Rude Awakenings

By Natali

Chapter One: Narcoleptic

"I love you," he whispered against her hair, breathing in her scent.

She smiled, sighing contentedly. "I know. I love you, too." She rolled off of him, snuggling close to him. Her fingers toyed with the crisp, curly hairs on his chest as she relived the ecstasy she'd just experienced.

It was perfect. It was… heaven. There was, simply, nothing to describe the feelings inside of her whenever they were together.

He hooked a finger under her chin and raised her head to kiss her, deeply, meticulously. He was so thorough in everything he did—especially when he did her.

"We should get up," he muttered, not really meaning it. There was nowhere else that he wanted to be, nothing else he wanted to be doing. A biscuit might top things off nicely, but he sure wasn't about to complain.

Lily gave a throaty chuckle, kissing his jawbone. "That would involve getting dressed and dealing with Sirius. Do you think he's still outside the house trying to get in?"

"He's one stubborn son of a bitch," James sighed, hugging Lily closer. His eyes strayed to the rosy tips of her breasts, where he'd left a bite mark. "You look loved."

She snorted. "I look beat up. I think you bruised my hips with your hands, you were gripping me so hard."

For a second, he frowned. "Did I hurt you?"

Lily shrugged, examining her wedding ring closely. "Honestly, it was worth it. You're just a bit aggressive in bed. Remember that time when we had sex in one of the closets at that party? That shelf left the ugliest bruise on my back! I couldn't lie down for two weeks."

"Don't remind me," he grumbled. "I try not to hurt you, but you're very delicate, Lils." He tapped his nose, which she scrunched.

"I resent that. I'm anything but delicate."

"Of course," he grinned cheekily, receiving a glare. "Whatever you say, dear."

"At least you know the right things to say," she grumbled, sitting up and stretching. "Come on, before Sirius gets frostbite, the twit. No doubt he left his wand at home—again—and can't do a warming charm."

"I don't know why you think he's stupid," James said, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. "If I recall correctly, he beat you in Transfiguration N.E.W.T.s—"

"Don't bring that up!" she snapped. "I'm touchy on that subject."

"Really, now? No idea…"

She gave him a rude gesture, padding down the hall to the last room on the right. She pushed open the door, the familiar blue and white walls greeting her. Reaching the corner of the room where the crib sat, she leaned over and picked up Harry, smiling softly.

"My handsome boy, how did you sleep last night?" she whispered, kissing his nose as he yawned. "Do you want to see if Uncle Sirius proved me right by being a twit and remaining outside? Come, let's go poke fun at him."

Six-month old Harry chewed on his fingers, reaching for Lily's hair with the other hand. He gave a strong tug, and she laughed.

"You like my hair, don't you, you little bugger?" She kissed his fat hand. "I bet you like it so much you'll end up with a redhead."

"He won't know what he's getting into, the little stud," James laughed, heading down the stairs behind her. "You lot a fiery one. Oh, yes, there's Sirius. I think his fingers are frozen in that shape…"

Lily took off the silencing charm she'd used the night before so the knocks and yelling didn't wake Harry, opening the front door. "Hurry up, Black, before my son catches a chill. You'll be unmanned if he does, be warned."

"Still don't know why the bloody hell you two idiots don't just let me in," Sirius said, teeth chattering. "And give me a sodding cup of hot coffee, would you?"

"Get it yourself," Lily shrugged. "And I still don't know why you insist on spending every free minute that you have here in this house—my house."

"For the last time, Lily, it's like this. My godson needs a good role model, my best mate needs some entertainment, you, my dear, need Sirius."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I hope you know that if you were anyone else, James would've killed you by now for flirting with me."

"He can't deny the love we have," Sirius grinned, smacking James on the back amicably. "Right mate?"

"How could I get in the way of such a happy union?" James said dryly. "Oh, that's right. I'm the one that gets to fuck Lily, not you. Oh, there's also the fact that we've got a son together. Then there's the fact I'm much more handsome than you are—"

"I beg your pardon!" Sirius exclaimed.

"—and therefore we cannot blame Lils for choosing me over you," James snickered, tossing Sirius a slice of toast.

"James, I only chose you because Sirius is more of a man-whore. You are in no way more attractive than Sirius," Lily said simply, pouring Sirius a mug of coffee. She winked at him. "I'm sure he's much better in bed."

"I'll remember that, then," her husband muttered, smearing butter all over his toast. "Go screw him if you like."

"And risk you killing me? No, I'll pass, Prongs. You might put up with our flirting, but I'd like to have children some day too, you know," Sirius chuckled. "Now, how are you today, Harry? I've got a new neighbor, and she's got the nicest pair of—"

"Out!" Lily shrieked. "I will not stand here and let my son be influenced by the likes of you yet, Black. Out of my house! You can come by tonight when your hormones have calmed down. Go bang something."

Sirius smirked, rising. "Very well. Another thing. It might be prudent for the two of you to close your curtains at night. The whole bloody street could see you."

"Yes, but you were the only one watching," James smiled. "Thank you, Padfoot. I'll be in touch with you."

With a humph, Sirius disapparated.

"I told you he was a twit." Lily turned back to preparing breakfast.

"Miss Evans."

"Miss Evans? James, I haven't been Evans for over a year now…"

"Miss Evans. Miss Evans. Miss Evans!"

Lily Evans snapped her head up. "What?"

"Are you tired, Miss Evans?" Professor McGonagall asked. "I'm sorry I'm so boring that you fell asleep. As hard as it might be, it might be beneficial to you if you paid a bit of attention."

"I'm sorry, Professor," she blushed, sinking down in her chair as a few snickers passed around the room. "It won't happen again."

After another moment of glaring at her, Professor McGonagall turned back to teaching the class how to turn machetes into chairs, and Lily had a chance to think about her dream.

How utterly embarrassing! This wasn't the first time, either. Only this time, it was in public. It irked her somewhat, that she found James Potter as attractive as she did. In fact, he was bloody gorgeous, and she couldn't look at him without feeling just a bit hot.

Remus Lupin was sitting next to her with a particularly smug look on his face. He turned to her, giving her a calculating smile. "Nice dream, Lily?"

"I wasn't dreaming," she lied smoothly, taking down her notes.

"I beg to differ."

Lily stopped, wondering at his tone. He sounded as if… as if he knew something that he shouldn't. Could she have been talking aloud in her sleep?

"That so?"

He nodded, leaning forward and toward her. "Interesting name fell from your lips, Lily."

She whipped her head to the side so quickly that Remus jumped, startled.

"What did you hear, Lupin?" she asked nervously. What if she'd been moaning out Potter's name—as she had been doing in her dream—and now the whole class knew? But if she had, McGonagall would've put a stop to it, wouldn't she?

"Relax, I'm the only one that heard," Remus assured her. "It was barely above a whisper, and I read your lips more than anything."

Lily gave an internal sigh of relief, but refused to show him that she was. He might just be playing with her, and was waiting for her to give herself away.

"That's quite lovely, but I wasn't dreaming, Remus. Thank you, however, for letting me borrow the notes I missed while I was sleeping." She reached over and grabbed the roll of parchment and began to take things down.

In the back of the room, James Potter sat next to Sirius Black, and they watched the exchange between their best mate and Lily Evans.

"What do you reckon that's about?" James asked, sucking on a sugar quill. "Remus looked… well, devilish, didn't he?"

"I do believe we're rubbing off on him, finally," Sirius grinned. "You think they were flirting?"

"That's not how Remus flirts, Sirius, and you know it," James said, experiencing a sinking feeling in his stomach. It was still a possibility… But would Remus do that, knowing that James liked Lily? Of course not. It was preposterous.

Sirius nodded. "Speaking of things I know, I've never heard of Lily falling asleep in the middle of a class, have you?"

James shook his head. "Most uncharacteristic of her. She's usually quite attentive. Remember the dirty look she gave you that time you fell asleep against her cauldron in Potions?"

Sirius chuckled. "It was a look a pure love, and I knew we were destined to be together from that moment on."

"You're going to have to get in line mate," James told him apologetically. "I've got first dibs." The bell rang for dismissal, and the class rang with the scraping of chairs as everyone stood.

Lily hopped out of her chair and hurriedly gathered her books, practically running away from Remus. She didn't want to—couldn't stand to—confront him. She wasn't entirely sure she could pull off lying to him.

Had he really seen? How mortifying. Of all people to choose to sit next to that day, he'd had to pick her.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice that she was about to collide with someone until it was too late.

"Oof!" came her muffled cry, as she registered her face in someone's shirt. She backed away. "Sorry, I wasn't paying—" She stopped short, having realized who it was holding her up. James gave her a boyish grin.

"It's all right, Evans, you seem distracted. I should have been paying more attention." He released her suddenly, as if remembering they weren't best friends or friends enough to touch each other knowingly. "But I can't say I'm disappointed about our run in. You're a very nice person to bump into. We should meet again sometime, perhaps intentionally."

Lily was dumbfounded. Was he asking her out? He hadn't done that in at least seven months or so. Not since that time at Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day last year.

"Happy little reunion?" Sirius said, popping up beside them. "Hate to have to drag you away, mate, but we've got something to do. I hear Snivellus was saying something rather crude about Miss Bones, and I feel I have to correct him."

James nodded, turning back to Lily with a smile. "See you around, Evans."

He and Sirius walked off, Remus appearing right beside her.

Remus smiled slowly, knowingly. "I won't say anything. But if I happen to give you guys a push in the right direction…—"

"Don't," Lily said firmly. "It was just a dream. Leave it at that." She turned and walked off toward the Gryffindor common room for her free period.

It wouldn't do for the Head Girl to fall asleep in her classes. Even as pleasant as that dream had been—as hot, as steamy, as downright… well, sexy, really—she just couldn't let it happen again.

Lily entered her dormitory, where her best friend was already lying, reading the most recent male Aurors' calendar.

"Vicky… don't you ever stop drooling over that thing?"

Victoria Tiernay grinned. "But you haven't seen July yet, Lily! He's got the biggest—"

"Never mind. It happened again."

"What did?"

"I had another dream."

Julia sat upright, eyebrows flying up. There was a devilish gleam in her eye. "What did he do this time? Were you submissive? Or did you get on top and ride him like a horse, you little cowgirl?"

Lily grimaced. "Don't be saying things like that, Vicky. It doesn't suit you. I don't know why you have these lapses and forget that I don't want to have these dreams."

"Sure you don't," Victoria snorted, sitting back again and thumbing her way to July. "If you don't want them, Lily, I'll gladly take them for you. I only wish that you'd give me a few more details."

"Some things aren't meant to be shared."

"Like men?" Victoria grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. "What's the big deal, anyway? You've been having them for the past month."

"I fell asleep in class. And I don't even remember falling asleep in the first place. I'm becoming a narcoleptic," Lily blushed. "And… Remus Lupin heard me mutter his name."

"Why were you saying Lupin's name?" Victoria asked confusedly. "I thought they were about Potter? You weren't shagging Lupin, too, were you, you little dream-whore! That could seriously hurt their friendship!"

Lily stared at her incredulously. "Would you just stop and hear yourself, Vick?"

Her best friend smiled at her. "Alright, so Lupin heard," she shrugged, "big deal. What's the problem?"

Lily wriggled her shoulders uncomfortably. "It's awkward. Now he knows I…"

"You what? Like Potter?"

Lily hissed, throwing the closest thing she could find—her hairbrush—at Victoria. "Shut up, what if someone hears you?"

Victoria gave her a condescending look. "You're pathetic, Lily. It's a crush. Go snog him and get it over with."

With a shout of frustration, Lily picked up her bag and headed for the library, needing to get away from Victoria. That was always her solution.

Go snog somebody indeed!

James Potter sat back against his favorite tree next to the lake, watching the Giant Squid toss a crab up into the air and back again.

Remus was lying next to him, staring up at the clear blue sky. "Wonder what Sirius is doing."

"Making out with Miss Bones, I believe," James replied. "To show her gratitude for his standing up for her."

Remus nodded. "What's up with you and the Lily situation anyway?"

An alarm went off in James' head. "Why? Are you interested?"

"Of course I'm interested, you're my best mate," Remus snorted. "Why else would I be asking?"

"No, I meant in her."

"But you fancy her," Remus said, bewildered. "Don't you?" Wouldn't it be tragic if James didn't like Lily anymore? That'd be horrible for her, but more than anything embarrassing.

"'Course I do. I was just wondering if you did."

"Why would I?"

James shrugged. "She's a smart, beautiful, intelligent witch. And she's Head Girl. Isn't that like your dream wife or something?"

"Little early for marriage, Prongs," Remus laughed. "Besides, like I said, you like her."

"You can't control your feelings."

"Well, I can assure you I can control those particular ones," he smiled, shaking his head. "She's not my type. You like the fiery ones, I'm into the docile ones."

"That are wild in bed," James added knowingly. He shut his eyes. "What were you two talking about today in Transfiguration, anyway?"

Remus glanced at him. "Nothing."

"You're a rotten liar, Remus."

"She'd been dreaming."

"About what?"

Knowing it was futile to lie—James had the uncanny ability to figure out when he was—he admitted, "I'm not allowed to say."

"I hate that you're noble, Moony. I hate every bit."

His friend shrugged carelessly, smirking. "Right. Back to the Lily situation… You gonna ask her out again, or have you given up?"

James opened his eyes, sitting up to look his friend in the eye. "What are you saying, mate? She didn't dream about me did she?"

Remus didn't reply.

James laughed, whooping loudly as he jumped up. "I'll go now and—"

"She's not on sure foot yet, James. She was in denial. Tell her you figured it out because of me and I'll kill you. Give her some space."

"I'm not patient."

"I've noticed," Remus muttered dryly.

A/N: Ok, this is gonna be a short fic. I think only three or four chapters, depending how I'd like the story to unfold… No idea where it's going, so yeah. I'd appreciate reviews. And, as I've been doing lately (successfully, I might add), I'll update every week. Meaning, next Thursday (or Friday, depending what part of the world you're in).

This is another one of my insomniac stories. Sorry, again. I'll try to sleep more, LOL. And I'm missing school because I felt nauseous this morning, and I want to be at school because I always fall behind whenever I miss it. Pisses me off. For real.