It's Nice To Have A Friend

19 - Meet Me in the Afterglow

Mallory woke up in a horrible mood. She got dressed and went down to the Great Hall. With a quick scan over the Gryffindor table, she noticed that none of the boys were there. It was a Saturday and they had probably stayed up late. However, James was usually awake early.

Mallory sat down and started to pile food onto her plate like she always did. It wasn't until she started eating that she realized she had scooped up the pineapple too. She quickly swallowed the pineapple she was eating before eating everything else, pushing all thoughts of Sirius and James out of her mind.

"Hey," Mallory heard as Sirius sat beside her. "You're really not coming to the sleepover tonight?"

"Nope," she replied, popping the 'p' and refusing to look over at him.

"That's a shame. We-"

"I thought you guys didn't like me anymore," she blurted out, finally looking up at him.

Sirius scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I uh... How'd you come to that conclusion?"

Mallory rolled her eyes and stared at him, her brows furrowed. "I'm not an idiot, Sirius." She pushed her plate into the middle of the table as tears of frustration and heartbreak surfaced. "I just wish that you guys could've waited until I got over Freddy because now I feel like I'm a waste of space and no one likes me, and I-"

Her rant was cut short as Sirius interrupted by wrapping his arms around her, taking her by complete surprise as she stood there awkwardly. "You're not a waste of space, Schmidty," he softly said. "Don't ever say that again." Then, he pulled away and walked out of the Great Hall without another word.

Later that day Mallory was confronted by James as she studied in the Common Room, waiting for Lily to get back from prefect duties so she'd have a buddy. "Do you really think that we don't like you?" James softly asked Mallory as he slid into the seat across from her.

Mallory shrugged slightly, keeping her gaze on her textbook as she read about amorentia. James sighed softly and pulled the book away from her, but Mallory kept her gaze on the floor.

"Mal, we're not all like Sirius and Freddy. We care about you. We're not faking this all," he assured her, gently taking her hand in his. "And we're not going to suddenly turn on you."

Mallory tried to pull her hand away, but he kept a firm grasp on it.

"You're one of us, Mal. We love you. All of us..." James continued to ramble for several minutes and Mallory couldn't help but notice that he was dancing around their 'sick' excuse for canceling the sleepover.

When he was done talking, Mallory forced a laugh. "Thanks, Jamie. That means a lot," she lied, knowing it would take her longer to actually believe him.

"Why'd you think we didn't like you anyway?"

Mallory shrugged and glanced up at him. Her eyes widened in horror as she stared at his cheek. Blood dripped down the side of his face. "What happened?" she asked him in a panic.

James froze like a deer in headlights. "Is it bleeding?" he whispered before raising his hand to his cheek and looking back down at the blood on his fingers.

"Why are you bleeding?" she asked him.

He ignored her question. "Where's Lily? She needs to fix it!" He looked around, his eyes wide in panic. 

Mallory stood up with him. "She's at a prefect meeting."

"When's she coming back?"

"I don't know!" Mallory exclaimed. She watched as he wiped his cheek with his sleeve from his grey sweater. The blood immediately stained the shirt, his eyes widened further.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shot," James mumbled under his breath.

"I can take you to the hospital wing," Mallory offered him.

"If I told Pomfrey that Sirius and I were messing around and I fell on a knife, do you think she would believe me?"

"What?"

"Answer the question!"

"No! That's stupid!" Mallory honestly told him.

James pressed his lips together and furrowed his brows. "It's the best we got. Let's go!" James grabbed Mallory by the arm and started pulling her down to the hospital wing.

"Oi! What're you two doing?" Sirius shouted. Mallory looked back at him to see a girl pinned against the wall with several hickeys decorating her neck. She quickly looked away.

"Poppy!" James called over his shoulder.

"Who..." The rest of Sirius's question was drowned out as Mallory and James continued running to the hospital wing.

James stopped running as they approached and strutted into the hospital wing. "Hey, Poppy!" he exclaimed, a bright smile across his face as if nothing was wrong.

"Stop calling me that, Mr. Potter," the healer replied shortly as she folded towels, not glancing at the two teenagers. "And before you ask, no. You may not see Remus."

"What's wrong with Remus?" Mallory asked, looking over at James.

"Must've caught what his mum had," James mumbled. "I'm not here for Rem. I've got this gnarly cut on my cheek. See!"

The healer sighed and looked over at James before dropping the towel she was folding and rushing over to him.

"It's no big deal. You'll just need to use that magic of yours-" he started, gesturing to the wand in her pocket.

"Mr. Potter, this is not a joking matter. Now get down on that bed!"

"Merlin, I never imagined my school healer would be the first to say those words to me..." James mumbled. Mallory cracked a smile as the healer glared at James.

"Stop smiling, Potter. You'll lose more blood," the healer snapped.

"But I was taught to smile through the pain." James slowly walked over to the bed he was going to be in and laid down with a big sigh.

The healer shook her head at him as she grabbed several bottles and walked back over to his bed. "How'd you get this?"

"Classified information," James remarked as the healer rubbed potions over the cut and gave James something to drink.

"Keep him awake and talking until I get back," the healer told Mallory. Mallory didn't have time to question as the healer disappeared behind a curtain.

"Mal!" James exclaimed. "Get over here!"

Mallory rushed over. "Hey, Jamie," she softly said.

"Mal, you're like my best friend. Although, Sirius and I are practically brothers. Oo! And Moony and Wormtail! We're like... besties!" he rambled, the potion he had been given, clearly working quickly on him. "But Lily and I are also friends now. My parents! How could I forget my parents? I have too many friends! There's also Marlene, Mary, and Alice... The quidditch team. Oh, Merlin, this is too much. How do I keep up?"

James sighed with his lips pursed before he looked over at Mallory lazily. "I'd probably have to say you or my mum."

"Are what?" Mallory questioned.

"My best friend."

James looked around before his eyes landed on the letter sticking out of Mallory's pocket. "What's that?"

"It's from Drake," Mallory replied, opening the letter to reread it. "Thank you for making Sirius write that apology letter to him."

"What letter?" James asked.

"The letter Sirius wrote to Drake after we got in that argument over Christmas Break."

"I never made Sirius write a letter."