She's the Girl | A Marauders Love story

Chapter 2

Incidents involving sleep

"I'm never taking O.W.L.s again." James groaned and laid his head on the table in the library.

Hailey smacked the top of his head. "You don't have to, stupid. They're a one-time thing. Unless you fail, of course."

James looked up.

"I still don't like them."

Hailey scoffed at him.

"If you learn it now, then you don't have to do this again until N.E.W.T.s. Just study."

James obliged begrudgingly and the group got back to work. Their O.W.L.s were coming up in just a week and a half, and the fifth years couldn't be more stressed. They sat studying in the library for another hour and a half before Remus spoke up.

"Let's get dinner. We'll check out some books now, and we can quiz each other on them tonight."

Everyone agreed, eager to take a break, and they headed down for dinner.

"If I have to learn one more thing about the Giant Wars, I'm going to stab someone," Sirius said as he attacked his potatoes.

James looked up."It's not too hard. You just have to know the leader's names, and it's straightforward from there. I'll help you with that tonight."

The group all discussed what they needed to work on and who could help them with each subject before heading to the dorms to study late into the night.

~~~~~~~

Hailey woke up in the middle of the night to the dorm room door being opened and Sean walking in. For some reason, something felt off, but she couldn't quite place it.

Sean looked around the room and stopped in his tracks, staring at Hailey, who was staring right back at him from her place in her bed. Suddenly, she realized what was wrong. There was a warmth coming from beside her. Slowly, she turned her head to find James fast asleep with his arm around her waist, trapping her against him. She blushed slightly realizing how close they were, and looked back at Sean.

"It's not what it looks like, I prom-" Sean cut her off by lifting his hand.

"I don't really care to know what this is actually. I'm in no place to judge anyway." He winked at her and left the room before she could say anything.

Hailey sighed and relaxed against the bed again, realizing how comfortable she was when James was with her. She curled into him and fell back asleep.

~~~~~~~

When Hailey woke up again, it was morning, and James was still asleep. She briefly wondered how they had gotten in that position, because she didn't remember even being on his bed as they were studying, but decided she might not want to know how this came to be. Instead, she grabbed a pillow and hit James's face with it as hard as she could, wanting him to wake up before Remus and Sirius did in case they decided to make fun of Hailey and James's compromising position.

James's eyes snapped open and focused on Hailey. He looked confused for a second, then realized what was happening. He quickly sat up, allowing Hailey to do the same.

"Do you know how-?"

Hailey shook her head.

"The last thing I remember was studying in the spare bed."

James nodded.

"Me too." They looked at each other and both blushed slightly. Hailey spoke up.

"I'm going to go get ready. I'll see you at breakfast, okay?" James nodded and she got out of the bed and hurried towards her dorm.

~~~~~~~

That morning at breakfast was a little different than normal. Everyone took their regular seats, but James and Hailey seemed a little bit off. They weren't teasing each other and stealing food from each other's plates, they were eating in silence, not looking at each other. All of the girls noticed the change in behavior, and Lily Evans spoke up.

"What's going on? Normally you two," She gestured at James and Hailey. "Are all over each other. Why are you acting like you barely know one another?"

At her words, both James and Hailey blushed profusely, but Hailey spoke up.

"What do you mean? Everything's normal."

Everyone scoffed. Marlene McKinnon snorted.

"This is the farthest thing from normal. Did you guys forget who you were overnight?" James smiled at her with his mouth full of food.

"We're all good. See?" With this, he put his arm around Hailey's shoulders and pulled on a lock of her hair. Everyone looked suspicious, but let it go. Hailey noticed James left his arm around her for all of breakfast, and only let her go when they all stood up.

"Well, enjoy your day ladies, we'll see you tomorrow for the same thing." Sirius laughed.

Everyone rolled their eyes and parted ways, heading to class.