Story Title: Love of Two Generations: First Love
Chapter Title: Take The Floor
Disclaimer: All people and recognizable places belong to and were taken out of J.K. Rowling's amazing mind. Plot and some characters belong to me.
Author: Chewy
Summary: In a world of Witches, Wizards, Trolls, and magnificent Beasts, the tale of four different people unravels to engulf the world in luminosity. Can true love blossom from true hate? Can two opposites come together to form a bond so powerful it could save the world? Only TIME can tell…
Publishing Date: June 29, 2005
Author's Note: Ok, it's been over a month, but I have two very plausible excuses. Maybe even three:). First, I had a novel due in my Writer's Craft class. I'm happy to say I got the top mark on it! Go Me! Lol, second, as soon as it was finished I had BAD Writer's block. Even during my exam. It was bad. Third because I had a songfic that I hadn't gotten rid of, fanfiction deleted it and I couldn't upload for a while. Now, I'd like to apologize in advance if this is a bad chapter. This was written through Writer's block. Hopefully it's still good. :)
Lily lay in bed, her arms sitting lazily over her stomach and her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Nothing seemed to be right. Lily never used to lay awake at night. She never felt that if she were to speak she would scream. She was so tired, and yet she could not sleep. Her eyes wouldn't close in fear of nightmares, and her brain would not stop turning.
She rolled over, resting her head on her hands. She peered towards her curtains, watching as they floated silently in the small breeze created by the open window. She shivered, pulling her covers closer around her. Late October proved to be colder than the year before, the students of Hogwarts were already wrapped in their warm coats. Lily had not gone outside, other than to report to Care of Magical Creatures. The cold air made her already cold heart ache. Jake Evans loved the winter.
It had been over a month since the attack on Hogwarts. A month had passed and Lily had not slept. She had not eaten, other than the food Marie had nearly forced down her throat, threatening to use the Imperius curse. Lily's eyes had grown dark, the circles beneath them curving into her cheeks.
She yawned before throwing the burgundy blanket from her body and sitting up. She stood quickly, lifting her wand from her bedside table and her cloak from the desk chair. She opened her bedroom a crack, peering into the dimly lit fireplace. She looked for the Head Boy's figure sitting on the couch. When she saw nothing she opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible.
She took a step out, pulling the door behind her closed. She closed her eyes as it let a loud creak resonate through the Head's Common Room. She turned to the door as James Potter's head popped up from behind the back of the couch. "Traitor," she spoke to the squeaking door, taking another step away from it.
"Good evening Lily," James's voice called to her. She nodded passively to the silhouette of his head. She watched him stand, straightening his blue t-shirt and flannel pants out before taking a step towards her. "Where are you off to?"
Lily shrugged, gripping the sides of her dark cloak, covering her own red flannel pants and tank top. She turned to the door, gripping the handle behind her.
"Are you hungry?"
Lily nodded slightly, looking down at her feet. She heard James move and saw the shadows of his feet approach her on the floor. She looked up when he stopped, "I needed to get away."
James nodded, holding out his hand for her to take, "come with me." She looked to his hand, then his face, questioning it softly. The sympathetic smile on his face caused her to bite her lip before nodding slowly and taking his outstretched hand. His smile grew and he pulled her behind him towards the closed portrait hole. "I have just the thing."
Lily followed him throughout the halls of Hogwarts, her exhausted body stumbling behind him. He stopped suddenly in front of a painting of fruit, dropping her hand. "Stay here," he spoke quietly. He reached for the pear in the painting and began tickling it, as it laughed the painting began to move. Lily watched in amazement, a small smile crossing her face before being wiped off again. The smell of pastries and roast beef emerged from the door. She felt her stomach squirm with hunger as she stood waiting.
Minutes later she was being pulled away again, a basket of things held tight in her hand, another in James's. She followed him closely, up staircases, down corridors until he stopped again, setting his basket at her feet. She watched as he paced back and forth three times, deep in thought. She gasped quietly as a large door appeared, tiny designs covering it.
"The Room of Requirements," James spoke softly, taking her hand and leading her to the door. His basket lay forgotten in its place. He ushered her into the room, stopping her for a moment as he went back for the basket. Lily looked around her, wondering why she had never found this room before. She set the basket she held down on a small table to her right, making sure everything was covered as she waited for James.
The room was dark, a white single candle in the centre illuminating it slightly. Lily watched it flicker in the breeze coming from the open far window, and her brow furrowed. The light from the sky cast no shadows in the room, and no table sat in the centre. The candle floated just above eye level, saving it from being kicked. Lily looked around her, making out the small shapes of a couch and a fireplace.
"Do you like it?" James questioned, coming up behind her. He set the other basket down on the table and set a hand on her right shoulder. Lily nodded, looking around again.
"But what is it?"
"A dance floor."
Lily looked at James, her brow creasing in confusion. She watched his every move as he walked around her and held out his right hand for her to take. She took it cautiously, stepping after him slowly. As he walked backwards he traced the small scar that was still visible on her left palm. He pulled her to the centre of the room, just bellow the candle and stopped. He lifted his wand and flicked it towards something behind her.
James smiled to Lily, taking her left hand and slowly placing it on his shoulder. He then reached for her right just as a soft piano came humming from around them. Lily peered into his eyes, wondering why this was happening. He set his right hand around her waist, pulling her closer to him and kissing her forehead softly.
Before Lily could pull away he began to sway to the music, causing her to do the same. She looked down between them, watching her feet through the small space. Lily looked up at James a moment later and let a small smile play on her lips. She was finally dancing after so long. It felt so good. She almost burst out laughing, a small bit of her feeling happy again. She closed her eyes slowly without fear, leaning her head forward onto her dance partner's shoulder. She felt him tense then relax, a chuckle escaping his lips.
"You look exhausted," he spoke slowly, causing Lily to lift her head.
"I haven't slept," she replied softly. She looked away to the corner of the room, a rather comfy looking chair situated in her gaze.
"Why?"
Lily's head shot back to James and she stopped dancing. She took a step away before crossing behind him, heading towards the comfy chair in the corner. The music playing came to a halt as she sat slowly, crossing and folding her legs beneath her. Lily peered down at her entangled fingers, twitching her thumb.
"Nightmares?" James questioned softly, taking a seat on the floor in front of her. He looked up at Lily, sympathy written through his eyes. "May I ask something?" He asked tentatively, "When you have these nightmares, what are they of?"
Lily peered down at the boy, staring into his waiting eyes. She looked up, changing her view to stare at the floating candle. She shrugged, drawing her legs in closer before answering in a whisper. "They used to be of a car crash, my mother screaming in the window before silence. Then a green symbol would rise from the windshield, a skull, surrounded by what looked like a snake. I could never forget it. But now…." She sighed, turning her head and looking towards the unlit fireplace to her right.
"Now all I see is Jake. His eyes staring back at me in terror, the skull swimming within. I've never felt so…" she stopped, shaking her head softly.
"So what?" James questioned, leaning forward and touching her fisted hand softly.
"So vulnerable." Lily looked down at their touching hands, gripping his as he gripped hers. Her expression changed to confusion, then realization in a matter of moments. "You've changed…." She spoke quietly.
James gave her hand a small squeeze, "people do that." James slowly reached to her chin, lifting her head up to look at him before leaning in to give her cheek a soft kiss. He pulled away, stroking the lower part of her cheek softly, gazing into her eyes. James took a deep breath, she smelled of lilies and vanilla. He leaned forward again slowly, feeling his eyes close partially. He stopped, giving her the chance to stop him herself. When she did nothing he continued to lean in, seeing only a small part of her face through his partially closed eyes, his motions grew smaller.
James could feel Lily's breath on his lips, and her hand grew tense within his. He stopped, opening his eyes. "I need to get back to bed," Lily spoke softly, dropping his hand. Their faces were inches apart, Lily's breath on his face, and his on hers. James pulled away quickly, throwing himself back too fast and landing on his back on the floor.
"You haven't eaten!" James called out as Lily walked past him, folding her arms across her chest.
"I'm not hungry," she replied, almost to the door. She stopped to fiddle with the doorknob just as her stomach let a loud growl escape. She looked down for the second time that night, "traitor". She looked back at James, then to the food baskets. "What have you got?" she questioned him, walking towards him and offering her hand to help him up. He took it gladly, nearly pulling her down as he stood.
"Pumpkin pasties?" James questioned, waiting for a response from Lily. When her nose wrinkled he continued questioning her. "Pumpkin juice? Orange juice? Biscuits? Roast beef?" James stopped looking to Lily for her response. When she shook her head, scrunching up her nose again he laughed out loud. "Well what did you have in mind?"
Lily paused, biting her lip and looking to her right, "Chocolate cake?" James smiled, walking towards the two discarded baskets of food. Lifting them slowly he made his way back to the centre of the room and took a seat. He patted the floor across from him and waited for Lily to sit.
"I knew you'd say something like that so I had the House Elves make a few extras, just for you," James explained as he lifted a plate from the basket filled with what looked like brownies.
"House Elves?" Lily questioned, taking a seat and crossing her legs.
"They work here," James began. "They clean the dormitories everyday, they make the food for our meals. They do everything that Filch doesn't. They're very sneaky little things. Wizarding Households have them too. My family has had Swellings since I can remember." James stopped, watching Lily's expression change from curious to slightly disgusted. "What's wrong?"
"It sounds like they're slaves," Lily began, looking down at the food in front of them. "Doing almost everything around the castle? Do they enjoy what they do then? Cleaning after the witches and wizards they belong to?"
"I- I think they do," James answered apprehensively. Maybe this was a bad idea. "It's been like this since anyone can remember. They have more powers than any wizard, so I expect if they weren't happy with what they were doing, we'd know about it."
Lily bit her lip, her expression softening as she thought about it, "I suppose you're right." She reached for a brownie that James offered and took a few bites, savouring the chocolate that coated the inside of her mouth. They sat, quietly speaking of the House Elves and the brownies for a long time. James's smile grew larger as they continued, feeling as if maybe he had gotten somewhere with getting back the old Lily.
By the time they had finished the plate of chocolate brownies, and another plate of Garlic bread, James had Lily laughing loudly. She took her last bite of brownie, plopping it dramatically into her mouth before brushing off the crumbs from her hands. Chewing, she stood up suddenly and took a step away from the plates and James. She stood directly in the centre of the room beneath the white candle and peered upwards.
"You know," she began, staring back down at the floor as her expression turned solemn once more. James made a motion to stand but stopped as she began to speak again. "Jake loved it when I danced." She began to move her arms. "He came to everyone of my performances and sat in the exact middle of the auditorium. He knew the men at the ticket booth by name." Lily paused, bringing her arms up to around her belly button and holding them out in a ballet first position.
"When my father wasn't around, he'd take me to my classes and make sure I was always smiling." She turned both feet out and drew her right foot up the side of her leg to her knee. Extending it slowly behind her she drew a line with her fingers to her toes, "arabesque." She slowly brought her leg and arms back to her sides and stood in front of James, shrugging slightly.
As James stood Lily's eyes went to the floor, staring at the patterns on the tiling. She felt James in front of her and watched his feet take the position hers had before. "What do you call this position?" he questioned.
"First."
James nodded, taking Lily's fallen wrists in his hands and setting them onto his shoulders. He slowly dropped his arms to her waist as the music from before began to play again. He began swaying slowly, sending Lily a small smile as her eyes began to rise from the floor.
"You'll have to show me a routine sometime," James spoke quietly, watching Lily's expressions. His brow furrowed as he noticed a small tear start to trail down her pale cheek. He lifted a hand from her waist and swiped the tear with his thumb from just above her chin. "Don't cry Lily Flower," James leaned forward, planting a small comforting kiss on her forehead.
He peered down at the girl in his arms sympathetically as the number of tears travelling over her cheeks increased. She collapsed in his arms, leaning her forehead heavily on his shoulders, leaving a small puddle of tears on his blue t-shirt. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, holding her to him as she sobbed. He lifted one hand and began stroking her hair. It had grown since the year before and now sat just below her shoulders, he loved her hair, despite what he used to say.
James kissed the top of her head as her sobs subsided. The poor girl. She had been through so much in the last year; she just needed to get away. Lily pulled her head away from James's shoulder. She lifted a hand and tried to swat the dark blue tearstains away from his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"For what?" James questioned, pulling away slightly himself and smiling down at her. "You did nothing." He leaned down, fixing a small kiss on her left cheek, her right cheek, then her forehead. Brushing away a strand of hair that had come in front of her eyes, he stroked her cheek.
James pulled away suddenly; drawing his arm down Lily's to catch her hand. "You need your sleep," he spoke, disregarding Lily's protests. "The house elves will take those," he spoke as Lily went towards the plates and baskets still on the floor.
"But-"
"No buts Lily, you look exhausted. Leave it," he ordered, pulling her hand, sending her body towards him. She stopped herself before crashing into his side and nodded dejectedly. As he led her from the room, she looked back once more as the door closed slowly behind them. He took her back to the Head's Dorm and stopped just before her door. The room had grown dark, the last embers finally sizzling away.
"If you need anything, just call. Alright?" James questioned. Lily nodded, glancing towards her closed door. She glanced down at her wristwatch, checking the time. 4:00AM. She nodded to herself, then at James. He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead before turning away from her towards his own room.
"James?" Lily questioned softly.
"Yes?" he turned back quickly.
"I…" she stumbled, looking down at her hands. "I just wanted to thank-you. Tonight was fun…"
James smiled, watching her nervous form. "Other than making you cry, not having enough chocolate, and keeping you up all night. Yes, it was."
Lily laughed quietly, "No, I needed all that. It was perfect." She walked to him, throwing her arms around his shocked form and placing a soft kiss on his right cheek. "Thank-you." She pulled away and walked back to her own room, sending him a small smile as she opened the door and closed it again.
James stood in the very last light of the Common Room, smiling to himself. Perhaps it wasn't just a lost cause.