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Chapter 9 - The Owlery

The next day, Lily and James went to their first Gryffindor Team Quidditch practice. Every time Lily looked at James, she was reminded of their kiss the night before, so she tried to avoid his gaze. This was an easy task, since she and Heath and Frank were weaving around the pitch at a rather significant speed. In fact, the practice went so well that James and Sirius were assuring everyone that they would, "beyond a doubt," be the winners of the Quidditch Cup.

After they washed up, Lily and James found themselves walking along the familiar corridors to the Gryffindor Common Room together. As they walked in, Lily saw Sirius, Kat, Ali, and Remus all squeezed onto one couch laughing at something or other, while Peter sat in a two-seater sofa by himself, trying to get in on the joke. So, Lily went up to him and tried to start a conversation.

"Hi, Peter. How are you these days? I feel like it's been such a long time since we've talked." Lily sat down next to him.

"Oh, umm… yeah, you have your own common room now, so I guess it's difficult to talk," Peter twitched.

"Wormtail, are you okay? You look like you got hit with a Slug Stomach hex or something," James came and squished himself between Peter and Lily.

"I'm fine!" Peter exclaimed as he jumped up and ran for the portrait hole. James and Lily exchanged confused looks then James followed Peter out the portrait hole.

"What was that all about?" Kat released herself from Sirius's arm and took James' vacated seat next to Lily.

"I don't know. I just tried to talk to him, and he ran for it." Lily answered still a bit shocked by Peter's sudden exit. "Maybe he's sick?"

Kat sat with her back against the arm of the sofa so that the rest of the group: Sirius and his pouty face, and Ali and Remus holding hands and laughing, couldn't hear their conversation. "So!" Kat began in an excited whisper. "What's going on with you and James?"

"Kat, don't you ever give up?" Lily replied rolling her eyes at the lunacy of her friend, but at the same time, Lily couldn't keep the godforsaken grin off of her face.

"Oh come on, Lily! I can practically see stars in your eyes and little hearts floating around your head."

Ali realized that she was missing out on some great gossip, so she flew over to her two best friends and squashed herself in between them. "So, Kat told me about your midnight swim, and now, it's your turn!" Ali demanded with a mischievous grin.

"You two are so outrageous," Lily said with an eye roll to top all eye rolls. But then she finally broke down after the girls tickled her and threatened to never stop until Lily told them every single juicy detail. "Ok, ok, fine!" Lily said still laughing with her hands up in the air in surrender.

"Yay! Story time!" Ali giggled in a whisper.

Lily flicked her wand and muttered Muffliato, so that she and her friends wouldn't be overheard. "Okay, well we were patrolling and noticed that Kat and Sirius were out by the lake. I'm assuming I don't need to go over what happened there, right?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow at Kat.

"Yeah, I know all about that already!" said an extremely giddy Ali. Her tone then turned babyish as she cooed at Lily, "And how you and Jamsie-poo were lying on top of each other and—"

Ali was cut off by Lily's hand flying up and covering her mouth. Lily could feel Ali's full lips curl into a smile, and Lily stuck her tongue out at her as she let go. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but do you want to hear the good part or not, Miss Smarty Pants?" Lily answered with a smirk.

"Ooooh! Spill it Lily Marie Evans, or I swear I'll tell everyone about last night!" Kat warned her friend with a threatening pointer finger, and her dazzling trouble-making smile.

"Okay, okay. No need to get hostile." Then she smiled too and proceeded in a whisper, "Well, we went back to the Common Room, and I was wondering what I would do if, you know, he tried to kiss me again."

"Wait," Ali interrupted. "What do you mean 'again'?"

"Lily said that she thought he wanted to kiss her while they were doing their homework in their cozy little common room," Kat provided. "Isn't that right, Lily?"

"Yeah, and also," Lily blushed, "When we fell in the lake and you and Sirius were wrestling. We almost kissed," her friends gave outraged and excited shrieks, but Lily kept going, "But I couldn't! I don't know, it felt strange. But later," Lily felt her stomach flipping around, and she couldn't stop the smile from plastering itself across her face. The kind of smile that shouts, look at me! I just took Over the Moon potion, and I'm grinning like an idiot! "After we went back to the common room, James ran out of sight." Lily paused to let the tension rise. "And as I walked in, he jumped out at me. I kind of lost my balance and almost fell over, but he caught me and…" Lily trailed off and gave her friends the raised eyebrows and sideways smile, letting them know that they could guess what happened.

"No way!" Ali shrieked, flying to her feet and causing the entire Common Room to stare at the three of them as if they were nuts…which they were. It would be strange to see a girl bolt to her feet, red in the face from shouting, but hear no noise. Then both Lily and Kat put their hands over Ali's mouth and brought her back to a seated position. Though no one couldn't hear what the girls were talking about, they didn't want to have to answer any complicated questions about the secrecy spell.

"Who would have ever thought Lily and James Potter would be together? Oh wait, that's right. Me! But, kissing! By the way, is he a good kisser?" Kat asked with a solemnity that Lily could not fathom.

Lily only stared at her for a moment to make sure her friend was being serious, then said, "I don't know! Anyways, the sofa kind of started on fire, so I hadn't really contemplated his kissing ability."

"The what?" Kat shrieked.

"The sofa," Lily said simply. "It sort of caught fire."

Kat and Lily both started, hearing a strange noise. They turned to the source of the spluttering noise, and realized that Ali was trying to speak.

"Sorry," both girls said as they removed their hands from Ali's face.

She gasped for air and then said, "You started a fire?"

"Just a small one, and I put it out right away," Lily said defensively.

"That sounds so magical! He caught you and then you kissed, and your kiss was so magical it started a fire! Oh Lily, you're so lucky!" Ali said, and Lily laughed at her friend. Only Ali could think a sofa starting on fire was romantic. "Not that I'm not, but you used to hate James and now…amoré," Ali finished with a dreamy smile.

"All right, Ms. Starry-eyed-Short, we have some catching up to do! It looks as if Lily may get a date before us!" Kat grabbed Ali's arm, flicked her wand to counter Muffliato, and pulled Ali off the sofa they were all sharing to sit by Sirius and Remus once again, before Lily had time to defend herself or ask any questions.

Lily watched her friends flirt with their intendeds, and she found it rather amusing for a while, but soon began to wonder where James was and if he had found Peter. Peter reminded Lily of her mother, and how she would sometimes need to be alone for some time, to "sort through her thoughts" she would say. Her mother. She'd been so busy lately, she hadn't written her mum since she got to school. She snuck out of the Gryffindor Common Room, not wanting to face any accusatory looks from her friends who may think she was sneaking off to see James, and walked to her own room to write a letter to her parents.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I miss you so much! I hope everything is going well with you. How's Petunia? School is going well over here. I'm sure Heath already told you, but we both made the Gryffindor Quidditch team! Quidditch is that game I tried to explain to you with the four balls and a team of seven players on flying broomsticks. Remember? It's kind of like soccer, but it's a lot more complicated and fun to play. You should have seen Heath. He was so nervous! But he did really well.

I miss you both a lot, and I hope you are doing well. I'm already excited about coming home for Christmas! It's not that I'm not having fun over here, but I miss you. Plus, Dad's cooking is always the best at Christmas. Send Scarlett back with a reply if you have time. I hope everything is great. Hope to hear from you soon! Love you!

Yours Always,

Lily

PS: Mum; I have something exciting to tell you about, so make sure there's popcorn and hot chocolate when I come back! I love you!

Rereading her letter as if she were her mother, Lily thought that her mum would connect the dots and realize she meant she had a boy story to tell her. Of course she could just say it in the letter, but then her mum would have so many questions if she read the name "James." Lily also didn't want her dad to get suspicious. Though she was close with him, he was still of the male gender. But Lily and her mum could talk about boys like best friends. Lily actually found it easier to talk to her mum about boys, than her friends sometimes. They would sit up in Lily's room and eat popcorn and drink hot tea or hot chocolate and paint their toenails, the Muggle way of course.

Lily's mum was the only person who had known of Lily's second thoughts about James, even from the beginning. And since Lily only came home for holidays during the year, she would have a clear head about everything. On rare occasions, like the fifth year incident, Lily would send a letter about how upset she was and how stupid James was, but her mum always reminded Lily of the fine line between love and hate. It was always annoying and maddening, but now, after her new-found feeling for James, she had to admit, that once again, her mother was right.

Her head was spinning so fast with thoughts, as she walked to the Owlery, that Lily shook her head trying to rid them off. She was unable to quiet her brain, which seemed to be going a million miles a second with thoughts of everything she had to do, and her mum and dad, and how she missed them, and James, and what her mum would say about James, and Quidditch practice, and Head Girl duties, and homework, and the Halloween Ball… Eventually Lily found her owl Scarlett up on a perch between Ali's and Kat's owls, as she slipped her way across the floor. It seemed even their owls were gossiping about the kiss.

There was a basket filled with twine, propped up on an old stool, for students to use. While she was choosing a piece, she was caught off guard by a very eager Scarlett, who swooped down from her perch and landed on her shoulder. "I know you've been cooped up for a while, so have a nice time and take this to mum and dad." Lily instructed Scarlett, who looked at Lily with confidence. Lily was always intrigued by how intelligent her owl was, and how she seemed to be listening to and understanding what Lily wanted. Scarlett was almost like a human, except that she couldn't speak. Lily stroked Scarlett affectionately, then helped her take off into the chilly night.

As she watched Scarlett disappear around a castle tower, Lily heard someone coming up the stairs. She turned to the door to leave but was stopped dead in her tracks when a tall student with white blonde hair, and a face in a permanent sneer, opened the door. Flanked by his two cronies, his cold grey eyes fell on Lily, and the regular sneer turned into a frightening sneer of delight.

"What are you doing up here, Mudblood?" Malfoy spat.

"I don't see why it's any of your business," she crossed the dropping strewn floor of the Owlery, careful not to slip, to the only exit. Which unfortunately, Malfoy was blocking, "but if you must know, I was sending a letter to my parents. Now if you would please move, I have some things I need to get done." Lily tried to remain calm, but it was quite a feat to accomplish when her blood was boiling in her veins.

Malfoy gave a disgusted grunt. "Owl Post to those vile Mudblood-producing gits who taint the true magical world? I shall like to send my wishes to them." Malfoy hissed through his teeth.

"Better than having Voldemort-worshipping, pure-blood elitists for parents." Lily shot back with fire in her eyes. Even though Malfoy was about a foot taller than her, she still came face to face with him.

"How dare you speak that way to me! You filthy Mudblood," And with that word, Malfoy took their verbal banter to a new and dangerous level. As he spat the insult at Lily, he backhanded her across the face.

Lily stumbled backwards and felt her eyes water. Her face stung, but she straightened up, looked straight into his cold, heartless eyes, and retorted, "Didn't your mother ever teach you never to hit a lady? Or does she lack the same fundamental manners as you?"

Malfoy gave her a snide look, and casually sauntered to the basket of twine. As he tied his letter to his owl's ankle, he replied, "Of course my mother taught me manners all pure-blood wizards should know. I'd never hit a lady," he said with an offended air. "But," he added as he let his owl take off out the window, "you're a Mudblood, which exempts you from being qualified. Therefore, I suppose I could hit you as much as I wanted to." Malfoy now started circling Lily like a cat playing with its next meal. "Those of us with pure ancestry know that, but I understand you're not aware of the facts. You're just not, shall we say, high-class enough. Or, didn't your mother ever tell you that?"

Lily was shaking with anger but was soon brought to her senses when Malfoy suddenly turned on her. She thought quick and pulled out her wand, which caused Malfoy to slow his attack and retreat a bit as he too pulled out his wand.

In the background, Lily could hear Crabbe and Goyle guffawing and cheering on Malfoy, in their low unintelligent voices. But Lily couldn't hear exactly what they were saying because her blood was pounding unnaturally loud in her ears. Finally she found some courage and her voice. "Don't even think about it, Malfoy. Step out of my way, or you'll be sorry."

"Oh my Merlin! What are you going to do to me? Take points away?" Malfoy feigned fright as he resumed circling her. "Let's see, it's you and me… that's one against one. But then there's Crabbe and Goyle and," he acted surprised, "and no one else! Hmm, looks to me like it's three against one, and you're telling me to move?" Then, Lily heard his evil cackle that sent chills through her body. Icy chills, that suddenly turned to fire.

Malfoy must have seen the change from fear to her well-known fiery malice, because he spooked for a second. "So, you want to play?" Malfoy baited, regaining his usual scorn.

"I don't know. Do you think you can handle it?" Lily paused, debating whether to go on, but soon she was speaking again unable to activate the filter in her brain. The filter that divided the thoughts in her head, into the two categories of thoughts that should stay in her head and ones that should come out of her mouth. A trait she received from her mum. "Didn't your mum tell you to never play with fire? My mother was smart and caring enough to tell me, but then again, your mother doesn't have a very good track record, does she? I guess she just doesn't care about you, or maybe it's because she's just not plain smart enough." Lily silently cheered herself on.

But a split second later, Lily realized it was a mistake. She quickly focused back to the situation just in time. She saw Malfoy's mouth begin to form words and his arm begin to lift. Lily had to think quick or she knew she'd be toast. So she darted behind the basket of twine almost quick enough. The bright orange hex grazed her left arm, and immediately Lily felt a searing pain and warm liquid soaking the sleeve of her robes.

Moving quickly, Lily shot up from behind the basket while Malfoy was readying himself for his next attack, and hit him with a bat-boggy curse. Malfoy managed to get one last hex out before Lily's curse hit him, and it grazed her left cheek. It was enough pain to cause Lily to hide behind the basket again, holding her cheek, trying to stem the flow of blood.

"Why you bloody little Mudblood excuse for a witch! I'm going to—"

But what Malfoy was going to do to her, Lily never found out. The Owlery door burst open and Lily could hear the voices of James Potter and Sirius Black shouting curses at the three pieces of Slytherin slime. She had never been so happy to hear their voices.

Lily jumped up from behind the basket and stared at the scene. Malfoy's face was still covered in massive amounts of boggy, but now he also had pulsing boils all over his arms to match, and James was still going after him. It obviously wasn't difficult for Sirius to send Crabbe and Goyle into a frenzy of fear. Crabbe had been hit with a Jellylegs jinx and Goyle was trying to unjinx him, while Sirius was using Wingardium Leviosa to send dropping-strewn straw into their faces. His guffawing laughter told Lily that he felt they produced no threat.

Suddenly, James yelped in pain. Lily turned to see him get kicked in the stomach by one of Malfoy's flailing legs. Malfoy couldn't see anything through the bogies, so he swung his limbs every which way in an attempt to save himself. Eventually, he countered the bat-boggy hex and found his way to the door, but he didn't leave until he shot one last curse at James. Crabbe and Goyle stupidly scrambled after Malfoy with Sirius running after them. And like the madman he was, he shouted, "Dirty vermin on the loose! Catch them before they infest the castle! I'm not joking! I'm Sirius!"

Lily unfroze from her state of shock and frantically sprinted over to James. "Are you ok?" She sat down beside him on the bone-covered floor. James attempted to sit up, but Lily shoved him back down, a bit harder than she intended due to the slippery floor, causing James to gasp in pain. "You stay right there James Potter!"

"Well, I'm not dead… yet. But if you push me like that again, I might be." James gingerly reached his arm to feel his side where Malfoy's curse had struck him.

"Well, that's what you get for fighting! What were you thinking! You know it's against the rules!"

James gave her a look of disbelief. Quickly he sat up, too quickly for Lily to stop him, but she knew instantly that he had made a mistake. He lay back down, breathing heavily. "That's what…I get…for fighting!" James yelled between gasps and then shook his head. "I just came in here and probably saved your life, and you tell me 'that's what you get for fighting!'? You were fighting first!"

"Saving my life! Is that what you call sitting here on the floor covered in blood arguing with me? I should think not!" Lily replied, quickly rising to her feet. She saw him give an exasperated sigh. Lily was still so shaken that she knew she might not be acting very reasonably, but she was so upset that James was hurt, that she was taking her anger out on the only person in the room. Sighing, Lily hooked her elbows under his arms and started to pull. "Come on. Let's get you to the Hospital Wing."

James rose to his feet in silence. Lily wondered if it was because he was upset with her, or because he was in pain.

"Look," Lily began, "I'm sorry. I just hate that you're hurt and I guess—ow!"

"Oh, sorry. What's wro—oh my gosh! Lily! Your arm! And your cheek!" James had just grabbed onto Lily's left arm for support down the stairs and realized her injuries for the first time. "We need to get you to the Hospital Wing right now!"

Lily laughed at James' psychosis. Here he was, the one losing copious amounts of blood, and he was worrying about her mere scrapes. "Okay there Tanto, keep your pants on. Just…what?" James was looking at Lily with extreme suspicion, clearly not understanding what she meant.

"Sorry to burst your bubble," James began tentatively. "But I'm not Tanto…who is that anyway? And I was not about to take my pants off."

"Excuse me?" Then she laughed it off, remembering her dad's obsession with Western films and that James, most likely, didn't even know what a Western film was. "I didn't mean that you are Tanto. It's just an expression…you know, like 'hold your horses.' You know?"

"Sure…" James replied, still eying her suspiciously.

They continued walking in silence for a bit, each needing their breath. Lily's arm felt like it had just been hacked at by a meat cleaver, and she was using all of her energy to hold James up. Lily was acting as James's crutch, and since he was a giant compared to her, she was having a bit of trouble keeping her legs going. But she wasn't used to James being quiet. "So…how did you find me?" Lily asked.

"After I talked to Peter, which he is acting a bit odd now that I think about it," James took a break to breathe. "Anyways, after I talked to him, I went to find you. I thought you'd still be in the Gryffindor Common Room, so I went there first." James panted. "The gang said that you had left and that they thought you went to look for me. So I went to our Common Room to see if you were there. When I couldn't find you, I just…well I…"

"You what?" Lily asked, afraid of the answer.

"Well, I guess I could tell something didn't feel right. It's like I could feel that you were in trouble." He paused a second to catch his breath. "I know it sounds stupid, but I felt it. So, I went to my room and grabbed the map. When I saw you in the Owlery with Malfoy..." Again James had to pause and catch his breath. It seemed to be getting more and more difficult for him to breathe, talk, and walk all at the same time.

"Do you want to rest a bit?" Lily spotted a wooden bench in the corridor.

"No," James grunted, "maybe it's best if we get to there as soon as possible."

"If you're sure," Lily said, wondering if he would make it. The color in his face was fading by the second.

"So I grabbed Sirius for back up on the way. I couldn't find Peter, and Remus is…well…due any day now, if you know what I mean." Yet again, he paused to breathe. "So the two of us raced…as fast as we could…and you…know the rest." Towards the end of his story, James became breathless more quickly.

"Well…thanks." Lily said as she blushed and looked away from James. She then mentally slapped herself back into the real world, and focused on getting James up the stairs and into the doors of the Hospital Wing. He was getting even more unsteady on his feet, but Lily stayed as strong as she could. She was a bit relieved to begin climbing the stairs because she knew that they were close, but that also meant there would be more physical exertion involved.

Lily felt James' body getting heavier with each step, but she attributed it to the rapidly growing fatigue in her legs. "Come on James, just a little further and you can lie down on a nice, comfy, hospital bed." But all of a sudden, Lily was hit with the full weight of James' body, and she could no longer hold it. They had made it just to the top of the stairs, so Lily managed to make them both fall onto the stairs' landing.

Looking at James, Lily realized he was as pale as a ghost. Her jade eyes, now filled to the brim with stubborn tears refusing to fall, traced the path they had just walked. She was hit with the realization of all the blood covering the floor; drops, footprints, and small pools where they had paused to readjust or catch their breath, marked where they had walked. Lily's heart stopped as she turned her gaze back to James' lifeless body in her arms. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. All she could think was that she had just let James Potter die after he saved her life.

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