an incredible speed, she screamed, hitting the ground with a sickening crack. Missy signaled for a time-out as Madame Lazora rushed out onto the field, medi-kit in hand. The team landed on the ground and ran to their unconscious Seeker. Ruthy looked as if she had quite a few broken bones, and a very bad concussion.
"I'm afraid Miss Johnson will not be finishing this match," said Madame Lazora, magicing Ruthy onto a stretcher.
"But we need her!" cried Missy. "We can't play Quidditch without a Seeker, and they can't stop the game!" Madame Lazora was already heading away, an unconscious Ruthy floating behind her. "What are we going to do?" Missy asked, turning to her team.
"James, heads up!" someone yelled from the stands. A bottle of water came flying out of the air, and James caught it without turning a hair. Lucy gaped.
"Remus!" she screamed. "Get down here now!" A minute later, when Remus arrived, Missy continued. "You've been practicing, so you have to take James's spot. He's going to be our Seeker."
"I'm what!"
Missy grabbed the collar of his robes and pulled him down until his face was level with hers (thirteen inches lower). "You've got the best reflexes on this team, so you're Seeker if I say you're Seeker," she said menacingly (or as menacingly as anyone can be when they don't even come up to the shoulders of the person they're intimidating. I'm 5'3", and in this position ALL THE TIME! ).
"Uh, Missy," said James, trying to suppress a laugh. "Shouldn't the Seeker be, you know, small?"
"I'm captain, and you'll do whatever the hell I tell you Potter!" she yelled, letting James go. "Now get on your freaking broom and find the freaking snitch so we can end this freaking game!"
"Yes ma'am," he said meekly. Sirius grinned.
"Try having to obey her all the time." Missy glared at him. 'It's hell!' Sirius mouthed at James, grinning as Missy smacked him with her oh-so-handy broom.
"Hey babe, don't disable your personal Beater, I might not be so quick to beat a bludger out of your way next time," he teased.
"For your information, I had to duck the damn ball, so stop while you're behind. We've got a game to play."
James mounted his broom with everyone else, a little shaky. He hadn't played Seeker before, and didn't know how well he'd do. Missy seemed to have confidence that he had the best reflexes, but she was also Sirius's girlfriend, if that says anything (A/N: in other words, she's LoOnY. I kinda made her off my own personality ). James flew overhead, circling, looking for the glint of gold, not paying attention to the commentary. Bellatrix dove, but James knew she was feinting. He saw the snitch.
He raced across the pitch, flat on his broom, heading for that small speck. All of a sudden, he was forced to turn aside as a bludger came straight at him. He looked back, but the snitch was gone. And the damn bludger wasn't. Crap. It attempted to smash his face in, but he dove, hoping to get Sirius's or Remus's help. The bludger sped behind him; if he slowed down, it'd plow right into him. He heard someone yell something about a rogue bludger (A/N: What's with Potters and rogue bludgers? Lol).
James soared up again, causing the bludger to smash into the stands (not the people, mind you…) Again, he saw the snitch. It was flying straight upwards. James followed it, his broom vertical as he soared into the skies. Higher and higher. All he could see were gray clouds and that tiny golden snitch. Something else entered his awareness as he stretched out his hand, the snitch almost within his grasp. The bludger was back. Crap. James lunged, and caught one of the snitch's wings. It struggled madly, and he managed to stick it in a pocket, not believing that he had actually caught the snitch.
Just then, the bludger decided it was tired of waiting. It smashed into James's shoulder with a force that shattered his shoulder blade instantly and forced him forward. His head cracked against his broom, rendering himself unconscious. He fell from his broom, which the bludger found more interesting than the falling boy, and proceeded to smash to pieces.
Lily watched James soar straight into the air, knowing he had seen the snitch. She slyly pulled out her compact and held it so the sun bounced off it. As Lily had hoped, Bellatrix raced over, thinking she saw the snitch. Lily grinned at the enraged Slytherin. Bellatrix flew away, cursing Gryffindors, while Joan giggled madly. Lily straightened suddenly. What was that little black speck? James returning already? The little figure came speedily closer, and was soon recognizable as someone wearing Gryffindor Quidditch robes in freefall.
Lily screamed, pointing. Others looked up as well, and there were plenty of terrified shrieks as it became known that it was raining Quidditch players. Lily stood on a bench and raised her shaking wand, following James's downward progress.
"Arresto Momentum!" she shouted, praying it would work. He seemed to slow down considerably, landing on the ground with only a small amount of force. "James!" Lily attempted to shove people out of her way, but they were too tightly packed. She wanted to scream her frustration. Instead, she screamed, "Accio Broomstick!" One came zooming to her, and she gracefully flew to where James lay, rather unconscious.
The second Lily landed, she was running. She knelt behind James and gently turned him over. His face was scratched from the ground, and he had a bloody nose from where he hit his broomstick. His right shoulder was quite obviously broken.
"James," she sobbed. "Don't you dare leave me! I can't lose anyone else right now, you know that! Wake up, please!"
As Professor McGonagall raced out, her hat flying off in her haste, James's eyes fluttered open. He gave Lily a grin/wince, and began digging in his pockets with his left hand, pulling out a struggling snitch, as if that were the most important thing at the moment.
"James Potter has caught the snitch!" yelled the unknown announcer kid. "Gryffindor wins, 250 to 10! Take that you Slytherin bastards!" Unfortunately, as McGonagall was on the field with James and Lily, she couldn't keep the kid from dissing the Slytherins.
"Oh my God, James," Lily whispered. "I thought…"
"Please don't finish that sentence," he told her softly. "I don't want to think about it."
McGonagall magiced up a stretcher for James, and levitated him to the hospital wing, beaming because her house had just won the game, jabbering at James while Lily glared at her for being so happy.
"Really, Potter, to think you'd never played Seeker before! I don't know why no one thought of it before! Spectacular, you were! Lucky for you Miss Evans has a good eye, though." At James's questioning noise, she explained. "You were hundreds of feet in the air when that bludger attacked you. None of us could see what was happening. Then Miss Evans saw you falling out of the sky and alerted the students, but she was the only one who thought enough to slow down your speed. If it weren't for her, we'd be shoveling you up of the pitch right now. Pity about your broom, though."
"What happened to my broom?"
"It was—er—sacrificed," said Lily. "After the bludger hit you, it attacked your broom. Good thing, too, or you might've been—dead—before you hit the ground."
They had reached the Hospital wing, and Madame Lazora ushered the three inside, setting James up on a bed near Ruthy, who was still unconscious.
"All right, Potter, drink this." James looked at the cup warily, as all students regard drinks given to them by healers. "Drink it all." James pulled a face and tipped back the liquid with a cringe. Of course, it sent him to sleep immediately. The healer gave James the old once-over, muttering to herself. "Yes, yes, shattered shoulder blade… cracked collarbone… broken arm… deep bruising… broken nose… concussion… black eyes… No internal damage?" She looked at McGonagall. "How far did this boy fall?"
"We don't really know. None of us could see him, but Miss Evans caught sight of him as he was falling. She slowed him down. The damage you'll find will most likely be done by the bludger." Madame Lazora shook her head.
"Horrible sport, Quidditch. See all sorts of injuries from it. A broken bone would heal in no time, but with this much to do; it'll be a few hours before he's healed completely. All right, out you go." She attempted to usher McGonagall and Lily out.
"I'm staying," said Lily, shocking McGonagall.
"I thought you hated Mr. Potter, Miss Evans?" McGonagall said with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a long story," Lily told her quietly. "We're friends now. He saved my life, I saved his. I'm not leaving."
"Very well then. I'll let Mr. Black and Miss Lane know where you are." Lily nodded and pulled a chair up next to James. McGonagall left and Madame Lazora withdrew into her office, closing the door.
Lily succumbed to tears. Tears for her parents, tears for James, tears for almost losing James, tears for herself for being so lost and alone. But was she alone? What about James, Missy, Sirius, Remus, and Joan? No, she wasn't alone. Then why did she feel so lonely?
"Lily, are you okay?" Gasped Missy, rushing to her best friend with Sirius at her side.
Lily shook her head. "No, I'm not, Missy. Voldemort, he—he killed my parents!" Missy was open-mouthed with horror. She had known Lily's parents since she and Lily first started attending Hogwarts and became best friends. They were like her second family.
"Oh God, Lils," Missy whispered, putting her arms around her best friend. Sirius wordlessly put a hand on her shoulder.
"So, you know, something like that isn't easy to handle," she continued, still sobbing. "And I—I jumped off the Astronomy Tower."
"You did WHAT?" bellowed Sirius. Missy glared at him.
"I couldn't handle it. It was just too much. And James, you see, followed me. He caught me after I jumped. I owe him my life," she said quietly, the tears coming ever faster now that they were talking about her attempted suicide. "So James pulled me up and—comforted me, told me… things. He let me know that it would eventually be okay. But killing myself wouldn't help anyone. He should know," she said with a crooked non-smile. Sirius nodded understanding, but Missy just looked confused. "So then last night, I had another Voldemort nightmare," now it was Missy's turn to be knowing and Sirius's turn to be confused. "And when I saw James falling, it terrified me out of my wits. After he helped me so much, what was there for me to live for if he died? He kept me alive, there is no way I would be able to live if something happened to him. Now you're up to speed," she said, attempting to wipe away some of her tears.
"Oh my God, Lily, I just… I don't know what to say," Missy whispered, hugging Lily.
"That's okay, because James knows what to say."
"Lily, I'm really sorry about all this. If there's anything I can do," Sirius told her gently.
"No, I'm good. It'll just take me a little while to get adjusted."
"What are you going to do? You know, for Christmas and after school ends," Missy asked gently.
"Oh, well, James invited me back to his house, so I won't be homeless or anything."
"Great! I'm going too!" whooped Sirius. Lily gave him a look. "Well, I ran away from my home in fourth year. Samantha and Patrick were already sort of my second family, so they welcomed me into their home, and I've been living with the Potters ever since."
"Sirius, sometimes you can be so insensitive," Missy said, glaring at her boyfriend.
"It's okay Miss, I need to forget about this as much as I can. Moping won't bring them back, and it certainly won't make me feel better."
Madame Lazora came in and rushed the three out, despite Lily's protests. Once assured Lily would be okay, Missy and Sirius headed down to dinner, but only because Lily threatened to hex them if they didn't. The very thought of food made her want to throw up, even though she hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. She wandered back to the portrait to the Heads common room.
"Password," Godric told her.
"Request to change password."
This time the Hipogriff spoke. "Old password."
"Golden Gryffies slaughter snakes."
"New password."
"Death by heights." Lily knew she had to be reminded constantly of what she almost did. She had to remember that it wasn't worth it. That she had to go on.
The portrait opened and Lily stumbled inside. And realized she didn't have her emotions under as much control as she thought. She broke down sobbing and had the intense urge to break stuff. Lily raced into her room, and was uncomforted by what she saw. Scarlet and gold weren't very becoming to this room at the moment.
Lily proceeded to turn the walls black, the rug blood red. Her sheets were black silk, her comforter still scarlet. Once the entire room was red and black, she collapsed onto her bed. Then she felt it. The urge to break things turned into an urge to break herself. To jump off something, or find a sharp knife. She held onto a pillow as tightly as she could, as if it anchored her to reality, and if she let go she would die. The room seemed to sway back and forth, and Lily passed out.
Missy and Sirius were returning from the great hall, intending to swing by the hospital wing, then stop in and check up on Lily. They found a groggy James just barely awake.
"Gave us a right scare there, mate," Sirius told him.
"Great job though," said Missy, beaming. "We creamed the Slytherins! You should have seen the look on old Lucious's face when he saw you had the snitch!"
"You're one lucky bastard Prongs."
"I know. If it wasn't for Lily, they'd probably still be shoveling me into buckets right now." He suddenly, and very startlingly, sat bolt upright. "When's the last time you saw Lily?"
"Uh, she went off to the dorm just before dinner, why?" Missy told him
James was positively shaking. "Something's wrong. I can feel it."
"James, are you all right?" Sirius was looking at his friend with concern.
"Yeah, but something's wrong, we've got to go."
"Uh, James? You're in the bloody hospital wing for a reason." Missy was sure the boy had taken a blow on the head that had knocked his little bit of sense completely free from his body.
Without another word, James got up and half-ran to the portrait of Godric Gryffindor on a Hipogriff. "Golden Gryffies slaughter snakes," James told it.
"Sorry, password's been changed," said Godric mercilessly. Oh crap. That wasn't good.
Missy and Sirius caught on to James's panic. I mean, he was kind of radiating it.
"What could she have changed it to?"
Missy stepped in, as the voice of reason. "Okay, think. She probably changed it to have something to do with what has happened recently. But it would have been something you two share in common, I think. Let's see… Well, you've both lost someone you loved dearly, but that sounds a little morose for Lils. Well, this last twenty-four hours, you've both almost died. That's it!" The boys looked at her expectantly. "You both almost died, but there was a similar factor in your near-death experiences—heights!"
"Missy, you're a genius! I could kiss you, but Sirius would kill me," James told her. Sirius did the favor for him.
When Missy had pushed Sirius off of her, she turned to the portrait. "Death by heights."
The portrait swung open slowly, ominously. And what lay inside caused the trio to gasp. The common room was in total disarray. Actually, it was a total disaster.
The bookcase was overturned and splintered into pieces. A lamp lay shattered on the floor. Ripped cushions spewed stuffing everywhere. Picture frames lay shattered on the floor. Lily's bedroom door was off its hinges.
Most noticeable was the trail of blood on the floor.
A/N: Cliffie? What Cliffie? I don't see a cliffie. Weird, hallucinating reviewers. Oh crap! I didn't just say that! Please forgive me! I'm unworthy of your reviews, but please leave one anyway! grins evilly Now you are at my mercy because you have to wait to see what happened. Muahahahahahahahahahahaha! Fine! Don't worry, I'm already in the process of writing it.