Hello friends - here's our epilogue. I wanted to thank you, every single one of you, for reading this story and sticking with me. I've heard from so many of you in the comments (and omg if you left comments, ALL THE KUDOS - writers work so hard to create content and you have no idea how happy it makes us to get feedback) and I'm sad to be completing this story.

BUT - I am planning on continuing with these characters a bit, filling them out a bit more in one-shots as they come to me. This will be a collection from this universe (I'm calling it "The Underground - Director's Cut" because I'm a complete twat), so if you want more of these characters being their ridiculous selves, be on the lookout for that in the very near future (*cough* later today *cough*). The pieces will vary in length, but I can almost guarantee that they'll be much shorter than the average chapter of The Underground.

Anyway, enough rambling on my part. I just want to say, again, thank you so much for being here with me, and I hope to see you in the comments of one of my future fics (and if you're on Tumblr, LET'S BE FRIENDS - I use the same username). Xxxx

"I'm not putting on anything nicer than a cocktail dress, so you all better not have chosen some fancy fucking place."

James laughed, his voice bouncing off the walls of their bathroom - it was loud enough that she could hear him from where she standing in their wardrobe, even over the sound of the shower.

"You should be alright in semi-formal, that's what I'm wearing," he shouted and she hummed thoughtfully, grabbed a few dresses off the rack and walked back out into the bedroom. She laid the dresses out on their bed and held them up against her in turn, tossed the navy blue and plum coloured ones off onto their pillows with a shake of her head.

"What colour do you think?" She was looking at herself in a mirror, turning a bit to check the emerald dress against her skin. James still hadn't emerged from the bathroom, but she heard him shout, "What about that green one?"

She laughed quietly, dropped her towel, and pulled her favourite, James' favourite, emerald dress over her head. The dress Euphemia had given her had survived over ten years in her wardrobe before age (her's and the dress's) had finally taken it's toll - she'd replaced it, though, as soon as she realised it was time. It brought her back to her very first year in the diplomatic service, and she never quite got enough of the way that James' eyes moved over her when she wore it. Her body certainly wasn't what it was when she was 28 - her joints ached at the end of a long day, she'd never quite gotten rid of that baby pouch on her front, the corners of her eyes crinkled a lot more than they usually did when she laughed (and the crinkles never quite went away now), and even though she sometimes looked in the mirror and forgot that that is what she looked like now, you never would have known that she'd changed at all if you just watched the way James looked at her. He looked at her, every time, like it was the first time.

She was sitting at her dressing table touching up her curls when James walked in, planted a wet kiss to the side of her neck. She laughed, the water dripping out of his hair and down onto her neck, she snapped her curling wand at him, "You're going to ruin my makeup." She pressed her hand into his towel-covered hip, shoved him over towards the rack of suits on the other side of their wardrobe.

He laughed, "Well, I'm sure you'd still look gorgeous with ruined makeup, love."

Lily caught his eye in her mirror as she added the final touch to her hair, "Regardless." She winked and he laughed.

She finished touching up her hair and left their room so James could get dressed, went to go round up Harry and make sure he was dressed and ready. He had a tendency to procrastinate, especially when he knew that he was expected to spend the next few hours in any kind of formal wear. She walked down the hall, her heels clicking on the tile, and knocked on his door, "Harry?"

"Yes, Mum?"

She pushed his door open and poked her head in, "Just checking to see that you're dressed. Everyone will be here soon."

Harry walked out of his bathroom, comb in hand, "Yeah, I'm dressed. I don't have to make my hair lie flat do I?"

Lily laughed, shook her head, "Your father doesn't bother, I don't see why you should."

Harry sighed with relief, pitched the comb onto his chest of drawers, "Thank god," and sat down on the end of the bed to pull his shoes on.

Lily stood there watching him for a moment, her heart clenching just a bit in her chest as she looked at him, all dressed up like that. Harry usually preferred to stay home or go stay with friends while she and James went off to whatever embassy event she had to go to, and so it had been awhile since she'd seen Harry in a suit. He was only sixteen, still just a baby, her baby, but he looked so grown up that she felt her eyes well up a bit. She saw him every day, of course, the fact that he'd grown wasn't a surprise, but still - he had grown up so much faster than she'd ever expected him to, and, from time to time, it struck her just how old he was now. Her mother had said it all her life, Euphemia had told her it would happen when Harry was born, but she'd never expected that it would happen for her so soon. She blinked back tears, exhaled sharply, and Harry looked up at her, "You alright, Mum?"

He stood and walked over to her, and Lily leaned her head up to look at him. Of course Harry had to grow as tall as bloody James, giant bastards. She smiled, nodded, "You just look so grown up, that's all."

Harry flushed a bit, buried his hand in his hair, and Lily smiled. So much like his father.

"Alright," she said, patting him on the arm, "go ahead downstairs, let me know when Aunt Marlene and Co. get here, and, if you can, please remind Charity that I was serious when I said we didn't need her this weekend. I'm going to go check on your father."

Harry nodded and was about halfway down the hallway towards the stairs when Lily remembered, "Oh! And Harry -"

Harry froze on the stairs, turned to look at her. "Yes, Mum?"

"Don't eat anything. Uncle Remus said they all made a reservation somewhere."

Harry groaned, clutched at his stomach, "But Mum, I'm hungry!"

Lily shot him a look and Harry just sighed, "Alright."

She shook her head, laughing to herself, as she continued down the corridor towards her and James' room, Between James and Harry, it's a wonder we can keep any food in the bloody house.

She rapped lightly on the door as she opened it, "James?"

"Wardrobe."

She shut the door quietly behind her and walked to their wardrobe, found James standing in front of her vanity mirror doing up his tie, jacket tossed over the back of her chair. She'd seen James in more suits and tuxedos than she could count over the years, given how many bloody galas, embassy events, and whatever the hell else they went to, but the sight of him in a suit never failed to make her heart skip a beat. His hair still, always, stood chaotically on top of his head (it looked marginally tamer at the moment, but it was still damp from his shower and she knew that it was only a matter of time), his glasses were still askew (though he'd long since upgraded to "more mature tortoise shell lenses"), his jaw was still covered in a thick shadow of stubble, though it was now flecked with grey to match the salt-and-pepper hair beginning to grow in around his temples.

She let her eyes move slowly over him, take in the way his shirt stretched over his broad back, the way his trousers sat on his impossibly amazing bum. He'd aged, surely he'd aged, but every time she looked at him, it never felt like it. She still felt like she did the first time she ever saw him, her heart stuttering in her chest, her hands desperate to touch him. She'd never, not once, imagined that she would find someone who made her feel the way James did, who kept her feeling the way James did, but there he was, as always, to defy all her expectations.

He caught her eye in the mirror, and the cheekiness of the wink he gave her told her that he knew she'd been checking out his arse in his suit trousers. Lily smacked his bum playfully while James finished knotting his tie, "Nice arse, Potter."

James laughed, spun around quickly, and grabbed her around the waist, pressed her to him. She laughed loudly, dipped her head back as he leaned forward and planted kisses to her neck, "They're going to be here soon." She sounded breathless, and though she was trying to reprimand him, she knew that he knew he could win her over if he really wanted to.

He planted a few more searing kisses to her neck when they heard Harry yell from downstairs, "Mum! Dad! Uncle Sirius says - NO, I'M NOT SAYING THAT!"

"Oh god," James said, pulling away, "he's going to corrupt poor Harry yet."

Lily laughed, ran her hands over the front of her dress to smooth out any creases, "Serves us right for making him godfather, don't you think?"

James laughed as they turned and walked out of the wardrobe, "Excellent point as always, Evans."

She turned to grin at him as they crossed the room and she opened their bedroom door. He just rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

She winked cheekily and barely suppressed a scream of laughter when he smacked her bum on the way down the stairs. Sirius, Remus, Marlene, and Dorcas were all standing just inside the front door, and Harry, still red in the face from whatever Sirius had tried to get him to say, was standing in the corner frantically typing out a message on his mobile.

"Took you long enough, christ," Sirius said, letting his head fall back dramatically onto Remus' shoulder as they made their way into the entry. Remus shook his head, "I don't know why we keep thinking that he's going to grow out of this attitude."

Lily walked across the entry and pulled Marlene and Dorcas into a hug ("Did you all bring in your bags?" "Charity took them when we walked in.") as Sirius turned his head, smirked at Remus, "Please, you love it." And though Remus opened his mouth to protest, the smile on his face when Sirius leaned over to kiss him said it all.

Harry stuffed his mobile into his trouser pocket, groaned, "Look, I'm glad you're all in love, but can we please go? I'm starving."

James ruffled Harry's hair, "Relax, son, we're going."

Lily waved everyone outside, walked quickly through the house to Charity's office. She knocked twice as she approached the door, and Charity looked up from the papers in her hands, smiled broadly when she noticed Lily standing there. Charity had been the staff supervisor at the residence for the past few years, and Lily had liked her immediately - she was kind, intelligent, and worked harder than Lily had ever seen anyone work in their life. Lily returned her smile, "I wanted to nip in and remind you that you're free to go at any point tonight. We won't need any of the staff this weekend, either."

Charity nodded, "Yes, Ambassador Potter, of course."

Lily grinned, patted the frame of the door with her hand as she took a step back, "I hope you have a restful weekend, Charity. You really do work too hard."

Charity just smiled, "It's an honour to serve, Madame." Lily just grinned knowingly, "Even still. Good night, Charity."

She found James waiting for her on the front steps when she stepped outside, beaming at her as he reached out and took her hand. It was a bit cool out, especially for August, and Lily had half a mind to walk back into the house and grab a light jacket from the cupboard. She figured, though, that they would drink enough wine with dinner that it wouldn't matter if it was a bit chilly, and she could always take James' jacket if it came down to it. She pulled the door shut behind her as they all walked out and turned to walk down the steps when she froze, looked up at James, "Did he really have to get a limo?"

James laughed, reached over and took her hand, "You've met Sirius, haven't you?"

Lily shook her head at Sirius as they all piled into the back of the limousine, "This is a bit extra, don't you think?"

Sirius handed her a flute of champagne, "This is your tenth anniversary, Red. We're celebrating." Lily sighed as Sirius handed James and Harry each a glass, "To Red." Sirius grinned cheekily at her.

They drank to her and Lily grinned, leaned her head on James' shoulder, "Thanks, everyone."

Remus smiled at her, "Of course, Lily. We wanted to be here for you. This is a huge night."

Marlene grinned, "Yeah, who would have thought. Our little Lily, first female ambassador to France."

Dorcas snorted, "I think we all would have thought, yeah? It's Lily."

James squeezed her hand, turned and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

It was difficult for her to believe that she'd been at the embassy for ten years already. It seemed, sometimes, like she'd just gotten there (other days it felt like she'd been there for a hundred bloody years), but one look around, at her family, her friends, showed her just how much time had passed. Harry had just started primary school when they'd left England and now he was entering première, James was a bloody curator, all their friends had long been married, were starting to grey around the temples just like they were. Sometimes she forgot that she wasn't 28 anymore, forgot that so much in her life had changed (though her 50 year old knees were quick to remind her).

They'd been the only one of their group to have kids, and even then, they'd only had Harry. Sirius and Remus had never had time for them, Marlene and Dorcas never wanted them, and after spending eighteen hellish hours in labour with Harry, Lily had told James he was never, ever impregnating her again or she was going to kill him. One child between the six of them actually worked well, and Harry's first six years in London were a mess of family parties, sleepovers with his aunts or uncles (the latter of which usually included many, many pictures of little Harry on the back on one of Sirius' motorbikes and a frantic series of phone calls from James), and more laughter than Lily could ever have predicted. They'd always laughed a lot as a group, though, so she probably shouldn't have been surprised. Once Marlene and Dorcas met at Lily and James' wedding (and began dating after basically shagging on the dance floor), their already rambunctious group of five became a raucous six, and they'd never had a quiet moment again.

It had been an adjustment, leaving London when Lily had been appointed (by the Queen... the actual fucking Queen) a decade ago. Nearly every aspect of their life had changed - they left the comfort of their Stratford flat, moved to France, began raising a child in the bloody Hôtel de Charost, had staff, left their friends back across the Channel, were surrounded by people speaking French all day… it had been an adjustment, but they'd gotten used to it, had come to love living in Paris. And Paris, Lily realised, wasn't so far away - Sirius, Remus, Marlene, and Dorcas were there so often, it was almost like they'd never left London sometimes. There was a bit more time between Saturday lunches, it took longer to get from one house to the other, but they were still as close as they'd ever been, closer even. Time, as it always does, have ravaged them all - they'd lost Euphemia a few years back, both of Lily's parents the year before, Marlene's mum just a few months ago - but they'd gotten through it all together.

They'd made new friends, too, with some of Lily's colleagues from the embassy. Harry become fast friends with Arthur Weasley's kids (but especially that Ron) and Gillian Granger's daughter - they were good kids and Lily felt almost nostalgic watching Harry with the two of them. His friendship with Ron and Hermione reminded her a lot, a lot, of her friendship with Marlene when she'd been growing up, of the friendship James must have had with Remus and Sirius when he was younger - those are the friendships that grow and change alongside you, that shape who you are and how you look at the world. It had given Lily a sister, James his brothers, and watching Harry kick the football with Ron in the back garden, hearing the three of them chatting quietly in the grass at night as they laid out there and looked at the stars… Lily knew that Harry was in for the kind of friendships that she and James were lucky enough to have, the kind that had absolutely changed their lives.

James leaned over and pressed another kiss to the side of her head and Lily turned, smiled at him. He nodded at her still half-full glass, "Going to finish that?"

Lily tossed the rest of the drink back and Marlene wrapped her arm around her shoulders, "Nice to see age hasn't completely ruined you, Lil."

Lily held up her fingers at Marlene, but she just laughed, poured a bit more into Lily's glass.

"Mum?" Harry leaned across James, and Lily raised her eyebrow at him, "Are Ron and Hermione going to be - "

James cleared his throat, elbowed Harry in the stomach, "Ow!"

"Oops, sorry, son," James turned to Harry, patted his shoulder, and Harry leaned back over, looked at Lily, "Are Ron and Hermione going to be at that gala thing you're having next month?"

Lily shrugged, took a sip of her champagne, "I don't know, I'll have to ask Arthur and Gillian when I see them on Monday. Why?"

Harry shrugged, "I - uh - I thought Hermione said something about having to go to one of those things, that's all."

Lily tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "Oh, well, I don't know, mate, but I'll ask."

Harry nodded and sat back in his seat.

They pulled up a few minutes later, though Lily couldn't see where they were with the tinted windows. They all climbed out of the car, making sure to leave Lily in the car last. She'd tried to get out first, but Remus had cut across her, held his arm up, "Not so fast."

"Remus!"

Remus shook his head, "I'm on orders, Red. No can do."

She glared at him, but Remus just smiled, sat there with his stupid gangly arm out while everyone else climbed out of the car. Harry laughed and gave her a cheeky, "Bye Mum," as he climbed out, and Lily's glare intensified. Remus just shrugged, "You know that doesn't affect me."

"This is why they told you to tell me you'd made a reservation isn't it? They're up to something!"

Remus just laughed while Dorcas climbed out of the car past them, "You would think that, eventually, those two would get better at keeping things under wraps. It's always their schemes I'm covering for."

She didn't even need to ask which two. "Isn't it best that they're shit at keeping secrets?"

Remus laughed, nodded, "You're probably right. Could you imagine Sirius and Marlene, plotting shit, and being able to keep it quiet?"

Lily groaned, "We'd be fucked."

Once everyone was out, Remus climbed out and extended his hand to Lily. She tried to glare at him again, but now she was more interested to know what they were up to than she was in trying (and failing) to intimidate Remus. She took his hand, and stepped out, taking a moment to look around. Rue de Berri. What the fuck are they up to?

"Remus, where - " Remus smiled, shook his head, "Talk to Mar."

Everyone else had crowded over by the door of the Hôtel Lancaster, but Marlene was standing by the boot, smiling broadly at her. Remus walked over to the group by the door, and Lily heard them all clapping Remus on the back, chuckling about god knows what, but Marlene smiled at Lily, "Figured it out yet?"

Lily shook her head, laughed, "No, but I know you all are up to something."

Marlene just grinned, "Well you'll find out, but I wanted a minute to - " Marlene broke off suddenly, tipped her head back, and, to Lily's surprise, blinked back tears. "Oh," Marlene stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Lily, and Lily felt tears welling up in her own eyes. Marlene took Lily by the elbows, held her at arm's length, "Lily, I am so fucking proud of you, you know that? So fucking proud of you."

Lily clicked her tongue, reached up and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, "Stop - "

Marlene just shook her head, "No... Lily, you've been my sister since we were in primary school, and I have watched you doing your damn best every day and you're genuinely changing the world, and I love you so much -"

Lily pulled Marlene in for another hug, "You're going to ruin my god damn makeup," and Marlene laughed in her ear, "Sorry, sorry," Marlene took her by the shoulders, took a deep breath before shaking her head a bit, smiled broadly at her, "Anyway, we are all so fucking proud of you, and we wanted to, uh," Marlene reached up and wiped her eyes, laughed, "now, don't kill us."

Lily started shaking her head, "Oh fuck, what have you all done?"

"Sirius and I may or may not have rented a reception room at this hotel," Marlene tipped her head at the Hôtel Lancaster, "and invited your embassy staff here to celebrate your anniversary."

"Oh," Lily pulled Marlene back in for a hug, squeezed her tightly before letting her go, stepping back, "thank you. I love you, too, you know."

Marlene grinned, looped her arm through Lily's and started walking them towards the group over by the door, "Though, let's be real, how could you not love me?"

Lily laughed, rolled her eyes, "For fuck's sake."

Lily smiled at Harry when she and Marlene got to the door, "Did you almost give it up in the car?"

Harry flushed, "Yeah."

James laughed, dropped his arm over Harry's shoulder, "Sorry about the elbow, mate."

Harry elbowed James in the side and laughed when James huffed, "Now we're even." Sirius started laughing, leaned past Remus and gave Harry a high five, "Nice, mate."

They walked through the hotel lobby, up the stairs, and Lily took a moment to take a deep breath when they reached the door of the lounge they'd reserved. James took her hand, smiled brilliantly down at her, and nodded at Sirius who was waiting to open the door.

She felt something click on in her the moment she could see inside the lounge, the same switch that flipped whenever she went into any one of these embassy events. She smiled broadly, laughed as her colleagues shouted their congratulations. She took a moment to walk around the room, shake hands, smile warmly, James at her elbow, while Harry took the others around and introduced them to people they hadn't already met. Sirius announced that there was food, apparently, and alcohol, and people either clustered themselves at the various tables or carried glasses of wine with plates balanced on top as they moved about the room, chatted with one another. She was glad to see that this was a more informal gathering, despite the location - she wasn't sure she was up for some sit-down five course affair tonight. Lily had grabbed a plate, filled a glass to the brim with Merlot, and began making her way around the room.

Harry and James, of course, had taken to hovering near the food, Sirius was dragging Remus around to various tables, introducing himself and his "gorgeous husband, the chief of paediatric surgery at Great Ormond Street," and lighting up the room with his laugh, Lily ended up standing with Marlene, Dorcas, Arthur and Molly, chatting about Marlene's latest series of acquisitions for her gallery. She'd purchased a gallery space in Brixton almost a decade ago, and she had quickly started taking on new, exciting artists that she'd met while hanging around the university Dorcas had started teaching at a few years before. She watched as Marlene's eyes lit up while she talked about a brand new artist she'd discovered ("You'd never believe the shit this guy can do with paint, it's mad!"), heard Remus' loud, steady laugh punctuated with Sirius' sharper, barking one from across the room, saw Harry and James chatting animatedly with Shaklebolt, lead diplomat on the UNESCO delegation, and she was struck, once again, by how much (but also how little) had changed for all of them.

Things finally started to settle down after about an hour, and Lily figured she should take a moment to thank her colleagues for coming out, should say a few words to try and express what she'd been mulling over as she'd walked around the room that night. She moved towards the front of the room, grabbed a fork from a table on her way, and clanked it gently against the side of her glass, unduly impressed by the silence that almost immediately fell.

Lily set the fork back down, smiled at the room, "Thank you for coming. All of you," Sirius caught her eye from across the room, shot her a wink. She laughed, rolled her eyes, which, as always, just set Sirius laughing. Remus put his hand on Sirius' shoulder, grinned at Lily, his eyes dancing with amusement, and shrugged as if to say at least he's using his powers for good this time.

She grinned and shrugged back, "So, I obviously didn't expect all of you to be here," chuckles reverberated through the room, "but as you're all here, I figure I might as well say a few things."

She noticed James take Harry by the elbow, whisper something in his ear, and they both began moving towards the front of the room. She flicked her eyes back to the room at large, "We're all here, presumably, to celebrate my tenth year in my role as ambassador, and while I am, of course, very proud of what I've been able to do, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all as well. In particular, I want to thank Michael Stebbins, my brilliant assistant, for always ensuring I've got my damn head on straight. Your job isn't always easy and I know that I ask a lot of you, but you've risen to the challenge and I'm grateful every day that you walked through our door six years ago. To Stebbins," She raised her glass, inclined her head towards Stebbins at the centre table and drank. The room reverberated with "To Stebbins," and Lily smiled as he turned a brilliant red.

She decided to end his torture and continued, "We've become, all of us, a brilliant team over the past decade. We are lucky to work with the many amazing ministers and counsellors that we have at our embassy - Arthur Weasley, Emmeline Vance, Amelia Bones, Susan Abbott, Mary Cattermole, Dedalus Diggle, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Gillian Granger, and our newest counsellor, Maria Johnston, just to name a few," she nodded to them each in turn, paused for a moment while her colleagues applauded them, "You've all done stunning, stunning work and it is truly a pleasure coming to work every day. We might just be chatting with Frenchmen all day and going to galas, but I'd say we're pretty damn good at it."

Lily grinned while her colleagues laughed again, "We've been working on the continent over a particularly rocky decade, tackled everything from the fallout of a brutal Brexit to a number of nearly-there international crises and controversies. We've come together as a team, worked with our connections in the French government, and done all we could to ensure that these problems were handled smoothly and efficiently. We've all worked fantastically hard, and I thank you, all of you, for your service."

The room burst into applause and Lily let her eyes drift towards James, now standing at the very front of the crowd just a few metres away. He was smiling so broadly she thought he might burst and god if she didn't love him more than she ever had in that moment.

"I also want to take a minute, in closing, to thank my family - my incredibly dashing husband, James, and my now horribly embarrassed son, Harry." Harry buried his face in his hands and the room lit up with laughter. James dropped an arm around Harry's shoulder, laughter on his lips, and leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear. Lily waved her hand a bit and James led Harry up to the front of the room, stood by her side.

"James and I have been married for twenty years now," James let his hand slide from Harry's shoulder, turned a bit to face her, "We've come a long way," she smiled up at James, and he reached over, took her hand, beaming at her so intensely she was sure he was lighting up the entire universe with his smile.

She thought of all the other times he'd looked at her like that - as he watched her walking down the aisle towards him on their wedding day, when she told him they were going to become parents, when he held Harry for the first time, his cheeks streaked with tears, that megawatt smile filling his face, overwhelmed laughter bubbling out of him, out of her, no matter how exhausted they both were after eighteen fucking hours.

There was something about these smiles, even now, even after twenty-two years that made her feel like a kid again, like she was just meeting him for the first time on the Tube, her eyes flicking hopefully over him, overwhelmed by how unbelievably gorgeous he is. She'd never gotten used to him, not once in all these years - sure, she wanted to kill him sometimes, they still fought about who had to be the one to fold the laundry, about how he was being too soft on Harry again because grounding doesn't mean he can go to Ron's, James, for fuck's sake! but she'd never once gotten used to him. He still made her laugh so hard she spit tea all over herself, still made her heart falter in her chest when he skimmed his fingers casually along the side of her thigh, when he came up behind her while she stood at the cooktop stirring something for dinner, put his hands on her hips, buried his nose in her hair.

It was all the little things he did, the subtle, knowing lift to the corner of his mouth that drove her mad, the way he made her tea in her favourite mug every morning just the way she liked it, how he ran his fingers lightly through her hair, her head in his lap, while she complained loudly and rudely about the diplomat from some country or another, the way his eyes lit up like he'd just won the bloody lottery whenever he talked about some new research he'd been up to at work, the way he challenged Harry to football things and foot races out in the back garden that inevitably ended up in James losing and lying on his back in the grass while Harry ran victory laps around him, Lily laughing brightly from the bench near their flower beds. She beamed back at him now as she realised that he was, they were everything, absolutely bloody everything, and he cocked a knowing eyebrow that drew a bright laugh from her lips, before she turned back and scanned the room in front of her, "We've been through a lot over the past twenty years. James has sacrificed so much to follow me through this mad career... he had to learn French, for god's sake!"

James' struggles with French were notorious, and the room burst into laughter, but it was James, as always, that drew her gaze. His head had dipped back just a bit, his deep, rumbling laugh pushed through the air, through her skin, made her stomach clench. He squeezed her hand before dipping a bit, bringing their joined hands up towards his lips, pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, "Tout pour toi, mon amour." He practically breathed it into her skin and Lily wasn't surprised, not one bit, when her knees went a bit weak.

She took a steadying breath, faced the room again, James' hand still wrapped in hers, "He always says it's not a big deal, moving to France, leaving a job and a city he loved, and maybe, to him, it isn't. But I am eternally grateful that James was willing to change his life to allow me to follow this career, that he was willing to let my goals and ambition take us wherever they led."

"In the end, they only led us across the channel," she laughed, "but I know that James would have been willing to follow me to bloody Antarctica if that's what it had come to. We've built a life here, James has spent the past decade at le Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and he's achieved some astounding things that I've talked about at length at the embassy," her colleagues laughed, nodded, and she smiled broadly at James, her eyes trained on his, "but, more than anything, I'll never forget his endless love and support and encouragement, and I hope he knows just how much I love him."

The room applauded but Lily could barely hear them - James' eyes were locked on hers, and she couldn't help but stand up just a bit higher on her toes, press a brief kiss to his lips. The light pressure of his mouth against hers set the electric current in her blood screaming through her veins, but, keenly aware that she was in a room with their son and all her colleagues, Lily sank back down onto her heels, said, "I love you," and squeezed his hand.

She pulled her eyes from James, smiled at their son, "And, briefly so he doesn't die of embarrassment, Harry."

Harry flushed pink, but he smiled at her in return and Lily chuckled, "We left England when you were small, just turned six, and watching you adjust to life here has been amazing. You've made lifelong friends here, become so fluent in French that you think you can swear without your father and I knowing," the room burst into laughter again, Harry flushed a deeper red, Lily grinned at him, "and you've grown into a kind, loving young man with a bright future ahead of him. I am so proud of you and I love you more than anything."

Harry walked in front of James, his cheeks tinged a light pink, and pulled her into a hug. "I love you, Mum," he said, smiling when he pulled away. He dipped his head just a bit, ran his hand through his hair, and Lily sighed, reached up and adjusted his hair back to its original (slightly less chaotic) place. Harry flushed a brilliant scarlet and Lily let him go, chuckling a bit to herself as Harry moved to stand between her and James. Lily smiled at them both as James dropped an arm around Harry's shoulders again.

She turned back and smiled at the room, "Enough from me. From what Marlene and Sirius tell me," they both smiled at her from their spots in the room, equally ridiculous grins on their faces, "we've got this place for another hour and all the alcohol in the room has already been paid for. So, drink up and, uh, have fun everyone. Thank you all, again, for coming out tonight. It means the world."

The room dissolved once again into a flurry of conversation and movement, as people got up from their tables, grabbed bottles of wine, drank and laughed with their neighbours. Lily was more than happy to float through the room, smiling broadly, laughing loudly, sharing stories from the twenty-one years she'd spent in the diplomatic service. People slowly trickled out of the room as time ticked by, pulling Lily into hugs, congratulating her, before dipping out. Harry found her about fifteen minutes before they were due to leave, eyes bright with energy and (probably) one or two too many glasses of wine, "Mum, Ron and Hermione are back at the Weasley's, can I go with Mr and Mrs Weasley and stay at theirs tonight?"

Lily looked up at Harry, "I don't see why not, unless," she turned to James, "you have objections?" James shook his head, "No, go ahead, mate. Just let us know when you get there."

Harry sighed, rolled his eyes, "You guys…"

James laughed, "Save it. And bring it in, son." James spread his arms wide, horribly cheeky grin on his face, and Harry sighed, gave them both a quick hug before practically sprinting across the room to where Arthur and Molly were waiting. Molly raised her hand in farewell and Lily smiled, waved back briefly, before she turned to James and raised her eyebrow, "Do you like torturing our son?"

James laughed, wrapped his arm around her waist, "It's the best part of being a parent, if I'm honest."

Lily snorted, pressed her forehead against the side of his arm, "It really is, isn't it?"

James chuckled, leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "Alright, Evans, let's get the family and go home, yeah?"

They said their final goodbyes to the last few stragglers, Sirius called the limo round, and they all piled into the back. Remus pulled out a few bottles of champagne from a bag he'd stashed up towards the front of the car. Lily raised an eyebrow and Remus just shrugged, "We're celebrating, aren't we?"

Sirius and Marlene both grabbed a bottle from Remus' arms, popped the corks and sent them bouncing around the back of the car. Lily narrowly avoided getting hit in the neck with one, Remus would have lost an eye if not for the glasses he'd started wearing a few years back, but as they were all feeling the buzz from the alcohol they're already consumed and they were barely able to contain themselves as the corks darted around the inside of the car, she highly doubted that any of them would care if they took a cork to the eye.

It was times like these, sitting around, just the six of them, that Lily sometimes genuinely forgot how much older they were, lost track of how many years had flown by. Popping champagne in the back of a limousine in semi-formal dress was a bit more out there in terms of their usual get togethers, they still far preferred lounging around in the back garden at "THE POTTERS' BLOODY PALACE" as Sirius had taken to calling it, or going out to the most obnoxiously English pub they could find in Paris and drinking all the beer they could stomach, but the effect was the same no matter what they were doing. Once the six of them were in a room (or the back of a car), laughter and nonsense weren't far behind.

Once they'd gotten home, it was still only a matter of time (and a few glasses of whatever nightmarish cocktail Sirius was serving from the bar) before they were all scattered around the lounge, doubled over in hysterics about things that had happened twenty years ago, things that still felt like yesterday. Marlene and Dorcas were lying on the floor in front of the empty hearth, Remus was sprawled on the couch, Sirius' head resting on his knee from where he sat on the floor, James and Lily were beside Remus, her legs in his lap and his hands, as always, tracing shapes on her thighs. Through her tipsy haze, Lily was thankful that she'd had the sense to pop into Charity's office and remind her that she and the rest of the staff could go home and take the weekend. Poor Charity had walked in on her and James in a variety of compromising positions over the years, but she didn't need to be subjected to the drunk fam on top of it all.

"You know what," Marlene picked her head up from Dorcas' lap, wobbling a bit as she sat up on her elbows, "I love you guys."

Sirius groaned into Remus' knee, "Don't get all sappy on us, McKinnon. You're starting to sound like Red."

"Oi!" Lily grabbed the lime out of her drink, hit Sirius with it, "I'm not sappy!"

Remus snorted, "Oh, Lil. Come on."

"What?!"

Dorcas laughed, "Yeah, hate to break it to you, Lily. You're getting sappy in your old age."

She turned to James whose hand had stilled on her thigh, "Is this true?!"

James smiled, reached over and brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes, "You might be a bit sappy, love."

Lily wanted to be mad, really, she did, but James had that look in his eye again, the one that made her feel like he was seeing the whole world when he looked at her, and she felt her irritation soften, melt. She shifted on his lap, wound her fingers in his hair as his hand moved to cup the outside of her thigh, "I think you're a bit sappy too, Potter."

James grinned, pressed his lips to hers before he pulled away, left a breath of space between them, "We can be sappy together, Potter."

"Ugh god," Sirius groaned louder, pushed himself up to his feet, "Are you two ever going to stop being so disgusting?"

They both gave Sirius the finger as James pressed his laughing lips to hers.