Dedicated to Galaxyblackbird  for winning the oneshots contest I held a few months back

Friday, October 21st, 2016, 2:15 PM

"Thank the fucking lord, free at last from this burning building of shit!" Lily slams open the door serving as an exit to Hogwarts Secondary where she all but floats outside into the crisp, cool October air and the blinding sun of the afternoon, bathing the world in an ethereal golden light.

"You swear a lot for a lady," James remarks, trailing behind her with a shameless, amused, arrogant smirk lifting the corners of his lips higher than his already over-inflated ego.

"Bitch," she whirls around, spinning on her heels, as her smooth, copper red hair flies over her shoulders from the action. It appears to glow due to the effect of the light emitting from the sun hanging high in the sky above her. Her eyes, blazing like a relentless forest fire in the black of night, narrow and she glares at James. "Say that again, Potter, I fucking dare you."

Eyes of glittering hazel widen in terror and surprise, more round than saucers, and twice as large. "No disrespect, Evans!" James' voice stammers and he stumbles over his words, surprise evident in his voice. He raises his hands in surrender, his fingers almost trembling, "I was joking, nothing more, there's nothing wrong with a few good swear words here and there!"

Lily rolls her eyes, accustomed to her classmates informing her of her habit of excessive profanity and vulgar language. James was no different, that was quite clear, but nonetheless, she found herself beyond irritated each time a new person told her that she garnished her speech with a tad too many colourful words.

"As if I give a shit about 'sounding like a lady'," she grumbles with a dash of annoyance peppering her voice. Striding forward along the campus, she continues, "After I die and go to hell, I'll make sure I find the useless bastard that invented 'ladylike' and 'unladylike' so I can decapitate them."

"Don't say that," an immediate halt of his movement accompanies James' response as he cuts across her next sentence, his voice no longer bearing the playful tone from less than a minute before.

"What, decapitation?" the redhead slows in her walking, turning around to tilt her head at the lanky teen in confusion, her eyes shining with bewildered curiosity.

The noise filled campus caused by the swarms of students seems to fade, evaporating into the air, as the focus of the two teens narrow onto each other. James' gaze maintains its solemn, almost grim, expression while his eyes pierce Lily's as if she's the single most important thing in existence. Like a confused deer in the headlights, she meets his gaze, bemused by his sudden, somber behaviour in place of his typical humour.

"No, not that, decapitate whomever you want," he shakes his head, his rumpled raven hair increasing in its disheveled state from the movement of his hand raking through it. "Just- just don't say things like that." His voice grows softer yet more caring as he progresses to the end of his sentence, though his face remains almost grave.

"Things like what?" Lily's eyebrows fold in puzzlement while she tucks a lengthy strand of hair behind her ear.

"Things like- like what you said a minute ago. You said 'after I die and go to hell'. You shouldn't say things like that though, because it's-" he pauses, frustrated by his lack of the ability to extract the correct words from his mind, "it isn't healthy, Lils," he concludes while the corners of his lips tilt down with concern.

Staring down at her feet, Lily focuses on shifting the tips of her trainers to touch in order to avoid the beams of concern shooting out of James' eyes and wrapping themselves around her. Heat rises to her cheeks, flushing her face in a crimson red colour deeper and more vibrant than her hair. Something bubbles in her chest, but what it is she can't put her finger on: is it embarrassment? Guilt? Shame? Remorse? Whatever it is, she's certain of the fact that she despises the feeling rapidly consuming her and tearing at her insides.

"It was a joke," Lily whispers, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip while her face burns an even deeper shade of red. She remains adamant in her refusal to meet the eyes of James, who persists in attempting to create eye contact. "I-it just- it just slipped out, I didn't-" she pauses, her teeth sinking into her lip to the point of nearly drawing blood, "I didn't realize it was that bad, or- or that it would- it would upset you, James."

Cursing herself for her inability to speak with proper fluency, she intensifies her staring at the pavement, allowing her hair to form a curtain to block her flaming face. That horrible feeling from a moment before flares inside her from the deepening of the concern in James' face.

"Lils... ?" His eyes search for Lily's beneath the curtain of hair that swishes around her face as she shakes her head.

Tears begin to attempt to force their way into her eyes, though she blinks them away with rapid vehemence, refusing to allow herself to display her discomfort. Desiring nothing more than to dissolve into a miniscule ball of limbs, she wraps her arms around herself as an alternate solution. The silence appears to stretch and increase the gap between James and Lily from one meter, to two, to ten, until it feels like they're standing on opposite ends of the school campus as miniature specks among the wave of students.

"You remind me of someone," the stretch of silence snaps and in an instant, the two teens return to their near proximity. Finally engaging in eye contact, Lily allows James to view her flushed face tinged with pink, her pursed lips, the strands of flaming red hair clinging to her forehead, and her somewhat pained, shining emerald eyes, filled with the despondence of loss.

"I do?" James queries, his eyes full of bewilderment as they rove over Lily's face, searching for a clue to the whereabouts of her hidden and forgotten smile, a sight he longs to see.

"Yeah," she swallows in an attempt to untie herself from the melancholy of the buried memories emerging from her mind and flipping behind her eyes. "You remind me of a person I haven't seen for..." her speech dissipates into nothing and her eyes shift off to the side, before her voice slices through the air once more, "I haven't seen them in far too long."

In a sudden realisation of their propinquity, James' fingertips fly to her forehead and brush away the stray hairs that found their way onto her face. Not wanting to withdraw his hand, he shifts it to cup her cheek and realign her gaze with his, forcing her to meet his eyes once more.

"You miss them," he declares the obvious, a more adequate response slipping from his mind like melted ice cream. Rather than mourning the loss of a proper reply, he runs his thumb across Lily's cheek, hoping to offer her some comfort in the gesture.

Nodding her head, she answers with a dry chuckle, "Yeah, no shit. It's not that I don't see them anymore, it's just that," she pauses to accommodate time for a wave of emotion washing over her, "it's just that they aren't- aren't the same anymore, you know?"

Lily associates the familiar feeling of someone dropping a rock in her throat to the fresh tears attempting to slip down her face. Closing her eyes, she allows James to pull her into a warm embrace while she wraps her arms around the middle of his torso.

"Yeah, I know what you're saying," he murmurs against her scalp as one of his hands rubs against her back in slow, soothing circles.

"You know something else, James?" Lily mumbles into his chest, savoring the comfort of his presence and his arms engulfing her. "You're a damn great person, and an even better friend."

a/n: Bonjour peeps! Finally updated, as you can tell! This one's a bit short, sorry about that. Any guesses on who the mystery person Lily's referring to is? Also who's ready for their ~pLatoNiC dAte~ next chapter?

Anygay random question: if you could have one random animal follow you around in silence for one day, what animal would you choose?

Remember to get vaccinated (if you can), stay in vegetables, don't do homework, eat your school, and finish your drugs on time.

Bye, loves!
~Madeline
(HOLY SHIT I NEARLY PUT IN MY REAL NAME FUCKING HELL IFSTG-)