A/N: Thanks to the people who are following the story…you guys rock! All the people who are kind enough to review…you guys rock! Everytime you all review, it seriously makes my day, and I love it! And to ReadingRobyn, you have no idea how hard it is for me to update every day, what with summer reading for school and all that stuff I have to do, so the Supre Woman compliment was sooooo appreciated!
When James woke up the next morning, it was very late, almost noon. His head felt foggy, like a dream trying to break through into consciousness.
"You gave us quite a scare, mate," came Sirius's voice from the side of the bed. James tried to sit up as he recalled the escapades of the previous night, pain shooting through his ribs and his stomach. It felt like someone had attempted to murder him by slicing him open, and he wasn't too far off base either. He shook his head violently, grabbing his glasses from the bedside table and putting them on. Peter and Sirius were looking at him, the curtains on his bed open. James was bandaged up from the neck to the waist, the pain never slackening.
"Wh-wha-what happened?" he asked, trying to speak through the pain enveloping his entire body.
"Moony clawed you up nice and good," explained Sirius, his expression very somber. "You passed out when we came into the common room and you've been out of it ever since. It's Sunday, mate."
"Lily!" shouted James, ignoring the piercing, shooting pain covering his upper body. "She…is she worried? Does she know what happened? How did I get bandaged up without Pompfrey's help?"
"Lily knows, you passed out right after seeing her. You were a trooper, mate, you kept muttering that you had a promise to keep to her about staying conscious when you got back. And, yeah, she's a fright right now, but she went to see Moony to get her mind off of things. The bandaging, thank her for that. She used Muggle methods, it was pretty interesting."
"We should go and see Moony," said James, finally being able to sit up.
"Hey, you're in no condition at the moment. Drink this and it should help a bit," said Sirius, thrusting a vial into James's hand. James eyed it suspiciously.
"We brewed two potions this morning, you'll need this one first, a wound-healing potion, then we'll give you the blood-replenishing potion. You should be okay in no time, but you'll be sore for a few days." James drank the potion; it was bitter, but it made him feel better, and he removed the bandages from the wounds on his stomach, abs, and chest. The wounds, which had been so large the night before were now much smaller, probably not even going to leave very big scars. Sirius handed him the other potion and James drank it. It was a think, red elixir that tasted disgusting and salty, a lot like when you suck on a paper cut to keep blood from going everywhere. When James drank this, though, he felt much better, and was able to stand up. Sirius pulled out some clean clothes form his trunk and gave them to James. About an hour later, James was ready to begin a new day, his body still very sore though.
They decided to walk to the hospital wing so that they could say hi to Remus and collect Lily. When they got there, Lily was sitting at a chair beside Remus's bed and they were talking to each other. Lily seemed a little detached form the conversation, a worried look in her eye, and when they opened the door she burst forth from her chair and ran to James.
"Are you al right?" she asked, flinging her arm around his neck.
"I'll survive," he joked.
"You better," she said playful grin. "How are you walking, you should be in bed still. You should be resting."
"No worries, Lils, Sirius and Peter brewed two potions that got me back on m feet. I'm a bit sore, but nothing that can't be fixed over a few days. How's Moony?"
"He's okay, a little sore, small headache, but he should be out of here by this afternoon, and ready for classes tomorrow."
"Don't remind me," groaned Remus from the bed. "So, James, how are you feeling?"
"Could be a bit better, but not much. And, you don't worry about it, I am perfectly fine," replied James, walking over to Remus's bed.
"Perfectly fine? Lily told me what you looked like when you got back in the common room and how many cuts I left on you, it's not perfectly fine," said Remus, trying to be hard on himself.
"Moony, I have done worse to myself in Quidditch and far worse to myself in prank screw-ups, I will be okay."
"He's right, you know," said Sirius. James placed his arm over Lily's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him back on the lips. The she back away and hit him in the arm.
"Hey, what was that for?" asked James, suddenly startled.
"For leaving me last night in the middle of a kiss, it wasn't fair when you have that stupid cloak."
"Well, you would've never let me leave if I didn't distract you," replied James.
"So, that was just a distraction?" she asked, turning away from him.
"No, of course not, you know I mean every kiss I give you," he said, sweetly, grabbing her shoulders and turning her around to face him. That extra force hurt him a bit. Lily was trying very hard not to smile at him, and it was practically impossible. A huge grin spread across her lips.
"So, James, Lily tells me she got a pet cat yesterday," said Remus, sitting up in his cot. James and Lily turned around to face him.
"Yeah, I bought her cat," he replied, blushing and looking away out a window. Suddenly, Madam Pompfrey strode out of her office.
"I thought I heard voices I didn't recognize. Out, out, Mr. Lupin needs his rest, go, go away, it's lunchtime anyway. Shoo, shoo," said Pompfrey, ushering them out the door and closing it behind them. Lily heard James snort in anger.
"She's always like that," said Sirius, looking to Lily. "Don't bother with her." Lily simply laughed; she knew that Madam Pompfrey was like that, and she knew all too well. A few years back, Lily had broken her arm by getting too close to the Whomping Willow and Pompfrey wouldn't even let the professors in to give her the assignments she missed over one night in the hospital wing while Pompfrey mended the bones.
"Yeah, I remember," said Lily with a grin. "Pompfrey's right though, it is about lunchtime, and I am getting a bit hungry myself, what do you say?" she asked. Peter and James and Sirius all nodded, and they began walking to the Great Hall. James held Lily's hand the entire way and they were so close that were practically hugging each other. Sirius was stifling laughs from behind them and Peter was admiring it, he probably thought it was cute, but maybe he was smiling because they were going to lunch….
"What are we doing today?" asked James as bit into a sandwich.
"Donno, mate," said Sirius. Peter was too enthralled in his food to pay much attention to the conversation. The two boys looked to Lily for something fun to get done.
"Don't look at me. I'm new at this whole breaking rules thing," she said, waving her hands in front of her to stop them from staring. Sirius rolled his eyes and looked away, James looked up from his food at the boy crossing to the Slytherin table. He had greasy black hair and long, hooked nose, Severus Snape. Snape glared down at Lily, revulsion in his eyes.
"So, I thought even a Mudblood could do better than Potter. I am ashamed, Evans," he said, his voice dripping with disgust. He hated them both, James because he was always the butt of his pranks and Lily because she was Muggle-born. James began to stand up, but Lily grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back down.
"He's not worth it," she whispered. James continued to glare at Snape as he turned to leave. "James, calm down, please," said Lily as James continued to glare even after Snape had sat down and was talking to the other trouble-making Slytherins: Narcissa Black, Bellatrix Black, Lucius Malfoy, and Regulus Black, Sirius's younger brother.
"Stay away from them," whispered James into Lily's ear. "They're trouble for you."
"They're trouble for anyone," laughed Lily. James decided to disregard that for the moment, deciding not to tell Lily about the allegations against them that the Marauders had come up with a few nights ago. Lily finished her food and stood up to leave.
"I left something in the common room. I'll be right back, you just stay here," she said, as James began to get up too. He conceded after a bit of coaxing from Sirius and Lily and she left. James watched the Slytherin table carefully, waiting for any of the five to get up and leave the Great Hall, if one did, he would go and find Lily, the map in his pocket.
"We need something to do today, mate," said Sirius, interrupting James's glaring.
"You're right, but what can we do?" asked James, taking his eyes off of the Slytherin table for just a few seconds. And in those few precious seconds, four of the five stood up, all but Snape and strode from the Great Hall with wicked glints in their eyes.
Meanwhile
Lily grabbed the novel she had been reading on the train and exited the common room, climbing down the stairs. She was in the corridor by the Defense Against the Dark Arts room when all of the sudden, every light in the hall went off. Lily clutched the book to her chest; her breathing became frantic. She was very afraid right now. She heard strange noises from everywhere around her, and then, all of the sudden, a loud cry.
"Serpent Sortia," came the cry from all around her by four strange voices. Four snakes began to slither around on the floor around Lily, and she tried to scream, but someone had cast Sutpefy right before she did and she was hurtled across the corridor, almost losing consciousness. Things began flying at her from nowhere, and Lily was yelling Impedimenta to slow them down so she could move out of the way. Then the lights came back on and four Slytherins were standing over her almost unconscious form, one of them, Bellatrix, had a rock in her hand, and she hit Lily upside the head with it, knocking Lily unconscious.
Meanwhile
As James and Sirius were pondering over what on earth they were going to do that day, something hit James, and he looked back over to the Slytherin table. Four of them were gone. He pulled the map from his pocket and looked. Sure enough, there were five people outside the DADA room, Lily, Regulus, Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Lucius. James dropped the map on the table, stood up, and sprinted from the room, heading towards the DADA hallway where he saw something that made him roar with rage. Lily was lying on the ground, curled up in fetal position, being mauled by the four. They were kicking her and punching her and hexing her into next weekend. When James entered the hallway, they ran for it, but James got a good look at them, a good enough look to prove that the map was right.
Lily was unconscious when James got to her. She was bleeding and covered in scrapes. There was blood coming from a wound somewhere on her head beneath her hair, and bruises covering every inch of her. James had never been madder than he was in his entire life. He was mad at the four, yes, but he was enraged at himself for not being there, not being able to protect her, and not watching the Slytherin table more closely. He picked her up carefully and held her close, supporting her weight with his arms and chest, cradling her oblivious form against his body. He carried her to the hospital wing and knocked on the door loudly. Madam Pompfrey opened the door, and, seeing only James, tried to shoo him.
"Go, go, I told you, Mr. Lupin won't be out until later this after - oh my word!" she gasped, seeing Lily. "What has happened to her, Potter?" she asked, waving him into the hospital wing.
"I saw some Slytherins beating on her in the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor. They were punching and kicking and hexing like madmen," explained James, gingerly placing Lily on a cot that Pompfrey had just placed pillows and a blanket on.
"Who? What Slytherins?" she asked, growing very anxious.
"There was Narcissa Black, Bellatrix Black, Lucius Malfoy, and Regulus Black," said James, grabbing Lily's hand and holding it tightly in his.
"The teachers must be informed, the headmaster, they will be suspended, expelled, detained for weeks, something must be done," ranted Pompfrey.
"May I suggest that you tell their head of house and my head of house and then I can deal with each one of those no good, dirty little – "
"Now, Mr. Potter," interrupted Pompfrey before James could say something he would regret. "I will tell the heads of Gryffindor and of Slytherin and you will tell your story and if Miss Evans has come around by then, she will tell hers. The offenders will be there too, I promise they will be punished for this action if what you say is indeed true. I know you would never hurt Miss Evans, you've craved her for years and now you two are dating, so I understand that you could definitely not be the culprit, but we will find out if those students are."
"Thanks, Madam Pompfrey," said James, looking down at Lily's still and bruised and bleeding form.
"Please, go and get the potions master and ask him to brew a wound-healing potion right away and to bring it here," said Pompfrey. James looked up at her, astonishment on his face.
"I…I'm sorry Madam Pompfrey, but I can't leave her, I…I need to stay with her, please, Ma'am," replied James.
"Oh, very well, I will do it, but behave whilst I am gone, Mr. Potter," she said, striding out of the hospital wing. James saw Remus lift his head from the pillow, he must have been asleep the entire time.
"What are you doing back here?" he asked, standing up and striding over to the bed where Lily was. He gasped, completely horrified by what he saw: her two blackened, emerald green eyes, her bloodstained clothes, the blood dripping off the strands of her fiery red hair, and the bruises that covered her every inch of visible skin. "How did this happen, James?"
"She was ambushed by Padfoot's family members, you know, except Andromeda, and the Malfoy kid. They were planning to beat her to death if no one stopped them, I'm sure of it," explained James, not looking up from the bruised and bleeding hand he was holding.
"Will she be okay?" he asked, not looking up either.
"I really don't know," said James, a single tear rolling down his cheek and landing on Lily's hand. She stirred slightly and a more peaceful expression crossed her face. Apparently she was dreaming.
Sirius and Peter entered the room, the blank map in hand.
"Where is she?" demanded Sirius. He looked to see James and strode over to him, placing a hand on his should for comfort as James cried broken, tearless, sobs. Peter was there too, looking down at Lily with an expression of angst on his face. Remus was crying too and tears slowly began to appear in Sirius's eyes. Peter seemed to be debating over whether to hold in his tears or to let them flow freely as the other Marauders had done. He, apparently, decided to hold them in. When Pompfrey came back and saw the three crying boys and the troubled one, she didn't have heart enough to make them leave, especially not James, who was muttering to the unconscious Lily as she entered the room.
"I am so sorry, Lily. I should have been there to keep you safe," he whispered, tears streaming down in his face and onto Lily's pillow as he sat on the edge of the bed, still holding her bruised hand in his. Pompfrey poured the potion into Lily's mouth and her wounds began to heal. The she walked to a cabinet and grabbed some solutions that made the bruises fainter, the swelling go down, and the bleeding stop altogether. The four boys stayed by Lily's bedside the entire night, three of them not daring to sleep in case she woke up. Peter cried himself to sleep in one of the chairs and James, Sirius, and Remus stayed awake, either crying as they spoke to her still form or watching her anxiously in a worried manner.
A/N: You know what they say, no tears in the writer, not tears in the reader. I cried and I kinda hope you did too. I will update quickly, I know how much I hate cliffhangers in books' chapters, so read, review, you know the drill, and feel free to yell at me for stopping at a place like this!