#IF I SEE ONE MORE JILY FIC WITH ALWAYS AS THE KICKER LINE ILL MCFRICKIN LOSE IT

[roozilwalib]

Comfort jily

bc honestly they are my comfort couple and when I think about jily and their essence I just imagine comfort

When Lily got the news she felt the world shift beneath her. She sat silently in a state of shock for a moment, clutching the letter in one hand. For a minute she was transported. She forgot she was at Hogwarts eating breakfast with her friends, beginning to prepare for their next set of exams.

For just a moment, she was eight again. She and Tuney were still best friends. She didn’t know what magic was. Her mum called her and Petunia inside because dad was home from work and it was time for dinner. Lily and her sister ran inside to give their father a hug, and then sit down for dinner.

But as little Lily raised a spoonful of soup to her mouth, seventeen-year-old Lily’s fork clattered loudly onto the Gryffindor table. Pairs of eyes whipped up to the ruckus and Lily briefly registered a light hand on her elbow.

“Lily, are you alright?” She thinks the voice was Marlene, but the world around her was turning to static and before anyone could comment on the tears already streaming down her face, Lily was up and gone out of the Great Hall, letter still clutched in hand.

She didn’t notice all of her friends sitting silently in shock for a moment. Nor did she notice the first person to get up and go after her.

All that Lily could focus on was the fact that she couldn’t breathe. She was trying so hard but it felt like her lungs were betraying her. Every intake burned in her chest as it scraped through her bronchioles. Every outtake was a loud shudder that shook her ribcage. She couldn’t get enough oxygen.

She stumbled her way into an abandoned classroom and sank to the floor against a wall, too caught up to worry about locking the door. With her knees to her chest, elbows on knees, and her face in her hands, she tried desperately to fight for the air her body needed.

But with every breath, a new memory forced it’s way through her consciousness, which only caused her to sob harder. Right when she thought she could pass out, she vaguely heard the rattling of a door and footsteps approach.

By the time the figure was at her eye-level, Lily’s eyes were blown wide and her fingers were tangled roughly in her hair. She could see a mouth moving in front of her but the static covered up any sound. There was a flick of a wand in her periphery and her breathing became slightly easier. The tears didn’t stop, but her brain seemed to be getting more oxygen and her breathing wasn’t as ragged as before.

There were hands on her shoulders and she started to make out the sounds of a familiar voice.

“Evans—hey—can you hear me?” James asked, a bit frantically, Lily noticed. She nodded her head in response and James let out a sigh as he nodded his head along with her.

“Oh, thank Merlin. I’ve been practically yelling at you for the past five minutes.” Lily merely let out a sniffle in reply. She didn’t have a witty remark—or any reply, really. Lily noticed numbly that she didn’t feel like she had anything anymore.

This realisation caused her to break into another fit of tears, burying her face in her elbows. James scooted to sit next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her tightly into his chest. Lily allowed herself to be comforted by the dark-haired boy. She didn’t know what to do, she felt so lost, but James was warm and whispering comforting words in her ear I’m here, it’s going to be okay, I’ve got you. His presence grounded her.

James stroked Lily’s back soothingly and never let up on his grip on her. She didn’t know what she did to deserve this. She’d always been so mean to James. Of course, there were times when he definitely deserved it, but there were also times when he didn’t.

When Lily quieted enough for James to feel comfortable speaking, he delicately pulled away enough to cause a whimper to fall out of Lily’s mouth. James’s heart broke at the sight of her. She looked unbelievably devastated. He could only wonder what the letter said. He softly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and ducked his head to meet her eyes. Cradling her cheek in his hand, James asked softly,

“What happened, Lily?” Her bottom lip quivered and she could do nothing but thrust the letter in front of him. He took it carefully and read the words that caused Lily to spiral. Her parents were dead. He didn’t bother to read further because he had enough information to know what caused Lily to feel like this and all he cared about was fixing that.

James pulled her into his arms arms again and rocked her as she began to cry again.

“I’m so, so sorry Lily. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s hurts.” She cried out. Her fists were twisting his sweater and her entire body leaned into him, desperate to crawl into the warmth that was James Potter and never come back out.

“I know it hurts. But I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll do whatever you need.” James allowed himself to plant a firm kiss to the top of her head and held her close.

“Just please don’t leave me.” She whispered. James shook his head.

“Never.”

For the rest of that day, James stayed true to his word. He skipped his classes and instead accompanied Lily to the dorm room. He tucked her into his bed and snuck down to the kitchens to grab her any comfort foods he could get his hands on.

When he made his way back up, he found Lily sitting in front of the fire, parchment in front of her and quill gripped tightly. She appeared to be fighting for words.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He tucked a stray hand behind her ear again (a habit he seemed to be forming quickly).

“I, um, I’m trying to write to my sister,” she croaked, “but I’ve realised that I don’t even know her current address.” She gave a watery laugh. “Isn’t that ridiculous? My sister. My—my only living relative hasn’t spoken to me in years, and I have no idea where she lives!” She laughed hysterically and James scooted closer to her.

“Lily…” He started warily, but she cut him off.

“My only living relative!” This time she shouted. The laughing had stopped and the tears returned. Before either of them realised what was happening Lily’s body sank into his chest. James didn’t hesitate: he curled his arms around her and rested his chin over her shoulder, softly swaying left to right.

“My only living relative.” Lily whispered, so softly James wouldn’t have heard it if he weren’t right next to her. “My entire family is just one person who hates me.” James stiffened at that and forced Lily forward to turn her around and lift her shaking chin up so she could look him in the eyes.

“Lily, I love you, and I know how much you’re grieving right now, but I need you to understand one thing for me, okay?” Brushing past his confession and the colour filling Lily’s cheeks, James continued,

“I know your parents have died and nothing can replace them. But Petunia is not your only family. You have Marls and Dora and Mary and Remus and Sirius and Peter and me.” He finished. He cradled the redhead’s puffy cheeks and wiped the tear streaks away.

“We may not be blood but we are your family. And we’re here for you, however you need us.” Lily nodded deftly and allowed James’ words to wash over her.

She closed her eyes and allowed new memories to infiltrate her mind. Studying with Remus, helping Peter with potions, giggling with the girls in the dormitory, Marlene helping Lily learn how to do a fierce dark lipstick, she and Sirius cackling over a joke only they understood, and James. Yelling at James, hexing James, hating James, befriending James, asking him for help with transfiguration, snuggling into his side, warm with fire whiskey.

With him right in front of her, James filled her senses and before she allowed herself to second guess anything, her hand shot out and pulled him by the sweater into a kiss.

It wasn’t a snog because Lily was tired and pretty sure she still had snot on her face, but it wasn’t just a peck either. Their lips slotted together slowly, and James’s grip on her face tightened. When she pulled back, she could hear James’ shaky breath.

“Lily…” he managed out.

“Thank you.” She replied softly, looking into his warm brown eyes. She hoped that James could tell everything that she wanted to say just from those two words. Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for loving me. I love you too, so much. James nodded, eyes blown wide in shock and Lily let out her first giggle of the day, allowed the first smile to etch its way onto her face.

Lily allowed herself to sink into James and his warmth again. Despite his shock, his body reacted to hers and held her tight. James was so warm, Lily thought to herself. She wanted to wrap him around her like a blanket.

It wasn’t like everything was all of a sudden perfectly fine again. Lily’s parents were still dead and there was still a terrifying war going on outside, but James was right. Lily still had a family, and they would hold her when she cried, support her as she grieved, and fight by her side until the very end.