Title: Light
Author: Amelia Bedelia
Chapter Sixteen: Metamorphosis
AUTHORS NOTE: Ok, I lied, didn't end up changing the other chapters and didn't change Charles' character, so you don't have to worry about anything being different. I'm just glad I got this up earlier than I expected – enjoy!
Chapter Sixteen: Metamorphosis
"Breanna – your parents – they're alive!"
Breanna paled. "Bella, you better stop joking around before I strangle you," she hissed, lunging towards the mirror, regaining her strength, although twice as much of it with adrenaline pumping through her blood.
"I'm not lying!" Bella said, her voice muffled as Sirius snatched the mirror from Breanna's reach and held it close to his chest.
"Breanna, this is a priceless mirror!" he shouted, glaring at her.
"I don't care about your stupid mirror, Black!" she shouted, jumping on his back and grabbing a lock of his hair, yanking as hard as she could.
"Breanna!" Remus jumped into the picture and wrapped his arms around Breanna's waist and pulled her back, falling onto the floor. Moving quickly, he pinned her underneath him, staring back at her red face.
"Damn it, Remus, if you don't - "
"Breanna, you need to stop right now and calm down!"
She took several breaths and, struggling, she tried to keep a straight face. "Remus," she whispered, barely audible, "my parents are dead. They can't be alive, they found their bodies."
James shrunk away from the crowd, listening to Breanna's words. She was right; they had found their bodies – so then why was Bella pulling this cruel trick…?
He stepped forward towards Sirius and took hold of the mirror. "Bella, you better not be lying, so help me God, I will hurt you dearly."
Sirius stared up at his friend with wide eyes and the room fell dead silent, James unmoving, his eyes blazing with a fury, one Lily had never seen before.
Soft sobs emitted from Breanna, and the room tensed, if possible, even more.
"James," Bella stated calmly, "I swear, I'm not lying. I – oh, just hang on," she muttered exasperatedly.
James lowered the mirror and dropped it onto the floor with a slight thud, staggering backwards and sitting on his trunk. He began to run his hands nervously through his hair and Lily swallowed, covering her mouth nervously with her hand. She looked hard at him, trying to figure out what his thoughts were, if only she could get into his head. Whatever it was he was thinking, they couldn't have been anywhere near happy thought whatsoever.
Bella ran into the room, hitting the door on the way in, accidentally slamming it into the wall behind it. "Look," she hissed, glaring at the silent group, holding out a piece of parchment.
James raised his head, his face blank. Slowly, without acknowledging the paper whatsoever, he dropped his head into his hands again and closed his eyes, groaning slightly.
Sirius stood up, protectively behind Bella and placed one of his hands on her shoulder while he reached around to take the note with his other and read it silently. "Bella, you can't possibly think this is good news," he whispered quietly to her.
Lily's eyebrow's furrowed and she snatched the note. She swallowed, keeping the lump in her throat down as she choked up a small hiccup of joy. "Breanna, they're alive – they're really alive!" Lily shrieked, a tear making its way down her cheek unnoticed.
Breanna stood up, her breathing very ragged. She walked over. Each step she took seemed to take every amount of strength she had left in her.
"They're torturing my parents tonight?" she whispered, reading the parchment aloud to the room. Breanna swallowed. "Ok, so they're still alive, but in pain. Great."
"Yes!" Bella shouted, stepping away from Sirius' protection. "Breanna, look at the big picture – you're parents are alive!"
Breanna's eyes scanned the note several more time before a smile crawled across her face and tears streamed down her cheeks. She dropped the note and turned to face Remus, behind her. "They're alive," she whispered.
Remus let out a loud laugh and hugged Breanna as tight as he could. The room seemed to explode from there. Bella and Sirius began dancing around the room, laughing all the while, and Lily ended up making small sparks on the ceiling with her wand. Peter even joined in with the festivity and found some noisemakers that he spun around, laughing. But there was one person who didn't seem to want to celebrate.
While the others were wrapped up in their excitement, James stood abruptly to his feet and left the room, running down the steps and leaving their dormitory door wide open.
"James!" Lily's feet thudded down the stairs in her attempt to catch James before he went anywhere. "James, what's wrong!"
She tumbled into James. He had turned around once Lily called his name, but as he caught her, it wasn't in the loving grip Lily had always known.
"What do you want, Lily," he muttered, staring hard down at her.
Lily was speechless. He was breathing down on her face with raspy gasps. His eyes had turned from their beautiful hazel to a dark black and seemed to be penetrating her own eyes. James' whole face had a fierce look. Frightened, Lily backed away and pulled her arms away from where he had once had a tight grip on her wrist.
James blinked, slightly shocked, and his heavy breathing slowed.
"I'm sorry," he whispered and started to walk away.
Lily stared down at her hands. Wringing them, she finally got up the courage. "Wait, James, come back."
Calmly, he turned around with a slightly irritated look. "What?"
Lily raised an eyebrow. What? What's wrong with you?
"James, what happened?"
"What happened to what?" he questioned, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly. "What happened to yesterday, what happened to Sirius, what?"
Lily's jaw dropped. She had never seen this side of James before. He had never acted this out of character before. "James, what happened up there – what's wrong with being happy for Breanna? Her parents are alive, and you didn't even smile!"
"Well," he snapped, forcing a smile on his face, "maybe I'm not in a smiling mood anymore."
The red-head finally lost her temper. "James, damn it, if I don't get some reason why you're being a selfish, pompous little dirt bag, then I – well, I'll - " Lily struggled, searching for a word. But with a sigh, she stepped forward into James' face, looking up at him. "Why aren't you happy?"
He put his hands on Lily's shoulders. "I don't really want to deal with it anymore right now, Lily, I'm sorry."
"Why won't you just tell me – I can help!"
"Lily, you have to let me do this on my own."
"James, I swear, I can help!"
"Lily, I - "
"No, I want to help! Just - "
Thoughts flew around James' head. He was being overwhelmed by the present. Breanna's parents were alive. All of his friends were at stake, just because he was a Potter. But worse, Lily – Lily Evans – was standing no more than a foot away from him, overpowering any self-control he had left in him.
But without warning, without any sense left to realize what he was doing, James leaned in and kissed her.
He kissed her.
He no longer felt as if he had a body left, he was merely a thing floating around in a crazy, messed up world, but she had to come along, make everything twice as hard as it had been before.
Abruptly, as soon as it happened, Lily pushed away, gasping for air.
Silence loomed over them.
"I have to go."
James bolted from the room.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Lily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily stared, wordless, as pictures moved around her. One moment, she was yelling at James to tell her why he was angry, the next his lips were on hers.
Now he was gone.
Slowly, Lily brought her hand up to her mouth and touched her lips, closing her eyes. There was something there; and she knew it.
She would never, could never, think of him as a normal friend again.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Dumbledore's Office ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"I'm really sorry," James repeated for about the fifth time that night, attempting to keep his feelings bottled inside of him. He was feeling the best he had ever felt in his life, but at the same time felt like it was the worst day of his life.
"No need," Dumbledore's wispy voice sounded from his chair. "I wouldn't have gotten to sleep for another hour or so yet."
James smiled slightly, trying not to stare at his Headmaster's vividly purple-colored pajamas. "I needed to talk to you. As soon as I could."
"Of course, any student is welcome."
James nodded and swallowed. "Professor, you remember when my parents talked to you about our family being the Heir of Gryffindor, right?"
"Yes, I believe so," he said.
"And you remember when they said each person had a unique gift that came along with it?" he added, feeling nervous for some reason.
"Yes, and I assume you have figured out what yours is now?"
James nodded solemnly. "Professor, I can see whenever there's dark spells or curses used."
Dumbledore stopped nodding his head as he had been before and leaned in closer to James. "You can see them?" he questioned, without any expression on his face.
James bit his lip and stood, pacing around the room. "Yes!" he shouted. "Professor, I didn't just see the dark curses used, I saw people dying – I still do at night! And Professor Sonetra – she's really a Death Eater. But Breanna's parents aren't really dead!"
Dumbledore blinked and looked down at his hands, thinking. Then he looked back up. "What is this about Professor Sonetra?"
"She's a Death Eater!"
"James, you realize if you make a false accusation, the consequences could be horrid."
"I realize that, Professor! But I know she's a Death Eater – I saw her at the meeting!" James stopped in his path in the floor and reached up for his hair. He raced his hand through, making it stand up in several different directions.
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "I shall look into that further. Now, your next problem – Breanna's parents? You say they're alive?"
James nodded and stepped up to his desk, leaning his hands on the edge. "We found a note explaining what was supposed to happen tonight or something. It said they were still alive and were going to be tortured for information of some sort."
"And you found this note…?"
"On Professor Sonetra's desk."
Dumbledore smiled, looking as if he weren't taking anything of what James said seriously. "Why were you rummaging through her stuff?"
"I wasn't – Bella was." James shook his head and continued on. "Well, she was sorting papers for her detention and found it," James spoke, matter-of-factly.
Dumbledore nodded. "So who do you propose are the two people the Ministry of Magic thought were her parents?"
James threw his head in his hands and fell back in the chair, defeated. "I don't know," he moaned, rocking back and forth. "I have no idea what to take from this. Either Voldemort killed two random people who drank a long-lasting type of polyjuice potion to trick everyone else – or he already knows about my 'secret powers,' because he has a seer of his own and is trying to mess with my mind."
Dumbledore nodded again. "And that last reason is the exact reason why I don't want to jump to conclusions with Professor Sonetra."
James' jaw dropped to the floor. "Professor! If you saw what I did, you would know that she's a Death Eater! Check her arm tomorrow," James added defiantly, "She should have a Dark Mark there, remember?"
Dumbledore stood up and walked around his desk, standing next to James' chair. "I am fully aware of this and there being other evidence you might have leading to this thinking. But one must never jump to conclusions unless knowing they're one hundred percent correct."
James stood up again abruptly, but Dumbledore caught his shoulder, holding him where he stood. "You need to learn to be patient, James."
James just shook his head, disappointed. "Sorry, Professor. I'll be going now," he muttered, walking down his staircase and out from behind the Gargoyle statue.
Why won't Dumbledore just believe me? Breanna's parents are alive – the note was in her office! James kicked the stone wall angrily, but continued walking down the hallway, ignoring the pain throbbing in his toe.
He took several deep breaths and slowed his fast-paced walk, to a relaxing, calm walk. Oh well. I guess I'll tell Lily what's going on now. James paused; then proceeded to hit himself in the head. Never mind.
He couldn't go back the Gryffindor Common Room now. Lily would most definitely be there, and he couldn't risk seeing her now. All because he let his emotions get the best of him.
But, Lord, if that wasn't the best thing in the world, I don't know what was, James thought, smiling to himself about the thought of him kissing her.
He allowed his feet to lead the way as they took a familiar course down the hallway. Straight to Helen's room.
James put his finger up to the wall and wrote.
Lily's not inside, is she?
No, dear, why do you ask?
Can you let me in?
A small doorknob popped out of the door and James turned it, and stepped inside the cold room.
He took in a shuddering breath and immediately pulled his cloak around him tighter and began coughing from the pain of the icy stabs in his throat.
James sighed in relief as he saw the four-poster bed in the corner of the room. He peeled off his robe and his shoes, leaving only his pants and t-shirt on as he pulled back the corners of the bed.
Then, he froze and felt a familiar feeling coming to him. His mind left his body as he shook uncontrollably, sweat dripping down his face.
He jolted and realized he was no longer in Helen's room. At least, his full mind wasn't there.
"Tell me where this person is…" Voldemort hissed at three victims, sitting on the dirt floor with, what looked like, normal work robes.
"We have no idea what you're talking about," a young woman muttered, bowing her head and shaking slightly.
Don't say anything! James thought to the people. He hadn't a clue what they were talking about, but whatever it was, Voldemort shouldn't know.
"You all know exactly what I'm talking about. You've been doing research on an unknown subject," he said calmly, allowing his lips to curl up into a vampire-like smile, "and all I want to know is where it is. Then I shall leave you all to your own business and return you to your homes," he said offhandedly.
"Look, we don't know!" Breanna's father yelled, gaining a large amount of courage. But not even a second later, he realized what he had done and was quiet.
Voldemort smirked at him, baring his teeth, and turned to a robed Death Eater. "Sonetra, I do believe you said they knew."
The figure bowed down in agreement.
"Then why are they not telling us?"
"M-maybe we could, uh…" she stopped talking, apparently searching for the correct words to say. "We could give them Veritaserum," she muttered weakly.
"What was that?" he questioned, stepping closer to her, narrowing his eyes. "Did you say Veritaserum? Funny," he muttered, "I had told you over a week ago to get a vial of Veritaserum. So it should be here, shouldn't it?" he questioned, inches from her shaking figure.
"No, master," she whispered.
"No? You forgot the Veritaserum?"
She trembled. "Yes."
There was silence. The other robed figures around them didn't dare to move. Even the leaves in the trees had stopped blowing.
"Miss Sonetra, you have failed me for the last time." Abruptly, he pulled his wand out from his pocket and pointed it at her.
"Avada Kedavra," he hissed, eyes blood red.
A shrill scream sounded, echoing throughout James' head.
His mind flew back into his body, giving him a sudden jerk. Thrown off balance, he toppled backwards, over his feet, and landed, crashing his head into the corner of the coffee table.
The room went black.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Lily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily woke early, dressing before her other two roommates' alarm clocks had even gone off, and sprinted down the steps, hearing voices. Looming just over the top of the couch was a messy head of black hair.
"James?" she said, anxiously.
The boy on the couch turned around, revealing the face of a younger student, Lily knew nothing about. She sighed and forced a smile on her face. "Sorry, she muttered," and left through the portrait of the fat lady.
"Lil'! Hey, Lily, over here!"
Lily spun on her heels anxiously, grinning. And ever so slightly, her smile slipped off her face. "Oh, hey, Charles."
"Hi," he muttered under his breath as he caught up to her from behind, smiling. "I went to the portrait and the fat lady said you had left early."
Lily shrugged and started walking. She wasn't exactly in the mood to talk to Charles much this morning. Really, it was a bit awkward, especially after what had happened the night before…
"So," he muttered, attempting to take a stab at making conversation, "why'd you leave so early?"
"No reason," she lied, swiftly.
"Oh," he muttered, scratching his head. "So, you weren't looking for anyone in particular?"
Lily swallowed anxiously, color rising to her face. "Not really, why?"
He shrugged, smirking. "Well, I guess it'd be better if you weren't trying to sneak by me and find some other guy I didn't know about."
Lily forced out a laugh, biting her lip. "And why would you think I would cheat on you?"
Lily tensed as he found her hand and squeezed it. "You never know, you might actually start liking Potter," he said, jokingly.
"Yeah, you never know," she muttered, smiling up at him. "Well," she said, pulling her hand out of his grip, hoping it didn't look as if she was wanting to get away from him for now. "I'm going to go to the library for a bit, you know – last minute homework."
"Ah," he laughed, "you're the perfect model of the future Head Girl."
Lily blushed. She couldn't help it, even if she wasn't in the mood for him at the moment, compliments could still touch her cheeks. "Thanks," she muttered, looking down.
Smiling, Charles put his hand underneath her chin and tilted her face up, kissing her on the cheek.
"Meet me tomorrow night by the main entrance at seven; we'll go to Madame Puddifoot's, then.
Lily nodded, in a daze. "Sure."
Charles picked up her hand and gave it a quick peck, leaving her blushing as he left down the corridors.
Why me? Why now?
Bella
Today has been one of the best, yet one of the worst days. Last night we found out that Breanna's parents were still alive, thanks to me. Though I had to take a detention in order to get it…
But at the same time we were all "rejoicing" and "being merry," James left the dormitory, with Lily close behind, as always. I swear, nothing separates those two anymore. Well, except for the fact that James is in love with her and she already has a boyfriend, WHO, I might add, is not James. Therefore, leading to the fact that James is wallowing in self-pity – according to Sirius.
Anyway, back on track here. James left the room quickly, as did Lily, and he went somewhere in the castle, unknown to everyone. Now he's missing and no one can find him. He's skipped all of his classes and by the time dinner came, we decided to put together a small search party. Sirius, Remus, and Peter searched all of the secret rooms/passages/hallways/dungeons/anything-else-they-found-that-no-one-else-knows-about, while Breanna and I checked the grounds and Lily took over the remaining classrooms.
I hardly doubt he's anywhere outside. If he is, I sure hope he's got his cloak with him – it's way below freezing out there. Breanna and I just got back not too long ago, but we're still waiting in the common room for the others to return.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Lily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily walked slowly down the hallway, stopping at every door she found along the way, opening and searching. Each time, she held her breath, hoping for James to jump out, yelling, "Surprise!" and it would all have been just a game. But he never did.
Well, if he can hide from the rest of the Marauders, he obviously doesn't want to be found, she thought, opening a closet door, filled with brooms.
She paused.
He doesn't want to be found… Lily smacked herself in the forehead and bolted down the hallway. Of course! she thought, mentally kicking herself. He's at Helen's! His friends don't even know about the room!
Lily screeched to a halt, just as she reached the wall and held her hand in the air, midway to the wall.
"He doesn't want to be found…" she muttered, repeating her thoughts. Her hand lowered and Lily backed away. Why invade his space when he doesn't want to be found. It's his choice to hide from us all. Just stupid he'd even think of coming here – he knows that I come here frequently! Unless he wanted me to find him, but not any of his other friends to find him…
Lily frowned and scratched her head. She seemed to be chasing her thoughts around in circles, bringing them back to where she had begun, only confusing herself. Aw, hell.
Lily stepped forward and put her forefinger to the wall. Helen, can you let me in?
Lily! Thank goodness you're here!
Lily's eyebrows furrowed and she spun the doorknob, stepping inside hurried.
She stopped. Lying in the middle of the floor was none other than James.
"Oh, my god, James!" Lily whispered, running to his side. She froze as she kneeled on the ground, staring at him. He wasn't moving. In fact, he looked as if he could have been dead. The only thing that kept Lily's hopes up was the fact that his chest kept rising and falling, even though it wasn't very noticeable.
Lily glanced up at the shattered glass coffee table. She put a hand on his face, holding back tears as hard as she could. He was pale. Lily tried opening his eyes. Unconscious. He was cold, nearly frozen.
She lost her guard for a moment and let one tear fall, but soon regained her strength. She pulled off her cloak and threw it on top of his cold body, hoping beyond anything that it could at least help in the slightest.
Lily lifted up his head and cradled him in her arms.
But then she felt something wet on her arms.
And it fell down onto her clothes.
Lily looked down and pulled her arm out. There was blood trickling down her arm. On the floor, even more blood, in the spot James had just been lying with pieces of shattered glass along the floor.
Lily swallowed and put his head down gently. She then attempted to pick him up by the torso and drag him across the floor. Lily managed to get nearly a foot and then fell onto the floor, underneath his body.
"Oh, no you don't," she hissed, wrapping her arms underneath his and continuing to drag him.
Lily turned and looked at the wall doorway – it was already open. Helen had opened it for them. She smiled gratefully and continued dragging James out, watching the door slowly close as they left.
She could feel the blood seeping through her clothes, sticking to her, but could care less. The only thing on her mind was getting him to the Hospital Wing. If it weren't for that fact that he could be dead if the smallest thing went wrong, Lily would not have kept going as long as she did.
It wasn't until she reached a set of steps she finally collapsed under the weight and began breathing heavily. She continued holding his head up, not pushing him off in anyway.
"It's ok, James," she muttered. "If you can hear me, it's ok, everything will turn out fine."
James' eyes cracked open and Lily squealed in joy. "James!"
But as soon as they had opened, they were closed again, showing no trace of him ever being awake in the first place.
"James – James, wake up, I know you're awake. James!" she shouted, turning his face to look at hers. Again, he seemed to be unconscious.
"Lily, what on earth are you doing?"
Lily looked up, her heart racing. Finally, there was someone to help her! "Charles! Quick, come over here!" she hissed, pulling James up slightly, managing to kneel on the floor, supporting his unconscious body.
"Oh my – Lily, what happened?" he muttered with a dark look on his face.
"Hit his head on a glass table – he's been knocked out for several hours but I didn't find him until just now. Help me take him up to the infirmary!" Lily said, hopefully.
Charles nodded and immediately reached down and picked James up without any signs of effort showing. He ran up the steps and out of sight, leaving Lily behind.
Finally surrendering to her tears, Lily pulled her knees up to her face and wrapped her arms around her legs securely, sobbing.
Remus
"Where on earth is James? He's only done this once before when we were all at each other's throats!" Sirius shouted, pulling at his hair. "This isn't like him, just running off and skipping classes for a full day!"
Bella was sitting upright on the common room couch, hands crossed in her lap calmly. She didn't say anything.
Sirius sighed and fell onto the couch next to her. "Did you and Breanna find anything outside?"
"Nothing," Breanna muttered, shrugging.
Remus picked up where Sirius had left off and began pacing the common room.
The portrait opened and Lily fell through, looking as if she were about to fall over, legs nearly collapsing under her. Lily's face was covered with tears, along with old tear tracks, and she was covered with blood down her front.
"Lily, what – what happened?" Bella said, standing up and moving over to support Lily, with one hand around her shoulders and the other holding her under the arm.
The rest of the seventh years swarmed around her, checking to make sure she was alright.
"James!" she managed to choke out, wiping the tears running down her face. "He's – Charles took him to the Hospital Wing."
Sirius bolted from the room, speeding down and out of sight.
"Lily, honey," Breanna said softly, "can you tell us what happened?"
Lily let out a muffled scream and fell to the floor in a heap, sobbing. The others went down with her, attempting to calm her.
"Shh, Lily, it's ok, everything will be fine," Bella whispered, biting her bottom lip. She had no idea what was going on – but everything had to be ok in the end, didn't it?
"Come on, Lily, let's go to the Hospital Wing," Remus said, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her shakily to her feet. "You can lean on me if you want," he said, taking her arm and pulling it around his neck.
"We're right here next to you," Bella said, holding Lily's hand tightly in her own.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Sirius=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"James!" Lily choked out. "He's – Charles took him to the Hospital Wing."
Sirius bolted from the room and down the corridor. His friend – his best friend – was in the Hospital Wing, and the news of this came from a sobbing girl. You'd start running too.
Ideas popped up in Sirius' head, followed by even more gruesome thoughts.
He skidded to a stop in front of the swinging infirmary doors, and then sprinted through.
"Where's James?" Sirius thundered, looking around the room with wild eyes.
"Black, keep your voice down," a deep voice boomed from behind. Sirius turned and saw Charles. He stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of his school uniform and shoved him against the wall.
"Where the hell is James?" Sirius repeated, narrowing his eyes.
"There's nothing you can do but wait now," Charles hissed, glaring back. "Get your paws off me."
Sirius dropped his hands, but didn't look away. "Where is James," he stated, without question.
Charles crossed his arms calmly. "James is in the back with Madame Pomfrey."
"What happened to him," Sirius stated again.
"No idea," Charles muttered, shrugging.
Sirius balled up his fist and hit the wall, angrily, narrowly missing Charles' head. He walked away, pacing the room.
"It won't help when you're stomping around like that, Black," Charles said softly, watching his back.
Sirius turned, about to attack Charles again, but managed to control himself. "I'll walk however the hell I want, got it?"
Charles shrugged and left the room to find Lily.
He heard soft voices and a few sobs every now and then.
"Lily!" he called, walking closer to her, speaking quietly once he approached them. "I'll take her from here, thanks," he muttered.
"Charles, what did she say?" Lily managed to say hoarsely.
"She didn't say anything, Lily," he whispered, helping her to the Hospital Wing. "She hasn't come out since I brought James in."
Lily nodded and wiped her face of fresh tears.
They walked the last few steps in silence and entered into another deadly quiet zone.
Sirius stood and approached Charles. "Sorry," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I was kind-of freaking out earlier, didn't mean to hurt you or anything."
"Look," Charles said, helping Lily to a chair, "it's fine. I completely understand. The whole 'my best friend's hurt and I have no idea what to do' thing is perfectly normal in this situation."
Sirius laughed. "Thanks," he said, clapping him on the shoulder.
"No problem," he muttered, looking down at Lily. She was pathetic. Her hair was no longer neatly tied back in a pony tail, but in every odd angle you could imagine. Her eyes were red from crying so hard and tear stains covered her face. Not to mention the fact that James' blood was all down her front.
Cautiously, he sat on the armrest and reached a hand out and touched her face, pulling some loose strands of hair away. Lily looked up at him. "It'll be ok, Lily," he whispered, smiling slightly.
Lily nodded and looked away. She curled up into a ball again, hugging her legs to her chest. There was nothing she could do but wait.
There was nearly half an hour of silence in the room before Madame Pomfrey came out. Sirius stood up anxiously. "What's going on? What happened?" he asked, shooting questions at her. He hadn't had the heart to bother Lily and ask what had happened earlier.
Madame Pomfrey took a deep breath in and sighed. "Mr. Potter was hit in the back of the head with some sort of glass object. There were a few remains of pieces left in his hair and the cut in the back of his head." Lily nodded silently. "Along with getting cut, he suffered a severe loss of blood, due to the fact he's had a large, opened wound for several hours."
The room filled with noises of astonishment and disbelief. "He's also received a concussion, bruising to the brain," she explained, "and needs to be shook awake every so often, but also needs his rest. I'm asking you all not to bother him within the next day or so. If he wakes up of his own accord, I shall inform you all so you may talk to him."
Sirius nodded and dropped his head in his hands, sighing heavily. "Alright," he mumbled.
Lily nodded and buried her head as well.
"I told you," Bella said, standing up and taking Lily's hand, pulling her up from the chair and hugging her. "Everything will be alright."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Lily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Good morning, sunshine!"
Lily smiled weakly at Charles and sat down at the Gryffindor table for an early breakfast. She had woken up that morning in a pleasant mood, but the full impact of the day before came rushing back to her before she had even sat up in bed.
"Are you holding up ok?" Charles asked, sitting next to her.
Lily shrugged. "I'm alright," she muttered.
"What are you planning on doing today?"
Lily laughed dryly. "Sit in the Hospital Wing."
Charles smiled slightly. "All day?"
"I haven't out ruled the thought."
Charles laughed. "So you've forgotten our date at Hogsmeade tonight, then, have you?"
Lily took in a sharp breath. "Oh, no…"
"You did, didn't you?" he asked, smiling.
"Oh, Charles, I'm so sorry. I'm – it's just, with what happened last night, I put that as my top priority and forgot everything else! Oh, how could I have been so stupid?" Lily smacked herself in the forehead.
"No problem. If you want to stay with James all day, that's fine. We can always do something next weekend…"
"No, wait, I'm not going to cancel!" Lily said, grabbing onto his arm. "After everything you've helped me with, getting through yesterday and all. It's the least I can do," she replied.
"No, you just stay here, really, you can 'pay me back' some other time," Charles insisted.
"No, we'll do something tonight. Besides, I shouldn't stay by his side all day. I hear it isn't healthy," she joked.
"But three-fourths of the day can't be that bad."
Lily laughed, smiling up at him with that familiar gleam back in her eyes. "I'll stay with James for the morning, and we'll go out and have a little bit of fun tonight, alright?"
Charles nodded, hugging her. "Now, this is the Lily I wanted to get to know."
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Charles ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Charles walked Lily to the Hospital Wing and left once she was settled in, sitting by James' side.
He gave her a small hug and backed away, staring at her. She's acting like this is the end of the world! Madame Pomfrey already said he should wake up later and he'll be fine! Then why is Lily still sitting by him all day?
Charles sighed heavily and looked over at Lily, smiling gently as she attempted to hide a tear. I guess they're just such a tight pair. They've been best friends since winter break. He's probably one of the most important people to her right now – I'm sure it's all just a phase…
Charles nodded slightly, affirming his own thoughts and leaving.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Lily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Are you ready to go yet? He's been waiting downstairs for over ten minutes!"
Lily rushed into the bathroom, and pulled on some earrings and throwing her hair up as nicely as she could within thirty seconds.
She had sat by James' side all day. The others had brought her food during mealtimes and took turns sitting with Lily, but she didn't budge from her own spot. Only a select few times, in fact, was she alone with James. Someone was always there with her. But she had been so wrapped up in staying with James, she'd nearly forgotten about her date with Charles that night. In fact, she was beginning to think she should have taken his advice and stayed with James for this week.
"I'm coming!" Lily hollered to Bella.
"Well, it's about time!" Bella hissed at her as she threw on an overcoat and sped down the stairs. "Now," she said, stopping Lily and fixing her hair slightly. "I want you to be on your best behavior tonight and don't do anything you can't tell me about!"
Lily rolled her eyes and smiled slightly. "Thanks, Mom," she muttered, stepping into a pair of open-toed, black high-heels and walked out of the portrait.
"Lily, there you are," Charles said, greeting Lily, standing up. He stepped forward and took Lily's hand, kissing it. "You look beautiful," he said to her.
"Thanks," Lily muttered, blushing. She hadn't done anything special – add a bit of jewelry here and there, throw on a skirt, touch up her make-up, mainly her mascara, and she was ready to go. "You do too," she replied, smiling up at him. Charles had chosen a pair of black, dressy pants and a dark red, button-up shirt, with his sleeves rolled up at the wrist.
"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing down the hallway.
!!!!!!!!!!!!! Later !!!!!!!!!!!!!
"I've been having problems with Transfiguration," Lily said. "I manage to pass with a high grade, but it's nowhere near what I normally have."
"Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about," Charles replied as they walked down the path on the way back to Hogwarts, through the chilling darkness. Occasionally, one would step into a pile of snow and they'd laugh for a few minutes, and then find their path once again. "This year, Arithmancy has become harder. We all just have to work harder. Or maybe it's the fact we got a new Professor this year and he teaches differently than our other Professor did."
Lily shook her head. "I don't think it's the Professor – I haven't had any problems with him. And," Lily added, "did you know he turned down playing for the Chudley Cannons to teach here?"
"Are you serious?" Charles asked, astonished. He opened the doors for Lily and they walked into the comfort of the castle. "Never would have guessed. He always seemed like the bookworm type."
"Nope," Lily replied, smiling. "Well, maybe he was, but he also played Quidditch."
Charles laughed and the pair walked up the stone steps together. "I love playing Quidditch. I've been playing since I was in my third year."
"Really?" Lily asked, interested. "What do you play?"
Charles laughed. "You don't watch the game much, do you?"
"Not lately," she muttered. "I used to watch when I was younger, but after second year, I sort-of stopped. The whole fascination of riding on brooms wore off, and all it became was just another sport, to me."
"Ha!" Charles grinned and they stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady. "Just another sport?"
"Sorry to say it…"
"Oh well," he said, smiling. "I'll get you interested soon enough!"
Lily laughed along. "Well, are you going to tell me what you play on the team?"
"Oh, I'm a chaser."
Lily swallowed and paled slightly. James was a – no, is a chaser…
"Oh."
"Uh…" Charles frowned at her downcast face. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"It's just… James is a chaser and I was kind-of hoping not to really think about him tonight, you know? Just be free of thought."
"Oh – oh, wow, I'm so sorry, Lily," Charles said quietly, pulling her into a hug.
Lily pushed him away and blinked, clearing her eyes of what used to be tears. "No, really, I'm fine. Just forget I even mentioned it," she muttered.
Charles smiled down at her. "Really?"
Lily laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, really."
"Ok, then." He leaned down and pulled her face close to his, sealing the night with a kiss.
Charles pulled away and looked at her awe-struck face. "I'll see you around, then?"
"Y-yeah, see you…"
Charles walked down the hallway as Lily stumbled into the common room, dazed.
She hadn't felt a thing. Nothing. There were no "fireworks," as most people said, nor any music. It was just a kiss. No emotions whatsoever – none like when James kissed her.
Lily shook her head, ignoring her past thought, and ran up to her room. Stupid, she thought, I just didn't feel anything because I wasn't even thinking about it; I was worrying about James again! I knew if I started thinking about him, it would ruin my night!
Lily changed into her nightgown and slipped into her bed, noticing everyone was asleep long before she had even gotten back. She looked at the clock. 1:17. Well, that'd explain them being asleep already. Lily laid her head down on her pillow and started thinking about her night. I guess we did have a lot of fun… She smiled to herself. And when we went to an ice cream shop and he dropped the ice cream on his pants. Lily laughed out loud, almost scaring herself from the sudden noise in the room.
I guess he's not too bad…
Lily went to sleep with a smile on her face.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Sirius=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Sirius rolled over again, burying his face in his pillow. He couldn't get to sleep, no matter what he tried. He attempted calming himself with some music from the Wizarding Wireless Network, but all he found at this time was talk shows and old songs from the "old age."
Needless to say, the radio went off quick.
With the curtains around his bed closed and a candle lit sitting on the bottom of his bed, Sirius layed down and pulled out his sketchbook and drew pictures by candlelight. He drew a few lines and shaded in pieces of the paper then paused. He closed his eyes and envisioned a scene before him. Slowly, he placed objects around the paper and looked at his finished project.
It was James, lying in the Hospital Wing with a bandage around his head, sleeping. Sirius pulled out the drawing and ripped it into several small pieces, dropping it on the floor by his bed and blew out the candle.
He blinked, succombing to the darkness. This wasn't like James! He was always the careful one, never got into any trouble at all! Usually, Sirius was the one who was in the Hospital Wing and James would visit him frequently, bringing food occasionally. It wasn't supposed to be the other way around – and he wasn't supposed to be out of it every time Sirius came!
Stupid James, he thought, crawling back under his covers. He's supposed to be there for us. He's never deserted me before…
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Lily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily woke up with a slight change to her attitude as it had been the night before. She returned to her somber, quiet mood as she sat by James' bed all day.
There were several beds along each wall, all of which were empty but the one James occupied. The color white surrounded Lily everywhere she looked. The walls, doors, cabinets, beds, and bed sheets were all a brilliant white.
Lily closed her eyes and breathed in deeply from her spot, attempting to block out any outside noises and stressful thoughts.
"Knock, knock," a voice called from the doorway.
Lily looked over and smiled at Charles. "Hey, there," she said, happy to have found a distraction.
"You're purposefully trying to ditch me, aren't you?" he asked, stepping in the room and standing next to her. "You must get up early a lot, don't you?"
Lily laughed. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to get here and stay with James for today."
Charles nodded and pulled up a chair, dragging it next to her. "I'll stay with you."
Lily's jaw dropped slightly. "Oh – no, no, you don't have to. I'll be here all day, you realize that, right?"
"I know," he said. "I might leave for a few things every now and then – but I can stay here for at least a little while, right? Or are you trying to get rid of me again?"
Lily laughed and put a hand on his knee, smiling up at him. "No, it's fine if you stay here."
Charles smirked at her and leaned down, kissing her. Lily pulled away, smiling slightly, and reached for his hand, squeezing it, and then looked down into her lap. Nothing, again! she thought to herself. There were no emotions whatsoever…
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Charles ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Charles stretched and stood up from the small wooden chair he had been sitting on for nearly the whole day. He walked around the room, up and down the aisle in the infirmary.
He rolled back his sleeve slightly and checked his watch. Groaning to himself, he sat back in his chair, looking over at Lily. Poor thing, he thought, smiling at the innocent figure. Sometime around two in the afternoon, Lily had laid down on the bed near James' own bed, falling asleep as soon as her eyes drooped closed.
Charles stood again and dragged his chair over to Lily's side, picking up her hand, studying every detail about it.
He glanced up into her face and was shocked to find her large, emerald eyes staring back at him.
"Hello," she whispered.
"Hello," he repeated, just as quietly.
Lily smiled and closed her eyes slightly, then fluttering open again. "I'm surprised you stayed as long as you did," she said, barely audible.
"I must say, I surprised myself a bit as well," he muttered, laughing slightly.
Lily laughed weakly as well. "Did you stay here this whole time?"
"I did indeed, ma'am."
Lily smiled, and this time sat up, taking both of his hands in her own. "Charles," she started, swallowing, "you have no idea how much you've helped me through these past few days."
Charles shook his head. "It's no big deal, I'm just doing what anyone else would do."
"No, really," Lily said with a serious face. "You've been by my side through everything. You're such a great guy!" she confessed. "We've been seeing each other for less than a week, and already you've seen me in my ups and downs and reacted better than I could have ever imagined! You've kept me happy when, now that I think about it, these would have been the worst days of my life had you not been here. And," she finished, "I just wanted to tell you how great you are and wonderful it is that you're here."
Charles looked down, grinning, then looked back up at Lily. "Thanks," he said, smiling.
Lily leaned over, for once, taking the initiative and kissed him first. Emotion filled her and the events of the past few days left her, letting her finally feel relaxed for once. Slowly, she backed away, eyes glittering.
Whoa, Lily thought, smiling shyly, I definitely felt something that time…
Remus
"Hey, Breanna!" Remus called down the hallway, chasing after her.
"Hi," she replied, smiling.
"Whoa, haven't seen one of those in awhile," he joked, pointing to her gentle smile.
"Yeah, well," she muttered. "Seems as if all we've been doing lately is frowning or crying."
"Especially in Lily's case…"
"Of course, in Lily's case! Do you have any idea what she must be thinking?" Breanna said, nearly shouting to get her point across. "She's probably thinking that the world hates her because; first, her parents died; then her sister hates her and accuses her just because she's a witch; now, James is lying in the Hospital Wing, with a possible chance of going into a coma if we're not careful, or, even worse, having a more severe concussion than Madame Pomfrey thought, causing his brain to swell, therefore leading to death!"
"Ah," Remus muttered. "I see you've done your research."
Breanna looked over at him and glared. "Needless to say, Lily is having a hard time trying to cope with everything happening to her at once and this is one of the most major things so far, because he's filled the spot as best friend and support beam for her. If James doesn't get better soon, Lily will be worse off than without her parents!"
Remus shrugged, unable to come up with an adequate response.
"And the worst thing," she said quieter, looking at him, "is you know that I'm right."
Remus nodded, running a shaky hand through his hair. "She'll be thinking her life might as well be over if James is gone."
Breanna nodded. "And, of course, we all know how much she cares for him."
Remus raised an eyebrow, glancing at her strangely. "How much is that?"
Breanna rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? She cares for him a lot more than as a friend if she's staying by his side all day long! I mean, come on," she pointed out, "Sirius is his best friend, and even still he stays for an hour or so, but comes and goes! Given," she muttered, "he does have a short attention span. Even so, look at yourself! You're not sitting by his side all day, but you're his best friend and you don't have a short attention span!" Breanna huffed and crossed her arms defiantly. "She so has a thing for him."
Remus nodded, laughing slightly. "Never thought of it that way…"
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Charles ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"Hey, you hungry?" Charles asked, sitting next to Lily on the Hospital bed.
"A bit," she repliedShe had completely skipped breakfast and lunch claiming she wasn't hungry while Charles had brought something back to eat for himself. She felt her stomach growl.
Charles smirked. "I'll go and grab something and bring it back up for us, alright?"
"Thanks," Lily called, through the swinging doors.
"No problem," he replied, walking down the hallway.
She's really something… he thought, scratching his head. Great friend, but she's nothing like –
"Hi, Charles."
Well, speak of the devil. Charles stopped in his path and stared on, not quite sure what to do.
"We need to talk."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Lily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily stood and walked over to James' bed after Charles had left. She picked up one of her shaky hands and held it to her mouth, hiccuping slightly as a small sob choked out. Her gaze lingered around the bandage around his forehead and deep-sized cuts into his chin and cheek from, assumingly, pieces of glass.
She imagined herself speaking to him as if her were awake. Hey, James. I've had an unbelievable time the past few days. First, you got knocked out somehow. Lily sighed and sat next to him. She picked up his hand and held it in her lap. Then, Charles and I went out Saturday. We had a great time – there's so much we have in common! Hurriedly, she brushed away her tears and sat up, tall and strong. Charles and I, we may actually have a future! Aren't you happy? Lily laughed slightly. I really think there might be something between us.
Her finals tear fell. "If I think I should be with him, then why am I still here?" Lily smiled down at James once more and left the Hospital Wing for the first time that day.
Lily laughed all the way down the hallway, skipping merrily. Maybe this is what people act like when they have that special someone…
Lily astonished herself as she giggled out loud. How on earth did I ever manage to end up with a guy like Charles?
She stopped, about to round a corner, seeing Charles.
But he wasn't alone.
"I'm so sorry," Liz whispered, reaching up to touch Charles' face.
Without warning, Charles bent low and kissed her, cupping one hand on her face and the other reaching around to support her back.
Lily felt a dark, coolness shiver down her spine as the bottom of her stomach dropped out. She gripped onto the wall, attempting to hold on what sanity was left inside of her. But pieces slowly crumbled away, leaving her grasping onto midair.
"No," Lily whispered, collapsing onto the ground. She wrapped a hand around one of her locks of hair and tugged, hoping to move the hurt from emotional to physical pain. Lily's nails dug into her palms as her knuckled turned white.
She shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face as she let go of herself, pounding one fist angrily against the floor.
"Lily!" a voice gasped, sounding surprised.
Lily looked up, praying it not to be who she thought. But she didn't seem to be having that kind of luck these days.
"Lily, what happened?" Charles whispered, bending low.
Lily pushed herself against the wall behind her and looked up, terrified. "Charles – go – away."
Charles glanced past her, looking down the hallway. Looking at his precious Liz, Lily assumed, sniffing. He reached out, but she slapped his hand away, looking into his eyes. Her eyes were no longer gentle – in fact, he had never seen them so ferocious looking before.
"I told you to go away," Lily whispered deadly.
Charles swallowed, hoping she didn't see what he thought she had… Lord knows she doesn't need anymore of this.
"I'm sorry, Lily," he muttered, not moving. "It's – we just - "
Lily scrambled to her feet, pushing Charles aside, and bolted down the hallway, ignoring the protests to "stop!"
She didn't stop running until she reached the infirmary, flinging the doors open and running to James' bed.
Lily threw herself onto the foot of his bed, curling up into a fragile ball.
"Why?" Lily moaned, closing her eyes as she let several tears fall. "I didn't do anything to deserve this, I swear!" She clutched onto the furry blanket that covered James' body then felt a hand squeeze her shoulder.
Lily looked up, dreading the worst. But was surprisingly shocked.
"James," she whispered, eyes sparkling. "God, I'm so glad you're awake." Lily threw herself on top of James, hugging him as hard as she could, silently thanking whoever it was that kept continually changing her life for the better or the worse. They were finally doing something right – it was definitely getting better. "I didn't know how much longer I could take it with you being out of it."
James' eyes widened, staring at Lily, quite shocked. Here she was, literally seconds after James had woken up, and already she was lying on top of him, holding on with a death grip. "I was just checking to see if you were alright…"
"Of course I am!" Lily said, pulling away, smiling. "Everything's better now."
"Ok, well… You never know…" he muttered, sitting up.
Lily eyebrows furrowed. "James, are you alright?"
He scratched his head. "What happened?"
"Oh," Lily said, sighing. "You probably didn't realize – I think you hit your head on a table and got knocked unconscious. But you're all better now, see?" Lily laughed, wiping away her tears. Slowly, calmly, Lily breathed heavily and swallowed. "I was so worried about you, James."
He nodded, eyes downcast. "Yeah."
"James," she muttered, hopping off of the bed and standing next to him. "What's wrong?"
He scratched his head, slightly puzzled.
"Who are you?"
AUTHORS NOTE: Like I said earlier, no changes were made yet – I might not even split the chapters up, so don't even worry about that for awhile.
I really hope you all liked this chapter – I think this was probably one of my most favorite and easiest to write. (That could also be because I knew exactly what I was doing beginning to end, instead of just an "idea.") I think this chapter is one of my best, even if it's not the happiest, cause I thought there was just better emotions and you could get a better feel of a character this way. BUT, I'm sorry for you James fans since he was not in this chapter as much!
REVIEWS:
PatchLover08: Hey – I hope you liked the small bit with Lily and James this chapter. Also, I think you should be able to expect some Snape/Rookwood stuff next chapter, along with a bit of James stuff and Breanna stuff – you can just assume I'll have bits and pieces from everywhere. :D Also, I was just posting these reviews when I realized you were willing to beta for me, and I completely forgot! Sorry you couldn't beta this chapter! But thank you for reviewing!!!
ginnyweasley418: Wow, thanks a lot!!! I'm really glad you like the whole mix of things in the story instead of just certain things! I'm also glad I can write more than just one type! Thanks for reviewing!!!
Lily Thorne: Thank you! Yeah, it was a bit of a sad chapter for James! Haha, this wasn't much better, then, was it? :D Thank you for reviewing!!!
Sakura: Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter a lot! Thanks for reviewing!!!
Twilight66: Thank you VERY much!!! I'm glad you really like the whole expressing their emotions thing! :) One of the hardest parts, really. Can't overdo or "underdo" it! Haha! Thank you for reviewing!!!
Again, thanks for reviewing – everyone else who had an e-mail or was logged in with an e-mail on their main ff.net page I sent (or maybe still am sending) an e-mail to about the chapter updated, in case anyone forgot… :)
NEXT CHAPTER: More James/Lily things, possibly a bit of romance. Also, you may find out more with Snape and Rookwood, since I obviously didn't add them here, maybe some about Breanna, and possibly a little confrontation between Lily and Charles… We'll see how that one goes over…
Hope you all liked this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you!!!
Yours truly,
Amelia Bedelia
