Lily feels like she's just fallen out of her mother's favorite muggle romantic comedy. Sitting in front of a roaring fire with a sexy guy who play sports—admittedly, in muggle films, it's usually football, but never quidditch—and he says her name with a soft sigh, a soft lull filling the air in which only the fire crackles. There are no first years giggling, no third years stressing about their OWLs, and no fifth years planning pranks (although two years ago that would've been the boy in front of her). It's just her and him, his lips forming her name in that calming way that feels like a massage or a warm bubble bath. Just Lily... Lily...
And then suddenly his face falls from it's natural grin, and he looks scared, questioning, 'Lily?' and then he's more frantic, as if he's confused and scared and stunned and doesn't know where to turn, and it's one more that breaks her heart, but this time it's—
"Lily?"
She opens her eyes groggily, the confusing dream she'd been having since the beginning of her last year at Hogwarts slowly blending into real life. She blinks hard, and he's not in the dream, he's sitting on the foot of her bed.
"Potter?" she questions through her sleepy haze.
"Lily," he breathes out, half relieved, half horrified, before diving on top of her.
"What are you doing?"
She notices, as he sits back up, that he was hugging her, and his cheeks turn a sweet shade of pink, even through the dark room. And there's something besides pink on his cheeks: tears.
"I had a bad dream," he tells her, and she accepts it, because she's come to him like this before. Twice, in fact. They'd both lost their parents over the summer and he'd grown up a bit and she'd become more jaded because of it, but it also drew them together, and the first time she'd had the nightmare, she found herself making her way across the dark common room and up the steps to the boy's dormitory without a second thought.
"About what?" she asks, although she knows exactly what he's going to say. She can't look him in the eyes, so she sits up and inspects the carpet as she ties her wavy red hair back before drawing the curtains closed. She knows it won't keep the sound of their voices from her roommates very well, but she supposes it'd be insensitive to use any kind of spell.
"You," he finally answers unexpectedly.
"Well, isn't that just what every girl wants to hear?"
"No," he answers, a smile shining through his hoarse voice. It fades, though, as he continues, and she glances up into his passionate hazel eyes. "I heard noises from the forest—screaming, a girl. And so I ran down there—"
"Quite confident of your ability to get past Filch, even in your dreams."
He continues as if she hadn't interrupted. She figures maybe he just isn't in the mood for cheering up. "And started going through the forest, following the screams, right? And then..." he chokes up again, and she reaches over to pat his knee. Her hand winds up staying there. "They had you," he says, choking out a sob. It's very strange for her. She's never seen him cry before, doubts anyone has ever seen him cry, save for his late parents and maybe Sirius, but then she also bets that he's seen Sirius cry, too. She knows that his parents were practically his as well. "The death eaters," he elaborates, as if she didn't know. "And they were torturing you—you know, with the cruciatus curse. And he was there—" he sobs again at this, at 'he,' and she scoots closer. "Voldemort," he says, and it sounds like the name is clawing its way out of his raw throat. She'd never heard him have a problem with the name; then again, she hadn't heard him say it since last year. "And they made me watch, and you were screaming, and then... it was just a flash of green, non-verbal, even, and you were gone."
She doesn't know what to say, so she continues rubbing his knee comfortingly. Why her? Why had he been dreaming about her? But now doesn't feel like the time to press that issue.
"It just felt so real," he says, and she can tell he's beginning to feel stupid. "You know, when I woke up alone and—" he hesitates then, and she knows that she wasn't supposed to know he was alone. His big eyes, all bloodshot, glance up to her. She doesn't know if she should ask or not. "And I felt like I needed to see you to be sure," he finished finally. "Sorry for waking you up."
"It's okay, James. I mean, I've done it before."
His eyes linger on hers for a minute at the sound of his first name. "I know," he says. They're quiet for a moment, his eyes locked on her bedding, her thumb tracing patterns onto his knee. Her heart thuds in her chest as he takes in his messy hair and lost expression, his old jumper and worn sweatpants.
"Can I ask you something?"
His eyes dart back up to hers once again. "Is it about where Remus, Sirius and Peter are?"
"No, but I do want an explanation once you're feeling better," she says, smiling softly, "Head boy."
He looks reluctant to promise this. "What's the question?"
"...Why me?"
"In the dream?"
"Yeah. Why not... you know, your best friends, or..." she doesn't want to bring his parents up, so she winds up trailing off.
"I love my friends," he says, his eyes shining with don't-tell-them-I-said-that, "and Sirius is like my brother, but I'm not in love with them."
"No kidding." He doesn't say anything, just shifts uncomfortably. "Oh, come on, James, we've barely just become friends. You used to ask me out to make fun of me."
"Not to make fun of you. Maybe I didn't expect you to say yes, but not to make fun of you. I just... knew you'd say no, and if I was serious..."
"Girls like vulnerability," she says. "Just a tip."
"Well, I just came into your room crying in the middle of the night, so you must love me," he jokes. They're quiet for a minute at that word, and then a chill runs down his spine. "Promise me you won't... won't wander into the forest on your own."
"That sounds like you, not me, yeah? Promise me you won't go running down there in the middle of the night all alone because you think you hear someone screaming."
"I can't promise that. I'm a Gryffindor."
"You're a bloody idiot most of the time, is what you are. You don't always have to play the hero, James."
His eyes soften on her. "I know. Why do you think Peter and Sirius are out there playing hero while I sleep in?"
"Speaking of which... what are those three doing?" He shares a meaningful look with her, and she decides to drop Remus from the question; it must be a full moon, and she knows exactly where Remus is. "Two," she adjusts.
"Playing hero," he pushes once again with a hint of a smile in his eyes. "Kind of like you."
"I don't think there's anything heroic about waking up at two in the morning to flirt with the head boy."
"Oh, no, I think it'd take nothing short of a hero to sacrifice themselves for the cause."
"Maybe I'll agree with you there."
"Evans?"
"Potter?"
"Is it really all that strange that I'm worried about you?"
"No," she says, and she leans in to hug him. He looks like he's been waiting for it since she woke up, his face lighting up as she wraps her arms around him. "I'm worried about you too. I'm worried about everyone."
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
"Why?" she asks. "As in, why me?"
"Because I love you, Lily," he says, and it's not the first time she's heard him say it in that 'duh' tone of voice, a kind of condescension that isn't quite as annoying as it is endearing. "and will you go to Hogsmeade with me?"
She has to laugh out loud at this, and she gives him one more tight squeeze before pulling away. "Yeah," she answers. "But only because I'm a Gryffindor hero."
He looks moderately surprised, but it sinks in rather quickly. He grins, and his face is almost glowing as he responds, "Taking one for the team?"
"Oh yeah."
His honey eyes melt right through hers when they lock this time, and she thanks Merlin that they're not standing, because she knows she'd tip right over, and his lips lean in and graze her cheek so softly that she's not sure if it's real or just a lingering bit of her dream from earlier, and finally he smiles. "Lily?"
"Mhm?"
"Can I stay in here with you so I don't have another nightmare?"
"Honestly," she says, feigning exasperation. "You're like a child, Potter," she scolds as she shifts over, pulling her blanket up to invite him under.
"Thanks, Lily flower." He crawls under, and she can smell his shampoo he's so close. It reminds her faintly of the Amortentia they brewed sixth year.
"Sirius won't be too jealous of me, then?" she asks as she gingerly slides his glasses off, folding them up and placing them on her bedside table.
"No," he answers with a grin. "He will be, but he'll have to get over it."
"I think I can handle him, yeah?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Night, James."
"Night, Evans," he answers, coiling an arm around her waist. For the first time, she decides she'll let it go.
Because there's a lot of these nightmare one-shots, but it's never James who has the nightmare.
Please review! This is my first fic for this fandom (that I'm posting, anyway) and it's been hard trying to adjust, so let me know. I know there are the typical minor inconsistencies with their parents but yeah. Besides that. Any feedback is good~