Chapter 6

James POV

She left me sitting there on the couch, alone with my thoughts. This could all work out, I thought.

I headed back upstairs to the dorms.

I expected to me slammed with everything Lily had said in her diary, Remus asking how it went, and Peter being a doufus, but instead was greeted by Frank Longbottom.

"Uh," I came in closing the door slowly behind me. "Hi Frank."

"Hey, James." Frank waved. He was sitting at the end of Peter's bed, his hands in his lap.

"Um," I said, unsurely. "Can I help you?"

"Ok, Frank! Found it!" Sirius called from the hall.

Sirius came in the door and handed Frank a pile of papers.

"So, that should help." Sirius said, sitting down next to me, who was sitting across from Frank on Sirius' bed.

"What is that?" I asked

"Well, Longbottom here needed some advice about women, so I gave him the book that I wrote on women."

"You wrote a book on women?" I didn't remember that.

"Chapter 1," Frank read out loud. "Chocolate." Frank looked up at Sirius. "There's only one thing written here. It says "Give her chocolate", and then goes onto Chapter 2."

I laughed. "So what do you need advice about, Frank?"

Frank was the youngest in our year, but still a 6th year. He was 15 still, but would turn 16 in May. Despite his young age, he was one of the tallest in our year too. He'd been our dorm mate for 3 years, but there were too little of people in another room so they moved Frank.

"Well, here's the thing." Frank said, putting the "book" on the bed beside him. "I really really like this girl, but she has a boyfriend. I don't want to come on too strong or anything because he's bigger than me, but she flirts with me all the time so I can't really tell if she wants me to make a move or not."

"Psh," Sirius waved his hand. "Been there!"

"What should I do?" asked Frank.

"Can I ask who this girl is, Frank?" I asked.

"Well, you can ask, but I won't tell." he said, blushing.

"Just be a good friend and be a gentleman and eventually, when her and this guy break up, she'll need a friend. You'll be there for her and you can hold her and she'll be so grateful for you. Then, about 2 or 3 weeks after they've been broken up, start buying her things. See if she wants to go to Hogsmede, but only as friends, ect."

Wow. Where'd all that come from? I hadn't even taken that advice myself!

"I'll try that, I guess. Thanks guys. I'm gonna go do some homework, so I'll catch you later."

"Bye Frankie!" Sirius called as Frank left the room. "He's a nice guy." Sirius said.

"Yeah," I replied, getting up and taking off my shirt to get ready for bed.

"So what happened with Evans?" Sirius asked.

"I told her you read her diary. I just couldn't lie to her. It's all good though, she's not that angry."

I told Sirius about what had went down and in the end, Sirius was upset that I ratted, but he said he understood.

"So where are Pete and Moony?" I asked, brushing my teeth.

"I don't know. Went to prank somebody, I suppose." Sirius flipped through pages of his "book" that Frank had left here. Wise choice.

"Mate, I'm a genius. This is the best book in the world."

"Good for you." I said, not really listening.

"I'm going to go get something to eat from the kitchen." Sirius said, putting his robe on over his pajamas. "Want anything?"

"No, thanks." I said.

About 20 minutes passed and it was way too quiet. The quiet that is present before something happens, like when a tornado is about to hit and everything gets still.

Of course, it was right about then that I heard the first scream. And then another. And another. I jumped out of bed, grabbed my wand and opened the door. There were girls in towels and their pajamas running from the girls dormitories.

Funny, I thought. I don't remember going to sleep, because the only time this would ever happen would be in a dream.

Lily was running in her pajamas up the stairs to my dorm. Lucky for me, she sleeps in shorts and a tank-top.

She ran right past me, and didn't turn around until she was all the way in the back of the room.

"What happened?" I asked, shutting the door and rushing over to her.

She was holding her heart, which was thumping so loud I could almost hear it.

"Somebody bewitched all the faucets in the girls dorm. Instead of water, you get snakes and mud." She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor.

"Are you ok?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

She looked at me, her big green eyes tired looking, but wide awake.

"James, there are snakes slithering all over the Tower. Some girls actually got bit, and you're asking if I'm ok?"

I nodded.

She smiled and shut her eyes. "Well, I am. Thank you for asking."

"Were you asleep?"

"No." she said, opening her eyes and looking at me. "I was rereading my diary to see what I'd written."

"And?"

"And you really are a good guy. You know, underneath your arrogance."

I smiled. "You can lie down if you want." I said, gesturing towards my bed.

"Potter, I wasn't born yesterday."

"No, I'm serious." I said laughing. "Lie down."

Lily looked at me suspiciously, but got up and crawled into my bed.

See, this is usually the part where I wake up in my dreams. The part I never actually get to experience. The part where Lily gets in my bed. Somehow, though, I don't want to try anything. She's here, and I want her to stay, but I'm not going to violate her.

After about an hour of me doing late night homework, I looked up to see Lily sleeping. She's always stunning, but she looks so innocent when she sleeps. I put my things down on the floor and go over to her. I don't want to wake her, so I tip-toe. Kneeling down by the bed, I can see that she is absolutely asleep. Her mouth is slightly open, her head is dead-weight. I kiss her on her forehead and she stirred a bit.

"…James.." Lily said.

"Yeah, Lily?" I asked.

"…James…Get…Get hairy…"

Great. She was sleep talking. "Hairy? Why do you want me to get hairy?"

"…..Get him for me….I love you…"

"Get hairy for you? Why, Lils?"

Lily started twisting and stirring on the bed. She made little sounds, and occasionally would call for me. I didn't know what to do. Nightmares pass, and you eventually wake up, but this nightmare had to have been bad, because she started to sweat and cry. If she woke up, she'd leave. Whatever. I'd been telling myself that I'd marry her one day, and she'd need me to protect her, even in her dreams.

So, like an idiot, I woke her up.

"Lily?" I said softly, scooting her over while she stirred. I shook her a bit. "Lily, wake up."

She screamed and sat up straight, knocking me off the bed. She looked at me and started to cry, so I got up to sit on the bed and pull her on my lap. She laid her head against my chest and cried.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" I was genuinely curious. First off, why should I get hairy? Second, Lily Evans dreams about me! Third, she said 'I love you'! Yay!

"I don't even know! I don't even know what happened!" she sobbed.

"Well, tell me about it." I said, holding her closer.

"You were there." she chocked out. " And-and there was a baby, and *sob* he was playing in the living room of this house. He *sob* was playing with your wand! Then something happened and you got scared. You *cry* got scared and somebody was trying to get in the house. I told you to give me the baby, and *weep* then whoever was trying to get in killed you and me and the baby. He A. us!"

Oh.

Harry.

Not 'hairy.'

Duh.

"Did the baby have a name?" I asked.

"I don't remember."

"Was it Harry?"

She stopped crying for a moment. Lily looked up at me. "How did you know that?"

"You talk in your sleep." I said.

Her eyes widened. "What else did I say?"

"You said Harry a lot. You told me to get Harry. And, you know other stuff."

"Like?"

"Like, give me Harry, and James, get him for me, ect., ect."

"Oh." she'd calmed down quite a bit. "James?"

"Yes?"

"Can I stay here? Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Yeah, of course." I said. "But, expect a ton of crap from the guys when they get back."

"Where'd they go?"

"To get food. They've been gone for a couple hours. They'll be back soon."

Lily hesitated. "Ok."

"Ok? You mean you're staying?"

"Sure. Just don't try anything. Promise?"

"Promise." I said.

She held out her pinky finger.

I looked at her. "Really?"

She nodded and waited patiently. I took her pinky with mine and rolled my eyes. "Do you trust me now, or do I have to slit my wrists?"

"Not yet." she said, snuggling down on the bed. She was on her side, facing the door, and I was on my back.

"James?" she said, again.

"Yes, Lily?"

She turned and pulled my right arm around her. She snuggled into me, and quickly fell asleep.