A/N -Written in response to Hermione's Harmony's Hospitalisation Horrors on the HPFC area of the forums.
Artistic licence has been used, as JK Rowling has said that James Potter was a Chaser, not a Seeker... and I don't know when exactly James/Lily got together...
As usual, anything you recognise is JK Rowlings poperty, and I make no money on it
This was it, the last Quidditch match of my Sixth year at Hogwarts. My last chance for me to beat the Slytherins for the Cup this year. Oh, it was a good day, Lily had woken me in the best way possible, god her lips!
FOCUS Potter, you have a Snitch to catch!
I glanced around the bleachers, looking for Lily, Sirius and Remus, finally spotting them in the middle of the rest of the Gryffindors, Lily looked to be reading a book, never one for flying that girl. Sirius caught me watching, cheering and pointing in the direction of the Slytherins goal posts, where sure enough, there was a flash of gold dancing around the tallest hoop.
Looking between the hoop and the Slytherins Seeker, I quickly calculated how long it would take for the dim-witted Seeker to see that I had started to speed up towards the other side of the pitch, the roaring of the crowd drowned out from the whoosh of the air around my ears. I saw the Slytherins seeker catching up to me out of the corner of my eye, laying almost flat to the broom as I picked up speed, reaching out and grasping at the tiny winged ball.
However, that's all I remember as my world suddenly went black.
When I regained consciousness, all I could hear were low fuzzy murmurs, I could detect Lily's high pitched shrieks and Sirius trying to calm her. I tried to lift myself up from the hard place I was laying, my arms not co-operating. I took a deep breath, pain shooting through my chest.
"Where am I?" I thought I had said, my voice coming out as a croak. My eyes fluttered open, wincing as someone moved out of the way, the sun glaring down onto me. Wherever I was, I knew I wasn't inside just yet.
"JAMES! Don't EVER do that to me again!" I heard Lily snap, the feeling of coolness enveloping my hand. I tried to grasp back, letting out an exasperated sigh when I couldn't. I could hear Sirius and Remus shouting for Madam Pomfrey.
"Who won?" I tried to ask, my throat searing with pain.
"Don't try to talk or move Mr Potter or you will only make your injuries worse." Madam Pomfrey told me, her voice sounding distant, I heard a low spell being uttered before I fell back into painless unconsciousness.
Beeps echoed around me, perfect in their rhythm together. Voices kept punctuating the mesmerising tone, two deep voices and a lighter female one seemingly arguing with someone who sounded a lot older than them, sounding not too far from me.
"L... Lily? Where am I?" I whispered; cracking my eyes open and closing them again as stark white walls near blinded me. I tried to move on the hard bed, the effort ripping a sharp groan from me, catching the arguing groups attention.
"James? James are you okay?" Lily sounded to be on the verge of tears, her soft hand running over my cheek and forehead. I prised my eyes open, a blur of fiery red hair slowly coming into focus.
"Water..." I rasped, trying in vain to lift my right arm to grip at the glass Lily was holding, her other hand tilting my head so I could drink more easily, Lily bit her lip as my arm stayed in place.
"James, don't try to move, you..." Lily faultered, "You are temporarily paralysed from the neck down, the doctors don't understand why their healing spells and potions aren't working on you, it is like your body is bouncing them back right now." Her bright green eyes swam with unshed tears.
"Hey, on the upside Lily, at least his lips still work." Sirius joked, "And I'm pretty sure elsewhere would too." I heard a yelp from his general direction, assuming that someone had hit the jokester. I turned my head, looking away from Lily and staring at the wall, trying to make sense out of everything.
"What happened? I mean, I caught the Snitch, but after that, nothing..." I asked, looking back towards the occupants of the room.
"Slytherins. You know they play dirty, well the Seeker, once seeing you had caught the Snitch signalled to one of their Beaters to aim a Bludger for you. It collided with your spine and forced you off your broom." Remus's level voice spoke up, "You fell fifty feet Prongs, only reason you're still alive is cause of your magic."
"Don't worry though; we got them, after McGonagall banned them from the team for the last two years of their school life." Sirius grinned, his long hair giving him the appearance of a shaggy dog. I wanted to high five him, suddenly feeling very frustrated with my whole body.
It took the doctors another four months to finally figure out what has happened to my body and curing the paralysed parts, that in itself was the most exhausting think I had done since my O.. I was glad that Lily, Remus and Sirius were still around to keep me from falling. There wasn't much they could do though, the days they had to be back at Hogwarts made me wish I was there too, but I'm pretty sure that the teachers where having a rest from the holidays and not having me and Padfoot around.
"Well Mr Potter, you have the all clear to leave St. Mungo's, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore will be here shortly to pick you up." A trainee Healer told me as she checked me over, "Keep up with the exercises that the Healers have given you, and you won't be back here."
I just nodded at her, vibrating on the bed they still had me confined to if any of the healers came in, excited to be going back to the school, even if it was for my last year. As soon as the trainee left, I was up from the bed, stretching my cramped muscles and pacing around the room. Dumbledore and McGonagall didn't take long to get here, seemingly happy that I am looking better, and up and about.
Even now I still end up feeling like my body is going to give up on me, and I wasn't able to play any Quidditch games. But on the other hand, I got my own revenge on the two Slytherin players, but I'll leave that for you to wonder about.