A/N: This is a kind of 'response', I guess to Moony8193's lovely 'Forever', so if you enjoy this, check that out. Hope you all like...

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would add some Puppy-Ship.

Love.

Love is the biggest flower in the pond. The biggest lily. Love is kissing in a crowded room, and not caring who sees. Love is sipping each other's cocoa, waking up holding hands, knowing what the other is thinking. Love is smiling automatically when the other walks into the room. Love is not being able to think clearly – love is blind. James knew love like the back of his hand. True, he'd only fallen once, but he could tell you anything there was to know about love. How love is every color at once, every star in the sky, the point where the sun meets the clouds. Love isn't just a feeling. Love could be everything.

Love is the thought of being with someone for the rest of your life being bearable – not just bearable, but likeable; enjoyable. This was Lily's belief. Love is the smallest diamond glittering the brightest. Love is when a hug means more than a kiss. Love is accepting the other's faults, and learning to love them. Love is being together no matter what. Love is the sensation you get when it feels as if your heart clearly should have burst your chest at this point. Love is a rollercoaster. Love isn't always lucid. Love is patient, and rational at the same time. Love is the melting feeling described in cheesy novels. Love is so much more than it could ever be explained as on paper, even as a coherent thought. Love could only truly be explained as love.

Love.

James could pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love. It was like being hit over the head with an anvil. Thunk. And you never went back. In James's case, love was addictive. The best kind of addictive there ever was; where it didn't matter how much you got knocked down, love always had you right back up.

Love was gradual, in Lily's opinion. Even if you, subconsciously, had that little 'click' and maybe knew it all along, you had to experience the feeling over time. There, Lily could agree with James when he said that love was blind. But it was also seeing everything clearly, separately, new. Realizing you were in love was like nothing else; almost as good as being in love, itself.

Love should be free to blossom.

Love should be able to grow.

Love shouldn't be stuck in a house, apprehensive. Love should be out there, using itself to help. Love should bloom in fresh air, not in a musky, all-too-familiar space. Love shouldn't be making the one you loved unhappy simply because you were.

Lily knew James was miserable. She'd tried to make the best of this all, but it wasn't James's fault that it wasn't working. Because she knew how he felt. Lily would rather be helping with the war, not sitting, impatient, in this creaky house. Love was worth it, though. It really was. James was here, and Harry was here, and thus Lily was content for now. She just hoped it wouldn't last too long.

Love should come with laughter and memories from over the years.

Love should be content as is, not wishing for more time. Hoping for it.

Memories of being in love should be more than snuggling up for comfort, for safety. There should be more than a year of memories. Much more.

There were hardly enough 'I love you's for the impact of how much they meant it to sink in. Not enough hugs or kisses to count as a fraction of enough. Not enough meaningful looks, wordless conversations, enough hello's or goodbye's, there simply weren't enough for this to be the end. Love shouldn't end like this.

Love shouldn't end with endless hopes and dreams and plans.

Love shouldn't end in nightmares coming true.

Love shouldn't end with so many unspoken things – feelings.

Love shouldn't end in two words.