Chapter 12: Sleeping

James woke up sweating. He noticed it was still dark outside. He put on his glasses and checked the time; 3:24. He wiped the sweat from his face and sighed. James had been having the same dream almost every night since the first time he dreamt it. It was now the beginning of October; three weeks ago. The dreams would always be the same; Lily would be with him, she would disappear and then Bellatrix would kill her. At first, James paid no attention to it, as he thought they would eventually go away. Now, it was just frustrating. I already know what happens, so what the bloody hell does it mean?! He thought to himself.

James got out of bed quietly and walked to the bathroom. He washed his face and looked in the mirror with his glasses back on. James had dark bags under his eyes from all the nightmares, and his eyes were dull. He messed up his hair purely out of habit and went back to his bed.

He looked up at the ceiling and ran the dream over and over in his mind trying to find a hidden meaning. He assumed that the object Malfoy was asking Lily for was the thing that Voldemort wanted. That was obvious. But why Lily? He thought, Could it be just because she's the girl that I love and because I'm afraid of seeing her die? Or does she actually have what Voldemort wants? These questions were constantly repeated whenever he had a dream and he would never have an answer, no matter how much he thought about it. James had asked Remus, Sirius and even Peter about what they thought, but they weren't much help. As far as he knew, they all probably thought he was off his rocker.

James closed his eyes and saw the blinding green light hitting Lily in the chest. He opened his eyes. He shook his head like he was trying to physically shake the image from his thoughts.

The past three weeks had been frustrating hell for James. Three weeks ago was also the full moon where he and the Marauders would accompany Remus in their animal forms to the Shrieking Shack so that Remus could transform. That particular full moon had not been a good one. Remus the werewolf was in a terribly bad mood and never seemed to run out of energy to fight. James and Sirius had multiple bruises and cuts from their monthly adventure; James was still sore in some areas.

Not only did he have to deal with the nightmares, but he had Head duties with Lily. He would be deprived of another night's worth of sleep each week. But, they had also proven to be a good time to spend with Lily. It was basically the only time he could talk to Lily freely without people smirking at him. James and Lily had become very good friends in the short time span of three weeks, but positive things always attracts a negative affect.

James was frustrated that he and Lily were just friends. Lily knew that James had liked her for six long years, would she think his situation had changed after just one year? She might have only become his friend because she felt bad for him and that made James' heart ache. He wanted for her to realize that James was her second half, her match made in heaven. They got along extremely well and could talk about anything and everything. Lily told James about her problems and he listened faithfully. He was ecstatic that Lily would trust him so much and he was hopeful. He told Lily everything except the Marauders' biggest secret. He told her about the nightmares but not that she starred in it; he didn't want to scare her off or anything.

There wasn't anyone in the world James would rather spend his time with and he was pretty sure Lily enjoyed spending time with him as well. What was she afraid of? Why wouldn't she just give him a chance? He knew that she wouldn't regret it if she did.

James sighed and rubbed his temples. This has to stop. I don't know how much more I can take of this. James was so tired, but he couldn't sleep because of the unbearable images that raked his mind. If I can't sleep, he thought, then I might as well get something done. James climbed out of his bed and grabbed his book bag. He quietly walked out of the dormitory and down to the Common Room.

James re-kindled the fire and sat down in the armchair closest to it. He shivered slightly and got out his books. He opened his Transfiguration text book and stared at the words. He tried reading, but surprisingly couldn't concentrate. Words like 'lightly' and 'verbalize' would turn into 'Lily' and 'Voldemort'. James rubbed his eyes and closed the book. He closed his eyes and opened them before his dream would replay behind his eyelids.

Unable to find anything better to do, James sat watching the fire for the rest of the night.

…………………………

Lily woke up with the sun again. Her life was feeling somewhat normal after her and the Marauders overheard Malfoy and Bellatrix that night. She had become very good friends with James so she was happy enough. She wasn't as stressed as before because she knew that James would eventually ask her out again; after all it's been one month since school started and he hasn't asked her out once. There was a Hogsmeade weekend coming up and she was crossing her fingers that he would ask her.

Lily and James patrols were Lily's favourite time of the week. Without them, Lily was sure that they would not have become such close friends within the one month. Lily told James basically everything now, besides her crush problems which she discussed with Marlene. In return, James shared his thoughts with her even though she knew he wasn't telling her everything. She knew that James had four best friends already; hell, they were more like brothers, but she still liked that he would tell her things and that they got along well. As she spent more time with him, she fell harder and harder for the messy-haired Head Boy.

During patrols, Lily and James caught around 5-10 kids out of bed but the rest of the time it was just the two of them. They hadn't heard anything on Malfoy and Bellatrix since that night. James brought the Marauder's Map with them when they patrolled so they could see if either was out of bed, but, so far, Malfoy and Bellatrix had always been in their Common Room.

Lily got out of bed and went to take a shower. When she walked out of the bathroom, it was 7:15. She decided to wake up Marlene and the other girls.

Lily and Marlene were feeling even more separated from Melissa and Nicole now that Nicole was dating Preston from Ravenclaw. It turned out that sitting with the Ravenclaw girls was an effective strategy after all. Melissa did get together with Shawn, but he wasn't as perfect as she thought and they soon broke up after just one week, although they were still friends. Nicole was always sitting with the Ravenclaws now as her boyfriend was in that house, and Melissa being her best friend, sat with her. Marlene told Lily it was bound to happen, but Lily still couldn't help but feel bad that they were slowly moving away from each other.

Marlene claimed that she was over her crush on Remus, but Lily thought something else. Lily believed that Marlene had actually fallen hard for Remus after spending so much time with him during patrols, and she didn't want to admit that she was smitten with him. She didn't want to believe that she'd fallen for a guy that thought of her as just friends. Lily understood that that was Marlene's way of dealing with things and she only hoped Marlene wouldn't end up hurt.

Once Marlene, Nicole and Melissa were ready, the four of them walked down to the Great Hall. Lily and Marlene parted with Nicole and Melissa once they entered the Great Hall and they saw that the Marauders were already sitting at the Gryffindor table. Lily smiled; not only had she become great friends with James, but also with Sirius. He was actually quite funny and tolerable if you chose to ignore his sexual jokes.

The girls walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to the Marauders. Lily sat down next to Sirius today and Marlene sat next to James. They said hello and gathered food on their plates.

Lily looked at James carefully. There were big purple bags under his hazel eyes and his eyes didn't look as warm and comforting as they usually did. He had his fork in his hand, not eating anything and his eyes were slowly closing. Once they started to close though, he would open his eyes like he was wide awake. Slowly, this process would repeat and repeat. In three words; James was tired.

"Hey, James. Are you alright?" asked Lily concernedly, looking at him.

"H-huh? Oh, me. Er, yeah I'm fine. Just tired," he replied.

"Maybe you should get some sleep, you look like you were up all night," she said.

"Prongs hasn't slept for nearly three weeks now," replied Sirius from Lily's right.

"Why? All because of the nightmares?" asked Lily in a hushed voice.

James nodded solemnly.

"Why don't you go to Pomfrey's and ask for a Dreamless Sleep potion?" asked Lily.

The four boys stared at her like she was a Goddess.

"Lily! You're a genius!" said Remus.

Lily looked shocked. "You mean you never thought of that on your own?" she asked.

The boys shook their heads. Lily rolled her eyes. "We were too caught up in what the dream contained, not really getting rid of them," said Sirius, scratching his nose.

"But aren't they repetitive? Wouldn't you already know what happens in it?" asked Marlene.

"Yeah, but I can't figure out why Li—the person keeps getting killed, and why it's that person in the first place," said James, frustrated.

"Why don't you go get the potion today and take off the rest of the day? We have patrols tomorrow," said Lily, hoping that he wouldn't miss patrols because he was too tried.

James nodded. "Good idea. Night, mates," he said standing up slowly.

"James, I could take your patrol for you," said Remus.

"No! No, don't worry about it. I'll be fine as long as I sleep. Could you just get some notes for me instead?" he asked. James wanted to do his patrols as much as Lily did.

Remus nodded. "Sure, James. Goodnight," he said waving.

James smiled weekly as thanks and walked to the Hospital Wing. He could barely keep his eyes open and he tripped a couple times. When he finally got there he knocked on the door and waited impatiently for Madame Pomfrey to open the door.

"Yes? Oh my Mr. Potter! You look horrible!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks," James grumbled. "Could you possibly give me a Dreamless Sleep potion? As you can see, I haven't been able to sleep that well," said James irritably.

"Of course. Just a second," she said. Pomfrey disappeared for a moment and came back with a potion in her hand. She handed it to James and said, "Now, this potion is enough for 12 hours, be sure to sleep early tonight so you do not oversleep for class tomorrow morning."

James nodded and said his thanks. There was no way he was going to continue with classes like this. He walked up to Gryffindor tower with a bit of difficulty as his eyes kept closing.

James made it up to his dormitory and took off his robes. He sat in bed and put his glasses on his night table. He opened the bottle and drank the entire potion in one gulp. He lay down and was instantly asleep.

…………………………

"Stupid boy! Now she dies!" cackled Bellatrix. She pointed her wand at Lily and a flash of green erupted from her wand and hit Lily in the chest.

"NO!" James sat up on his bed and looked around at the blurry figures frantically, trying to figure out if there was a red-headed girl lying on the floor. Getting dizzy from the blurriness and realizing it was the dream again, James put on his glasses from his night table. He looked around and saw that the sun had gone down. He checked the time and saw that it was 10:30. That's why I had the dream. My 12 hours are up.

James got up from his bed and rubbed his face. He was still a little tired, but he was sure he'd be fine for patrols the next day. He stretched his arms and walked to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and saw that he still looked tired, but at least he didn't look like he was sleepwalking. He changed quickly and walked down to the Common Room as his dormitory was empty.

When he walked downstairs, he saw that mostly seventh and sixth years were the only ones still up. He quickly spotted Lily's red hair sitting across from the fire and joined her.

"Hey Lily," he said sitting down across from her.

Lily smiled brightly. "Hey, James! How're you feeling?" she asked.

James stumbled a bit. Even though they were good friends, Lily's smile still made his stomach flutter and make him at a loss of words. "F-fine, I guess. I'm still a little tired, but I feel better than before. After all, I slept for fourteen and a half hours," he said shrugging.

"That's good. So you'll be fine for tomorrow night?" she asked hopefully.

James nodded. "I think so," he replied.

Lily smiled again and returned to her homework that was on her lap.

James watched her work for a little and decided that he should probably start on his homework too. "Hey Lily? Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Marlene's upstairs, Remus, Sirius and Peter went down to the Kitchens to get you some food; I figured you'd be hungry once you woke up," she said looking up from her work.

James nodded and his stomach grumbled. He looked sheepishly at Lily and she laughed. "That's what I thought," she said, shaking her head and looking down at her homework again.

"So you told them to go down to the Kitchens?" he asked her.

Lily looked up once again and nodded. "Of course. You can't go 12 hours without getting hungry. Especially you four boys," she said laughing again.

James smiled. Her laugh filled his mind and he looked at Lily. The fire was reflecting off her hair and making it shine in different shades of red. Her eyes were shining and sparkling with laughter. She stopped laughing and smiled at James. They just smiled at one another until the portrait door opened.

At first, James and Lily saw no one. Then all of a sudden, out of thin air appeared three pairs of legs and soon after that, the bodies that matched them. There stood Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. The other occupants in the room didn't seem to notice three boys materialize out of thin air.

"Hey! You're finally awake Prongs!" said Sirius, eating a piece of chocolate cake and walking over to sit beside James.

"Yeah. Hey, I thought you were going to get food for me?" he said looking at Sirius.

"Correction. Lily sent down Remus to get food for you, I was there for myself," replied Sirius with chocolate on his teeth.

Lily laughed at Sirius because he looked as though his teeth were rotting. Remus rolled his eyes and handed James a tuna sandwich and a goblet of Pumpkin juice.

"Thanks, Moony. Some best friend you are, Padfoot," said James jokingly.

"Hey, I'm your best friend, not your bloody house elf," said Sirius, stuffing the last bit of cake into his mouth.

James rolled his eyes and bit into his sandwich. Remus and Peter sat down as well, Remus was holding James invisibility cloak and Peter was holding the Marauder's Map. Sirius and Remus started a game of chess as Peter watched, James finished his sandwich and Lily returned to her homework.

"Hey Remus. What do we have for homework?" asked James once he was done eating.

Remus looked up from his chess game. "Look in my book bag. It's right there," he said pointing on the floor beside Lily's bag. "I wrote down the homework for you. You can use my notes if you need them," said Remus.

"Thanks," said James, looking in Remus' bag for his homework. When he found the paper, James swore. There was homework for every subject James took; about three quarters of it were essays.

James leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Why is there so much homework?" he complained. "It's only October. And it's 10:30 on a Monday night. How am I going to get all this done by tomorrow?" he asked.

"Charms and Transfiguration aren't due until Wednesday," Lily pointed out to James.

"Those are the two subjects that are easiest for me. All the tough subjects I have to finish tonight!" he shouted.

"Well you slept for a whole day so you should be able to stay up all night," said Sirius, not looking up from the chess game.

"Yeah, one day of sleeping to make up for three weeks without," said James, angrily.

"Bad luck, Prongs," said Peter.

James growled, opened his eyes and sighed. He grabbed the closest book to him and opened it.

Lily, taking pity on the Head Boy, perked up. "Do you want me to help you?" she asked.

All four boys looked at her. Sirius and Remus were looking at her with her eyebrows raised, Peter looked slightly jealous, like he wanted Lily to help him, and James looked shocked, yet pleased.

"Are you sure, Lily? I mean, I'm going to be practically up all night, won't you be tired?" he asked.

"Of course I'm sure, James. But, with me helping you, your homework time will be cut in half," she said teasingly. "Just wait a second, I'm almost done with Potions," she said.

James nodded and grinned at his friends. Remus smirked back and Sirius was snickering slightly. Peter was looking at James like he was the luckiest man on the world for getting Lily to help him with his homework. James sometimes wondered if Peter had a thing for Lily. Who wouldn't? (Besides Sirius and Remus; they would never think about liking Lily as James would murder them in their sleep. Peter was really no competition for James.)

"Okay James," said Lily, closing her books and looking up at James. "What should we get done first?" she asked.

…………………………

Four hours later, the two tired Head students had fallen asleep on the couch that they were seated on. Lily's head was on James shoulder and James arm was around her waist. Suddenly, James jerked awake and Lily was pushed away from him.

"W-wha…?" asked Lily, rubbing her eyes.

James stared at Lily. What? What happened? Why is Lily in my room? Am I having a different dream? He thought to himself, very confused. He looked around and saw that he was in the Common Room. Ahh, I see. We fell asleep in the Common Room. Wait. What?! Me and Lily fell asleep together?! In the Common Room?!

"W-what happened?" asked Lily yawning.

"Er, we-we fell asleep in the Common Room and I kinda had the dream again and woke up," said James awkwardly, running his hand through his hair.

Lily stopped moving and looked at James. "We fell asleep? On the same couch?" she asked, her face slowly turning red.

Uh oh. I'm getting yelled at, for the first time this year, thought James.

"Er, yeah…" said James, bracing himself for a slap.

Lily looked away from James, her face red. "Oh," she said. James thought she sounded a bit embarrassed.

James was confused. She wasn't going to yell? Wait, why would she? He thought again. They were friends, right? This wasn't going to ruin anything was it?

"Lily, are you okay?" he asked.

"Er, yeah. I'm fine. So we're all done the homework right?" she asked, still not making eye contact with him.

"Oh. Yeah. We finished."

"Okay. Good. I think I'll go to bed then. Goodnight," she said, gathering her things and walking towards the Girls staircase.

"Goodnight Lily," said James. "Oh, and Lily?" he said.

"Yes?" she said, turning around slowly.

"Thanks for helping me with my homework," he said, smiling at her.

"Oh, no problem, James," she said turning back towards the stairs. "Goodnight."

"Night," said James.

He sat back down on the couch that they had fallen asleep on and sighed happily. He loved the feeling of being so close to Lily, even though it was such a short period of time. He knew though, that later on, this would torture him. He would feel incredibly sad that he wasn't around her when he with the Marauders; not that spending time with the Marauders wasn't enjoyable, just none of them were girls. He knew that being Lily's friend would make him feel even worse than he did before they were friends, but he decided that he would just savour the moment before the darkness crept over.

…………………………

Lily put a hand to her hot face as she ran up the stairs to her dorm. She was embarrassed that she had fallen asleep on James' shoulder. She stopped in front of her dorm door and leaned against the wall. She sighed happily. She tried not to think about it because it would leave her wanting more like when she had the dream about them dancing together. She shook her head and composed herself. She felt her face return to the normal colour and she opened the door to her dormitory.

Marlene, Nicole and Melissa were all sitting on their beds staring at Lily when she walked in. When she noticed they were all staring at her, she blushed again and mumbled a hello.

"Where have you been, Missy?" asked Marlene in a teasing voice.

"Your curfew is 11:00 and 1:30 on patrol nights," said Melissa in a motherly sort of voice.

"You know that it is dangerous to be out on your own, darling. I'm disappointed in you," said Nicole, shaking her head.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Thanks for your concern."

The three girls burst out laughing and Lily rolled her eyes again.

"So, where have you been? Off with James?" asked Marlene, smirking at her.

Lily blushed again. "No, what would make you say that?" she asked, faking innocence.

"Come on, Lily. We all know you two are friends now. And you wouldn't be blushing so hard if you were with anyone else," said Nicole.

Lily didn't make eye contact. She shuffled to her bed and put her bag on the floor. She changed into her pyjamas. "I have no idea what you are talking about," she said in a flustered voice.

"Lily, stop denying it and just tell us what happened," said Melissa.

Lily sat on her bed and looked at them. "Fine…" she said. The three remaining girls started smiling. "I was helping him with homework," she answered somewhat honestly.

"That's it? Or is that some kind of code meaning you were snogging in a broom closet?" asked Marlene.

Lily glared at her. "We were not snogging in a broom closet, Marlene. I was just helping him with his homework," she said, angry that her best friend would suggest such a thing.

"Sorry, Lily. Just teasing," she said, giving her a cheeky grin.

"Are you sure that's it?" asked Nicole, curious.

"Of course that's it," said Lily, her face tingeing pink.

The three girls gave her looks.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine, something else happened…" she started.

"And…?" asked Melissa.

"And…we kind of feel asleep on the couch…together."

No answer.

"See? Nothing, right?" said Lily.

"What kind of position were you two in?" asked Marlene furrowing her eyebrows.

"Marlene, must you assume that every time James and I are alone together, that we do sexual things?" asked Lily, exasperated and annoyed.

"Sorry, Lils. It's just the way you said it. 'On the couch…together,'" Marlene replied.

"To answer your question, no, we were not in any kind of inappropriate position. I think my head was on his shoulder," said Lily.

"You think?" asked Nicole, confused.

"Yeah, I think. He sort of woke up suddenly and I was kind of pushed away," said Lily.

"He just woke up suddenly?" asked Melissa.

"Sort of, he had a dream," said Lily, glancing at Marlene. Nicole and Melissa still didn't know about the dream or about the nightly discovery. Marlene understood and nodded.

"Aww, that's so cute. You two fell asleep together," said Melissa, changing the subject.

Lily blushed.

"I wish Preston was in Gryffindor, I want to fall asleep on a couch with him. Wouldn't that be so romantic?" said Nicole, her eyes misting over and losing focus.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Whenever she's not around Preston, she goes into her daydreaming mode 80 of the time and talking to a brick wall can be more eventful," she said, obviously experiencing this many times.

Marlene and Lily laughed and continued talking without Nicole.

"So, how was it?" Marlene asked Lily.

"How was what?" responded Lily, clearly confused at what she was talking about.

"You know, sleeping with James," said Marlene, winking at Lily.

"Marly, I am extremely annoyed with your sexual jokes, you know. You're almost as bad as Sirius," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"HAHAHA. Good one, Lily. But, you never answered my question," said Marlene.

"Fine. It was…comfortable. I felt safe, I guess. And warm," said Lily.

"All that from just your head on his shoulder?" asked Nicole, coming out of her trance.

Lily thought for a while. Nicole was right. There must have been something else for her to have felt so warm. Lily tried to remember their exact position.

"I don't know, maybe his arm was around my shoulder or something," said Lily.

Marlene walked over to her bed and sat down. She put her arm on Lily's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" asked Lily, staring confusedly at her best friend.

"Trying to re-act the situation. Is this what it felt like?" asked Marlene.

"Marly, I am complying because I question your sanity and take pity on you," replied Lily, slowly falling into Marlene's arm.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, just try and remember what it felt like," replied Marlene, rolling her eyes.

Nicole and Melissa were laughing lightly at the sight of their two friends.

"So, is this what it felt like?" asked Marlene.

"Awkward and embarrassing? No," replied Lily.

"Lily, come on. Take this seriously."

"Fine," said Lily. She thought for a moment.

"No, I don't think this is it," she replied finally.

"Forgive me for this Lily, but…" said Marlene, putting her arm around Lily's waist.

"Whoaa. Marly, you're my best friend and everything, but I love you like a sister."

"LILY! Stop! Please just try to remember."

"Okay, fine." She tried to imagine that Marlene was James. His scent was missing and so was the warmth only his body had, but it felt about right. Lily sighed.

"Yup. This is it," said Lily.

Marlene pulled away her arm. "Okay, so we got that determined," she said, getting up from Lily's bed. "Sorry about that Lily, I was just trying to help you remember," said Marlene. "You'll thank me later," she said.

"Alright. Just promise me you won't do that again," said Lily.

"Don't worry about it. I don't plan to," Marlene replied, holding her hands out in front of her.

Lily nodded. So James' arm was around her waist then? Could it be that she just wanted to believe that she was that close to him? Nah, it felt right. It was right.

"So, now what?" asked Melissa.

"What do you mean?" replied Lily.

"What are you going to do about the James' situation?" clarified Nicole.

Lily shrugged. "Just pretend like nothing happened and go back to normal. I'll just keep waiting until he asked me out," said Lily.

"But, Lily. What if James is tired of being rejected? What is he's scared you will just say no again because if you do, his heart would actually break? What if he doesn't want to lose your friendship by asking you out if you only want to stay friends?" Marlene asked her.

Lily stared at her. "Do you actually think that he's tired of being rejected? Was I that harsh on him that he might not want to take chances anymore? Oh, no! What if I scared him off?!" said Lily, starting to hyperventilate.

"Lily, Lily. Calm down. Marly didn't mean it like that," said Melissa, glaring at Marlene. "What she was trying to say is that maybe it's your turn to take chances. She's saying that James loves you even more than he did in the previous years, and if you rejected him this time, it would affect him more than it did before. Maybe James wants you to ask him out this time, just to make sure that you're not just saying yes to him because you felt sorry for him. I know it's different for you, but a relationship involves both people taking chances, not just the male," said Melissa.

Lily nodded at her and gave her a hug. "Thank you so much, Mel," she said, letting go of her. Then she moved to Nicole. "Thanks to you too," she said giving her a hug. Finally, she moved towards Marlene. "Marly, thank you," said Lily, giving her best friend a fierce hug. "I'm sorry for always freaking out on you all the time, thanks for putting up with me," she said.

"No problem, Lily. I'm sorry for all the jokes and comments. It's all in good fun," said Marlene, letting go.

Lily smiled. "I know. I'm just touchy with the James subject," said Lily sheepishly.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Don't I know it."

The four girls laughed. This was one of their fullest conversations they'd had since Nicole starting dating Preston. The four girls were oblivious to the time as they talked well into the morning.

A/N: Hey. It's chapter 12. WOO. I don't like this chapter, its kind of weird. It was hard to write and I don't think it flows nicely. If you agree with me, tell me by REVIEWING. I always use to get annoyed when authors would continually tell you to REVIEW but I now know how they feel. Reviews make us feel better and happier, even if it's criticism. At least we know that people are reading it right?

So, anyways. I hope you liked it, even thought it's not one of my favourites. Is it progressing well? Was the time skip okay? Tell me, please. :) And also suggestions would be good. Next chapter will be the patrol and some new discoveries, still not sure what though. (By the way, this story is very BADLY planned out so its all basically written by what comes into my mind first ;)) And...if you are a constant reviewer, THANK YOU! Your reviews make me tres content (french for very happy, haha) and make me want to keep writing.

THANKS. XD 3 xox