Dancing in the Moonlight

Chapter 18- Under My Skin

Lily Evans thought she must be dreaming. Her eyes were closed. She was warm, and comfortable. She breathed in deeply, smiling as she did so. It smelled like firewood and smoke. It smelled like her favorite place in the world, it smelled like home.

She opened her eyes and looked down at herself, she wore an unfamiliar brown jumper she had a vague memory of James helping her into last night. That Gryffindor chivalry was clearly alive and well. She smiled again, tucking her hands into the too long sleeves.

Lily pulled the jumper up and buried her face in it, trying to piece together the night before. She couldn't blame the alcohol for the way she'd danced with James, no- that had been all her. And honestly? If Sirius hadn't pulled her away she might have...kissed him. He looked so good in his knight costume. A literal fairytale come to life. His hair had been so perfectly messy she hadn't been able to stop herself from running a hand through it like he always did.

His curls were so soft.

She could blame the alcohol on giving her wings away to a nice witch in the bathroom who complimented them though. She had a foggy memory of a girl with black shiny hair who looked like Alice who'd said she looked so pretty with her wings, and then all she recalled was leaving the bathroom without them. Oh well.

Lily rolled onto her back, looking up at the canopy above her. It hit her then- she was in James Potter's bed.

She craned her neck to the left and saw a bed with its curtains drawn. She flipped her head to the other side and saw Marlene lay in the bed next to her, and Alice lay in the bed next to that. The beds followed the same circular pattern as in the girl's dormitory, so they jutted out towards a common middle space. Both of them were still passed out cold. Marlene's top hat was on the floor between them, and she had kicked her covers halfway off.

Where were the boys? Lily sat up, immediately feeling a pounding in her temple. She grimaced, touching a hand to her head. It was worth it though, last night had been amazing, she wouldn't take back a second of it. She leaned forward a bit, wincing. Okay, maybe she'd take back her last drink.

She squinted her eyes and saw Peter passed out on a desk, hugging a pillow with his blanket pooled around his waist on his chair. She didn't see Remus or Sirius, but as she leaned even further forward she found James, asleep on some cushions on the floor in front of her. Lily pressed her lips together, trying to contain her smile. He looked adorable, curled up in his blankets on his side, although seeing his face without his glasses was strange.

She sat there for a moment, hugging her knees under the warm blankets. It was awfully sweet of both James and Peter to have brought them up here to sleep, and to give up their beds?

She'd told James they were really and actually friends on Friday, and now she felt like it was truer than ever. It was the same thing as with Sirius and Remus these past few weeks. Now she felt like she had something more with both Peter and James, something that went beyond a surface friendship.

She studied James, and shook her head, immediately regretting that action. But it wasn't the same with him. She looked at a stray curl that wound down onto his forehead, and smiled into her arms, burying her head again. No, it wasn't the same feeling for him at all. She felt...she didn't know what she felt. She didn't know if she wanted to figure it out either.

Just then Marlene groaned lightly, pushing herself up on a shaky arm. She looked around blearily.

"Where the fuck are we?" she asked, wrinkling her nose and squinting at her surroundings.

Lily shushed her lightly, climbing out of James's bed and over to where Marlene lay.

"We're in the boys's dormitory, everyone is still sleeping."