A/N: Ok, sorry for the wait. Here's chapter 4. Thank you guys for reading and reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of it. Only the OCs.

Chapter 4
She didn't notice Murphy try to leave the room. She didn't notice the tall figure throw him back against the wall. She didn't notice any professors come into the room. She didn't notice them pointing at her. She just sat in her corner and cried.

The tall figure came over to her, while Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout talked to Murphy.

"Lauren?" She realized now that her savior was none other than James Potter.

She didn't care that it as James. She threw her arms around him, looking for some kind of comfort. Luckily, he seemed to know what she was thinking and wrapped his strong arms around her waist, pulling her close.

She cried into his shoulder, thinking about how it could have ended, had he not shown up. She hated thinking like that and vowed herself to stop.

"Come on." He said. "Hospital wing."

She allowed herself to be led there by him. He was angry, she could tell, but he was doing what was asked of him and being there for her. And she was grateful.

Madame Pomfrey was waiting for them at the door. There wasn't much she could do but let Lauren stay there for the night (which she forced her to do).

She was lying in bed, when James came over.

"Hey." He said.

"Hi." She said.

There was an awkward silence for a bit. Then, "Thanks." She said.

"You're welcome." James said.

"Potter." McGonagall briskly walked into the Hospital Wing. "Come here."

James smiled at her. "I'll be back." Then, he followed McGonagall out of the room.

Lauren sank back against the pillows and waited. She wasn't sure why, but the only thing she wanted right now was to see James.

Her wish was granted. He soon came back into the wing and sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"I've never been in the Hospital Wing before." Lauren said. "Not once."

"Really?" James said. She nodded. "I come here all the time." She laughed, thinking he was sarcastic. "No, I'm serious. I'm here because of Quidditch and pranks and everything. At least once a week, somebody from the Quidditch team is here in the Hospital Wing." She laughed. He smiled.

James was glad she was laughing. He was worried about her when he saw what was going on.

"Potter, out." Madame Pomfrey said.

"You going to be all right?" James asked, ignoring her statement.

"Potter. Out!" Pomfrey tried again.

"I'll be fine." Lauren told him.

James nodded. He took her hand, gave it a quick squeeze, and then shot a small smile at her as he left the room.

And for the first time, she saw exactly what Rose was talking about. James Potter really was a good guy

James was pissed. He was waiting at the bottom of the Grand Staircase. He had to come through here eventually. Last night, he had been too worried for Lauren to be mad.

He had arrived in his dorm and gotten into bed. The others were all in bed already (it had been pretty late when he got there) and didn't acknowledge his arrival, if they noticed him come in.

James hadn't been able to sleep very well. And the worry for Lauren was still there. But a sleepless night of thinking about her and Murphy McElroy had just made him angry. He had gotten up way early, gotten showered and dressed, and gone down to the Entrance Hall to wait.

"James!" He heard Rose call. She ran over to him.

"Not now, Rose." He growled. He had spotted McElroy, with a couple of his friends, his trunk with him.

"Where were you last night, James?" She asked. "You and Lauren went off to detention and never came back. What happened?"

He ignored her. "McElroy." He called and began walking over there. His fists were balled and he could feel his anger surging.

"Well hello Potter." Murphy had a smug look on his face, just causing James to feel even angrier. He could sense Rose trying to catch up to him, but he was in range now.

McElroy spoke again. "How's La…" He was cut off when James' fist made contact with his face. He stumbled backward.

Rose shrieked. "JAMES!" She tried to grab his arm and stop him but James punched him again. And suddenly McElroy was fighting back. James was much quicker and was able to get more punches in.

McElroy threw a punch.

"Mr. McElroy!" Professor McGonagall stood at the landing. She walked down to the group gathered around the boys. "You are in no position to be throwing punches." She said sternly.

"Potter started it." McElroy spat.

"I didn't see Potter throw a single punch." McGonagall had the quickest, smallest smile James had ever seen on her face for a second before she was back to pursing her lips. "I expect to see you gone in the next five minutes. Miss Weasley, please escort Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing."

Rose pulled James, despite his protests that he was fine, toward the Hospital Wing.

"Nice punch." Scorpius clapped James on the back as he joined the cousins. Rose glared at the two of them disapprovingly.

"Tha…" James began but was cut off by Rose's shriek. She ran over to her best friend.

"Hi." Lauren said, awkwardly.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked. James hung back a bit.

"Uhh." Lauren said.

"Oh my god." Rose said. "You…but…she…but…you…and…he…"

"Yes?" James said, confused.

"What happened to you?" Lauren asked.

"Punched McElroy." James said.

"You shouldn't have done that." Lauren frowned. "It's not going to do anything."

James nodded. "I know. But it sure made me feel better."

Lauren laughed softly. "Ok." She said. "But have fun in detention."

James smirked. "That's the brilliant thing. McGonagall didn't see me throw a single punch. I'm not getting detention for it.

"What?" Lauren asked incredulously. She opened her mouth to speak again, but she was cut off by Madame Pomfrey coming over to inspect James. She tsk'ed him once but said nothing as she pointed her wand at a small swelling on his forehead.

"Thanks." James said as she walked away. "Are you staying here today?"

Lauren scowled. "I can leave in time for lunch."

James shrugged. "All right. I'm up for ditching morning classes and spending the morning here." He paused. "Or better yet, let's bust her out and hang out outside. It's pretty nice out."

Scorpius grinned. "If it gets me out of class, then I'm game."

Rose bit her bottom lip, clearly debating in her head.

"Come on, Rose." James said, exasperatedly. "There's no need to make a Pro/Con list. Scorp and I are going to bust Lauren out of here and ditch morning classes. You're either in or out."

Rose glared at him. "You do not mock the Pro/Con lists, James." She paused a minute. "But I'll skip with you."

And soon, Lauren found herself with James, Scorpius, and Rose, walking (well, sneaking was more like it) to Gryffindor Tower.

And the four friends (because they could now be called that) spent a nice morning playing Exploding Snap.

Lunch was slightly…awkward. She had to explain why she hadn't come back to the Common Room last night. And then she had to explain why she and James were getting along now.

But her friends were all happy. Since no one had any problems with any other Gryffindor sixth year now, they were all able to hang out. And lunch was hysterical.

She had always known that James and Scorpius were funny. It was part or their charm. But she realized now, just how funny they were. They were silly and sarcastic and they threw jokes and insults back and forth between each other and Danny and Tom.

In fact, the group of nine was so loud and rowdy that Professor Longbottom had to come over and ask them to quiet down a couple of notches. They laughed, but did as he asked.

Classes that afternoon were fairly calm, in the sense that there were no fights. Professor Slughorn commented that he had never seen the Gryffindors so loud together before. Everyone in the Advanced Potions class had laughed.

Somehow, in the next two weeks of peace and harmony, Lauren had realized that she now considered James not just a friend, but one of her best friends, right up there with Rose.

And now, the first Quidditch match of the season was coming up. The annual Gryffindor Slytherin game was here and the Slytherins were taking any chance they could get to hex the team. James was acting like a nutter, asking all members of the house to look after his team, especially his tiny second year Seeker, Meghan Dearborn.

Meghan had already been sent to the Hospital Wing with a swollen wrist and James wasn't about to take any more chances. He was constantly seen walking the girl he considered another little sister to and from classes, even if he would be late to his own classes.

Scorpius and Fred Weasley could be seen escorting third year Keeper Casey Andrecotti to his classes while seventh year Johnny Maple, the third and final of the Chasers (besides James and Andrea) was trusted to make it to class on his own way. And James had trusted Tom and Danny to make sure that Andrea was all right.

He was taking no chances, and therefore asked everyone in Gryffindor to help him. They, of course, were completely up to the challenge and Lauren felt awful for poor Meghan Dearborn, who seemed to be getting the worst of it and couldn't even walk to the bathroom without a escort of anywhere from six to ten men in the corridor and two of them clearing the bathroom of harmful presences first.

And finally game day was here. Lauren and Rose, decked out in Gryffindor gear, arrived with Andrea to breakfast on game day to see the Gryffindor team crowded around the table. The three girls joined James, Scorpius, Johnny, Casey, Fred, and Meghan. Meghan looked ready to be sick and Johnny was gently running his hand up and down her back. Lauren knew this was her first game and was anxious to see just how she played. James had been raving about her for a while now.

James glared at Andrea as she sat down next to Johnny. Lauren settled herself next to James and Rose sat down next to Lauren. James opened his mouth to speak.

Andrea beat him too it. "Yes, James, I know. Load up on carbs."

James glared again. "No…well yes, but not what I was going to say. You were supposed to be here at 8:30!" He cried.

Andrea stared at him incredulously. "It's 8:32, James! Calm down."

"Are you nervous, James?" Lauren teased lightly. He looked over her and tried to glare. She smiled at him innocently, eyes wide and sparkling. The corners of his mouth turned up. She picked a breakfast potato off of his plate and popped it into her mouth. He sighed but smiled a genuine smile back at her. The entire Quidditch team seemed to relax just at that.

By 9:15, all members of the Quidditch team had left the Hall and went down into the locker room. At 9:45, Lauren, Rose, Alicia, Natasha, Tom, and Danny got up from the table to go down to the Quidditch pitch. As she got up, Lauren's hand bumped against something and a small clanging was heard. It was Andrea's lucky necklace and Lauren and Alicia decided to detour down to the locker room to give it to her while Rose, Natasha, Tom, and Danny offered to go save some seats.

After a brief sweep of the Girls locker room (and realizing that Andrea wasn't there), they made their way over to the Boys locker room. They knocked and let themselves in when there was no answer.

The Quidditch team was standing, huddled in a circle, arms around each other's shoulders. Their heads were bowed and their broomsticks were forming a triangle in the center. James was speaking.

"We stand upon this pitch today
Playing Quidditch our own way
And if we do our very best
We pray that God will do the rest."

"AMEN!" The team shouted. The broke from their huddle.

"Uhhh hi." Alicia said awkwardly. "Andi, we have your necklace." Andrea frowned and reached her hand up to her neck, then gasped.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you both so much." She said. The team grabbed their brooms and followed Lauren and Alicia out. James walked up with Lauren and Andrea stayed back with Alicia.

"So," Lauren said to him. "You guys pray to the Quidditch Gods before you play." She laughed.

"It's the Quidditch Deities." James said, completely serious. "We pray to the Quidditch Deities. I'm Catholic. You know, the whole One God thing?"

She laughed. "Ok, James, whatever you say." She paused. "And the difference between a Deity and a God is…?"

"A Deity, while close to God, is a God-like figure." He told her.

"Uhh Captain?" Keeper Casey Andrecotti interrupted. "It's time to fly out."

"Right." James said. He mounted his broom and Alicia made her way over to stand with Lauren. "Pray to the Deities for us Laur." With a smirk and a wave, James was off, leading his team into the Pitch.

"James, let me down!" Meghan laughed as she reached down from her current position (sitting on James' shoulders) to smack his chest.

The game had ended with a huge win to Gryffindor (360- 80) and Meghan had made a fantastic catch to end the game.

Everyone was now in the Gryffindor Common Room. Music was playing already and right after the game, Danny and Tom had escaped to grab some food. Lauren was sure that it wouldn't be long before someone brought out some alcohol.

Currently, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was sitting in the middle of the room, along with Alicia, Rose, and Lauren.

"All right, fine." James said. He reached his hands up and lifted Meghan's tiny body off of his shoulders to set her on the ground.

"Thank you." She said. "I'm going to meet up with my friends. See you guys later." She waved.

"Stay away from boys!" James cried out to her.

Andrea rolled her eyes as Tom pulled Alicia away to dance. "Come on Captain, let's go have a dance." She pulled his arm and Lauren and Rose laughed at the look on James' face.

All in all, the party was successful and went on late into the night. Everyone climbed into bed at a late hour and all was quiet until late morning.

Except for one girl, who sat in her bed pondering, reminiscing about the unknown feeling she had in the pit of her stomach.

But even she became dormant after a while.

A/N: So, what do we think? Things are going to pick back up again in the next chapter.