She's the Girl | A Marauders Love story

Chapter 59

Suspicion

Hailey sat next to her unconscious friend and sighed. They had managed to bandage her wounds, though they couldn't stop the bleeding, and give her an I V with blood replenishing potion to ensure that she didn't lose too much blood. The problem was, she was still unconscious, and still openly bleeding from multiple cuts on her body.

"Hailey, I brought you some food. Lisa told me you haven't eaten recently." James said, handing her a tray of food. Hailey smiled thankfully and took the food from him. They both looked at Lily, who hadn't moved from her position.

"Have they figured out what caused it?" James asked. Hailey shook her head.

"It looks like a homemade spell. Someone that was mixed up in the dark arts probably made it. We don't even know who hit her or where she was when she was hit, though, so we can't even start to figure out how to fix her. Right now, all we have are temporary fixes."

James seemed like he wanted to say something, but was hesitant to do so.

"How did she get here? Surely she didn't apparate herself." He said. Hailey shrugged.

"Apparently someone dropped her off. I think it was whoever hit her with the spell. The cuts aren't that deep, so the caster didn't really mean the spell. I think they did it out of anger, and immediately felt bad and dropped her off at the hospital. I just hope they didn't cast a memory charm too."

"But why not just fix it themselves? Surely if they were able to create the spell, they could make a solution." James said. Hailey shrugged.

"My guess is that there was a lot of emotion tied to this. Lily's still tense, even in her most relaxed state. Whoever did this wasn't thinking clearly, and most likely just thought this was the easiest solution."

"Listen, Hailey. I know you're not going to like this, but Snape was mixed up in the dark arts, like crazy fascinated with them, and he made up his own spells. He and Lily have a history, so it would make sense that he was riding on emotion, and he probably still likes her, which is why he dropped her off here." James said. Hailey looked up at him.

"That makes sense. I mean, I don't want it to be true, but if does add up."

James nodded and kissed her forehead.

"Sirius and I can go and talk to him. You need some sleep. You're exhausted, Hails."

Hailey nodded.

"I just have to get through the next thirty minutes." She said, looking over at Lily. James sat down next to her and rubbed her shoulder.

"I'll sit with Lily, you can finish everything up, and then we can head home. Sound good?"

Hailey nodded and stood up.

"I'll meet you back here."

James kissed her hand.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

~~~~~~

James opened the door, letting Hailey know he was home. He went to the kitchen, prepping himself a cup of tea, before sitting on the couch. It wasn't long before Hailey came downstairs, curious about his encounter with Snape.

"How'd it go?"

"Well, we talked with Shacklebolt first, and he agreed there was enough correlation to investigate, and when we went to Snape's place, he didn't admit to it, but we found a book with some spells he had made up, and one of them looks like it could have done it. So we threw Snape in a holding cell until we can figure out more about the spell and hopefully find a cure."

"So Snape won't talk to anyone?" Hailey asked. James shook his head.

"He said the only person he would talk to was Lily. I think he's a little out of it. The guilt has probably made him go crazy or something."

Hailey nodded, deep in thought.

"What if someone was disguised as Lily?"

"What?"

"Well, you said it yourself, Snape's a little out of it. If someone uses polyjuice potion, he could probably be tricked into thinking Lily was talking to him, and hopefully give up the cure."

"But if Lily's hurt, will the polyjuice potion turn the person into hurt Lily or regular Lily?" James asked. Hailey shrugged.

"Maybe I'll write Professor Slughorn. He loved polyjuice, I bet he at least has a theory. How long can you keep Snape?"

"Thirty-two hours if we don't find anymore evidence."

Hailey nodded.

"And can we use Lily's hair if she isn't awake? I feel like she has to consent to that. I'll do some research later."

James nodded grimly. They were pushing themselves further and further into the war, and Hailey didn't know if they were going to make it back out.

~~~~~~~

"James, do you care what flowers we have?" Hailey asked. James shook his head.

"As long as they aren't forget-me-not's. I hate those."

Hailey nodded and scribbled forget-me-not's out of the list of flower options. They had decided that their wedding planning couldn't wait too much longer, so while they waited for a reply from Slughorn, they were going over some of the basic plans. So far, they had decided that an outside wedding would be better, as spring was approaching, and had worked out a guest list. They were planning on a fairly small wedding, with the threat of war looming over them, they had decided that a big party might not be the best idea. The real problem they had faced was making a decision for all of the small choices a wedding involved. The color scheme, the flowers, the chair covers, bridesmaid dresses, and food.

"What if the bridesmaid dresses were black?" Hailey asked. "They can each choose their own black dress, and then everyone will be happy. I like the idea of the dresses coordinating rather than perfectly matching anyway."

James nodded.

"Sounds good to me. And then it won't be as hard to find matching ties for the groomsmen."

"I'll let Marlene and Mary know." Hailey said, writing it down in her planner. The phone rang, and James and Hailey looked at each other. James shrugged, and Hailey got up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Hailey Lowel?"

"Yes."

"I'm from St. Mungo's. Lily Evans woke up, and asked that you were notified. She says she wants to speak to you as soon as possible."

Hailey almost dropped the phone. She slid her shoes on and motioned for James to do the same.

"I'll be right there. Thank you for telling me."

"Of course. Bye-bye, then."

"Goodbye."

Hailey hung up the phone and turned to James, who was sliding his shoes on, clearly confused.

"Lily woke up. She asked to talk to me."

"Well, let's go then." James said. Hailey took his arm, and they apparated to St. Mungo's.