Letters From A Stranger || James and Lily ||

Wind Chimes

Disclaimer : Even after my generous offer of ten pounds, ten pounds, JK Rowling refused to hand over the ownership of Harry Potter franchise to me. Next time I'll bribe her with Ron's giant Hershey chocolate bar from AVPM.

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Chapter 25

Lily looked at the book lying on her bed side table. James had given it to her on Christmas. It had been waiting there for more than two months to be read. But she never did. It never felt like the right time. She was the kind of person who would settle everything, make sure nothing is forgotten that would make her leave the book in the middle and finally find the perfect time and place to read without any interruptions.

Now seemed to be the right time. She sat down on her bed, a pillow propped on the headboard behind her back and opened the book. The first word of the first chapter was enough to make her forget everything but her book.

|Falling|

Serendipity. Beautiful word, isn't it? It means stumbling upon something that makes you happy without actually looking for it. A chance that might present you with your most valued gifts. That was how William met Erin.

William was lying on the couch, tossing the quaffle up into the air and catching it, when the door banged open. A girl who seemed to be about his age stood at the threshold. Her golden brown hair a mess, panting heavily. He stood up and her eyes widened at the sight of an unfamiliar face.

"Oh, shit. Wrong address." she said and leaned back to check the flat number on the plate outside.

"No. This is the right one." she said and turned back to him, "Is Ryan here?"

"Sorry?" he said.

"Ryan." she repeated, "The guy who lives here."

"Erin?"

William turned around and saw Ryan standing behind him, a cup of hot chocolate in his hand.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" the girl said, "Did Shelley come here?"

"Shelley? No." Ryan said, looking confused.

The girl panicked, twisting a strand of her hair nervously. "She didn't?"

"No." Ryan said, "Wasn't she with you?"

"She was." the girl said, her voice laced with worry and fright, "And then she was angry that you forgot about the date and left."

"Today was the date?" Ryan asked, horrified, "I thought it's tomorrow.,"

The girl gave him a blank look and William decided to speak up. "Will someone update me on what is happening? Who is this Shelley?"

"Shelley as in Michelle." Ryan said, "My girlfriend."

"And who is this?" William asked turning to the girl in the room.

"That's Erin. Michelle's roommate and friend." Ryan said, "Erin, this is William. My family friend. He came here from France for the new Healer program."

"Nice to meet you." Erin said briefly before she turned back to Ryan, "Well, what are you going to do?"

"Oh right." Ryan said, coming back to the situation at hand, "I'll go find her. You go home. I'll bring her---

Lily gasped as the book fell from her hands. Pain shot through her head. It wasn't just at one place, her entire head was buzzing as though she had been knocked over with a troll's club. Holding her throbbing head with one hand and holding on to the side table with her other hand, she stood up and tried to steady herself. The pain subsided but that's when she heard it. The twinkling sound of wind chimes. She looked around the dorm. There were no wind chimes and she realized that the sound wasn't real. It was inside her head. She was hallucinating.