Disclaimer: I own nothing, see prologue.

Chapter Twelve

25 April 1978

Lily woke with a start; she wanted to catch whatever dream she had been having, but it faded too quickly. Her roommates were already dressed and heading down to breakfast. She headed off to the loo to get herself ready for the day. By the time she made it down to breakfast most people were headed to class. She spotted the Marauders quickly and sat next to Sirius and across from Remus and Peter. As she grabbed a piece of toast, she asked, "Where is James?"

"We thought he was with you."

"No, I overslept."

"That's what you get when you go to bed at sunrise," Sirius responded with a smirk.

Lily didn't respond - just ate her toast. After she had eaten a piece or two, Sirius nudged her. "Come on we need to get to Transfiguration."

"James will probably catch us there," Remus added. They all stood and made their way out of the Great Hall.

"Did you and James really stay up all night?" Peter asked.

"Yes, the time just got away from us," Lily answered blushing. She tried to hide her smile, but was fairly sure that Sirius and Remus were onto her.

"Funny. That's what James said."

"Come on boys we need to get to class."

With that, Lily started walking a bit faster. They made it there just in time and were surprised to see that James wasn't there. Professor McGonagall had just started speaking about their upcoming NEWTs when the classroom door opened. The entire class turned to see James Potter standing in the doorway. He quickly took his seat between Lily and Sirius.

"You're late Mr. Potter."

"I'm sorry Professor."

"Very well, as I was saying." As she continued her NEWT lecture, James took out some parchment and wrote a quick note. He slid it in front of Lily who read it and nodded. They continued taking notes in class as usual.

Instead of heading to lunch, Lily set off to the lake to meet James. After transfiguration, they continued onto Charms but they still didn't have a chance to talk. When Lily arrived at the spot by the lake where she was to meet James, he wasn't there. She thought about taking off her shoes and getting her feet wet but decided against it, since the water would probably be too cold.

"Hey" James said as he walked up. He sat next to her and gave her a quick kiss.

"James where were you this morning."

"Library." Lily looked at him oddly. He just smiled and handed her one of the chicken sandwiches he had grabbed from the Great Hall. They ate in silence. Once they had finished James launched into his explanation.

"Lily, I know we had decided to wait to marry until you've finished your Healer training."

"And your Auror training," she interrupted.

"And my Auror training. I think we need to get married right away."

"Why?"

"Because of Harry."

"James, we can't second guess our decisions. We could the change the timeline in ways we can't even imagine."

"I know, and I agree with you. We still need to marry sooner than we planned. I was thinking this fall, maybe November."

"If you just agreed with me, why the rush?"

"I realized something when I woke up this morning and needed to check it in the library."

"What?"

"If we wait, then Harry won't be born when he should be." Lily just looked at him, her confusion clearly evident on her face. "Harry and Ginny let slip a couple pieces of information that by themselves aren't very important, but they are."

"What did they say?"

"Harry said he was seventeen and Ginny said it was a Hogsmeade weekend."

"And?"

"And in order for April 24th to be a weekend during Harry's seventh year then there are only a few years it will work, but if we wait then Harry will be born too late."

"But James, what if you're wrong?"

"I'm not."

"You know," Lily said. She softly touched James' cheek and looked deep into his eyes. A slow smile spread across her face and she softly kissed him. "I think a November wedding would be lovely."

"Excellent." James kissed her excitedly. All too quickly Lily broke the kiss. She stood and grabbed his hand pulling him to his feet. He leaned in for another kiss but she put her hands on his chest and stopped him.

"James we can't stand here kissing - we have a wedding to plan." James groaned but allowed himself to be pulled back to the castle by a very happy Lily.

25 April 1998

Harry felt a hand in his hair and soft kisses on his face. He couldn't help the smile, thinking this was just and amazing way to wake up. With his eyes still closed he reached out and pulled Ginny onto his bed. It was long before he remembered that he was back and that Ron slept in the next bed. He broke the kiss and quickly turned his head towards Ron's bed to find it was empty. With a deep breath he looked back to Ginny who sat back on his thighs laughing at him.

"It's not funny you know. If Ron finds you in my bed he'd kill me."

Ginny just laughed harder. "It is funny you silly boy." She handed him his glasses. "I'm not in your bed; I'm on it, fully dressed mind you. You are in your bed with your blankets separating us."

Harry made a face at her. "You're arguing semantics; meanwhile, I'll have a black eye if Ron catches us.

Ginny got off his bed allowing him to sit up. "It's almost lunchtime. You've slept pretty late."

"I would have kept sleeping too, if you hadn't woken me." He grinned at her. "That was a perfectly wonderful way to wake up though."

"Good. Now hurry up so we can get some lunch." She started for the door so that Harry could get dressed."

"Ginny." She stopped and looked back at him. "I'd like to spend this afternoon with you. Do you think we can slip away?" She nodded. "Good, I'll meet in the Great Hall, I need to shower." She giggled at him and left the room.

Harry lay back down and took some calming breaths before heading off to the showers. Before he entered the Great Hall he checked his pocket, with everything ready he went in. Spotting Hermione, Ron and Ginny quickly he went to join them. Suddenly feeling very hungry he began to fill his plate.

"I'm surprised you slept so late, Harry," Hermione said.

"I'm not. How was your detention?"

"Miserable. Snape had me scrubbing floors and wouldn't let me eat all day."

"He didn't!" Hermione said outraged.

"He did. Harry was starving by the time we made it to the kitchens."

"Well, what time did you get back?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, it was pretty late. We had another run in with Filch on the way back."

"You didn't get another detention did you? You're going to lose your Head Boy badge."

"Hermione, relax. Dumbledore isn't going to take his badge, so cut him some slack." Ron instructed.

Hermione blushed, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"So this afternoon," Ron began.

"Actually, Ron, I'm going to steal Harry away. Melissa says I need to make it up to him for falling asleep while he was talking to me last night." Ginny caught her friend's eye, and they shared a laugh.

"Ew, Ginny, please! That's just more information than I need." Ron pulled a face. The others just laughed at him. "Although, that's not a bad idea. What do you say Hermione?"

Hermione tried to look shocked, but her blush gave away her thoughts. After lunch the two couples split up. Harry honestly didn't want to know where his two best friends were headed. He had something he needed to do and couldn't let himself get distracted. Taking Ginny's hand he suggested a walk around the lake. After a bit of walking in silence, they found someplace to settle themselves.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Us."

"Harry?"

"Ginny, I'm really nervous. I need to do this right." She just smiled at him. "I want to apologize for last night. I wanted to comfort you and I ended up fighting with you."

"I forgave you last night."

"Good." Harry fell silent again. Just as Ginny was starting to get anxious Harry took her hands in his. "You know there is chance that the spell won't work or that I'll muck it up. Either way I could die."

"Harry don't say that."

"It's true."

"No, you will win. You have to because I believe in you."

"I feel so powerful when you say that."

"You will win. I believe in you, and I love you." She sealed that statement with a kiss. She felt Harry kiss her back and then move to pull away. Not having any of that, she wrapped her arms around his neck and licked her lips with her tongue. Harry couldn't refuse and gave into her wishes. When they broke away a while later they were both wearing the same silly grin.

"Harry you," But Ginny was unable to finish because Harry covered her mouth with his fingers.

"Ginny, love, I brought you out her because I have to tell you something important."

"Alright"

"I've decided that I want the happily ever after, and I want it with you." Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Ginny gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm not proposing to you today. I will propose to you properly when you've finished school and are of age. Until then I want you to have this so that you will always know what my intentions are. If I should die in this war then at the very least you will have this ring as a reminder of how much I loved you. Will you wear this ring on your right hand until I properly ask for your hand?"

"I will Harry."

"Good." He opened the small box and took out the diamond and ruby ring. He gently placed it on the ring finger of her right hand. Keeping her hand in his he ducked his head to kiss her hand. Without moving anything but his eyes he looked up at her face. She was grinning an enormous grin and had tears streaming down her face. Wrapping her in his arms he kissed away her tears.

"I love you Ginny."

"I love you Harry." Ginny relaxed in Harry's embrace and looked at the ring on her finger. "It's beautiful. It looks just like your mums."

"I know. That was the first thing I thought when I saw her ring. It's not though, I bought it in Hogsmeade." They spent the afternoon out by the lake sneaking in a bit of kissing. Only when they started getting hungry again did they head back for the castle.

"We need to tell Ron and Hermione about what happened to us."

"I know. About the spell too."

"When?"

"Not tonight. Let's just enjoy tonight and we'll work out the rest of it later."

25 April 1978

That night at dinner James and Lily were still very giddy from their decision to move the wedding date forward, which was only broken when Severus walked past them.

"Snivellus," Sirius drawled.

"Black." The two of them glared at each other until Severus continued to walk past them.

James who was sitting between Lily and Remus started to stand. Lily placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him to sit back down. They locked eyes but neither said a word. James slammed his fist on the table and everyone around them jumped.

"I've got to do something. Make it right somehow. I have to apologize."

"No," Sirius and Lily said at the same time. Sirius looked at Lily with surprise written all over his face.

"James, you can't. Even if he believed you, it could do more harm than good."

"I know, but it will make things easier for . . ."

"You don't know that." Lily interrupted him.

James stood and strode out of the Great Hall. Sirius and Remus looked at Lily, shocked. Sirius and Peter followed James out. Lily put her head in her hands and tried to keep herself calm. Remus moved into James' empty seat and put a comforting hand on Lily's back.

"What just happened?"

"It's hard to explain."

"I should say. You've been after us to apologize to Snape for ages and as soon as James agrees you stop him."

"I know it seems . . ." Lily paused not sure what she wanted to say.

"It seems crazy. Why did James agree and why did you stop him?"

"Remus."

"Lily, I'm your friend too. You can trust me."

"I do trust you. It's just that, that."

"Lily."

She looked at her friend knowing there was nothing she could say. It was incredibly frustrating, and she understood how Ginny felt when she had questioned her about Harry. She gave Remus a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Remus, I promise you Harry will explain everything." With that she also left the hall leaving Remus sitting alone.

"Who is Harry?"

A/N: My continued thanks to Cliodne for her awesome beta work and all my readers. Thanks also to OrionTheHunter for the story short and a reminder to check out his other shorts here on this site. In writing this chapter I realized that I made a mistake with the dates. April 25, 1998 was a Saturday, not a Sunday. I decided that it would be impossible to fix this mistake, so I beg your forgiveness and indulgence. I do however promise that (and I've double checked) that all the dates throughout the rest of the story are correct.