Lily finally understood what her purpose was.
See, her parents weren't hugely devotional or religious or anythin, but they did believe that each person was set on this earth with a purpose. And she finally knew hers.
James Potter.
She knew exactly when it'd hit her. She was walking along the halls of Hogwarts with her best friend Alice, fellow prefect. It was January 30th of her 7th year, her eighteenth birthday.
Alice was hurrying her down to the Great Hall, her hands over Lily's eyes. Lily had a smile on her face- Alice was always so eccentric.
No- not the Great Hall. She heard the clatter and the noise of breakfast, but they passed it, and then she felt cold on my face. Lily's hair was whipping around as she waited, frozen in the cold. She heard some murmurs, and then Alice quietly said- "Lily. Open your eyes."
She opened. She was outside, of course.
A beautiful, sleek stag stood inches from her, a wreath of roses around his neck.
"Oh my god..." Lily breathed.
"Go on and touch him," Alice encouraged. "He won't mind."
Lily hesitantly leaned forward and touched the animal's neck. He looked at her with calm eyes. She ran her fingers over his head, around his antlers. He closed his eyes, seeming to enjoy the feeling.
"I know your patronus is a doe," Alice said, "So I figured, send her a friend?"
Lily laughed, taking the wreath of roses off the stag. He nudged her hand gently, then gracefully walked away.
"Expecto Patronum!" Lil said, thinking of the stag, the happiest memory she had as of current. A silver doe erupted from the end of her wand and began to canter around her.
"Your patronus should never be lonely," Sirius Black said from behind the girls. "Expecto Patronum."
Lily had to smile as a giant, shaggy canine lept from the end of both Remus and Sirius' wands. Sirius' patronus chased Remus' around, nipping at his tail and heels. They both turned to prance around her doe, playfully growling.
Alice giggled. "I feel so left out," she said, and cast her fox patronus with the rest of theirs.
Peter Pettigrew, whom none of them had noticed before, let his rat join them.
"Is this some sort of convention of patronuses?" a voice said from behind them. Lily's neck tightened. Leave it to Potter to ruin her day.
"Expecto Patronum," he said, softly, and a silver carbon copy of the stag I had just seen cantered out of his wand. Lily's mouth fell open.
On their own accord, the two deer patronuses moved toward each other, putting their necks together, rubbing their heads together.
Lily looked back at James. For once, he wasn't smirking obnoxiously at her. He had a very serious look on his face as he looked at me, and she couldn't help but notice his goldy-gray eyes (a strange combination), his square jaw, the dimple in his cheeks...
"Happy birthday, Lily," he said.
And that was when she fell in love with James Potter.
