Chapter Title: Agreement and Excitement
Lily walked into the Great Hall for lunch and spotted Anna sitting across from Remus, both talking quietly, with Sirius and Peter to Remus' left. Lily strode over to the Gryffindor table and sat down beside Anna. 'Hey Ann. Remus,' said Lily brightly, ladling some soup into her bowl.
'Hey Lils,' Anna and Remus responded. Anna turned slightly pink. 'So, what have you been doing? Surely you're already done your homework.'
'Well I had to track down the Prefects so that took a while,' Lily answered, taking a sip of her soup, 'and now I'm going to go back up to the dorm and read when I give the Slytherins their patrolling dates.'
A couple minutes went by, the group eating their food in comfortable silence, before Remus asked, 'Lily?'
'Yeah?'
'Do you know if James is coming down for lunch soon? He never misses a meal.'
'Actually, no, Remus, I haven't seen him since breakfast,' Lily responded, her voice light but her face adopting a stony expression.
Sirius looked up from his food, a feat in itself. 'Prongs isn't coming down for lunch?' he asked incredulously. He shoved a couple more bites of food into his mouth before dashing off, no doubt to find his best friend.
'I'm going to give the Slytherins their patrol dates,' said Lily, once she had finished her lunch. Sirius wasn't back with James yet.
Anna nodded. 'I'm coming too.'
'No, Ann, just stay here. I'll be fine.'
'Lily Evans!' Anna said, in a mock serious voice.
'Anna Shain!' Lily mocked Anna. The girls both chuckled as Anna and Lily stood up and headed for the Slytherin table. Lily and Anna laughed all the way to the Slytherin table, Lily pulling out a roll of parchment from inside her robes.
Lily and Anna managed to track down the fifth and sixth year Prefects with almost no problems; the only downside was that random jeers of 'mudblood' often made their way to the girls' ears. Although it didn't bother Lily now as much as it did when she was younger, it still slightly irked her, making her wish that she could track down the seventh year Prefects as fast as she could.
Lily and Anna spotted Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black kissing, rather than enjoying their food like everyone else in the Great Hall at that moment. Narcissa had her hands tangled in Malfoy's sleek, blonde hair, while Malfoy was running his fingers up and down her thighs. The sight thoroughly sickened the two girls; Anna stuck her finger in her mouth and made gagging noises. Lily laughed quietly, catching the attention of the two Prefects.
'Well, well, well, Cissy,' Malfoy said, referring to his girlfriend with her petname. 'What have we here. The mudblood Head Girl and her ghastly tag-along. To what do we owe the displeasure?' Malfoy smirked, earning a shrill giggle and adoring look from his girlfriend.
'I'm here to give you your patrolling times,' Lily said, not bothering to tell off Malfoy. She just wanted to get of there, and fast. 'You and Narcissa are supposed to patrol on Monday nights with Remus Lupin and the seventh year Prefects from Ravenclaw. Any questions?'
'Yeah. What is that smell? I swear it wasn't hear before you came here mudblood.'
Lily just nudged Anna and started to walk away as a response. 'Mudblood, don't you walk away when I'm talking to you,' Malfoy said, anger clearly in his voice.
Lily stole a quick glance at Anna, who was walking beside her. Anna looked petrified. 'Just keep walking,' Lily whispered. 'If they do anything, run to the Gryffindor table, get Remus, and go to Dumbledore. I'll hold them off as best I can.'
'Mudblood!' Lily heard Malfoy yell, and starting walking a little faster, not wanting to make it obvious that she was afraid.
'Keep wa – ' Lily tried to whisper, but all she heard was a flurry behind her, a murmured spell, and a terrified shriek from Anna before she hit the ground and her world went black.
'What if she never wakes up?'
'Of course she will. Stop being stupid.'
'But what if she doesn't?'
'Prongs, mate, she will! She'll wake up.'
Lily could hear these slurred voices, her brain taking longer than usual to process them. She felt a presence on her side, and tried to open her eyes to see whom it was, but found her eyes were too heavy, and promptly drifted back off to a deep sleep.
When Lily next came to, all she heard was the breathing surrounding her, and the steady, soothing sound of a quill scratching on parchment. Lily opened her heavy eyes slowly, closing them frequently because of the bright light that she wasn't yet used to.
Lily's sudden movement attracted the attention of the two teens on either side of her bed, and before Lily knew it, Anna had thrown herself on top of Lily, tears streaming down her face. Soon, Lily had tears welling up in her eyes too, shaking slightly as she hugged Anna, afraid to let go for fear of Anna leaving her.
At last the two girls relinquished their hold on each other, Lily leaning back into her pillows, and Anna leaning back in her chair, on the right side of Lily's bed. Both girls looked at each other, wiping away their tears, and burst into hysterical laughter. Whenever the girls came close to becoming sane again, they glanced at each other and the giggles were set off again.
While the two teenaged girls were laughing, the seventh year, male Gryffindor student quietly sat in his chair, watching the scene with an amused smile delicately playing on his handsome features. Without making a sound, he slowly got up, as to not attract the attention of the two laughing girls, gathered his homework assignment, and headed for the doors, without a backwards glance.
Once outside, James Potter slumped against the wall, absolutely relieved beyond imagination that Lily woke up and seemed to be in perfect health. But as he looked to his left at the doors of the Hospital Wing, he was so angry with himself. Angry that he was now, since Lily woke, reduced to waiting outside the doors of the Hospital Wing late at night, just to hear from Anna, who stayed with Lily most of the time excluding classes, about how Lily was doing.
Inside the Hospital Wing, the girls had finally sobered up, and Lily was panicking about all the work she had missed.
'Anna?' Lily asked, in a panicked voice.
'Yeah Lils?'
'What day is it?'
'Today's…Tuesday.'
'And what time is it?'
'I dunno, around six?'
'Oh Merlin,' Lily whispered.
'What?'
'Do you even know how much work I've missed?' Lily asked, in a squeaky voice.
Anna laughed. School was all her friend thought. Besides James Potter, of course. Who she was still in denial about…Anna sniggered at her own thought.
'Anna Shain! This isn't funny!' Lily said, thinking Anna was sniggering about the comment Lily had made about her work. 'I'm so far behind! What if I don't catch up? My grades will drop! Anna what am I going to do?'
'Lily,' Anna said, although Lily didn't hear her. 'Lily,' Anna said, a little more loudly. 'LILY EVANS!' Anna bellowed. That effectively caught Lily's attention, but unfortunately for Anna it also caught Madam Pomfrey's.
'Miss Shain!' Madam Pomfrey scolded. 'You are disturbing my patients! Keep your voice down or you will be forced to leave.'
'Yes Madam Pomfrey. I'm sorry, it won't happen again,' Anna said, reassuring the matron.
'Anyways,' Anna said, returning her attention to Lily, 'you won't fail, and your grades won't drop. I've got all your homework here.' Anna pulled a list of Lily's assignment out of her bag with a look of disgust, and dropped them quickly on Lily's bed as though they would infect her with a disease if held long enough.
'Oh, Anna, thank you!' Lily squealed. Lily hugged her Anna, who was clearly thinking what a psycho Lily was for actually wanting to do her homework.
As Lily reached over to her left to put her homework list on the beside table, she caught sight of a chair that looked as if it was recently inhabited by someone. Something stirred in her memory.
…the breathing surrounding her…and the steady, soothing sound of a quill scratching on parchment…
Lily whipped her head around and looked at Anna. Her eyes darted around the right side of her bed, looking for any sign that Anna had been writing. There was no parchment, no quill, no ink bottle, and as Lily looked over the side of the bed, there was no bag to hold any of the items in either.
'Lily?' Anna questioned, alarmed.
'What Anna?' Lily answered distractedly.
'What are you doing?' Anna questioned slowly, clearly afraid for Lily's mental sanity.
'I was trying to find if you had a quill on you,' Lily said, satisfied that Anna was not the one writing. Who else would have come and visited her, especially when she was unconscious?
'Well, you could have just asked. But no, I dropped my bag off in my dorm after last class. Why?'
'Well, when I woke up, I heard the soothing sound of a scratching quill on parchment.' Anna smiled. Only Lily would find the scratchy sound of a quill on parchment soothing. 'And I noticed that the chair to the left of my bed had someone sitting in it recently. Who else was here, Ann?'
Damn, Anna thought. Lily's too smart for her own good. She knew that James Potter was here, after all, they were probably the two people who cared about Lily most in Hogwarts at the moment, Anna being her best friend, and James being in love with her. However, she was sure that Lily wouldn't be happy knowing that James had come to visit her.
'Anna.' Lily said. It wasn't a question anymore. It was a statement.
'JamesPottermighthavebeenhere,' mumbled Anna, way too fast for anyone to comprehend.
'What?'
'James Potter, ok? James has been here since Sunday, when you were originally knocked out by that jerk, Malfoy. Sirius had just come back with him from the Heads dorms, and he saw you there, and he picked you up and carried you here. I couldn't have done it, Lils, he could have saved your life. He's been here ever since, only leaving when we have classes. And if he didn't have to go to those I'm sure he'd be here then too, as would I. He was a wreck when you were unconscious, Lily, he was even shaking. You can't deny that he really cares for you.'
Anna's speech was met with silence, Lily's mouth hanging open. Sure, she knew James liked her, but she never knew just how much; but just because James liked her, didn't mean she had to like him.
'Potter was here?' Lily asked, annoyance in her tone.
'Yeah, Lils, and don't start with the 'I-hate-him's, because I know that deep down, you know he's not that bad.'
'Not that bad?' asked Lily, completely astonished that her best friend didn't know James Potter. 'Not that bad? He hexes random people, including Snape, just because he can. He struts around Hogwarts like he owns the damn place. He and Sirius treat women like toys, something that they can conquer. He brags about everything! His good grades without studying, his 'excellent Quidditch skills', and he constantly shows off with the bloody Snitch! And he acts SO COCKY IT'S SICKENGING! ALWAYS SWEEPING HIS HAND THROUGH HIS BLOODY HAIR BECAUSE HE THKNKS IT'S COOL TO LOOK LIKE HE'S JUST GOTTEN OFF HIS BROOM!' Lily shouted, out of breath from ranting about James' faults. Her cheeks were flaming red and her hair seemed to crackle.
'When you were unconscious, Lily, he was so quiet,' Anna started, in a whisper. 'He was so secluded, he barely said a word. He went to classes, and then he came here, like a mindless drone. If I didn't know better, Lils, I would have said he had his soul sucked out by a Dementor.' Anna paused for dramatic effect. 'The least you could do is get to know the real him, and then judge whether he's still the egotistical, big-headed arse you've made him out to be.'
Lily stared at Anna, and Anna stared at Lily. There was silence in the Hospital Wing for a number of minutes. As much as Lily hated to admit it, Anna was right. She wasn't being fair to James, even though Lily doubted he had a kind, caring side to him. But Anna had never lied to Lily before, and Lily didn't think that she was lying to her now.
'Alright,' said Lily with disinterest. 'I'll try to be civil with Potter. What do I get in return for this?'
'A good friendship with a very funny, good-looking guy? Please Lily? Be civil to James for me?' Anna put on a puppy-dog face, her brown eyes becoming wide.
'Fine. You know Ann, Potter's lucky I love you.'
Anna laughed. 'I love you too Lils.' The girls' stomach's rumbled. 'Well, my stomach says it's time for dinner, so I'm going to get a quick bite, and then I'll come back up here for a bit. It's that ok?'
'Yeah sure.' Anna started walking to the doors, and had almost reached them when Lily called out, 'Hey Ann?'
'Yeah Lils?'
'Can you bring me back some food? The Hospital Wing food is all nutritious…'
Anna grinned. 'Sure Lils.'
'Thanks.'
Anna swiftly turned around, leaving Lily lying comfortably on her pillows, and walked out of the enormous, Hospital Wing doors, closing them gently behind her. Anna sensed movement to her right. 'James?'
'Yeah?'
'Aren't you going to dinner?'
'No, I'm not hungry, I think I'll go back to the Heads' dorm…' James replied monotonously.
'Well, that would be a pity. I had excellent news. But do as you see fit I guess…' Anna turned on her heel and started walked in the other direction, towards the Great Hall, but she hadn't taken five steps when James caught up with her and he fell into step with her.
'Is Lily ok? Is she coming out of the Hospital Wing tonight? Is she – '
'James, James, calm down! I said excellent news not terrible news.' Anna smiled. She knew this was going to work, even if she had to force Lily to talk to James. Once she let down her barriers, she'd see the other side of James that she never let herself see. 'No, Lily's probably not going to be out until later next week,' James expression drooped a little. 'The curse the Slytherin gits used on her was pretty dark, but Madam Pomfrey'll fix her up. She always does. But,' Anna continued, ' – now, brace yourself for this – she is willing to get to know you better and stop judging you on how you conduct yourself. However,' Anna raised her voice, for James face was alight with joy and she thought he might start leaving everyone on Earth soon, 'that does certainly not mean that you can still prance around acting cocky and messing up your hair and pranking people. Lily just told me explicitly that she hates that about you, but if you stop all of that she'd be willing to give you another chance.'
'Really?' James asked, his face bright like a kid in a candy store. 'She said that?'
'Which part?'
'That she's willing to give me another chance?'
'Um…no…not exactly…but I know Lily, and if you don't give her a reason to hate you she won't…so…'
'Do you think I have a chance?' James asked hopefully.
God, Anna thought, she has him wrapped around her little finger and doesn't even realize it. She's so lucky.
'If you're a good boy and don't hex anyone, and I'm including Snivellus in this, and stop pranking and acting like a conceited show-off-y jerk, then yes, you have a chance.'
James had looked a little upset at the idea of no more pranks and no more hexing Snape, but he'd do anything for Lily, and if she genuinely didn't like that, then it was no more.
'Thanks Anna!' James exclaimed, and lifted Anna into the air with a hug so tight that she couldn't breath.
'James…can't…breath…'
'Oh, right, sorry,' said James sheepishly.
Both of their stomachs gave a low growl. James and Anna laughed. 'Well, fair lady, shall we head to dinner then?' James asked, offering Anna his arm in mock seriousness.
'Well, I am quite famished, so I suppose so. Lead the way my fair knight!' Anna laughed as she took James' arm, James leading her down to the Great Hall, the pair of them skipping and chatting animatedly the entire way.
A/N: Wow! I think that's the longest I've ever written (and it's still not very long, but hey). I'm finally done my exams, too:high five: I'm so glad. I feel really confident about my math and Latin, and pretty confident about my geography and English. Frankly, I'm relieved I don't have to ever take geography again (no offense to all you geography lovers). It has nothing to do with want I want to be anyways…
Anyways, about the chapter, I really like this one (well, the end, not the beginning when Lily gets hurt!). James is so funny. Don't you all just love him to bits? I do. He's so cute!
Reviews: DarthRoden: Glad you like it! Hope you like this chapter. ;) lily and james xoxo: Lol, I hope you like this chapter too! Thanks for the good wishes! Kay D: Yay! Thanks for the good wishes! I really think I did well for you guys. ;) (sorry about your name, it won't let me put an 'equals' sign in!) riduculouslyriddikulusI do feel sorry for James too. He tries so hard… overprotected: Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoyed it too!
'Til next time, your favourite fanfiction author,
Niamara ;)