The Heaven In Your Eyes
Lily Potter sighed as she rolled over on the fluffy white cloud that had become her bed. There was a slight chill in the breeze today-a chill that told her quite plainly that something unusual was bound to happen.
"Lily dear-breakfast came early today. I asked Mariel especially."
"Thank you dear." She lifted her head slightly to watch James scurry across the floor. The white floor. White, just like practically everything else. Even James was looking whiter, somehow. Not as wildly refined as he used to look, with his untamed, jet-black hair and deep, dark eyes. She remembered when he looked like that. When everything was perfect.
"That doesn't make sense!" she said aloud.
"Did you say something, sweet?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing." But it doesn't make sense, she told herself. Life, or should I say the afterlife, is supposed to be perfect now, not how it was.
"Are you sure you're quite all right, honey?"
"Yes, I'm positive. Go back to sleep, you look horribly tired."
"Nonsense, I'm not tired at all. Couldn't sleep a wink if I tried."
Lily allowed herself a sad smile. He was so good to her. Especially lately. She knew he'd noticed how depressed she was, and was going out of his way to make everything better.
"Do you think you can manage for a spell if I just step out? Only I promised the Nathaniel Prewett I'd stop by for a bit. There's been a new arrival-an aunt, I think, or maybe it was a cousin. No matter. Anyway he's awfully excited, and I couldn't resist--"
"It's fine, darling, in fact I think it's lovely that you're going."
"Well, see you in a bit, eh? I'll be missing you," he added quickly, as he pecked her on the cheek and dashed out the door.
Slowly, Lily pushed herself out of bed, and wiggled her feet about a bit until they found her white bunny slippers with the bright pink noses right smack in the middle. Then, running four fingers through her silky dark red hair, she proceeded to walk across the room.
"Ah, there you are, Mariel," she said quietly, pushing the tall white door leading to the next room open. "I've been looking for you-I'm awfully distressed."
"Of course you are, Lil," replied Mariel in soft, soothing voice. "Anything I can do?"
"I don't know...That's the problem, I think. I don't know anything about anything. Or at least I haven't for these past few days, or weeks, or months, or whatever it's been. It's so hard to tell time up here."
"Naturally, sweetness, as we don't really have time at all, do we?"
"No, no, of course not. Sometimes I suppose I forget exactly where I am."
"That's natural too you know, Lil. Everyone sometimes forgets where they are when they're torn between two different places."
"Perhaps if I understood what you meant I could use that to make me feel better..."
Mariel laughed softly. Lily loved the sound of that laugh. It was young and carefree, like bells jingling, hanging from light Spring flowers.
"I mean exactly what I say. You, like many others, are torn between now and then. The world you know and the world you once knew. The present world and the past world. Your world and your son's world."
"My son...my son..." Lily murmured softly, musing to herself. Yes, that's what this sudden moodiness has been about. Harry. Lord knows I've missed him, but lately it's gotten worse.
"Harry," said Mariel simply, looking up briefly before going back to sewing a pale blue dress that was lying on her lap.
"Harry," repeated Lily. "He's at Hogwarts now you know, Mariel. In his seventh year. I bet he's doing simply wonderfully...I wonder if he still looks exactly like James...with my eyes. Yes, his eyes were my very favorite part of his outside. Looking into them, I felt I had left my mark."
"You needn't worry, Lily," Mariel whispered softly. "You've left your mark in more ways than that."
A long silence ensued. Mariel watched fondly as Lily found herself being reeled into dreamland.
"Will you be okay, darling?" Mariel asked finally, giving Lily an enquiring look.
"I don't know...I don't know. Oh, what am I saying, of course I will! I've survived these past sixteen years, I can survive the rest. How long will that be, I wonder."
"Think about what you're saying. Do you really want Harry dead just so he can be back here with you?"
"Of course not! What a terribly morbid thought! I would never wish such a fate on him, no matter how badly my heart hurts. He's a strong, wonderful boy. He has everything ahead of him. Everything. But if there was some other way...I'd do it in a heartbeat."
"Maybe there is."
"Pardon me?"
"Maybe there is."
"Is what?"
"Another way."
"You're being silly. Of course there isn't."
"You're just saying that. It's not what you want to believe."
"Of course it's not, but I can't wish something into existence."
"Don't underestimate the power of wishes."
"What are you trying to tell me, Mariel?"
"I'm trying to tell you, Lily, that I can help you visit Harry, if you want it badly enough."
Lily choked mid-swallow.
"If I want it badly enough?" She gave a half-hearted laugh, and then dropped to her knees. "What do I have to do, Mariel? Say the word, and I'll do it, I swear I will! Anything. I miss him. I love him more than anything except James, and you."
"I know you do, sweetheart," murmured Mariel softly, stroking her friend's silky hair comfortingly. "And I'll help you. By the love I have for you, I swear it. Listen to me. This evening, at sunset, you are to go down to the waterfall in Old World Park. There's a rock there. More like a boulder. You'll notice it immediately because of its extraordinarily smooth surface. Stand on it, and look straight up, making sure you're facing the waterfall. A star, sooner or later, will appear. The first star of the new night. As soon as you see it, you are to forget everything else but your desire to see Harry once again. Close your eyes and wish with your whole heart, and if you care enough, when you open your eyes you will be far away. Where Harry is."
"Where Harry is," Lily repeated dreamily. "I'll do it. Thank you Mariel. Thank you a thousand times. You're everything a girl could wish for and more. I don't know how I'd have survived without you."
Mariel chuckled pleasantly. "If not to guard the angelic, what are guardian angels for?"
Lily couldn't remember a day that had passed more slowly. Minutes seemed to be hours. She tried to amuse herself, but it was just so hard! Nothing seemed as much fun as it used to be. And then, as usually happens when you're eagerly anticipating something so much that you can't stop thinking about it, she started to think about it too much. She began to worry herself. What if things went wrong? What if Harry lost his mind when he saw her, or thought it was some cruel joke and tried to kill her? Could she die twice? What would happen then?
But when sunset rolled around, Lily found herself walking, one foot in front of the other, in the direction of Old World Park. If there was the slightest, tiniest, most infinitesimal chance that this might work, Lily was going to try it, no matter the consequence to her.
Ok, this is it. Make a right turn here...there it is! The waterfall. James and I used to come here to reminisce before we got really settled in, and before Mariel came to us. Now where's that rock? Ah-ha! Found it. My, it is terribly slippery. I wonder how I'm supposed to get to standing on it? Oh, there we go! It's amazing how this thing grips, not like it appears at all. It's almost dark now! The star should be out every minute! Keep your head up, Lily, keep it up. Wait for it, wait for it. Not yet. Oh, why is this taking so long? Lord, is that a star? It is! Wish, Lily, wish...
Suddenly, everything went blurry. The world around her started to spin, slowly at first, but then faster and faster and faster until she couldn't make out a thing but blackness. Then a blinding flash of white and then...
THUD! Lily landed with a plop on the ground. She lay still for a minute, almost unwilling to open her eyes. She felt around her. She seemed to be situated on some sort of plush material. It must be a carpet. How bad could it be? Slowly, she opened her eyes.
Looking around, Lily realized she was in a room that looked strangely familiar. Four four-poster beds with lacy curtains stood on the bright scarlet carpet. A mirror stood in the right-hand corner of the room, and a tall wooden chest occupied the left-hand corner. That was when Lily realized where she was. She was in the Gryffindor seventh-year girl's dormitory.
A sudden wave of realization swept over the stunned Lily. She had done it! She had really, truly done it! This was Hogwarts, and Harry was near. She could almost feel him. And there was her old bed! The bed she had slept in for seven years, with her best friend, Lydia Rose, in the next one over.
"I could have died!"
Lily managed to repress a startled scream at the sound of laughter and voices coming up the stairs. Quickly, she groped for the poster of one of the beds and pulled herself under just as the door burst open and three girls came giggling in.
"I could have died too!"
"I missed it."
"Oh, Sam, you silly!"
"I caught Seamus Finnigan looking at me during Charms yesterday!"
"Oh, you're so lucky, Parvati!"
"Don't listen to a word she says, Sam, because it's all lies. Seamus Finnigan wouldn't notice her if she dressed in a bright orange cat suit and slapped him in the face. Besides, what do I care? Ron was practically drooling over me during Transfiguration."
"That's impossible!" declared Parvati, primping her hair as she made faces at herself in the mirror.
"Is that so?"
"Ron Weasley couldn't have been drooling over you, because he was too busy making googly eyes at Hermione. I saw him."
"Well you saw wrong. Oh, it was such a mistake for him to start dating that little witch! She's got him hooked! He'd be so much happier with me, anyway. What does Hermione Granger have that I don't?"
Parvati snorted. Sam looked confused.
"If that's the way you want to be, fine. You'll just be sorry when Ron dumps Hermione and goes after me, and Seamus is still forgetting there even is such a person as Parvati Patil. I'm going to have some dinner before it's all gone."
Parvati stuck her tongue out at the retreating Lavender before getting up and dragging the third girl through the door behind her, leaving the dazed Lily alone.
Looking around to make sure everyone was gone, Lily propelled herself out from under the bed. She wondered how long she'd be allowed to stay. Even if she did end up having to share a dormitory with those obnoxious girls, she hoped it would be long for Harry's sake.
She walked over to the window. It was dark out. Everyone must be at dinner, she thought. It was just as well. She'd have more time to get used to things. The air was more pressured down here, and it was sort of making her ears pop.
She made her way over to the bedside table of the farthest bed to the right, away from the door. Tons of books were stacked onto the lower shelf. She reached for one. Advanced Transfiguration for Serious Students. Flipping through the pages, Lily smiled to herself as a memory of herself studying this exact book for her N.E.W.T. test came floating into her mind. Back before Harry was born, when she was still only dating James. Head girl and head boy. It was meant to be.
In fact, Lily was so engrossed in her memories that she didn't even hear the soft footsteps coming up the stairs. She didn't hear the doorknob turn and the door click open lightly. She did, however, hear the scream.
"Aaaaah!"
"Crickey!" cried Lily, dropping the book in surprise.
"W-who are you?"
Lily didn't answer at first. She only turned around to see a girl of around seventeen with thick brown hair and deep brown eyes staring wide-eyed at her.
"I'm Lily," she answered finally.
"W-what are you doing here?"
"I don't know, to tell the truth." Lily looked around helplessly. "I just sort of closed my eyes to wish, and here I am now. Maybe you can help me..."
"Where are you from?"
"Originally? Surrey."
"Y-you look so much l-like, well, it's silly, I'm sure you're not some sort of long-lost twin or anything, but it is amazing how much you look like me."
"I do?" Lily hoped she didn't look as confused as she felt. This girl was certainly pretty, but she looked absolutely nothing like herself! The hair, the eyes, the teeth? Was this girl feeling all right?
"Yes, you do." The girl gave her a look as if to say 'shall I take you to a doctor?'.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't see the resemblance. I--" What could she say? Shakily, she moved towards the girl, who was standing, stock still, between the door and the mirror.
"You can't? Are you quite positive? Come look, won't you?"
The girl stepped aside and Lily quizzically stepped in front of the mirror. She almost screamed at what she saw. The girl was right. She did look exactly like her! Why, she wasn't herself at all!
"Oh my lord..."
"What's the matter?"
"I do-I do look exactly like you. But I don't look like me!"
"I beg your pardon?"
"I don't look the same as I did when I got up this morning! My hair, it's gone! It was red! And my eyes were green!"
"I'm sure they were..."
"Who are you?" asked Lily suddenly, as an idea popped into her head.
"Hermione Granger."
"You wouldn't, by any chance, know Harry Potter?"
"Of course I do! We've been best friends since half way through our first year. We--" she stopped there, and a tint of red came flowing into her cheeks.
"I've got it, then!"
"Got what?"
"Why I'm here, and why I look like you!"
"Well it's about time you explained, then!"
"Hermione, this is going to sound a little odd, even for the wizarding world. I'm not expecting you to believe me at first. But you have to, oh please! I need your help, desperately. I'd much rather it was you I confided in than any of those frivolous little girls that came in here earlier."
Hermione laughed a light, silvery laugh and nodded.
"I told you before my name is Lily. I just didn't tell you my last name. It's...Potter."
Hermione laughed again. "Maybe I ought to take you to see Madam Pomfrey after all."
"Oh, Hermione, you mustn't do that! Just let me finish explaining! I'm sure you know as well as anybody that I'm dead. But I was missing Harry so much that I couldn't stop moping around and feeling sorry for myself, and of course James and Mariel noticed it too--"
"Mariel?"
"She's our guardian angel, and the reason I'm here right now. She was the one who told me about the star that could grant me my wish. I followed her advice, and here I am."
"Even if I did believe you, which I'm not saying I do, that still doesn't explain why you look exactly like me."
"I think that since you're the best girl friend of Harry's, that I was sent down here as you so that I can get close to him and spend time with him without making him suspicious. And that's why I need your help so much. We have to make sure we're not seen by two people at the same time, because that's a horrible amount of explaining to do, and I don't want to get Harry nervous."
"This is the silliest thing that has ever happened to me..."
"Please, Hermione, believe me. You're a lot like me. I know in my heart that you know it's true in yours. Please, Hermione. Please."
"I--" All of sudden, Hermione coughed, and she stared at Lily. "I believe you. You're-you're Lily Potter! But-how-oh."
Lily sighed in relief. "Praise Dumbledore! Thank you, Hermione. We'll be able to help each other, I'm sure of it."
Hermione smiled to herself as she shook this woman's hand. Never a dull moment.
* * *
A/N: Told you we'd talk! So what do you think? I don't remember liking it that much, but then I came back and re-read it, and now it's starting to grow on me. I don't have any more written, but if you like this, I think I'll write more. Of course, I won't know if you like it unless you review! ;~). Luv ya! Luv ya all!