Chapter Three
"Marlene McKinnon we are not doing this!", Lily groaned as McKinnon pulled her along to the quidditch match.
It was an overcast Sunday morning, ideal weather for quidditch and the pitch was crowded with people. Potter as usual, was surrounded by a barrage of girls batting their lashes at him. But unlike usual, he simply walked past them without another glance leaving the girls disgruntled and angry.
Lily watched him curiously as James walked into the changing rooms with a downcast face leaving his fans grumbling and rolling their eyes.
But no more than ten minutes later, James ran out of the changing rooms with his usual smile and the cheers of the crowd forgave him for ignoring the girls but Lily noticed something. He was searching through the stands for someone, but who?
His eyes landed on her and she gave him a small smile. He smiled back but almost immediately, sadness shaded his face and he looked away.
"Lils! Lily what happened?" Marlene chased after Evans as she ran from the pitch.
"Marlene leave me alone!" Lily screamed.
"Lils what happened?", Marlene demanded.
Right then, the clouds let loose a torrential downpour and Lily ran to the school for cover leaving Marlene behind.
Sobbing, Lily locked herself into her dorm and fell onto her bed. Why was she crying for Merlin's sake? Because something was wrong with Potter? Because he ignored his fangirls? What was there to cry about? But she couldn't avoid the heart-wrenching feeling in her chest.
"Lily? Lily why are you crying?", a concerned Alice asked sitting on the edge of her bed.
"How'd you get in?", Lily asked in between sobs.
"Alohomora.", Alice shrugged. "Lily what's wrong?"
"I don't know.", Lily sighed. "He just..I don't know."
"I'm guessing you mean James?", Alice smiled reassuringly, "Lily, Potter's a good guy. He saved me in the Charms classroom the other night, I was fighting off a boggart and..".
"And?", Lily sobbed hopelessly.
"The boggart showed me something I was really afraid of and I couldn't get rid of it. James popped in and got rid of it for me."
"The boggart involved Frank didn't it?" Lily looked up, revealing her tear-stained face.
"How do you know?", Alice's shoulders tensed at the question.
"You love him, I can tell.", Lily explained matter-of-factly, "You look at him differently than you do other boys and you smile at the mention of his name.".
"Well Lily since you're so good at noticing when someone loves someone, you should have noticed that you love Potter.", Alice smiled.
"Wh-what?", Lily stammered.
"Oh Lils,", Alice sighed. "He's driving you crazy. I was at the match and I saw everything. And Marlene tells me things too. Whenever someone talks about him you smile, unless it's one of his fangirls then you look absolutely murderous. When you talk to him, it's as if it's just you two in the world. When you look at him, I can tell he means the world to you.", Alice smiled, "Lily you love him."
Images began flashing through Lily's mind. James smiling at her during class, James giving her hot chocolate during rounds, James laughing with Remus and Sirius, James cooking breakfast with the elves. She realized, she did love him.
She loved him more than anything. She loved him because he was everything she needed. She loved him like treacle tarts on a quiet Saturday. She loved him like loud Gryffindor victory parties. She loved his dorky smile. She loved his messier than humanly possible hair. She loved how he had changed. She loved how he had saved Snape although he hated him. She loved how he never said one mean thing to anyone, anymore. She loved him, all of him.
"I guess I do love him Alice,", Lily said quietly. "But I guess it's my turn to love someone who doesn't love me. It's all coming back to me I suppose,", she added. "For not seeing he changed. For denying to myself that I loved him a long time ago."