James held Lily's hands in his own. "Lily," he said softly… "There's a prophecy that me and you, or, me and someone, are going to have a child that will defeat this evil wizard murderer, but we are under a huge risk and if Voldemort finds us he will, without a doubt, kill us."

Lily chewed on her gum. "So?" she said. Grinning at him, she pressed her body up against his. "Fuck me," she said tartly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

James' eyes snapped open. Out of all the dreams he had had so far concerning Lily's reaction, that had to be the weirdest. The first one he'd had was just her crying, saying she never wanted to see his shoes again, and in another one she had advra kedavra'd him.

He really hoped none of these scenarios happened.

So…what would happen?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Walking down the stairs the next morning, James was immediately confronted with the two people he had most hoped not to bump into: Sirius and Remus. James turned around to walk back up to his dormitory but Remus grabbed James' arm and swivelled him back round again, marching him into the common room.

"Look, I'm gonna do it, ok? I don't need you two checking up on me or anything," James said angrily.

"Well, I think you do," Sirius said with his arms folded. "I'm not saying it's your fault. I'd be scared as hell too if I were you. So since we're feeling in good moods, Moony and I have decided to take on the pressure of not letting you accidentally forget or letting Lily walk off without you talking to her first."

"You should be grateful," Remus said, smirking.

James frowned. "Well I'm not, alright? So just fuck off. I can do this by myself."

At that moment, Lily came bouncing down the stairs in her Hogwarts uniforms, looking beautiful even without any make-up on, her hair not quite as straight as it could be, and her face showing that she was as tired as ever. James was caught in just the sight of her she radiated such beauty. Remus moved towards James, and whispered in his ear, "You sure about that?"

"Lily, you coming down to breakfast?" James asked.

Lily nodded happily. "Yeah. I'm starving." She walked up and kissed James on the cheek. He gulped at the touch and looked at her intently. "What is it?" she finally asked when he didn't say anything.

"Um...yeah, listen, we…I…I really need to talk to you."

"Oh, well, can we do it after breakfast?" Lily asked. "I really do feel like I could eat everything in the Great Hall!"

James smiled weakly. "No," he said in a pathetically quiet voice. "We have to talk now."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Ok," she said cautiously. James took her arm and steered her out of the common room, leaving Remus and Sirius to stare worriedly after them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

James led Lily to the lake and stopped when he reached his favourite tree. It was a willow tree, and its leaves draped over the lake, bristling in the wind, making the water ripple eloquently. James knelt down and touched the water; it was icy cold, and he shivered as the coldness fully reached into his bones. Wind rustled past him in a hurry to get somewhere. Wherever it was going, James wished he were going with it. Lily sat down by James' side and placed a hand onto his shoulder, which was presumably supposed to be comforting and supportive. "James?"

James shuddered as the soft gentleness with which she spoke his name danced through his eardrums and down into his heart. He rocked back on his heels and sat down properly, turning to face Lily.

"You've been wondering all this time why I…ended it, with you, haven't you?" he asked quietly. Lily nodded slowly, gulping. She was suddenly very worried about where this was going to go. "Well, I have to tell you. I've been wanting to tell you for months…"

"Whatever it is, I won't think any less of you."

Only James knew the lie in that sentence. Even Lily didn't realise it. But James knew that Lily probably would think less of him. Even he thought less of him. "It didn't have anything to do with Freddie. And it didn't have anything to do with you." He breathed in a deep breath as everything he had wanted to say for ages finally poured out. "Lily, I love you. I love you more than I love myself, more than I love the marauders, and I think, more than I ever loved my parents." There wasn't much visible change in Lily's face, except James thought he could see the same sort of feeling reflected in her eyes.

James told her everything. He told her about Voldemort, about the prophecy, about Voldemort killing his own diviner wife, about Freddie being under the control of Voldemort that day, and everything Dumbledore had told him.

Watching your love gasp in horror, watching tears streak down their face, watching them begin to hyperventilate under uncontrollable fear, watching their whole life shatter to pieces, is the worst possible thing to ever have to do. James clung onto his Lily as hard as could, worried she would break into pieces if he ever let go. "It's ok Lily," he whispered. "It'll be ok."

"Oh James…" she murmured, crying still. She pulled away after what seemed like centuries and looked deeply into James' eyes. There was a sense of deep determination and boldness that momentarily broke through the fear. "We'll be together always, won't me? Promise me. Whatever happens…to death and beyond…"

James nodded, "I love you," and they kissed, hugging tightly. Always together, to the end…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Peter screamed aloud as Voldemort cast the spell on him that would bound him to the dark side forever. When Voldemort finished the spell Peter fell to the floor. The other Death Eaters left laughing pitilessly and eventually so did Voldemort. Peter cried silently on the floor while he writhed from the pain that had been brought upon him. What had he done? What had he done? Oh god, Lily and James… What had he done… Peter traced his fingers upon the mark on his arm that would never leave him: The Dark Mark.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N:                          THE END.

Well, we've now come to the end of "Secret Love". I hope you enjoyed reading it, and won't torture me too much for the ending. I thought that this was the only way to end it. The rest we already know pretty much what happens. I didn't want to ruin the thousands of possibilities around what JK has already told us through the original Harry Potter series. And I'm sorry this was such a short chapter. But I didn't want to add anymore, in worry of ruining what I already had.

I would like to do a massive thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed. A special thanks to BeCkY, molzi, tom girl, Ohepelss Oramtnci, and starborn for reviewing lots and lots, especially towards the end :)

Thanks to ash, Lys de Tigre, Lydia, jasmyn, Interested Reader, kristatwen, Mistocean, forbidden, Orange, jasminegurl, VoldemortsIllegitimateChild, calicat, twinkle, someone, reese, Yasashii Tsubasa, strwbrryspice, mooncancer, qwvixen21, strwbrryspice07, DaRk AnGeL, Lil-Brat888, chickibabe, lily evans, Bella Black, Kaz, Tiff, Nikole Kaylns, paws10081, Kaydee, Hermione101888, Mystic Queen, singer, love-ends-with-hope, DV, Moon*Wolf, MegHarts, josalyn, *******, GoldenRose, Princess pixie ice, Clearbrook, Sun Chime, Rose Black and dani. Also, thanks to all the people who reviewed but didn't leave a name and to all the people I may have accidentally left out! I love you all too!

Wow. That took a LONG time. LoL. But I really am very very grateful. Your reviews helped me through this. Thank you so much for your support and compliments and criticisms throughout the story; all were welcomed! I hope you like me enough to read some of my other stories, lol. I might put up a story soon called "Perfect" which is ok but not brilliant which is L/J. I wrote it last year and put it up under the name heva, but I thought I might put it up again. If I have time! So look out for that. Ok, well I better go, before this A/N becomes longer than the chapter!! Goodbye, my lovely readers!!!!!

~rowanx

* Amor Vincit Omnia * Love Conquers All *