Slumber

by birchermuesli

Title: Slumber
Author: birchermuesli
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance/Suspense
Disclaimer: Slumber is a fanfiction based upon characters and situations owned or created by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and other publishers. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

I haven't written for months now, and I'm so so sorry for that. :( Here's a little story that I just wrote, but again, apologies for the rusty language! I miss you all and haven't forgotten any of you. Siriusly. :)

It's still. So still.

Lily can't hear anything from here in the quiet quarters of the Head Dormitories, just the muted creaking of the ground as James tries to sneak up into his own room without waking her. Obviously he doesn't realise that she still hasn't fallen asleep yet.

The creaking stops outside her door.

Lily's eyes shoot open, large and wide. It's dark; she can't see anything. But can she hear? She strains her ears for any hint of further movement, holding her breath. She can feel her dry lips pressing tight against one another, but the thought of it is at the very back of her mind; it's the least of her worries right now.

Her heart's beating fast and the rate increases with each passing moment. Slow, tense silence. It's like a train, gradually growing faster and faster and—

Lily.

Her ears perk up again. Almost as an instinctual move, Lily uses her elbows to elevate herself up to a sitting position in her bed. The action emits a loud creaking noise. She silently curses herself for being so stupid.

But really, what was that? James whispering? Or was it just a morphed sound of the hissing fire? After all, Lily thinks rather glumly, they do say that you only see what you want to see. Perhaps it's the same with hearing things. She was obviously just hearing what she wanted to h—

No. She won't think of that. Lily furrows her brow determinedly; she's resolute. She's not going to let that stupid Potter boy evade her thoughts more than he has already. It's a waste of space, a waste of time. Because really, how many Charms incantations, how many counter curses would be more worth remembering?

She tries not to think of that either, because she already knows that her heart already has the inevitable, guilt-ridden answer: none.

No rudding spell is worthier of remembrance than the memory of smiling, mischievous, messy-haired James Potter.

The final admittance of this hits her like a brick against her head. "Shit," Lily snaps, the loud whisper cutting sharp against the thick silence. Now she knows she won't be able to sleep. Great – just her luck. She exhales loudly, in a thoroughly peeved off mood now.

Well, she might as well get this mystery solved once and for all. Was James really whispering her name outside her door, or had the boy finally turned her completely and absolutely bonkers mad?

Love crazy, James would say. But she's not going to think of that.

She's not going to think of James – no, really, she isn't.

With a frustrated sigh, Lily tears off her doona and jumps out of bed. She walks over to her door, feeling her cheeks heat up against the cold. She's nuts for doing this, even thinking of doing this. Her hands reach the hard knob and twist it, bringing the door open.

James isn't there.

Lily mentally scolds herself and tells her mind to stop feeling so disappointed. Really, who would be so daft to do that sort of thing, anyway? Whisper her name outside her door so loudly that even she'd be able to hear from inside?

Shock springs onto her, just momentarily, as her bare feet transfer from warm carpet to the cold surface of the floorboards. A shiver descends down her spine. She doesn't know why she's doing this, but she just can't help herself. It's as if somebody's put an Imperius Curse on her. She finds herself walking – past the fire, past that strange painting of a goblin that she and James had laughed so hard over the other day – towards James's room.

The door's shut, but knowing her accomplished skills in the art of being silent, Lily decides to open his door anyway just to see if he's sleeping well or not. She's been doing this for the past few weeks now, every other night or so – it's comforting in some sort of odd way, watching his steady breathing. He's always curled up on the left side of his bed (never the right, though she doesn't quite know why), and Lily's often seen one of his arms hanging down off the edge.

She reaches out to clasp the cold doorknob again. The distant fire casts a soft light upon it, giving it a grey-like sheen, even though Lily knows from past experience that it's really white. She holds her breath and squeezes her eyes shut, afraid to make the smallest of sounds as her hand twists that door open painstakingly slowly. Her arm's trembling from the mere effort of it. Gradually, gradually, she manages to edge it open, probably about halfway. The door had slid open without a sound; relief washes over her. She lets go of her breath and opens her eyes, wondering if that same arm will be dangling off the edge of the bed this time.

James's face engulfs her vision. He's standing right in front of her.

"ARGH!" Lily screams, jumping back in fright. Her heart's thumping hard and fast against her chest now, overwhelmed by the shock of his unexpected presence. Her entire face burns like there's no tomorrow; luckily he's not able to see it clearly because of the dark.

Lily can't believe it. He's right there, right in front of her! She suddenly feels like throwing up.

"Hey, you okay?" James whispers in an amused voice, coming to her side. He, for one, doesn't seem surprised to see her there. His arm snakes around her shoulder and he's grinning at her, that same stupid grin that Lily can't seem to get off her mind for the past few weeks.

Lily's eyes are still wide from the shock of it all. Her breathing comes out short and sharp, and as she turns her head to him she blinks several times over, swallowing hard. He's not wearing a shirt, and…

And well, he looks pretty freaking hot. That's one thing she just can't bring herself to deny, no matter how hard she tries.

Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin. She's crushing on James Potter.

And with another blink of an eye, Lily's out of his grasp again, dashing down for dear life towards the safe haven of her room. She runs inside and slams the door shut. Quickly, she buries herself beneath the sheets, hoping fervently that he'll forget about the entire incident tomorrow, or just write it off as a very bizarre dream.

Some nagging part of her knows that he won't, though, and as much as she hates to admit it, amongst the overwhelming sense of embarrassment Lily can't help but feel a tiny trickle of… happiness, relief.

The sound of a distant chuckle interrupts her thoughts. She's probably hearing things again.

Oh well, Lily decides, she'll worry about it all tomorrow. Closing her eyes with the smallest of smiles, she falls into deep slumber.

Hope you enjoyed, and have a great day. :)

~ birchermuesli