A/N: I got this idea from the Backstreet Boys song Endlessly.
There is a soft knock at your door. You take your glasses off and set your paper down. You walk to the door and open it. She is standing there with a suitcase in her hand. Her hair is wet and knotted from the rain. Her face is splotchy from crying. She gives you a weak smile as if to say "Here I am." You open the door wider to let her in and take the suitcase from her hand. You set it down on and offer her an empty chair by the fire. She sits down gratefully and you walk to your liquor cabinet to make her favorite drink. You walk back to her, and she takes the glass, thankfully. She takes two small sips as you slide into the chair next to her, sipping from your glass as well.
She opens her mouth to speak, but then closes it. She turns to look at you, pleadingly. You look back at her, with worry in your eyes. She notices this, smiles a little, then looks away taking another drink. You notice her emerald green eyes glinting with tears in the fire light. She takes a deep breath in and then wipes her eyes.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
She sits there silently for a long while, occasionally taking a drink from her glass. She closes her eyes and you notice a single glittering tear stream down her porcelain skin. She takes another sip from her glass. You notice she has drunken it all, while you still have half left. You wait for her to speak. Her voice is shaky, and tired. It hurts you to hear her like this.
"He's seeing someone else."
"James?"
She nods slowly, still entranced by the fire. A few seconds later she looks at you. More tears are now falling off her cheeks. She tells you how much it hurts, and how much she trusted him. She tells you how she found out, and how much it... just hurts. You feel angry at him. You are angry at him for hurting something so beautiful. The anger surges through your bones as you look at her, broken in two.
You remember when she fell in love. She was happy, and you were happy for her. But you couldn't understand why she hadn't fallen in love with you. You had been best friends since your first year. You had spent countless hours with her, talking. Just talking. He had swooped in like a bird and took her away from you. He had taken your best friend from you. But you can't help but feel annoyance with her. You knew he would do something like this to her. You had warned her. She pushed you away. She shut you out.
You hadn't heard from her for years after graduation. You didn't bother to look for her after that. You figured she was probably happily married with him by now, and you couldn't bear to see it. You couldn't bear to see her happy with someone other than you. You had put your heart away. You had let her go, and tried to forget her.
"Remus, I-I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Everything."
These are the words that hurt you more than anything. She apologizes for pushing you away, for ignoring you for the past couple of years. She tells you she feels awful for it. She tells you she was just caught up in it all and she regrets everything. You tell her not to, that James meant a lot to her at one time or another. You tell her that you have never seen her happier than when she was with him. She smiles a little.
She tells you that she did love him. You look into the fire. She tells you that she loved him more than anyone in the world. She tells you she loved him more than she loved butter beer. You give a small smile, remembering her obsession with that. You continue to stare into the fire. The tension between you two grows with every second.
You want to tell her. You want to tell her how much you love her and how much you have loved her. You want to tell her to stay with you forever and that if she stayed you'd never let her hurt again. You want to tell her that you'd always be true to her. You want to just tell her that sometimes the thing you need is sometimes the one thing you can't see. But you can't tell her any of those things. And you won't.
She falls asleep on your couch as the clock struck two. You carry her upstairs and lay her on your bed. You wrap a blanket around her and watch her for a few minutes. She looks peaceful. You go back downstairs and lay on the couch. You don't fall asleep. You watch as the flames die and eventually burn out. You hear footsteps from the stairs and you sit up. The clock strikes ten.
"Good morning."
"Would you like some breakfast?"
You offer it to her quickly, before she says she has to leave. She accepts. You knew she would and with a swish of your wand breakfast is started. You make eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast and orange juice. She eats gratefully, and she tells you what she has been up to for the past couple years. You both finish as an owl taps at your window. You open the window and it swoops past you and in front of her. It drops a small parcel which she opens. A bouquet of red roses appears in front of her.
"It's from James."
To your surprise, she says this happily as she reads the small card. She smiles widely, which is a sight for your sore eyes. You wish that you could make her smile like that. She tells you that he wants to have lunch with her at noon, which is now an hour away. She asks if she can use your shower. You tell her of course. She comes back down twenty minutes later, looking stunning. Her face is clean. Her fiery red hair is smooth and silky. She has her suitcase in her hand.
"I want to thank you, for everything."
"Don't mention it."
You say it casually, as if her coming to your house was no big deal. She smiles at you. This time it is a true smile, with teeth and everything. You think of how beautiful she is, inside and out. You are at the door now, holding it open for her. She is looking at you, smiling. You smile back at her.
"You are a great friend."
She hugs you as she says this and gives you a quick peck on the cheek and walks out the door. Your heart is pounding. You can't let her go. Not yet.
"Lily."
You call out after her and she turns to look at you. You walk to her, abandoning your post at the door.
"Lily, wait. I have to say something."
The words come out of you before you can stop them. She smiles and tells you to go ahead. You take her hand gently in yours.
"Stay with me."
She looks at you stunned. She is bewildered by your request. She stares at you, curiously for a second or two, and then smiles affectionately at you.
"You know I can't."
And then she tells you how she loves James and how she needs to go back to him.
"He cheated on you."
"He said he'd change."
"He won't."
"I love him."
"Just stay."
"I can't."
"Yes you can."
"Why should I?"
You argue with her like a little kid for a while. She starts to get angry. You didn't mean to upset her, but you realize you can't let her go again without a fight.
"Because I love you."
Tears fill her eyes and begin their journey down her face once more.
"I have loved you since the day I met you. I have never hurt you can I promise I never will. I promise will be endlessly true to you."
She is crying now. She isn't bawling or sobbing, just crying, silently. Her eyes are now red, and her recently applied make up is smeared.
"I can't."
She is speaking in a whisper now. She tells you that it's impossible, and she just can't. She takes a step towards you. She kisses you on the cheek and whispers a goodbye into your ear. She turns and with a blink of your eyes she is gone, forever.