4. A New Beginning

If only you would let me spend my whole life loving you, life could be a dream, sweetheart.

"Prongs! Get your lazy arse over here! A bird's come to see you," Sirius Black demanded.

James groaned and rolled out of his bed. The last few weeks had been utter torture. He'd had to witness Lily interact with the entire student population, save for him, in such a carefree way. She certainly wasn't the stickler she used to be. And while she mingled with students and teachers alike, James was stuck in a funk so restricting that he retained none of his prior charm, and could only talk to his very best friends, even then conversations were rare and sparse.

He sauntered towards the door, which was being held closed by an ever-dramatic Sirius. What girl would come to see him? As far as he was aware, he'd been absolutely dreadful company for the past few weeks to anyone not named Sirius, Remus, or Peter, and he was even pushing the limit with them. James raised his eyebrows expectantly, to which Sirius replied with a drumroll and a knowing wink.

"And I present... Miss Lily Evans!"

James' breath hitched in his throat as the door swung open to reveal none other than the Head Girl. Her auburn hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and now that he was close to her, he could see that there were bags under her eyes. She hadn't been sleeping, at least not well nor in sufficient amounts, yet he hadn't the slightest idea why.

"Sirius?" Lily asked timidly. "Could you give us a minute?"

"Most definitely, Miss Lily," Sirius obliged. He strutted out of the dormitory and down the stairs to the common room, trusting that his best mate would give him the play-by-play of the exchange later. The two had been as close as brothers since the first moments at Hogwarts, and he was right to assume that he'd be receiving the full scoop afterwards.

Lily cleared her throat. "May I come in?" James simply swept his arm through the air, gesturing for her to enter. She found a perch on Remus' bed, the only relatively clean part of the dormitory. She drew in a deep breath and began.

"I'm not always right, you know. I make mistakes, all sorts of mistakes. I just don't like anyone to know that I'm far from perfect." James nodded for her to continue. She stood and strode to where James was leaning against his bedpost. He noticed that she had one hand behind her back, hiding something. "James, I made a mistake. I can't sleep, I can't eat, it takes all my will to simply get out of bed. As much as I hate to admit it, I need you. If I could be so lucky for you to take me back, I'll never let my bloody pride take priority ever again."

James nodded again, for an entirely different reason than to urge her on. His mind was reeling, his heart screaming to take her back. "What is that behind your back?"

She withdrew a fresh daisy, holding it out to him. "It's pretty dumb, but all this did start in a field of daisies."

He stared at the flower for a moment, mind made up. She raised her eyes to meet his, a hint of expectation swimming in the rich emerald. He drew in a breath and captured her lips with his. After a few moments, they broke apart with identical smiles on their faces.

"Though daisies are fantastic," James breathed. "I've always preferred lilies."

Much Love, Sadie