Slam!
The noise echoed around the hallway as the broom closet's door was forcefully banged shut. Footsteps angrily marched down the hall as their owner followed, her curly red hair flying out behind her. Emerald green eyes were narrowed dangerously and it was safe to say that Lily Evans was furious.
Her head girl badge glinted on her jumper, signifying what Lily was doing up at this hour of the night. However, the space to her left remained empty as a reminder of her missing partner.
Lily hadn't seen James for days. Usually they met often, between classes, in the morning, at night, or just for a quick kiss. He was her boyfriend, for Merlin's sake! They were supposed to be around each other!
But lately she hadn't seen even a glimpse of him. Even though they lived together, even though they ate together, and had the same classes, she hadn't seen him. When she had tried asking his friends they had only shaken their heads at her. Apparently they were as confused as she was. Unfortunately, Lily could only think of one reason why James was suddenly missing. He was avoiding her.
She was at a loss as to what the reason could be. She hadn't done anything wrong and, to the extent of her knowledge, neither had he. Right now it seemed just seemed easier to take out her anger and confusion on her patrol, searching for misbehaving students.
She checked another broom closet that was, fortunately, empty. Why did Hogwarts have so many of them? They were never used.
Except for that one.
Turning her head, Lily heard soft sounds coming from around the corner. Moving slowly as to not scare off the amorous couple, she began to walk towards the noises. She turned the corner and immediately spotted the wooden door that concealed the pair. Taking out her wand Lily stepped right in front of the entrance. With a slight flick, the door flew open.
And she promptly recoiled in shock and horror.
There, standing frozen within the closet were the two guilty students. And there, wrapped in each other's arms, hair mussed, clothes askew, stood her missing boyfriend.
All coherent thoughts had quickly deserted her within her first look at the two. All three had frozen, and Lily and James were staring at each other, shock apparent on both faces, with guilt on only one. Lily's wand clattered to the floor, dropped from numb fingertips. The sharp sound seemed to snap them out of the trace that had taken hold.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Each." The words came from Lily's mouth, but she couldn't process them. Mechanically she turned around, not even remembering to retrieve her fallen wand. She began to walk away, tears slowly coming to her now dull eyes.
James was still frozen, his mind beginning to understand the immensity of what had just happened. With a sharp jerk, he flung the other girl away from him and started running, ignoring her cries for him to come back.
"Wait!" He called; his feet creating a sharp, staccato beat on the stone floor. "Lily! Please!" He knew she wasn't going to stop, he knew that she had broken into a run. He knew that she would be racing back to The Head's dorm, and he knew that he had to get there before her. If he couldn't, all was lost.
Veering left, James flung himself into a wall. It was one of the first shortcuts the Marauders had discovered during their first year, and he was prepared to take full advantage of it now. Sprinting through the passage he forced his feet to move even faster, propelling himself along, until he could see the dead end up ahead. His thoughts were chaotic, with only one clear goal: Get to the Head Dorms. Now!
He was so close. With a quick right turn, he emerged from the shortcut, just in time. Lily was flying past him now, not even noticing his figure standing in the shadows. He reached out, and with the unerring skill honed from Quidditch, he caught her wrist.
She was jerked from her sprint, abruptly pulled back in the opposite direction. She stumbled, and he steadied her, his hands on her shoulders. Trapping her.
Lily refused to look at him, instead staring unseeingly at the floor, tears masking her vision. They stood there, neither one of them daring to make the first move. Until he spoke.
"Lil, please, just…"
"Just what?" She whipped up her head to glare at him, her eyes cold and narrowed. "Just listen? Just understand? I know what happened, Potter. I know what I saw." In one swift movement, she broke from his arms. "I should have expected it, shouldn't I? Just another one of your girls, one of your toys, a hobby. Just the thrill of the chase. I was stupid enough to think I was different, to think that you actually had changed. My mistake, I guess." She laughed, a high, sharp sound that he had never heard from her. "But you know what the worst part is?" Her voice had gone soft. "That I actually thought you had changed. That I was special. I guess not."
She turned away from him, hiding her face, but he caught one last glimpse of her eyes. And what he saw broke him too. They were filled with pain. Unfiltered, pure pain. He hadn't know anyone could be hurt that much, emotionally. And he had caused it.
He could feel his heart breaking, splintering into tiny shards that pierced him whenever he moved, as her heart had not ten minutes ago. And because he knew how much pain he had caused her, and because he knew that he loved her too much to hurt her even more, he let her walk away.
Alone.
A/N Please review!