Here it is - The Grand Finale! Thank you so so sooooo much to every single person who has read, who left kudos and especially to those who left their reviews. I put a lot of hours into this story ad it means a lot that people enjoyed it.

I have begun work on a sequel to this story, as the ending is really only the beginning of their stories. Don't hold your breath though, as it will take me a while to put it together. I do have several shorter works that (hopefully) you can enjoy in the meantime.

Again, I am forever indebted to my amazing beta Katie.

Please come and find me on tumblr wotcherpotter and talk to me about this story as much as you want!

On the last Hogsmeade visit for the year - and for Lily, her last ever as a Hogwarts student - she was sat at a table in Madam Puddifoot's. James was sat across from her, distracted by a hovering tray of desserts. She was warming her hands around a mug of tea after the unexpected chill outside. She smiled over the top of her mug as she watched him grow increasingly frustrated at the tray's insistence that he take something. He eventually decided on a plate of treacle fudge which he placed in the middle of their tiny table, and the tray floated to another couple to annoy.

"We didn't have to come here," Lily said.

James opened his mouth as if to speak but quickly closed it again. Lily hid her smirk behind her mug.

"Well," he started, "I wanted to - to do something special. For our second date."

Lily had almost forgotten - with the amount of time they spent together - that they hadn't been on an actual date since the first, almost a year ago over the summer.

"It should be something you want to do as well."

Lily couldn't contain her laughter at the dawning of realisation on his face. He reached out for her hand across the table and pressed a soft kiss to it, melting her heart in the process. She dropped a few sickles on the table and with her hand still in James's she stood, bringing him with her.

"Let's go, I know just the place."

He was grinning at her like a fool, and she was sure she had the same mad look on her face. They left the coziness of the cafe hand in hand and stepped out to the frigid cool. Even under her several layers of scarves and jumpers the chill managed to find its way in. James pulled her closer to him to wrap his arm around her shoulders as they walked up the empty side street towards the centre of town.

A hooded figure suddenly emerged in front of them from an alleyway between houses. Lily froze on the spot and could feel James go rigid next to her. She fumbled in her pocket for her wand as James threw some kind of sheet over the both of them. She looked at him in confusion but he held a finger to his mouth and lead her to a gap between fences. Once they were hidden, James turned to her.

"It's an invisibility cloak."

There was a loud bang on the high street followed by screams. Lily turned to see more hooded figures creeping out from the alleyway, their faces covered in ornate masks that reminded her of skulls.

"Death Eaters," she whispered.

She turned back to James to see his face resolute. She was shaking, whether with fear or cold she wasn't sure. James's arm was still around her shoulders; he pulled her closer and kissed her softly on her temple before pulling the invisibility cloak off the both of them and stuffing it back in his pocket.

"You don't have to-" James started.

"They're fighting about me, James; about who I am. I can't just - just sit and watch, can I?"

Another bang erupted behind them. Lily pointed her wand at the rubble raining down and turned it to dust.

"I love you," James said.

"I love you too."

By now, all the hooded figures had made their way from their hiding place into the main street of Hogsmeade. Lily ran with James, following the path of destruction they had made. Debris was scattered everywhere; holes were blown into the side of buildings. There were several bodies on the ground, and Lily hoped above all they were unconscious. She could see people at the base of a burning building ahead, trying to put it out the fire but it seemed to be cursed. The smoke was everywhere and it was suffocating. Lily couldn't see James through the darkness and she began to panic.

A curse whizzed past and narrowly missed her ear. A Death Eater had their wand pointed at her, and was about to fire another until they dropped to the ground. Remus was behind them with his wanted up and chest heaving. He stepped over the unmoving body to run towards her.

"I've only stunned him, he won't be down for long," he said.

She followed him further down the street, to find an all out battle happening. She recognised a few faces amongst the crowd. Frank and Alice were there, shooting hexes at the masked Death Eaters. She spotted James in the thick of it with Sirius at his back, shooting off jinxes at a ring of Death Eaters surrounding them. The sight filled Lily with fear, but it also gave her the courage to join. She fired off a curse at the closest mask and sent them flying back into the building behind them. That caught the attention of a few others, and she wiped them all out with a cascading jinx.

A sixth Death Eater managed to hit her and though it was weak, she felt the wind knocked out of her and she stumbled back, eyes wide. The Death Eater raised his wand to strike again but she managed to put up a thin shield between them. James was back by her side then, firing a jinx at the attacker that allowed her to catch her breath.

"Don't waste your energy on a mudblood, Potter."

Lily could feel the anger radiating off James in waves. The voice came from Mulciber, and though he wasn't wearing the death eater uniform he might as well have been. Lily wished he was so that she wouldn't have to see the chilling smile on his face.

"Evans might be fit, but her blood is still dirty."

Lily screamed when James punched him in the face. Mulciber was bleeding from his nose onto his shirt. James winced trying to open his hand from a fist. Mulciber was advancing on them with a fury in his eyes.

"Avada-"

"STUPEFY!" Lily yelled so loud, that when the jinx hit Mulciber he flew backwards down the end of the street.

But with the distraction of Mulciber she had completely forgotten the rest of the battle happening behind them. She never saw her attacker, but she heard the chilling laugh as they fired the Cruciatus Curse at her. She could hear screaming, and it took her a moment to realise it was her own.

"LILY!"

James's voice sounded far away, but she knew he was right there. The pain relented; she was shaking and sweating. Her whole body was tingling with pain. She opened her eyes to see she was on her knees, bent over with her hands balled into fists. There was dirt under her nails from where she had scraped them along the ground. Arms wrapped around her, pulling her onto a familiar lap. The smell of James filled her nostrils. She sobbed with relief that the pain was over.

"Morsmordre!"

An unfamiliar voice yelled from behind her. She looked up to see a giant green skull in the sky with a snake crawling out from its mouth. It was haunting, and the green light it cast down on the small town was eerie. All the death eaters had disappeared as quickly as they had come, but the dark mark in the sky remained, a scar of the battle.

Steam rose in swirls from the shower, fogging up the mirror. The scalding water beat down on the back of her neck, massaging her tensed muscles. She had just finished her final N.E.W.T. exam for Transfiguration. All the stress of studying was gone, but the knots in her neck wouldn't ease until she had her results. The heat on her skin did well to help her forget. When the heat got too much and her skin was near blistering, she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel. Droplets fell from her hair onto her pink skin.

She had taken to wearing one of James's old quidditch jerseys to bed, the hem of which reached just past her fingertips. She had charmed it to capture the smell of the forest, the mahogany of his broom, and some sort of spice that was all inherently James (and also happened to be what she smelled when Amortentia brewed). She walked from the bathroom to James's room where he was sprawled on the bed, glasses still on but eyes closed.

She was smiling as she climbed in next to him, trying to move so as not to wake him. Her efforts were in vain - which she should have realised by now - as he was a light sleeper. The mattress dipped where she leaned on it, startling James enough for him to sit up and grab his wand from the nightstand. Lily tried valiantly to bite her lip and hide her smirk until James's pout turned it to laughter. He was grumbling as she snuggled up next to him, but his arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her closer all the same. She leaned her hand on his chest and lifted her head up to look down at where he lay. His lips were still pouted; she couldn't help herself, she leaned down to kiss it away. She felt his lips turn up into a smile beneath her own.

When she snuggled back down beside him he pressed a kiss to her temple. She sighed with content, until she remembered what she had been thinking about in the shower.

"James."

"Mmm." His eyes were closed again.

"I was thinking in the shower," she started.

His eyes popped open. Lily shoved him playfully.

"Not about that, though I'd think you'd be too tired from the way you're dozing off."

"I always have energy to shower you with my love."

"That is the most disgusting thing you've ever said, take it back."

James tickled her in retaliation. Peals of her laughter echoed throughout the room as she wriggled around on the bed to avoid him. She was breathless when he finally ended his attack.

"What I was trying to say, was that I was thinking about what I'm - well, what we'll be doing after we finish."

He was laying on his side with his head propped up on his hand. His gaze was focused now, a soft but determined look in his eye. She thought she had an idea of what he was going to say already.

"Because I'd always thought I go into training and become a healer, maybe work at St Mungo's. That's what I spoke about with McGonagall all those years ago, that's what I'm best at and it's what I love doing."

"I know what you mean. I always thought I'd be training with Puddlemere next year."

James's free hand found her own on her own and intertwined their fingers.

"Instead we'll be fighting a war."

She tried to make her tone light, but her voice cracked at the end.

"Lily."

"I meant what I said that day in Hogsmeade, James."

"I know, and I know you're brave and brilliant and entirely capable of defeating hundreds in a duel; but I'm scared, too. If anything happened…"

"It won't, I won't let it. And you have to make sure you don't let anything happen either."

He pulled her close and enveloped her, pressing kisses all over the top of her head. Lily squeezed him back just as tight.

"You're everything to me, James."

Her hand was behind his neck, pulling him down to meet her halfway. She kissed him hungrily. She was overwhelmed in that moment with just how much she loved him. He seemed to sense her desperation, and responded to it in the same fervor. One of her hands cupped his jaw; she could feel his own trailing down her back and settling on her waist. She pushed slightly so that he was now laying on his back, and hooked her leg over his to straddle his lap - all without breaking the kiss.

His hands moved down her body to cup her bum; she could feel the heat of his palms through the thin piece of cotton that was her knickers. She broke away, and reached up to pull his jersey over her head. He threw his glasses carelessly on the nightstand.

Sirius stood amongst the graduating class of 1978 in the Entrance Hall. They were dressed in full uniform - complete with pointed hats, as they had been on their first night - waiting for Professor McGonagall to invite them up the stairs and into the Great Hall for the last time. He heard a wave of silence wash over the chatter, followed by the clip clop of McGonagall's shoes on the stone floor. He looked up to see her peering down at them from the top of the stairs.

"We're ready for you now. Follow me."

Sirius followed McGonagall into the Great Hall, between the two middle tables filled with parents and loved ones of his classmates, towards the front of the room. Standing in front of the staff table at an ornately decorated podium was their Headmaster, dressed in his most violent of purple robes. McGonagall moved so that she was standing next to him. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line, as was her usual, but if he looked closely he thought he could see her eyes glistening. With his attention focused elsewhere, Sirius jumped when Dumbledore began to speak.

"Good morning students, and welcome to your families," Dumbledore's voice boomed across the hall. "It is my pleasure, to welcome you to the ceremony for the Graduating Class of 1978."

Cheers erupted across the hall. Sirius - encouraged by the energy around him - hooted especially loud, and slapped James on the back. James paid him back in kind but before they could get into an all out wrestle match Lily was standing between them. She gave Sirius a quick hug to calm his nerves, for which he was thankful. Remus found his hand and squeezed it in encouragement.

"Seven years ago, we met in this very hall. A little younger, a little more innocent. I hope that you leave today with your minds a little fuller."

Sirius noted that his parents weren't amongst the faces in the crowd. He hadn't expected or even wanted them to be, but his stomach still sank slightly at the realisation. He could, however see his adoptive parents, Monty and Mia, sat together at the long table ordinarily reserved for Gryffindor. They were smiling broadly at him, and Sirius felt his face mimic them.

"Without further ado, I will pass you onto your Heads of Houses to present you with your Certificate of Graduation."

Sirius hadn't noticed, but it seemed that whilst Dumbledore was speaking Professors Slughorn, Sprout and Flitwick had lined up next to McGonagall by the podium. His favourite of the four stepped up to the podium first, and began calling out the names of the seventh year Gryffindors.

"Sirius Black," she said, her voice noticeably husky.

The students in front of him parted as he walked up to the platform where McGonagall stood. She stuck her hand out for him to shake, but it didn't feel right after all these years for their farewell to be so… impersonal. He used her outstretched hand to pull her into a proper hug. McGonagall was rigid initially, but he felt a light pat on his shoulder that he knew meant a lot. Laughter rang out through the hall at the interaction. Sirius took the certificate McGonagall offered him and joined Monty and Mia at Gryffindor table.

The Graduation Ceremony was a shorter process than the Sorting Ceremony had been all those years ago and for that Sirius was thankful. After he had joined the Potters he no longer felt sick in his stomach, which meant he was all too aware that it was empty. It was half noon when the last person received their certificate and sat down at their house table. Dumbledore was back at the podium then and the hall was silenced once more.

"Congratulations to each and every one of you. I won't keep you long from your lunch, I only wish to leave you with some wisdom: happiness can be found in the darkest of places, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

Sirius felt like Dumbledore was staring into his own soul when he said it, but as he looked around it seemed like most people had been affected by his words in the same way. He heard the clap of the Headmaster's hands and smelled the food before he saw it on the table before him.

The meal was over all too quickly, and Sirius found himself walking away from the castle along the pathway that led towards Hogsmeade station. He trailed behind James and his parents, walking beside Remus with an arm around his shoulders.

"We did it," he said.

"I really did think there were moments where we wouldn't."

"You were always going to."

Ahead of them, Sirius watched as James turned and looked for them in the crowd. Even with his glasses on, he struggled to spot them in the crowd. Sirius, not for the first time, wondered how he could be so good at quidditch with eyes like a bat.

"Prongs!"

Finally, he spotted them and stopped on the path as he waited for them to catch up. He wrapped an arm around Sirius' shoulders and fell into step beside them.

"Where's Pete?" he said.

The three of them looked around for their friend. He was shorter than they were, and harder to spot in a large group of people. Sirius craned his neck, but even with the advantage of his height, he struggled to spot him. Without him even noticing, Peter managed to materialise beside James.

"Wormtail!" James said, and swung his free arm around him.

They walked towards the iron gates that signified not only the physical boundary of the Hogwarts grounds, but also the end of their educational careers.

"Messrs Moony," Remus began.

Sirius shared a smile with him as Pete continued.

"Wormtail."

"Padfoot."

"And Prongs."

"Purveyors of aids to magical mischief-makers, hereby declare: mischief managed!"

"Pads! Padfoot! Mate, where are you? Oh." James called out.

Sirius sighed as he marked his place in the book he was reading and put it on his nightstand. He turned his attention to James then, who was standing in the doorway to his room with a letter in hand.

"What've you got?"

James grinned at him.

"From Dumbledore. I got one too."

James handed him a sealed letter, and procured his already torn one from his pocket. Sirius ripped open the envelope to find a small piece of parchment with Dumbledore's familiar loopy scrawl.

Mister Black,

I require your attendance at my office this evening no later than 9pm. Please burn this letter after receiving it.

Albus Dumbledore

"You think it's-" Sirius started to ask.

"-Yep," James answered.

"I wonder who else."

Sirius used his wand to silently burn the message and dispose of the ashes. A look at James's watch told him it was half seven already.

"Time for us to stop by and see Rosmerta?" Sirius said, more as a question.

James grinned his agreement. They raced each other past the boundaries of the property where they would be able to apparate. Sirius's laughter was breathless from the exertion; not only was he running as fast as he could, but he had to contend with James's competitive nudging and retaliate. By the time they made it outside the line of the protective spells Sirius was panting, but happy to note that James - the fitter of the pair - was just as winded as he was.

They apparated together into the main street of Hogsmeade, just outside the front of the Three Broomsticks. Sirius pulled his jacket closed around his body, as the northern Scotland air had a chill that wasn't present in the South of England. He opened the door to be greeted with a rush of warm air and loud chatter. He walked up to the crowded bar with James on his tail. Rosmerta spied them almost instantly.

"Didn't think I'd be seeing you boys again so soon."

"We're men now Rosmerta," Sirius said.

"Of course, so silly of me to forget."

She had poured their drinks while she chatted; two pints of butterbeer were placed in front of them, their heads frothing and overflowing onto the bar. James left a few sickles in place of their glasses as they sipped, at which Rosmerta gushed for it was three times the usual pricing.

It took longer than they had expected to finish a drink. They ended up running up the path from Hogsmeade station to giant oak doors of the castle. Rarely had they ever seen the castle so devoid of life. They almost ran into Peeves, however, they managed to successfully avoid him by taking a shortcut through one of the Charms classrooms. When they finally arrived at the gargoyle that hid the entrance to the Headmaster's office, they were greeted by several other familiar faces, though none that were entirely unexpected. Remus and Peter were there, as was Lily and Marlene, Emmeline Vance from Ravenclaw, and Dorcas Meadowes.

James's watch beeped at nine, at which time the stairs to the office began to rise. Sirius jumped on behind Remus and followed the group as they were ushered into the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore was sat behind his desk, surveying them all as they walked in. A grizzly man stood beside him. Sirius recognised him as one of the people they had seen on the platform all those months ago.

"Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice," Dumbledore began. "I trust you all disposed of the messages appropriately."

Heads nodded around the room.

"Splendid. First, an introduction: the man standing beside me is Head Auror in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry, and one of the most skilled wizards in the art of defence against the Dark Arts. His name is Mister Alastor Moody."

Moody nodded in greeting to them all.

"He is also, a member of a group known as the Order of the Phoenix."

Sirius shared a look with Remus beside him. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, and he wasn't sure if it was fear or excitement or nerves; maybe it was all of the above.

"The Order of the Phoenix is a group of people, selected individually for their skills and bravery, to help fight against Lord Voldemort."

"The Ministry can't be trusted," Moody interjected in a gruff voice. "Too many are spies, or under the Imperius curse. I myself only trust a handful of the Aurors in my own department. Constant vigilance!"

"Alice and Frank," Remus whispered.

"You are of course correct, Mister Lupin. Alice and Frank are members of the Order already. I have asked you all here this evening to extend an offer to yourselves as well. I must urge that you do not make this decision lightly; what you will be asked to do is extremely dangerous."

"I'll do it," Sirius said immediately.

All eyes in the room were on him for a moment, before-

"Me too," said Remus.

Sirius saw James and Lily share a quick look before they both nodded their heads.

"Us too," James said for them both.

The whole room quickly announced their acceptance of the offer. Dumbledore peered at them over his glasses, but Sirius couldn't quite read the expression on his face.

"I warn you all, these are dark times and not for the faint of heart."

No one changed their mind as he stared at them, and he sighed.

"Very well; let's get started on the Unbreakable Vows."

- FIN -