All you need is love
All you need is love
James watched Lily from the back table in the potions classroom. She was pouring a shimmering purple liquid into her cauldron, making a cloud of opaque steam erupt. Beside him, James felt Sirius nudge him to get his attention. He batted his hand at his friend, muttering vaguely about being busy. He nearly didn’t hear Sirius’ snarky comment, but retaliated by throwing a textbook in his direction. Through all of this, he didn’t remove his eyes from Lily - who was now waving her hand to dissipate the steam. James caught himself smiling slightly as he watched her. He loved the way her fiery red hair fell neatly around her shoulders, and he loved how gentle and delicate she was with her work. James was finally able to admit to himself that she was in love with her. It seems that everyone had known that before he had. And he had a hunch that Lily was included. James pushed his glasses up his nose and felt himself going red as he realised this. As he was watching her, memories filled his mind like a film.
James remembers writing down Lily’s birthday in his notebook so he wouldn’t forget. He remembers going down to the greenhouses and asking Professor Sprout for a special bouquet to give her. He remembers the party held in Gryffindor tower for Sirius’ birthday last year when he had gotten a bit tipsy and sung ‘All you need is love’ to her while standing on a table. James remembers making her a cup of tea every morning at six in the morning so it was ready when she came down to do early studying. All of these flashed before his eyes, and he felt foolish for not admitting it to himself sooner.
Sirius nudged him again, this time a sharp jab in the ribs. James didn’t react, and listened as Sirius used a colourful variety of language to insult him. James let a shadow of a smile slip across his face again. The thing was, James knew Lily now. He knew she didn’t like grand gestures or dramatic proclamations. He knew he just needed to be himself. And if that didn’t work… Well, it wasn’t the end of the world, was it? James then reasoned that actually, it really probably would be. But he shook that thought from his head.
James sighed inwardly, observing Lily’s delicate style of work. All in one motion, she looked up and caught his gaze. Lily smiled at him, her eyes full, before looking back down and continuing her work. Lily had never smiled at him like that before. James felt his heart fill, and he beamed to himself. He felt his hope return. Maybe The Beatles were right. All you need is love.