Chapter Fifteen: The Truth and The Antidote
"James?" Sirius yawned as James walked into the dorm room. It was dark out, and very late.
"Yeah, sorry," James said as he sat down on his own bed. He pulled his shoes off and stored them beside his bed. "Patrolling ran late."
"Again?" Sirius asked as he propped himself up on one arm. James took off his shirt and jeans, leaving them on the floor.
"Yeah, sorry," James mumbled. He put his head down on the pillow and fought to suppress a grin. He had been patrolling with Lily again that night, and they had got to talking about things. It wasn't until Lily yawned that they had realized how late it had gotten, and he had kissed her cheek gently in the common room.
"This weekend, do you want to hang out in Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked.
"Sure," James yawned.
"Hey, you are feeling alright, right?" Sirius asked. James laughed.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" James said.
"No idea," Sirius said with relief.
They headed down to breakfast that next morning to see Lily chatting with Alice. She looked over at the Marauders and smiled briefly before turning back to Alice. She was talking rapidly, excited about something. James saw Remus glance at Sirius, but said nothing as they sat down near the girls. Lily had a book resting in her lap and had another one pulled out, opened on the table.
"Hello ladies," James said smiling at the two of them.
"James," Alice said. Lily nodded her head at him, still rambling on about something that the Marauders were having a hard time following. Alice spread her hand out across the page, blocking what Lily was pointing at from her own view. "Lily, you have got to slow down just a bit. I have no clue what you are talking about."
"It doesn't matter!" Lily exclaimed. She was just too excited. She turned to James. "It doesn't matter anymore! It is just a solution to your problem, JP!"
"Which problem?" James asked.
"What did you call him?" Sirius asked her slowly. Remus and Sirius shot each other worried looks.
"JP, it's the antidote! It is fairly difficult, and I don't even know if I can do it, but I know Sev can do it if I can't!" Lily said excitedly as she stood up, ignoring them. She snapped the books closed the sound echoing in the Great Hall, despite the din of the room. She started out of the Great Hall, not even turning to look back at them.
"What was she talking about?" Sirius asked rather sternly. Alice shrugged.
"Who knows? She's been going on and on about an antidote for a memory potion. I haven't a clue what she was talking about," Alice said as she speared one of her sausage links. "She's been talking like a mad woman for days, I am just glad that you saved me from having to hear her fret about it."
"Well, we are going to be late for class," James said getting up.
"We'll catch up," Sirius called to him. James nodded and left the Great Hall. Sirius rounded on Remus. "What in the hell is going on?"
"I think James must have told Lily something about an amnesia potion before he took his, and she is trying to help him remember," Remus said wildly. "It is the only thing that makes sense, that or hers is wearing off, I just don't know."
"I know who would know," Sirius said as he glared across the Great Hall at Severus Snape, sitting with Lucius Malfoy and a few other students at the Slytherin table. "You are going to have to wait to ask him, though, because if we don't leave now, we are going to be late for potions," Remus said. Sirius nodded.
"I could always ask him there," Sirius said. Remus nodded and the two headed down to the dungeons and joined the others in Professor Slughorn's class.
Lily was sitting where she normally sat, holding her silver dagger. She had a blank look on her face, she looked a little confused. The dagger had the sap of a Gnarly Turnip on it, glinting crimson in the light that was pouring in through the window. She glanced over at the rain that was streaking down the window panes and then glanced back at the dagger. She looked perplexed and didn't move.
"Something's wrong," Remus whispered to Sirius as he watched Lily. Most of the class was half way through their potion, and Lily was still on step one: cut the Gnarly Turnips.
"Hmm?" Sirius asked as he looked up from his smoking cauldron. He saw her sitting there, her cauldron cold and untouched. She held the silver dagger just above the table.
"Something is wrong with Lily," Remus repeated. "She hasn't done anything since she cut the turnip."
"You don't think that her potion is wearing off, do you?" Sirius asked as he tried to keep his voice low enough that James couldn't hear him. James tilted his head, but didn't act as if he had heard them. He continued to work with Peter on the potion.
Lily rubbed her temple slowly, her eyes shifting slightly out of focus. Slowly, she raised her hand, bringing Professor Slughorn to her side. She talked with him in a whisper, his face turning from jovial to concern. He nodded and handed her a slip of parchment. Lily stood slowly and wiped her dagger on a paper towel before storing it in his sheath. Slipping it in her back into her bag, and pulling the straps of her bag over her shoulder, she headed out the classroom door rubbing her head. Sirius and Remus looked directly at Severus Snape to find his eyes mirroring their worry and concern.
"Professor, is Lily ok?" James asked innocently. Professor Slughorn forced a smile.
"I am sure she is fine, Mr. Potter," he replied. "Back to work, there isn't much time."
Sirius and Remus knew that with James around, they couldn't ask Severus what was going on, but they knew that they needed to get some answers and pretty quick. They slipped out from behind James and sought Severus. He was standing alone in the library.
"Snape, what the hell is going on?" Sirius demanded loudly. The librarian hissed at him to be quiet.
"I don't know," Severus snapped back. "I went to look for her after class but she wasn't in the hospital wing. I don't know if the potion is wearing off or not."
"Well, you can't let it!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Don't you think I know this? The last thing I want is for her to remember how she felt about Potter!" Severus snapped angrily.
"She called him JP at breakfast," Remus said calmly. "And before she left class, she had been standing there, staring at her dagger, the same one that James had cut himself on in the beginning of the year. Gnarly Turnip sap looks a lot like blood."
"I think it must be wearing off," Severus said as he rubbed his temples. "Where the hell is she?"
"I don't know," Sirius said. He thought about the map, but he didn't want to bring it up in front of Severus Snape. Remus and Sirius left Snape alone in the library and dipped into the nearest bathroom. Crammed together in a single stall, they pulled out the map and searched all over to find her little dot among the hundreds of dots that were on the map.
"Where is she?" Remus asked, running his finger along the dots. He couldn't locate a dot labeled Lily Evans anywhere.
"Tonight is the night of the full moon, what a hell of a night for Lily to regain her memory," Sirius said.
"We don't know if that is what is happening," Remus said. He saw her dot, finally, as it was heading very slowly toward the hospital. It seemed to moving so very slow compared to the other dots. "There she is! Let's go!"
Remus tapped the map and stored it in his backpack before the two left the stall and headed towards where Lily was. They could see her, standing alone in the hall way, leaning against the wall. She was paler than any of the ghosts that inhabited the school were pale. Remus came up to her side and she looked at him with a weak smile on her face.
"Hello, Remus," she said quietly. She touched her lips gently as if a hint of a memory had slipped just out of reach. She slid a little further down the wall, her legs no longer wanting to work.
"Hey, there, Lily, is everything ok?" Remus asked cautiously as he slipped his arm under hers, extracting her from the wall. She nodded.
"I am heading to the hospital wing," she said quietly.
"Should we take her to Snape?" Sirius asked. Remus shrugged, uncertain as to what should be done. Remus flicked his wand, sending his patronous to find Snape. They received one back in reply. Sirius slipped his arm behind her and they guided her back down to the dungeon where Snape was now waiting in an empty classroom.
"I should be going to the hospital," Lily managed to say weakly. Snape was standing over a cauldron that was bubbling, that same smoky blue wafting up from it. She began to struggle against Remus and Sirius. "No!"
"Please, Lily, this is for the good of all of us," Remus begged. She fought him harder as Severus ladled some of the potion into a cup.
"No! I don't want to!" Lily cried as she struggled weakly to break free of them. She tried to reach for her wand.
"No, Lily," Sirius said taking the wand from her pocket. She jerked hard and thrashed as they brought her closer to Severus.
"Sev, help me! Please help me," Lily spoke to him.
"I am helping you, Lily," Severus said quietly as he held out the cup.
"I won't drink it! I won't!" Lily screamed at him.
"You are going to have to hold her head," Severus said to Remus and Sirius. Sirius grabbed her face and forced her mouth open.
"Accio dagger!" She screamed as Severus brought the cup potion closer to her mouth. She felt the dagger in her hand as the rim of the cup touched her lips. "No!"
"Drink it, damn it!" Severus snapped at her. The potion pooled in her mouth. She pitched forward, violently, the dagger dropping from her hand. She fell forward onto the ground, breaking free from Sirius and Remus' grip. She coughed hard, gagging, her mouth less than an inch from the floor. She stayed doubled over, her hand inches from the dagger.
"Is she ok?" Remus asked. Severus looked worried. He glanced at the potion. It was nearly the same color as the previous potion he had given her.
"I… I don't know," Severus said. "Either she is fine, or she is not."
"Well, that clears a lot up," Sirius said, dropping to her side. He touched her shoulder as she continued to cough violently. He tilted her head back to find her eyes closed tightly, blood was trickling out of her mouth a little bit. He wiped it away with his sleeve.
"Maybe we should take her to the hospital," Sirius said quietly.
"Yeah, maybe we should," Remus agreed.
"Do you realize what will happen to us if we are caught forcing another student to take a potion that was brewed illegally?" Severus asked.
"Do you know what will happen to us if she was accidentally poisoned and died?" Remus demanded as he dipped down to hoist her up. She pushed him away.
"No," she said. She coughed a little more and staggered to her own feet. "I am fine."
"Lily," Severus said gently. She put her hand up and grabbed the table.
"I am fine, really. I must have fallen asleep or something," she said slowly. She coughed again and gathered her things. She picked her wand up as if it was the heaviest thing in the world and slowly slid it into her pocket.
"Are you sure you are ok?" Remus asked her. He had positioned himself so that she had to look at him. Her eyes seemed oddly bright and glossy, like she was under a spell or a little drugged.
"I am fine, really. I am going to be late to class, and I still have to change my clothes," Lily said flatly.
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