Nox

The Runaway

~JAMES POV~

I stirred, opening my eyes, I found myself in the hospital wing, it was a place I had come to recognise quite easily. Athena and Lily were standing beside me, neither of them daring to stand too close to the bed, but standing beside me nonetheless. Lily's eyes were red, obviously, she had been crying, I must have really upset her, growing up with two brothers had taught her that crying when she was upset was simply not an option, but she stood with an air of confidence and controlled anger, and acted as if the evidence of her tears did not exist at all. Athena stood with one arm around Lily's shoulders, comforting my sister. The other was by her side as she simply stared at me, entirely expressionless. Lily looked up, noticing I was awake, she made her way to sit on the chair beside me.

"I'm sorry, but you killed him, I know you did." She said, there was tightened quality to her voice, as if she were holding back.

"I..." I began hesitantly.

"No, don't even start to explain, there's no excuse for what you did." She interrupted, not even bothering to listen to my lies.

Lily turned and left, Athena giving me an apologetic look, but none of her usual smiles, before following her out. Sliding my hand into my pocket, I was relieved to find the locket still there. I withdrew it and held it to my chest, she was so beautiful, I loved her so much, she may have been angry at me at the moment, but I knew that was only because of Lily.

Sighing I knew I had to leave, Lily would tell everyone that I helped Voldemort, and then they'd find my mark, pressing my wand to the mark on my arm, I felt myself being lifted away from Hogwarts, to the Malfoy Manor. It was the only safe place for me now. Lily knew, and she was going to tell the world.

~ATHENA POV~

I felt so sorry for the boy, his own sister felt so bad for hating him and being angry, but she was certain of what she'd said, no matter what logical explanation I came up with, she said she knew that was wrong, and I trusted her, more than anyone. Besides, she knew that Lily would never falsely accuse anyone of anything, especially someone she loved as much as her brother.

Suddenly, I heard a cry of  sudden pain echoing from the hospital wing. My stomach dropped, he may have been helping You Know Who, but I didn't want him to get hurt. What if something awful had happened? James did have a lot of enemies in Hogwarts, due to the sheer amount of fights he didn't start, and Id bet my life they'd all love to hurt him while he was weak, vulnerable, unable to defend himself. So, running back in to the room, expecting to see James in pain, I noticed something else, he was gone.