“Remus, remember a few days ago, before James, well you know…” Lily started. “Yeah?” Remus asked her. They were sitting together in the Gryffindor Common Room, in front of the unlit fire. “Well, you said you had an idea what was wrong with James. Care to fill me in on that idea?” Remus looked startled. “I’d forgotten all about that!” he exclaimed. “With everything that’s been happening in the last few days...” “Well?” Lily asked eagerly. “Well, you remember how Professor Slughorn was telling us about love-potions earlier this year?” “That can’t be it!” Lily burst out. “I already thought of it, but the symptoms don’t match.” “You’re thinking of the main one, the one that Slughorn went on about for most of the lesson. He briefly mentioned others, and they match quite a bit. I’m not certain though…” Lily looked impressed. “Wow, you really do pay attention in your classes don’t you?” she asked. “It pays off,” he said, smiling. “How can we be sure?” Lily asked. “We can’t, but we can guess,” Remus shrugged. “And I have a feeling Calista may have dropped something small in James’s pile of food. It could have been anything; an Every Flavour Bean or something like that, and we wouldn’t have noticed.” “It would be embarrassing if we were wrong,” Lily pointed out. “Lily, if it’s the potion I’m thinking of, it could be fatal if we aren’t,” Remus told her seriously.
Sirius sat stubbornly beside the bed. Remus had gone to the library with Lily. The disloyal prat. Sirius thought angrily. Peter had wanted to go as well, had Sirius had insisted he stayed. He couldn’t believe his friends, how could they even think of just walking off and leaving James? ‘But Sirius, he’s in a coma, he really couldn’t care less,” Peter had said. Sirius shot him a death glare, remembering those words, and Peter looked away hurriedly. Madame Pomfrey came past to look over James, and finally stepped away and shook her head. “I have arranged for Mr. Potter to be moved to Saint Mungo’s tomorrow morning,” she informed him apologetically. Sirius said nothing, but stared at his hands resting in his lap. This shouldn’t be happening, he thought angrily. We’re kids, we should be out playing a game of Quidditch, or inside complaining about our homework, not sitting here, waiting for our friend to die. It was right then that he realized it. He wasn’t waiting for James to wake up, like his friends. He was waiting for him to die. He had a different perspective to life; and from the life that he had experienced so far, he couldn’t be blamed. From being either ignored or abused as a child, he had learned to expect the worst, exactly the way his family felt about him.
James heard voices in the distance, and he knew he had to get to them. He did his best to follow them, until they were clear enough for him to make out what he was saying. “…should be here soon, he said he was only going for awhile.” That was Sirius! he realized excitedly. But why couldn’t he see him? All he could see was a misty haze of black, sort of like the first thing you see when you wake up, just before you open your eyes. I must be right in the middle of being awake and asleep, he realized. Cool! “Remus! Finally!” Sirius exclaimed from far away. “Sorry, me and Lily had to-” “Don’t worry about it. Look, James has to be moved to Saint Mungos tomorrow, he’s not getting better,” Sirius voice said blankly. James was puzzled. Saint Mungo’s? he wondered. Merlin, how long was I asleep for? “You’re joking!” Remus cried. “No, Madame Pomfrey just told us.” “Wow, Calista sure is going to be upset, she apparently never stops crying as it is.” James felt confused at this. Why was everyone making such a big deal about this? Were they talking about someone else? They have to be, he decided. Well, I may as well see for myself. He tried to open his eyes, but simply got a headache. Ok, that didn’t work. Weird… He attempted it again, and found that he was able to move them slightly. After a few more exhausting attempts, he managed to open them, and a blurry scene came into view. He managed to decode the swirling mess as to being his friends as they slowly came into focus. It was Peter who first noticed his awakening. “James!” he screamed, nearly giving James a heart attack. Wow, this hurts, James thought wryly. It was true, every bone in his body ached as if he was being crushed, and his head was pounding. “Alright, you’re awake!” Sirius cried triumphantly. “That was really incredibly good timing James,” said Remus approvingly. “What’s going on?” asked James, and his voice sounded tired and weak. He didn’t like it at all. “You don’t remember?” asked Remus. James found his breathing growing heavier and it was becoming hard to get air into his lungs. His head was spinning, and he felt dizzy. What’s happening? He thought, the beginnings of panic overtaking him. He didn’t have any time to think about it, because before long, he had passed out again.
“…and then he just sort of, fell back,” Sirius was explaining, just as Lily and her friends entered the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey looked immensely relieved. “And you’re sure?” she asked sternly. “Yes, I told you, he spoke to us. He was really confused, like he didn’t know what was going on,” Sirius informed her. Madame Pomfrey seemed satisfied with this, and she turned towards James, then back to all of the kids. “You may go now,” she said, addressing all of them. Lily was outraged. “Why? What’s going on, we only just got here!” she cried. A beaming Sirius took her arm and led her out of the room. “Come on Lily, we can go now,” he chirped, and everyone followed them. “Sirius, what’s going on?” Lily asked, wrenching her arm out of his. “Well, just about an hour ago, Madame Pomfrey told us that James would have to go to Saint Mungo’s tomorrow, because he isn’t getting better!” Sirius said brightly. Jada clapped a hand over her mouth, and Lily stared at him. “Ok, you have officially gone crazy,” she told him, feeling sick. “You are happy about this why?” “Well, you didn’t let me finish!” Sirius laughed. “Not long after, James woke up!” Jada let out a cry of delight, and Lily felt so relieved she almost sat down on the floor. “So he’s going to be alright?” asked Lily hopefully. “I mean, if he is, then why did he pass out again?” she remembered the words Sirius had spoken as she walked in. ’And then he just sort of… fell back.’ “Madame Pomfrey says that people in comas wake up bit by bit, and the more they wake up, even if they can’t move, sometimes they can hear what’s going on around them. Apparently, lots of ex-coma victims said they could hear their loved ones, and it stopped them from being so scared,” Remus explained, sounding like a textbook. Lily felt a lump form in her throat. “What did he say?” she asked. “He was really confused, like he didn’t know what was happening. Then he just like, gasped or something and passed out,” Peter said earnestly. Jada looked horrified again. “Look, it’s getting late; let’s get back to the common rooms,” she decided. Thaliana and Roxanna hastily agreed, and the large group headed back.
Lily sat with Robert on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room. They simply sat, leaning against each other, for the longest of times, staring into the fire. It was very late, and everyone else had gone to bed, leaving them alone. The two of them were both thinking about the conversation that had followed Lily’s confession. Robert had told Lily that he had felt the same way about her, but the two of them had both been too shy to ask about where they should take it from there, and had simply dropped the subject. Lily went on to think about James, and she felt awful, as if she was betraying him by getting a crush on someone else while he was helpless to do anything about it. It’s funny, now that there’s a chance that James could be under the influence of a love potion, I’m starting to wonder whether he really does like me. she mused “I’m just so worried about him. What if he’s not alright yet Robert?” Lily asked, looking at her friend sorrowfully. “I’m sure he will be Lily, he’s already woken up, and that has to be good, right?” he asked gently. “Yes, I suppose, but apparently he’s not out of danger yet,” she reported. “Is there something else that’s bothering you?” he asked. Lily hesitated, then relented. “I can’t stop thinking about what Krysta said to me the night he fell. She said-” Lily choked on her words. “She said that I would regret it if anything happened and all of a sudden, my chance to say sorry was gone forever.” “Wow, that sounds like a jinx to me,” Robert observed. “Robert!” Lily exclaimed. “Sorry!” he apologized, holding his hands up. “You’re going to have another chance Lily; he’s going to be fine. Lily threw her arms around Robert, and he sat there for a moment, startled, and then wrapped her in a comforting hug. “I don’t want it to happen again, not to James!” she choked into his chest. “He’s going to be alright Lily,” he soothed, but Lily could hear a strange tightness to his voice. Lily calmed herself, quickly and sat up a little more. “Look, I’ve been thinking about what you thinking about what you said earlier on,” Lily said out of nowhere. She was referring to the conversation she and Robert had held earlier, after she had admitted her feelings to him. He had, of course, told her he liked her too, which had given her a very good reason to be thinking. “What about it?” Robert asked, unaware where Lily was going with it. Lily looked into his eyes for a moment, hesitated, and then leaned in and kissed him. Shock! Horror! now wasnt that just the most revealing chapter ever?? Congratulations to all people who guessed about the love potion thing, im happy for you, and Im glad it was made clear without me saying it outright! yay for all of us!!
Review challenge!! ahem, which of the Marauders do you think acts most canon, not so much from the pensieve, but the way you truly believe they acted? Thanks bunches!