Thanks go out to shyfoxling for beta reading this chapter. :-) I really appreciate it.

Chapter 3 – Emergence

Lily awoke some time later, in a room bathed in the cool, grey light of an overcast morning. Through narrowly opened lids, she tried to make sense of her surroundings. There were four beds in the room, two of which were partially obscured by a privacy curtain. This was a hospital of some sort. St. Mungo's, right. It was vague, but she recalled being brought here.

Exhausted beyond belief, Lily shut her eyes once again. No more thinking. No more analyzing. All she wanted to do was rest, and so she did. Except for the occasional shuffling of the staff, all was quiet.

As time wore on, the light in the room seemed to change. Lily noticed it through her eyelids: a brightness. The sun had pierced through the clouds, warming her bed through the window.

Approaching footsteps echoed on the floor, standing out against the subdued sounds of the room. Lily opened her eyes and saw an older woman clad in lime green robes—a Healer. Her silvery-grey hair was gathered and coiled at the back of her head, a common style among witches of a certain age.

"I see you're awake." The lady neared the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Sore."

"That's to be expected." With a steady hand, the Healer held her wand over Lily's ribs, analysing the mending injuries. Her wizened eyes crinkled in concentration. "It was a good thing your friends found you when they did. It got pretty cold last night."

At the mention of her friends, Lily shifted slightly, slowly. It was painful to do so. "Where are they?"

"Oh, your friends are here, don't worry. They've been taking turns." The woman jerked her head towards the corner, an amused smile gracing her lips.

There, in a chair by the window, sat Remus. His head propped awkwardly on his palm, he slept soundly, wearing the same clothes as the night before. The sight was endearing, and Lily couldn't help the small tired smile that formed on her lips. "Remus," she said, weakly.

The sound of his name was enough to wake him. After a few confused blinks, he met her gaze, and returned her smile. "Hey. You're awake."

Before either of them could say anything else, the Healer tucked her wand into her pocket. "You can have a few minutes." To Lily, she continued, "I'll be back shortly to apply some salve." With that, the older woman left, her robes swaying as she went.

Once they were alone, Remus made a confession. "You gave us quite a scare, you know."

Lily chuckled tiredly. "Did I?" In truth, she couldn't remember much; only that they'd been flying, when she'd been hit with…something. "Forgive me, it's like my mind is in a fog."

"Not surprising." Remus hauled his chair closer to her bedside. "They gave you something for the pain. Pretty potent stuff, too."

Lifting her gaze to the ceiling, Lily searched her mind, but saw only bits and pieces of what had happened. She remembered duelling on Rowan Street. And she remembered the broom chase. After that, the sequence of events was unclear.

"I recall being in pain," she murmured at length. "And I recall seeing trees." The puzzle was far from complete, she knew. But what she had was quite enough to make her wonder. "How did you find me?"

Remus shrugged. "Pure luck, I suppose. Emmeline and I were trying to get away from a Death Eater when I saw you heading towards some trees, your broom flying like a corkscrew. Straightaway, I knew you were in trouble..." He trailed off, and the look in his eyes suggested that he was reliving the event.

"It took a minute or two, but we finally managed to get away. And that's when we went back." Remus cleared his throat, and gave a small smile. "Somehow we found you, and brought you here. That's all that matters."

Lily uncurled her fingers, exposed her palm in an invitation for him to take her hand. He did. "Thank you," she whispered.

A second flitted past. "Don't mention it."

"What about the others? Is everyone alright?"

"We had a few close calls. But yes, everyone's fine," Remus answered.

"Good." Her worry began to ebb, and a wave of relief took its place. "I'm glad to hear that."

Minutes passed in quiet company. When the Healer returned with a trolley laden with various salves and potions, Remus rose from his chair. "I should go tell the others you're awake. They've been waiting in the visitors' tearoom for a good while now."

Lily was quite touched that her friends had spent the night at the hospital. "I'll see you later, Remus."

Once he had gone, the Healer closed the privacy curtain and approached her bedside, a glass of water in her hand. "Here. Before we do anything else, you should drink this."

This woman had a kind bedside manner and seemed to have a gentle disposition. With her help, Lily managed to get into a semi-sitting position. "Thank you, ma'am," she said, then drank, swallowing in small sips.

"You're very welcome. And my name's Mrs Agnes Colville."

Moments later, Lily lay on her side, the back of her gown unfastened in order to allow the healer to apply a thin layer of salve.

"Very curious, these injuries of yours." Mrs Colville studied the area, a pair of glasses perched low on her nose.

Not quite following, Lily asked, "How so?"

"It appears you were hit with some sort of cutting spell, and a serious one at that. But you see how the skin has knitted?"

Slowly and with effort, Lily craned her neck and saw her injuries for the first time. Scars. Angry red and painful, they crossed her skin in random, interweaving patterns. The majority of them rested on her side, but two or three extended to her arm and shoulder.

"The cuts were already healed when you were brought here," Mrs Colville explained. "At first, I thought your friends had performed some sort of healing spell, but apparently they did no such thing."

Lily searched her mind for an explanation, but came up empty. "I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you." Even as she said this, a memory began to surface. Vulnera Sanentur…

"Of course, magic is a strange and volatile thing," Mrs Colville continued, completely unaware of her patient's faraway gaze. "We see it all the time. When poorly cast, curses can have some pretty unexpected results…"

The woman kept on talking, but Lily was no longer paying attention. She was remembering something—the incantation of a spell spoken in a voice both deep and low.

Before she could make sense of it, Mrs Colville broke through her musings. "There. I think that'll do for now." With practiced hands, the Healer refastened Lily's gown. "The pain should lessen within the next few days. As for scarring, I'm afraid I can't make any promises. We applied dittany when you first got here, but unless it is used immediately its effects can be strongly diminished. And you're going to need some time to heal and regain your strength." The healer retrieved a bronze-coloured potion from the trolley. After measuring the appropriate dosage, she instructed Lily to drink it, saying it would help.

The taste was simply awful. Once Lily had swallowed all of it, she resettled against her pillow and asked, "How long will I be staying here?"

"A few days. Maybe four or five depending on how quickly you recover." Mrs Colville regarded her with sympathy. "Now try to get some rest. I'll come back in a little while."

Left to her thoughts, Lily looked towards the window and drew an extended breath. The memories were there, just below the surface. So close. Were it not for the lulling effects of the potion, she might have been able to grasp them. Alas…

A gentle knock sounded just then, ushering her back into the here and now. James Potter was standing in the doorway, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Hi," he said, looking somewhat nervous.

"James. Come in." Truly glad to see him, Lily watched as he crossed the room.

"Good to see you in one piece."

"Same to you." In spite of her exhaustion, she recalled how he had helped during the chase, and couldn't resist teasing him a little bit. "I saw some of your moves out there."

Running a hand through the unruly mop that was his hair, James sat down, laughter lacing his voice when he said, "You remember that, do you?"

"Some of it, yes."

From there, silence fell. His hazel eyes held hers for a long moment.

"So," he started again, his smile fading slightly. "It's been a while since we've… talked."

They had not spoken much over the past year, it was true. But that wasn't to say that they hadn't kept in touch. In addition to one or two shared meetings with the Order, they had taken to writing to each other every once in a while.

"Well, how've you been, James?"

"Good. Keeping busy." He momentarily looked to his hands, then steered the conversation away from himself. "I hear you started working for Griffiths and Young. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

The moment hung there. James didn't seem to know what to say. As for Lily, she was simply too worn out to hold a decent conversation.

Finally he said, "I suppose I should let you rest."

"I'm not very talkative, am I? Sorry."

He smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, Lily. Rest and get well." Before he left, however, James stopped at the door, his gaze not quite reaching hers when he said, "It's good to have you back."

The rest of the day was spent in a repeating cycle of rest, short visits, and more rest. Thanks to the pain-relieving potion, sleeping was no problem. Unfortunately, it came with rather unpleasant side-effects, not the least of which was persistent drowsiness.

By mid-afternoon on the second day, Lily had grown weary of it, and had asked Mrs Colville to reduce the dosage. After cautioning her about the likelihood of increased discomfort, the Healer had acquiesced. True enough, the aches had grown more acute. Still, Lily preferred it to the alternative. Maybe she was being stubborn, but there was just something about not being able to think clearly. She hated it, hated feeling like she was in a fog.

That night, Lily could not settle into sleep. In the shadows, she rested on her right side, her gaze fixed on the swath of light cast through the open doorway. Her mending injuries were bothering her, and her muscles felt stiff. Nevertheless, she welcomed the discomfort, for it helped her achieve a mental clarity that allowed her to fully gather her thoughts—a first since she was brought here.

The events of the other night kept repeating in her mind, as they had been for the better part of an hour. The details were much clearer now, and they came to her in brief but vivid bursts: the partial incantation of the killing curse, the sudden flash beyond Bellatrix's shoulder, and the realization that she had been hit with some sort of dark spell.

Had it ended there, the tale would have been simple enough: two Death Eaters, their sights set on the same target. But the story was more complicated than that. She knew that now.

First, there had been the cushioning spell. It could not have cast itself. Lily remembered how it had felt, how the invisible barrier had halted her momentum, saving her life. Summoning the most crucial pieces of the puzzle, she closed her eyes.

"No…" A man's voice. So familiar. Somehow, Lily knew it wasn't a dream. She could still see his boots, could still feel the warmth of his proximity as he'd cast the healing spell. And then there were his words. "I didn't mean to, I swear." Anguish. Fretfulness. Remorse. "I'm sorry."

Of course, she thought. It was obvious, wasn't it? The man who had saved her life and the Death Eater who had almost taken it were one and the same.

The picture was mostly complete now, and the identity of the man was easy to guess. Not only was Lily part of the Order, she was Muggle-born as well. As far as Voldemort and his followers were concerned, she was an undesirable, a nuisance and an abomination to be disposed of as quickly as possible. None of them would think twice before killing her.

Except one.

A myriad of conflicting emotions were now churning in her being, and a lump had formed in her throat. With tears gathering behind her eyelids, she swallowed with difficulty, and saw him in her mind's eye—her former best friend, the man she had seen not too long ago, in a crowded set of stairs just off Diagon Alley.

Severus Snape.

I would like to thank you all for reading. It's been a joy to share this story with you. For those who might be wondering, the next chapter will be written in Severus' perspective. Hopefully I will be able to finish writing it within the next week or so. Thanks again for taking the time to read this story. I really appreciate it.