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September 1, 1976
Out in the corridor, Evanna and Lily were talking in hushed whispers even though no one was around.
"I see the way you look at him, Lily," Evanna's 'mother' side popped out a bit. "Do you think of me blind?"
"Ugh, no Evanna of course not, it's just," Lily pauses. "I don't like Avery, because I-" she suddenly stopped and her eyes unfocused gazing behind Evanna.
"What are you loo-" Evanna started then she turned around. "Oh, shit..."
It was Avery. After finishing up his dessert, he walked out of the hall thinking that the girls were in the bathroom, not in the middle of the corridor, where anyone could hear them.
"Oh, Avery," Lily started.
"It's alright, Lily," he said although his eyes filled with hurt and Lily's heart cracked. "I understand."
"No, Avery," she said upset. "You didn't let me finish!"
By this time Avery was walking away.
"Avery!" Lily shouted after him. "I said that I don't like you because I have feelings for you! The word 'like' can't describe the way I feel about you."
At that, Avery Thomas stopped in his tracks and turned around slowly.
"What?" he asked with his eyes glassy. Evanna had only ever seen Avery cry once before and that was when his Grandmother died. It was a sight to behold. Of course, he was an attractive crier, not very common amongst people but Avery was Avery after all.
"I think it was the second year when I had broken my quill, in Charms. You let me borrow yours and I- I don't know I guess I well- and then in the third year when those Slytherin girls were picking on me, you told them off and you comforted me." Lily continued. "I think that is when I knew. I have feelings for you, Avery."
Evanna didn't know what to do but she knew that they probably needed some privacy so she slowly backed out of the corridor and started to head up to Gryffindor tower. Neither Lily nor Avery noticed Evanna's silent exit.
"What about James?" Avery asked.
"What about him?" Lily looked puzzled.
Avery scoffed, "Lily, he's obsessed with you. He's been obsessed with you for the past five years, everyone knows that."
"I don't care," she said, closing the distance between them until she was about six inches away from his face. I don't care about him or anyone else. Avery looked down at her and met her eyes with something very similar to longing. "Just you."
Avery paused raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "Just me?"
"Just you." She put her hands on each side of his face and gently stroked his cheekbones with the pads of her thumbs. Avery covered his hands over hers making Lily smile softly.
