Chapter 34

James' POV

My entire body hurts, and not in an I-just-finished-a-quidditch-work-out sort of way, but more the I-just-got-my-ass-kicked sort of way. I mean, I did just get my ass kicked, but I didn't think it was this bad.

I turn my head to the left and look at Al, every movement inducing a new pain as I do. His eyes are still closed, his chest rising and falling with each breath. I look at the bruises on his face and feel immense guilt for getting him involved in this; for putting him in here. He didn't even know what the fight was about… I hear the door to the hospital wing open, so I close my eyes and pretend to sleep, watching for her through almost completely closed eyes.

"Good morning, Madam Pomfrey. How are they doing today?"

"Good morning, Miss Brighton. They are doing better today. Albus' knee is healing nicely and James' cuts are almost completely healed. James should be able to leave here by tomorrow if things go as planned, although Albus' release is still unknown due to the severity of the break in his knee. You can go visit them if you'd like…"

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. And thank you for taking such good care of them." Ariana's footsteps echo throughout the hospital wing as she walks over to Al's bed and replaces the flowers on the table next to his bed. Once that's done, she walks over to my bed and crosses her legs while leaning forward and saying, "So are you going to tell me who attacked you, Jamie?"

I open my eyes and say, "How did you know I was awake? And, as I've been telling you for the past three days, it was less of an attack and more of a fight…"

She smacks me on the foot and grunts angrily. "Well who did you get in a fight with and why?"

I take a deep breath and lightly shake my head. "You're not going to let this go are you?"

She shakes her head while looking at me expectantly. "Not even close…"

"Fine. Al and I sort of got in a fight with Jack Harrison, George Blathers, Nico Ciserono, and Justin Howlier." I watch her face to see if she recognizes the names, but she doesn't seem to know who they are.

She nods, smacking my foot again. "Okay… That still doesn't answer the question as to why though."

I look at her with wide eyes. "You really don't know who they are?"

She shakes her head, her confusion apparent on her face. "Should I?"

"Jack, George, Nico, and Justin are the four guys who cornered you in the corridor a few nights ago…"

She smacks herself on the forehead and groans loudly. "Oh Jamie, you didn't... Did you go looking for this fight or were you really out following you-know-who when you ran in to them?"

I shake my head and hold up my hands defensively. "I ran into them by accident…"

She narrows her eyes at me and leans forward. "Don't lie to me, James…"

We both hear the bed next to us creak as Al shifts his weight, both of us looking over just in time to hear Al sleepily say, "You-know-who wasn't even mentioned… He went looking for those guys, and convinced me to go along with him."

"Well you're an idiot for doing that, Al." She turns her gaze away from Al and focuses it on me, her apparently angry gaze burning holes onto my face. "And you… If I weren't afraid it would give you more brain damage, I would seriously consider smacking you in the head! WHY did you feel it was necessary to seek these guys out? People are already scared of us and they already hate us! We don't need to give them any more of a reason to do so!"

I roll my eyes at her and scoff loudly. "We can't just let them push us around though, Ari! They tried to hurt you!"

She shakes her head angrily, her eyes filled with defiance. "Yes, and we dealt with it that night! Going after them again the night after, completely unprovoked, was not alright! Look where it got you and Al!"

Madam Pomfrey storms over and angrily tells us to quiet down. "How many days am I going to have to tell you two to keep it down? I still have patients who require sleep to get better, so keep it quiet! Don't you have class in a few minutes, Miss Brighton?"

Ariana looks at her watch and lets out a sigh before hopping off my bed and glaring at me. "We're not done talking about this, James…"

She gives Al one last pitying look before turning and walking out of the hospital wing. As soon as she's gone, Al chuckles as he says, "You must really be in trouble…"

I glance over at him and raise an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

He smirks at me and says, "She called you James! She never calls you James!" His grin fades and his tone changes to something more serious. "She's right, you know. We have more than enough enemies right now; we don't need to add any others to that list. We should be doing everything we can to get people to like us, not hate us… Why did we fight these guys? Why did we even have to do anything to them?"

I let out a heavy sigh and rub my hands over my face. "I don't know… I guess I just didn't want them to think they could simply get away with trying to hurt Ariana, or any of us for that matter, and not have to deal with any consequences…"

Al lets out a loud laugh, which earns a glare from Madam Pomfrey, so he mouths an apology to her then grins at me as he whispers, "James, she may not have grown much physically since we've known her, but she's definitely grown up a lot mentally and emotionally. She resilient, and definitely doesn't need us protecting her anymore. She may need our help every now and again, but she doesn't need us to do things for her anymore. She knows how to take care of herself, for the most part, and the sooner you understand that, the less you two will argue…"

I flash a skeptical look and a slight smirk at him. "Yeah, I guess you might be right…"

His eyes widen and his mouth falls open a bit. "I might be right? If I had a wand, I would hex you into next week! Of course I'm right, you git!"

Madam Pomfrey walks over to Al's bed, silently interrupting our conversation, and checks on his injuries. After a few moments, she smiles at him and says, "It should only be another day before you're completely healed and ready to get back to your classes."

He flashes a smile at her and politely says, "Thank you Madam Pomfrey."

She nods to him before turning to me and checking on me. After a few minutes of poking and prodding, she steps back and says, "You're free to go, Mister Potter. And, I know I say to come back if you need anything, but please refrain from needing anything. I see you here more than I saw your father back when he was a student here, and I saw quite a bit of him. So, please avoid any potentially dangerous situations so that you don't have to come back here again…"

I slide out of the bed and grin at Madam Pomfrey. "Oh absolutely. I've learned my lesson and I will be sure to avoid all dangerous situations from now until the end of time."

I sneakily smirk over at Al before leaving the hospital wing, knowing that both he and Madam Pomfrey are fully aware that I have no intentions of staying out of trouble, but enjoying the fact that they have both gone through this enough times to know better than to call me out on it.

I slowly make my way through the corridor to potions class, thinking of different pranks, a single nagging thought making the process rather difficult.

If Ariana can change, why can't I?

You lovely readers have been so patient with me! I know this update has taken forever, and this is a bit of a short chapter, but I do have a valid excuse! Along with being rather busy with work, school, and my sorority, I also had some writer's block with this chapter. I had multiple ways this chapter could have gone, and picking one and sticking with it was actually harder than I thought, so I hope you enjoyed the direction I decided to go with it! :)

I want to thank everyone who added this story to their alerts, those who have reviewed this story, and those who have continued to read this story despite the obscene amout of time it has taken me to update. I love and appreciate all of you! :)

I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions about this chapter! Really, I would! :)

Thanks!

-Tx