Previously in "The Strangest Courtship":
Moments later, Madame Pomfrey bustled in with a cup of a foul-tasting potion for Lily to drink; the nurse told Lily that she ought to stay the night while the potion took effect, but she should be right as rain in the morning. Lily gulped down the potion and then lay back on the uncomfortable bed, still feeling oddly unsettled. The last thing she did before she drifted off to sleep was to pull James' cloak off the pile of wet things and pull it over herself like a blanket, despite its dampness; she found its warm smell strangely comforting, and it was so thick and soft....
Chapter Five:
The Infirmary
By midnight, James was sure that everybody in his dormitory was asleep; he could hear regular breathing from Remus, intermittant squeaks from Peter, and long low growls from Sirius. James stepped quietly out of bed and hastily pulled on a pair of pants and a t-shirt; he looked briefly for his cloak, then cursed when he remembered he had left it with Lily. Considering how much she hated him now, he doubted he would ever see his cloak again.
With softly padding steps, James made his way out of the dormitory into the common room, then out of the portrait hole and down out of Gryffindor Tower. Fifteen minutes later, he found himself standing amongst the shadows in a wide corridor; across from him was his destination, the infirmary, but now that he had reached it, he was at a loss for what to do.
He didn't want to intrude any further on Lily's life; in fact, he wanted nothing more than to forget about her and move on to a fantasy that one day might be realized, but right now he wanted nothing more than to see her face when it wasn't glaring angrily at him....and he wanted to be sure she was safe, and recovered.
Setting his jaw, he walked swiftly across the corridor to the infirmary door. "Alohamora," James whispered, and he was satisfied to hear a click from the lock. Ever so quietly, he turned the doorknob and stepped into the pitch-black infirmary. "Lumos," he said, this time almost inaudibly, and he held a hand in front of his wand so that the only light it gave off was a red glow through his skin.
There, in the back! There was a bed with curtains drawn all around it, and all the other beds were unoccupied. James approached it, and he was just about to pull back the curtains when he suddenly felt completely guilty, and dirty, and slightly voyeuristic. It was stalkerish, even! What kind of a creep spies on a girl while she's asleep, and ill, no less!?! But now he was there, and his heart was beating furiously; James pulled aside a curtain and almost let out an audible cry at what he saw.
For there, lying before him in a state of utter vulnerability and peacefulness, was Lily Evans. On the chair beside her bed he could see her jeans and t-shirt from the day before, as well as—he felt his heart skip, then quicken—her bra and panties. They....must have been wet from the rain, as well, he realized. He looked at the bed: Lily was sprawled on top of the blankets, her thin cotton nightgown riding up high on her thighs so he could see miles and miles of her creamy legs; her red curls were splayed about the pillow around her head like a halo, and her eyelids were fluttering in a blissful dream state.
And then came the biggest shock of all, for lying on top of Lily—being clenched tightly in her small white fists, scrunched up around her face so part was on her neck, on her chin, on her lower lip—was James' cloak! At this realization his self-control faltered for a moment, and a sharp gasp escaped his lips. He froze; Lily murmered something in her sleep and turned, pulling up her legs so she lay in the fetal position; she pulled his cloak more tightly around her and sighed into it.
A million thoughts were running through James' head, foremost of which was: did this mean he might still have a chance with Lily? He backed up slowly until he had only to pull shut the curtains, and he would be safe and out of the way. But James wanted to see Lily's sweet face one more time before he left; he wanted to burn the image into his brain so he could think of her like this later; he realized, with a strange jolt, that he wanted every night of his life to be like this: he wanted Lily's face to always be the last thing he saw before he fell asleep.
He glanced longingly at her one more time; she was murmering again....what was she saying? Involuntarily, he leaned forward a little....she was saying the same thing over and over; what was it? She moved the cloak a little so it was no longer blocking her mouth, and then suddenly he could hear her words:
"Sirius....Sirius....Sirius....Sirius...."
James felt his heart plummet to the pit of his stomach, and he turned and fled the infirmary.
In the next chapter....James saves a damsel in distress....
A/N: Nothing too important today, except I need your opinions on something: do you all want to see more of Remus in the story? Should I bring in the whole werewolf plotline and give him a romantic interest, etc.? I've got some vague ideas muttering things in my head, but I'd like some input from the only people who really matter in the world--my beautiful reviewers! So let me know....