The Stag and the Doe

Chapter 3

Lily POV

A loud thud from James' room wakes me up. I glance over at my clock on my nightstand. The fuck are you doing at 5:30 in the goddamn morning, Potter, I think as I get up and grab my wand. I walk out of my room and across the small hall between our two rooms. I stand outside his door and hear a grunt followed by another thud. I grab the handle and open the door.

There I see James laying on the ground, shirtless, doing crunches while he throws a quaffle at a rubber matt. I stare at his body, the powerful arms and sculpted chest and stomach drawing my eyes, his muscles flexing as he moves. He doesn't norice me standing in the doorway, leaning against the jam with my arms folded across my chest. I don't even realize I'm biting my lip until I bite too hard.

"Ow." I say, surprising myself and James, who's head snaps over towards me, then gets slammed by the quaffle.

"Arhhhh." He says, clutching the side of his head and rolling over.

"Oh, James." I say, rushing over and bending down next to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's ok." He says as he gets himself sitting up with his back resting against the bed. " How long were you standing there?"

"I don't know?" I say truthfully, I was so entranced by his body I don't know how long I was staring. "Maybe a few seconds. A thud woke me up and I wanted to check on you. Let me see your head."

"I'm sorry, Lily." He says as he winces. I turn his head so I can see where the quaffle hit. There's a bump and a small cut that's bleeding. "I didn't mean to wake you. I would use silencing spells at home so I wouldn't disturb anyone, I guess I forgot. I'm sorry."

"It's ok, James." I say, pointing my wand at his cut and stopping the bleeding. "You should see Madam Pomfrey about this. There's a good bump and a small cut."

"Maybe, after breakfast." He said.

"No maybe." I said. "Promise me you'll go down after breakfast or I'm taking you now."

"Is that a threat or a promise." He said, wincing as he tried to smile.

"Yes." I said, and I laughed a little. " So, make your choice."

"I guess we can go now." He said. "Would love to see Sirius' face if I walked in for breakfast with my head bandaged." We both laugh, but he can't laugh to hard as it hurts. "Can you help me get a shirt on? My heads pounding." I grab a t-shirt that was laying on his trunk, put his glasses on his face, and help him down the stairs into our common room.

"Give me a few seconds to change." I say and rush back to my room. I quickly take off my pajamas abd throw on a shirt and jeans, slip into a pair of shoes, and head back down.

"You didn't need to get all fancy to take me to the hospital wing." He says, holding the side of his head.

"I didn't want to walk around the castle in pajamas." I say, helping him stand. "Lets get you down to Madam Pomfrey." We walk out the portrait hole and make our way to the hospital wing.

I knock on the door and a few moments later Madam Pomfrey opens it.

"Already, Potter?" She says looking at him leaning onto me. He smirks in reply. "What did you do?"

"I got hit in the head by a quaffle." He said. Madam Pomfrey gives him a I don't believe you look.

"Alright, come in." She says, pointing to a bed, "Over there. And how did you get hit by a quaffle in the head on the second day of term?"

"It was my fault." I say and Madam Pomfrey looks at me with intrest.

"No, it was mine." James said. "I was working out and woke her up. She came over to see what was going on and she startled me and I got hit." Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow as she walked over with bandages and and ice pack. She doesn't push anymore questions, but she seems to believe our story, which is true. She cleans the cut on his head and puts a bandage over it. She then wrapped the ice pack against the bump on his head, and gave him a small glass of a potion for the pain.

"See me before you go to bed tonight, ok?" She says and we both nod.

"Thank you." He says, and we walk out. "What time is it now?"

"Just passed 6:30." I say, looking at my watch.

"Do you wanna get changed first, of just go straight for breakfast?" He asks.

"Might as well eat first." He says. "We have to walk passed the hall to reach our dorms anyways." I nod in agreement and we make our way to the Great Hall.

Inside we find some of the teachers already eating, as well as a decent amount of students sitting at their house tables. I look at the Gryffindor table and see both of our friend groups sitting together. They all look up at us and Sirius rushes over.

"Did Lilyflower hurt you?" He says as he starts playing at the bandage. I can't help but blush.

"Pads, get off." James says, swatting at Sirius. We join the rest of our at the table.

"What did you do to James?" Marlene asks after we sit down.

"Yes, indeed." McGonagall says, behind us holding a stack of papers. I recount the story of what happened, excluding the part of me staring at James.

"Is this the truth, Mr.Potter?" McGonagall asks, turning her gaze towards him.

"Yes, professor." He says, blushing slightly.

"Well, maybe don't forget the silencing charms next time, Mr.Potter." McGonagall says, then she proceeds to hand out our class schedules.

"Yes, professor." He says, blushing. We all compare out schedules together. The four marauders schedules are practically identical, only Peter doesn't have Muggle Studies, while Peter, Sirius, and James don't have History of Magic.

"Suppose we should go back and get changed." James says. I look at my watch, we got under an hour until class, and we have double potions to start.

"Yeah, we should." I say, and James and I stand. Alice and Mary giggle and I look at them. Love birds Alice mouths at me, and I just shake my head.

James stops after we get into our common room.

"Um, Lily." He says.

"Yes?" I say.

"I'm sorry again, about this morning, and thank you for helping me." James says.

"It's ok, James." I say. "And you're welcome." I give him a hug and head into my room to get ready for the school day.

James POV

I slowly make my way up the stairs to my room. I pull my robes out of my trunk, setting them on my bed, then head off into my bathroom to get cleaned up. I carefully remove the bandage Madam Pomfrey wrapped around my head and exam the wound in the mirror. That's gonna leave a scar you moron, I think to myself. You're making yourself look like a damn bumbling baboon in front of her. I hop in the shower to get cleaned up and to try and take my mind off how awkward I've been around her, and hopefully she hasn't noticed.