Author's Note: Thanks for keeping those reviews coming, and I really want to extend my appreciation to ~Sarcastic Princess~ because she's been such a loyal reader since Chpt One! *applaud* But I also want to give the rest of you a big hug for taking the time to read my *LENGTHY* story. And to A Knight in Tortall, I'd like to thank you for complimenting me so much though I thought I didn't deserve it! Thanks for boosting my confidence.

Okay readers, in this chapter you'll see the reason for Dumbledore's anger. Also, because I'm trying to provide an explanation, things may get a little confusing, so drop me a note if you are and I'll try my best to help you out. Thanks!

Disclaimer: *Read my previous chapters, it's the same thing.*

Chapter Twelve (gosh, wow!)

To Love Is A Mistake

As she stepped out on the platform that stretched outside the Hogwarts Express, Lily was quite surprised to see that her parents were not there to fetch her, as they usually did, since they 'loved her so much she was their darling'. But nothing mattered to Lily now. Still dizzy from James' proposal, she felt ready to take on the world, so it didn't bother Lily that her parents hadn't come. Perhaps, they were busy. Her heart feeling considerably livelier, she lugged her baggage out of the train.

Lily thought back to the note James had sent her on the train. Sirius had delivered it to her, and when he had entered the compartment, Dawn had immediately swooned and practically licked his boots clean. But nothing could compare to Lily's elation; the sunny weather that caused flowers to bloom in Lily's heart. Opening it with trembling fingers, she read:

"Keep in Touch. - J "

It was short, but meant the world to her. It meant he was still thinking of her. She knew exactly how much they would have to suffer, being apart from each other, until the time was ready for her to marry him. Lily fingered her engagement ring lovingly, the only link that connected her with James' heart. She slowly pulled it off her finger, and stared at the inscription that was engraved on the inner side of the ring. It said: "L/J 2-Gether 4-Ever." It went around the whole side of the ring. Lily hugged it to her chest, her head spinning in a whirl.

This could NOT be a dream. This was definitely not a dream.

Lily floated back from cloud nine back to reality. Flagging a taxi, she threw her trunk into the boot and sped off home.

*

"Mum! Dad! I'm home!" Lily called through the open doorway of the house.

Silence. For a minute, Lily thought something was wrong. Maybe that's why her parents hadn't fetched her. Maybe -

"Oh, my baby, is that you?" her mother chirped from the kitchen, and immediately all of Lily's fear vanished. She was quickly greeted by an arm-wrenching hug that literally broke all the bones in her body.

"You're back, darling! You're finally back!" her mother gushed, smooching her noisily on both cheeks.

"Why didn't you come fetch me?" Lily asked.

"Huh?" Her mother looked confused for a minute, then suddenly broke into a grin. "Oh...that! Sorry, honey, I guess we were...busy."

"Oh. That's okay." Lily didn't pursue the matter further. What she was about to announce was way more important. "Um, Mum I have something to tell you."

"What is it, sweetheart?" her mother asked sweetly.

"Mum," At this point, Lily felt her cheeks grow warm and practically glow with happiness. "I...I know this is going to be a little bit of a shock but...I really wanted this, so..." Lily took a deep breath and clutched her mother's welcoming hands for support, "Mum, I'm engaged," she said softly, giggling as an excited shiver ran down her spine.

"What?" her mother replied, equally as softly.

"I know," Lily explained quickly. "It seems weird...I mean, who knew I would come home...engaged? It's like...whoa, hold on a second! But I knew I made a right choice."

"Engaged to whom?" her mother said, sounding almost dangerous.

Lily's pulse rate sped up. She just had to think of him and she'd go all giddy-headed.

"James," she whispered, the words still so amazing to her that she herself was dazed almost wordless by it. "James Potter."

Her mother looked stunned and unbelieving for a minute. Lily had to forgive her. The initial response was surprise and shock, like she had been, before giving way to a more pleasant reaction.

But then her mother now reached up and covered her own mouth with her hand, her whole body now gently swaying. She looked like she was about to faint.

"Mum...Mum! Don't scare me...are you okay?" Lily yelled frantically, rushing to hold her body up.

"Oh good Lord..." her mother murmured. "Gerald!" Lily's mother screamed for her husband, also known as Lily's father. "Gerald, come here quick!"

"What's wrong, Julia?" Lily's father ran to his wife's aid.

"Take...take a look at this...wild child!" her mother said angrily, waving a shaking finger in Lily's direction. "She's come home engaged to some unknown stranger, some...thingamajig from the wizarding world!" she hissed.

"He is not an unknown stranger, nor some thingamajig, Mum! I love him," Lily said vehemently.

Her father, in turn, registered another reaction of shock as her mother told him the "stranger" was James Potter.

"You...you ridiculous girl! This is preposterous! I will not see you get married off to some...wizarding idiot you meet at school!" her father shook with rage. "We are a civilized non-magic - or Muggle as you call it - family and you shall be married to a proper person of our kind!"

"What's up with you people?" exploded Lily. "We're not meant to love each other because of some stupid differences! First, Dumbledore didn't allow us to be together because we were of rival houses! But we got over that - we thought the society would accept us after we left school - but now...my own parents turn against me!"

"Lily Evans, this is for your own good," her mother snapped. "You don't know how untrustworthy the wizarding folk are. Always with magic and every sort of weird stuff up their sleeve - you'll never know what'll happen to you!"

"Okay. So wizards are inferior and Muggles are not," Lily argued. "What makes you think that way? If we are so much better, why is there still so much crime every year?"

"Don't you dare talk to your mother like that!" her father retorted, his words slapping her across the face. "We have your interests at heart, yet you want to rebel against us! All these years we've never had this kind of trouble from you, Lily, but now that you've...you've met this...Potter," he spat, "you've been hypnotized or some sort to defy us! And you still say that James Potter is reliable?"

"Don't...insult...the man...I love!" shrieked Lily.

"Marry him and never call us Mum and Dad again!" her parents threatened.

"Fine!" Lily screamed. She turned to storm off.

"You really dare to step out of this house?" her father roared behind her.

Lily turned around, fury boiling in her veins. "Dad, you raised me up, you fed me, you clothed me, you will, for eternity, be my father, even if you choose not to be! But if I cannot love James freely here, I will go somewhere else where I can!"

"Lily, come back!" her mother hollered.

"I won't!" Lily said defiantly, not looking back.

"Lily!"

"Leave me alone!" she replied hotly, her footsteps pattering away louder as she ran from her house, leaving her family behind.

"No!"

Lily could hear her mother start to bawl, and felt like crying herself. But if they couldn't understand, it wasn't her fault.

"NO!" her mother screamed tearfully again, this time louder. "No! Lily, come back!"

"I'm sorry, Mum!" Lily answered.

"Lily, you'll die!" her mother screeched after her, and a loud sob followed.

Her mother continued, "I can't let you go like this, knowing that!"

"What?" Lily stopped cold in her tracks, the gathering wind blowing across her face, reflecting her cold feelings just yet. She turned around, but couldn't move towards her waiting parents. Her father now had a sombre expression, his jaw as stiff as stone and his eyes expressionless. Her mother was still sobbing. Petunia, who had come down to watch the commotion was looking jubilant yet grim at the same time.

"Lily...if you marry James Potter, you'll die," her mother said.

Lily stood there, disbelieving for a minute. But her heart was anxious to know the truth. Running back to her family, she asked, "Is this true...?" She was barely audible and tears had begun to form at the corners of her eyes.

Her mother couldn't answer, she was too choked up. In the end, her father replied, "Yes, Lily. Hard to accept as it may be, it's the truth."

"No..." replied Lily.

This can't be! But, wait...maybe he means...

Lily started to laugh. "Oh, how silly I've been. Of course, everyone has to die, right? Of old age?"

"Lily, don't be so stupid," Petunia barked. "Of course we don't mean that. We mean that your happiness will be short-lived. You'll pass on shortly after you marry that stinking Potter."

Lily was so distracted by Petunia's answer that she didn't even care that Petunia had just said that James was 'stinking'.

"Mum...Dad...you wouldn't lie...tell me the truth now..." Lily begged, her tears now falling. How could fate be so cruel to her? She was so happy about the fact that she was about to spend the rest of her life with James, but now to find it was impossible?

"Lily..." her mother began. "It's not that we're evil or anything, preventing you from finding your own happiness...nor do we have any grudges against the wizarding world. In fact, we're happy for you. It's just that..." her mother couldn't find the words to speak and silently continued crying.

"We can't bear to send you to your own doom..." her father ended.

Lily sniffled. "But...why? How do you know? Who told you? How do you know it's true?"

"Dumbledore," her mother said simply. "Dumbledore told us. He used Divination to look into your future, and this is the accurate prediction. So now that we have a chance, we're trying to stop it from happening."

"You can always find better men, Lily," her father comforted her. "It's just your luck you're not fated to be with James."

"No!" Lily growled suddenly. "I won't believe it until I hear it for myself! I won't! I won't believe you!"

"Believe, Lily," a voice said suddenly. "Believing is the first step to preventing bad things from happening." Suddenly Dumbledore emerged from the kitchen and was heading towards her.

"Dumbledore...?" Lily gasped. "You were in the kitchen all along?"

"Yes," he said solemnly. "I paid a visit to your parents. But let me start my story from the beginning..."

"You see, your future did not look bright, should you have decided to spend the rest of your life with James. When I predicted your future, I had already known you were dating James Potter. I tried to stop you from falling in love with him by planting that strange idea in your head, about how your popularity would go down and how Gryffindors and Slytherins were not meant to be. But you fought it, and I lost. So when the other students found out during the Graduation Dance, I tried to stop you two from progressing further, by encouraging the fact that Gryffindors and Slytherins did not go together. But you must understand, I actually have absolutely no problem with that. The problem just lies in the relationship between you and James."

"Our relationship...?" Lily asked.

"Yes. You and James were both, and still are, placed in danger. Anyway, when I found out that you and James were engaged, I was desperate and turned to my last resort - your parents. I told them of my prediction, and not wanting to see their daughter die, you saw how they tried to prevent you from marrying James...So, in actual fact, we did all this because we wanted to save yours and James' lives, both very valuable lives."

"But why would James and I be in danger?" questioned Lily.

Dumbledore turned even more serious and his face turned exceptionally dismal. "There are a lot of things you don't understand, Lily, and I'm not sure if you want to know this..."

"Tell me," Lily said firmly. "I have to know, this concerns my prospect with James."

Dumbledore took a deep breath. "The Dark Side is gaining power, Lily. Among these Dark Arts pursuers, a leader has arisen, and he goes by the name of -" he paused, and Lily signalled for him to continue, "of Lord Voldemort. Now Voldemort is an ambitious, power-hungry man. It is foreseen that he wants to - and will - take over the world. But before he can accomplish this, someone will stop him. Someone will stop him from conquering all the nations. Someone from the Light - or good - side. The side that fights against the Dark Arts. That someone will be his greatest downfall."

"But what has this got to do with me?" Lily said, puzzled.

"It has everything to do with you. You see - this someone - will be a child, a mere, young child borne by yours and James' union," Dumbledore explained patiently.

"How can that be? I'm not even that powerful!" Lily exclaimed.

"But Lily, do you not realize why Severus tried to kill you? You are a talented, amazingly intelligent Muggle-born witch. You attain magic standards that have never before been reached by any simple Muggle-born witch. In fact, that was the very reason you were put into Slytherin - when no other Muggle-born has ever done it - it is because you are a rare, one-of-a-kind Muggle-born witch. Do not ask me how that is possible. It seems, you are blessed with a special kind of gift - and that is the gift of being able to cast magic extremely well." Dumbledore explained.

"James, too, is a powerful magic caster. That is because he is the son of Helena Gryffindor. His mother is a direct descendant of Sir Godric Gryffindor. Voldemort knows all this, also because of Divination. And he has found out that you and James will get married in the future, and because both of you have such extraordinary powers, you will pass them on to your child, who will be strong enough to defeat Lord Voldemort once he grows up. Voldemort does not want this, so he sent Severus, who joined his order, to dispose of either you or James. But he failed. So now, he will be after your child, and as you and James try to protect him, you will both be killed in the process."

"So, Lily, can you really bear to see your own flesh and blood killed at birth? Isn't it better to end this now, while you still have a chance?" Dumbledore asked gently.

"I...I never thought this would happen..." Lily said. "Please don't make me do this - don't make me break up with James. I thought we were perfect, Dumbledore...I thought we would live a happy life...I can't end this now..." Lily said tearfully.

"Lily..." Dumbledore coaxed.

"I know you mean the best for me." Lily said. "But..."

"Lily, there will be other lovers out there waiting for you."

"No." Lily said stubbornly. "I want him to be the only one waiting for me. I love him, so even if we have to die, we'll die together!"