“The smiths, huh?” James jumped at the sudden voice from behind him, taking out his wired earbuds and quickly turning to face whatever voice had just spoken to him. He was not expecting to see a fallen angel, in the form of a seventeen year old girl with bright, ginger curls and painted-on freckles. Her teeth were perfect and white, and her fashion taste was impeccable. This mysterious girl was wearing a floral dress with spaghetti straps for sleeves.
In a field of roses, she was a tulip. The brightest, most radiant flower out there, and James felt blessed that he could even lay eyes on her. “Sorry?” James asked, staring deeply into her emerald eyes, admiring the way that the sun reflected off them. Her pupils were wide, and she was staring up at him through her eyelashes.
“Your shirt, I love the smiths.” She said with a giggle, the most enchanting sound in which James had ever heard. He had forgotten that he was wearing this outfit, it seemed like a normal trip to Waterstones, and he had just thrown on whatever he could find. He was wearing baggy Jeans paired with a baggy, grey top. The shirt had a graphic print of a white electric guitar, the words ‘The Smiths’ engraved onto the edge of the guitar.
”Y-Yeah, same.” James responded, his voice cracking as he ran his hands through his warm, brown curls. At the silence following, the ginger girl began to hum the tune to one of the songs, ‘There is a Light That Never Goes Out’. James chuckled, heartedly.
”I’m Lily Evans.” She said, extending her hand out, James eagerly took it and grinned as he shook her warm hand.
”James Potter.” He said, staring from her entrancing eyes, to her perfect, button nose, to her pink lips.
“Charmed, I’m sure.” Lily chuckled, retracting her hand back to her side to clutch onto her tote bag. She then walked next to James, reaching upwards onto her tip-toes, attempting to grab a book from the top shelf. “Well, James Potter, could you help me reach Little Women, please?” She innocently asked.
James merely chuckled as he effortlessly took the book from the shelf, handing it to Lily. She must’ve been a feminist, or a romance-enthusiast. James would never get the opportunity to find out which, or either, because that was the first and last time in which he was graced by the intriguing presence of Lily Evans. Or so he had thought.
She remained only a memory, kept deep inside his mind for rough days. James would spend hours, days, weeks, months searching for this made-up girl. He couldn’t find her on Facebook, nor Instagram, or even TikTok. She was nowhere to be found in person, either. Every Saturday, James would go to the exact same Waterstones, but she would never be found.
Perhaps Lily Evans was a sign from the universe for James to stop sulking about the loss of his ex. Or perhaps she was his soulmate; the girl in whom he’s forever interlinked with, destined to be together. Maybe the stars had foretold them meeting that day, and so they were positively going to cross paths again.
Just when he was loosing hope in this theory, he had knocked into somebody on the train. “I’m so sorry,” He said, fumbling for his glasses and adjusting them on his straight nose. When his vision was back, he allowed his eyes to focus, going from blurry to clear, and that was when he looked down to see who had bumped into him.
”Hey, you.” A girl said, her chocolate curls and cupid lips staring up at him. She had dark skin, doe eyes and was fiddling with the string of her red hoodie. “I’m Mary Macdonald.” The girl introduced herself.
“James Potter.” He replied, shaking her hand.
“You go to Hogwarts College?” Mary asked, looking at the logo on James’ bag.
“Yeah.” he said.
“Me too, there’s gonna be a party tomorrow, at Ravenclaw dorm.” Mary said with a warm smile, passing James a scrap pierce of parchment with her number scrawled onto it.
“Dress however.” Mary then hopped off of the train at the stop, not even turning around for another second. James shrugged, and went the rest of the journey considering this party.
Eventually, he had decided to go to this party, perhaps it would be good for him to get out more. His apartment was off campus, and it took him half an hour to get from there to school. James’ major was music, but he had no friends to enjoy it with.
James was an extrovert, and he had no enemies, but he wasn’t popular at the same time. He threw on a red and gold flannel shirt, displaying his house colours, and matched it with some worn out, baggy jeans.
He left the house at seven thirty, even though the party was at seven. James arrived at eight twenty, the party being in full blast by then. “You made it!” He heard a voice shout over the booming music. He stumbled towards it, only to find Mary dancing with some other girls who he had no interest in knowing.
James wondered for a bit, not bothering to dance or drink any alcohol. After half an hour, he had gotten bored and the music was causing his ears to hurt, so he went out onto the patio.
Surprisingly, he wasn’t alone. Other than a third year passed out in a bush, there was another girl sat there. Extravagant waves of ginger locks, long eyelashes which touched her light eyebrows, freckled evenly dotted around her pale, fragile skin, and most importantly, those piercing green eyes in which any sane man would happily drown in.
She wasn’t wearing a floral dress this time, but she had a copy of Pride and Prejudice tucked under the sleeve of her jumper. She looked up at him, her pupils turning into saucers.
”Charmed, James Potter?”