A/N: Here goes the beginning of a new fic! I hope you enjoy.
"behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic."
"-and once again, Captain James Potter has led his team to victory! They have won the Quidditch World Cup! James, what would you like to say about the match?"
Lily willed herself not to look up at the screen as she continued typing away.
"Well, obviously, it was a team effort. I think the team did amazing throughout the match, and there were some points in this match we definitely did not-so-great, but I'm proud of how we overcame them."
"Yes, yes. You have also been awarded Player of the Tournament, what would you say about that?"
"I mean… I'm honored. To everyone who's supported me… The fans, the lads, Danielle-"
"Can somebody turn that off?" cut in Lily coldly, her voice sharp. Her eyes flew to Emmeline Vance, the woman who was over at her house. "I'm trying to focus here."
She looked slightly bewildered but turned off the television, knowing not to argue with Lily when she got into one of her moods.
"Thank you," mumbled Lily, turning back to her Wizarding Computer and continuing to scroll through the website she'd been looking at.
Silence settled over the room for a while. Lily continued to click around when an owl flew into the room and littered an envelope onto her lap. Being a director and all, she got a bunch of spam letters from random people, so Lily had tried to set up an owl system to make sure that she only got the ones that were important.
She gingerly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter from inside. It read,
Dear Ms Lily Evans,
Your work on your latest movie, 'Ripped Jeans' is commendable.
I have an open offer for you. It will be a slightly different style of movie, but it will definitely be a hit movie of your career. It will be a documentary. Please Floo me for more details.
My Floo Pin is #1486, and my address, city, and code are also enclosed.
We hope you consider this offer!
Signed,
Malcolm Irwin, Producer
Lily blinked at it. A documentary? That would be a stretch. Way out of her comfort zone. She was used to angst, tragedies, and movies with tragic endings.
It mirrored her life pretty well.
What was the point of writing out happy endings if they never happened in real life?
"Emmeline," she said, turning to her friend. "I'll need you to get out. I'm going to be meeting someone."
"Who?"
Lily raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, sorry," mumbled Emmeline. "Why can't you tell me, though?"
Lily just pointed to the door.
"Sorry. See you. Bye!"
Lily just closed the door on her. Her mood tended to go up and down, and when he came up, it definitely went down.
She went to her Wizarding Computer and looked up 'Malcolm Irwin'. Some results came up. He was a legit guy, had his own film production, and had produced some movies before. The ratings for him were pretty good too. Not much controversy. Lily browsed his Personal Life section on his Online Biography for a while.
It was sad. These days, people had to do that to make sure they didn't hire or work for any shady guys.
Like what had happened with Sirius Black.
Lily closed her eyes and shook her head. She wasn't going to think about that. Not now, not ever. It was gone, it was in the past, and she was done with it. It had ruined Lily's life, tarnished her image, ruined…
She stopped herself before she could finish that sentence. She felt the salt water building up behind her eyes, she could feel it waiting to slide down her face.
No.
Lily looked at what she was wearing, a baggy brown sweater and black jeans. She deemed it presentable enough, and so she (slightly nervously) took some Floo Powder and Floo'ed Malcolm Irwin.
The next moment, the fire roared and his face popped out of the fire. Since it was all ash, Lily couldn't exactly distinguish what he looked like.
"Hey there," he greeted. He had a slight Australian accent. "Would you mind if I Floo'ed over?" He gestured out of the fireplace. "To your house, if that's all right?"
Lily nodded. "Yeah, that's all right."
His head disappeared, and then the fire roared once more as he materialized in his house, brushing the soot off his suit as he turned to her. "Malcolm Irwin," he introduced, holding out his hand.
Lily shook it firmly. "Lily Evans. Take a seat."
He nodded and sat down on her couch. She sat down on the one opposite him. "So, as you know," he started, "I am offering you a job as a director for a documentary."
"Yeah," Lily said.
"There are many benefits to directing this," he explained. "The pay, for one. There aren't many directors for documentaries out there nowadays, so the pay and demand have both gone up. I understand this might be out of your comfort zone, but your work is marvelous, and we really think you would do well in this."
"Is there not some kind of qualification for this? Experience?" Lily wondered.
"Not exactly. If you went to directing school or took one or two documentary courses, then you'll be good."
"Okay," replied Lily.
"Obviously we're not expecting an answer now, but…"
"I'll do it," interrupted Lily, surprising herself. The one-year ago Lily would never have approved.
But things had changed.
Malcolm looked slightly surprised. "Really? That's great. There are some requirements for this, however." He unfurled a document and began talking about all the expectations, the requirements, salary, and work hours. Lily managed to raise the salary by a little bit (negotiation was key), but she was overall satisfied with the job offer.
"I have a question," Lily said. "What's the documentary going to be on?"
"Oh," said Malcolm, laughing slightly, "I forgot to tell you the most important part. Sorry. It's going to be about a famous Quidditch Player, not sure if you've heard of him. His name is James Potter, and he-"
Lily went numb and everything else Malcolm said went unregistered.
Two words were on Lily's mind.
James Potter.
She could practically feel the tears prickling at her eyes, the anxiety building up about a chance of seeing him again, the memories…
That one, horrid day.
The day when her trust had been shattered.
The day when everything went haywire.
That day when it had broken out all over the n-
She managed to break out of the never ending sorrow, but the memories that she tried so hard to keep down all started spiralling back towards her, and she couldn't handle it. There was absolutely no way she was going to direct a documentary with the J- word.
"I'm not doing it."
Her throbbing, nagging, gloomy thoughts instantly started to fade into the background.
Malcolm looked at her in surprise. "May I ask why?"
"I don't have to tell you," Lily said firmly, "if I don't want to. I'm sorry. Thank you for your offer, but I can't do this movie. I'm sorry. Take your contract to someone else."
Malcolm stayed silent for a few moments before nodding and standing up, snapping his briefcase shut. "All right then," he said. "But if I may request you think about it. No, not now. Later on. I request you to reconsider. You have my Floo Pin, and here's my business card." He held it out to her. "Give me a ring. I don't need your answer immediately."
"That won't be necessary," cut in Lily sharply. "I'm not going to do this job. Thank you for your offer. You may leave now."
"I'll still be leaving this here." He put it down on the table. "Just… reconsider. That's all. I'll leave now. Thank you for your time." He gave her a nod, looking slightly bemused, before climbing back into her fireplace, and in a few seconds, all that was left of him was a few bits of burnt coal, some sprinkled ash, and a light blue business card.
And the memories.
Lily closed her eyes. She'd buried those memories down a year ago. She wasn't going to meet James again, she couldn't. There would be a confrontation, there would be lies, fake smiles, and fake apologies.
No.
Never.
That wasn't going to happen, and Lily wouldn't let it.
She just wasn't ready.
