Chapter 32

"Oh Lily," Alice said throwing her arms around her best friend. "I am so sorry."

Lily had tears in her eyes and was nodding, "I figured it was the only way I could get you to talk to me."

"What?!"

"You have been avoiding me."

"No I haven't," Alice lied.

"Yes you have," Lily sniffled. "I have a feeling it has to do with Harry crawling and showing magical abilities before Neville."

Alice sighed, "It is not only that. I mean I know that they are only a day apart so I was hoping that they would progress about the same time. All I ever hear from everyone about how brilliant Harry is and what new thing he has done. Then there is Neville…my poor baby is so far behind."

"But he is not, Harry is just progressing very fast. I did not expect any of this for a long time."

"I just do not know what to do with him."

"You have got to keep on working with him, give him your everything."

"I have."

"I know," Lily nodded. "So once Albus told us that he was pretty sure that Voldemort was after Harry and not Neville, I figured it was the only way I would get you to talk to me."

"No," Alice protested. "I am not mad at you, I am mad at myself for being so stubborn. Hell I hadn't even heard about the attack on the Healer school until this morning when Frank told me at breakfast."

"That attack happened because of me."

"Lily."

"No I am serious, that was suppose to kill me. Thank Merlin that Harry was throwing a fit and I was five minutes late at school."

"If I was being such a prat then who was babysitting Harry?"

"Remus."

Things with the war against Voldemort and his Death Eaters raged on and Lily honestly was glad that she had decided to stop going to Healer school for a while. James was working crazy hours from being an Auror and he was home at odd times. He had no real work schedule anymore, it was only when his pager went off.

"This is insane," Lily sighed one very early morning as Harry was running a fever and James had just been called into work. "You just got home two hours ago…"

"It is my job love," James said kissing Lily as she was trying to hold a screaming Harry. He latched on to his father and did not want to let go.

"What is wrong with him?" James yelled over the infant's screams.

"It has got to be the fever," Lily sighed as she pulled the baby away from James. "Be careful."

"I always am," James said kissing Lily again. "It took me long enough to bag you, I am not ready to lose you yet." He joked and she rolled her eyes at his arrogance but smiled letting him know that she was not angry with him.

"I love you."

"I love you too," James said walking out of the house getting ready to apparate to work.

"What is wrong with him?" Remus yelled over Harry's screams later on that morning.

"I have no idea," Lily cried at her wits end. "He has been crying like this since we were awoken at three this morning that James had to go back to work."

"Sirius did not get home until one, I know because Amelia made me stay up with her."

"James too," Lily nodded as she gave Harry some medicine to get the fever down.

"That is insane."

"It is Voldemort," Lily sighed.

"I am so angry!" Alice said walking in with Neville on her hip as she slammed the front door.

"Ah another wife of an Auror," Remus chuckled.

"This is getting out of hand!" Amelia said putting Neville in the playpen and stuck Harry in there with him. For the first time that day Harry quit crying and fell asleep a few minutes later.

"Just think if you had gone back to work after giving birth to Neville."

"I never see him anymore!"

"I know," Lily sighed.

"Okay, yeah Amelia needs to be here for this conversation and not me." Remus said a bit uncomfortable, "I heard all of this from her last night."

Another Death Eater attack on Muggles, but this time Voldemort was no where to be seen. James was exhausted in every way possible, but went on and just thought about getting home safely to Lily and Harry.

"Oh it's the Mudblood lover!" Cackled a voice that James knew only too well.

"Bellatrix," James turned around.

"My blood traitor cousin, my poor aunt is so ashamed of you."

"I am as ashamed of all of you," Sirius said coolly.

"Tonight you die," she cackled and her husband laughed with her.

The fight went on for hours and soon the Death Eaters were out numbered and left, but Bellatrix was not going without a disaster.

There was a knock at the door about one that afternoon and Lily sighed. She had wanted to take a nap as Harry was out. She opened the front door to see James's boss standing in front of her.

"Moody?"

"Can I come in Lily?"

"Of course," Lily said motioning for him to come through.

"Albus has your house under wonderful surveillance, your family is defiantly safe here at Godric's Hollow."

"Come on in into the sitting room," Lily said as he followed her. "Tea?"

"I actually can not stay long, I have to go file this case."

"Oh of course," Lily nodded. "When is James coming home?"

"That is actually why I am here."

"Okay," Lily asked looking very confused.

"Lily there has been an accident."

"No," Lily began to cry.

"He is at St. Mungo's right now."

"Oh Merlin no," Lily began to sob.

"St. Mungo's is pretty full right now and James is in intensive care. They do not allow children in there, so you might want to find a babysitter."

"Thank you," Lily nodded.

"I will show myself out."

"Thank you Remus," Lily smiled.

"No problem, go make sure that James is okay. I will stay here as long as you need me to."

"Thanks again Remus," Lily said hugging Remus tightly and kissing him on the cheek. "You are such a good friend to James and I."

Lily walked out of the door after handing baby Harry to Remus and kissing her baby goodbye. Then Lily waved her wand and apparated right outside of St. Mungo's.

Lily ran into the door and saw there was a line out to the door of people talking the receptionist who looked really harassed at the moment. After standing in the line for more than twenty minutes, bouncing up and down Lily got to the counter.

"Can I help you?"

"Potter, James Potter. He is an Auror and was rushed here."

"All Aurors who are here have been rushed to the ER."

"Thank you," Lily yelled as she ran down the corridor.

"Sorry Ma'am I can not let you in," a man stood outside the door to stop her.

"My husband is in there!" Lily said with tears in her eyes.

"I am sorry…"

"My husband is in there!" Lily yelled at this time with tears falling down her face, "Let me in there!"

"We are not…"

"Pertifuculus Totalus!"

Lily ran past the immobile man now on the floor, she felt a bit guilty but the guilt was being over powered with worry for James. She was down the hallway looking to her left, then right, left, right, over and over in that way. She had to find the room James was in.

"Lily?"

Lily turned around white as a ghost and almost started crying as she ran up to none other than Sirius Black sitting in a muggle wheelchair.

"Sirius!" She yelled with tears falling down her face as she bent down and gave him a bone crushing hug, "Where is James?! What happened?"

"They have Prongs in the same room as me, but I am warning you now…it's not pretty."

"I don't care I want to see him!"

"Down at the end of the hall," Sirius nudged his head. "Room 350."

"What are you doing down here?"

"Bored. Push me and I will show you where we are at."

Lily opened the door with Sirius at the chair but she left him at the doorway, which Sirius wasn't surprised or offended.

"James!" Lily whispered as huge tears fell down her face and on to her blouse. "Oh James," she said wanting to throw him into a bone crushing hug but afraid that she would hurt him even more.

"I'm alright Lily," he smiled but Lily could see how much he was in pain just by his facial expression and the look in his eyes. "Where is Harry?"

"I left him with Remus."

James coughed and a bit of blood came up, "Don't look at me like that." James said looking away from her.

"What happened?!" She asked sitting down in the chair beside him, but really wanting to crawl up in the bed and never let him go.

"Horrible attack," Sirius said wheeling himself to his bed as a nurse came in the room and yelled at Sirius for being out of bed and put him back where he belonged. There were some cries of agony as he felt his entire body of fire.

James had a huge gash open on his forehead, busted lip, both hands where bloody and one hand you could see down to the meat. His fingers were all mangled and Lily was afraid that the middle left finger was going to fall off by the shape it was in. There were a few cuts on his abdomen, but his knees got the worst of it all. One was oozing this green pus and the left one looked burnt and would not stop bleeding.

"What happened?!" Lily asked again.

"Well we were winning against Voldemort and his Death Eaters," James sighed as he looked into Lily's brilliant green eyes that only held worry and fear for him. "Then out of no where we started losing, and bad. They threw the usual unforgivable curses, but there were curses they were throwing at us that I had never heard."

"That's how James's knee looks the way it does," Sirius spoke up.

"It looks burnt," Lily chocked.

"It is," James sighed as he lifted his hands out of two separate tubs with antiseptic to stop the infection and showed Lily as she gasped. "After they threw the burning curse on my legs they threw 'Crucio,' on me."

"That's how his hands and face are they way they are," Sirius spoke again.

Lily then turned her attention to Sirius, "What happened to you?"

"New curse," Sirius sighed. "Paralyzed me."

"For good?" Lily asked feeling ill.

"They think only temporarily," James spoke up.

"Thank Merlin," Sirius sighed. "Amelia would kill me if she had to take care of me for too long," Sirius joked.

"Has Amelia seen you yet?"

"No, they are only letting family in. You will tell her I am alright, right?"

"Of course," Lily waved and then another shock ran over her. "Frank?"

"We haven't seen him," James said in almost a whisper.

"Not since we left the Ministry," Sirius nodded to James's answer.

"Merlin I hope he is alright."

"Me too," Sirius and James said at the same time.

James and Sirius were both released later on that night and it was already past Harry's bedtime by the time Lily got home with a very banged up James.

"He's already asleep in they playpen," Remus said smiling as he looked up from the Evening Prophet. "Been asleep for about an hour and a half now."

"You know you are the only one that can get him asleep when James or I am not here."

"Yeah," Remus smiled. "Padfoot hates it."

"Yeah he does," Lily chuckled.

"How is Padfoot?"

"Alright Moony," James said as Lily helped him sit down on the couch to prop his legs up. "They think he is only temporarily paralyzed."

"Wheelchair?" Remus asked as he felt his throat tighten up and thoughts went straight. Of course his immediate thoughts went to when Gabriella had been paralyzed and sent to that muggle contraption. How much she had hated it and felt that it had become her prison, hell on earth. Gabriella was outraged that the magical community had not come up with a solution of how to make her walk. So she had taken matters into her own hands, yes it had only been a temporary solution but she had planned to find a cure for her condition. Then she died.

"There is nothing to get him to walk again?"

"His legs just aren't moving and all the magical medical remedies they have could not fix him, they think it is just shock from a new Death Eater curse. Hopefully in a couple of weeks he will be back to normal."

"What about the solution that Gabriella had come up with?"

"I figured you would think of her in this situation," Lily smiled at him knowingly.

"Well," Remus sighed. "She never leaves my mind."

"After Gabby died no one pushed on her invention, except of course for the Wolfsbane Potion which is invented under her old colleagues name."

"Bastard."

"So it has been sitting in her own notes at her old workshop."

"What?!" Remus asked a bit outraged, "Gabriella was a brilliant mind and a wiz at Potions. Why in Merlin's name would you ignore her genius?!"

"The Ministry is still trying to figure out the culprit for her murder, it has just been put in the Cold Case files."

"I know," Remus said a bit bitter.

"So they have let someone reopen Gabriella's notes finally and there is a girl now at the Ministry whom is now continuing Gabriella's work."

"Good," Remus smiled. "I shall go see her tomorrow, goodnight." Remus disapparated.

Lily sighed as she picked up her baby and went upstairs to bed.

"Come in," came voice as Remus Lupin walked into the Ministry's potion labs.

As Remus walked in he saw with his own eyes where Gabriella had come to work, he had never been inside before.

"Can I help you sir?" A boy with thick black glasses, blonde hair, and blue eyes asked.

"I am looking for the person that is picking up Gabriella Martinez's work?"

"Lab 23B."

"Thank you," Remus said walking away without introducing himself or asking anything about the boy he had just spoken with.

At the back of the laboratory was room 23B, looked to be the biggest of them all. Remus knocked at the door and he heard a shuffle to the door.

"Who is it?" Came a sweet small voice from behind the door.

"Remus Lupin."

The girl opened the door and frowned, "Do I know you?"

"No," Remus shook his head at the young woman in front of him. She had brown hair wrapped into a bun on top of her head, small wire rim glasses, a button nose, slender body, and about five foot flat.

"Then can I help you?"

"Yes," Remus said he would have already stepped into the lab room but the girl was blocking the room. "I hear you are taking over Gabriella Martinez's work?"

"Yes," the girl nodded. "What does that have to do with you?"

"If we could speak in private."

"I do not know you," the girl said in what Remus thought was a very rude tone.

"Look," Remus sighed as he ran his hands through his hair, a very James Potter moment. "Gabriella was my girlfriend and I was outraged when they did not let someone finish her work."

"Of course," the girl nodded. "Miss Martinez was one of the most brilliant minds this centaury in Potions. She had so many wonderful things she was working on…"

"Yes," Remus nodded. "I heard they just recently let someone take over her notes and her work."

"Yes, they let me finish Gabriella's work."

"I was wondering how far you were coming along to being finished with the potion she presented at the Ministry Ball on the night she died."

The young woman in front of him frowned, "Now if you were truly Gabriella's boyfriend then you would certainly know that I can not do that. That is classified material, a potion that the Ministry is keeping a close eye on."

"That is outrageous!" Remus yelled startling the young woman, "They had no idea that Gabby was making this! She surprised everyone at the ball, including me?!"

"So if you had no idea about it…why ask now?"

"This is personal."

"Then follow me," the woman motioned him inside her office and locked the door. "Sit," she motioned to a chair opposite her things as she waved her wand and everything was gone.

"As I am sure you are aware Gabriella had been attacked by a horrible Death Eater attack in Hogsmeade when we attended Hogwarts."

"Yes."

"She had been confound to that wheelchair and she hated it. It was a prison to her and more often then none she called it her hell on earth."

"Yes."

"St. Mungo's had told her she would be paralyzed for the rest of her life, she was devastated and almost went insane months afterwards until she finally got up and did something about it."

"Yes," the girl sighed. "What does that have to do with you now? Gabriella has been dead for almost a year now."

That stung deep, deep down.

"My best friend is an Auror for the Ministry and they are saying for now it is just temporarily but what if it is not?"

"Ah," the girl nodded. "You want to know how far I have come on that potion. You want to know if I have it in a liquid form like Miss Martinez had on that night?"

"Precisely," Remus nodded.

"I do not at the moment, they just gave me her case a few weeks ago. This potion is a very complex potion, nothing I can not handle of course. This potion took some months in making. It will be a while before I can get it the way you saw it."

"Right," Remus sighed. "Do you know when?"

"I am sorry I do not."

"It was nice to meet you…"

"Bethany," she smiled at him. "Bethany Sparrow."

"Remus Lupin."