N/A: Hey! Sorry for the wait, but I did leave you with a relatively long chapter – okay, the scroller thing wasn't the size of a grain of sand, but you survived, right? Let's get on with this, shall we?

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

#37 – Remembrance

Easter came early in 1978.

As James woke up that morning, feeling woozy and unpleasantly high on air, he realised that what was making him so hollow that day was his body rejecting the idea that he'd lived a full year without his mother.

He had decided to go home for Easter just so he could support his father, but James learned that he wasn't the one doing the supporting.

'Morning, Dad.' He said, sitting on his regular spot on the breakfast table. Mr Potter looked up from his Prophet and offered his son an apologetic smile.

'Morning, son.' He said with his deep, mourning voice.

Sirius walked in afterwards, smiled at both the Potters and sat silently. The whole atmosphere in the Potter household was sad, even the wind and the colours and the flowers decided to lose their appeal and beauty.

'Erm, are we going to the... hm... today?' James asked, staring deeply into his bagel.

'If you want to... I know the last time you went was Christmas.' Mr Potter said. James nodded and turned to Sirius, who shrugged.

'You can go,' he said. 'but I wouldn't feel comfortable.'

'Why not?'

'I'm not a big fan of... Those places...'

'Fair enough.' Whispered James. 'Are you coming, Dad?'

'Oh, James... I've been there so many times in the past year. I think you should go alone... Your mother would be happy to see you...' Mr Potter told him, smiling weakly. James sighed and finished his breakfast in silence.

...

James didn't want to Apparate into the cemetery. He felt that it would be too simple. She deserved effort, so he walked out of his house wearing his black suit, white shirt, black tie and black Chuck Taylors, holding a bouquet of white and blue tulips and made his way to the Underground station. He got out of the train and climbed the staircase out of the station. He looked around and got lost for a moment, then turned left and made his way to the cemetery.

He stepped on the sparkly wet grass inside the threshold and inhaled deeply, the ritual he adopted as a child to give him strenght and courage to do things he didn't want to do. His mind travelled to the good times he had with his mother, all the laughter, advice, tears... James walked in and looked for his mothers grave.

He walked past many of them. William Richard, beloved son... Claire MacLaverty, dear mother... Liam O'Reilly, died in battle at the age of 19... So many people, so many lives lay underneath the grass, six feet under, in caskets that were chosen by their families, they were all bones now. Their remains were being eaten by bugs and there was nothing more that could be done for them. Their lived had ended. People had cried there, some of the people that cried were probably buried somewhere else, their lived also ended, their bodies also rotten. James' eyes started to fill with tears. He came to a simple marble grave.

Elizabeth Florence Potter

A Beloved Mother, Wife and Friend

Will Always be Missed

And under it there was a poem by Franklin P. Adams inscripted. James smiled at it, like every time, because it was one of his personal favourites.

When I am dead and nervous hands have thrust

My body downward into careless dust;

I think the grave cannot suffice to hold

My spirit prisoned in the sunless mold!

Some subtle memory of you shall be

A resurrection of the life of me.

Yea, I shall be, because I love you so,

The speechless spirit of all things that grow.

You shall not touch a flower but it shall be

Like a caress upon the cheek of me.

I shall be patient in the common grass

That I may feel your footfall when you pass.

I shall be kind as rain and pure as dew,

A loving spirit 'round the life of you.

Whe your soft cheeks by perfumed winds are fanned,

'Twill be my kiss—and you will understand,

But when some sultry, storm-bleared sun has set,

I will be darting if you dare forget!

James kneeled in front of his mother's grave and put the flowers in front of it. He never made permanent flowers, because it was an excuse not to go. There couldn't be excuses. It was his mother. She raised him and made him a good man. He loved her. Still. And forever.

'Merlin... I miss you so much, Mum...' he whispered, sitting down and cross his legs. He traced her name with his finger. 'I still can't believe you're gone. It seems so unreal. I feel that there's this other dimension where you're alive and everything's perfect, no war, no fear, no pain... And you're there. We're all happy and laughing... And Lily's parents are there, too. And we have these big family dinners where Dr Evans teaches Dad about Muggle things and Dad explains him Quidditch... And you and Mrs Evans have tea and swap funny stories about Lily and me. And then, when I ask her to marry me, you two are very excited about it and you give your input on every single detail...' he chuckled. 'It'd be perfect, Mum... But now it sucks, because it's only us. Of course, I still have Dad, but I won't for much longer... And that's even worse...' the tears he was struggling to keep bottled in finally fell, wetting his cheeks stubbornly. James didn't wipe them away. There was no point in hiding that he was sad. Incredibly sad. Devastated. Blue. Dismal. Disconsolate. Blue. Dejected. And all other synonyms provided by any dictionary in the world. He sighed and stood up, looking at his watch and realised he'd been there for two hours.

'Always keeping me for longer than necessary, eh, Mum?' he joked, smiling and waving goodbye. 'I love you.' He said and left.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The patterns on her ceiling had been distracting Lily for twenty minutes now. It was the longest she went the whole Easter break without thinking of James and his Mum. Except all she did was think about James and his Mum. How she missed him and how she wanted to be with him. But she couldn't. It wasn't her place to interfere with the anniversary.

'Sergio, come here.' She asked and the cat went, purring as she begant to stroke his fur. 'How do you think Daddy's doing?' she asked, looking at the cat.

It was around lunchtime and Lily was lying on her bed, being miserable like she thought a dutiful girlfriend would be. Sergio lay on her stomach. She couldn't help but smile at the feline.

'He's doing fine... Sad, but fine, right? I mean, he is James...' she said, trying to convice herself not to worry about him. The Lily stood up and walked past her dozens of open chocolate wrappers to go for lunch.

The Castle was mostly empty like at all holidays and Lily took time to herself, to relax before the exams started the next month. So, she walked slowly to the Great Hall, listening to snippets of conversations between the passing ghosts and the moving paintings. She'd always admired the beauty of the building, the magic of it. It would be magical even if there wasn't magic in it, just because it was so pure and immaculate and still so complex and used. A thousand years old, the Castle was, and how many lives had gone through it? How many people had learned the ways of magic in it? How many had found friends, love, enemies, truth, lies, or built a whole life? Lily looked down at her feet and thought of Elizabeth Potter. She imagined what she was like during her school years... James told her she had auburn hair, always in loose curls. She probably pranced around, laughing with her friends, proudly wearing her Head Gril badge, or holding hands with her boyfriend, Harold Potter, or carrying her heavy books to class because she had to get all Os in her final exams. With those thoughts, Lily smiled. They were so alike, it was very strange.

When she reached the entrance to the Great Hall, Lily almost didn't want to go in and be surrounded by people. Not too many people, granted, but thay blissful silence and peace would be over. She sighed and walked in.

'Hi!' said Mary. 'We were wondering if you were going to come...'

'Oh, I just needed to clear my head a bit...' Lily explained, as she sar down and began to choose what to eat. 'It's so weird here without the Marauders...'

'I know! I ws just saying that!' said Hestia. 'They're so loud that without them, it's like this void...'

'You are being too melodramatic, Hest...' commented Emmeline, rolling her eyes and pointing her pasta-holding fork at Lily. 'Her boyfriend's in London and she isn't as dramatic as you are right now!'

'Please, stop pointing a noodle at me...' asked Lily and they laughed.

'How are you holding up?' asked Mary a few minutes later, after silence fell. There were about twenty people overall in the Great Hall, but, unlike Christmas, all the table were separated and the teachers were all sitting on the faculty table. So they had to whisper if they didn't want their conversation to be echoed throughout the entire room.

Lily shrugged and sighed. 'I'm fine... But I'll be better when I see James.'

'Why do you figure?' asked Emmeline, who was sitting across from her.

'Well, I'm very worried about him. I don't know how he'll handle the anniversary. God, I don't know how I'll handle the anniversary. It's hard, I suppose, and he's just very emotional.'

'Is he?' Hestia raised an eyebrow. 'Because we hardly saw him actually being sad...'

'That's because he bottles it up, since he's never learned to deal with high amounts of sadness. It's dangerous to keep things inside, though, and his mum was his outlet...'

The girls nodded.

'Can we change the subject?' asked Emmeline. 'I feel bad talking about these things...'

'Sure, I'm sorry.' Said Lily. 'i'm just worried. It's natural, right?'

'Yes! It means you're a good girlfriend!' complimented Hestia, patting Lily's hand.

'Speaking of girlfriend...'began Mary, smirking. 'What about you and Stebbins?'

Hestia sighed and rolled her eyes.

'It was just a fling... It's over now... I'm onto better things! Bigger things! Don't wanna get attached in school... No offence, Lils.'

'Non taken...' Lily smiled. 'I really thought you were cute, though.'

'Nah... He's great and all, but I'm not a big fan of "the relationship"... I don't want to be refered to as "them" or "we"... I'm me!'

'Very philosophical...' said Emmeline and the other two nodded.

'Thanks...'

'But I'm not a "we" or "them"... I'm me, too!' protested Lily. 'And James is most certainly not a "them"... Every relationship is different. You shouldn't be in one because of how you look in it, but because of how you feel...'

'Wow. It's like I'm having lunch with Plato and Descartes!' laughed Mary.

'Ok. I'm done with lunch. What are we doing today?' asked Emmeline.

'I have some hom—'

'Don't you dare ditch us for homework again, Lily!' bellowed Hestia. Every head in the room turned to her and she waved them away. 'We should hang out and do something! Like, I don't know... OH! Makeovers!'

They were now walking out of the Great Hall and the three girls stared at Hestia incredulously.

'You are joking!' said Mary.

'Nope.' Hestia smiled. 'It'll be fun! We'll do make-up and hair! Come on! What's the point of magic if we can't use it for fun?'

'I don't know... Saving the world from Voldemort?' suggested Lily ironically.

'Aaaaaaaaand having makeovers! Come on!' Hestia ran in front of them to the Gryffindor common room and they followed, giggly.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

'You're not taking this to Hogwarts, are you?' asked Mr Potter, entering James' bedroom.

James looked up from the little black velvet box and shook his head.

'Nope. You told me to wai, I'll wait.' He said. 'Besides, there's nothing romantic in asking the girl of your dreams to marry you at school.'

Mr Potter chuckled and sat next to hi son on the bed. 'I agree.'

'How did you do it?' James asked, handing the ring to his father, who picked it up and smiled at it.

'Wow, I haven't thought about it in years... Our first date was a disaster. I took her to Madam Puddifoot's – I know, it really is that old – but it was rubbish, because I hated that place and I was very, very nervous. But after that, we took a walk around the gardens, you know? The Hogsmeade gardens?' James nodded and he continued. 'Yes, we went there and there was the most beautiful tree with cherry blossoms. Your mother always loved flowers, all kinds of them, but the coloured ones were her favourites. Tulips, roses, cherry blossoms... And lilies, of course. So we sat on a bench under it and I kissed her for the very first time. Son, I can tell you that I'd never felt that way before and haven't since. It was a perfect moment. You only get one in your life, I think, and that was mine. Kissing Lizzie under that cherry tree. So, on our five year anniversary, I took her there again, got down on one knee and gave her this ring. She said yes, and she was crying... It was the third happiest day of my life...'

'Third?' James raised an eyebrow. What could make him happier than that?

'Well, the wedding is second... And starting a family is first. When you were born, son.'

They looked at each other and James nodded, not knowing what to say. 'I love you, Dad.' He said, finally. Mr Potter smiled and hugged him by the shoulder.

'I love you too, son.'

'Why did it take you so long to propose?' James asked.

Mr Potter chuckled and shook his head. 'I wasn't as certain as you about my future. We were more free then, I think... No war nonsense. So I decided I wanted to build a life for her before I asked her to be with me forever. She also wanted to start her career on the right foot. But we started living together after the third year. After our first year away from Hogwarts... Although our parents did frown upon that, but it was the best decision I've ever made, to wait.'

James nodded. 'Ok...'

'But you shouldn't... Not that long.'

'Why not?'

'Because right now, we have to cherish those moments more than anything. Do everything to be close to her... It's dangerous and you never know when it'll be over.'

'I guess...'

They fell silent and James looked around his room, noticing he didn't want a room for him anymore, he wanted a room that screamed "Lily-and-James-live-here-together", with those stupid cushions girls like, duvets and Victorian lampshades. He did want to build a life for her, but he didn't want to wait before it was too late.

'I have some ideas... For the thing, I mean.'

'Really?' his father raised an eyebrow.

'Yeah... Wanna hear them?'

'Yes, please... Go ahead.'

'Well, it starts with...'

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

'I hate this game. It's stupid.' Moaned Hestia, throwing her head back. Her once long dark brown hair was now shoulder-length and she had a fringe. Emmeline, who had curled her blonde hair and made it a little darker, laughed and shook her head.

'Because you suck at it.' She said.

Mary, who now had a channel haircut, threw a pillow at them. 'I'm trying to focus!'

'I bet she doesn't have any vowels...' said Lily, who had gone for a wavy hairstyle with a very long fringe. She was resting her chin on her knee. They were all sitting on the floor, around the coffee table.

'I really don't! Damn Scrabble!' whined Mary.

'You should use that "bus" to make "bust".' Said a gleeful voice from behind Mary. The girls were so into the game, they didn't realise who it was.

'What? But that's a stupid word.'

'Course it is... You pervert.' Said another voice. Lily raised an eyebrow.

'What the hell?' she asked, looking back and seeing her smiling boyfriend and his smiling best friend waving at them.

'Hello.' They said in unison.

'Oh my God!' Lily exclaimed, jumping up and throwing her arms around her James' neck. 'You're back one day earlier!'

'Dad had stuff to do and I really missed you!' he said. Sirius rolled his eyes and sat in the circle.

'If you don't mind, Lily, I'll play for you now.' He said, smirking. 'Dirty-Scrabble.'

'Sure, go ahead!' said Lily. She held James' hand and dragged him out of the Common Room.

'They are so having sex now.' Said Hestia with a smirk. Sirius high-fived her.

'Yep. Lucky bastard.'

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

After two hours of 'Oh-God-I-missed-you-so-much' snogging, Lily and James were lying – fully-clothed – on their backs on James' bed, holding hands and almost asleep.

'I really liked your hair...' he said, turning on his side. She did the same and smiled.

'Thanks... I didn't think you'd notice... But then again, you notice everything.'

He chuckled. 'True.'

'How are you?' she asked, running her finger throgh his jaw. He sighed.

'I'm ok... Had a good time with Dad...'

'Really?'

'Yeah... he told me all these stories about Mum... It was great.'

Lily smiled.

'I love you.' She whispered, leaning closer to him and curling up against his chest.

'I love you too.' He said, putting his arm around her.

They both fell asleep on each other's arms.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

N/A: Hello! What's up? That's one more down. I feel like I'm in the final countdown. There are buildings singing the song to me... Ok, if you live in the UK, you'll get this joke... Well, if you live in the UK and watch TV... And seen the advert. Anyway! I would like to apologise for the previous chapter's layout, which was ruined by the (beep beep) layout thingie from this website. Sorry. Yep. Also, tumblr: hellolz, look it up if you want. I'll see you on the next chapter which will come in a couple of days... It'll be my first chapter as a glasses-wearing author! I'm picking my brand new glasses tomorrow. Kinda nervous... Anyway, yeah, see you in a few days! 'Til then, as always, Marauder-on!