Unofficial Portkey Archive

SGR's Note: Aighty, I'm going to put the R-RATED ending of this chapter in here to save time and effort. So yeah, be warned.

"Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing?
Telling me to give you everything
Seasons may change, winter to spring
But I love you until the end of time."
-Come What May, Moulin Rouge

Chapter Thirty-One

When Lily awoke, she was lying face up in a hospital wing. Not immediately remembering what had just happened, she tried to sit up, and realized that she ached all over.

"You gave us quite a scare, Lily."

She looked over and saw Dumbledore smiling down at her from a chair beside her bed.

In an instant, the entire battle came back to her, up until the flash of green-

"How?" she asked, breathless.

"A rather extraordinary occurrence," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "Apparently, Lord Voldemort lost his footing during the casting of the spell and it missed you."

Lily blinked, confused. "I don't understand...I don't..." Everything was now coming back to her. Seeing Voldemort appear in the safe house, James showing up, but not dying, Benjy, just before he was...and then she killed...

"Professor," Lily whispered, never breaking the habit of using pleasantries with him, and at this particular moment, not wanting to. "I...I killed t-that man...I didn't mean to...it just happened, and I...." Tears began falling down her face. "How am I any different from them, now?"

"Sooner or later," Dumbledore began, heavily. "Every Auror must ask themselves these same questions. As you undoubtably understand by now, death is one of the larger aspects of being an Auror. You have seen death, both your friends, your family, and now you have given death."

"Professor, I didn't mean to!" Lily cried. "I didn't want to, I needed to get..." She swallowed and trailed off. Her reasons were selfish. She wanted to get to James. She killed a man because she wanted to get to her ex-boyfriend.

"The hex you produced should not have had the effect that it had," Dumbledore explained. "It was not meant to kill, yet it killed."

Lily shook her head and put her head into her knees.

"Why do you think the spell was so powerful, Lily?"

"I don't know," she sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"It was powerful for the very reason you're so remorseful over this death," Dumbledore said, gently. "It was because you carry so much love in your heart that you wanted to help those who you care about."

Lily sniffed. Dumbledore's speeches were supposed to make her feel better. This one wasn't.

"It doesn't make it right," Lily sniffled. "I am no better than a Death Eater-"

"A Death Eater would never show remorse over someone that they killed, Lily," Dumbledore said. "And a Death Eater would never classify someone they murdered as an 'accident.'"

"Was it an accident, though, I..." Lily trailed off, quietly. Then she realized what she was saying and snorted. "I'm probably the only Auror to think like this...everyone else probably would be cheering..."

"Which is why I was so pleased to have such an Auror like yourself on our side," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling slightly. "This world is sadly devoid of true compassion, and that is something you have in abundance. If I can have one Auror who understands the true meaning of death, and what it means for both sides, then I am already much better off than Lord Voldemort."

"Did...anyone else die?" Lily asked.

"We have yet to find Benjy Fenwick-"

Lily closed her eyes and felt bile rise in her throat. She could still hear the sound echoing in her mind. She would rather the idea that she was a murderer.

"Lily?"

"They...blew him up," Lily said, simply, trying hard to not throw up. "Just as he Apparated..."

"I see," Dumbledore said, quietly. "No one else...then, perished in the battle."

"...ME THROUGH..."

Lily looked up, eyeing the door, her heart race quickening. Dumbledore, too, eyed the door, but he had a twinkle in his eye.

"...THE PATIENTS....MY LILY..."

"I think I hear Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, lightly.

Suddenly, the door began to shake, and then someone began banging on the door. Then both the shaking and the banging stopped, and then there was a loud boom, as if someone had thrown themselves on the door. The booming happened again, and once more.

Dumbledore stood up and strolled to the door, unlocking it and opening it, just as James went flying into the room, landing, head-first, into a table of potions and healer equipment.

"James!" Lily gasped, sitting up straight. "Are you all right?"

He sat up, and was dripping with purple potion, and took no notice of Dumbledore. He stumbled over the mess he had just made, walking to the bed, looking at Lily with too many emotions to count written all over his face.

"Oh, Merlin...I love you," he said, and then, in one fluid movement, he cupped her face and brought her lips to his in a searing kiss.

Dumbledore took this as his cue, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, a slight smile on his face.

Not even needing any explanation of the sudden change of heart, Lily closed her eyes and let herself fall into his kiss. He left her lips and kissed a line across her cheek until he reached her shoulder and buried his head into the crook of her neck.

"I was so afraid I'd lost you," he whispered, and she could feel the tears seeping into her shirt. He brought his head back to look into her eyes. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she said, grinning through her tears. "I love you, I love you..." He crushed her against him and took in a shaky breath.

"I love you," he whispered, pressing his face into her hair. "I love you."

"I love you," she said, closing her eyes tightly and feeling more tears of her own fall down her cheeks. She couldn't think of anything else to say that would adequately sum up what she felt.

"I love you," he laughed, looking into her eyes, and more tears splashed down his cheeks.

"You don't have to cry," she swallowed, brushing the tears off his face as more fell down hers. He reached forward and kissed hers away. She leaned forward and kissed his as well. They began playing a game of who-could-kiss-whose-tears-away-faster, until there were no more tears to kiss and they were kissing passionately once more.

"Wait, wait," James said, taking a deep breath. Lily, too, was running short on breath, as the two of them were quite out of practice kissing this much for this long.

"What's wrong," she asked, cupping his face and running her hand along his cheek.

"I don't want another second to go by before..." he said, reaching in his robe and pulling out a very worn black velvet box. He adjusted her in his lap and held her close to him, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Lily, will you?" he asked, flipping open the box and looking into her eyes.

"No, James," she said, shaking her head.

"W-What?" James asked, his heart racing. How? After all this time? She said no?

"Not until," Lily cleared her throat. "You do it properly."

"Properly?" he asked, confused.

"Get on your knee, and do it properly," she said, kissing his nose. Slowly, a smile formed on his face and he understood what she wanted.

James gently slid her off of his lap and then slid off the bed onto the floor. He got to one knee and looked up at her, proffering the ring up towards her.

"Will you marry me?"

"Did you think I'd say no?" Lily laughed, more tears falling down her face, sliding off the bed, less gracefully, into his lap and wrapping her arms around him tightly. He de-attached one of her arms and finally put the diamond ring onto her finger.

"I love you," he said, two tears falling down his face as he held her again.

"I love you," she whispered, her voice thick. She looked at the ring and laughed quietly. "So this is what it looks like?" He pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Do you like it?"

"I love you," she said, putting her hand to his cheek and kissing him. The ring felt odd and different on her finger, but she never wanted to take it off. When she tried to run her hands through his hair, it got tangled in some of his messy locks.

"Ow," he said, grinning. "Going to take some getting used to, hm?"

"Probably," she said, looking at it. "I suppose there's just one more question..."

"What's that?" he asked, kissing her once more, sensuously. She would let his lips go and deepened it. A soft moan came from the depths of her throat and she wondered how she could have gone so long without one of James Potter's amazing kisses.

"Your place or mine?" she breathed once she let him go.

"Our place," James said, opening his eyes to look at her.

"Our place?" Lily asked, breaking away from him for a minute. "I thought you said you broke the lease?"

"I lied," James nuzzled her cheek gently. Lily closed her eyes and held him tighter.

"Take me home, James," she whispered.

"I'm tired of waiting," Sirius announced.

"We're tired of listening to you complain," Remus snapped at him.

"I want to know what's going on in there?" Sirius whined.

"I think you would know what goes on in there more than anyone else," Emmeline muttered.

"I beg your pardon!" Sirius said, affronted. "I have never proposed marriage to anyone before."

Remus quirked his eyebrow. "Do you really think that's what James is doing?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Sirius announced, getting up and walking to the door. Remus stood up to try to stop him, but he'd already opened the door.

"Where the hell are they?" Remus blinked, peeking inside. True enough, the room was completely empty.

"Ah-HA!" Sirius said, from under the bed.

"What?" Remus asked and then gasped when Sirius came up holding an empty velvet black box.

"James....has finally cooked the beans."

R-RATED

"Let's get out of here," James whispered on Lily's skin. She sighed and took his lips once more.

"Your place or mine?" she breathed.

"Our place," James said, opening his eyes to look at her.

"Our place?" Lily asked, breaking away from him for a minute. "I thought you said you broke the lease?"

"I lied," James nuzzled her cheek gently. Lily closed her eyes and held him tighter.

"Take me home, James," she whispered.

He reached forwards, staring at her with such intensity she started to tremble, and pulled her close to him. With one small kiss on the nose, they both Apparated out of St. Mungo's back to their apartment.

Once James felt Lily appear next to him, he reached over and picked her up, bridal-style. She let out a soft sigh, as she was still a bit tired from her ordeal, and let him carry her to their bedroom.

Of course, it was only until James put Lily on the bed that she noticed anything odd.

"James, honey," Lily said, a bit louder, when he started pulling off her clothes. "Where are the sheets?"

"You took them, remember?" James moaned, sucking on her shoulder.

"James," Lily said, pushing him up a bit. "You mean to tell me that you've been sleeping on a bare mattress and-" she looked up and James sucked on the tip of her chin "-and a quilt?"

"It's not so bad," he smirked at her. "I doubt we're going to be doing much sleeping anyways..."

"James, I'm not doing this without sheets," Lily told him, point-blank, as he sucked on her earlobe.

"But they're all the way at your flaat," James moaned, nudging his head next to hers. "Do I have to?"

"Go."

With a heavy sigh, James sat up and Disapparated.

When he came back, Lily was not where he had left him, but he heard the water running in the bathroom. He threw the blankets on the bed as an afterthought and bolted to the bathroom, which, from the looks of it, was bathed entirely in candlelight.

He was right; Every nook and cranny of the bathroom was covered in candles, and there was a steamy, sensual sent wafting into his nose. Then of course, there was the eye candy.

Lily was sitting on the edge of their bathtub, wearing James' robe, although it was hanging off of her shoulders. She had dipped her toe into the steaming water to stir around the bubbles as she poured in bubble bath.

James walked up behind her and kissed her shoulder lovingly. He then kissed up her neck (she put her un-ringed right hand in his hair and sighed) and suckled on her ear. He untied her robe and threw it to the ground She stood up and pulled off his robes slowly. Once they were sufficiently ready to bathe, James stepped into the hot water and pulled her down with him into his lap.

"I missed you," he said, running his hands up and down her body.

"You only missed the sex," Lily teased, even though she knew differently. However, it was nice to be able to have a chest like his to snuggle up to whenever she wanted.

She turned a bit and laid her head under his neck and sighed, gently stroking his chest with the tips of her fingers. "Life was so boring without you, James," she confessed.

He reached for the floating sponge and dipped it into the water, putting it to her skin and watching the water drip down, reflecting the yellow candlelight all around them. She sighed against his skin and turned her head a bit to kiss his collarbone. He dipped the sponge into the water and for a while, the only sound was the sound of water dripping from the sponge to her skin and back to the water.

Lily looked up and kissed the bottom of his jaw, up his cheek and then to his lips. He dropped the loofa into the water and raised his hand to cup her cheek, opening his mouth on hers and letting the kiss get as wet as they dared. James reached down and pulled her up higher on his body, pulling one of her legs around his waist. She made a sound of protest.

"No, James," she whispered. "Not here."

"I know," he said, his hand sliding down to caress her sides. He kissed her lovingly. "I know."

"So..." Lily said, now glad that James and she were on the same wavelength. "Are we going to take a bath, or are we going to prune?"

"Hm..." James smirked, grabbing her and rolling them both over so Lily was dunked under the water. She came up spirting water onto James' face.

"You...!" she gasped. James grinned down at her cheekily.

"Oh no! You're drowning!" He covered her mouth with his and blew into it. She giggled and wrapped her arms around him again and wouldn't let his lips leave hers.

"My savior..." she sighed. The weight of him on top was so familiar and her body was aching for more.

"Shampoo!" James said, accurately reading the look in her eyes, but choosing to not indulge her. He sat up and pulled her upright, reaching forward to grab the shampoo. Lily glared at him. He was such a tease.

"Fine," she turned around and folded her arms over her chest. "Shampoo me."

Having forgotten exactly how nice it was for James to massage her scalp, Lily was whistling a different tune a few seconds later. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, his hands traveling all over her scalp and his fingers sending tingling sensations all up and down her body.

He pulled her back so that her hair was under the water and began massaging out the bubbles. He watched her lovingly and she reached up to tap his nose.

"You're adorable," she whispered.

"You aren't too bad yourself," he said, pushing her head out of the water. He ran his hands through it and brushed it out of her face.

"Ready?" she asked, smiling.

He replied by kissing her open mouth. She wanted to melt into the bathtub; his open mouth kisses were the best ones he had. His lips lazily slid over hers and his tongue lightly rubbed over hers, causing shivers to go up and down her spine. He stopped kissing her, and while she swayed lightly in a daze, he got out of the tub and dried himself off. Then he leaned back into the tub, and just as she had started to comprehend things once more, he kissed her again, and pulled her into a standing position easily.

He ran a towel down her body and through her hair, kissing her when he was close enough to her lips to do so. When she was as dry as she was going to get, he picked her up bridal-style, and carried her over to the bed.

"Ah-James..."

"What?"

"Sheets."

With a groan of impatience (and while still holding Lily), James found his wand and magicked the sheets onto the bed. Once everything was all pristine, he wasted no time in messing them up, by pushing Lily onto the bed roughly.

Four months of sexual tension exploded on the newly-bedded sheets. Lips were everywhere, hands were even more everywhere, and both found that they could pick up right where they left off. They each wanted to make sure none of their territory had changed, so there was plenty of hand-roaming (followed by the occasional grunt or moan). They made up for lost time by kissing every inch they could get their lips on (which also accounted for the not-so-occasional grunt or moan).

By the time they were ready, there was so much passion between them that they didn't even waste precious moments figuring out which position. They just did it.

And oh, how glorious it felt.

While returning to some sense of mental coherency, they lay panting in each other's sweaty arms.

"Well..." James said, finally, laughing once. "That was..."

"Yeah..." Lily agreed, snuggling on his chest.

"I don't know what to say..." James shook his head. Lily grinned and kissed him, pulling the sheets over the two of them.

"Then don't say anything," she whispered, reaching over and turning off the light. She found him again and snuggled up next to him, kissing his chest.

"I love you," he sighed.

"So you've told me," she replied, pressing her head to his.

"I want to tell you again."

"Feel free."

"I love you...can I call you Mrs. Potter?"

"That's your mother, James."

"Oh...my wife, then?" He felt her smile against him.

"I like that...my husband..." she said, more to herself than to James.

"I like that too...my wife..." he said, grinning also. "Hey Baby?"

"Hm?"

"Did you think you'd ever end up getting engaged to me?" he asked. "Like, when you found out I'd been spying on you in sixth year-"

"James," Lily said.

"Hm?"

"We just made up, let's not bring up your stupidity again."

"All right..."

"Good night, James."

"Good night, Lily."