He stood alone at the edge of the Great Lake, the early autumn sun just about to set and red and gold leaves already falling from the trees. The cold wind caused his robes to flutter around his calves and was quickly turning his cheeks pink with its stinging bite. He gazed across the large expanse of water, eyes unseeing, as he tried to make sense of the situation he had found himself in.
He wasn't sure if she was going to come out to meet him – they hadn't made any definite plans – and he wasn't sure he even wanted her too; but at the same time thinking about her made his heart beat faster and his breath catch in his throat and actually seeing her made all rational thoughts mysteriously remove themselves from his mind, leaving him an incoherent mess.
He knew he should end this – whatever it was – before any serious damage was done. She was five years older than him, had already left Hogwarts, and was engaged to be married to Lucius Malfoy of all people. He had yet to sit his N.E.W.T.s and had finally managed to convince the girl of his dreams to go on a date with him. They were everything the other had been taught to despise.
In retrospect, all of the warning signs had been there and he only wished that he'd paid closer attention to them. Instead, he had only seen what he wanted to and had ignored everything else. They were too far in to put a stop to it now, and he doubted that he could even if he tried. He wasn't so sure about her.
He could hear the faint crunch of dead leaves as someone walked around the lake, the sound increasing in volume as the person drew nearer. He knew without turning around that it would be her; anyone else would have called out by now, or changed direction upon seeing him.
He turned slowly, the strange mixture of dread and relief something that he was yet to get used to, and watched as she walked gracefully towards him. Her face was covered by the hood of her heavy travelling cloak, but he could just about make out the haughty expression on her otherwise beautiful face.
He knew how this was going to end before it had even begun; they went through the same thing every time they met up and it wasn't about to change any time soon. They would be stuck in this endless cycle, both unwilling – unable – to do anything about it. He could already see the events unfolding before him – knew that at some point this would have to end in disaster – but still he closed the final gap between them and lowered her hood.
He only hoped that one day Lily could forgive him.