Disclaimer: You know. Blah.
A/N: I can't believe I actually wrote more on this fic. Well, congratulations, people. You actually made me write more. Aren't you proud now?
Most of the reason you get this, is because I got a sudden idea when I was at our cottage, watching as my nephew toddled around in only his diapers (don't ask). I guess it had been my subconsciouness pondering about a suggestion from Goosie Gal. Thank her.
Well, here's my epilogue – how James comforted Lily and so on. And don't you come here and complain about how short it is, that the POV's crap and that it sucks, because I'm totally aware of that.
You Make Me Sick
Chapter 6: Epilogue
"So, Prongs," Sirius said casually, leaning over his huge motorbike.
James sighed. He knew where this was leading. "Yes?"
"What really happened after you and Lily quit the ball?"
"I've told you: nothing."
"Yeah, you haven't said anything about it."
"Yes I have." James continued to read his comic. "Nothing happened, Sirius."
"So you just ate up your whole prize without sharing with any of your friends, that's it?"
"Yep." James turned a page. Auror Sheridan Holes was investigating a murder, and had some difficulties with a warlock who 'ain't seen nothin' '. The fact that the warlock was blind was, of course, beside the point. "And don't complain – we spared a chocolate for you."
"Yeah," Sirius admitted. "One that tasted coffee." James shrugged indifferently. "Come on, Prongs," Sirius said, hugging at his arm. "Spill it."
"There's nothing to spill!" James protested, abandoning his comic at last.
"So why weren't you in the Common Room?"
"We went to the Head Students' bathroom."
"Ooo, this is getting interesting." If Sirius had been in his dog-form, his tail would have wagged.
"Ad we ate our chocolates," James finished.
"And...?"
"And we took a bath," James said in his 'I'm-speaking-to-a-baby' tone.
"Wheeee! A bathtub scene!" Sirius grinned.
"With swimsuits on," James finished.
"Aw!" Sirius looked like a puppy who had lost his favourite bone. "That's not fair."
"Poor Padfoot," James said in mock sympathy. "Not!"
"Oh, shut up and help me with this spanner. It's stuck." Sirius jerked on the spanner. It didn't move. "See?"
"Yeah..." James took a hold on the spanner too. It got a bit cramped. "On three," he said. "One...two...th-"
"Hi," a voice from the door said, just as they pulled on the spanner.
"Not so hard, Sirius!" James yelled.
KLANK!
Too late. The two best friends turned to see Lily sprawling on the floor just inside the garage, the handle lying beside her. A big, red knob was emerging on her brow.
"Oops," Sirius said.
***
Lily emerged from a grey haze, just to hear Sirius and James' worried voices over her. Well, at least James sounded worried.
"Do you think she's alright?" James asked.
"Sure. She's thick-sculled," Sirius joked.
"Ha. Ha."
"I just think we're lucky that your parents aren't home," Sirius said. "Your mother would have a fit."
"Oh, yes," James agreed.
"Do you think we should splash her?" Sirius sounded eager.
"No."
"Oh, come on," Sirius said. "It's not like she's going to get more wet; she's soaked already!"
"No..."
"Puh-leeeeze, Prongs?"
"Well, it would have been fun, but..."
That's it, lily thought. "No, thanks, Sirius," she said and opened her eyes. "I've already showered."
Sirius gave a little yelp. "You're awake?!"
"What does it look like? Give me a hand up, please." The boys took one hand each and pulled her up. "Thanks," she said.
"Maybe we should get you to the living room or something. Then you can lie down on the couch," James said.
"Yeah..." Lily said and shrugged away James' supporting hand. "I can walk by myself, James." She took a step. Then another. Her knees gave away.
"Whoa!" James said and caught her.
"Walk by yourself, eh?" Sirius said, taking his arm under hers on the opposite side of James. "Man, you are soaked!"
"And cold." James mimicked Sirius' grip on Lily, steadying her more. They went out into the rain and ran into the shelter of James' house, James and Sirius supporting Lily all the time. "Forget the couch," James said when they got into the hallway. "You're going straight to a hot bath."
"No arguments from me," Lily got out through chattering teeth.
"Let's get her up," James said to Sirius. After failing to climb the stairs by herself, James and Sirius decided to carry Lily.
"Why couldn't you have the bathroom on the ground floor," Sirius complained from Lily's feet.
"I've wondered about that, too," James panted.
"At least you could have picked a light girlfriend," Sirius said. "Where she hides the pounds is way beyond me."
"I heard that," Lily murmured.
They reached the top of the stairs, and the two boys put Lily gingerly down.
"Go and fill the bathtub, willya Sirius?" James said, panting a little from carrying Lily up twenty steps.
"Yeah yeah," Sirius grumbled, and went down the corridor and into the bathroom. Lily could hear the water starting to run.
"Come on," James said and hauled her up again. Much as she wanted to just sit there, she let herself be led down the corridor and into the bathroom, where Sirius was pouring bath oils into the tub.
"No tricks, Padfoot," James warned.
"Yeah yeah." Sirius sighed this time. "I'm not totally lacking timing, you know."
"You aren't?" Lily was too tired to try and feign a surprised look.
"You just had to, didn't you," Sirius said. It wasn't even a question. He looked at the tub, and decided that it was full enough. He switched the taps off. Lily just stared at the tub.
"Okay, you better take your clothes off before you go into it," James said after a minute.
"Yeah..." Lily made a feeble attempt at pulling off her dripping wet sweater. She was too tired that she didn't even manage to pull her arm out of the sleeve.
James sighed. "You better go out, Sirius," he said.
"Why?" Sirius asked.
"Well, are you going to stand there and watch?"
"Um...no...I guess not," Sirius said. "Aren't you going to go out too?"
"I'll just help her get her clothes off. Then I'll go out too," James said.
"Uh-huh." Sirius sounded disbelieving, but went out of the bathroom and shut the door.
James turned to Lily. "Are you going to try and help?" he asked. Lily thought about it. She felt utterly drained of energy.
"I don't think I'll manage," she said truthfully. James sighed again.
"Okay. Raise your hands above your head." Lily obliged. James pulled off her sweater. There was a moment of silence. "You never told me you didn't have anything under it," James said.
"I have a bra," Lily protested.
"Well, yeah, but..."
"You've seen me in bikini, right?"
"Yeah..."
"So what's the big deal?" Lily looked at him. He was blushing.
"Nothing..." he mumbled. Despite herself, Lily laughed. It wasn't a very hearty laugh, but still...Weird that James can make me laugh just by being him...three months ago and I would've screamed just by being him...
"Oh, James, you are such a sweetie sometimes," she smiled at him.
"I am?"
"Yeah, even when you're staring at my cleavage." James reddened even more and looked up in her eyes instead. Oh, he has such beautiful soft eyes...
"Can you manage to get your jeans off without me?" he asked. Lily had a feeling he was trying hard to look anywhere else than just below her neck.
"If you pull," she said. She didn't feel like wriggling herself out of a pair of clammy, tight jeans. James nodded and she grabbed the edge of the bathtub, lying down on the floor. He took a tight grip on the jeans leg and pulled. After a minute of grunting and pulling, James got the jeans off her. When Lily turned and stood up, he had turned around, facing the door. Lily was a bit relieved that she wouldn't have to ask him – she felt too tired even for that – and pulled of her bra (she just didn't bother with the panties), slipping into the bathtub. The water was hot against her cold skin, and for a moment Lily just wanted to jump up again, but kept still. She made sure that the foam from the bath oils covered her, before she said to James:
"Okay, you can turn around again now." James turned, and smiled at her. He came over to the bathtub and sat down beside it.
"Is that better?" he asked, his eyes warm and caring.
"Yeah, I'm not so cold anymore," Lily said. She leaned back against the tub and relaxed. "I'm still wet, though."
James smiled again. "Yeah. Well, I better get downstairs to Sirius and give you some privacy." He made a move to get up, but Lily stopped him, clutching his arm with a wet hand.
"Don't," she said, desperation getting the better of her. I don't want to be alone again... "Please. Stay."
He looked a bit confused, but sat down again beside her and held her hand. They sat like that for a while, him outside the tub and her in it, as Lily slowly felt warm creep through her body again. With it came the aching feeling of loss...Lily tried to press it down.
After what seemed like hours with none of them talking, James cleared his throat. "So, Lily...Why did you come here anyway? Is there something wrong?"
Lily couldn't stand it anymore. At his words the wall she had been carefully building against the anguish and pain broke, and she burst into tears.
How she got into his lap she didn't quite know. The only thing she was aware of was James' protective arms around her, rocking her gently as a little child and his voice saying soothing noises as she cried on his shoulder, telling him the whole story from she went out with the garbage to taking the Knight Bus to his house.
"There, there," he whispered, kissing her on top of her head again and again, holding her close. "Everything's going to be okay." She relished the feel of him against her, her head on his shoulder and her arms against his chest. At last she stopped sobbing, and took a long, quavering breath, nuzzling her head into the bend between his shoulder and his neck. He stroked her hair and kissed her on her forehead.
"You okay now?" he asked gently, still holding her close to him.
She took another deep breath, a little steadier now, and nodded. "I think so," she said.
"Do you want to go to bed?"
She thought about it. "Will you be there?"
She felt his cheek go red against hers. "No, but I'll be downstairs if you need me."
"...Okay." She reluctantly pulled away from him, and stood up. She caught herself in the mirror, and blushed too. She had completely forgotten that she was only wearing her panties. James had turned away from her, rummaging through a drawer.
"Here," he said and handed her a towel, still with his back to her. She took it gratefully and draped herself in it. It reached down to her knees. "Come on," he said and opened the bathroom door. He looked at her and blushed again. "Do you...need any help?" he asked awkwardly.
"An arm would be nice," Lily said. She felt even more drained now. She had thought she had been out of tears. He went back to her and put his hand around her waist. She placed one hand around his shoulders, the other one securing the towel so it wouldn't fall down.
James led her out and just across the corridor, opening the door to a bedroom. He helped her onto the bed, and spread the comforter over her.
"I'll be downstairs," he whispered. She nodded drowsily, managing a weak smile for his concerned gaze.
She was asleep by the time he shut the door.
***
Sirius was waiting at the foot of the stairs as James came down.
"What took you so long?" he asked.
"She didn't want me to leave," James replied. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And it was nothing like that."
"Yeah yeah," Sirius said for the third time since Lily had got there. "Why is she here, anyway? Did she miss you that much?"
James didn't return Sirius' grin. "For your information, Sirius, her parents died two days ago."
Sirius' grin was wiped out in a blink. "Oh, fuck," he said. "On Christmas Eve? Don't say it was-"
"Yes, it was Voldemort," James interrupted. "At least he's the only one we know of who use the Avada Kedavra, right?"
Now Sirius was looking downright guilty. "Jeez, I'm so sorry, Prongs, I-"
"I'm okay. It's Lily you should pay your condolences to." They went into the kitchen. James dearly needed something to drink. Hopefully something strong.
"How is she?" Sirius asked, finding the bourbon James' father had hidden in a 'secret place' under the sink. He poured James a glass, without asking and, after a slight hesitation, poured one to himself too.
James drank and swallowed, his eyes watering a little. He wasn't used to drink other than Butterbeer. "She's asleep in my room now. She must be exhausted." James didn't think he would tell Sirius about Lily's break down just yet.
"Poor girl," Sirius said, nodding. "How did she get here, anyway?"
"The Knight Bus," James answered.
"But I thought it couldn't get to your house because of those old wards your family's got around the house!"
"That's how she got so wet."
Sirius sighed, and drained his glass. "Well," he said, "I'm off to bed too. It's nearly midnight and I'm up to no fun after having to carry your girlfriend all over the place." He walked off to one of the guest rooms, which he had adopted as his after his first visit to the Potters. James smiled a little, before draining his glass too and putting the bottle of bourbon under the sink again. Suddenly he felt bone tired. Comforting Lily was sure an energy craving business. He dragged himself up the stairs and over to his room. He stopped short as he was to take of his jeans, remembering that the bed was already occupied. Oh, to hell with it, he thought, and took if his t shirt. He was too tired to go to down to the couch in the living room, and he couldn't use his parents' room since they would get home later tonight. Shit. What will my parents say? Surprisingly, James found out he didn't give a damn. With that thought in mind, he laid down, covering himself with the quilt against the slightly chill of the room and fell asleep, one arm around Lily's slender shoulders protectively.
***
James woke up the next morning by his mother poking her head inside the room.
"James?" she asked. "Are you awake? I just wanted you to know that breakfast will be ready in- oh. Who is that?"
James woke up entirely when he remembered that the 'thing' that was so nicely curled up beside him, an arm over his chest, wasn't his comforter entangled around him again, but Lily. He felt himself blush. "Oh, right. Um, this is Lily Evans, mum. She's the girl at school I've been talking about."
"Ah." A good sign: his mother wasn't yelling at him yet. Maybe there was hope.
"Her parents died almost three days ago," James explained.
"Yes, I know." His mother's voice managed to sound very sad at the same time as amused. She paused a moment, looking at Lily's peaceful face as she slept in her son's arms. "Don't wait too long to get up," was the only thing she said as she closed the door and went downstairs again.
***
Lily emerged from her first sleep without nightmares for two days as the light grew steadily lighter. She tried to fight it, but gave up at last as she woke up. She nuzzled down in her big, rather hard but still very comfy pillow, patting it a bit to make it better. She stopped a moment, trying to focus her brain enough to think. Big, hard but comfy pillow with...hair? She patted some more. Yes. Definitely hair. And muscles. When did pillows get muscles? The warm comforter surrounding her waist squeezed her a little. She patted it. That one was hairy and full of muscles too. She reluctantly opened her eyes, one at a time.
Yep. Her pillow was a chest, all right. She looked down. An arm was holding her around the waist. She looked up. James was smiling down at her, his smile warming her right down to her toes.
"Hi, Petal," he said. "Slept well?" She smiled and yawned, nodding.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah." They looked at each other for a moment. James sighed. "Well, I guess we have to go down and eat breakfast soon, before Sirius thinks about going up and check on us."
Lily sighed too. "Yeah, I guess so." She laid her head down on his chest again, savouring the feeling of him; warm, protective. After a while she let go and he rolled over, standing up and going over to a closet. He rummaged through it and turned to her again, tossing a t shirt to her.
"I guess you can borrow something from mother later," he said. "You didn't bring anything with you, did you?"
"Just what I came in," Lily shrugged. He turned politely away, and she put on the t shirt. It was only slightly big – James wasn't really the broad type. He handed her some sweatpants too. Lily was glad he had some – she didn't really feel like going in her tattered jeans from the day before, neither did she want to go in some of his jeans; they was bound not to fit.
She turned the other way as she pulled the pants on, and James put on his clothes too. Not that she didn't mind seeing him in boxers...it was the fact that he would probably want to change them to fresh ones that made her turn around. He probably has a nice butt too...
Lily, you dirty girl.
"Okay," he said. They turned towards each other at the same time, and blushed a little. Lily came towards him, and they met in a hug. "Come on," he said, and kissed her head, an arm snaking around her waist. "Let's go down." Just as his free hand went for the door handle, she stopped him. She looked up at him, and found him meeting her eyes. She studied his features, searching for something. She found it.
"Just wanted to let you know..." she said, hugging him to her again, but never letting go of his eyes. She paused a little, before mustering the courage to say it. "I love you."
A smile broke onto his face, a smile containing the sun itself, warming her from her head to her toes, warming and mending her aching heart. He kissed her, soft and passionate at the same time, and looked into her eyes. She knew it before he uttered the first word.
"I love you too," he said.
She smiled, a real, true smile this time, and kissed him. It was just like the first time they had kissed. Her whole body was tingling.
"Ready to meet my parents?" James asked, a smile still twinkling in his eyes.
Lily looked up at him again. "Yes," she said, and opened the door.
They were together now. Nothing could tear them apart.
THE END. FINITO. SLUTT. DAS ENDE. FINITE.
A/N: I hope you're satisfied this time. Because now I MEAN it.