Chapter Four

Remus awoke in the morning to the sunrise's first rays on his face, feeling unusually good. It took him a moment to open his eyes, not wanting to wake up, wishing he could keep this comfort here before it slipped away with the thought of the full moon that was looming ever closer, taunting him. He opened his eyes, to be met with the sight of the common room ceiling, dim in the early morning light. He yawned. Wait... the common room? What on earth—?

And then he remembered. Praying that it was not a dream, he carefully lifted his head from the back of the armchair and looked beside him. His heart wanted to burst out of his chest then and there as he took in the sight of her. Still in her blue jeans and that old green peasant top she wore so often, Lily Evans was curled up next to him, her hand in his, her red hair spilling onto his patched robes.

Oh good god. He was going to get it from Prongs now. He knew the drill. James would pretend not to be angry for as long as a week and either ignore him or be overly friendly; that is, until he reached his boiling point, and exploded in Remus's face. It had been the same routine when he had gotten a Prefect badge and James had not. He sighed, looking again at the sleeping Lily, and an unexpected wave of emotion hit him hard in the gut. He loved her.

Oh no, no, no. Not this. Not now. He had other things on his mind, he couldn't go and get himself smitten with the girl that one of his best friends was sweet on! This opinion was a strong presence in his mind, yet he could hear a part of himself asking what James would have done. He pushed it away.

Well, at any rate, he had best wake this sleeping vision before people started emerging, tousle-headed, from their dorm rooms.

"Lil?" he said softly, giving her small hand a slight squeeze.

She stirred and, still not fully awake, nestled her face in his shoulder, wrapping an arm around the front of him to rest on his other shoulder. He tried to breathe evenly, closing his eyes as if to fend off the desire to run his fingers through her hair. Just then, with possibly the worst timing a person could have, James walked down the stairs, yawning.

Remus panicked and decided that the best thing to do was to appear as if he wasn't aware that the most beautiful girl in Gryffindor was sleeping on him. He shut his eyes hastily, and slowed his breathing, pretending to be asleep.

If his eyes had been open, he would have seen James look at them first blearily, then bitterly. He cast a longing look at Lily, and, head down, clambered out the portrait hole and down to breakfast. In his pajamas.

Remus opened his eyes cautiously as he heard the Fat Lady swing shut, and tried to wake Lily again.

"Lil," he said softly once more, "Lil... hon, it's morning..."

She yawned and her emerald eyes opened halfway, gazing into his dreamily for a moment before widening in surprise.

"R-Remus?" she said, stifling a yawn. "Remus... wh--"

Then she seemed to realize that she was curled up next to him, in the common room, fully dressed, and that her arms were wrapped around him. She uttered a little squeak and released him.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry... I must have--"

"Don't bother apologizing," he said, grinning. She grinned in return. "Really, I didn't mind." He winked.

She laughed and got up, stretching. "I wonder why nobody woke us?" she wondered out loud.

He shrugged and escorted her down to breakfast, both of them talking up a storm.

After they ate, alone at the Gryffindor table besides a couple of second-years (hardly any fifth-years were up this early on a Sunday, and James was nowhere in sight), they split up; Lily to the Owlery to send a letter home, and Remus back to Gryffindor Tower to catch up on some homework.

He picked up his book off the armchair on his way up to the dormitory, and was flipping the pages absentmindedly when something fell out of it, fluttering to the floor. He picked it up, turning it over. He grinned. It was a photograph of him and Lily, probably taken last night. They were both fast asleep in the armchair, their small photographic selves breathing deeply. Occasionally the photo Lily would stir and the little Remus would wake and smile down at her. Remus held it carefully, saying a small, internal thanks to Sirius for taking the picture. It must have been Padfoot. He was the only person, who owned a camera, that Remus knew would have bothered to take it.

Oddly, he still didn't see James anywhere, though Sirius, Frank, and Peter were still in the dormitory making pillows zoom across the room and smack into each other with their wands. A favorite pastime. Moony Summoned his Spellotape and carefully stuck the photo to the inside lid of his battered trunk, shielding his activity from the other boys by turning his back to them. He should not have bothered, since they were too distracted by the final moments of their Pillow Duel to take much notice of him anyway. He stood up and, sighing, Vanished the feathers off his coverlet and set in to finish up that essay for Potions... moonstones, eh Professor? he thought, bemused by the simplicity.

Somehow he felt as if he couldn't stop grinning all day, even when scratching away with his quill about moonstones. At times, when he wasn't physically smiling, he could still feel the grin lurking there, eager to come out. Almost like times in class when James or Sirius were pulling some prank and you really wanted to laugh, but knew you couldn't give away the trick. He still hadn't seen James. Odd.

After the essay, he and Sirius decided to go for a bit of a walk around the lake to look for James (Padfoot hadn't seen him either) and fine-tune the plan for the next full moon. They found Prongs zooming about on the Quidditch Pitch, bolting after the nicked Snitch. As usual. They didn't bother him, as he looked rather huffy and absorbed.

"Padfoot..." Remus began, but Sirius interrupted.

"Yeah. He was mad. Don't get your knickers in a twist about it though, Moony, it's not your fault."

"Yeah... I still feel bad though, I mean, I didn't do it on purp—"

"You didn't do it on purpose. I know. Prongs will forget it." Sirius smiled reassuringly and they headed back across the smooth lawn and up to the castle.