It's not always rainbows and butterflies
It's compromise that moves us along
My heart is full and my door's always open
You come anytime you want
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay a while...
-She Will Be Loved, Maroon 5
Chapter Five: Come Anytime You Want
Lily didn't wake up in the future until the next day. James was in the living room, thinking about what he should explain to her and what not. He didn't want to jeopardize the past. Or future. Whatever that meant.
When she walked in, she asked, "What happened?" She rubbed her temples.
James looked up, startled. "Why are you up?" he asked. "You're-"
"Greetings Mr. and Mrs. Potter!" came a voice at the door, which slammed open. "I come bearing news!"
A man their age walked in. He had shoulder length black hair and dark eyes that seemed like they were grinning.
"Padfoot, this is not the time," James told him, rubbing his eyes.
"What's wrong?" He stopped smiling.
"I forgot to tell you, but..." James glanced at Lily, who was staring at Sirius, shock on her face. "Can we go in the kitchen for a sec?" he whispered to him.
"Yeah. Why are we whispering?"
"I'll tell you in the kitchen," James whispered.
Lily glared at James as he followed Sirius into the hall.
---
"Prongs!" Sirius whispered during Transfiguration. He poked James with his quill. He was asleep. "Wake, up! McGonagall keeps glancing at you!"
James opened one eye. Lifting his head up, he saw that Professor McGonagall was indeed glancing at him with an angry look on her face. He sat up immediately.
"Sorry," he whispered. Professor McGonagall nodded and continued the lesson.
"Prongs, you need to get some actual sleep," Sirius whispered. "You have gargantuan bags under your eyes. Ugh."
James raised his eyebrows. "You sound like a girl," he told him.
---
"So you mean that sixth year Lily is...here?"
"Yes."
"Whoa."
"I know. It's very confusing. Don't say anything too revealing about what kind of life we live here, okay?" James pleaded.
"Of course." Sirius grinned. "How is she taking it?"
"Pretty well. I don't think she's going to believe any time soon, so..." He looked at the doorway. "You have to bear with me."
"I never understood why it's bear, and not dog," Sirius said thoughtfully.
"Oh, shut up." James laughed.
-
Lily sat down on the couch, her head in her hands.
"This is not happening," she muttered. "I'm going to wake up any minute now, and I'll be in my bed."
She pinched her arm to no avail.
"Ow!"
"What happened?" James rushed into the room.
"I pinched myself," she mumbled quietly. James sighed.
"Don't scare me like that, okay?" he said softly. It wasn't spoken like a command, but she knew it was one.
Sirius came in the room. "What was that `ow' for?" he asked, taking a bite of a strawberry tart that Molly had made.
"She pinched herself."
"So?"
"Why'd you pinch yourself?" Sirius asked. He plopped down on the sofa next to Lily.
Lily moved over away from him and said, "I wanted to make sure that I was dreaming."
"But you aren't," James muttered. "Do you want to be dreaming?"
Lily looked up at James, a sad look on her face. "Yes."
---
When James walked into the infirmary that afternoon, no one was there again. He sighed and sat down in the chair next to Lily's bed.
BANG
James whipped out his wand as the door slammed open. Severus Snape walked into the room, strange things growing out of his ears.
"Mr. Black, this is the last straw!" he heard Madame Pomfrey yell. "You will not hex students! Do you hear me?"
"Yes, ma'am," Sirius answered. James knew he wasn't taking this seriously.
Snape sat down on a bed across the room, and made sure his sleeve covered his left arm. James raised his eyebrow. When Snape looked over, he glared at James, who had been staring at his arm that he kept covered. James quickly looked away.
"Now, Mr. Snape, I'll have to get you to lie down so I can get those things out of your ears," said Madame Pomfrey as she walked back into the room. Any sign of her yelling loudly just seconds before were gone.
Sirius walked in, looked at Snape, laughed, and walked over to James, who was rolling his eyes.
"What did you do this time, Padfoot?" he laughed.
"Why, nothing, of course. What makes you think that I would do anything?" He sat down on the bed nearest Lily's. "Hasn't she woken up yet?" he groaned.
"Nope."
"Prongs, you need a break. When you're not in here, you're in class. Do you even eat?"
"Yes!" James paused. "Sometimes!"
"Well, I can get rid of one of your problems," said Sirius.
"And what's that?"
"Snivellus. I know how to get rid of him."
James wasn't concerned. The worse that Sirius had done was land people in the hospital wing for a few hours. He'd probably just hex Snape.
Probably.
---
"Well! Wasn't that nice."
"Sirius."
"What?"
James frowned. "Don't...just leave. Please?"
Sirius knew James wasn't trying to be rude. He left quickly with a "pop!"
"I'm sorry." Lily hung her head and a small tear ran down her cheek.
"Don't be. I understand."
"How come you're not as immature as you were...before?" she asked.
"I've seen things. Things no one should ever see. But I won't tell you about them. You'll find out."
---
Dinner was nothing special. Sirius was missing, but other than that, it was perfectly normal. Peter was also missing and Remus was reading a book.
Because it was near full moon, Remus was being very touchy. Anything James said was apparently the wrong thing to say.
"Lily is not making any progress," James said to Remus.
"Well, with the way you prank everybody and make her so angry, it's a wonder you will be married!" Remus snarled.
"Er..."
Remus completely changed moods. "What's wrong with her, anyway? You never told me."
"That Trelawney person cursed her, and made her go to...whenever. We don't know."
"Sorry, James. I'm really sorry."
---
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
"No, it's not. You're being so nice, and then I go and insult you. I deserve to be here. I'm sorry." She put her head in her hands. "I'll just...go." She stood up.
"Lily-no. Please don't go," he pleaded.
"Okay," she said, and sat back down.
"Listen, I'll just try to avoid you until this situation is handled. Is that okay?"
Lily sighed, not looking at him. "You don't have to, but that's what I would like."
James looked down at his hands. "I guess I'll sleep in the guest room then..."
"No, I will," demanded Lily. "You can sleep in your normal spot, and I will sleep...wherever."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"Okay!" James exclaimed. "I'll sleep in the master bedroom will you sleep in the tiny guest room."
"Is it really tiny?" Lily asked, joking.
---
"Moony?"
"Yes?"
James sighed and sat down at the small round table in the Gryffindor common room, where Remus was reading a large, dusty-looking book. Remus looked up at him questioningly. "What's wrong?"
"I need to ask you a favor."
"Okay." He laid down the book and looked at James. "What is it that you want?"
---
"No, I was joking," laughed James. It was like his Lily was back. "But you can sleep in the huge master bedroom if you want. I can separate the double-sized king bed into two beds, if you want."
"No, that's okay. I don't know if my older self told you this, but when I was little, my sister got the biggest bedroom, and I was stuck with the tiny one that was off to the side. I thought of it as a cupboard."
"No, you never told me that," he mused.
"Really? Well, actually..." she paused.
"What?
"I kind of never told anyone that. Not even my best friend."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Who was your best friend?" James asked, though he already knew.
"Alice Phillips. She befriended me. Her being half muggle, and me being muggle-born kind of made us equals, so we sort of bonded and became inseparable," Lily said, rather quietly.
"You'll never guess who Alice married," he teased.
Lily scrunched her nose and thought for a moment. "Actually, you're right. Who?"
"Frank Longbottom."
"Two years ahead of us? Head Boy last-I mean, fifth year?" she asked. "I'd have never guessed. When did they start dating?"
"The year we graduated. You were so happy. For the past year, you had been seeing Alice scribble `Mrs. Frank Longbottom' on her notes."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"When did we start dating?" Lily asked, suddenly quiet.
James was taken aback. "What?"
"When did we start dating?" she repeated, talking a little bit louder.
"Around seventh year. You actually asked me," James laughed. "I remember...I was so confused, because no girl had ever had asked me out-they expected me to ask them. And you were so cute; your face was so red. I was so happy inside, but on the outside...I was a nervous wreck. I wanted everything to be absolutely perfect."
Lily laughed a little at that. "I can't imagine you a nervous wreck." She paused. "Actually, I can," she said, and laughed.
James grinned, glad that he could see her happy. "I see you're feeling better."
"Yeah, I do. But I'm getting really hungry."
"Me too."
"Let's go eat," she said, and together, they got up and actually had a nice, uninterrupted meal.
---
"This is a big favor."
"Okay."
"No, really. It's like, a humongous favor. Bigger than a giant."
"James."
"Yes?"
"Just tell me what you need!"
"I want..."
"Yes?"
"I want you to..."
"Yes?"
"I want you to send me to the future."
---
A/N: Ha! A cliffie! Sorry if this is too short...And sorry for not updating so long. I had a supreme case of writer's block. This is what I get for posting an unfinished story. I get off for like, three weeks, so I might update really soon, and make it a LONG chapter. You guys deserve it.
And guys, if Alice was a pureblood, sorry. I'm not sure. And whatever her last name was...
Anyway, please send in any requests-I might put them in the story!
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