The Marauders Year Five Part 2 #Wattys2017

Do Stags Have Teeth?

Do Stags Have Teeth?

Lily was in the common room the next morning, sitting on the couch in a pair of grey joggers and a white t-shirt, her hair in a messy knot atop her head, when the Marauders came downstairs. James couldn't tear his eyes away the moment he spotted her. He'd never seen anyone look so beautiful so effortlessly before. His mouth was quite dry and he stared at her, even as Peter tripped into him from behind.

Lily looked up at the sound of their footsteps coming down. They were a motley collection, those Marauders - Remus had dark circles under his eyes and a peaky complexion and Sirius was hung over, squinting angrily at the sunlight. James stared at her, and Peter was rubbing his nose, glaring up at James. "Ow," Peter complained, "What'd you stop for?"

Sirius said, "Perhaps because he realized it's bloody too early in the morning for this getting up and walking around bullshit?"

"The house elves aren't going to bring food to you and you definitely need food and some good strong black coffee to sober up," Remus said.

"I don't want to be sober."

Peter looked nervously at Remus at these words - Sirius still didn't know that once he sobered up, he would be staying sober awhile, seeing as Remus had jumped all of the firewhiskey out.

"Morning," Lily said, "You lot seem a cheerful bunch."

"I'm a fucking ray of sunshine what are you talking about?" Sirius asked.

James waved the others on, "I'll catch you up."

Remus nodded and pushed Sirius toward the portrait hole, which Peter scurried on to open up for them, and Sirius complained as they went out the door into the corridor about wishing he didn't have mates that wake people up and drag them about the castle. "Simply unfair," he was muttering as he went.

James waited for the portrait hole to close behind them, then he turned to Lily, hands in his pockets. "Alright Evans?"

She shrugged, "I s'pose. What do you want, Potter?"

James sat in the chair next to the couch and hesitated a moment. "Evans... I - well, Remus, really, noticed that you've... you've got a sweater... with um... with patches on the sleeves and it's missing a button? A Gryffindor sweater?"

Lily stared at him.

"It's just that, um... Well, well it's mine. And - it means a good deal to me. And I was hoping that I might have it back. Please." He reached in his bookbag. "You can have one of my others if you want, I mean, if you need a sweater, I - I don't want to take it away if you need it, but I need that particular sweater back. You can have all these others if you want. Or I'll give you galleons for a new one if you rather, I just --"

"James," Lily interrupted him, "You can have your sweater back."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, of course. I mean, if it's yours then... then of course, I'm not going to steal your sweater. And bloody hell, you don't owe me another sweater..."

James flushed, "I just didn't want you to be without one is all."

"Well, thank you, but I have plenty." Lily stood up, a blanket she'd had draped over her shoulders fell from her onto the floor and James stared up at her, the white t-shirt hugging her curves, far more than her school uniforms did, and he couldn't help the glance across her figure that his eyes did... and he flushed when he realized she had caught him at looking. Lily grabbed at the blanket quickly and pulled it 'round herself again, covering up, her face hot in the cheeks. "I'll bring it down to breakfast."