The pair of them sat side by side on James' bed, staring out the window. Lily felt numb. They were holding hands, but not looking at each other, and Lily's toes just hovered above the ground. James' bed was quite ridiculously tall.

"What are we going to do?" she asked finally.

"I don't know," James repeated, and Lily felt a snap of anger.

"Well, we need to do something. We need to make a decision, preferably together."

James' hand tightened around hers for a moment. "Lily, I just don't know. I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either – but we can't go into this doubting ourselves and each other."

"Maybe it's-" James broke off, sounding desperate.

"Yes?"

"Maybe it's the fact that this all happened so fast – that we never really got a chance to be adults by ourselves. We were always together. That can be hard."

"D'you wanna take a break?" Lily asked, looking down at her lap and holding her breath.

Outside, dusk was falling, and she could see Mrs Potter corralling Sirius, Peter, Remus, Mary and Marlene into helping her lay out a picnic dinner on the lawn.

The jam jar lanterns were lit, and the scene was softly golden. She looked away, her heart thudding painfully.

"No," James said immediately. "I might not know exactly what's going to happen, but I love you Lily, and that won't change just cause I don't know your favourite colour."

"It's brown," Lily said softly.

"Brown?"

"Y'know that sort of golden brown – the kind you get when sunlight shines on dark wood? When the wood looks like a light's shining through it?"

"Mine's green," James told her, and she smiled.

"I know."

They lapsed into a careful silence, neither of them wanting to break it. For the first time in years, Lily felt like he was a stranger. It was a terrible feeling.

Lily could hear a muffled sort of giggling, somewhere in the house, and was wondering who it was, when the door burst open and Mary MacDonald fell into the room, fresh flowers sticking out every which way from her riotously curly hair.

"Come and eat!" she said, still giggling. "And help me with Sirius – he keeps charming bits of food to fly round the table attacking people."

"Sounds like we should get down there!" Lily said, trying to sound upbeat. It didn't seem to work. Mary shot her a sharp glance, but didn't say anything as Lily and James followed her down the stairs.

Downstairs, the picnic had taken on a party-like atmosphere, with Bliss Bones whirling around the lawn with Peter, light music playing on the wireless and drifting out through the kitchen window.

James reached over and took Lily's hand as she started towards their friends.

"Hey," he said, stopping her as Mary skipped away.

"Mm?"

"We'll sort this out, yeah?"

"'course," Lily said, giving him her other hand and stepping closer. "It'll be ok. Promise."

James hugged her close for a moment before letting her go.

"I love you," he said seriously, and Lily kissed him impulsively.

"I love you too,"

"D'you like the satin bows for the bouquets or the tulle?" Marlene asked, pulling out swatches of fabric from nowhere.

"Er…" Lily barely glanced up from her copy of the Daily Prophet.

"What're you reading?" Marlene demanded, impatient.

"There's been a rash of werewolf turnings… Voldemort's got a bunch on his side and he's using them to intimidate people."

Lily bit her lip. She hoped Remus hadn't seen this. It was difficult to think of the war in the warm golden sanctuary of the Potter mansion. But outside, everything was still hurtling forward at terrifying speed.

People were selling their houses if they were near cemeteries, due to an almost constant uprising of Inferi. Someone had developed Floo Powder that was charmed to respond to each individual, taking them to a predetermined, safe location when used. The Muggles were confounded by the Dark Marks that were appearing with heartbreakingly regularity.

But here… the flowers were blooming and bright, and the sun shone down on them from a cloudless sky and when Lily was surrounded by the ones that she loved, it was easier to forget the ones that were missing.

Marlene thrust a bundle of satin into her face, covering her newspaper.

"Lily, you're getting married in five days. Concentrate."

Lily dropped her newspaper obediently. There hadn't been much of a chance to talk to James, last night, and she knew she needed to.

Inside, she was scared, but she smiled up at Marlene, feeling a bit shaky. James had been a constant in her life from the time she was eleven. Hate that turned to respect then friendship then love.

"Are you ok?" Marlene asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Maybe,"

"You and James aren't fighting, are you?"

Lily sighed, "No, not exactly. We're just… not sure if we're making a mistake."

Marlene dropped the satin.

"Lily… you and James… you're the one thing we can all count on."

"What?"

"We see you and we all think – 'That. That's what we're fighting for'. Because when you two are together Lily, nothing can touch you. The war, the fear, it's still there, but you make it look so easy keep fighting it because you're together. You don't know what it's like, not to have that."

Marlene started to sound a bit tearful, but she kept her chin up.

"You think we would've all stayed together this long if it wasn't for you? With Cami and Anna gone… Mary's shy. Sirius is annoying. Peter's boring. I'm too loud. Remus doesn't take risks. But you and James are our glue."

"Marlene…"

"Talk to him," Marlene ordered, sniffing.

"Hi," James said, sidling up to Lily.

She was wearing a thin cotton sundress, the shape of her body highlighted by the sun. Her hair was scraped away from her face, but a few stubborn strands clung to her damp cheeks. She was holding an icy glass of lemonade to her temple, but lowered it as he sat on the porch beside her.

It was a scorching day. The grass had started to crunch underfoot, and even the coolest and airiest rooms in the house were unbearably muggy.

Euphemia Potter was the only one who soldiered on – relentless even in the face of the heat. She rolled out the pie crusts, attacking them like they'd done her some grave personal wrong, and even the most exposed corners of the garden weren't safe from her clippers.

Most of the wedding guests had gone off on a trek through the woods, heading to a small, crystalline lake with icy cold water.

There were legends, half remembered about that lake. Some said that it was the source of the Fountain of Fair Fortune. Others claimed that a mermaid lived in it, enchanting passer-by's down into its depths.

James pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck and reached to take Lily's hand.

It was hot, and slightly sticky, but he clutched it like a lifeline and her fingers threaded through his.

"I want this," Lily said, not looking at him. "I want to walk down an aisle and wear white and promise you the world, and I want to live with you and spend lazy mornings talking about nothing at all and I want to fight this war next to you and grow old with you. And I think… I think we owe it to ourselves. To be happy. After everything… we deserve that."

"You're right," James said simply. "Lily, I love you, and you're right. I think maybe we were just making up problems, so we could have an excuse. But I don't want to make excuses anymore."

"Neither do I," she whispered, setting her glass down and finally turning to him.

Her eyes were a dark, brilliant green. The colour of forest pools and fresh growth.

"I feel really silly right now," he confessed, and she laughed, breaking the awkwardness between them.

"I know. But y'know, I think it's important that we were unsure and then conquered it. It means that we know we can solve things together. After all, we can't be the perfect couple all the time, regardless of what Marlene says."

"What does Marlene say?" James asked suspiciously, and Lily shook her head, eyes dancing.

"Doesn't matter."

A.N. Well that issue is resolved. Hmm... what next? Thank you all for reading, and please give me some reviews!