The Girl Marauder(Book One)

Chapter 8

Luna’s skin was slick with both sweat and water, the latter having come from several misplaced spells used to put out the fires the Death Eaters had caused. With some luck the doors to the Great Hall had been opened and the students had found their escape while the Death Eaters were forced to flee or face the Aurors that surely were on their way.

Between helping students out from under tables and extinguishing fires, Luna looked for her friends, eyes desperately searching over the heads that crowded the Great Hall. She was sure she had caught sight of Peter at some point during the fight, but everything was moving quickly and he was gone as soon as he had appeared. She hadn’t seen Sirius since the fight started, and something close to panic had knotted inside her stomach- She’d give anything to see him dancing with Mary MacDonald right now.

She was picking up a dropped mask from the ground when a voice came from behind her, a hand landing on her shoulder. “Luna!”

“Remus.” Luna sighed in relief, straightening up to properly hug her friend. The two had gotten separated during the fight, and Luna was more than pleased to see he was alright. He hugged her back tightly for a moment before pulling away, his expression tired and weary. Luna frowned lightly, eyebrows creased.

“Remus, what’s wrong? Where is everyone?”

“They’re in the Infirmary- James was hit with some sort of spell. We should go- Have you seen Peter?”

“Not recently.” Luna said honestly, dropping the mask and leaving it forgotten as the two left the Great Hall, their steps quick as they made their way down the halls of Hogwarts. Remus grimaced as they turned a corner, walking directly into opposite-flowing traffic.

“Well, he’ll find his way eventually.” Remus said as they pushed their away through moving students, blatantly ignoring the professor’s calls of ‘all students must return to their dorms’. The rest of the walk was spent in silence, though Luna couldn’t help her sharp intake of breath when they entered the Infirmary. She barely spared a glance for Lily, her eyes drawn to the black-haired boy that sat on the end of his best friend’s bed.

She wasn’t sure how to feel when his eyes met hers, betraying a relief that mirrored her own. Ignoring the protest of her tight dress she quickly moved forward past the other beds, his arms already raised to wrap around her as she threw her own around his neck and hugged him tightly, breathing in the scent that made her feel as though she were home. The home she should’ve had. The home she wanted. Perhaps that was too much. Luna closed her eyes tightly, thinking a silent prayer of thanks to any mystical being up there that Sirius was alright.

But James...

At the realization that someone was very much not alright she pulled herself away from Sirius, going to take a seat by her redheaded friend. James laid in the infirmary bed with closed eyes, his hair sticking to his forehead from sweat. 

“Do you know what hit him?” Luna asked her redheaded friend quietly, nudging her shoulder gently. Lily only shook her head, looking rather morose as she sighed.

“No idea. It was purple, apparently- Sirius saw that bit. But Madame Pomefrey doesn’t even have a suggestion on what it could be. There’s nothing wrong with him suppsedly- He’s just not waking up.”

“He’ll pull through.” Luna said, letting herself believe it. James was strong, he was good. He would make it. He would.

And, as she thought it to herself, she realized she believed it. She had hope.

She liked it.

And as she held onto Lily’s hand in the hope of providing comfort, she promised herself she’d stick around. Looking at James, she decided- No more running. No more cowering and fleeing. She would stick around and fight, stay by her friend’s sides.