...I still remember the feeling I had with each step I took down the spiraled staircase. It was like a powerful force was pushing me from behind, something stronger than my judgment, stronger than my cautious nature....

...I was absolutely shocked when it did happen, maybe because I hadn’t known what it would be like. I hadn’t known that I could feel like that, that anyone could feel like that. I never thought, for a single second, that a single touch could make the world explode...

He didn't yell at her, but his tone clearly admitted no argument. Lily had never imagined she'd be listening to James Potter, of all people; still, she made her way down the stairs and out of the castle, a giant wave of thoughts swirling inside her head.

It didn’t mean anything. And even if it had meant something…it wasn’t up to her to judge it. He owed her nothing, and she was nothing to him – just a girl trapped in an odd chain of events that had just happened to cross his path. They weren’t lovers; they weren’t even friends.

“I don’t get you. First, you tell me you’d do anything for your friends, but when it comes to getting what you want, you’re suddenly ready to forget all about them. You tell me nothing’s going on between us, but you find me everywhere I go and you…you…who are you? Who are you really?”

"I'm...complicated."

Dreadful seconds melted in a suffocating silence, as Lily held her breath and waited. It was as if she could hear the ticking of a clock inside her head. Tick, tock. The room was too hot, the air inside it too dense. Her heart was beating much too fast. And everything was silent. She was standing on the edge of a deep and dark abyss, and she jumped.

Deceived by my somewhat idyllic image of the world, I failed to see that sometimes, people simply can’t deal with what they have become. I failed to see that a lonely, overweight, frustrated girl could turn her life into a web of lies simply because the truth was too much to bear; a mistake I would pay dearly for. I didn’t see, at that time, how strong I was and how much stronger I could be…or maybe I simply didn’t notice just how weak they all were.

It would’ve felt incredibly strange, if she had stopped to think of it. She’d dismissed James Potter for longer than she could remember, and now she was asking for his help. She had been bothered by Vanessa for four long years, and now it was her turn to strike back. The wheels of fortune were always turning...

It was as though my body had been designed just for his hands. His frame was only wide enough to entangle mine, and together we formed a graceful whole. I thought I could be looking my entire life, and never find someone to complete me so perfectly.

I’ll never forget that look in his eyes, when he stood there and stared at me. It was probably the most painful moment I’ve ever lived in my entire life. I thought I would break right then and there – crash into a million tiny pieces. It can’t be explained – it was just too much, too much for me. Too much for anyone...almost anyone.

It lay there, right before my eyes, laughing to my face because I couldn’t ignore it. It was the truth – heartbreaking but undeniable. They weren’t kissing – they weren’t even touching – but their eyes said everything. Her eyes, so identical to mine, held the same wholeness I felt when I foolishly thought I had him.

The world was created to make sense, and everything is unique and magical in its own way. Dismissing something just because it seems opaque at first is only further proof of how ignorant we are. We do not take the time to get to know the world and uncover its secrets. We take things as they are, and in the process, we miss some of the most spectacular gifts life has to offer.

He was a magician, and I was his audience, and every time he worked his magic on me, I fell for it. And truth be told, I wanted to be fooled, for there can be nothing more sublime, more blissful, than that one moment in time when you open your eyes, and find the world to be exactly as you dreamt it. My only regret is not having had the time to believe that I was more to him. But it’s a comfort to know that I can always go back, and ask him to fool me one more time...