Down the Rabbit Hole | J. POTTER

6 | really, you are very dull

James made his way toward his room, water dripping from his clothes. He had made Remus and Sirius swear they would stay at the entrance to the communal bathrooms before he went to get the clothes for her. She didn't need anything else happening to her.

He ran a hand through his hair and opened the door to his room to find Lily standing inside. He dropped his hand as he watched the girl in confusion. She stuck her hand out and he looked down to find a set of clothes.

"I figured she would need them," she explained and he took them from her before placing them off to the side. They were silent for a moment before she spoke, "I swear I had no idea Marlene was going to do this. Otherwise, I would have stopped her."

"Right," James nodded in agreement. His head was spinning and he was angry. At who though, he wasn't entirely sure. He made his way toward his area and Lily remained put as he pulled out new clothes for himself. "Val told me about some of the things Marlene had said to her," he explained, not looking back at the girl. "But I didn't think it was all true because if she had said those things, you would have made sure it didn't happen."

He turned around to face her now, "But it was true, wasn't it?" She frowned but said nothing. "I didn't believe my own girlfriend because I thought you were a good person," he explained, laughing slightly at himself. "Maybe that's my own fault."

"James, I-" she began but she cut herself off with a shake of her head. "I didn't know this would happen."

"But you knew something was happening?"

Lily bit her lip as she looked over at the door. "We were on our way to Hogsmeade when Severus found us. He explained that he had found Regulus and Val talking by the lake."

"So you're the one who started the rumor?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "No, it wasn't me. It was Marlene. She told a group of girls about it and sent them after you."

"But it wasn't true," he pointed out, crossing his arms over her chest. "Nothing had happened."

"I know that," she nodded. "But Marlene was convinced that you would break up with her as soon as you found out."

"We weren't exclusive," he replied and it was mostly the truth.

"When she realized it hadn't worked and she tried to come up with another way to split you two up, I told her to stop," she explained. "I thought she had stopped."

"But you didn't say anything," he accused. "Even if you had thought that she had stopped, you could have told me about it during our patrol last night."

"I would have, had I-"

"I should get back to Val," he cut her off as he rubbed his forehead. "I'll tell her you brought the clothes for her."

"It's probably better if you didn't," she replied. "I'm sorry, James."

"I'm not the one you owe an apology to," he pointed out and she frowned before she left the room.

He shook his head in disbelief before he changed into a new pair of clothes. He grabbed the clothes Lily had brought for Val and made his way to the shower.

As promised, Sirius and Remus were still outside the door when he approached. He entered the room without a word and placed the outfit on the bench along with a towel.

"Val?" he asked into the practically empty room. There was a noise before she called back. "There are clothes out here for you along with a towel, whenever you're ready. I'll be outside."

"You can wait in here," she suggested after a moment. "At least until I'm ready to get changed," she explained as though she could sense his confusion. "Company wouldn't hurt."