The One
"Yes, Mandy, I promise to tell you all about it tomorrow." Lily said with a
smile as she reached out with one foot in an attempt to grab the small compact of eye shadow from the dresser. The cord on her phone was stretched out to maximum capacity, and she had one palm pressing the phone to her ear and another trying to hold her balance on the bed, and all the while trying to keep from smudging her glittery silver nail polish. One of the hot rollers in her long glossy brown hair was dangling centimeters from the open bottle of mascara on the nightstand, and the fishing line of her "invisible " necklace was about to sever her neck in two.
"Yes, Mandy. I won't do anything you wouldn't do, but that isn't
much, doll." Lily said with a laugh as she felt her toes latch on to her eye
shadow case. She attempted to bring her leg around, but unfortunately, her
spine didn't bend that way. Lily quickly brought her shoulder up to hold the
phone while she flailed around madly with her free hand for the case.
"Right. I won't leave out a comma, apostrophe, or period. I'll
even take a pen and take notes on the inside of my arm!" Lily said in
exasperation. "Mandy, I've really got to go, I only have an hour!" The
pretzel-contorted girl heard the phone click down on the receiving end, and at
that moment fell in a heap on the carpeted floor of her bedroom. She quickly
stood up, gasping for breath, as she tottered over to the vanity stool and
started to finish her makeup. She wished she could just use her wand to spruce up her face, but she had left it at Sirius's house.
"That Mandy, she's such a chatterbox!" Lily harrumphed as she
gently stroked the purple eye shadow on her left lid. It was her two-month
anniversary, and her conversations with everyone on this side of the
hemisphere had made her late. She'd talked to all of her school chums, and
relatives, and she wouldn't be surprised if the President of the United States
phoned her at that very second.
Her stroking started to slow as a small smile crossed her claret
lips. She couldn't help it, all the calls had made her remember the day she
met /the one/.
*********
Lily had never really been popular, nor athletic, nor extravagant. She 'd
always been the girl out to make good grades and excel in what ever she put her
mind to. She usually set in the library with her friends researching and writing, finishing homework from the night before, or just messing around. She had all she needed, or so she thought.
Lily had been gifted at fictional writing, and it was something
she loved to do. She often wrote short stories in her easy classes to post on the huge bulletin board that covered one whole wall of the gargantuan Hogwarts library,
which served as an outlet for self-expression. Or at least part of it, for the majority was that of "Help Wanted" ads, items up for sale, and even personals. "Alone and wanting companionship." Lily could laugh at the poor saps that even /wanted/ a boyfriend. All they were was a hassle- she knew from experience and didn't even bother with the dating ritual that seemed to be unique to humans. She preferred to bury herself in a good romance novel, or fantasy, and let other characters loves amuse her.
One hot Tuesday afternoon, she walked into the library a bit early. She had a Charms free for the day (she was exempt from midterms), and sat with Mandy. They did have the same class, after all, and about the same gradel. But something stirred inside her this Tuesday, which wasn't really unlike any other summer Tuesday, and she was compelled to go straight for the library. She nodded her hello to Sean, the boy who always worked the check out, and felt her feet dragging her towards the bulletin board where she had tacked up a story the other day. She didn't really know why she was here, she usually left it up for a few days before she went to check any replies, but today was different. Her story had been more of an opinion column, and she saw the usual replies by her friends.
"Nice work, Lily." -Mandy
"Great, but why did you use animals as a basis for one argument?" - Guido
"Nice to see some more from you, Aim. Haven't gotten any in a
while, and you're still kicking."-Ana
Lily's green eyes grew wide as she saw another reply etched along the
bottom right corner of her paper in elegant, deep writing. She picked the tail
end up in her palm, and read:
"Interesting show of ideas, Lily. I 'd really like to talk to you
sometime." -James
Written underneath was owl instructions where she could reach
him. Lily was shocked. No one ever read her work besides her good friends,
and maybe a teacher that had no papers to grade or a slacker who didn't feel
like doing their assignments. She quickly ripped the paper off the wall and
ran to an open desk. She hastily wrote an owl message, saying she was thrilled
to have a new person pay attention to her work, and that she'd love to meet
him. She blushed as she asked if tomorrow at 5:00 was OK, and she'd love to
talk to him over a butterbeer at Hogsmead.
James's response came to her when she entered the Ravenclaw common room. With shaking fingers, Lily grabbed the letter and gave the owl a piece of the muffin she was munching. ** "Why am I so nervous? I've met new people before, how can he be any different? I'm just acting like a nit."** She chided herself as she broke the wax seal But she couldn't stop her heart from jumping or her pulse from racing as she read the letter. Five o ' clock was good for him, and he'd meet her at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmead. Lily quickly wrote a letter to Mandy and Ana, telling them exactly what happened, and waltzed around her room in pure excitement and anticipation.
*****
"Well crap monkeys." Lily cursed as she flew her Comet 360 through the skies of London. Her training session with Saba at Kings Ranch in East Hogsmead had taken longer than she'd originally planned, but she couldn't leave the job half finished. It was an hour's flying back into the castle, she'd barely make it to The Three Broomsticks on time.
"Well, there goes 'nice clean appearance' " She muttered as she tried to dust off her jeans and navy collared shirt as well as she could. She left her robes in the car. She hated those stupid things… She tucked a stray strand of hair nervously behind her ear as she zoomed past the light and into the coffee shops' parking lot. She jumped out off her broom, grabbing her purse out of the satchel she had attached to it, and heard the jangle of spurs. She grimaced as she remembered she'd forgotten and left them on, but ran into the popular joint as fast as she could. If he cared, then he could just leave.
"Is there someone expecting an Lily here?" Lily said to the Rosmereta. She pointed at a back table where a handsome man her age sat looking out the window. His black hair glistened in the setting sun, and his brown eyes, Lily couldn't see them clearly, but they looked sad. "A shame," she thought, "Because they 're beautiful... " The young cowgirl had always melted at the sight of beautiful eyes. It was her only weakness in her opinion.
She took a deep breath and walked with confidence over to the
small table. She suddenly felt self-conscious, knowing her hair was a mess
and her jeans had numerous mud spots on them. She hoped he wouldn't see the
ripping inseams of her pants or the worn oval on her back right pocket where
her pocketknife always sat. Again she chided herself inwardly at being the
least bit self-conscious. It didn't matter what the guy thought of her, did
it?
"Hi, I'm Lily. And I 'm hoping against hope you're James or else
I think I'd have to buy you a butterbeer." Lily said, flashing a perfect
smile. She'd hated her braces when she had them, but the winning smile they
produced was a huge bargaining chip when meeting new people or trying to
convince a teacher to raise a grade.
"So you're Lily, huh? " He said, standing up and pulling her
chair out for her. Lily sat down, dumbstruck for a few seconds, before
regaining her laidback manner.
"It was so nice of you to read my work. I usually do fiction, -oh, hi Rosmereta," he said to the young lady as she came to take their order. "Are you working part-time here, or what?"
"Yup. Makes good money. You should consider it." She replied. Lily ordered, and the young waitress looked to James. James's eyes glinted with curiosity
as he asked for a white chocolate mocha, and kept eye contact. Lily shifted
in her chair underneath his kind look. Those eyes, they seemed as if they could
peer straight into her soul.
Lily and James talked for hours, periodically ordering another
drink when the waitress wanted to kick them out. Lily hated coffee, so she
stuck with her hot chocolate while her dining partner seemed to jump around
the menu. Lily found he was 17, like herself, and from Ohio originally.
He'd come with his dad to live here, and he was having fun. Periodically,
Lily could see the flicker of sadness run through his expressive eyes, but
she wasn't going to prod. Having barely met the guy, she didn't want to step
on his toes.
They were there until 9:30, just talking, until Lily remembered a
test she had tomorrow. She quickly excused herself and, with much remorse, picked
up the tab and walked outside, her broom in hand. She climbed onto it and started kicked of the ground, hovering, and watched James as he stepped out the door and on to a Cleansweep 6. They had so much in common, and Lily liked him right off the get go, which was saying a lot. As Lily zipped through the sky, she was sure she had found a new friend.
Lily quickly rummaged through her closet before she found the
stunning dress she, her mother, and the girls had found after hours of searching in the only dress shop in Hogsmead. The fabric was delicate, flowing perfectly like a
wave. The dusky blue material shone with an inlay of silver that made the
dress appear different colors indifferent lights. Picking it up carefully,
she let the long, form hugging dress slip over her smoothly. The back
trained out just a bit, and the bottom had a slight, unexplainable flare at
the bottom that tickled Lily's fancy the minute she saw it.
Looking in the full-length mirror near her four poster bed, she twirled around and admired herself for a few minutes. She walked to the mirror, a dash of color catching her eye, and found a picture of her and her horse. Who would have guessed that she could ever be free of horse dirt and muck? She laughed at the thought
of going dancing and to the fanciest restaurant in all of London in her ripped jeans and stained shirt. With a giggle, she fell backwards onto the
bed and stared at her ceiling.
***********
Lily felt like crap. She'd been crying for an hour straight, more out of anger than anything else, she hadn't done anything wrong. She'd just gotten in a fight with Grace and Pres, her two 'friends' that she'd had since childhood, and nothing that happened could ever be fixed. Lily had gotten fed up with their treatment of her, ways trying to crush her and hurt her whenever and however they could. Angry words had led to cut downs, and finally blows. She had't talked to anyone, just screamed at her stuffed animals. She hated having people worry about her, and she knew Ana, Guido, and Mandy would. Quickly sitting up and wiping her eyes, she started inwardly screaming at herself for giving up on friends. She'd never done it before, and she couldn't stand doing it now. But what else was there to do?
There was a knock at the door, and Lily just sat on her bed. She didn't
really feel like facing anyone at the moment, and her roommates weren't home to answer it for her. Whoever it was could wait and come back when they weren't in
danger of having their face beat in.
The knocking came more insistently, and Lily just scowled. The
look seemed very out of place on her usually glowing face, but then again,
abandoning friends was crazy for someone of her personality. She
collapsed backwards onto her bed again, and a fresh wave of tears started to
cascade down her cheeks. Her body was about to be wracked with sobs, her
stomach muscles already sore and burning, when she heard a startled person
scream her name. Lily looked up with a tear-streaked face to find James
frantically making his way through the rose bushes to bang on her window.
"I forgot that he was going to help me with Arithmancy! " Lily said
startled as she slung open her bedroom window.
"God, Lily, don't do that! You didn't answer the door and I
thought that you were…" he trailed off as he caught sight of her face.
"What 's wrong?"
Finally, all the barriers she'd worked so hard to put up the last
two months came crashing down. Her tough cowgirl image fell down around her
ears and she spilled out the whole story, beginning to end. The 'tough
cowgirl' collapsed to the floor, exhausted and upset, but was suddenly washed
over by a wave of utter relief. Before she knew it, James had crawled through
the window and had her gathered up in his arms. Lily was too wasted to
protest, and for the first time in her life she felt incredibly safe. Who
cared how badly Grace and Pres had wronged her? She was safe now.
That was when the last barrier was reduced to nothing but rubble,
and Lily found herself thinking of James as more than a friend. She'd always
liked him, but now…now he was more to her.
Looking in the mirror, Lily took down the hot rollers and left
her hair bouncy with huge lazy curls. She let the short layer of her hair fall
over in a sideways part, and flounced up the becoming curls that complemented
her oval face. She reached down onto her dresser and picked up the rhinestone
studded hair clip her mother had bought her. Turning it delicately in her
fingers, she placed it in her hair just above her right temple.
Gazing at herself in the vanity mirror, she scrutinized herself as
every woman does. She wasn't exceptionally beautiful, nor was she ugly. Her
glasses took away from her almond shaped bright green eyes, and she could name
millions of small idiosyncrasies on her face, but she was surrounded with a
glow that seemed to draw people in. She definitely wasn't perfect.
Again she found herself wondering why James would choose her of all
girls to be involved with. She wasn't exactly the most pleasant of people, but she tried hard to be reasonable and easygoing. James had a variable harem of girls following him around school all the time, his black hair and brown eyes irresistible, and all the girls who followed him were more beautiful, more talented, smarter, or more athletic than she. Plus he was Quiddich captain. She just didn't understand it.
*************
Quickly touching up her lips and blush, Lily collapsed into her
beanbag chair with a beautifully decorated shoebox cradled in her lap. The
girl removed the lid; carefully moving a dried rose and sparkling Easter egg
off the top of a small book James had given her.
"You're very talented," he had said while handing her the
precious book, "keep your ideas in here. I 'd be honored." She cracked the cover, and fingered through the well-worn pages of the book. She stopped on an entry dated February 15, 2001. Reading over what she wrote, she was whisked to the day that forever changed her life.
*************
James and Lily's relationship had done a complete 180 after that
night he burst through her bedroom window like the cavalry. There'd been a lot
of sweet complements, hugging, and things of that nature. Lily was happier
than she'd ever been, finally felt like she was where she belonged.
"Let's face it, Lily, you're in love!" Guido said to her one day while the both of them were having lunch. Guido had just been in a depression, and Lily had been helping her best friend through it.
"No, I'm not. I swear." Lily feigned innocence. Truth of the
matter was, she couldn't have been any more in love. She cursed herself for
being so obvious.
"Lily, nothing would make me happier than you finding love. So
go get 'em, Cowgirl." Guido said playfully. It was undeniable that he was speaking from experience, for he and Ana had become a couple just a short month before. Lily couldn't help but blush, and she felt her face getting hot.
"But really, Lily," the Canadian continued, "You'll regret it
if you don't do anything. I know he loves you. He's told me about a jillion-trillion times." Lily felt her heart do a back flip, triple handspring with a full twisting layout. She couldn't help but beam.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, go get him!" Guido pushed her
playfully in his direction. "I know what you're thinking. You don't want to
screw the friendship, so just make him promise it won't affect it at all!"
Lily stumbled nervously towards the lake, off to find James at lunch with some of his friends. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear nervously as she walked and nearly ran overhim.
"Lily!" He said happily. She smiled at him. He'd been a very
depressed person when she met him, and he'd finally let go of that. Lily
couldn't help but love him even more as a happy James than as a sad James.
"James, can I talk to you?" She looked at all the girls and the
few guys that were sitting on the front steps.
"Sure Lily." He said, standing up and following her to a private
alcove in the forest. "Now, what do you want to tell me?"
"Well, first I need you to promise me something with your whole
heart and being." After seeing a small nod of his head, she went on, "That
whatever happens, we'll always be friends. That nothing will jeopardize
that, because it's just meant so much to me." Lily could feel her pulse
speed up, and it was all she could do to look him in the eye. In the end, her
gaze slipped to the ground.
"Sure, why would we stop being friends?" He said. "I think I know
what 's coming, and I was about to do the same thing myself."
"You're going to make me do this anyway, aren't you?" Lily
sighed and muttered, "I can 't believe I 'm doing this."
"I 'm not going to make you do anything," He replied sternly.
Lily looked him in the eyes again, took a deep breath, and began spilling her guts.
"Anyway, I've fallen for you. Even though I told myself not to, you're just too...too perfect. And I mean, you don't have to respond to this anyway...but I had to tell you that you're so special to me." Lily rushed. She just couldn't keep her composure.
"I feel the same way you do."
"ThankGod, I was so scared." The nervous girl said with relief.
"I talked to Guido for over an hour last night, and then I went to
sleep because I didn't know what else I could do to get you off of my mind."
He smiled at Lily, and she could have melted. She walked up and slung
her rms around his neck, pressing her head against his chest and closing
her eyes. He wrapped his arms gently around her waist, as if afraid to hurt
her, and they just stood there, basking in the perfection of the moment.
***************
Lily skimmed the pages, remembering all the good times and
bursting into peals of laughter. They'd always been alike in almost all
respects, from food to humor. He'd never liked dancing, though, and Lily
knew what a sacrifice he was making tonight to take her. She smiled again,
taking that as another piece of proof to his love. She clutched the book to
her chest and sighed. He was perfect.
A small slip of paper fell to the floor, slipping out of the back
of the book. Lily picked it up, and recognized it immediately. It was the
poem he'd written for her just the other day, and handed to her as they walked into the Great Hall, after another delightful evening. Tears threatened to drip out of
her eyes as she fought to suppress a catch in her throat.
She'd never be able to tell him that his poem had made her cry, and that she slept with it pressed up against her chest all night. That everything he'd said had rocked her. There were so many things she'd never be able to tell him, because she could never find the right words. Lily read the poem again, tracing the curve of his writing with her finger although she knew it by heart.
You've taken my sadness and locked it away,
The one I long to be with every minute of each day.
You stole my heart, and you've touched my life in every possible way.
You've filled the void in my life with a joy I before never knew,
You do not know how much it is that I love you.
You say you're not perfect, but you're precious to me.
You're as close to perfection as it can be.
So I write this poem for you, my love,
To tell you how special you are, and how much you mean to me.
***************
The doorbell rang, and Lily buckled the chunk straps on her
elegant black heels. She snatched her purse from the bed, tossing it over her
right shoulder and nearly grabbed her cowboy hat on the way out the door. She
flew down the hall and stopped just short of slamming into the door, pausing
to make sure she looked unruffled. She opened the door, and smiled as she saw
James standing there. He looked awesome in a black suit, setting off his brown
eyes. Lily could have lived forever in his smile right then.
He produced a bouquet of the most beautiful yellow roses Lily had
ever seen from behind his back. She smiled and set them into a vase she had
ready by the door.
"Thank you! They're beautiful!" she said as she grabbed her coat
from the hangar and slipped it on over her sleeveless ensemble. "And I knew
you would do that." She smiled.
"You're supposed to be the predictable one!" he said, shutting the door behind her and wrapping a protective hand around her waist. Through the thin fabric, Lily thought she could feel his pulse. Lily started to walk down the stairs to the broomshed, but he drew her in close to him before she could take a step. Lily spun around and wrapped her arms around his neck,
searching his eyes.
"Is this predictable?" He smiled his breathtaking smile as he produced a beautiful blue rose from his pocket and pinned it delicately in her hair. He ran his fingers through her curls before he put them gently around her waist. That was another think Lily would never be able to tell James.
She loved it when he touched her hair, and it sent shivers down her spine.
"The curls look beautiful on you, sweet." He said as he guided
her to their brooms.
"Can I put some in your hair, you lovesick puppy? " she asked
innocently. He laughed, and kissed her gently.
"Can I take that as a yes? " She asked dreamily as they mounted their brooms.
"Anything for you."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Written by Ash :)
"Yes, Mandy, I promise to tell you all about it tomorrow." Lily said with a
smile as she reached out with one foot in an attempt to grab the small compact of eye shadow from the dresser. The cord on her phone was stretched out to maximum capacity, and she had one palm pressing the phone to her ear and another trying to hold her balance on the bed, and all the while trying to keep from smudging her glittery silver nail polish. One of the hot rollers in her long glossy brown hair was dangling centimeters from the open bottle of mascara on the nightstand, and the fishing line of her "invisible " necklace was about to sever her neck in two.
"Yes, Mandy. I won't do anything you wouldn't do, but that isn't
much, doll." Lily said with a laugh as she felt her toes latch on to her eye
shadow case. She attempted to bring her leg around, but unfortunately, her
spine didn't bend that way. Lily quickly brought her shoulder up to hold the
phone while she flailed around madly with her free hand for the case.
"Right. I won't leave out a comma, apostrophe, or period. I'll
even take a pen and take notes on the inside of my arm!" Lily said in
exasperation. "Mandy, I've really got to go, I only have an hour!" The
pretzel-contorted girl heard the phone click down on the receiving end, and at
that moment fell in a heap on the carpeted floor of her bedroom. She quickly
stood up, gasping for breath, as she tottered over to the vanity stool and
started to finish her makeup. She wished she could just use her wand to spruce up her face, but she had left it at Sirius's house.
"That Mandy, she's such a chatterbox!" Lily harrumphed as she
gently stroked the purple eye shadow on her left lid. It was her two-month
anniversary, and her conversations with everyone on this side of the
hemisphere had made her late. She'd talked to all of her school chums, and
relatives, and she wouldn't be surprised if the President of the United States
phoned her at that very second.
Her stroking started to slow as a small smile crossed her claret
lips. She couldn't help it, all the calls had made her remember the day she
met /the one/.
*********
Lily had never really been popular, nor athletic, nor extravagant. She 'd
always been the girl out to make good grades and excel in what ever she put her
mind to. She usually set in the library with her friends researching and writing, finishing homework from the night before, or just messing around. She had all she needed, or so she thought.
Lily had been gifted at fictional writing, and it was something
she loved to do. She often wrote short stories in her easy classes to post on the huge bulletin board that covered one whole wall of the gargantuan Hogwarts library,
which served as an outlet for self-expression. Or at least part of it, for the majority was that of "Help Wanted" ads, items up for sale, and even personals. "Alone and wanting companionship." Lily could laugh at the poor saps that even /wanted/ a boyfriend. All they were was a hassle- she knew from experience and didn't even bother with the dating ritual that seemed to be unique to humans. She preferred to bury herself in a good romance novel, or fantasy, and let other characters loves amuse her.
One hot Tuesday afternoon, she walked into the library a bit early. She had a Charms free for the day (she was exempt from midterms), and sat with Mandy. They did have the same class, after all, and about the same gradel. But something stirred inside her this Tuesday, which wasn't really unlike any other summer Tuesday, and she was compelled to go straight for the library. She nodded her hello to Sean, the boy who always worked the check out, and felt her feet dragging her towards the bulletin board where she had tacked up a story the other day. She didn't really know why she was here, she usually left it up for a few days before she went to check any replies, but today was different. Her story had been more of an opinion column, and she saw the usual replies by her friends.
"Nice work, Lily." -Mandy
"Great, but why did you use animals as a basis for one argument?" - Guido
"Nice to see some more from you, Aim. Haven't gotten any in a
while, and you're still kicking."-Ana
Lily's green eyes grew wide as she saw another reply etched along the
bottom right corner of her paper in elegant, deep writing. She picked the tail
end up in her palm, and read:
"Interesting show of ideas, Lily. I 'd really like to talk to you
sometime." -James
Written underneath was owl instructions where she could reach
him. Lily was shocked. No one ever read her work besides her good friends,
and maybe a teacher that had no papers to grade or a slacker who didn't feel
like doing their assignments. She quickly ripped the paper off the wall and
ran to an open desk. She hastily wrote an owl message, saying she was thrilled
to have a new person pay attention to her work, and that she'd love to meet
him. She blushed as she asked if tomorrow at 5:00 was OK, and she'd love to
talk to him over a butterbeer at Hogsmead.
James's response came to her when she entered the Ravenclaw common room. With shaking fingers, Lily grabbed the letter and gave the owl a piece of the muffin she was munching. ** "Why am I so nervous? I've met new people before, how can he be any different? I'm just acting like a nit."** She chided herself as she broke the wax seal But she couldn't stop her heart from jumping or her pulse from racing as she read the letter. Five o ' clock was good for him, and he'd meet her at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmead. Lily quickly wrote a letter to Mandy and Ana, telling them exactly what happened, and waltzed around her room in pure excitement and anticipation.
*****
"Well crap monkeys." Lily cursed as she flew her Comet 360 through the skies of London. Her training session with Saba at Kings Ranch in East Hogsmead had taken longer than she'd originally planned, but she couldn't leave the job half finished. It was an hour's flying back into the castle, she'd barely make it to The Three Broomsticks on time.
"Well, there goes 'nice clean appearance' " She muttered as she tried to dust off her jeans and navy collared shirt as well as she could. She left her robes in the car. She hated those stupid things… She tucked a stray strand of hair nervously behind her ear as she zoomed past the light and into the coffee shops' parking lot. She jumped out off her broom, grabbing her purse out of the satchel she had attached to it, and heard the jangle of spurs. She grimaced as she remembered she'd forgotten and left them on, but ran into the popular joint as fast as she could. If he cared, then he could just leave.
"Is there someone expecting an Lily here?" Lily said to the Rosmereta. She pointed at a back table where a handsome man her age sat looking out the window. His black hair glistened in the setting sun, and his brown eyes, Lily couldn't see them clearly, but they looked sad. "A shame," she thought, "Because they 're beautiful... " The young cowgirl had always melted at the sight of beautiful eyes. It was her only weakness in her opinion.
She took a deep breath and walked with confidence over to the
small table. She suddenly felt self-conscious, knowing her hair was a mess
and her jeans had numerous mud spots on them. She hoped he wouldn't see the
ripping inseams of her pants or the worn oval on her back right pocket where
her pocketknife always sat. Again she chided herself inwardly at being the
least bit self-conscious. It didn't matter what the guy thought of her, did
it?
"Hi, I'm Lily. And I 'm hoping against hope you're James or else
I think I'd have to buy you a butterbeer." Lily said, flashing a perfect
smile. She'd hated her braces when she had them, but the winning smile they
produced was a huge bargaining chip when meeting new people or trying to
convince a teacher to raise a grade.
"So you're Lily, huh? " He said, standing up and pulling her
chair out for her. Lily sat down, dumbstruck for a few seconds, before
regaining her laidback manner.
"It was so nice of you to read my work. I usually do fiction, -oh, hi Rosmereta," he said to the young lady as she came to take their order. "Are you working part-time here, or what?"
"Yup. Makes good money. You should consider it." She replied. Lily ordered, and the young waitress looked to James. James's eyes glinted with curiosity
as he asked for a white chocolate mocha, and kept eye contact. Lily shifted
in her chair underneath his kind look. Those eyes, they seemed as if they could
peer straight into her soul.
Lily and James talked for hours, periodically ordering another
drink when the waitress wanted to kick them out. Lily hated coffee, so she
stuck with her hot chocolate while her dining partner seemed to jump around
the menu. Lily found he was 17, like herself, and from Ohio originally.
He'd come with his dad to live here, and he was having fun. Periodically,
Lily could see the flicker of sadness run through his expressive eyes, but
she wasn't going to prod. Having barely met the guy, she didn't want to step
on his toes.
They were there until 9:30, just talking, until Lily remembered a
test she had tomorrow. She quickly excused herself and, with much remorse, picked
up the tab and walked outside, her broom in hand. She climbed onto it and started kicked of the ground, hovering, and watched James as he stepped out the door and on to a Cleansweep 6. They had so much in common, and Lily liked him right off the get go, which was saying a lot. As Lily zipped through the sky, she was sure she had found a new friend.
Lily quickly rummaged through her closet before she found the
stunning dress she, her mother, and the girls had found after hours of searching in the only dress shop in Hogsmead. The fabric was delicate, flowing perfectly like a
wave. The dusky blue material shone with an inlay of silver that made the
dress appear different colors indifferent lights. Picking it up carefully,
she let the long, form hugging dress slip over her smoothly. The back
trained out just a bit, and the bottom had a slight, unexplainable flare at
the bottom that tickled Lily's fancy the minute she saw it.
Looking in the full-length mirror near her four poster bed, she twirled around and admired herself for a few minutes. She walked to the mirror, a dash of color catching her eye, and found a picture of her and her horse. Who would have guessed that she could ever be free of horse dirt and muck? She laughed at the thought
of going dancing and to the fanciest restaurant in all of London in her ripped jeans and stained shirt. With a giggle, she fell backwards onto the
bed and stared at her ceiling.
***********
Lily felt like crap. She'd been crying for an hour straight, more out of anger than anything else, she hadn't done anything wrong. She'd just gotten in a fight with Grace and Pres, her two 'friends' that she'd had since childhood, and nothing that happened could ever be fixed. Lily had gotten fed up with their treatment of her, ways trying to crush her and hurt her whenever and however they could. Angry words had led to cut downs, and finally blows. She had't talked to anyone, just screamed at her stuffed animals. She hated having people worry about her, and she knew Ana, Guido, and Mandy would. Quickly sitting up and wiping her eyes, she started inwardly screaming at herself for giving up on friends. She'd never done it before, and she couldn't stand doing it now. But what else was there to do?
There was a knock at the door, and Lily just sat on her bed. She didn't
really feel like facing anyone at the moment, and her roommates weren't home to answer it for her. Whoever it was could wait and come back when they weren't in
danger of having their face beat in.
The knocking came more insistently, and Lily just scowled. The
look seemed very out of place on her usually glowing face, but then again,
abandoning friends was crazy for someone of her personality. She
collapsed backwards onto her bed again, and a fresh wave of tears started to
cascade down her cheeks. Her body was about to be wracked with sobs, her
stomach muscles already sore and burning, when she heard a startled person
scream her name. Lily looked up with a tear-streaked face to find James
frantically making his way through the rose bushes to bang on her window.
"I forgot that he was going to help me with Arithmancy! " Lily said
startled as she slung open her bedroom window.
"God, Lily, don't do that! You didn't answer the door and I
thought that you were…" he trailed off as he caught sight of her face.
"What 's wrong?"
Finally, all the barriers she'd worked so hard to put up the last
two months came crashing down. Her tough cowgirl image fell down around her
ears and she spilled out the whole story, beginning to end. The 'tough
cowgirl' collapsed to the floor, exhausted and upset, but was suddenly washed
over by a wave of utter relief. Before she knew it, James had crawled through
the window and had her gathered up in his arms. Lily was too wasted to
protest, and for the first time in her life she felt incredibly safe. Who
cared how badly Grace and Pres had wronged her? She was safe now.
That was when the last barrier was reduced to nothing but rubble,
and Lily found herself thinking of James as more than a friend. She'd always
liked him, but now…now he was more to her.
Looking in the mirror, Lily took down the hot rollers and left
her hair bouncy with huge lazy curls. She let the short layer of her hair fall
over in a sideways part, and flounced up the becoming curls that complemented
her oval face. She reached down onto her dresser and picked up the rhinestone
studded hair clip her mother had bought her. Turning it delicately in her
fingers, she placed it in her hair just above her right temple.
Gazing at herself in the vanity mirror, she scrutinized herself as
every woman does. She wasn't exceptionally beautiful, nor was she ugly. Her
glasses took away from her almond shaped bright green eyes, and she could name
millions of small idiosyncrasies on her face, but she was surrounded with a
glow that seemed to draw people in. She definitely wasn't perfect.
Again she found herself wondering why James would choose her of all
girls to be involved with. She wasn't exactly the most pleasant of people, but she tried hard to be reasonable and easygoing. James had a variable harem of girls following him around school all the time, his black hair and brown eyes irresistible, and all the girls who followed him were more beautiful, more talented, smarter, or more athletic than she. Plus he was Quiddich captain. She just didn't understand it.
*************
Quickly touching up her lips and blush, Lily collapsed into her
beanbag chair with a beautifully decorated shoebox cradled in her lap. The
girl removed the lid; carefully moving a dried rose and sparkling Easter egg
off the top of a small book James had given her.
"You're very talented," he had said while handing her the
precious book, "keep your ideas in here. I 'd be honored." She cracked the cover, and fingered through the well-worn pages of the book. She stopped on an entry dated February 15, 2001. Reading over what she wrote, she was whisked to the day that forever changed her life.
*************
James and Lily's relationship had done a complete 180 after that
night he burst through her bedroom window like the cavalry. There'd been a lot
of sweet complements, hugging, and things of that nature. Lily was happier
than she'd ever been, finally felt like she was where she belonged.
"Let's face it, Lily, you're in love!" Guido said to her one day while the both of them were having lunch. Guido had just been in a depression, and Lily had been helping her best friend through it.
"No, I'm not. I swear." Lily feigned innocence. Truth of the
matter was, she couldn't have been any more in love. She cursed herself for
being so obvious.
"Lily, nothing would make me happier than you finding love. So
go get 'em, Cowgirl." Guido said playfully. It was undeniable that he was speaking from experience, for he and Ana had become a couple just a short month before. Lily couldn't help but blush, and she felt her face getting hot.
"But really, Lily," the Canadian continued, "You'll regret it
if you don't do anything. I know he loves you. He's told me about a jillion-trillion times." Lily felt her heart do a back flip, triple handspring with a full twisting layout. She couldn't help but beam.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, go get him!" Guido pushed her
playfully in his direction. "I know what you're thinking. You don't want to
screw the friendship, so just make him promise it won't affect it at all!"
Lily stumbled nervously towards the lake, off to find James at lunch with some of his friends. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear nervously as she walked and nearly ran overhim.
"Lily!" He said happily. She smiled at him. He'd been a very
depressed person when she met him, and he'd finally let go of that. Lily
couldn't help but love him even more as a happy James than as a sad James.
"James, can I talk to you?" She looked at all the girls and the
few guys that were sitting on the front steps.
"Sure Lily." He said, standing up and following her to a private
alcove in the forest. "Now, what do you want to tell me?"
"Well, first I need you to promise me something with your whole
heart and being." After seeing a small nod of his head, she went on, "That
whatever happens, we'll always be friends. That nothing will jeopardize
that, because it's just meant so much to me." Lily could feel her pulse
speed up, and it was all she could do to look him in the eye. In the end, her
gaze slipped to the ground.
"Sure, why would we stop being friends?" He said. "I think I know
what 's coming, and I was about to do the same thing myself."
"You're going to make me do this anyway, aren't you?" Lily
sighed and muttered, "I can 't believe I 'm doing this."
"I 'm not going to make you do anything," He replied sternly.
Lily looked him in the eyes again, took a deep breath, and began spilling her guts.
"Anyway, I've fallen for you. Even though I told myself not to, you're just too...too perfect. And I mean, you don't have to respond to this anyway...but I had to tell you that you're so special to me." Lily rushed. She just couldn't keep her composure.
"I feel the same way you do."
"ThankGod, I was so scared." The nervous girl said with relief.
"I talked to Guido for over an hour last night, and then I went to
sleep because I didn't know what else I could do to get you off of my mind."
He smiled at Lily, and she could have melted. She walked up and slung
her rms around his neck, pressing her head against his chest and closing
her eyes. He wrapped his arms gently around her waist, as if afraid to hurt
her, and they just stood there, basking in the perfection of the moment.
***************
Lily skimmed the pages, remembering all the good times and
bursting into peals of laughter. They'd always been alike in almost all
respects, from food to humor. He'd never liked dancing, though, and Lily
knew what a sacrifice he was making tonight to take her. She smiled again,
taking that as another piece of proof to his love. She clutched the book to
her chest and sighed. He was perfect.
A small slip of paper fell to the floor, slipping out of the back
of the book. Lily picked it up, and recognized it immediately. It was the
poem he'd written for her just the other day, and handed to her as they walked into the Great Hall, after another delightful evening. Tears threatened to drip out of
her eyes as she fought to suppress a catch in her throat.
She'd never be able to tell him that his poem had made her cry, and that she slept with it pressed up against her chest all night. That everything he'd said had rocked her. There were so many things she'd never be able to tell him, because she could never find the right words. Lily read the poem again, tracing the curve of his writing with her finger although she knew it by heart.
You've taken my sadness and locked it away,
The one I long to be with every minute of each day.
You stole my heart, and you've touched my life in every possible way.
You've filled the void in my life with a joy I before never knew,
You do not know how much it is that I love you.
You say you're not perfect, but you're precious to me.
You're as close to perfection as it can be.
So I write this poem for you, my love,
To tell you how special you are, and how much you mean to me.
***************
The doorbell rang, and Lily buckled the chunk straps on her
elegant black heels. She snatched her purse from the bed, tossing it over her
right shoulder and nearly grabbed her cowboy hat on the way out the door. She
flew down the hall and stopped just short of slamming into the door, pausing
to make sure she looked unruffled. She opened the door, and smiled as she saw
James standing there. He looked awesome in a black suit, setting off his brown
eyes. Lily could have lived forever in his smile right then.
He produced a bouquet of the most beautiful yellow roses Lily had
ever seen from behind his back. She smiled and set them into a vase she had
ready by the door.
"Thank you! They're beautiful!" she said as she grabbed her coat
from the hangar and slipped it on over her sleeveless ensemble. "And I knew
you would do that." She smiled.
"You're supposed to be the predictable one!" he said, shutting the door behind her and wrapping a protective hand around her waist. Through the thin fabric, Lily thought she could feel his pulse. Lily started to walk down the stairs to the broomshed, but he drew her in close to him before she could take a step. Lily spun around and wrapped her arms around his neck,
searching his eyes.
"Is this predictable?" He smiled his breathtaking smile as he produced a beautiful blue rose from his pocket and pinned it delicately in her hair. He ran his fingers through her curls before he put them gently around her waist. That was another think Lily would never be able to tell James.
She loved it when he touched her hair, and it sent shivers down her spine.
"The curls look beautiful on you, sweet." He said as he guided
her to their brooms.
"Can I put some in your hair, you lovesick puppy? " she asked
innocently. He laughed, and kissed her gently.
"Can I take that as a yes? " She asked dreamily as they mounted their brooms.
"Anything for you."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Written by Ash :)