Disclaimer: None of these peeps belong to me, as much as I wish they
did.
L
***
James Potter rolled over in his four poster bed. Between Sirius's teeth
grinding and Peter's snoring, sleep was a sacred state of being. The deserted
Hogwarts hallways were his only escape at times like these, and he rarely
missed an opportunity to nick food from the kitchens. He quietly found
his invisibility cloak and let it fall over his lanky frame.
He noiselessly maneuvered through the Boy's hall, and poked his head
out into the common room. A loud heartbeat sounded from his ribcage; there
she was.
Lily Evans was sprawled over a table, surrounded by transfiguration notes
and diagrams. Her head was resting on her essay parchment, and James nearly
burst out laughing when he realized that some of her long, red hair was
soaking in her upset inkbottle.
James walked over and sat in a chair near her table. Lily moved her head
a little, and he noticed a string of drool penetrating her unfinished
essay.
"No, Audrey, James is icky. Did you notice his stained Quidditch?"
Lily talked in her sleep, apparently.
"No, Lilikins, please enlighten me," James said, in Audrey's high
voice.
"Well, graham crackers make good pillows," she mumbled, with utmost
clarity.
"Uh-huh," James said.
As he got up and started to walk towards the portrait hole, she said,
"Are you anal-retentive? I'm
feeling like a bowl of magpies. Are you too, Voldemort?"
James nearly tripped over a footstool. Voldemort? What was he doing
in her dream? Did he haunt them constantly, like James's?
"Yeah; Petunia ate my magpies. How come you're getting your wand
out?" Lily sat up, eyes half open, and started to cry.
James sprinted back to Lily's table, and ripped off the cloak.
He shook her briskly, black ink raining all over the room. "Lily! Wake
up! You're dreaming! Lily!"
* * * * *
I was finishing that damn essay on 'transfiguration used in the
goblin rebellions" when the nightmare occurred. I must have fallen asleep,
because my dream was one that I would have most definitely NOT thought
of.
A tea party was in progress at Audrey's house, and we were giggling
about the Gryffindor
boys. She was trying to convince me that James Potter and I were made
for each other when Voldemort Apparated there. Everything was hunky-dory,
until Voldemort joined in on the fun. He was much more forceful in telling
me that I was going to marry Potter. I chose to ignore him, and he set
his wand on me. The last thing I remember was a blast of green light.
James woke me up, a strange look of worry and fright written clearly
on his pale face.
"Lily? Are you all right? I was taking a walk when I saw you in
here. You were talking in your sleep, and I was leaving when you started
to talk about Voldemort. What the hell happened?" he asked, the scared
expression returning to his face.
"I haven't the foggiest, James," she answered, wiping the cold tears
from her cheeks.
"Voldemort was trying to kill me. Do you suppose it's a premonition?"
She almost started to cry again, feeling the strange urge to throw herself
at him. She seriously needed to be hugged, but she remembered whom she
was talking to. "Never mind. Why the hell do you care?"
James was speechless. "What? I was just trying to figure out why
Lord Voldemort is a topic of conversation in your dreams. That's not an
unreasonable request, is it?" he spat. What happened to the vulnerable,
frightened, Lily that he saw crying just a few moments ago? The one he
thought was kind, gentle and pure?
"None of your business, you nosey git!"
"Fine! Be that way! I was only trying to help!" James stomped back
up to his dorm room with his cloak, completely forgetting his excursion
to the kitchens. But it didn't matter. He quickly covered himself in his
cloak again and sneaked back to the common room door.
When James reached the end of the hallway, his faithful black cat, Harriet,
met him. Being accustomed to greeting him when he was invisible, she meowed
loudly, and would only shut up when James held her for a few moments.
Proceeding to step two of his plan, he set Harriet down and gently pushed
her through the partially opened door, making it look as if she was taking
a stroll.
"Hi sweet kitty! Taking a break from that exasperating Potter, eh?" Lily
said, in her most annoying singsong voice. She glanced up at the doorway
briefly, but refocused her attention on the cat. Harriet bounced onto
Lily's table, sitting on a pile of notes untouched by ink. Lily had gotten
the ink out of her hair, but the table was still a mess. She immediately
scooped up the feline and carried her to a stuffed chair.
James proceeded down the stairs, making himself comfortable leaning on
the bottom railing. He was prepared to stay there the entire night until
he got what he wanted.
"Awwwww, Harriet, would you care if I talk to you a bit? I need
some companionship now, and I don't like muttering to myself like a loony."
Too late, thought James. Harriet meowed loudly and made herself a nest
in Lily's wrinkled robes. James smiled. Harriet always knew whom to schmooze.
"Well, you see, dear Harriet, I'm not really a witch."
James almost fell off his post on the railing. What?!
"I'm really an alien from the planet Xaston. My job here is almost done,
but I need a few specimens for future experimentation at the mother ship.
I am required to find a healthy, male, magically gifted human. Any suggestions,
my darling?"
James was frozen with surprise, and fear for his skin. What if Harriet
gave him away? The cat then purred excessively, licking Lily's hand.
"There is one nearby, you say? Oh really! He's right in this very room?
My, my. What a happy, favorable turn of events!"
James gulped. He had absolutely no desire to be dissected by aliens,
but his muscles weren't responding to his frantic brainwaves of panic.
What the hell was going on?
Lily quickly rose from her chair, Harriet jumping onto the carpet, and
almost danced over to the staircase. James remained completely silent
and forced himself to breathe deeply.
Lily jumped onto his stomach, knocking him into the stair, and pulling
his invisibility cloak off.
"How dare you spy on me, you moronic dolt!" she shrieked as she pinned
him, her knees on his strong thighs and her fists on his elbow joints.
James whimpered, "Are you going to abduct me?"
Lily laughed a high, cruel, cold laugh that made James's throat dry.
"How can I abduct someone who whimpers like a wounded dog? Ha ha ha ha
ha!"
"What?! Thank you Evans! Thank you!"
"Not so fast Potter. Why the hell were you spying on me?" she asked,
her eyes narrowed.
"How did you know?"
"Harriet sheds. You were carrying her, weren't you?" she smiled, a very
evil smile.
"Yea."
"Well, wouldn't one get a tad suspicious if a cloud of cat hair entered
a room? Get a lint brush. That cloak doesn't work miracles, you know."
"God damn it!!! Stupid cat. Can you get off me please? I can't feel my
legs."
"I'll think about it," she paused. "Nope."
"So, you aren't an alien?"
"Nah, just wanted to make you wet yourself."
"Well, bravo! Mission accomplished. I honestly don't think Voldemort
could have scared me more," James said, surprised she didn't wince at
his name. "Which brings us back to my initial question. What was your
dream about?"
"Hmmm. It had something to do with you, Audrey and Voldemort. Uh, never
mind," she said, blushing slightly.
"Uh-huh, may I ask what I had to do with anything?"
"Um…anyway, Voldemort was pestering me about magpies"
"Pardon me! I believe you are ignoring my oh-so-important question, Lily,"
he said, knowing what his answer would be.
"Who's on top here? Who's able to do substantial damage to someone's
internal organs?" she spat, more than a little peeved.
"I like it when you're on top," he smirked, bracing himself for a heavy
slap.
*Smack*
"You're a disgusting pervert!" she smiled.
"Do you like perverts?" James said, in his most innocent tone.
"Only if they promise never to spy on me, ever again. I'll give him a
merciless beating if I ever catch the stupid dolt," she laughed, her green
eyes shining merrily.
"Fine. It's a date. Now would you please get off of me? Pretty please?"
he moaned, sure that his
legs would never work well again.
Lily giggled. "Guess I won this match." She stood up, walked back over
to her table and busied herself with her essay again.
"What? Aren't you going to help poor little Jamsie up?" he grinned, pushing
his glasses up onto his nose.
"I suppose. It's the least I can do after kicking your ass, right?" Lily
glided over to him.
"Yes," he said. Lily laughed, pulling James up off of the stairs by the
wrists. "Thanks."
"You're welcome, pervert," she whispered.
James hugged her tightly, smelling the wonderful scent of her hair. "We'll
chat in the morning, about that dream of yours."
"Thanks James, for not assuming I'm a complete wench," she said into
his robes.
"You're welcome Lily," he smiled, kissing her on her forehead. "Goodnight."
"Sweet dreams!"
James picked up his cloak and disappeared up to his dorm room, making
a mental note to thank Harriet for shedding all over him.
A/N: my thanks to Honeychurch, for doing an excellent job beta-reading
this. Of course, once again, none of this belongs to me. Except the magpies
and Harriet…
