Photograph

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.

Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
-Nickelback

Lily Evans sat on the floor at the foot of her bed. She flipped the latch of an old trunk open and lifted the lid. She was immediately engulfed by a thick envelope of nostalgia, exactly what she needed on the night before her wedding.

The first thing she pulled out was a short photo album. She flipped to the first page and smiled, tears in her eyes, when she saw non-moving Muggle pictures of herself and Petunia from the ages of five and seven to about ten and twelve. They were both smiling. Some pictures included her or Petunia's birthday parties, others were at the zoo, and some were even the girls' shared hugs and dress-up plays.

Near the end of the album, the pictures included more morose thirteen-year-old Petunias and generally excited-looking eleven-year-old Lilys. There were two or three from Diagon Alley, in which Lily was usually a red-haired blur running from shop to shop, and Petunia was attempting to hide her longing for things such as magic wands and broomsticks.

Lily then lifted a folder out of the trunk. It contained a multitude of letters from her time at Hogwarts. Near the beginning, there were dozens of letters from her parents. After this, although there was still a steady stream of them, her parents' letters thinned and were replaced by letters from her friends, written during school breaks.

Dear Lily,

How is your summer going? Mine's going great! My mum and dad took me by side-along apparition to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was spectacular!

I can't wait until school starts again and we see each other! Only ten more days!

Love,

Myrna

Lily especially loved these letters from during first and second year. She, Myrna, and Tulia had still been getting to know each other, and yet they had immediately had an impeccably strong bond, and they had known it. Lily loved her friends as much as her soon-to-be husband, although in a different way.

After a few more similar letters such as this, Lily came across a multitude of letters from none other than James Potter.

Dear Evans,

I've been getting this premonition. I think that we'll get married and have a little baby boy and live happily ever after. Are you getting the same vibe? Anyway, to make this premonition come true, will you go to Hogsmeade with me this year?

Forever yours,

James

There were many more letters from him, some being as seemingly superficial as this, to other more serious ones.

Dear Lily,

How is your winter break? Mine is so-so. My dad has been working a lot lately (he's an auror, remember?), so that's hard on my family. He wasn't even home on Christmas.

So, did you get any cool gifts? Did you get the package I sent? I think I sent it far enough in advance that it should have been there in time for Christmas. Did you like it?

I can't wait to be back at school and see you and all of my friends. Sirius couldn't even come over this year, Hagrid asked him to stay at Hogwarts this year to help him with some new creatures he got.

Please write me back, Lily. I miss you.

Sincerely,

James

At the time, Lily had thought that these letters were silly and insignificant, but now she wouldn't sell them for all the money in Gringotts.

The next item to be pulled out of the box was a huge, leather-bound photo album containing pictures from all her years at Hogwarts. These pictures were all moving. There were a few of her and Severus standing and smiling, as they had been such good friends during their first few years. There must have been at least a hundred pictures, however, of her, Tulia, and Myrna. They were the most random pictures, but doubtlessly the most fun. Some were of them just standing and faking smiles, others were of them laughing uncontrollably, and still others were of them just hanging out. Most of these had been taken by Sirius Black, who had had an annoying habit of following people around and randomly snapping pictures. Lily had absolutely hated it then, but now she couldn't help being grateful.

There were other pictures there, as well. Many were of her and James. Oh, how she could remember these moments! There was the time she had pushed James into the lake for tugging on her long, red braid, and here was the time in fifth year that she was screaming at him for flying out of Gryffindor tower on a broomstick.

Then the album turned to more serious pictures of Lily and James, these taken mainly in seventh year. There they were on their first date in Hodsmeade, their first kiss (bloody cameraman/Sirius!). There were, again, pictures of them simply just enjoying each other's presence. There were also pictures of Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Tulia, and Myrna all having fun out together.

Lily snapped the photo album shut and placed it back inside the trunk, closing the lid and flipping the latch down. She didn't need to see what the rest of the trunk contained. She had made the right choice, and she was ready to go forth and become Lily Evans Potter.