He's fading into the background again.

He's spent so many years on the sideline watching Lily flit around like a brightly painted butterfly, captivating everyone's attention, watching girls flock to James in hoards, as if he's something special, something invaluable.

She's perfect to him: all sparkling blue eyes and shimmering blonde hair and bell-like laughter. He'd do anything.

On that night, they run, knowing they can never return, knowing that what they've done is irrevocable, knowing that no one will ever forgive them, knowing that the world as they know it has been turned upside down. Not slash.

He brought daffodils because she'd always hated it when boys brought her lilies.

So they gathered their strength and began to pick up the pieces even though they didn't know where they were headed, but somehow, they all still found their way to the places they belonged.

He looked in the mirror, found his own green eyes, eyes that he really couldn't claim as his own because originally they'd belonged to a brave and beautiful woman who'd ultimately given up everything so the world could be better.

What she remembered most was that moment, years ago, when grey met blue across a crowded ballroom and changed her life forever.

"When she's eleven, she steps through a barrier into another world, and at first, she's not sure it's any different than the world from which she came."