Sakura

By Frog-Princess
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Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except the music box (which is my mother's, actually), and the plot. Characters, places and such are all property of J. K. Rowling. Emily's just a fan. ^_^

A/N: Fluffy goodness... A L/J fic with a bit of H/G on the side. My mother really does have the exact music box I'm describing, and my grandmother Shimiko, who is Japanese, used to have one like it also. My mother was really emotional when she opened up a Christmas present from her boyfriend and it was playing the song "Sakura." It may sound lame, but the meaning this conveyed to me somehow got turned into a story idea.

It's a little on the predictable side at times, and it's also pretty short. Also, it's not supposed to be realistic, it was just an idea I had. Enjoy.



"Lily?"

James Potter was staring at her, quite concerned. The sound of his voice snapped Lily back to reality. "Sorry," she quickly apologized. "I was just... thinking about something."

She shook her head and tried to focus on her homework. James heard his girlfriend humming softly to herself as she carefully loaded her quill with ink. The two were studying for the final exams that all seventh years had to take.

"What is that?" James asked suddenly.

"What's... what, sorry?" Lily replied, lost.

"That song... what's it called?"

"Oh." Lily blushed. She hated for people to hear her sing. What's more, she hadn't even been fully aware that she was singing. But, then again, James was different...

"It's called Sakura. It means cherry blossom in Japanese."

James laughed. "And since when do you speak Japanese?"

"Well... I don't," Lily admitted, smiling. "Though I used to try. My mother's best friend, Sumiko, was from Japan. I used to see her nearly every day, and she'd try to teach me the Japanese alphabet and numbers. I guess I was too little to really remember much of it."

James nodded, though he was getting the feeling Lily wasn't telling him everything. He took her hand. "Is something bothering you?" Lily shook her head and opened her mouth to respond, but James interrupted her. "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, but please... don't lie about it. I can always tell." He gave her a mischevious wink, and Lily had to laugh.

"Promise you won't make a big deal out of it?"

James pretended to be shocked. He was cute when he did that. "When have I ever made a big deal of things? You can tell me whatever's on your mind, honest."

Lily considered. "Well... okay."

James sat back in his seat patiently, his eyes bright. Lily smiled and took his hand again.

"One day, when Sumiko came to visit my mother... she brought with her a jewelry box from Japan. And whenever it was opened, it played that song. She'd barely had it for three weeks when my sister, Petunia, was having a look at it, and dropped it on accident. She blamed it on me.

"It was the most beautiful thing my mother ever owned," she concluded, "and it was lost. Mum's a good woman, James, and she's never held a grudge. She pretends not to care, because it was just a music box. But it meant so much more to her than that - it was a gift from a dear friend. And sometimes... when she looks at me... I can tell she still believes I'm the one who lost it for her."

James studied Lily's profile. The look in her eyes was so distant, it was as if she was looking through the fire on the hearth rather than into it.

"I shouldn't feel so guilty," she said at length.

James rose from his seat and moved nearer to Lily. He held out a hand to help her up. She stood, and James put an arm around her. "You're right," he said reassuringly. "You should never feel responsible for what Petunia did." He kissed her forehead, then paused for a moment, doing a bit of quick thinking.

"Why don't we take a break from studying?" he suggested. "We could go see what Adrienne and Lucina are up to..."

Lily shrugged. "I don't think I'm up to talking to them right now. Maybe we could go and see what your friends are up to? I thought today was the day Sirius was planning to put sleeping powder in Severus' drink..."

"Itching powder in Snape's robes," James corrected with a laugh. "It should be rather amusing, want to come and watch?"

"James, that's terrible." Lily agreed with James, it did sound intriguing, but she tried to supress her smile. They were, after all, Head Girl and Boy. James said sheepishly, "I know."

Lily finally gave in. "Oh, alright," said said, laughing out loud this time. "I don't suppose either of us should miss this." James took her arm and immediately began to pull her toward the portrait hole. "You won't regret it!" he exclaimed as they hurried down the corridor. He sounded so enthusiastic, like a little boy. "Sirius found some really neat stuff in Hogsmeade last weekend, he's been itching to try it out..."

"James!"

"Okay, bad pun..."