The sound of the heavy rain drummed against the windows of the common room. This soothed James pleasantly as he scratched down his notes, an adjacent tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth adorably.
It had been a late night for the Marauders (plus Lily.) As they had taken over Gryffindor common, cramming some last-minute studying for their N.E.W.T.S.
James looked up from his parchment and scanned the room, his eyes falling on the snoring Sirius. Who was typically the first one who fell asleep, James grinned knowingly as he noticed Remus cuddled next to him - also asleep and snoring heavily, a droplet of drool escaping his mouth.
Across from the couple was Peter, who looked almost dead, laying on the ground - seemingly attempting to use his potions notes as a makeshift blanket.
James rolled his eyes lovingly at the unfortunate boy as he looked to the figure just at his feet. Lily was the only other soul awake, her determined scribbles filling the comforting silence of the room. It had been different with Lily this year , James thought - Well, he had been different this year. After the initial shock to everyone (including James.) When Dumbledore had appointed him Head Boy, and with Lily being appointed Head Girl (to the surprise of no one.) The two were seeing each other pretty frequently, how could they not when they shared living quarters?
At first, Lily had been less than happy to learn that James was going to be Head Boy, as she was convinced that he wouldn't take it seriously.
However, he pleasantly proved her wrong. James made it his top priority to be the best Head Boy Hogwarts had ever seen.
Lily was more than pleased with him. So, naturally , a friendship blossomed between the two. It also helped that James had stopped his constant pestering of dates and flirting so Lily was able to see what the boy was truly like under his facade of confidence.
James's never-ending thoughts about Lily were interrupted by an angry growl made by real-life Lily, as he looked down to see a snapped quill in her hand - followed by a pool of ink on her parchment.
"Oh for fucks sake! stupid arsehole quill!" Lily snapped, throwing the quill across the room in her anger. James leant forward, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"What's the matter?" He asked, in a soft voice that was only reserved for her.
"This cunting quill! what the fuck is wrong with the wizarding world? Why can't we use pens like normal fucking people?!" Lily snapped, but she made no effort to move James's hand from her shoulder.
"I don't think 'normal' people can turn into animals and cast spells, Lils." James tried to joke, chuckling softly and rubbing a thumb on her shoulder. He felt Lily's shoulders drop slightly, relaxing under his touch.
Lily huffed, crossing her arms and making no effort to fix her page, leaning back and leaning her head on James's leg. James shook his head fondly as he leant forward, casting a simple scourgify to clean the ink on her page. Lily mumbled thanks and James tapped her head fondly, whispering in her ear,
"I think it's time to call it a night Evans"
Lily looked up at him with defiance but her tired eyes gave away how she was really feeling.
"But there's still so much to do James-" Lily objected but James Interrupted,
"You're not going to absorb any more information tonight, getting sleep is the best way for the information to stick in your head," He said, in a smug matter-of-fact manner as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"You really know the world's broken when James Potter is talking some sense," Lily said, smiling weakly up at James, and James couldn't help but smile back bashfully.
"You know the world's broken when Lily Evans is listening to James Potter" He retorted, grinning and patting the space beside him on the sofa, wanting her to sit next to him.
"Come up Evans, you don't want to sleep there, Pete pisses the bed." James joked, grinning mischievously
Lily scoffed but flashed Peter a worried look, almost believing the obvious lie. Lily sighed dramatically, but she got up and slumped herself on the sofa - shoulder to shoulder with James.
"I'm not even tired," she said, but the yawn that escaped her proved her wrong.
"Yeah sure you're not Evans" James laughed, looking at her sweetly, loving the way she scrunched her nose in annoyance at his teasing.
James expected a witty remark back, or at least a sarcastic eye-roll, but Lily just stared at him, her eyes glued to his. James wished he knew what she was thinking, mainly if she was thinking about him .
"Penny for your thoughts?" He said in a whisper, feeling his breath catching in his throat, and Lily immediately snapped her stare away, her eyes glued to her fingers, where she was fidgeting with her rings.
"That's a Muggle phrase" she whispered back, still inspecting her hands with great interest.
"Well..." James laughed, raking his fingers through his hair once more. "- I did take Muggle studies for you-" he paused, realising his fuck-up. "- I mean, I um took Muggle studies." he finished with a cough.
"For me?" Lily repeated, looking at him again, her green eyes almost sparkling. James gulped nervously, unsure of how she would react, he really hoped that she wouldn't get angry.
"Well, being honest... yeah "
James braced himself, for the inevitable slap, or angry argument that would naturally break out. Instead, he dared to look at Lily, and he breathed out in relief at the sight of her smiling softly at the boy.
"Potter..You- I." she started, laughing as she shook her head in disbelief.
"Of course you did" she chuckled, raising her brow and turning her attention back to her fingers, fumbling with her rings once again.
"I mean- Evans, you had to get to know my world, so it only seemed fit that I got to know yours," James said, honestly, maybe being a bit too honest. Lily laughed again, still not looking at James as she picked at her fingernails.
"James your just so..."
"So?" James teased, grinning at Lily with a familiar smugness.
"So damn infuriating , every time I force myself not to like you- you go and say something fucking adorable like that!"
James flushed, crimson not expecting the bluntness of Lily's words.
"You like me?" James asked, his head swirling and stomach burning.
"Yes you idiot-" Lily said as if it was as casual as asking for the salt at the dinner table
"-Of course I like you."
Lily turned again, grinning as she brought a hand up to his hair, giving it a good rake through, messing it up beyond belief. James laughed, at how right it all felt, at how casual Lily was being after years of him pining. "Do you mean like as in-" He began, a blush covering his face.
"Like as in Like like? As in I want to snog you? Yes." Lily said, her smile widening.
James flushed again, looking down and biting his lip to contain the pure glee on his face.
"Well, then if you like, like me, then I think we should go to Hogsmeade together on Saturday, yes?" He said, placing his hand atop hers.
Lily pretended to think hard for a moment, before grinning at James
"I'd think that'd be appropriate, yes."
James grinned back, absolutely glowing with happiness.
Lily rolled her eyes lovingly and she shifted a bit, resting her head in his lap, smirking up at him.
"Oh so now I'm a human pillow?" James asked smiling, and Lily just curled into him further, allowing James to rake a hand through her long auburn hair.
"Hmmm I don't know, you're not a very good pillow, too lumpy.." she yawned, clearly on the brink of sleep.
James leant down, pressing a soft kiss on her head.
"I'll work on it" he remarked, but by that time her breathing had slowed, and she was already dozing off.
"Night Lily-flower," he said, in a ghost of a whisper as the girl of his dreams slept in his lap. He was too fired up to sleep, so he completed his notes, not moving a millimetre and holding the (now snoring) girl close all night.
