Chapter 42 Suspects and Informants

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

A/N: Please read and review!

"Mr. Potter!" James heard Professor McGonagall call as he left breakfast the next morning.

James stopped and turned to face her.

"Yes, Professor?" he asked.

"My office, please," she replied.

James turned to his friends, "See you in class later."

"Good luck, mate," Sirius said grinning.

James followed Professor McGonagall to her office.

James sat down in the chair across from Professor McGonagall feeling somewhat bewildered. She had that look that said she was annoyed but he wasn't sure what he could possibly have done.

"Why, did I get a note from Madame Pomfrey saying she'd taken ten points from Gryffindor?" McGonagall asked.

James sighed. That's what this was about. This confirmed his suspicions that while Madame Pomfrey was quite talented she was also a bit crazy.

"I didn't do anything," James said in exasperation.

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow at him.

"Lily was tired and she asked me to stay until she fell asleep," James explained.

"And," Professor McGonagall prompted.

James rubbed his face with his hand.

"We were just lying there," he continued. "I was on top of the blankets. She was sleeping on my shoulder. I didn't do anything."

"I see," Professor McGonagall said giving him an appraising look.

"There was no snogging," he added.

Professor McGonagall actually rolled her eyes.

"Be that as it may, I am still going to uphold the ten points," McGonagall said.

"Professor," James tried to argue but she gave him that look that he knew meant it was pointless.

"Fine," James sighed. "Sorry," he added quickly realizing he was pushing the boundaries of being disrespectful.

The last thing he needed was to lose more points. How many points had he and Lily managed to lose so far this year now fifty, sixty? It had to be some sort of record, the Head Boy and Girl losing over fifty points during the course of the school year.

"How is Lily?" James asked. "Has Madame Pomfrey said when she can leave the Hospital Wing?"

"She wants to keep her for at least another day, maybe two," Professor McGonagall replied.

James nodded.

James left McGonagall's office and headed towards the hospital wing. He had first period free on Tuesdays. As the rest of his day was busy and he had Quidditch practice in the evening this was probably the only opportunity he'd have to see her today. He hoped Lily was awake and Madame Pomfrey would let him in. The daft woman.

James quietly entered the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had removed the curtains from around Lily's bed and he could see her sitting up and eating breakfast.

"So you're back?" Madame Pomfrey said coming out of her office and making James jump slightly in surprise.

"It's my only free period today and I have Quidditch practice tonight. Can I stay? Please?" James asked using his best sweet and innocent face.

"I suppose," Madame Pomfrey said. "But no funny business. Miss Evans needs rest."

"Of course," James said flashing her a winning smile. "I want her to get better."

"I'll be watching you," she said waving an admonitory finger at him before returning to her office.

"Hey," James said walking over to Lily who had been watching the exchange with what looked like barely controlled laughter.

"Hi," she replied smiling at him.

James glanced towards Madame Pomfrey's office before leaning over to give Lily a brief kiss. He sat down in the chair next to her bed. Lily gave him a hurt look.

"What's wrong, love?" he asked concern evident in his voice.

"Why are you sitting in the chair?" she asked.

James looked at her for a moment with a confused look on his face.

"There's plenty of room up here," she added patting the bed.

"Oh," James said suddenly understanding what she was getting at. "Right, you were asleep. Madame Pomfrey had an absolute fit last night when she came out of her office and we were both lying in the bed. Did you know she can take points?"

"What?" Lily asked. "Why did she take points?"

"I told McGonagall exactly what happened but she still let Pomfrey do it anyway," James said rolling his eyes.

"You're kidding, right?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Alas, no," James replied.

"Now that's fifty-five points we've lost," Lily said with a groan.

"Is that how many? It has to be some sort of record," James said. "Head Boy and Girl losing over 50 points."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"You'd better win at Quidditch on Saturday and gain some of those points back," Lily said.

"Yes, ma'am," James said flashing her his smile that always made her melt.

Lily glanced towards Madame Pomfrey's office and groaned, "I can't wait to get out of here."

"Has she said when that will be?" James asked.

"Probably not until sometime tomorrow," Lily replied.

"I missed you this morning at breakfast," James said. "And I'm ridiculously busy today so I probably won't have time to visit later."

"Well, hopefully she'll let me out tomorrow," Lily said. "It's terribly boring here."

James laughed. "You haven't even been in here twenty-four hours and you're already bored?"

"Quite," Lily said raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"I'll ask Marlene to bring you your homework," James replied cheekily.

"If I'm going to be stuck in here I should at least get a break from homework," Lily said. "Being knocked down a flight of stairs has to be good for something.

James scowled darkly.

"James," Lily said in a voice she meant to be soothing.

"It's not okay!" James exclaimed.

"No, I quite agree, it's not," Lily said reaching out and running her hand soothingly through his hair.

"But seeking revenge doesn't make you any better than them," Lily continued.

James snorted humorlessly.

"You sound like McGonagall. She said almost exactly the same thing to me yesterday," James said.

"Well, she's right," Lily said firmly.

"I know," James said. "She said some nonsense about me being better than that."

"Well, you are," Lily agreed. "If you weren't I wouldn't, no couldn't, love you."

James smiled at the last part. Merlin, he couldn't wait to be free of Madame Pomfrey and her watchful eye.

"I love you, too," he said by way of a reply.

"James," Lily said in a slightly admonishing tone.

He was trying to distract her and she knew it.

"I know, I know," he said.

"Promise, me" Lily said in a slightly pleading voice.

"I promise, if by some miracle, I find out who it was I will tell McGonagall," James said looking her in the eye.

"Thank you," Lily said smiling. "And do try and get Sirius to cooperate on that end as well," she added.

"I make no guarantees about that," James said. "Sirius can be impulsive to the point of stupidity sometimes. Trust me."

Lily noticed his expression darken slightly as he said the last part but chose not to comment despite her curiosity. She noticed it once in a while whenever Sirius's impulsivity came up. Part of her wondered what it was that had happened and part of her wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"I could send Sirius, Remus, and Peter to visit you," James said smiling. "They all have some free time at some point today. At least they could alleviate some of your boredom or bring you your homework."

"I probably should get some work done," Lily said regrettably. "I have three essays due next week, so far, I should probably get started on them. Even if I get extra time to make up what I'm missing I don't fancy trying to get it all done on top of what we have to do after I get out of here."

"Sure," James said.

Sirius and Remus met up with James on the way to Transfiguration. As they were walking down the corridor James saw Snape walking towards him his nose buried in some paper. Great, just what I need, James thought.

"Prongs!" Sirius said loudly distracting James from his thoughts about Snape.

"What?" James asked turning his head to look at Sirius.

"How's Lily feeling?" Sirius asked.

"Better," James replied. "Ready to leave the hospital wing, but you know Madame Pomfrey."

"Yes," Remus said with a chuckle.

James who had been looking at his friends suddenly felt someone collide with his shoulder.

"Watch it, Potter!" Snape said angrily.

Sirius reached for his wand but James put out a restraining hand and gave Sirius a warning look.

"What?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Leave him," James said annoyed.

"But," Sirius argued.

"There's too many people and I really don't fancy giving you detention or taking points from Gryffindor. Save your hexes for a more convenient time."

James closed his hand tightly over the piece of parchment Snape had shoved into his hand when they had collided. He had no idea what it was but he got them impression that Snape didn't want anyone else to know he had given it to him.

When they arrived in Transfiguration James pulled out his book and some parchment and then carefully unfolded the small paper Snape had given him.

It was Mulciber. Make him pay.

James read it over several times before folding it up and carefully slipping it into his pocket so that no one would see.

James spent most of the class trying to at least look like he was paying attention while in reality he was running through all the things he would like to do to Mulciber. He even entertained the idea of enlisting Snape's help. He was slightly surprised that it had been Mulciber. If James had been placing bets his gold would have been on Avery. But as Snape had no motivation to lie that James could think of he was inclined to believe the greasy-haired git.

Despite spending most of the class thinking up ways of seeking revenge both Lily's and McGonagall's words kept playing over in his head. 'Don't seek revenge. You are better than that.' At the end of class he told his friends that he had to speak with Professor McGonagall and that he would catch up with them shorty in Charms.

James hung back until everyone had left the classroom.

"Did you need something Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked as the last students filed out.

James approached her desk and nodded.

"I've gotten a, well, not an anonymous tip, because I know who it was but I don't think they'd appreciate me telling who they were," James rambled.

"A tip from an anonymous source?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yeah, that," James said. "Normally, I wouldn't trust them any more than a Muggle with a wand but this is a special case."

"A Muggle with a wand?" Professor McGonagall asked.

James shrugged, "I've heard stories. Anyway, like I said this is a special case. The person who gave me the name has no motivation to turn this person in. The opposite in fact. I imagine if they got caught it would not go over well."

"You're not going to tell me who told you are you," Professor McGonagall said.

"No," James agreed. "But they said it was Mulciber. And I have no reason to believe this person would tell me it was him if it wasn't."

"Did this person see it happen?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"I don't know, probably," James replied with a shrug. "But again they have every motivation to keep their mouth shut, not to tell me. And let's just say that they have access to the information even if they didn't witness it."

"So it was a Slytherin who told you?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"I can't say," James answered.

"Alright, Mr. Potter, I respect your desire to protect the student who told you," Professor McGonagall replied. "We shall look into the allegations."

James nodded and turned to leave.

"And Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said, "Thank you for exhibiting maturity and self-control in this matter. I am quite proud of you at the moment."

James paused and turned to look at her.

"Thank you, Professor," he answered quietly.