Chapter 36: Awakening

Lily awoke from a fitful sleep. James was still lying his bed. He hadn't woken up as far as Lily knew. She wished he would. Suddenly the door opened and Mrs. McCarthy walked in.

"I thought you might be in here. How are you feeling, dear? His friend, the one with long black hair, told me you were quite torn up about him."

"I'm fine, thank you," Lily answered. "When will he wake up?"

"We gave him a Sleeping Draught, last night," Mrs. McCarthy explained. "He should wake up any time now. If nothing went wrong."

"Went wrong? What do you mean?" Lily asked panicked.

"I'm not a liberty to discuss it. I'm sorry," Mrs. McCarthy smiled sadly at her before leaving the room.

Lily laid her head down next to James' hand. The silence enveloped her. She hated it. She wanted to hear James laugh, to have him smile at her. She wanted him to be there for her, comfort her, and tell her everything was going to be ok, but he wasn't. She had to be strong for him now. It was her turn to show how much she cared about him. She wasn't going to back down now. She was going to stay here until he woke up, and he would wake up. She knew it.

A growled sounded around the room and Lily realized it was her stomach. She didn't want to leave him, but she knew she needed to eat. Sparing one last glance at him, she stood up and walked out of the room. Slowly she made her way up the steps to the fifth floor. She walked into the room and saw that it was quite crowded. When she reached the front of the line, she ordered eggs and bacon. After getting her food, she found a table and sat down. Finishing her food, she stood up.

"Lily! Lily!" she heard a voice call.

Lily turned and saw Marcie walking over to her. "I heard about your friend. How is he?"

"Oh, he's doing ok, I suppose," Lily answered. "He hasn't woken up yet."

"Don't worry that's normal," Marcie told her. "He'll be ok. He seemed like a really nice guy."

"Yeah, he is," Lily smiled slightly.

"So is he your boyfriend?" Marcie questioned.

"What? No," Lily looked down blushing. She wanted to say 'yes' so badly.

"Oh?" Marcie seemed to perk up at this. "Does he have a girlfriend?"

"No, not yet anyways," Lily answered before marching past her.

She couldn't believe that girl. James wasn't even out of the hospital yet and that slag was trying to make a move one him. Well, she had another thing coming. Lily was not going to let that little tart take her place. At least, not until she knew how James felt. She was not going to give up.

When she reached James' room, she sighed. As she walked through the door, she saw James tossing and turning on the bed. She ran over and sat down on the bed.

"James," she whispered as she stroked his hair. "It's alright. No one's going to hurt you. I promise."

He stopped turning and seemed to calm down at this point. Lily smiled and continued to stroke his hair. Her eyes scanned his face. How could one so full of life be so still? She wished he would just wake up. Sighing she climbed into the bed and laid her head on James' chest. She closed her eyes and smiled as she thought of James had what would happen when he woke up.

"Lily, Lily, wake up," a voice whispered.

Lily stirred slightly. She buried her head into James' chest. She didn't want to leave the comfort of this safe haven. Suddenly she felt arms tighten around her. She looked up and saw James smiling down at her.

"James!" Lily shouted.

"Hey, there, Evans," James smiled.

Lily quickly sat up. James smiled up and her and sat up as well, wincing a bit.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked immediately. "Do you need anything? Do you want me to get anything for you?"

"No," James answered. "Just a bit sore."

Before he could say or do anything else, Lily kissed him. He seemed surprised at first, but his hand slipped up to cup her cheek while the other one wound around her waist to pull her closer to him. It was unlike anything Lily had ever felt before. It was like rain after a long drought. Lily had never been happier in all her life than she had at that moment.

"I'm. .never. .going. . . .to leave. . . .you. . .again," Lily got out in between kisses. James just shook his head and pulled her closer. As she lay on top of him, she realized this is where she belonged with James. She was going to spend the rest of her life with him. She just knew it.

James' hand slipped under her shirt and he started to draw circles on the small of her back. Lily pushed herself against him causing him to groan.

"Ahem," a voice interrupted them.

Lily pulled away from James and looked over at the door. Karen and Sirius stood in the doorway.

"Having fun?" Sirius asked, smirking.

"Yes, I was, until you ruined it, Padfoot," James answered. "Thanks a lot."

Sirius just grinned cheekily at him. Lily gracefully slid off of James and stood up. She straightened her uniform, pushing out the unwanted wrinkles. She crossed her arms when she was done. This was going to be very hard to explain to those two. She just had to talk to James first.

"I told you we should have come later this evening," Karen rolled her eyes. "So are you two together now?"

Lily looked down and blushed. They were in a compromising position, what else were Karen and Sirius supposed to think? James was sputtering and looking between Lily and Karen.

"Right then, we'll leave you two to it then," Karen smirked grabbing Sirius' hand.

"But I wanted to talk to James," Sirius whined.

"I'm sure we'll find something else to do," Karen told him.

The door closed and Lily and James were left alone in the awkward silence.

"So. . ."

"I want you back," Lily interrupted before he could say anything else.

"Really?" James asked in disbelief.

"Really," Lily answered.

"Well come here then," James grabbed her arm before she could protest and pulled her back on top of him. "We have a lot to catch up on."

A/N: Are you happy? They're back together, brake out the confetti! Or you could review. Please, I don't bite.