"Lily, go tell him that you love him." My best friend Marie said after watching me stare at James Potter for at least 5 minutes.

"Marie, I can't! I know he used to like me…but he completely gave up on me in sixth year…and this is seventh year! It's not like he's started going out with other people yet…but he's drifted away." I retorted.

"Courage, Lily. Courage. You need to tell him. It's unhealthy for you to be staring at him this long."

I just grinned at Marie. "What if I like staring at him? Besides, he's not going to notice me. He doesn't even care about me any more!! We're only friends…and maybe not even that!" I stopped, seeing the look on Marie's face. "Come on! You can't possibly think he still likes me!"

Marie just grinned. "I know a surefire way to find out."

And that's how it began. I am putting a spell on a telephone to make it work, and sneaking it into James Potters' room. Then, I'm putting a spell on another telephone to make it work, and handing it over to Marie. Marie gave me her famous grin. "OK, Lily. Let's run over the plan again. I dial James Potter. Then, whoever picks up, I ask them for James Potter. Once he gets on the phone, I put the phone on speaker. Then, I ask him questions that I think you need to know the answer to, that you can hear without him knowing you're right there…so he'll talk more freely. Understand?"

I nodded my head vigorously. "You're brilliant, Marie."

"Yeah…" she said. "I suppose it comes with being Muggleborn. I mean look at us…both of us Muggleborns and yet two of the brightest girls in our year."

"OK." I said. "Let's get on with it."

Marie dialed the phone's number…she put it on speaker early so I could hear. She was greeted by Remus. "Oh, hello, Remus. Um…is James available?"

"Well, yes, he's available, but how did you get this phone to work in the first place? And why is there a phone in our room?"

"None of your business." Marie retorted. "Just give the phone to James."

Remus replied, "OK." In the background, I could hear Remus shout, "JAMES! Marie wants you. She's made a phone work somehow…so pick it up and talk to her."

"Um…hello?" James asked tentatively.

"Yes." Marie said. "Hello."

"Um…Remus said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yeah." Marie said. "And I'm not going to beat around the bush. Look…do you still like Lily?"

"Sure I do. She's my friend now…surely you can see that she hasn't been hexing me lately."

Marie let out a groan. "Boys are all such jerks. I mean, do you like her?"

"Um…why does this concern you?"

"Because I'm her best friend! And I deserve to know!"

There was silence for a bit. "And I won't tell her!" Marie finally shouted.

"Well…" James said. "I don't want to make a fool of myself. First, tell me…does she like me?"

Marie shook her head disapprovingly, not that he could see… "I asked you first! Come on. Just spit it out."

"Well…yeah. I've like liked her for a few years. Why should that suddenly stop?"

"Oh, I don't know." Marie said sarcastically. "Maybe because you've stopped asking her out, stopped being romantic, and stopped trying to give her gifts at every possible opportunity? You even missed valentine's day!!"

"Oh. Well…I stopped because she told me it was annoying her. And I didn't want to be a bother. I figured if she utterly and truly hated my guts, there was really no point in trying."

I smiled, my mood suddenly better. In my mind, I was dancing. I held back the sudden urge to jump around the room screaming, "JAMES STILL LIKES ME!" I continued to listen.

"Well, then, that's just peachy." Marie said. "But seriously. Do you still like like her? Or was that just a passing phase for Jamesiekins. Pretend they're in love with someone and then stop as soon as the other person loves them back, breaking their heart."

I could hear the shock in James' voice. "Wait, whoa…did you just say that Lily loves me??? Cause I could swear…"

I couldn't take it anymore. I took the phone from Marie's hands. "James? It's Lily. I've been listening this entire time…it's a prank Muggle girls pull on Muggle boys…but you actually meant that?"

"Well…yeah…considering the fact that I told it to your best friend who wasn't supposed to tell you…so I couldn't have been lying to you because you weren't supposed to know."

Marie snatched the phone back. "I did NOT tell her. I mean, sure it was my idea, but she's been listening in! I didn't talk to her or anything."

"Yeah, whatever…" James retorted. "Give the Muggle telly-phone back to Lily."

"It's telephone", Marie said angrily. "And fine. I will."

"Hey, James. I'm back on the phone."

"Hello, Lily. I was just meaning to ask you…would you go out with me? You know…on the trip to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

"I'd be delighted!" I said. "You know, there's one inconvenience with these telephones. I want to kiss you, but you're not here."

"That can be arranged." James said. He hung up, and so did I. I waited a few minutes, and there James was, with a bouquet of roses. Marie got up to leave.

"My work here is done." She said. "I'll leave the two of you here."

James gave me the roses, and kissed me. It was the best feeling ever.

"Lily" he said after we broke apart. "Never forget I love you."

"I won't, James. I won't."

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And after all those years, when James died to protect his wife and son, those were his last words. "Never forget I love you."

But this time, Lily was not able to respond.

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