Lily Potter and Neoma's Trance

Chapter Forty-Two

“Do you reckon she’ll come around?” a voice outside of the darkness in Lily’s head questioned. “She’s been out for a few days.”

“I hope she’ll be okay,” someone else worried.

“Fight hard, sleep hard,” a sarcastic voice laughed.

“James Potter, this is no joking matter!” a feminine voice scolded

“I just can’t wait for her to tell us what really happened after Al and I were knocked out,” the sarcastic voice continued on. “I’m sure it’ll be-”

“Because she’ll want to talk as soon as she wakes,” the worried voice interjected, now sounding sarcastic like the voice before it.

“Look!” a new, excited voice exclaimed, interrupting the arguing. “I think she’s stirring!”

A groan escaped from someone, “Eli, is this another false alarm?”

“No! Look!”

Slowly but surely, the darkness left Lily’s mind as she ever so slowly opened her eyes to take in the sights around her. She was in the hospital wing, surrounded by a blurry-looking group of people.

Cautiously, she sat up as hands grabbed to assist her. Gradually, her vision came into full focus, and she saw that her brothers, Rosie, Hugo, Eli, and Rudolph were all surrounding her bed with relieved, happy looks on their faces.

“James, Al,” she said, feeling tears of happiness well in her eyes as the memories of that night came flooding back into her mind. As the tears of relief washed over her, Lily pulled her brothers into her arms.

“Oh,” James breathed, sounding confused. “We’re here, Lil.”

“Olivia cast a Reductor Curse, and I thought,” Lily began, trying to hold back her tears, “I thought that it killed both of you.”

“Was that what knocked us out?” Al asked, earning a knowing nod from his sister as she let them out of her hug.

“We’re both very much alive, thanks to you,” James said before Al could continue. “I’m just happy you’re alive, Lil. You’ve been out since they found you four days ago.”

“What happened after that?” Lily asked, sitting up a bit straighter. This resulted in her brothers pushing her back into her pillow gently.

“Don’t get too uppity, Lil,” Al said, handing her a box of tissues. “You don’t want to faint again.”

Lily rolled her eyes at their protectiveness as she wiped some of the tears from her cheeks, “Would you just tell me what happened?”

“You looked awful when they brought you in so did those two,” Rosie began, gesturing to Lily’s two brothers. “You were bleeding and bruised all over, not to mention some of your burns. According to Madam Pomfrey, you had a few minor broken bones in there as well. You were also covered in soot and ash. Your hair’s also half singed off by the fire in the Forbidden Forest.”

“What happened, you know, after I passed out?” Lily asked, not caring about what Rosie had told her.

“Olivia was under the Imperius Curse,” James spat out, looking excited. “She really wasn’t trying to kill us. The Ministry pardoned her, and she doesn’t have to go to Azkaban! She made a full recovery! And she’s still my girlfriend!”

“That’s great,” Lily commented, smiling a little bit more than she normally did when talking about Olivia. As much as she disliked James’s girlfriend when she was normal, the fact that Olivia really wasn’t that evil person from that night was comforting.