By Zetta Zofia
Disclaimer: Characters are Not Mine! Belong to the wonderful, fabulous, absolutely amazing genius J.K. Rowling.
Contact Me: zettazofia@yahoo.com
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LAST CHAPTER!! :o) (This is of the good, since I've got at least eight other
half finished stories I'm working on.)
Seventh year started with the traditional food fight.
Of course, as it was Seventh year, Sirius felt that he needed to make a bigger spectacle of himself than normal. He stood up on the bench. "My fellow students, my dear professors, and even those who are not so dear. I find myself feeling quite honored to be starting the traditional food fight this evening. Even if James has to take points from me now, as Head Boy, I will still enjoy it."
Sniffing loudly, James stood on the bench next to him, and Remus and Peter across from them. They all fake sobbed for a moment, and the rest of the students laughed.
McGonagall was standing up though, and Sirius knew they had to act quick. He grabbed a bowl of mashed potatoes, and grinned at his friends. "And now," he said. "Let us initiate the new year by welcoming our dear Head Girl."
Lily, who was seated next to James, immediately started to get away, but the Marauders dumped the bowl on her head.
And she retailiated as expected and hoped for, dumping the pudding on Sirius and throwing turkey and corn at the other boys.
The food fight was a success, and there were only twenty points taken from Gryffindor for it.
Soon enough, the Marauders settled into the familiar routine of school, which seemed to be at the peak of its difficultness.
With James as Head Boy, and Lily as Head Girl, the Marauders were forced to tone down their pranks a bit, and settled into pulling one good one a week, and on special occasions, they'd have a full day of little pranks.
The teachers dreaded those occasions.
The boy who'd roomed with them for all of a month of first year moved back in their dorm for a week, and then moved out again, going into the fifth year room with his younger brother. The Marauders, once again, did not mind this at all, and celebrated his second departure by going to Hogsmeade.
On the less pleasant side of things, Voldemort, the evil wizard who'd been attacking people for over five years now (though the public had not learned about him until two or three years ago) had added more people to his list of allies.
The papers were filled with headlines told of the latest deaths and the latest crimes. Pictures of the Dark Mark, the symbol left above houses Voldemort visited, covered the front page regularly.
Not a few students learned of deaths in the family this way, the Mourner Owls that swept in daily coming in after the paper had been delivered.
No one looked forward to the mail. Every day brought at least one owl carrying the black envelopes that told of a loved one's death.
On one particularly bad day, there were four owls, each going to a different table.
Professor Dumbledore received Mourner Owls quite regularly, as he was an important figure and knew a lot of people who were active in politics.
Even the Slytherins were not exempt from the horrors, and it was something of a shock to see Severus Snape get one in early November. The Marauders found out later that it had been one of his uncles, but he'd been a Death Eater, or rather, a servant of Voldemort.
It was November when the Daily Prophet stopped using his name, and they began to call him You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The nicknames made the Marauders angry, and they wondered why it was that people were so afraid of a name that they would go to such extremes to avoid saying it.
But within a month, everyone called him by such names, and the few who said his true name were glared at.
It disgusted James and his friends.
It was a rather cloudy day in January when Lily noticed that all four of the Marauders were missing. Suspecting that they were up to no good, she went searching for them, and was shocked to find them in the library.
Because of the grim state of the world, they had been more subdued than ever before, but when she found them all quietly reading, her jaw dropped in surprise. Even this was normally a raucous affair, with one of them stealing the other's books, someone else reading mostly out loud to annoy the others, and Remus trying to get them quiet so that he could read in peace. But there they sat, the four each in their own chairs, not speaking, not arguing, not pushing or shoving, just reading.
She stared at them for a few moments, and then continued inside, going over and taking a seat at the table with them. She and James exchanged a quick kiss, and then he went back to reading, though they held hands.
"Hey Lil," Remus said, marking the page in his book and slipping off his glasses. "I thought you had to study for Transfiguration?"
Lily made a face at him. "If I ever get near that book again, I think I'll scream bloody murder." She picked up one of the books they'd stacked on the table between them. "Dark Lords and Dark Powers. Dark Spells. The Basic Steps to Dark Arts." She set them down again. "You sneak in the Restricted Section, or is there a reason for reading up on the dark arts?"
James glanced at the others, slipped his glasses off and set his book on the table. He took her hand, a sure sign that something was coming that she probably wouldn't like. "We decided that if there's some kind of Dark Wizard out there, we should figure out what it's all about, so if he comes by again..."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "You can get killed fighting him?"
Sirius didn't look up from his book. "We had a long talk about it last night, after Jess got that Mourner about her parents and sister." Jess was Sirius's latest girlfriend, a Hufflepuff who was surprisingly bright. "This guy's scary. Jim's dad told us that they think he's the one who's been killing people for the past few months. The Aurors are always looking for new recruits, and we'll be out of Hogwarts shortly."
"So you're all signing up?" she asked, looking at each of them, and then especially at James.
Remus shook his head, drawing her attention. "They won't take me because of my condition. Peter's had a job offer elsewhere, at the Ministry, so he'll be going there. James and Sirius are looking into it."
She looked at James then, found him watching her still. He was drumming his fingertips on the table and he stopped when she spoke to him. "Do you even know how many Aurors there are that get killed? How few of them live past twenty five?"
"Yes," he answered. "It was one of the first things we looked at." He pointed towards a thick book on the shelf behind her, titled MAGIC: Career Statistics. "There are a lot of deaths, and a short life expectancy. Which is why we're starting now, so that by the time we're Aurors, we'll outlive all the others."
She nodded once. "I thought you were going into the Ministry, like your dad."
James put his glasses on again. "I've considered it. I haven't completely decided one way or the other though, which is why I hadn't talked about it with you. Sirius wanted us to help him check it out for himself."
She sighed and leaned against him. "I just don't want you to end up dead," she said. She reached out and grabbed Sirius's hand. "Any of you."
James kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry so much. And you'll know what I decide even before Sirius."
Sirius frowned and stuck his tongue out at Lily.
She bit back a sigh. And he thought he was going to be an Auror?
* * *
Not even a week after that, James had his world torn apart.
They were in Transfiguration, discussing how certain transfigurations were easier and others were more difficult. Professor McGonagall was leading the class in an active discussion. Lily and James were seated next to each other, holding hands. Lily was writing notes constantly, but James was relaxed and contributing to the discussion with ease. Transfiguration was, of course, his favorite subject. He wondered what McGonagall would think if she knew he was an Animagus as well, and everything she was lecturing them on was beyond easy for him to do anymore.
Sirius was sharing his thoughts on the subject of human transfigurations when the door flew open and a short little girl ran in, her eyes wide. "Oh, Professor! Professor McGonagall! Oh, it's really, really important!"
James recognized her as being a first year Gryffindor, and wondered what she was about. Lily finished writing her notes and used the opportunity to smile at him, and he smiled back before returning his attention to the front of the room.
Professor McGonagall was not pleased to be interrupted. "What is it?" she asked sharply.
"It's really bad!" she exclaimed. "Professor Dumbledore wants to go down to the office. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked again! Minister Potter was murdered!"
James bolted upright in his chair, growing pale. "What?"
Murmurs rose throughout the room, with most of the other students knowing about James's relationship with the Minister.
The girl obviously didn't know though, and turned to look at him, thinking he was just a curious classmate. "Yep," she said, her eyes wide. "They went to his house and killed him and his wife. I heard Professor Dumbledore talking about it, and he asked me to get the Professor."
James was frozen for a moment, but recovered quickly and jumped up and ran out of the room. Lily and Sirius followed immediately, and they all ran to Dumbledore's office.
He was coming out as they reached him, and his expression upon seeing James said everything.
James stopped cold when he saw the professor shaking his head. "I'm sorry, James," he said.
Lily took his hand, and Sirius put his hand on his shoulder.
"My mum?" he asked quietly.
Professor Dumbledore shook his head. "She was killed as well."
* * *
The funeral included hundreds of common witches and wizards, dozens of foreign representatives, and dozens of other politicians. James, accompanied by Lily, Sirius, and his two aunts, one from each side, led the procession from the location of the visitation to the small cemetery located on the farthest back corner of the Potter property. Buried in it were the bodies of generations of the family, and only their closest friends and family.
He had been killed by the Killing Curse. A dozen Death Eaters and the man who was rumored to be Lord Voldemort himself led the attack, and aside from just the Potters, there were four House Elves and two visiting politicians killed. At least eight more House Elves had been wounded, and no one was sure if one of them would make it or not.
* * *
Upon returning to school a week after the funeral, James was much quieter.
After two full months had passed, he still hadn't regained all of his cheer, but he was doing much better, and his friends held high hopes that he would be back to normal- or at least mostly- by the end of the year. If nothing else, they hoped, he wouldn't do anything drastic during his grieving.
The weekends were filled with trips to Hogsmeade, the weekdays filled with cramming for the NEWTs. It left little time for just sitting and contemplating things, so it seemed to all of the Marauders that time was flying by. Before they knew it, the NEWTs were over, and there were only two weeks left of school. The seventh years were allowed the extra week of freedom because they'd just finished the most difficult exams of their lives, and they used that time to their advantage, relaxing and enjoying their last days of school.
It was the first Monday they had off that James dragged Sirius, Remus, and Peter off to Hogsmeade.
As they sat in the Three Broomsticks, James tried to figure out how to tell them his news.
Sirius was involved in reading about the professional Quidditch games, Remus and Peter were discussing the quality of the Butterbeer, and he was sitting there watching all of it with a little bit of unease.
Finally, he decided to just blurt it out during a pause in conversation.
"I'm going to ask Lily to marry me."
Sirius dropped the paper and Remus and Peter turned to look at him. "Wow," Sirius said slowly. "Do I get to be best man?"
"No, I was going to ask Severus. Of course you are, you dumb git." James rolled his eyes, clearly beyond the point where they could tease him and he would find any humor in it.
They did anyway.
"Why would she say yes?" Peter wondered, hiding his amusement.
James glared at him. "You're not helping."
Remus snorted. "I can't exactly argue with that, Potter. Why in Merlin's name would she ever even think about it?"
James shifted, and started worrying.
Sirius saw the expression and groaned. "You're no fun to tease when you're being serious," he complained.
"He's not serious," Remus said lightly. "You are."
Sirius stuck his tongue out at him. "Sod off."
James pulled out the ring he'd bought earlier in the day when they'd been at Zonko's. He set it on the table, and Sirius took it. "Oh, James, you shouldn't have," he said in as much of a girly voice as he could manage. Remus and Peter snickered, but James was not amused. Sirius opened the box and let out a whistle, his eyes widening slightly. "Okay, that's why she'll marry you."
"Let me see," Peter said, and took the box. His eyes grew wide. "Holy macaroni."
Remus took the box from him and nodded. "Nice. Must have cost you a fortune."
James shook his head, taking the ring back. "Mum set aside a bunch of money before she died, just so that I could do something like this for her. Or whoever it would be," he added, a little bit sadly. "She always used to tell me that the whole wedding thing was a big deal for girls, so I'd better do it right or she'd come after me." He smiled bitterly. "I've sincerely debated grabbing Lily and marrying her in some run down old church, with no one to see it all, just to see if it was true."
Sirius sighed sadly. He missed Mrs. Potter too, though he knew how he felt was nothing in comparison to how James felt. "I think she'd be happier to see it done this way. I guess the next question is... Are you sure you want to give up all this fun bachelorhood?"
James snorted. "If I never have to go on another date it'll be too soon. It's different with Lily. It always has been." He shrugged. "I've been ready for a long time, and this so called 'fun' I've been having can end at any time."
Remus, Peter, and Sirius all gave him a long look.
James rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying that it's going to happen the day we get out of Hogwarts. I was told it would take at least a year to completely plan out the wedding and all that other stuff. And I know Lily isn't going to want to just run off with me either. A while ago she said she'd always wanted a big wedding, so I've an entire year before we'll be married. And she might say no, just because we're too young." He scowled at the thought.
Remus frowned. "Then why are you asking now?"
James met his stare. "Because I love her, and I don't want to risk losing her. If she's got a ring on her finger, whether it's signifying marriage or just an engagement, it's one more thing holding us together. You have no idea how terrified I am that something will happen once we're out of Hogwarts, and we'll lose each other. Be it Voldemort, or just moving on with our lives, or her family, any of the other million things it could be."
Sirius faked a sniff. "It's so touching."
James reached over and cuffed him, then sat back and watched as Sirius scowled at him. He gave them a crooked smile and shrugged a bit. "Okay, so maybe I'm being a bit of a sap. But it's the truth."
Remus sighed. "Well," he said. "For what it counts, I think she'll say yes. And I think you two are wonderful together."
"But you're gonna lose the bet about who gets married first," Peter said cheerfully. "Five Galleons to each of us."
James grinned. "Happily paid."
* * *
He asked her the next night, under the soft light of an almost full moon. They were sitting out by the lake, having just finished a picnic.
He'd bungled the proposal of course. He had written it out then practiced it over and over again until he'd memorized it. But when it came time to actually ask her, it all flew out of his mind, and he ended up making it a lot simpler.
They looked up at the stars, and she was tracing her finger along the outline of a constellation. He watched her closely. "Will you marry me Lily?"
The smile she gave was soft, sweet, and loving, and her reply was the same. "I will."
* * *
At graduation, James and Lily were called upon to make a speech to their fellow classmates.
James listened as Lily spoke, her speech poetic and beautiful. She received a standing ovation when she was done, and James kissed her as she took her seat.
Then he went up to the podium. He smiled out at the rest of the class, who sat in neat rows before him. "Lily's pretty much covered it all," he said, choosing to ignore his written and give an impromptu speech. It had worked the last time he'd had something important to say, so why not try it again? "So I'll keep it short and simple. These have been seven wonderful years. I can't say it was all fun and games, but for the most part, it truly was good. There were a lot of classes I could have cheerfully skipped..." He paused, considering. "Though I guess I did skip most of them, so never mind that." There were a few chuckles and he continued.
"The important thing is this. We have our whole lives left now. Whatever rivalries we've had, well, they don't mean much now, despite our enthusiasm for them during our time here. It's going to be what we do with ourselves that counts now, and while I have to say I fear for certain individuals, specifically speaking Sirius and a few other wayward Gryffindors-" There was a loud cheer from that section, and Remus and Peter waved. "I think we've got ourselves a pretty good group, and it wouldn't much surprise me to read about some of you in the years to come as being the brightest and best of the world."
He shrugged a little. "So, before I tell everyone to go off and have a nice life, I've got one more thing to say, that should come as no surprise to anyone who's been in this school for the past year or so. Lily and I are getting married next year, in February. And no, you're not invited."
* * *
"That was the most horrible speech I've ever heard," Lily told James cheerfully. "I can't believe you said any of it, especially that last bit."
James kissed her. "Well," he said. "I had one all written out, but then I decided it was boring. And this way, I got to tell everyone, and that makes me happy. Now if they all decide they want you, they can't say they didn't know that I had you first. And besides, I don't want most of those gits at our wedding."
She kissed him again, her eyes shining. "Freak."
"I love you too," he said, laughing.
Sirius sighed. "Okay, love birds. That's enough. I want to go through and take a walk around before we leave, you know, just to remember."
James took Lily's hand. "Can you believe we're leaving?" he mused. "Seems like yesterday we just got here."
Remus sighed as they walked along the lake. "It does, doesn't it?"
Peter looked around. "I'm gonna miss this place."
"We all are," Lily mused.
They were near the Whomping Willow now, and Remus snorted. "Parts of it anyway."
"Oh, come on," Sirius protested. "Parts of even that was fun."
He glanced around to be sure no one was watching and then changed into his Animagus form. He wagged his tail happily and he nudged Remus's hand before he ran over to the tree, barking once at it, and staying just out of reach of the swaying branches.
"Honestly," James muttered. "You'd think he were two years old."
Lily laughed. "You want to join him?"
He grinned at her, then changed forms.
Peter followed suit, and Remus and Lily walked over to the tree with them.
The three Animagi played for a few minutes, the Lily and Remus started walking.
The other three caught up again shortly.
"Remember back in second year," Peter said. "When we first found out about Remus?"
Sirius grunted. "I prefer fourth year, when we were still immature enough to blow up cauldrons all the time."
They all gave him a look. "We did that three weeks ago, Padfoot," Remus reminded him. "Not years, weeks."
Sirius shrugged, grinning wryly. "It must just seem like forever ago."
They walked around the rest of the way, remembering everything. By the time they'd reached their starting point, students were starting down towards the carriages to catch the train home.
"Our last time," Lily said wistfully, hugging James.
"Then let's make it our best time," James said optimistically, taking her hand. "If we're leaving, we're leaving in style."
"Amen," Remus agreed, nodding.
Sirius nodded. "I'm for it."
"Me too," Peter agreed.
Lily smiled and let James pull her forward.
They walked away from the school for the last time, four grown wizards and a witch, ready for the world.
The End!
Eeep! I'm done! What do you think?! Tell me! TELL ME!!!!!!!!
Note to self: Do not drink Code Red at this time of morning. It's NOT GOOD!
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