Two weeks later, Lily was out of the hospital wing, having made a full recovery. Madam Pomfrey had dismissed Lily somewhat earlier than she would have liked, but her little patient was insistent on getting back to her friends, her classes, and her life.

"Bye, Madam Pomfrey," Lily said, giving her a quick hug. "Thanks for helping me!"

Madam Pomfrey returned the hug with a tender squeeze. "You're very welcome, darling," she said affectionately. Lily had grown on her over the past couple of weeks. She was such a sweet little girl.

"Now, run along," Madam Pomfrey said hurriedly, trying to disguise the emotion in her voice. "I'm sure all of your friends will want to see you!"

Lily grabbed her stuff and shot out of the room, her bright red hair bouncing up and down as she hurtled down the corridor. Her feet pounded on the brick paving of the castle and she felt a thrill of joy rush through her body. She could run again! It felt so good to move her sore legs after being in bed for so long. The feeling was indescribable. She ran faster, pushing her body to its limits.

Then, Lily tripped. She felt herself falling forward with her arms outstretched, with nothing to hold onto, nothing to save her…

And then, Tom was holding her in his firm, steady grasp. He peered down at her worriedly, with those mesmerizing green eyes of his, and Lily grinned sheepishly. It seemed that they always met by bumping into each other.

"Fancy meeting you here," Tom said, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Shouldn't you be lying sick in bed, calling out my name in an utterly distressed voice?"

"I just got dismissed, so there's no need to worry! I'm not, like, escaping from the wretched place or anything!" Lily protested.

"From the way you were running, it looked like you were."

Lily smiled, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It was just amazing to move my legs again. You don't know how long I've been cramped up in that room, waiting to get out."

"Ah. The prisoner has been released."

Lily let out a little sigh of happiness. "Yes, she has. And it feels amazing."

Tom wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace, burying his face in her hair. "It's good to have you back, Lily," he said, voice muffled. "I missed you."

"You visited me in the hospital wing almost every day."

"But it wasn't the same."

Lily blushed, trying not to look at his face, but it was impossible. His eyes drew her in and then she was moving forward, about to place her lips on his…

"Whoa – what the – MERLIN'S BEARD!" Alli yelled as she stumbled into the corridor and happened across the couple. "LILY? What in the name of nargles are you doing?"

Lily cast an amused glance at Tom. Here goes nothing, she thought to herself.

"Kissing my boyfriend," she said, brushing her lips with Tom's. "Told you I'd kiss him by the end of the year. Heck, it's only October now. I'm doing pretty well, if I do say so myself."

Alli just gaped, staring from Tom to Lily with huge eyes. This went beyond her. She'd never really expected Lily to kiss Tom, but here they were, standing here in this corridor – and it was only October. No – freaking – way. This was crazy. This was amazing. This was…wonderful.

"This is so wonderful!" Alli shrieked, barreling into Lily and giving her a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so glad for you!"

"Ouch – Alli – I'm still sore – " Lily mumbled. Alli released her immediately, apologizing.

"Sorry, Lils! I'm just so happy for you!"

Tom frowned lightly at Lily. "What's this about you kissing me before the end of the year?"

Lily laughed. "I made a bet with Alli earlier this year that I'd win you over. And I did!"

Tom chuckled. "I have to agree with that." He took Lily's hand and started walking. "Coming, Alli?" he asked casually.

Alli trailed along behind them. "Yeah, sure," she said. "What classes do you guys have next?"

"Lily and I both have Herbology. And what about you?"

"Herbology, duh! I'm in the same class as you two, remember?"

Lily chortled and rolled her eyes. "How could we ever forget?"

Alli playfully punched her friend on the shoulder. "Hey – just because I'm not the number one person in your life anymore doesn't mean that you should poke fun at me!"

"Oh, whoops." Lily said sarcastically. "I'll have to refrain from that in the future."

"Yes, you should."

"Okay, fine – I will!"

Tom smirked. Girls could be quite comical sometimes.

"So, Alli," he began, a note of humor saturating his voice. "You and Lily are best friends, yet you always seem to be arguing about something or another. Any identifiable reason for these friendly battles?"

Alli grinned and hugged Lily, all traces of mockery gone. "Opposites attract," she said lightly, looking him in the eyes. "You of all people should know that, Tom. Like with you and Lily – she's the sun and you're the moon, but you like it that way. You still love each other."

"Point taken."

Lily giggled. It's so true, she thought to herself. Tom and I are total, exact opposites. Tom is darkness – handsome, mysterious, alluring; I am light – beautiful, radiant, and glowing. We're so different, but so alike. And we still love each other.

The rest of the walk to Herbology was peaceful and quiet. Somehow, even Alli managed to stop her incessant flow of chatter for a few minutes. As they stepped out of the castle, a cool, crisp breeze bit their faces, reminding them that autumn wasn't far away.

For as long as she could remember, Lily had loved the autumn. It had always been her favorite season. Autumn meant that she and her family would play two-on-two Quidditch in the clearing by their house, while Albus reluctantly kept score. Autumn meant that she would take lighthearted walks through the woods, admiring the beautiful colors of the dying leaves and picking blueberries until her fingers were stained. And most of all, autumn meant to Lily that no matter what you try to do to stop it, life goes on. Every happy thing must end, but then good times would come again. Winter would pass, and when the spring took its place, everything would grow anew, and the cycle would start all over again. It was autumn's role in the cycle that Lily loved. The change. The transition from boiling hot to freezing cold. The subtle way autumn paved the way for winter. The way autumn was a midpoint between two very separate worlds. But most importantly, the amazing, never-ceasing, unstoppable change.

As Lily looked at Tom and Alli, she smiled. Well, she thought to herself. Maybe some things shouldn't change. I want Tom and Alli to stay with me forever.

The friends neared closer to the greenhouses. Professor Longbottom caught a glimpse of the three and waved them over. "We're working in Greenhouse 4 today," he said as they approached. "Make sure you have your gloves with you. You'll need them during the lesson."

He started, catching sight of Lily. "Ah, Lily, good to have you back!" he said, seeming to be genuinely pleased. "We've all missed you for the past couple of weeks. Are you feeling any better now?"

"Yes, sir. I'm feeling much better now."

"Good, good! Would you mind telling your parents that Hannah, Sylvia, and I are coming over for Christmas dinner over the winter holiday? Just want to let them know in advance, that way your mother can make enough food." He chuckled, pointing to his slim, dreamy-looking daughter who stood next to the greenhouse. "She may not look like it, but Sylvia can eat as much as a full-grown hippogriff when she's hungry enough!"

"Well, I'll make sure to tell them, sir," Lily said cheerily. "I know they'll be pleased to see you and your family."

"Wonderful!" Professor Longbottom said, patting her on the back. "Now, I think you three should go join Sylvia. She looks a bit lonely."

Lily nodded happily. "Of course, sir," she said, leading her friends over to where Neville's daughter stood, staring at her feet.

Sylvia was very small and thin, almost a foot shorter than Lily, even though they were about the same age. Her hair fell across her shoulders in big, curly blonde waves, and her grey eyes were always dreamy. She was like a perfect, miniature copy of Luna Scamander, an old family friend of the Potters. Lily had met Sylvia on a few occasions, but had never really gotten to know her very well.

"Hi Sylvia!" Lily chirped as they neared the place where she was standing.

Sylvia looked up, eyes brimming with happiness. "Hi there," she said dreamily, twisting a strand of hair around her fingers. "Lily, isn't it? I saw you fall at the Quidditch match. Are you okay?"

"I'm feeling loads better now. Madam Pomfrey got me ship-shape in no time."

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that," Sylvia said serenely. "I was very worried about you."

"Well…thanks."

"You're very welcome." Sylvia peeked around Lily's arm. "Can you introduce me to your friends?"

"Oh, whoops, sorry!" Lily apologized. She pointed to Tom. "This is Tom Elddir," she said. Then, she pointed to Alli. "And this is Allison Dupree – but she'll kill you if you don't call her Alli." Lily told her jokingly.

Sylvia's eyes widened, alarm crossing her mild features. "That doesn't sound very nice!" She took a step back, looking at Alli as if she were a werewolf.

Lily bit back a laugh. Trying to keep her face straight, she explained to Sylvia that she was only kidding and that Alli wouldn't really kill her, since she was one of the nicest people Lily knew. Sylvia relaxed visibly, and was even brave enough to give Alli a hug.

Is this girl for real? Lily thought to herself, smiling.

"Okay, class," Professor Longbottom said. "Time to go into the greenhouse."

The class filed in.

The warmth of the greenhouse hit Lily almost immediately, seeing as it was such a contrast to the nippy air outside. Must be a Heat Charm, she decided to herself. She choose a table near the back of the room, and Tom followed her.

"Grab a partner now, don't be shy!" Professor Longbottom encouraged.

Alli and Sylvia popped up next to Lily and Tom. "Alli and I are working together!" Sylvia exclaimed delightedly. "She's such a nice person to be my partner. No one ever asks me, since they usually think I'm too odd."

Poor, pitiful little thing, Lily thought to herself sadly. It's so sweet for Alli to be her partner. I'll do my best to make Sylvia feel better over the winter holiday.

"Does everyone have a partner?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"Yes, Professor Longbottom," the class chorused.

"Good!" he said. "Today, we'll be working with Ashroses."

The class let out a collective moan.

"Don't worry," Professor Longbottom assured them. "It's not that hard once you learn how to do it." He grabbed what looked like a long piece of bark from the table in front of him and held it up in front of the class. "This is an Ashrose," he announced. "It may not look like much now, but it's the rose is only revealed once you peel the bark off. Ashroses are known for their beauty, along with their many healing properties. You can find them in many potions, but most notably Veritaserum and Felix Felicis. "

"And, of course," Professor Longbottom said, grinning. "We couldn't forget what Ashroses are most widely known for. He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Love," he said finally, his voice echoing around the silent room. "They're just like Cupid's arrows. If you get pricked by one of the thorns, you'll instantly fall in love with the next person you see."

That shut the class up.

"What I want you to do today is debark these Ashroses for me." Professor Longbottom said. "Here's how you do it." He held up the piece of bark. "All you have to do is take one hand – like this," he showed the class. "And pull the bark off. Then – CAREFULLY – remove the flower. Make sure you have gloves on. There is a remedy for being pricked by an Ashrose, but it's very expensive and quite hard to find nowadays." He looked at everyone. "You need to complete three Ashroses each in order to receive full credit for this assignment. Ready…set – go!"

Half the class bolted eagerly towards the Ashroses and half the class remained where they were. Lily was one of the later, seeing as Tom had volunteered to get her Ashroses for her.

He came back, arms full. "Here you go," he said, dropping three onto her table.

"Thanks, Tom!' Lily said brightly.

"No problem."

Lily wasted no time in getting to work. Professor Longbottom had made it seem much easier than it was. In reality, it was tricky. Lily winced as the bark got under her nails and scraped her fingers countless times. Ow. It hurt. Lily looked around the room and was relieved to see that everyone else was struggling, just like her. Except for Tom, of course. He already had two Ashroses complete and was nearly done with the last.

Lily felt dazed. Why, why, why did Tom have to be so good at everything? It wasn't fair!

"How did you do that?" she asked hopelessly, staring down at her barely dented piece of bark with a look of pure exasperation.

Tom moved his eyes over her grubby fingers, her stained robes, and her desperate face. He smiled. "Let me show you how," he said, moving closer to where Lily stood. He held out his piece in demonstration. "All you have to do is find the weak spot of the bark – it should be somewhere near the ends."

Lily moved her finger around one end of the bark and surprised herself when she found a soft spot. "I think I've got it."

"Okay, now what you have to do is get your finger under it."

Lily did so.

"Good. Now all you have to do is peel the bark away from that spot. Just lift up."

Lily pulled, and to her amazement, the bark peeled off smoothly, in a long, wide strip that exposed the flower underneath. She looked around the greenhouse in wonder. No one else had gotten this far yet – especially not Alli and Sylvia, who had just given up on the whole ordeal and were now pointing their wands at the pieces of bark, trying to curse it into opening.

"You're doing wonderful, Lily!" Tom exclaimed. "Now, carefully pull the rose out of the bark. Make sure not to let the thorns touch your fingers," Tom instructed. "You don't want that to happen."

Lily smiled up at him lovingly. "And why not?" she asked, leaning back against his warm, sturdy chest. "It couldn't hurt to love you more, could it?"

"I'd let you do it, but I don't want your eyes falling on anyone else after you prick yourself."

"Jealous much?"

"Very."

Lily laughed, and lifted the rose from the remains of the bark. She gasped, understanding why the flower had been named an Ashrose. It was a beautiful, delicate shade of creamy, pearly white, with slight smudges of charcoal black sprinkling the leaves. It was perfect. Too perfect to be real.

"It's – it's beautiful!" Lily stammered, unable to take her eyes away from the delicate rose.

Tom took her hand in his. "I thought you'd like it," he said softly, his breath tickling Lily's ear. "It's my favorite flower."

Lily tore her eyes away from the rose and managed to look at Tom. "Is that the reason you knew how to take the bark off?" she asked weakly.

Tom nodded. "I love Ashroses," he said quietly. "Whenever I see them, I think of us, Lily." He tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear. "We were both covered by bark until we first saw each other. Slowly, inch by inch, we revealed ourselves to the world. And then, we finally met. The bark was gone, the flower was showing. We picked it up and the poison in the thorns stung us so bad, we knew we'd never have a chance."

Lily said nothing for a while. She was too busy taking in the beauty of Tom's words. He had a way of describing things that made her realize their meaning and their truth. He was amazing. What he said, what he did, how he acted – Lily loved it. Every last drop.

"I don't care about that stupid love poison," Lily said finally. "Because it's given me you."

She wrapped her arms around Tom's neck and leaned in to kiss him, but he put a finger over her mouth, looking around to make sure no one had seen what had happened. No one had. Gently, he detangled himself from Lily's fervent embrace.

"Sorry, Lils," he murmured in her ear. "But let's save the all the fun for somewhere more private, why don't we?"

Lily found herself blushing. I need to get a hold of myself! She thought. I can't just go around snogging Tom in public!

As if reading her mind, Tom smiled sympathetically. "You need to try to avoid the temptation," he said. "Even if it's for my sake only. If you start throwing yourself at me, I'll never be able to resist."

"Okay," Lily nodded. It made sense. If either one of them lost control, it would result in a chain reaction. She grimaced. "Guess I'll just have to fight the urge, huh?"

"With all your Gyffindoric strength."

"Rawr! I think I can handle that. I survived a 55 foot fall, remember?"

"Do I ever," Tom said, putting a hand over his head. "Please, try not to remind me of that."

"I'll do my best."

The pair worked in silence for a few more minutes until they had stripped the bark from all of their Ashroses.

"Do we take these to Professor Longbottom?" Lily asked. "Or do we just tell him to come see that we're done?"

Tom considered. "I think we take them up to him. He'd probably want to give the roses to Professor Baker so she could use them in Potions class."

Lily made a move to pick up her neat stack of Ashroses, but Tom stopped her, nudging her arm away. "I don't want you overusing your muscles on the first day back," he warned. "Even though the flowers may look light, they're not really. I'll take them up for you." He piled Lily's Ashroses into his arms and walked over to Professor Longbottom.

Holy mother of Merlin! He's so sweet! Lily thought to herself, stunned by his chivalrousness.

Tom walked back, roses gone. "Yep," he said as he joined her again. "He collected them. He was pretty surprised at how fast we got done, but I didn't tell him our secret."

Tom noticed Lily staring at him as if he'd just grown two more heads and a tail. "What?" he asked anxiously. "Did I spill something on my robes?"

Lily shook her head mutely.

"What is it? Come on Lily, talk to me!"

Lily sighed miserably. "You – you – you're just so good at this," she said weakly, shaking her head, apparently traumatized. "At making me feel special."

Tom smiled. "You are special, Lily. You deserve to be treated that way." He looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then lightly kissed her on the forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Lily breathed, fighting hard. Tom had been right about the chain reaction. It took her all she had to keep from returning the kiss.

Professor Longbottom looked up in alarm, having just taken a glance at his watch. "Only two more minutes left, everyone!" he announced. "Make sure you finish in time!"

The room was thrown into chaos. Bits of bark and half-stripped Ashroses flew in all directions as the class scrambled to finish the assignment on time. Lily and Tom just looked at each other, entertained expressions on their faces.

And then, the class was over. The students were ushered out of the greenhouse.

"Bye, Tom!" Lily whispered as she was pushed along by the sea of bodies. "See you tomorrow!"

He waved goodbye in response, flashing her a dazzling smile.


The rest of the day flew by. Lily practically floated through all of her classes, grinning like a loon. Being with Tom earlier that morning had been so wonderful.

Before she knew it, night came. Lily walked through the corridor that led to the Gryffindor Common Room, idly remembering that she had been here only a few weeks previously with Tom. Before they knew each other. Before they were in love.

Lily panicked considerably when she realized that she had only known Tom for 15 days. Just 15. 15 days ago, they had never even met. They didn't know each other at all, then. And yet, here they were today, beyond the kissing stage, saying they were 'in love.'

Lily started questioning how this had all come on. It had happened so quickly, she barely had time to think about anything, let alone recognize her true feelings. She thought she loved Tom, but now that she had brought up the subject, she wasn't quite sure. She had wanted him for so long. Could it be lust, or maybe desire? Was that what it had turned into – a love brought about by obsession?

Lily shook her head. It couldn't be, she reassured herself. Tom said that he loved me. I think he meant it.

But still, she resigned herself to ask him about it in the morning.

"Porcupines," Lily whispered to the Fat Lady. The portrait swung open, and she clambered into the dimly lit, cozy Gryffindor Common Room. A sudden wave of tiredness crashed over her, and Lily felt herself swaying. All she wanted to do now was go to sleep.

She trudged up the stairs and cracked open the door to her dormitory. A gasp of delight escaped from her lips when she saw what was inside.

A single, perfect Ashrose was lying on her bed.