A/N: So this chapter did not go in the direction I had originally planned, which goes to show how this story is pretty much writing itself. I am really enjoying writing this story, and I believe it's my favorite of all my stories thus far! I hope you all are enjoying it as much as I am!

Chapter 10

After telling their friends about going forward in time 20 years, and everything they had witnessed and learned, they sat there looking at their friends, waiting for their reactions. They hadn't interrupted once, but the horror on their faces and their gasps were the only indication they were actually listening.

Not able to take the silence anymore, James suddenly said, "I know it's a lot to take in, but-"

"Please tell me-us this is a joke," Remus said, cutting James off.

"What?"

"This is a joke, right? I-I mean, why-how could Pete? And you two are-"he said, not able to complete his sentences, his thoughts suddenly incoherent.

"Moony, I wish it was, but it's not," James said sadly.

"But-"

"I know. It's hard to believe that one of our best friends betrays us, Lily and I are killed, and our son has to fight off Voldemort from the time he starts school and every year after that," James said.

"I was thinking it's hard to believe that Evans actually does marry you," Sirius said seriously.

Everyone looked at him like he had spoken another language, before Marlene slapped him upside the head.

"Oi! What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Honestly, do you have a filter and all you pick up is anything about Lily and James getting together?"

"No, I heard the rest of it. That part is just what stands out as odd since Lily apparently hates James and wouldn't give him the time of day. Therefore, I am having hard time understanding how they end up together and they have a son."

They all looked back to Lily and James.

"The idiot has a point," Marlene said, ignoring the protest Sirius was about to give. "How do you two end up together?"

Lily and James looked at each other. "We don't really know," James said slowly.

"And we didn't really think to ask. We were a bit occupied with Voldemort attacking the school and calling out our son," Lily said, her anger lacing her words. Is her and James' relationship really more important than the fate of their son-of all of them?

"Okay, you're right," Mary said. "So, tell me if I have this right. In two years, you two will have a son, and when he is born, a prophecy will be made, and Voldemort will go after him because apparently, your son is the one who can defeat him?"

"Essentially, yes," Lily said.

"So the answer is simple," Mary said. Everyone looked at her with confusion all over their faces. "Lily and James don't get married, and they don't have a son. Then Voldemort won't go after them and they won't die," she said simply.

"No, it won't work like that. I had already thought of that, and I talked to Dumbledore, and he said that originally, the prophecy was made and based off of two boys. If Voldemort didn't or doesn't go after Harry, he'll go after the other boy," Lily said, not noticing the surprised look on James' face.

"You did what?"

"I went to Dumbledore today. I had had the same thought as Mary, but he said it wouldn't change anything really," Lily said.

"Oh, well that's just brilliant," James growled, moving away from Lily a bit.

"What on earth has your wand in a knot?" Lily asked him.

"Uh oh, their first real fight as a couple," Sirius muttered.

"Shut it Sirius! We are not a couple," Lily said.

"No, we're not," James said, crossing his arms.

"Seriously James, what is wrong with you?" Lily asked.

"Oh nothing! You just cast aside what we could have after we do kill Voldemort; running off to Dumbledore seeking a way out from marrying me!" He shouted at her.

"What? I-I didn't-"Lily couldn't believe this. She realized now that what she said and how she said it made it sound like she didn't want to marry James, when it was the complete opposite. She had admitted to herself that she liked James. "James I-"

"Save it," he said, looking away from her and back to their friends.

"Wait, I just thought of something," Marlene said. "If you two don't have Harry, and the prophecy doesn't get foretold, Voldemort won't be going to your house to kill Harry on Halloween. If Harry doesn't exist, there is no point for Voldemort to hunt you down, and you won't have to be in hiding with the Fidelius charm."

"But the other boy will be born. Voldemort will go after them," Remus said.

"But we don't know who the other boy is though, do we?" Mary asked.

James and Lily shook their heads.

"Well this could be bad then," Marlene said to herself.

"Why? We just need to find out who the other boy will be, and we'll hide them at Godric's Hallow or somewhere and entrust Peter to be the Secret Keeper," Lily said.

"No, it won't work. The reason Voldemort went to Peter is because he knew he was weak and that he is one of your best friends. If we use this other family as the bait, there's no telling who the traitor will be," Marlene said.

"So what? James and Lily get married and have Harry so Voldemort can come after them, because then we'll know exactly who will betray them and where Voldemort will be?" Sirius asked.

Marlene looked scared to answer for a moment. "I don't see any other way."

Lily shook her head. "No, I'm not marrying James just so we can have Harry and he can be hunted by Voldemort."

"Lily-"

"No! We'll think of something else," she said firmly.

No one said anything. Lily looked embarrassed, James looked insulted and hurt, and the others were wary. Finally, Remus cleared his throat. "So, uh, you mentioned something about horcruxes?"

James nodded. "Yeah, apparently Voldemort split his soul and placed them in these objects and hid them. With these horcruxes around, he can't die, hence why he didn't die when he tried killing Harry when he was one."

"So, Harry told you one of them was here in the Room of Requirement, but he said it's in the place that everything is hidden?"

"What does that mean?" Sirius asked. "Is there more than one Room of Requirement?"

"Think about it. It's the Room of 'Requirement.' I think you just have to walk in front of the door like Lily did, and think about the place that everything is hidden. It'll bring up the room that you require," Remus said.

"So what about the others?" Marlene asked.

"Lucius Malfoy has one whether he knows it or not, Regulus will be given one to hide," Sirius frowned and his hands fisted, "one is in Bellatrix's vault, one is in a shack, and the last is Nagini," James said.

"Well, this isn't going to be easy, is it?" Remus asked.

"No, but we have to do it. No matter what," James said forcing himself not to look at Lily.

"Brilliant! So how do we destroy these horcruxes once we have them?" Sirius asked.

"With the Gryffindor sword, Fiendfyre, or a Basilik fang," James said.

"Bloody hell," Sirius muttered.

"Dumbledore is going to scope out the Gaunt shack where the ring is and determine what spells and enchantments are guarding it," Lily said.

"Should we look for the one in the Room of Requirement?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. Should we do it tonight?" James asked.

"Sorry mate, but we've just had information overload and I think we should have a night to sort through our thoughts," Remus suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Everyone stood and started for the exit, talking to each other about all they had just heard, but Marlene stopped Lily before she walked out.

"Lily I think you need to talk to James."

"What? Why?" Lily said, trying to remain aloof.

"You know why. You really hurt James by what you said, and I don't really blame him."

"You're taking his side?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side. But believe it or not there is something between you two. I think you two need to sort through these thoughts before we get into this whole thing, or someone is going to get hurt," Marlene said sincerely.

Lily sighed. She knew Marlene was right. She didn't deny anymore her feelings for James, but she hadn't exactly told him or talked to him about it. Not only that, but she knew that what she had said tonight had hurt him. Then there was the point that Marlene had brought up. Would she really have to marry James just so they would know where Voldemort will be to finally kill him? She didn't deny that she could one day marry James; but out of love. Not just to bring down a psychopath! She just hoped he'd listen. "Alright, I'll see you later," she said before going back over to James, who hadn't moved from the couch, and was glaring into the fire. She fiddled with her hands for a moment before sitting in the chair across from him. "James, I-"

"Don't. You don't have to say anything," he ground out, still not looking at her. "You've pushed me away for seven years, this is no different."

"But it is different," she said, looking down at her hands. "James, I'm not going to lie to you. Seeing all that we saw, knowing what could happen-it scares the hell out of me."

"You don't think it scares me too?" he snapped at her, his eyes glaring at her now. "You think it doesn't scare me knowing what could happen to any of us? What will happen if we don't kill him?"

"James, I'm not talking about Voldemort," Lily said, her voice starting to shake. She willed her tears back as she continued after taking a deep breath. "I've pushed you away for seven years, but when we went to the future, it-it made me realize how I really do feel about you."

James leaned towards her. "How you feel about me?"

She refused to look at him. "When Dumbledore told us how you had died, trying to protect Harry and me, without even your wand, it struck me, harder than I thought it would have. And seeing how you were so worried about me after dueling those Death Eaters, I-I knew your feelings for me were genuine."

"Whatever made you think my feelings weren't genuine?"

"Oh please. Every time you asked me out or flirted with me you and your friends would laugh and joke about it," she said, crossing her arms and looking into the fire.

After a few minutes of silence, James said, "So how exactly do you feel about me?"

She didn't answer for a minute. "I definitely don't hate you. I've begun to think a lot about you, and it's driving me crazy! On one hand I want to take that chance and be with you, get married, have Harry, and live happily ever after!" She finally looked at him and saw the joy and sadness in his eyes. "But on the other, with everything going on, everything we need to do, I don't know if I can take that chance; fall for you completely just to lose you."

James leaned forward and grabbed her hands, pulling her a bit closer to him. "Lily, you won't lose me."

"How do you know? How can you possibly know that you won't die between now and 1981?" she said, pulling away and standing up, looking into the fire again. "I can't take that chance," she said quietly.

After a minute or two, James stood up and stood beside Lily, watching the light from the fire enflame her red hair, making it look alive; the flames igniting her brilliant green eyes. "Lily, what about Harry? What about everything Marlene pointed out?"

"I'm not marrying you just so that damn prophecy can be made!"

"I don't want to marry you for that reason either!" James took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair.

Lily looked up at him. "Then why?"

"What?"

Lily grinned. "What reason do you want to marry me for, Potter?"

James gaped, thinking he may have misheard what she just said. There she was, looking up at him with hope and fear in her eyes, looking as beautiful as ever. James thought he may have lost all coherent thought and the ability to speak, before he grabbed her hands and put them to his chest. He was sure she could feel his heart beating erratically. "I want to marry you, because I want your face to be the first thing I see every morning. I want to argue with you, take care of you when you're sick, be your protector, and be your best friend. I want to watch you twirl your hair while you read," he touched her silky red hair lovingly. "I want to kiss your tears away and comfort you when you need it. Lily, I want to marry you because I love you."

Lily couldn't breathe. Her heart was fluttering in her chest, she couldn't think. Her thoughts were completely jumbled. Her knees felt weak, and when he ran his hand through a strand of her hair, she thought she'd lose it right there. She didn't even realize she was leaning closer to him. She breathed in and realized she probably shouldn't have done that. He smelled of pine and cinnamon, and it made her dizzy and feel even weaker.

James could see how overwhelmed she was feeling just by the look on her face. But he could also see her leaning closer to him. He leaned forward, his lips hovering just above hers. He could smell the sweet scent of vanilla on her, and it drove him crazy.

Their lips lightly touched, but it was enough to encourage them. Their lips molded together perfectly. It was slow and enticing. Neither wanted to rush it, for fear of it ending too quickly. James felt Lily put her hands on his waist and pull him closer. His hands roamed up her arms and gripped the back of her neck, pulling her closer.

Unwillingly, they broke the kiss for lack of air, their lungs about to burst. Lily rested her forehead on his, breathing heavily. He wrapped his arms around her back and held her tightly. "That was definitely worth seven years of waiting," he mumbled to her.

She laughed and pecked him on the lips before laying her head on his chest. For that moment, she could forget what they had to do, what could happen to any of them, and forget about the danger and darkness rising up against them.