Ch 5
The Invitation
Eight Years Later
Dear James,
Averi and I are gonna stop by the Alley. We're thinking about stopping by Fortescue's, too. You and Sirius wanna come? Remus said he won't be back from New Zealand until two weeks from now and I haven't been able to contact Peter. We'll drive over to pick you guys up at, say, 12? Let me know! Averi says hi.
Your friend,
Lily
"Mail from Lily?" Sirius said as he entered the room.
"Yeah, she invited us to go to Diagon Alley with her and Averi around noon tomorrow. Oh, Averi says hi," James said while looking at his friend.
"See! I told you she was coming onto me, mate!" he grinned his famous, heart-breaking smile.
"Bro, she's known you for eight years now and STILL hasn't even LOOKED at you as if she liked you! The day she asks you out will be the day I sprout wings and fly to Jupiter!"
"That can be arranged…" Sirius whipped out his wand and smiled mischievously. James lazily rose to his feet, gave a disbelieving smile, and shook his head. He pushed past Sirius. "Wh-where you goin?" Sirius said, now almost laughing, following behind his friend. James, unable to control it himself, began laughing. When he was almost finished, he managed to get a sentence out. "Owl Lil. Tell her we're coming."
Sirius acquiesced and sprinted to his owl, Midnight. He rather quickly scribbled out a letter:
Dear Lils,
We're coming. James is here laughing his head off (for reasons unknown to me) and insists that he tell you something of slight importance. If you ask me, he's stark, raving mad (nothing at all like me). Oh, and do tell Averi I said hi.
Sirius
T.T
He held the letter to his eyes, proud of his work. The thing that James supposed had to tell Lily was that he loved her. He would have told her eons ago if they weren't such close friends.
Once, in their 5th year, Lily's boyfriend at the time, Michael Rhett, broke her heart by telling her he was cheating on her and didn't love her. He even said it as if he didn't care. That night, Lily told James and cried herself to sleep in his arms (James didn't mind). He loved her too much to see her unhappy so the following morning, he hexed Michael so bad, nobody could tell where his face was.
Everyone knew James was in love with Lily except Lily herself. As far as she was concerned, James was just her best friend after Averi. James vowed to himself that that was all she was ever going to see him as--her best friend. He feared that revealing his love for her would ruin their friendship (and he would kill himself if Lily hated him) so he kept it a secret. (Anyway, we really must get back to our beloved boys)
The letter tied to his leg, Midnight flew over the tops of houses towards the setting sun. 12 miles later, he was flying over a park, simply known as The Park, where there were two 19-year-old girls sitting on an island. One had brown skin, very dark brown eyes, and slightly frizzy black hair. The other had vaguely tanned skin; amazing, emerald eyes, and dazzling, scarlet hair. They were watching the sun set when Midnight landed between them and stuck his leg out towards Lily.
"Thanks, Midnight," she said taking the letter and stroking his feathers. He spread his wings and with one strong flap, was gone.
"So…" said Averi, still watching the sunset.
"They're coming. Oh, Sirius says hi," she answered, a half-smile on her face. "So…" Averi stared blankly at her friend. "What?"
"When are you gonna give him a chance? He's likes you for eight years now!"
"Yeah, but you have to remember I've also been his best friend for eight years, too. It'll be kinda creepy to me."
"It should go without saying that it won't be creepy for him…"
"It's just that we're so much alike. I mean, we both hate our parents, both stay 24/7 at our friend's house, both eat like crap yet not gain an ounce of fat, we're funny, we're athletic. It seems like it would be relative to me dating a male me. Creepy."
"I see your point. C'mon. It's almost dark." Lily stood and Averi followed suit. They headed home with thoughts of certain wizards dancing in their heads.