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"The flower that blooms in adversity, is the most rare and beautiful of all"
-Emperor of China, from the Mulan movie
That night at supper, a letter had come for Lily Evans. A letter, in a black envelope and silver seal. He knew what that letter said.
With visibly shaking hands, Lily opened the official, somber missive. She scanned its contents, and nodded once to herself. She slowly refolded the letter and placed it back in the black envelope. She tucked the letter into an inside pocket of her robes, stood up stiffly, and walked out of the Great Hall. All without shedding a single tear, and with the grace and dignity of a princess.
His heart ached for her. He knew what was written on that piece of parchment. And he had to admire her bravery and the elegance with which she'd handled the situation. Knowing she needed support, he followed her out the door quietly, telling Sirius and Remus not to wait for him.
He walked through the doors of the Great Hall and looked around. The Heads Common Room, then. It was a good place to grieve- only the two of them and the professors knew the password, and it was a comfy, safe place. He walked there determinedly.
When he reached the door, he whispered, "Marauders". The door opened silently, which he was grateful for- he didn't want her to know he was there just yet. He walked around the corner of the entryway, to face the actual Common room. There was a lovely fire built up, but no Lily.
Sighing, he made his way over to the door that led to her dorm room. Placing his ear to the wood, he heard the sounds of grief coming from within. When he straightened up, he gently tried the knob. It twisted easily, quietly. He hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and walked in.
Lily was sitting in front of her fireplace, knees to her chin, head down, and rocking slightly. It wrenched his heart strings to see her like this.
"Lily," he murmured.
Startled, she jumped up and pulled out her wand.
"You leave me be, James Potter. You just leave me be. You just walk right back out of that door, and don't come back here again," she said threateningly. She could not handle this, on top of everything else.
"No," he said evenly, walking toward her a few steps. "You can't grieve alone, Lily, it's not healthy."
"Leave," she said again, though with less conviction. He was wearing her down.
"Lily, let me help you," he whispered, pleading slightly.
"No! I don't need your help!" Lily shrieked. Oops, wrong tack. Try again.
"Lily..." he said, walking forward a few more steps. If he reached, he could touch her, but he didn't. She needed to come to him.
"Leave...please...just...let me alone..." she pleaded.
"No, Lily, I won't," he said stubbornly. "I'm here for you."
"James..." she said, closing her eyes. Surrendering to his persuasion, she ran the last few steps to him and threw her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder uninhibitedly. She cried, moaned, and babbled on about how if she'd only been there, she could have saved them. He simply stroked her hair and murmured soothing words into her ear, letting her drench his robes with her tears.
After a good thirty minutes of this, she quieted down and took deep, shuddery breaths. Silent tears still streamed down her cheeks, but there were no more sobs and unintelligible words. With one last, shuddering breath, she pulled back to look into the eyes of her support.
"Thank you..." she breathed.
"Lily, when you're ready, I want you to know that I will be there to listen and help," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders and staring straight into her eyes. "I want you to promise me, that you will tell me when you're ready. Okay?"
"Yes, James," she said, not bothering to argue. Arguing would just drain more of her energy. She was so tired...
"Here, let me put you to bed. You look beat," said James, sweeping Lily up bridal style. He walked over to her bed and pulled down the covers, placing Lily in the middle of the sheets. He pulled the covers up, and bent down to kiss her forehead.
"Sleep well, Lily. And don't worry- you'll get through this. You just have to let people help you sometimes," he said. She was already sound asleep. Giving her forehead a last kiss, he walked out of her room and closed the door. Turning around to walk to his own room, he bumped into Professor Dumbledore.
"Hello, Professor," he said, startled.
"How is she?" he asked sagely.
"Grieving. Well, actually, she's sleeping. I just put her to bed. But she's tough. I think she'll be okay, given some time to mourn," James replied honestly.
"Good, good. James, I'd just like to say, I'm proud of you, and what you did tonight," Dumbledore said.
"Sir?" James asked, confused.
"You went after her. You did what was best for her, not letting her be alone," Dumbledore explained.
"Oh, er, thank you, sir. I just...you know," James mumbled. "Remus really helped me when I got that letter, and I just figured, no one really saw how hurt she was, just getting up and walking away like that...so I just..."
"Yes, yes. You should go to bed now yourself, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, nodding.
"Yes, sir," said James, and started to walk away.
"One more thing, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore called softly.
"Yes Professor?"
"I have fifty galleons on you. Don't let me down." And with that, he was gone, walking with incredibly long strides and was out the door.
"Professor?" James said to the retreating figure, confused.
Dumbledore turned briefly, winked, and was out the door.
Sighing, James went into his own room, exhausted.
The next morning, he awoke to find a tray of breakfast food items on a tray on his bedside table. Surprised, he rubbed his eyes, thinking it was a dream. He grabbed his glasses and looked again. No, not a dream, real. Then he noticed the lily flower and note. Opening it, he scanned its contents. It read:
'James-
Thank you for helping me. Please accept this flower and breakfast with my gratitude.
Sincerely,
Lily Evans
James smiled. It was just like Lily to do something thoughtful for him. He ate the food on the tray, then got ready for the day. It was Sunday, so his schedule was completely free. He decided to check on Lily.
Walking up to her door, he knocked and said, "Lily? You in there?"
A second later, a somber Lily opened the door.
"Yes? Can I help you?" she asked briskly.
"I came to see how you're doing," James replied.
"Oh. Just fine, thank you. You?" Painfully polite.
"Great. Thanks for the breakfast in bed. It was wonderful," he said.
"You're welcome. Did you get the note?"
"Yes, I did. Lily, you didn't have to do that," he said, smiling.
"I felt, like, I owed you. I've always been so hard on you, and you never give up, and then last night, you were there, supporting me, even though I never did anything for you..." she rambled.
She cut off suddenly when James pulled her into a tight embrace. After a second, she whole-heartedly returned the hug.
"Would you like to go for a walk with me?" James asked, straightening.
"A walk...would be lovely," said Lily, taking James's hand and smiling at him. He smiled back, and they went outside for a leisurely stroll about the grounds. It was a beautiful day, and many couples were walking around, hand-in-hand.
They stopped at Lily's favorite tree beside the lake. She often came here to study and read, or to be alone. But now, seeing the whole new side of James, she was willing to share it with him.
"Does this count as a date?" he asked after a few minutes of gazing out over the lake, breaking the moment.
"Do you want it to be?" asked Lily, hedging.
"Yes, I do," he said, looking into her eyes, serious.
"Then it is," Lily said, and with that, she laid down with her head in James's lap.
"What are you doing?" he asked, smiling.
"Well, we're dating now, so I'm allowed to do whatever I want," Lily said, matter-of-factly. "Did you want me to stop?"
"No. I like this. You and me," James said, running a hand through her hair.
"Good. I'm sorry I've been missing this the last six and a half years, though," Lily said wistfully, closing her eyes.
"Me too, Lily, me too," said James contentedly.
They stayed until the afternoon, then headed indoors for a bite of food and a little studying.
"The flower that blooms in adversity, is the most rare and beautiful of all"
-Emperor of China, from the Mulan movie