Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. Art work by the awesome Meg (tumblr: anxiouspineapples)

Be That For You

End of November, 7th Year

"I can't believe Minnie is still making us serve detention," James complained as they scrubbed the Potions classroom floor on Friday night. "You'd think she'd cut us some slack."

"You know," Lily smiled, "I think her waiting until you'd fully recovered was cutting us some slack."

James grunted as he sloshed more water onto the floor. "I guess," he responded without any true conviction.

Lily scrubbed away harder, trying to get the Pygmy Puff pus off the floor. It seemed the 1st years had not had a good day brewing and the evidence of that had severely stained all corners of the room. "Could be worse," she panted. Is this an eye? Why isn't it coming off for fuck's sake? "She could have separated us."

James gasped, scandalized. "She'd never." Lily supposed he was right; the Transfiguration professor had seemed very pleased to see both of them back in her class after James' attack. "Fuck!" he unexpectedly yelled. "How do Muggles ever get anything done? Cleaning by hand takes so much time; it's a wonder it isn't all they can do in a day."

Lily chuckled, moving on to the next patch of mess, her knees starting to sting from supporting her. "I suppose for some it is all they do in a day. It can just completely take over their lives." She most definitely was thinking about Petunia in that moment. The very same sister who James would be meeting in less than a month. We should probably go over some ground rules. Or I should at least warn him. "You know, James—" But Lily stopped abruptly as she looked over her shoulder at him, finding him doing nothing more than staring mesmerized at her swishing skirt hemline. "Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting you?" she sassed.

A cocky grin split his face. "Oh no, I can listen to you and check out your arse at the same time."

"Can you now?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "How bout both those things and cleaning this place up?"

"Liiiily…" His smile was so playful, she couldn't help but succumb to the butterflies inside of her. "You ask too much of me. I am but one man." He started crawling over to her. "One, helplessly obsessed—"

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

"Nah," James smirked, leaning in to kiss her. "It's going on my tombstone."

"How are you horny?" Lily asked hypocritically as fuck. "We're covered in slime and guts."

James looked up above their heads to the teacher's desk. "I know one place that's already spotless though?"

"You can't be serious," Lily said, brows raised halfway up her forehead. "On Slughorn's desk?" she whispered as though the man was right there in the room with them instead of safely tucked away in his private quarters down the hall.

"Why not?" he challenged. "Like you haven't thought about it—"

"I don't think I have, actually—"

"Like you don't want to now that I've suggested it," he amended.

Damn. He had her there. "Fine." Lily rose to her feet, walking to the sanitizing station in the corner of the room. "But we have to be quiet though." It wasn't like they had their wands on them to perform a muffling spell.

He joined her, cleaning off his hands as well. He looked at her mischievously. "Right. Because I'm the one who has a problem with that."

Lily flushed ducking away. "You moan too," she grumbled.

James caught her by the waist before she could get too far. "I love how into it you get, babe. Trust me. And don't worry about it, I'll just have to muffle you the old-fashioned way." He wiggled his fingers before using them to grab her chin and kissing her softly. "That way you can scream all you want."

While only centimeters apart, she gently nudged his nose with her own and threw him a wink. "And I'm on top." She sauntered over to the table and looked at him like, 'Well? Why aren't you here and pants-less yet?'

James hastily fumbled with his belt, trotting right along and hopping onto the desk. "Evans on top in Potions? What a novel concept."

She pushed him down by the shoulders and climbed on top of him, throwing her leg around his hip. "Get ready to be nothing by hard in this room ever again."

It was a Seer-worthy prediction, because whenever James was in Potions after that, he'd always have a telling tightening in his trousers as soon as he walked through the door, unable to imagine anything other than how he'd tried to guide Lily's hips over his (only for her to slap his hands away and set her own frantically fast, glorious pace instead).

Things returned somewhat to normal in the following weeks as they always seemed to do after the latest tragedy. Mary let Lily know that Dumbledore had made a very ominous announcement the night after James' attack stating that he'd now personally be attending all school gatherings from here on out — every game, every dance, every feast. Going forth, there would also be a zero tolerance policy on small things like murder attempts. Lily doubted that was exactly the way the headmaster had worded things, but that was how Mary had relayed the message to her. She supposed Hogwarts had started feeling less and less safe recently, and Dumbledore was trying to restore the faith. Lily suspected his course of action would probably work too, because who on earth would be stupid enough to have a violent outburst in front of him?

Lily was still pretty friggin' mad, however. How had someone gotten away with hexing James in broad daylight at a crowded sporting event? There had to be witnesses. Sure, most Slytherins watched together, but there had to be a few good ones to break ranks for something as evil as what had happened… Right? Were they being threatened into silence? And it wasn't even like she could ask Rosier for leads considering he'd still been on the field with his team when everything went down.

Her friends had let her rant about the complete lack of consequences at Hogwarts for a while, including Marlene and Dorcas as they helped Lily alter her gown for Frank's wedding. Lily knew it was far off, but she was too excited about it to delay, and Marlene was more than happy to hang out with her.

"You know everyone thinks of you as some kind of savior now, right?" Marlene asked as she took in the waist.

"Don't be ridiculous," Lily dismissed. "I barely even did anything."

Dor snorted. "Sure, if you call very publicly saving your boyfriend's life nothing."

Lily ignored the satisfied little sizzle that traveled down her spine at hearing someone new call James that. "I barely—"

"We all saw it, Lily," Marlene interjected. "It was incredible. You practically had him suspended midair."

"Not really though, he still fell." They both just stared at her. "Okay, but I hardly knew what I was doing. Sirius did most of the work." Marlene and Dorcas now shared a knowing look with each other. "What?" Lily pushed.

"You never take credit for anything."

Dorcas laughed. "And James takes credit for everything."

Lily didn't know what to do first: refute Dor's slight against her boyfriend (Okay, you're being defensive, what she said wasn't that bad…) or defend herself. "James takes credit for everything because he's good at everything—"

"Merlin."

"—and I take credit plenty."

Marlene looked like she wanted to argue more, but thought better of it last minute. "All I'm saying is… well, I heard two 2nd year Muggle-borns behind me in the stands when you took charge of the situation after all the pandemonium happened on the field. You gave them hope. They look up to you." She rolled up Lily's hem so Dor could cast a seaming spell. Does everyone know stitching spells but me? "They think you're the next Dumbledore or something."

Lily huffed. "That's insane." She looked at her own reflection, absolutely loving what they'd done to the black piece. "I'm just a girl who's excited to be dancing a whole lot with her boyfriend coming up." A formal and two weddings? Lily figured she'd be lucky if she survived it all.

Dorcas finished up with a devious smile. "Are you saying you don't think Dumbledore was ever a teen boy?" Marlene and Lily both grimaced: they'd actually never thought of the wizard as ever being younger than at least 60. Dor laughed at their expressions. "All I'm saying is we've all gotta start somewhere."

Marlene decidedly pressed on. "You already got your two other dresses picked out?"

Lily sighed. "No. But whatever I wear to Petunia's wedding, I already know it won't be good enough."

Mary strode into the room, dropping her bag next to her bed as she plopped onto it. "Wear white."

Lily shot her a look. "You're not supposed to do that in Muggle culture. It's seen as offensive to the bride."

"Wear white," Mary repeated with a smirk that was anything but innocent. Dor gave her a high-five. Lily scoffed rolling her eyes. "Oh, come on, Lil! It's Tuney! She'll be a miserable wench like always all night anyway."

"I know… but— I dunno. I want her to like James." Was it so bad of her to still want the approval of her last living relative — wait scratch that… my big sister? She knew she didn't need it, it wasn't like anyone else's opinion on him could change her mind, but still. It would be nice.

Mary sent her an all too knowing look. "I mean… I don't think she will though. No matter what he does. He's your boyfriend. She'll hate him by default."

Lily's heart sank, knowing she was right.

December, 7th Year

With December came the first snow of the year, and Lily excitedly dragged James outside despite the late hour so they could recreate their first kiss on the Quidditch pitch. On their way over, she explained that they had to reclaim the magic of the space, "Because I don't know if you realized this, but you nearly dying here almost ruined it for me."

James pulled her pompom hat further down her head with an affectionate yank before moving his hands down to her cheeks and squishing them. "My apologies, love. How very inconsiderate of me." He scrunched his own face as he leaned into her, seemingly unable to help himself. "You're so fucking adorable, I can't stand it."

She shook his hands off of her, clinging to his torso instead as she pressed herself up against him. "Apology accepted. Now kiss me."

"Bossy," he whispered through his smile. It wasn't fair how giddy his lips could still make her feel, especially when combined with his warm wandering hands and cheeky little nips. She hoped they could be like this forever, this tender, like those old couples they saw walking together hand in hand at the market or cuddling on a bench at the park during sunset. She felt like they could be. I mean, with how terribly romantic and sappy James is, I can't imagine us being anything but.

She slapped his arse while they were still wrapped in each other's arms. "Shag here?"

James chuckled. "Lils, you specifically brought me here because it's snowing."

"Yes?"

"So…" James continued like it was obvious. "Snow is cold. Freezing some would say. I'm not trying to freeze my goods off."

"Oh, come on; live a little!" she teased.

James shook his head, kissing her forehead and wrapping her more tightly in his cloak. "Compromise: we shag by the fireplace—" Lily made to interrupt, "—and I transform the rug into a shag rug. Win-win."

"How is that a compromise?" Lily giggled. "That just sounds like we're gonna fuck where you wanna fuck, instead of where I wanna fuck."

James rolled his eyes. "No. I am offering you my body, free of charge, to make sweet, sweet love to even though I am exhausted and could just as easily go to bed." Lily's jaw dropped, utterly offended, trying to push off of him. "Just kidding, just kidding! Let's just fuck inside, pleeeease?" James pleaded peppering her face with kisses. "It's just so cold out here. Don't do that to my dick."

Lily threw her head back laughing, taking his hand and pulling him back towards the castle. "Fine. But don't act like you could ever reject me, mister."

He shot her a wink. "Just trying to keep you humble, Evans. You know you've just gotten so cocky lately. I almost don't know what to do with myself."

She smirked at him over her shoulder. Damn straight.

It turned out he was right — having him on top of her while she lay on a plush, fluffy cloud before the fire probably was nicer than freezing her arse off turning snow to water in the grass. She'd never admit that to him though, not even when he did that sinful move with his tongue around her nipple while his fingers dug into her thigh around his hip. Nah. She figured her coming in five minutes was probably all the confirmation he needed.

Besides, she thought before happily passing out cuddled up next to him, I already have the memory of making love to him on the pitch thanks to the Room of Requirement…

Of course, all this cold also gave Lily other naughty ideas too. Her most devious one was challenging James to a skinny dip before the lake froze over, knowing it was a dare he would never back down from. He seemed to be so convinced that she was only trying to humiliate him again in front of the Slytherin common room, that he let his guard down just a little too much after they had gotten a proper distance away from the castle. Only after he'd stripped buck naked and dove into the water without a glance back, so awfully proud of himself, had she quickly thrown her cloak back on, gathered his clothes and wand, and run back to the castle positively cackling. At least she'd left him his shoes.

"LILY!" she heard him yell out behind her when he realized what she'd done. "This means war!"

By the time she'd gotten back inside, tears were streaming down her face and she could hardly breathe. Sirius, lounging with Remus by the stairs, noticed her almost right away. "Evans! What's got you so happy?"

"Quick!" Lily stuffed James' belonging into his arms. "Hide this, hide this!"

Sirius didn't even ask questions as he stuffed the clothing into his bag, but Remus did shoot her a look. "Lily… where's James?"

Luckily, overeager prefect Amelia saved her from having to answer. "Lily! There you are! So for the formal, I was thinking: are you sure having a bar for the older students is a good idea? Because I've been hearing people scheming all week on ways to get around the age restriction and—" the younger girl froze, eyes glued to something, or someone, by the front door. "Oh my god," she squeaked, sounding on the verge of passing out.

Lily turned as wolf whistles — none louder than Sirius' — rang through the cavernous space and, Yeah. 'Oh my god' was fucking right. James had just walked in, only covered by what looked like a shield he must have nicked off of one of the suits of armor guarding the entrance. Lily bit down on her bottom lip hard. She knew it was supposed to be a prank, but damn was she proud of her own handiwork right now. She'd successfully made one of the hottest blokes, my bloke, in school parade around with all his fine arm and chest muscles (hell, chiseled thighs too) on display. The frigid temperatures had somehow made his body even more cut and she tried not to drool as she appreciated all the hard lines glistening in lake water. She was the Queen of mischief now as far as she was concerned. Sirius did a slow clap behind her as she shot James with a warming charm so he wouldn't freeze to death.

James' eyes danced with delight, absolutely soaking in all the attention he was receiving, as they scanned the hall, stopping when he found her on the other side of it. Heat started gathering in her core as he cocked an eyebrow and just shook his head at her slowly, as if actually taken back — and very turned on — by her sheer nerve.

"My knight in shining armor," Lily mouthed to him mischievously.

"MR POTTER!" McGonagall's voice rattled the windows of the castle. She'd picked a terrible time to finish her lunch. "What in the HEAVENS are you doing?! Where are your clothes?" If Lily didn't know any better, she'd say that was the sound of a woman who was strongly considering another career path. Any other career path.

James held the shield more tightly around his junk as he angled his bare bum towards the wall but otherwise looked unperturbed. "I know what it looks like Minnie, but I'm actually the victim of bullying here. You see…"

None of them knew it, but Minerva found her first grey hair the very next morning.

"Ugh, no, seriously. You have to go!" Lily groaned, hoping her stomach would last a few more seconds before revolting again so that she could at least finish her sentence. "Both Heads can't be no-shows for the dance, James! We're supposed to be running the damn—" Well. Her tummy had let her say most of it. There was an almighty splattering noise as the inside of the toilet bowl got coated in more of Lily's toxic yellow bile. "Uggch." She wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

"Lils, just let me in, come on," James begged from the other side of the bathroom door.

"No!" Lily snapped, face flushed as she propped herself up weakly against the seat. He really didn't have to see her like this. Lily couldn't believe she'd gotten food poisoning the night of their big winter formal. They'd been prepping for it for weeks, and with almost all the teachers in attendance, it was set to be a completely safe night of frivolity. Lily had her speech prepared dedicating the dance to Michael Paxton, and she'd went to Hogsmeade disguised as Dorcas (who hadn't wanted to go anyway) to buy a cute dress with Mary and Marlene, and now she couldn't move without hurling. (Or even not move without hurling. All she did was hurl. Her stomach lurched at just the thought of being away from the safe haven that was her toilet — her new best friend.)

Lily actually had no idea how she'd gotten food poisoning in the first place. She hadn't eaten anything outside of the Great Hall, so she guessed she was just the unlucky soul who'd eaten the one bad piece of food ever to be prepared by the house-elves in the nearly seven years she'd spent at Hogwarts. Lily puked anew.

"Lils, I can't leave you like this." She heard a thump against the door, as if James had posted up against it.

"I'll be fine," Lily lied. "Besides, if you don't go, they'll all think we blew it off to bang."

"So? Let them think that," James answered instantly.

Lily rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't mind that narrative. "Please? I already feel bad enough about missing it."

She could so easily picture him letting out a big sigh. "Fine. I'll go make an appearance. But I'll be right back, yeah?"

"I'm sorry," Lily groaned, leaning into her arms over the porcelain, fighting her inner nausea that was threatening to swallow her whole.

"Don't be sorry. Hang in there." She could tell he was lingering by the door. "I love you."

Lily looked down at her naked body, her violent sickness having hit her right as she was getting ready in her room. Fuck, I feel gross. "Love you, too," she mumbled.

She wasn't sure how many times she puked in the following hour — she knew it was more than four times, but probably less than eight. She tried distracting herself with the thought of all of James' 'retaliatory measures' over the past week since she had him streaking in the halls. (As could easily have been predicted, the sight had made James an overnight legend — nothing new there — and he'd inspired many copycats the closer they'd gotten to finals.) All his revenge pranks had been rather cute though. One day, James had hexed Lily so that every time she tried saying, 'No,' instead she'd shout: 'I love James Potter!' It had been funny at breakfast when Padfoot — clearly in on it — had asked her if she'd ever been to Amsterdam. It had been decidedly less funny when Slughorn had asked her if she was done with her brew, and she'd forgotten she was still cursed. Slughorn's knowing smile as he'd patted his belly and said, 'ho ho' — as though she'd been so overcome with emotion in that moment and just had to tell her professor about her feelings because she trusted him so — had nearly killed her.

The next day, Lily was so nervous to talk around James that she'd fled his bed with nothing more than a little kiss before scurrying off to the bathroom to get ready. As soon as she'd sat down at the breakfast table, Mary had thrown her an odd look. "Lil, why is your hair blue?"

"Goddamnit, James," she mumbled, stuffing some toast in her mouth.

Marlene's eyes widened. "Uh oh. Now it's turning orange. Like neon orange."

Lily released her hair from its bun and brought it in front of her face. "What the fuck?"

"Ah. So now she's—" Sirius narrated to Peter as they sat down at the table looking over a scrap of parchment "—peeved. Yup, that one's definitely peeved."

James had very much enjoyed his own prank, especially as her hair had turned golden every time she'd seen him. He'd proudly told her that was the color showing she was feeling in love.

The prank was less fun in COMK, when the Quintaped they were studying had gotten ahold of James' shirt ('I had my eye on the other four legs, asking me to keep track of a fifth is just excessive!') and ripped enough of it so that Lily had seen a hint of his obliques. 'Pads, what does purple mean?' Peter had asked. Sirius had sent her a gleeful smile while he answered loudly, 'Horny, Worms. Horny.'

The bathroom door croaking open loudly brought Lily back to the reality where she was hugging a toilet. "James?" she called out, flushing the bowl once more. "Did you just unlock the door?"

But no one answered, and Lily emptied her already empty stomach, moaning through the pain. Suddenly Tiger stepped right underneath her, tail tickling Lily's chest as she looked up to her mother curiously.

"Oh Terp," she groaned. "I'm never eating again." Tiger let out a disbelieving meow.

"Lils?" James called out tentatively from the ajar door. "Can I come in?"

"Ugh," Lily grumbled, knowing his company was inevitable. "Fine. But can you not look at me?"

His low, far too sexy voice was right in her ear as he sat on the floor beside her. "Why?"

"Because." She hid her face behind her palms. "I'm sick and gross. And naked."

"Gross, you're naked," James joked, conjuring up a soft blanket to wrap around her shoulders. "Feeling any better?"

"No. I wanna die," Lily moaned.

"That's the spirit," James chuckled as he rubbed between her shoulder blades. "Anything I can do?"

"Distract me?" Lily finally turned to look at him and really wished she hadn't — he always looked so fucking dapper in dress robes. It made her feel even more unsightly in comparison. "How was the dance?"

"I mean," James moved his fingers to the bottom of her scalp, messaging lightly, and Lily leaned into it like a cat, "it's only really getting started now, but I think it will be a big hit. The band's good and people were really digging the bar."

"That's awesome," Lily said weakly.

James frowned and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well."

"Meh," Lily sighed. "Tell me more. How did Pads and Mare look?"

"Oh, they were already owning the dance floor, of course. She sends her love."

Lily gave a little smile. "And Marlene?"

"Hanging out with Peter last I saw. Oh!" His eyes lit up. "Dana might finally hate me." Lily cocked an inquisitive eyebrow. "I put Remus in charge in my absence, and you know how he's all duty-ish. So yeah, Dana was pissed her boyfriend's not gonna be paying her enough attention tonight."

Lily grinned for real, making James chuckle and shake his head. "Pity."

"Indeed."

Lily lurched forward suddenly, karma hitting her fast with another heave. James pulled her hair back for her, summoning a scrunchie from the counter to tie it up in a low ponytail. He kissed the back of her head. "That's it, get it all out," he soothed.

Lily sputtered and coughed as she flushed again. "Seriously, James. You don't have to stay with me. I feel like I'm gonna be like this all night."

"Hogwash," he answered, pulling a bottle out of his pocket. "That reminds me, I got you some Quidditch water." He uncapped it and handed it over. "The electrolytes should keep you from dehydrating. Even if you can keep a little down, it should help, trust me."

Lily accepted the bottle, touched. "Thanks, babe."

"Of course," James answered, running a hand through his hair. "The elves are all very concerned. I don't think they've ever had a food poisoning incident." He leaned in and whispered, "You should have seen Glob just now, pacing in your room. He's absolutely beside himself with guilt."

"Fuck," Lily mumbled, now feeling emotionally wrecked on top of the physical ailments. "Well, don't tell me that."

"Oh, sorry," James said, leaning back and scratching Tiger behind the ears. "We all just want to see you get better, s'all."

Lily found that she did feel a whole lot better with James there taking care of her, even if all he could do was tenderly run his fingers through her ponytail and rub her back. She didn't feel good enough to leave the bathroom, however; but it was all right, because James conjured up some pillows and spooned her on the floor until morning, being careful not to put pressure on her sensitive stomach.

Christmas Eve, 7th Year

"Lily, I'll behave, I promise," James said for what felt like the hundredth time as he and Lily walked hand-in-hand to the fancy country club where Petunia's wedding was about to take place.

It was the exact same country club where Lily and James had met with Petunia and her fiancé a week earlier. It had been a disaster. Honestly, Lily should have known it would be; the first time she'd tried to schedule something with Petunia, she had stood them up. Lily had been desperate to catch up with her sister properly before attending her Merlin-damn wedding to a man that Lily hadn't even met yet. So she'd Apparated with James from his manor where they'd been spending the holiday to the address Petunia had given her, only to be greeted by a large walrus-looking woman at the door instead.

"Hi, I'm here for Petunia?" Lily had stated hesitantly.

"She's busy," had been the gruff response.

"Oh, well," Lily pushed, feeling her face reddening at being treated so dismissively in front of James, knowing it was probably driving him up a wall, "we made plans for lunch?"

"Doubt it. Pet is getting ready for her bridal shower. Must have forgotten about you. It's for close friends and family only tonight." The woman's chest puffed out. Lily had a feeling she'd been invited to it. "And who are you?"

"I'm her sister," Lily ground out. This is so humiliating.

"Ha!" the woman laughed, chins warbling. "Pet doesn't have a sister!" The door had slammed in their faces seconds later.

"I can turn them all into manatees for you if you'd like. Just say the word," James said seriously in the silence that followed.

"No, thank you, babe," Lily answered defeatedly, pushing James' wand back into his pocket. "Just take me home, please."

They'd rescheduled, much to James' chagrin because, 'She's the worst, and I haven't even met her yet,' and waited at the table for nearly an hour before Petunia and Vernon showed up without apology. Apparently the caterer had needed them longer than expected.

"Hi," Petunia said tersely as they sat down opposite them with barely a glance. "This is Vernon, my soon-to-be-husband."

Unexpectedly, James got to his feet, thrusting his hand out to her. "Hello, I'm James. James Potter, Lily's boyfriend." Petunia looked at him startled, finally taking in his appearance for the first time. For half a second, Lily saw her sister forget herself and actually look taken aback. She knew that look: Petunia thought James was attractive. She also saw that Petunia hated that she found him attractive. She schooled her features into a mask of disgust, looking at him like he was a man possessed and hastily gave her dead-fish of a hand into his grip as if she thought it would make him sit down and stop drawing so much attention to their table that much faster. Lily would have been lying if she said her knickers hadn't just gotten wet from seeing her boyfriend demand respect while giving it so confidently. He pivoted to Vernon and shook his hand next. Lily strongly suspected the mustached man was trying to crush his hand in some alpha show of dominance, but James didn't flinch. "This is Lily, your sister-in-law," James introduced her, forcing an awkward nod of acknowledgement from Vernon. When James sat back down, Lily put a hand on his thigh, hoping he understood her gratitude.

It had become readily apparent that Petunia had told Vernon what they were, because they both had absolutely no qualms about displaying their disgust at the pair in the uncomfortable meal that followed. It was as though Vernon's dislike for witchcraft had only intensified Petunia's — in much the same way that Voldemort had allowed his followers' bigotry to be vocalized and flourish. There was strength in numbers when it came to normalizing bad behavior it seemed.

That dinner, everything about Lily and James was open for criticism: Lily's hair, James' hair, James' lack of job even though he was still in school, Lily's lack of cooking skills, so on and so forth. After Petunia's seventh not so-subtle jab that Lily better not ruin their big day, James had snapped, telling Petunia that yeah, Lily wasn't a natural born homemaker, but at least she'd never physically scarred her sister's face.

Lily's hand instinctually flew to her lip — the spot where it had split, after Tuney had shoved her as kids, burning with James' words. He remembered that? When'd I even tell him?

Instead of being remorseful, Petunia looked enraged at being called out for her past behavior. "You told him that?" she spat out — as though she was the true victim of this exchange.

Lily sat there sputtering, unable to articulate all the things she was feeling in the moment. Incredulity with her boyfriend for proving, once again, that he never forgot a single thing she ever said, anger at her sister for treating her so badly, disgust over how loudly Vernon chewed his food with a wide open mouth, scrapping his teeth across his fork with every bite, embarrassment at having a fight in such a public place — all of it.

James turned to Vernon, his tank of anger clearly still half full and steaming. "And yeah, I might not have a job, or a car, but I'm loaded. Like really fucking—" Petunia gasped and looked around to see if anyone was staring, they were, "— rich. So Lily doesn't have to learn how to cook. Because I'll cook for us. And if I don't feel like it that day, I can hire someone to do it for us. So maybe back off." James gave Vernon a rancorous once-over that brought her right back to the start of 6th year. "But nice cheap suit there, bud."

Vernon turned purple as his mustache fluttered and he threw down his napkin. "Never— how— are you— Petunia!"

Petunia got to her feet and dragged Vernon up beside her. "We're leaving!" she screeched to Lily in a heated whisper, as if everyone in the room wasn't hanging on to every word already anyway. "I hope you're so very proud of yourself, you freak!"

Lily had burst into tears shortly after her sister had disappeared from sight, blaming it on PMS, but James had still felt terrible…hence all the reassurances on their way to the wedding. (Which they honestly weren't sure they were still invited to, but were nevertheless attending mostly out of spite.)

Lily was already at the end of her rope… and the damn thing hadn't even started yet. How can she get married on the same day our parents died? Lily would never understand her sister. She squeezed James' hand, slightly clammy in hers, not quite trusting her voice at the moment. He had asked her if they could visit her parents' graves that morning and held her under his Invisibility Cloak while she bawled her eyes out. It had been a fucking day.

When they'd left the cemetery, he'd told her he'd forgotten something, and ran back without her, laying flowers beneath their tombstones — but she swore he also talked to them for a minute. She was so deep in her grief, she couldn't even stomach asking him what he'd said.

"You look beautiful, Lils," James whispered beside her, his voice calming her latest surge in nerves. "Really, truly beautiful."

She gave him a shy, grateful smile. "Thanks for wearing Muggle clothes with me."

He grinned. "You kidding me? Any excuse to look like Bond, you know I'm all over it."

Perhaps this wouldn't be the worst day ever.

Then again, maybe it would be. The very first person they walked into at the cocktail hour was the same walrus-woman who had slammed a door in their faces only days earlier. Her hair was slicked back with gel in a way that unfortunately reminded Lily of Snape, and she'd stuffed herself into some horrendous magenta taffeta number (probably a bridesmaid dress — seems like a Petunia way of ensuring no one outshines her) that was doing her no favors.

"What are you doing here?" she directed at Lily. "My brother said you'd been uninvited."

Brother. Huh. She could see the family resemblance. Lily couldn't believe she might have blood relatives in a few years who looked like this. Or acted like this. James' hand became unbearably tight in hers. "Really? That's news to us," she faked a chipper attitude, trying to act completely unbothered.

"Yes," the woman continued, looking like she was really enjoying the conversation, "he said your invite had merely been a formality anyway." Her smile stretched wider, reaching toad levels. "Neither of them actually wanted you here to begin with."

Lily felt her heart drop. She obviously knew this was probably true the whole time, but it was still entirely different to hear someone say it out loud.

"Hey lady," James said before Lily could respond, "why don't you take your attitude, and shove it straight up your—"

"Cocktails!" Lily declared in a falsetto, dragging James away by the arm to the waiter strolling by with a tray lined with drinks. She took two glasses of champagne and downed one immediately, giving James a look. "If you want one, I suggest grabbing it yourself."

James grinned as he took two of his own. "Is it gonna be one of those kinda nights then?" he asked with zero judgement.

Lily shrugged, putting her empty flute on the nearest table. "I don't see how else I'll survive this." She snorted. "Nice behaving, by the way. You lasted all of, what? Five minutes?"

"Sorry." James gave her a sheepish grin that dissolved any irritation Lily might have felt, had she actually cared about anyone here other than Petunia. How does he do that? Lily pondered. She'd really let him get away with anything. He took a sip of his champagne. "We could leave?"

"No," Lily sighed looking around at the room filled with haughty strangers. "I should stay. It's what mum and dad would have wanted." She forced a smile. "Plus you look really delectable in that suit and I'd like to enjoy looking at you in it for as long as I can."

James leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Then we stay. But let's have some fun, yeah?" Lily could see a naughty little spark igniting in his eyes and she already knew that she was game for whatever he was about to suggest.

"Oh yeah? You think we can make this—" she motioned around them, people with their noses up in the air, all already talking shit about each other, "—fun?"

"Evans," James wrapped his arm snuggly around her lower back, pulling her securely to his side, "with me, anything can be fun."

He's not wrong. She hid her smirk behind her second glass. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Potter?"

"If you're thinking a drinking competition followed by a dance off, then yes."

Lily polished off her drink and smacked her lips. "Okay. But we can't get messy. I wanna be a classy drunk."

"Oh, of course," he agreed with a vigorous head nod.

"And what does the winner get?" Lily asked leaning into him.

"Um… to Apparate the other one home?"

"Fuck, I didn't think about that," Lily grumbled, realizing there was already a slight kink in their plans.

"Don't worry," James reassured her. "I brought my mirror. I can ask Sirius to take us home at the end of the night. I'm sure Mary's parents are already sick of him anyways."

Sirius had been spending a few days at the Macdonald residence for the holidays, pretending like it was no big deal, but both James and Lily knew that it was.

"Excellent. Well, in that case, you're on, Potter."

Lily and James definitely made a game out of getting more flutes in their hands and trying to hit up the bar as many times as possible without raising too many eyebrows. The only one who really noticed their antics (besides the bartenders) was the same large woman who they'd gleaned was called Marge when Vernon called her over to get into formation for the start of the ceremony.

It was around the same time that Lily had found herself a pamphlet stating who was in the wedding party… and who would be walking her sister down the aisle. Her heart stuttered painfully. She knew, logically, that her dad couldn't be the one to do it, given he was dead, but to see someone else's name there, where his was supposed to be, to know that it was going to be someone else that held her arm during one of the most important moments of her life… hit Lily hard. Perhaps it was because in that moment, Lily truly comprehended that her parents wouldn't be at her wedding either. Her parents wouldn't get to see her in her white dress marrying the man of her dreams. Suddenly, all Lily wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry until the ache in her soul went away. She also couldn't help but notice that in this alternate reality where her parents were there — the wedding that had just flashed before her eyes before she realized it would never happen — James had been the man standing at the altar, waiting for her.

Processing all this was a lot.

"I can't watch this," Lily whispered panicked as her hands trembled. Other guests grumbled as they stepped around them, trying to get to their seats in the grandiose hall filled with white orchids draped in crystal strings. Every single detail looked planned out to a T, but suddenly Lily felt as though she was infiltrating the Slytherin common room — like she didn't belong here.

"You sure?" James asked understandingly, even if a little dazed. It seemed as though the alcohol was hitting him harder. She nodded. "Okay, let's just…" he dragged her to the side of the hall, opening a door and ushering her in before closing it behind them.

Lily reached overhead to yank the pull chain she'd seen dangle right before the darkness set in. "A closet, Potter? You feeling nostalgic?"

In the dim lighting, she could still see his cheeks take on a rosy hue. "In my defense, I was hoping this door took us to another room."

Lily pulled on James' lapels, leaning against the wall and drawing him in to her. "What a happy accident."

But James was not about to get distracted. "What just happened out there?" he asked as he leaned against the wall over her on a forearm. "Was it that Marge again?"

"No," Lily scoffed. "But I did hear her mutter about foul breeding before she left—"

"I'm gonna—"

Lily had to grab his arm so that James didn't storm right back out to hex a pigtail onto the vile woman. "Please, stay with me." It was manipulative, but Lily knew he'd never be able to refuse her that.

He sighed, but complied. "I really don't like her."

"Lucky you're not about to be related to her," Lily joked, but she didn't miss the flash that marred James' features before he caught himself. "What's wrong?" she asked.

James flinched back. "Nothing."

"Your face."

"What about my face?"

"It just… did something."

"Okay…"

"No, seriously, why'd you just make that face?"

"Lils, you're deflecting."

"How am I deflecting?"

"Because I asked you what was wrong first."

"Oh." Lily realized he was right and shifted uncomfortably. "I wanna be a happy drunk tonight, James. Not a sad drunk."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Normally you're just a horny drunk, love."

Lily giggled, leaning her head back against the wall. "Well, I can still be that too."

James smiled as he moved one of the yellow straps that had fallen off her shoulder back up. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.

Lily swallowed, looking up to the ceiling so she wouldn't ruin her makeup. The music swelled in the hall, and she whispered, realizing the ceremony was about to start. "It's stupid."

"I doubt that." He ran his fingertips up and down her arm soothingly. "Talk to me."

"I just—" Lily bit her lip. "I guess I just realized I really don't have a family anymore. And they're never coming back." She scrunched her nose, willing her tears to stay in. "And it just sucks." She coughed a little bit. "Fuck, I drank too much," she said, trying to dismiss away her feelings.

But James brought his hands up to her face, cupping her cheeks and forcing her to really look at him. "Hey." His brows scrunched, and for a second, he looked contemplative, as though wondering if he was going to say too much, before deciding fuck it. "I'll be your family if you want." Lily's mouth went dry. The golden stars in his eyes showed her more of the universe than ever before. "I'll be that for you. I'm not going anywhere." He repeated what he'd told her after she'd returned from her kidnapping, but somehow the words meant even more now. He was telling her he was in this, for real, for literally their whole lives if she'd have him.

Lily heard the crowd being asked to get to their feet as the bride was about to make her entrance. She ran both her hands through the back of James' hair, holding him against her, and wondering how she'd gotten so lucky. Thanking everything in her life for playing out just the way it had, so that she had gotten him. "I wanna be that for you too."

He kissed her, steadily, passionately, with everything he had. "Babe, you already are."

As he whispered those words to her, as what he was saying landed and made her heart sing and her insides tingle, something primal took over Lily's body in a way she'd never felt before. Her hands scrambled for his belt, clumsily pulling at it. She needed this. She needed him.

"Baby," he said shocked, "we're at a wedding. Your sister's— everyone's right outside—" His hands closed on her wrists, stilling her hurried movements.

Lily looked up to him, her eyes round and pleading and leaking all the weakness she felt for him in the moment. It wasn't even totally physical, hell, she would have guessed it was mostly emotional if she'd taken a second to examine it, but she just wanted to be one with him right now and felt like she couldn't breathe until he was there inside of her. She had to show him just how much he completed her. She had to feel him. "Please, I need you." His eyes softened. "I just need to feel your love."

He spun a curled tendril of hair that had escaped her updo around his finger and Lily knew he had her entire existence wrapped up around it too. "You don't need sex for that," he told her softly.

"Please," Lily begged. "I just want all of you right now, please." She wasn't even sure where all this desperation was coming from, but it was hitting her hard. It was as though her whole body pulsed for him, called for him. "Please. Distract me, James. Just—" she let out a labored whimper, "— fucking make love to me."

He cracked for her, eyes never leaving hers as he bunched up the long, sunshine skirt of her dress around her hips. "You're a bad influence on me, Evans," he murmured huskily.

"I know," she managed to get out between breaths, her heartbeat racing at the thought of him giving in to her demands. "You love it."

He reached between her legs, only to find her bare skin. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, a low growl sounding in the back of his throat. "Do you ever wear knickers under your fancy dresses?"

Lily gave the corner of his mouth an innocent kiss. "I guess not."

James' eyes snapped back open as he reached down and hiked her up the wall, propping her up with his own body as she wrapped her legs around him. "Dangerous woman."

She pulled his face towards her, massaging his scalp as she kissed him, relishing in his soft lips breathing life into hers. She knew Petunia must be at the altar now. She could hear the officiant starting his speech. "Remind me what love feels like, James."

James pulled back, only having eyes for her as he pulled himself out of his trousers and slowly sunk inside of her. Lily moaned, biting her bottom lip, only for James to adjust her against him so he had a free hand and could tug it loose. "You are so fucking beautiful, Lily Evans," he said as he slowly thrust in and out. "So beautiful." His gaze flickered between her eyes. "I want to give you the world."

The officiant's words echoed around the hall and into their closet. "Love is not something to be taken for granted, but a flower that must be watered and grown." James' hand traced upward from her lips to her cheek and back behind her ear, cradling her delicately. "Love is sacrifice and honor and commitment." Lily's insides clenched around him, feeling him thickening inside of her, his eyes never leaving hers. It was as though the words being spoken were somehow for their ears only — and they were soaking them up and breathing them in. Letting them dictate the way their bodies moved together, danced together, came together. They weren't afraid of what the vows meant for them. "Love may take time, or it can hit us in an instant, but it is something worth fighting for. Something worth hanging on for." Lily gasped at an unexpected jolt that raced up her body, willing herself not to break the pull he had on her as his stare continued to hypnotize her. She arched closer to him, her head lolling back and her jaw loosening, but held his gaze. Hearing those words as they made love was bringing them both to an intimacy that they'd been almost too scared to approach before; yet now, wrapped up in one another, it just felt right.

"Lily," he murmured, lips nearly brushing against hers as he continued slowly merging their hips.

"I love you," she replied, understanding that's what he'd just said too. "I love you so fucking much." It was overwhelming, but wonderful, yet almost stupid how close she felt to this man. This man painting her with colors she had never even imagined. This man taking her to places she hadn't even known existed. This man who was so truly and utterly and irrevocably hers.

"Forever." Unable to come up with any other words, James sensually dragged his lips up against hers before fully claiming them once more as the vows were finished outside their door. Lily felt the last of her walls crumbling as she came with him, digging her fingers into his hair. It was in that moment that Lily knew — this is it. Sure, a part of her had suspected it for a long time now, but it was still one hell of a realization to have at 17 that you were currently with the love of your life and that nothing else really mattered. No family politics, no petty drama, no blood war — just love. This love.

Lily knew in that moment, sensed it in that kiss, that James felt it too. And she didn't know if it would come in two weeks, or in two decades, but she knew that he'd be getting down on one knee for her eventually.

And she knew that when that moment came — she'd say yes.

Next Chapter: Destinies

LilllyEPotter: I had to think of you when I wrote that little them-as-parents bit! I was like, hey, just bc I'm not comfortable with it, doesn't mean they wouldn't be (I mean, I HOPE considering it's right around the corner for them!) Jily Fan: Yay! She had to get it off her chest at some point ;) Gooood questions... and the blood is important! Gus: Peter sucks, no one knows! :O aaaaaaaaand... I can't tell you ;) And yay for digging that scene bc YES, the Lily/Sirius bond is complete! They get each other now and I love to see it :D Jus de Carotte: Haaa, yeah, it would be SUPER non-canon if I just killed him here o.O (I'd say lol, but it's NOT FUNNY!) Oh, that's so awesome! Haha, I love that this happened then! Nina: Aww, Nina, I get it :'( That was a very beautiful way to describe them in this story! Now I don't want to read my epilogue either, lol. CTRL ALT DEL. And yay! I love how much they need each other too at this point. Can't go back. Again, sorry, but yay I made you cry? (I never know if people are exaggerating, but it sounds like you actually were?) James is a better person than us ALL! HA. XD And of course, Harry's able to regrow his hair overnight, because James could ;) And good note, I like that! Yeah, I would never want it to feel rushed at all! I'd much rather be made into a lying fool about my inaccurate chapter count than tie it all up too fast before it's done! Thank you! Love fics: Feeeeeeels, HIT! Haha, I'm sensing a theme with 'Lily should have just murdered Nott' :'D Glad you liked Lily's feeling-vomit too 3 annabellestiles47: I am sorry fellow Stiles lover. I understand this plight, I do, I do indeed. EllanaWest: Heh, poor James for real. He seemed more stressed about his hair than having been in a coma ;) Dumbledore definitely saw that flaw in safety and is now gonna go to games! And maybe this is the reason the old ref is out (the one James yelled at last year) and Hooch is hired. Who knows! Also... I'mma say he has a strong, strong suspicion of what's up :) As for Lily's rat dream - remember, she had already forgotten about it by the time James asked her why she was awake! So to all of them, Peter can still just transform into a rat like always, and there's nothing that weird about that. There's not symbolism to them at all. Heh, and we'll see how many chapters we have left! I know what's still gotta happen, so I'm not shortening that! :D Thank you! rmmurphy: Omg, I haven't even realized that, but YES she totally did use a force chokehold didn't she?! XD Brilliant. You can take the girl out of Star Wars, but you can't take Star Wars outta the girl ;) And I'm very proud of how far their broship has come ^.^ mariaclara1400: Ha, yeah, he wasn't very active that chapter, that's for sure, HAHA. Sorry I made you cry, hopefully this one was a little more fun! Lunane: HA. BUT ONLY TEMPORARILY! He woke up with his hair back just like Harry did ;) I couldn't do that to him permanently, no matter how much Brenton can pull it off :p Yay for his dimple! It's like her version of his love for her thigh beauty mark! Lily's confession had been such a long time coming, I'm proud you liked it 3 Redmatter91: A HUGE sigh of relief all around ;)