The Book
Lily flopped down on the common room sofa, heaving an exhausted sigh. She raised her head towards the ceiling and closed her eyes, getting in a few seconds of rest before dinner in the Great Hall. She revelled in the serenity of the common room, thankful that nobody seemed to be around for a few minutes. She felt herself drifting off and begrudgingly decided she couldn’t afford to fall asleep. She sat up and opened her eyes to find Remus sitting directly in front of her, resting on the table.
‘Remus! How long have you been sitting there? You should have said something!’
Lily yawned as she said this, causing Remus to chuckle. ‘It’s alright Lils, you were napping’. Lily looked affronted. ‘I was not!’ She asserted. Remus raised a disbelieving eyebrow, gently shook his head and pressed a book into her hands. ‘James told me to give this to you. He said he found it in Hogsmeade and thought of you.’ he explained. Lily looked down at the book in her hands. The cover was adorned by a beautiful glitter blue background with a red-headed witch on the front. It was a children's book. She smiled, picturing James choosing the book from the Hogsmeade bookshop. She didn’t mind that it was a children’s book, she knew he was making a gesture. She loved it. She looked back up at Remus, who was watching her with his gentle brown eyes. He nodded knowingly. ‘How come he didn’t give it to me himself?’ Lily enquired.
‘Well why do you think?’ Remus replied, a wry smile on his face. ‘He was too nervous. He’s a soppy sod.’
Lily chuckled, nodding her agreement. ‘Well thanks for being the delivery guy.’
Remus grinned. ‘My pleasure.’ he said. ‘What are you up to tonight? I’ve got some chocolate frogs and some Divination questions if you’re interested?’
Lily considered for a second, before nodding. ‘Yeah alright then, as long as you help me with the Dark Arts assignment too.’
‘Yeah, deal.’ Remus smiled again, watching as Lily covered up another yawn. ‘Shall I schedule an hour for James chit-chat?’ he asked, smirking at Lily’s pink- tinted cheeks. Lily grinned. ‘Yeah that might be best.’ She said, through another yawn.
Remus chuckled once more. ‘Lils! Get some more sleep!’, he said as he looked at his watch. ‘I tell you what, you’ve got an hour before dinner, go up to your room and shut your eyes for a bit. I’ll send Alice up when it’s dinner time’.
Lily considered this. It’d probably do her good, she thought. ‘Yeah, okay. But you’ve got to promise to wake me up in time.’
‘Promise.’ Remus replied earnestly. Lily nodded, and she squeezed Remus’ shoulder as she stood from the sofa. ‘Thanks Remus.’ She said as she walked to the stairs, clutching the book. She disappeared up the stairs and Remus sighed an exasperated sigh. He smiled. Bloody delivery guy, he thought.