Over the next month, Mr. Evans got worse, not better. Lily was almost sick with worry about him, although James thought that maybe it would be good for him to go naturally instead of murdered by Death Eaters. You see, as Mr. Evans got worse, so did the fight against You-Know-Who. James and Lily had gotten into more than one argument about her fighting alongside him; James hated it but Lily refused not to fight. The arguments were happening almost daily until Remus cornered James and told him he was never going to break Lily of her stubbornness, and that there was no use fighting it.
Early in the morning of the 21 of July, James woke in a cold sweat. He had been having a nightmare about losing Lily - something that he regularly experienced lately. James stood, running a hand through his longer-than-usual hair, wondering what Lily was doing at that moment. He knew he could apparate to her house and find out, but... That would be overstepping some boundaries, he figured. Just then, James heard the unmistakable CRACK! of someone apparating nearby. James quickly left his room and made his way downstairs. There, standing on the front porch, was Sirius.
"Mate, let me in..." Sirius said, "I just got off the phone with Lily... Thank Merlin I splurged for a line. She had no idea how else to contact you-"
"What's wrong with Lily?" James asked through the door. James hoped he was still dreaming.
"Let me in and I'll tell you, Prongs," Sirius said. "I don't want to tell you through the door."
"What did you tell me on the train before we became friends?" James asked. It was one of their security questions, to make sure no one was being impersonated by death eaters.
"James I don't have time for this; you need to go see Lil-"
"Sirius just bloody tell me! You know we have to do this!"
"Lily and Snape had just left the compartment and I told you that of all the houses, Gryffindor sounded the coolest. Then you told me that we should both get in so we could room together. Then I showed you the prank stuff I got and we started planning what we were going to do to start off the year," Sirius said quickly. James nodded, opening the door.
"What was the prank?" James asked.
"When we walked into the Great Hall, each of us was going to set off a bunch of fireworks. Wormy walked past our compartment then, and we let him in on it, giving him some to set off too. Are we good now?" Sirius said impatiently as he waited for James to move out of the way.
"Aren't you going to ask me my question?" James asked.
"When do you want to marry Lily?" Sirius asked.
"In early October, her favorite time of year." James responded. It wasn't the question he'd been expecting, but it would work.
"Now can we go to the living room yet?" Sirius asked. James nodded slowly, and the two young men raced to the other room.
"What's wrong with Lily?" James asked.
"She's not injured or anything... But she's at the hospital. Her dad took a turn for the worse... Lily said he might not make it through the night," Sirius said softly. "Moony was staying at my place, and he's already on his way over..."
"AND YOU WAITED ALL THAT TIME TO TELL ME?" James shouted. He didn't care if his parents woke up, Mr. Evans was dying and Sirius had taken his bloody time telling James.
"YOU MADE ME!" Sirius shouted back. James noticed he was shaking nervously, and for the first time James considered that his best friend was upset about this too.
"We need to get to the hospital," James said. He wrote a quick note to his mother and father, telling them about Mr. Evans and where they were going to be. Then he and Sirius left the house and apparated to the hospital.
"James," Lily said, tears streaking down her face as he stepped into the hospital room. She ran from her mother's arms, wanting her boyfriend more than anything. "Oh James..." James pulled his girlfriend close, starting to cry a little himself.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner," James whispered, stroking her hair and keeping her as close to him as he could.
"Is he...?" Sirius asked Remus, who had been standing awkwardly in one corner of the room.
"He's still alive," Remus said, nodding.
"I think he was waiting for James to get here to say goodbye... Him and Tuney," Mrs. Evans said, taking her husband's hand and squeezing it. Lily held on to James tighter.
"I can't believe Petunia isn't here yet," she muttered. "Daddy... Daddy's not going to be here much longer, and she can't even show up." James kissed Lily's forehead.
"It's Petunia. I was over at your house almost daily the past few months, and I haven't seen her since the wedding," James replied bitterly.
"That's just how she is," Mrs. Evans snuffled. "I know she feels terrible about all of it, but she and Vernon have been busy..."
"Mum, Daddy's dying. Petunia has visited him what, three times in the past five months, and never for more than an hour, right? I don't want to hear you defending her."
"Lily Anne Evans, I will not listen to you speak about your sister that way!"
"Lily," James said, rubbing her back before she could retort to her mother. "You all are stressed and tired. You don't want to fight with your mum." She nodded against his chest, giving into his logic.
"James, why don't we step out for a minute so you can say your goodbyes?" Mrs. Evans said after several moments of silence, sniffling as she did so. James nodded, and Lily let go of him, clinging instead to Sirius and Remus as they left the room.
"Hey, Mr. E, it's me... I'm going to miss you, sir. I promise I'll take care of your girls, and I'll make sure Mrs. E has plenty of little grandbabies running around keeping her busy... I'm going to do my best to keep Lil safe. I'm glad I got your permission... I was really hoping you'd be able to walk her down the aisle, though. I guess my Dad could do it, or one of her uncles, but... I know she would've wanted you. Right, well, the longer I'm in here alone, the less time your girls are spending with you before you leave, so I guess I better call them back. Meet you on the other side, Mr. E," James said, wiping a few tears from his cheek. Although he hadn't been close to Lily's family, since he started helping out there regularly, he'd gotten really close with them. He waved through the window, signalling for Mrs. Evans and Lily to come back inside the room.
"Listen, Remus and I... I feel like we're crowding you guys, and we'd be better off just waiting back at the Potters' until something happens..." Sirius said, standing in the doorway as Lily found her way back to James's side.
"No, stay," Lily whined. Remus bit his lip.
"Lily, it's six in the morning. We've all been up most of the night... Why don't you let your friends go, and they'll be there when... When you really need them," Mrs. Evans said. Lily frowned, but nodded.
"Right. See you guys later... You have all our love," Remus said before he and Sirius left.
Mr. Evans passed away on July 21 at 9:58 in the morning. Petunia and Vernon never made it to the hospital. Neither Mrs. Evans nor Lily went back to their house in Cokeworth for a couple days afterwards, choosing instead to spend the night at the Potter estate. James barely left Lily's side, and she didn't want him to.
Mrs. Evans had James stand by Lily in the receiving line at the funeral, closer to the casket than her oldest daughter, and her son-in-law she didn't want anywhere near the receiving line.
After everything was over, Lily didn't want to go back to her childhood home. Instead, she moved into the Potter house. While James was happy to have her living with him, he hated the circumstances. He also knew he should propose any time now, but Lily always seemed to be in a weird mood, and he wanted her to be almost okay again before they moved onto the next chapter of their lives.
A/N: Hope you liked that sad chapter! Next up we have a Ginny and Harry chapter, and then I have a chapter on Albus and his partner slated for after that! Sorry this took so long... I started it in the middle of April but I got really busy with one of my graduation requirements, so it had to be postponed... and before I knew it, it was May! Please review with your thoughts, and I am open to suggestions on who Albus should end up with... A boy? A girl? A muggle? A wizard/witch? GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS! Thanks for reading :*
