Lily Evans was desperate. She had thought that last summer the worst but she had been wrong. This summer promised to be the hell on earth. No magic, no friends, nothing to help her pass the time.
And no letters from James Potter. Not a single one. Not even the tiniest little note.
"Pull yourself together, Evans, and write to him. Take the stupid quill and parchment and write to him." She told herself for the 99th time. The floor of her room was covered with crushed pieces of paper – letters that she started and never finished. And the 99th time wasn't proving to be any different.
"Dear James,
I can't stop thinking about this almost-kiss we shared. Actually, I cannot stop thinking about you. I never had the chance to tell you but I had the most amazing year in Hogwarts. And it was all thanks to you. Last year I decided to give you a chance. To try and be civil. But I never expected to actually like you so much. You are smart, and funny, and brave, and completely crazy. And under all the swagger and pose you are the kindest person I've ever met.
Somewhere along the way I fell for you. Big time. Took me long enough to realize it, right?
So I don't know what to do now. I know I ran away like some idiot. You probably think that you scared me off… But you didn't, I swear! So why are you not writing to me?"
ARRRGGGHHHHH! This was so not working. She could never send this to him. Probably she should just stay locked in her room until the end of holiday. Or even better – for the rest of her life!
And just then… The very familiar owl flew through the open window, dropping a letter right in front of her. Lily grabbed it with shivering fingers.
Dear Lily,
Sorry for not writing to you for three days. I was reading a muggle novel. Have you heard of "The Dangerous Liaisons"? It's a story of rich muggles who sleep with each other and then write letters about it. The whole novel is made entirely of letters, can you imagine?!
I told Sirius about it and he said that it sounds like his family which is full of "dangerous liaisons".
So this book is an example of an epistolary novel. Pretty cool word, huh? I never knew it before. I bet you knew it, being so much smarter than me and all…
The thing is, see how important letters can be? I told you on the train - I always fancied you. But before we started writing to each other, I never actually knew you. And now that I know you, I am so in love with you that it's even freaking me out a little. It makes me do crazy things. For example, right now I am standing in front of your house (don't ask how I got here, it's a weird story), staring at your window like some maniac. Because I want you to come down. And I want to finally kiss you and ask you to be my girlfriend.
So will you?
Waiting (im)patiently,
James
PS: Besides, if you come, I will tell you all about this freaking book!
For a few long moments Lily simply stared at the parchment. Then she turned it around and quickly wrote just a few words. The owl helpfully submitted its foot so the girl could attach the letter, and flew out of the window, right to the tall dark-haired boy waiting down. She saw him reading her reply. Then he looked up and smiled to her. And his smile made her heart beat faster.
Her answer was:
Dear James,
Of course I know what epistolary novel is!
Coming in five minutes,
Lily
PS: I love you!
And this is it. The end. The rest is history. It's been a real pleasure to go back to the world of Harry Potter after all these years. And if somebody reads my story, a big thank you and hope you enjoyed it!
xxx