Lily groggily opened her eyes.
“Lily! Oh my gosh, Lily! You’re awake! I was so worried! Are you okay?” A tear-stained Alice stood by Lily’s bed, eyes red and puffy.
“I... I think so. What happened? Why am I here?” Lily rubbed her aching head, and looked around in confusion. “What’s going on?”
“You- you don’t remember?” Alice asked.
“No. The last thing I remember is leaving the library after I was done writing the Potions paper.”
Alice looked at her in sympathy. “No one really knows what happened. You were just hurt... really bad... and now you can’t remember...” It seemed as though Alice was going to start crying again.
“How did I get here?” Lily wanted to know.
Madam Pompfrey bustled into the Infirmary. “Young James Potter burst in here with you in his arms around seven this morning and nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“James Potter! Are you sure?” Lily was shocked that James would even consider touching her after the way she blew up at him last night.
“Well of course I’m sure,” Madam Pompfrey said. “Now drink this Potion. It will make you feel rather weak, but it will help with those nasty cuts you’ve got, m’dear.”
Lily held the goblet and looked at the potion apprehensively. A thick brown sludge slid around in the cup. She looked at Madam Pompfrey. “Well, go on dearie! Don’t take all day!”
Lily took one last glance at the liquid, grimaced, and drained the cup.
Just then, the loud bell rang, signaling the end of the period. “Lily? I’d better go to class now. My free period is over. Will you be all right?” Alice asked.
Lily smiled. “Honestly, I’ll be fine! Don’t miss a class on my account. Go on.”
Alice nodded and went slowly out the door with one last glance at Lily. Lily laid back in bed, feeling the Potion do its work, and tried to remember the events of last night.
“Knut for your thoughts?”
Lily jumped in bed, startled. She looked around, and saw James leaning against the wall.
“What do you want, Potter?” Lily asked, unsure whether to be angry for their argument, or grateful for his help last night.
James shrugged. “I just came to check on you, Evans. I see Madam Pompfrey gave you the Clotting Potion.”
Lily nodded. James walked over and sat down in the chair next to her bed. “That potion is the worst. It makes you really weak, doesn’t it.” He smirked. “Not that you need a Potion to make you weak.”
Lily’s eyes blazed in indignation. “How dare you! Potter, you intolerable, arrogant jerk!” Lily sat up as if to slap him, then lurched to her right, feeling lightheaded from the affects of the potion. Unfortunately, that landed her in James’s arms for the second time that day.
“Are you alright?” James asked, with a flicker of, Merlin forbid, concern in his eyes.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Lily retorted in a shaky voice. “Now, just let go of-” she let out a gasp.
“What’s the matter Evans?” James asked, his cocky arrogance back. “Cat got your- oh lord.”
He had turned around and saw what Lily was facing. Bellatrix and Snape had appeared in the doorway of the Hospital Wing, both looking extremely smug.
“What are you doing here?” James hissed, setting Lily back on the bed.
“Why, we are just here to see how our favorite little Mudblood is doing.” Bellatrix said in anything but a concerned voice.
Lily felt the blood drain out of her face. “It was you, wasn’t it? You attacked me last night.” She strained for her wand, which was just beyond her reach on the bedside table, where Madam Pompfrey had apparently placed it.
Bellatrix’s eyes lit up. “Oh look, the Mudblood doesn’t remember last night’s little game! Perhaps a little repetition would jolt her sad excuse for a brain.”
“What did you say?” James was beside himself in anger.
From the doorway came another voice. “She called her a Mudblood, Potter, which is just what scum like Evans deserve to be called. Don’t you know that? Perhaps not, since you come from a family of Muggle-lovers. They disgrace the name of purebloods. But they’ll get what’s coming to them, in time. Just like this little Mudblood did,” Snape said, smirking.
“STOP SAYING... THAT WORD!” James roared. Lily winced, thanking Dumbledore for putting Silencing Charms on the Hospital Wing to keep any unfortunate moans of pain from disrupting classes.
“What are you going to do about it, Potter?” Snape taunted. “Simply glare at me like the coward you-”
James let his fist loose, catching Snape in the nose. Snape glared at him, shaking in fury.
“I dare you to do that again.” Snape said, his voice low and deadly. Without waiting for an answer, he threw himself at James, causing both of the boys to fall to the floor. Lily saw Snape manage to punch James in the jaw, before they merely became a blur of fists, blood, and insults. Lily watched the fray, Bellatrix forgotten, until she heard that silky voice right by her ear.
“Never knew you liked fights, Evans.”
“Actually, I’m just astounded by the stupidity of the male species.” Lily said coldly. “How daft can you get, fighting in the Hospital Wing? Madam Pompfrey-”
“Is at a staff meeting.” Bellatrix cut in smoothly. “It seems as though you’ve forgotten your place, Mudblood, speaking about someone above your rank like that. Perhaps you need another lesson. You apparently don’t remember the last one. Maybe... yes. The one I used last night will do. I just learned it. You should be proud, being my first victim. It’s called the Cruciatus Curse."