I own nothing. Every character mentioned here came from the genius mind of JK Rowling and her wonderful series. :-)

Wound that cut too deep

The next few days went by without much incident. I had finally come out of my Head Boy shell and participated in one of the best pranks we had ever pulled on the Slytherins. We had snuck into the Slytherin common room one night after curfew, (we conveniently knew the password due to my Head Boy status) and bewitched all of the seat cushions in their common room to bite whoever got within a foot of them. We then proceeded to put a jinx at the entrance so that anyone who had been bitten and tried to walk out sprouted large elf ears. I had a difficult time trying to convince Lily that I had nothing to do with the prank and even gave Sirius a detention to try and convince her that I was innocent. Needless to say, Sirius wasn't too happy about having to serve a detention alone on account of me lying to her, but relented when I promised to let him copy my homework for a week.

Our Quidditch match later that week against Slytherin went rather well considering the fact that one of our chasers was knocked unconscious within the first ten minutes of play. Slytherin never played fair, especially against us. Gryffindor team won 290 to 170 and our seeker could not have grabbed the snitch at a better time. It was the longest match Hogwarts had seen in over fifty years. Since we were one chaser short, we were having quite a difficult time scoring and we were dead tired. We finally gained some momentum after I scored six unanswered goals in the span of twenty minutes. Our seeker then finally spotted the snitch near the Ravenclaw stands and the game was over. Lily and I were also getting along just fine and we had even begun studying together in the library if we happened to bump into each other. Truth be told, I only showed up to the library because I knew when she would be there, but I enjoyed her company just the same.

As the first Hogsmeade trip came closer, I felt more and more nervous because I wanted to ask Lily to go with me. Sure I had asked her out about a million times in the past and she had turned me down every single time, but that was before we were on speaking terms. She definitely spoke to me now, and I had a feeling she might say yes if I asked her under the new circumstances. The trip was in two days and I still hadn't asked her so the next day after charms, I finally decided I was being neurotic and began making my way towards her in the corridor with whatever Gryffindor bravery I could muster. As I got closer I heard Alice talking very rapidly and saw Lily blushing furiously. I inched a bit closer and hid behind a statue before I heard what they were saying.

"When did he ask you?" Alice demanded.

"Right before Charms. He just came up to me and asked, it was no big deal," Lily responded.

"Yes it is a big deal!" Alice shrieked. "Adam Creevey is one of the cutest boys at Hogwarts!"

"Yes he is Alice, but looks aren't everything you know. I was surprised at first when he asked me, but he's a nice guy and maybe we'll have a good time."

My heart sank. I had been so nervous and took so long to ask Lily to go to Hogsmeade with me that now she already had a date. As I saw her walk away with Alice I couldn't help but look down at the floor as I made my way towards the Great Hall for lunch.

"What's wrong with you?" Sirius asked me at the table.

"Nothing," I responded a little too angrily.

"Whoa there Prongs. What's got your knickers in a twist? I haven't seen you in such a foul mood since Snivellus hexed you in the corridor in front of everyone last year, what gives?"

"Nothing's wrong Padfoot, I'm just thinking," I lied.

"Whatever," he responded still looking at me as I began eating.

Moments later Remus and Peter sat next to us. Remus was looking very pale and on the verge of throwing up all over himself when he saw the heaps of food in front of him. I forgot that the full moon was that night. I could hear Remus, Sirius and Peter making plans for the night, but I wasn't paying too much attention to them. That day I had probably the most promising chance of having Lily say yes to me after I asked her to go to Hogsmeade with me, but I blew it. Since when was I ever nervous when asking a girl out? It was ridiculous! I had been asking girls out since my second year at Hogwarts and it had never been a problem before. I had asked Lily out at least once a week every year since fourth year and I had never been nervous then, why had I cracked when I finally got my chance? I guess it was the fact that she was actually speaking to me and we were finally friends. I loved having her as a friend but I couldn't help but think that I wanted her to be more than just that. I realized then that I didn't just have some stupid crush on her, but that I genuinely had feelings for her. My thoughts were then suddenly interrupted when Remus was waving a hand in front of me.

"Hello, Prongs, are you there? What's with you?"

"He's been acting this way since he came in, I don't know what's going on in that thick head of his," Sirius added.

"Just thinking," I responded lazily.

"So are we set for tonight then?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Alright then let's go to class then," Remus said before standing up and leading the way out of the Great Hall.

x

As we made our way back up to the common room after spending the night roaming the Forbidden Forest and in the Shrieking Shack with Remus, Sirius, Peter and I wanted nothing more than to throw ourselves on our beds. As a werewolf, Remus was never easy to contain, but if he ever caught the scent of a human, he was impossible to tame. Earlier that night the four of us made our way deep into the Forbidden Forest when we spotted a wizard in a long, black cloak walking as if he was looking for something. We rarely ever saw wizards walking in the Forbidden Forest at night, and never walking alone. Remus quickly picked up his scent before any of us did, and bolted straight towards him. Sirius was able to catch up to him and stop him before he got to the dark cloaked wizard, but it came at a cost. Remus never bit us when he was in his werewolf form, but he came close many times and last night was one of them. I was able to pin Remus down with my antlers before he bit Sirius, but Remus took a swipe at me and cut deep into my abdomen with his claws. By the time he calmed down, the dark wizard had disappeared.

I wasn't foolish enough to go to Madame Pomfrey for my injuries, afraid she would ask too many questions, but I needed to do something about the deep wound Remus had inflicted on me. As I got up to my dormitory, I headed straight towards my trunk to look for my wizard medic-kit I kept for Quidditch related injuries. The wound was deep and I couldn't see a thing in the dark dormitory. I picked up my things and headed down to the common room where there would be more light. As I stood there trying to apply the different potions on the gash, I heard a noise coming from the girl's dormitories. I tried pulling my shirt back on to hide the wound, but it was too late. In the doorway I spotted none other than Lily Evans staring at me with a look of utter confusion.

"What are you doing up at this hour of the morning?" she asked and then she looked down to my abdomen. "And what happened to you?"

"It's nothing, I just had a small accident, nothing to worry about," I responded finally pulling my shirt down and beginning to walk away.

"It doesn't look like nothing happened, why are you using your medic-kit?" she asked pulling me back.

"I said it's nothing, can we drop this?" I said starting to get annoyed.

"I'll drop it when you tell me truth," she glared at me.

"Fine. Sirius and I went out to the Quidditch pitch late last night and we got carried away. We flew a bit too close to the Whomping Willow, and it took a swipe at me. I didn't know that it had hurt me this bad until the pain became unbearable in the middle of the night," I lied trying not to look into her eyes.

"Why don't you go to Madame Pomfrey?" she asked looking a little suspicious.

"Because I can mend this on my own and because it doesn't hurt as bad as it looks," I answered smiling at her trying to hide a grimace.

"James Potter, always has to be strong," she said sarcastically.

"What are you doing up so early?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"I heard noises in the common room and figured someone was trying to sneak in or something. Instead I find you here bleeding to death."

"Very funny Evans. I think I fixed myself up pretty good; at least the bleeding's stopped. I'll see you later," I said walking away, trying to hide the pain I was still feeling in my abdomen with each step I took.

"Bye," she responded lifting an eyebrow.

x

The rest of that day was supposed to be fun. It was the first Hogsmeade trip of the term but I wasn't in any condition to enjoy it. Besides the fact that my wound had not gotten any better, but only got worse, I wasn't looking forward to watching Lily go on a date with another guy. It was my fault really. I was so scared that she would turn me down again that I just couldn't ask her out. As I lay in bed with my eyes closed, afraid to move, I heard Sirius talking to me.

"Prongs," he paused. "Hey Prongs," he repeated as he came over to my bed.

"What?" I asked with a wince of pain.

"Are you alright mate? You look a bit pale."

"I'm fine, just tired is all."

"You have to get up, Hogsmeade, remember? I'm out of supplies," he said with a small grin.

"I don't think I'm going today Padfoot. I'm just too tired," I said closing my eyes again.

"Come on Prongs, you have to go. Moony is still in the Shrieking Shack and Wormtail's no fun," he said in a voice that sounded almost whiney.

"Hey I heard that!" Peter interjected as he came into my dormitory behind Sirius.

"Well it's true. All you do is follow us around and you never even buy anything," he said to Peter scowling at him.

"I just need to rest Padfoot. Just get me some supplies too would you?"

"Alright, have it your way. Come on Wormtai,l" he said before I heard them walk out.

I was still asleep later that morning and I knew it was late when I heard a noise at my door. I figured it was either Sirius or Peter getting back early from Hogsmeade so I pretended to still be asleep. The truth was, I couldn't move. Remus had hurt me more than I thought and the gash was getting worse. The dormitory was sweltering and I could feel the sweat dripping down my face onto the bed sheets. I heard footsteps getting closer to my bed but I still didn't open my eyes. I was hoping whoever it was would just go away and leave me alone. Right as I thought that the person would turn around and walk out, I felt a cold hand on my forehead. I immediately opened my eyes and I couldn't believe who I saw standing before me.

"Lily?" I croaked.

"James you look awful and you have a high temperature. Why haven't you gone to Madame Pomfrey?" she asked, her faced etched in concern.

"It's not as bad as you think," I said trying to hide the pain talking was causing me.

"Of course it's bad. Let me take a look at that cut," she said, and before I could stop her, she lifted my shirt enough so that the wound was visible. I heard her intake of breath and then she put her hand over her mouth.

"What is it?" I asked sounding a bit worried myself.

"James the wound is getting infected, and if you don't treat it properly it's only going to get much worse. You need to get to the hospital wing," she said sounding almost frantic.

"I'll just treat it with some more potions from my medic-kit and it'll be all better," I said trying to force a smile.

"Always trying to be strong aren't you? I figured you'd say that, so I brought you this," she said putting a small bowl with yellow liquid in front of me. "It's essence of Murtlap tentacles. It should help your wound heal a bit."

I looked at her skeptically, but before I could protest, she was soaking a cloth in the liquid and placed it over the wound. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world. My body felt cooler, and I closed my eyes to take in the soothing sensations. Not only was my wound feeling much better, but Lily was sitting on my bed, in my dormitory, and we were alone. Wait a minute. Wasn't she supposed to be on a date at Hogsmeade?

"How come you're not at Hogsmeade?" I asked her as if we had been talking about it for a while.

"Well, I did go, but then I came back early," she said blushing slightly.

"And why did you come back early? Did your date go bad or something?" I asked. I just couldn't help it. I had to ask about her date and I really hoped it had gone horribly wrong.

"My date was fine. I just wanted to come back early."

"How did you know I was here then?" I asked looking at her as she looked down at the ground.

"Well, I saw Sirius and Peter at Hogsmeade and I didn't see you or Remus with them. At first I thought that you two were off doing something else when I spotted Remus walking away from the fence surrounding the Shrieking Shack and he was alone," she said as she got up. "I thought it was odd that you weren't anywhere to be seen so I was curious because of what I saw earlier this morning," she said blushing fiercely.

"You broke your date to come check on me didn't you?" I asked sounding a little too surprised and a little too hopeful.

"I didn't break my date, and if I had broken it, it wouldn't have been for you. We walked around most of the shops and I was getting bored so I told Adam I was coming back to the castle. I stopped by the apothecary to pick up some stuff for my personal inventory anyway, so I picked up a few extra things and mixed this just in case. You could never have too many Murtlap tentacles," she said matter-of-factly. "I then decided to come up here and see how you were doing since you were no where else in the castle. I mean, what would I do without a Head Boy to share the duties with?" she ended laughing nervously and sitting back down on my bed.

I looked at her with the utmost surprise for a moment before I realized what I was doing, so I cleared my throat and tried to sit up. I winced a little at the pain but the essence of murtlap was making it much better. Lily instinctively held my arm with a worried expression on her beautiful face.

"I'm fine, no need to worry."

"Why can't you ever admit it when you're hurt? Do you always act this way or are you trying to impress me?"

"If I've learned anything over the past couple of years it's that you're very difficult to impress," I said trying to laugh without inflicting too much pain on myself.

She glared at me for a second before laughing too.

"Well, you haven't exactly done much to impress me have you?"

"What do you mean I haven't done much to impress you? What do you call pulling off the best pranks this school has ever seen? And what about Quidditch? You have to admit I'm pretty good out there."

"That doesn't impress me James. The pranks only make me think less of you, and like I've told you, I'm not very interested in Quidditch," she said with a more serious tone in her voice.

"Why do the pranks make you think less of me?"

"Because I know you do it to show off. I would think that a guy like you wouldn't need to show off that much. I mean, you already have the attention of every girl in school and every guy wants to be just like you. What else do you want?"

"I don't have every girl's attention," I said quietly looking straight into her eyes.

"You certainly do have my attention James, but I don't think it's the type of attention you want from me," she said slowly getting up from the bed. "I hope the murtlap helped. Apply it at least twice a day and if it doesn't get better by Monday I'm telling Madame Pomfrey. I'll see you later."

"Bye," I said looking at her walk out the door. She was amazing. She could have said whatever she wanted, but I knew she broke her date for me. Why else would she come into my dormitory by herself? Whatever her reasons, I learned something very valuable that day. She definitely cared about me and I had being going about getting her attention all wrong. I needed to prove to her that I was serious. Lily was going to see a side of me that not even Sirius had seen before.

Liked it? Hated it? Thought it was just okay? Please review!