Speechlessly, Breathlessly, and Hopelessly in Love, a harry potter fanfic

DISCLAIMER: Anything recognizable does not belong to me. Anything and everything from the Harry Potter universe belongs to the great J.K. Rowling. The lyrics for Lovebug belong to the Jonas Brothers, and the rights to Queen belong to their owners.

Enjoy, and please, please review.

The sound of an acoustic guitar drifted into the open window Lily had flung open in hopes of luring in a light breeze. Even for late-May, it was stifling outside. All of windows in the castle had been charmed open, but even with that students had taken off their stuffy robes by the middle of morning lessons and peeled off their vests. Everyone had their sleeves rolled up as high as they would go, and none of the girls were wearing knee socks. Relief had come in form of the Head Dorms after dinner in the Great Hall. She was allowed to change into muggle clothes there and had shrugged out of her itchy school uniform and slipped into some football shorts from when she played in the summer and a Queen t-shirt.

Moments earlier she'd been somewhat distracted by the fact that her usual, messy haired, hazel-eyed, best friend wasn't calling her down to their common room so they could finish their homework which meant that it wasn't distracting her all weekend. She was also distracted by the fact that his three trouble-making, Marauder brothers weren't running around their private living space trying to think of some hare-brained prank to pull before they graduated. Usually Remus sat at the oak table with herself and James to finish homework and Peter would be drooling on their couch. Sirius, depending on how much he had eaten, would either be bouncing off the walls (sometimes literally) or buzzing around the table trying to get a rise out of one of his friends.

But tonight it was silent. Her best friend was missing. He wasn't in his room next door because whenever he was there, he kept the doors that led from her room to the bathroom to his room open. Of course this had resulted in Lily accidently seeing him peeling off his Quidditch uniform and catching just the slightest glimpse of his six-pack and biceps from training in the pitch. Not that she noticed or anything. There was no annoying Sirius Black trying to get one of them to chuck an ink well at him or snoring Peter or Remus, studious as always, working next to them. It was strange, different.

Of course, this time last year, Lily would never have imagined that she would be in the close company of the Marauders, at least, not without killing them. The Marauders, usually with the exception of Remus, served as nothing more than irritants, James in particular. But slowly, the braid pulling, teasing, constant proposals for dates as well as marriage, and general annoying had died down. James had been made Head Boy so it was no surprise that the first night Lily walked in, she found Sirius, Remus, and Peter running around the place like a couple of kids at Christmas. And to her surprise, along with everyone else's Lily thought, James and herself became best friends. Between the homework, living in close quarters, and late-night walks he talked her into, it had been easy.

A few more bars of guitar music pulled Lily's thoughts back out the window. It was a waning moon that night, and by the light rippling on the surface of the lake, she could just barely make out the silhouette of a figure sitting under the huge beech tree the Marauders and Lily usually sat under during break or after classes strumming on a guitar. Who would be out this late at night, and how did they get out of the castle?

With the boldness that came with being one month away from graduating the only home she had ever known, Lily walked into James' room and opened the third drawer in his dresser from the top. There was the silvery cloth that Lily knew was James' most prized possession—his invisibility cloak. Becoming close friends with the Marauders, she had been privy to many of their trade secrets: the cloak, the map, secret passageways, and most recently the fact that one of her best friends for seven years was a werewolf and two new friends and former archenemy were animagus. James had let Lily in on a lot of things when they'd become friends which had only served for him to gain respect in her eyes. He had given up a lot for his friends, but was loyal no matter what happened.

Lily swung the cloak over her, still not used to the sensation of looking down and not being able to see her body. She didn't really understand why she was so interested in going down to see who the mysterious musician was. There was something about the music that called her down there. It was slightly melancholy, a hopeful twinge to the melody. Lily could still hear it as she hurried through the dark, stone corridors. James had told her about a special passageway behind the painting of Wilfred the Wandering in the Field of Left-Handed Trolls that came out a small side door on the north side of the castle by the lake. The door brought her closer to the musician, and Lily could hear him slowly strum out the final few chords of the melancholy song with a sigh.

Hoping that he wasn't done, she carefully tread quietly as she could to the shadow of the beech tree. Lily guessed she was entitled to a little midnight concert. If someone was going to be brave enough to play their music while sitting brazenly on the Hogwarts grounds, they were asking for some insomnia ridden student to hear and come, curiosity ablaze. Hers certainly was. The warm, summer air felt nice against her bare feet, the always green Hogwarts grass, felt like heaven. She could hear the soft plucks while the musician tuned again and resettled against the tree. Lily settled in the shadows of the branches, sitting cross-legged and resting her head in her palms.

The musician started playing again, this time a soft, reminiscent melody. She inched forward, careful not to disturb the cloak, trying to get a good look at the elusive musician who was so good with a guitar. And then, miracle of miracles, he started singing—

"Called you for the first time yesterday,
Finally found the missing part of me.
Felt so close but you were far away,
Left me without anything to say.

Now I'm speechless over the edge, I'm just breathless
I never thought that I'd catch this lovebug again.
Hopeless, head over heels in the moment
I never thought that I'd get hit by this lovebug again."

The words were sweet; Lily had never heard anything quite like them. It was clear he cared deeply for whoever he was singing about, that she was special to him. But something else tugged at Lily—his voice. She'd heard it before somewhere around the school with its cool roughness that was soothing against the heat of the evening. It seemed strangely familiar like a memory that was tugging at the bag of her mind she couldn't quite recall. The musician continued on, moving his head a little, and by the dim glow from the moon, Lily could see him close his eyes in bliss.

"I can't get your smile out of my mind.
I think about your eyes all the time.
You're beautiful but you don't even try,
Modesty is just so hard to find.

Lily found her feet were moving to the beat, and she was having problems restraining herself from whistling along. The song was contagious. Suddenly the music turned impossibly precious, tender, gentle…loving. His voice had taken a hopeful tone. Whoever this girl was, she was lucky to have this hopeless romantic sitting here playing guitar by the lake for her, hoping, maybe distantly, that she would hear.

Kissed her for the first time yesterday,
Everything I wished that it would be.
Suddenly I forgot how to speak,
Hopeless, breathless, baby can't you see?
Now I'm--

(Guitar Riff)

As the musician went off on a soft guitar piece that easily conveyed his feelings to whoever was listening. He was speechlessly, breathlessly, and hopelessly in love with this girl, whoever she was, and whoever he was. Lily tried to lean forward to get a glimpse of his face in the crescent moon that had risen over the lake now, casting a cool glow over the warm grounds.

Now I'm speechless, over the edge, I'm just breathless,
I never thought that I'd catch this lovebug again.
Now I'm hopeless, head over heels in the moment,
I never thought that I'd get hit by this lovebug again.
Oh! Lovebug again.

When the final note settled over the lake, the musician gave a sigh and shifted forward, falling into the moonlight as he did so. A messy mop of black hair, wire rimmed glasses, long straight nose, angular face, lanky frame, casual posture, and those light brown painted with green hazel eyes. James Potter.

The funny thing was, it didn't surprise her. She didn't bat her eyes as he ran his hand through his hair in something that looked like defeat. It had been the last chorus that had given himself away. She realized there was only one boy she'd ever heard say that love had knocked him speechless, breathless, head over heels. They'd been talking about it just the other night in front of the Heads' Common Room fire, both settled into two identical brown cushy armchairs.

"Lils, have you ever been in love?" The question had been out of the blue, after all, they had been sitting in a comfortable silence listening to the crackling of the fire for close to half an hour. When she had looked up to meet his gaze and see what was going on behind those hazel eyes of his, Lily had found that he was staring, not at her, but into the flames with something like a shadow over his face.

Not knowing what to say, she gave the usual, "I don't know."

"Well, that's a stupid answer." He cracked a grin. "I hope you'd know if you'd gone and fallen in love with somebody or not. It's noticeable, I've heard. Some say even life-changing."

"Well, I've just never stopped and really thought about it."

"I thought that was all girls did." He shot her another infamous Potter smirk. "Ow!" he yelped as she smacked him playfully on the arm.

"I know for a fact your mother brought you up to talk about girls better than that, James Potter. Don't make me owl her because I swear to Merlin I will."

James pushed his glasses up his nose as he pulled himself up from his sitting position against the beech tree. As he bent over to place his guitar in the case, he was humming the song over again, and its tune sounded so much sweeter and even reverent to her ears as he did so. She hadn't been living with him for seven years and not picked up on a thing or two about James Cerf Potter. There was a tension in his shoulders now as he placed the pick in-between the strings and as he reverently took off the shoulder strap and laid it across the wooden body of the guitar. He let out a soft sigh as he shouldered the case and began strolling back up to the darkened castle. Something was bothering him, had been, it appeared, for a long time.

She couldn't contain herself. They were friends right? Best friends. Maybe not as close as he and Sirius but good friends at that, after all they'd know each other for seven years. The words simply exploded from her mouth without her knowledge and before she could take them back, they were jumping after him as he moved out of the shade of the beech tree. "Who was that for?" Lily could just make out James stiffening in the glow from the moon, turning around slowly on his heel to face her, a puzzled crease between his eyebrows.

"Who wants to know?"

"Oh, right." And with a flourish, she pulled off the cloak, a smirk that would give even Sirius a run for his money, plastered on her face.

"Lilian Angela Moria Evans." He shook a finger at her, a playful grin playing at the corners of his lips. "Head Girl sneaking out. What would old Minnie say?"

She planted a hand on her hip, still unable to keep from smiling at him. "Probably the same thing she'd say about the Head Boy being out of bed as well."

"Forgot about that," James said with a fake cringe, moving forward so that he was now only a few feet away from Lily.

"So, now can you tell me who that lovely song was for, James?"

For a second, she thought she saw his playful demeanor slip a bit, but she easily pushed the thought out of her mind as he took another step forward throwing his arms out wide with that smile on his face that had gotten him in so much trouble time and time again. "Hogwarts. You know I just need another reason for the girls to love me, and I hear that musical talents are always greatly admired from the female population." He winked at her slyly before beginning back up the slight slope to the castle.

"You are so full of yourself. Pity you don't have a girl to shrink your head a size or two. It'd do you good." Lily was following him now, jogging lightly to keep up with his sweeping strides.

"How do you know I haven't already got one?" he asked, the twinkle in his eyes giving him away if she hadn't known better already.

"I haven't heard any giggles coming from your dorm."

"Maybe we don't go to my dorm."

"Too much information, James, really. I don't need that mental image." He just grinned at her, taking in her red cheeks and wide smile. "But come on, that song has to be for someone. There was something special about it."

James stopped in the middle of the hall, wincing a little as his guitar banged into his knees. "Why does it have to be for someone?" His eyes weren't laughing now, in fact he seemed a little cold to her like someone had thrown the switch on nice James and icy Potter was in his place.

Lily could feel a flush rising as she took a step forward and poked him hard in the chest. "Because, I know you, and you wouldn't say stuff like that if you didn't want someone to hear it. It's just so you."

"So now you've got me pegged, huh? We've been friends less than a year, and you've already got me down to the letter? Is that it, Evans?" He moved forward, pushing her back against the corridor wall, a practically feral gleam in his eyes. She hadn't seen him this pissed off in a long time.

"Well, I've been living with you in close quarters for seven years, I think that gives me some basis for making a—" but before she could say claim, his lips suddenly crashed onto hers, a hand in her long red hair and the other at her waist. After a few seconds or hours or possibly several moonlit nights, they broke apart.

"Does that mean—"

"You never know when to shut up, Lils. That song was for you. I've been hoping you'd hear it." And he pulled her back up for another kiss.

Sorry the ending seemed rushed and messed up and not right, that's just how it came out. Read and review, please. Everyone loves getting them, and I am no different in that ascpect. Pretty please with a cherry on top?! *puppy dog eyes* You will? Great!

A lot of my Stars Dazzle Me readers will get this and be sorely disappointed that there hasn't been a new chapter in nearly six months, but I went back and reread it, decided I needed to rewrite it, and haven't found the time to do so yet. Rest assured, a new chapter and the edited ones are coming soon.

Let me know what you thought :)

Love to all my readers and Sunny Days,

AIT