A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm back with the next chapter of DLHG! Woot! -Does Happy Dance- ...Yeah, I'm in a really good mood right now, even though I'm sick. -Coughs-
Thanks to Anjali, Daisy Pixie, and Zemmie for reviewing for chapter 6, and Feye for chapter 5. You guys are awesome! -Turns to other readers with look of deepest loathing- Haha, just kidding. As for the other 63 of you who didn't review, I'm really glad you've read and stuck with my story, but this is the second to last chapter, so you'd better review soon. I repeat, THIS IS THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER, SO YOU BETTER REVIEW!
-Sighs and coughs- Yelling when you have a cold isn't a good idea. I'm sick, and I still post my new chapters. -Sneezes and blows nose- You should all be grateful. Or not.
So, enjoy chapter 7!
Disclaimer: -Sneezes- I'm in no state to come up with something witty right now. I don't own anything.
Take it easy, take it slow
Lily knew that deep down inside, she was a horrible person. She knew it. Why else would she have forgotten to thank James? All that time she spent spilling her guts to him, and she didn't even say, "Oh yeah, thanks for listening to me ramble"?
"Lily?" Claire asked.
"Huh? Oh - yeah, I thanked him. Of course I did," Lily lied quickly, yawning for the last half, hoping that it sounded more realistic.
Apparently, her fake exhaustion convinced the others, because Alice said, "Okay," and the three soon feel asleep, their breath slow and even.
But Lily couldn't sleep. She turned Claire's words over in her head again and again. 'You should talk to him...' But what would she say? Lily Evans thanking James Potter- those five words had never been used in a sentence before, much less even thought of.
As the night dragged on, Lily kept trying to think up ways to show her gratitude towardsJames, but her mind was drawing a complete blank. How do you thank someone that you until recently hated?
Lily turned onto her back. With James haunting her thoughts like this, there was no way she'd ever get to sleep. And Lily quite frankly did not want to fall asleep in History of Magic the next day. Someone did after all have to take notes. But how on earth was she supposed to sleep if she couldn't stop thinking about James?
Oh, God...Lily thought, mentally slapping herself forcefully. She was up late thinking about James Potter.
And then it came to her: she'd just have to tell him tonight. It'd be easy, just go up to his room, knock on the door - one of them was bound to be up to let her in - and then she'd just...say thank you. And then she'd leave. Her plan was easy as pie, but would it work?
Lily glanced at the clock and groaned - it was 2:39 a.m. She didn't have time to worry about whether or not her plan would fail. There were onlyfour hours until she had to wake up. After all, the plan was practically infallible. And with that last thought, Lily made up her mind.
She slowly sat up and slid off her bed, leaving the hangings closed, just in case any of the others woke up. She walked silently towards the door, grabbing her wand just in case. Lily stepped slowly down the stairs, her bare feet softly padding the hard-wooded steps as she descended.
WhenLily reached the common room, she stopped and looked around, a little paranoid at that particular moment. Her eyes landed on the fire that was glowing softly in the large grate. How many memories she'd created in front of a fireplace...after all, she'd found out that her grandmother had died, that her parents were getting divorced, slept on top of James, ate a wonderful meal, and spilled her guts to an almost complete stranger in front of a glowing fire.
Lily silently shook herself and turned her eyes to the boys' staircase. Walking on the tips of her toes, she silently made her way across the room and, taking a breath, began her ascent up the stairs.
At the very top, she found the seventh year boy's dorm. Lily stood there for a second, her nerves overwhelming her. What if she woke someone else up? What would they say if they saw Lily Evans at James Potter's door in the middle of the night? Lily shuddered and made to turn around and go back to the safety of her warm bed, but something held her back. It was that nagging guilt that she had felt while laying in her dorm earlier. It came in great pangs and forced Lily to turn around. Okay, I can do this. Okay. I'm okay, she thought. She walked back up to the door. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath,Lily knocked softly three times. She bit her lip, hoping she didn't wake up any unwanted company.
But after a few moments, there was no sound. Lily pressed her ear up to the door, listening for movement. There was nothing but the sound of muffled snores. Lily's gaze went down to the door handle located near her waist. Should she just go in? Was she even allowed to? Well, yeah, she thought. After all, she was the Head Girl, and it said in the job description that if there was suspected wrong-doing going on in a dorm, the Heads had a right to enter. Of course, the suspected wrong-doing was on the other side of the door, but it still counted. Bearing this in mind, Lily pulled out her wand and silently tapped the handle once. She careful stowed her wand back in her pocket before grasping the handle. She took another deep breath and quietly opened the door.
Lily had never seen such a messy room in her life. There were clothes, parchments, some stuff from Zonko's, and a few things that she was pretty sure weren't allowed within the castle grounds scattered all over the floor and four dressers. Her eyes scanned the room, trying to determine which bed was James'. Her eyes landed on a clean patch in the filth. Well, there's Remus' bed... Lily concluded. Deciding that she couldn't just wait until he got up, Lily stepped into the room and slowly, quietly, and carefully navigated through the junk littering the floor.
She finally made it to the first bed and carefully pulled back the curtains, instantly know it was Peter's. That is, unless James or Sirius wore flannel pajamas with teddy bears on them. Lily fought back the urge to laugh as she closed the curtains and waded over to the next bed, which turned out to be Sirius'. When she opened the hangings, he groaned and started mumbling. Remembering where she was, Lily quickly ducked down, her eyes closed tightly, praying to God that he didn't wake up.
But after a few moments, Lily heard soft snores from above her and turn her head to make sure Sirius was definitely asleep. He was. Lily softly closed the curtains and made another attempt through the room to the last bed. She slunk silently up to it and pulled open the hangings.
Lilyknew it was James' bed before she got there, but it still surprisedher to see him laying there on his back, wearing noting but a pair of plaid pajama pants. Her breath caught as she gazed at him, taking in his finely contoured arms and chest, his messy mop of ebony hair, his peaceful expression...
Lily turned and slid down to the floor, leaning back on James' bed, her eyes wide with confusion.
She had just caught herself staring at James Potter. While he slept. In the dark. In the boy's dormitory. Once again, Claire's words echoed in her head. 'Are you starting to fall for James Potter?'
No, Lily thought quickly. I just...what girl in their right mind wouldn't stare? I mean, he's really hot and- Lily silently clapped her hand to her mouth. She had just called James Potter hot.
Leaning forward, Lily fought the urge to cry. What was happening to her? Why on earth was she calling the bane of her existence hot? He's not hot! He's an egotistic womanizing bastard! Lily's head screamed. But something was wrong with that statement. Deep down inside, Lily knew that he wasn't an egotistic womanizing bastard. Well, okay, so he was something of a womanizer, and there were times when he was very egotistic, and well, who isn't a bastard sometimes? But Lily just couldn't hold it against him. Something inside of her just wouldn't allow it. Lily's hand feel away from her face as realization dawned on her.
She had forgiven him.
Lily Evans had forgiven James Potter.
For every prank.
For every mean comment.
For every hex he shot at her (And thankfully missed).
For being the way he was.
And the worst part of it all was that she didn't even know why. But as her mind traveled back to everything that had happened over the last couple of days, Lily knew why. It was because he had shown her that he was more than just the popular guy who waltzed around the corridors with a girl on each arm. More than the Quidditch-playing jock who was always the center of attention. More than the person she had thought him to be.
Lily closed her eyes and got to her feet, her knees trembling slightly. After all, it wasn't everyday you forgave the boy you thought could never change. And one thing that Lily really hated was change.
Turning back to James, she took a deep, calming breath and let her fingers gently graze his bare shoulder. He groaned and shifted his head a bit, his hazel eyes slowly opening and coming into focus. When he saw Lily, his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but Lily silently clapped her hand over his mouth and signaled for him to be quiet.
"Can I talk to you?" She whispered almost inaudibly, her face close to his. James' eyes bore into hers, but he nodded and Lily dropped her hand, ignoring the tingling feeling in it. James sat up, rubbed his eyes and looked back at Lily, almost as if making sure she was really there. He then slipped cat-like out of his bed and joined Lily in her attempts to get back to the door. The two quietly snuck out of the room and walked silently down the stairs.
Once they reached the common room, James turn to Lily with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay, Lily?" He asked her, his eyes once again boring into her emerald orbs.
Lily looked up at him. "I- yes, I'm fine. I just wanted to, um, I wanted to..."
"Yes?" James asked, taking a small step closer.
Lily just kept staring into his eyes, feeling her own prickle slightly. Before she or James knew what was happening, she launched herself at him, hugging him tightly.
Taken by surprise, James staggered a bit before regaining his balance and staring down at Lily, who seemed to be clinging on to him for dear life. "Lily, what on earth-"
"I'm sorry!" Lily cried, burring her face in James' chest. "I'm sorry that I never thanked you for helping me through everything that's happened recently. I'm so sorry!"
James was once again caught off guard by this. But a second later, he smiled down at the top of Lily's head and wrapped his arms around her back, trying to comfort her. "You're welcome," he whispered into her hair.
Lily looked up, backing away slightly. "But I've been such a horrible person to you. I mean, all that time, I'd prejudged you, and then I didn't even thank you for being there for me. Why would you ever forgive me?"
James smiled. "Because I was the one who was always horrible to you. Don't you remember all those times I'd made fun of you? All those times I'd pranked you?" Lily nodded. "After all that, I was really surprised that you even let me within 20 yards of you, much less help you feel better. It was sort of an honor for me."
Lily blinked. "You're kidding, right? An honor to comfort me? Why would you even say that?"
"Because you didn't kill me. And that is an honor," James said, releasing his grip on Lily, who felt oddly cold without his arms around her. "And besides, I should be the one apologizing. Think you could forgive me?" He asked, flashing her famous heart-melting smile. Much to Lily's dismay, she felt her knees shake slightly. She tried in vain to fight back a smile, but she couldn't help it.
"Alright, fine," She said, sighing in defeat. James grinned at her and wrapped his arms around her once again, lifted her up and spun her around.
"Ahhhhhh, James, stop!" Lily shrieked, completely forgetting that it was 4:00 in the morning and that normal people didn't wake up for another three hours.
James set Lily back down and looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "That's the first time you've ever called me by my first name," he said, raising an eyebrow.
Lily reddened slightly. "Well, I might as well call you James. I mean, we're sorta friends, now, right?" She said, hoping she didn't sound too much like an idiot.
James hitched an offended look on his face. "'Sorta friends'?" He asked. Then, putting on a pout, he turned from her and said, "You cut me deep, Lils."
Lily rolled her eyes and walked around in front of him "Okay, we're friends." She said, placing a hand on his arm.
"You're sure, then?" James asked, looking up.
Lily smiled. "Yes."
"Okay, good, 'cuz now I can tell you how good that looks on you." James said quirking an eyebrow and looking Lily up and down, a devilish smirk playing on his face.
Lily looked down. She had completely forgotten that she was wearing a short, sleeveless, white silk nightgown. She looked back up at him, her eyes blazing. "You're such a pervert!" She said fiercely, yet smiling at the same time. Hey, Lily may be very conservative, but she liked to be complimented too.
"You're not gonna comment on my ensemble?" James asked, skirting out of Lily's reach.
"Well, I could, but I don't think it'd do your ego any good." Lily said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Hey, you can't tell me I don't look good without a shirt." James said, mimicking Lily by placing his hands on his hips.
Lily rolled her eyes hugely. "Seriously, do you ever talk about anything but how handsome you are?" She asked in mock annoyance.
"Hey, I never said I was handsome," James retorted. When Lily raised an eyebrow, he said, "Just incredibly good looking. But I'm glad you think I'm handsome," he said, leaning towards Lily a little.
"What! I never said that! I was merely making a comment on your overly egotistic ways!" Lily said, crossing her arms against her chest.
"Once again, you cut me deep, Lils. But for what it's worth," He said, coming up right in front of her and leaning in. "I think you're very pretty." He whispered into her ear, sending shivers straight down her spine. Lily blushed a fantastic shade of red as James looked into her eyes and winked.
"'Night, Lils," he said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and going back up to his dormitory, leaving Lily frozen there, her fingers subconsciously moving up to her face to light touch the place where his lips had brushed her skin.
And don't let him go, don't let him go
"Morning, Lily," Sarah said at breakfast that day as Lily sat herself across from Claire. "You sure slept in today."
Lily shrugged, helping herself to some toast and marmalade. "I didn't sleep much last night. I had too much on my mind."
"Oh?" Claire asked, folding her arms on the table and leaning in towards Lily. "Could any of those things be acertain boy sitting thirteen seats to the right of you?"
Lily looked up at Claire then leaned back to see who she was talking about, already pretty sure who it was. It was none other than James, just as she'd thought. Turning back to her friends, Lily said, "Claire, how many times must I tell you that I don't like James?"
"Ohh, so it's James now, is it?" Claire asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Lily flushed. "Well, why should I not call him by his first name? I mean, he and I both agreed that we're now friends of sorts, so it's only appropriate," she said, vainly attempting to keep a professional manner about her.
Sarah blinked. "So basically, after he comforted you and spent all that time looking out for you, you two decided you were friends? Just like that? What about all the stuff he did to you?"
Lily sighed. "Well, to answer you're first question, yes, we're friends. Second, it wasn't really all that sudden, I mean he did cheer me up a lot during the holidays, and, well, as much as I hated to admit it, that qualifies as a friend-worthy quality." Lily took a bite of her toast. "And about your last question...I guess I just...forgave him."
Alice gasped.
Sarah's eyebrows flew into her hairline.
Claire blatantly stared. "Okay, who are you and what the bloody hell have you done with Lily?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Really, guys, you're acting like this is some kind of catastrophic event or something."
"Well it is," Alice said, coming out of her shocked state. "I mean, throughout our entire Hogwarts career, things have been changing drastically. I mean, first guys start liking girls and vice versa, then that Lord What's-his-face, er, Voldemort comes and threatens to wreck havoc on the wizarding world, then before we know it, we're in our last year at Hogwarts with graduation staring us in the eyes. And this whole time, the one thing we've been able to count on to always be the same, to never waver, is James Potter and Lily Evans hating each other. And then, boom, they're friends. What's this place coming to?" She ranted loudly, gaining the attention of several people in the Great Hall.
Lily looked around before replying, "Look, Alice, it's not that big a deal. I mean, we don't like each other or anything, we simply forgave our differences and are moving on to look past them. People change, it's a fact of life. Besides, it's not like we're getting married or anything."
"I dunno, Lils," Claire injected. "You know what they say: The best lovers always come from the best of friends."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay, first off, we're not best friends, no where near that. Honestly," She added, noticing Sarah, Alice and Claire's unconvinced faces. "Second, could you seriously picture James and me together?"
Sarah shrugged. "Like you said, Lily, people change. Who knows, infive monthsyou could have a gold ring on your finger and be called Mrs. Lily Potter."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "Sarah, I honestly think your imagination's running away with you. I mean, Lily Potter doesn't even sound that great."
"Whatever you say, Lils," Claire said, turning back to her breakfast.
Lily glanced between her three friends. Rolling her eyes, she said, "You three are unbelievable. It almost seems like you want me and James to end up together."
"What?" Claire said, disbelief etched into her pretty face. "Why on earth would we want that?"
"Did you not hear my rant?" Alice asked, furrowing her brows slightly.
"Really, Lily, we know you don't like him that way. It's not like we'd force him on you." Sarah said, pouring herself some pumpkin juice.
Lily didn't notice that neither Sarah nor Alice met her eyes. Instead, she laughed softly and said, "You're right, why on earth would you want that? Sorry." She stood to get ready to go.
"No problem, Lily," Sarah said, smiling up at the red-head.
"Are you leaving already? You've barely had anything to eat..." Claire asked Lily in a slightly concerned tone.
Lily shrugged. "I'm not really hungry this morning. And I've gotta finish the Transfigurations essay McGonagall assigned yesterday. I don't want to fall behind."
"Um, Lily, that essay isn't due for two weeks." Alice said.
"Yeah, well, why put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today?" Lily replied. Smiling, she said, "If you need me, I'll be in the library." And with that, she turned and headed towards the large oak doors leading to the corridor.
But before she reached them, a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a halt. Already knowing whose hand it was, Lily sighedand said loudly, "Gee, I wish people wouldn't stop random peoplefrom leaving breakfast." She turned and found herself staring at non other than James Potter.
"Well, you know me, I just love to hold people up," he replied, grinning up at her.
Lily's heart skipped a beat, but she ignored it. "Are you gonna invite me to sit, or are you just gonna make me stand here?" She asked, putting her free hand on her hip.
James stood and gestured to the seat to his left. "Milady?" he said, extending a hand. Lilyrolled her eyes at him and sat down, smiling at Peter, who looked thunderstruck; Sirius, whose spoon missed his mouth, sending oatmeal down his front; and Remus, who had an odd, knowing look about him.
"Don't tell me you wereleaving breakfast already," James said, sitting down beside her. "Let me guess, you're going to go do homework that's not due for two weeks."
"And if I was?" Lily asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
"I'd say you we're mental." James replied, smirking.
Lily smirked back. "Ohhh, so I'm the mental one now?"
"Mmm-hmm." James replied.
Lily glared at him for a second before her face broke into a dazzling smile and she said, "I don't think it's wise for the most mentally unstable person in this entire room to call someone who's simply trying to get her work done mental, but that's just me."
James smiled back. "One could argue against that point."
"Oh, really?" Lily said, before laughing lightly and standing up. "I'll see you later, James."
"Definitely." Was the reply.
Lily smiled and said, "Bye Remus, Peter, Sirius." And with that, she walked the rest of the way to the doors and exited the Great Hall.
It was only after that that people started whispering excitedly about what had just happened. Fourteen seats away from the Marauderers, Claire, Alice and Sarah were all talking quietly, their heads bent together.
"So we definitely think that Lily and James should be together, then?" Sarah asked.
Alice and Claire exchanged glances before saying, "Duh," in unison.
"We've gotta think of some way to get them alone together..." Alice said, tapping her temple with her forefinger.
"Oh, I've got an idea." Claire said slyly. "Afterall, no matter what she says, Lily Potter just sounds too good."
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