"Lily, wake up." His deep voice echoed in my ears. I didn't want to wake up. I just wanted to stay with him.

"It's time to wake up." I could almost feel his fingers running through my hair.

"Damn it, Lily! Get up!"

I jolted awake, the sun coming through the windows too bright for my still sleepy eyes.

"Petunia?" My sister stood above me, her suitcase on the other side of the bed overflowing with clothes. "You're…packing?"

Our vacation was not even close to over. We hadn't even been up at the lodge for a week yet. We still had days.

"Yeah, so get up." Petunia snapped. She was always so cheery in the morning.

"But, why are we leaving?"

My sister rolled her eyes as she threw more of her clothes into her suitcase. "Dad got called from work. He's to go back to the office. We need to leave within the hour." She mimicked Dad's voice as she finished her explanation, zipping her suitcase with a hint of sass.

I lifted my hand to rub the sleep out of my eyes, and my right eye got pricked by something. Blinking at the small thing lying in my palm, I could feel my nerves shake again at the small, white, slightly crinkled lily. My lungs constricted at the sight. The previous night rushed back through my head: the garden, how close he'd been to me, how close we'd been to-

I cut off the thought, shutting my eyes against the sun again.

Maybe the expansion in my chest would just go away. Now we were leaving our vacation. I could leave behind this whole week. I could leave behind everything that happened with James Potter here at this lodge. I could forget it all.

There was only one problem with that solution.

I didn't want to forget.

My stomach was already burning only with the thought about everything that had happened between James and me. I couldn't imagine leaving that feeling behind.

Outside, everything looked the same: the sun rays reflecting off the snow, the mountains emerging from the ground, and the skiers gliding down the hill.

All of those people went around as if nothing had changed. But everything had changed.

I clutched the flower closer to my chest, hoping it would calm my fluttering bird of a heart. If anything, it just made it speed up even more.

My skin tingled all over, causing me to shiver.

It couldn't be-

I couldn't be-

This stuff only happened in story books! Not reality. This wasn't real. That kind of stuff can't happen in just a few days. Nobody wakes up one day and find themselves in-

The picture of the two of us in the greenhouse suddenly popped up in my mind. James and I; we'd been as close as two people can get without touching. My heart sped up another few paces, even as I sat here the next morning.

"Good! You're awake! Hurry and get packed sweetheart." My mother hustled into the room, collecting our belongings that were strewn around the room.

I couldn't tear my eyes from the window.

How could all those skiers and my mother simply carry on normally when my heart was threatening to pound right out of my chest? I couldn't seriously be-

Or I could.

The words wouldn't come to my lips, but the army of butterflies in my stomach spoke for me. Too bad their voices weren't out loud.

"Come on, sweetheart. We need to leave now." Mum held up my ready packed suitcase.

I needed to speak to James, even just see him. But…that could wait till school started, right?

As I followed my mother, I was sure that I could wait until the first day of school. It really wasn't that far away if I thought about it. Only a few more weeks, and I would see him again. I could wait.

My dad stood through the doors of the lobby, packing the car tightly, looking frazzled. He always looked like that over work. Petunia was already in the car, tuning the radio.

I would leave without saying good-bye if I walked through these doors now. I couldn't let my exit last night be the last thing he saw of me before school started. Especially with this…revelation of mine this morning.

"I have to find him." I could barely hear my own voice.

"What, Lily?"

Without even really thinking, I pulled away from my mother's guiding hand. She called after me, but I didn't answer. I sprinted right up to the front desk, disregarding those waiting in line.

"Which room are the Potters staying in?"

The lady behind the desk looked down her pointed nose at me, reminding me faintly of the librarian at Hogwarts, Madame Pince.

"You'll have to wait a moment miss. I'm afraid these people have been waiting longer than you have." The politeness was exaggerated in her tone.

"Please. I just need to know their room number."

The lady clucked her tongue at me, holding my gaze for a minute as if she was hoping I would back down. Her face contorted into a glare, but she searched through her papers, even if it was just to get rid of me.

"They are in room 267."

"Thank you!" I shouted over my shoulder. It was as if I were being chased by the Filch-like man again with how quickly I flew down the hallway and up flights of stairs.

The golden numbers 267 caught my eye and I skidded to a stop.

Not sparing a moment's hesitation, I found myself knocking incessantly on the door. The door between James and me.

I told myself I was only here to say good-bye. But those words, even though I couldn't say them to myself, were threatening to leap from my throat like a hiccup.

There was only silence behind the door. I rapped on the door again, a little louder this time.

My mind painted the image of him on the other side of the door, peaking through the peephole.

But there was no answer.

I knocked again, refusing to believe he wasn't here. That I'd missed him. My knuckles had cracked open from all of my knocking and I was losing my staring contest with the white painted door.

"Lily! There you are!" I heard my father's voice, but I kept my eyes on the wood.

"Come on honey, you put your mother in quite the panic down there." My dad looked between my cracked knuckles and the door, not sure what to make of the situation.

"Are you ok?" He asked quietly.

I nodded, though that was completely false. James was gone. The words that made my nerves shake were now burning the back of my throat.

With my mind in a haze, I let my dad lead me back to the lobby. A dirty look was sent my way from the lady behind the counter, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

I tried to comfort myself. I would see James at school.

But I didn't think these feelings could wait that long.

My dad patted my shoulder lightly as I buckled my seatbelt. I could hear my mother whispering frantically to him, my name popping out of her lips many times.

I felt numb as my dad started the car, pulling away from the lodge. In only a few days, that lodge had begun to mean more to me than it ever had before.

It felt as if I was in a dream. I just needed to wake up. My heart was fluttering against my chest, how could my family not hear it? I went to lay a hand over it to try and stifle it slightly, but something was missing from my fingers.

"My flower," I hadn't even realized I'd said anything until Petunia looked at me oddly.

Frantically, my eye searched every inch of the car around me as my hands searched my pockets.

"Did you forget something?" My sister asked, genuinely seeming worried for once.

"My flower," I choked, my lungs constricting.

Tears were pricking my eyes again. First I'd missed James, now my flower from him was gone. Was this a punishment of some sort?

"What flower, Lily?" My mother asked, twisting in her seat.

"We have to go back." I sounded crazy. But I needed to find it. I needed that flower.

"We can't just turn-"

"We have to go back!" I breathed again, my chest rising and falling rapidly.

My mother reached back to pat my knee. "We'll have the hotel deliver it to us, alright?"

I could see my dad's gaze in the rearview mirror, his brow furrowed in concern as he took in my state. Without giving any explanation, he turned around, speeding back towards the lodge. He ignored my mother's comments about his work, and only winked at me. I could have hugged him.

There was a long line of cars leading into the lodge, holding us back quite a ways. My patience snapped. I thrust the car door open and my feet hit the pavement running. My family shouted after me as I weaved through the cars, but I didn't turn around.

When I burst into the lobby, my eyes immediately searched the carpet for the small white petals. There were so many pairs of feet, I feared that my flower was already in pieces. I pushed through families and tripped over suitcases, my eyes scouring the place.

The lobby seemed a bust. The last place I'd been was in front of James' door. I went to turn that way when I spotted it. The small, ruffled bloom lay right in front of the stairs. Relief spread through my veins as I pushed towards it, but my relief soon switched to horror when I saw fingers fold around my small flower.

"No!" I protested tripping forward to close the distance. My shouts died on my lips however, and I froze on the spot with those hazel eyes on me. The ones that I'd supposedly missed.

James stood up from his knees, clutching the flower in his hand much like I had this morning. My mind went into a buzz, my heat hammering against my ribs. He stood here in front of me, but my throat closed, now blocking those words.

I needed to tell him that I-

He tilted his head to the side, sending me a small smile. Without a word, he held the flower out to me, brining me back to last night. It was as if the universe was giving me a chance to redo the night before.

My hand reached out to the flower, but I didn't take it from him. Our skin brushed as I let my fingers wrap around the flower, weaving together with his fingers. His eyes darkened noticeably.

"You forgot something." James' voice sent my blood speeding through my veins, causing shivers to travel down my spine.

No words came, as my throat was still closed up, but that wasn't a problem. I barely needed to lean forward to bring our lips together. James did not even hesitate to respond, his free hand going to hold my waist.

We probably looked like two fools in the middle of that lobby, holding on to each other tightly as people tried to get past us. But I didn't care. He was here.

It was amazing to me how in just a few days, almost six years could be blown out of the water as if they'd never happened, but that's exactly how it felt to be pressed right up against James as he angled his head to deepen the kiss.

He gave a few more short kisses only to pull away and land one on my cheek, my forehead.

"Hang on," I mumbled against his lips, pushing him arm's length away for a moment. Everything inside me was screaming so loud, I could barely hear myself think. "James, I have to say something."

He smiled, disregarding my arms and pulling me against him again. If I couldn't think straight being around him before, having every inch of him brush against every inch of me was no help at all.

"James," I began, his name sounding wonderful on my tongue. I was trembling in his arms. "I think I'm…I think that I'm in…in lo-"

But James didn't let me finish. Very gently, he kissed me again. My arms wrapped around his neck, weaving into his hair as I pulled him closer, our lips moving together again in a much different way than before.

He knew what I was saying, and he was answering in the affirmative on his part as well. It was not the right time for those three words, however strong they burned in both James and I. I may not be able to say them out loud, especially with those hazel eyes smoldering in my direction, causing me to trip over my own feet, stutter over my words and make my mind go dizzy, but my head is finally allowing the words to spill out in my thoughts.

I was in love with James Potter.

For now, it was enough to know that I had him and he had me. Even if we didn't say the words out loud, the words weren't hidden. They hung between us, filled glances and kisses and exploded whenever skin brushed skin. For now, it was enough to know the words. Sometimes that's even better than saying them out loud.

It seems entirely impossible, but it can only take the blink of an eye, or simply waking up one morning for emotions to change.