By headupintheclouds
Later that night, when everyone (yes, even those troublesome Marauders) was in bed, Lily Evans woke with a start.
"No! James!" she screamed, shooting upright in her bed. She found herself in a sobering cold sweat, and began breathing slower, trying to think back. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember the reason she had awoken in the dead of night, screaming his name.
She heard a soft plodding coming down the hall and shrunk beneath her covers in fear. The door was opened by a groggy looking James, holding a flickering candle. Rubbing his eyes and mussing his hair in the same smooth action, he squinted into her room.
"You're alive." He stated blandly, before closing the door in front of him. Softer plodding assured Lily that he had returned to his room. Suddenly in a state of horror, she sprang out of bed, making her swift way to James' room, down the hall. Her heart pounding in the most outrageous manner, she opened the door. James had his legs on the floor, and was in the process of checking he time and preparing to blow out his candle.
"You- you- er, you didn't hear me, did you? I mean what I yelled. You know, before. When you came to see me. You- you didn't, did you?" She pressed, James raising an eyebrow despite his tired appearance.
"No." he said simply.
Lily breathed a sigh of relief and turned back down the corridor to her own room. Closing her own door quietly behind her, liberation replaced her fear. She ran a quick hand over her sleepy eyes before crawling into bed for the second time that evening.
She heard a quiet, almost timid plodding coming toward her door again. It paused just outside, and she wondered if perhaps she had mistaken its' path. Soon after this doubt, however, a slightly more awake James Potter peered through the door, his candle almost blowing out from the draft the door had caused. Lily raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"You- erm, what was it? You know, what you shouted. Before, I mean," he said in the least James Potter way Lily had ever heard.
"Oh, about that, er, it was nothing. Just, you know…" she trailed off unconvincingly.
"Yeah, okay," James said, not sounding very sure of himself.
"Goodnight, I guess." Lily said gently.
"Yeah." He said, but instead of leaving, he stood there. He stood in the opening of her door, only his head peeking through, and he stared off into some deep space Lily have been unaware of, which apparently inhabited her room.
"James?" she whispered. It was more to herself than him, but it served as a call to action for both of them.
"Yes?" he asked, probably a little louder than he'd intended.
"We- I mean, it's not like we're going to go to sleep." She said awkwardly, hoping he would cotton on and she wouldn't have to explain further. Her letter expressing the sorrow she had over her actions hadn't gone over very well, and she wasn't sure she wanted to discover what type of reaction an invitation to spend time with her might get. Lucky for her, he got her point almost immediately.
"Right. Since, you know, it's 3 AM, and we're thoroughly awake." He agreed more swiftly than she could have hoped for.
"And, you know, we can't go anywhere, because it's after hours," Lily said slowly, a smile blooming on her face. It had been early that morning since last it had been there. For Lily Evans, that was far too long.
"So, we may as well, you know… since we're awake together and all, I mean- we could, errrr…" James ventured.
"Yes." Lily said. They were both beaming stupidly at each other, but neither seemed to notice or even care.
He jabbed in the vague direction of their shared Common Room, before retreating towards it. She followed a little more eagerly than she might have before.
She found him pressing himself into the far side of the couch. He looked a little uncomfortable. One of his hands was somewhere tangled beneath him, and he was leaning as far over the couch arm as he could have managed. A slightly pained expression appeared on his face. He tried to cover it with a casual smile, but succeeded only in a grimace. In the motion of smiling, he'd somehow twisted his wrist into a most uncomfortable position.
Lily curled into the other side of the couch. For a while, neither of them spoke. A little later, a house elf came and lit their fire quickly and anxiously.
When the tiny elf finally made her exit, she looked as though she would have wet herself if she'd had to be in their presence much longer.
Now with a meek fire to gaze at, some of the tension in the room was absorbed.
"Sorry," James said some time later.
Lily stirred from the trance she'd been in, looking bewildered. "What are you sorry for?"
"What my friends wrote." James said simply. Neither was looking at the other, nor had they since they'd sank down into the couch. Both simply stared into the depths of the fire as it slowly grew larger.
"Oh, it's ok. I mean, you- you really shouldn't be sorry. I was- horrible." Lily said.
"I'm rather glad you were," James said quietly.
Turning to face him for the first time, Lily shot him a disbelieving look. He turned to her with a lopsided grin.
"I'm sure," she replied sarcastically, turning back to the enthralling flames.
"No, really," he said. He turned to face the flames as well, although his motives seemed different. Lily had turned away because she couldn't endure the intensity of making eye contact. He turned because it was awkward to stare at that girl, and say what he'd been pondering for quite a while.
"If you hadn't, I don't think I would have- er- plagued you." He said slowly. It was clearly the first time he'd tried to put this thought to words. It seemed to be proving difficult for him.
"You mean, it was all a game for you?" Lily said fiercely.
"No!" James assured her quickly. Her visage turned more placid quickly. "I mean, you always stuck out, in that you wouldn't simply date me because you could. It made you- appealing, somehow." James finished. He smiled to himself, either quite pleased with his choice of words, or being entertained by some other memory.
"Hey, would you go get something out of my room? I want to show you something," James said a few minutes later.
"What! Why should I go get it?" Lily asked, although her face bore a wide smile.
James smiled cheekily. "You're nearer.
Lily stood up somewhat begrudgingly. "What might this thing be?" she asked.
"It's an old book- I thought it might interest you. All the mistakes and foul assumptions some old wizards made. It's an ancient book, and I just realized you might find it interesting."
Lily did find that prospect entertaining, and went to find it.
Upon opening James' bedroom door, however, Lily was greeted by quite a shock.
"James Oliver Potter!" she shrieked, somewhere between indignance and hilarity.
She heard James raise form the couch and step up behind her, peering through his doorway. His cheeks turned a dark rosy color and the room quickly changed. Docile blue hues covered what had previously been Lily Evans' face, plastering every wall of his room.
"Er…. See, about that… it was… a joke?" James said hastily.
A/N: Seems like a good place to end that then. You see, I was considering a cliffhanger, but I decided that I've been absent far too long to test yall's tempers… Sorry about that. I just couldn't get my head around mending the Lily/James problem. I knew James wouldn't let the rift go on too long, but I also knew he wouldn't reach out to her, or her to him. Personally, I thought that was cute Ummm, lemme know if you want me to start up an "Elusive Lily Evans" forum, where we can all chat and be merry. That way, you all can ask me questions, leave suggestions, whatever. Ummmm, I won't make a forum unless someone wants me too, though. So, lemme know!