Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, as we all know.
Two months into her 7th year Lily began to fall in love. Or not really fall, more like walk carefully into it. She had been in love before, sure, but that had been very different. Those times she really had fallen in love – it had been strong but quick, and had never lasted more than three months. This time it came slowly, but strongly. And this time she walked into love with a friend.
Yeah, she knew. Who would've ever thought she, Lily Evans, would've called herself James Potter's (and Sirius Black's, and Peter Pettigrew's) friend? Had anyone told her this a year prior – or a few months prior – she would've laughed them right into the face. But James, and Sirius and Peter, had really matured. Two weeks after school start she had found herself searching their company outside of the rounds and meetings she was forced to take with James as they were Head Girl and Boy. First it had been little things, she sat next to them at dinner, together with her friends Marlene, Emelié and Sadie. Talked a little but nothing more. A month after school start she had suddenly been doing her homework together with James, talking about muggle music with Sirius and discussing Arithmancy with Peter. Remus she had been friends with since first year. Accidentally called him 'James' instead of 'Potter'. Kept doing it. A week after that, she found herself sitting together with them long in front of the fire, long after everyone else went to bed, just talking about anything and nothing. And she had enjoyed it. Enjoyed their company. She had begun to think of them as her friends, some of her best friends even. She loved Emelié and Sadie, but she had bonded with the Marauders a way she hadn't bonded with them.
And then she had slowly began her walk into loving James Potter. She began to love the other Marauders too, but in another way, platonically, like brothers. She had found herself staring at him when he practiced Transfiguration, his favourite subject, and noticing how handsome he looked when he got that excited look in his eyes when he managed a particularly hard spell on the first try. Lily had found herself laughing at all of his jokes, even those she normally wouldn't have found funny. She had even followed to watch him (and Sirius, but mostly him) during Quidditch practice, even though she didn't like flying and Quidditch. And she had noticed and been charmed by, and loved, how free he looked in the air. She personally couldn't fly if her life depended on it, but James flied like a god. And in the air he looked free, like the war and all other troubles didn't even exist. He looked like he belonged there, in the air, chasing the Quaffle. That was the moment she realized she loved him, when she watched him flying for the first time since first year, two and a half month into seventh year, it dawned on her that she actually loved James Potter. It wasn't like those volatile crushes she had had on her earlier boyfriends. It was strong, it was steady and it felt like it could rip her heart out of her body by the pure force of it.
Too bad he seemed to have gotten over her.
She had been shocked when she realized that he seemed to not be in love with her anymore, but relieved. He hadn't asked her out even once, and never did anything that was more than friendly. It had been a relief, and it had made it possible for her to build a steady ground to become his friend on. But now, every time she saw him together with his girlfriends it hurt. It hurt so much. But she ignored the heartache and acted like normal, because it wouldn't do to show him that she was in love with him now, after he finally had listened to her and gotten over her.
But she spent a lot of time just watching him. The way he dragged his fingers through his messy hair didn't bother her anymore, she found it strangely endearing. How he stretched his muscled arms was straight up attractive, and she never got enough of watching him talk about Transfiguration, Quidditch, fighting or something else he was passionate about. How loyal he was to his friends, and how protective he was over them was amazing. How he'd try to impress her by doing different, pretty stupid things was so sweet. How proud he was every time he beat her in Wizard Chess – which he did pretty often, he was good – was nothing short of lovable. And his eyes. His hazel eyes were so beautiful. They were like a well, filled with his feelings. He was skilled in the art of schooling his face into neutrality, but his eyes never lied. They always said exactly what he really thought.
Then, a few months into the term, during an argument with him she suddenly kissed him. She didn't know what came over her, he simply looked so… irresistible and she just did it. And when he kissed her back, her happiness felt complete. He didn't even have a girlfriend at the moment, so nothing could destroy the mood. He still loved her. That fact only made her love him more – he had loved her the entire time, and not once played on it since he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He really had matured.
And when he invited her on a date, she answered yes for the first time ever, after five years.
Yes, she loved James Potter. She might have slowly strolled into loving him, like water on a beach, but once she was there their love was like a bonfire; hot passion, it was hearts beating at the rate of one hundred and fifty a minute and it was urgency since they didn't know how much time they had left. A war was raging, after all, and they both knew that once they graduated, they would fight for what they believed in. It didn't even need to be said, it was so obvious that they would. But their love was also like the night sky. Eternal, soft and calm and beautiful.
Lily Evans realized she loved James Potter at seventeen. She became James' fiancée and a warrior at eighteen. She turned into Lily Potter at nineteen and the mother of Harry Potter at twenty. And at twenty one, she had done everything she could ever want to do with her life – she had loved, she had made a difference and she had put her mark on others' lives, and on the world – except seeing her son grow up, and spend more time with her husband and family (Sirius, Remus, Peter). At twenty one Lily Potter knew she would die. She didn't want to, she still had so much to live for, but she was sure of it, even though she hoped she was wrong. At twenty one she heard the sound of her husband's, her best friend's, dead body falling to the floor, became a widow, and lost that hope. She knew she was going to die. But it didn't matter. Without James, she didn't want to live anymore. The only thing she had left to live for was her son, her child, her Harry. And she would, if she could, but she didn't think it was even a possibility. At twenty one, she gave her life protecting her only child. And at twenty one, Lily was reunited with her husband and best friend in the Afterlife.
I wrote this in the middle of the night, it just came to be. It wouldn't allow me to go to bed before it was written. To be honest, I'm pretty proud of it, I think it is really good.
So... review, please, and tell me if I did their relationship justice. 3
If you want to read about James loving Lily, even if it isn't written like this, then you can find it in the fic The Friendship of James and Sirius.