Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I know, you guys are shocked.
"Lily, are you ok?" someone's voice drifted down the corridor to where I was still sitting in a daze. I must have looked just as bad as I felt. I looked up to see none other than Peter Pettigrew and Severus Snape walking down the hall towards me."Peter? Sev? I mean Snape. What are you two doing down here, uhm, together?" I was very confused. The Marauders all hated Severus. What was Peter doing with him? I noticed Peter's right hand unconsciously grab his left forearm and grip it tightly. Severus shoved him slightly and Peter released his hand, almost looking terrified.
"Nothing, Mudblood. I'm Peters er tutor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was just trying to find a spare classroom to practice in." it still stung when he called me Mudblood even though I knew it was going to happen.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts? Really Snape? Why are you still pretending you're against Voldemort." he flinched when I said his name. "See! You flinch when his name is even uttered. I'm sure you're just looking for new recruits." I was fuming now. Grabbing Peter's arm I said, "Peter, come with me now. You do not want to be associating with the likes of this, this scum."
Before I could react, I felt a sharp pain whip across my stomach three times. I looked down to see three bloody slashes all across my torso. The pain was unbelievable. I clutched my stomach and fell to the ground.
"Oh my god. Snape what have you done? I, uh, I'm going to go get James." Peter raced off down the hallway and I couldn't help but realized he just left me completely alone with Snape, who had just wounded me incredibly, so much that I couldn't even speak through the pain. There was a bloody puddle around me now as it seeped into my robes, making them dark with blood.
"That's for calling me scum. I, I wish that we could still be friends, but if you don't trust me and join the Dark Lord's ranking, I have no choice than to do even worse to you." He swept up his robes, careful to not get them covered in my blood, and hurried down the hallway.
I sat there, slumped against the wall and wondered if I was dying. I had lost so much blood already and was losing consciousness. My vision was blurring until I could barely see.
The last thing I remembered was three pairs of running footsteps who they would later tell me had been James, Sirius, and Peter. James had scooped me up and was carrying me. I slumped against him, losing the last bit of consciousness, but not before I hear him whisper, "Don't worry Lily. Everything is going to be fine. You'll be alright. I'm here." And then I faded into the darkness.
I woke up sometime later in a stiff straight, back breaking bed. I opened one eye a crack to see a hazy outline of a body laying against my legs, sitting in a chair, asleep. As I gathered my wits, I realized I was in the hospital wing. No wonder the bed was so uncomfortable. I looked down at my torso and saw that I was wearing a hospital gown. I lifted it up quietly and saw my whole torso wrapped in cloth with faint blood marks showing through. I pulled my gown back down, uncomfortable with the fact that I was still bleeding.
Still confused, I looked down slightly at the person who had there arms and head resting on my legs. He had messy, jet-black hair and his glasses were askew on his face. James, of course. I looked around again and saw Sirius, Emma, Alice, and Remus all asleep on chairs against the wall. Sirius was snoring loudly and was laying against Emma's shoulder. Alice was drooling slightly which made me repress a giggle. For a moment I wondered where Mary was but then I felt rather selfish for assuming that they would all be here. It's not like their lives revolved around me. Madame Pomfrey's light was off, so I was assuming it was late at night. But now I wasn't tired. I guessed that I have been sleeping for awhile so I was ready to get up. But first, my legs were asleep and a certain someone was not helping that fact but most likely attributing to it.
I wondered if because of this "accident" if James would forget what had happened. I knew for a fact it was still on my mind but he did seem generally worried about me if I had remembered correctly. That whole scene was a little hazy. I hoped he wasn't going to be awkward about it, and that we could just forget it, because I wasn't about to risk one of my best friends.
Speaking of kissing, where was my boyfriend? I looked around the room to make sure Michael was here and I had just missed him. But no. He really wasn't here. I let out an indignant snort without meaning to but then clamped my mouth shut hoping that I didn't wake anyone up. But too bad I did.
The person at my feet stirred and jerked awake quickly, seeming to realize he'd accidentally fallen asleep on me. He looked up at me and smiled with relief to see that I was awake. "Merlin Lily. You scared the crap out of me. Seeing you there, with all that blood, it was horrifying. I couldn't even tell if you were breathing. Don't ever do that to me again."
"Oh yes, because it's definitely something I can control." I laughed silently but then grimaced when it teared open a newly formed scab. Clutching at one of the slices I doubled over in pain. After about two minutes of excruciating pain I looked up to see James silently freaking out. He looked like he couldn't decide whether to rip open my gown and see if I was ok or running around screaming for Madame Pompfrey. "It's ok. I'm ok. It just hurt to stretch it out." I put my hand reassuringly on his. He let go quickly though and put his hands underneath his legs. I couldn't help but feel slightly hurt from that one move. That's when I knew that he hadn't forgotten it either.
"Look, Lily, about that kiss, I just, I felt some things that I wasn't comfortable with. You have a boyfriend, and the way I was feeling about you would definitely be considered cheating, and I don't want to put anyone through something like that. I'm just nervous that you might not be considering all of your options here." he seemed just as nervous as I was feeling.
"No, and I get that. It's just, you're my best friend James. And I don't want to lose you over some kiss. It was a one time thing and I needed your help. Now I'm going to have to return the favor somehow, but that's fine. And I never did thank you for that. So thank you for helping me. And I know that it might be awkward sometimes, but if we can, I just want to forget the whole thing happened, because I don't want to feel like a cheater either." I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. They hardened slightly.
He said in a whisper, "If that's really what you want, than ok. I can forget it ever happened." He seemed almost rueful by his answer but I didn't have time to dwell on that because just then Sirius's snores seemed to have woken up Emma who in turn shoved Sirius off of her, who yelped causing the other two to also wake up. I giggled again, careful not to rip open any of my cuts.
"Lilykins! You're awake! Yay!" Sirius ran up to me and gave me a mixture between an air hug and a pat on the head. Emma and Alice came over and grabbed one of my hands each.
"Oh Lily. We were so scared. I'm so glad you're ok." Alice of course, always the sensitive one.
"Lily, why are you always getting cursed? You need to toughen yourself up girl." Emma smiled down at me and I could tell she was just joking.
"Thanks guys. Where's Michael?" As I stated the question a nervous glance went between Sirius and Emma.
"I'm not sure that he knows you're here actually. No one told him." Sirius trailed off incoherently.
"What! Why hasn't anyone told him? I think he has a right to know." I shot a glare at my friends and they grimaced back.
"I suppose I can go get him." Sirius said. "But I do have permission to wake him up right?" he grinned evilly.
"Yes Sirius. That's kind of the point." I raised an eyebrow at him. "Wait. No don't hurt…" but I didn't have time to finish my statement because he was already out the door. I shrugged my shoulders slightly and rolled my eyes.
We all talked about random things like the ball until the doors burst open and there was Michael. I could tell he had just woken up because his hair was even messier than James' on a bad day. He rushed over to me and before I could say a word pressed his lips to mine. He kissed me gently and sweetly. Now knowing what the best felt like, I'd say on a scale of 1-10 he was a solid 8. James, I hate to admit, was an 11.
But there was something worse than the kissing technique. Once he pulled off of me and smiled I smiled a fake smile back at him and he grabbed a chair and one of my hands. I had felt nothing when he kissed me. Not a spark. No magic or fire. James and I had been like a spark to gasoline, igniting even if we were trying not to. With Michael, I barely felt a shiver down my spine. I tried to keep that out of my mind however. Because he was my boyfriend, and he cared about me.
But before I opened my mouth to say hello, two things happened. One Madame Pompfrey came out of her office and looked appalled at the amount of people in the room. Two, James curled his fists, grimaced, and left the room without another word.
I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach and the rush of rejection that washed over me. I put on a brave face.
"Out! Get out! Only two visitors at a time, but in this case I am requesting that all of you leave! Dumbledore I'm sure, will be wanting to come speak with Miss Evans herself soon, so you all leave." Madame Pompfrey could look very angry when she wanted to be, with her curlers coming undone around her face.
My friends smiled and waved at me before departing through the doors. Michael was the last to leave and he blew me a kiss on the way out. I waved to him and he walked through the doors.
"Now then, let me see these cuts." She lifted up my dressing gown and lightly removed the wrappings. She sighed before saying, "the bleeding still isn't stopping. No matter what I do I can't get the cuts to close together properly. I don't have enough experience with this type of dark magic. But I might have a potion that can relieve the pain and encourage the skin to heal at a faster pace. Hold on deary, let me find it." She went back into her office and came out less than two minutes later with a small vial in her hands. "This encourages your muscles to grow back the way they should. Hopefully you'll be right as rain in little more than three days."
I thanked her and then drank the potion which surprisingly tasted pretty good, almost like watermelons.
"Now just rest for a little while. I'll bring you some food in a little while. I'm sure Dumbledore is already on his way up." She patted my hair down and went back to her office. She was right. In less than ten minutes Dumbledore walked into the room. He looked so intimidating but then I could just make out the twinkling in his eyes behind his half mooned spectacles.
"I'm sure you know why I'm here Miss Evans. I am so very sorry that you had to go through that. Severus is being punished greatly, let me assure you. I just wanted to ask what provoked him to cause such a spell onto you?" Dumbledore gazed into my eyes and I felt slightly uncomfortable by his intense stare.
"I was provoking him because he called me a Mudblood. I was trying to get him to convince me that he had signed up with Voldemort. He wouldn't say the name, so childishly, I did provoke him. But I didn't think he would attack me with my back turned. That's just low." I shook my head, reliving the memory.
"It's completely understandable. I am aware that you two use to be close. I don't want you to feel like you will be punished for this. You did nothing wrong. I just wanted to let you know if it wasn't for Mr. Potter and him plugging up your slashes, you would be dead." he was very serious about this statement.
"Wait, what do you mean? I thought he just carried me here?" this was very confusing to me. No one had told me this.
"Oh yes indeed. He took his hands and stopped the blood flow. He didn't let go until Madame Pompfrey literally took his hands off of you. He saved your life." he said this gently but I couldn't help but feel touched. "I'm going to leave now. I'll try to convince Poppy to release you a little earlier." He winked at me before leaving. I smiled to myself. I will never understand Dumbledore.
THREE DAYS LATER
"Ok, you are free to go. But please be careful, and if the wounds start to bleed again I want you to get someone to bring you down here. You need to make sure that you change the bandages once every morning and once at night." Madame Pompfrey patted my head and helped me up. I made sure I was steady on my feet before walking out the doors. I was free!
I got back to the common room alright and James was sitting on one of the armchairs. He looked up when I entered but then hastily looked back down.
"James, I, I want to thank you. You saved my life. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now. So thank you, for more than that." I walked over and sat down carefully in the other armchair.
"Lily, you don't have to thank me. You're my best friend. I wouldn't ever let you die." He smiled up at me and I knew that I was forgiven for kissing Michael in front of him. "And besides, now you owe me even more." he smirked at that.
"I shoved him playfully. "I'm going to go take a shower ok? I'll be down soon." I walked up the stairs to our conjoined bathroom. After starting the shower I slowly shed my clothes and then carefully unwrapped the bandages. I made sure the shower was on the lowest pressure possible and stepped in. It stung slightly on my scabs but other than that it felt heavenly. I started rubbing shampoo into my hair. As I was washing it out though I went to grab the conditioner and it slipped from my hands. I leaned down to get it but then I shrieked in pain. I had ripped open one of the scabs. It hurt so bad. After three minutes of standing there I overcame the pain. But then I had a problem. I needed the conditioner. My hair felt nasty without it. So I decided to do something reckless but I was in dire need of the conditioner.
"Uhm James! I need you're help, quickly." I screamed out the words so he would hear over the pressure of the shower head.
I could hear him running in the bathroom. He paused for a second, realizing I was still in the shower which had a glass door, that he could see right through. He hastily covered his eyes and said, "Lily! Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"
"No, I uh, I dropped the conditioner and I can't reach it without hurting my side. Can you maybe come get it for me?" I stuttered out my question quickly.
"Oh. Uhm, sure. I'll just uh, get over there then." he kept his head hung down until he reached the shower. "I'm not sure what you want me to do. I mean, I can't really grab it without seeing. I don't know where it is."
"It's over in the back corner. Curse this gigantic shower. You're going to have to go around me because I don't think I can move right now. Just open the door and I'll scoot all the way to the right, so you go to the left okay?" I opened the door for him and scooted to the right side of the huge shower.
"Ok, uh wait. Let me take off my shirt, I don't want to get everything soaking wet." He removed his shirt and his glasses and I couldn't help but stare at his stomach. He was fit, obviously, but with the Quiddich training it made him look great. He stepped into the shower with me and politely covered his eyes. But because he didn't have his glasses on he accidentally tripped over the soap and was going to fall. Before he could, I grabbed his hands but that didn't work very well. We both fell to the ground causing numerous amounts of my scabs to rip open.
"Ahh. James you've got to get me out of here. I just ripped open half of these." it hurt so bad I could almost block out the fact that I was naked, in front of James, whose legs were entangled with mine. He stuttered a reply and before I could say anything else he lifted me up bridal style and went into his room. He got a towel and wrapped me in it gently. He laid me on his bed and then went back into the bathroom. He came out two minutes later with just his boxers on. I was still laying on his bed, moaning.
"Are you sure you should be out of the Hospital Wing yet? You seem really bad. I don't really know what to do." He sat down next to me and wrapped the towel around me more securely so it wouldn't slip.
"No James. You handled that fine. Thank you. Just, can you just get me a t-shirt or something? He threw me a pair of his boxers and a t-shirt of his. "You're, you're going to have to help me into these. I can't really move and Madame Pompfrey said I need to not lift my hands over my head too much." I looked up at him and his eyes widened. "If you're too uncomfortable with it though, you can go get Alice, but I'd rather we just get it over with."
"No, it's fine. Uhm here, can you sit up?" He helped me into a sitting position and helped my hands into the sleeves. He pulled the t-shirt over the towel and then grabbed the top half of the towel underneath the t-shirt and carefully pulled it down. For once I was glad that I wasn't huge. I wasn't filling up the t-shirt or anything, not even close. I then slipped my feet into the leg holes of the boxers and he pulled them up for me and rested his hands slightly on my waist. "Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital wing? I'm not about to be responsible for something if you get hurt."
"No James. I don't want to go back. But can I just sleep here tonight? I don't think I'll be able to move much." he helped me slide into the bed. "And thank you for helping me tonight. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here."
"Don't worry Lily, I'll keep you safe. Do you want me to sleep in your bed?" He made a move of getting up but I was drunk on the pain and I pulled him back down.
"No, it's ok. Just stay in here, with me. I don't want to take the risk of not being able to get you're attention if something happens." he nodded reluctantly and laid down next to me. He waved his wand and the lights went off. I turned around to get more comfortable and accidentally moved into his stomach. We were lined up together on the bed. "Is this okay?" I questioned him, worried I was being to pushy.
"No, not at all. It's fine." I promptly fell asleep, hoping I wouldn't snore, or drool. When I woke up the next morning one of his arms was underneath my head like a pillow, and the other was draped over my waist. My whole body was tingling. Oh, and did I mention I was facing him now? Our faces inches apart? Yeah, I was hyperventilating.
A/N: So i put three chapters in today, so you guys should definitely be satisfied. i hope you liked this one. Notice the chapters are getting longer! Here's the replies to the comments: i won't respond to anymore after this chapter though, unless its the regulars (:
Aimee: you are right about that. sorry! i meant seven.
Asha: Read on, i'm trying to update at least twice per week.
Olivetreehugger: you continue to be my inspiration.
Feripotter: you're still my second.
Lasting Illusion: thanks for the support
Voldemortisgoingdown: i love your name
Dora and Pinaprincess: thanks very much. read to find out what happens next (: