Disclaimer: I don't own J.K. Rowling's work or This = love by the Script...
It's in the eyes of the children,
As they leave for the very first time.
And it's in the heart of the soldier,
As he takes a bullet on the front line.
I stand outside the Gryffindor common room, waiting silently, my coat wrapped tightly around myself. I smile softly as I peer out the window and see the snow drifting to the ground, covering everything. I can see the ice on the black lake, and I feel my eyes flutter closed, remember last year, during potions.
I let out a deep, satisfied breath and turn back to the hallway, waiting impatiently.
Suddenly, I hear footsteps, and a deep, beautiful, velvet voice, whispering my name from behind me.
“Lily.”
It’s in the face of a mother,
As she takes the force of the blow.
And it’s in the hands of the father, yeah,
As he works his fingers to the bone, yeah.
Arms wrap around my waist, and I am pulled back into his chest. I feel a mischievous smile slip across my face and I turn to face James, to see his hazel eyes twinkling at me, his brown hair hanging in his face, his glasses slipping a little down his nose.
Gently, I push his glasses back up and grin at him. “You know,” he murmurs in my ear, “we don’t have to go to Hogsmeade.”
I roll my eyes at him, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him softly. “Cute. Or not.”
He snickers, and grabs ahold of my hand, tugging me outside into the snow. I watch as his breath fogs in the air, making soft puffs of steam, and snowflakes catch themselves in his hair, glittering in the bare sunlight.
He glances back at me, and brushes a strand of hair behind my ear, and then smiles at me, kissing my cheeks that are probably red from the cold by now.
I’m standing under a white flag, oh,
Can you see me, oh, can you see me, oh.
I’m standing for everything we have, oh,
Can you hear me, oh, can you hear me.
James tugs me into Hogsmeade, and I come after him, laughing, at his silly antics. He turns slightly to look at me and winks, grinning wickedly. I can’t help but smile back at him, he’s so irresistible.
I feel my cheeks flush a brighter red and my heart beat furiously. James leans down and kisses me and my knees feel wobbly.
Suddenly, I realize what I’m feeling as his lips find mind.
I’m in love with James Charles Potter.
I feel like laughing, but at the same time, I’m overjoyed. I’m in love with James Potter. I never thought I would live to see the day when this happened.
James pulls back slightly and gives me an odd glance, but I don’t say anything in return. I just kiss him.
This is why we do it; this is worth the pain,
This is why we bow down and get back up again.
This is where the heart lies; this is from above,
Love is this, this is love.
James and I wander into the three broomsticks and he pulls me into a booth, tugging on my arm so that I end up on his lap.
A few moments later, Sirius bounds in, closely followed by Remus and Peter. They all slide into the bench on the other side and Sirius pretend to gag as James and I kiss. I pull back from James and smirk at him.
Sirius wrinkles his nose and shakes his head in return. Peter beams at us, being his cheerful self, and Remus smiles softly before picking up his book and returning to his page, his blonde hair falling in his face.
“What can I get you five?” A cheerful voice asks, and James winks at me.
“Hello, Rosmerta,” he says, laughing softly; I can feel his body shaking under mine.
Madam Rosmerta rolls her eyes at him as Sirius says, “Five Butterbeers, please.”
Madam Rosmerta nods and takes off in the other direction, humming to herself as she wanders to other tables.
James kisses my hair softly, closing his eyes and smiling peacefully.
Love is why we do it; love is worth the pain,
Love is why we fall down and get back up again.
Love is where the heart lies; love is from above,
Love is this, this is love.
This is love…
This is love…
This is love…
I step outside of the three broomsticks, watching Sirius, Remus, and Peter who are running ahead, laughing and chattering the whole way.
I wait quietly for James, who stayed behind to pay Rosmerta for the food.
I brush my hair behind my ear and hear a voice sneer, “Hello there, Evans.”
I turn, closing my eyes to face Charlie Beck, a girl who’s hated for me for no apparent reason. My only guess is that she might be jealous of me, because James chose me, but that doesn’t make sense to me.
“Beck, what do you want?” I ask, opening my eyes to glare at her.
She smirks. “I bet you don’t know your boyfriend as well as you thought you did, Evans.”
I feel my brow furrow and I pull back a little. “What are you talking about?” I demand.
She turns to walk away and I call, “Beck! What…?”
She looks back at me and smirks. “Why, Evans, I just saw him snogging some other girl, don’t you know?”
I blink and feel pain shudder through me. She’s lying. She has to be. Right?
I watch her as she wanders away, tossing her hair over her shoulders.
James exits out of the three broomsticks, and walks up to me, wrapping his arm around my waist. I look up at him and then pull away slowly.
He looks at me in confusion. “Lily?” He asks hesitantly.
I shake my head slowly, and feel my bottom lip tremble. “And to think I thought… How could you?”
“What are you talking about?” James asks, stepping toward me with his hands out stretched, a pleading look on his face.
I feel my tears begin to spill over and I rush off in the other direction towards the castle, ignoring James’s calls of “Lily! Wait!” after me.
It’s in the soul of the city,
What it does after it crumbles and burns.
And it’s in the blood of a hero,
To know where he goes he may never return, yeah.
I find my way to the back of the library and sit down in the corner, sobbing quietly to myself. For some reason, I find myself thinking back to my first date with James. The weekend after that snowy day in potions.
James and I had wandered down to the black lake on our way back from Hogsmeade. We had wandered around all day, just talking.
I found myself telling him things that I had never even told Severus. I talked to him about Petunia and her boyfriend Vernon.
James wrinkled his nose at my description of the two and claimed they sounded, “just incredibly awful,” which was exactly what I needed to hear at the moment.
James had told me about himself, about how he became friends with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and even what his life at home was like. He said that it had improved over the last year when Sirius moved in with them.
So now we were down by the black lake, laughing together, and I thought to myself that maybe I had been foolish to refuse him so many times over the years.
As we were about to head back to the castle James stopped me. His hazel eyes sparkled as he watched me and finally he breathed, “Lily… Can I kiss you?”
I blinked up at him, and he began to turn away, flushing with embarrassment. I grabbed his arm and pulled him down, stretching up on my tiptoes so that his lips met mine.
When he pulled back I laughed at his dazed expression. He winked at me and then leaned down for another kiss.
I smirked and winked back, and then shoved a handful of snow in his face right before his lips touched mine.
He let out an angry gasp and rubbed snow in my hair, a playful light in his eyes.
And so we had a snow ball fight on our first date.
I’m standing under a white flag, oh,
Can you see me, oh, can you see me, ooh.
I’m standing for everything we have, oh,
Can you hear me, oh, can you hear me.
Sitting here now, I wonder silently why I never agreed to date James before. I should have noticed that while he may have seemed snobby and unlikeable to me, he always treated Remus, Sirius, and Peter with respect and just like any caring friend would.
Suddenly, I remember when I asked him to Hogsmeade, the look of utter surprise on his face. I giggle slightly through my tears as I remember how he dropped the basket he had been holding. He really must have thought that I would never agree to him to have been so surprised when I did.
I shake my head, feeling the tears spill over again. Why would he do that to me? He always told me that I was the only one for him.
Was he lying the whole time?
This is why we do it; this is worth the pain,
This is why we bow down; get back up again.
This is where the heart lies; this is from above.
Love is this, this is love.
I look up and try to quiet my sobs as I hear voices talking loudly a short distance away. I lean closer to hear.
“What did you do to her, Potter?” A sneering voice that could only belong to Severus asks, and I’m surprised to note he actually sounds upset and worried.
“I don’t know!” James cries in frustration, he lets out a funny sounding noise and I wonder if he’s crying.
“I’ve never seen her cry like that. I knew you would ruin her, Po—”
“Shut up,” James hisses to Severus, and I can imagine his hazel eyes snapping into a furious glare. “I’ve been being nice for her sake, Snape, but you need to shut it. I didn’t do anything. I just want to find her so I can figure out what’s wrong.”
“Then why are you wasting your time with me?” Severus demands, and I know he’s probably rolling his eyes while running a hand through his greasy hair.
“I really don’t know,” James grumbles, and then footsteps leave quietly.
I think of Severus for a moment, and how close we had been before he ruined our friendship. Before he called me a—a—
But that just leads to thoughts of James. How he defended me, how his eyes sparkle in the sunlight, how pleading he looked the first time he asked me out, how happy his smile is when he’s around Sirius and Remus. And me.
I begin to cry again. Why is this happening to me? Why do I feel like this?
Why does James do this to me?
Love is why we do it; love is worth the pain.
Love is why we fall down; get back up again.
Love is where the heart lies; love is from above.
Love is this, this is love…
This is love, this is love…
I try hard to return my thoughts to Severus, and how close we were before we came to Hogwarts. I think about Petunia and how much she hated him, but mainly Severus and our meetings by the river.
I sat on a lower branch of the tree, kicking my legs back and forth, waiting for Severus to arrive.
“Lily,” a voice whispered, and I turned to smile at him.
“Hey, Sev,” I returned with an even bigger smile. He blinked at me and then smiled back, sitting down in front of the tree. “How’s your family been?” I asked hesitantly, and he glowered.
“The same as always.”
I reached and touched his shoulder, looking at him, a slight grimace on my face.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine, Lily.” His eyes met mine and he smiled peacefully. “Besides, we’ll be at Hogwarts next year and we won’t have to worry about it.”
I grinned and nodded back.
He glanced around and then nervously added, “Lily… We’ll be friends right? Even if we’re put in different houses?”
I blinked at him and said, “Of course, Sev! I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He grinned at me, a look of relief crossing his face and we went back to the conversation we had been having before.
As I think of this memory, my mind flashes to our first day on the train when I met James and Sirius, which just leads me off on another trail of thoughts about James. I’m still crying softly as I think quietly in the corner of the library.
Why does everything remind me of him?
If you could be anywhere that you wanted to be,
With anyone that you wanted to be with,
Do anything that you wanted to do,
What would it be and who would it be with you?
Time flies but you're the pilot,
It moves real fast but you're the driver,
You may crash and burn sometimes…
My mind still on James, I suddenly find myself trying to think of what might have happened to our relationship over the past year.
I sit quietly, pondering, but come up with nothing. He was always so sweet and perfect and loving that I can’t think of a single moment that might have led to him wanting to be with anyone else.
Did I do something wrong?
I consider this, but nothing comes to mind.
Shaking my head, I just settle down to cry again. Tonight, I’ll cry. Tomorrow, I’ll figure out what to do next.
This is why do it; this is worth the pain,
This is why we bow down; get back up again.
This is where the heart lies; this is from above.
Love is this, this is love.
Suddenly I hear his voice, saying, “Lily.”
I turn quickly and look down saying, “What do you want, Jam—Potter?”
He winces slightly and finally responds in one breath trying to get the words out as fast as possible, “BeckliedtoyouLilyIdidn’tsnoganyoneelseandIloveyou.”
I blink, swiping tears off my face and turn to look at him asking, “What?”
He takes a deep breath and tries again, “Beck lied to you. I swear Lily, I didn’t snog anyone else.”
I watch him closely, biting my lip, and I open my mouth to say something, but he puts a finger to my lips and closing his eyes, continues, “I was going to wait, but I think I should do this now.”
His eyes meet mine and he slowly, carefully, gets down on one knee. I feel my jaw drop and my eyes widen.
He can’t be…
James’s soft voice carries through the library. “Lily Evans, I love you more than anything in the world. I always have and I always will. I was going to wait until after school is over, but I don’t want anything like this to ever happen again. I don’t ever want to lose you, Lily. Ever. I never thought that you would actually come to care for me, and now that you do I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you.” He brings a small box out of his pocket, and opening it to reveal a beautiful silver ring with a large emerald center, and smaller teardrop emeralds dotting the flower pattern around the band, he breathes, “Lily Marie Evans, will you marry me?”
Love is why we do it; love is worth the pain.
Love is why we fall down; get back up again.
Love is where the heart lies; love is from above.
The tears begin to spill over again, and I feel a hand fly up to cover my mouth. I sniffle and look into James’s hopeful yet frightened hazel eyes.
Some might consider this a rash decision, but I don’t care. James loves me. And Beck was lying. I should have known.
“Oh, James,” I gasp, “I love you too.”
His face clears slightly, a small smile passing across it, the light in his eyes changing from frightened to the mischievous glimmer they always hold, and he coughs, holding up the beautiful ring in its box hopefully. Unable to stop my tears I give up and throw my arms around him, saying, “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”
And suddenly, I am in his arms.
He swings me around in the air and then kisses me, and I kiss him back, breathless and so incredibly happy that the whole thing was just a mistake.
My heart stutters as James kisses me again, and I know that I’m finally where I belong, right here with him.
Love is this, this is love…
A/N: So, I hope you all enjoyed my little sequel there. I would love a review.
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