A/N - Written for QLFC 8 Round 1
Team Position- Beater 2 Kenmare Kestrels
Prompt- The Rebel- Goal: revolution OR Fear: no power. I used fear as my prompt .
Additional Prompt- James Potter I(character), "You don't understand."/"No. But I want to."(dialogue)
Word count-1434
Wandering around after curfew was not one of the brightest ideas that Lily Evans had. However, it was way past midnight, and James was yet to return to their dormitory. She was getting worried about her boyfriend. It wasn't like James to go out exploring the castle without informing her ever since they started dating.
She had looked everywhere to no avail. She wished she had that map with her at the moment, as it would have made her job a lot easier. The only place she hadn't looked yet was outside the castle and the kitchen. She would have to look for James in the kitchen before she headed outside.
She hoped that she wouldn't need to sneak out at this hour. Luckily for her, James was inside the kitchen flocked by a bunch of house-elves looking at him with concern.
"James, do you realize what time it is?" she questioned him as she moved towards him.
James didn't hear her as he was engrossed in the book that he had been reading. Lily slowly sat beside him and shook his shoulders a little to get his attention.
James snapped out of his trance and looked at his side to find his girlfriend sitting there with him.
"Lily, what are you doing here?" he asked, pressing a kiss on her head.
"It's way past curfew James, and you didn't return. I got worried and came looking for you," she replied.
"I am sorry, Lily. I just lost track of time. I was studying this defense book in the library, but Madam Pince kicked me out, and then I got hungry, so I thought I would pick up a snack from the kitchen before returning to the dorm," James started rambling.
"It's alright James, there was no harm done," Lily said, cutting him off.
James took a moment to gather himself and grabbed all his stuff together in one hand. He thanked the house-elves for looking after him. He then turned to Lily and caught her hand in his free hand and laced their fingers together to lead her back to the head dorms.
They walk back silently together to their rooms. Lily kept glancing worriedly at James. He was behaving very differently. "Since when did he start burying himself in books? What is he so worried about?" Lily pondered.
James, on the other hand, was taking solace in her company. It helped him keep his mind calm. He had been extremely disturbed the past few days and nothing that his friends said or did for him worked. Lily was the only thing that was keeping him grounded.
Once inside their dorms, Lily decided that it was time she confronted him about whatever the thing was that was troubling him. "James, we need to talk," she told him.
James sighed, knowing he couldn't hide anything from her, and yes, they did need to talk for his sake, for their sakes.
James pulled her with him to sit on the couch in front of the fireplace. Once they were in a comfortable position, he asked her, "What do you want to talk about?"
"Why have you been behaving oddly for the past few days? You have been zoning out all the time. You have stopped pranking everyone. You keep reading Defense Against the Dark Arts books all day. Today you lost track of time. The boys are worried about you," she started, telling him what she wanted to talk about with him. "I am worried about you," she added quietly.
"I only want to learn everything there is to know about defense as fast as I can," he replied, running his hand through her red hair.
"Why are you in a hurry?" Lily probed.
"Voldemort keeps growing in power as each day passes by. I want to be able to fight against him. I can't do that if I don't know how to do it," James responded.
Lily tightened her hold on him." You don't have to fight him. That is not your job. Let the ministry and Dumbledore deal with him," she slightly chided him.
Sure, she is proud that James wanted to stand up to that monster. She wanted to do something about the fight against Voldemort too, but more than that she wanted James to be safe. She wasn't going to lose another person she cared about after her parents.
James stilled after hearing her response. He could understand why she didn't want him to fight. She had recently lost her parents, and he knew she frequently worried about losing everyone she cared about since their deaths. She didn't know why he was insisting on being able to protect them from him.
"You don't understand," James stated seriously. He needed Lily to be on the same page as him.
"No, but I want to," Lily replied. She wanted to be there for him.
"Lily, I want to fight against Voldermort for our future together," he told her, looking into her green eyes "I want to marry you and raise an army of children with you. I want to bring them into a world that is safe for them. We can't give them that while Voldermort is still around." He cupped her cheeks.
Lily felt happy knowing that James too wanted a future with her, and she was not the only person thinking about it.
Lily put her hand over his that was cupping her cheeks." You don't have to do this alone," she told him, meeting his eyes.
James understood what she was implying, and while it warmed his heart, he was not going to put her into danger.
"No, you are not going to fight him with me," he denied.
"Why not?" she challenged him, getting a bit angry.
"Because I can't lose you. I have the same reasons as you have for me," he told her, smiling a little.
Lily sighed, deflating a little. "James if you are going to be involved in the war then so will I. I don't know what I will do, but I am going to be there by your side. You are not doing this alone," she firmly told him.
"As long as you don't do anything dangerous, I am fine with it," he agreed because who was he kidding? He needed her by his side.
Lily didn't bother replying to that. This was a conversation for another time.
They sat there for a while enjoying their arms around each other.
"You are actually going to fight him?" she quietly asked him, breaking the silence between them.
James nodded his head. ''I am going to be an Auror once we graduate."
"Why?" she questioned him.
"Aurors are the ones that are on the frontline in the war. They are the people who are fighting every second to catch the Death Eaters. I want to be with them so that I don't have to wait every day for the Daily Prophet, only to read about people dying. I want to help save them," he explained to her.
That was a dangerous job, and Lily knew that. However, she wasn't going to stop him. If being an Auror was going to make him happy, then she would support him.
"I feel so helpless sitting here in school," she heard him say.
"James, you are still a student" she started, consoling him only to be cut off by him.
"I know that. It's just every day we keep hearing about different people getting killed or kidnapped, and I can't do anything to help them. I have no power to help them while I am in school." James was running a hand through his hair, feeling frustrated.
"You will help them when your time comes. Right now, the only way you can help them is by keeping yourself healthy and happy and focused on your studies. That's the only way you will be able to help them after we graduate," she consoled him.
James smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Thank you."
Lily could see that James was exhausted. She pushed them down on the sofa so that they were laying down comfortably in each other's arms.
"Come here, you need to rest," Lily commanded him. James didn't protest and closed his eyes. She started running her hands through his hair and hummed a lullaby to help him relax. He needed to rest.
James almost immediately fell asleep. Lily stayed up longer to admire the brave man she loved. She vowed to help James in his fight against Voldermort before sleep lured her too.