Enter for the International Wizarding School Competition – Round 7 - Beauxbatons

Theme: Beauxbatons: Write about something unforeseeable.

Year 3

Mandatory prompt: 8. [Object] A golden flower

Optional prompts used: 15. [Word] Dread

Special rule: None

Word count: 1,791

Warnings: Canon Divergence

Check author's note at the end!

It's time to run

Lily's heart sped up as she looked at the flower in James's hand. It was so beautiful—a peony had no right to be this beautiful—all of its petals were golden, almost like it had been dropped in a cauldron full of liquid gold. Peonies were her favourite flower, and James was well aware of that.

"It's beautiful, James. Thank you," Lily said softly, caressing the petals lovingly as if the gold flower was going to disappear. "Is there a reason why you brought me such a beautiful flower?"

James shrugged, not meeting her gaze. "I found it while I was walking around the Black Lake and thought you might like it. No other reason."

Lily frowned but tried not to read too much into his nonchalant words. She couldn't explain why, but dread twisted in her gut. James had been chasing after her from the moment he had met her seven years before, and she had finally agreed to go out with him a few months ago. So why was there this uncomfortable feeling growing inside her that refused to let her believe everything was alright, that he was the same?

"It's really beautiful; I'll keep it with me forever." Lily smiled again, but James was already turning and walking away from her. She frowned, trying to push away the feeling of rejection—even though she knew that reaction was completely unreasonable. "I guess it was a thoughtful present until you left me standing here like an idiot."

"Talking to yourself, Lils? That's the first sign of madness, don't you know?" Marlene called out from behind, and Lily turned to look at her best friend. Marlene's eyes widened when she caught sight of the object in Lily's hand, and she hurried over to inspect it. "Pretty flower! And it's a peony! Your favourite."

"This should make me happy, but for some reason, all I can think about is James's expression. It was troubled, almost broken." Lily had never held anything back when it came to Marlene; she needed her friend's advice more than ever. She blurted out, "Do you think we're wrong for each other?"

Marlene frowned and took Lily's arm, walking towards their dormitory.

It wasn't until they were in the dorms that she turned to Lily again. "All right, tell me what you mean by being wrong for each other. I thought you were happy with James."

Lily huffed and threw herself onto her bed, hugging her pillow. Her mind was all over the place; she thought back to her last interactions with James and over analysed them. They seemed like a happy couple, but were they happy?

"I don't know, Marley. I feel like something's off about us. I can't pinpoint exactly what has changed—or even if something has changed." Lily sighed and hugged her pillow tighter. "Maybe we let everyone's expectations get in the way."

Marlene sat next to her and stroked her hair. Lily closed her eyes and just enjoyed being around her friend. "Do you think you were happier before you and James became a couple? Do you want to go back to being just friends?"

Lily's mind went into overdrive. What would it even mean to go back to being friends with James after having him chase her for so long? Or would it be worth it to stay in a relationship where she wasn't feeling anything anymore just to fulfil people's expectations?

A petal of the golden peony drifted onto her mattress. Lily stared at it. She had been happy when James had given it to her, but now it felt almost like an obligation rather than something he did because he wanted to see her happy.

"I don't know what to think at this moment," Lily murmured, stroking the flower petals. "I like James, I really do, but I think I like me more at this point. We seem to have made a huge mess by agreeing to date. I think he feels uneasy too."

It was as if the flower in her hand glowed brighter when Lily confessed her true feelings. Maybe it was somehow connected to her or James's feelings. She liked to imagine the flower was agreeing with her, or even comforting her.

"Do you think we could still be friends if we aren't together anymore?," Lily hastily added, seeing Marlene's frown. "I don't want to lose his friendship. I'm making a mess of everything, aren't I?"

"We're teenagers, Lils. We're supposed to make messes and have conflicting feelings and overthink everything before coming to a decision—or we jump into things recklessly and think about the consequences later." Shrugging, Marlene stole the peony from between Lily's fingers, and the golden petals glowed brighter than before. "Before taking any step forward, you should ask yourself: What do you want to do? And how can that decision stop you from getting hurt?"

Marlene patted Lily's head one last time before standing up, handing Lily the flower and leaving the room. Dread churned in Lily's stomach as she thought about Marlene's advice. The peony in her hand seemed to mock her anytime she looked at it.

"Why do I feel like everything is coming down to this one moment?" Lily asked out loud before conjuring a slim vase to put the flower in. "I just hope I'm making the right decision."

"I think I was waiting for this for a while now," James said, and Lily felt bad for not talking with him sooner. "Did something feel off to you too? I always assumed you were better at these types of things than me."

It had taken days after her talk with Marlene before Lily finally managed to pluck up the courage to talk to James. She couldn't continue with their relationship, and if she wanted to maintain a friendship (of sorts) with him, she had to get a grip and do things right, no matter how much she dreaded the conversation.

Taking a stroll around the Black lake seemed like a good place to have a conversation like that. Lily had accepted going out with James while they were walking around the lake, and she felt like it was also a good place to end things, like a full circle coming together.

"I think we lost ourselves along the way," Lily replied, before waving her wand and producing a golden lily. She offered it to James as a peace offering. "I know it doesn't matter what I say. We won't be able to fix what's broken, but I hope we can still be friends."

James took the lily and smiled a little. Lily could see why she had fallen in love with him, but she could also see why she had fallen out of love. At the end of the day, they were too different.

"It's going to be difficult to be your friend after knowing what it's like to be your boyfriend, but I think we could try." James gazed at the flower in his hand and not at Lily. "If nothing works, we can just go back to you ignoring me."

Lily frowned, a little stung by what James had said. He was probably wounded by the break-up, but that didn't give him the right to hurt her in return.

"Sure, I guess we can be like that." Lily was trying not to let her temper get the best of her. Afterall, she was the one breaking up with him.

Twirling the flower in his hand, James looked at her and smirked. "I guess that's it then. I wish all the best for you, Lily-pad, and I hope you find what you're looking for."

Lily didn't know what to do; she just kept staring at James's back as he walked away. Where had things gone wrong?

Lily didn't feel comfortable with the idea of dating again after ending things with James, so she finished school before thinking about going out with someone again.

But when she started working at St. Mungo's after graduation, Lily hadn't expected to find love in a coworker—a female coworker.

She never thought she liked girls; afterall, she'd dated James for a while and had crushed on other Hogwarts boys. Narcissa had gotten under her skin, and Lily felt like she was seeing in colour for the first time. Narcissa was not the twirling Hogwarts romance she had imagined from herself.

"You're coming with me to Sirius's engagement party, aren't you? I know Marlene invited you too," Narcissa asked, sneaking a hand around Lily's waist. "Bella and Andi said they missed you and can't wait to tell you all the gossip we apparently missed by not going to dinner last week."

Narcissa's gentle affection was always surprising.. They had been paired more often than not during rounds in their first year at the hospital. Their tentative friendship had soon evolved to a romantic relationship, and Lily couldn't be happier.

"Marley will send an Avada my way if I don't go to the party." Lily giggled at the mental image of her best friend killing her. "As the maid of honour, I don't think I have the option to miss it."

"Good, I'll meet you at your house at six and a half, so we can Apparate to Grimmauld Place together." Narcissa kissed Lily's cheek before walking away. "Don't be late! You know how dreadful aunt Walburga can be."

Lily chuckled and continued on her rounds, hoping the party would run smoothly and without worries.

"Marley, everything looks great!" Lily exclaimed, hugging her best friend, who seemed to be glowing. "Look at you! You're going to be such an amazing bride."

Marlene giggled and hugged Lily tighter. Marlene's dress was an off-white long gown, and with her hair in an updo, Lily could imagine how she would be on her wedding day. "Can you believe I'm getting married in two months? Oh, Lils, we have so much to do!"

"Don't worry about it; that's my job," Lily winked while Marlene smiled. "Your only job is to look beautiful on your special day."

"Thanks, Lily. You don't know how much it means to me that you're here," Marlene said and looked over Lily's shoulder. Her smile widened. "Oh, look! Regulus is here—and so is the best man! They make such a cute couple."

Lily turned to where Marlene was looking, and she found Regulus, Sirius's brother, standing near the dessert table with his arm around someone's waist. Someone who Lily knew pretty well. Her ex-boyfriend, James Potter. Lily couldn't help but agree with Marlene: James and Regulus did make a cute couple.

As if he knew she was looking, James's hazel eyes met hers and widened.

'Well, shit! Maybe we're both gay. Who could have seen this coming?'

Extra a/n: A lot of gay people are affected by compulsive heterosexuality. It is the idea that straightness is the only option. Lily and James both face pressure to be the perfect people and to them in Hogwarts, it reads that the only way they can be perfect is to be straight. By making them both gay, they are rejecting the expectation placed upon them by others; after Hogwarts, they finally had the liberty to be who they both want to be.