Jennifer Potter and the marauders (Book 1)

A fiasco filled farewell

*warning to readers. This chapter may be triggering and upsetting for some people*

1st of January 1978

James, Lily and Sirius were waiting in the hallway, preparing to go back to Hogwarts for the penultimate time. Sirius had come over to say goodbye to all the Potters, before him, James and Lily would leave for platform 9 and 3/4.
"Where is Jenny? She should be down here by now, to say goodbye" Asked Sirius.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her all morning" admitted James.
"I'm sure she's fine. She is probably just having a lie in" commented Lily.
James forced a smile and nodded. He hadn't told Lily much about Jenny's well being. He had mentioned her being ill as a child, which is why she is taught magic at home.
But he hadn't revealed the extent of her sickness.

James wasn't embarrassed by his sister, but he didn't want anyone outside of the Marauders to know the truth.
At Hogwarts he was a cool guy, and the most popular kid in school. Not the boy who often looks after his sick sister. And he didn't want Lily to see that side of him just yet.
"Why don't me and Sirius go and say goodbye to her, while you wait down here" suggested James.
Sirius nodded and began walking towards the staircase when Lily stopped him.
"Well that's just silly. Why don't we all go together? I have met your sister remember, and I'm sure she would like to say goodbye to me, as well as you and Sirius" said Lily.
"Sure. If you want to come I won't stop you" replied James.

Eventually they reached the first floor, which contained Jenny's room and a bathroom, which only she used.
"Why don't you wait here while I check to see if she is decent" suggested James.
The others nodded and James knocked on Jenny's door. There was no sound coming from inside.
So James knocked again and opened the door, finding Jenny's bedroom deserted.
"That's strange. I wonder where she is?" Muttered Sirius.
James turned.
"I thought i told you to stay outside with Lily" he questioned.
Sirius shrugged.
"I got bored".

Lily waited patiently outside Jenny's open door, watching James and Sirius look for clues as to Jenny's whereabouts. Eventually she got tired of waiting, and began walking around the corridor on the first floor.
Suddenly she heard a loud cough, and turned around, but there was no one there.
She assumed that she had imagened the sound, but then she heard it again.
Lily realised that the sound was coming from inside the bathroom.
"James, come over here" called Lily.
James and Sirius left the room and began walking over to Lily, who was already opening the bathroom door.
Once the door was open, Lily gasped loudly, causing James and Sirius to run to her side and stare into the bathroom.
Leaning against the bath tub sat Jenny, her face and body covered in blood. She coughed again, and more blood came out of mouth.

James leaped in front of Lily, trying to obstruct her view so that she wouldn't see Jenny.
"Lily. Please can you run downstairs and fetch my parents for me. They're in the sitting room" ordered James.
But it was too late, Lily was already pushing her way past him and approaching Jenny.
"Come on Lily, you don't want to see this" continued James, as he failed to pull Lily out of the room.
Lily stared and James, then sat down on the ground beside Jenny, wiping the tears and blood off of her face with some toilet paper.
James turned to Sirius.
"Padfoot, can you..." he started, he didn't need to say any more, as Sirius was already on his feet and running downstairs to get help.

Jenny coughed again, bringing up more blood. Lily began rubbing her back with one hand and holding a tissue in front of Jenny's mouth with the other, speaking soft kind words into her ear to calm her.
Once Jenny finished coughing she began to cry once more, and Lily positioned herself, so that Jenny could lie against her, rather than the bath.
Jenny looked over at her brother who was bringing himself to the ground and shuffling towards her other side.
"I'm sorry. I've ruined everything haven't I?" croaked Jenny.
"Shh. Of course you haven't ruined anything" replied Lily, who then began to stroke Jenny's hair, so that it was off her face.
"I have. You aren't going to want to go out with someone who has a sister like me" cried Jenny.

Lily looked over James, who avoided meeting her eyes.
"Is this what you were worried about me finding out, which is why you didn't want me coming upstairs?" She asked.
James didn't answer.
"Oh James that's stupid. I don't care if your sister is sick, in fact I want to help. Did you really think I would turn my back on you if I found out the truth. I can't believe you James Potter. After everything, you are still keeping secrets from me. Even after our disastrous meal with my sister and her boyfriend. I've let you into my life James, so why haven't you let me into yours?" Lily questioned.
"I don't know. I guess I was scared what would happen if you knew that i had baggage. Then I wouldn't be the great James Potter any more. I would be a freak I guess. And I couldn't bare to lose you, not after you finally agreed to go out with me" admitted James.

Lily shook her head.
"I didn't agree to go out with you because of your ego, your skill or your popularity. Once I realised that there was more beneath the surface, I figured you might be worth getting to know you a bit better. From now on, no more secrets. If your sister needs help and is sick, then I want to know about it so that I can help. Deal?" Asked Lily.
James nodded.
"Deal. I'm sorry I tried to hide her illnesses from you Lily. We both thought it was for the best. We wanted to pretend that we were normal for once. Jenny has been sick all her life, I struggle to remember a time when she wasn't sick. Now that she's older she doesn't get ill as much, but she still has phases. Her immune system is very weak, so she catches things easier" replied James.

Suddenly Jenny's cough started again and wouldn't stop.
By the time her parents and Sirius arrived with the healers she had lost consciousness. And James and Lily had had to lay her on her side, to stop her from choking on what she kept coughing up.
"Your father and I will go with her to St Mungos. You three will have to apparate straight 9 and 3/4 with your luggage if you want to make the train" said Euphemia, who had turned quite pale since seeing the state Jenny was in.
"But I can't just go off to Hogwarts as if nothing has happened. She needs me" James protested.
Lily took hold of James's arm.
"Your mother is right. There is nothing more we can do for her. You need to leave the healers alone, and allow them to do their job. Once we get to Hogwarts you can owl your parents to find out if there is any news. O.K?" Suggested Lily.

James didn't say anything but he nodded. He looked close to tears as Jenny's unconscious body was levitated from the room on a stretcher.
His parents didn't even have time to say goodbye to their son, as they left with the healers straight away.
James looked at Sirius and Lily.
"Well I guess we had better get going, otherwise we will miss the train" he said without any enthusiasm.
They both nodded.
"We couldn't miss the train mate. This will be one of our last rides to Hogwarts. We have Easter and that's it. Soon we will have left Hogwarts forever. We have to enjoy the time we have left" replied Sirius placing his arm around James's shoulders.
James sighed, and the three of them made their way down stairs, taking one last look at the house before dissapparating to platform 9 and 3/4, and preparing themselves for a new term at Hogwarts.