James and Lily were eight months out of Hogwarts when the first talk of getting an apartment together started. They had all joined up with the Order a few months back, and the missions were difficult. James loved living with his mum and dad (it was nice having someone take care of you), but they were always on his back about doing this or that or asking about his missions. Sirius suggested James move in with him, and Remus and Peter too, but neither Remus nor James really wanted to spend more time sharing a house with Sirius and Peter. They had already had experienced that the past seven years.

Lily had been living at home for the first few months, but one day a death eater tried to follow her home from a mission. Afraid of putting her muggle family and neighbors at risk, Lily decided to move with some of her friends from school. However, she spent a lot of time with James at the Potters', since the flat she and her mates were renting wasn't the largest.

"Lily," James said one evening while they were hanging out in his room, "why don't we get flat? Just you and me... Our mates can visit, of course, but at the end of the day it'd just be us."

"I don't know... I don't think I can contribute financially between just two people. I'm barely making rent when there's four of us," Lily said. The childish problems of their school days had passed, and now they had to deal with how to put food on the table and live as adults. Well, Lily did. James, still living at home, didn't have quite the same issues.

"Lil, my family has plenty of money..." James started, but Lily cut him off.

"I don't want handouts, James Potter. My parents raised me to be a strong, independent person..." Lily explained.

"I know they did. Don't think of it as a handout... Think of it as moving in with your boyfriend and sharing expenses. I have the bank account that can handle rent. Maybe you can be in charge of getting food and household chores and stuff..."

"I was not raised to be a housewife! I am a witch, thank you very much!"

"And a very capable on at that. I'm not asking you to stop your work for the Order, I'm just saying maybe-"

"You said I would be in charge of household chores and stuff! How is that not suggesting you'd want me to be a good little housewife?" Lily asked. James sighed, moving to sit closer to her and wrapping his arms around her. Lily burrowed her head against his chest.

"Lily Evans, I love you. I love you so much. We're fighting a war. I want you to be with me as often as you can be. I want to know you're safe," James whispered, rocking her back and forth. "I don't want a good little housewife. I want you as my wife. Fighting with all that ferocity you have bottled up in that redheaded body..."

"My parents will never go for it. Living with my boyfriend before we're married?"

"You're sister moved to London, didn't she? Who knows what she and Vernon got up to-"

"JAMES POTTER! Ugh, I don't even want to think..." James laughed at Lily's reaction, ignoring the slap she placed on his chest.

"Anyway, your family, well besides Petunia, likes me. They won't mind if we move in together. If you insist they will... What if you just move here?"

"Move in with you and your parents? I'd rather move back home."

"No you wouldn't," James said. He knew why she'd left home. That night when Avery had caught up with Lily in Cokeworth, James had felt in his gut that something was wrong. Worried about Lily, he'd gone to her neighborhood and found her dueling in the street. James came so close to using an unforgivable there... He was terrified of losing Lily. He spent the night at the Evans' house that night, and then next day when Lily decided to leave her home, James was there to help her pack.

"You're right, I wouldn't. I don't want to put Mum and Dad at risk. But still..." Lily sighed, sitting up. She ran a hand through her hair, at a loss for words.

"No flat together right now?" James asked after a few moments of silence.

"Not right now, James. Soon, though... If we get married-"

"WHEN we get married," James interjected. "I am going to marry you, Lily Evans." Lily laughed.

"When we get married, we'll have years to live together."

A few months later, James brought the idea up again. Both of James's parents were getting old, and Mrs. Potter seemed to come down with what might have been Dragon Pox in late March. Luckily it wasn't, and she was fine, but it still worried James to no end. He wasn't ready to lose his parents. His family was having a harder time in the Ministry, where anti-muggle sentiments were becoming a more popular opinion.

Lily had been having a rough couple of months, too. She'd gotten a muggle job and was doing things for the Order after she got off. Her father had fallen sick with cancer, and Lily wasn't dealing with that the best. She had moved back home after the diagnosis, but still spent a lot of time at the Potter's. By June, though, Mr. Evans was really not doing well, and James spent most of his days while Lily was at work helping out Mrs. Evans with things around the house. He learned how to clean gutters, whitewash a fence, trim hedges, and lots of other little manly things he would have normally fixed with magic.

One afternoon in mid-June, Mrs. Potter came over for tea time with Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Lily was at work and would join them (along with Mr. Potter) for dinner, but it was just Mrs. Potter, James, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans in the garden that afternoon.

"Thank you so much for having me over, Jane," Mrs. Potter said before taking a sip of her tea. "You have such a lovely garden."

"Why thank you, Euphemia," Mrs. Evans replied. "And I've been trying to get you and your husband over here for weeks. I want to get to know the family that Lil's going to be a part of..." James blushed.

"Speaking of which..." James started. "Listen, I know Lily and I are still really young, but... There's a war going on out there. Lil thinks we're going to make it through fine, and she's probably right, but... I can't help but worry. I was wondering if I would have your blessing to marry Lily someday. I'm not going to propose any time soon; I know neither of us are really ready to start a life together yet, but I wanted to ask before you got any worse, Mr. E." There was silence after James finished speaking. Finally, Mr. Evans coughed.

"Well, James, I appreciate all that you do for my girls, and I think it would be wonderful to have you as a son-in-law. You're a lot nicer than Vernon," Mr. Evans said, chuckling at the last bit.

"So is that a yes?" James asked nervously. All the adults laughed.

"Yes, James, someday, you may marry my daughter," Mr. Evans said. James' grin spread from ear to ear.

A/N: Hello lovelies! Hope you liked that (rather short; sorry) Jily chapter! Next up we have Harry and Ginny, and then after that I'm going to write one more focusing on James and Elle before moving on to his siblings. Please leave your thoughts/comments below! I love reading them; it makes me so happy to see that people are actually reading