Out of the Castle, into the War: A Marauder Fanfiction

Chap. Eight

She had finished all her homework, so Lily decided to devote her whole Sunday to relaxing and taking a well-needed and well-deserved break. She laid on the couch (that she had moved back into place) with a large cuppa with a lit fire and one of her favorite muggle books. James moved silently down the stairs and stood behind her, plucking the book away. "So whatcha' reading, Lil?"

"Potter!" She whined, reaching for the book.

"Lord of the Rings? Is it good?" He asked, sitting on the back of the couch.

"Yes." She told him, sitting up farther to grab the book.

He merely pulled it farther from her grasp and began to examine it. "Geez, Lil, this book is giant."

"It's a good book." She defended, pouting her lips and crossing her arms at James. "Gimme." She instructed, holding one arm out.

"Well how could I say no to that face? Here you go, Lil." He threw her the book and she caught it, thumbing back to her page and leaning.

"Thank you, James." She told him, glancing up from the book.

"Mhmm." He hummed, swinging his legs off the back of the couch. He froze for a moment and Lily worried someone had cursed him until he spun on his toes and looked down at her with the biggest smirk she had even seen. "You just called me James. James."

"Yes, that's your name." She murmured, trying not to look up from the book.

"Whooooooo!" He called, running around the common room and up to his dorm screaming, "She called me James!"

"Yeah, that's your name, mate." Remus' voice chuckled.

"Shut up, Moony! This is great Prongsie, progress!" Sirius' voice rang.

Remus? Sirius? What? Lily thought, finally distracted from her book. "Is it just you up there?" Lily called, shifting her head to look through the crack from the door. James looked like he was holding a mirror, and Lily started to chuckle. Is he talking to himself in a mirror?

"Oh, uh, yup, just me." James called back and Lily began to laugh a little more.

"So you are talking to yourself in a mirror!"

"What? Oh, um, yeah." James sighed before whispering to the boys angrily.

Lily rolled her eyes and read her book. James had gotten dressed, left and returned without her noticing. "Still reading that book?" James whistled low and placed his chin at the top. "Have you eaten?"

"Hm?" Lily asked, still mostly in Middle Earth. "Eaten? No, no." She mumbled, turning the page.

"Good." James picked up a little piece of parchment that was on the floor and placed it in her book before tugging on the book. It did not move like it had before and James furred his brows and tried again. Lily simply ignored him and turned another page with her wand. "You need to eat, Evans."

"I'm almost done, Potter." She replied.

"You're like two-thirds of the way through." He rivaled, setting his chin back down and watching her as she read. She looked so, so beautiful. Her eyes lit up and little pieces of her hair fell all around her face. She smiled as she read, but just barely. Or she would bite her whole bottom lip and widen her eyes ever so slightly. Then she would calm down and grin to show the top row of her teeth. She was so absorbed that James' voice barely seemed to register. He could only get her to answer if he said her name, and that was still hit or miss. She was so absorbed in her book that she wasn't even aware to anything around her. James was sure that the whole castle could catch fire and she wouldn't notice til it burnt her book. He tilted her head at her and wondered how she could lose her self so easily in all the words printed across the pages. He lost himself in her as she had the book, and neither noticed Dumbledore walk in the door behind them.

He coughed and James jumped from the top of her book, and Lily grabbed his wrist and they both glanced at each other before settling on the Headmaster. He took a moment to chuckle, "I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I have some bad news, Mr. Potter." James straightened his back, grabbing Lily's wrist back, holding a bit too tight. "Your parents have passed on due to a rather violent case of Dragon Pox. However, your father said the cloak he gave you is yours to keep, and you have inherited your parents cottage in Godric Hollow and all the wealth in the Potter vault at Gringotts. Would you like to inform Mr. Black, or should I?"

James' breaths had become more shallow, and he force them to be deep. "I'll tell him." He choked out.

"Would you mind asking Sirius, Remus and Peter to come here, Headmaster?" Lily asked, looking up to James sadly.

"Of course, Ms. Evans." Dumbledore nodded and left the room. James just stood with his eyes squeezed shut, clinging to Lily's wrist. She moved the book and climbed over the back of the couch, hugging James. She used her free hand to rub his back, and very soon, he cracked. He began to sob on Lily's shoulder, letting some of his weight fall onto her. He sniffled and shook his head, burying his face even deeper into her shoulder. He shook his head again, then again, then continuously, sniffling and crying until Sirius popped through the door, Remus and Peter right behind him.

"Prongsie, what's-" Sirius began, but the hand that was rubbing James' back shot up and motioned them to stop. All three sets of feet froze, and James pulled his head up to look right at Sirius. He tried calming himself down, but Lily just turned her head and optioned Sirius forward with a finger.

Once he was close enough, she turned and placed an arm around the both of them, looking at Sirius with tears lining her eyes and croaking out, "I'm sorry, but the Potters have died." She pulled them both closer together, so that they were in a three person hug. Lily slipped out and left the two boys to cry, standing between Peter and Remus. She rested her head on Remus' shoulder and he laid his on the top of hers, and they just gazed on. After a little while the boys calmed down and Lily made everyone tea. They moped about a bit, mainly enjoying each others company. It was about five thirty in the afternoon, and Remus, Peter and Lily left to bring them dinner.

At six they returned, baring food for the pair as they stared at the fire. Two hours later the boys had returned to their dorm and Lily was on the couch with James, his head on her shoulder as he sipped his tea. She was reading once more, and as she finished the second section James spoke up. "Hey Lil, could you uh, could you maybe um, read to me?"

Lily smiled gently and nodded, flipping to the beginning of the book. "When Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton." Lily began, and James up snuggled into her side. He levitated a large and fluffy blanket down from his room and wrapped itself around the both of them as Lily told a marvelous tale. She read for hours, until eventually she had trouble keeping her eyes open. After the fifth time of snapping her head up, she heard a low rumble. She marked the page and closed the book, falling asleep to James' snoring.