Chapter Thirty Five

He was surprised that they had not bumped to each other near the Lake more often when they were students as they both seemed to come here to think and recollect. His feet always carried his body towards the patch of trees, where he could sit in the cool breeze of the shade and not be disturbed. However he knew Lily favoured one of the bigger rocks at the Lake edge so he let his feet lead him to there.

He saw her sat on the rock, her feet dangling in the dark water with her ballet style green shoes sat beside her, the material of her vivid green dress sprawled around her. He watched her stare out towards the vast still lake, a lone tear dribbling down her face. As he stood leant against a beech tree, he wished he would never have to see such sadness on her face again.

"Fancy seeing you here," said James softly, as he sat down next to her, unlacing his own shoes. He shivered slightly when his feet were first engulfed in the chilly water.

"How did you know I was here?" asked Lily, as she hastily wiped away her tear with the back of her hand, still staring out at the water.

"I know you either come here or to the library to think and considering you're likely to bump into people in the castle, you'd come here," explained James, picking up a flat, smooth rock and making it skim across the surface of water a few times before it sank in the murky waters. "That and it's a nice day."

"I'm sorry for ruining your wedding," apologised Lily, quietly. "I just couldn't bear to hear you say those words to somebody else. I thought I was strong enough but I'm not."

"Lily, you're the strongest person I know," said James with a scoffing laugh. "Most people would have cracked a lot sooner than you did."

She turned to look at, casting him a scrutinizing glance. "Surely you're little wife will be missing you."

"I didn't get married."

"What?" exclaimed Lily, with a soft gasp. "But the baby-"

"Is nonexistent."

"I don't understand," said Lily, confused. Her eyebrows scrunched up and he had to suppress a small smile.

"There never was a baby," explained James, with a sad smile, running a hand through his course hair as he stared out onto the lake. "She tricked people into believing she was pregnant with a charm because she thought I was going to split up with her to be with you instead. She was probably going to fake a tragic miscarriage too."

"How can a person do such a thing?" cried out Lily, outraged, with her fiery red hair she looked wild and vivacious. "It's practically evil."

"Jealousy causes people to do stupid things," said James with a wry smile.

"I don't understand why you're not livid," said Lily furiously, her emerald eyes ablaze. "How can you not be angry? She did the most awful thing and you're just giving her excuses."

"I was angry at first, of course I was, but now that I've processed it I am relieved," said James, with a huge grin on his face, his hand gently squeezing her waist. "I don't care what she did because now I can be with you. It feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders and my arms are no longer tired so they're free to wrap themselves around you."

"It's not that simple," said Lily, running her hand through her hair, a habit James was proud to say came from him. "It will be in the papers, everyone will know! Including the students. Including Dumbledore!"

"Then marry me!" The words had barely registered in his brain before they were spoken very clearly and loudly by his lips. They were both surprised by what he'd said but he knew it was right. The way things were supposed to be. "Do it. Marry me. Be my bride. My wife. The woman who I'll kiss every morning, every night and every minute in between without having to hide it. I want to spend the rest of my days with you Lily. This is it. You're the one for me."

She looked so painfully broken yet innocent. Her lips formed a sad smile and her eyes shone with confusion and shock, tears rolled down her porcelain cheeks. She had never looked as beautiful to him as she did then. He knew through the tears and smiles, happiness and upsets; no matter what happened to him she would always be beautiful, always be his.

"How will that solve anything?"

"Because I love you."

"James, you know I love you too but we are in an impossible situation," stated Lily seriously. "There are repercussions that are unbearable to imagine. What about the fact that it's against the rules? It's strictly forbidden. What about Dumbledore? What about the horrible Lysandra woman?"

"Screw the rules, Lily. Screw that wretched woman and screw Dumbledore. If I'm forced to pick you or my job; I pick you every time. I'll resign today if I have to."

"Think about this carefully, this is your career we're talking about."

"No, it's not, it's my life and quite frankly, it's not worth living without you by my side," smiled James. "Marry me Lily. Please, I have a ring and everything."

Lily's lips formed a wry smile as she let out a small laugh. "Yes, the one left over from your previous engagement. You're really selling yourself here James."

"This ring was never meant for Gwen," sighed James. He played with the valuable ring, flicking it from finger to finger cautiously, aware that it could fall into the Lake. "My grandmother died the summer before Seventh Year and she left me this ring and a letter explaining what to do with the ring. It had to be saved so I could give it to the woman I love the most; the girl with the red hair and the green eyes that I spoke so fondly of. When I knew I had to propose to Gwen, I didn't have time to get another ring, I had to use this one. It was always supposed to go on your finger."

"James, getting married is a ridiculous idea," said Lily, her voice sounding so raw. Her beautiful green eyes looked torn and tired. He hated to see her at such distress. "It feels right now but we haven't even dated."

"Yes we have," stated James, fighting for their love.

"For a few weeks, James!" exclaimed Lily. "And that was five, nearly six, years ago. We all know how badly that ended."

"You can't be saying this, Lily," said James shaking his head sadly. "That ended through no fault of ours."

"Yeah but look how quickly I turned against you," said Lily, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand. "What if something else stands in our way like that again? How am I going to react knowing that you easily cheated on Gwen with me?"

"None of that matters if you trust me," said James, capturing both of her hands in his, holding them close to his chest. "I love you, Lily. To me, nothing else matters. I know my track record is nothing to be proud of and of course it must worry you that I'll repeat myself. But, I did what I did for you. I cheated on her for you and I would never do it for anyone other than you. I trust you and I need to know that you trust me because if you don't then I don't think we can go any further.

"I- I-"

"Do you trust me?" asked James urgently, his grip on her hands tightening. She looked up, her brilliant green eyes staring at him uncertain. He tried his hardest to practically pour his love out of his own hazel eyes. They seem to be stood there for hours yet he knew it was most likely only moments. He willed her to speak, the silence unbearable.

"Yes," relented Lily, softly. "Of course I trust you, James. Even back in Hogwarts before we started dating, probably before I even liked you as a person I trusted you. There's something about you that's so trustworthy. That's not the point though, James. Sure, we're good in bed together and I do love you but in the real world we could rubbish together. Or perhaps without all this secrecy to keep us occupied maybe we'll get bored of each other."

"I could never get bored of you, Lily," sighed James. "I spent a good five years chasing after you at Hogwarts without getting bored. Despite all that's happened, this year has been the best; I've had you. I am not going to lose you now. I don't care that we've never really dated properly but I don't understand why we should, cause I know everything important about you and I love you."

Lily smiled, happily. "I love you too."

"Well, thank Merlin for that."

Lily grabbed the ring from in between his fingers and stared at it, mockingly inspecting it. She slipped it on her ring finger on her left hand, holding her hand up towards the sun with a cheeky smile on her face. "Hmm, well I suppose it fits nicely."

"Is that a yes?" grinned James, jumping up onto his feet, pulling Lily up onto hers. He cupped her face softly with both hands, smiling into her deep emerald eyes.

"Yes!" laughed Lily, before he captured her mouth into a sweet, loving kiss. He grinned as he could feel her smile against his lips. He moved his hands down to her waist where he got a firm grip so he could pick her up and twirl around. He put her down after a few spins, not wanting to slip on the rock and tumble them both into the Lake. He grabbed her hand and kissed her ring.

"Oh I feel like royalty," smirked Lily. James laughed before dipping his head down to give her a quick kiss.

"This is how carefree and happy life should always be," smiled James.

"It won't feel carefree when we have to tell people."

"Let's go to the Great Hall now and get it over and done with," suggested James.

Lily bit her lip. "Gwen and her family... I'm going to get my eyes clawed out."

"Gwen stormed off," said James, with a slight chuckle. "Her bunch of shallow friends and family went with her. Remus told all my lot to go to the Great Hall and start the party. He knew we needed privacy and knowing that clever git, he knew we'd be in a party mood."

"You've got very respectful friends of your family in there," reminded Lily. "They're not exactly going to approve. Don't forget Dumbledore – I know you said you'd resign but what if he fires me?"

"I'll tell him it was my entire fault. That I led you astray so to speak," smirked James, waggling his eyebrows.

"Be serious," asked Lily warningly.

"Lily, I am being serious," said James, his voice soft, his hazel eyes pleading with her. "You mean more to me than my job, my friends, and my family. As long as you're by my side, you're all that matters. If I have to get into trouble instead of you then I will. I just want to see you happy and, this could just be me being hopeful, but you seemed happy a moment ago when you put that ring on your finger."

He watched hopefully as she stared at her left hand with scrutiny, the precious stones glittered in the bright sunshine. He felt his heart glow with warmth as she smiled, her emerald eyes glancing up at him timidly.

"Do you remember when we first saw each other at the beginning of the year? When I stormed into your classroom?" asked Lily, with a smile. He nodded and waiting for her to continue patiently. "You blew me away. I think I actually staggered a little when I first saw you. Even though I was furious with you, you still had that effect on me. You always will."

"I'm going to presume that's a good thing," smirked James, cupping her face lightly. "I think we should go now. I need to introduce my new fiancée to everybody."

"Ooh I look forward to meeting her," grinned Lily. "I've heard she was rather attractive."

"Stunning," murmured James, as he leant down to capture her lips in a sweet kiss.