Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters that are in the Harry Potter books. J. K. Rowling does, like everyone already knows.
Author's Note: Thanks to Hurleygurl, CrazzyD', marrokinhas, sugur-huny-bun, Harry and Ginny 4eva, BlueJeanMistress, Faith Forever in Harry, me, i-LuV-cHaRmEd18, Miss Myrtle360, Chelles, babi-gurl8907, julies07, wefeedowls, Brilover, wizemunkee006, xxquidditchjunkiexx, drumer girl, Juicilyn, Holly-Short-Evans, piratequeen24, dracomalfoysdragon, bratski, xXfiRePhoEnixXx, tigerlily141, always-blond, Rose Angelz, riotgirl72, Solo-gurl, theoneandonly, charspleenie, smash-ash, lifeiswutumakeit, - Scp-, x0x-Mystique-x0x, Hollabulooooooooo, asiangirl668, Sue, betsy, Amanda, sunlitmist, Perla B., mccsux, xxxMs.Mexxx, secretindianlover, string bean 458, Rosey, SiriusVeela, 0pera3mm, Sammyrox, Daramalan sux, moviechicka, Amoura Avalon, riotgirl72, Cherry Chalk, AnjaliMalfoy, crazy azn angel, Lady Vampyre, Jewel Avienor, missandres, Fiery Flower, sirpantsalot, Sammyrox, alexia, and famousindafuture for reviewing! You guys are all truly incredible…and will be even more incredible if by some chance you still have faith in my stories and will continue to read it despite the three month break!
P.S. I'm so incredibly sorry for not updating sooner! I promise I tried to!
"How're you holding up?" Carina asked. For the past two hours she and James Potter sat in silence at St. Mungos. It wasn't an awkward silence, nor was it a comfortable silence, for the reason that they were seated in the waiting room in the hospital was tragic for both of them. Instead, the silence was created because both Carina and James were off in their own alternate universes, blocking everyone and everything out from their minds.
James was startled to hear Carina's voice, but looked up at her anyways and replied, "Alright." This, of course was a lie. He wasn't alright. He was far from alright. Less than an hour ago he found his girlfriend in a bloody heap on the ground of her apartment, his ex-girlfriend attempting to murder her. No, he wasn't alright. He was scared, shocked, nervous, guilty, and angry.
He didn't know how Lily was; the doctors were still running tests and checking for broken bones. From what he heard, she was still passed out, which the doctors assumed was from loss of blood. For these reasons, he was both scared and nervous. He was nervous that she wouldn't be okay, nervous that he wouldn't ever see Lily again.
From that nervousness, grew fear. He was scared that he would see her again; scared that he would never be able to tell her how much he loved her. Scared that she'd never hear the words, "I love you," escape his lips. He was scared that he'd never be able to breath in her lovely scent or hold her tightly to his chest. He was scared that he would never be able to look deeply into her emerald eyes, eyes that never failed to show the passion that Lily always had. He was scared that he'd never be able to share another perfect night with Lily again, perfect nights of gazing at the stars. He was scared that he'd never be able to learn from her again, discover more reasons why he loved her so much.
As much as his heart ached though, he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt. In the pit of his stomach, James felt as if he swallowed a bowling ball. If it weren't for him, Lily and Emmy would never have met. If it weren't for him, Emmy would have never hurt Lily, she would have never tried to murder her.
James sighed and then looked back at Carina. She'd turned away from him by that time, but for the first time, James noticed something about her that after all the years of knowing her, he hadn't ever seen. She didn't look strong. All throughout Hogwarts, Carina had always appeared strong. He never saw her cry, never saw her show any sign of weakness. He remembered a time back in third year when he and Sirius put honey in Carina's hair; even then she didn't show any signs of tears.
Now though, everything was different. Her face wasn't hard, as it had been back in third year. Her eyes were blotching now, another change from Hogwarts. Now, she was slightly trembling.
James took a deep breath in and continued to look at the woman in front of him. He was amazed to see how much Carina truly did care about Lily. It wasn't that he didn't think that Carina and Lily were close friends, he had always known that. But now, seeing Carina, he understood just how much their lives affected each other. Without Lily, Carina wasn't strong, she needed her there for support, needed her there to worry about things while Carina dealt with them in other ways.
"How about you?" he carefully asked, "Are you okay?"
Carina sharply turned her entire body in his direction, her hand impulsively wiping a small teardrop away. "Yeah, I'm okay."
They continued looking at each other, neither one knowing quite what to say next. After all, they weren't friends; they never really had been either. The only contact that they had with each other was through Lily, and that hadn't really been since their seventh year at Hogwarts.
Carina shut her eyes tightly for a moment before briskly opening them and saying, "I lied, I'm not okay. I need her to be okay, I need her." With that said, Carina burst into tears once more, hiding her face in her hands.
James wasn't sure what to do next, but being the gentleman that his parents taught him to be, he got up and took a seat next to Carina. She was softly rocking back and forth, trembling with each tear drop. He cautiously put his arms around her, giving her a small pat on the back. Surprisingly, she leaned back against him and continued her sobbing.
"She's going to be okay," he whispered as he stared off into space, not convinced at all of his answer.
"How do you know that?" she asked, removing her head from his chest and looking up at him.
As James looked down into her blood-shot eyes, he smiled for a second. That question was one exactly like one that Lily would have asked herself. She never took a simple line like that as an answer; she always wanted to know why.
"I know that she'll be okay, because, well…" he began, "because she's strong, and doesn't give up on anything."
Carina seemed to take that explanation as acceptable for she took her eyes off of him and began to stare off into space. Her eyes were still watery, but tears no longer dribbled down her cheeks.
"Excuse me," a petite nurse said as she walked toward James and Carina, "Mr. Potter, Miss Gallagher, the doctor says he'll speak with you both now if you could just follow me."
James and Carina immediately looked at each other before standing up and following the nurse across the building and toward Lily's room. The three wizards all walked in silence, but with each step, James and Carina could both feel their hearts speed up.
Once the nurse brought them to the doctor, she left right away and the doctor smiled at them. "Hello, I'm Dr. Parsi, Miss Evans, doctor…I've got good news, she'll be fine."
James could hear himself give a sigh of relief. Lily was okay. Lily was going to be just fine. James felt rejuvenated, as if his entire world was fresh and new. Never in his life had he ever felt as relieved as he did at that very moment.
"She's going to have to take it easy these next couple of days though," Dr. Parsi informed them. "She suffered a lot, and still has a lot of bruising. As we speak, her bones are being mended, she had a cracked rib and sprained ankle. She also lost quite a lot of blood, so we had to inject donor blood into her. Other than that though, she'll be okay…Also, we had to give her a medication which tends to knock people out cold for anywhere from ten to twenty-four hours. We just wanted to be extra careful dealing with the cracked rib, so the medicine with that side affect is one that protects her heart, lungs, basically all of her organs from bone mending spell."
As James listened to everything Dr. Parsi told him, he felt a stab of disappointment in his gut. Yes, he was thrilled that Lily was alright, but he was frustrated that he wouldn't actually be allowed to talk to Lily. More than anything in the world, he wanted to be able to hold Lily in his arms and tell her how much she meant to him. He wanted to her to know how much he loved her.
"Can I go in and see her?" James asked, looking hopefully at Dr. Parsi.
"Of course," he replied.
James smiled graciously at him and walked toward the room. As he did he caught Carina's eye and smiled at her. She replied with a smile of her own, one that showed everything. It was a smile that told him how relieved she was about everything. It was a smile that said, "go ahead in and have some privacy with Lily, I'll wait outside." And it was also a smile that told him that everything was truly okay, and everything was going to be okay.
As James opened the door and stepped inside, he looked around the room. It was relatively small, only holding the bed which Lily was peacefully sleeping on and a small chair to right of it. At the foot of the bed was an empty table, one that James presumed flowers would soon occupy. What caught him off guard though, was the fact that there was a small balcony in this room. Outside, the sky was pitch black, showing off just how early in the morning it was.
He walked over to the bed was shocked to see how relaxed Lily looked. She looked completely different from the state she was in just hours beforehand. Her face was cleaned up, only a small cut was across her cheek now.
James sat down beside her, looking deeply down at her. Even now, she looked gorgeous. He gently held her fingers in his hands and brought them to his lips. He tenderly kissed each one before repositioning her hands back where they were before.
He stroked her hair lightly, wiping it away from her face. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you so much." He knew that she couldn't hear him, but it still felt good just to let the words escape his lips.
---
Six hours later, James was still at the hospital. He only left lily's side once during the night, just for half an hour when Carina wanted to see her. The rest of the time though, James was there. He wanted someone to always be with her, just in case the medicine wore off and she woke up. He didn't want her to be alone when she woke up.
Now though, at eight o'clock in the morning, he found himself in St. Mungos cafeteria. Carina had, after thirty minutes of arguing, persuaded him to leave Lily and get something to eat. After all, he hadn't had a bite to eat since dinner yesterday. Although James didn't want to admit it, he was famished, not to mention in serious need of coffee.
So when Albus Dumbledore walked into the cafeteria that morning, what he saw was James hungrily inhaling his pancakes. He smiled at his former student, recognizing that sight as one he used to see everyday during the school year.
"One would think you hadn't had a bite to eat for a week," Dumbledore commented with a smile as he took a seat across from James.
"Professor," James surprisingly said.
"Call me Albus," Dumbledore answered, and then joked, "And please, have a drink of your orange juice and swallow."
James smiled. There was always something about Dumbledore that could make him smile, whether it be his witty comments or his optimistic way of thinking.
James did as he was told and then asked, "Albus, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you doing here?"
"Well, when a former student of mine gets injured, especially one as prominent and as lovely as Miss Evans, a visit is due," he answered.
James blushed for a moment, embarrassed that he hadn't come to that conclusion on his own. To make up for it though, he asked, "Why are you in the cafeteria though?"
"Oh, well, when I went to visit Miss Evans, Miss Gallagher informed me that she sent you down here to eat and have a cup of coffee. So, after having a peasant conversation with her and learning of Miss Evans' present condition, I came to see you," Dumbledore answered.
"Ah, I see," James replied.
The two wizards talked for nearly twenty minutes before either one of them realized how much time had elapsed. As Dumbledore was putting his cloak on though, a question popped into James's mind, one that he'd been meaning to ask all along.
"Albus, I was wondering, if maybe you could give me the address of Harry Pryce? You see, he helped me quite a bit, and I wanted to thank him in person," James informed Dumbledore.
"Harry Pryce? I'm sorry James, that name doesn't ring a bell," Dumbledore told his former student.
"But sir, he was at the Meeting last week," James responded.
"I'm afraid that I don't know anyone who goes by that name," Dumbledore replied.
"Hmm, maybe I've got the name wrong. He's a tall guy, probably about 6'7", he's got short blonde hair," James described.
"I'm sorry, I really don't know anyone that tall, other than Hagrid that is," Dumbledore replied.
"But, I saw him. He talked to me," James announced.
"Why, may I ask it is so important for you to see this man?" Dumbledore asked.
"Because, he, he helped me save Lily's life," James told him.
Dumbledore's eyes sparkled at this comment, "How did he help you?"
"He made me realize that Emmy murdered my old partner Sam, and that Emmy was probably planning the same fate for Lily."
Dumbledore smiled at this, his eyes were twinkling more than before, "James, have you ever heard of a Hemming?"
James shook his head no.
"Well, a Hemming is a very magical creature, well, actually not a creature. You see, a Hemming can see into the future, it can see what may happen in everyone's lives… A Hemming can take the shape of whatever may please the person who they need to convince, but only that person can see it. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I think so. So, this Hemming thing, it saw what Emmy was going to do to Lily, and decided to talk to me and tell me how to save her," he answered.
"Well, yes and no. You see, a Hemming can only see the good fates of people," Dumbledore began, but was cut off by James.
"Then why did it come to me?"
"Ah, you see, if my thinking is correct, I believe that you and Miss Evans are supposed to belong together, and because of that, great things will happen. Great things will happen," he slowly responded.
"So, you're saying that a Hemming can only interfere if good comes out of it?" James asked.
"Once again, yes and no. Millions of people die all the time, but Hemmings don't come to everyone. But, you and Miss Evans must change the world somehow," Dumbledore told him, his eyes sparkling with knowledge.
"How can we possibly do that?" James asked.
"Now, that is truly a mystery. Who knows, maybe you and Miss Evans won't change the world for the better," Dumbledore told him.
"But sir, if we don't, then why would a Hemming come to me?" James asked.
"Maybe you will change the world, or maybe a close friend or relative will," he responded.
"Then why wouldn't the Hemming just go to that person?" James questioned.
"James Potter, you must understand. Suppose you and Miss Evans meet someone, and that person would have become a medi-witch if it wasn't for the two of you. And as a medi-witch, that person invented the repellent that could save a person from Avada-Kedava… Or, suppose you and Miss Evans were to get married, and then have children. And those children became the medi-witch that invented the repellent. Those children wouldn't be there in the future to do that, if the Hemming hadn't guided you to save Miss Evans," Dumbledore explained.
"Oh, I understand now," James responded slowly.
"Good, now, I've got to be heading back to the castle, but I will see you at the next Meeting," Dumbledore added happily.
"Yeah, I'll see you then."
As Dumbledore left, James couldn't shake away what he said. Could that really be true? Were he and Lily meant to do great things? He inwardly told himself "no", but at the same time, why would this Hemming come?
For some reason, James felt that it was best not to tell Lily about Harry Pryce. He didn't know why, but for some odd reason he felt that she shouldn't know about the Hemming, so he kept that secret to himself, not wanting anyone to know except for himself and Dumbledore.
Author's Note 2: Okay, okay, like I've already said, I'm so sorry for not updating this sooner. But I swear, I truly didn't have any time whatsoever! (I've got a long, in depth explanation for my lack of updating in my profile, so if you really care to know why I hacen't updated, read that!) Anyways, I will try my hardest to finish this story over Thanksgiving Break, when I'm not weighed down by school. Also, I hope you all liked this chapter, and I hope the whole Hemming thing isn't confusing. Please review!