*Slowly pushes Chapter 9 across table and looks away ashamed*
James woke with a start. His muscles were abnormally sore and his bed felt like it had turned to rocks. He rolled over and immediately wished he hadn't. Frostiness spread across the vacated part of his bed. James moaned and slowly opened his eyes, shocked by what he saw. Not two inches from him, lay Lily Evans breathing and sleeping peacefully. Her red hair strewn about her face and the pillow holding her head protectively. James had fantasized what it would be like to wake up next to Lily Evans for years and in that moment, he decided it was perfect. In that moment, he decided that he never wanted to waste another day by not waking up next to his red haired beauty.
"I'm going to make you happy," he whispered tenderly as he remembered where they were and why they were there.
James sat up and tucked the blankets tighter around Lily, casting a warming spell on them to loosen her posture. Her hands clutched the ends of the blanket as if they were trying to pry warmth and comfort from them. James sighed. He knew he should leave, but leaving her like this, perfectly peaceful and asleep, was almost harder than leaving her hurt and broken. This was the Lily he wanted her to be all the time. He wondered slightly what she was dreaming about, but let the thought slip away as he faded under the invisibility cloak.
He quietly undid and recast Lily's locking spell and made his way back up to the dormitory. It was still very early and the hallways were empty. But as James pushed the portrait doors open, he knew he wasn't alone. Sitting around a burning fire, were the marauders. Faithful and wicked as always. They offered him smug smiles and sympathetic eyes.
"So, what's the plan?" Sirius asked.
"We are going to make Lily Evans happy," James said simply.
"How do we do that," Peter asked uncertainly.
James walked over and sat down with the boys, pulling off his cloak.
"Well, what makes her happy?" James asked.
"Homework," Sirius said.
"Giving you detention," Peter suggested.
"Books," said Remus.
James shook his head and stared at the fireplace, concentrating. Yes, all of those made her happy, but they were fleeting. Lily needed something more.
"I wonder," James said curiously.
"Hmm?" inquired Remus.
"Nothing," he said before shaking the thought out of his head, "Lily needs more than that. She needs people. Marauder, from this moment on, it is our mission to keep Lily entertained and socially stimulated. Of course, I will be taking on the bulk of the mission, but we will need to set up shifts."
Each of the four boys nodded in agreement. Peter reached into his bag and pulled out a folded up crumpled piece of paper. James smiled widely.
"You kept it?" James asked incredulously.
"Of course, don't believe for one second any of us thought you were through with Evans," Peter explained while tapping the piece of paper with his wand and muttering under his breathe, "Operation Flower Picking undergo."
The crumpled-up piece of paper floated up into the air, twisting and turning as it expanded. Unfolding and revealing its secrets. There on the paper sat a badly drawn woman with curves and red hair. She sat next to what looked to be a weekly planner filled out in a woman's hand writing. James picked up the piece of paper and examined it. Lily's entire schedule was laid out before him. He had enchanted her planner secretly and now every time she updated her planner, James' updated too. It was a good thing she was religiously glued to her calendar. There stood every moment of her day. From meals, to classes, to social engagements she planned to participate in and social engagement she specifically intended not to participate in. Everything they would need to perfectly pair Lily with a marauder at all times.
James examined the paper, he could easily stay with her for several hours of the day, every day. But they didn't have every class together and he couldn't force her to sit in the stands during quidditch practice. And even if he could, having her sit by herself for several hours may not be the best idea. He sighed.
"Alright, I don't have potions with her," he said.
"Lily and I are in the same advanced potions class," Remus explained.
"Thank Merlin for your studious ways," James said.
"I have herbology with her," Peter offered.
"We have magical creatures together," Sirius said, "And can I say she's not as squirmy as the other girls?"
"Of course, not!" James exclaimed, "Lily is only afraid of real things. Like death and stuff like that."
And sleeping in a quiet room, he thought to himself.
"Alright, so who's going to watch Lily while Sirius and I are in quidditch practice?" James asked.
"I could," Peter offered.
"I'll go too," Remus added on.
"Perfect, you guys can take turns depending on the night and your schedules," James said while mentally ticking quidditch practice off his list, "That covers most of the area's that I can't be there for her."
James frowned, they could be there with her all day if they wanted to, but when Lily really needed him to be there, wouldn't be an easy task. How could James be there for Lily when she slept? Friday nights would be easy enough, just sneak into the room with her. But that left six other night's in the week. How could he make it up the staircase?
"What's troubling you?" Remus inquired.
"Lily has a hard time sleeping. She needs someone to be there for her," he explained.
"Prongs, you can't be there for her twenty-four hours a day. You have to sleep," Sirius said.
"I know, I know. And I will, but I just need to make sure that she's sleeping. She hasn't been sleeping. I need to make sure she's ok or I won't be able to sleep," James whined.
"But you can't bloody well walk up the staircase," Remus said with a laugh.
"Well- "Peter said quietly.
"I know!" James interrupted, "I know that. That's the problem! I can't get up the staircase!"
"Well- "Peter tried again.
"Bloody hell, that's a tough one. Even I haven't made it up the staircase," Sirius said with a pout, "And trust me, I've tried. It doesn't even work if you get a group of girls to carry you up."
"Well- "Peter whimpered.
"How the hell would you know that a group of girls can't carry you up the stairs?" James asked.
"Betsy Lang really wanted me up in her room,' Sirius said while wiggling his eyebrows.
"Guys-"Peter said.
"She gathered a group of girls to carry you up to her room?!" James asked incredulously.
"Guys!" Peter said.
"Why didn't you just take her to our room? It wouldn't be the first time," Remus wondered.
"Well it wouldn't have been as much fun that way," Sirius said with a smile.
"MATES!" Peter yelled.
The three boys stopped and turned to stare at Peter.
"Yes Peter?" James asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"I can get you up the staircase," he said quietly.
The three boys stared silently, waiting for further explanation.
"I can get you up the staircase," Peter repeated.
"You figured it out?" Sirius yelled, the first to break the silence.
"How did you?" James asked.
"How long?" Sirius yelled.
"What have you been doing with this knowledge?" Remus asked.
"It was an accident," he explained, his cheeks burning.
"Accident my ass!" Sirius barked.
"Marauders!" James yelled, "Let him tell his story.
Peter swayed back and forth on his heels for a moment, gathering his thoughts before embarking on his tale.
"Well, I was hiding from Ms. Norris. I ran and she followed me into the common room. I thought for sure she was gonna get me! I was scrambling for my life and then I just started running up the stairs and it didn't even hit me which stairs I was running up until I got to the bedrooms," Peter paused.
"Well go on! What did you see?" Sirius prodded, "WHO did you see?"
"Padfoot," Remus said warningly.
"It was amazing," Peter exclaimed, "There were girls everywhere. They were in night dresses and their hair was all down. Some of their night dresses were short and lacy and white."
Peter looked off into the distance, a funny smile played on his lips as a far-off look took over his eyes.
"This still doesn't explain how you got up there," James said.
"Or why the girls weren't freaking out at seeing you,' Sirius added.
"Cause it wasn't him," Remus exclaimed, "Of course! The stairs couldn't discriminate against you. The girls would have owls, toads, and cats. They couldn't possible all be female! They would have to be able to get up the staircases as well."
"Wait," Sirius stopped the boys, "Are you telling me a rat climbed into the girls dormitory?"
The three boys stared at one another for a moment before bursting into a loud barrage of laughter.
"It's not funny!" Peter cried.
"Of course, a rat would figure out how to get into the girls rooms!" James added.
"Guys stop!" Peter whined, "You know I didn't choose to be a rat."
"No," Sirius managed to choke out, "the rat life chose you."
"Alright, alright," Remus said with a slight chuckle, "That's enough. Just be thankful he figured it out."
"Yeah," Peter stuck out his chin and crossed his arms, staring down at the ground, his brow furrowing.
"Oh come on," Sirius said while patting him on the back, "You know we love you."
"This is brilliant," James said while catching his breath, "I can get up the stairs now."
"Uh, mate," Sirius said while surprising a chuckle, "It may freak out a few students to see a giant stag climbing up the stairs towards the girls' bedrooms."
"Damn," James cursed, "And the invisibility cloak will be too small."
The boys sat for a minute. James stared into the fire. Sirius proceeded to lean backwards off the couch, his head hanging down. Peter scratched his hand. It wasn't until Remus, who had been tapping his wand into his hand, sighed in frustration that the boys started to think their brilliant plan may not be so brilliant.
"I mean we could use a cloaking spell, but I just don't think any of us are skilled enough to perform a quality enough charm," Remus explained.
"Cloaking charm!" James said excitedly, "It will work perfectly!"
"James, it would have to be a high level, professional spell, in order to pass by all of the girls." Remus warned.
"Mooney," James said while rubbing his hair, "That's what you said about the animagus, but we got that down! How much harder could this be?"
"It's not harder by any means, it's just that it's a completely different skill set. You were naturally gifted in transfiguration and that led to your teaching the boys. This will be different. None of us are skilled enough to take the lead in this. We will all be starting out on the same level. I'm not sure if we can do it," Remus fixed his hair.
"Mooney," Sirius said seriously, "It's for Lily. James will figure it out."
Peter nodded in agreement and Remus smiled besides himself.
"Alright, so we'll start practicing the cloaking spell tonight," Remus said.
A creak snapped through the air, causing all four boys to jump, wands raised, towards the portrait door. Lily emerged, half asleep, her hair a mess, her cloak disheveled, and her bag swaying to her side. She rubbed her eyes as she walked by the boys, without noticing their presence, and started up the stairs. Each boy stood, frozen, as they watched Lily float on by. As soon as they heard the girls dormitory door swing shut they turned to one another.
"Wow, she really is out of it," Peter said.
"We should get going. Everyone's about to start coming down for breakfast," Remus thought aloud.
"Mooney, it's Saturday," Sirius laughed, "No one's gonna be awake for a long time. The only reason we're awake is that girl and she's not even really awake."
"Well, we should get ready," James said, "As soon as she's ready for breakfast, we will be too."
"Operation Flower Picking begins," Peter stated.
*Slowly crawls out of room in shame for not posting for 7 months*