"Lily?" A voice spoke nervously in my ear. I didn't look round.
"Go away Severus." I said. My friends looked at me in concern.
"Lily, what happened? You and Severus used to be really good friends!" Ana asked concernedly.
I ignored the comment. I was depressed. All throughout the rest of the day I was silent. I ignored looks from my friends and James' crowd. Nothing could make me feel better.
The next day, I was feeling scarcely better when, at breakfast, James sat down next to me.
"Hi Lily!" he said nervously. "Big Quidditch match today against Slytherin!" There was an awkward pause.
"What, do you want me to wish you luck or something?" I snapped, "Everyone knows that you're such a big Quidditch hero anyway, so why bother?"
James gulped, but didn't move from his seat. I'll give him credit for that, not many people would have chosen to sit next to me when I was in this kind of mood.
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We stood outside in the cold with the rest of the Gryffindors. I clapped my gloved hands together for warmth. The people in front of us were too tall for us to be able to see the match, so I listened tiredly to the commentary instead.
"…and Sven Forth, Slytherin, has the ball! He narrowly misses a bludger! And what's this? It looks like Dirk Mattle has the Snitch! Oh, no, he's missed…James Potter is chasing after the Snitch now! But Dirk has PUSHED him! He's fallen! James Potter has fallen!..."
The Gryffindors all murmured in outrage.
"Do you think he's all right?" I asked Ana, who had a better view of the match. She frowned.
"Do you want the truth? Maybe. But that was a long fall!"
I bit my lip.
"Why do you care anyway? I thought you hated James Potter!" Ana pointed out.
"Yeah, well, sometimes he can be okay." I said, realising that it was true.
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Two hours had gone by since James Potter had fallen, and I was starting to feel really, really bad. Why had I shouted at him when he had stuck up for me against Sev? Why had I been so mean to him when he sat next to me at breakfast?
I suddenly realised that if James Potter was…was dead, then the last thing that I had said to him would have been…
No. James Potter wasn't dead. I decided to go and see for myself that he was alive and well.
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I took a deep breath and pushed open the door. I had had to wait half an hour to see James. He certainly was popular!
I gasped in horror as I saw James' lifeless form draped on the sick bed. His bed was surrounded with flowers and cards from friends and fans. James was pale and limp. He looked so different without his usual cocky grin and twinkling eyes.
"James?" I whispered. I looked round at the nurse who had been standing in the doorway. "Is he…?" She had gone.
"James, I'm so sorry", I told him, knowing that he would never hear anything that I said now, "Thank you for sticking up for me against Severus. That was really brave of you. And I didn't mean to say all those things at breakfast…I was just in a bad mood and I took it out on you…it wasn't your fault. And you're not such a cocky git like you used to be, you're all right now…"
"Sorry, love. There are others waiting…" the nurse interrupted. I composed myself.
"Of course. And is he…" I trailed off.
"He'll be fine in a few days." the nurse assured me. I sighed with relief and vowed that no one would ever hear about those things I had said to James.