the sweater ~~ jily

12.

Chapter Twelve: Remus's Transformation

The next night was the night of the full moon. Remus was going to turn into a werewolf and needed his friends with him. Lily was worried as usual.

James was holding her hand, but the grip of her hand onto his was very strong. All of them were walking down to the normal place where the sun was setting. Remus looked tired, but he was being helped by Sirius. Peter was on the other side of Remus, helping him up as well. He was able to walk still.

"Wow, Lily, are you okay?" asked James. "You're hurting my hand."

Lily shook her head, snapping back to reality. "Oh, am I? Sorry." She loosened her grip on his hand. 

James looked at her worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, perfectly fine," she said immediately, but it was obvious she was tense and scared. She was always worried whenever it was full moon, but now it was even more scary. It just was. But they were going to come back anyways, right? Of course they would, there was no need to get even more scared.

"You sure? You seem...tense," James noticed.

Lily sighed. "Of course I'm tense, James, it's full moon. You guys are transforming, I'm always worried."

"You seem a little more scared than usual, are you sure there's nothing else going on?"

"Shut up, just shut up," she slowed her breathing, but James was still worried for her, keeping his eye on her. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he brushed away her hair from her face.

They were making their way to the tree, Lily gulping hard. There still wasn't any reason to be scared, everything was going to be okay. The sun had gone now, the sky still a mix of pink and blue. She tried breathing normally, but she couldn't.

They finally made it near enough so they could see the tree, but Lily could stay back. They all stopped walking, Lily feeling like she could have a panic attack.

James let go of her hand, opening his arms for a hug. Lily didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him, her head on his chest and hearing every heartbeat. James's hands made it around her shoulders, one hand in her hair and stroking it softly. Lily just listened to his heartbeat, smelling his scent. She was breathing slower now, her eyes closing and enjoying this moment. 

She could feel his chin resting on her head, him pressing his lips on it. Lily didn't mind it, she just smiled. James slowly let her go after a few seconds.

"Listen to me," he said slowly. Lily nodded, her face turning red. "There's nothing for you to be worried about. We're going to handle this, okay? We'll all be back before you know it."

"Mate, she's worried about you, not us," Sirius told him. Lily gave him the death stare. James rolled his eyes.

"I'll be okay, Sirius'll be okay, Remus, Peter, we'll be fine. You should go back to the castle, you'll freeze out here," James said. 

Lily grabbed her arms, suddenly forgetting she left her sweater in the common room. Her arms were left bare. "Um...heh."

James smiled, rolling his eyes. He had an extra sweater around his waist. He untied it and let her put it on.

This sweater was unusually soft. She slipped her arms through it, smelling his strong scent. She no longer felt as cold wearing this. "I'm staying here."

"Are you sure? I really suggest going back to the castle —."

"I'm just going to wait," she said, pulling the sleeve that was falling off her shoulder.

"We'll be back in a few hours, though. It'll get dark and no one else will be here." James looked at her worriedly.

Lily shrugged. "If anything comes, it'll be destroyed by the tree. James, I'm going to be fine out here. The only thing I'm just worried about is you."

"See, I told you," said Sirius, slightly laughing. Lily rolled her eyes at him.

James wrapped his arms around her again, Lily not resisting for another embrace. She hid her face in his chest worriedly. "Please don't do anything stupid," Lily whispered.

"I won't." James whispered back. He let go of her when he noticed the sky was getting darker. "Okay, we have to go. Just so you know, if you start missing me, you might want to keep that sweater closer to you," he joked, slightly calming her down. 

"Oh yeah, sure," Lily responded back sarcastically. 

Peter had just transformed into his rat form and crawling to the roots of the tree. Sirius slowly walked to the entrance. 

"James, we have to go," yelled Sirius. 

"Okay, I love you, bye." he rushed before running and taking Remus's other side.

Wh, What did he just say? Did he really just say he loves her? Maybe it was an accident, maybe he was just in a rush, Lily should just ignore it. He could be exaggerating, Lily'll never know.

She sat on the cold ground gripping onto James's black sweater. Lily sighed, watching the tree sway back and forth from the breeze. James was right, she should have just stayed in the castle. But she was willing to wait for him instead of finding him in the common room the next day.

So she sat there, staring at the tree. Waiting.

a/n

wooow the L word
this chapter (including author's note) is 912 words
thanks for reading!

~the sweater