This is a JP/LE one-shot that came to me while I was procrastinating. If you like this one, please check out my fanfic, Broken but Beautiful, which also about Jily but has chapters!
This is set in their sixth year, and they're not together at this time, btw.
Enjoy xx
"Bit late for you, isn't it Evans?"
"Go away Potter." I scowl at the boy standing in the doorway of the Astronomy Tower, grinning at me cockily.
"What's that tone for? I'm simply wondering why you're sitting up here at eleven o'clock at night, on a school night, no less. What happened to Lily Evans, the perfect Prefect?"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot, you're my personal stalker, aren't you?"
"Of course, Evans. How could you forget a face as marvellous as this?"
He gestures at the smirk covering his face, and walks over, sitting down next to me. I edge away nervously and mutter under my breath.
"All too easily, Potter, all too easily."
"So, Evans, what you doing up here?"
"I like looking at the stars. It calms me down." My reply is honest, too honest, and I'm surprised that I let it slip out of my mouth.
He looks surprised too, but studies my face worriedly.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I snap, too quickly, and he frowns, looking concerned.
"As long as you're sure."
There's a minute of silence, and then he blurts out. "What's wrong, Lily?"
"It's just family drama. Normal stuff. Parents that ignore you, use you a kind of trophy because you're 'special'. Sister that calls you a freak on a regular basis, acts like you're lower than the dirt on the bottom of her astoundingly ugly designer heels. You know, normal stuff."
"I'm sorry, Lily."
"Don't apologise, you're not the one who calls me 'freak' instead of Lily."
"It's just...I assumed that your life was perfect."
"Yep, because that's just who I am. Perfect Lily Evans. No life. No drama. No boys. No feelings."
"I think you're perfect." I blush at that, and move a bit further away from him.
We sit for a minute, and I try to name all of the stars that I can from memory, but I'm distracted by the boy next to me, breathing heavily.
On a spur of the moment of decision, I turn to him.
"Are you alright, Potter?"
He sighs. "You probably don't want to know. It's a long story."
"I'll listen." I don't know what it is, but I'm worried about him, though I suppose that I shouldn't be. He's acting less cocksure than usual, and he did just listen to me rant.
"Alright then..." He sounds shocked, but takes a deep breath, and words pour out of his mouth like a waterfall.
"My dad, he's an Auror, and he's away at the moment, on a raid or something and we're not allowed to contact him, you know, in case it reveals his position, but I'm worried about him. Mum's a wreck, she keeps pretending that everything's okay, but I know that there's something that she's not telling me. He's been gone for six weeks now, and I'm worried. It's just...what if...what if he doesn't come back? I don't know what I'd do, or Mum would do, and my dad...he's great. He can't just go... He usually promises, you know, that he'll be back soon, but this time he didn't, and he acted all weird when we said goodbye. It's like they know something, him and Mum, that they're not telling me. It's scaring me."
I wait until he's finished, and look up at the stars, keeping my voice low.
"I'm sure that your dad will be fine, James. If he's anything like you, then he's very determined, and will beat the crap out of those Death Eaters. And, even if something did happen, he would have done it for the greater good, to help the world. You're quite noble, you know, so he must be too."
James looks slightly reassured and grins at me. "Thanks Lily. Hey, you called me James!"
"I did?"
"Yep." He looks proud of himself, but there's something sad in his eyes.
"Alright then James."
"Great, Lily. Wait...so you think I'm noble?"
I punch him on the arm. "Don't push your luck."
Wisely, he obliges.
"James...are you sure that you're alright?"
"What's all this concern for me? Last year, if someone said I was drowning, you would have laughed and try to call over the Giant Squid."
I laugh. "The Giant Squid and I are not on great terms. He had the nerve to not show up to our date. I was in my worst clothes and everything!" Now it's his turn to laugh.
"Dirty no-good prat. I wish he had eaten me now. It would have given him killer indigestion."
"We can try it now if you want. I hear that he's pretty active at night..."
"Oh ha ha." He grumbles sarcastically, and I have to fight to hold back a grin.
"It's just..." He turns to me, looking serious.
"There's one thing that I really want, and I feel like I've wished on every star in the sky, but it's still not come true."
"The sun's a star too, you know. So don't give up just yet."
I look over at him, and smile, a wide, beaming, proper smile, the kind of smile that I reserve for people I love. Not that I love James Potter.
He smiles back at me, looking for the first time tonight, happy.
Maybe James could be my friend.
We are both so different, him impulsive, me dramatic, him brave, me sarcastic.
Still, in the end, we're both stars in the same sky.
Hope you liked it,
Review are welcomed. Any suggestions for other one-shots are also appreciated.
Gracias,
She-who-loves-fanfiction xx
