[On Hiatus] It Was Meant to Be (A James and Lily Story)

Chapter 8

"I apologize, Dorcas, but I'm afraid I'll have to cut our session short. Something just came up," Lily said, hurriedly, as she began to pack up her things. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted James and Peter making their way across the grounds.

"Oh! I'm so sorry if I did anything..."

"Oh no! It wasn't you. I'm just really very tired as I didn't get much sleep last night. I'll meet with you tomorrow night. Is that alright?"

"Okay. Thank you so much for all your help, Lily."

"No worries, don't mention it," Lily replied as she sped past Dorcas into the hallway.

"Excuse me! Sorry! I'm so sorry!" she yelled as she ran down the corridor, her hair coming loose. She stopped to catch her breath before resuming to run down the stairs to the Great Hall.

She opened the door, feeling the cool night air. She looked around, wildly, trying to seek out James in the dark.

"James!"

Silence.

"James?"

There was no one there. Lily frowned. She was sure she had seen him. She turned on her heel and strode inside, the heat enveloping her once again.

---------------------------------------------------------------

James helped Sirius set Remus down on the rickety bed in the Shrieking Shack. He looked at Sirius and nodded. 

Just moments later, there was a black dog standing in Sirius' place. 

"Hullo, Padfoot," James grinned, before turning into his Animagus, a stag.

He felt the familiar tingle start at his toes, moving to his head. His entire body was filled with warmth as he began to change shape. And then, it was over. Standing in his place, was a stag.

James loved transforming into his stag form. The feeling was indescribable; it was as if someone was taking all his worries and draining him of them. He felt free and blissful. The war, the inequality: it all felt like a distant dream.  

However, all of that faded when he heard the familiar scream that signaled the start of Remus' painful transformation. James glanced at Sirius and they both made their way towards where Remus was lying.

Another scream tore through the air and James began to see Remus' face morph into a wolf-like snout. Fur began to sprout and covered his whole body. As human turned to wolf, Remus let out a howl and began to sprint. He ran out of the shack and into the Dark Forest, James and Sirius closely behind him.

That night, it seemed Remus was also glad to be back home. Usually, the first transformations of the school year help Remus release all of his pent-up energy and tonight was no different. He roamed each and every corner of the Dark Forest, with James and Sirius by his side. 

And, that was when it happened. They were being careless, really, when Remus surprised them. He turned around and leaped toward Sirius, for some unknown reason. James saw him crouch and quickly knocked Sirius out of the way as Remus came down on him. He sidestepped but was caught by a singular claw that ripped through his flesh.

James grunted and he could barely see anything through the haze of pain. Sirius looked at him, concerned, but James waved him away. Remus was more important, anyway. 

As quickly as it had begun, it was over. Remus was lying on the floor, unconscious. 

When James finally walked through the portrait hole to the Head's Dormitory, exhausted beyond belief, he was surprised to see Lily on the couch, fast asleep. He was unsure why she would be up at this time. Was she waiting for him? James shook the thought out of his head.

He gently shook Lily awake. "Lils, hey, you should go sleep in your room."

Lily slowly opened her eyes, still exhausted. She seemed to register who it was and she quickly jumped up. "James! Where were you? I swear I thought I saw you on the grounds with Peter, but that didn't make sense. So I went to the Gryffindor common room and no one had seen you there either." She glanced at his face, "Are you alright?"

James gulped. Even though an unknown warm feeling flooded his veins, how was he supposed to explain what happened? He had sworn to his friends that no one should find out about their Illegal Animagi, but Lily wasn't just anyone. He saw Lily staring at him so he cleared his throat.

"Erm- well, you see, actually, tonight was the full moon, so we were waiting in the hospital wing for Remus so that we could see him. Sorry if we had you worried, but it's what we do to help him cope with his transformation." James sighed. That was a plausible explanation. He hated lying to her, but it wasn't his secret to tell. 

Lily's eyes grew wide. "Of course, I'm so sorry. I must've been hallucinating or something from my lack of sleep. I hope Remus is alright. Anyways, you look awful, you should try to get some sleep before classes tomorrow." She placed her hand on his arm, frowning when she noticed him wince.

She furrowed her brows. "James, what happened to your arm?" She reached for his arm, but he twisted out of her reach. 

"It's fine. It's nothing, actually. Just a scratch," he said, pulling his sleeve to cover the wound.

But nothing escaped Lily's notice. "Potter, let me see it." As James opened his mouth to protest, she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her. 

"Let me see."

She gingerly raised his sleeve and took a sharp intake when she saw how big the wound was. She looked up at him, thousands of questions waiting to be asked when green met hazel. James looked away as Lily led him towards the fireplace. 

"Wait here, I'll be back," she told him as she ran towards her dorm. She returned moments later with her wand and a small first aid kit. 

She murmured a spell under her breath and he immediately felt the pain dull. She lifted his sleeve and sighed, getting to work. She pushed him into a chair and began to clean his wound. She frowned as she noticed dirt in the wound, but decided not to mention it. She could tell that he was exhausted and she too wanted to get in bed soon. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him, but she knew that was a conversation better left for another day.

James watched her, speechless, as she worked. She was just something else. Her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her deep green eyes were focused on his arm as she worked efficiently. She dabbed some ointment on his wound and covered it with some gauze. She was mesmerizing and it seems the exhaustion was quickly wearing him down. And, it was so warm in the room...

Lily wrapped the final bandage around his arm, eager to get some sleep. She looked up at him, ready to speak, but he was fast asleep. She studied him silently, watching his chest rise and fall with quiet breaths. His hair was a mess, like always, but even more so tonight. She leaned over and picked a leaf out of his hair, turning it over between her fingers. She decided that the exhaustion was muddling her brain and concluded that she needed some sleep. She took off James' glasses and placed it on the table next to him.

"Accio Blanket," she murmured and placed the blanket over him.

She silently bid him goodnight and walked up the stairs to her own dorm. She turned off the lights and snuggled into her covers, falling into a peaceful sleep with a small smile gracing her lips.