The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix Part Three

A Knock to the Head

James was a right fit. It was an upset beyond what Remus had ever seen him in, trembling as the mediwitches gave him a potion to calm his nerves, and still in a state even after the potion had been given time to take effect. They transported him to St. Mungo's to make sure he hadn't taken a knock to the head, although James repeatedly told them he hadn't.

"Must've done," muttered a mediwizard under his breath to a witch.

But Remus recognized what James was going through a bit too well. It was similar to what Sirius did when he was having his worst moments with Achlys.

"He saved at least ten people, Lily," Remus was saying as he followed her down the stairs to the floor James Potter was on. "He looked alright, I think it's mostly his nerves. He just kept on about not being enough and I tried to tell him he was plenty enough, the mediwitches on site called him a hero, even, and they gave him the potion and --"

They broke onto the fourth floor, passing by the Janus Thickey ward to the area where the magical mental illnesses wing was. Dorcas Meadows was listed on the wall as one of the doctors on staff there, though her name was marked as on leave, and the irony that they were at Mungo's for Dorcas and now in her ward was not wasted on Remus as he looked at her picture, smiling at him from the wall.

"I'm looking for James Potter, they've just brought him in," Lily said hurriedly to the witch at the desk at the front of the ward.

"Your relation?" she asked boredly.

"I'm his wife. Lily Potter," she said.

"Do you have identification?"

Lily sighed, frustrated, upset that her panic was not being appreciated, and dug in her pocket - she hadn't even been questioned this much when she'd gone into the actual delivery room with Dorcas Meadows and her nerves were jangled with this delay in getting to James. "Here," she said, jetting her arm out with her identification card. "Now where is MY HUSBAND?"

"Just down the hall here. Your friend will need to wait here, we're only allowing family --"

Her face reddened as her temper flared. "Remus IS family," she snapped, "Now mind your bloody business and take me to my husband."

The witch's face twisted with annoyance, but she stood up and led Lily down the corridor, past a load of rooms with closed doors and blocked-off observation windows, charts hanging on the door next to symbols and runes that seemed to have Remus tense as he read over them as they passed by.

They came to a door and the witch paused outside, drawing a key from her pocket and undoing several locks along the door's edge, whispering an incantation that Lily could barely hear. Remus stared at the symbol on the door and he frowned, then followed Lily into the room as the mediwitch stepped out of their way.

"I'M BLOODY FINE," James's voice came from inside, "Get your damned hands off me, for Merlin's sake!"

Lily stepped inside quickly, "James!"

"Evans?" he looked up. He was sitting up in the bed, a wizard attempting to keep him down, one hand actually latched onto the guard rail on the far side of the bed by an incarcerous charm. "Evans!" his face lit when he saw her, "Oh thank God."

She ran over and hugged him and he hugged her as well as he could with one arm tied to the bed.

Remus knew it wasn't the time for it, but he also knew that would not have stopped Sirius Black from having an absolute field day with the innuendos, either. Bloody hell, what has that dog done to me? Remus wondered.

Lily looked him over, "What have you been doing? Look at you! You're filthy, your uniform is all torn up... I - what happened?"

"Giant attack in Ireland," James answered gravely.