Lily Evans didn't like sneaking out or breaking curfew, but she could not sleep, so begrudgingly, she had gotten out of bed, got dressed and headed up to the astronomy tower. It was the end of her seventh year and so many things had changed. She was going out with James, she loved him, she was no longer friends with Severus, but was friends with Sirius Black of all the people, she was Head Girl and she was almost certain, that when she left school in a few days, she would fight against Lord Voldermort.
But that didn't mean that she didn't realise that she was going to leave school forever. Hogwarts was her second home, her home away from home. She was going to leave soon and never come back. She was never going to walk in the passageways again, never win another House Cup, never wear the Head Girl batch again, never have breakfast in Great Hall again. She was going to miss every inch of the castle, miss Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn, Dumbledore's unnerving speeches, even Peeves and the Marauders pranks.
She looked up to the sky, the stars were shining bright along with the half moon, the gentle breeze of the night was calming on her skin and she inhaled the smell of the forest, savouring every inch of the castle, every breath, every star, every brick, so that someday, when she was old, she'd remember all of this.
She felt the tears roll down her pale skin as she remembered every memory of this castle. The first day she had seen the castle, her sorting, her awe at the sight of the mighty, yet comforting castle, the grounds, the smell of freshly mowed grass, old parchment, being shouted at by Pince, being reprimanded by McGonagall, going to Slughorn's parties, the dungeons, she wanted to remember every crevice of this castle, her home. It had given her so much, home, friends, education, acceptance, but most of all it had given her James Potter.
"Lily?" She was startled out of her thouhts and turned around to see the very person she was thinking about. James was standing near the door, his messy hair was all over the place, his eyes swollen and glasses lopsided.
"What are you doing up here? "
"I woke up and saw you were up here on the Map. You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Do you ever think what would've happened if J wasn't a witch? We would've never met". She looked into his eyes and for a second, he was frozen, but then he looked back into her stare, hazel meeting green and he smiled.
"If you weren't a witch, we would've met in a cafe in London. Or through a friend, maybe on the corner of a street. and I would've looked at you and thought, that no matter who you were, I had to get your name, had to take you out. Because there's something special between us. No matter how the world tilted, we would've found each other. I would've found you". Tears were freely rolling down her cheeks.
"When did you become sensitive?" He shrugged. Lily wiped her tears and looked into her watch and saw that it was 3:07. "Let's go back down".
"Okay". He said and offered her his hand. As she placed her hand in his, she realised that, yes, he best thing Hogwarts had given her was James Potter. Because no matter what past they shared, there were better things to come. And as long as James was with her, everyday would be better than the next. And that was when she realised that she didn't just love James Potter, she was in love with him. And nothing else mattered as long as he held her hand.
