Proving Me Wrong

PROVING ME WRONG

LAST CHAPTER:-

Before he could get her attention, her knees gave way and she fell to the floor, exposing her back, or in his opinion...what was left of it.

James's eyes went wide with shock and he managed to breathe two words,

"Holy fuck."

CHAPTER 5

"Proving Me Wrong"

Great dirty gashes littered her back, crisscrossing each other in a grotesque pattern, forming a savage carving on her body. Nothing could have prepared James for that sight, or for the disgusting feeling of responsibility that made him want to vomit.

Jesus Christ, what have I done? What have I fucking done?

It took him a second to mentally shake himself and rationalise.

James you dolt, he told himself fiercely, an itching hex out of a Zonko's prank book wouldn't do that, no spell you know could have done that...

***

Lily looked around, knowing in the pit of her stomach who she was about to see.

Yes, it was James Potter. God, he is always in the right place at the right time, isn't he?

In the few seconds that the two stared at each other in disbelief, Lily passed through a range of emotions...

Fear

Shock

Anger

But before Lily's fiery temper could take control, she arrived at the last and most definitely, the worst emotion...

Shame

Complete and utter gut-wrenching shame filled Lily as she contemplated what this meant. James Potter had seen a part of Lily that no one else had seen, in her seven years at Hogwarts. He would tell everyone, she knew it, and he would take away the last thing she had, her dignity.

***

He saw her shiver before turning around to face him, still on the floor. He watched her eyes, he was entranced by them. He saw them widen with shock and then narrow in anger.

In any other circumstances, James would have left, quickly. She seemed ready to pounce, but he stood his ground. He wanted, no, needed to know how this had happened, and more importantly...who had done it?

Lily was shocked when she saw James's eyes flash with an anger she had never seen before. It frightened her.

After all, I am Head Boy. I should know if a student has been attacked, he told himself.

Her eyes changed again, they were brimming with tears. James somehow knew it was agonizing for her to even cry in front of him. She looked helpless, staring at him with those emerald orbs, silently pleading with him.

Leave me alone. Go away. Please, just walk away, her eyes said.

James's eyes replied, fixing her with an unblinking stare which clearly said,

I can't leave, not now.

Admitting defeat, Lily closed her eyes once more, a pained expression on her face and hanging her head in-

Shame, James thought, perplexed. If someone's attacked her, she's got no reason to be embarrassed. But maybe, he added wisely, maybe she's embarrassed that she couldn't protect herself.

He made to move towards her, hand outstretched, but she scrambled backwards against the wall, crying out as it made contact with her back.

James stopped in his tracks, wincing as she broke the silence with her cry. His chest tightened.

"Evans, I don't want to hurt you," he spoke softly.

Despite her anguish, Lily still managed an incredulous snort at his statement.

James should have expected this, it was Evans after all.

"Evans," he tried again.

"Save it, Potter," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly.

She pulled herself to her feet, and James could see her shaking violently. She staggered towards the door, holding onto the sink for support, and then opened it.

Through the door was a deserted corridor, into which Lily walked into, without a backwards glance. James saw that some blood from her back was seeping through her green shirt, staining it a murky brown colour.

James took a step after her, and almost as if she had sensed him, she spoke so quietly that James nearly didn't hear, "Don't follow me, James."

James leant against the wall, and slid down to the floor, resting his head in his hands. He listened to her retreating footsteps growing fainter and fainter.

He didn't know what to do, she told him not to follow her, but if she collapsed down in the dungeons or somewhere it would be his fault.

Then, after a few minutes, James processed what Lily's final words were,

Don't follow me, James.

And with a jolt, he realised something. Running a hand distractedly through his already messy black hair, he got off the floor and walked out into the empty corridor.

"She called me James," he murmured, before fixing his glasses and sprinting down the corridor after her.