Chapter 101: Love is in the air

"PRONGS!!" Sirius ran over to James' bedside. When James did not returned to their dormitory by midnight, they knew something was seriously wrong. Remus had sneaked over to the girls' dormitory to ask Stefanie about James' whereabouts.

"SSSHHHHH!!" Madam Pomfrey came over to the over-excited guys before they started doing anything drastic.

"Sorry." Remus said in a much softer voice. "What happened to James??" He asked the school nurse.

"He was beaten up and sent here in a near unconscious state." Madam Pomfrey had an amused look on her instead of a sympathetic one. "Nothing serious, just some superficial wounds."

"Who beat him up??" Sirius frowned. "He is definitely strong enough to fight anyone."

"Lily did that." Madam Pomfrey smiled slightly. "I'm amazed by her strength too. Do you have any idea why she did that?? It's not like her to be so violent."

"We don't know either." Remus exchanged a look with Sirius.

"I supposed it got to do with this afternoon incident." She said to herself as she left the ward to the guys. The three guys shared a how-did-she-know look.

"Even she knows." Remus grinned as she pointed at the retreating Madam Pomfrey.

"Our publicity must have been great." Sirius told them. "Prongs!!" He started shaking his unconscious friend.

"Aahh.." James groaned slightly with the violent movement Sirius was doing.

"Finally you are awake." Sirius was going hyper. "Tell us how did you end up like this??"

"Huh.." James replied weakly.

"How did Lily beat you up until like this??" Sirius was far too excited to allow James to rest.

33333333333333333333

"This is freeeezing!!"

"It's just for a short while!!"

"I'm coooold!!"

"C'mon, you want a girlfriend or not??"

"But-"

"No more buts, just endure."

"But what if Lily-"

"It's just a little joke."

"And if she-"

"Just soak!!"

"Brrrr.."

33333333333333333333

"Lily!! Lily!! You've got to see James immediately!!" Remus' tone was filled with urgency.

"Huh??" Lily raised her eyebrows in suspicious surprise. "What happened to him??"

"You beat him up, remember??" Remus was pushing Lily from her back. "Wait, I got to wait for Stef, she's in the washroom."

"Ok, then can you go straight to the hospital wing?? James asked for you." Remus was pushing Lily towards the direction of the hospital wing.

"What's happening??" Stefanie came out of the bathroom, exchanging a look with Remus.

"James – we don't know what's wrong with him. But he's icy cold." Remus sounded a little panicky.

"Lils, I think we better hurry up." Stefanie grabbed onto Lily's right hand and broke into a run.

Stef is still better at that. He watched the running figures of Stefanie and Lily in front and broke into a slow jog to catch up with the two girls. Luckily she knew about it.

"I don't think it was anywhere near-" Lily was panting slightly, "that serious."

"It might be fatal!!" Stefanie told her.

"But it's just some bruises." Lily defended. It can't be that bad can it??

"You never know!!" Stefanie was literally dragging her into the hospital wing. "Finally." Both girls were panting slightly after the entire running along corridors and up some flights of stairs.

"What happened to him??" Lily asked Sirius who was sitting by James' bedside. Sirius looked up sadly, and looked at James, and then gave a totally devastated look. James was lying motionlessly on the bed, eyes closed, looking very peaceful. I thought I saw him shivered.

"Hey!!" Lily tried to wake James up but her hands shot up upon contact with him. "Woah!! Why is he so cold??"

"He's getting colder by the minute." Sirius said solemnly. While Lily was not looking, he gave Remus a thumb-up sign. "He's-" Sirius shook his head and looked on the floor, looking very depressed.

"Hey James!! You better wake up." Lily was getting a little worried. "Don't scare me." James still showed no sign of consciousness.

"We're afraid that he-" Remus added. Stefanie shot him a look and he stopped abruptly.

"I didn't beat you up that badly!!" Lily was getting more anxious. "You can't die just like that!!" She looked at the three friends who were having the same grave expressions. "I promise I won't beat you up anymore!! Wake up!!" Lily was tugging James' hand wildly. "Wait a minute, don't I have the healing power??" She frowned slightly. "His hand is getting warmer."

"Really??" Sirius pretended to be surprised at the 'new' discovery. "You healed him!!"

"I thought I should be able to." Lily was holding onto James' right hand as she spoke. "His hand is still a little cold. Why don't we get Pomfrey??"

"She had already come by just before you came." Sirius told her.

"Did someone call for me??" Madam Pomfrey's head popped through the drawn curtains around James' bed.

"Madam Pomfrey, how's James??" Lily asked.

"Nothing serious, my dear." Madam Pomfrey assured her. "Just some superficial injuries."

"But his body is like so cold!!" Lily said, her hand still held onto James.

"It must be the ice-bath he took before you came." The school nurse was more honest than she should have.

"Oh." Understanding dawned upon Lily. "I see. Thanks Madam Pomfrey."

"You're welcome. Don't make too much noise." Madam Pomfrey retreated back. "So Peter, what else do you want to ask me about medicine??" They heard her voice behind the curtain.

"You can't die just like that!!" Sirius wailed slightly, over exaggerating Lily's earlier action, as he tugged James' left hand. The three of them burst into laughter together.

"Cut!!" Remus said. "The whole thing was perfect!!" Even Stefanie grinned at her friend.

"So that was a joke to get back at me, huh??" Lily was fuming and glared at James.

"That wasn't my idea. It was Sirius and he-"

BBIISSHH!!

Lily punched James on his nose and climbed and sat on his chest while continuing a wild attempt to strangle him.

"Help!!" James called out as he struggled underneath Lily but her legs was pining James' hand on the bed.

"Calm down!!" Stefanie said soothingly while Sirius and Remus carried Lily off James.

"Let me kill that idiot!!" Lily struggled and in the midst of chaos, one of her wild kicks hit James on his stomach.

"Oouch!!" Sirius and Remus pulled Lily further away from James to prevent any more injuries.

"You don't want to kill your boyfriend, right??" Sirius teased.

"First point, he's not my boyfriend." She dashed forward to James while Sirius and Remus loosened their grip. "Second point, I do want to kill him!!" Lily was giving him a few combo punches on James' face before Sirius and Remus grabbed hold of her again.

"Just calm down!!" James edged back a little in case Lily attempted to attack him again. "Sirius is just teasing you."

"Then I make sure Sirius was teasing me." Lily was seething in anger and kicked Sirius on his right shin.

"OUCH!!" Sirius let go of Lily instantly. "Spare me, your Highness."

"Please keep the noise level at the minimum." Madam Pomfrey poked her head into the curtain to remind the five of them.

"I thought we already cast the sound proof charm??" Stefanie told them but apparently they were more worried about Lily's attacking power than Madam Pomfrey's prying ears.

"Wait till I lay my hands on you." Lily gave James a death glare and kicked Remus' right shin. And obviously he let go of her due to the newly inflicted pain.

"Ouch!!" Remus bent down to hold his injured shin. "Prongs, beware!!"

"I'll be waiting." James was chuckling slightly. All I need is just lift her up and she'll be begging me to let her down. He was sitting at the edge of the bed, getting prepared to stand up in case there was a need.

"Lils, I think we better make a move first." Stefanie intervened before Lily even reached James. She started pulling her out of the hospital wing with force.

"Wait, I'm not done with that guy yet." Lily wanted to turn back but followed Stefanie's tug still.

"You'll have more chances to deal with him. At least let him rest in some peace for now."

"I'm not mad at you for being in cahoots with them for tricking me and you're still asking for more." Lily reprimanded her friend in a nicer manner.

"That's because I knew you will never do something like that to me." Stefanie grinned and released Lily's hand. It was quite some distance from the hospital wing now and Lily's mood seemed to be quiet down.

"Do you really wanna know what I can do on you??" Lily said slyly and started tickling Stefanie's sides.

"AAHHH!! I really don't want to know what you can do!!" Stefanie was ducking away from Lily, and screaming a little.

"You really don't want to know??" Lily tickled even harder which made Stefanie shrieked louder and attempting to run away.

33333333333333333333

"Hey Lily."

"Huh??" Lily turned around and faced James. "Hi, James." Both of them were feeling a little awkward, though strange feelings would be more appropriate in this sense.

"Just wanted to ask you something actually." James looked at her then looked elsewhere, trying to gather his thoughts.

"Ooh." This is getting bad. How am I going to escape??

"Actually I want to ask-"

"I think it's better for us to patrol different areas-" Lily interrupted. "So we can sleep earlier." She completed lamely.

"Er, alright." James agreed. Lily made a right turn while James made a left turn. "Lily."

"Anything else??" Lily turned around to face James for the second time that night.

"Just wanted to ask-," James said, not looking at Lily. "When shall we discuss about our school event?? You know, the Night Flying and stuffs, with the prefects."

"Oh, that." Lily silently heaved a sign of relief. "We get a prefects meeting next week, on Wednesday evening perhaps??"

"Sounds fine to me."

"That's settles it then."

"I guess we better finish our rounds soon." James said after a moment of silence. "Then both of us can get a longer night rest."

"Okay, see ya then." Lily turned and walked off as normally as she could. This is so so so horrifying. At least James didn't say stuffs that will make things awkward between us. She increased her pace a little, trying to get further from the spot where she met James. I better get this done quickly so I won't need to see him again. She had been purposely avoiding James after the hospital incident. Argh, I'll still see him like ten times a day excluding all prefects duties.

33333333333333333333

"This is so unlike myself!!" James muttered, chiding himself for making such a stupid conversation. Anyway what would I say?? He continued walking without any focus, not noticing two first-years who just walked past him.

"JAMES!!" The two boys jumped before James from his back and gave him a surprised.

"Woah!!" James returned to the conscious state. "What are you two doing out at this time of the night??"

"Why are you looking so glum??" Ted asked to avoid James' question.

"No, I'm not."

"The word gloom and glum is written all over your face." Alex added.

"C'mon, let me take you two back to the tower." James was shoving slightly the two boys towards the direction of their tower.

33333333333333333333

Maybe I had been a little mean to James. He's been a great friend and everything. Lily sighed. Maybe like what the others have said, I should give him a chance or something. She tried to think the whole incident in a different prospective, more of from James' point of view. I guess I just got to see how things work out. The whole confused expression was shown on her face. It seems like I've been rather bitchy over the thing.

"So, what's now??" She asked herself, not noticing that she was already at the entrance of Gryffindor tower.

"That's not the password, my dear." The Pink Lady replied.

"Oh, Sugar quills." Lily was suddenly awakened from a foreign voice other than her own. The portrait swung opened and she climbed into the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey Lily!!" Someone called her.

"Huh??" Lily said. "What are you guys doing here??"

"James is telling us a brilliant prank." Kate said. Andromeda, Ted and Alex were gathered at a corner of the common room.

"Sounds cool, what is it about??" Lily grinned as Kate led her towards the group.

"Hey Lily, James was telling us about the Marauders' pranking history." Andromeda said. The four first-years were never more awake than this.

"What's with this little gathering at this time of the night??" Lily smiled, trying not to have any more than necessary eye contact with James, and yet keeping the tension away.

"Caught this two guys sneaking around." James placed both his hands on their backs. "And then who knows the four of them were looking for the kitchens."

"What's with the kitchens??" Lily raised her eyes in surprise. "I supposed the house elves need their sleep as well."

"What do you think of peanut buttering brooms??" Ted asked Lily.

"Depends on whose brooms are you guys referring to." Lily's eyes showed signs of amusement.

"Anyone you want." Alex said.

"I seriously doubt the house elves would supply you the huge amount of peanut butter for a prank." Lily said thoughtfully.

"That's not a problem." Andromeda said. "Ted's got a trunk full of peanut butter."

"What's with that??" Lily could not help but laughed slightly. "A year supply of it??"

"I like peanut butter. Ok, not that much. But my mother insisted that I should bring some along." Ted was blushing slightly. "But I reckon I won't eat peanut butter again after this prank."

"Alex talked Ted into it and we're their accomplices." Kate said happily.

"Then why would you guys want to tell us about this??"

"Because you all are professionals at pranking." Alex said simply.

"I don't go around pranking other students. That's the Marauders' forte."

"But I've heard you all came up with some really amazing pranks too."

"Alright, just a couple over the last few years." Lily said humbly. "But it's nothing compared to what the Marauders did." She exchanged a look with James.

"Ok, let's get on with this discussion." James finally spoke since Lily joined the group. "Otherwise we don't need to sleep tonight."