Dedicated to my best friend.
Be with me?
Lily wandered the corridors alone, arms wrapped tightly about her waist, shivering as a draft from one of the windows hit her skin. Moonlight shone through the narrow glass, falling on her hair and temporarily turning it silver. She moved softly, quietly, caught up in her own thoughts, green eyes staring blankly at the floor as though it would speak to her.
What was she doing? No-one answered her silent question. If she had spoken aloud it would have echoed pointlessly off the stone walls, fading into empty air. At least this way she wouldn't break the silence, shatter it with her human words.
She was being stupid. Filch could come and catch her at any moment, and if he didn't, someone else certainly would. She was risking so much to take a walk at night like this. It wasn't like her. But she continued to step softly forwards, bare feet freezing on the icy stone floor. Her arms were bare in her sleeveless strapped top, her hair the only warm weight over her pale skin. She should go back to bed, back to her warm, comfortable bed and read until she was sleepy enough to fall asleep. That would have been the sensible option, not wandering around like this.
She didn't. She continued to shuffle forwards in her pyjama trousers, staring at the floor.
She was so lost in thought at first she thought the music was her own mind playing tricks on her. It was so easy to hear and see things that didn't exist in the dark, after all.
She froze, head tilted to one side, heart speeding up slightly. Piano music. She could hear piano music. What on earth was someone doing playing the piano at two in the morning?
When push comes to shove,
You follow those you love,
When a tear falls from your eye,
I'll watch, fight that screaming urge to help you…
Someone was singing, a deep voice was flowing with the soft music as Lily listened intently, her heart beating in time. She walked forwards, careful not to make a sound, and the music seemed to get louder.
I heard you sing, I saw you dance,
You never saw me, amongst the crowd
Another in your throng of faceless adorers,
What could I ever mean to you?
The music seemed to be coming from behind a door Lily had never seen in this part of the castle before. Vaguely thinking it must have slipped her notice; she put one ear to the dark polished wood, then gasped as it swung open at her touch.
A dark haired figure sat with his back to her, fingers playing the piano keys as though absorbed in the beautiful sounds he was making. He didn't even look round. He never realised she was there.
Please fly with me tonight,
Hold onto me, I promise I
Won't let you fall,
And close your eyes, close your fire,
Just be with me,
While I hold onto you.
Lily didn't know when she started walking forwards, but suddenly she was standing by the pianist's side, staring down, entranced, at his face as he played a beautiful piano solo, eyes closed in concentration. Finally he whispered, as though to himself:
Just be with me,
While I hold onto you.
James Potter opened his eyes.
Lily gasped and stepped backwards, wondering wildly how she could ever explain herself, but he never asked for an explanation. Instead he stood up, taking her in with strangely dark eyes, then held one hand out as though to touch her cheek, stopping when his fingers were a hairs width away from her skin.
"You're beautiful, you know," he said quietly, "Be with me?"
His words seemed to resonate, echoing round her mind, and Lily stared into his eyes, lost for words, her breath catching in her chest as he leant down to her, his Egyptian brown eyes coming closer with every beat of her heart…
Lily gave a small scream, sitting upright in bed, her gloomy dormitory graining into picture around her, the words be with me still whispering through her head. For a moment she sat still, clutching her still frantically beating heart, trying to get the image of James Potter's face out of her head.
"Whoa," she muttered, pinching herself, "Freaky."
No-one said anything back to her, little to her surprise, and still in shock she lay back down, staring up at the canopy.
What a weird dream. As if someone like Potter would say something like that to her! It must have been all that food she'd eaten at dinner. Reassured, Lily rolled over and fell straight back to sleep, forgetting all about it.
In the boys dormitory, James slept restlessly on, a frown on his troubled face.
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Hey there. This is Bubbles writing solo! I'd love a review, they all mean a heck of a lot to me. So go on...you know you're just itching to...
