the sweater ~~ jily

27.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: After Everything

After James had just ran to his dormitory, Lily grabbed her book back and sat down next to Marlene to continue studying. Marlene was all over the place and freaking out.

"No. Fucking. Way. I listened to the whole thing, oh my god! I'm so happy for you!" screamed Marlene, pacing around the room.

"Sit down, Mar, you're gonna make me dizzy and I'm trying to study. And you're really loud," said Lily, trying to calm her friend.

"Well everyone in the common room already knows, I bet they're all happy for you too!" Marlene didn't stop pacing. Remus scooted, taking Marlene's spot.

"I heard and saw everything! I'm so happy for you!" said Remus happily.

"What did I fucking tell you?" said Marlene.

Lily looked over to Sirius who was crossing his arms and smiling. Lily knew he was celebrating on the inside. She knew the news would spread like wildfire, knowing mostly everyone knew James as Head Boy and Quidditch Seeker. Especially since Lily was his first girlfriend and Head Girl.

"Everyone'll know by tomorrow, you know that, right?" said Dorcas randomly. "Rumors like this would spread like wildfire. Since everyone knows James, too."

"I don't care, to be honest."

"Well, do you know how many girls would kill to be in your position?" said Dorcas. "Have you not noticed the other girls looking at him googly eyes?"

"I guess that makes me special, then," laughed Lily.

"Well, no fucking shit." squealed Marlene. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I think it would be better if I was able to study, you know. There's a lot I have to go on about, I might even have to stay up until midnight," said Lily. "We both know perfectly well that I'd like to sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Study. I'll ask everything tomorrow then," complained Marlene. Lily shook her head with a smile.

And she was right; Lily did have to study late in the night. Everyone had gone to bed while she was still in the dark common room, the fire and her wand being the only light. She had a few pages left to reread of the book they were given and her eyes were heavy.

Lily read every line carefully and whispered them aloud, making sure she remembered everything. Why did she even have to think of procrastinating? This was stupid.

Apparantly she had made too much noise and one of the doors to the dormitories had opened. Lily had to be even more quiet in case anyone would catch the Head Girl procrastinating. It could impact the younger Gryffindors to procrastinate, too.

There were whispers overhead.

"I want to come with you, James," whispered a small voice, someone who could be a first or second year. Was it really James?

"No, you can't, okay? You need sleep, I promise I'll talk to you tomorrow. Remember, I get to tutor you?" said James's familiar whisper. Of course it was James.

"Aww, please?" said the little voice.

"You'll see tomorrow, I promise. Right now, you need to go to bed before the scary monster will force you to go to bed." Lily's eyes widened. Did James make up a monster to scare a little kid? "The one you told me about. Please go to bed."

Thank god James didn't make it up.

"Fine. Tomorrow," said the small voice again. A door had closed and footsteps were going down the stairs.

Lily kept concentrating on reading that night until James had silently sat next to her on the couch and leaned on her shoulder. His wand was dimly lit and he had a blanket around himself like a child.

"I'm starting to wonder who is the child now, you or the little boy you were talking to?" whispered Lily jokingly, still focusing on her book.

"Probably me," said James. "Why're you still studying at this hour, you already know you're going to pass the test. I already know you're gonna pass the test."

"How'd you know I was still here?"

James sighed tiredly. "Because of Moony. He came to the dormitories late, did you not see him?"

Lily shrugged. "I guess not. Who was the kid you were talking to?"

"Oh, some first year who wanted to see you. He's also Muggleborn, he told me about this monster under his bed. Don't worry, I didn't make it up. He's just very...paranoid."

She chuckled. "What was so special about me that he wanted to meet me?"

"Personally, I could give you a lot of reasons why you're special, but I believe he found out about us from Sirius," said James with a smile.

Lily laughed. "You're awful."

"But you love me."

"I do. You should get back to sleep," said Lily.

"I wanna stay here," complained James. "It's better with you than anywhere else. It's comfortable, not to mention I'm next to the person I like most."

She felt herself blush and smile. "Unless you want to study with me — ."

"NO, no thank you, I just came here to...just be here." James moved a little closer to her. "I can just be here, right?"

"Of course. Please tell me that you've studied. And took a shower instead of being a sweaty moron."

"I took a shower, I'm not a sweaty moron," whispered James.

Lily kissed his forehead. "What if you fall asleep here, I'll be done in a bit."

"It's better with you than with anywhere else," he whispered once more and no longer saying anything, just staying by her side. 

It didn't take long for James to fall asleep and Lily was proven right. She finished rereading after half an hour and no longer did anything. She didn't want to move in case of waking him up. Lily really, really cared for him after all.

a/n

i had this idea for a while, might as well share it w you guys :)
this chapter (including author's note) is 998 words
thanks for reading!

~the sweater