AN: Happy (almost) Olympics!
Chapter 9: Sleep
James' POV:
I jumped up and tore out of the common room, in my rush forgetting the map and invisibility cloak. My only thoughts were about getting to Lily.
Reaching the corridor where I had seen her dot, I looked around frantically. Was I too late? Had Black gotten rid of Lily's body? Pulling aside the tapestry, I was flooded with relief that was quickly extinguished by worry.
Lily was there, yes, but she wasn't moving. I knelt down beside her, hoping, praying that she wasn't dead. I took her hand.
It was cold.
I searched for a pulse, and after a few seconds, I found it. Faint though it was, a pulse existed, a heart still beat in Lily Evans' limp, cold, body.
I jumped when I heard a meow behind me. Filch's kitten, Mrs. Norris, had come to investigate.
"Shoo," I whispered, "She was on prefect duty and…" I paused, not wanted to explain, "…she fainted. I'm just bringing her back up to the common room."
The kitten seemed to glare at me (if kittens can glare) but the look seemed to say, "Just this once, then. She should be more careful."
I breathed a sigh of relief and then glanced back at Lily. Now that I had told Mrs. Norris that I was going to bring Lily up, I knew I would have to. I reached for my wand, but decided not to levitate her or otherwise magically transport her. I would carry her myself.
But once I had made up my mind, I was hesitant to touch her. It was only after I convinced myself that Sirius would (hopefully) do the same if he were in my place that I picked up Lily's limp form and started walking towards the common room as quickly as I dared.
Once I arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait, I almost had to yell to wake her up.
"Eh- what's this?" she asked, "What happened to her?"
"Fainted," I mumbled, then said, "pumpkin juice," not wanting to explain anymore than I had to.
The Fat Lady reluctantly swung her painting open to reveal the red and gold Gryffindor common room. I walked quickly in, setting Lily down on a couch near the ever-blazing fireplace, her head on my lap. I stroked her hair, hoping that the heat of the fire would revive her. After a minute, she stirred and looked up at me.
"What happened?"
"Someone cursed you while you were on duty," I said, still reluctant to explain the whole story, "But I came and got you and brought you back here."
She looked confused. "But how did you find me?"
"Oh, it's just something Sirius and I made to find people."
She started and looked up at me in mild surprise, as if realizing who I was for the first time.
Lily's POV (from a little before she woke up):
Keep sleeping, said a voice in my head, sleep until you won't need to ever wake up. Sleep… Sleep…
I felt myself slipping, slipping into nothingness, into a wonderful feeling of letting everything go, of just releasing my hold on my body and slipping out of it, leaving nothing more that a shell and being free.
But an annoying part of me was trying to overpower the nothingness. It was reminding me of Sirius, of Severus, and of James. James most of all, though I don't know why. And it was showing the original James, and then the haunted James, and it was lifting me out, though I did not want it to.
So I pushed this voice away, welcoming the emptiness, the nothingness, inviting it in and pushing, pushing the reluctance out.
But it kept coming back, stronger and stronger, and as I felt warmth flood into my limbs I remembered I had a body and suddenly the nothingness was gone and I was looking up into someone's face in the Gryffindor common room.
"What happened?" I asked the face.
"Someone cursed you while you were on duty, but I came and got you and brought you back here," came the reply.
"But how did you find me?" I looked up at the face, confused.
"Oh, it's just something Sirius and I made to find people."
Sirius. Sirius. Sirius and I. Who was the "I?"
Suddenly, all the memories flooded back into my brain, and I stared up at the face in surprise. Why was James the one who had rescued me? Wasn't I Sirius' girlfriend? And why did I need to be rescued anyway?
"Filthy mudblood."
The memory of the attack was the last to come into my brain.
"James, why, how, but, wh-what hap-?"
"Shhhhh, Lily, you're obviously exhausted," he replied, a look of concern and possibly, now that I look back on it, love crossing his face, "You should sleep. I'll explain later."
James' POV:
Lily was exhausted; you could see it in everything she did.
Or maybe it was just me who could see it, after so many years of studying her.
She started to protest, but I insisted. "Sleep, Lily, sleep, you'll feel better in the morning."
"All right," she replied, yawning, "I suppose I am pretty tired."
As she closed her eyes, she smiled up at me in the way that a small child smiles when they feel tired, comfortable, and safe. Surprising myself, I smiled back, the muscles in my mouth stiff from being mostly unused over the past couple of years.
Lily shifted around until she had found a comfortable position, her head still resting on my lap, and closed her eyes. I waited a few minutes until I gauged, from the sound of her breathing, that she was asleep, and got up, placing her head on a stray pillow off the floor.
Lily's POV:
I didn't fall asleep for a while.
After a few minutes, James got up and moved my head onto a pillow. I peeked at him, not wanting him to know I was awake.
He went and stared at the fire for a few moments, then turned and walked softly back over to me. James crouched down, observing me. I shut my eyes completely.
I could feel his warm breath on my skin and felt him tuck a piece of loose hair behind my ear. Then, unexpectedly, he whispered, "I love you, Lily. I will always love you. I would die for you if I needed to. And sometimes, I wish you could love me, too."
After a few more touches of breath, he leaned in and pressed his lips, softly, to mine.
I lay awake for hours afterwards, thinking of what James had said in the security of being alone, and of the kiss.
Afterwards, I would always call that my true first kiss.
AN: I don't know about you guys, but I thought that was one of my better chapters. But, as always, I want your thoughts. Review please! ALSO: I may have some issues updating over the next few days – we're in a state of limbo without wireless internet, and though we are "borrowing" off the neighbors, it's spotty. However, internet will hopefully be up and running by the 14th.