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Reflections
Mei Queen
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Chapter 4: Quidditch and the Hospital Wing
I loosened the tie around my neck as I skipped towards the Great Hall. I love Fridays, I thought to myself happily. It was really a beautiful day at Hogwarts…the sun was shining through the clouds, little Quidditch players flying around on their brooms could be seen just above the pitch, Sophie, Em, Alice and I were all planning on staying up late and doing each other's hair tonight, and…Potter was right in my face.
As time wore on at Hogwarts, I would eventually come to find that James Potter had three favorite places- the Quidditch pitch, pulling pranks on innocent people with Sirius, and…right in my face, annoying me until the apocalypse broke loose.
"Agh!" I said, startled by his sudden appearance.
He smiled. "So where are you headed to on this fine day, Lily?"
I smiled back. "I don't really know. I was probably just going to go down to the Great Hall to see if Sophie was there."
James nodded. "I don't think she is. I just came from that way, actually. I was wondering, though, are you doing anything in particular right now?"
"No…" I answered cautiously. What does he want, anyway?
"Because," he continued, "the guys and I are all going down to the pitch, and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along."
"But first years aren't allowed brooms," I felt myself saying stiffly.
"Madam Hooch made a bit of an exception," he said, eyes glinting mischievously.
As I would get to know James better over time, I would learn to spot the major warning sign of a prank- James' eyes glinting. It was a dead giveaway, every time.
But, unfortunately, I didn't know that then.
"Sure, why not. I'll just sit in the stands and watch you fly about, then, shall I?" I asked softly.
"Lily, don't be stupid. We're going to teach you how to fly," James said confidently, already striding towards the pitch.
My eyes opened wide, and I had to shut my mouth to control my gag reflex. I HATE HEIGHTS. I HATE THEM. I'M GOING TO DIE IF I GET ON THAT BROOM, the hysterical voice in my head was shouting.
"Oh, James," I said, trying to be as calm as possible, "don't be silly…I don't need to fly. I'll be perfectly happy right here on the ground."
"I refuse to let any of my friends go their lives fearing a broomstick, Lily. It's just ridiculous," James retorted, opening the door to the pitch so I could step through.
"James, really, it's not necessary…Maybe I should go…"
My thought was interrupted when I noticed a certain gorgeous sandy-haired blonde flying through the air. I remembered him saying "the guys" would be there, but for some reason, the fact that Remus would also be present happened to escape me at the time.
"Lily, honestly, go if you want, but I think it would really be valuable to learn-"
"GO! Who said anything about going?!" I said, in what I hoped was a normally-pitched voice (and keeping one eye on Remus the whole time of course), "I would really love to learn, James. I mean, what can it hurt?"
"Besides your tender limbs?" Sirius asked, landing from a very graceful dive and overhearing our conversation.
"Yes," I replied shakily, "Besides those."
"Okay, Lily…you grip the broom like this," James said, showing me with his hands as he said it. For some odd reason, James had decided to make himself the tutor of this lesson while Remus, Peter and Sirius played a free-for-all game of Quidditch. And if anyone is wondering how "free-for-all" Quidditch is scored, it's actually really very irrelevant, because the guys had lost focus upon the Snitch being released, and had now resorted to throwing the Quaffle at each other to see who could leave the biggest bruise mark.
Boys…they're positively barbaric. It's like their stuck in a different century…hell a different era, than the rest of us. In their minds, they're all the grunting breadwinners that fend off cruel dinosaurs, all in nothing but loincloths.
My mind continued to wander as my eyes followed Remus' path through the air. I found myself unwittingly mounting the broom like James was trying to show me. Then I accidentally kicked off the ground. And it worked.
"Merlin!" I screamed as I continually rose in the air. I wasn't listening to James when he told me how to control the broom in flight, but now I was desperately trying to search for any bit of wisdom he had said in the past few minutes (which was exceedingly difficult as I hadn't been listening the entire time).
"Lily!" he called out worriedly from the ground. Wasting no time, he swiftly ran to the shed and grabbed a dusty Cleansweep. Mounting and kicking all in one quick motion, he had caught up to me before I actually reached the height Sirius, Remus, and Peter were at. (They had stopped bashing each other with the Quaffle long enough to see the commotion and my chalk-white face as I held on to the broom for dear life)
"Okay, Lily, don't look down." he said calmly, turning his broom in mid-air so he was facing me. I was starting to uncontrollably shake by now, and it was taking all of my strength to keep my eyes focused on James.
My knuckles had turned a bright white from clutching the broomstick as hard as I could, which James noted with an amused snort before regaining seriousness. "Okay, Lily," he said softly, avoiding my dirty look in his direction. "I'm going to pull up next to you, okay?"
I nodded quickly, my body still shaking, and my hands still feeling like they were glued to the broomstick.
True to his word, James pulled up exactly alongside me.
"Alright. That wasn't bad, was it?" he asked softly.
I shook my head, obviously scared out of my wits.
"Now what we're going to do is very simple. I could have you get on my broom, but I don't think you'd fancy changing brooms in midair, am I right?"
I shook my head, my eyes bulging out of their sockets at the very suggestion.
"Okay then. Well, what I need you to do is back up on the broom…yes, just like that."
He smiled at me as I scooted back on the broom a bit, still holding frantically onto the handle.
"Now I'm going to get on in front of you and steer us back to the ground. But when I do, you'll need to hold on to me because there isn't enough room on the handle for your hands and mine. Is that okay with you?" James asked softly, meeting my eyes.
I, naturally, agreed. What else was I going to do? It wasn't like I had any remote idea how I got up here, let alone a clue as to how to steer back down…so this seemed the safest route.
James quickly transferred to my broom, and I locked my arms around his waist.
We were back on the ground before I knew it…I had closed my eyes the whole ride down. I didn't want to see how high up I was.
Stepping unsteadily back onto the grass of the pitch, I groaned.
"Are you going to be okay, Lily?" James asked concernedly, bending over me to see what was wrong.
"I feel like I'm going to be ill," I said softly, still groaning. "I hate heights…but at least now I know if I ever get stuck on a broomstick in midair, I'll just call James Potter and he'll steer me back to safety."
James smiled at my sarcasm. By then, the other boys had landed and voiced their concerns.
"She's going to be just fine, guys…her cynicism is still intact."
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The next few days passed before I knew it. I woke up the day after the Quidditch Pitch around noon, completely disoriented. When my eyes were actually able to open all the way, I realized I was in the Hospital Wing with a bucket next to my bed.
"Eew…"I said softly upon realizing why I was there. No doubt I had actually gotten sick, and James and the boys brought me here.
"That was one nasty potion you must have drank for your class, child," Madam Pomfrey said quietly, treading over to my bed. The rest of the wing was deserted, so now that I was awake, I was obviously giving her something to do.
"Potion?" I asked with confusion. Then I realized that must have been the boys' alibi. I knew Madam Hooch had nothing to do with the brooms! Hah! I was going to tell Potter I was wise to him…as soon as I could make it more than five minutes without being sick. "Oh, right. It was nasty, Madam Pomfrey."
A curt rapping on the door to the Hospital Wing echoed a bit before Madam Pomfrey got up to see who it was.
Not bothering to tell the woman why she was there, I heard a click-clack, click-clack, click-clack, and looked up to see Sophie in her three-inch heels by my side.
"Miss! It's not visiting hours! I'm afraid you'll have to leave!" Madam Pomfrey walked over in protest.
"What does it matter? She's the only one here…besides, my father alone doubled your salary just this year!" Sophie said haughtily.
"A- Oh. Miss Lestrange. Yes. Only a few minutes, then. Lily's not feeling well in the slightest," Madam Pomfrey said with a sniff, before closing the door to her office and leaving us alone.
"Lily's not feeling well…Gee, you know I couldn't tell! Just judging by the fact that she's, oh I don't know, in the Hospital Wing…wow. Lily…not feeling well? Hmm…there's the genius statement of the century," Sophie whispered sarcastically, smiling at me.
"So how are you doing? Is Madam "I'm a Nazi in Disguise" driving you mad yet?" Sophie whispered, sitting on my bed.
I sat up against the pillows. "Eh. She's not that bad. I only just woke up, actually…so I probably said two words, if that, to her before you burst in."
Sophie examined her nails. "What can I say? I have impeccable timing."
I laughed softly. "Yes, yes, you do. What am I missing in classes? What's today?"
"It's Saturday, you lucky thing, you. So actually, you haven't missed anything yet." Sophie responded with a smile.
"I can't believe I'm spending my Saturday vomiting in the Hospital Wing because of Potter and his idiotic gang. Next time they ask if I want to fly, if I want to sneak out to Hogsmeade, hell, if I want to hang around them voluntarily…I'll know to just say no. After all, if I say yes to them, I'll just end up in the Hospital Wing for eternity under an extremely lame excuse!" I said vehemently, balling up my blanket in my hands.
Sophie smiled at me. "For as retarded of boys as they are, it was good of them to bring you here. I'm sure it was Sirius' idea, he's actually pretty sweet."
My eyebrow lifted practically to my hairline. "Excuse me? Is this the same Sirius you wanted a restraining order on just last month?"
She laughed softly in return. "Maybe I misread him. Besides, if it weren't for him helping me on that essay, I'd be failing Potions right now. But what do I have? An "A", yes, that's right. An "A"!"
"Okay, that's entirely enough, now. Lily needs her bed rest." Madam Pomfrey said curtly as she swooped out of her office and into our conversation.
Sophie grumbled as she arose and curtly "clacked" towards the exit. I lay back into the pillows and fell asleep before I knew what was going on.
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"Lily! Psst…Lily, wake up!" I heard a soft whisper.
I was dreaming about owning all the beautiful dresses in the world, so I was a little peeved to be awoken, as it were. But awake I finally was, no thanks to the band of idiots around my bed.
Upon opening my eyes, I realized three things- 1) I was still in the Hospital Wing, 2) it was the dead of night, and 3) Sophie had joined the Marauders.
Well, actually, I wasn't entirely sure about the last one. But it certainly seemed that she had joined forces with the retards for a visit to me at midnight.
"Why are you all here?" I croaked, sitting up and desperately trying to smooth down my hair.
"We wanted to break you out!" Sirius said jollily, reaching over to give me a hug I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to take part in.
"You want to break me out of the Hospital Wing." I said with a tone that obviously showed I thought them completely mad.
"Well, when you say it like that…"Peter said defensively.
"Yeah, Lily. You can't say it that way." Remus said with a smirk. "It makes us look a little less heroic."
My face burned with embarrassment as I realized Remus was there. So he was seeing my hair like this. Come to think of it, he had probably helped bring me in…which means he had seen me vomiting all over creation. Well…maybe there was room in the local convent because there was no way any sane guy would ever date me now.
"Oh, come on, Lily. It'll be fun," James whispered with a devious smile.
"She's going to send a strongly worded letter to the Headmaster, letting him now that I'm ungrateful and didn't stay until she was ready to let me go. You guys are probably going to get me into trouble!" I whispered in protest.
"Just leave a note! Poppy will totally understand! She understood when I decided to take my own leave after I won the "free-for-all" Quidditch contest…well, technically, Remus won because he threw the Quaffle. But I simultaneously won because the largest bruise was on me. My whole face, in fact," Sirius said proudly.
"I'm sure Madam Pomfrey actually wanted you gone, Sirius, so she didn't give a fuss." Sophie said quickly, voicing exactly what I was thinking.
"What are you doing here with these loons, anyway?" I asked her.
"It was her idea," James joined in. "She asked us when we were playing innocent Exploding Snap in the Common Room whether we were up for a little rescuing. And since "White Knight" is practically my middle name, I figured why not."
"Even if you don't want to stay with us the whole night, Lil, we could still go nick some food from the kitchens, have a feast, then return you safe and sound. Then Poppy's happy, you've had some decent food, and we get to hang out with you! Works out well all around, really," Sophie said quickly.
I smiled at the suggestion. "You guys know how to get into the kitchens? But won't the house-elves be asleep right now?"
James looked at me as if I were mad. "You think house-elves sleep?"
And so we did it. We miraculously made it down to the kitchens, loud and raucously feasted on butterbeer and various treats until our stomachs felt like they would burst, and then they finally returned me to the Hospital Wing. Amazingly enough, Madam Pomfrey wasn't any the wiser the next morning, and I didn't get in trouble. I was sad to see them go, especially Remus…but I knew that we would have some great times to look forward to over the next year. I had finally made some amazing friends.
I have to credit the Marauders- though they've been punished for some minor stuff…they generally don't leave enough of a trail to get caught for the big stuff. I should know…after all, I was the one deducting the points.
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