Heal Over

Isn’t very difficult to why
You are the way you are
Doesn’t a genius to realize
That sometimes life is hard
It’s gonna take time
But you’ll just have to wait
You’re gonna be fine
But in the meantime


James watched her, sitting by the lake with her friend Marlene Manson, standing by that old beech tree, mourning for her beloved cat.


Lily Evans was his girl and he was proud of it. She had rose-red hair covering her back and startlingly emerald green, almond-shaped eyes. Her face could appropriately be called the map of his world.


“We here today are here to mourn Selkie, beloved cat of all the Gryffindor girls belonging to Lily Evans,” Marlene started. She gave a beautiful eulogy to a cat that James had never liked. It often stole around the common room and gave him numerous scratches. Marlene dropped a bunch of flowers on the grave and gave Lily a hug.


“That was beautiful, Marlene, thanks a lot,” Lily said. She hugged her friend. “I’ll be back soon; I just want to reminisce for a little while.” Tears dripped down her face.


Come over here lady
Let me wipe your tears away
Come a little nearer baby
Coz you’ll heal over
Heal over
Heal over someday


James wiped his wire-rimmed spectacles off on his robes and ran his large callused hand through his unruly black hair absently. He was tearing up a bit too. He felt bad; that cat had obviously meant a lot to Lily. He could buy her a new one, yeah, that would be good. He should go say something to her. She might get a little mad at him though. It was their seventh year now; he didn’t have much to risk.


His mind was racing as he walked up to the beech tree. She might smack him, she might end up sobbing uncontrollably on his shoulder, anything was possible.


“Uhh, hey Lily, I’m sorry about your cat,” he said, putting his hand on the delicate shoulder of her five-foot-two-inch frame. He was a complete foot taller that she was. She turned around and smiled at him.


“Oh, hi James. I was, well, mourning my cat. I know you didn’t like her very much, but I’ll miss her a bit. Just a bit; she was a rotten cat. I have so many scars from her,” she said through her tears.


And I don’t wanna hear you tell yourself
That these feelings are in the past
You know it doesn’t mean they’re off the shelf
Because pain is built to last
Everybody sails alone
Oh, but we can travel side by side
Even if you fail
You know that no one really minds


“Oh, don’t so hard on your cat; pets mean a lot to people and it hurts when they leave us, Lily. You’ll never forget Selkie, right?” he said. She turned around to face him and looked him straight in the eye.


“No, I guess you’re right, James. Thanks a lot,” she hiccupped. She pressed her head into his chest and began to cry. He held her a little awkwardly and just hugged her back.


“Hey, you wanna go sailing on the lake? Sirius and I do it a lot, it’s really fun. A good way to get your mind off stuff,” he asked after a minute of savoring her tiny, perfect form in his arms. She hiccupped and nodded into his chest.


He pulled his wand out of his chest pocket and Transfigured a large rock by the lakeshore into a small sailboat.


“Ready? I guess I’ll carry you inside, I don’t want you to get wet,” he said. He picked up like a baby easily. He put her on the bench of the boat and shoved off, hurling himself in the boat at the last minute. He dropped the rudder and centerboard and pulled in the mainsheet. They began to race across the sunset-lit lake, Lily resting in the crook of his shoulder.


James quickly bewitched the boat to steer itself and just sat there with his arm around Lily, watching the spectacular sunset past the mountains. He could have sworn that she sighed contentedly.


“I’m so frustrated James, everything is going haywire here. I can hardly keep up with homework and I’m afraid that I’m failing. Selkie just died and Marlene is going crazy over that McKinnon guy and being Head Girl is so stressful, but it’s not that fact that you’re Head Boy that makes it stressful. I can’t take all of this change,” Lily suddenly spouted.


“Oh Lily! You’re normally so brave! Take this year with vigor! Marlene is still your best friend along with Alice and Meena and Heather and the thousands of girls here. And don’t forget that I still love you. Not much has changed. No one really cares if you fail because they know that you’ll just keep going,” he said. “I’ll always be there for you, supporting you every step of the way.” She promptly started to cry again.


Come over here lady
Let me wipe your tears away
Come a little nearer baby
Coz you’ll heal over
Heal over
Heal over someday


“James! You don’t have to be so sweet! I don’t need you! I don’t want you! I don’t love you!” she spluttered out. She hugged him fiercely again.


“That was just a complete lie, wasn’t it?” She nodded. “Just let me wipe your tears away, okay? Don’t worry.” He brushed the tears away from her face with his rough hand and kissed the top of her now red-gold curls. Then the sun faded away completely and left them in complete darkness. She sighed again and they just watched the stars in each other’s arms.


Don’t hold on but don’t let go
I know it’s so hard
You’ve got to try to trust yourself
I know it’s so hard, so hard


The boat came to a halt at the shore and James carried Lily out again. He threw his Invisibility Cloak over them and they went back to Gryffindor Tower together.

Fin.