selenophile || remus lupin

chapter ninety nine

November 30th, 1977

Thunder rippled across the sky, the loud boom! waking Ophelia up from her night's sleep. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She pulled the curtains from her bed and looked out the window. The nearly full moon was hanging high in the sky, and rain pelted the windows. She heaved a sigh and pulled her legs over the side of the bed, stepping onto the cool floor of her dorm. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and groggily padded down the stairs to the common room.

Remus looked up from his book, sitting in a large chair by the fire.

"Hey, love. Storm wake you?" he asked.

"Yeah, thunder. You?"

"No, the full moon is coming up. Just couldn't sleep well."

"I'm sorry," she smiled at him.

"Come here," he muttered, lifting a side of the blanket for her to snuggle up under. She obliged and laid her head on his chest, and he slowly raked his hand through her hair as he continued to read. The lull of her breaths, however, quickly made him drowsy, and he soon fell asleep.

A bright flash through the clouds came, followed by another loud crack that rattled the castle.

James traipsed down the steps from the boys' dormitory and was greeted with the sight of Ophelia and Remus sound asleep in their own little bubble. James walked over to them, careful not to disturb them, and lifted Remus' open book off of his chest. He grabbed a bookmark, put it on the page, and lay the book on the table next to the couple.

He slunk over to one of the large windows and stood there, watching the rain pour heavily onto the grounds below. He was lost in thought when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, James."

He turned his head to look at the girl standing before him in her pajamas, her hair messy from sleep. He smiled down at her.

"Hey, Lils."

She walked up next to him and looked out the window. She sighed.

"I love the rain. It's so beautiful."

James looked at her, "Yeah, it is."

Lily turned her head to look up at him. All was quiet. She gently reached her hand up and cupped his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb. He leaned into her touch and allowed his eyes to drift close for a moment. When he opened them, he saw her eyes had drifted down to where his lips were curved in a soft smile.

She tilted her head up, ever so slightly, and suddenly they were sharing a breath. Her lips skated over his and her eyes fluttered shut. James' heart seemed to stop, waiting for a moment he was so scared would never come. But it did.

Lily pressed her lips against his.

The moment Lily had given herself to him, he cupped her face in both of his hands and kissed her as if he needed it more than he needed air itself. Like he was so starved and she was the only thing that could satiate his hunger.

After a long moment, James pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. Her breathing was ragged. He felt as if his heart might explode out of his ribcage.

"I want to do that every second of every day until I die," he murmured. He pulled his head away from hers and looked at her.

She was smiling. Merlin, she was smiling, and she had never looked so beautiful before. She smiled, and James felt the world fall into place.

"Let's go for a walk, yeah?" James held his hand out. Lily took it.

✩☾✩☽✩

A pillow hit Ophelia in the head.