First off, SORRY FOR THE SLOW UPDATE. I'm not gonna lie: I was really busy and I actually kinda forgot about this story.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, but this is the FINAL chapter of Learning To Love Him!

And I'm sorry, but I don't know about the sequel. I mean, I have it planned and all, but I don't know if I'll end up writing. I've been so busy I don't know if I'll have time to write. (You saw how long it took for me to update. 18 days.) If I ever find the time, I probably will, but I can't make any promises. I'm SO SO SO SO SORRY.

But nevertheless, please enjoy this last chapter! It's jumbo-sized! =D

Stewart: So this is goodbye?

Me: ...yeah, I guess so.

Stewart, Phyllis, and Tats: *burst into tears* WAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Me: *cries with them* You readers better *sniffles* just read the story *sob* while we *sob* let our emotions out *hysterics*


Lily's POV:

"Now, do all of you have your dress robes on?" Professor McGonagall asked all the Gryffindors.

"Why, Minnie, oh Minnie, oh Minnie," Sirius started. "I know that's code for you want my dress robes off my body and on the floor, but let's face it, even though I'm of legal age, I'm simply not attracte—"

"SIRIUS BLACK!" McGonagall exclaimed loudly, and the entire common room, including myself, burst into giggles.

After the commotion was over, Professor McGonagall continued. "Now, as you're all aware, you will all be graduating in just a few short hours..."

I sat down in my chair and glanced around the room, tuning out the professor's voice. I watched Peter, fidgeting in his seat, nervous and twitchy.

I saw Remus adjust his dress robe, then change his mind and readjust it back. He caught me looking, and shot a furtive smile at me before readjusting his robe. He, like Peter, looked nervous, but I could tell that, above all, he was just excited.

Frank had one arm wrapped around Alice, the other tugging at her hair playfully. Alice herself was twisting her engagement ring around nervously, listening attentively to Professor McGonagall's speech.

Sirius and James were having a poking contest, not paying the slightest attention to Professor McGonagall's words. I smiled fondly at the two boys. And to think, I used to despise them just a couple of years ago!

I listened again to the professor. "...a memorable day, one you've probably been waiting for ever since your first day here..."

And then the flashback hit me.

"When I get married, the entire church is going to be simply filled with white roses, I mean, red roses are classy and pink roses are a delight, but let's face it, there's a real romantic aura with white roses you just don't get wi—"

"Merlin, Mary, do you always talk so much?" Marlene had exclaimed, and the two of us started giggling.

"Oh, you know she does," said Alice, and then it was the three of us laughing. After a moment, Mary started giggling too, and before long, the entire dorm was filled with the sound of four thirteen year old girls' giggling.

I sighed. "I wonder what my wedding will be like."

"Well," Alice said, scooting closer to me and nudging me gently on the side with her elbow, "it's never too early to start planning!"

I laughed. "I don't know, I mean, Merlin's beard, we're not even graduated!"

Marlene tilted her head. "True. What do you suppose graduation will be like?"

"Well, for one thing, it had better be inside, I mean, the Great Hall is lovely, and if it were outdoors, and there was poor weather, blimey, that'd be ghas—"

"But everything's so much prettier outdoors!" I exclaimed. "I mean, think of the lake, and the trees, and—"

"But Lily," Alice started, not missing a beat, "we got Sorted in the Great Hall, it only suits that we'd graduate there, too!"

I contemplated that. "Well, I suppose you're right."

The four of us stayed silent for a moment, and then Marlene spoke up. "Graduation seems so far away, though. D'you suppose we'll still be friends?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" asked Alice haughtily. She held out her friendship bracelet. "This isn't going anywhere, I swear it."

I smiled, then leaned back. "I can't wait for graduation..."

"...achievement, both personal and otherwise," Professor McGonagall was saying, "and I must admit, I'm proud of all of you—"

"Why, Minnie, to think, all this time I'd supposed you were ashamed of me!" Sirius shouted, interrupting his poking war with James.

It figured that would be the only part of the speech Sirius heard. I snorted.

But then I heard a snort coming from behind me.

I turned around and saw Mary and Marlene.

They were laughing and giggling and evidently enjoying themselves to no limit.

James noticed me looking at them, and sent me a silent message, which I promptly ignored. I pretended to be listening to McGonagall instead.

"...a memorable experience for you and your friends to share..."

This was going to be a long day.


"You miss your friends," James told me, right after cornering me after McGonagall's speech was over. The two of us were supposed to be practicing our speeches we'd be speaking at the graduation ceremony, but it appeared James had other plans.

"Well...yeah..." I said, feeling a little uncomfortable. "They're my friends."

"But you guys haven't talked in ages," James observed

I was tempted to say a sarcastic remark like "Really, I hadn't noticed!" But instead I answered honestly. "Well, how would you feel if Sirius and Peter stopped talking to you?"

"Sirius is my best ma—"

"So was Marlene, y'know."

He bit his lip. "Then...go...I dunno, go talk to them."

"I tried," I confessed, thinking back to my multiple attempts at talking to them I'd done in the past month. It seemed kinda pitiful, actually, now that I thought about it.

While I began to wallow in self-pity, James was evidently lost in thought. "Why won't they talk to you, anyway?"

I temporarily came out of my self-pitying state to look up at him. "I told you a while ago. Marlene's still hung up on Sirius cheating on her, and she's convinced y—"

"But that was ages ago," James argued. "Nearly a year ago."

I sighed. "Try telling that to her."

He looked at me. "You sure she's not mad about something else?"

I thought about it. "But...I haven't done anything to vex her..."

I could see the cogs turning in James's head. "All right," he said slowly. "All right. Give me...gimme a moment," he said, and walked past me.

"Our speeches!" I shouted after him, but he just waved his hand back at me dismissively.


Sirius's POV:

"Come on, Padfoot!"

"Are you out of your bloody minds?" I nearly shouted at James. The insolence of that boy, asking me to go apologize to a girl who hadn't spoken to me in months.

"Come on! Why not?"

"Because..." I thought about it. "Because...well, who goes off and apologizes to their old girlfriend when they did nothing wrong?"

"Err, Pads, are you forgetting? You did do something wrong. Hell, this entire thing's your fault!"

"I didn't mean to!" I protested, and internally winced at how stupid that sounded.

"But you did."

"Sirius Black does not apologize."

"Yeah, well, James Potter wasn't supposed to apologize either, remember?" He was looking serious now, and it occurred to me that the entire don't apologize no matter what thing was James's idea in the first place.

"Yeah, well, James Potter's a lovey-dovey loser."

He glared at me. "Well, Sirius Black is a giant wanker."

"You take that back."

"No, not until you do."

"And why should I?"

"Because you insulted me first!"

I huffed at him. "So?"

He sighed. "See, mate, you're just proving my point."

"Your point?"

"YOU'RE AN IMMATURE IDIOT WHO DOESN'T APOLOGIZE OR ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO ARROGANT."

I stared at him. "Lily's rubbing off on you."

"I know. But it's true."

I glared at him. "Well, what if I do apologize? What'll I get out of it?"

"The honor of being a better person."

"Meh. I like my dignity better."

"You'll get to talk to a pretty girl more often."

I thought about that. "Well...she is pretty," I agreed, thinking back on the times we'd been dating. Good times, too. "But this time tomorrow, we'll be out into the world, no obligations. Lots of prettier girls."

The scary part was that I even I was aware of how messed up that statement was. Was I really that much of a jerk?

James looked at me for a moment. "C'mon, mate, just go apologize."

We had a silent staring contest. Eventually I caved in. "I must be bonkers," I muttered, before setting off to find Marlene.


Marlene's POV:

Me and Mary were talking about Alice and Frank's wedding.

"Ooh, d'you suppose we'll get to meet Frank's cousins?" Mary asked. "I heard that he has relatives in France, and there are supposed to be some cute guys over at Beaxba—"

"Of course they'd be coming!" I insisted. I paused to listen to McGonagall's speech.

"...a memorable day, one you've probably been waiting for ever since your first day here..."

I thought about back when we were first years. I remembered meeting Mary, who had been chattering nonstop about her family and how excited she was to be here and so on and so forth despite the fact I was clearly trying to enjoy my first Hogwarts meal.

I remembered meeting Lily the second day here. She had been really nice and a bit shy. She talked to me and Mary alike, and the three of us became best friends.

I remembered being introduced to Alice. Lily was the one who introduced us, of course; Lily was always the one who knew everybody.

Mary continued chattering about Alice's wedding, but my thoughts trailed to Lily.

Lily, who got asked out by the handsome Bertram Aubrey. Lily, whom the Hufflepuffs adored. Lily, who had top grades in all the classes I was rubbish at. Lily, who even tolerated the Slytherins. Lily, who was made prefect. Lily, who set Mary and Remus up once she found out they fancied each other.

Lily, the girl chased after by the James Potter.

I hadn't resented her, of course, while we were friends. After all, she had been my best friend. She was nice and considerate and we got along really well.

I remembered when Mary and Remus started dating, and we hung out with the Marauders every day. I remembered hating them at first, alongside Lily, but when she warmed up to them, so did I.

I remembered starting to develop a crush on James Potter.

It wasn't huge, of course, but it was definitely there, and it was really irritating whenever James flirted with Lily. The worst part of it all was when I realized that Lily was starting to like James back.

And then Sirius came into my life.

I wasn't sure how it happened, but at some point, the two of us got to talking, which led to snogging, which led to...

And when the two of us began dating, Lily was so supportive. Even when her relationship with Bertram fell apart, she supported us. I stopped fancying James. After all, why should I? I had his best mate. I was the real girlfriend of Sirius Black, a real accomplishment when you considered all those flings he had.

I certainly wasn't a fling.

And then there was that day I walked into the Potter mansion, intending on surprising Sirius. But of course, it was Sirius surprising me. Sirius...with the girl plastered to his lips.

I'd hoped there was some mistake. But when Sirius offered neither explanation nor apology, I was furious. What had I done to deserve this? Nothing. And when James stood up for the twat, it occurred to me that these boys had never really been my friends. They were just people I talked to regularly. It didn't mean they give a damn about what I cared about.

So we broke it off. I figured that if those boys weren't my real friends, then obviously they weren't Mary's, or Alice's, or Lily's friends either. I asked them all to stop talking to the boys.

It was going great. I had my true friends around me, no fakes.

At least, until Lily chose the Marauders over me.

Was that what a real friend did? Choose her boyfriend over her best friend? Would a real friend betray her close friends for a cooler, more popular group? Would a real friend abandon her best friend in favor of people she'd hated just a year ago, even though one was a cheater and another a liar?

But I moved on. I didn't need Lily, I had Mary and Alice. I had my real friends by my side, and that was all that mattered.

But then, a little while after McGonagall finished giving us her speech, I heard the strangest thing.

"I'm sorry, Marlene."

And it wasn't coming from Lily.


Peter's POV:

"Your friends aren't around to protect you, little blood traitor," the Slytherin snarled.

I whimpered. It was true. I was all alone.

"Come on, Avery, just beat him up already," another Slytherin said, sounding almost bored.

The tall one, Avery, shoved me backwards until I hit the wall. He walked over to the bored-sounding Slytherin. "But you heard what the Dark Lord said, Snape, we want to see if we can recru..."

Once I was sure the Slytherins had stopped paying attention to me, I transformed into a rat and scurried away.

As a rat, things were a lot simpler. Easier. And most of all, less scary.

Where was my Gryffindor courage when I needed it?

And why did those guys keep coming after me?


Marlene's POV:

"You're what?" I wasn't sure if I'd heard him right.

"D'you have to make me say it again?" Sirius asked. "Look, I'm sorry about last summer, when I snogged Shannon—"

"So her name's Shannon, is it?"

"Or Gertrude. I can't remember." His voice was more frank and serious than I ever remembered it being, "But, look, I shouldn't have done anything, and I'm sorry." He paused and looked at me. "You know, you look great in that dress, by the way."

I couldn't tell whether he was being sincere and I should say thanks, or sly and I should smack him with a purse. Instead I just asked him the question that was bothering me. "Why are you apologizing to me? Why now?"

He sighed and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. "James. He told me that Lily has been getting all worked up over you not talking to her, and that it was my fault, and I should apologize."

I looked at him. "So you're not sorry? You're just saying so because James asked you to?"

"No! Well...yeah, I probably wouldn't have even thought about it if he hadn't asked me to, but I wouldn't have done it if he'd only asked me to. Ahh, I'm making no sense." He groaned. "I'm not good with words, really."

"You must be, if you've ever convinced me to go out with you at all," I commented.

"Well, it wasn't really talking that we were doing, was it?" Before I had a chance to blush, he continued. "Look, I've been a jerk. And I'm starting to realize that maybe my good looks doesn't make a good excuse for being a jerk."

"You think?" I asked coldly, but honestly, his words were really surprising me.

He winced. "Yeah..."

We both stood there awkwardly. Was he going to say more, or was it my turn to talk?

I sighed. "Well at least you're not being an immature git anymore."

He grinned one of his famous grins. "So I'm a mature git, then?"

I held back a laugh. Then I changed my mind and let it out. "Well, I wouldn't go that far."

Now was his turn to laugh. "Fair enough." His laughter came to a slow stop, and he looked at me curiously. "You should hang out with us more. I miss that."

I bit my lip. Truth be told, I kinda missed it, too. But I wasn't sure how I'd feel being around Lily again. Because the honest truth was that I was jealous of her. And I wasn't sure if I could handle being around her happily in love with her popular boyfr—

"Will you go out with me again?"

I froze. Was. He. Bleeding. Joking.

One glance at Sirius, and I realized he was just as shocked at the words that had just come out of his mouth as I was.

"I take it back. You're still an immature git."

Then, feeling considerably awkward, I walked off.


Lily's POV:

I glanced at the audience. It was just as I thought.

Petunia wasn't there.

But I supposed it was just as well. I hadn't gone to her graduation, either. But still, I would have liked my only living relative to be there.

I turned my attention back at James, who was just about done with his speech. I'd come to the conclusion that he'd practiced his speech without my knowing, because I hadn't heard him rehearse it once and yet he went through it flawlessly.

Cheater. When I'd done my speech, I'd messed up multiple times.

"...and I'm speaking for everyone when I say we'll all miss Hogwarts. Except for those dumb Slytheri—"

"Potter!" McGonagall shouted, and I could tell James was biting back a laugh.

He continued. "And now that I'm leaving, there's just one more thing to say." He turned at winked at me, and suddenly I was very nervous.

"MARAUDERS ASSEMBLE!" James shouted, and suddenly Peter, Sirius, and Remus were running onstage. I groaned when I found out McGonagall had been frozen. Clearly they didn't want her stopping them.

Remus started counting down. "Three...two...one!"

And suddenly the mermaids in the lake were flying about and seven different genres of music were blasting at the same time and the sky was raining paint and party streamers and everyone was wearing a party hat and Hagrid's monstrous pets were dancing in a conga line and the first years were all coming out in delight...

And suddenly James was by my side, grabbing onto my hand and dragging us off the stage and he grinned at me despite the pandemonium around us...

"You're mad! You're all crazy!" I shouted at him over the noise, but I too was grinning.

"Crazy about you," he replied, and gave me a cocky smile.

"Why do I have the feeling you stole that line from somewhere else?"

"Because I did. It was from one of Sirius's romance movies."

"Oh wow."

"But just because I stole the line, doesn't mean it's not true."

I smiled at him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

And he leaned forward and kissed me and it felt like we were the only two people and in that moment everything was perfect and I wouldn't change a thing.

We pulled apart. James shot me one of James Potter's Famous Cocky Grins, then dragged me over to the crowd.

It was insane.

Hagrid's monsters were still dancing but this time with the mermaids and some of the professors, and the sixth years were partying and brooms were flying of their own accord and the house elves were slow dancing and the Muggle families were confused and I could have sworn I saw Marlene wave at me and shoot me a grin, and although everything was hectic, it was perfect. James and I started laughing and dancing with Sirius and Remus and Peter and Marlene and Alice and Mary and Frank and in that moment, even though Voldemort was still at large and the war was still raging on, I felt that everything was going to be okay.


The...end. *stifles a sob* I can't believe it's the end.

I LOVE YOU ALL. Whether you were here from the beginning, or joined in the middle, or read this long after its completion, I love you all because you made it to the end. I can't thank you guys enough.

And who knows, maybe I'll change my mind and make that sequel anyway. But there won't be an epilogue. Sorry :/

Bye for now!

-Tamara the Writer, Stewart the Turtle, Phyllis the Tortoise, and Tats the Frog

PS: Sorry if the ending sucked. I'm not perfect.

Stewart: I'll say.

Me: Shut up, Stewart.