Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I also don't own any more creative ways to say it. I wonder if I could buy some...
A/N: Long time, no see. That's my fault and I don't necessarily have a reason, just know that I am truly sorry. But I'm hoping with the summer coming up and me heading off to college, I'll get the push I need to finish this story once and for all. And hopefully the sequel. If I still write it. I'm having a hard time thinking of things to do in this story...HELP ME! Without further adu (ado?), here is chapter 11.
Chapter 11: Pancakes are Filling
James and I stayed up for hours, talking and laughing and having an all together good time. It was scary and amazing how I could be perfectly open and comfortable around the boy who just a few days ago I had despised. I knew that people changed but I didn't think they changed that quickly. In those quiet hours, with the storm raging on and our breath mingling together, we learned a lot about each other. I learned that his favorite animal was a stag for reasons he wouldn't mention, if he could live off any food for the rest of his life it'd be strawberries, and he had originally become friends with Sirius because he had looked just as lonely on the platform when neither of their parents dropped them off; for entirely different reasons, but they still shared in the same heartache.
I told him all about my family and how different it was switching from witch to muggle every summer. We poured our thoughts and feelings to each other till we could no longer talk and ended up drifting off into a peaceful sleep, him on top of the covers, me under them, facing each other, our hands still intertwined.
I woke up the next morning, feeling an empty space next to me, and sensing a just a little bit of light, the beginnings of sunset, trying to peep through the curtain covered windows. I sat up, rubbing my bleary eyes, and looked around for the slightly messsy haired boy that was sending my emotions into a whirlwind. I felt panic rising in my chest when I didn't immediately see him, but a gentle snore drifted up from the left side of the bed and I rolled over to find him sleeping in what looked like an umcomfortable position on the floor.
I quietly slipped my feet out under the covers and laid them softly on the floor so as not to wake him. I stepped over him and was about to open the door and head to the bathroom when I heard him mumble something in between two particularly loud snores. I waited with bated breath, hand on the knob, to see if he would say anything else. But the snores kept coming in a continuous, steady stream, and I figured it was a fluke.
I let out a break I had been holding and opened the door, trying to keep it from squeaking, before I silently crept down the hall to the bathroom. As I was washing my hands, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My hair was starting frizz out from the night of sleep and the scratches on my face were finally starting to scab over. I didn't look terrible, but I could have looked better. I sighed heavily and flicked water on my hair to try and tame it, then quickly threw it up in a messy knot on the top of my head when I decided it wasn't working.
Back in the hall, all was quiet save for the gentle snores coming from behind each door that roomed a person, Sirius's being the loudest. I giggled lightly and, shaking my head, quickly walked back across the hall to James's door. I pushed it open slowly, ducking my head around to make sure I wouldn't hit him on the head, and then quietly closed it behind me.
"James," I breathed, gently shaking his shoulder. "James, wake up," I tried again.
He mumbled uninteligble things and buried his face even deeper into his pillow.
Shaking my head, and laughing quietly, I leaned back against the wall, and watched him sleep. Eventually, the sun started the rise and more light seeped out from behind the curtains, bathing the room in a soft, warm glow. I sighed and shook his shoulder again, murmuring his name.
"James. It's time to wake up. If you don't your parents or Sirius will come in and catch us again. Then we'll both be in trouble and my family will leave. Do you want that happening?"
He continue snoring.
Standing up, I stretched and headed quickly to the curtains. I threw them open, flooding the room with sunlight and sufficiently jolting James awake. His head popped up over the side of the bed and he sleepily look around, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
"Was goin on?" he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes and reaching for his glasses on the nightstand.
"It's time to get up. We need to make it look like I didn't sleep in here," I explained, starting to make the bed.
"You don't have to do that," James said, coming to stand beside me.
"It's fine. I don't expect you to do it, so I'll just do it for you," I said, giving him a big grin.
"You are so strange," James laughed, leaning his head down and laying it on my shoulder. I was wearing only a tanktop and some drawstring pants, and his breath was tingling my skin, causing goosebumps to stir along it.
"You need to put a shirt on," I breathed, glancing down at his bare chest. When had he gotten like that? I had defintiely fallen asleep with him wearing a shirt. If he didn't put one on soon I was going to start doing unimaginable things.
He chuckled lightly and pulled away, leaving the area of skin he had just been resting on cold and empty feeling. He walked to the closet and shuffled around, looking for a clean shirt.
As I finished making the bed, I stared at his back, watching the muscles move under the golden skin as he rummaged around.
"I can feel you staring at me," he gloated, looking under his arm at my face.
I felt my face flush and quickly turned toward the door. "I'm gonna go change and freshen up," I said, opening the door. "Make sure Sirius doesn't walk in on me again." I heard him laugh loudly as I closed the door behind me and made my way down the hall.
When I walked through the door, I was struck by how little time I had spent in the room that was suppossed to be mine. My bed was still mostly made, a little rumpled from the nap I had taken our first night here, and my suitcase was still sitting neatly open at the foot of the bed on the wooden chest. I instantly felt bad. Here I was, staying in someone else's house and they had given me such a nice room but instead of using it, I was defying their wishes and sleeping in their sons bed anyway. I would have to rectify this situation as soon as possible. Maybe we'd spend the night in this room for the next couple of nights. Just until the storm blew over.
I grabbed some clothes, a light blue sundress, and headed out the door to take a shower. This time, it went smoothly and I was interrupted by no one. I got to appreciate the shower more and it was even better than the last time I had stood in it.
As I was standing in the mirror and running my fingers through the few tangles left in my hair, I heard a knock at the door. Expecting it to be Petunia from the force of the knock, I was surprised to see Mrs. Potter on the other side of the door.
"Oh, Mrs. Potter. Did you need something? Sorry I took so long," I apologized quickly.
"It's quite alright, dear. I was just wondering if you would like to have a girls day today. Your mum thought it would be a good idea after the fight yesterday and I thought we could all use a little shopping excursion," she explained, her light voice holding a note of hopefullness.
"That sounds lovely, Mrs. Potter. When do we leave?"
She smiled brightly and I smiled back, happy to please her. "Well, your parents and Petunia are still asleep so I assume we'll leave after lunch. Does that sound alright to you? I'm sure you can find some form of entertainment with my son," she tinkled with laughter.
"I'm sure I could," I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. Oh no. I hoped it wasn't addicting. "Sepaking of your son, do you know where he's at?" I asked, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up my neck.
"I think I saw him in the kitchen about ten minutes ago. He's always eating so that's probably a safe place to look," she smiled.
"Thank you," I said, following her out the door and down the hall towards the stairs. "For everything. You know, letting us stay here and everything. You don't have to do it and it's just a really nice thing to do for perfect strangers," I explained, following her towards the kitchen.
"Oh, I wouldn't say we're perfect strangers. After all, I've been hearing about you every summer and in every letter since James's first year at Hogwarts. You've made quite an impact on his life, Lily," she chuckled. "I've never seen that boy so enthusiastic about something before."
I blushed even more and was immediately thankful that she was in front of me. We finally made it to the kitchen and found the boys sitting around the table, scarfing down their weight in pancakes.
"Well, Lily. Here they are. I'll leave you with them. I must go get ready for later," she said, excitement evident on her face.
She walked off and I shook my head, wondering what she could be talking about. I had thought she was already ready in a pair of jeans and a nice shirt. How much more ready could you get? I shuffled over to the table, mouth starting to water.
"Well, hullo, Lily-flower," my dad said as I sat down across from him and next to James. "Did you get a good nights sleep? I know how the storm keeps you up," he said, concern in his tone and face.
"Yeah. I slept better than I ever have during one," I choked, avoiding James's stare at all costs. He reached over and grabbed my hand under the table, twining our fingers together.
With my free hand, I picked up my fork and started piling pancakes on my plate, then getting them ready to eat. It really should have been illegal for food to taste so good. Because all I ever wanted to do was eat it but I had to worry about other things like not getting fat. It was just too much of a hassel. If it was disgusting I wouldn't have such a problem.
As Mr. Potter, Dad, and Sirius finished their breakfast, they all stood up and slowly made their way out of the kitchen.
"So what are your plans for the day?" I asked James, shoving pancakes in my mouth.
He swallowed a particularly big bite he had just taken, making a large gulping sound, before answering. "Well, I thought we could maybe go to Diagon Alley today. With our parents here, they can look after the other two and keep them from murdering each other," he laughed, rolling his eyes.
I frowned. "Well, I wish we could but your mum already planned a girls day out for us. I thought maybe you knew and you all were making plans over breakfast," I said quietly, avoiding his gaze.
"Oh." He sounded dissapointed and I looked at him as he tried to hide the hurt etched on his face.
"I'm sorry. I can always go tell your mum I'm not feeling well and we can spend the rest of the day playing games," I offered, wanting nothing more than to take that pain away from his eyes.
He smiled lightly and shook his head. "No. I wouldn't want to dissapoint Mum that way. Merlin knows that now that she's finally met you she wants nothing more than to get to know you," he mumbled out.
"Why would she want to do that?" I asked, curious.
"Seriously? You can't think of any reason?" He glared softly at me, making me feel a little insecure.
"No. I honestly can't think of anything."
"Somtimes you are so thick, Lily." He shook his head and laughed lightly.
"Well sorry we can't all of the mind of Einstein," I grumbled, pulling my hand from his finally.
"Who?"
"Oh, nevermind."
A/N: Okay. So it's sort of just a filler chapter till I think of more things to write. I'll hopefully have more up within a week or two, but I'm not making any promises because I'm terrible at keeping deadlines and I gradute next week. But I hope this was enough to keep you occupied even if it isn't much. Please review with any ideas you may have or questions or comments or concerns. Whatever it is, I'll try and answer you back if you need one. Thanks for reading! Have a great day/night/evening/morning/goodnights sleep.
Marah