To You I Belong

husker_fan_2006

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance
Relationships: Lily & James
Book: Lily & James, Books 1 - 5
Published: 24/06/2005
Last Updated: 13/10/2005
Status: completed

Lily Evans hasn’t been home to England in two years. She hasn’t seen anyone from school, or had contact with them since graduation. She regrets the way she had let her life get before she left and was glad to get out of there. It takes a tragic event to finally bring her back. But Lily soon finds that coming home might have been a mistake. Things that she had forgotten are happening again, and one she tried to forget comes back into her life, and instead of regretting her life before she left, she soon regrets leaving in the first place.

Chapters

1. No Escape from Magic

2. Photo Albums and Memories

3. Home is Where the Heart Used to Be

4. I Missed You, Despite Myself

5. The British Girl in Me

6. The Hardest Thing is Saying Goodbye

7. Crazy

8. Things that Never Die

9. The Place I Used to Run To

10. The Order of the Phoenix

11. When You Say Nothing At All

12. Two Weeks Notice

13. Saying Goodbye All Over Again

14. But Ya Gotta Have Friends

15. Mr. and Mrs. James Potter

16. To You I Belong

1. No Escape from Magic

To You I Belong

Summary: Lily Evans hasn't been home to England in two years. She hasn't seen anyone from school, or had contact with them since graduation. She regrets the way she had let her life get before she left and was glad to get out of there. It takes a tragic event to finally bring her back. But Lily soon finds that coming home might have been a mistake. Things that she had forgotten are happening again, and one she tried to forget comes back into her life, and instead of regretting her life before she left, she soon regrets leaving in the first place. Please read and review when you're done.

Whenever dawn turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
And in the daylight forever
To you I belong.

- To You I Belong

B*Witched

In a small apartment in New York City, a red haired woman of nineteen entered her apartment after an extremely long day at the office. Lily Evans was the youngest woman in her building, and like when she was in school, worked hard to get there and stay there. She really didn't have time for any fun stuff anymore; life was all work and no play most days. Lily looked at the floor of her apartment and sighed. The place was a mess; her roommate wasn't a very tidy person. Lily called out for Alison, but she wasn't in the apartment. She saw a note on the kitchen table saying,

Lils-

Went club hoppin', be back later.

Ally

Lily shook her head and sighed again. If Alison would work more and party less, she'd be able to do so much. Of course, everyone should work hard according to Lily. It's the rule for a perfect life. Though, things aren't perfect to Lily. The one thing that keeps her life from being flawless is that time in England. Seventeen years of her life wasted, and she almost ruined her life by staying with him. Lily collapsed into a chair and turned the TV on. The ten o'clock news was just starting. More than she wished, Lily sometimes couldn't help thinking about her past. She hated to think about it, but there are some things you just don't forget. When Lily came to the U.S., she left her identity as a witch behind. No one knew that she had magical powers, and that was the way it was going to stay. She had no use for it in America. She didn't know any of the witches and wizards in this country. Lily was about to doze off when someone knocked on the door. Lily sighed and got up, and upon opening the door, saw her best friend in America on the other side along with four others. Natalie said,

“Hey Lils, we're going down to a bar to celebrate Cameron's twenty first birthday, want to go along?”

“No thanks, I'm not really in a partying mood.” Lily turned and walked away and sat back down in her chair. Natalie and the four others came in and closed the door. Natalie said,

“Oh my God, kill me now, Lils could you be anymore boring?” Lily rolled her eyes.

“Dude, Lily, you gotta have some fun in your life.”

“I'm perfectly fine with how things are in my life.”

“Yeah right.” Lily glared at her best friend. Natalie gave up saying,

“Fine, go ahead, be the dullest person in the world. I don't care. I'll see you tomorrow.”

“See ya.” Natalie and her company left, and Lily went back to the TV, and about five minutes later, she was sound asleep.

----------

Lily woke up suddenly to a noise of someone coming in. It was Alison, tipsy from the amount of alcohol in her system, coming into the apartment.

“How was the club hopping?” Alison jumped at the unexpected voice and looked around.

“Were you waiting up for me?”

“No, this is where I fell asleep.”

“Oh ok, cuz' you don't have to wait up for me.”

“I know. So how were the clubs?”

“Ok, had fun, drank…a lot. I would've asked you to come along but you weren't home, and I figured you wouldn't want to anyways.”

“You figured right.”

“Lily, can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Why don't you ever have any fun in your life?”

“There's too much to be done that I don't have time for it.”

“This Friday me and my friends are going to a karaoke bar. You should go with, just for shits and giggles, just to say you did something bold and out there. Bring Natalie along if you want. It'd be fun.”

“I'll think about it.”

“Ok, that means a no then.”

“No, I'll think about it. Seriously.”

“You better. But anyways, I think I'm going to go to bed, get some sleep with what's left of the night, and sleep till noon. See you when you get home from work tomorrow.”

“Night, Ally.” Alison stumbled slightly up the stairs and into her bedroom.

--------------

The next day at lunch, Natalie was saying to Lily,

“You should've came with last night, Lils, it was fun.”

“That's ok. It didn't bother me.”

“Ok, I wanna ask you something, when was the last time you went on a date?”

“I don't want to concentrate on those kinds of things right now.”

“No, answer the question.” Lily sighed.

“Two years. When I was still in school, I went out with this one guy in my grade for almost a year.”

“What happened?”

“We wanted different things, and everything was just going too fast. Everyone always said we'd end up together, but it wasn't meant to be.”

“Ok, I think I've figured out your problem.”

“What problem?”

“You're scared.”

“What, no I'm not.”

“Yeah you are, things get too out of the ordinary; you stop, quit and give up. You're going to end up old and alone. You're gonna die a virgin.”

“I'm not gonna die a virgin.”

“Can you say that with confidence as in you've already done it, or saying that with hope that you're right?”

“With confidence.”

“Ok, that makes me feel a little better then.”

“To tell you the truth, I wasn't always like this. I was somewhat, but not always.”

“Well, what the hell happened?”

“The real world happened. I realized there was a world outside of my boarding school.”

“Boarding school? I'm sorry.”

“No, it was a good school. I'm just glad I'm away from it.”

“But ok, so we're going to go with Ally and her friends this Friday, and you're going to meet a guy.”

“If you say so, Natalie.” Natalie nodded.

“I say so."

------------

Friday night rolled around, and true to her word, Lily was among the partiers that night. She didn't want to get up and sing, she was glad that no one was making her. She figured if she didn't bring attention to herself, then she wouldn't have to get up and make a fool of herself. But if Ally and Natalie had their ways, Lily wouldn't have any control over what she did, judging by how much tequila shots they made her have. Soon her worst fears were confirmed Natalie said,

“Lils! You gotta go sing!”

“No, I don't wanna sing.”

“C'mon, you gotta sing.” The people at the table all started chanting,

“Sing, sing, sing, sing…” Lily sighed and got up, and her table broke into applause.

“Ok, easy song, it'll be quick and painless, nobody'll make fun of you too much.” Lily went up to the list of songs and picked one that she knew. The song started up, Lily picked up the microphone and sang,

“Rain fell down
You were there
I cried for you when I
hurt my hand
Storm a-rushing in
Wind was howling
I called for you, you were there

Whenever dark turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
And in the daylight forever
To you I belong

Beside the sea
When the waves broke
I drew a heart for you in the sand
In fields where streams
Turn to rivers
I ran to you, you were there

Whenever dark turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
And in the daylight forever
To you I belong

I ran to you, you were there

Whenever dark turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
And in the daylight forever
To you I belong

To you I belong
To you I belong.”

When Lily finished singing, everyone applauded loudly. She went back to her table, and Natalie and Ally had shocked looks on their faces.

“What?”

“Oh my God, Lils, you're awesome.”

“Am I?”

“Dude, I haven't heard someone sing that good in a long time.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, that song was awesome. I haven't ever heard it before.”

“It's a song I used to listen to when I was seventeen. It was one I knew, so I chose it.”

“You should sing more often.”

“I don't know…” Lily was cut off when she heard a male voice say,

“Hey.” Lily looked up and looked into the face of a gorgeous man about twenty-one or so. Lily blushed slightly and said,

“Hi.”

“I heard you singing up there. You have a beautiful voice.”

“Thank you.”

“I'm Kyle Matthews.” Kyle stuck his hand out.

“I'm Lily Evans.” She took his hand and shook it.

“You mind if I sit down?”

“Go for it.” Natalie said, giving Lily a wink. Lily smiled and turned back to Kyle.

“So are you from here in the city?”

“Yeah I live about ten blocks from here.”

“I've never seen you here before. I live about that far from here too.”

“This is the first time I've been here. My friends drug me along.”

“Well I'm glad they did. Otherwise we might not have met.”

“Yeah.” A part of Lily was coming back to her. It was the flirting Lily Evans. She had put that part of her away, and she hadn't felt this way since she went out with James. `No, don't think about James right now, think about Kyle. God, he's hot.' Lily and Kyle talked some more, and towards midnight they decided to leave. Before she left, Ally grinned and said,

“Hey Lils, just in case, condoms are in the top drawer on the right side of the sink.” Lily just smiled back and left with Kyle. Ally said to Natalie,

“Someone's gonna get lucky tonight.” Then they both laughed.

---------

Back at Lily and Ally's apartment, Kyle and Lily stood at the door. Kyle leaned in and gave Lily a kiss goodnight. When he pulled away, she said in a low tone,

“Want to come in?”

“Yeah.” He followed her inside, and when Lily turned on the lights, a brown barn owl stood on her coffee table with a letter attached to its foot. Lily's jaw dropped, `Why now?' She looked at Kyle's reaction, and saw him staring at the owl.

“Um, why is there an owl in your apartment?”

“Oh, uh…” She couldn't think of a dignified alibi. She just said,

“I think maybe you should go, Kyle, you might want to.”

“Yeah, I think so too. I'll see ya.” With one last look at the owl and at Lily, he turned and left. Lily turned the deadbolt on the door and attached the chain to the door. Then she took the letter attached to the owl's leg and it nipped her finger kindly and took flight. Lily took a letter opener and slid it across the envelope. She unfolded the letter and her eyes traveled across the paper, taking in the words. The letter was from one of her school friends, and one sentence made Lily drop the letter in shock and agony, and broke into tears.

---------

A/N: Here's a new story for ya. It was originally going to be a songfic, but I changed my mind and decided to expand it into a fanfic. Sorry to leave it at a cliffhanger, maybe this'll bring in reviews!! (Hopefully) I'll try and update as soon as possible but not before I get at least ten reviews. Bye-bye.

Husker-fan-2006

-->

2. Photo Albums and Memories

Chapter 2: Photo Albums and Memories

------------

Whenever dawn turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
And in the daylight forever
To you I belong.

- To You I Belong by B*Witched

-------------

Dear Lily,

I know you probably won't to hear this, but I have to tell you, being a good witch I'm going to let you know, even though you haven't given a crap about any of us and we haven't heard from you in ages. Anyways, Isabelle died last night. She was killed, by the killing curse, and the Dark Mark was found over her house. Her funeral is on Monday evening. You probably won't come, but after all Lily, she was your best friend. Your best friend that you abandoned as well as the rest of us. I hope you come anyway; it would be nice to see you again, and find out what's new with you.

Alice

-----------

Lily was overcome with grief. Her best friend from school was dead. Isabelle was gone. She was the one person that helped her through everything, she was there when Lily was sad or depressed, and Lily was there for her, until she moved. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she collapsed into a chair at the table. She made an instant decision that she was going back. The thought terrified her. What would people say when she returned? Would James be there? How could she face him, and all her other friends? Nonetheless, she was going back. She left the letter on the table and went to her room. A trunk sat at the foot of her bed, with Lily Evans etched into the lid. She unlocked the padlock on it and slowly pulled the lid up. To the ordinary person, the contents of the trunk would be totally strange, but to Lily, they contained memories of a life she had long forgotten. In her trunk (which was bewitched to fit all her magical possessions), Lily found her old robes from school, the Gryffindor crest on the left side, her school books, worn and faded from many readings, her shimmering emerald green dress robes, the ones that Isabelle insisted Lily buy, and other things. The last thing she found right away was the one thing that was essential to ever witch and wizard, her wand. Lily held it in her hand, staring at it, thinking of all the spells that she did with it. She pointed it at something at the very bottom that she couldn't make out what it was and said,

“Accio object!” The object lifted into the air and came towards her. As it got closer, Lily noticed it was a book. When it reached her hand, she saw it was a photo album. Lily dreaded looking in it, but something in her told her to. She opened the front cover and saw pictures of her family. They were muggle pictures, so they didn't move. There were baby pictures, pictures of her parents, and pictures of Lily and her sister, Petunia. In every picture of the two of them, both looked as though it pained them to be within a hundred feet of each other, which was true. Lily closed the photo album and put it aside. She pulled out a suitcase and started packing clothes for a week. She then called the airport and got a flight to London. She needed some time to herself before seeing everyone again. After a phone call to work, a note left for Ally and a long drive to the airport, Lily was on her way back home.

----------------

Once over the “pond” (Atlantic Ocean), Lily took out her photo album and opened it up past the muggle pictures. The first one she saw was of her and Isabelle their sixth year.

“Oh come on, Lils, why won't you go out with James?”

“The better question is why would I? Seriously, he is the most arrogant, conceited guy I have ever met.”

“Try to look past it.”

“Yeah right, `Belle. It's not gonna happen.”

“You never know, Lily, stranger things have happened,” Isabelle said.

“Not to me.”

“Mark my words, Miss Evans, I bet you might be Mrs. James Potter someday.”

“God help me if I do.”

“Try this, Lils, try to look past his flaws, and look at the good things, I assure you there is more good than bad in him. Now his right hand man is another story.” Lily laughed.

“I guess that's one good thing about James, he's not Black, that's for sure.”

“About who?”

“James.”

“Oh my God, the world is coming to an end, Lily used Potter's first name! I'm surprised you even know it.”

“Shut up. See, why can't James be more like…like Remus, why can't he be sweet and kind like him?”

“Give him a chance, he might be. You don't know the James Potter with a girlfriend when you are the girlfriend.”

“Are you ever going to give up on me?”

“I'll be trying to get you two together till the day I die.” Lily laughed at her best friend and shook her head.

It brought tears to Lily's eyes to remember Isabelle, but she turned the page and saw a picture of her and James. Lily was sitting on James' lap on one of the squashy armchairs in the common room. James was leaning back against the chair and Lily was leaning against him. James' arms were wrapped around his girlfriend, and he kissed her on the cheek, and she grinned innocently. Lily looked closely and saw the Head Boy and Girl badges pinned to their robes, and it brought another memory to mind.

Lily walked down the hallway of the train to the Head Boy and Girl compartment, eager to see who the new Head Boy, for she had no idea who it was. She figured someone like Remus, but the last person she expected to see…

“Potter! What the hell are you doing here?” James looked up at Lily and pointed at his Head Boy badge.

“But, no, why are you Head Boy?” James shrugged.

“I dunno.”

“Honestly, what is wrong with Dumbledore, seriously.”

“When you've gotten over the shock of me being Head Boy Evans, we have prefects to order around.”

“We don't order them around…”

“Well, whatever you want to call it then.”

“I can't believe I have to spend the entire year with you. Nothing good will come out of this, I guarantee it.”

“Ah, you never know Evans, something good might come out of it.”

“I'm not going out with you, Potter. This no is the answer to every time you ask me this year, ok?” James laughed.

“What if you change your mind?”

“It'll never happen.”

As the memory went through Lily's head, she smiled at her stupidity, and how ironic it was that she would say those things, for later that year, before Christmas, she was going out with James. The next picture Lily looked at was of her and Sirius. They were asleep, leaning against each other for support. Suddenly, James came into the picture with a mock angry look on his face and started yelling at Sirius. Both of them jerked awake, and Sirius gave a wicked grin and said something. It made Lily laugh and she turned and threw her arms around Sirius' neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Sirius said something again, and kissed her on the cheek too. The look on James' face was priceless. He had a look on his face of anger and jealousy. All of this was in good fun; it was just like every other time. Sirius and Remus would always pretend to try and steal Lily away from James. Lily couldn't help laughing out loud at this picture. A man across the aisle looked up at her and threw her a dirty look, but she didn't care.

Lily started dozing off, barely being able to keep her eyes open. She was trying to stay sitting up, but gravity was taking its toll on her. It was 3:30 in the morning, and she was in a spare classroom with James, Sirius and Remus, all were practicing for the exam the next morning. Lily had closed her eyes and she heard someone sit next to her. She opened her eyes and saw Sirius next to her.

“Lils, I'll lean against you and you lean against me, and we'll sleep for a few minutes.” Lily was too tired to answer with words.

“Mmm hmm.” She and Sirius were leaning against each other, and as soon as they were both about ready to fall asleep, they heard,

“Padfoot! What the hell are you doing with my girlfriend?!” Sirius grinned wickedly.

“Slowly making my move, Prongs. I always told you that she'd be better off with me.” Both he and Lily laughed. Lily sat up and turned her body around and wrapped her arms around Sirius' neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and leaned her head on his shoulder. Sirius' grin grew wider.

“See, she agrees too.” James fought hard to keep a straight face, but couldn't hold it anymore. All three of them burst into laughter.

The memory of Sirius brought back another one, his conversation with her two days before she left for America.

“Lils.”

“I'm not in the mood for a lecture, Black.” Sirius' eyes narrowed slightly. She hadn't called him by his last name in a long time.

“I need to talk to you. Or rather, I'm going to talk to you, whether you like it or not.”

“I don't want to hear it.” She said shortly.

“Well you're going to hear it!” He snapped. Lily looked at him narrowing her eyes at him in anger

“Well, let's hear it then!”

“Why are you leaving?” Sirius' tone suddenly changed to a sober one. Lily sighed.

“I want to get out of here. I'm tired of it all.”

“All what?”

“Everything.”

“Why did you break up with James, from what I've heard, he proposed?”

“It's all moving too fast, Sirius, I'm just two months out of school, I don't want to be getting married already and be tied down right away.”

“Lily, listen to me, and keep this in mind when you leave. If you leave, you're throwing away happiness with both hands. This is your home, you belong with James.”

“I can't.” Lily choked out, her eyes welling up with tears.

“I'm sorry Sirius, but I can't stay here anymore.” Sirius slowly nodded, and turned to leave. Before he left, he said,

“You know, I really thought you would be the one who James ended up marrying. You two fit so well together.” Lily inhaled a ragged breath, the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Please go, Sirius.” Sirius nodded, and left. Lily sobbed, why did he have to make her feel so guilty? He always had a way of doing that. Of all of James' friends, Sirius was the one she would miss the most. He was the one who was most like James, and he always sided with her on everything. She liked Remus and Peter too, but they weren't the same. Remus was more like her, a prefect, smart and down to earth, and she didn't really know Peter all that well. Their seventh year Peter seemed aloof, he didn't hang out with the rest of the Marauders as much as he used to. She hated to leave them all deep down, but she knew she had to get out.

Lily flipped the page and saw a picture of herself sitting with Isabelle, James, Sirius, and Remus in the Gryffindor Common Room. They were talking about random stuff, whatever came to mind. Lily remembered one topic of conversation and it brought a smile to her face.

“Ok, Lils, James, if you two ever have kids, what would you name them?” Lily and James looked at each other and shrugged.

“We hadn't really talked too much about it.”

“Knowing James he'll want a James Jr. for a boy or Jamie for a girl,” Remus said.

“You say it like that's a bad thing,” James said.

“I'm not naming my son James Jr.”

“Why, what's wrong with it?”

“Everything.” Sirius stretched in his chair and said,

“Yeah, she wants to name her son Sirius Jr., right?”

“Oh yeah,” Lily said sarcastically.

“See Prongs, you gotta give her options she'll like, I mean, who would name their kid James? I mean, come on.” James was going to say his comeback, but Lily spoke first.

“Actually, I was thinking about if it's a boy, to name him Harry James, and if it's a girl, Faith Gabrielle.”

“Harry James Potter,” James said, trying the name out, “I like it.” Lily grinned and said,

“Wait, wait, who said his last name would be Potter?” James pretended to be shocked.

“Yeah, James, what if she wants his last name to be Black or Lupin, or something?” Isabelle said.

“Yeah, what if I do?” Both Sirius and Remus grinned and put their arms around Lily, and stopped quickly when they realized that they both were going to do the same thing. They stared at each other, as if saying, `We can't both have her,' then Sirius said,

“Rock paper scissors.” Isabelle laughed and said,

“Ah, rock paper scissors, the solution to all the Marauder's decisions.” Sirius nodded and said,

“Damn straight.” Remus and Sirius put their fists into their palms.

“One, two, three.” Sirius had rock, Remus had paper.

“How do you always win?”

“You always pick rock.”

“Ok, best two outta three.”

“Nope, I won.” Remus put his arm around Lily.

“Fine, then I get Isabelle.”

“No thanks, Sirius,” Isabelle said, and grinned as a thought came to mind and she went and sat on Remus' other side. Sirius and James looked at each other and Sirius said,

“This isn't right.”

Lily looked at more pictures and one made the smile on her face disappear instantly. It was a picture of her and James, the last night they were a couple. James was on one knee, getting ready to propose.

“Lils, can I talk with you?”

“Of course.”

“Want to go for a walk?”

“Alright.” They walked in silence for a few moments, until Lily said,

“What did you want to talk to me about, James?” She noticed that James wasn't his usual self; something was bothering him and making him nervous.

“What is it, James?”

“Lily I want to ask you something, but I'm not entirely sure how to do it.”

“Just come out and say it.”

“It's not that simple.”

“Well, what's so difficult about it, James, just tell me what you want to say.”

“Ok, here it goes.” He got down on one knee, and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. Lily's jaw dropped.

“Lily, ever since I met you that one day on the Hogwarts Express when we were eleven, I knew I loved you. And I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you someday. So, Lily, will you marry me?” He opened the box to reveal a beautiful ring with an emerald in the center, with diamonds on either side of it. Lily's expression was hard to read. She reached down and took James' hands and pulled him up. She closed the box and said,

“I'm sorry, James, I can't.” Clearly it had not been the answer James was expecting.

“Why can't you?”

“This is all too fast, I…”

“Ok, I understand, I agree, we are only seventeen, maybe in a few years we can get married…”

“No, James.”

“What?”

“No, I can't marry you at all. Life with you would keep me tied down here, I want to get out into the world and see things. I'm tired of staying in England. I want to go to America or something.”

“Well, we can go to America, or anywhere you want, I don't care, as long as we're together.”

“No, I can't ask you to leave everything and everyone.”

“But it's ok for you to do it?”

“It's different with me James.”

“How is it different with you?”

“I wouldn't affect people as much as you.”

“Shut up, you have an affect on people, Lily, more than you know.”

“Yeah right.”

“Do you want me to name names? I can tell you of so many people that would hate it if you leave.”

“No, you don't need to. James, you're asking me to marry you without looking around yet. You haven't met any girl outside of Hogwarts. If I say yes, and you might meet someone else and regret proposing to me.”

“There's no other girl for me but you, Lils.”

“I'm sorry, James, but I can't marry you.” With that, she ran back to the castle, trying to keep from crying. As soon as she got inside the entrance hall, she leaned against the wall and broke into sobs. She couldn't get the look on James' face out of her head when she told him she couldn't marry him.

The memory of the last time she saw James brought tears to Lily's eyes. She closed her photo album and the seat belt light came on, and the plane began its descent. A woman's voice came over the intercom,

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London, England. We will be landing in a few moments time. Please exit the plane once it has stopped and parked. Have a nice day.”

`I'll try.' Lily thought to herself.

A/N: A good stopping spot. Hope you enjoy. I know I didn't have ten reviews like I had hoped, but oh well. Thank you SO much to all of you who reviewed, and I hope you keep it up!!

Husker_fan_2006

-->

3. Home is Where the Heart Used to Be

Chapter 3: Home is Where the Heart Used to Be

-------------

Whenever dawn turns to night,

And the dreams sing their song,

In the daylight forever,

To you I belong.

- To You I Belong by B*Witched

--------------

When Lily stepped off the plane, she wasn't certain where to go first. She had no idea where to find everyone. She sat on a bench, her luggage on the floor next to her, thinking. Isabelle was dead, there was no way in hell Sirius, Remus or Peter would let her stay with them, she couldn't face James right away, nor did she want to talk to her parents, they would be a last resort. She went through her list of friends, and then one friend came to mind. Alice. She sent the letter, so she might let her stay with her. She went outside and stuck her wand arm out. Instantly, a purple bus came screeching to a halt in front of her. The door opened and a man in his twenties stood on the step, a small child next to him.

“Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Steve Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening.” Steve knelt beside the child.

“See Stan, that's how you do it. Be nice and polite, and the passenger will be happy.” The child grinned and clapped his hands. Lily smiled and started to climb on board as Steve picked up her luggage. Lily sat down in a chair a few rows back from Ernie the driver, and Steve said as he dropped her luggage,

“Where are you headed, Miss…?”

“Evans, Lily Evans.”

“Lily Evans? I didn't recognize you, you haven't ridden the Knight Bus in years.”

“Yes, I've been away for a couple years.”

“Well, it's good to see you agin. Whereabouts are you going?”

“I'm not sure exactly where she lives now, but I'm looking for Alice Haysing's house.”

“I don' know any Alice Haysing.”

“Somewhat tall, brown hair, blue eyes, was one of my friends, she's traveled with me before.”

“I know an Alice Longbottom, could that be `er?”

“Longbottom…Longbottom…” Lily muttered the name under her breath.

“Frank Longbottom. Yes, that's her. I'm almost sure of it.”

“Alrigh' we'll take ya there. Take `er away Ern.” The bus gave an almighty lurch, and it was speeding through the countryside.

------------

An hour later, Lily was standing outside Alice's front door, hesitating to knock. The Knight Bus had left, and she was standing alone. She finally knocked and waited patiently for someone to come to the door. No one came. Lily turned from the door and started walking down the sidewalk, getting ready to bring the Knight Bus back, when someone opened the door and she heard,

“Lily?” Lily turned around, and saw her school friend standing in the doorway. Lily smiled weakly.

“Hi Alice.”

“I can't believe you came.”

“Neither can I, but here I am. I'm back. For now.” Alice came to her and they hugged.

“Well, it's good to see you again.”

“And you too. So, Mrs. Longbottom, what's new?” Alice smiled.

“I see you finally married Frank.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Are you happy?”

“Of course I am. Are you?”

“What?”

“Are you happy?”

“Yeah, I'm happy in America,” Lily said in an unbelievable tone.

“You don't sound like it.”

“Well, I haven't been really happy since I got your letter.”

“I know, neither have I. Listen, what are you doing here anyway? I can't believe that this is the first place you'd go when you come back home. I thought you'd maybe go to your parents first, or see James and the rest of the Marauders.”

“I don't want to see my parents just yet, the Marauder's probably wouldn't let me stay with them, and I can't face James, Alice.”

“Well, I'm sorry, but I don't really have the room for you to stay here either.” Lily looked up at the huge two-story house, and raised her eyebrow at her friend. She said sarcastically,

“Yeah, I see you're strapped for space.”

“No, it's just that…Frank's parents are coming this evening, and…they take up a lot of room.” Lily could tell she was lying, but she decided to let it be.

“Well, where would you suggest I go?”

“I gave you suggestions, go to those places. Just don't be so stubborn and conclusive over something you don't know for sure will turn out the way you think.” Lily sighed.

“Fine.”

“We'll get together some time Lils, I promise. But I gotta go, so I'll see you later.”

“Bye.” Alice went back inside, and Lily sighed, angry once again with her friend. She pulled out her cell phone and called home. She waited three rings and got her parents answering machine.

“Hello, you've reached David and Rose Evans. We're off on a cruise of the Caribbean, and we won't be home till the 31st. Please leave your name, number and a brief message after the beep.” Lily hung up and sighed again. She apparated to Sirius' house. She knocked, and it was a while before he came to the door. It took Sirius a second to recognize his best friend's ex-girlfriend. Once he realized who she was, his jaw dropped.

“Oh my God, Evans?” Lily again smiled weakly.

“I see you're back to addressing me by my surname.”

“Old habits die hard. What are you doing here?”

“Alice sent me a letter about Isabelle.”

“Oh. So, it takes the death of one of your friends to bring you back?”

“I know I should've come back sooner, believe me, I somewhat wish I had.”

“Somewhat? You don't wish you had? Why didn't you?”

“I didn't want to return to the past.”

“That's a bunch of cliché bull shit, Lily.”

“Well it's the truth. Actually to tell you the truth, I was scared. Scared to come back to everything.”

“I've never known Lily Evans to be scared of anything.”

“Well, that Lily Evans you knew is gone, I don't even know that girl any more.”

“You know, you sound like a prissy Yankee bitch.”

“What did you call me?”

“You heard me. You're acting like the Lily Evans that used to hate my friends and me, therefore you're a bitch, you talk like you're better than everyone else, and your accent makes you sound like a goddamn Yankee. You've been in America too long.”

“I can't believe I even thought I might be welcome to stay here.”

“Go home to your parents, they probably don't even know you're here.”

“No, they don't, because they're on a cruise. So I can't go there.”

“Go see if James'll take you back.”

“There is no way in hell I'm going to see him. If this is the welcome I get from you, I definitely don't want to go see him.”

“He probably wouldn't want to see you anyways.” Lily turned and left, and apparated to the last person on her list of possible places to stay; she hoped would take her in.

-------------

“Lils, what are you doing back here in England?”

“Alice sent me a letter about Isabelle.”

“Oh. Well, it's good to see you again. Come on in.” Lily walked in the house and set her luggage down so she could give Remus a hug.

“I have a huge favor to ask you, Remus.”

“What's that?”

“Can I stay with you until the funeral? I have no where else to go.”

“If you want to, you're welcome here.”

“Thank you. Nobody seems to be glad to see me around here.” Lily said as she and Remus sat down at the kitchen table.

“Well, you haven't come off good with everyone since you left.”

“I know; it's my fault, I know.”

“Who have you seen since you've been back?”

“Alice and Sirius. My parents are on a cruise, and I know I'd get the door slammed in my face if I even considered asking my sister and brother-in-law if I could stay with them.”

“What about James?”

“I don't want to stay with him. I can't face him yet, or ever again for that matter.”

“I think he might want to see you again, I don't know, I haven't talked with him about it in two years. Actually, come to think of it, nobody's really brought you up in conversations that much over the past two years.” Lily said sarcastically,

“Well that makes me feel loved.”

“Have you talked about all of us to any of your friends in America?”

“No.”

“See, don't bitch that we don't talk about you, when you don't remember us.”

“Ok, I'm not in the mood for a lecture, Remus.” Remus fell silent, though he looked like he wanted to keep talking. They were silent for a while, until Lily broke the silence saying,

“How is James anyways?” Remus shrugged.

“He's an Auror now, he lives in Godric's Hollow, he bought the house he grew up in when his mom and dad died…”

“James' parents are dead?”

“Yeah, they were murdered.” Lily's jaw dropped.

“How?”

“The Killing Curse, by Voldemort.”

“When?”

“About a month after you left.”

“Oh my God, I can't believe they're gone. How is James handling it?”

“He took it hard at first, but he's slowly on the mend. For a while, he wasn't even himself. I remember him saying, `First Lily, now my parents, what else am I going to lose within the next year?'” Lily cradled her head in her hands, trying to keep from getting angry with herself for leaving. `No, it's not your fault they died so soon after you left, you had nothing to do with it.' Then why did she feel so horrible about it? Lily hadn't spoken in a while, and Remus said,

“Lily? Are you all right?” Lily shook her head.

“No, I feel like shit. Why do I feel so bad about this?”

“Because you should, you left him.” Lily laughed to herself; Remus was always so blunt. She looked at her watch and saw it read 7:30.

“You know, I've had a long day, and the time difference is starting to catch up with me. Where shall I be staying?”

“Up the stairs, second door on the left. Bathroom is the first door on the left.”

“Thanks. And thank you again for letting me stay.”

“You're welcome. Good night, Lily.”

“G'night, Remus.” Lily took her bags upstairs to the spare bedroom and set them on the floor. She changed into her pajamas, and flopped down on the bed. She rolled onto her side, and suddenly she couldn't help it, tears flowed down her cheeks.

-------------

Lily woke the next morning refreshed and energized at 10:00. She heard voices downstairs, but they were muffled so she couldn't make out who they were or what they were saying. She crawled out of bed and opened the door. Whoever Remus' guest was, they were in the entry way still. Lily heard Remus say,

“You'll never guess who's back.” The other person must've shrugged in response, because Remus answered,

“Lily's back.” Then Lily heard a voice she thought she'd never hear again, one that made her face go pale at the sound of it.

“Lily? As in my Lily?” James asked.

“She came here last night looking for a place to stay. Apparently, everyone kicked her out.”

“I can't believe she's back. Has she changed any?”

“Physically, no. But she's got this attitude of `why is everyone mad at me' kind of thing, like she doesn't know.”

“What brought her back?”

“Isabelle's funeral. You ready to see her again?”

“I don't know.” Lily peeked around the corner and saw Remus, James and Sirius standing in the entryway. Sirius looked up and spotted Lily. She silently gasped and disappeared around the corner.

“I don't know what I'll say to her when I see her.”

“Just keep your temper.”

“When have I ever lost my temper with Lily?” Sirius and Remus laughed. Remus said,

“You're kidding, right?”

“Ok, since Lily and I were going out, when have I ever lost my temper with her?”

“Well, sometimes, but all that was before she turned down your proposal and left you.”

“Where is she?”

“I think she's still sleeping.”

“No, she's not,” Sirius said, “She's been eavesdropping from the top of the stairs for the past ten minutes.” All three of them looked up at the stairs at Lily, who sheepishly appeared from around the corner. The sight of Lily once again took James' breath away. She stood there in her yellow spaghetti strap tank top and blue pajama bottoms, her crimson hair up in a messy ponytail, her green eyes stood out brightly though they were full of dread and regret. Lily stared at the man who she once loved, who she had been through so much with, who she talked with about everything, who she hadn't seen in so long. She finally decided to say something.

“Hello, James.”

“Hello, Lily.”

A/N: HA HA HA HA!! I'm evil I know, but I just had to put the end here, get y'all reviewing!!!! I'll try and update as soon as possible, but not until I get at least twenty reviews!! I have eleven already, and I'll post when I get twenty. Thanks to y'all who reviewed, and thank you to the ones who are about to review!!

Husker-fan-2006

-->

4. I Missed You, Despite Myself

Chapter 4: I Missed You, Despite Myself

-----------------

Whenever dawn turns to night
And the dreams sing their song
In the daylight forever,
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong, by B*Witched

---------------

A/N: Should've done this earlier, but this goes for all previous chapters and all following chapters, I own none of the Harry Potter characters, nor am I making a profit off this story or any of my other ones. Purely for entertainment purposes.

------------

Remus and Sirius sensed the tension and decided to give Lily and James some privacy to talk. They left for the kitchen, closing the door with a small click. James and Lily were silent for a while, until James broke the silence.

“So, Lils, how have ya been?”

“Ok, you?”

“Ok.” They were silent again. James noticed that Lily wouldn't really look at him and that she was holding back.

“Lils, why are you looking like you're afraid of me?”

“I am afraid of you. I'm afraid you're going to yell at me.”

“Why would I yell at you?”

“Because of what I did to you. I left you, turned you down.”

“So? It's been two years, Lily, I haven't been dwelling on it.”

“That's good, because neither have I.”

“You've met so many American people, that you've forgotten us back here.”

“If that were true, then I've accomplished what I tried to do.”

“You wanted to forget everyone? I've never thought you heartless, Lils, but I'm starting to.”

“It's not like that. It's just…you know what, it doesn't matter, all that matters right now is that I'm back for now.” James raised an eyebrow in question, wanting to get more explanations out of her, but instead he said,

“I guess you're right.” James looked towards the kitchen door, and sensed they were being listened to.

“Wanna go for a walk?”

“Sure.” They went outside, and started off down the sidewalk.

“Can I ask you something, James?”

“What?”

“Was there ever a time in those two years I was gone, did you miss me?”

“Yeah, I missed you, despite myself. I didn't want to. But…you left me, so what do you expect? Did you miss me?”

“For a while I did.”

“Was there ever a time where you regretted leaving?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I just…don't.”

“You don't sound like the same person any more, Lily. I don't understand it.”

“I've changed, James. I can't believe that you would think I wouldn't. There wasn't a day that went by where I didn't regret leaving England.” James stopped walking and so did Lily.

“You regret nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“Not a single thing?”

“Not a single thing.”

“So you don't regret not seeing Isabelle?”

“That's a different issue.”

“No, it's not, it's all tied together. How does it feel to know that the last time you spoke to her, you two were yelling at each other? You don't regret not seeing your parents, you do know about the near death experience don't you?”

“What near death experience?”

“They were in a car accident, Lily, they almost died.” Lily's jaw dropped.

“How is it you know this and I don't?”

“You never returned any letters or phone calls, so they thought that maybe I would be able to contact you, but if you wouldn't talk to them, you sure as hell wouldn't talk to me.” Tears were coming to Lily's eyes, she couldn't believe that happened. She walked away from James, and he followed her.

“You're just lucky that they are still alive and you have another chance to see them again. Lucky that the last thing you ever say to them was goodbye, without an `I love you mom and dad' or anything. Did you ever think of that Lils? What would you have done if they had died? Isabelle already died, you never got to say goodbye, and the last thing you told her was to go to hell before storming out the door…”

“STOP IT! SHUT UP!!” Lily screamed, clamping her hands over her ears. She screamed again and collapsed on the sidewalk and broke into tears. Right there was when James realized he went too far. He meant to make Lily feel guilty, but not to take it that far. He knelt down on the sidewalk next to her and pulled her up into his arms. It had been so long since he held her, and it felt like that's what had been missing for two years.

“I'm sorry, Lils, I didn't mean to take this that far.” She pulled away from him quickly and crossed her legs putting her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands.

“When did you become so cruel, James?”

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose control like that. I'm sure Remus told you about my parents getting killed, and you know, the last time I saw them I was storming out of the house ticked off because they were concerned about me. Two days later they died. I never got to say goodbye. I don't want that to happen to you, Lils. When your mom and dad get back from their cruise, talk to them, whether you're here or in the States.” Lily nodded, her head still in her hands and the tears rolling down her face. She sniffled, and James stood up, and offered his hands to Lily to help her up. She placed her hands in his and he pulled her up. They didn't say a word as they walked back to the house.

A/N: Kinda short I know, I'm sorry, but here's another chapter for ya, regardless of the length. Oh my God, I can't believe how many people reviewed!! I love you all for reviewing; keep it up, I love reading what you guys have to say. Let's go for 30 reviews at least for the next chapter, love ya all, and TTYL!!

Husker-fan-2006

-->

5. The British Girl in Me

Chapter 5: The British Girl in Me

-----------------

Whenever dawn turns to night,
And all the dreams sing their song,
In the daylight forever,
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong by B*Witched

------------------

The days leading up Isabelle's funeral, Lily spent mostly at Remus' house. She didn't feel like going anywhere, though she did go have lunch with Alice on Saturday.

“Lily, are you sure everything is ok with you, you don't look so well.”

“How so?”

“Well, you look tired.” Lily laughed.

“In other words I look like shit.”

“I didn't say that.”

“Anyways, I know I look tired, I am tired, I can't get used to this time difference again.”

“Again?”

“Yeah, for months after going to America, I couldn't sleep until the wee hours of the morning, then sleep till one.” Alice laughed, Lily had noticed she was kinder and more like the friend she remembered as she talked more with her.

“So, how long have you and Frank been married?”

“One year, two months, and twelve days.” Lily laughed.

“What? I can't get over the thrill of being married. It's one of the greatest feelings in the world.” Lily shrugged.

“I wouldn't know, but I can try to imagine.”

“Well, hopefully you'll know this feeling too someday, Lils.” The talk of Lily getting married made her remember the proposal two years ago, which made the features on her face darken. Alice sensed that's what she was thinking about and said,

“Lils, you got to stop thinking about it, it's in the past, you're over it, James is over it, there's no need to feel guilty about it. The more I thought about it, the more I see it from your point of view. You always said you wanted to go places and see things, travel, then come back home and settle down. I can see why you turned down James' proposal, you felt as though it would tie you down, and you wouldn't be able to fulfill your dreams.”

“Ever since I came back, I keep thinking how different my life would've been had I married James. I'd be living here, probably with a son or daughter, feeling trapped.” Alice nodded in understanding.

“Despite all that, Lils, I still would've liked to see you two get together. Everyone always thought you two were meant to be. That you would marry each other, and have kids, and grow old together.”

“At one time I did too. Remember how much crap Remus and Sirius would give James about trying to steal me away from him?” Alice laughed and nodded.

“Sirius always said that you'd end up with him in the end, you were just going out with James as a way to get closer to him.”

“Yeah, and I was going to have his kids and everything, have little Sirius Jr.'s running around.

“You still set on the names you had picked out when you were going out with James?”

“Yeah, as long as they go with my husband's last name.”

“Faith Gabrielle would go with lots of names, but are you sure you still want to name your son Harry James?”

“Good point. But anyways, it doesn't matter right now anyway, I'm not going out with anyone anyway, I thought I met someone to go out with, but then an owl showed up in my apartment. I can't escape from magic I guess.” Alice shook her head.

“I've been thinking lately. About kids' names and such. I've been thinking about it a lot ever since I got married.”

“Is this a sign of a secret you're keeping from all of us, Mrs. Longbottom?”

“No, no. I'm not pregnant. I've just been thinking about it.”

“Ok, what would you name your kids then?”

“Well, Juliet Lynn for a girl, and maybe Neville Lee. What do you think?”

“Good strong names. Whenever you have kids, Alice, make sure you give them good strong names that'll stick. So they can make something of themselves. I think Neville and Juliet are very strong names. Your children will go places and do great things. Who knows, your son may be destined to defeat Voldemort or something.” Alice laughed.

“Lils, power is hereditary. Your son would be the one to defeat Voldemort if anyone.”

“I'm not…”

“Shut up, don't say you're not powerful, cuz' you know you are. Here's what I predict. I predict that your oldest will be a son, so powerful that he will intimidate all the evil wizards in this world. And you'll give him a name worthy of that power.”

“Ok, Professor Mavis, who's this husband of mine to aid in creating this all powerful child?” Alice smiled a knowing smile.

“You'll name him, Harry James…Potter.” She laughed at the look on Lily's face.

“I'm not going to marry James, Alice. It's over between us, there's no going back. It's ancient history.”

“You never know. History sometimes repeats itself.”

“It'll never happen. I promise you.”

-----------

The next morning, Sunday morning, the day before Isabelle's funeral, Lily came down the stairs and into the kitchen where Remus was already sitting at the table, eating breakfast, drinking coffee and reading the Sunday edition of the Daily Prophet. Remus looked shocked to see his temporary roommate up and awake before eight in the morning.

“Good morning!” Lily said brightly, all traces of her American accent gone.

“Good morning, you're up early.”

“Last night was the first night I got to sleep at a decent hour, I fell asleep at eleven, and am up and ready to go early in the morning.”

“Nice to see you got your accent back, Lils.”

“Deep down, there's still the British girl in me. Being here for a few days has brought it out in my voice.”

“So what are you up to today?”

“I don't know yet, I'll decide when I get there.”

“How long are you planning on staying here?”

“I don't know yet, why, do you want me to leave?”

“No, I'm just curious.”

“If you want me to leave, I will, Remus.”

“I never said that, Lily, don't put words into my mouth.”

“Ok, ok, sorry.”

“You shouldn't assume, Lily. You know what happens when you assume.” Lily grinned, remembering the well-known saying between the Marauders.

“It makes an ass of u `n' me.” They said together and laughed.

“Sirius, James and I were going to meet up with Peter today, you want to go along?”

“You sure I'm welcome?”

“Of course you are, Lils.”

“Then ok, I'll go along. It'd be good to see Peter again; I haven't seen him in so long.”

“To tell you the truth, we haven't really seen him that much lately either. He's been acting weird, really jumpy and paranoid,” Remus shrugged, “But then, Peter's always been weird.” Lily nodded in agreement.

“Where are you meeting him at?”

“Diagon Ally. At the Leaky Cauldron.” Again Lily nodded.

“What's he been up to lately anyways?”

“I have no idea, the last time I saw him was at an Order meeting, and that was a while ago.”

“Order meetings?”

“Crap, I'm not supposed to mention that to anyone outside of the Order.”

“Well, what is it?”

“I shouldn't tell you.”

“Please, I promise I won't tell anyone.”

“It's a secret organization of people joined together to defeat Voldemort. Each member has a certain job to do for the Order, usually dealing with his or her regular everyday jobs. Dumbledore started it years ago.”

“Why hadn't I heard anything about it?”

“We didn't find out about it until after we had graduated. All four of us Marauders are members.”

“Who else is there?”

“I can't tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I could, but then I'd have to kill you.” Lily smiled.

“Ok, fine then don't tell me.”

--------------

“Peter, it's so good to see you again.”

“It's good to see you again Lily. I hear you've been living out the last two years as a muggle.”

“Yeah.”

“Finally coming to your senses and returning to the wizarding world?”

“For a week at least. So what have you been up to lately?” A flicker of fear crossed Peter's face, but was gone as quick as it came, so quick that no one noticed it.

“I've been busy with work and Order business.” Lily nodded.

“How about you?”

“Busy with work. Too busy almost. I'm sorry, we're forgetting you three.”

“No, it's alright.” The five of them talked about many things, mostly reminiscing about the past, but all too soon, it was three o'clock, and Peter said he had to leave. Once he left, Sirius made a face.

“He's been really busy lately. I mean, this is Wormtail, come on, since when is he too busy to see his friends?” Lily shrugged and said,

“We're not in school anymore, Sirius. This is the real world, people have to keep busy. It's not all pranks and mischief anymore.”

“But pranks and mischief is so fun, and there's nothing that says that since we're out of school that we can't have fun.”

“I agree with Sirius on that,” Remus said.

“I do too,” James agreed.

“Well, so now what do we do?”

“Just hang out for now, until dinner when we all have to decide what to have.”

“A very long and strenuous process.”

“Like carrying out any thought in a Marauder's head,” Lily said, grinning. The Marauders all looked at her insulted, and Lily said, trying to sound innocent,

“Oh, did I say that out loud?” She laughed, and seeing that Lily was joking, the guys joined in too.

“Ok, you three, to fix the predicament of dinner, tell you what, I'll make dinner.” The Marauders looked at her skeptically. Remus said,

“You cook?”

“Yes, I cook all the time.” James shuddered.

“Last time I ate your cooking, Lils, I swore that if I ever saw it again it would be too soon.”

“Oh come on, it's not that bad. I've had no complaints about my cooking in the States.”

“Well, they're Americans over there, they're weird that way.”

“No, I mean my food used to be crappy…”

“There's an understatement.” Lily rolled her eyes at James and continued as though he hadn't interrupted her.

“But I've gotten better. Just try it, if you don't like it, then I'll pay for take-out.” The three men thought about it.

“Where are you going to attempt this great feat?”

“Who's willing to risk their house?” There was silence until…

“I guess you can use my house, we'll have dinner there,” James said. Lily smiled.

“Thanks James.”

“Just don't burn it down. I'm quite fond of my house.” Lily smiled.

“I won't burn it down, I swear.”

“You also promised to love me forever, but look how that turned out.” Lily's mood changed as quick as lightening.

“You can't hold that against me, don't you dare hold that against me. Because if you do, then I shouldn't take to heart any promises you make either because you also promised to love me forever, and now it's a broken promise.” James held his hands up in surrender.

“Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Just calm down, Lils.” Again there was silence, until Sirius broke it along with the tension.

“James, haven't you learned yet not to anger it? You don't want to give her reason to burn down the house.” Lily laughed, mood back to normal again. James smiled and shook his head. Soon after, everyone went their separate ways until 7 o'clock that evening.

------------

James was sitting in the living room of his house writing out Auror reports on potential Death Eaters to be turned into Dumbledore at the next Order meeting. He heard a knock at the door and went to go answer it. Lily stood on the other side, grocery bags in both hands. She smiled when James opened the door.

“Good evening, Mr. Potter. I've come to make a mess of your kitchen.”

“Good evening, Miss Evans, please don't make too much of a mess, and leave my house in one piece.” Lily laughed and started to come in the door, but James stopped her and took the grocery bags from her. Once in the door, Lily shut it and slipped her sandals off her feet. `Typical Lily thing, I can't believe she still does that.' Lily noticed James watching her take her shoes off.

“What?”

“Nothing, I just can't believe you still do that.”

“Well it's not something I grew out of. It's a habit to take my shoes off the minute I walk in the door, I hate wearing shoes.” James smiled and headed towards the kitchen. Lily followed him into the extremely large kitchen, and James set the bags on the counter.

“Did you have problems finding the place?” Lily shook her head.

“I've been here before, James, I may have been gone for a while, but I haven't forgotten where you live.”

“Well, the kitchen's yours, have fun. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will. Now shoo.” James left, and Lily pulled out ingredients for what she hoped would be the best meal she had ever made.

--------------

James went in an hour later to check on Lily, bringing his papers with him. When he opened the door, he saw Lily standing on the counter, looking on the top shelf of a cupboard. She heard James come in and looked over at him.

“I'm not making a mess, my feet are clean, and I put a towel down just in case.”

“What are you looking for?”

“A big bowl. I did a search with my wand, and I found that it's in this cupboard.”

“It's a glass one way in the back.”

“I see it. I just can't reach it.” She stood on her tiptoes and reached for the bowl.

“There, I got it.” She backed up from the cupboard, but the towel was slick on the counter and she fell backwards. She tried to grab onto something but she couldn't grasp anything, she screamed and waited for the collision with the floor, and her body to be broken into pieces, but it didn't come. She landed in something soft and warm, the pressure under her knees and her back. She heard the bowl shatter on the tile floor, and she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a very worried looking James. He had caught her.

“Are you ok?”

“I think so, oh my God, I was so scared.” She buried her face in his shoulder. James set her on her feet, and held her close.

“It's ok, Lils. You're ok. It's just a good thing I was there.” Lily sighed and looked up at James. Green eyes stared into hazel ones, and they both started to slowly lean as to kiss, but Lily caught herself and pulled away out of James' arms. She cleared her throat and said, trying not to make the situation more awkward,

“Thank you for catching me.” James nodded. Lily turned and pulled out her wand and muttered,

“Reparo.” The glass bowl was put back into one piece again. Lily set it on the counter and saw that James had gone over to the door, and was picking up papers. She went over and bent down to help. She looked at one of them, and read the name Malfoy, Lucius on a file.

“Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater?” James snatched the paper out of Lily's hands.

“Potential Death Eater. Why, does that surprise you?” James said quietly.

“No. I figured he would be. He's evil enough.” James picked up the last paper and he and Lily both stood up.

“Is all that Order business?”

“And Auror business.”

“I always knew you'd become an Auror.”

“Yeah,” James said shortly, “Well, I'll leave you to your cooking.” He started for the door, but he stopped when Lily said,

“You know, this Order group sounds interesting. Do you think Dumbledore would let me join?”

“What would you do? There's no use for muggles.”

“In case you hadn't noticed for the past nine years, I am a witch, I'm not a muggle.”

“But you've been living like one for two years. And only muggles are stupid enough to stand on a towel on a counter. You're bound to slip.” James turned to leave the kitchen, but when Lily started talking, he stopped.

“I know I did a stupid thing. You're right, I'm just lucky you were there to catch me.” James nodded and left. Lily sighed in exasperation and threw a dirty look at the door that James just exited and went back to cooking.

------------

At seven o'clock, give or take a few minutes, James, Sirius and Remus all sat down at James' dining room table, waiting for Lily to bring out dinner. She had already brought out her appetizers and desert, but still hadn't brought out the main course. Finally she came though the door with a casserole dish in hand. She set it on the table and pulled off the lid.

“Hope you all like Chicken Fettuccini.”

“Never had it before,” Sirius said.

“You've never had Chicken Fettuccini? Oh my God, Sirius, you're missing out,” Lily said.

“Have the rest of you?”

“My mother used to make it every once in a while, it was pretty good,” James said, rather reluctant to talk about his parents.

“I have too, my grandmother used to make it all the time.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy.” She sat down next to Remus, with Sirius across from her, and James next to him. Lily dished up the food and after everyone's plate was filled, they all looked around at each other, waiting for someone to take the first bite.

“Oh my God you guys, it's not gonna kill ya.” Remus was brave enough to try the first bite. He took a small amount in his fork, and before he put it in his mouth, he looked at it, then back at his friends and said,

“I want a nice funeral.” Lily smacked him on the arm and he put the food into his mouth. They all watched him eat it, waiting for analysis. He closed his eyes and smiled. It gave Lily hope. She asked hesitantly,

“Well, what do you think?”

“Wow. Where did you learn to cook like this?”

“Oh, did I mention, I spent six months in Italy with my cousin, and I've become an expert on Italian cooking.” After that, the other two weren't hesitant to try Lily's dinner. After a few bites, Sirius set his fork on the plate and turned to James.

“James, marry her,” He said, pointing at Lily, who beamed.

“I'm not gonna marry her, Sirius.”

“Fine, I will then.” Lily laughed.

“No, no, I'm not marrying either one of you.”

“Yeah, she's my cook.” Remus said, linking an arm with Lily's. She smiled and said,

“Nor you. But I'm glad you all like my cooking.”

“I didn't know you were capable of cooking something this good, Lils.”

“You never know with me, do you?”

“Nope, you're full of surprises.” Lily smiled at James and they all went back to their dinner.

-------------

After dinner was consumed, after there were no leftovers left, Lily cleared the table and charmed the dishrags to wash the dishes, she came back into the dining room where the men were talking about Order business, but stopped when Lily came in. She sighed and sat down. Remus leaned back in his chair and said,

“God, I'm dreading tomorrow.” Everyone agreed. Tomorrow was the day they all said goodbye to Isabelle.

“Well, it's getting late, and there's lots of things to do tomorrow, so I think I better head out.” Sirius stood up and stretched.

“Thanks for the great dinner Lils. See you all tomorrow.” They all replied `bye', and Sirius left. Remus yawned and said,

“I think I should go home too, you coming Lils?”

“I'll be along in a little bit. I just need to finish cleaning up.” Remus nodded and apparated. Lily stood up and went back into the kitchen, and started putting dishes away. James came in after Lily and said,

“Need some help?”

“No, I got it, it's alright.”

“Thanks for the dinner. Should have you cook more often.”

“Maybe I should've been a chef instead of an accountant.”

“Oh that's what you do?”

“Yeah, I've been thinking lately, I think it's been keeping me too busy. I never had time for my friends because I was always working. And I see everyone here and I wish I had more time like you all do. And I've also been thinking that my job isn't satisfying. All I do is spend time on the phone and work with numbers all day. I want to be out in the world, doing some good.”

“Go for a different profession then.”

“It's not all that simple, I have to go to school for at least four years to train for it, and then it's a big risk to start a whole new profession in the muggle world. I almost wish I hadn't left, and became an Auror like I had always planned.”

“You wish you hadn't left? I thought you wanted to get out of here and go places and see things?”

“I did. But when I got there, I thought I was happy, but that was until I came back.”

“What are you saying, Lils? I'm confused. You know what would've happened if you had stayed. You would've been unhappy, feeling trapped, right? Or was that just with me?” Lily shrugged.

“What do you think would've happened if we had gotten married?”

“I don't know. Probably end up divorced six months into our marriage.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I know you Lily, and I thought about it too. Marrying me would've kept you back. I never wanted to go anywhere, you did. If you wanted to go somewhere, I wouldn't have followed.”

“I did love you, James. I was just confused that night. I wanted to get out, but I wanted to be with you. So I had to give up one or the other, and I chose you. But then over the years, we fell out of love with each other, didn't we?”

“Yeah,” James said shortly, “Tell you what, I'll clean up, you go ahead and go back to Remus' house. You'll want to get some sleep for tomorrow.” Lily nodded.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I know where everything goes better than you do.”

“Ok, see you tomorrow James.”

“Bye, Lils.” She apparated back to Remus' house, leaving James to putting dishes away with a whip of his wand. After that, he went into the living room and collapsed into a chair, and sighed.

“Why do I still feel this way?” He thought to himself.

A/N: Oh my God, this chapter is really long by my standards. It's 13 pages on Microsoft Word. Sorry if I got a little windy there. Thanks all for the reviews, I love you all. I'm glad you all like my story; it flatters me that you do. Hope you keep reviewing. I posted this at 23 reviews; I thought it was close enough. Hoping for 35 reviews give or take a few. Love y'all,

Husker-fan-2006

-->

6. The Hardest Thing is Saying Goodbye

Chapter 6: The Hardest Thing is Saying Goodbye

-----------------

Whenever dawn turns to night,
And all the dreams sing their song,
In the daylight forever,
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong by B*Witched

-------------------

Monday morning dawned cold and dreary. The temperature was unseasonably cold, the clouds blocked out the sun, and it looked as though it might rain. The weather outside reflected Lily Evans' mood inside. She sat on the window seat in her bedroom, wrapped in a quilt, staring out the window. She woke up that morning feeling depressed, and dreaded the afternoon. She couldn't say goodbye. She shouldn't have to say goodbye. Isabelle was nineteen; she was too young to die. Lily leaned her head against the window, closed her eyes and sighed. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night. She had finally gotten to sleep at 3 in the morning, but a strange dream woke her up.

---------------------

Lily was lying in bed, trying to sleep, when someone knocked on her door.

“Come in.” The door opened and closed. Lily opened her eyes to see who it was and her jaw dropped. Isabelle stood in front of Lily's desk, a disappointed look on her face.

“Isabelle.”

“Hey Lils.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.”

“Why?”

“To say goodbye, silly. I never got to when I was alive, so I'll say it when I'm dead.”

“You found me just to tell me goodbye?”

“And to ease your guilty conscience. I know you've been feeling bad about it lately. I'm not mad at you, Lils.”

“You're not?”

“No, I never could be mad at my best friend. And I don't hold grudges.” Lily nodded, agreeing.

“It's good that you've made something of yourself in the muggle world, Lils.”

“Yeah, it's great,” Lily said sarcastically.

“It's not what you wanted is it?” Lily shook her head.

“I don't know what I want anymore, `Belle.”

“I think you do, you just don't know it yet.”

“What is it?”

“You want what you had in the past.”

“Not all of it.”

“Don't lie to yourself, Lily.”

“I don't love James anymore, Isabelle, if that's what you're referring to.”

“Very good smart one. But again, stop lying to yourself.”

“I'm not.”

“He still loves you though.”

“What?”

“James still loves you, if you'd take the time to notice, you'd see it in his eyes.”

“He fell out of love with me. Just like I did with him.”

“No, you assumed that Lils. Remember what happens when you assume.”

“It makes an ass of u `n' me.”

“When you left, you broke his heart. But he never stopped loving you. He's never really gone out with anyone since you left. Deep down he thought that someday you'd come back.”

“And?”

“Despite your denial, Lils, you still love him too. You know you do.”

“So what do I do then?”

“Don't let him go. You did once, and now you've been given a second chance at your relationship. Don't throw it away.” She let Lily think for a moment.

“Lils, I must go. See ya later, girl.”

“Don't leave, `Belle.”

“I have to. I have to be there for my funeral tomorrow.” She backed towards the door.

“Oh and Lils,” Lily nodded to show she was listening. “You only have so much time in this world. Tell him that you love him before it's too late, because you'll wish you had when you or he is gone.”

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing, just something to ponder. He's a Potter, Lils, a sworn enemy of Voldemort. He isn't guaranteed forever.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I just do. It's an advantage to being dead, you have all the answers, you know what the world holds.”

“What does it hold for me?”

“You have to find that out on your own,” She opened the door, and Lily closed her eyes until Isabelle said,

“Lils,” Lily's eyes snapped open, “Carpe Diem. Class motto, remember? Seize the day. Bye, Lils, I'll miss ya.” Isabelle disappeared, and at that moment, Lily woke up.

----------------

Lily looked at her watch. It read one-thirty. She sighed and got up. Going through her trunk, she found the black dress robes she had brought along for the funeral. She pulled them on over her head, tied the belt around her waist, and with a flick of her wand, her hair was in spiral curls, a few curls framing her face. She put on her make up, her glasses, and her black strappy heels. She cast a charm on her make up to be water resistant, so no matter how much she cried, her mascara wouldn't run. She left her room, and as she closed the door, she looked down the hall, and saw that Remus had just come out of his room also, clad in black robes as well. They gave each other feeble smiles, and went downstairs. Isabelle's funeral was at two-thirty, and they had an hour to kill. Lily sat down at the kitchen table, and stared into space. She was brought out of her trance when Remus said,

“Did you eat anything for lunch?” Lily shook her head no.

“You probably should.”

“I'm not that hungry.”

“You will be later though…”

“Remus, I said I'm not hungry.” Lily said, a little more sharply than she had intended. After she said it, she sighed.

“I'm sorry.” Remus smiled sadly.

“No, I understand, I'm sure everyone's nerves are on the edge today.”

“I had a dream with her in it last night.”

“Good one or bad one?”

“Both. She came back to say the goodbye that I wasn't there for. And told me some things…about James.”

“What about him?” Lily didn't answer him, but asked,

“Can I ask you something, promise you'll tell me the truth?”

“I'll make that promise once I find out what you're asking me.”

“Does James still love me?” Clearly that hadn't been what Remus was expecting to come out of Lily's mouth. He was silent for a while, then he said,

“He would kill me if I told you Lils.”

“Well? Does he?”

“I can't be the one to tell the truth, it's between you and him. You'll have to find out from him.”

“Isabelle said he did. And she told me that I don't have all the time in the world, because he's a Potter, he's not guaranteed forever because he's a sworn enemy of Voldemort.”

“She told you all that?” Lily nodded.

“Lils, I don't think that was an ordinary dream. Because it's a widely known fact within the Order that Voldemort is seeking to end the Potter bloodline.”

“Why?”

“The Potters are powerful people. A massive threat to Voldemort and his followers.”

“Voldemort's out to kill James?”

“He's the only one left.” Lily's jaw dropped.

“Don't worry, he's well protected. Voldemort will have to work extremely hard to find him. But I think Isabelle came into your dream for a reason, and you're supposed to figure out what.”

“I don't understand.”

“I think fate has brought you back here for a reason. That Isabelle died for a reason, like it's part of this whole path of time. I don't know, it's just a theory. Disregard it.” But what Remus had said got Lily thinking. Maybe he was right; maybe Lily was on a long path of time; that every event was happening for a reason.

--------------

Hogwarts alumni from two years past all were together an hour later. Many of them hadn't seen each other in two years, others saw each other everyday. All had gathered together to say goodbye one last time to their friend and classmate. Former members of three of the four school houses had come, though everyone knew without question why none of the Slytherins were there, as it was a Gryffindor that was being laid to rest. A series of Isabelle Portman's friends were to speak at her funeral, Remus, Sirius, Alice, James, a few others, and finally, Lily. James sat next to his ex-girlfriend and stole glances at her every once in a while. She never shed a tear, though she looked like she was fighting a battle with herself, trying to keep from crying. While Alice was speaking, James took Lily's hand in his, gripping it firmly, more as a comforting gesture than one of affection. She squeezed his hand back, hoping for the strength to not loose control and start crying. Soon it was time for Lily to say a few words. She slowly got up, and went up to the front of the crowd, holding her head up high, for she heard some people whispering and muttering things about her. She stepped in front of the magical microphone, and cleared her throat and began speaking.

“A lot of you are probably wondering why I'm up here speaking today about Isabelle. Most of you probably are thinking I shouldn't even be attending this funeral. But Isabelle was my friend, my best friend. She was there for me when I needed her, and she sort of understood the reason why I left, and she tried hard to support my decision all the way. We've been through everything together. We talked about everything. She was the only person that knew all the little things about myself. Isabelle was the first person to know about me going out with James Potter in seventh year. Though that didn't last long, because with huge secrets, Isabelle was never good at keeping her mouth shut.” Everyone smiled.

“And of course James was never good at keeping secrets either, and he never kept anything from his best friends, so therefore, the whole school knew within the hour.” Everyone laughed, Lily looked at James when she had said this, and he grinned, which Lily returned.

“Isabelle was one of those girls that you always went to when you needed someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. She was an excellent listener, and always knew what to say. She very rarely gave up on anything. She held the record of a continuous amount of time going out with Sirius Black, despite my advice, and the record was three weeks…and she dumped him.” Again everyone laughed, mostly the girls who went out with Sirius in school. The more Lily talked, the more the tears filled her eyes, and the more she was getting chocked up.

“And from what I've heard, that record still holds. She was smart, close to the top of our class; she was kind, whenever she had something bad to say about someone…she always had something good to say about them too…she always had advice for whoever asked for it…most of the advice she gave me was…that I should put all James' faults aside and just…just go out with him, and 99% of the time she was right…and most of all, she was a great friend…I've never met anyone that comes close to how good of a friend she was. Those of you who still think I have no right to be here…I feel that I do. Every one of us whose life has been…touched by this witch belongs here today. She was my friend, and still is. And believe me, lately there has not been a day that has gone by that I'm glad I left. But, live more like Isabelle did…help the little people, even if it brings you down too. Take the time and listen…you might mean the world to someone if you do. Be like the friend Isabelle was to all of us…don't hold grudges, and remember Isabelle Portman always.” With that, Lily stepped away from the podium and went back to her seat, James taking her hand again. She looked at him and smiled, and he returned the smile. The friends and family of Isabelle apparated to the cemetery, where she would be laid to rest for eternity. As a prayer was said, her body was lowered into the ground. James stole another glance at Lily; her face was expressionless. Her eyes followed the casket down into the ground, and again James could see Lily fighting with herself, trying to keep from crying again. Lily looked around and almost everyone had broke down and let tears fall down their face. But she refused to cry. She felt James take her hand again and give it a comforting squeeze. It seemed as though everything moved in slow motion, like in a dream. Lily only wished it was a dream, that the whole two years was a dream, that she'd wake up, go hang out with Isabelle for the day, and meet James, Sirius and Remus for the evening. But she knew it'd never happen. It was too late; nothing would ever be like that again. Isabelle's words to her in her dream came back to her again. It wasn't too late with James, and she wasn't guaranteed forever. `Ancient history, Lils, it's never gonna happen.'

---------------

A/N: Hey hey, here's another chapter for y'all. Thanks to all of you who reviewed!!! I love you all. Keep it up!!!

Husker-fan-2006

-->

7. Crazy

Chapter 7: Crazy

A/N: A warning for you all, most of you will love it, and it's finally here, fluff, and…a kiss! YAY! There's also a song, actually a few songs. (shrugs) anyways…on with the chapter.

-----------------

Whenever dawn turns to night,
And all the dreams sing their song,
In the daylight forever,
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong, by B*Witched

-------------------

Lily and the Marauders minus Peter all went back to James' house after the funeral. They all sat in the living room not saying a word to each other. Lily sat on an armchair in a corner and didn't pay much attention to anything else. In fact, she didn't notice when Sirius got up and left. Lily looked up, noticed that Sirius was gone, and said,

“Where'd Sirius go?”

“Home,” Was all James said. Lily nodded, not wanting to say anything else. After a few minutes, Remus decided he was going to go home too.

“Are you going to be ok, Lils?”

“I'm fine, why?”

“Well, you haven't said anything since you spoke at the funeral today.”

“Well, neither have the rest of you.”

“Yeah we have, we've been talking the whole time since right before Sirius left.”

“You have?”

“Yeah.” James and Remus said together.

“Oh. Sorry I'm just a little subdued right now. I'll be back in a little while.” Remus nodded and apparated home. Lily looked over at James, who was watching her. She sighed.

“What?”

“You're sure you're ok?”

“I'm fine, seriously, James.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, trust me James, I'm ok.”

“You aren't acting like it. You're not your normal self. The usual Lily Evans is attentive and involved in conversations, you are far…”

“I just buried my best friend, James, how do you expect me to feel? You have no idea how I'm feeling right now.” Lily snapped.

“I can relate.”

“Yeah right.”

“She was my friend too, Lily, don't try and make it out to be that you're the only one who is sad about Isabelle. Sirius had to leave because he was so miserable. He loved her. He never sad anything because he's Sirius, he's afraid of commitment. Now it's too late.” While James was speaking, Lily stared at the floor, but her head snapped up when she heard James' last sentence. Her dream came instantaneously back to her; she remembered Isabelle's words.

“Oh and Lils,” Lily nodded to show she was listening. “You only have so much time in this world. Tell him that you love him before it's too late, because you'll wish you had when you or he is gone.”

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing, just something to ponder. He's a Potter, Lils, a sworn enemy of Voldemort. He isn't guaranteed forever.” Lily looked at James, who had picked up the Daily Prophet and started reading. Maybe Isabelle was right, what if Lily did still love James, only she was just in denial? Lily didn't want James to get killed; spending the last few days with him and the Marauders made her realize how much she missed them. Lily opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind and got up, grabbing the glass of sweet tea next to her. She didn't look at James, but felt him watching her as she left the room. Lily leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. Anger coursed through her, anger for all the dark wizards in the world, namely Voldemort, who caused nothing but heartache and despair to the world. Finally, it was too much. Lily's anger and sorrow got the best of her. She screamed threw the glass in her hand as hard as she could, and it hit the wall and shattered into hundreds of pieces. James came running when he heard the scream and the glass break, and saw Lily just as she was about to collapse on the stairs. He caught her, and stood her steady on her feet, not taking his arms from her waist. She looked at him and flung her arms around his neck, and cried into his shirt. He held her tight, never wanting to let her go. Seeing Lily cry made tears come to James' eyes too. They both stood her there in each other's arms, while time passed without notice. It could've been minutes, or hours, they didn't know, but it was a while before Lily's sobs slowly subsided. Lily lifted her head and pulled slightly away from James, though still had her arms around his neck. Hazel eyes stared into green ones. They both leaned in slowly, and kissed. Lily was surprised that some of the sparks were still there. It lasted a few seconds, until James broke it. He pulled away from Lily, let go of her, and backed away. Lily looked at him, confused.

“You're upset, you'll regret this later.” He went back into the living room, leaving Lily confused, gloomy, and hurt.

---------------

A few days later, Lily was doing some thinking. She was thinking about staying in England for good. She told Remus about it one day, asking for advice.

“What do you think?”

“Well, what do you want to do, Lily, deep down?”

“I don't know.”

“Well, think of the pros and cons of the situation.”

“Ok. Pros…I'll be with my friends again,”

“You'll be near your parents and the rest of your family,”

“I'll be in the magical world,” There was a pause when neither one of them could think of another pro.

“Ok…cons. I'll leave my friends in America,”

“You'll leave your job,”

“Ooh, big loss.” She couldn't think of any more cons, and neither could Remus.

“I have more pros than cons.”

“Then stay.”

“Where am I going to live?”

“Stay here as long as you like, Lils, it doesn't bother me. It's actually nice to have company all the time. Even if it is a…” He gasped sarcastically, “Girl.” Lily laughed.

“You're sure?”

“Yes, but who knows, you might be moving in with James soon enough and become Mrs. James Potter.” Lily's jaw dropped and she smacked Remus on the arm. Remus grabbed his arm where Lily had hit him and said, surprised,

“Ow, what the hell?”

“Oh my God, Remus, I'm not going to move in with James and marry him, why does everyone think that?”

“We're just teasing you, Lils. Come on, take a joke.” `Though you should be marrying him.'

“Anyways, I'll think about moving back here for good, I don't know yet.” Just then, Sirius apparated into the kitchen. Five seconds later, James apparated too. Remus and Lily looked at the two of them, waiting for what they were going to say.

“Ok, tonight, seven o'clock, we're all going to the clubs,” Sirius said. Lily said uneasily,

“Just the four of us?”

“Yep.”

“Can't there be some other witches going along too? All this testosterone lately is starting to be too much.”

“You never know Lils, one of us might hook up with someone,” Sirius said, grinning.

“Ah, hookers are so much better company.”

“Never been with a hooker, Lils. I wouldn't pay anyone to have sex.”

“There are other kinds of women at clubs, Lily,” James said.

“Not much more.”

“Have you ever been to the clubs, Lils?”

“Once.”

“Once? That's it?”

“I work a lot.”

“Oh my God, she's missing out,” Sirius said, pretending to be shocked.

“When was this one time you went to the clubs?” Remus asked.

“It was before I came back. My friends, Ally and Natalie, made me go with them and a few friends to a club. I met a guy.” The Marauders all glanced at James, though Lily didn't notice. A slight pang of jealousy coursed through James, but he shook it off as nothing.

“He came up and talked to me because he heard me sing…”

“What? What were you doing singing?”

“It was a karaoke bar. Ally and Natalie made me sing.” The Marauders all had identical evil grins on their faces, and Lily caught on to why right away.

“No, no, no, I'm not singing.”

“Oh yes you are my dear.”

“No, Sirius, I'm not, you can't make me.”

“Watch me.”

“You can't.”

“I have my ways of doing it.”

“You don't know anything.”

“Oh really? You forget, Miss Evans, that my best friend is your former boyfriend. He's knows almost everything about you, from your weaknesses to your…ticklish spots.” A flicker of fear crossed Lily's face.

“You wouldn't…”

“You'll sing.”

“I'm not singing.”

“Fine, we'll have to tickle you then, all three of us,” Remus said. Lily's jaw dropped, though her eyes were full of laughter.

“You bastards.” The Marauders grinned. Lily, trying to compromise, said,

“How about I think about it?” But Sirius wasn't willing to compromise.

“How about you're going to sing?” Lily sighed.

“I guess.”

“Alright, and it better be a good song.”

“I'll think of one.”

“A muggle karaoke bar does sound like fun. Why didn't we think of this before?”

“Probably because none of you can carry a tune.”

“Shut up, Lily, how would you know?” Lily shrugged.

“Ok, so, seven tonight, don't be late, and Lils, you better come prepared to sing.”

-----------------------

At six forty-five that evening, James, Remus, and Sirius were all sitting in the living room of Remus' house, waiting for the female of their group. They were all dressed similarly, jeans, tennis shoes, and button down shirts. Sirius was wearing a black one, Remus a navy blue one, and James a red one. They tried patiently to wait for Lily, but the longer they waited, the shorter their patience was getting. Sirius sighed.

“Honestly, Prongs, how did you stand going out with Lils for as long as you did, she'd make you late for everything because she's gotta fix her hair and such.” Before James could answer, they heard,

“Shut up, Black, I'm coming.”

“It's about ti…” He stopped speaking when he saw Lily. James and Remus turned and looked up at Lily, and their jaws dropped. Lily came down the stairs in a glittery black halter-top, with khaki capris and black flip flops on her feet. Her skin was accented with glitter, her hair was up in a messy ponytail, and her make up made her face look bright and shining, so her green eyes shined brightly behind her glasses. (A/N: See my theory on Lily having glasses instead of James at the bottom) Lily laughed at the looks on their faces.

“Oh my God, you guys look like you never seen a witch before.”

“Not one that looks like that,” James said.

“Meaning good or bad?”

“Definitely good. You're beautiful tonight, Lils.”

“Not that you aren't always, but yeah, you get his drift.” Lily rolled her eyes and smiled. She finished descending the stairs and as she did she said,

“Well, I've got my singing voice, so let's go.”

----------------

An hour later and a few drinks later, Sirius was coaxing Lily to go up and sing. He had already hooked up with a girl named Michelle and had his arm around her. James was up at the bar, getting another round, and Remus was nowhere to be found at the moment.

“C'mon, Lils, you promised.

“Do I have to?”

“Damn right you have to. Remember what'll happen if you break your promise.” Michelle, being a ditzy girl said,

“What'll happen?”

“I'll tickle her.”

“Oh, are you ticklish?” She said turning to Lily. Lily rolled her eyes at her stupid question, though Michelle was too thick to notice.

“Just a tad.” Lily said sarcastically. James came back with the drinks, and had heard the mentioning of tickling Lily and tickled her sides just a little bit, making her jump and squirm. He grinned.

“Now, go sing, or it'll be worse.”

“This is blackmail, that's illegal.”

“But it's so much fun. Now go.” Lily sighed. Then she got an idea.

“If I go sing, James, you have to right after me.”

“What? Why would I do that?”

“You have the dirt on me, I have just as much on you.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, let's see, how you were sneaking off to the kitchens and got stuck…”

“Ok, ok, ok! I'll do it.” James interrupted before Lily could finish telling the embarrassing moment. Lily grinned. James shook his head.

“You're an evil one my friend. Now go sing.” Lily got up and went up to the stage. When she had left, James turned and saw Sirius and Michelle staring at him, Sirius with a huge stupid grin on his face. Remus had also come back, with a girl, and had heard the conversation, and also had a grin on his face. James looked from one friend to the other. He said slowly,

“What?”

“Oh, nothing, just watching the future Mrs. Potter walk away,” Sirius said, trying to sound innocent.

“For the last time, Padfoot, I'm not going to marry Lily. She doesn't feel that way about me anyways.”

“Oh, yes, and that's why you've been flirting all night long, hmm?” James opened his mouth to reply, but he realized that Sirius was right. Just then, Lily stepped up on stage, and everyone politely applauded. Her face was slightly pink, and she smiled nervously at the people at her table, before the intro music started to her song. She bit her bottom lip in anxiety and then opened her mouth to sing.

“I could lose my vision
My eyes no longer see
I could lose my religion
In my struggle to believe

That would be a loss
That would be a cross
I'd somehow rise above
But Heaven help me
If I ever lose your love

I've traded my innocence
For the secrets of the night
Felt my calloused conscience
Lose its grip on wrong and right

It cut me to the bone
But somehow I've held on
'Cause I could feel your touch
But Heaven help me
If I ever lose your love

'Cause you are the one light that shines on me
Without your love God knows where I'd be

Lost without a prayer
Somewhere way out there
My soul would turn to dust
Heaven help me
If I ever lose your love

'Cause you are the one light that shines on me
Without your love God knows where I'd be

So hold me close again
Tell me it won't end
And that will be enough
Heaven help me
If I ever lose your love

Heaven help me
If I ever lose your love.” James, Sirius and Remus were stunned once Lily started singing. They had no idea that she could sing so well. Lily kept her eyes on James the whole song, though she didn't realize she was doing it. After the music ended, Lily went back to the table, and while everyone in the bar applauded loudly. Lily sat down next to James, still smiling, and when she saw the reactions to her singing on her friends' faces, she said,

“What, did I do bad?”

“No, Lils, that was great,” Remus said.

“I had no idea you could sing like that.”

“Everyone says that. That's what Ally and Natalie said.”

“Well, it's true.”

“Ok, Mr. Potter, you're turn.” James laughed.

“Come on, or I'll tell everyone all your secrets that they don't know about.” James sighed.

“Ok, ok, I'm going.” James dreaded singing the whole way up there. He never thought he had a good voice to sing. He only sang along with songs on the radio, never in front of anybody. But Lily wanted him to sing, and she'd blackmail him if he didn't.

“So, Lils, when are you and Prongs going to come to your senses and get married?”

“I'm not marrying James, I never will. I don't love him anymore.” Sirius nodded and said,

“Mmm hmm, Bullshit.” The conversation ended there, as the intro music to James' song started up.

“There's a ship out
On the ocean
At the mercy of the sea
It's been tossed about
Lost and broken
Wandering aimlessly
And God somehow
You know that ship is me

'Cause there's a lighthouse
In the harbor
Shining faithfully
Pouring its light out
Across the water
For this sinking soul to see
That someone out there
Still believes in me

On a prayer, in a song
I hear your voice and
It keeps me hanging on
Raining down
Against the wind
I'm reaching out till
We reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again.

There's a moment
We all come to
In our own time and
Our own space
Where all that we've done
We can undo
If our heart's
In the right place

On a prayer, in a song
I hear your voice and
It keeps me hanging on
Raining down
Against the wind
I'm reaching out till
We reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again

And again I see
My yesterday's in front of me
Unfolding like a mystery
You're changing all that is
And used to be

On a prayer, in a song
I hear your voice and
It keeps me hanging on
Raining down
Against the wind
I'm reaching out till
We reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again

When you come back to me again.” James came back to the table and instantly Sirius and Remus were joking with him about his terrible singing voice. But Lily didn't say anything about it. He had an awesome voice. James looked at Lily, waiting for her opinion, and she said almost breathlessly,

“That was great, James.” He smiled, and so did she. A woman came up to James and flaunting her cleavage, said,

“Hey James, I heard you sing, you have an amazing voice.” James' jaw dropped. It was an ex girlfriend that he had dumped a little while ago. Her name was Serena, and she was a total bitch, and she didn't even come close to measuring up to Lily.

“Um, thanks, Serena.”

“Can I sit down?”

“Um…” Lily looked from James to Serena, and back to James. James looked at Lily with a look that pleaded, `help me'. Serena's eyes narrowed at Lily, who returned the glare.

“Ok, lady, what is your problem? Why the hell are you staring at me? It's not like he's your boyfriend, and you have to get jealous about it.”

“What if he is?”

“You don't look like a couple.” Lily scooted closer to James and put her arms around his neck. She raised her eyebrows at the ex girlfriend, who still looked unconvinced. Lily then turned James' face towards her and kissed him. Lily broke the kiss after a second or two and said Serena,

“Shoo.” Serena left in a huff, and Sirius said,

“What the hell was that?” James said,

“Serena. Ex-girlfriend, remember? You set me up with her because she was a friend of a fling of yours.”

“Oh. Oh, the bitchy one who slept around? Yeah, sorry about that one, mate.” James shrugged it off as nothing.

“You didn't know, it's alright.”

“Now see, this one here,” Sirius pointed at Lily, “Won't sleep around on you and break your heart.” Lily rolled her eyes.

“She broke it once, who's to say she won't do it again?” The conversation ended there. Lily was thinking about what James had said, and wished she could turn back time. A few drinks later, someone was up on stage singing a slow song, Lily got an idea. It would be a chance to talk to James alone, without Sirius and Remus close by, making comments and suggestions.

“James, wanna dance with me?”

“Sure.” They went out onto the dance floor just as the guy started in on the lyrics of the song.

See, baby I, apologize
For all the things that I've done that I've done
See I've known that I've been a fool for far too long
And baby you have it, I go around to wait, just come back to papa
Please baby, baby won't you stay
If you really love me then why are you leavin me

“Can I ask you something, James?”

“And what's that?”

“Do you…” She stopped, and took a deep breath.

I can't think, think about this crazy day
I lose sleep just to daydream about you baby
I'm going crazy, crazy, crazy, just to thinkin about you lately
I'm going crazy, crazy, crazy, just to thinkin about you baby
I'm going crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, thinkin about you lately
I'm going crazy, crazy, when I can't touch you
Crazy, crazy when I can't hold you
Crazy, crazy, when I can't see you again

“Do I what, Lily?”

“If you could change anything about your life in the past, what would it be?” James' brow furrowed as he was confused by her change of direction in her question.

“Why?”

“Just answer me please.”

“I would change the fact that my parents were killed, that Isabelle was killed, that all the innocent lives weren't sacrificed; that you never left.”

I've finally realized, that you are my true love
And I had a lot of time to think, and you're all seem to keep thinking,
To keep thinkin of, yeah
And now I know I need you each and every day
I can't live without you, so don't run away
Baby you say that you love me, so why'd u leave me, why

“Do you still love me?”

“What makes you think that?”

“It's just a question, James.”

“Do you still love me?”

“I asked you first.”

“What would make you think that I still love you?” James asked quickly and defensively.

“Ok, you don't have to get so defensive about it. It's just a simple yes or no question.”

“No, Lily, it's not.”

“Just answer me, James, please, do you still love me?”

I can't think, think about this crazy day
I lose sleep just to daydream about you baby
I'm going crazy, crazy, crazy, just to thinkin about you lately
I'm going crazy, crazy, crazy, just to thinkin about you baby
I'm going crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, thinkin about you lately
I'm going crazy, crazy, but I can't touch you
Crazy, crazy when I can't hold you
Crazy, crazy, when I can't see again
If I can see you, if I can see you again
Then I would go, if I could see you again
I'd go crazy

“No,” James lied. Hurt crossed Lily's face.

“Do you still love me?” Lily didn't answer right away.

“Do you, Lils?” Lily pulled away from James and ran out of the club, tears rolling down her face. Sirius and Remus came up to James and asked what happened.

“What the hell did you do?”

“She asked me if I still loved her.”

“And?”

“I lied.” Sirius and Remus' looks of disappointment on their faces were almost identical. Remus shook his head and said,

“Prongs you're an idiot.”

“What was I supposed to tell her?”

“Uh, the truth?” Sirius said.

“And get turned down, when I find out she doesn't love me.”

“How do you know that's what she would say?”

“She left me, remember? She ended it, so she fell out of love with me.”

“You're an idiot,” Remus said again. “Reading between the lines, Prongs, Lily still loves you. Why I don't know, I don't know why she would love a wizard so thick.”

“Do the smart thing for once tonight and go after her, James. Because if you don't, before you know it she'll be gone, and you'll hate yourself for letting her go a second time. Witches like Lily don't come around every day, don't screw this up.”

“Go on.” They pushed James toward the door, and he left, apparating to Remus' house, looking for Lily. She wasn't there; he went to Sirius' and to his house, and to Alice's. She wasn't at either place. `Ok, James, think, where would Lily go when she's pissed off or in a crisis?' A memory came to mind,

“Sirius, have you by any chance seen Lily?”

“Why, you lose her?”

“No, I pissed her off.”

“Did you hex Snape or something?”

“Tempting, but no, I don't really know what I did, but she just got mad and ran off, and now I don't know where she is.”

“If the Marauder's Map hadn't been confiscated by cursed Filch, then you could find her easily.”

“I know, but I don't have it, do I?”

“Well, think like Lily, you're pissed off, where would you go?” James shrugged.

“I don't know.”

“Oh come on James, this is Lily, when in doubt, check in the library.”

A/N: Hee hee hee. Ain't I evil? A cliffhanger for y'all, bring in those reviews!!! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, keep it up!!

Ok, the theory on the glasses. In some fanfics I've read, they mention that since Harry looks exactly like James, that James has glasses, like Harry does. But I always thought that Lily would be the one to have glasses or contacts, one of the two, because Harry inherited her eyes, hence, he could've also inherited the bad eyesight. And I know that J.K. Rowling has said in the books that James has the glasses, but I still believe that Lily could've had glasses or contacts. But, it's just a theory, and like all theories, they can be proven wrong.

And, if anyone really cares, if you have noticed, I don't use Peter a lot in my stories. The reason for that is, I just don't like him. I don't know how to write the character very well, and I don't like him, he's a traitor. At the time of my story, he's already working for Voldemort, and he's gone a lot serving his master. So, if anyone really cares that he's not in story very much, then I'm sorry, but that's why.

And another thing, the songs in this chapter are, `Heaven Help Me' by Wynonna Judd, `When You Come Back To Me Again' by Garth Brooks, and `Crazy' by KC & JoJo.

Husker_fan_2006

-->

8. Things that Never Die

Chapter 8: Things That Never Die

-----------------

Whenever dawn turns to night

And all the dreams sing their song

In the daylight forever

To You I Belong.

- To You I Belong by B*Witched

-------------------

James apparated to the apparation spot just outside of Hogsmeade, his destination in sight. He walked up High Street towards the Hogwarts castle. When he reached the doors, he flung them open and proceeded to walk the familiar hallways to the library. His head bent down, gaze on the floor, he didn't see that he was about to run headlong into someone until the collision happened. He began to say sorry, but the apology never came out, for when he saw who it was, his eyes narrowed into a glare, which was returned by the other person.

“You should watch where you're going, Potter.”

“So should you, Snivellus.” The loathsome glare from Snape, if possible, got deadlier.

“What are you doing here, Potter?”

“Why should I tell you why I am here?”

“Because there are dark wizards about, and you never know who they might be.”

“You would know better than I would, being in Voldemort's inner circle.” James glanced Snape's right arm, where he knew the Dark Mark was burned into his skin. Snape put his arm behind his back bringing James' gaze back up to his face and said,

“You will tell me what your purpose for coming back to this castle, for I am a teacher, and have authority in it now.” James flashed an arrogant grin and said,

“Yeah, but Aurors have higher authority over teachers. We're the ones keeping your butts safe outside of these walls. And why Dumbledore made a Death Eater a teacher is beyond me. I thought he was out of his mind when he appointed you.”

“Former Death Eater, and you know of my role in meetings, so you shouldn't concern yourself with why Dumbledore appointed me Potions Master.”

“I still think there are some things you just don't get away from, that you never stop being. That there are some doings that just can't be erased. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go to the library.” He stepped around Snape, and as James was walking away, Snape laughed and said,

“The library? I'm surprised you even know where that is, I doubt you've picked up a book let alone set foot in there.” James kept walking, until Snape said,

“Of course, you probably know where it is, with the playing pranks on the studious ones, or spending time with that Mudblood whore you used to go out with.” James froze, his foot on the first step. Quick as a flash, he had his wand out and had it pointed at Snape, anger and hatred for the former classmate in his eyes. Following suite, Snape pulled out his wand too, and pointed it at his adversary. James took slow steps towards his enemy, keeping his wand steady.

“I could kill you right now for what you just said.” James said, his tone low and cold.

“You don't have the guts to do it. Even if you did, you'd be put into Azkaban for using an Unforgivable on a wizard.” Snape said, his tone equal to James'.

“I was given the instruction, or rather authorization to kill any Death Eater on the spot. And I won't hesitate to do it.” Before either one of them could say anything else, they heard a stern, sharp voice said,

“What is going on here?” They both turned to see Professor McGonagall standing on the stairs, looking just as strict and severe as ever. Both wizards slowly lowered their wands.

“What are you doing here, Potter?”

“I came to use the library,” James said, giving a quick glare to Snape.

“And doing that requires that you hex Professor Snape?”

“If possible, yes.” McGonagall came down the stairs and said,

“I would expect such behavior from two second years, not two fully grown wizards, both of which are in professions that they should be setting an example. Now, Potter, go do what you came to do in the library.” With one last glare at each other, Snape and James went their separate ways.

-------------

James finally reached the library, after having running into Peeves, Nearly Headless Nick, and Filch. Peeves insisted on throwing things at him, Nick insisted on talking forever, and Filch was positive that James had come back to cause trouble. James assured him that he couldn't cause trouble alone, that Filch should only worry when all four of the Marauders were back in the school. But James had reached the library, much later than he had planned, and hoped that Lily was still there. He pulled the door open, and sure enough, there she was, sitting at a table, a novel in her hands. James came and sat beside her. Without looking up, Lily said,

“What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“How did you find me?”

“Lucky guess. When looking for you, the first place to go is the library. And since this is where you usually went as a teenager, I figured you might be here tonight.”

“Well, I've got nothing to say to you, Potter.”

“Well, whether or not you have something to say, Evans, I've got things to say to you.” Lily's eyes narrowed at her book, as James had called her by her last name.

“I don't want to hear it. There's nothing to say.”

“Yes there is.” Lily closed her book and got up quickly. She put the book back on the shelf and left the library without a word or a glance at James. He followed her, not knowing where she was intending on going.

“Lily, will you stop walking away from me?” She went for the nearest door, opened it, and went through, locking it behind her. She turned and looked at where she was. She was in a corridor, though she had no idea where it went. She walked down it, and came to some stairs that led up to a second level, and a third. She climbed them, still not sure where she was going, though the corridor seemed somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn't remember when she had been in it. Finally, she came to a trap door, and it open. She climbed up a small ladder, and realization came to her, as she saw she was up on the Astronomy Tower. The corridor was a secret passage that couples always used to sneak up there to be consummate their relationships. She had used it a few times when she went out with James. She leaned against the wall, looking out over the grounds. It was a peaceful night, a slight breeze blowing in the clear night.

“Did you really think that you could get away from me, Lils?” Lily jumped, recognizing the voice. She turned to see James on the other side of the tower.

“How do you know where I was going?”

“I am a Marauder, I know every secret passage and room in this castle and on the grounds. I knew where you would end up when I saw what door you went through. You and made a few trips up that corridor when we were in school, didn't we?” Lily sighed.

“What did you want to tell me?”

“I lied.”

“About what?”

“Earlier, when you asked me if I still loved you, I lied. The truth is, I never stopped loving you. I love you now just as much as I did two years ago.”

“Why did you lie to me?”

“I was afraid of what you'd say.”

“How did you know what I was going to say?”

“I didn't, I assumed. And nothing good ever comes out of assuming.” Lily smiled a feeble smile.

“What would you have done if I said I did?”

“I would've told you the same thing. I felt myself falling back in love with you these past few days. I guess I'm like you; I never really fell out of love with you, I just told myself that I didn't love you anymore, and the more I told myself that, the more I believed it.” James came closer until he was standing right in front of Lily.

“I wish I hadn't left. I wish I had stayed, became an Auror like I had planned, and married you.” Tears started coming down Lily's face. James placed his hands on both sides of her face, and wiped away two tears with his thumbs. She looked into his eyes, her tears reflecting the moonlight. Two more tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, leaving trails behind them. James kissed them away. Lily leaned her head forward so their foreheads were touching. She sniffled and pulled her head back to look at James again. James whispered,

“Don't leave me again, please.”

“It'll never happen.” James' mouth claimed hers in a passionate kiss; Lily could taste the salt from her tears on his lips. It was the kind of kisses that lead to other things, where the Astronomy Tower was always put to use. And that's just what happened.

--------------

The next morning Lily and James came back to Remus' house. They were surprised to find Remus and Sirius in the kitchen, drinking coffee and reading the paper. Both wizards looked up when they heard their friends come in. Remus, looking over his paper said,

“Late night last night you two?”

“No, not really.” Lily answered innocently.

“Somebody got some, and I'm not just talking about me.” Sirius said, not bringing his eyes from the Prophet.

“What makes you think that, Padfoot?”

“The looks on your faces. You look as though you're fighting a loosing battle with trying to keep from grinning. You look like two people who've just had sex.”

“How would you know?”

“Please, Lily, he probably sees that look on his own face when he looks in the mirror three times a week.”

“Also, your hair…” Lily's hand went instantly up to her hair, going to smooth it out.

“What about it?”

“No, not yours. His. It's messier than usual.” James ran a hand through his messy black locks and grinned, unable to hold it in any longer. Sirius pointed at him and laughed.

“There it is! There's the grin!” Lily looked at James and laughed, having a grin identical to James'.

“Oh, she has one too,” Sirius bounced in his chair, “They hooked up.” James and Lily both blushed.

“Oh, and blushing too, wow, must've had fun last night,” Remus said.

“Well, it's about time too,” Sirius stated. Lily sighed, yet still smiling, said,

“When you're done making fun of us.” Sirius asked James,

“So, where was she?”

“Hogwarts.” Sirius turned to Lily and said,

“What were you doing there?”

“I was at the library.”

“All this happened in the library? Did Madam Pince die or something, and the whole security in that place go to hell?”

“No. We were up in the Astronomy Tower.”

“Ah, the Astronomy Tower, so many memories.” Everyone but Sirius rolled their eyes. A thought suddenly came to Lily.

“Before Sirius goes into his dating reminisces, what day is it?” The Marauders all looked at each other thinking.

“I think it's the first, why?”

“My parents come home yesterday from their cruise.”

“You going to go see them?”

“I don't know, should I?”

“Yes, you should.”

“They are the only parents you have Lily, and if you put it off, soon it'll be too late.” Lily smiled at James and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I don't know what I'd say to them.”

“Oh come on Lils, they're your parents.”

“Yeah, but I never had the best relationship with them. They never really understood the kind of person I am.”

“Be that as it may Lily, Prongs is right, they are your parents, and you should see them, because you never know when you don't have the opportunity to see them again.” Lily nodded at Remus' words.

“You want me to go with you?” James asked.

“Thanks, James, but I think I need to see them by myself first.”

“Maybe next time Prongs, maybe the next time you see them you'll be telling them you want to marry their little girl.”

“Don't hold your breath just yet, Padfoot. We just got back together, don't rush us.” Lily smiled as she left the room with her cell phone in hand going outside for a better signal. She dialed her parents' line and waited for someone to pick up. After three rings, a female voice Lily recognized as her mother answered the phone.

“Hello, Evans's?”

“Hey Mum.”

“Oh my God, Lily? Oh it's so good to hear your voice again.”

“Yeah, it's good to talk to you again too.”

“How is everything going with you, how is living in America?”

“It's not really the greatest. It could be better. Listen, are you and Dad going to home this morning?”

“Yeah, we are.”

“Can I come see you then?”

“Of course, sweetie.”

“I'll be over in a few minutes then.”

“Where are you?”

“Remus Lupin's house. Remember, he was one of my friends in school. One of James' best friends.”

“Oh yes, I remember. But, what are you doing there?”

“I'll tell you when I get there. See in you in a little bit.”

“Alright.” Mother and daughter both hung up, and she went back inside. The Marauders had moved to the living room, waiting for Lily to come back inside. They looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. James said,

“Well?”

“I'm going to be gone for most of the day. I'm going to Mum and Dad's.”

“Good.”

“We'll see ya, Lils.”

“Bye, wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” The Marauders said in unison. With a flick of her wand, she was in different clothes from last night, and disappeared with a `pop'.

A/n: Here's another chapter for you, hope you enjoy. Thanks for your reviews; I love to hear what y'all have to say. Keep it up!! Anyways…please review!!!!

Husker-fan-2006

-->

9. The Place I Used to Run To

Chapter 9: The Place I Used to Run to

-----------------

Whenever dawn turns to night,
And all the dreams sing their song
In the daylight forever,
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong by B*Witched

------------------

Lily apparated to just outside of her parents' house, hoping that no one had seen her. She knocked on the door, and waited for someone to answer it. Her mother came to the door and said,

“Lily, this used to be your house, you don't have to knock.” Lily smiled and gave her mother a hug.

“It's good to see you again, sweetie.”

“It's good to see you again too, Mum.”

“Well, come on in, your father can't wait to see you.” They went into the living room where David Evans was sitting in his favorite chair going through the mail that had piled up over the two weeks he and his wife had been gone. He looked up when he heard people come in, and smiled when he saw his daughter. He stood up and gave Lily a hug.

“Lily. It's good to see you; I've missed you. The prodigal daughter returns, eh?” Lily laughed.

“I'm happy to see you again, Dad, I missed you too.” They all sat down, and David asked,

“So, how are things going for you in the States?”

“I thought they were going well, but now I don't know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I was doing the right thing, leaving England. But then I came back for Isabelle's funeral, and spending time with everyone I've left, I wish I hadn't left.”

“Wait, wait, Isabelle's funeral?”

“Yes, David, remember me telling you that, Lily's friend sent us a letter about it, hoping we could maybe tell Lily.”

“Alice sent me a letter about it. I flew over on the first flight I could get out of New York City. Her funeral was on Monday.” Rose placed a hand her daughter's shoulder in comfort. Lily smiled sadly.

“So, you're staying with your friend, right?”

“Right.”

“Which friend?”

“Remus Lupin, Dad. He was one of the Marauders, remember me telling you about them and all their pranks?”

“Ah yes, I remember well, one of them was that Potter that you went out with, and would always complain about before your seventh year.” Lily smiled.

“Yes.” David shifted uncomfortably in his chair, not liking too well the fact that his daughter was living with a guy. Lily sensed this, and said,

“Though don't worry. Remus and I are just friends, always have, always will be.”

“I know, I'm just…”

“Being a typical dad,” Rose said, finishing her husband's sentence.

“So, how was the relationship department in the States, dear?”

“Eh, it's ok, it's not like there weren't any people for me. I only went out with one, and it didn't really classify as a date, he saw the owl that Alice sent me and got scared and left.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, Lily.”

“It's alright. Actually, I am going out with James again.” `If sleeping together classifies as going out.' Lily was confused by the look on her mother's face. Her father just smiled and nodded. Lily stared at her mother.

“What's the matter, Mum?”

“What? Oh nothing.”

“No, what is it, I mention James and your face turns to stone.”

“It's nothing Lily, just thinking about something else.”

“Liar.”

“Well, are you sure you want to get involved with him again, Lily? Do you want to put yourself through all that heartache when it doesn't work out again?”

“First of all, I caused the heartache by leaving, it was my fault. And I love James, I never stopped loving him, I just didn't realize it before.”

“I just think you should maybe consider someone less different from your family.”

“Like a muggle?”

“Well, yes.”

“Why? What's wrong with James, or any wizards for that matter?”

“There's nothing wrong with them, I just think you'd be safer away from them.”

“Rose, stay out of it, Lily's a smart girl, she doesn't make stupid decisions.” The truth of the matter was that David had always liked James from the first time his daughter had brought him home to meet them. He hoped that one day James and Lily would be married and Lily would be happy. But his wife thought that Lily should marry someone who wasn't a wizard, and David never could quite understand why.

“No, I want to hear this, I wanna know why any wizard isn't good enough for me.”

“You'd be safer away from them, Lily. I've heard stories of the evil things that are forming in that world, and I want you away from it. And if you date a wizard that is right in the middle of it, then there's no guarantee that you'll come out alive.”

“There's no guarantee I'll come out alive even if I'm not dating James. I am a witch, Mum, a muggle born, and Voldemort's out to kill every witch and wizard that is against him. Especially muggle borns.” Fear crossed her mother's face.

“You should've stayed in America.”

“He'll find me there, Mum. It's damn near impossible to hide from him.”

“Watch your language, Lily,” Rose said softly. Lily continued as though her mother hadn't interrupted.

“I'm not going to sit back and watch the people in my life all be killed when I could be out there helping keep them alive. It's already started. Isabelle was first, and I don't know who'll be next.”

“Rose, as long as she's happy and in love, I don't understand why you can't be happy for her. She's found someone again, a good one too.” Lily beamed at her father, but her expression hardened when she looked at her mother again.

“I'm scared for you, Lily, I'm your mother, and I don't want anything to happen to you.”

“I can't guarantee anything bad won't happen to me, Mum. I know you're worried, but I'm not. Love knows no fear.”

“Well, anyways, let's talk about something else, Rose, Lily. Well, my little lily flower, would you like to go with us to see your sister and her husband?” Lily made a face.

“Heck no. I'd probably be thrown from her house.”

“No, that's nonsense, your sister loves you. Deep down.”

“Very deep down, if at all. She considers me a freak, Dad, and I don't really want to see her.”

“Well, you haven't seen her in years, darling, you should at least make an attempt to get along with her.” `You never know when they won't be there for you always, nobody's guaranteed forever,” said a nasty little voice in her head. She sighed.

“I guess I could go. When are you going to see Petunia and what's his face?”

“Vernon. We're going over there for lunch.”

“So, in about twenty minutes.”

“Ok.” Five minutes later, Lily was in her parents' car, riding across London to go see her sister and brother-in-law. Something she wasn't the happiest about. Her sister hadn't been able to stand being the same room as her for as long as Lily could remember, and the feeling was mutual. They were nothing alike, in physical appearance and personality. Lily was average height, with dark red hair and bright green eyes. She looked well proportioned in all aspects of her body. But Petunia Evans, now Petunia Dursley, was tall and lanky, skinny, horse faced, and blonde. She had piercing eyes and a long nose that was always where it shouldn't be. Closer to noon, the Evans's arrived at their oldest daughter's house. It was a quaint little home on a street called Privet Drive. Every house looked the same, same shape and color. They pulled into the driveway of Number 4, and when the car stopped, the front door opened, and Petunia Dursley came outside, a happy smile on her face. David and Rose got out of the car, and Petunia came down the steps.

“Mum, Dad, it's so good to see you again, how was the cruise?” She gave both other parents a hug.

“It was fun, but we're glad to be home.” Petunia hadn't noticed yet that her only sibling was standing close behind her parents, waiting to be addressed. Petunia saw her, and her expression turned cold.

“Hello Lily,” She said shortly. Lily gave a short nod.

“Petunia.”

“Well…it's um…good to see you.” Though she sounded like she was lying.

“I wish I could say the same, Petunia.”

“Still hanging out with those freak friends of yours, or have you finally come to your senses?” Rose said sternly,

“Girls, stop it.”

“Well, Lily I wish you would've told me you were coming, otherwise I would've set another place for you.”

“I didn't know I would be coming, Petunia, until Mum and Dad invited me to come along. But that's alright, I'm not that hungry.” Petunia gave a short nod, and offered her family to come in. It was the first time Lily had been on the inside of her sister's house. It was extremely bright, white and very clean. Very Petunia-ish. She looked around the living room, taking in everything. Rose and David were glancing at the pictures on the tables by the couches while Vernon Dursley came into the room from the kitchen. The room became busy with chatter and hugs and handshakes, while Lily stood back, again not saying anything. She looked at her brother-in-law, and thought that if you accidentally ran into him, you'd get lost in the fat and never be found again. She bit her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing when she wondered how many people could be lost in there. She was brought down to earth when she heard Petunia say in a tone of voice that gave evidence to how much she hated her sister,

“And this is my sister, Lily. Remember I told you about her. Lily, this is my husband, Vernon. I doubt you two have ever met.”

“No, we haven't, nice to meet you, Vernon.” Lily stuck out her hand, very unwilling to give the man a hug. He took her hand and shook it, not saying much to her, Lily knew what kind of things Petunia had probably told him. Dinner was a formal affair for Lily. She only spoke when she was spoken to. Her thoughts were elsewhere until she heard her name.

“So, Lily, what do you do for a living?” Vernon asked.

“I'm an accountant.” Lily replied, not looking at her sister's husband.

“Your kind has accountants? For what?” Lily slowly turned her head to face Vernon. Choosing her words carefully she said,

“My kind doesn't have accountants, no. I've been living in America for the past two years as a muggle, and I work as an accountant. I just returned home a few days ago.”

“What's a muggle?”

“You all,” Lily gestured with her hand to illustrate her point, “Are muggles. Anyone who isn't a witch or wizard is a muggle.”

“It sounds like your making yourself out to be better than us normal people.”

“I'm not making myself out to be anything, I'm just answering your question.” Rose quickly changed the subject before a fight broke out, saying,

“So, Vernon, tell me about your job. How's it going?”

“Very well actually, I expect to be promoted soon…” Lily's mind trailed off, not listening to Vernon. It sounded like it'd be a boring conversation anyways. After a while, Vernon was still talking, and Lily started dozing off. Her head nodded, and she jerked awake. She nodded off again, and she felt her mother kick her in the shin, her eyes snapped open, now wide-awake. She looked at her mother, who threw a glare that said, `Behave yourself'.

-----------

Finally, after three hours listening to Vernon Dursley talk about drills, Lily was in the car with her mother and father, going back home. Lily sighed and leaned her head against the back of the seat.

“I think after that, I've learned everything there is to know about drills.”

“What do you think of him, Lils?” Her father asked. Lily snorted.

“Honestly? I think he's the most boring thing to ever happen to Petunia. And that's saying something.” She laughed, and her father smiled. But her mother gave her a stern look.

“Be that as it may, Lily, he is your brother-in-law, the man who your sister loves, you should at least show a little more respect than you did back there.” Lily looked out the window, and said almost as an afterthought,

“Ok, let's hear you have that conversation with her when she meets James.”

---------------

An hour later, Lily went to James' house, where as soon as she came in the door and took her shoes off, she collapsed into an armchair and sighed. James laughed.

“Long day?”

“You have no idea. My brother-in-law is the most boring muggle I have ever had the misfortune to meet.” James smiled.

“That bad huh?”

“The man sells drills for a living, and he went into a whole long conversation for three hours about drills and his company.”

“What's a drill?”

“It's a long story, and believe me, I don't want to go into it today.” James got up from the couch he was sitting on and sat on the coffee table, taking one of Lily's feet in his hands and massaging it.

“Are you for sure going to stay here, or at least stay part of the wizarding world?”

“Why?”

“Dumbledore contacted all the Order members. There's a meeting tonight at seven.”

“Where?”

“Hogwarts.”

“Sure you want me coming along?” Lily said, “I mean, are you sure they have use for muggles?” She grinned, referring to the conversation a few days ago, when Lily had brought up the subject of the Order of the Phoenix. James sighed sarcastically.

“I guess we could use you.” Lily smiled, got up off the chair and knelt on the floor in front of James and kissed him.

A/n: Here's another chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy. Thanks everyone for the reviews, I love you all. Keep it up!!!

Husker-fan-2006

-->

10. The Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 10: The Order of the Phoenix (it's been used, I know!! Lol)

--------------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to dark
And all the dreams sing their song
In the daylight forever
To You I Belong.

- To You I Belong by B*Witched

---------------------------------

James and Lily apparated to Hogsmeade and made their way up to Hogwarts a half hour before the meeting to speak with Dumbledore about Lily joining. They came into Dumbledore's office, and when Dumbledore saw Lily and James enter his office, hand in hand, he smiled.

“I see that things are back to the way they were when you were Head Boy and Girl two years ago.” They both smiled.

“And Lily I'm guessing you're here to join the Order, am I right?”

“Yes. I am.” Dumbledore was about to speak when Lily beat him to it.

“I'm going to stay here in England, and stay in the wizarding world, and I'm prepared to fight to keep the good in this world.” Dumbledore nodded and was about to speak again, but again, Lily got there first.

“Also sir, I'm planning on taking the Auror tests that I was educated for while I was at school, and become an Auror.” Dumbledore waited, smiled, and said,

“Anything else?”

“No.” Dumbledore nodded and extracted a piece parchment from his desk that only he could open and view the contents inside, unless he wished for someone else to find out what the drawer contained. The parchment was legal looking, a contract, that would bind the party's name at the bottom to the oath they would take. Dumbledore handed the paper to Lily for her to sign. She sat down in a chair and read over the text. It contained the types of things she would be agreeing to, rules to abide by, and other necessary things. She printed her name in spots, and at the bottom where there was a line that read underneath, party's full signature, she signed, Lily Elizabeth Evans. She slid the paper over to James, where he was to sign the line that read, witness. He signed his name in his messy scrawl, James Michael Potter. James handed the contract back to Dumbledore who filed it, and handed Lily another piece of paper. It had a list of people on it, all the members of the Order. Lily held her quill above the paper, and glanced up at Dumbledore. As if reading her thoughts, he said,

“A record of the members. So if something happens, to me or somebody, and someone other than me needs to contact the members, there is an incantation to send summons to everyone.” Lily again signed, Lily Elizabeth Evans on the parchment. Dumbledore took the parchment, the contract, and put them in a magical file in his desk. As soon as he did, Order members started arriving one by one, occasionally two or three would come at a time. Lily was introduced to some of them, many of them she already knew. James sat beside her, telling Lily who each person was.

“That's Emmeline Vance, great aspect of the Department of Mysteries (A/N: I have no idea about these people's jobs, just guessing), Sturgis Podmore, a very sneaky man, I'm not sure what he does, you've heard of Mad-Eye haven't you?”

“Yeah, he's an Auror, isn't he? Isn't he like really paranoid?”

“Paranoid's an understatement when referring to Mad-Eye. But yeah, I heard that he's thinking of retiring soon, he's been in the business for years.”

“I can see that.” Lily said, noticing the scars on Moody's face.

“And you of course know the Longbottoms.” James said as Frank and Alice came into Dumbledore's office. Alice spotted her friend right away and came over to say hi, while her husband talked with some other Order members.

“Lils, you joined the Order?”

“Yeah, just a few minutes ago.”

“That's great, we can always use more people, especially ones like you.” Lily smiled at the compliment, and Alice turned her attention to James.

“So, Mr. Potter, I've been hearing tales.”

“Oh really? What about?”

“What's this I hear about you, Lily and the Astronomy Tower last night?” James grinned.

“Where'd you hear that?” James said in mock innocence.

“It is not possible for your best friend to keep a secret.” James' grin widened.

“I don't know where Sirius is coming up with these tales. You should never believe anything he says.”

“Normally I wouldn't, but then see, one of your other friends told me the same tale. Now, if I can't believe Remus, then who do I believe? He has never told me a lie.”

“I think they're just imagining things, Alice, I wouldn't pay attention to those two.” They both laughed.

“Well, all I have to say, is it's about time.” Lily smiled and brought her attention back to the door, watching for more people. Alice went to find Frank, and James went back to telling Lily who everyone was.

“And, you know those two.” James said as Sirius and Remus came through the door. Lily sighed.

“Yeah, unfortunately.” James beckoned his friends over with his finger. When they came within earshot, James said,

“Moony, Padfoot, what's this I hear about you telling tales?” Remus and Sirius had almost identical looks on their faces that they had to look innocent, but everyone knows a Marauder is never innocent. Sirius said innocently,

“Haven't been telling any tales, Prongs, what are you talking about?” Remus agreed, and said,

“Nope, haven't told anyone about anything.”

“This is pointless James, they're never going admit that they told Alice not matter how long you play this game, it could go on for hours.” She glanced at the door and saw a certain greasy haired, former classmate of hers walk through the door. Her expression turned cold, remembering all the times he called her a Mudblood.

“What's Snape doing here?” Sirius said,

“Snivellus? He's posing as an Order member and Potions teacher. He really should be kissing the hem of his master's robes.”

“He's a Death Eater? Then why is he here?” Remus scowled at Snape and said,

“He's claimed to have reformed. Dumbledore believes him, so do most of the rest of the Order members, but we know better.”

“Ran into him yesterday, if McGonagall hadn't been there to interfere, he wouldn't be here right now, he'd be lying in St. Mungo's nursing some injury that God knows I'd have given him.”

“What'd he do this time?”

“Called Lily a Mudblood whore.” James, Sirius and Remus all glared at Snape, who just happened to glance up and return the glare. Lily closed her eyes, telling herself not to get angry. James saw this and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. As soon as everyone had arrived who was supposed to, (all but five had shown up) the meeting started. Dumbledore said a few words, and many people gave reports, James gave Auror reports on the tracking of potential Death Eaters, along with other Aurors. The meeting lasted for two hours, finally ending close to 9:30. Everyone slowly left, in bigger groups this time, some going home, others going to the Three Broomsticks or to Hog's Head for drinks with one another and catch up on events that had happened since they had seen each other last. James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, and some of their other classmates from school all sat crowded around a table at the Three Broomsticks, various drinks around the table, one in front of each witch or wizard. They laughed about a lot of things, felt sad about Isabelle, and talked about other things, one of the main topics being the rekindled relationship between James Potter and Lily Evans. Since all good things must come to an end, the get together between old school friends came to a close. Everyone went their separate ways, and at the door of the pub, James asked Lily,

“You going back to Remus' house to sleep, or are you coming home with me?”

“Would I sleep?”

“That depends.” Lily smiled.

“Then I think I'll go home with you, Mr. Potter.”

A/N: Here's another chapter for y'all. Please review; thanks to all of you who have reviewed already, I love y'all. Keep it up; I love reading what you all have to say about my story.

You know what I was thinking when writing this chapter? If Wormtail was in the Order, and Snape was the spy for the Order, and they were both Death Eaters, then why didn't they ever know that each was a traitor??? In my chapter, I just put that it is just a lucky coincidence that they are never at the same Order meeting.

Anyways, just something to ponder about…

Husker-fan-2006

-->

11. When You Say Nothing At All

Chapter 11: When You Say Nothing At All

--------------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
In the daylight forever,
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong by B*Witched

---------------------------------

“You're insane, Prongs.”

“Why's that, just because I love Lily?”

“Part of it, but partly because you want to propose again.”

“What's wrong with proposing?”

“You've only been going out for a month, remember what happened the last time? Do you want her to leave again?”

“Of course not, what the hell kind of a question is that?”

“I'm just saying, don't rush into this, the last time you did, she left and broke your heart.”

“But even though we've only been going out a month, I feel like it's been for years, like we were just apart for a little while. I love her, Padfoot, and I want to be with her, I want to have a family and grow old with her.” James paced the floor in the living room of Sirius' house, while his best friend sat in his chair, watching him go back and forth, occasionally reading a few words in the paper.

“Just don't rush into it yet, you may feel like you've been together for years, but she may not. You might scare her.” James nodded, he hadn't really thought of it from that point of view.

“Just give it some time. She's going back to America for two weeks to get everything in order back there. Bring up the subject, casually, don't just ask her on the spot. Ask her whether or not it's too soon to be thinking about engagements, and if it is, then ask how long it'd be before she'd consider it, or something like that. But do it right.” James nodded.

“When did you get so smart about this, Padfoot? You've never had a relationship that's lasted longer than three weeks.”

“I'm just smart that's all,” Sirius said, flashing a conceited smile.

“Ok, stop with the lies now.”

“Hey, I am smart.” James snorted.

“If you're smart, Padfoot my friend, then pigs fly.”

“Pigs have been known to fly every once in a while.”

“By themselves?”

“Maybe, you never know.” James laughed. Sirius said,

“Well, go help your other half pack, and don't scare her.”

“I won't.” With that, James disapparated with a `pop'.

--------------------

When James found Lily, she was upstairs in her room, her back to the door, folding a shirt, singing to her muggle CD player. Her hips swayed with the music, and her beautiful voice sang the lyrics along with the singer on the CD.

“The smile on your face lets me know that you need me

There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me

The touch of your hand says you'll catch me whenever I fall

You say it best, when you say nothing at all.”

James came up behind her and hugged her from behind, making her jump. She turned around and playfully smacked him in the chest.

“Don't sneak up on me like that.”

“Well, then, maybe I'll leave, and leave you to packing all by yourself.” He took his arms from her waist and turned to leave. Lily grabbed his arm.

“No, no, you can stay.”

“Ok, good.” He looked at Lily's progress, and noticed she wasn't getting very far.

“You do know with just a flick of the wand this could all be done in two seconds.”

“I know, but I'm just taking my time.”

“Why?”

“Because I have nothing to do after I pack.”

“Well, I want to talk to you.”

“Ok then.” She took out her wand, and with a swish and a flick, her suitcase was packed. She faced her boyfriend and said,

“Ok, that's done, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Want to go for a walk?” Lily shrugged.

“Sure.” They went outside and started off down the street. They were silent for a while, until Lily, getting slightly impatient, said,

“Are you going to tell me what you wanted to say, or are you going to make me wait all day?”

“I had it all planned out in my head what I was going to say, and now I can't remember it.” They were silent again; the only sound was of their feet on the sidewalk. Then James stopped walking and finally said,

“Ok, Lils, where do you think we are?” Lily stopped walking too. Lily looked down the street and said sarcastically,

“Um…about five blocks from Remus's house.” James raised an eyebrow in annoyance. He said,

“Ok, smart ass.” Lily smiled and said,

“What do you mean then?”

“In our…relationship.” James said, finally settling on the right word. Lily smiled.

“This is odd, usually it's the girl that asks these kinds of questions.”

“Seriously, where do you think we are?”

“I don't know, where do you think we are?”

“I feel as though we've been together for years, that those two years we weren't together were just two weeks of time apart from each other, like we will be when you leave. So, having said that, would it be too soon to consider getting married?” Lily opened her mouth to speak, a shocked look on her face.

“Now, I'm not asking you to marry me now, I'm saying that is it too soon for an engagement. And if is, then I…” James didn't know what to say, the look on Lily's face made him stop talking. After a while of silence, Lily wetted her lips and said,

“We've only been going out for a month, James.”

“I know, but it feels like it's been for years. Even if you do say yes, it'd be a while before we'd get married if you want.”

“James, you did this to me two years ago, why are you doing it again?”

“You already said you were coming back, this time it's not like I'd be keeping you from going places.”

“Yes, but…”

“Lils, I've spent the last two years wishing you were still here. I've hated myself for letting you go. You told me that since we weren't engaged that I would be able to meet other girls outside of school. Well, I've gone out with other girls over the years, but none of them came close to you. I love you, Lily, and I don't want to be without you. I want to have a family with you, and grow old together.” By the time James stopped talking, Lily had tears running down her cheeks. James wiped her tears away and took her hands in his.

“You're the witch I'm supposed to be with, it just fits.”

“Give me some time to think, James. I'm going to New York, I'm going to take care of things there, and I'll come back. And I'll give you my answer.” She pulled away from James and went back to Remus' house.

----------------------

At the airport two hours later, Lily stood with her carry on bag in hand at the terminal gate. Sirius and Remus came along to say goodbye. It didn't surprise Lily that James didn't come, she hadn't wanted him to come, she didn't want to say goodbye to him. She thought a little about what he said, and couldn't believe that she was loved that much by someone. The woman on the intercom made the last call for the flight from London to New York City. Lily hugged both Sirius and Remus.

“Come back soon Lils. Prongs'll get lonely without you.” Lily smiled.

“I'll be back in two weeks, Sirius, so he won't be lonely for long.”

“You better come back in two weeks. Or I'll come over there and drag you back home if I have to, cuz' we'll all miss you too much.” Lily laughed, and gave Sirius one last hug. She gave Remus one last hug too, and he said,

“Come home soon. We'll miss ya.”

“I'll miss you all too.” She gave the lady at the desk her ticket, and went through the terminal.

-----------------------

“Ally? Ally, you home?” Ally came from the kitchen to see who it was.

“Lily! You're home!” She gave her roommate a hug.

“For a little while.”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm moving back home to England.”

“You're leaving? Why?”

“It's just where I belong.”

“How was your friend's funeral?”

“It was really nice. I spoke a few words about her, as did all my other friends from school.”

“What did you say her name was again?”

“Isabelle Portman.”

“Oh yeah. So, any hot guys over there in England?”

“Yeah, actually, I'm going out with one.”

“Really? Finally you go out with someone.”

“Yeah, you could kind of call him my high school sweetheart, we went out for almost a year when we were in school.”

“Ok, tell me about him.”

“What do you want to know about him?”

“Well, his name, what he's like, if he's hot, what does he do…you know, all that stuff.”

“His name is James, he's one of the sweetest guys I've ever met, he's hot, and he…” She trailed off, she couldn't tell Ally what James' job was.

“He's in law enforcement.” Lily said uneasily.

“Ooh, interesting. So what did you come back here for then?”

“I came to get the rest of my stuff, and quit my job, and say goodbye.”

“I can't believe you're going to leave, we've been living together for two years, Lily.”

“I know, but I want to be in England.”

“What, are you marrying this guy, is that why you're moving back?”

“I don't know.”

“What do you mean you don't know?”

“He asked me, and I don't know.”

“Already? Oh my gosh.”

“Yeah. He asked me before I left, and that was one of the reasons I came here.” Lily went into the long story of her relationship with James, and when she finished, Ally said,

“I think you should marry him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he sounds like a good guy, who loves you sincerely. I wouldn't give him up; don't let him go, Lils.”

“I told him I'd think about it.”

“Ok, but seriously, he sounds like one to keep.”

------------------

A/n: Here's another chapter for you all, hope you enjoy. You know, I think I start every author's note at the end of the chapter with that sentence, every single time. Oh well. Lol. Anyways, thank you all who reviewed; keep it up!!!!

P.S. The part of the song that I used is When You Say Nothing at All by Alison Krouss.

Husker-fan-2006

-->

12. Two Weeks Notice

Chapter 12: Two Weeks Notice

---------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
In the daylight forever
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong by B*Witched

------------------------------

“Lils! It's good to see you back at work! We missed you here.” Lily smiled as she set her things down on her desk. Her best friend in America came around from her cubicle and gave Lily a hug.

“Hey Natalie. I wish I could say I missed the job, just some of the people here.”

“Well, I hope I'm on that list of some of the people you missed. Oh my gosh, you can tell you've been in England for the past week.”

“Why?”

“Your accent is very strong again. Come on, you're just in time, Tipperman wants us all in a meeting in twenty minutes.”

“What for?”

“Top financial keeper.” Lily rolled her eyes.

“Oh. Did Mackenzie win again?”

“Probably. She always wins; stupid bitch.”

“Well, if it bothers you so much, you could sleep with the boss too like she does.” Natalie shuddered.

“There isn't a big enough salary in the world that would pay me to sleep with Albert Tipperman.” Lily smiled and nodded.

“I don't blame you. I'm glad I'm leaving all of this, then I don't have to listen to Mackenzie pretend like she's the innocent little worker who isn't under her boss every other day.”

“You're leaving? Why?”

“I'm going home to England to stay.”

“Why?”

“I just like it better there, my family is there, my friends from school are there, I have the opportunity for a better job there; one I actually have full training for.”

“But what about your friends here?”

“I'll come visit, I promise. It's just better for me to move back.”

“I see. There a guy or something?”

“How'd you guess?”

“I wasn't sure, I wasn't really serious.”

“No, there's a guy there in England waiting for me to come back.”

“I'm proud of you Lily, going back was good for you, you're dating now!”

“Yeah, I am. But anyways, I'm giving Tipperman my two weeks notice today.”

“I can't believe you're going to leave us. You're going to leave me here all alone sitting here by Mackenzie without anyone to help bail my ass out when I get into trouble?”

“If you get into as much trouble as you did that one time, call me, and I'll come bail your ass out. I'll tell Tipperman that you were provoked Like he'd believe me though.” They both laughed, and entered the conference room. Natalie held the door open and said,

“Just be sure to bring this guy of yours along when you come help me then.”

“I will.” Natalie and Lily took their seats, and waited for everyone else to get there. There were already half of the people in their seats, and they all welcomed Lily back. Soon the boss came in, and after welcoming Lily back also, the meeting started.

“Ok, ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of year again. Every summer we give out an award to the highest accountant for the year. That person shall receive a pay raise, the parking space for a month, and bragging rights for the year.” Tipperman said, ending with a smile, at the attempted joke. No one laughed or even smiled, except a woman with dirty blonde hair and a low cut suit.

“And the highest account keeper for last year is…” He glanced at the blonde, “Mackenzie Lorett.” The blonde stood up, pretending to be shocked, and was thanking Tipperman as Miss America would thank the judges after receiving her crown, fanning her face and trying not to cry. The rest of the men and women at the meeting politely applauded, not meaning to offer Mackenzie any congratulations. Most of them rolled their eyes as they saw her overdramatic acceptance of the award. After a few more notes to address, the meeting was soon adjourned, and everyone went back to their work. Lily dropped the papers from the meeting off at her desk, and went to Tipperman's office. She opened the door and saw her boss and Mackenzie standing face to face, very close together, whispering. Mackenzie had a flirty grin on her face, while Tipperman ran a finger along her jaw line, getting ready to kiss her. Lily cleared her throat loudly, and the two jumped apart. Mackenzie left hurriedly, not meeting Lily's eyes. Tipperman nervously cleared his throat.

“Um, Mackenzie was uh…just thanking me for the award.”

“Yes, and I'm sure later she'll be able to get around to it properly.” Lily said sarcastically. Tipperman's nervous smile faltered a little, but he let the last comment go and said,

“What can I do for you Lily?”

“I came to say I'm giving my two weeks notice.”

“How come?”

“I want to go back home. I have the opportunity for a better job over in England, and I want to take it.”

“You don't like your job here?”

“To tell you the truth, I never have liked this job. Numbers were never my high point in school, but I took the job because…well, I didn't really need any more education than what I already had.” Tipperman nodded. Lily's mind was racing, trying to cover up that she actually didn't have the training, but she had used magic to make herself be able to do the work, and to make her resume look notable. She remembered that day when she went searching for a job when she first came to America. Since there wasn't anything she was trained for in the muggle world, she had lied on her resume, and lied about her age, because she knew there would be no way that anyone would hire a seventeen year old who didn't have a muggle high school degree. So according to all the muggles in America, she was a twenty-six year old woman from London, with a very impressive resume.

“So, two weeks from now which will be the twentieth, you'll be leaving?”

“Yes.”

“I hate to lose you, Lily.”

“Well, we all lose things in life. Just be glad this time it's just an employee.” With that, she turned and left. At lunch that afternoon, all the women were sitting around a table, conversing and gossiping. Mackenzie said,

“So, Lily, Tipperman said you were leaving.”

“Yeah, your point?”

“Why are you?”

“I want to go back home to England.”

“Just because you didn't get the top accounting award doesn't mean you have to leave, Lily.”

“Believe me Mackenzie, that's not why I'm leaving. And I don't want the accounting job if I have to do what you do to get it.”

“You mean do a good job at work? That's all I do.”

“Yes, Mackenzie, that's all you do, give Tipperman a good job while at work.” Natalie said. The women around the table all snickered into their sandwiches. Mackenzie's jaw dropped.

“I can't believe you would think that I'd sleep with Tipperman to advance in the business.”

“You can't believe that we think it, or can't believe that we know about it?” A woman named Lela said.

“I don't know what kind of rumors are going on around here, but I'm not having sex with the boss.”

“Yeah right, Mackenzie, and pigs fly.”

“I'm not going to take this abuse.” She got up and left. All the women rolled their eyes. Natalie said,

“Well, if that's the conversation it takes to get her to leave, we should've thought of that before.” A woman said,

“Yeah, now she's probably gone to go cry to Tipperman and get a quickie in before going back to work.”

“Well, remember that ladies, when I'm gone, just bring up the topic of those two, and she'll leave because she `won't take this abuse'.” Lily finished the sentence with a high-pitched imitation of Mackenzie, making the women around the table laugh.

------------------

“My Lord, I've come with news. Potter is dating that Lily Evans girl again. He's even talking about marrying her. If they aren't stopped, there will be another Potter soon.” The Dark Lord sneered.

“Kill her.”

------------------

The last two weeks of Lily's job as an accountant flew by slowly without much activity. On her last day, her coworkers threw her a going away party, and at 5:00, Lily left the building with her box of things from her desk in her arms, never to have to set foot in that place again. Natalie told her she'd meet her down at one of the bars for a few going away drinks before Lily's flight. Lily hailed a cab home to her apartment, so she could get started packing. When she opened the door of her apartment, her jaw dropped when she saw two wizards in her apartment, examining all the muggle objects in the place. Lily laughed.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” Sirius and Remus jumped at the sound of someone's voice. Remus said,

“We've come on strict instructions to help you pack for England.”

“Strict instructions from who?”

“Prongs.” Lily laughed and shook her head.

“Figures. What, does he think that if I do it by myself I won't come back?” Sirius shrugged.

“Possible, cuz' God only knows what goes on in that brain of his,” He picked up the phone and inspected it, pushing buttons and putting it his ear. When he heard the dial tone on the other end, he pulled it away and looked at it with confusion.

“And not even God knows what goes on in your head, Padfoot,” Remus said with a grin. Sirius was about to throw the phone at Remus but Lily put her hands up and stood in the line of fire.

“No, no, don't throw the phone. Set it down, Sirius.” Sirius slowly put the phone down, though looking as though he still wanted to throw something. Lily tossed a pillow to him and stepped out of the line of fire, while Sirius threw the pillow, and Remus caught it. He laughed and threw it back and Sirius caught it, and it went back and forth like this until Sirius' aim got off, and the pillow hit a picture frame sitting on a table knocking to the floor and the glass shattered. Lily sighed, and pointed her wand at the mess.

“Reparo.” The frame repaired itself and Lily set it back on the table.

“You two are like children, come on, you're twenty years old now, not six.”

“I miss being six. It was good times,” Sirius said.

“Yeah, you could get away with everything then,” Remus said.

“Anyways, you two are supposed to be helping me pack.”

“Right, because if we don't, we'll have to answer to Prongs, and he won't be happy.”

“Yes, and angering Prongs is almost as bad as angering Lily.”

“They're perfect for each other. Both are pains in the ass when they're mad.” Lily cleared her throat and looked at the two wizards.

“Do you two not see me here, is that why you're talking about me?”

“Oh, sorry, Lils.” Lily rolled her eyes and summoned a pile of clothes and sent them to Sirius.

“There, fold those, and put them into my trunk. Remus, you can pack these books.” She pointed to the small bookcase next to the TV. They got to packing, and a half hour later, Ally came in with shopping bags in her hands. As soon as she came in the door she said,

“Hey Lils!” Lily came to the door.

“Hey. Shopping?”

“Heck yeah, I…” She looked over Lily's shoulder and saw Sirius and stopped talking. She had a sort of dazed look on her face. Remus came from the kitchen, a box in his hands. He set it down on the floor and watched the scene in front of him.

“Um, Ally, these are two of my friends from England, they came to help me pack up. This is Sirius, and this is Remus. Sirius, Remus, this is my roommate Ally.” Ally gave a breathless `hi'. Sirius smiled and said,

“Hey.” Remus nodded his hello and set the box in the trunk. Ally, not being able to stop staring at Sirius said,

“Um…I have to go…put these in my room…I'll be back to help you pack, Lily.”

“No, don't worry about it, we've got it covered.” Ally finally tore her gaze from Sirius and said,

“No, I can help. I'll make dinner for you later, that way you don't have to stop to make supper.”

“Thanks, Ally.” With one last smile at Sirius, Ally went to her room and shut the door. Lily turned to Sirius and said,

“Just…back off.”

“What?”

“You don't need to be puttin' on the charm for my roommate.”

“Fine. But anyways,” He dropped the volume of his voice, “Does she know about your being a witch?” Lily shook her head, and said, also in a low tone of voice,

“No, nobody here in America knows.”

“So we have to do all this the muggle way?”

“No, she'll be in her room until it's time to make dinner. Or at least I think she will, unless she wants to be out here around you.” Sirius pulled out his wand and said,

“No, she won't.” He waved his wand at her door.

“What'd you do?”

“Gave her something to keep her occupied until dinner. She's reading.”

“Ok, anyways, let's get back to packing.” Two hours later, they all had finished up both the packing and dinner. Lily remembered that Natalie had told her to meet her at the bar for drinks, and she said,

“Hey, did you all want to go with Natalie and a couple other people from work tonight for a few drinks down at the bar?”

“Sure.”

“We're going for drinks?”

“It'll only be for a little while.” Ally said,

“I'm going to go get ready to go then.”

“Ok.” Lily said to Sirius and Remus when Ally went to her room,

“Well, I didn't know you two were going to be here, and I agreed to go with Natalie for drinks tonight before I left. It'll be fine, we'll only stay for a few hours at the most.”

“A few hours with drinks turns into a lot of hours, and it's harder to apparate when you've been drinking.”

“I promise you, it'll only be for a little bit.”

--------------------------------

With many goodbyes and hugs and promises to write, Lily headed back to her apartment with Sirius and Remus so they could apparate home to England. Lily was going to apparate to James's house, so he and Lily could talk, while Sirius and Remus would bring Lily's things back to Remus's house. When Lily got to James's house, she knocked on the door. James answered it, with a sad look on his face. Lily laughed and said,

“Gosh, James, who died?” He didn't answer her, and his expression didn't change. Lily's smile faded quickly from her face.

“Who died?”

--------------

A/N: Hee hee hee!!! I'm sorry I'm so evil, that's a nasty cliffhanger, I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible, as soon as I get more reviews!! Thanks to all the people reviewed, it means a lot to me that you like my story.

Husker_fan_2006

-->

13. Saying Goodbye All Over Again

Chapter 13: Saying Goodbye All Over Again

---------------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
In the daylight forever
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong by B-Witched

-----------------------------------

“James, who died? Please, tell me.” James ran a hand over his clean shaven face and said,

“Your parents.” Lily's jaw dropped, and she held a hand over her mouth in shock, tears forming in her eyes. James took her other hand in both of his, as he was fighting to keep tears back too, said,

“From what I'm told, Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters killed them, the Dark Mark was found over their house.” Lily sobbed, and her legs gave out on her. James caught her before she fell (A/n: :-) He's always doing that ain't he?). He carried her over to one of the chairs and sat her down in it, and he knelt down in front of her. Lily asked tearfully,

“Why? Why did they have to be killed?”

“I don't know. I don't know, Lily,” James said, rubbing Lily's arms comfortingly. She leaned forward and flung her arms around James' neck, and cried into his shirt.

------------------------

“Some new events have come into light within the past two days,” Dumbledore said, addressing the Order members. “David and Rose Evans were killed by Voldemort yesterday. They were muggles, and you're all probably wondering why this is relevant now. They were Lily Evans' parents. We have reports from our inside man on why this would happen.” Dumbledore motioned for Snape to give his report. He stepped forward.

“The Death Eaters were sent to find Lily Evans and kill her. I have heard that they went to David and Rose Evans' house in search of their daughter, but didn't find her. They demanded that they inform them of where she was, and they refused to divulge any information. The Death Eaters tortured them before killing them, and blew up a majority of the house.”

“Why would they be out to kill Lily?” James asked.

“Because of you, Potter. They know of your relationship with Evans and will kill her before there can be another generation of Potter.”

“How would they know about that?”

“I don't know. It is my belief that we may have a traitor in our midst, feeding information to the Dark Lord.”

“It's probably been you, Snivellus,” Sirius said, standing up.

“It is not my wish to kill Evans, Black. There would be no reason for me to do it.” He looked from James' deathly glare to the identical ones on his two friends' faces, to Lily's expressionless one. Dumbledore stood up before a full-fledged fight broke out between school enemies.

“This will not be the last muggle attack. There will be more and more as long as Voldemort is powerful. This madness must be stopped, before you all lose loved ones. Be on the watch, you never know when he'll strike next.”

“Constant Vigilance!” Mad-Eye Moody said, shaking a fist. The room became noisy with chatter. James knelt down next to Lily and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

“Everything'll be all right, Lils. It'll all be ok.”

--------------------------

The funeral for Lily's parents took place three days later. It was a dark, gloomy day as Lily, once again dressed in black, stood by her parents' graveside after they had been laid to rest. Her black dress billowed in the cold wind that blew that morning. James stood next to her, an arm around her shoulders. She had been very distant to him since the Order meeting, usually only responding with short answers. Lily looked up and saw her sister and brother-in-law standing on the other side of the graves. Petunia came closer to Lily, a determined look on her face. Her husband followed like a shadow. Petunia stood next to her sister.

“I blame you for their deaths. If not for you, Lily, they'd still be alive.”

“But for how long, Petunia? Voldemort is growing stronger, no one is completely safe anymore.”

“If you hadn't ever been born, or gone off to that freak school, they wouldn't be dead now.” Lily didn't reply, she just turned her head away from her sister. James said,

“It isn't anyone's fault except Voldemort's. He's the reason why they're dead.”

“You're the freak she was talking about. You're the bastard who if it wasn't for you, this Voldemort wouldn't be after Lily, and my parents would still be alive.” Lily slowly turned her head back.

“Don't insult James, Petunia. And don't you dare blame him for this. He didn't do anything.”

“That's right, I should be blaming you. And you know, I wish they had found you and killed you. The world would've been better off with one less of your kind in it, and I would've been relieved of the burden of having an abnormal sister, and I'd never have to think of you again.” Lily slapped Petunia across the face, who was so shocked at the physical contact, stumbled backward, and was stopped and held steady by her husband. Lily looked her hateful sister in the eye and said,

“You bitch. You should be happy for what family you have left. Because you never know when you won't have anyone anymore. Then what'll you do?” Lily turned and left, James following close behind. When the coast was clear, they apparated from the funeral site.

----------------------------

“Lils, I've been thinking.” Lily smiled weakly.

“Shouldn't do that, you might hurt yourself.” James laughed.

“You're talking to me, remember, Lils, not Sirius.”

“Oh, that's right, never mind. Sorry, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“You know how before I left, I asked you to think about getting married?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to take it back.”

“Why?”

“I think it'd be safer for you if you didn't marry me. Since the Death Eaters are after you so you don't marry me and we have kids, it'd be best that you didn't marry me. So you don't have to bother thinking about it.”

“But I already have thought about it, and I want to give you my answer.”

“What is it?”

“I want to marry you. I love you, and I want to marry you.”

“Aren't you afraid of being killed? I'm bound to be killed sooner or later because of who I am, and if you're my wife, then your chances of being killed are twice as high.”

“Like I told my mother, love knows no fear. All of these events going on in the world don't matter right now because I love you. I have loved you for the longest time, and nothing is going to stop me loving you.” James put a hand behind Lily's head and pulled her closer to him, meeting her lips with his. They wrapped their arms around each other, and stood there holding each other, kissing for what seemed like minutes. James broke the kiss and said,

“I love you Lily Elizabeth Evans.”

“I love you too, James Michael Potter. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it.”

“You're worth the wait.” They kissed again, and the newly engaged couple celebrated long into the night.

----------------------

A/n: Kind of a short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Please review, I'd love it if you did.

Husker_fan_2006

-->

14. But Ya Gotta Have Friends

Chapter 14: But Ya Gotta Have Friends

--------------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night,
And all the dreams sing their song,
In the daylight forever,
To You I Belong.

-To You I Belong by B-Witched

----------------------------------

After James and Lily's private celebration of their engagement, they apparated to Remus' house, but after sending owls to their friends telling them to come. They arrived at the house, and as soon as they appeared, they were bombarded with questions about what the reason for the get together was. Sirius said,

“Let me guess, you're pregnant.” Everyone looked at Lily, waiting for her answer, who laughed.

“No, I'm not pregnant.”

“Then what's the news?”

“We're getting married.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Oh my God, that's great!” The room filled with chatter of congratulations for the newly engaged couple.

“Damn, I was hoping I was going to be a godfather.” James laughed.

“One thing at a time, Padfoot.”

“Who says I want you as the godfather of my child anyways? Who put this idea in your head?”

“Uh, your other half.”

“Yeah, but what if I want Remus or Peter to be the godfather?”

“I would say, “Woman please.” Why would you do a silly thing like that?”

“They're more responsible wizards.”

“So?” Remus spoke up and said solemnly,

“I don't think I'd be a good candidate for godfather. Because if something should happen to you, God forbid, then I think the werewolf factor would be an issue.”

“So?”

“You would really want your son or daughter being raised by a werewolf if something happened to the both of you?” Lily shook her head.

“No, we'd want one of our best friends raising our son or daughter should something happen to both of us, God forbid.”

“And besides, you've been taking that Wolfsbane Potion since it's been invented, so that's not an excuse.”

“It's still too risky. Something could go wrong.” Sirius said,

“And see, Peter is never around anymore, so I guess you're left with me.”

“Well, maybe Alice and Frank could be godparents.”

“You'd pick Alice and Frank over one of your best friends?”

“Alice is one of my best friends. But it doesn't matter right now, Sirius, because I'm not pregnant yet.”

“Well, if you're not going to make me the godfather, you gotta name him Sirius Jr. then.” Lily laughed.

“Why the hell would I curse my son with a name like that?” Everyone but Sirius laughed.

“No, Padfoot, Lily and I would name him James Jr., remember? Or Jamie for a girl?” Sirius sighed.

“I guess you should name him after the father.” Lily turned to James,

“I'm not naming my son after you either.”

“Why not?”

“Do you know how confusing that would be?”

“Ok, I guess I see your point.”

“Oh, looks like we're back to Sirius Jr. then.” Remus held his hands up to stop the argument.

“Or I know a way you all could just resolve this problem. Name him Remus Jr.”

“No, no, if you all remember back to seventh year, we had a conversation about this. I said that if we ever had kids and we had a boy, I'd want to name him Harry James. And if it was a girl, I'd want to name her Faith Gabrielle.”

“Yeah, but remember you also said that you wanted the last name to be Black or Lupin too, remember?” The memory came back to Lily and she grinned.

“Oh yeah, I did, didn't I? Well, I should probably carry through with that thought, shouldn't I?” Sirius grinned.

“Oh, bad luck Prongs, turned down again, looks like Remus or I get her.”

“Yes, but which one, we can't both have her.” Sirius thought for a moment. Then he put his fist on his palm.

“Rock paper scissors.” Everyone laughed.

“Ok.” Remus placed his fist on his hand.

“One, two, three.” Sirius picked rock, Remus picked paper. Sirius shouted,

“You always win!” Remus shouted back,

“Because you always pick rock!”

“Yeah, but you always pick paper.”

“So pick scissors.” Everyone but Lily and Sirius laughed. Lily was staring off into space, looking thoughtful. James said,

“What is it, Lils?”

“I was just thinking. You know how Isabelle's funeral brought me back home to England?”

“Yeah?”

“I was just remembering what she said to me once, when she was trying to convince me to go out with you. I asked her if she would ever give up on trying to get me to `see reason' as she put it, and she said she'd be trying to set us up till the day she died. And she did. Her death brought me back. She brought us together again, like she always said she would.” James wrapped an arm around his fiancé and kissed her temple. There was a small moment of silence for their fallen friend.

---------------------

Lily sat with Alice at Alice's house, looking through magazines and books, looking for dresses, flowers, and cakes. They had been at it for two hours, and were only half way through the pile Alice had.

“What do you think of this one, Lils?” Lily sighed, dropped her hands from her head where her fingers were massaging her temples.

“It's pretty.” She leaned back in her chair. Alice sighed.

“You know, this is your wedding, you have figure this stuff out. It's the biggest day of your life, and I hope you're only planning on doing this once.”

“Ok, simple decisions. Flowers: Roses or Lilies, either one. Cake: chocolate. There, that's done. That eliminates like twenty books and magazines.” Alice sighed and gave her friend and exasperated look. Lily had a look on her face of determination, like she wasn't budging on the decision.”

“Chocolate cake, hmm? What do you want it to look like?”

“Three layers, with white frosting and little pink flowers on it, and the cute little married couple on top.”

“That sounds so plain and basic.”

“Exactly.”

“It's boring.”

“Ok, I'll be daring. Marble cake.” Alice mock gasped, and said sarcastically,

“Oh my God, you're such a rebel.” Matching her friend's sarcasm, Lily said,

“Oh I know.”

“Ok, are you going to wear dress robes or a muggle wedding dress?”

“Dress robes.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Alice sighed. Lily sighed too, and said,

“Alice I don't want an expensive wedding.”

“Why not? You can afford it.”

“Our money can be spent on more important things than a five-thousand galleon cake, and ten thousand galleon flowers,” Lily pointed at the pictures of a wedding cake and the pictures of a flower arrangement.

“Fine, then. You want to do this yourself, and do it cheap, then fine. If you don't want my help, then I'll leave.”

“It's not that, Alice, it's just I don't see why I have to spend so much money on stuff. And I really think that James should have some say in a lot of this stuff. It's his wedding too.”

“But guys…” She stopped when Lily gave her a look that said stop it. She sighed again and said,

“I guess you're right. But we get to pick out the dress robes.”

“Of course.” They started going through dress magazines, looking for that perfect dress.

----------------

“Can I ask you two something?” Lily asked Sirius and Remus one evening.

“Anything Lils.”

“Since my parents are…dead…and it's tradition for someone to give me away…would you two do it? I know you're going to be up there at the front with James, but…” She trailed off.

“You want us both to give you away?” Lily nodded. Without a moment to think, Remus said,

“We'd be happy to, Lils.” Lily smiled and Sirius nodded in agreement with Remus.

“Thank you so much.” Remus said to Sirius,

“Hey, since Lils' dad can't be there, and we're giving her away, do we get to warn Prongs that if he hurts Lily that we'll hunt him down and kick his ass?” An evil looking grin materialized on Sirius' face.

“I think that does. If you'll excuse us, Miss Evans, we have a fiancé of yours to find.” They got up to leave and Lily said warningly,

“Don't do anything stupid.”

“Us? Do something stupid? Never.” Lily rolled her eyes.

“Come on Lils, you can trust us.” Lily laughed.

“Yeah right.” Sirius nodded.

“Yeah, you're right. But anyways, I promise you this, there will be a groom for you tomorrow. We'll leave him in one piece.” He and Remus disapparated with a `pop'.

------------------------

“Prongs!”

“Prongs, where are you at?” James came out of the kitchen.

“What are you two doing here?”

“We have to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“Lily.”

“What about her? What's wrong?”

“Nothing's wrong. Come on.” Sirius motioned for them to go into the living room. Both Remus and Sirius pointed at a chair for James to sit down. Both wizards had looks of carefully held seriousness on their faces, like they were fighting the uncontrollable urge to laugh.

“What's going on?” After a few seconds, Remus said,

“Ok. Tomorrow, we're the ones giving Lily away, since her parents are…gone. So right now, we aren't your two best friends from school.”

“That's right. We're the ones that, if you hurt Lily in any way, will hunt you down…”

“…and kick your ass.” James looked at them as though they had lost their minds.

“And we will do it too.”

“You can't hide from us…”

“…so don't hurt Lily.”

“We've taken this responsibility very seriously. Should anything happen to Lily that you did that hurts her in any way…”

“…we'll make sure you pay for it.” James was fighting not to laugh.

“You done?”

“Yes.” James snorted and burst out laughing, though his friends didn't join in.

“We're being honest, James. This isn't a laughing matter.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because Lily's father can't do it, so we've the responsibility of it.”

“Well, don't worry, because I'd rather die than hurt Lily.”

“Good, because we're serious…shut up.” Remus said, pointing at Sirius. Sirius said,

“So watch your back.”

“Ok, I'll beware of you two then.” James said, still thinking the whole situation was funny.

“You better.”

“Now, we speak of this to no one.” Sirius said, pointing at James. Then he said,

“So, you ready for your bachelor party tonight?” Remus and Sirius changed moods so suddenly that James was taken aback.

“What?”

“Your bachelor party, Prongs, it's your last night of freedom.” James, still trying to figure out what happened, said,

“Um, yeah, I am. So are you two back to being my friends, and not the fatherly type guys saying they'll kick my ass if I hurt my future wife?”

“What are you talking about?”

“We have no idea what you're talking about, Prongs, but I bet whoever you were talking about wouldn't want you to speak to us about it.” James just slowly nodded, thinking his friends were insane.

“Right.”

------------------

A/n: Hey hey! Here's the third to the last chapter for you all. Hope you enjoyed it, -sniffle- I'm gonna miss writing this story; this is most reviewed story I've written here. But anyways, love ya all, and please review!!!

Husker-fan-2006

-->

15. Mr. and Mrs. James Potter

Chapter 15: Mr. and Mrs. James Potter

----------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night,
And all the dreams sing their song,
In the daylight forever,
To you I belong.

-To You I Belong by B*Witched.

----------------------------

“Rise and shine sleepy head!” Lily groaned as the blankets were pulled from her and the lights were turned on. She squinted against the light, and saw Alice standing at the window of her room, pulling back the curtains. It was still pitch black outside. Lily made a face, and put her arm over her face to shade her eyes.

“What time is it?” Lily said groggily.

“Four-thirty.”

“You've gotta be frickin' kidding me.”

“Nope, come on, time to get up.” Lily sat up, grabbed her blankets and fell back on to her bed, covering her head.

“Come on Lily. Get up.”

“Bite me.”

“Come on, I thought you were a morning person?”

“No no, see morning starts at like six-thirty, sevenish, more closer to eight. Not at frickin' four-thirty a.m. It's still dark outside!”

“You're getting married today, Lily Elizabeth Evans, so get out of bed!”

“My wedding's not till six this evening, Alice Marie Haysing…Longbottom. So shoo.”

“You've got a lot of stuff to do today before your wedding.” Alice said, starting to tug at the blankets from the foot of Lily's bed.

“I'll do it later.” Alice was silent, then she had a sudden thought.

“Lily, quick, there's a fire!” Lily grabbed her wand and muttered a spell. The next thing Alice saw was a marshmallow on a stick held by Lily from under the blankets. Alice let out a sigh of exasperation and threw up her hands. Lily laughed.

“Did you really think that would work?” Alice left the room, shutting the door with a thud. Lily smiled under the blankets, and with a flick of her wand, the ceiling light was turned off. She set her wand back on the table by her bed and curled back into the fetal position, hugging her extra pillow like she had before Alice woke her, smiling victoriously. She was about to drop off to sleep when the door to her room banged open, and Lily's eyes snapped open. She muttered,

“What the…?” She was cut off by the blankets being roughly pulled from the bed. Lily shut her eyes as the cold morning chill hit her body once again. She slowly opened one eye, then the other, and saw Alice and Remus standing at the foot of her bed, identical serious looks on their faces. Lily smiled slightly.

“Needed reinforcements, Alice?”

“Yes, and if you don't get up, we'll use force. And if that doesn't work, I have more reinforcements if needed.”

“Like who?”

“Sirius and Frank.” Lily laughed.

“Ooh, I'm scared.”

“Are you going to get up, Miss Evans? Or do we have to use force?” Remus asked.

“What do you think? It's quarter to five in the morning. You couldn't do anything to me, cuz' you can't hurt me in anyway, cuz' I have to be able to walk down the aisle at six this evening.” Lily stuck her tongue out and curled tighter into a ball. She felt someone grab her ankle, and hold onto it in a tight grip. Lily's eyes widened, she knew without looking that it was Remus who had a hold of her ankle, and she knew exactly what he was about to do. She looked at him; the worried look etched into her face.

“You wouldn't.”

“Really? You think so? You don't want to try me.” Lily glared at him.

“See, it's a known fact that Lily Evans is extremely ticklish, and can't stand to be tickled. She has her future husband to thank for divulging that information,” Remus said to Alice, with the air of a person explaining that two and two make four. Lily kicked, trying to get away, but the grip on her ankle was too strong. She sighed.

“Fine. I'm up.” Remus let go of her ankle and Lily slowly rolled out of bed. Alice smiled at Remus as he went to the door to leave.

“Thank you for your help, Remus.”

“You're welcome.” He left and the door shut with a click. Lily slipped her glasses on and summoned her brush to her. With a huge yawn, she began to run the brush through her long, dark red locks. When she had gotten all the tangles out of her hair, she flicked her wand and her pajamas were in a pile by her bed, and she was dressed in navy blue robes with a baby blue tank top and khakis underneath. She grabbed a hair tie, and brushed her hair up into a ponytail, and wrapped the tie around her hair. With another flick of her wand, her make up was done for the day. When she finished, she looked at Alice, who was watching Lily's whole process of getting ready.

“So, what are all the things I have to do today that is so important that I had to be threatened to be tickled so I'll get out of bed at five in the morning?”

“Since you've insisted on getting your hair done the muggle way, you have to get that done, you have your dress to pick up, we have bridesmaid's dresses to get…”

“You were supposed to get those before today, Alice.”

“I know, I know. But you've got a sister of yours to see too. That might be a long visit.” Lily snorted.

“Long visit? Ever since Mum and Dad died, she hasn't said a thing to me, at all. `Course, she never really has since I went to Hogwarts.”

“She's just jealous.”

“You think so?”

“Yep. You have a simpler life…to an extent.” Alice added when Lily gave her a disbelieving look.

“Simpler life…right. It's much better to be able to do things faster and better and have a evil wizard after you.”

“I said to an extent, Lily.” They were silent for a while, then Alice said,

“Lily, are you sure you want to do this?”

“What?”

“Marry James.”

“Why would you think I wouldn't?”

“Well, because You-Know-Who will be after you.”

“Alice, nobody's safe right now. And I'm not going to leave James just to save my own skin for a little longer than I might if I marry him.”

“Aren't you scared though, you're at a higher risk of getting killed, `specially if you have kids.”

“Yes. I am scared. I'm scared of Voldemort, yes.” Alice flinched at the name.

“But you know what scares me more?”

“What?”

“That this love I have for James, it's so strong that the threat of being killed isn't even an issue. That I'd rather be at risk and be with James than to be safe and be without him.” Alice smiled and nodded in agreement, but neither one said another word on the subject.

-------------------

“I can't believe I'm meeting you here today.”

“Well, believe it or not, here we are dear sister.” Alice had arranged a meeting between Lily and Petunia, so Lily could try and get her sister to come to her wedding. They were meeting at the Leaky Cauldron, a place where Petunia couldn't believe she was at.

“What did you want to talk to me about? Tell me so I can get back to my life and my husband, and I don't have to risk being seen with you by my neighbors and friends.”

“Well, Petunia, I'll get straight to the point, because I totally agree with you, we both have better things to do than talk with each other, don't we?” Petunia gave her sister a short nod.

“What I wanted to talk to you about was this. I'm getting married today…”

“I know, I got the invitation.”

“Ok, and I figured you wouldn't go, but…”

“Very good, little freak. You figured right.”

“Ok, will you stop frickin' interrupting me?” Petunia pursed her lips, giving her sister a look of loathing.

“Why won't you go?”

“Why would I go? I don't want to, for one thing, Vernon would kill me if I even suggested it, and I don't want to spend time around your lot.”

“But you are my sister, and the only biological family I have left. It'd be nice if you could at least come to the ceremony.”

“The only way we're connected is by DNA, Lily. I don't even consider you my sister. You're just a member of my family who killed my parents.”

“For the last time, I did not kill them, Petunia.”

“You just as well did. You weren't a real daughter to them.”

“Well, I loved them too,” Lily said coldly, “Don't you dare give me any shit about not being a daughter to them.”

“You weren't even there when they died…”

“Neither were you.”

“You should've been there, to keep that…thing…whatever his name is…”

“Voldemort?”

“Whatever. Him from killing them.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know he'd be after them…”

“You knew he was after you…”

“I did not. I had no idea.”

“You know, how are you going to raise kids, when you don't even understand the concept of being a daughter in the first place?”

“You know, I'll feel sorry your son or daughter when you have it. I mean, if it looks like you, it'll be horse-faced and nosy, and if it look like your great lump of a husband, it won't even be able to walk, only waddle!” Petunia glared a deadly glare at her sister. She stood up and said, trying to sound calm, as they were already attracting attention in the diner,

“I hope that dark wizard kills you and your pathetic fiancé. And when he does, I'll laugh. If you have kids, they'll be thrown into the streets or some orphanage, and I'll be damned if I take them in.” Lily stood up too and said coldly,

“Believe me, you'll be the last person I send my kids to live with.”

“Thank God, because I wouldn't be caught dead raising little freaks like you.” Lily didn't care how much attention they were attracting, she slapped her sister across the face anyway.

“If I ever see you again, Petunia, it'll be too soon.”

“I hope you burn in hell when you get killed. You and your fiancé.” Lily got so mad that she pulled her wand out and pointed it at her sister.

“Keep talking, Petunia, and you'll get there first.” Petunia looked around, everyone around them in the pub stood up, watching the scene, some with their wands out, ready to come to the aid of the two women. Though they were more inclined to help Lily than Petunia. Without another word, Petunia calmly left the pub, and disappeared down the street. Lily went outside to the back to the wall where the entrance to Diagon Ally was waiting to be opened. As soon as she got outside, Lily burst into tears. She couldn't believe her sister was so cruel. She leaned against the wall and slid down it until she reached the ground. She sat there sobbing for what seemed like hours, until she heard someone come outside.

“Miss Evans? Are you alright?” It was Tom the bartender.

“Yes, Tom, I'm fine. Or I will be.”

“You're sure? You don't want to summon someone?”

“I'm fine, seriously, I am.”

“Ok. Let me know if you need anything.” He went back inside, and Lily stood up, still wiping tears away. She tapped the brick that opened the wall into Diagon Ally, and slowly the bricks moved away. She went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor where Alice was waiting for her, shopping bags at her feet. When Lily reached her friend, Alice looked up, lowered her milkshake and seeing Lily crying, said,

“Didn't go well?”

“I told you it wouldn't.”

“I thought that you should have family there.”

“I don't claim that bitch as my family. And I don't want her there tonight.”

“What did she say?”

“She was blaming me for my parents' deaths, and telling me that she hopes I die and go to hell.”

“I'm sorry, Lily.”

“Yeah, well, I'll put it behind me, hopefully I never have to see her again.”

“There you go. Look forward to it.”

“Yep, I do. But anyways, to the dress shop to pick up my robes?”

“Yep, let's go.”

---------------------

That evening, just before the wedding was about to start, Alice was helping Lily get ready for the biggest event of her life. Lily's hair was expertly done, her make up was done, and her dress was simply gorgeous. She stood on a stool in front of a mirror, arms straight out like she was going to fly, while Alice was doing some last minute hemming spells.

“Ok, you're all done. Lily, you look positively beautiful.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you do.” Lily grinned, wrinkling her nose.

“I do, don't I?” She laughed, and Alice laughed with her. Lily spun on the stool, and her dress flowed in a circle around her.

“Ok, ok, stop. James isn't here to catch you if you fall. And I can't guarantee I'll catch you either.” Lily looked closely at her friend and saw that she didn't look the same bright and cheery like that she usually was.

“Are you ok, Alice, you've been looking peaky all day.”

“Just, I haven't been really feeling the best today, that's all.”

“Liar, you're hiding something from me. What is it?”

“Nothing, I'll tell you later, like when you get back from your honeymoon or something.”

“No, tell me now.”

“No, this is your day, I don't want to ruin it.”

“But I wanna know. Please?” Lily said, sticking her bottom lip out and giving Alice puppy dog eyes.

“Ok, I'll tell you after the ceremony, can you wait that long?”

“I guess.”

--------------------

“Nervous?”

“What do you think?”

“I wouldn't know, I've never been married before.”

“Yes, I am nervous.”

“You've got nothing to be nervous about, Prongs. Lily is here, she's getting ready, and you're almost ready, and soon you'll be a married man in no time at all.”

"Ok, that did nothing for my nerves, Sirius."

"Ok, I'll try again. You don't have to worry, this'll be over in no time at all, and you and Lily can have the rest of the night for yourselves, to do whatever you please."

"Again, that does nothing."

“Hey, I thought they were pretty good words.” Remus smacked his friend on the back of the head and said,

"You're an idiot, Padfoot, just stop with the advice for now." He turned to James, stood in front of him and straightened his tie, and said,

“Everything'll be fine, James, trust me.” From the chair that he had taken refuge in, Sirius said,

“You know, I dated this one girl…”

“What else is new?”

“And,” Sirius went on saying, as though James hadn't said anything, “she said her sister was getting married, and she, at the last minute, I mean coming to the `do you take this man' part, backed out. When the minister asked do you take so and so in blah blah blah, she said she couldn't marry him. That she didn't love him as much as she thought she did.” James looked at Sirius with a worried look on his face. Remus gave Sirius a "what the hell are you doing" look, and Sirius said quickly,

“But I don't think the same thing'll happen to you.”

“Padfoot, you suck at the advice, just shut up now, before you say something else stupid.” James was staring at the floor, and Remus said,

“James, look at me. Listen to me, Lily loves you. She wouldn't be marrying you if she didn't. And you'll get married, live a long and happy life, and have lots of little Prongs running around, and you and Lily can raise them in whatever crazy way you see fit.” James laughed.

"Thanks Moony."

“You ready now? Nerves all better?”

“A little.”

“Ready to get married to the woman you've loved since the day you met her?” James nodded.

“Yes. More than anything. You know, if you had told me at eleven that I would one day be marrying Lily, I'd have said you were crazy.”

"We all figured this day would happen."

"But you're ready now?" James nodded. Remus turned to Sirius and said,

“Then, Sirius let us go get the bride.”

------------------------

Lily's other bridesmaids came in, their footsteps being trailed by Sirius. Sirius was more concerned with the bridesmaids than he did where he was going and almost ran into the doorframe. Remus came in soon after Sirius, and had to elbow Sirius in the ribs to bring his attention to the bride. Remus said,

“You look beautiful, Lily. You ready?” Lily took a deep breath.

“Yes. Ready to give me away?”

“Yep. Let's go.” He offered his arm to Lily, and Sirius offered his arm on her other side. She linked her arms in both, and the bridesmaids and maid of honor left the room. Sirius made the move to follow them, but was held back by Lily.

“You can hit on them later.” Sirius flashed a grin.

“Oh I will. I can guarantee you that."

“Wait till after the ceremony. Oh and Sirius, don't break their hearts.”

"Well, that I can't guarantee. I'm just a natural born heartbreaker." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Behave, at least till the reception."

“I will, I promise. You have my word.” Lily leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you again for giving me away.” She leaned over on the other side and kissed Remus on the cheek.

"Both of you." Sirius smiled.

“Happy to do it, Lils.”

“And honored.” With that said, the three of them left the room.

----------------

Lily, Sirius and Remus entered the sanctuary, where upon coming in, the guests at the wedding stood. James stood up at the front with the minister, in black dress robes, hair standing out all over the place like it always did. He smiled when he saw Lily, he had never seen her so beautiful. Her hair was up in spiral curls in a bunch at the back of her head towards the top, with some curls hanging out of the bun. A few curls framed her face, and her chandelier earrings glittered in the light. Her dress robes were the most beautiful thing about her. It had a train that trailed two feet behind her. The V-neckline went just low enough that it wasn't too revealing, and was embroidered in baby blue. (A/n: For those of you who have seen the Two Towers, it's kinda like the white dress that Eowyn wore when she's outside watching Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli come up to Edoras. *sigh* Legolas is hott) Lily had a nervous smile on her face; but she never broke eye contact with James. It seemed like an eternity for her to reach the front, but she finally did, and James took both of her hands in his, and he guided her up a couple stairs and she turned so she was facing him. Lily's mind was off in another world and she didn't hear a word that was said until she heard Sirius say,

“We take responsibility for these two, and are giving them away to each other.” He grinned, and he and Remus took their places next to James.

“Do you, Lily Elizabeth Evans, take James Michael Potter to be your lawful wedded husband, to love, honor and cherish, in sickness and health, for better or worse, till death do you part?”

“I do.”

“Do you, James Michael Potter, take Lily Elizabeth Evans to be your lawful wedded wife, to love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and health, for better or worse, till death do you part?”

“I do.” Lily smiled, happy tears brimming her eyes. Both Lily and James turned and took the rings from their maid of honor and best man; Lily's from Alice, James' from Sirius. They placed the rings on each other's fingers. Lily looked at hers and silently gasped. It was a beautiful ring. She had never worn an engagement ring, why, she wasn't really sure, and it was the first time she saw this ring. It had an emerald in the center with diamonds on each side on a gold band. She looked up at James and smiled, and he returned the smile.

“By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, James.” James grinned and kissed his wife. When they pulled away, the minister said,

“Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards, I give to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. James Potter.” Everyone applauded loudly. James and Lily walked arm in arm out of the church, and when they came out, all of a sudden it started pouring. James quickly took out his wand and muttered a spell so they wouldn't get wet. Lily laughed and looked up at the sky, and said over the commotion of everyone following them out of the church,

“Dreary day, isn't it?” James pulled her close and said to her so only she could hear,

“You've heard that muggle song, 'Holes in the Floor Heaven', haven't you?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, the rain is like tears. My mum and dad, your mum and dad, and Isabelle are up in heaven, shedding happy tears for us.” Lily's eyes welled up with tears and she smiled. She kissed James and said,

“Thank you. You're right.”

“Ready to go dance the night away?”

“Heck yeah.” Lily said grinning, her nose wrinkling. They apparated just outside of the place where the reception was. James held the door open for his wife and said,

“After you, Mrs. Potter.”

“Thank you, Mr. Potter.”

----------------------

A/n: *Sniff, sniff* (wipes away tear) second to last chapter, people, I'm so sad. I loved writing this!! I hope you enjoyed reading it. Ok, y'all, I have the next chapter written already(actually this whole story was written before I started posting), and I'm holding it hostage. To get it, you have to review!!! Thank you to all who have reviewed, I love you all!!

Husker_fan_2006

-->

16. To You I Belong

Chapter 16: To You I Belong

A/N: Here it is!!! The final chapter, hope you enjoyed this story. -Sniff, sniff-Sheds tear- I really liked this story, and I'm gonna miss it. Anyways, onward!

-------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night,
And all the dreams sing their song,
In the daylight forever,
To you I belong.

-To You I Belong by B-Witched

--------------------------

(A/n: Ok, if this wedding reception sounds cheesy, I'm sorry, I haven't been to a wedding since I was like…I don't know when, but I was relatively young, like ten or so, but anyways, I don't remember much about the wedding or the reception, so I apologize if it sounds cheesy)

--------------------------

The bride and groom and their guests arrived at the ballroom where the wedding reception was to take place. The room was beautiful. Lily and James hadn't seen it; it was their friends' job to decorate it. Lily and James took their seats up at the table designated for them, and their guests mingled around the room, some dancing, some talking with other people. Many of them came to talk with the bride and groom, until dinner was announced. Later after dinner was served and consumed, it was time for toasts. Alice stood up and once she held the attention of everyone in the room, she said,

“I remember the first time I met Lily Evans, now Lily Potter. We met the first day of Hogwarts in first year on the train. We became friends quickly, and were soon joined by Isabelle. We were forever best friends, and still are, even though there are only two of us left. That first day on the Hogwarts Express was also when we met James and the Marauders. And something about that meeting gave Lily a bad impression about James; I don't even remember what it was now. Since that day, James would try and get Lily to go out with him, and every time she'd turn him down, which usually ended in a slap on the face for James. If you would've told me then that we'd be here today, toasting to their marriage, I have to say I would've agreed with you. These two were meant for each other since the first day they met. So, to Lily and James Potter, may you have a happy life full of joy, good times, and no more fights.” Lily blushed slightly and smiled, while her husband laughed along with everyone else. Everyone said,

“To Lily and James!” Sirius stood up and said,

“Ok, now I'm not the best at speeches, but since I'm the best man, I guess I have to. I've known James for as long as I can remember, and I've known Lily since that first ride to Hogwarts. It wasn't until seventh year till I actually got to know the nice side of Lily Evans, the kind that calls you by your first name; actually, to tell you the truth, I didn't even know Lily knew any of the Marauder's first names growing up; the kind that doesn't yell, the kind that my best friend fell in love with. They faced challenges as kids, quite a few run-ins with Voldemort,” Most of the people in the room flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name. “And I know there will be more to come. But you'll face them together, and survive them all, so in fifty years, we can come back for your anniversary. To Lily and James, two of my best friends, may you both live long, happy lives together.”

“To Lily and James.” Alice stood up again and said,

“If there are no more toasts, then I think it's time for the happy couple to have their first dance as husband and wife.” Music for the song started up, and James stood and took Lily's hand and helped her up. They walked out to the dance floor and Lily wrapped her arms around James' neck, and James wrapped his arms around his bride's waist. As they danced, to Lily it felt like everyone else had dissolved, and the only two people left were her and James. Lily leaned her head on James' shoulder and said,

“I could go on like this forever.”

“Well, good, because I plan on keeping you forever.” Lily smiled.

“This is the first song we danced to, do you remember?”

“Yeah, I do. It was labeled “our song” wasn't it?”

“Something like that.” She sighed. “I don't want this night to end.”

“Well, the night has to end sometime, but the dance'll go on forever.”

Rain fell down
You were there
I cried for you when I
hurt my hand
Storm a-rushing in
Wind was howling
I called for you, you were there…

--------------------------

“You never told me.” Lily said to Alice a little while after she and James finished their dance.

“Told you what?”

“You said you were going to tell me something after the ceremony.”

“Oh. I did, didn't I?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Ok, I'm going to have a baby.”

“Oh my God, that's great! When?”

“Sometime in July or August.”

“Oh my God, that's so great!”

“Yeah, I just found out yesterday.”

“Have you told Frank yet?”

“Yeah, last night I did.”

“What'd he say?”

“He's thrilled.”

“Oh my God, I can't believe this, this is great!”

“I want to ask you something. Since you are one of my best friends, would you and James be the godparents?”

“Of course.”

“And you don't have to make me and Frank godparents of your children, Sirius would go insane with jealousy if you did.” Lily laughed.

“Well, it's still too soon to be talking about kids. I doubt we'll have kids for another year or two.” Alice shrugged.

“Maybe so.” James sat down next to Lily and Alice, and Lily said,

“We're going to be godparents!” Sirius, who was standing close by, dancing very closely with a bridesmaid, only caught the last part of Lily's sentence and stopped dancing and said,

“What, you're going to be parents? Already? I call godfather.”

“No, no, we're not going to be parents,” Lily said, motioning to herself and James, “Alice and Frank are going to be, and we are going to be their baby's godparents.”

“You're going to have a baby Alice?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“You picked James as the godfather of your baby instead of me? What's wrong with you?”

“Yeah, but you're supposed to be godfather of James and Lily's baby when they have one.”

“True.” Sirius' bridesmaid friend cleared her throat and said,

“Um, are we going to keep dancing?”

“Oh, right, sorry love.” They went back onto the dance floor. Alice laughed.

“Ok, seriously, how many women has he been with?” James shrugged and said,

“I dunno, I lost count years ago.”

“Pretty much every girl in our year in Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor can say they went out with him,” Lily said.

“I can't.”

“Neither can I. Isabelle on the other hand…” James laughed and said,

“Hey, I'm proud of Isabelle. To keep him for as long as she did, it's like a miracle or something.” They were silent for a while until Lily sighed and said,

“God, I miss her.” James and Alice sadly nodded.

--------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
And in the daylight forever
To you I belong…

--------------------------

“So much for two years.” Lily muttered as she came out of the bathroom after throwing up breakfast. She flopped down onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking of her situation. She had only been married for five days, and already she was pregnant. She and James had to come home from their honeymoon because Lily was sick, and it wasn't until the day after they came back that she found out she was pregnant. She had only told Alice, and was still deciding how to tell James. She looked around the room, and listened to the sound of silence. She had the whole house to herself; James had Auror duties. She slowly rolled out of bed and went downstairs, creeping down each step. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Lily sped up slightly, trying to get to the door.

“Who is it?” She said as she reached the bottom step.

“It's Alice.”

“Just a second, I'm coming…slowly.” Lily finally reached the door and opened it. Alice smiled at her, and Lily returned it with a weak one.

“You should be sleeping, Lils, you look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks, you're such a great friend.” Lily said sarcastically.

“I see being sick doesn't affect your sarcasm.” Lily smirked.

“Oh come on, Lils, you act like you're not happy about having a baby.”

“I can't have a baby now.”

“Why not?”

“I haven't even been married for a week!”

“So?”

“So, I can't have a baby!”

“You're forgetting, Lils, it's not like you're going to have your baby a week after you've been married, you'll be married for nine months when your baby is born. If you're worried that James won't be happy about this, that's a bunch of crap. I know James, and he'll be ecstatic about being a dad.”

“But it's in danger.”

“Of what?”

“Voldemort. It'll be the son or daughter of a Potter. Voldemort will be after it.”

“You're well protected now, and so will your child. You want my advice?”

“Not really.”

“Well, I'm giving it to you anyway. Tell James. He needs to know, it's his son or daughter too.”

“I know, I know. So what'd you come over for anyways?”

“To keep you company. See, we'll be two pregnant witches together. God help our husbands.” Lily laughed.

“Thank you.”

-------------------

“So, how's the wife, Prongs?”

“Still sick.”

“Still? Has she seen a healer?”

“Yeah, but she won't tell me what's wrong.”

“Why not?”

“I don't know. But I have an idea of what's wrong with her.”

“What?”

“I think she might be pregnant.”

“Already? Nice job, Prongs.”

“Yeah, she's been throwing up all morning lately, and this morning she fainted when she got out of bed. She's hiding something from me, and I bet that's what it is, because if it was life threatening, she would've told me when she got back from the healer.”

“Why do women keep this stuff from men, why don't they just come out and tell us?”

“Why? Did you knock a girl up or something, and she won't tell you?”

“No! At least I hope not. It's just you see this all the time in movies and such. The woman never tells the man anything.”

“Since when do you watch movies? Oh, let me guess, a muggle girl you were dating?”

“Yeah. But anyways…yeah.”

“I don't know why they never tell us anything.”

“Is she thinking you'll be mad about it or something?”

“I don't know, I never have quite figured out how Lily's mind works.”

“I think you should go home, ask her about it.”

“That'll be a weird start to a conversation.”

“Not if you aren't stupid about how you start it.”

--------------------

“James, I have to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“I should've told you earlier, I don't really know why I didn't, but it's just that…”

“Lily, you're rambling.”

“I know.”

“Just come out and say it.”

“I'm pregnant.” James grinned and took Lily in his arms, spinning around with her. She laughed.

“James, stop it, you're making me nauseous.” James stopped spinning and put his wife down.

“This is great, Lils.”

“You're not mad?”

“Why would I be mad? I'm gonna be a father!”

“But it's really soon after we've been married.”

“So what? That doesn't matter. All that matters is that we're together and I love you. You know, this is the coolest feeling in the world.”

“I know, once I got over some of the shock I started feeling that way too.”

“I love you, Lily.” He kissed her.

“I love you too, James.”

------------------------

Beside the sea
When the waves broke
I drew a heart for you in the sand
In fields where streams
Turn to rivers
I ran to you, you were there…

------------------------

“The other day I was interviewing job applicants for the post of Divination teacher. And there was this one applicant I thought would be terrible for the position, but that was until she had the signs of making a true prophecy as I was leaving.” Dumbledore pulled out his pensieve and showed the memory of meeting with his job applicant to Lily, James, Frank and Alice. A small scale of a woman draped in many shawls with thick glasses that made her eyes look extraordinary large came out of the pensieve.

“THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES…BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE THE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT…AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES…THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…”

“This prophecy could be about either one of your children. It's come to the fact that certain precautions must be taken to ensure your safety. I'm thinking you should use the Fidelius Charm. Choose a secret keeper, and make sure you choose someone you can trust.”

“Sir, is there a specific date that this witch was talking about?” James asked.

“It's as the seventh month dies, so I'm assuming probably July 31st.” James nodded slowly.

---------------------

“Lily, if you're going into labor, you have to have the baby today.”

“Well, I can't control when he or she comes, James.” Lily said through gritted teeth as another contraction hit her. She saw the worried look on her husband's face and said,

“Pray that it'll be a short labor then, James. Just pray.” Sirius and Remus came back with a healer and Peter in tow. James came downstairs as the healer went upstairs. James paced in the living room; Sirius, Remus and Peter watching him go back and forth. James stopped pacing, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. Remus said,

“Everything'll be fine, Prongs. A lot of labors take less than a day. Your baby'll be born today.”

“I hope you're right, Moony.”

“So have you figured out what you're going to name him or her?” Peter said. Sirius looked at Wormtail and said,

“Where have you been Wormtail? They've told us so many times already.”

“You know I've been busy.”

“But that's always your excuse. Lily doesn't even keep that busy, and she was all work and no play, until she went out with Prongs.”

“Like Lily said before, Padfoot, this isn't Hogwarts anymore, this is the real world, life isn't just about pranks and jokes,” Remus said.

“So, anyways, what are you going to name the baby?” The three of them looked at James, who wasn't paying attention, just pacing. Remus said,

“If it's a girl, they're naming her Faith Gabrielle, and if it's a boy they're naming him Harry James.” Peter nodded. There was silence for a while; the only sound was of James's pacing. Sirius said,

“So, Prongs, what are you hoping for, Harry James or Faith Gabrielle?” James shrugged, but didn't answer.

“Ok, Moony, what do you think it'll be?”

“I don't know, but Lily's thinking it's a girl, and she of all people should be able to tell better than the rest of us.”

“I hope it's a boy, to take after Prongs.” James smiled halfheartedly.

“I don't care really what it is, it's my son or daughter, I'll love him or her the same.”

“But what are you secretly hoping for? Cuz' we all know that answer is for Lils.” James grinned.

“I'd like to name it Harry James Potter, cuz' he's named after me.” They all grinned.

“But no, I was serious about that it doesn't really matter what the sex of the baby is.”

“I'd like to see James raise a girl, it'd be funny,” Wormtail said.

“Yeah, we'll let you know all about it in Christmas letters, Wormtail,” Sirius said sarcastically.

“Sirius, shut up. Leave him alone,” James said shortly yet sharply. There was another silence until Sirius said,

“Well, whatever it is, boy or girl, I hope it isn't cursed with your hair.” James gave a weak smile. Remus said,

“And if it has to be black, then hopefully it won't be as messy as yours.”

“You know, I was just thinking, what are we going to do about the next generation of Marauders?” Sirius said.

“What?”

“Well, I mean, we can't leave little Prongs Jr. to carry on by itself.”

“Well, you get on that then, you can make sure he or she has at least the best friend.”

“No thanks, that involves marriage and commitment.” Remus snorted.

“What about you, Moony, you can get the girl that'll provide the world with another second generation of Marauder.”

“Yeah right, I'll get to that then. Just find me the girl who wants to be married and have kids with a werewolf.”

“Ok, how about Wormtail then?”

“I haven't been out with a girl in a long time.” It was silent yet again, then Sirius said,

“Ok, let's just hope that somewhere out there is a couple of kids who will take our place as havoc wreckers.” All four of them grinned.

--------------------

James sat on the floor of the hallway leaning against the wall next to his bedroom door. His three friends sat close by, neither one of them said anything. It had been an hour since James stopped checking the time, and he had no idea what day it was, only that it was dark. Suddenly, the door opened. James looked up to see who it was. The healer smiled, leaned down and beckoned with her finger,

“Come here, there's someone you have to meet.” James got up and followed the healer inside. Lily was lying on their bed, eyes closed, but when she heard the door shut again, she slowly opened her eyes, and smiled when she saw her husband. He came over and planted a kiss on her forehead. Lily said sleepily,

“James, you have to see him, he's beautiful.”

“He? It's a boy?”

“Yeah.” The healer came over, holding a blue bundle in her arms. She smiled as she handed James his son, and she left. James sat down next to Lily on the bed and they sat admiring their baby. He was the exact replica of his father, black hair and everything. Lily said,

“It already looks like he'll have messy hair like yours.” Little Harry slowly opened his eyes and they were bright green like his mother's. James said,

“But he has his mum's eyes.” Lily shook her head slowly and sighed.

“He's gonna need glasses then.”

“Well, Harry James, according to certain Marauder friends of mine, you're to follow in our footsteps when you go to school.”

“Oh, God help us. I can just see the letters from McGonagall coming in already. I feel sorry for the teachers. Though, I hope if he does follow in the Marauders' footsteps, I hope he at least torments Snape.”

“Of course. If he's my son he will.” James smiled and said almost tearfully,

“I can't believe that anyone can love someone that they just met this much.” Lily smiled and planted a kiss on her son's forehead. She said,

“I know what you mean.” The door opened, and the rest of the Marauders came in. Sirius held out his hands and said,

“Let me see my godson.” Lily and James laughed, and Lily said,

“Why are you so convinced that you're his godfather?”

“You wouldn't do that to me.” The new parents sighed.

“I guess if you want, you can be godfather.”

“Good. Now can I hold him?” James handed his son to Sirius. Sirius said,

“Harry James Potter. It has a nice ring to it, like the name belongs to a famous person.” He said to Harry, “You'll be going places, kid.” A sudden thought came to James, something he forgot hours ago.

“What time is it?” Remus looked at his watch.

“Quarter after midnight.”

“What time was Harry born?” James said. He looked at Lily and she hesitated before saying,

“The healer told me: 12:00 A.M., July 31st.”

----------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
And in the daylight forever
To you I belong

-----------------------------

“James?” She called out. James came and met her at the foot of the stairs and said,

“Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off…” He was cut off by another crash.

“Lily, GO!!”

“I'm not leaving you.” She said weakly.

“You have to, take Harry and go, I'll be fine.” He kissed her quickly, their last kiss. Then a door was blown off its hinges and Voldemort came in. He looked at the worry on the Potters' faces and laughed. James yelled again,

“Lily! Go!” Lily ran out of the room, but not before she heard,

“Where's the boy?”

“You'll never have him, I won't let you kill him.”

“You can't protect him if you're dead, James.” James threw the first curse, the Cruciatus Curse. Rules of the Ministry didn't apply when fighting the Dark Lord. Voldemort dodged it, and sent the same spell at James. They went back and forth throwing spells at each other, until Voldemort got James with the Cruciatus Curse. Lily heard her husband's screams of pain and ran back into the room just as Voldemort lifted the curse and James was weakly standing up. Voldemort, taking advantage of James' momentary weakness, pointed his wand and shouted,

“Avada Kedavra!” A jet of green light flew out of his wand and hit James squarely in the chest. Lily screamed and watched in horror as her husband fell to the ground, dead before contact with the floor. Voldemort turned his wand to Lily and said mockingly,

“My condolences to the widow. Now, where is your son?” For the first time since the first crash, Lily heard Harry's screams from upstairs. She whispered,

“Harry.” She sprinted out of the room and into her son's room, her vision partially blinded by tears, and not being able to get the picture of James falling to the ground dead out of her mind. Lily reached Harry's room and pulled him out of the crib. At the sight and touch of his mother, Harry's cries slowly subsided.

“Shh, shh, Harry, it's alright, mummy's here. Stop crying please sweetie, we'll be found.” She grabbed a quilt out of the crib and took Harry and hid in a corner out of sight of the door. It seemed as though Harry almost understood that this wasn't a time to cry, it was a time to be quiet, because his cries stopped. Lily held her son close to her, tears rolling down her face, praying that Voldemort wouldn't find them.

-------------------------

I ran to you, you were there…

-------------------------

She heard the door slam open, and she silently gasped. She placed a hand over her mouth so Voldemort wouldn't hear her loud breathing and give them away.

“I know you're in here, Lily. You can't hide from Lord Voldemort. If you come out now, and give the boy to me, I swear I won't kill you.” He walked around the room, his footsteps making hollow noises on the wooden floor. So many thoughts ran through Lily's mind. James was dead. Peter betrayed them. They should've chosen someone else. It was Sirius's fault for suggesting Peter as their secret keeper. The love of her life was dead, and soon she and her son might be too. She kissed the top of Harry's head and more tears streamed down her face. She silently vowed that if she ever survived this, she'd personally hunt Wormtail down and kill him. All of a sudden, everything was silent. There were no more footsteps. Lily didn't know whether Voldemort had gone into another room, or was still in the same one. She looked around the corner slightly and saw he had left the room. She slowly crept from the corner. She didn't want to go downstairs, she didn't want to see James' body, but she knew she had to to leave the house. She slowly crept down the stairs, skipping the steps that creaked. She missed the one at the bottom of the staircase and winced as she knew Voldemort heard her. She saw James' body lying on the floor, his eyes, once full of life, humor and love, were now empty and glassy. In a flash, Voldemort was behind her at the bottom of the stairs. Knowing she was cornered, Lily held Harry protectively and said,

“Please, don't kill my son.” Voldemort laughed.

“Please, not Harry, please not Harry. I'll do anything, please don't hurt my son.”

“Give me the boy, stand aside girl!”

“Please, have mercy.”

“Stand aside you silly girl, stand aside!”

“Please, have mercy, don't hurt him; kill me instead.”

“Stand aside, give me the boy!” Losing his patience, he pointed his wand and yelled,

“Avada Kedavra!” A jet of green light erupted from his wand as it did when he performed it ten minutes ago. Lily screamed, Harry cried, and Voldemort laughed as the light hit Lily and she fell to the floor dead. Harry cried as he was dropped to the floor, still in his mother's arms. Voldemort turned his wand to the child, and yelled,

“Avada Kedavra!” The same jet of green light exploded from the wand and hit Harry's forehead, making a quick motion across it, cutting a lightning shaped cut into his forehead before rebounding off of him and hitting the spell's caster. Voldemort screamed in pain and disappeared. All that was heard were Harry's screams and cries of pain.

---------------------------------

Whenever dawn turns to night
And all the dreams sing their song
And in the daylight forever
To you I belong

----------------------------------

James was waiting for Lily when she arrived. He hugged her and kissed her forehead as she cried.

“Everything'll be alright, Lily.”

“This wasn't supposed to happen, James, we were supposed to be able to raise Harry, to live long and happy lives.”

“Life doesn't always turn out the way we want, Lils. But hey, we're together right? Even if we can't be there with Harry physically as he grows up, we'll be with him anyways, right?”

“Right.”

“I love you Lily.”

“I love you too, James.” James and Lily turned, and saw Isabelle and their parents waiting for them.

-----------------------

To you I belong

-----------------------

Eighteen years later, James and Lily were watching their son getting married. It started to rain as they came out of the church. Harry looked up at the sky in disgust, annoyed that it was raining on his wedding day. Lily and James smiled as Hermione said,

“They're happy tears, Harry. Happy tears shed by your parents, by Sirius, and all those people in heaven, who wish they could be here.” Harry smiled and kissed his bride and they apparated to the ballroom where their wedding reception was.

-----------------

At the reception, after the maid of honor and the best man made their toasts, Remus stood, holding his glass up and made his toast,

“I feel guilty about being here today. I feel guilty that I get to be here seeing Harry getting married, when his parents can't. But I know they'd be happy to see how their son turned out, and happy that he met the perfect woman for him, and that they love each other more than anything. To Harry and Hermione, may you live a long and happy life together.”

“To Harry and Hermione!” Ginny stood up and said,

“Ok, are there any more toasts?” No one stood up to make one.

“Ok, then it's time for the bride and groom to have their first dance as husband and wife.” Harry stood, took Hermione's hands in his and helped her up and they went out onto the dance floor. Tears welled up in both James and Lily's eyes as the song started up.

Rain fell down
You were there
I cried for you when I
hurt my hand
Storm a-rushing in
Wind was howling
I called for you, you were there…

--------------------------

To you I belong.

--------------------------

THE END

A/n: Oh my gosh, this is a super long chapter!! But it's a good one to go out on, I guess. Hope you enjoyed my story; I loved writing it!!! Now I'm all sad that it's over. I hope you liked the way I wrote this chapter, I thought it'd be cool as I had originally thought about making this story a songfic rather than a fanfic. By the way, the song belongs to B*Witched. Please read and review!!! Hope you enjoy!!!

Love y'all,

Husker-fan-2006

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

-->