I own nothing but my OC'S! This is real last chapter; the next chapter is just going to be an epilogue, skipping forward to a year later. I just realized how much I am going to miss this story! Thanks everyone for the updates and thank you for reading all about Lizzie!
Chapter twenty one- So Undeniably Mine.
-James' POV-
"Why?!" I hear Sirius scream. "Why?!"
The tears still coursed down my face and I made no move to stop them. How could the world be this cruel? How could someone like Lizzie, sweet little Lizzie be gone? What kind of-
A loud knock on the door brings me out of my thoughts. I look towards Sirius who had finally stopped screaming. I got up calmly, wiping the tears from my eyes and walked towards the door.
I pulled it open and when I didn't see anything I made move to shut it when a little whimper pulled my eyes down. The sight made fresh tears fall down my cheeks.
Lizzie was laying on my steps blood spilling everywhere with Gideon and Fabian next to her. One look at them and their staring eyes had me lifting a hand to my mouth to suppress a sob. They were dead as much as I didn't want it to be true.
"Remus! Sirius!" I scream.
"Come here baby." I say soothingly picking up Lizzie in my arms, her whimpering turned into a loud cry and her little body shook in my arms.
"James what- Lizzie?" I hear Sirius say, his voice cracking.
"Gideon and Fabian they're d-"
"Remus." I say cutting him off. "You need to alert Dumbledore. And I need a healer."
I turn my back on both boys and walk Lizzie upstairs and into the bathroom. I felt more than heard Sirius walk in beside me.
"Padfoot turn on the water." He reaches his hands in the shower and turns it on while I set Lizzie down on her feet. My hands move along her robes unbuttoning them and sliding them off her shoulders. I undress her completely not even caring about the fact that she was naked in front of me. My eyes roam over all the deep gashes and broken skin that were still bleeding. I lift her up then and place her in the shower leaving the curtains open. The blood and the water mixed running pink down the drain. I grab a wash rag and gently run over all the cuts and washing the dirt from her body, drenching myself completely. Her crying didn't stop even then and I wondered if it ever would.
Sirius reached his hands in then also wetting himself and began washing the blood from her hair.
"It's okay Princess." He says gently. "You're safe now."
After rinsing her off completely we turn the water off and Sirius wraps her in a towel. I swing her back up into my arms again and walk her into her bedroom. I lay her on the bed and cast a drying charm on her when she shivers. Sirius hands me her bra and knickers which we place on her.
"I don't think we should dress her yet, Padfoot. She needs to get healed." He nods his head but places a thick blanket over top of her shivering body. By this time the crying stopped finally but she didn't say anything. She just stared at the ceiling.
What could have been years later Albus and Molly Weasley run into the room. Molly's eyes were blood shot and puffy but she still pushed us out of the way and began moving her wand over all the cuts cleaning them and covering them the best she could. She wrapped them up in all of a half hour until finally she gently lifted Lizzie's head and poured a sleeping potion in her mouth.
"Molly." I start, stepping forward. "I am so very sorry about your brothers."
Her eyes watered and tears spilled down. "Thank you James."
"No thank you." Sirius says walking up to her side and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for healing her."
She looked over at Lizzie who was sleeping soundlessly on the bed.
"She brought them home." She says simply before exiting the room.
Then Sirius, Albus, and I just stared at each other none of us knowing what to say. Clearly we were all glad Lizzie was alive but Gideon and Fabian- weren't.
"She'll be okay." Albus says finally, pushing a strawberry curl off of her forehead. "Whatever happened to her this past week…she'll be okay."
He looks down and then back up.
"Lily arrived downstairs, she sitting with Remus and Peter as well." He says to me. "Why don't you come downstairs and let Sirius sit with Lizzie?"
I look at Padfoot who was now sitting on a chair by her bed gripping her hand tightly and nod my head. I follow Dumbledore out the door and down the stairs.
"James!" Lily yells, she stands quickly and throws herself into my arms. I hold her tightly as she buries her head into my neck, crying.
"Don't cry love." I whisper gently in her ear.
"I-I can't h-help it." She sobs, her tears soaking my already wet shirt.
Lizzie had gotten out close with her life. Who's to say who would be next? Nothing was certain about the world we lived in now. No one's life was guaranteed. Without thinking through about what I was asking, I leaned my head closely to her ear and whispered,
"Marry me."
Her crying stops all together and she pulls back and stares into my eyes, her breathing labored.
"Lily, I love you and I know this isn't romantic or how you may have pictured it but-"
"Yes." She breathes. "Yes."
I sigh in relief and her lips meet mine and I pour everything into this kiss. Everything I felt at the moment and I could feel her doing the same. What felt like hours passed before we pulled apart.
"I love you James Harry Potter." She whispers as another tear makes its way down her cheek. I cup her face between my hands and kiss it off.
I wrap my arm around her then and guide her to the couch. I sit her down first before sitting down next to her. She curls up to my chest as my fingers absently stroke her hair.
"James, how is she?" Moony asks, from where he was sitting in the arm chair.
"She's asleep, Pads is with her."
"James! I just got the message is she-"
"She's sleeping Alice." I say looking towards the blonde girl that just ran in clasping Frank's hand tightly. She falls back and he catches her.
"Oh thank Merlin." She breathes placing a hand on her heart. "Thank Merlin."
xx
-Sirius' POV-
I grasped her hand tightly never wanting to let go. I thought I lost her, I thought I'd never see her again. A tear drops down my nose and falls onto our clasped hands. I sit back and squeeze my eyes shut.
I couldn't do anything for her now, I just had to wait for her to wake up. And when she did I was going to apologize. I don't care if I don't mean anything to her the way she means to me. I'm just going to be her friend because just being her friend was enough for me. This girl was my whole world, my life revolved around her. Her laugh that made me laugh and her smile that could make anyone smile. Her forest green eyes that twinkled, her soft honey sweet voice, the way she felt in my arms. She was really the only person I could ever see myself loving. She was the only girl I would ever love.
Three hours came and went and not so much as a sigh escaped her body. I knew she was alive and well but I needed to hear her voice. If I didn't hear her voice I was going to go insane. I just didn't understand why something like this happened to her.
I shake my head madly, what if something had happened to her? What if-?
"Sirius."
My thoughts stop dead and the hand that was gently smoothing her head back stopped.
"Sirius." The sweet voice repeats again.
Before I can stop myself and before I even know what I'm doing I'm crying. I bury my head in my hands sobbing into them. Just her voice, her gentle voice. She was really okay. She was really there with me. It wasn't a dream.
"Love, don't cry." She says softly, running her hands through my hair. "Please don't cry."
I stifle a sob and wipe my hands, removing the tears from my face and finally look at her. Her forest green eyes stared back and me, filled with unshed tears.
"Gideon and Fabian-" She starts.
"I know." I say taking her hand in mine. "I know."
"Five Death Eaters, Sirius. It took five Death Eaters to kill them."
I take my eyes off of our hands and back up to hers.
"Antonin Dolohov." She says then.
I give her a questioning look.
"He was one of the five. He almost killed me, but he missed. Just missed." She says as a tear leaks down. "I thought I had died. The green light was coming straight for me and I couldn't move. The force of the spell through me back but only when Gideon called my name did I realize I was still there."
My heart starts beating loudly, she was that close? That close to death?
"W-what happened?" I ask then.
"They attacked us from behind; when I woke up I was tied to a pole, Gideon and Fabian on either side of me. I-it was horrible! They tortured us all the time trying to get information but none of us would give in. I don't have a clue where we were or if I was even going to make it out of there. We passed the time by talking and telling stories." Her voice cracks a bit when she says that. "Then I don't know how it happened but I reached up to wipe my hands and suddenly my hands were free. I untied their ropes and we waited until they sent someone to check on us. Gideon and Fabian grabbed their wands and stunned them. Fabian summoned our wands that's when the other Death Eaters came. We dueled for a long time, then the whole thing with me almost- d-dying. By the time I had gotten up their wands were already on Gideon and Fabian and they said it, th- the- two words."
She turns her head away from me as thick tears course down her face.
"I-it- I was so stunned. Gideon and Fabian you just look at them and think they'll be around forever. I managed to stun to death eaters at a time." She says continuing on with her story. "Then it was just Dolohov and I. We dueled back and forth for awhile before he used the cruciatus curse on me. He made the mistake of taunting me when it was over, because it gave me enough time to stun him. I grabbed Gideon and Fabian and apparated here."
"Is it wrong?" I begin after a few minutes.
"Is what wrong?"
"Is it wrong for me to be happy it wasn't you?"
She shakes her head sadly and wipes a tear off my cheek. "No sweetheart, no. It's not wrong."
"What would I have done without you?" I ask her.
"You'd manage just fine."
"Who would put me in my place when I acted like an arrogant prick?"
Her lips twitch.
"I'm sure Lily would be happy to take the job."
"Who would I go to, to talk?"
"James is your best mate, or maybe Remus he's very sensible you know."
I shake my head.
"That's not the point." I say while she smiles that beautiful smile at me. "There is only one Princess and I'd rather like for her to stay around. Please don't do that to me again." I beg. "Please."
"I promise I won't." She tells me, her face serious again.
"I thought I was never going to see you again, do you know how that made me feel?"
"Probably exactly how it made me feel." She counters.
"Listen Lizzie. I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't have lied to you, but it's just that you really do mean a lot to me and-"
"Sirius-" She says.
"No Princess you really need to let me-"
"Sirius please if I don't say this now I never will."
I stop and look at her.
"Say what?"
"I love you." She says simply and then goes on, "I know I don't have the right too, I mean you deserve someone so much better than me. Someone more stable and someone who knows how to do this whole relationship thing. I mean I never believed in any of it and then you came along and now I'm stuck with this whole thing. And it wasn't really fair of me to sleep with you and tell you it didn't mean anything because then-"
"Love."
She stops rambling then and hesitantly meets my eyes. I smile and lean forward.
"You're perfect for me." I say kissing her lips softly. "You're the one I want not anyone else." I say kissing her once more. "And I love you." I say kissing her again, but this time it's different because threads her fingers through my hair making me hold on while he lips part undermine. My eyes flutter shut and I sit up and lean forward even more making her lie flat on the bed while I hover over top of her, the tips of my fingers caressing her neck.
"Sirius." She breathes, her lips inches from mine. Her soft breath blows on my face and my eyes flutter shut again. I breathe deeply a few times to get myself under control, eventually I sit back.
When I catch her eye she shakes her head and motions for me to sit next to her. I slide my shoes off and carefully get into the bed next to her, leaning against the head bored while she repositions herself between my legs, leaning against my chest. My arms wrapped around her waist holding her up and trailing my fingers up and down her sides soothingly.
"How long?" She asks after a while. I knew without question what she was asking.
"After I played that prank on you in the beginning of the year. It was the exact moment where you ran out of the hall that it dawned on me."
"Lovely." She states dryly.
I chuckle and roll my eyes.
"I only pranked you because I couldn't get you out of my head. The day before, every time you touched me it sent shivers down my spine, and the sound of your voice and your smile…." I trail off with a slight smile on my face.
"You loved me all that time?"
"Yes." I answer without missing a beat. "Why don't you tell me how you realized it."
"I think I maybe just always have. I think I tried thinking of other explanations for thinking about you all the time. Because of course love wasn't real to me so it couldn't have been that. I just always needed you. I liked having you around. I liked your laugh and your smile that always reassured me and the way I always felt protected by you. I liked how you could calm me down by just the sound of your voice. Do you remember that day in the room of requirement how I told you that if I wish loved was real I would have wanted to be in love with you?"
"Yeah."
"You were my fantasy."
When I laugh she reaches her hand behind her and smacks my head.
"Not like that you dolt. You were too me like a fairy tale love. The way you treated me and the way I felt around you. I don't know I can't really explain it but the real time it hit me was the day we were all sitting in your dorm talking. I think it was about Ellie McGregor. We started talking about how there was only three weeks left of school. You were naturally excited by it and you leaned back against your bed putting your hands behind your head."
"That is how you knew?" I ask my eyes brow raised.
"It just got me thinking about how I didn't know what my feelings were towards you. I started remembering all the conversations we've had over the previous two months and about how attentive you were to what I was saying. And then I started thinking about everything I liked about you and it sort of just hit me, hard. So I got up and ran."
"I remember that." I tell her thinking back to the night as well. "You went to the room of requirements right?"
I feel her nod her head.
"We tried thinking of what you would make the room be, but we couldn't get in."
"I spent the whole night in there. And the next day in Potions everything you said to me, my first thought would be, I love you. I couldn't stop saying it in my head. It just popped in there every time you spoke."
Her sweet laughter rumbles against my chest.
"Maybe you should have just said it out loud. It might have saved all of this mess don't you think?"
She shifts in her arms so she's looking at me.
"How about I just tell you now." She says with a glint in her eyes.
"That could work." I say with a mock thoughtful expression.
"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I lov-" I cut her by placing my mouth over hers. The kiss is familiar but somehow so much different. It was something I knew I would never get tired off; she was something I would never get tired off.
-Lizzie's POV-
His lips met mine cutting off my words and I leaned into the kiss making it deeper. He was something I wasn't likely to tire of. He was sweet, gentle, caring, hilarious, and so undeniably mine. I laughed at the thought.
"Oh and what is so funny Princess?"
"I was just thinking-"
"Angel!"
I whipped my head around towards the door and saw Remus standing there. I immediately jumped up from the bed and threw myself into his arms planting kisses everywhere I could reach on his face. After that I placed my head in the crook of his neck and just breathed in his familiar scent.
"Remus." I say finally after he places me on my feet.
"I love you." He says then, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "If you had gone and died on me, do you have any idea how angry I'd be?"
"I-"
"Probably not as angry as me." Another voice says.
James was leaning casually against the door frame a smile on his face.
"Prongs!" I cried and jumped into his waiting arms.
"Oh Angel." He murmurs softly in my ear. "I thought I lost you, I couldn't even-"
"Stop." I say gently once his voice starts breaking. "You're my best friend James, I won't ever leave you."
"You're my best friend too." He whispers in my ear.
He sets me down and wipes the tears off his face. "Merlin you scared me."
"Sorry." I say with a sheepish smile.
"And where exactly is Mr. Wormtail?" I demand.
"Looking for me?"
James moves out of the way so I can grab Peter and hug him tightly.
"Do not do that again!" He tells me sternly. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." I say with a salute when he releases me.
I turned around then and crawled my way back into bed curling into Sirius. James sat on my other side, while Remus lounged at the end of the bed. We sat there and started talking, about anything and everything. I don't know how long we were there but soon everyone else starting filing in. I looked around at my friends who were smiling and laughing. Lily was placed on James' lap running her hands through his hair, Ellie McGregor was sitting with Remus at the end of the bed their hands wrapped tightly around each other's, Frank and Alice were sitting on the love seat they conjured, Frank was absentmindedly stroking Alice's hair while she leaned into him, and then there was Peter who was sitting in the arm chair he was currently in a heated discussion with Prongs about quidditch but none the less had a large smile on his face. We had some tough times ahead of us, that much was obvious none of this was going to be easy. We knew what we were getting into when we signed the paper. But none of that mattered; well not now anyway because we were together, we were happy. Sirius' hand in mine was proof enough to that. I knew that whatever happened to us next as long as he was there with me, I would somehow pull through, we would somehow pull through and that right there was what this was about, that right there was love.