Change of Heart
By Tempest Break
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. I'm reeeeally tired right now and don't feel like saying all the things I own...
Summary: James knows he's in love with Lily, and he's told her. Unfortunately, she likes Remus. Still, James has promised to give her his best shot and nothing less, unless she's officially Remus's girl. Meanwhile, they get closer and closer as friends, and don't the best of friends make the best of lovers? All James is waiting for is for Lily to have a change of heart.
- - - - - - - - - -
Chapter Seventeen: Silver
"Ah, Miss O'Brian," said Madam Pomfrey, sniffing at Sirius and Colleen disdainfully as she opened the door to the Infirmary. "I was wondering how long it would take you to land yourself in here." She ushered them in, closing the door behind them. "What's the trouble this time?"
Colleen grinned sheepishly. "I fell off my broom. My arm hurts like a bugger." She pointed to her left arm with the other.
"You've probably broken it – once again," said the nurse, sighing. "Let me get the solution. Be back in a jiffy." She twittered out of the Infirmary into her storage room.
Sirius turned to eye Colleen, a brow raised inquisitively. "Just how many times have you broken a bone?"
"I've broken this arm twice already. This is the third time," she told him nonchalantly. "Once in Quidditch and once I fell out of the horseless carriage on the way here."
"I remember hearing about that," laughed Sirius.
"I remember treating it," remarked Madam Pomfrey darkly, returning with the bone-healing solution.
"Oh, don't sound so surly, Poppy," Colleen chided the Mediwitch as she approached the bed.
Madam Pomfrey fixed her with a glare. " 'Madam Pomfrey' will do just fine," she said tightly.
"We're quite good chums, you know," Colleen said to Sirius confidentially as Pomfrey poured out the solution into a Styrofoam cup. "Got to know each other very intimately over the years."
"Here you are, Miss O'Brian," Pomfrey interrupted sharply. She handed her the Styrofoam cup. "And you'll need to keep quiet for a while. Get lots of rest – "
"What's that old Muggle saying?" Colleen asked. "Oh, yes. 'Surly to bed and surly to rise…' "
Pomfrey only glared at her again, looking pointedly at the liquid in the cup. "Drink."
Colleen took the foul-smelling liquid in one go. She made a disgusted noise afterwards. "I can feel the magic," she said, looking down at her arm as Pomfrey took the cup and the rest of the solution and bustled back into the back room.
"How can you drink that stuff?" Sirius asked, appalled. "I'll eat almost anything, but that's hardly qualified as edible."
"Actually, it tastes kinda like syrup."
Knock, knock!
Madam Pomfrey hustled over to the door and opened it. "Miss Silver! Right on time! Come in, come in."
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," said Selena faintly, stepping into the room and letting Pomfrey close the door behind her. She saw Colleen and Sirius, and smiled. "Hello."
"Hey," said Colleen. Sirius waved.
"I heard about the Quidditch match," Selena said sympathetically. "I'm sorry about your loss, and your arm."
Sirius growled. "It was that bastard Martinez's fault," he grumbled.
"Watch your language, Mr. Black," ordered Madam Pomfrey. "Have a seat, Miss Silver. I'll be right with you." She disappeared into her storage room again.
"Are you all right?" Sirius asked Selena after a few seconds.
Selena nodded. "Just the usual," she said with a smile. Selena watched the door to the storage room expectantly.
Sirius tried to catch Colleen's eye to ask her what was going on, but Colleen avoided him.
"Here we are," said Madam Pomfrey, emerging from her room with a long syringe in hand. Sirius could see a thick, silvery substance inside of the shot. It reminded him a bit of mercury. Colleen shuddered at the sight of the needle.
Selena rolled up the sleeve of her left arm, balling her hand into a fist to make the vein bulge on the inside of her elbow. The long needle slid into the blue, protruding vein, and Selena sat dutifully, unflinchingly, while Madam Pomfrey pushed all of the silver out of the syringe and into Selena's arm. It was Colleen who seemed to be taking the shot. She squeezed her eyes tight and shook, her teeth chattering, until she felt it safe to open her eyes again.
"That's all, Miss Silver," said Madam Pomfrey. "Thank you for being so punctual."
"It's nothing," replied Selena politely, her voice a bit fainter. Her complexion was just noticeably paler and she seemed even more faded than usual.
Sirius blinked and turned to Colleen as Madam Pomfrey went to throw away the dirtied syringe. "What was that?" he asked, confused.
- - - - -
James, Lily, Remus, and Peter reached the Infirmary just as the others were leaving it. When Lily saw Selena, she rushed to her side. "Is there something wrong? Are you okay?" she asked, only slightly frantically.
"I'm fine, Lily," Selena assured her.
"You sure?"
"Yes," she said with a smile. "Don't worry." She turned to James and said, "I'm sorry about the Quidditch match."
James shrugged. "We'll get 'em next time," he said.
"I'm sure you will," Selena said. "I wish I could be there to see it happen."
James thought she was talking about how she wasn't allowed to watch the matches, but the look in her eye told him it was a little more serious than that. He resolved to finally ask Lily what was wrong with Selena that night.
"I'm happy to see you two spending so much time together," Selena said to Sirius and Colleen. "I was always rooting for you two to get together."
Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but Colleen cut him off. "We're not together."
"Sure we are," said Sirius. "You're my girlfriend!"
Colleen laughed. "Funny," she said, "I don't remember agreeing to that."
Sirius seemed surprised. "Why wouldn't you agree to that?" he asked.
"Fine, then," she said, with a shrug. "You can be my boyfriend, if you want to so badly."
"Now wait a minute – " Sirius started.
"Admit it, Black," she said, "you've fallen head over heels for me! Nobody can resist my athletic figure and quick wit! Not to mention my flowing blond hair. La la la!" Colleen exaggeratedly flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"Yeah right, as if I would like you," replied Sirius. "I'd have to lean down too far to kiss you, Shorty."
"Just look at my sexy calf muscles," continued Colleen, showing off her well-muscled calves. "Pretty nice, eh?"
"What?" asked Sirius. "I can't hear you, you're too short! The sound waves won't travel from down there to up here!"
Lily shook her head tolerantly at the two. "Really, it's amazing you two hardly ever spoke before this year," she said. She stopped as if considering something. "Although, it was rather lucky, I suppose, that two of Hogwarts' biggest troublemakers didn't meet until their final year."
"Yeah, it's bad enough James and Sirius have been friends for so long without throwing Colleen into the mix," added Remus.
"As if you should talk, Moony," snorted James. "I seem to remember a certain grindylow set on that prat prefect Lucius Malfoy in second year that was neither mine nor Sirius's fault..."
Remus nodded wistfully. "Good times," he sighed.
"Of course, you weren't blamed for that." Sirius scowled. "James and I were scrubbing the dungeons for weeks after that incident."
"They were the cleanest they'd ever been, though," said James proudly.
"It's a bit irritating that Remus and Peter are never blamed for anything, though," said Sirius. "Peter at least is always a little guilty in our shenanigans."
Colleen laughed. "'Shenanigans'?" she repeated.
"Yes, shenanigans," replied Sirius indignantly. "It's a good word and it doesn't get the credit it deserves."
"But speaking of our 'shenanigans'," said James, "we haven't pulled any this year, have we?"
"No, but I can think of at least one person who deserves to be maimed by a herd of manticores," Sirius growled as Rodrigo Martinez walked by with a few of his Hufflepuff friends. "How that blighter was Sorted into Hufflepuff is beyond me. 'Where they are just and loyal,' my arse."
James frowned. "Sirius, I don't want to get into anything with Martinez," he said. "It was foul play, I know, but I'm sure he's feeling just as bad about it as we are."
"Hola, Potter," began Martinez as he passed James. "Qué juego bien, torpe. Necesitas más jugadores buenos en tu equipo. Y tú no eres un jefe muy bien, gringo." He laughed as he and the rest of his friends disappeared down the hall.
"What did he say?" asked Selena.
"I don't know," Sirius grumbled, "but he sure wasn't feeling bad about the game."
"I can't believe someone could be so arrogant as to rub in so slight a victory," said Lily, surprised at Martinez's behavior.
James was quiet.
"James?" asked Lily. "Are you okay?"
After a few moments' hesitation, James said, "Martinez is in for a world of hurt."
- - - - -
Later that night, James and Lily sat up late together in the Head Tower common room, doing homework for their classes; James had Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms while Lily had Potions and Arithmancy. She had already finished the rest of her homework, of course.
"What is the most efficient way to dispose of a Graphorn?" James asked Lily.
"Other than an Unforgivable Curse, I suppose it would be an Incapacitating Charm," replied Lily. "Their pelts are thick and repel most spells."
"Thanks," said James. He looked at her rather sizeable load of papers. "Erm, do you need any help with your homework?"
Lily shook her head.
"Stupid of me to ask, wasn't it? I'm not exactly a whiz at Potions, and I never took Arithmancy."
"It was a nice gesture, though," she answered with a smile.
It was quiet for a while, before Lily broke the silence. "Sirius and Colleen are quite a pair, aren't they?" she laughed.
James chuckled, nodding in agreement. "I'm really surprised they'd not found each other sooner," he said. "Kindred spirits if ever there were any."
"Yes," said Lily, smiling. She paused; then she said: "I wonder what I would have done, if someone had come up to me a year ago and told me I would be sitting here enjoying your company this way."
"You would have cried," he joked.
Lily laughed, but was cut short by someone else's voice:
"Lily? James? You awake?"
They both turned towards the voice – it was coming from the fire – and saw Colleen's head floating in the flames. She looked worried. "You are there, good!" she said.
"What is it, Colleen?" asked Lily.
"Come to the Infirmary, quick! It's Selena!"
- - - - - - - - -
Tempest: Hi everybody! It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I'm so, so, so sorry that I haven't been updating like a good fanfiction writer. I really have no excuse other than that I wasn't into this story very much. Hopefully writing this chapter has gotten me back into the swing of things and I'll get out chapter 18 faster. I still love all of you, don't worry! I'm rather happy with the way this chapter turned out. It has a camaraderie between the characters that I haven't really put in before. Oh, and what Martinez said means, "Hey, Potter. What a good game, clumsy. You need better players. And you're not a very good leader, gringo." I think I did it right. I take Spanish at school, but I'm never sure where to put the adjectives. Hehe... Oh, and in the last chapter, "voló" means "flew". Just so you know.
To Lily Natalia Evans: Wow, you changed your name? I'm so confused! YuriIbara: Haha, no, Colleen was joking around about people giving her a Galleon. It's just that my one friend pretended to be on the intercom at school and said, "Staff and students, please excuse this interruption. Just a quick reminder that everyone needs to give Irene a dollar. Thank you." I thought it was funny so I put it in here. freakyfroggurl22: Ah, one of my faithful readers... I hope you haven't given up hope for my updates! LadyLilyPotter: I'm glad you think Colleen and Sirius are funny, especially that you think Colleen is. I know OCs aren't good most of the time, but I hope you guys like Colleen and Selena. Charmed: Well you're mentioned in this chapter now! Silver Mists: I'm SO glad you like Colleen and Selena. Thank you! Flexi Lexi: Haha, yes, penis jokes. Unfortunately, there were none in this chapter. Sorry! PrincessMila107: Wow, I loved your review so much. It made me happy for hours. Of course, that was so long ago, I can't remember... Hopefully you'll read this chapter, too! Misha: Haha, you're insane. It's great. Cindy: Once again, I love that you think Colleen and Selena seem to belong in the HP universe. Gypsy Lupin-Black: Another reader who's been with me from the beginning! I hope you're still around, and haven't died or anything in the time it took me to get this out... ; XoX-PaDfOoTeSs-XoX: Thank you so much, and I'm glad you like Peter in my story. He was hardly in it at all in this chapter, I'm sorry. I can never think of anything good for him to do.
8-05-07: This chapter has been revamped! Hope you enjoy it more than before.