Soul Mates

"Just a little farther." James Potter, his hands firmly covering Lily Evans' eyes, guided her down the pavement along a row of houses in Godric's Hollow. He grinned when he stopped in front of the oldest, most dilapidated house he had ever seen. It was an eyesore. He uncovered her beautiful green eyes with a flourish.

"Surprise!"

Lily just stared. The house she was looking at looked like it had been chewed up and spit out by a giant. Weeds crawled along the edge of the pavement and up the once beautiful wrought iron gates. The black iron, or what she assumed had been black, was covered in rust and twisted into a garbled mockery. She had never seen a worse house in her life. And James was excited?

"Don't you like it?" James sounded hurt, but there was a hint of mirth behind his words, Lily grew suspicious.

"No, and this is not a funny joke." Lily turned on James, her hands on her hips, an indignant look planted firmly on her elfin features. James just laughed.

"It was just a joke love." James pulled her close for a quick kiss. "This is the house I wanted to show you." James stepped to the side to let her see the cottage across the street.

Lily gasped and her hands rose to cover her mouth in astonishment. Blue false shutters accented the white siding. Matching blue flower boxes graced the windows just below the shutters. A stepping stone path led to the front door from a white gate, the only opening in a white picket fence. White and blue petunias lined the front walk and branched at the door step to flower beds full of petunias, daffodils and pansies.

James grabbed Lily's hand and led her across the street. She ran her hand over the gate, smiling. James smiled tenderly when Lily bent to smell the flowers. He handed Lily the key and let her open the blue door.



"James! Oh, James, this is beautiful!" Lily Evans, recent graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and top of her class, ran squealing through the house in Godric's Hollow. She found her boyfriend in the family room, grinning from ear to ear. He grabbed her waist and spun her around when she jumped at him before setting her down and kissing her full on the mouth. Lily was too excited to stay in his arms for long. She bounded into the kitchen and again was lost in wonder. A Wizarding oven and other appliances greeted her.

"So, what do you think of the place? Should we buy it?" James grinned as Lily turned to him again with a smile stretched across her beautiful face.

"Oh yes!" Lily again jumped at him. James smiled happily. Nothing could be better, he thought, then to make the one you love happy and spend the rest of your life looking forward to seeing their face every day.

"Oi! Anyone home?" Sirius Black, James Potter's best mate for more than seven years, entered the house unannounced. James wasn't concerned and neither was Lily. They both were accustomed to his coming and going.

"Hello Sirius. James is buying me this house!" Lily looked lovingly at the dark haired boy beside her.

"Buying? You mean bought?" Sirius grinned as Lily turned to James, wide eyed.

"You already bought it?"

"Well, um, you see… If I hadn't they might have sold it to someone else. I figured if you didn't like it I could just resell it."

"You didn't tell me you already bought it so I wouldn't feel guilty and tell you I liked the house even if I didn't." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." James wasn't sure where this was leading.

"You were pretty sure I would like it though."

"Um, yeah."



"I love you James Potter."

Sirius gave a loud bark of laughter at the comical look on James' face as he tried to fathom his girlfriend's logic. He eventually just shook his head and returned her happy smile.

Lily remembered Sirius a moment later.

"Where are you going tonight Sirius?"

"Out just to hang somewhere."

And bring home a mindless shag. Lily wished Sirius could find the love she had with James.

"Well, see you love birds later." With that, Sirius disapparated to parts unknown. Lily had a suspicion about The Hogs Head, but James distracted her with his mouth.

"James, don't you worry about Sirius' habits? When's the last time we met a girl he was with? When's the last time he was even with a girl for longer than one night?"

"I don't know Lils, I don't believe that he has ever really had a relationship, ever."

"I wish he could know the happiness we have together."

"Me too Lils, me too."

"Perhaps…"

"No Lily, don't meddle."

Lily pouted until James captured her mouth with his. She leaned into the passion, reveling in the electricity she felt every time. James groaned.

"Let's go explore." James tugged on her hand, barely breaking their kiss to speak.

"Okay, how about the attic?" Lily giggled when James gave her a look that said he was unsure if she was serious or not.



"I was thinking more along the lines of the bedroom." He captured her mouth with his again and tugged her down the hall.

Lily giggled as they stopped for the third time in as many steps, or stumbles, down the hall and James pressed her against the wall to kiss her harder. He pulled away and glared at her, disgruntled.

"It's hard to feel romantic when you keep laughing at me love."

"I'm sorry James, I just can't help it." Lily giggled again when he shook his head and leaned in for another kiss. He pulled away again.

"Lily, I fail to find the humor in my attempts to ravish you." James tried to give his girlfriend a fierce look to quiet her, but she just sniggered at him.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy about this house, I can't stop laughing with joy!"

James knew Lily had lost her mind. He gave her an incredulous look and said something to that effect. She just slapped his arm.

"James, I just don't know how to even begin thanking you." Lily gazed up into the brown eyes of her lover. Who happened to be extremely randy.

"I know how you can begin." James waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Lily feigned ignorance.

"How?" She batted her long eyelashes at him.

"Well," James trailed soft kisses down her throat as he spoke, punctuating each word with a kiss, "first, you can stop giggling while I seduce you." Lily giggled, James rolled his eyes, but continued with his instruction. "You could follow me willingly to my bedroom and let me have my way with you. Tonight, you could spend tonight in my arms and the rest of eternity by my side."

Lily sighed as James moved his lips to hers. His kisses were no longer teasing. He tenderly worshiped her with his lips and told her over and over again his love for her with his kiss. Lily paused, breathless, to whisper in James' ear.



"I love you James Potter."

James looked deeply into her brilliant green eyes. He kissed her forehead, her eyelids and then again her lips. Then he pulled back slightly and caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"I love you too Lily Evans."

Lily wrapped her arms around the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. James picked her up in his arms and she snuggled into his broad chest, loving the feel of his strength holding her close. He carried her into the bedroom, shutting the door with his foot.

James laughed as he watched Sirius playing the floor. They had been in the club for barely thirty minutes and Sirius had already danced with seven girls. All of them were gorgeous and all of them looked perfectly willing to let his raven haired friend take them home for a tumble.

"I don't know how you do it mate." Sirius had finally taken a minute from dancing with every skirt in the club to come get a drink. James was sitting watching his wild friends while he sipped on bourbon.

"Do what Padfoot?" James turned to lean against the bar as the birthday boy, Sirius, was doing.

"Stay with one girl. I mean, you haven't taken even a look at one of these extremely fit girls all night. Lily is great Prongsie, but I don't think I could do it." Sirius shook his head in wonder. He had never been in a relationship before. Sure, he'd had lots of relations, but no emotions or obligations were involved. He was just out to have a good time.

"Someday you'll find a girl that will captivate you. You won't even notice another woman for the rest of your life because there will be no reason, she's you're everything."



"I don't think so. What could be better than this? I can get a different beautiful girl every night if I want. Why settle for one? It would break so many hearts." Sirius grinned devilishly. James rolled his eyes.

"You're not, as you seem to believe, God's gift to women."

"Sure I am. I'm also the bane of fathers everywhere." Sirius grinned again, knocked back the rest of his drink, and went back out on the dance floor whooping and hollering. He was immediately surrounded by gorgeous women.

James shook his head, chuckling. It was meant to be a wild night. Even Moony was loosening up. Remus was near Sirius, dancing with the crowd en masse. Peter was close by, dancing with his drink and a girl that, from James' point of view, was beyond pissed, she probably didn't even know her own name.

James laughed again and turned to order another drink. He might not enjoy dancing so close to any other woman anymore, but he fully intended to enjoy the evening. And his plans for enjoyment did not include sobriety.

Lily was alone in the library while the men were out celebrating Sirius' nineteenth birthday. She hummed a muggle tune to herself as she perused the shelves, dusting rag in hand. James laughed at her when she did things the muggle way, but she just told him that sometimes getting your hands dirty left you feeling more proud of a project then if you used magic. And this house was one of those projects.

Smiling, Lily lifted a picture of her with the Marauders the day of graduation. The warm wind was stirring their robes and hair gently and made James' hair more out of sorts than normal. Lily knew she had been happy then as she was now with James' arm around her surrounded by their friends. After Severus, she had never gotten close to anyone until the Marauders.



Lily's face fell at the thought of her one time friend. As they grew older, Sev had started to spend time in the company of boys she knew were bad news. She tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen to her, drawing away steadily until she felt she didn't know her best friend anymore. Then, one day, he called her that. A word he'd said was cruel and could never mean her, because she was all that was pure and unsullied.

Tears pricked at her eyes. She had been defending Severus against James and his friends. They had levicorpused Severus and she was furious. Especially at Remus who was her fellow prefect, but sat watching the proceedings.

"Leave him alone!" She had shouted more than once. Finally James had let Sev go, but not before robbing him of any dignity left.

"I don't need help from filthy little mudbloods like her!"

Lily had replied coolly, her anger at James masking the hurt enough to get through it. But later, she had cried until her eyes hurt. Severus had been the one to tell her she was a witch. They had best friends for years before Hogwarts. Then it had all ended with one comment shouted in a fit of anger. Severus had tried to apologize, but she had pushed him away. Then, when she began dating James, he had stopped trying.

Lily wiped at a tear. She still missed Severus and somewhere deep inside hoped that he would turn from the evil he had become immersed in. She looked at the graduation photo tucked behind the one of the five friends. It was the entire class of 1978 in front of Hogwarts. Severus stood in the Slytherin section near Mulciber and Avery. Lily looked at them with sad eyes. She wiped another tear, then replaced the picture and put the whole ordeal from her mind.

Trying to keep herself distracted, Lily began reading the titles of the books she was dusting. Some of them were by familiar authors, she even saw a couple of muggle origins. The one that caught her eye however, was a slim red volume that looked well worn. She pulled it from the shelf.

"Finding Your Soul mate." Lily turned to the first page.



Soul mates are, as the title suggests, the exact match to one's soul. Many people mistake this to mean an exact replica. This is not true. A soul mate is like the missing piece of the puzzle. They fit with you exactly. This is not to say that perfect couples will not disagree on some things, but that is healthy for a relationship. Finding one's soul mate is a worthy quest. Over the ages, courting has become the generally accepted way to do so. However, the author of this book has found a better way. First however, is that once one finds their soul mate, one must keep said person.

Many people at this point ask me what spell could keep two people together forever. The oldest spell of all. The spell that any creature, muggle, witch or wizard can cast. Love. Without love, one cannot hope to stay together. However, this is rarely a problem. But it does occasionally take work. I, however, am not here how to tell you how to do it.

The first thing, when reading this book, is to realize that sometimes soul mates are not available romantically. Don't despair, this doesn't mean you can't have a happy life. Not everyone marries their soul mate; some are best friends or siblings.

There are other warnings which must be applied. The spell does not always work as you might expect it to. Sometimes the best soul mates are not in your present life.

Lily read the first page and felt herself grow curious. She flipped through the rest of the book, but found only blank pages except the second one. It held an incantation and instructions.

To summon your soul mate. Twine one of your hairs around a single rose petal. Place the petal and hair on the ground.

Lily followed the instructions carefully with a hair from Sirius' cloak that he had left at the house when the men left for the night. She then carefully read the incantation and made sure her pronunciation was perfect.

Just before she lifted her wand, Lily wondered if she was doing the right thing. Before she lost her nerve, she shrugged the thoughts off and opened her mouth to speak the words.

(A/N: Hey! This story is cross posted on HPFF, but it will get updated more quickly. Please give me some feedback!)