“James?” Sirius whispered loudly in the dark hospital ward.

“You two kissed before?” came his voice, but neither Sirius nor Lily could see where it came from. James stayed hidden underneath his cloak.

“It’s not what it seems!” Sirius pleaded.

“But you two kissed… before?”

“Yes,” sighed Sirius.

“When?”

Sirius and Lily looked nervously to each other. Both were reluctant to respond to the question, yet they knew they had to. “That night when I saw you kissing Abigail in the common room.”

“I don’t understand?” It was evident in his tone that James didn’t comprehend what Lily had just said.

“At the tower,” Sirius calmly added to give clarity to her statement. There was a long moment of silence within the darkness. However, Sirius and Lily could hear their hearts beating wildly within their ears.

Finally, James spoke up with a slight strain in is voice.

“You were the figure in the corner. The shadow in the darkness.” His words rolled out slowly as he finally recognized the situation.

“Yes,” Lily replied meekly.

“James, please!”

“NO, SIRIUS! What is there to understand? You’ve kissed her before- you were just kissing her now! EXCEPT THIS TIME I SAW IT FOR MYSELF!” The heat from his anger was felt from all around. But they could not see the tormented expression written across his face. “You’ve wanted her all along! You watched as I tried to win her heart, but you secretly wished that I didn’t succeed!”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Sirius replied angrily to his accusations.

“ISN’T IT? You set me up from the beginning with the poetry, the love letters, and your words! Everything! It was all working according to your plan!”

“YOU CAME TO ME FOR THAT, JAMES! I was trying to help you!” Sirius shouted.

“MORE LIKE YOU WERE HELPING ME TO FAIL!”

“ENOUGH!” Lily raised her voice. “No one was going behind your back, plotting your downfall! It wasn’t like that! It’s not like that at all!”

“Then what is it like, Lily? Do you want to be with Sirius?” James asked the question that she hadn’t been prepared to answer. But James felt, from her lack of words, where her heart wanted to be. “Never mind! I can see where this is going!”

“NO! WAIT! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Lily pleaded.

Her mind was able to focus on his voice and zoned into his location. She reached out and caught a piece of his cloak. But she wasn’t able to hold onto him.

She watched his back as he ran away from her sight.