This is for Siriusly Smart on the Drabble Request Thread at the HPFC. Um, i don't actually ship Sirius/Lily, or write romance, but hopefully it's not terrible? (And Filly don't kill me for this please. You wouldn't want to wait in that line anyway. And besides...between you and Brights I think it's my turn to get, well... liked?) Prompt was 'a black rose and a goodbye'.
That's all she had left of him; a black rose and a goodbye.
The rose he'd given her in fourth year for seemingly no reason at all. She'd asked him if he knew it symbolized death, and he'd just held back this big smile. She took it as nothing more than a prank; wasn't that all he did? Months later it became evident the rose would never die. He always had the most peculiar way of saying things.
The goodbye, the real one, had been short and tearful and shared between to many people for her to say what she wanted to. That was in some respects a good thing; it hurt enough without the whole truth. But she'd written the real goodbye on a neat little card and tucked it away. She'd pretend it mattered.
He was gone now, and there was a good chance he wouldn't make it back. He'd done this for her, her and James and Harry. So.. so of course it was hard on her. For that reason. Not because…not because she may have actually liked him, and never had the chance to say it. Not because she regretted the way she treated him when they were younger. She did, of course. But she'd learned not to dwell on the past.
She could pray for the present though, and wonder if under all that loyalty to those he cared about, he might have just loved her back.