"Mum," Lily started, then hesitated.

"Yes, dear?" Mrs. Evans looked up from the pot she was stirring.

"Do you have a minute?" Lily asked. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"Of course," Mrs. Evans said, laying down her spoon. "What is it?"

"Could we go up to my room?" Lily asked tentatively. "It's kind of private, and I don't want Pet – I don't want anyone to hear."

Nodding understandingly, for no one knew better than she what the situation between her daughters was, Mrs. Evans led the way up to Lily's bedroom.

It was a little girl's room, one that represented, as nothing else could, how little of Lily's life was with her family these days. She hadn't changed a thing since she left for Hogwarts six and a half years before. It was a little cluttered now, with a set of robes thrown over the back of a chair and various books scattered throughout the room. Mrs. Evans picked one up, tsking, and said, "You know, dear, it will be so much easier for you to pack if you keep things organized while you're here."

"I'll take care of it after New Year's," Lily said. She settled down on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Evans asked her tenderly, worried by the look in her daughter's eyes.

Lily shook her head. "Oh, nothing." Seeing her mother's doubtful look, she sighed and said, "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well, you're going to talk to me about this," Mrs. Evans said. "What's going on?"

"It's the war," Lily said, a note of despair creeping into her voice. "Things keep getting worse, and worse, and I'm…I'm scared, Mum."

"Of course you're scared," Mrs. Evans said, putting an arm around Lily and drawing her close. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again – if you want to come home and just live in the muggle world, you're more than welcome."

"I'm staying, Mum," Lily said. "Do you think I could live like a muggle, knowing about the wizarding world? It would drive me mad! But anyway, I wanted to talk about something else."

"Well?" Mrs. Evans asked when Lily didn't continue. "What is it, dear?"

"I think I'm in love," Lily confessed in a rush.

"In love?" Mrs. Evans gasped, her eyes shining. A true romantic at heart, she couldn't have been more excited if Lily had told her that that horrid war was over. "Oh, my dear, how wonderful!"

Lily scoffed. "Not exactly," she muttered under her breath. A moment later she wished she hadn't said a thing, for all her mother's joy evaporated.

"What's the matter?" Mrs. Evans asked. "Is he seeing someone else?"

"No," Lily said. "No, that's not exactly the problem."

Another possible problem occurred to Mrs. Evans and understanding came into her eyes. "It's that Potter boy, isn't it?" she declared triumphantly.

"What?" Lily jumped guiltily. "What about James?" she asked, doing her best to sound casual.

"He's driving him off, as usual," Mrs. Evans said, then paused. "James," she repeated. "How long has he been James?"

"Since the beginning of the year."

"Dear, I know your relationship with him is…unique, but you want to be careful with a boy like that."

"Things are different this year," Lily said, her eyes begging her mother to understand. "He's Head Boy this year, Mum, and he's changed! He's responsible, and kind, and if he does still prank the Slytherins, it's only when they provoke him now. We agreed at the beginning of the year to try to be friendly acquaintances, just so we could work together, you know, but we became friends. But now, the thing is, I don't know if he still fancies me, because we've just been friends this year, and he hasn't asked me out, or flirted with me, or anything!"

A small crease appeared between Mrs. Evans' eyes as she weighed the pros and cons of Lily being in love with James Potter. As she did so, her mind returned to the only conversation she had had with anyone who truly knew him.

*Flashback*

Mrs. Evans stood by Platforms 9 and 10, staring at her watch. The minute hand reached the twelve, and she sighed. The Hogwarts Express was, for the fifth time in five years, late.

"Waiting for a school train?" Mrs. Evans turned to see a woman, her luxuriously long black hair shot through with gray, and young girl, also with long dark hair.

"Yes," she replied.

"So am I," the woman said. "What school?"

Mrs. Evans hesitated. Hogwarts was such a unique name, so…wizardly, that she hated using it in conversations with normal – no, she corrected herself, muggle – people.

"It's quite a small school," she finally said carefully. "I don't think you would have heard of it."

"My son goes to a very small, very select private school as well," the other woman said understandingly. "Perhaps they attend the same one? My son's name is James Potter."

Mrs. Evans felt the blood rush to her cheeks. "James Potter," she repeated. "Yes, my daughter has told me about him."

"Hopefully some of it was good," Mrs. Potter said. Usually when people say that, it's a joke, but Mrs. Evans heard the true worry in Mrs. Potter's voice. She honestly wanted to know how her son behaved at school.

"I'm afraid not much of it was," Mrs. Evans confessed. "My daughter's name is Lily Evans, you see."

"Ah." Mrs. Potter nodded in understanding. "Yes, James has behaved rather abominably towards her, hasn't he?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Oh, it's not Lily's fault! The blame is all James'."

"He's in love with her," the girl with Mrs. Potter said knowledgably.

"Oh," Mrs. Potter said. "Mrs. Evans, this is my niece, Harriett."

"How do you do?" Mrs. Evans said politely.

"You're Lily Evans' mum?" Harriett asked.

"Yes."

"What's she like? I've never met her, and Sirius won't let James talk about her too much."

"Lily? She's a dear, dear girl. I can introduce you, if you like," Mrs. Evans offered.

"Really?" Harriett asked, her eyes wide at the prospect. Then a thought occurred to her and she shook her head. "Thank you very much, Mrs. Evans, but I couldn't. It might mess things up for you and her if she knew you'd been talking to us. She really hates James."

"That she does," Mrs. Evans acknowledged. "He's been pretty horrible to her."

"I know," Harriett said. "Remus has told me a little."

"James is a good boy," Mrs. Potter said. "At home he's…well, not an angel precisely" – Harriett giggled at the thought – "but everything I could want in a son. Kind, smart, creative" –

"Annoying," Harriett inserted.

Mrs. Potter just smiled at her. "But I know at school he's a very different person. I think he truly does love Lily. He's just having some difficulties expressing that."

"I've only heard a rather biased view of the matter," Mrs. Evans said. "So I don't know, but if he really is like that, I think he would be perfect for her."

"He would be," Harriett said softly. "He really loves her, Mrs. Evans. Real, strong, true love. He's just being a jerk about showing it."

Before they could continue talking, the first group of Hogwarts students came through the barrier. Among them were Lily, James, and Severus. Lily made a beeline for her mum, doing her best to avoid the two boys. They both caught her, though, one after the other. She shook them both off, and the expression on her face when she wrapped her arms around her mum was that of Odysseus when he returned to Ithaka.

*End Flashback*

Ever since that day, Mrs. Evans had waited for the good side of James to show itself. Now, it seemed, it had. "Is he dating other girls?" she asked eagerly.

"No," Lily said.

"Has he shown any sign of wanting to?"

"No."

"How close are the two of you?"

"Pretty close…I mean, we see each other a lot, and we all sit together at meals, and all our friends are friends, but he hasn't said a word to me all year about dating, or anything!"

"Calm down, dear," Mrs. Evans said. She was barely able to keep a grin off her face. Really, this was just too perfect for words! "The poor boy is probably scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"Of you."

"Of me?"

"Yes, dear. He's most likely terrified of you rejecting him."

"But he never minded before!"

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do! He always just laughed it off!"

"That doesn't mean that he didn't spend lots of nights in his dorm with his friends crying over it, though. If I know anything about teenagers, he's probably spent more time torturing himself with thoughts of you than he spent harassing you."

"I doubt it," Lily said, but doubt had entered her voice.

"I'm sure of it," Mrs. Evans said. "Now what you need to do, the instant you get back to school, find some time when it's just the two of you. I assume you are alone together at times?"

"Yes, of course," Lily said. "But –"

"No buts, dear. Just listen to me. Once you're alone, tell him how you feel. Chances are, he's been going mad this year with love for you."

"But what if he hasn't been? What if he's over me?"

"Then he's over you," Mrs. Evans said unsympathetically. "But I will bet you anything you like that he's still head over heels in love with you." Seeing her daughter's doubtful look, she added, "Listen, dear. You can't spend your whole life wondering what others think of you. You have to take chances. If you don't, you'll regret it forever."

"I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to my mother," Lily Potter proclaimed, raising her glass. "Without her, I would probably still be single, and far more unhappy."

"To Mrs. Evans!" everyone echoed.

"You didn't have to do that," Mrs. Evans scolded her daughter later. "I didn't do that much!"

"Yes you did," Lily said. "You did everything. I love you, Mummy."

"And I love you, dear."