Accio Love- A Jily Fanfic

Chapter 22

A couple of weeks had passed since the little incident at the lake. Slowly, everyone was falling into their own rhythm. Lily had mostly forgiven James but Marlene was still pretty pissed at both James and Sirius. Lily only shared three classes with James now, Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. That meant she only saw him a couple times a week in class. Instead, she spent a lot of her classes with Remus. James also spent a lot of his time out of class on the Quidditch Pitch. After last years close defeat with Ravenclaw beating Gryffindor, James was making the team practice upwards of six nights a week. That meant if he patrolled with Lily, he was exhausted and they would walk in silence.

This Friday night was no exception. Lily waited at the base of the stairs in front of the Great Hall for James to start patrolling. Once again, he was running late. Lily sighed and sat down on the stairs. She brought her hands up to her hair to distract herself. She did a repetitive braiding motion to calm her down. Lily could hear some giggling and footsteps and sighed. She stood up and walked around the corner to see two third years hiding behind a statue and eating food they stole from the kitchen. They both dropped their food when they saw Lily and shared a nervous glance. Apparently word really had  gotten around not to mess with Lily Evans. Lily smiled a little and waved her wand to clean up the food. 

"Go on, back to bed. Don't want to miss Quidditch tomorrow, do you?" Lily asked and the two third years shook their heads before running in the direction of the Ravenclaw towers.

"Punch another person?" Lily heard James approach and she turned around to see him grinning cheekily, hands shoved deep in his pockets. He had forgotten his tie and his shirt was half untucked. 

"Ha ha, you're so funny," Lily rolled her eyes and fought off the smile that attempted to crawl onto her face. "You're late, again," Lily pointed out and began to climb the stairs with James. They would meet at the bottom, check a couple spots on the way to the top, and then work their way to the bottom again. 

"Sorry," James sighed and easily caught up to her. "I promise, after the match tomorrow it will get better," James snuck a glace to Lily. He was surprised she didn't look angry. To be honest, she had no emotion on her face. 

"Don't make a promise if you aren't going to keep it," Lily said flatly and James sighed exasperatedly. 

"When have I ever not fulfilled a promise?" James asked and Lily didn't respond. They did most of their patrols in silence again. Lily admired how James could somehow pick out spots that Lily couldn't even imagine hiding in. Seven out of ten times, he found someone. As they finished patrols and walked back together to Gryffindor common room, James cleared his throat.

"So are you coming to the match tomorrow?" James asked and looked over at Lily. She pretended not to feel his gaze as they turned a corner, heading for the common room. 

"I'm not sure," Lily admitted. "Marlene's bugging me to go and all but part of me just wants to sleep all day tomorrow," Lily finally looked at James and he nodded, looking away. He wasn't sure where the two of them stood anymore. 

"Well... it'd mean a lot to me if you came," James nudged her a little as they entered the common room. The fire had died down and there were soft crackles that comforted the two of them once they stepped in. Lily nodded and said goodnight before going upstairs. The next morning, Lily woke to Marlene shaking her vigorously. 

"Come on, Lils," Marlene's voice was gentle despite her practically tearing the skin from Lily's body. "Let's go," she smiled. Marlene helped Lily get ready and the two went out to the pitch. Marlene made Lily sit next to Sirius so she didn't have to. Sirius sighed and Lily gave him an apologetic look. 

The teams made their way onto the pitch and Lily watched James shake the Hufflepuff captain's hand. They mounted their brooms and were off with the whistle. As Lily watched them play, the memories from last year flooded back. She remembered waiting for James after the game but instead Emily got to him first. She pushed the thought from her mind as James made a score. She remembered being pulled down to the pitch with everyone after they won a match and James kissing her in front of everyone. She remembered how happy they were. She remembered having detention with him after a game and how he teased her about not knowing colors proper names. 

All the happy memories that they had swirled around her head and she could barely focus on the game. It was too much all at once. Lily felt her eyes fill with tears and she took a shaky breath in. Why had she messed everything up last year? She asked herself over and over again. Finally, she decided she had to leave. It was just too painful. Lily was barely aware that she mumbled something to Marlene before leaving the stands and walking back to the castle. Lily went into the Gryffindor common room and found herself walking up into the boys dormitory. Lily hesitated before walking into the room. Not much had changed from how it was the year before. 

Lily walked over to Remus's table and saw a new photo added that had her with the four boys framed. Lily smiled at it and went to James's. James had a framed photo of Lily hugging him while laughing at the camera from the end of last year in Hogsmeade. They looked so happy. James was watching Lily laugh and laughing himself. Lily forced herself to put it down before moving Sirius's. She was surprised that Sirius had a framed photo of just her and Sirius too. It was from when Lily went to James's house over summer. They had their arms thrown around each other and were laughing with each other. Marlene had taken it.

"Creeper," Lily dropped the photo when she heard a voice behind her.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I don't know-" Lily quickly bent over and repaired the picture and handed it back to Sirius who set it back on his dresser. 

"Don't worry, it's okay," Sirius assured her. He sat down on his bed and patted for Lily to sit next to him. Lily sat down next to him and they sat in silence. Lily picked up the picture from James's dresser and sighed. "Do you hate him?" Sirius asked after a moment of silence.

"Nah. I don't hate him," Lily smiled at him and looked back at the picture. "He can be kind of stupid sometimes but," Lily sighed and ran her hand over the picture. "I love him."

"You love him? Like love him love him?" Sirius asked and Lily laughed a little. 

"You sound like Marlene," Lily elbowed him a little. "I was in a bad place at the end of last year. I was really worried about everything for no reason and thought if I separated myself I'd be better off but," Lily laid back on the bed, looking at the ceiling, "I wasn't. I missed him so much over summer. Yeah, he pissed me off earlier but I still love him," Lily looked over at Sirius. 

"He isn't James if he doesn't sometimes piss you off," Sirius laid down next to Lily and they looked at the ceiling together. "Is that why you ran off? You love him?"

"Kind of. Just so many memories with Quidditch. It was overwhelming. I feel like I've messed everything up," Lily sighed and Sirius wrapped an arm around her to comfort her. Lily closed her eyes and let a tear slip out. 

"You didn't mess anything up, Lily flower," Lily scoffed at her nickname which made Sirius laugh. "Perk up. It sounds like people are coming back. Party time," Sirius squeezed her and Lily nodded.

"I don't want him to move on," Lily mumbled as they stood up and Sirius hugged her, tightly. 

"Tell him," Sirius whispered and Lily nodded. They stayed like that for a couple seconds. Sirius never got real emotional with anyone or let his guards down like he did with Lily. It was a special relationship he would never replace. They heard the door open and slowly pulled apart after Sirius gave Lily a quick peck on the cheek. James stood there, confused what he just witnessed. 

"Sorry, I'll let you change," Lily wiped her eye and mustered a smile for James before quickly walking out.