Her mind is screaming at her to do something about the situation at hand – yell, interrupt, something that would halt the event happening in front of her. But her sensible side wins over and instead, she just stands there, mouth slightly agape and eyes narrowing.
There's movement next to her and she doesn't turn to see who it is. She quickly shuts her mouth and unclenches her fists, just in case the person next to her notices and tries to turn on her heel to go back up to the castle and forget everything (even if the image would be permanently etched in her mind, replaying every free second of her life), but the new-comer holds her back with a hand on her shoulder.
"Say, Evans..." It's worse than she thought. With an annoyed sigh, she turns to look at Sirius Black, who is holding a bulky object in his hands and grinning at her. Rolling her eyes, she waits for his next comment. "I've been asked to take some pictures for the yearbook-" She knows that there's no yearbook, but lets him continue. "-and I was just wondering what you think of the potential picture there."
He points in the direction that she dreads and she refuses to look. Instead, with a hardened stare, she responds, "What are you scheming now?"
She expects Peter and Remus to jump out of a bush any second now, laughing about how she walked into their next prank. She doesn't understand how this could be a prank, not when James was too preoccupied.
Sirius laughs and pats her on the shoulder. She quickly brushes him off and crosses her arms. "Oh, Evans, you are a riot. We are not scheming anything, you see. I am merely taking wonderful photos for the yearbook and I would like your input on my future masterpieces."
Her teeth are clenched and she briefly wonders if he knows. "Sirius-" she starts, but he's holding up the camera to his face, moving it every which way.
"This angle is great," he announces as he struggles his way out of the strap around his neck and puts it over her head. She doesn't have time to complain. "Take a look for yourself."
She hesitates, but Sirius grabs the camera and helps her position it. Peering through the lens, she saw him again. "Great," she dead-pans, wondering why he was doing this to her.
"Wait, wait, wait," Sirius exclaims, turning the camera side-ways. "What about that angle?"
Her throat is closing up and she forces herself to say, "it looks better the other way" if only to please him. When she tears her gaze away, she notices Sirius nodding, a thoughtful finger on his chin.
After being so sure it was a joke, she can't tell what his intentions are anymore. Maybe he really was taking pictures and wanted her input. After all, it wasn't like they were in fifth year anymore. They were older, wiser, and times had definitely changed; it was entirely possible he was trying to converse with her.
He just had awful timing.
"Take a picture," he suddenly says and, with a shaking finger, she presses down on the shutter.
She stalls, taking the camera off of her neck as she watches the photo flutter to the ground. For a moment, she thinks that neither of them are going to pick it up but then Sirius kneels down to grab it. As he turns it over, she quickly turns away, trying to ignore her frantically beating heart. As the seconds pass, she nervously thumbs the camera strap, waiting for a comment of any kind.
"You're a natural," he finally says and she feels the photo being pressed into her palm as he takes the camera in return.
And then he's gone, humming a little tune to himself as he walks back up to the castle.
With a shuddering sigh, Lily turns over the photo and finds herself staring back at the two people only meters away from her.
They're standing so close together that their noses touch and he's smiling brightly at her and she's smiling back at him and laughing as their hands swing back and forth and they're so smitten, so in love with each other that Lily's stomach turns uncomfortably. She never thought she'd see the day when James Potter would move on and finally forgot about her. She can't barely breathe at the thought.
The image is forever documented, resting in her hand and just waiting for another glance that will cause her heart to stop beating. She'll never forget even if she crumples or rips or mutilates the photo until it's unrecognizable.
Because she's in love with James Potter and she can hear everything shattering around her.
So, Twitter was down and I had nothing to do. And I like my angsty romance.
Hope you enjoyed!