Chapter Thirty Three: "Thanks."

The whole summer passed uneventfully; until my calendar displayed the day I had been dreading. The day I got Potter and Black under my roof.

"Lily! The boys are here!" Mum yelled up the stairs. It was only me and her in the whole house. That was about to change.

"Coming!" I called back. I was wearing my painting outfit. A pair of faded denim hotpants and a white strap top. Both were splashed with vivid hues and pale coloured spots. I slid down the banister rail, as I usually did every morning and sauntered into the lounge.

"Oh Lily! Couldn't you have changed?" Mum hissed.

"Nope." I replied jovially.

"Mr and Mrs Potter." I nodded politely. "Guys." I nodded again, before turning and disappearing into the kitchen.

I heard two small pops and three people stood in the doorway, watching me drink a long glass of pure orange juice.

"Lily, I need to go to the store. I'll be back in an hour, tops. Love you." Mum winked at me and floated out of the house. (A/N: Not literally.)

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked, finally setting down my glass.

They both shrugged at me. I threw up my hands in a gesture of annoyance and strode out of the room. They followed me.

"I'll show you where you sleep. Bring your trunks." I called over my shoulder as I mounted the staircase.

"Yes Lily." They intoned unanimously.

I shook my head and carried on.

"OW!" A yelp went up from behind me. Potter had slipped on the stairs and fallen, cutting his hand on the sharp corner of a random table. I sighed and hurried back down. He was cradling his hand in his robes. I gently pulled him to his feet and led him to the upstairs bathroom, where the medicine cupboard was situated.

"Sit." I ordered, pointing to the toilet seat. He pushed the lid down and sat on top of the toilet. Sirius followed and sat on the edge of the bath.

I rummaged in the cupboard and found a long stretch of white bandage. I grabbed a small bottle of TCP and a handful of cotton pads. Sitting beside him on the toilet, I reached for his hand and held it gently in my paint-stained lap. When I dabbed at the blood surrounding the gash, he stiffened under my fingers.

"It's okay." I breathed. "Sirius, pass me that little bottle."

Sirius moved and placed it in my free hand.

After a few minutes, I unravelled the bandage and wrapped his hand in it tightly. "You've only been here for what? Ten minutes? What will I do with you?" I chided softly as I smiled at him.

He smiled weakly back. Then I noticed the alarming amount of blood covering his robes.

"Downstairs. Now. Sirius, help James. Take him to the kitchen. I'll meet you there." I fled from the room and galloped into my bedroom. I flung open the doors of my wardrobe and grabbed the huge bag of Honeydukes sweets I kept in there. For emergencies.

I went down stairs and found them both sitting at the breakfast table.

"James, I want you to eat as many as you can. Your blood sugar will be very low, as you've just lost loads of blood. Sirius, don't touch them. I'll make you an omelette or something." I turned and grabbed a pan from an overhead cupboard.

Setting it on the heated pan rings, I caught my index finger on the flame.

"Fuck!" I cussed, holding my finger.

"Lily!" Sirius and James both looked shocked.

I ran to the tap and let the freezing water gush onto my burn. "What?" I asked in indignation.

"Nothing. It's just; you've never really cussed before. Well, not that we heard." James grinned at me. I smiled weakly back. Pain shot up and down my finger, throbbing every time I moved it.

"Lily?" Sirius' voice stopped the string of curses I was going to let fly from my lips.

"Yes?" I snapped, pulling a box of plasters from a cupboard.

"Um, you have paint on your ass." He replied quietly.

"That would be because when I was painting, I wiped my hands on the back of my shorts. Do you have a problem with that?" I asked testily. I tried, unsuccessfully, to unwrap the plaster and stick it to my finger.

I heard footsteps behind me and before I could turn and slap the person away, James had grabbed the plaster, unwrapped it and deftly placed it over my burn spot.

I gazed at my finger, and then lifted my head.

"I… I… thanks." I smiled.

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