Dandelions

~16~

"Come on, Lily it's a good idea!" James begged her. She rolled her at eyes and him and snapped, "We're not hiring a stripper for her 17th birthday!" Peter and Remus giggled as James scowled at her. The Gryffindors were out by the black lake, skipping class which took a lot of effort to drag Lily with them. Marlene jumped up and smiled, "Well her birthdays on a friday, eh?"

That caused Sirius to jump up too and it was a chain reaction for the rest of them. "Room of Requirements Party!" they all yelled. The planning began right away due to the fact they had 2 weeks left. "Sucks for you Sirius, her birthday is the day before Valentines Day. She gets two days dedicated to her which means more gifts." Remus joked around with him. Sirius groaned. "I know! Mom's sending the birthday gift but I have no clue what to do for Valentines Day."

Lily and Marlene's heads snapped up but realized nobody else looked confused but them. "Mom? You're talking about Walburga?!" Lily said shocked. All 4 boys laughed at her for a good while until Remus answered, "Good one, Evans. He's talking about Euphiema." Lily blushed and continued writing down what they'd need for the party. "Just take her to Hogsmeade. It is the weekend for it." Peter smiled.

Classes must've finished for the day because students began to file outside to enjoy the cold and sunny day. Harper amongst them was talking to Amos Diggory making Sirius look twice. He gritted his teeth and asked his friends, "What's she doing talking to him?" Marlene seemed to feel the same way about it because she stomped over there. "Oh hey Mars!" She smiled at her. Amos looked awkward but waved hello. "Uh, thanks for the help. Bye Rossi."

Harper waved goodbye and walked over to her friends. They all looked very tense besides Marlene and Sirius who looked almost angry. "What did I miss?" She asked noticing the tension as she got over there. "What did the wanker want?" Sirius asked crossing his arms. Harper doubled over in laughter making everyone stare at her. "I need a second." She said clutching her stomach. Remus rubbed her back obviously worried for her.

"Rem, I-I'm fine!" she said wiping tears from her eyes. "Sorry that was just funny to me. I helped him in charms so he came up to thank me. Oh Merlin, you guys looked so mad." She said laughing again. Sirius's face went red from embarrassment, he trusted her but seeing her with him? That made his blood boil. "I'm sorry." He said pulling her into a hug. She hugged him back and smiled, "It's ok to feel jealous. I got jealous over Mary at the party."

The tension died down and conversations started again. "What we're you guys working on?" She asked them getting complete silence. "Well uh.. It was um.." James went on. Harper raised an eyebrow and waited for him to finish. "Astronomy homework. Merlin James, are you having a stroke?" Remus saved them. Lily, Harper, and Remus pulled out their astronomy sheet's making the 4 others groan. "No. I refuse." Sirius flailed his body around.

"Stop throwing a tantrum, Padfoot! Do your work." Remus said flicking his forehead. "Ouch! Bloody hell, Moony! Alright, alright I'll do it." He groaned. The astronomy work wasn't hard work but Harper had to help Peter out on the whole thing. He wasn't really good at school so Lily usually helped him out when she could. "Mars and I are going to go to our bedroom. Coming Harp?" Lily smiled at her. James cocked his head, "Why can't we come?"

This time, Peter took initiative to slap him on the back of the head. "Merlin's beard Wormtail! Ohhh, have fun!" He yelled running away with the boys.  Harper wasn't dumb, she knew it had something to do with her upcoming birthday but decided to not ask questions. "Come on." Lily grabbed her hand pulling her to their dorm. Marlene groaned not wanting to get up but complied in the end.

Walking inside, they came face to face with Lucius Malfoy, Regulus Black, Severus Snape, and Rodolphus Lestrange. "mudbloods." Malfoy whispered making Leatrange laugh. The girls ignored them and kept walking. "Hey, we're talking to you." Harper turned around and took out her wand. "Fuck off." Regulus smiled at the girl but made sure his crew couldn't see that. Snape threw the first and only hex, "Sectemsempra!"

Harper fell to the floor as blood began to pour out of her. Snape and his 2 friends showed no remorse as they walked away but Regulus stood in shock. He wanted to run over and help, but he couldn't risk them getting more hurt. He looked at Marlene and she nodded at him signing that he should go. Lily fell down next to Harper and started screaming. "Help! Someone get Madam Pomfrey! Hurry.." Marlene ran out to go find the boys as a second year ran for Madam Pomfrey.

Harper cried silently, not daring to move or make a sound as the blood poured out of her. "Keep your eyes open. Come on, Rossi. You're okay.." Lily cried kissing her forehead. Professor Mcgonagall arrived with Madam Pomfrey and stood shocked at the sight of the hufflepuff girl. "I've never seen this spell before, Minerva.. I'm going to use a healing spell that will stop the bleeding but it won't reverse the damage. It'll help until we can get her to the hospital wing."

"I don't know how to save her. There has to be something.." Pomfrey kept repeating to herself. Mcgonagall rushed to keep the students who had surrounded them, away and sent them all to their common rooms. "Anyone you see, direct them to their common rooms."She instructed the head bot and girl. Harper's eyes fluttered shut and the last thing she heard was, "Merlin, save her please!" from Lily.