A Reason in Madness

"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."

Chapter Thirteen: Falling Out of Mirrors

Lily used her hands to prop herself up on her stomach then slowly raised her eyes.

Oh, François...

"Lily...why did you just fall out of my mirror?" James asked from the bed.

Slowly turning her head to look behind her, Lily saw that, indeed, she had fallen from the space where the mirror was located in a Head Student's dormitory. However, it now appeared as if the full-length mirror were a door that opened into the room.

Realization suddenly cast its shadow over Lily's mind. She had begun on the side of the Lounge where all of James's affects were; it would only make sense for the passageway leading to James's dorm to be located there as well.

She hadn't even considered the probability that if there was another entrance leading to her dorm, there was most likely going to be one leading to James's.

"Wr-wrong portrait- I mean painting- I mean...um...cheese..."

James had sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed while she had been thinking. He stood and walked over to where Lily was still laying on the burgundy carpet.

"Here." He offered his hand to help her stand.

When she accepted it, a spark shot from James's hand to Lily's making her snatch back with a slight cry of surprise.

Static electricity.

"Sorry. Uh, try again?" James held out his hand once more. Lily slowly grasped it.

To an onlooker (had there been one), the whole scene would have appeared rather pathetic.

The Head Students were both thinking about the previous night and were extremely self-conscious.

James was wondering if Lily knew what he had done- if, by some chance, Lily had awoken to the feel of his gentle kiss.

Lily was wondering if James knew she had been awake to hear- and feel- his goodbye.

Suddenly, realization (who seems to be a rather dark character) slapped Lily so hard in the face it sent a shockwave through her body.

Her involuntary shudder brought them both out of their dreams.

Clenching her fists, Lily silently willed these untrue thoughts away- they couldn't be true, they just couldn't!

"Uh, Lil? Yeah, need the hand."

James's warm tenor, though sounding slightly strangled, awoke her (again) from her reverie.

Only then did, she realize she was squeezing James's hand.

"Sorry!"

"No, no, it's okay- I just need it to-" he pulled her up, so that she was standing, "play...Quidditch and all...yeah..." His voice trailed off to a whisper and, then, nothing. His hazel eyes were dancing with wonder and...fear.

They were close. Really close. Some might have said too close, but neither of the pair were the slightest bit uncomfortable.

It seemed as if they couldn't step back if they wanted to; a magic unbeknownst to them was in the air so thickly one could almost smell it.

They could only move closer.

Startling James slightly, Lily took a step forward, dragging the toe of her shoe across the carpet. The vibrations were felt up her leg, but it was the rustling noise of the fibers on the floor that brought her back to reality once more.

Funny how it's the smallest things that catch your attention.

Lily's foot was still slowly sliding towards James. She looked down.

What was wrong with her?

Why wouldn't her foot stop? It had a mind of its own.

Suddenly, James's hand came out and tilted her head up to look at him.

She could see everything in his eyes- everything.

Everything he felt for here, the secrets held from everyone, his desires, hopes, dreams... She could see everything in those eyes. He wasn't hiding this time.

Lily stumbled back from James, fear evident in her now jade eyes, darkened from drowning, falling, soaring sensations.

She fumbled backwards tripping over her own feet repeatedly. Finally, her back hit the still-ajar mirror.

Never taking her eyes off James's, she opened the mirror.

One last look at James, and Lily took off down the passageway.

She fled through the entrance, now her exit, and ran straight across the Head Lounge to a painting of a unicorn. When she threw back the frame in desperation, an entrance was revealed and she distantly heard the picture's subject whiny as she ran down another passage. Reaching a seemingly solid barrier, Lily pushed and stepped "out of" her own mirror.

Breathing heavily, she slowly closed the mirror and leaned back against it.