Hello again! Here's another long chapter for you; I daresay you'll be cracking up more than once. Oh yes. It's quite funny, if i do say so myself.
I do believe I've hit 50 reviews! Or..nearly. Thanks so much, everyone! You know who you are!
Lindsay: there won't be pron! NO! XD
Hekate101: Yeah, that WOULD be true.. Sirius as teachers pet! Bwhahaha!
Celebrimiel Hirilaure: Thanks! You love my writing? Hehe. giggles Yes, do go on! ;)
Alias Madame Butterfly: Oh, you'll find out that little piece of information someday.. when I think of it.
Theoneandonlystephy: I LOOOOOVE cliffhangers. Only when I'm writing them, though. Hahaha! Sorry about condoozling you.. The lumos spell worked only because she was in close proximity to the wand; most spells don't really do that.. I used it because I think it worked for Harry in one of the books.
Becky6: Thank you so much! I appreciate it! ;)
????: Thank you, mysterious reviewer. I did write more. I hope you'll enjoy it so much you reveal your true identity! XD
KawaiiFryingPanChick: NO! YOU CANT HAVE HIM! xB Just kidding. shares I'll try to think of scenarios too.. if I can!
Let's goooooooooo.. on with the shooooooooooooow.. sings that Broadway song
Chapter 6: The Brave Knight
-----------------------------------------------------
Lily's face was wet with both her tears and her sweat. The remnants of the potion were burning like acid. She could see the steam coming off her robes, fizzing on the floor, and knew that was just what was happening to her jeans and skin.
"The potion won't stop burning until a certain spell is applied; Madam Pomfrey knows it. Get to the hospital wing as fast as possible, or it'll burn you to the bone," Professor Caliban said loudly as burned students began leaving.
Remus's face and neck were burning so much, he needed Sirius, who had a burned hand, to guide him out of the room at a run.
Lily began limping to the door; she could barely move! "P-Professor.." she cried, turning her head. But the professor didn't help her..
James did.
He was by her side before she had ever said anything at all!
"Come on, Evans," he said, pulling her arm around his shoulder, supporting her out of the room. Lily noticed through her tears that he didn't seem to be burned; but then again, she couldn't see much anyway, so she wasn't sure. All she knew was that they were moving much too slowly; everyone else was all the way at the end of the corridor.
"We can go faster if I carry you," James said hastily. He didn't wait for an answer, instead, he pulled Lily onto his back. "Hold on tightly!"
Lily didn't need to be told twice. James was tall; if she fell off, she could break a hip. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her forehead buried in his disorderly hair; his arms guided her weak legs around his body, and he set his hands under her butt to support her up. In any other situation, Lily probably would have slapped him, but she thought better of it in this case. If he held her up by her legs, then the stuff would burn Lily worse, as well as himself.
James set off at a run that only made Lily hold on tighter. She could feel his every breath escaping his lips as his long legs practically flew over the corridor's stone floor. His whole body sent off.. this very familiar smell.. It was very comforting; she unconsciously leaned closer to him, her cheek pressing into his warm neck, almost forgetting..
That her skin was burning off her bones!!!
Lily began wailing as they reached the flight of stairs. "James.. I can't.. f-feel my legs.." Lily stammered between steps, each with a throbbing pain in her back that accompanied it, causing her to gasp for breath.
"Well, I can't feel my neck.." James replied morosely.
"Sh.. Shutup!" Lily said, weakly punching James in the chest. James grinned at her and tried to run faster.
"Calm down, Evans. Just breathe deeply... one.. two.. threeeee.."
"I don't.. want to.. OWWWWWWWWW!!" Lily screeched. She could smell her burnt flesh now.. it was probably black, like the fire victims she saw on television, melted away to reveal blackened bone..
"We're almost there.. PLEASE stop crying, okay?" James whined. He hated seeing girls cry. He hated it even more when they were shrieking in his ear at the same time. The doorway of the hospital wing was now visible; James dashed inside, finding his friends and classmates being nursed from the burns.
Madam Pomfrey had just spelled the last of the potion off from Celina's cheeks. The burn still remained, but the potion was off.
"One more patient for you, Madam Pomfrey!" James said, gently putting a still-crying Lily back down on the floor again. She gripped his arm tightly to keep from falling.
Pomfrey sighed and tended to Lily. She waved her wand at the potion on Lily's back and legs. Lily felt the burning suddenly stop. Now there was just the intense throbbing sensation afterwards to deal with.
"Alright, now--"Pomfrey began.
"Wait!" James said suddenly, interrupting.
"Yes, what is it, Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey said impatiently.
"My arm," James replied, wincing. He held up the arm opposite to the one Lily was holding. There was a big splatter of Remus's potion on his forearm; it had already made a hole in his sleeve, now it was burning off his skin. Lily raised her eyebrows. She hadn't known that James was burned, also..
Pomfrey hurriedly zapped the potion away, and continued what she was saying. "Mr. Lupin, Miss Evans, Miss Carson, and those others of you with large burns: Please come this way."
She led Lily, Remus, Olivia, and a few other students to the beds off to the side of the hospital wing. Then each of the students were given their own beds, and they were instructed to draw the curtains around them and put on gowns or pajamas, depending on the nature of their burns. Lily was given a hospital gown because her back and legs were burned.
Painfully, Lily changed and waited for Madam Pomfrey to come, lying on her stomach with her head at the foot of the bed. She didn't have to wait long, because she had already spent a lot of time trying to undress without causing herself too much pain in the process.
"You're burned almost as badly as Remus.." Pomfrey tutted as she began unraveling great lengths of bandages out of the air with her wand. "The poor boy's face is hardly recognizable!"
"Will.. he be alright?" Lily asked, horrified and yet soothed as the young nurse began applying some cold, creamy substance upon her back.
"Of course, dear! This ointment will heal up all the burns, not leaving a single scar behind. You should be fine after a good night's sleep," she said brightly. "So, what exactly happened in your potions class that caused all this?"
"Er.. I.. I can't remember, exactly.. I don't know why.." Lily replied, puzzled. What HAD happened, anyway?
"I see.. it must have been an Amnesia Draught, then."
Lily was amazed. Pomfrey really knew her stuff! More than she did, and she was involved in the accident, too..
A few more minutes passed, and Pomfrey finally finished wrapping Lily's legs up. "There, all done."
"Thanks," Lily replied, shifting positions a bit and grabbing the pillow at her feet to lay her head upon.
"Can you do me a favor? Since you're one of the few whose hands weren't injured, can you put ointment and bandages on someone? I could use the help," Madam Pomfrey asked, covering Lily's back with a blanket.
"Sure," Lily replied considerately. It was the least she could do; after all, didn't Pomfrey just heal her of her burns from.. some accident?
"Thanks, sweetie," she smiled, opening the curtains a bit. "Mr. Potter! Come here, please!" she called.
Oh no. Not Potter again. He was going to be cheeky at her now; Lily could feel it in her bones.
"Done crying, Evans?" James asked, messing up his hair with his right hand, on the non-burned arm. Lily was right. She's ALWAYS right. James was an incredibly predictable person.
"Yes. Done being a prat, James?" Lily replied in the same manner, minus the grin. She gestured for James to come closer so she could begin bandaging his arm from her spot on the bed.
"No. Not yet," he replied. Lily glared and poked his injury with a merciless finger, causing him to yell a great "OWWW!"
Lily grinned smugly as she squeezed ointment onto James's arm.
"Geez.. is that any way to treat your rescuer?" James asked bitterly.
"Rescuer?" Lily repeated, raising her eyebrows high in question.
"Yeah, rescuer. Your knight in shining armor?" he said hopefully.
Lily spread the ointment over his burn. "You are NOT my knight in shining armor."
"Sure I am!" James insisted. "You were the damsel-in-distress, and I saved you from.. from crying yourself to death!"
"Excuse me?"
"Use your imagination, Lil!" James said cheerfully, the gears in his mind beginning to turn. Lily was secretly somewhat glad to see he was using his brain for once; it was probably rusty from long periods of not being used. "Right, so that would make Moony and his exploding cauldron the evil, hideous monster [Anyone note the irony here? :D] that loves to inflict carnage--"
"I resent that!" Remus said hurtfully from the bed next to Lily, his voice muffled under the mummy-like bandages over his head.
"--and Padfoot could be my noble steed since he has nothing better to do--"
"Steed?! STEED?" Sirius fumed, almost knocking the ointment tube from Celina's hands.
"--which leaves Wormtail as the evil henchman at Moony's disposal!" [YAY! MORE IRONY!] James finished animatedly. Peter cheered from his position on a chair nearby, one side of his pudgy face covered in bandages. James noticed Celina, sitting at the foot of Remus's bed, busily wrapping Sirius's hands in bandages. "And we can't forget Celina!"
"We can't?" Celina asked, forlorn.
"Celina can be.. the tavern wench!" he continued. [Sorry, no irony here. XD]
"Goody.."
"Yeah! The steed has a wench!" Sirius sang elatedly.
"Hold still, steed," Celina said distractedly.
"Yes, wench.." Sirius quietly obeyed.
James was thoroughly excited from this story-developing escapade. Lily had to give him some credit for being so imaginative.
Maybe James wasn't such a bad person. After all, he had to be somewhat interesting to come up with a story like that. Interesting or strange. Probably both.
But he did carry her all the way to the hospital wing, when he could have saved himself a lot of pain by going by himself. He had gotten burned himself, but never even said anything about it, while Lily cried like a baby.
Silently, Lily finished wrapping his bandage, tying it gently. "Finished, Mr. Knight," she stated, humoring James.
"Now can you kiss it and make it better, my fair princess?" James asked hopefully.
Lily cast him a sour look. "Don't push it."
Honestly! The nerve! Since when was she HIS princess? She TRIES to be nice, and he's all over her like flies on honey--
Wait a minute.
Fair Princess? FAIR princess? As in, beautiful, attractive princess? Lily did not find herself at ALL attractive, let alone beautiful.. Or lately, anyway. She HAD been growing some lately, and maybe getting rid of the glasses did something..
But still! That accident must have been pretty brutal. Since when did James Potter--
No. Lily refused to think about it. She quickly pushed it out of her mind.
"Will you kiss my boo-boos, wench?" Sirius asked optimistically.
"Ha! As if I'd WANT ointment all over my lips.."
"You have it on your face already, what difference does it make?"
"Shut up, steed," Celina grumbled. She sighed and ran a hand through her silvery hair, leaning on Sirius's shoulder.
Professor Caliban finally entered, gliding in like the ghost of doom. She looked far more composed now. She was a good actress.
"I'm very sorry about what happened," she apologized, "even though the most.. unfortunate blowing up of Remus's cauldron was entirely HIS fault, not mine." She smiled at Remus, looking amused. "But I have taken the blame for it, sent a letter to the headmaster, and all those other boring things teachers have to do.. Therefore, all of you are excused from your classes for the day so that you may rest from your brutal injuries."
Everyone cheered. Except Lily.. she was going to miss out on the new spell in Transfiguration! She groaned amid the cheers; no one heard her.
"Do not celebrate too much. Your homework will be sent to you later today to make up for it; if Madam Pomfrey kicks you out for unruly behavior, then it's back to class, injuries or not. Do I make myself clear?" Professor Caliban said in a teacher-like way. Lily was reminded of Professor McGonagall for a fleeting moment.
The students in the room all agreed. Of course. How could they not?
"Very good. Farewell, and enjoy your day off," she said, bowing before she left.
"Hey, Moony?" Sirius asked.
"Yeph?" came the subdued reply.
"How does she.. float around like that?" Sirius asked in amazement.
"What? Why are you asking ME that?" Moony questioned. He caught the look in Sirius's eye and sighed. He replied quickly before Sirius could say something to publicly humiliate him. "I have no idea."
"Note to self: Find out why creepy, yet dangerously attractive, Potions teacher floats," Sirius noted.
"SIRIUS!" Celina said furiously, clobbering him on the head with a fist.
"So what do we do for the rest of the day?" Peter asked after a few moments of waiting.
"Let's play a game!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Sorry, Padfoot; we're not playing fetch with you," Remus said in a serious tone.
Sirius looked heartbroken and began looking to Celina for some comfort.
"Let's just take naps.." Lily yawned, laying her head down on her pillow. She needed the sleep. She had been staying up a little late for the past few days.
"I second that!" Sirius said, stealing Remus's pillow.
"Hey!"
"It's not for me; it's for Celina!" Sirius argued, handing the pillow lovingly to his girlfriend. She patted him on the head affectionately.
Lily ignored their squabbles, feeling herself sinking deeper and deeper into sleep.
She was shocked back to reality when someone peeked under her blanket.
"POTTER!"
"I was just checking to see if you were wearing clothes under-- AHHHHHH!" James screamed at the horror of an extremely angry Lily Evans. Quick as a flash, Lily had gotten her wand out from her nearby jeans pocket and began firing nearly lethal jinxes at him in rapid succession, while holding her blanket close to her body.
Later..
James hadn't escaped from Lily's wrath. As a result of his peeping exploit, James ended up with a pair of his very own breasts, "So he wouldn't have to stare at someone else's," Lily had explained ruthlessly.
To add insult to injury, Lily cast an Incendio spell upon James.
"No! NOT THE HAIR!" James had yelled, cornered.
Consequently, Madam Pomfrey wasn't too happy.
She sent a storming Lily back to her bed, while she had to put James back to normal. But even she could not stop herself from laughing along with the rest of the hospital wing.
Sirius's lungs were burning for air. He had been rolling on the floor, laughing non-stop for the past 10 minutes in which Lily was hunting down James like a deer [THE IRONY IS BACK! ;D]. Everyone else was near the same state as he was; even Lily was laughing maniacally afterwards.
There was just a poor, lonely James sniffing at a bed in the corner afterwards, looking regretful and humiliated. His ego had deflated quite a bit.
-------------------------------
Otay! All done!
Plug of the day: Another Name for Azkaban, by Alias Madame Butterfly (aka Sangrita OR Professor Caliban.. :3), which is like fic-mates with mine. Her fic follows James and Lily after their graduation of Hogwarts, when Lily is engaged to none other than Mr. Potter. This fic makes me roll on the floor, laughing, much like Sirius did earlier today. YOU WONT BE DISAPPOINTED. Also, her fic is like a continuation of mine, with some of the same characters and scenarios. It's a wonderful blend. She needs more readers. Just note its rated R for suggestive themes and stuff.
IMPORTANT: I might not be able to update as much as I'd like to anymore; I'm leaving for vacation for all of July. I might be able to update a chapter or two before then, or even during vacation, but not much. I hope none of you will forget me? You can always email me here: gamegurl {at} teenagedirtbag {dot} com if you need your Bob-chan fix. XD
Thanks.
Have a nice day!
Much love,
3 Bob-chan
