The Curtain Call
Chapter Four: James’ Accident
“Alright, let’s see that sword fight, again!”
Young boys eagerly scrambled around backstage to find their swords. Each one of them stood stock-still just behind the curtains, ready to run onto the stage at their entrance.
Peter stepped behind a fake gate, looking as if he were imprisoned. Lily put her hand on the gate, ready to push it open. She looked out at James. “Do you want us to go now?”
James nodded. “Yeah “ go.”
Lily instantly transformed into Princess Adelaide. She pushed the gate open and hugged Peter.
Peter recited his lines, quickly glancing down at his script. “Adelaide, you shouldn’t have tried to free me “ think of what your parents will think! A princess “ saving a thief!”
Lily shook her head, refusing to use the script in her hand. “That doesn’t matter to me “ I love you!”
Peter started to go in for another hug, but was stopped when something off to the side of the stage caught his eye. He gasped in, acting surprised as several boys stepped onstage, waving their swords high into the air.
Lily and Peter jumped apart and grabbed the two nearest swords. They started swinging them around in the air, clanging with the other swords until the guards had encircled them.
James waved his arms in the air to stop them, very straight faced. “Alright,” he called to the group with a bit of hesitation, “yeah “ that’s good…”
Mr. Evans shot James a glance out of the corner of his eye, worried. “What is it?” he asked in a deep voice, careful so that none of the other kids would hear.
James just shook his head and held up a hand, silently telling Mr. Evans not to worry.
“I’m done!” James shouted, stepping forward to address the group. And then to Lily, after most of the stage had cleared, whispered, “Hey “ come here.”
Lily knelt down at the bottom of the stage, closest to James. “Yeah?” she asked, trying very hard not to make a face at him. Sure, she was supposed to put their past behind them, but that didn’t mean she could do it all in one night!
James drummed his fingers on the stage, frowning. “You really need to just “ make the sword look real, Lily.”
She heaved a deep sigh, struggling to keep her face neutral. “I tried making the sword feel like it had weight and everything,” Lily quickly defended herself. “I really did.”
James held up a hand to stop her in the middle of her statement as he nodded. “I understand,” he said in a soft voice, “but “ it isn’t real yet.” He ran one hand through his hair and gently massaged the back of his neck as he thought. “Alright “ do you remember what you said on Friday?”
They were both quiet. A lot had been said on Friday. “About what?” Lily inquired.
“When you, uh “ accused me of trying to make you look weak,” James supplied, hoping that Lily wouldn’t get upset at him. After all, it was their first day without any arguments; they were walking on eggshells.
“Yeah, I remember,” Lily said, trying very hard to bite her tongue and not let any insults roll instinctively off of her tongue. “What about it?”
“Well,” James shrugged helplessly, “you’re right. I want you to be weak.”
Lily nodded slowly, raising her eyebrows, slightly surprised.
“C’mon, Lily,” James quickly intervened before Lily had enough time to get upset with him, “you’re playing a princess, not a warrior!” He struggled to find the right words. A small slip of the tongue could make their newfound alliance go up in smoke. “If you looked up a day in the life of a princess, I highly doubt anything exciting would even show up.” James hoped that Lily was not angry with him. “You just need to look like you’re having a harder time than these other guys.”
“Right, so “ weak,” Lily summed it up with a tilt of her head and a wrinkle of her nose. “Got it.”
“You got it?” James repeated in surprise, backing away. He double checked to make sure he had not imagined Lily’s smile of affirmation and then nodded, glad that she hadn’t lashed out at him in any way. “Good!”
Lily moved back onto the stage and put away her sword, ready to begin the next scene. She started to feel more at ease when her father moved up from the shadows to take James’ spot as the director.
She knew that she shouldn’t be so tense when James was helping out with some scenes, but it was so unnatural! At least with her father in charge, she felt that she had a better grip on things.
But Lily couldn’t stop the fear from running through her mind. She was practicing her lines with James after the rehearsal finished! If she was uncomfortable with him in a large group setting, what would it be like when there were only two of them? Alone?
Lily cleared her head of these thoughts and waited for her father to start the second half of the rehearsal, momentarily putting aside the future.
“Way to go, Evans,” a particularly nasty voice hissed from behind Lily. “I almost feel sorry for you.”
Lily turned her head so quickly that she felt her neck crack the second Jess Marzoli came into view. She ignored the cramp in her neck, refusing to let Jess see her pain. “Why do you feel sorry for me?” Lily asked curiously. She knew that she shouldn’t respond to Jess’ taunts, but felt as if she had no choice.
Jess shrugged, wearing a conniving smile. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her jeans and stepped forward, leering at Lily. “Well, James feels sorry for you, too.”
Lily frowned. This girl hadn’t been talking to James, had she? She wouldn’t know anything that James was thinking “ she was just using this as bait. That was it. All she was trying to do was get Lily to bite, and then Lily would just get pulled along like Jess wanted “
“Why does James feel sorry for me?” Lily almost cursed herself for speaking at that moment. You should’ve just walked away! Lily thought desperately, wishing she could take back her words.
Lily had fallen into Jess’ trap, and they both knew it. She could see the triumphant glint in Jess’ dark eyes.
“Well,” she started with a casual shrug, “you’ve been having quite a few problems with your role lately.” Jess blinked, cocking her head to the side with a smile. “Right?”
“Well, uh…” Lily thought through all of the mistakes she had made during the practices and tried to find excuses. She soon realized what she was doing and stopped; Lily confidently held her head high and shook it defiantly. “No,” she said firmly. “No, I haven’t had - ”
“Everyone sees your mistakes,” Jess overrode Lily’s voice by increasing the volume of hers. “And you’re corrected almost everyday in front of the entire cast.”
Wait a minute! Lily thought furiously. I may be corrected occasionally “ but Peter makes loads more mistakes than I do! Why doesn’t he get any grief for it?
“It’s embarrassing, isn’t it?” Jess asked, putting on a mock sympathetic look. She pulled her hands out of her pockets and crossed them over her chest when Lily sent back an inquisitive look. “I saw James talk to you after everyone else left.” She started to circle Lily as if she were a lion, eyeing her prey. “He must have felt so bad about how awful you were doing; he couldn’t stand making a fool out of you in front of everyone again.” Jess stopped as she made a complete circle around Lily, facing her straight on. She smiled, trying to look innocent. “James is just so kindhearted that he couldn’t bear to humiliate you any longer.”
Lily’s hands clenched into fists at her side. Had Jess said this same comment about James to her a few days ago, Lily would have responded with an insult about James; Lily now knew who deserved the insult.
She opened her mouth after forming a weak retort, but their argument was cut short by another voice.
“Hey, Marzoli!”
The two girls looked offstage to find James walking out from behind a red curtain.
Jess glanced quickly at Lily, delighted to show off the fact that James wanted to speak with her, and not with Lily. Her hand rose automatically to her long hair and she started to twist it seductively between her fingers with a flirtatious grin. “Yes, James?”
James slid a hammer into his belt buckle and held up a dress with his other hand. “We just got your new costume,” James shouted loudly, his voice traveling across the room. “Do you want to try it on? You know,” he added, and Lily could have sworn she saw the flicker of a grin cross his face, “the costume designers got it in a different size and wanted to check and make sure it fit this time.”
Jess’ face immediately flamed. She glared accusingly at Lily as if she had planned this.
“This isn’t over,” Jess hissed, narrowing her eyes.
“I’m sure it isn’t,” Lily muttered to herself as Jess stomped off past James, nearly ripping the new costume from his hands. Her heels clicked angrily on the wooden floor as she exited backstage.
Lily held a tired hand up to her face. How much longer could she take this torment from Jess? James couldn’t always appear out of the blue every time Jess started to ridicule Lily. It wasn’t as if James knew that she had been giving Lily a hard time or anything…
Lily’s last idea stuck with her. She slowly dropped her hand from her face and felt her eyes search the stage for James. He was still standing where he had been earlier, watching Lily. Their eyes connected for just a moment, and James held up his hand and flicked his wrist just a little to the side, creating a discreet waving motion. He winked and walked away.
Lily could not hide the smile that played at her lips.
*
“I’m going home, James,” a voice interrupted his thoughts. James looked up to find one of his set designers standing over him, wiping the sweat from his face with a dirty rag. “It’s too bloody hot “ I don’t see how you can stay in this heat.”
James smiled sympathetically up at the fourteen-year-old boy. “The heat hardly bothers me anymore,” he shrugged casually. “I’ve worked here for so many years, I rarely notice it.”
The fourteen-year-old shook his head, almost looking down on James in pity. “Well, you may be crazy enough to stay, but I’m throwing in the towel.” He made a show of throwing down the rag that he was holding onto the floor. “Everyone else on the set crew has already left, and I’m going to have to agree with them today.”
James nodded, returning to work on his prop. And then, as if remembering something, he turned back to the boy. “Are all of the set pieces you have on schedule?” he asked before letting him leave. “Are you behind on anything, or should I start working on those?”
“Nope,” the kid grinned, starting to back out the door. “I’m ahead of schedule, James “ no need to worry,” he smiled and exited the room.
James turned back to his set piece, but was, once again, interrupted before he could start working on it. A second voice at the door caught his attention.
“Hey, James,” another boy, smaller this time, spoke up, speaking very fast, “can I help?”
James looked up. He grinned at the short, curly-haired boy. “Hey, Jimmy,” he said in a friendly voice.
The eleven-year-old grinned back, revealing his toothy smile. “So?” he asked. “Can I help?”
James stood up and carefully stepped around the many objects lying on the floor. He dropped a lazy arm over his shoulders and beamed, loving the boy’s strong work ethic. In fact, the boy loved working at the theater so much that James wondered if he could be a replica of himself. Not only did the kid love constructing the set, like James, but he had also grown to love the theater almost as much as James did.
“Jimmy,” James started, walking with the boy towards the door, “don’t you think you’re a little exhausted from working in this heat?” He gestured to the t-shirt that he was wearing, pointing out the multiple sweat marks making the shirt stick to his chest. “Everyone else went home already, Jim. Take a break!”
“My name is Jimmy Dunne,” the boy spoke firmly in his Irish accent. “Not Jim “ I told you not to call me Jim!”
“I was only playing,” James laughed, slapping a hand on Jimmy’s back. “Just a fun nickname from one friend to another.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow at James. James might have had six years on the boy, but it was clear that, even though he was much younger and much more likely to be pushed around by older kids, he would not allow any friend to give him a nickname that he despised.
“Alright, Jimmy,” James finally said with a sigh. “How about you go home a little early today? The set’s almost finished, anyway; you can work on it tomorrow.”
“But I can help,” Jimmy nodded enthusiastically, already forgetting entirely about the nickname mishap. “Really,” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow, “I’ll be fine.”
James laughed at the boy’s willingness to work during the hottest day of the season. “Jimmy, one of these days you’re going to have a heat stroke if you’re not careful.”
Jimmy crossed his arms and looked up at James with an amused smile. “I’m going to get a heat stroke? How about you? You’re the one who’s spending every rehearsal and more working in this weather!”
James thought about this comment. Jimmy had him cornered.
“Eh,” James finally shrugged. “I’m the head set designer,” he finally said, unable to come up with a better argument. “Besides, I’ve got a meeting with someone after the rehearsal, so I might as well stay here.”
Jimmy’s eyes lit up. He had only been working on the set for one month, but he had been around long enough to know that James didn’t normally plan meetings with anyone after rehearsals; he used the time to work on the set “ not to waste time talking to someone else.
“Who?” Jimmy asked eagerly.
James frowned. “Who what?” he asked.
“Who are you meeting with?” Jimmy elaborated on his question.
James pulled his arm away from Jimmy’s shoulders and looked into the boy’s curious eyes. “What does it matter?”
“Unless you’re meeting with Mr. Evans…” Jimmy thought aloud. He started to scratch behind his ear. “That sort of meeting would be normal.”
James shook his head, hiding his smile. “Why do you care, Jimmy?”
Jimmy’s dark eyes, hidden beneath the mop of curly hair atop his head, suddenly doubled in size. “You’re meeting a girl.”
James’ ears turned pink the moment Jimmy had guessed correctly. He chose not to respond.
“I knew it,” Jimmy beamed, rubbing his hands together as if he were thinking up some sort of a scheme. He would not rest until he had figured out the puzzle.
“Goodbye, Jimmy,” James quickly cut him off with a smile. Before Jimmy had a chance to reply, James picked up the boy’s bag and threw it directly at his chest, pushing him out the door.
“Alright,” Jimmy called back, swinging his bag over his shoulders, “you might have won this time, but I’ll find out what you’re doing soon enough!” The boy turned away and attempted to make very loud stomping noises, trying to appear upset, when, in reality, he was merely playing around.
James grinned, waving to the boy as he left.
He turned back to the prop on the floor that he had been working on and knelt beside it once more, wiping the sweat off of his face with the bottom of his old t-shirt.
I understand that we want to keep the authenticity of the old theater, James agreed, but couldn’t we put in some sort of a fan in this place?
He couldn’t take it any longer. It was the middle of July! Did Mr. Evans honestly think that people wouldn’t faint under the extreme heat?
James checked his surroundings. He was in one of the rooms just offstage, specially reserved for James’ crew of set designers to safely store their set pieces. Everyone else in the cast seemed to be either relaxing in the audience, watching the rehearsal, or on the stage; no one would come in search of his assistance anytime soon.
With a swift motion, James pulled off his t-shirt.
Instantly, a wave of relief fell over him. His temperature dropped nearly ten degrees in those few, glorious seconds.
Finally feeling comfortable, James sat beside the set and dipped the end of a paintbrush into a small, tin can of paint. He pulled it out to reveal a dark green color, clinging to the end of the brush.
James leaned over one of the many large trees that he had built entirely out of wood several weeks earlier. He imagined the final product in his mind and then began to paint the top part of the tree, the leaves, with the color he just pulled out on his brush. With gentle strokes, back and forth, the set came to life.
Before long, James was already off in his own little world: painting the sets and listening to the actors, as he used to do. He never had enough time anymore to just listen to the actors while he worked on the set; but, James realized, he had, also, never been in charge of working with the actors on certain scenes, nor had he ever had to stay behind to help someone with their lines. Without the extra time after rehearsals, James was beginning to wonder if he had to stay even longer than he normally did to finish the set on time.
James fell out of his daydream as he heard Lily’s voice float to his ears from the stage. “What do you regret?”
It’s the scene we did on Friday! James realized. He momentarily stopped painting the top of the tree and just held the brush so that he could hear Lily better.
James swallowed as the line that Lily hadn’t remembered on Friday appeared.
“Why would a low-level thief, such as yourself, even care whether or not he kidnapped someone “ as long as they got money out of it?”
James let out his breath in relief. He hadn’t even realized that he had been holding it. But once Lily got past the line, he seemed “
“Oh, no,” James moaned, looking down at his tree with dismay. While he had been listening to Lily speak, he had accidentally let the green paint from his brush drip all over the trunk of the tree.
Damn.
James looked over his right shoulder and then over his left. No one was watching him. None of them were even close…
Slipping a hand discreetly into his right pocket, James managed to grab his wand without anyone noticing anything suspicious.
Torgeo, James focused on the words of the spell without speaking them aloud, pointing his wand at the spilled paint. A small flash of light lit up the room, but no noise disrupted the actors on the stage.
He ran his hand over the spot where there had just been a green splotch of paint. In its place was a clean surface. With a smile as the charm took its effect, James quickly moved his wand to another spot of drying, green paint and repeated the spell in his mind.
James smirked to himself once he had finished cleaning up the spills. You couldn’t even tell that he had messed up!
He carefully checked over his shoulders once more “ just to be safe. And with a grin, he turned back around to hide his wand when a pair of shoes entered his line of sight.
James froze, afraid to look. But before he had a chance to raise his eyes, he heard the familiar sound of someone clearing their throat.
Just Lily, he sighed. He looked up and, sure enough, Lily was staring right back down at him, clearly finished with play practice for the day.
“What was that?” Lily asked him with a smile tugging at her lips. She noticed, feeling slightly embarrassed now, that James’ t-shirt was balled up in the corner of the room. She played off her discomfort and continued her conversation as if nothing had happened. “You’ve just come of age to use magic outside of Hogwarts, and, already, you’re using it in a Muggle establishment?”
James let out a strained chuckle, unsure of how Lily would react. He remembered his previous conversation with Lily about the swords. He had thought that he had been on thin ice when telling her what to do; now she caught him using magic in a Muggle building. James didn’t even want to think about what Lily would have done if it had been anyone other than Lily standing in front of him.
“Don’t scare me like that,” James muttered, quickly stuffing his wand into his pocket. He glanced down at his shirtless chest and began to grow very uncomfortable with the situation.
Lily dropped her tattered green bag on the ground next to James and kneeled beside him. “So that’s how the famous James Potter does such a nice job with the set.” She couldn’t hide her smile any longer. “I’ll make sure to tell my dad about that.”
James rolled his eyes at her. “Oh, please, Lily. Give me more credit than that,” he said, dipping his paint brush into the green paint again. He brushed it over the top of the tree. “One time deal,” he said, focusing on the strokes of the brush. “Besides,” he lowered his eyes with a mischievous smile that he hoped Lily would laugh at, “I hardly ever make any mistakes.”
And Lily laughed.
James heard the lid of another can of paint pop open. He looked to his left to find Lily on her hands and knees, dipping her own paintbrush into a can of brown paint for the trunk of the tree.
“Lily “ you don’t have to help,” James said to her. “Really, I can do it myself.”
“I’m alright,” Lily smiled at James. She started to paint, looking thoroughly content with the process. Still stubborn, James couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re helping me with my lines,” Lily told him with a shrug. “It’s the least I can do.”
James paused. He stared at Lily openly until he realized that she could easily turn and catch him watching her at any given moment.
“So,” Lily tried to make conversation to fill the awkward silence, “why did you mess up this time?”
“Hmm?” James asked, genuinely surprised by her question. “Mess up “ oh, the tree,” he muttered, embarrassed.
Lily nodded with a laugh. “You said you never mess up “ what happened?”
“Well, for your information,” James smirked, picking up his paintbrush and holding his free hand beneath it so it wouldn’t drip this time, “I was listening to you.”
“Why?” Lily asked without looking up. She continued working.
“I was trying to see if you remembered the line that you missed on Friday,” James said carefully, gauging her reaction to his talk about Friday. She didn’t do anything. “And then I let the brush drip over the wrong part of the tree.”
“But I got the line,” Lily boasted proudly. She moved her head to the side to analyze her work from another angle while watching James at the same time. “And you were back here, worried that I would mess it up.”
James allowed a smile to cover his lips. “Yeah “ I was worried.”
The air tensed around them. Lily quickly broke the mood.
“How cute,” she giggled in a girlish tone, pinching James’ cheek like she was his aunt.
James rolled his eyes at Lily and pulled away with a laugh before readjusting his glasses. He stood up and wiped the paint from his hand off on his already dirty pants. “Come on,” he said in a louder, more confident voice. “You wanted to help me “ then help me carry this onstage.”
Lily moved to grab the trunk of the tree, careful to avoid the spots that she had just painted. James grabbed onto the leaves.
“On three,” James said. “One, two - ”
The tree was off of the ground before three and cradled in their arms.
“Alright, we’re going to back out this way,” James said, jerking his head over his left shoulder, towards the double door exit. “I’ll go out first.”
Lily nodded and began to follow James’ pace, but they hadn’t even walked two steps before one of the open cans of paint interfered.
“James, watch - ”
Before Lily could finish her sentence, James stepped on the top of the green can of paint. His foot lodged itself securely inside the can and he lost his footing. As if in slow motion, Lily watched as James’ legs went flying out from underneath him and he fell to the floor. His arms immediately pulled out from beneath the tree to catch himself before he hit the ground, leaving the rough, unsanded edges of the set piece to deliver deep scratches down the front of James’ bare chest.
“Shit!” James swore as loud as he could, closing his eyes and gently lowering himself so that he was lying flat on his back. He shoved the large tree off of him, transferring the pain he felt into anger. With a soft groan, James rolled onto his side, trying to hold back his tears and hide his pained look from Lily.
“Oh, god “ James, are you alright?” Lily quickly dropped her end of the tree on the ground with a loud thud and ran to James’ side.
James moaned in pain for a moment longer. And slowly, he looked away from the door and lay on his back once more. James carefully pulled his arm away from his stomach and Lily gasped.
His entire chest was covered with blood; Lily could not see where the cut started and where it ended.
Lily immediately sprinted to the doorway of the set room and closed the two, large doors.
“Lily “ what are you doing?” James asked from the floor, feeling very lightheaded at the moment.
“I’m making sure that no one can get in,” she answered quietly, locking the door.
“Wow,” James muttered, trying to sit his head up and watch Lily run around the room, covering the windows, “do I really look that bad?”
Lily turned back to James after she finished blocking out all of the outside light from getting in. She saw James try to lift himself onto his elbows and quickly ran back to his side, forcing him back down.
“No “ lie down, James,” Lily instructed him, falling to her knees. She checked the room again and pulled out her wand.
“Whoa-ho,” James laughed, “Lily the rebel!”
“James,” Lily shot him a warning look as she pointed her wand at James’ chest, “I don’t believe you’re in a position right now to be making comments.”
James quickly stopped laughing. Lily smiled to herself, loving the power that she had instantly gained.
“Alright, now brace yourself,” Lily said softly. She held her wand to James’ stomach and whispered, “Aguamenti.”
Water shot through the tip of her wand and rinsed away the drying blood from James’ injury, making it far easier for Lily to find the source of the bleeding.
“That’s cold!” James said in a high, squeaky voice. He tried to squirm away, but Lily’s free hand was pressed down on his shoulder, holding him still. “Lily, you’re getting my clothes wet “ and the set!”
James immediately tried to sit up and make a break for it, but Lily was faster. She held up her hand to push him down and accidentally pressed her hand over his wound in the process. James gasped and reluctantly fell back to the ground under Lily’s instructions.
“Sorry about that,” Lily muttered, honestly feeling bad that she had, for once, inflicted pain upon James without meaning to. “But don’t worry “ we’ll use magic to clean it up, James.” Lily spoke calmly and professionally, stopping the running water.
After the last of the water fell away, dripping off of the side of James’ chest like a small waterfall, Lily’s eyes opened wide at the sight of the long gash running from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist. It certainly wasn’t deadly, but it wasn’t going to be painless, either.
“You’ve got yourself a pretty bad cut,” Lily said softly, analyzing the depth of the wound. She shook her head, biting her lip. “Well, it doesn’t look pretty, but it’ll leave one hell of a scar.”
James grinned and put his hands behind his head, very happy with this statement. Lily handed James a mirror so that he could see how bad his cut actually looked as opposed to how it felt. Lily then stood and moved to the corner of the room to grab James shirt.
“Imagine the stories I can tell with this thing,” James said loudly so Lily could hear him on the other end of the room. “I could say I fought a dragon… Hey!” James called even louder than before, trying to get Lily’s full attention. “I could tell everyone that I went back in time and one of those huge knights I told you guys about sliced me open and I made it back to the future just in time to get life-saving surgery!”
“Or,” Lily took her handheld mirror back and snapped it closed between her two fingers, “you could tell everyone that you stepped in a can of paint.”
“That does not leave this room,” James narrowed his eyes playfully at Lily.
“Right “ got it,” Lily teased him with a laugh. She delicately removed the many splinters from his chest and then pressed James’ shirt to his open wound to stop the bleeding.
James winced.
“Sorry,” Lily muttered, biting her lip as she tried to press the wound a bit lighter than before.
“Oh, no, it’s fine,” James toughened up with a deep breath, acting as if he wasn’t hurt at all. “I’ve had worse. Nothing Madame Pomfrey couldn’t fix.”
Lily stopped and looked at James, eyeing him with curiosity. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not Madame Pomfrey.”
“Well, you sure act like her,” James said casually. “Being a worrywart and all…”
His voice trailed off and Lily frowned. What was James trying to say? That she was an annoyance like their school’s nurse? Lily swallowed. She thought that they had been getting along rather well, considering… But what had she done to make him criticize her? It was his idea to get along in the first place…
“That’s a compliment, by the way,” James added under his voice, staring up at the ceiling.
Lily smiled, wondering when James had learned how to read minds.
“I was actually thinking about going into Healing,” Lily muttered into the thick silence, unsure where her stab at conversation would lead them. “You know, after Hogwarts and all…” She lifted James’ shirt and was glad to see that the bleeding had ceased for the moment. “I haven’t exactly learned anything about Healing that anyone else at Hogwarts wouldn’t know,” she shrugged offhandedly, “but I enjoy helping people.”
James nodded as best as he could on the ground. He tried to sit up again, but Lily put a hand to his forehead and pushed him back onto the floor. He smirked at her persistence. “I’m going to be an Auror,” he boasted proudly, acting as if he would not accept any other future. “Like my dad.”
Lily had seen many articles on James’ father in the Daily Prophet; he was one of the best dark wizard catchers the ministry had today. He would probably be the best that the Ministry would ever have.
She conjured a bandage out of the air, preparing to put it across James’ chest. “You’ve got some hard training ahead of you,” Lily informed him, wondering if he already knew this fact or not. “And it’s probably not going to be as much fun as you may think it would be.”
James put his hand beneath his head again and sighed, shaking his head. “I’m not all fun and games,” he said in a softer voice, not sure if he wanted Lily to hear him or not. “I mean “ I hate to bring up the past,” James mumbled rather quickly, “but if you ignore all of the pranks that I pulled, I do have some of the highest grades in my classes,” James said. He looked away from the ceiling and sent Lily a wry smile. “Right behind yours, of course.”
Lily smirked. “And I suppose that all of the duels you’ve had with Snape at Hogwarts might have helped you prepare to fight a real Death Eater in the future.”
James laughed. He felt Lily secure the bandage in place on his chest. The moment she moved away with an apprehensive smile, James sat up and began poking at the bandage like a curious child. It didn’t fall off, nor did it hurt to touch it.
“I don’t think you’ll be such a bad Healer yourself, Miss Evans,” James commented. He held a hand out to Lily and pulled himself back onto his feet.
The pair walked around the room, cleaning up the mess that they had created. James dried off his clothes “ and cleaned off the green paint that had dried on his shoe “ with a few simple spells. He carefully pulled his t-shirt back over his head with very little movement, while Lily cast a spell to dry the floor and all of the props, making them appear brand new.
“Thanks,” James said after Lily picked up her green bag. He paused as Lily started to head for the door. “Wait “ I thought you wanted to practice your lines,” James called, confused.
Lily shook her head sadly. “You’re not healthy enough to be moving around on the stage,” she advised him as if he did not already know it. She smiled, tempted to laugh at the mere thought of James trying to move at any speed faster that a slug. “Have you seen yourself walk recently?”
James couldn’t help but crack a feeble smile. When he had walked across the room to pick up his script just now, the only way he could get there was by leaning on every other stationary object in the room for support. He was going to be in pain for the next few days, and he knew it, as much as he hated to admit it. “Alright “ tomorrow, then. And I’m going to help,” James said quickly before Lily could protest.
“Fine,” she agreed, crossing her arms. “But right now, you really need to go back home and rest.” She put a defiant hand on her waist, showing that she was serious. “I mean, you did lose quite a bit of blood. If you’re not careful, there’s a strong chance that you could faint, especially in this heat.”
“Yes, Mother,” James said in a joking tone. He flashed a smile to show her that he was kidding around.
The pair silently picked up their wands and apparated home.
*
“James, what happened to you?”
“Nothing,” James waved his mother off, not really caring to explain his stupid mistake. He tried to walk quickly up the stairs leading to his room, but his mother easily cut him off, using her full health to her advantage.
“Something did happen,” she said in a worried voice. She frowned and put an arm on his shoulder, trying to figure out what was causing him to move so slowly. Then a look of fury spread across her face. “Did you get into a fight with a Muggle boy? Did he punch you?”
James couldn’t help but laugh, but cringed when he did. He held a hand to his stomach, feeling the bandage through his t-shirt. “I just “ fell and dropped a piece of the set. That’s all.” James made to push past his mother and walk upstairs once again, but she did not let him. Mrs. Potter ushered James over to their couch and made him lie down on his back, just like Lily had.
“Mum, I’m fine,” James tried to convince her in an exhausted voice. He scrambled to stand up, but after his mother unintentionally hit his stomach and he started to become lightheaded from attempting to fight back, James groaned and fell defenseless on the couch.
“What did you drop?” Mrs. Potter asked him in a worried voice. “How much did it weigh? Where did you hurt yourself?”
“Someone already healed me, Mum,” James interjected between questions. His mother stopped moving. “I’m alright!”
Mrs. Potter looked hesitant. “James, I’m a Healer “ can I at least look at it?”
James rolled his eyes and lifted his shirt so that his mother could analyze the work.
“That must be a bad cut to use up so much of a bandage,” she said quietly. “But I guess it looks… fine,” she admitted, almost sounding disappointed. “Are you sure you don’t want me to just check and make sure everything’s alright?”
“Mum, I trust her,” James shouted exasperatedly. “She seemed to know what she was doing “ but if I start getting some strange sort of an infection or something tomorrow, I’ll come to you first “ how about that? Are you alright with that?”
Mrs. Potter pulled James’ shirt back down to cover his stomach again and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her son. “You trust “ her?”
James shouted in frustration and threw his head back into the cushions of the couch. “Look, she’s training to become a Healer “ like you,” he said in an attempt to get his mother off of his back.
Mrs. Potter crossed her arms over her chest and lowered her gaze so that she was looking over the rims of her glasses. “Are you trying to replace me, James?”
“Replace you?” James made a very confused face at his mother. “Mum, I don’t have time to play games “ Lily told me I had to get rest.”
“Lily?” Mrs. Potter tilted her head at an angle. “That was the girl that was here the other night looking for you, wasn’t it?” she realized, now much more curious. “The one you, supposedly, didn’t get along with?”
James shrugged and tried to get back on his feet without inflicting any pain to his chest. “We’re fine now,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, shuffling across the floor to the stairs. Once he got a strong hold on the banister to help him up, James turned to face his mother again. “And what’s with all of the questions?”
“Well, nothing,” Mrs. Potter sighed dramatically. She moved away from the couch with a suspicious smile. “I just thought I’d ask a few simple questions about this girl you’re trying to replace your dear old mother with.”
James froze before his foot hit the first stair. He paled. “Like “ a girlfriend? No, Mum, ew,” James quickly shook his head, denying every thought that had crossed through his mother’s mind. “Lily’s just “ no,” James nearly shuddered, sounding as if he were a first year again and all girls had cooties. He then cracked a joke to ease the awkward situation he had been put in. “You’re loosing your mind faster than I would have thought for a person your age.”
“Whoa, now,” Mrs. Potter laughed, “see if I’ll bring your dinner up to your room now.” She rested a lazy arm at the base of the banister and propped her head up with the palm of her hand. She heard James moan with each step as he inched up the flight of stairs. “I’m going to make you walk back downstairs for your dinner,” she teased, walking away.
James sighed and shook his head.
*
Before Lily had arrived home, an owl was tapping it’s beak on the window of Lily’s room.
“Mum!” Lily shouted downstairs. “Why didn’t you let the owl in “ our neighbors could have seen it!”
Lily’s mother walked calmly to the door of Lily’s bedroom with a tired look. “No need to yell,” she sighed with one hand on her waist and the other holding a laundry basket full of wet clothes beneath her arms. “He must have just shown up,” Mrs. Evans said, referring to the owl now perched on the windowsill, eagerly holding out his leg to Lily. “I’ve been outside nearly all day; it couldn’t have been very long that he was waiting.”
Lily took the letter from the owl and smiled. “The owl is a she, Mum,” Lily answered, realizing it was a letter from her friend’s owl.
“Whatever it is,” her mother rolled her eyes, unable to keep any of the owls straight. She then softly tapped the wood frame around Lily’s door in parting. “I’ll be two rooms down if you need me.”
Lily nodded to her mother and quickly ran to her bed, jumping on it. She bounced up and down a few times before the springs in her mattress stopped moving and she opened the letter.
Lily,
No word on if I’ll be able to visit you or not this summer. Chelsie’s trying to convince her parents, too. They keep saying we’re never around enough anymore “ that summer’s supposed to be family time. Where on earth did they get that concept? But I’ll talk to them more about that.
I really want to see the play! I’ve only seen a few in the past, but you were hardly onstage for those, anyway. I can’t wait to see you in the lead role “ how exciting! (Chelsie and I are using that as one of our excuses to visit.) And I know its hard working with James on some of those scenes that you told me about. (When you last wrote me a letter, you were furious about something with swords, but I didn’t really understand what you were going on about… But I’m sure it’s frustrating!)
Just try not to kill James, alright? I wouldn’t mind getting the Quidditch Cup in our last year at Hogwarts.
With love,
Anna
Lily pulled out a sheet of her own parchment paper to respond. After sitting with the quill in her mouth for several minutes, she couldn’t think of anything to write. With a frown, Lily forced herself to jot a small message to her friend.
Anna,
Keep trying to persuade your parents “ I really want you both to be here for the play!
As for James “ he’s still a major prat. But I’ll try not to completely rip him to shreds.
Lily
Biting her lip with uncertainty, Lily finished writing the lie that she had created about James. She hurriedly tied the letter to the owl’s leg and released her before she could change her mind.