Letters From A Stranger || James and Lily ||

The Aftermath

Disclaimer : Since I've still not got the Harry Potter franchise as a birthday gift, I guess it's not mine.

Extra long chapter for the long wait.

/unedited/

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Chapter 29

Lily rushed after him, grabbing her robes from the stand beside her bed and pulling them on. There was only one thought running through her mind.

I can't let this happen.

The door to her left opened, revealing a shocked Madam Pomfrey.

"Where do you think you're going, Miss Evans?" Madam Pomfrey asked, horrified to see her patient out of bed.

"Madam, please." Lily said, "I really need to go."

"You have been hexed! And you expect me to let you go?"

"This is important." Lily pleaded, "I swear I'll be back here as soon as possible."

"Nothing is more important than your health right now, Miss." Madam Pomfrey said in a no more arguments tone, "Now go back to your bed."

Lily took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. "If you don't want half of Slytherin house to end up in the hospital wing, then let me go now."

"What are you-"

"You know how bad things can get when James Potter is involved."

In a few moments, Lily was running down the hallways of the castle, no clue whatsoever where James had disappeared to. The bruise on her side throbbed painfully but all she could think of was the look on his face when he stormed out of the hospital wing. It definitely didn't look like he was going to have a friendly chat with Mulciber over tea and cookies.

It didn't take her long to find him. She saw Peter on the way, who told her that he saw James going in the direction of the dungeons.

Even from afar, she could see his messy hair. But as she got closer, her steps faltered. His eyes were burning with pure red hot rage. With one hand he had grabbed the other boy's collar, pinning him to the stone wall. In his other hand, he held his wand which was pointed at Mulciber's throat.

"Potter, let me go." Mulciber growled, trying to loosen James's grip.

Mulciber must have been burly and boulder-like but James being taller and more muscular had the upper hand. Tightening his grip, James pushed Mulciber back.

"Let you go?" James asked, his voice eerily calm, "After you almost killed her?"

Mulciber didn't reply and Lily noticed a muscle in James's jaw tick ominously like a time bomb.

"Fine." James stepped back. Mulciber fell to the floor in a heap. "I'll let you go. But before that. Expelliarmus!"

Mulciber's wand flew from his hand, landing a few feet away from where Lily was standing. Neither of them had noticed her yet.

James pointed his wand at Mulciber, the raging fire returning to his eyes. Lily knew what he was going to do. She had known James long enough to predict it. The curse was at the tip of his tongue.

She could see his lips form the word and she knew he had enough hatred in him at the moment to make the curse effective.

"James, no!" Lily shouted as she ran towards him. She mentally winced at how dramatic everything had turned out. It felt too unreal for her usual boring life.