Deer in the Headlights of Love

Chapter 3

James's POV

"She's wearing your sweater," Peter pointed out once Lily disappeared into the girls' dormitory.

"I know," I sighed happily, plopping down in an empty chair.

"How'd it go?" Remus asked.

"Did you kiss?" Sirius asked and I almost jumped.

"What?!" I asked.

"Relax," Sirius laughed. "But did you kiss or not?"

"No," I said.

"Why does she have your sweater?" Remus asked.

"She was cold," I said.

"Sure," he said, smirking.

"She was!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Sirius laughed.

"I'm going to bed," I said before any of them could say anything else. I quickly changed and got into bed, but ended up lying there for what felt like hours, thinking about Lily. Her smile, her hair, her laugh.

Eventually, sleep creeped in and I started dreaming.

~Dream~

We were outside. The Marauders, Lily, Marlene, Alice, Frank, and I. It started to rain. The rain turned into hot ice. We couldn't go inside. We couldn't go anywhere. Something important was on the line. The hot ice burned as it hit us, but we couldn't scream. I tried calling someone's name, but my mouth couldn't open. The ice turned into large fireballs. As they hit the ground all around us, fires started. And they weren't small ones. Big, mile-high flames engulfed us, but didn't touch us. Suddenly, everyone turned to me.

"This is your fault!" they said.

"I trusted you," Sirius said. "We all trusted you!"

"I hate you," Lily said. She was wearing a Slytherin sweater.

"Me too," everyone else said. The fires grew larger. They got closer. And, slowly, the fires killed all my friends right in front of my eyes.

"No," I said. "NO!"

"Prongs. Prongs. Prongs! PRONGS!" someone shouted. I jolted awake and saw Sirius, Remus, and Peter crowded around my bed, all looking very nervous. I was drenched in sweat and felt exhausted.

"You ok?" Remus asked.

"W-what happened?" I asked.

"You were yelling in your sleep," Peter said anxiously. I sighed.

"It was just a dream," I said. "So none of you hate me?"

"Of course not," Sirius said, taken aback.

"Why would we?" Peter asked.

"You all said you did..." I said. "Nevermind. I'm going to shower."

I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to shower. After my shower, I quickly put on some clothes and checked the time. 10:30. I panicked and ran to the Common Room, where several people were sitting.

"Guys! We're late!" I yelled.

"James, it's Saturday," Lily said. Oh. I forgot it's the weekend.

"Oh yeah..." I went back into the boys' dormitory to get some work that I had to do, along with a few books. Back in the Common Room, I sat on a couch with Sirius and Marlene and began working, but a few first years were whisper-talking rather loudly and giggling a lot.

"I'm going to the library," I said, standing up.

"I'll come with you, there's a few books I have to get," Lily said. I nodded and, avoiding my friends' grins, left the Common Room with Lily.

On the way to the library, I felt myself blushing a lot as we talked and laughed and I think she was too.

Lily's POV

There were only a few students in the library, which was good because it was quiet. I looked around for the books I needed and once I had them, James and I sat down at an empty table and began working. I noticed James being somewhat tense, which was far from how he usually is. Instead of talking, he remained silent and stared at his essay. I tried to ignore this, but it was bothering me too much.

"James, are you alright?" I asked him.

"Wh- yeah," he said without looking up.

"Do you want you sweater back? I was gonna give it to you at breakfast but you slept in," I said.

"It's fine, you can have it, I have others," James said, finally looking up at me. "Or you can give it back, it's up to you," He added quickly.

"I'll keep it, so we can match," I said, smiling. For a few minutes, we just stared into each other's eyes. Then I remembered that I had an essay to finish and looked away. I went back to working and saw James do the smae.

We sat in silence for a little longer until Sirius and Marlene came and told us that lunch was starting. We quickly packed up our stuff and left. We quickly dropped by the Common Room to drop our things off and went to the Great Hall for lunch. Sirius and James walked a little ahead of Marlene and I.

"So, what work did you get done in the library?" Marlene asked me.

"Well, I finished my Potions essay and started my History of Magic-"

"I mean involving James!" she whispered to me. I rolled my eyes.

"All we did was work," I said.

"Sure," she said sarcastically. We ate lunch as snow flurries began tapping the windows of the castle. We couldn't go to Hogsmeade due to an accidental explosion of sticky green goop that most likely came from Zonko's.

After lunch, I went back to the Common Room to finish up some work and when I was done, went to the girls' dormitory. I sat on my bed and read one of the new books I got from the library. I found myself staring at a page, not reading. Instead, I was thinking of James. I realized I was thinking a lot about his jawline. His amazing jawline and how it moved when he spoke. And then his laugh came into my mind. And his warm, welcoming smile.

"Lily!" I heared Marlene's voice shout. I instantly snapped out of her thoughts.

"What?" she asked.

"You were thinking about James, weren't you?" Alice asked.

"Maybe," I blushed heavily.

"Come on, Lils! Admit it!" Marlene said.

"Fine," I gave up on trying to deny it. "I like James Potter."