Letters From A Stranger || James and Lily ||

The Order

Disclaimer: Day 256 without ownership of HP franchise - "That idea of bribing JKR with the giant Hershey bar looking real hopeful right now."

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Chapter 48

"Are you alright?"

Lily opened her eyes reluctantly to see James standing in front of her, freshly showered and holding a towel in his hand with which he was drying his unruly hair.

"Not really," Lily replied honestly as she rolled on to her back on the couch, closing her eyes once again, "It feels like the Hobgoblins are having a rock concert inside my head."

She heard shuffling of feet and opened her eyes again to see James kneeling on the floor next to the couch.

"What's wrong?" he asked, gently placing his palm on her forehead to check the temperature.

Gentleness wasn't something a person would associate with James Potter at first sight. With his height and attractively unruly look, he would come off as intimidating. There was once a point in Lily's life when she had never seen past this intimidating aura of his.

It took her a year to realize how juxtaposing it was that he could look intimidating when he wanted but gentle otherwise.

Maybe it was this hypnotizing gentleness that made Lily tell him everything, from the nightmares to her lack of sleep and consequently her headache now. She told him all of it, almost as if she was under an imperius curse.

James remained silent in thought for a while and Lily turned away to the window in disappointment. Of course there was nothing he could do about her weird nightmares.

"I've got something for you."

Before she could even ask him what he was talking about, he had dashed up the stairs to his room. Moments later, he was back, this time holding a small vial of clear pink liquid.

"Mum sent me this when I was taking my OWLs.", he explained as he held the vial out for her to see, "It really helps."

Lily stared unblinkingly at him. It hadn't been much long since she had gotten close to James but it was surprising how different he was from the image of him she had forced herself to believe. She was sure that her fifteen year old self probably couldn't even imagine falling sick and having James Potter take care of her.

"Do you wanna try?" he prompted when she didn't reply.

Lily nodded. She had tried everything from Madam Pomfrey's calming draughts to the muggle medicines which her mom always made her keep for emergencies. None of it had worked so far so she concluded there would be no harm in trying something else.

On receiving her permission, James placed the vial on the stand next to the couch. He leaned down and lifted Lily's head slightly, and sat down on the couch before placing her head back on his lap.

Lily was paralyzed with shock at his sudden action so she remained unmoving. But her heartbeat had increased to such an alarming rate that she wondered if he could feel it.

Looking up slightly, Lily saw James open the vial and tilt it. The pink liquid that looked like a sort of serum flowed out of the container onto his open hand. He rubbed his hands together, spreading the potion on his palms.

The effect was so instant that Lily sighed in relief when his hands delved into her mass of scarlet hair, massaging the serum on her scalp.

"This feels good." she murmured, almost drowsily as her eyelids seemed to struggle keeping open.