The Stag and the Doe

Chapter 34

James awoke the next morning, Lily still fast asleep next to him. He carefully slipped out of bed, grabbed a small mirror from the his nightstand, and headed down stairs.

"Sirius." He whispered into it, and a few moments later, a very groggy looking Sirius appeared.

"What?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Can you either get us breakfast from the kitchens or the Great Hall?" James asked.

"Sure, will do." Sirius said. "What happened?"

"I'll let Lily explain when she's ready." James said, deflecting the question. "See you with breakfast in a little bit." James put the mirror in his pocket and walked back up to his bedroom.

When he got back upstairs Lily was beginning to stir.

"How are you?" James asked as he sat down next to her.

"I don't know." Lily said, getting up slowly. "Is it real? Are they really gone?"

"Yes." James said, sighing. "But we'll find them, we'll get them."

"I know." Lily said, a few tears rolling down her face.

"I'll start you a bath." James said, giving her a kiss on the forehead and whiping away her tears.

"Thank you." Lily said, trying to stop the tears. James headed into the bathroom and began running the water in the tub, then he came back into the bedroom.

"Hold me." Lily said quietly, and James climbed onto the bed and held her. After a few minutes they got up together and headed into the bathroom.

"Do you need any help with anything?" James asked as Lily slowly undressed.

"No, I'll be ok." Lily said.

"Ok." James replied. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything. I asked Sirius to bring us breakfast, and I didn't tell him what's going on. Said it's for you to talk about."

"Thank you." Lily said, giving James a kiss on the lips before she climbed into the tub." James left, closing the door behind him, and headed down to the common room.

He flopped himself in a chair, his mind racing back to the moments he had spent with Lily's parents over the holiday break. The joking with her mother, the serous talk with her father, and the word's he was told by her father.

"She will tend to push people away, but don't let her push you away."

The sound of the portrait swinging open brought James back to reality. He looked up to see Sirius leading Marlene, Frank, Alice, and Dorcas in, all of them carrying heaping plates.

"Remus is with Peter and Mary." Sirius said before James could ask. "Helping Minnie herd some first year's."

"What happened?" Marlene asked as she sat down on the couch.

"And where is Lily?" Alice asked.

"She's up taking a bath." James replied. "And I'll let Lily say what's going on when she's ready." They all nodded and sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm gonna go head up." James said, standing. "I'll be back down in a bit." James headed back upstairs alone, his mind falling back again to that Christmas morning he spent at the Evans house.

"Lily?" James asked after knocking on his bedroom door.

"You can come in." Lily replied. James entered, finding Lily sitting the the edge of his bed, wearing a quidditch sweater and sweatpants, clutching a picture of her parents.

"Sirius brought breakfast." James said, sitting next to her. "Everyone else is there pretty much."

"Did you tell them?" Lily asked, looking up at James, tears in her eyes.