The last couple of updates have come quickly as I've been inspired recently, despite the exams. Anyways I've got my last one on Tuesday so I'll have some more free time to write. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as it's one of my favourites!
Hearts beat for love
Lily dangled her feet over the edge of the astronomy tower and gazed into the cloudless midnight blue sky. She was thinking deeply, pondering her life, relationships, the future. In her right hand was grasped a letter, the first in seven years from her sister, enclosed was an invitation-to her wedding. Petunia was marrying Vernon Dursley, a boring whale of a man who worked in industry. He was unintelligent, uncharismatic, unromantic and pretty much 'un' anything Lily deemed a good attribute in a partner. Still as Petunia had reminded her curtly, he would provide for her and he loved her, the only things that mattered in life.
Lily's pulse started racing and her cheeks flushed a rose pink as she felt his presence behind her. "Hi," She uttered softly, unsure of whether he would stay. When he chose to sit down next to her her heart leaped and she unintentionally scooted closer to him.
"Hey Lil," James murmured gently, letting his exhausted form collapse just far away from her that they weren't touching. James closed his weary eyes and let his back fall against the hard tiles behind him.
"You ok?" She questioned gently, knowing not to pry if James didn't want to talk. Lily pressed closer to James side, not noticing the slight tension as she did so, relishing in the small amount of warmth he produced.
"Got a lot on my mind," James muttered sleepily, drawing a calloused palm across his closed lids.
"Same here," Lily sighed, crunching the letter that was now a crushed ball in the palm of her hand. James' eyes, involuntarily, drew open at the noise she made and eyed the paper peaking out of her hand with suspicion. He let his eyes wander up her delicate frame and to her face which was set in determination, with a hint of sadness.
"You're upset," James commented, shifting into a better position to view Lily. He watched as her features contorted into denial and then back to determination to put on a brave face.
"My sister is getting married." Lily bit out with a hint of bitterness that was not missed by the raven-haired male sitting next to her.
"I'm sensing I should not send Petunia my congratulations…" James flashed Lily a small grin which fell off his face when it was not returned.
"She hates me. He thinks I'm a freak. The only reason I'm even in her stupid wedding is because my mum forced her to make me a bridesmaid." Lily admitted in a tone laced with bitterness and tinged with hurt. James looked up at her from under his dark lashes and his heart ached as he saw unshed tears burning the backs of her eyes.
"Lily," James implored, his tone begging her to look at him, "She doesn't hate you, she's your sister. And you're not a freak."
"I am, see!" Lily cried softly, her anguished tone breaking the silent night. She jabbed at her crumpled letter and James made out the words 'freak' in black inked staining the page. Anger bubbled under the surface of his skin but James pushed it deep down, for Lily's sake.
"She's jealous Lily," James answered truthfully, moving yet closer to Lily so his chin brushed the top of her jumper clad shoulder and his knees swayed against hers.
"Of what?" Lily scoffed, shying away from James' piercing look. She heart was hammering against her ribs in the most unusual way and Lily had butterflies dancing the tango in her stomach; she couldn't remember feeling this way in a long time.
James shook his head in amazement, "That you're so talented, kind-hearted, witty, brilliant, caring and," James whispered, gazing into her eyes and tucked a tendril of red behind her ear so he had an excuse to touch the soft skin of her face, "So very beautiful." James fingers danced over the freckles on her face, tracing an invisible pattern over her face and causing Lily's breathing system to be put into jeopardy.
"Do you really mean that?" Lily breathed, resisting the urge to break eye contact as her cheeks coloured prettily. James nodded in confirmation, his heart slamming against his chest so hard he was sure he was going to break a rib.
Lily dropped her fathomless orbs after a long moment, "It's not why, you know," Lily took a deep breath when James gave her a questioning look, "She's jealous because I'm a witch and she's not." James' jaw slacked in the startling information that didn't fit into the picture he had painted of Lily's elder sister.
"She even sent a letter to Dumbledore asking if she could come…My life would have been so much easier if she had been a witch as well, or if I was never a witch." Lily confessed, something she had never told anyone, but she trusted James, maybe more than she was willing to admit.
The unmistakable sadness that tinted her striking eyes caused unwelcome thoughts to float through his head and he turned to her in repressed alarm, "Do you, ever regret being a witch?"
James held his breath but she answered instantaneously, "Never." A beatific smile graced James lips; Lily was secretly thrilled that she was the cause such a glorious smile, a burst of joy flooded her body as she realised it proved that James did truly care so her.
A shiver ripped down Lily's spine causing goose bumps to break out of her fair skin. James, ignoring the warning bells in his head, just lifted up his arm and allowed her to mould against his body with a grateful smile. Lily snuggled against his side and turned her head so she could stare up into his face which was tilted down towards her. Lily caught her breath as she realised, once again, how beautiful he looked with his tanned skin bathed in the eerie glow of the moonlight.
"James, I'm so glad you're talking to me again." Lily confessed unsure of whether she was crossing some unspoken boundary or not as James' eyes hardened just a touch. But instead of closing himself off from her James buried his head in the crook of her neck and held Lily tightly against him.
"I'm so sorry Lily," James mumbled into her shoulder, his husky tones muffled as he spoke against the cotton of her jumper. "You didn't deserve what I did to you…I'm sorry."
"Why did you do it?" Lily asked softly, cursing herself when the quaver in her voice gave away her carefully concealed emotion and made James pull back to look into her unfathomable jade orbs. James bit her lip briefly causing Lily's attention to be, unintentionally, distracted to his soft pink lips. But James raking a hand through his already ruffled raven locks snatched her gaze away, thankfully before he noticed, and left Lily a delightful shade of crimson.
James picked his words very carefully, "I've been trying to figure something out and, I thought that being away from you might help me."
Lily's brows drew together in confusion and her body stiffened slightly in James' grasp, much to his dismay. "Why? Did it work?" Lily questioned relentlessly, the curiosity apparent in her eyes.
"No," James replied with a sigh, "I still don't know what to do, and the thing is, this could change my entire life." He added with a sideways glance under his lashes which went unnoticed by his companion.
"That big huh," Lily remarked, still unable to keep the curiosity from lacing her tone, "If you tell me about it, maybe I can help?"
"I wish I could…but this is something I have to do on my own Lil," James answered, his tone subtly pleading with her to be cooperative.
But Lily didn't want to let this go, "Do the Marauders know?" She questioned in a manner she prayed seemed casual, her eyes seeming to glint in the moonlight.
James met her stubborn gaze, "Of course." In a flash James knew that was the wrong thing to say when the hurt was evident on her features.
"So you don't trust me like you trust them?" Lily knew she was being irrational, but really when had she ever been rational when it came to James Potter.
"Lily, they're my brothers." James murmured patiently, desperately trying to get Lily to drop the subject that was so close to his heart.
"What and I'm just some stupid girl that you don't trust!" Lily fumed but James knew she just hiding her hurt under the cloud of anger. James silently rebuked himself for not being able to avoid this conversation, the very one he feared because he was so close to spilling out his true feelings to her.
"Lily you're not stupid," James murmured, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her flushed ear. "And I do trust you." James was wearing her down or possibly she was just cold, because she moved back into his embrace to James' relief.
"But clearly not enough." Lily could not resist another jab at James but it truly hurt him to think that she thought he did not trust her. His arms tightened around her, making sure she could not slip away from him.
"Lil, one day I will tell you I promise." James offered Lily her favourite crooked grin and her lips unwillingly turned up at the corners, even though she tried her best to hide it. But Lily knew he was telling the truth, the one thing you could count on with James Potter is he always kept his promises. In that moment Lily realised something, something huge. James had said that one day she would see that all the friction between them was sexually tension and the reason that he irked her so much was because she was undeniably attracted to him. James had promised that one day, she would realised she liked him back.
Today was that day.
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"ALICE GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT AWAY!" Lily screeched, mid panic attack, as she hovered on the verge of hyperventilation on her old bed.
"What's going on Lily!" Marlene asked, sharing a concerned look with Riley as a towel clad Alice joined the circle that was surrounding their head girl.
"Last night I realised something, something very very bad." Lily said quietly, not daring to look any of her friends in the eyes.
There was a long pause and her friends waited impatiently, knowing better than to pester Lily when she was in a mood like this. Lily took a deep breath and while staring determinedly at a crack in the floorboards rushed out, "IlikeJamesPotter."
Alice let out a shriek, her eyes going wide. "WHAT!"
"I LIKE JAMES POTTER OK!" Lily cried, burying her head in her hands at the excited screams coming from her friends.
"Sweet mother of Merlin!" Riley howled, unable to keep in the howls of laughter as she contemplated the hilarity of the situation. "I knew this day would come! The day when Lily finally fell for James! Haha Sirius owes me money."
"What!" Lily hissed, too preoccupied with not passing out to be too pissed off with Riley made a bet with Sirius about her.
"Uh, I'll spilt it with you?" Riley offered quickly because Lily looked like she was about to breath fire and was turning an unnatural, and unflattering, shade of crimson.
"You will not breathe a word of this to Sirius or anyone else." Lily spat out through gritted teeth as she tried to get a hold of the situation. "Oh Merlin! I need to work this out." Lily gasped, taking deep breathes as she tried to calm herself.
Alice sat down beside her and put a reassuring arm around Lily's shoulder, "Lily what's to work out? You like James and he's been wanting to go out with you for seven years, so go out with him!"
There was a pause while Lily let Alice's words sink in but she began to shake her head with conviction, to the surprise of her friends. "I bet he doesn't even like me like that anymore." Lily said glumly, pulling away from the embrace of Alice and staring into the cloudy sky.
"Are you kidding me!" Riley exclaimed, her chocolate curls bouncing as she jumped up, "When he looks at you, it's like he only sees you, like the whole world revolves around you. He loves you Lily.
Lily looked to her other friends for confirmation and ducked her head blushing when they grinned crazily at her. "But I-"
"No buts Lils, enjoy it!" Riley's eyes sparkled at the thought of Lily finally liking James back; he was going to be ecstatic. Now he only needed to ask her out again, but judging by the love apparent in his gaze when he stared after Lily, it was only a matter of time before he did. Riley decided, against her impatient nature, that she should let it happen naturally.
Riley beamed at a blushing Lily, who was recounting the story of how she realised she liked James, as she crossed her long tanned legs over each other and settled on the ground with a book. She was just so glad that James was so close to getting Lily, the love of his life. It gave her hope, that happy endings did exist, and that maybe someday she'd find her own prince charming to sweep her off her feet.
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I'm sorry for those of you who thought they would be getting together in this chapter, but I thought it would be too rushed. I don't want to spoil them getting together because I feel it would ruin the story. It took time for Lily to realise her feelings but it was essential before the plotline could evolve. I anticipate that they will be getting together in the chapter after the next one, as I'm still wavering between various ideas of how they will get together. If any of you have any ideas I would appreciate them as I'm still not 100% sure how I'm going to do it.
Also sorry for the misleading title, but I really suck at making up titles. The reason for this one is because I was listening to Miley Cyrus' new song 'my heart beats for love' which by the way is amazing and inspired this chapter.
Thanks for reading! Please review x