Colors of Love

Disclaimer: I am not JKR and do not own Harry Potter or anything you might recognize, if I did there would definitely be a Marauders' Era Prequel by now.

Summary: Witches and Wizards can only see in black and white until they look into the eyes of their soul mate for the first time. James knew he would see color one day and couldn't wait. Lily thought she would be colorblind forever until she looked into the hazel eyes of a boy with glasses during her first ride on the Hogwarts' Express.

James grew up in a black and white world, and he hated it. From an early age witches and wizards were taught that they wouldn't see in color until they looked into their soulmate's eyes. James grew up with stories from his mother and father about how their whole worlds were illuminated the first times their gazes locked, across the room, at Halloween party years before. James knew all this and still hated it. He wanted to see the bright colors of Quidditch ropes as they flew by him at matches his father brought him to and truly experience the paintings that his mother loved so dearly.

Whenever he complained he would get the same response from his parents. They would ruffle his hair and say "Be patient James, it will be worth the wait once you and your soulmate can experience these colors together."

But James Potter did not like to wait, so he set out to remedy his lack of color any way he could. At Quidditch matches, in Diagon Ally, and at parties his parents threw James would walk around and force everyone to look him in the eyes. When a young Narcissa Black complained to her mother, who complained to his mother, Euphemia Potter was forced to confront her son about his continued actions.

"James, dear," Euphemia said one night as she and her husband, Fleamont, sat at the foot of James' bed ready to tuck him in. "Why do you keep asking all your young friends to look at you again and again?"

James smoothed his covers and took a second to reply.

"I'm afraid it didn't work the first time. What if we didn't look the right way or she wasn't really paying attention?" James finally explained.

Fleamont and Euphemia exchanged a look, not unlike the one that finally gave them their ability to see colors.

"Son," Fleamont began gently, "trust me, it won't take a second look, and you can't force it. As soon as you look into your soulmate's eyes the world will bloom and you will be able to see every color imaginable."

"But honestly, most of those colors won't matter anymore anyway, love." Euphemia said. "Because the only color you will want to see is that of your soulmate's eyes. Blue has always been my favorite color, and anytime I see it I'm reminded of your father and how much I love him."

James looks thoughtful at this. He turns to his father and says, "Is that true Dad?"

Fleamont smiles at James and responds, "It is. Nothing is as beautiful to me as the color of your mother's hazel eyes. They remind me of her, and they remind me of you. Now promise me you'll stop making everyone you meet look into your eyes. The time will come and you'll be glad you had to wait, trust me."

James nods at his father and mother, "I solemnly swear," he says as his parents kiss him goodnight.

Lily grew up in a black and white world, and she hated it. It took a while for her parents to realize she was colorblind, in fact it was her teacher Ms. Elswick who was the first to realize. They were learning to identify colors in primary school. Lily, a normally bright student who picked up on things quickly, could not identify simple colors. Ms. Elswick brought this to the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Evans and recommended they take her to see a doctor.

So Lily's parents drag her to the neighborhood doctor who runs several tests. It is rare for girls to be colorblind, surely the girl must be able to see some part of the spectrum. After a while he stops and looks at the Evans and says, "She's colorblind." And while that is nowhere near a death sentence the Evans' are slightly upset. They know life will be just a little harder for their little girl.

At first Lily doesn't understand why she no longer had to take color tests and why the girls in her class laugh when she says her favorite color is grey. Lily doesn't understand until she plays dolls with her sister Petunia one day.

"No Lily, she can't wear that shirt and that skirt together." Petunia says as they are dressing their dolls.

"Why not? They look pretty together," Lily respond's confusedly.

Petunia sighs with the gravity of an elder sibling. "Because, Lily, the colors don't match. You can't mix black and brown." Lily looks down at the doll clothes and realizes she can't see the difference, to her they all look grey. She finally understands what her parents mean when they say she is color blind.

Lily accepts this part of her, for the most part. It hurts that Petunia gets to help her parents make flower arrangements at the Family flower shop. It hurts when she reads books and doesn't understand about the greenness of the grass or the blueness of the sky. It hurts that her mother won't let her pick out her own clothes.

A couple of weeks before Lily leaves for Hogwarts for the first time she sits in her room, thinking. Mr. Evans enters her room holding a pristine white lily.

"Hello Lilyflower," Mr. Evans says, "we haven't seem you all day. I thought your favorite flower might cheer you up a little." He leans forward and places the lily behind his daughter's ear. Lily looks up at her father as he settles down next to her bed.

"I was just thinking…" Lily starts, "I'm going to a magic school soon, and maybe magic can fix me. Maybe it can help me see colors. Severus says it can do all sorts of amazing things."

David Evans regards his daughter for a minute before answering, "Love, even if you are going to a magic school you can't look to magic to solve all of your problems. What if you don't have your wand or something? And besides you don't need to be fixed; you're perfect just the way you are poppet. You're smart and beautiful and kind, you don't need to see colors. In fact, it really wouldn't be fair to the rest of the girls in the world if you could see them."

Lily giggles at this and thanks her father before kissing him good night. She settles into bed, knowing she is lucky and loved but still wishing that magic will help her see colors.

After saying goodbye to his parents, James walked down the corridor of the Hogwarts' Express looking for a compartment. Finally he found one that housed a girl sitting close to the window, looking out of it and a boy lounging by the door. James slid open the compartment door, sat across from the boy, and introduced himself. The boy's name was Sirius Black and they talked for a while, getting to know each other, not paying attention to the girl in the corner. They ignored the boy who came in and sat with the girl until one word caught his ear.

"Slytherin?" James asked, "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" James asked Sirius.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said.

"Blimey," said James, "and I thought you seemed all right!"

Sirius grinned at him.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you're got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword in imitation of his father.

"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

The boy in the corner made a small noise and James turned to look at him again.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said the boy. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy—"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter, liking his new friend. The girls in the corner sat up and looked at James. He focused in on the green of her eyes…green. James started and looked at the girl. He saw green eyes, red hair, a flushed face. The whole world was suddenly in color. James looked back at the girl opening his mouth to say something. He was stopped by the surprised expression on her face as she frantically looked around the compartment. Before he could do anything further her eyes snapped back to his and filled with dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment," the girl said.

Unsure of what to do James reverted back to his joking self and tried to imitate her lofty voice before attempting to trip the boy on his way out. As he watched the girl leave, James realized he didn't know her name, all he knew was that she was his soulmate and that she made his world colorful.

Later, after the sorting ceremony while everyone was eating dinner, James glanced over at the girl with the red hair and green eyes again. In that moment he knew his dad was right; no matter how much he wanted to love the Gryffindor scarlet and gold they would never compare to the green of that girl's eyes.

Lily got onto the Hogwarts' Express early and walked the length of the train looking for her friend, Severus. When she didn't find him she went to an empty compartment. Not long after a boy walked in.

"Do you mind?" the boy asked politely. Lily looked into his eyes, grey like everything else, and shook her head. He took a seat near the door and lounged there. Lily went back to looking out the window trying to spot Severus. Another boy came into the compartment and talked to the first one. They began to get rambunctious just as Severus walked into the compartment.

Severus could tell Lily was upset and tried to steer the conversation away from her sister.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Severus.

One of the boys next to the door looked up at this, he was wearing glasses.

"Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" the boy said all this looking first at Severus then at the other boy lounging on the bench.

The second boy replied, "My whole family have been in Slytherin." Lily continued to watch their exchange.

"Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!" said the boy with glasses.

The other smiled at him and said, "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

The boy with glasses lifted an invisible sword, "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my Dad."

Severus made a small noise at this. The boy with glasses turned to him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," replied Severus, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy—"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected the second boy.

That was quite enough for Lily, she stood up quickly looking at each boy in turn, finally locking eyes with boy wearing glasses. His hazel eyes widened…hazel. Lily looked at the rest of him, his hair really was the jet black she had seen, but the rest of the world was an explosion of color. For the first time she could see color. After a moment Lily regained her anger and looked over at Severus.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment," she said.

As they walked in search of a new compartment Lily saw boys and girls with different colors of hair and saw owls and cats with different color feathers and fur. The world never looked so beautiful.

Later, after the sorting ceremony while everyone was eating dinner, Lily glanced over at the boy with glasses from the train. At that moment she decided the hazel of his eyes would be her favorite color. Not because she liked this boy, but because somehow magic finally let her see colors.

James loved colors. He loved seeing the different, bright hues of the fireworks he and his friends set off in the Great Hall after a Quidditch victory. He loved seeing the colors change on an animal he transfigured under Professor McGonagall's tutelage. Mostly, though, he loved seeing the difference between the scarlet quaffle, the brown bludgers, and the golden snitch.

He never really discussed his ability to see colors with his friends. It became obvious after living together for a short time that he and Sirius could see colors, but Remus and Peter could not. They all grew up as wizards and knew what that meant. There was an unspoken rule not to discuss it.

He and Lily had never discussed it either. Well, that wasn't exactly surprising since they didn't discuss anything until this year when they finally started to become friends. With their tentative friendship, James didn't want to run the risk of ruining their strained relationship. Since she was a muggleborn, James wasn't even sure if she knew what the colors meant, or if she knew and just decided to ignore the conntection.

One day, towards the end of his sixth year, James and his fellow Marauders were jumping into the lake, taking turns to impress the girls sitting on the sidelines. After an hour or so of this activity they got bored and laid out near the girls to dry.

For one of the first times the Marauders began to discuss their soulmates. Peter was optimistic that he would find his soon. Remus didn't like to think about it took much because he could never put someone through what his parents went through loving him. James snuck glances at the girls and said he knew who his soulmate was and had high hopes.

Sirius was quiet, watching the sunset over the lake so it came as a surprise when he spoke.

"I can't see colors anymore," Sirius blurted out. The other boys all looked at him in surprise.

"It happened the other night, during full moon," Sirius continued, not looking at any of them. "I was looking at a tree and all the sudden everything went back to black, white, and grey. The tree wasn't green anymore and the sky wasn't a deep blue, it was all just…grey. I remember what sunsets used to look like, but I can't see it."

No one knew what to say. They all knew what that meant though. When the world went grey again it meant your soulmate had died.

"I don't even really know who it was." Sirius said. "Dear old mum was taking Reg and I somewhere when we passed a muggle girl, I looked her in the eyes and suddenly the whole world was bright. Mum wasn't too happy about it. She pulled me away and told me never to speak of it again and to never look for that girl again. I agreed at the time, but since I've come to Hogwarts I thought I could go looking for her after I turn of age, track her down. Now I'll never have that chance," Sirius finished finally looking at his friends.

James struggled to find words. After a few moments, he said the only thing he could.

"Padfoot, mate. I'm sorry."

The conversation ended there, but the boys were always even more careful not to discuss soulmates if they could help it.

James looked over at Lily and her friends who were preparing to head back inside and hoped he would never again see only grey.

Lily loved colors. She loved seeing the difference between the lilac and indigo hues as she made potions. She loved matching clothes for her trips to Hogsmeade. Mostly, though, she loved picking flowers on the grounds and arranging them into bouquet based on their color.

She never really discussed her colorblindness with anyone at Hogwarts, after all it was gone and she could see the different shades of yellow, blue, red, and green now. She pushed her previous ailment to the back of her mind and forgot about it for a while.

Lily was sitting with her friends by the lake during a particularly sunny day of her sixth year. She lounged on the ground and let the sun warm her skin without really listening to the idle chit chat blanketing her. They girls discussed outfits for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend trip. It wasn't until Marlene started to get snappy with the other girls that Lily decided she better intervene.

"Marlene," Lily said, still laying down, "What's wrong, why are you snapping at everyone?"

Marlene sighed in a frustrated manner and said, "I can't see colors Lil, I have no idea what the difference is between green and blue, or red and orange…I wish my stupid soulmate would hurry up and look at me" she finished grumpily.

"What do soulmates have to do with anything?" asked Lily. "I'm sure magic can fix the problem. I was colorblind when I was younger, but as soon as I got to Hogwarts the magic fixed it." Her friends all stared at her then started to giggle.

"You weren't colorblind," Alice finally says. "Or perhaps you were if that's what you want to call it. When witches and wizards are born they can't see any colors, everything is in black, white, and grey, until they meet their soulmate. Once you lock eyes with your soulmate for the first time you can see colors." Lily looks at them all, perplexed.

"Wait, you didn't know? We just thought you didn't want to talk about, like maybe it was someone horrible or maybe it was Sna—" Alice stops talking with a grunt as Mary MacDonald's elbow meets her ribs.

"The color of your soulmates eyes are supposed to be the first color you see, the color you cherish the most," Marlene adds wistfully.

"That means you met your soulmate when you first came to Hogwarts Lils!" Emmaline chimes in. "Oh who is it?"

Lily's mind flashes back to the first time she saw color. She was in a compartment on the Hogwarts express with three boys. It couldn't have been Severus because she had looked into his eyes plenty of times before that moment. It wasn't Sirius Black because he never even looked at her while they shared that compartment. This left the third boy James Potter. As she thought about it, Lily vividly remembered looking into a pair of eyes, behind lopsided glasses, that suddenly changed from a dull grey to a bright hazel, illuminating the world around them.

"I, um, I don't remember. I saw colors while I was waiting for the sorting hat, looking at everyone in the Great Hall. Honestly it could have been anyone." Lily shrugs as she says this, but insider her head is spinning. Potter as her soulmate, there's no way. Sure she does love the color hazel and yes they have been getting along this year, but that doesn't mean they're soulmates. Lily looks to the lake where four young men are taking turns jumping in, one of them with messy, black hair, even when it's wet. Lily's friends accept her answer and she continues to think as they continue their conversation about colors and soulmates, processing this new information.

James sat on the couch and played with baby Harry. He looked down at his son, into his son's eyes, so much like his mother's. In that moment James finally understood what his parents meant. Colors are so much better with Lily. The green of her eyes is still his favorite color.

He hears a tutting sound and looks up at his wife who stands in the doorway. She tried to look stern but fails miserably.

"James, he'll never get to sleep if you keep playing with him," she says. James smirks at her, in the way he knows she can't resist.

"Aw come on, Lil. Of course he will. He's a total mum's boy, he'll do anything you say. Won't you son?" James says looking from Lily to Harry, then back to his wife. She rolls her eyes at him then smiles brightly. Lily walks over and runs her hand through James' hair lightly as she looks over his shoulder at their son. James leans back into her hand and basks in the moment. Outside this moment the world is in danger, outside this moment their son is in danger.

Lily sighs and tugs lightly on James' hair before moving around the couch to get Harry.

"It really is time for bed," she says as she takes him from James. "Say goodnight to Dada poppet."

James leans forward and tweaks Harry's nose before kissing his cheek. His kisses Lily's cheek next.

"I'll be up in a moment, love. Just let me turn out all the lights," James smiles at Lily as he says this. She blows him a kiss in response and begins to walk up the stairs to the nursery. James tosses his wand onto the end table and starts to stretch his tired muscles. Suddenly the door opens with a loud bang and James turns toward it only to see Lord Voldemort walking toward him, raising his wand.

James reaches for his wand before realizing he'll never get to it. Instead he screams a warning to Lily.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

As he sees the green light speeding toward him the only thought he has is that it looks like Harry's eyes, like Lily's eyes.

Lily watched James play with their son from the doorway separating their kitchen and living room. She watched as James and Harry laughed together and mused on how much they looked alike. Harry has her eyes, but she can't help but be a little disappointed. As much as she loves her eyes, she loves hazel even more and would have loved to see James' eyes reflected in their son.

Lily tuts as James gets Harry even more riled up. She and James banter back and forth, as is usual. She runs her fingers through his hair, a habit she used to scold him for, but that now she can't resist doing for herself. She takes Harry from James and blows her husband a kiss.

"I love you, James," she says as she turns toward the stairs.

Lily walks slowly up the stairs looking into Harry's eyes which are so much like her own. She hears the door slam open and instinctively hugs Harry tighter to her body. With a feeling of foreboding, Lily begins to climb the stairs faster in hopes of getting her son to safety. She hears James shout to her to take Harry and run.

She rushes through the nursery door, shutting it tightly and putting Harry in his crib, looking into his eyes. The vivid green becomes a dull grey, the stuffed, golden snitch in the crib becomes white, and the scarlet wallpaper becomes black. In an instant Lily's entire world returns to the dull black and white she so hated as a child.

It takes her just a breath to realize what that means and her heart aches as she thinks of James. James who made her laugh, James who filled her world with color. Lily chokes back a sob as she tried to comfort her son, knowing she would never be whole again.

The door to the nursery burst open and Lily spun around blocking her son from view, pleading with the intruder.

"Not Harry! Please, no, not Harry! I'll do anything!" Lily says to the black and white man in front of her. There's a flash of light from the intruder's wand and Lily falls to the ground. Her last sight is of her son and his now grey eyes.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thank you so so much for reading this, I hope you liked it. This is the first time I've written a fanfic, though I've been an avid reader for a while. Let me know what you think!