Imperfect

For Remi (reminiscent-afterthought)


Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

- The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost


She didn't mind that it was pouring rain -

Rain was more interesting than sunshine,

Because it was cold, and

Dangerous, and altogether

Imperfect.

.

(And Merlin knew

Lily Evans was

Imperfect.)

.

They climbed the hill hand in hand,

And twice she slipped, and twice he

Caught her.

Her dress was torn, and her feet were

Bare, and everything about her

Was alive and wild and

Imperfect.

.

And the two of them didn't make sense -

Because Lily Evans liked rules and

James Potter liked chaos

And didn't she think she was better suited

For a boy-next-door like Severus Snape?

.

(Secretly she thought she'd turn back someday

And give the boy next door a chance -

But for now she tread down the rarer path

With the boy who was so

Imperfect

For her.)

.

At the top of the hill he told her to

Close her eyes

(And she said no -

Because if he wanted chaos, then

She was going to break every rule she could find.)

.

Close your eyes, he said again, and

For the second time

She said no.

.

Then look, he said, and he knelt,

And in the middle of the rain he offered her

A star yoked to a silver band.

Look at this, and tell me whether

You think

We could be

Perfect.

.

(She smiled and shook her head.

Not perfect, she said, because perfect was

Sunshine, and Merlin knew

Lily Evans

Preferred rain.)

.

And she kissed him until

They were thoroughly soaked

In thunder and mud

And each other.

.


[Battleship Challenge: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost]

[100 prompts: Climbing; "Look at this"]

[Monthly Drabble-A-Thon: Weather]

[Globetrotter Competition: Saint Petersburg, Russia – use the phrase "three time's the charm" as inspiration.]

[Heads or Tails Challenge: Second Level B - Tails - third person past tense]

[Twelve Days of Christmas Style Challenge: Five Eras - Marauders Era (5/5)]