Here we are with chapter two! Thanks for reading; do leave a review when you're done reading! I'd love to have readers share their thoughts on the story :)
Lily tossed and turned all night, but she couldn't sleep. She didn't know why. At around midnight, she crept out of the dormitories and made her way down to the common room, where she curled up on the sofa with a copy of Watership Down, one of her favorite Muggle books.
A half an hour later, she felt her eyelids beginning to get heavy, and sleep overcame her like a forty-foot wave. Lily fell asleep with thoughts of conflict and rabbits and... James.
When she woke, the sun had just opened its sleepy eyes, gentle rays of light shined through the windows. Lily shifted a little, to find that someone lay next to her, breathing softly on her neck. James. In the early morning light, he looked innocent and sweet and beautiful, like a little child, like the boy she met in Diagon Alley. How could he have changed so much?
"Lily," James said in his sleep, brows furrowed. She listened in curiosity, but he said nothing more.
Lily promptly stood, careful not to disturb James. She climbed the stairs to her dorm and went back to sleep, this time in her own bed.
How strange it felt to not have James beside her, one arm wrapped around her felt cold without him next to her, his breath soft on her neck.
"Evans!" It was Marlene. "Evans, wake up!" Grunting, Lily sprung out of bed, and in a hassle to get ready, slammed the bathroom door shut behind her.
"What happened? Why is Lily mad?" Alice asked, brushing her dark hair. Marlene looked after Lily with a knowing look, but shrugged at Alice.
"Who knows?"
James ran a comb through his tangled black hair. "Argh!"
"What's wrong, mate?" Remus asked curiously.
"Stupid - hair - tangled - I give up," James finished, grabbing his bag and looking himself over in the mirror.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or do I have to force it out of you?" Remus questioned. James just sighed.
"Moony, it's not that bad, but it is, and I just don't feel like bringing it up right now." The werewolf blinked twice before regaining his composure.
"Sure," he said. "No problem." James couldn't believe it. He'd gone down to the common room because he couldn't sleep, found Lily, realized he couldn't take her back up to the girls' dorms, and what - fallen asleep next to her?
It had been quite pleasant, he thought to himself. It was in his dreams often, him and Lily lying together on their bed, in a home they could call theirs, a smiling black-haired boy with green eyes sitting between them. It was what he wanted, everything he ever wanted, and yet-
If Lily Evans loved anyone, he thought frequently to himself, it would be Remus.
Lily and the Marauders had the same schedule, which meant that the best friends were in the same classes. No one could separate Remus and Lily; they'd always find a way back to each other. They were like James and Sirius. Remus had already assured James he never fancied Lily, and never would, but Lily... now, that was another story.
"Care to explain why your ink bottle is leaking, Potter?" Lily stood before him, her Head Girl badge gleaming. She looked more beautiful than ever, a goddess of fire-
"Potter!" James' attention went back to Lily. She pointed her wand at the inky mess. "Scourgify."
"And, ten points from Gryffindor, Potter." And she walked away, just like that. James groaned. Every girl in Hogwarts except for the one he wanted was practically ready to fight for him. It wasn't fair. Life was cruel.
"Hard time with Evans, mate?" Sirius placed a hand on James's shoulder.
"You bet." Grinning, Sirius reached up and ruffled James's hair like he himself used to.
"Sirius!" James exclaimed. "I combed my hair today - Lily thinks I'm a jerk when I do that - seriously?"
"That would be me," Sirius said nonchalantly. "How can I help you?"
"Since when did James care anything about what Lily thought about him? And since when does he call her Lily?" Alice questioned, walking in with Marlene. Remus, who'd just come back with Peter, shook his head.
"Alice, you're so oblivious. I shall enlighten you now to what all of us but Lily and you know: Prongs is in love with her."
"Her?"
"Lily, Alice! James is in love with Lily!" Marlene screamed gleefully.
"Honestly, child," James muttered. "Could you be any louder?"
"I could, actually. JAMES LOVES L-"
"Shut up, Marlene!" James hissed.
"James loves who?" Theresa, another Gryffindor in their year, asked.
"Llamas," Remus said. "Marlene was yelling that James loves llamas."
"Llamas are cute," Theresa said indifferently before climbing through the portrait hole.
"Thanks a lot, Moony, now people think I'm in love with a llama." He turned to Marlene. "And can you please keep your mouth shut? If Head Girl Evans hears about this she'll take four hundred points off Gryffindor, and she won't even care that it's her house."
"Of course." Marlene grinned wickedly. Alice stepped in front of her.
"What she means is," she said hastily, "I won't let her tell anyone. For Lily's sake," she added, pointing her gaze at James. "Not yours."
"Oh, thank Merlin."
"No, thank Alice," Sirius said. "Merlin does not want to know about your love life and tell everyone. Marlene does."
"Thank you, Alice. Can I ask you a question, now? I just uncovered one of my life secrets to you so I think you owe me one."
"Okay?" At James's wicked grin she said, "I mean - but - James - oh, for Merlin's sake, fine."
"By any chance, do you happen to be dating Longbottom?" Alice started coughing, Marlene patting her back.
"Now, James," Sirius said. "No reason to scare the poor girl like that."
"Everyone's talking about it," James said defensively. "I thought I'd just get a primary resource from Fortescue here."
"Frank and I are friends, James. Rumors aren't necessarily true."
"Aha." James took a step closer to Alice. "Necessarily."
"Go away, James!"
