Like A Bolt Out of the Blue
Title taken from Disney's When You Wish Upon A Star
Prompt: Jily under the stars Seventh Year, Lily wishing for something big to happen in her life and James wishing for her

"Mind if I sit?"

James looks up to see Lily Evans standing behind him, looking a little apprehensive if truth be told.

He nods and turns his head back to gaze out at the Forbidden Forest as he has been doing since dinner. It was dusk when he had left the castle, but by now it's almost pitch-black. James sighs and closes his eyes.

"Penny for them?"

James cracks open an eye and looks at her with confusion. "You what?"

Lily looks back at him, mirroring his expression before it dawns on her. "Oh sorry, Muggle expression. Like a penny for your thoughts?" She looked at him hopefully.

He nods in understanding. "Like a sickle for them you mean?" Lily nods too and a smile tugs at his lips. He resumes his position, looking out at the forest as he leans back on his arms, the grass poking out between his fingers. He doesn't say a word.

Lily bites her lip and fiddles with the hole in her jumper sleeve for a second. She doesn't know what else to say. James has been quieter since the start of term. It's October now and the nights are colder and Lily had worried when she saw the Quidditch Captain sat alone in the middle of the pitch, without his band of miscreants. She might dislike him but he's her head boy and well- she didn't dislike him now anyway. She sits beside him and is about to open her mouth when she's interrupted.

"You cold, Evans?"

Lily looks at him for perhaps a second too long, surprised by his question, but she recovers soon enough. She shrugs.

"I've been warmer. What about you, aren't you cold?"

James shrugs too. "I've been warmer." He smiles at her and looks back straight ahead of him. "You don't have to sit with me you know. I'll be back in before rounds."

Lily shakes her head. "It's okay, it's horrible in the Common Room - some first years set some frogs loose. I could barely hear myself think for the shrieking."

James grins, sniffing a little in amusement. "It's funny, it's not us for once." He looks at her quickly as he clarifies, "The Marauders I mean. It's usually us causing a stir."

"Modest aren't you?"

James nods solemnly. "Very."

Lily smiles back at him and they return once more into silence. James twiddles his leg and runs a hand through his hair before lying back in the grass, his eyes wide as he counts the stars.

Lily watches him as she sits cross-legged beside him. She is, yet again, at a loss for something to say. Biting the inside of her cheek, she decides to join him on the grass and shuffles to lie down beside the Head Boy. She smiles softly at the stars gleaming down at them.

"Wow," she breathes.

James tilts his head toward her. "Yeah?"

Lily nods. "Yeah. It's so…clear."

James nods. "Yeah." He looks back up at them too.

The stars are bright on this Autumnal night, gleaming down at them in a way that one would never expect in real life. Lily squints a little at them. She scours the sky for the only constellation she can remember and spots it after about ten minutes: Orion's belt. She congratulates herself having found it. She's useless at Astronomy but Orion's belt has always saved her. When in doubt, write Orion's belt; that's Lily's motto. She sighs and tilts her chin upwards to look at all the other stars, stretching out far past the walls of the castle and grounds. She marvels at them. Even if she lives forever, she would never live long enough to count them all. And this is just one galaxy. Lily feels tiny. In a world full of stars she could never dream of seeing or even knowing the names of, she is nothing. It seems strange, at the age of 17, to feel this small. She feels finite for the first time. She shivers.

James glances at her. "Do you want my jumper?"

"No, I'm alright." She shoots him a grateful smile. "I'm just…in awe of it all really."

James says nothing.

"Do you do this often?"

"Do what?"

"Look at the stars."

"Not really."

"Oh."

Silence again.

"Why?"

Lily shrugs. "I don't know," she starts, "Doesn't it make you feel…small?"

James clears his throat uncomfortably. "I suppose. Hadn't really thought of it that way."

He's lying. It's all he can think about right now; how stupidly unimportant life is. He is nothing in the grand scheme of things. He hates that he cares this much. He should be able to grow and forget it but life is so infuriatingly, desperately short and it hurts. He swallows the lump in his throat, which is proving to be more than obstructive.

Lily wants to live forever, she thinks. She wants to be part of the stars; studied and learnt about for being bright and noteworthy. But she has done nothing to deserve it. For the first time in her arrogant teenage life, she knows she cannot live forever and that her days are numbered. She doesn't want them to waste away. She closes her eyes against the endless ceiling of stars above her and takes a deep breath. She makes the wish, to herself mostly, that she will live passionately and without regret. She will make something of herself and she will be worthy of the stars above. Living isn't enough in the grand scheme of things. It has to matter. And right now, wishing as she is for her life to be bigger than it is, she swears it will.

She doesn't know James is watching her in this moment. That her wishing has not gone unnoticed. He frowns curiously as she screws up her eyes tight, almost childishly. He wonders what she is doing. It's not like rational, completely logical Lily Evans to be like this. James almost wonders if she's quite well. But she opens her eyes and she looks back at him differently. Like something's happened to her that he can't quite put his finger on. She looks illuminated by something. She smiles at him sheepishly. He smiles back and feels, for the first time in an age, reassured. He feels big again.

Lily looks at him sadly. "I'm sorry about your parents, James."

He doesn't look back at her. "It's okay," he replies quietly. More quiet than Lily can ever remember him being. But she doesn't know that for once, James feels like his words might be true. Truth has become sort of relative since he lost his parents but right now, he feels like he's found it again. Lily's next to him and he's starting to remember how that used to feel. And he is okay. Sort of.

Lily nods and slowly, before any of them can realise it has happened, her hand closes over his. Something like warmth spreads within him and it's new and it's kind of fantastic. He shivers too.

He looks back at the stars for a moment feeling more peace than he had for weeks. He doesn't close his eyes like Lily did but he is wishing just as hard. He wishes for every day to be like this moment. And this moment would be nothing without Lily.