j ι l y

LILY

*one week later.*

After a day of wear and tear of studies and fun, James, Peter, Marlene, Frank, Alice, Sirius, Remus and I decide to wind down with a game of cards in James's dorm room.

We play a game I taught them called Go Fish.

"Lily, do you have a king?" Marlene asks.

"Go fish," I answer.

She takes a card from the deck.
***
Forty minutes later, we still play. Marlene and Sirius, Peter, and Remus go get everyone snacks. Alice and Frank go get pumpkin juice.

That leaves me and James alone.

"Where did you learn this Go Fish?" He asks, fingering his cards.

"When I was a kid, everyone played it. It was the hot new thing, if you know what I mean." I say.

"I don't get it." He says.

"That means everyone played it because it was new." I explain

"Oh."

I scoot closer to him, though I'm already next to him.

He takes my face in his hand and kisses me, not fast, not rushing.

We stay like that, kissing, my arms around his neck and in his hair and his arms around my waist.

I'm so lost in his scent and touch that the knock on the door is jarring.

We pull away, and James gets he door.

Actually, he opens the door. he didn't get the door. That would be weird. Instead of any of our friends standing at the door with refreshments, though, a man with a crisp, black suit and red tie is at the door.

The man says something, James responds. As the conversation goes on, James looks more and more heartbroken and sad.

"Okay, thank you." James says before closing the door.

"Is everything alright?" I ask, standing up. I don't want him to face this alone.

He responds softly and slowly, as if I might break when I hear it. "The real question is, are you alright?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, NY voice getting a little choked.

"I - I hate to be the one to tell you his Lily... But... Your father..." He comes to a small stop before finishing.

"He's dead."

"You - your joking, right?" I ask, my voice even more choked.

He shakes his head sadly.

No matter how I rearrange the words, they come to the same conclusion.

Your father is dead.

Father is dead.

Dead, your father is.

Lily - father - dead.

I blank out for a second.

The last thing I remember is James's urgent expression,

My knees crumpling underneath me,

And James's arms keeping me from hitting the ground.

The rest of world just

D I S A P P E A R S

More sorrow to come! I'm sorry, don't hate me.