It all started with Severus Snape, the boy who was silver.
Silver, which is the color of the moon and stars, the color of mechanical thoughts and iron blades.
He'd always identified more with silver than he had with green, though they were both Slytherin colors.
Green is patient and green is sociable. Green shares its feelings and green's an open book.
Severus Snape is certainly not any of these things.
Silver, however... silver is intuitive, silver is insightful. Silver is dignified.
And those are three things that Severus Snape will (unfortunately, he thinks sometimes) always be.
But silver clashes with gold, it always has, always will.
And Lily is gold.
And that's when he realizes that because he is silver, Lily is gone.
And then we see Lily Evans, the girl who was gone.
Her best friend chose his silver over her, her and her gold, and that broke her up inside.
Yes, her and her gold. The color of battles and sunrise and promises (some that can never be kept).
Yes, Lily Evans was gone, but gone doesn't always have to mean dead, you know.
It can mean absent, vacant. Empty.
Those words take on a whole new meaning when you're speaking of a person.
But when you're gone, sometimes, sometimes, people will notice.
Only certain people, mind, because emptiness is a whole lot less noticeable that a bruise or a scar.
But James noticed.
And that's when she realizes that because she is gone, James is changed.
Now we have James Potter, who was changed.
Because he watched silver break gold's heart, and that he absolutely could not stand.
And so he changed. For her.
Because changing means so much more than just clothes, it means beauty and love and sacrifice.
And those are things he learned to appreciate more and more with each passing day.
Because James isn't silver, nor is he gold.
Oh no. James is red.
Red like fire and passion and courage and love, which is what he fought for.
What he changed for.
And that's when we realize that because he is changed, this story has a happy ending after all.
So. Here we are. At the end at last.
With a boy named Harry Potter, who stares at a faded photograph.
A photograph that tells the story of a lifetime.
A photo that tells the story of silver and gold and red.
The story of dignity and emptiness and change.
A story alight with love and loss and sacrifice; passion and courage and beauty in everyday things.
The story that changed the course of history for all of mankind, magical and muggle.
Because it is a photo of James and Lily's wedding day.
And from it he draws courage to ask the most important question of his life.
And to this very day he thanks his mum and dad for the fact that Ginny Weasley said yes.