Things That Are Meant to Be…Or Not
You saw her for the first time on the Hogwarts Express. She was small for her age, looked more like a frightened eight year old than an eleven year old witch headed for her first year at Hogwarts. She was sitting with a boy who had what must have been the greasiest black hair you had ever seen, and you couldn't help wondering why she was with him. You heard them talking about the houses, and were shocked to hear he wanted to be in Slytherin.
When you get to Hogwarts, you are sorted into Gryffindor. The other boy from the train, the sorrowful looking one whom you'd made friends with almost immediately, joined you there. The greasy-haired boy got his wish-Slytherin for him. The pretty redhead was in Gryffindor, and you knew right then her friendship with that other boy would end one day.
After all, not all things are meant to be.
As time goes on, you find yourself paying more and more attention to the redhead. You know her name now-Lily, and it's every bit as beautiful as she is. You find yourself pulling pranks with your new mates, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and hoping that she likes them.
She never does.
Your friends tell you to get over it, she's never going to find you funny.
After all, not all things are meant to be.
By fourth year, you've discovered the way to a girl's heart is not through pranks, but through flattery. So you start doing everything you can to flatter the beguiling redhead who has captured your heart. You send her flowers at random, chocolates for Valentine's Day (and make a mental note to remember she hates chocolate), and ask her out every chance you get.
She finds every opportunity to shove it back at you. She throws the flowers out of windows, throws the chocolates in your face, and finds the most creative ways to say "No" that you've ever heard. Your friends tell you to give up-you'll never win.
After all, not all things are meant to be.
Fifth year comes, and you're determined this will be the year. She'll love you by the end of this, or your name isn't James Potter. You step up your game-every time you see her is an opportunity to ask her on a date, you decide. "Evans, go out with me!" becomes your mantra. She finds some very interesting ways to say no, your favorite so far being "Hell will freeze over eight times first."
Then you do the unthinkable, and you know you've blown it, hopefully only for now. You never guessed Snape would use that word, that he would direct it at her of all people, or that it would break her heart. You never thought you'd find her bawling her eyes out in the corridors, too emotionally drained to move another step, or that she'd curse you to the seven circles of hell for the part you've played in her devastation. You know it's time to give up, at least for now.
After all, not all things are meant to be.
Sixth year comes, and it is the hardest of your life. You see her every day, and you see the hurt in her eyes when she looks at you, the betrayal when she looks at him. You know he's tried to apologize; you know she's having none of it. Finally, one day you catch her alone.
It's better this way, you tell her. The only other ending to this chapter of her life was death, his or hers, it didn't matter. People like him never remain friends with people like her, good people, kind people, people who know blood doesn't matter a bit. She stares at you in shock, tears filling her emerald eyes, as you tell her that friendship was doomed from the start.
After all, you tell her, not all things are meant to be.
After that conversation, she seems to look at you differently. You know she is angry about what you said, but you also know she knows it's true. She doesn't hate you for it, you know that. She would've cursed you into the ground if she did. She doesn't like it, but only because it was you to say it. The year goes on, and you gather some courage as she starts little by little becoming friendly to you.
You find yourself trying to make her laugh again, only this time by telling her jokes and tickling her, not by pranking anyone in sight. You find yourself studying with her, actually opening a school book for the first time in you don't know how long. You find yourself hoping, waiting for the day you can tell her how you feel. But as time goes on, you realize she views you as a friend, nothing more, and you know it's time to give up for good.
After all, not all things are meant to be.
Seventh year rolls around, and to your shock you are Head Boy. Lily, less surprisingly, is Head Girl. You feel your breath catch when you're told-there's an unspoken, unbroken tradition of the Head students ending up together, possibly from all the time they spend with one another. Maybe…just maybe…you might have a chance after all.
You spend every second with her, every waking moment. You have the same classes, you're in the same house-you even have the same friends. Added shared duties only make this easier, and you begin to wonder…But wait.
Not all things are meant to be.
It's Halloween when you think maybe, just maybe, now is the time to try again. So you go in search of her, the rare time she isn't with you-she'd got a letter earlier and had left the Great Hall alone. You find her in your Common Room, tears trailing down her face, her letter fallen at her feet. You pick it up. You read it.
And you know now is not the time, not now, not after that letter.
Her parents are dead, and not all things are meant to be.
The Christmas holidays approach, and you know Lily, newly orphaned, will be staying at school, so you stay too, telling your parents (who are much older than hers were, how unfair, not that you want yours gone…) that you want to enjoy your last year of Hogwarts, and spend the time with people you may never see again.
After all, not all things are meant to be.
You spend your time with Lily and Sirius. You find that she is even more enchanting than you'd originally thought, and you dread the end of the holidays, when you will have to share her with her friends, teachers, and duties again. You never want the magic of having this time with her to end.
One night, right after the New Year and just before the start of term, you pull her to the side. You have to do it, you just have to. It might be bad timing, you might fail-you don't care. You have to know, and if she doesn't agree you'll never ask again.
She does. She says yes.
She says yes, and suddenly Lily is your girl, and you are the luckiest boy in Hogwarts. But, a voice in your head protests, it won't last past the end of the year, will it?
After all, not all things are meant to be.
But it does. It does last, and you find yourself, jittery and panicked, standing at the front of a church while Sirius escorts her to you. You asked her to marry you, and she's just crazy enough to agree. The preacher says all the right words, clearing his throat forcefully when you find yourself just a bit too entranced by your bride to pay attention, and smiling warmly at you when you kiss your new wife.
Toasts are raised at the reception, jokes made of the old days when you hounded her for a date. She blushes and laughs along with your guests, and you find you can't shake your smile. Sirius claps you on your back and congratulates you-he never thought this day would come. You smile and laugh, shaking your head at him.
After all, this was always meant to be.
A/N: Hello, loves. I know that I have another story to be working on, and I know that I have been absent for a while again. My life is nothing if not chaotic and enough to fill at least a few seasons of a soap opera if one were to sit down and put one's mind to it. We moved, again back across the country, because, you know, cross-country moves with two small children are a dream come true. I've been dealing with doctors and lawyers quite a bit, and this was my first opportunity to get over here after we got our internet set up. I won't make any guarantees or promises that I will update my other story anytime soon, nor will I make any promises to write anything else. I used to make those promises, but if there is one thing recent events have taught me, it is that it is best to promise nothing and simply try your hardest to meet your goal. My goal is to update, and to apologize to the two people whose stories I was beta-ing before all holy hell broke loose, and I will do my best to meet that goal, but I cannot say when it will be. That said, a few notes on this story: This wasn't really meant to be in anyone's POV; I suppose you could call it omniscient if you like. I've done one other story similar to this, years ago, for Tin Man entitled "Lies You Told Yourself." You can check that one out if you like and tell me how this one measured up, or you can simply read this story and tell me what you thought. I don't know where it came from-then again, the best ideas often pop out of nowhere. I'm not sure how I feel about this fic, but I do know better than to not post, as I'll probably not forgive myself for it if I decide I like it later and have deleted it from my files. That said, I appreciate all reviews and PMs, but at the moment I must go rescue a box of Cheerios from my overly excited sixteen month old. Happy reading, my loves.