Follow (Me)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or anything else related to HP.

Follow (Me)

We walk away, not because we don’t care,

But to find out who cares enough to follow.

Petunia sat with Lily and their two friends on the floor. They had returned upstairs to the pretty pink bedroom that Lily and Petunia shared. The afternoon sun shone in through the curtained windows. Lily sat next to Petunia as they decided what to play next.

“Let’s play tea party,” Petunia said.

“But I want to play dolls,” Lily protested.

“No, we’re going to play tea,” Petunia said.

Lily got up and crossed her arms. She turned and walked to the corner of the room closest to her bed that held the baby dolls. She plopped down on the floor and took out her doll. She rocked it in her arms, and watched them from the corner of her eyes.

Petunia led their friends to the opposite corner where the little table and tea set was underneath a large window. They giggled over tea with the queen.

Every so often Lily would scowl in the other girls’ direction, but they were having too much fun to notice.

Follow (Me)

We walk away, not because we don’t care,

But to find out who cares enough to follow.

“I want to go back,” Lily said. Mary, Nicole, Opal, May and Jennie all stood in a circle on the sidewalk of Hogsmeade as they decided what to do next. It was the second Hogsmeade visit of their third year.

“But I want to go to the Three Broomsticks for another butterbeer,” Nicole said.

Mary and May both nodded in agreement. Neither Opal nor Jennie said anything.

“If we’re going to go, we’d better do it now before we have to go back,” Mary said.

“I’m going back to the castle,” Lily said. She turned around and started to walk away. She hoped they would follow. Surely May would follow, Lily liked to think of them as close. She walked slowly, feeling awfully stupid, walking back all by herself. She wanted to turn back and join her friends, but she kept on walking away.

“Lily, wait!” Lily stopped and turned to see Opal walking towards her quickly. Lily smiled at her and could vaguely see their group walking in the opposite direction towards the Three Broomsticks. The sun was setting and it was turning darker.

Once Opal had caught up with Lily they walked back together chatting. Lily and Opal laughed like old friends, and Lily found herself wondering why they hadn’t talked more, just the two of them. After that, Lily always found herself spending more time with Opal than with May.

Follow (Me)

We walk away, not because we don’t care,

But to find out who cares enough to follow.

Lily sat in a compartment with Opal, May, Nicole, Mary, and Jennie. They were discussing their summers, their new fourth-year courses, and thinking of ideas on how to spend more time together with them all being in different houses.

“And Paris, it was so gorgeous,” Nicole said with a faraway look in her eyes.

“How cute were the boys?” Jennie asked her.

“Oh they were adorable,” Nicole gushed.

All of a sudden James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter burst into their compartment.

“Hey girls,” James said smoothly as he said down across from Lily, next to Nicole. “Evans, it’s a brand-new school year. Will you go out with me?”

“No,” Lily replied shortly. Sirius sat down next to James and Mary. Remus took a seat in between Lily and Opal and Peter sat next to him. Lily was squished on a seat that was only supposed to hold three people, but held five.

“Aww, it’s okay James,” Nicole said as she patted his arm. “So how was your summer?”

“It was brilliant,” James replied. “We played quidditch, swam, and rocked Diagon Alley.”

“Remember the fourteenth?” Sirius said with a gleam in his eye.

“Of course I do!” James exclaimed.

“What happened?” Nicole asked, as she moved closer to James.

“Well, all four of us were in Diagon Alley, minding our own business-”

Lily snickered and got up. She made a move towards the door to the compartment.

“Where are you going?” James asked her.

“Out. It’s a little crowded in here,“ Lily replied.

“Yeah it is,” May agreed with a glance at Sirius and stood up, as did Opal. They followed Lily out of the compartment to find their own, giggling about boys, summer, and people.

A/N: Yes, I know the parts are short. They’re that way for a reason. The shorter they are, the more you have to think about after you read it. Think about this, have you ever walked away from a group of people? Why? Did you want someone to follow you? Did they? Everyone does it. These are Lily’s examples of doing it.

Follow (Me)

We walk away, not because we don’t care,

But to find out who cares enough to follow.

“I can’t believe we got lost,” Lily said angrily. “This is all your fault you know.” She glared at James.

“How is it my fault?” James asked.

“If you didn’t fool around so much with your partner in potions, and actually did your work, you wouldn’t have failed it. And then I wouldn’t of had to stay after class and agree to help you two redo it.”

“It’s not all my fault,” James said defensively.

“It’s not mine either,” Nicole replied.

“You know, it really doesn’t matter now anyways,” Lily said, still angry. “The point is that we’re lost.”

They stopped at the end of the hallway. “Look, all we have to do is go this way, make a few turns, and we’ll end up in the hallway with the statue of the knight,” James said as he motioned to the hall on the right.

“Are you sure?” Lily asked.

“Well…yeah.”

“That’s not very reassuring.”

“Well, I’m going this way,” James said defiantly.

Lily put her hands on her hips, “Well I’m going this way,” as she motioned to the hall on the left with her arm.

Both James and Lily looked at Nicole. She glanced between the two. “Uh, I’ll go this way,” she said as she took a step closer to James.

“Fine,” Lily said and started off the left hallway by herself. If those two couldn’t do a simple second-year potion in their fifth year, she hoped they failed completely and had fun redoing it together the following year.

Follow (Me)

We walk away, not because we don’t care,

But to find out who cares enough to follow.

Lily felt a little sorry, but it had to be done. He had to know it was coming. She explained quietly why they couldn’t be together in the dim light of a hallway. His face betrayed barely any emotion, yet she had expected this. A handsome 7^th year like him could hardly be seen crying over a sixth year such as herself. He nodded, but didn’t say anything as Lily said goodbye. Lily turned around. This was a test. Lily knew it, and she prayed that he knew it as well and knew how to pass.

She walked away, her footsteps the only sound in the otherwise empty hallway. She walked further away from him.

She didn’t hear any footsteps following.

He failed.

At this knowledge Lily walked faster, biting her lip so the tears wouldn’t fall from her eyes until she made it to the dorm.

Follow (Me)

We walk away, not because we don’t care,

But to find out who cares enough to follow.

“Lily,” James said softly. She turned to face him on the couch in the Heads’ room. The fireplace cracked in the air that grew colder every night. “Will you go out with me?”

Lily shook her head. They had just begun really getting along this year, why would he want to ruin it? “No, James. We can’t,” she said. She stood up, intending to go to her room, but found James’ hand pulling on her right one. The force pulled her back onto the couch. She looked at him expectantly, a little agitated.

“Why are you so afraid to give me a chance? You’re afraid that I could actually be good for you,” James said with a certain level of determination in his voice that dared her to say that he was wrong.

Lily looked at him. He wasn’t ugly in the slightest. He looked so serious in the firelight, his eyes locked on hers. He was a good person, but would he be good for her?

She would try. She was sick of testing people.

“Ok,” she said.

“Ok?” James asked.

“Ok,” she repeated with a small smile.

James smiled at this and gave her a small kiss.

Follow (Me)

We walk away, not because we don’t care,

But to find out who cares enough to follow.

“What did you want to talk about?” James asked as he pulled her into a side hallway.

She took deep breath and stopped walking. James did too and stood in front of her. With a look of confusion he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Listen, James, you’re a great guy and all…” Lily started to say, but James interrupted her.

“What? Lily, are you breaking up with me?”

She turned her face away from his, and stared at the grey stone wall instead as she nodded yes to his question. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore…I just can’t.” She quickly turned and walked away.

“Wait, Lily,” James said.

Lily didn’t say anything, but quickened her pace.

“Lily just wait a second,” James said as he tried to catch up with her. Lily heard his footsteps behind her, but they stopped and something heavy hit the floor. Lily winced, but kept on walking.

“Bloody uneven stones,” James swore as he picked himself up off the floor. He swore again when he saw Lily turn the corner into another hallway. He started to run towards her.

She heard his footsteps once again, but they came quicker and louder than before. She walked as fast as she possibly could without running. She was determined not to cry and not to let him catch up with her.

James’ long legs were no match to her shorter ones and in a moment he had caught up to her. He grabbed her wrist and spun her back around so she faced him.

He looked straight into her eyes and said, “You’re not getting rid of me that easily Lily Evans. I finally have you, and I’m not giving up. I’m not letting you walk away that easily.” He let go of her wrist.

She stared at him for a moment, then she threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. He moved his arm around her waist and he kept it there as they walked back to the common room together.

Lily smiled and placed her head on his shoulder.

She knew he would follow her every time.

A/N: And that’s it. =)