The Stag and the Doe

Chapter 27

Lily awoke the next morning to find herself alone in James' bed. She reached up to the nightstand next to his bed and grabbed her wand, summoning her bag to her. She quickly got herself dressed and placed her clothes that had been discarded last night in the bag, then headed downstairs to find breakfast.

Lily walked through the halls, taking in the beautifully designed woodwork of the doors, floors, and walls, and the decorations around, including all of the paintings of what had to be famous relatives and events that members of the Potter family had been apart of. She passed dozens of rooms, peaking at those with open doors while ignoring the ones whose doors were closed, her empty stomach growling, but only one room almost stopped Lily's quest for food, the library.

The room had bookshelves from the floor to the ceiling completely filled up with what had to be at least one thousand books, in the center of the room there was a round table surrounded by chairs with a large electric lamp, and in a corner there was a small podium with a large book on it. Lily stopped, think about checking the room out further, but a grumbling from her stomach made up her mind and she turned back on her hunt for the kitchen.

Lily finally made it to the grand entrance a little pop behind her startled her, and she turned around to see a house elf standing there.

"Who might you be?" Lily asked, hoping to come off as kind.

"I am Coaly, one of the cooks for the Potters." The little house elf said in its squeaky voice. "Master James asked me to find you, said you might get lost in the house. He said you'd be hungry."

"Well, he's right." Lily said, chuckling slightly. "Lead the way Coaly." Lily smiled as she followed the house elf, who had proudly marched off down the stairs.

Lily followed the house elf through the hallways, until finally the reach the kitchen, where she found James sitting with Sirius at the table, deep in conversation.

"Still not looking good?" Sirius asked James, still oblivious to Lily's arrival.

"No." James said rather bluntly, shaking his head. He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped when he saw Lily standing with Coaly.

"I see you Coaly found you." James said, a smile returning to his face.

"She was in the library." Coaly said, a smile on the little house elf's face.

"It's huge." Lily said.

"That it is." James said laughing, and Sirius snorted.

"Merlin Sirius." Lily said. "Where's Marlene?"

"Still asleep, why?" Sirius asked.

"Just curious." Lily said, smiling to herself.

"Here, have some breakfast." James said, gesturing to a plate of toast and eggs next to him.

"I'll go wake up Marlene," Sirius said. "She hates when I let her sleep in too long." Lily watched Sirius get up and walk, then she turned to James.

"What's going on?" Lily asked, reaching out for James' left hand.

"I don't wanna talk about it right now." James said rather gloomy, not even bother to look at Lily. Lily frowned, rubbing his back. "It's not about last night if that's what you were wondering."

"The thought did cross my mind." Lily said truthfully. She had been nervous about it as it was her first time, and wasn't certain if James had liked it.

"JAMSIE!!!!" an excited voice rang out, bringing Lily out of her thoughts.

"Rose!" James said, jumping up and catching his cousin in his arms, his father standing in the doorway. James and his father locked eyes and his father shook his head.