Guilty Love – by xxNEESHxx

Lily hates James. She always has, and she always will. But what happens when James is seriously sick and it's Lily's fault?

No dedication in this chapter. I didn't give u lot time to review chappy 4. Oh well. Ooh! I know! This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has reviewed my story so far, because you are all angels.

Guilty love

Chapter 5 - The waiting game. It's impossible to cheat.

The Marauders slowly made their way to the Hospital wing. When they entered, both Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey were there, discussing James's coma. They looked up as the boys entered, and Dumbledore spoke.

"We are still examining Mr Potter, and we need quiet for this. You may stay here, but I want no noise, understand?" he fixed each boy with a piercing gaze and one by one they dropped their heads and gave a silent affirmative. He nodded, and turned back to Madame Pomfrey and James. Peter grabbed three visitor chairs and they sat down on one side of James's bed, staring at their unmoving friend.

They sat there for the rest of the evening, each lost in their own thoughts until Madame Pomfrey spoke.

"Albus, shouldn't we send the boys to their tower??" Dumbledore blinked and for a moment looked confused at seeing the boys still sat there.

"Yes, yes Poppy you are absolutely right. Boys, off to bed with you. You may return tomorrow, after you have eaten your breakfast." He held up a hand, forestalling any protest. "You will do as I ask boys, or you will not be coming in at all." They agreed, and trudged out of the Hospital Wing to the Gryffindor Tower.

They entered after giving the password to a concerned portrait, and stepped through the portrait hole to find the whole of Gryffindor sitting in the common room. They shook their head at the questioning looks.

"No change." Lupin muttered.

They went to bed, ignoring the fact that it was only 9:30 and even the 1st years were still up. Lying in bed silently, each boy was overwhelmed by the looming silence coming from the empty fourth bed.

"What would we be doing if James was here?" Peter asked softly. Sirius snorted.

"God Peter, you're such a girl. But if he was here…. We would be…."

"Plotting." Lupin broke in. the other two looked at him. "We would be plotting, and having pillow fights and thinking up ways to torture Snape.

They laughed.

"Yeah. You know, when we were sitting in the Hospital Wing I was trying to think up pranks, and I couldn't think of one. I think I lost my inspiration."

The boys lay in silence for a few minutes after Sirius's statement until Lupin said

"We need to wake him up." He sat up and looked to either side of him at his friends. "I know Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey are looking into it, but we should as well." Sirius leapt of his bed… and fell on the floor. Undaunted, he picked himself up and proclaimed loudly

"Yes! We are the Marauders! We can do anything! We will wake up Prongs!" Peter, always a follower, jumped off his bed too, and agreed. They both looked at Lupin.

"I'm not jumping off my bed." They looked at him, and sighed.

"Killjoy" all of them caught each others eyes and looked away, aware that they were having fun. It felt wrong to be joking around without James, and Peter and Sirius went back to their beds and closed the hangings.

They soon drifted off to sleep, worn out by the searching and worry, and woke early the next morning. They got dressed in record time, Sirius only looking in the mirror for 5 minutes instead of his usual 12, and rushed to the Great Hall.

Again, their breakfast disappeared almost as soon as they put it on their plates, and they left before most people arrived. But as they walked trough the doors, Lupin stopped.

"You two go ahead. I'll catch you up."

"Why, what's going on?" Peter asked.

"Nothing, I just thought I could go the library and find some books on Depressoma. We can start looking at them in the Hospital Wing."

"Great idea!" Peter enthused, (he thought all their ideas were great. Sirius nodded.

"For once, I actually have to agree with Wormtail." He ignored Peters muffled protest and added "You want some help?"

"No, I'll be fine. That new librarian hates you anyway, she's more likely to hit us with the books than let us use them if you're there. Sirius chuckled.

"Alright. See ya in a bit then Moony." They parted ways and sped through the corridors.

(time skip)

Lupin walked through the hallways towards the Hospital Wing, humming softly to himself. He was quite pleased – he had managed to pick up several books about wizarding illnesses, and he was sure there would be something in there to help them save Prongs. With him in a coma, they were all different. Lupin had never really thought about it before, but now he realised that the four of them had a balance that kept them together. They were all different sides of the same unit.

Sirius was the mischief. He was their main pranker, and he took great pride in breaking rules. To him, a rule was just a challenge, and his brain seemed made for fun.

Peter was the weak side of them, although Lupin felt bad thinking this. He grounded them in their own vulnerability. Seeing him reminded the others that the Marauders were not perfect.

Lupin himself was the sensible side, the calmest (except on the full moons), he helped to stop the others going too far. He was their brakes.

James… James was the love. His love for Lily defined him, and consequently, brought the others in. His love for Sirius had made him adopt the boy as a brother. Lupin knew that James loved all of them as family, and that was part of the reason they stayed together. With James unconscious and his love for Lily the cause….. Lupin didn't want to think of it.

Shaking his head to clear them of these confusing and depressing thought, he entered the Hospital Wing.

"Hey guys, I got some really useful books tha….." his voice trailed away at the expression on his friends faces. "What is it?" he asked warily.

"They finished examining James, and… there's nothing we can do! We can't help him until he has sorted out his problem in his mind." Peter said this in a shaky voice after glancing at Sirius, who was obviously in no talking state.

The books fell from Lupin's arms in a deafening crash that made Madame Pomfrey and Proffessor Dumbledore look up. Seeing the boys horrified faces, Dumbledore came over.

"There is still hope. He may wake up, but it will be up to him if he does. Gentlemen," Dumbledore announced, including all of them in his piercing gaze, "The Waiting Game has begun."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You guys should love me. I was gunna put up just chapter 4, then I thought, no, I should be nice to my readers. So…. 2 chapters at once! Now you guys need to send me hugs.

Goodbye, from the ever great (and oh so humble) xxNEESHxx

Remember, REVIEW!! Make me proud, my grasshoppers.