A/n: This is a one-shot written for The New Year's Event: The Grand Battle Challenge in the forum Diagon Alley II. The following prompts were used in writing this story and this story is written solely for the Battle and nothing else. All underlined words are prompts. Enjoy, guys.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the canon plot or any of the canon characters. I am writing this for pleasure and not profit.
Summary: She decides to get him to confess his feelings for her on their last nightly patrol as Head Boy and Girl as they sit in the Astronomy Tower, but the night sky seems quite unwilling to grant her wish, and three years later, as he lies staring up at the night sky in a pool of his own blood, he wonders if ever he would come to love the night sky as she did.
-Dialogue prompts:
Well, as long as you two don't shag in my bed 3
-Character prompts:
James Potter 1
Sirius Black 3
Lily Evans 2
-Pairing prompts:
Remus/Lily 7 (If you choose them then you cannot use any creature prompts)
-Spell prompts:
Expecto Patronum 5 (A bonus of 6 if you bring in a canonical instance of common/mated/shared Patronuses)
Flagrate 1 (You may choose SEVEN one word prompts instead of four if you use this prompt)
-Word prompts: 1 each
Velvet
Blackberries
Summer
Ice
Chandelier
Chamber
Cigarette
Total: 35
Night Sky
She had always loved the night sky.
She loved the twinkling stars that seemed to smile down at her; the warm moonlight that dispelled the darkness of the night; and most of all, the peace and tranquility that nighttime brought with it.
But of all the reasons she had come to find for loving the night, the greatest ones were probably her nights spent with Remus, at the very top of the Astronomy Tower; him pointing out the stars and constellations to her; him smiling relaxedly as she read him one of her favorite Muggle books; him laughing in a carefree way that was so rare that it was precious; him looking absolutely delighted when she arrived; him staring at the stars with a brooding expression on his face; and just anything that involved the times she spent with Remus when they finished their nightly patrols early.
And as she sat fiddling with the telescope, waiting for Remus to arrive, she belatedly realised that this would be the last time she would be able to come here with him. Their final year at Hogwarts was coming to a close, and right after the exams ended, so would their school life. So this was their last night of patrolling before they were excused from their Head Boy and Girl duties, and Lily had decided that this would be the night that she would finally confront Remus on his feelings for her.
She felt him before she heard or saw him—he was always so unnervingly quiet when he moved—as he leant over and grasped her wrist so she was forced to stop unscrewing the telescope's stand.
"You're late," she grumbled and he chuckled airily.
"I had to make sure nobody was loitering around in the hallways, just in case."
She rolled her eyes. "You're always so wary about everything."
He smiled crookedly at her as he pushed back the telescope and eased onto the windowsill where she sat. He rested his cheek against the wall and breathed in deeply, as though trying to smell the telltale scent of summer in the cool breeze.
She smiled despite herself and looked out at the inky sky that was smattered with billions of stars. He followed her gaze and she hummed softly.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she tried to call forth the courage she needed to breach the topic of their mutual feelings.
"I suppose," he replied in a musing tone and she turned to eye him carefully.
"You always say that," she began, trying to keep her bubbling emotions out of her voice. "You're always so vague about such things."
"What things?" he asked, eyeing her curiously.
"Your thoughts or feelings when it comes to…certain things."
His light brown eyes seemed to darken as he inclined his head and said, "I don't know what you mean."
She breathed in deeply and pressed her lips together. This was it. Now was the time to do it. It was now or never.
"Remus," she began, leaning forward slightly so he knew she was being serious, "I want to discuss something…important."
Way to go, Lily, bravo, very smooth.
A slow, tentative smile spread across his face and he flicked his hair out of his eyes, settling back into a comfortable position as he waited for her to go on.
"What is it?" he finally asked when she didn't continue.
She bit her lip and swallowed, trying to calm her racing heart—to no avail. "Well, I just, I wanted to talk about us."
"What about us?" His voice was mellow and nonchalant, like they were simply having a random conversation instead of the extremely stressful one Lily meant it to be.
"Well, I want to know what you think. That is, about me. And you. And us."
For Merlin's sake, Evans, get a hold of yourself!
Remus quirked an eyebrow as he looked on in amusement, his lanky frame taking up most of the windowsill and forcing her to stick to the wall behind her so they weren't accidentally touching. That would do absolutely nothing to calm her thundering heart.
"Lily, I have no idea what you're talking about."
She would have believed him if she hadn't known him so well. His forced calm didn't hide the tenseness of his shoulders or the wariness of his smile. And he was doing that thing where he drummed his fingers against whatever surface was close to him, when he was nervous. She bit back a sigh as she stood up and came to stand beside him. He turned his head to acknowledge her, but his eyes were staring straight ahead instead of at her face.
"Remus," she said softly, reaching forward to tilt his chin up and force him to look into her eyes.
"Lily, come on, don't do this," he said in a strained voice. His eyes had turned into a murky brown and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.
She breathed through her mouth, letting the cool breeze that caressed her face lessen the heat of the flush creeping under her skin. She glanced past him at the shimmering sky and wondered briefly if he would ever come to love the night sky as she did. If ever he would admit it even if he came to love it. If ever he would admit that he loved her.
She loved the night sky.
And she loved Remus, under the night sky.
"Do you love me?"
He had always hated the night sky.
He hated the winking and blinking stars that seemed to be mocking him; the moon that shone in all its glory as though reminding him of who he was; and most of all, the fact that he could only be with Lily like this, only during the night, when they would abandon sleep to come up to the Astronomy Tower and spend time together.
They would do absolutely nothing of importance; she sometimes told him stories of the Muggle world; she complained about James; she complained about a lot of things in general; she excitedly described a new spell that she had managed to do perfectly on her first try; she commented all too often on how wonderful the stars were or how beautiful the moon looked. And although he knew she wasn't poking fun at him, it sometimes felt like she deliberately ignored his discomfort to go about praising the night sky that he loathed with a passion.
And now, as she paced back and forth, an almighty scowl on her face, the night sky that shone from the light of billions of stars and the waxing moon, acted as a backdrop to her anger and pain.
"Lily, please sit down." He sighed, tired of having to look at her stomp her way back and forth repeatedly.
"No, I will not sit down!" she yelled and he hissed and pressed a finger to his lips. She clapped her hands to her mouth and looked over her shoulder to see if anyone had entered the small chamber—as though anyone would have heard her; they were in the highest tower in the castle.
She turned back to him slowly and sniffed. "Well? I'm waiting."
He bit back a sigh and raked his hands through his hair, mentally berating himself for not having foreseen this turn of events. "Lily, you know what my answer is going to be, so can we please save ourselves the pain and just forget about it?"
He had always known he would make her cry from the very start; there was nothing good to come out of loving a Werewolf; but it still hurt him to see the anguished expression on her face as tears fell down her cheeks. He reached towards her, making to wipe away her tears, but she jerked away and whimpered.
He dropped his arm and stared at nothing in particular, trying to swallow the lump in his throat but failing miserably. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lily settled back onto the windowsill and staring at her hands, asked, "Is this because of James?"
Remus finally sighed and let his head hang. Lily shifted so she was completely facing him. "James has loved you for so long, Lily," he finally said in a resigned voice.
"So have you," was her immediate response. If only he could argue with that.
"And you know that this love you speak of will never come to light and you are better off with James, anyway."
"What gives you the right to tell me who I am or am not better off with?!" she demanded, her cheeks flushing and her eyes flashing dangerously. He had always loved her fiery temper and her ability to state exactly what she thought; but just then, he was starting to get really tired of her adamance.
"Lily, my loyalty lies with James. He has saved me in ways that I cannot even begin to thank him for and what sort of friend am I, if I were to steal away the one person he would give his life for?"
Lily sat back at that, a dumbfounded expression on her face. He could see the various emotions flicker in her emerald eyes, and it hurt to see that she was most definitely considering James a possibility; but he meant what he had said. James loved her unconditionally and unreservedly—unlike his own guilty love that he snuck around and dodged as much as possible.
"At least," Lily said, pulling him out of his thoughts, and he started when she scooted closer to him and placed his hand in her own. "At least admit what you feel for me and then I promise that I shall never chase after you again."
"Lily—"
"This is the last time, Remus, that I will be able to come here with you like this and I want you to say it, because this will be your last chance to do so and I don't want you to regret later on that you didn't."
He swallowed thickly as he looked into her wide, shining eyes, afraid to admit the truth of what she had said, but dying to accept it with all of his heart, at the same time. She was right. She was always right. But not for him. Never for him.
"James loves you, Lily, and I support James no matter what."
He had expected her to start crying and he had expected her to get angry, but her slap still took him by surprise. The sound echoed around the small room and she stood up, swore loudly at him, and ran out.
He didn't go after her. He realised that that might have been the last proper conversation he would have with her and he already regretted having not said everything he wanted to say; but James was waiting for her in the Gryffindor Common Room.
He was waiting to confess his love to her that night with the same intent Lily had wanted Remus to admit his own love for her. It would be the last time they—James and Lily—could be together in the way that they had always been. He was sure she would accept; at least to spite Remus, if not anything else. But he knew that she would come to love James and Remus would fade away into the shadows; that was the way it should have always been.
And as he sat lamenting about everything and wallowing in his self-pity, the moon poked its head out from behind the clouds and the stars twinkled and glittered and Remus was reminded, once again, of how much he hated the night sky.
"I bring you news of Moony and his safe return."
James was about to respond to Sirius's joyous proclamation, but stopped short when the telltale smell of tobacco reached his nose.
"Padfoot, you git, put that disgusting thing out!" James hollered as Sirius threw himself onto the nearest armchair and placed the lit Muggle cigarette in his mouth.
"What, Prongs, c'mon mate, can't a man enjoy a smoke in peace after putting his life in jeopardy for the sake of justice?"
"You can smoke anywhere that isn't here, Sirius," Lily snapped as she plucked the cigarette from his mouth and throwing it to the ground, smashed it with her foot. She then proceeded to stretch her hand out and motioned for Sirius to hand over his stash. Sirius glowered at Lily and begrudgingly rummaged in his pockets, pulling out a few abused cigarettes and placing them in her hand.
She raised her eyebrows at him, clearly asking if he had any more, but Sirius put his hands up and made an affronted face, so Lily simply rolled her eyes and destroyed the rolled pieces of paper in her hand.
"Anyway," Sirius said, shifting forward as he glared at Lily, "Moony's back and he'll come see us in a bit, I reckon."
"Does he know we're here?" James asked as he took the plate his wife was holding and with a swift kiss on her cheek, sat down across from Sirius and offered him the Jelly Slugs. Sirius eyed the slugs with distaste but took a whole fistful and plopped them in his mouth—probably to compensate for his lack of a cigarette.
"Does anyone know we're here?" Lily asked as she slowly eased herself onto the couch, beside James, and patted her bulging tummy with a sigh.
"Only the ones who need to, know," James replied as he placed his hand atop Lily's on her stomach and shared a smile with his wife.
"Are you two going to start snogging each other's faces off, now?" Sirius asked from around the slugs in his mouth, spraying some of the chewed off bits.
"Eargh Sirius, you are absolutely disgusting!" Lily yelled, moving away from the man and sticking close to James.
Sirius only shrugged as he wiped a hand across his mouth and reached for another handful of slugs. "Well, as long as you two don't shag in my bed."
Lily shot James a look and standing up, stomped away and into the room Sirius had declared was his whenever he needed it.
"What is she doing?" Sirius asked, a tinge of worry clear in his voice as he bent over and tried to make out the banging sounds that were now coming from what was Sirius's room.
"Probably making sure we—or anyone else—can never shag in your bed," James replied jovially, snatching some of the slugs from Sirius's hand and plopping them into his mouth as he listened to the sound of something shattering—probably the fake chandelier Sirius had installed in his room.
The Black opened his mouth to say something, but a loud explosion caught both the males off-guard and they were on their feet, wands out, and running to the room Lily was in.
"Lily!" James yelled as he and Sirius stepped over the blasted pieces of wall and wood, coughing from the thick smoke.
"I'm fine," Lily called back from the far wall, where she had erected a shield in front of her. "I managed to bring it up as soon as I felt the spell," she gasped as Sirius extricated her from the rubble and James blasted the fallen wall so they could step out of the smoke.
"What happened?" James gagged as they stepped out of the destroyed room and breathed mouthfuls of fresh air.
"I don't know, I'm not sure—"
"What the bloody hell is that!"
James and Lily looked up from examining Lily's minor injuries and towards where Sirius was pointing. James frowned. "What is what, Padfoot, I don't see—"
"That, there, that fiery stuff!"
"Over by the hillock, come on," Lily said, immediately making toward what looked like fire.
"Lils, come on, you can't go there, let me and Sirius—"
"James Potter, don't you dare tell me I can't handle myself because I'm pregnant, because I will poke you in the eye," came the immediate reply, and James would have laughed at the childish threat if he hadn't seen the dangerous glint in Lily's eyes. With her moods haywire as it was, he wasn't about to risk his eyes being stabbed.
"Bet you're wondering why you married her now," Sirius mumbled beside James' ear as Lily took off, causing James to shoot his best mate a look and follow after his wife.
"Lily, will you at least let me lead, please? We don't know what's up there and—Lils? Lily?"
Lily had halted abruptly and was staring at something that was slowly coming into view as James climbed higher up the short slope.
"What is it?" Sirius panted as they stopped beside Lily and stared at what were undoubtedly letters that seemed to be made of fire, hanging in midair.
"Flagrate," Lily mumbled, as the letters slowly disappeared.
"What?"
She shook her head and began climbing upwards as she explained; "It's a charm Remus and I found by accident, in our sixth year, and learnt how to perform."
"Moony wrote that?" Sirius asked as they dodged through bushes and small plants.
"Probably, but I hope not," she called back as she picked up her pace.
"Why not?" James yelled back as she abruptly stopped again.
The two men came to stand beside her and read another burning word that was slowly fading away.
She breathed deeply and said softly, "Because we'd decided to use it only when one of us was in danger and wanted to secretly tell the other to get help."
"How is he telling us anything! These words are complete rubbish!" Sirius yelled as the letters vanished into nothing.
"I won't know for sure unless I see the next one," Lily murmured and took off again, her eyes searching for another word, probably.
"This is mental, Prongs, your wife is mad! There's no way those words could have meant anything!"
"Maybe only Lily knows what he's trying to tell use," James said, but even he was starting to doubt his wife's, and maybe even Remus's, sanity just then. There was absolutely no way Remus could have known of their location so soon, and even if he did, there was no way he would have expected the wall of the room Lily had happened to be in, to explode, so they would happen to see the burning letters. Unless…
"There's another one!" Lily's voice called and Sirius and James hastened to her location just as a third burning word disappeared.
"Well?" Sirius demanded and Lily turned wide, frightened eyes to them.
"It's him. I know it's him."
"How can you possibly know that?" James asked, his voice betraying the fact that he thought Lily was probably imagining things. But she was too distracted to catch it as her eyes searched for another word, probably, and she took off again.
"Oh, come on," Sirius groaned as they ran behind Lily as she turned sharply, and only just managed to dodge the low hanging branch before they saw the fourth burning word.
"We have to find him, James," Lily yelled desperately, her voice frantic and her face ashen, "he may be in serious danger!"
"For Godric's sake, Lily, Moony isn't—" Sirius was cut off by a sharp scream that pierced the night—a scream whose voice undoubtedly belonged to Remus.
James shared a look with Sirius and took off towards the source of the sound. "Lily, stay back—" James started, but his wife was already halfway towards the cluster of trees from where the sound had come.
"Oh, for the love of—" Sirius yelled as they took off at a run. "Lily! Lily, stop, bloody hell, do you want to get killed?! Lily!"
He hated the night sky. He always had and always would.
And then, as he lay in a pool of his own blood, staring up at the sparkling stars, he wondered if Lily had got his message. He hoped she had; he would be dead within minutes if she hadn't. He had even risked blasting down the wall of the room he had seen Lily in just so she happened to spot the message he had left her.
The spell they had learned back in school, so many years ago, almost a whole lifetime ago. The burning letters that only she would understand the meaning of. He hoped she still remembered.
He coughed and his vision blurred. He heaved and tried to breathe as he blinked rapidly to get his blurry vision to settle. He hoped she had understood his message; it had been quite random and abrupt and only if she remembered all those years ago, would she understand it.
He had written four words, one after another, as he had led his pursuer away from the safe house and towards the little village on the other side of the hillock. The Death Eater had probably thought Remus had used the words to throw him off; in the same way he had thought Remus had blasted down the wall to throw the fellow off. But no, those four words held a special meaning that only Lily would understand.
BLackberries.
That was the first word. He wheezed and pressed his hand to his side from where his blood was pouring out. Blackberries had always been Lily's guilty pleasure.
Ice
That was the second word. Her icy touch had always unnerved him and he had always taken it upon himself to warm her hands by holding them in his own warm ones.
VeLvet
That was the third word. Her skin had always been velvety smooth despite the raging hormones and everything a normal teenager had to suffer through; but no, her skin was flawless and smooth as a baby's.
IvY
That was the last word. And that was the only word had nothing to do with her, but he had been rushed and had had little time to think. He hoped she would understand.
He felt his heartbeat slow just as he heard someone burst through the foliage and run towards him, her shrill, panicked voice shouting his name as her fiery hair flew behind her. She threw herself to the ground, already muttering spells to heal his wounds.
"LILY," he murmured and her eyes flickered to his face for a moment and she pressed her lips to his forehead. "You understood. You remembered."
"Hush, love," she crooned as she continued with the incantations. Just then, he heard two sets of thundering footsteps approach them and saw the blurred forms of James and Sirius running towards him.
"Merlin—is he going to make it?" Sirius yelled as he squatted on Remus's other side and began muttering spells that would seal the hole in his side shut.
"Not unless you help, he won't," Lily snapped, but she sat back anyway and let Sirius take on the duty of making sure Remus would survive to see another dreadful night that he so despised.
"Padfoot," he murmured and Sirius glanced toward him, his lips and hands never pausing or slowing in their spell casting, "Patronus…send…the Order…Death Eat—attack—"
Sirius snapped his head towards Lily and James and the two nodded, raised their wands, and simultaneously called forth their Patronuses.
"Expecto Patronum."
Remus watched as a stag galloped out of James' wand and a doe, out of Lily's. James spoke to the shared Patronuses and sent them off with warnings to the two separate headquarters of the Order.
Remus turned back to stare at the inky sky above him and in his semi-conscious haze, wondered belatedly why he had always found the shimmering stars and the radiant moon so completely loathsome.
Ah, that's right, he thought as unconsciousness slowly clouded his senses, they're mocking me again with their unfazed brilliance.
How he hated the night sky.
A/n: A penny for your thoughts and a ginormous cookie for your reviews.
Edit: So, after being asked this in quite a few PMs and reviews, I took it upon myself to write it here. Yes I know James was Head boy and not Remus, but Remus being Head boy is a Headcanon of mine that I absolutely believe in, so yeah.
Also, the first two portions happen together and the second two portions happen together, after a time-skip. I added a double line break in between the first and second two portions because quite a few people seemed confused by the suddenness of the time-skip.
Cheers, lovelies.