No more Hogwarts

It was September 1st. It was weird for James and Lily to not be heading to platform 9 and ¾ but their 7 years were up and they were now settling to their new lives. James and Lily had moved in together and were as in love as any other couple could be. Sirius was still James' best friend and the four Marauders still saw each other often. Nothing had really changed. It was that time of the year when night came early and the weather turned and became cold. James and Lily we snuggled up on the sofa, whilst warming up by the fire.

"This feels weird, doesn't it?" James said, as if he was stating a fact and not asking a question.

"What does?" Lily replied confused.

"Well, you know. No more Hogwarts. No more Professors telling us to stop running in the corridors. No more start of year feasts. No more knowing we have to pack our bags ready for a term at school. Doesn't it feel a little strange to you?"

"Well, yes I suppose is does. But not everything's changed."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" He asked teasingly.

"Well for example, I still love you as much as before. Well maybe a little more if that's even possible!" She smiled and kissed him. "Yes, defiantly more!"

They didn't talk much more. Every so often they would exchange a few comments about the agenda for the week ahead, or about how soothing the fire was. At 10:00pm however, they decided go to bed as they were both feeling a little sleepy and were not used to not having a curfew. As they were getting into bed James turned to Lily looking into her beautiful green eyes and said "I'm so lucky to have you Evans," and winked.

Marauders

The next morning they woke up, fed themselves and went to visit Sirius, Peter and Remus. Everyone was meeting at Remus' place, they stayed in touch as much as possible but all four of them found it weird not seeing each other day in, day out. His house was quite big, bigger than the one James and Lily lived in, but not big enough for people to label his as rich. He lived in the middle of no-where really. Surrounded by hills his house was set far away from towns and cities, but located in a small, homely village. It was a good thing that all of the marauders could apparate, because everyone's housed were set far apart from one another.

"James! Sirius! Peter! Good to see you all, you too Lily. I feel as if it been ages! Please come in. Make your selves comfortable." Remus said as everyone showed up at the doors. "How's everyone, all well I suspect? Even during these dark days! Feels weird not being at Hogwarts right? Sirius joked. "Yes, very weird. In fact Lily and I were talking about that last night!"

"How about we see what everyone's is up to?" Sirius asked laughing. "Accio Marauders Map. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. And with that, the map opened and all 5 people were watching the feet move around the castle. "Hey look there's Dumbledore!" Lily cried. "And good ole' Slughorn" Peter pointed out, and with that everyone burst into stories and memories from the past several year and Hogwarts.

Down on one knee

A couple of months had past and everyone was getting into the flow of things, and settling in. Both James and Lily didn't work as they were financially secure. James a Lily had been to together for two years now and James was taking Lily out to dinner to celebrate. There table was small and tucked in the corner, the lights of the restaurant were dim, and the place was decorated beautifully. James wanted everything to be perfect and had asked that the place look amazing for tonight. They ordered expensive drink that James knew from experience was Lily's favourite. Lily soon got up to go to the toilet and to her surprise came back to find the place empty apart from James who was standing on a table looking at her with complete admiration. He stepped down from the table preparing him as he got down on one knee. "Lily Evans, I have loved you since I first met you. Ever since I looked into you beautiful eyes. Ever since you spoke to me. You are the first, the last and the only girl I have ever loved. So, will you marry me?" He smiled and watched as her face lit up with joy! "YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!" She wrapped her arm around him as he picked her up swirling her around the room. He wanted to remember this moment for ever. When he finally put her down he kissed her. They had both never been happier than they were right there, in the middle of that restaurant. Alone-staring into one another's eyes. It was at that moment that they both knew that they would be forever together...