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

Chapter 34

James barely slept that night. He tossed and turned, his mind still fixated on the news he had received merely hours before. He knew that he had to tell Lily. She deserved to know and she would be able to quell his fears.

Of course, by the time James had gotten up and showered, he still hadn't figured out how he was going to tell his girlfriend about the attack. She wasn't directly involved, but it concerned her just the same.

By the time he had finished showering, though, Lily had already left for breakfast, her room empty. James sighed, running a hand through his hair. I guess I'll just have to tell her at breakfast, he concluded.

When James walked into the Great Hall, he noticed that the entire room became silent upon his entry. He caught a group of Hufflepuff's whispering away incessantly, abruptly silencing themselves when they saw him. He furrowed his brows in confusion but nevertheless plopped down on a bench beside Lily.

Before James could even ask her a question, Lily blurted out, "They know."

"Who knows?"

Lily gestured around them, vaguely. "Everyone."

James snorted. "I'm surprised it took them so long. I was beginning to lose faith in the gossip mill."

"Doesn't it bother you?"

He turned to look at her. "Does it bother you?"

James held his breath as he waited for Lily to answer. He knew that she was a bit more reserved when it came to their relationship, but he was proud of her and didn't want to sneak around. He wanted to be able to tell people that Lily Evans was his girlfriend.

To be fair, though, he knew that Lily wasn't ashamed of them. She just didn't feel the need to go flaunting their relationship to the entire world, which James respected. They had only told their friends at first because those were the only people whose opinions mattered to them. Everyone else could go to hell for all he cared.

"No, of course not. I only meant that it's none of their business and that I'm perfectly allowed to snog whomever I please."

James snorted. "Well... not whomever. I doubt Peter would very much like it if you carried on snogging him."

Lily turned to him, a smile dancing on her lips. "Good, because you're the only person I want to snog."

"LA LA LA LA," cried a voice from behind them, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

Lily rolled her eyes as Sirius sat down on the other side of James, helping himself to some of Lily's toast.

"Hey! I was going to eat that," Lily cried indignantly.

"Oh, will you look at that? Now I'm eating it," Sirius replied, with an air of casual arrogance.

Lily narrowed her eyes at Sirius, but James' hand on her arm stopped her. He gave a slight shake of his head. It's not worth it, he expressed. Lily scowled and angrily grabbed another piece of toast.

"Oh, and Evans, everyone knows," Sirius said, spewing breadcrumbs everywhere.

Lily scoffed. "I know," she snapped.

"Oh, good on you then. Nice to know you weren't dead set on hiding it." Sirius took another bite of the toast, "Anyways, you weren't really doing a good job. Everyone had their guesses after the Halloween Feast."

James frowned. He sent a cautioning look Sirius' way, trying to warn his best friend. James didn't want to bring this up. Not now, at least, not when everything was going so well between him and Lily. Plus, it was too early in the morning for him to have this discussion. He hadn't even had a chance to drink a cup of tea!