Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by the brilliant J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is solely for entertainment.

Chapter 20: Good Lord, Men are Good

I've been at school for two weeks and I have never in my life, not even in high school, have I been worked as hard I was now preparing for post-Hogwarts and to become an Auror. Good Lord, I came to dinner completely exhausted everyday and Quidditch practice was starting soon and that's just as tiresome and time-consuming. I do not know how James and Sirius could do it every year.

I decided not to go to dinner Friday because I could hardly keep my eyes open. I slept for the rest of the evening and only woke up when Lily accidentally slammed her books on the floor. She cursed and started apologizing when she realized it had woken me up.

"It's okay. Where are you going?"

"Patrolling and I'm late."

It was Lily's second week of patrolling and from what the rest of us observed, she was quite enthusiastic about it.

"Oh? How's that going, considering you're with..." I said.

"It's great."

"Great?"

She looked at me and then tied back her hair.

"I got to go. Sorry I woke you up. Bye!" and with that, she hurried out the dormitory.

Wow, you could tell it in her eyes she loved him now. I've always wanted to see the moment and here it is.

OH, THIS WAS GOOD.

James walked along the hallway, half patrolling and half waiting for Lily. The last two weeks have been the best weeks of his life. He had never loved anyone more than he loved Lily now. He wanted so much to tell her how much he cared for her but she saw them as just friends and he didn't want to turn her off.

When he glanced her coming down the corridor, his face lit and he smiled. Days went too slowly and having to wait all day to patrol made them go even slower.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I was studying and lost track of time." Lily said breathlessly, as if she had been running.

"No problem."

Lily smiled in relief.

"What are they starting you out with? For becoming a healer and all." He said as they started walking.

"Too much, if you ask me. I need to memorize over 30 healing charms by the end of the month," she said.

"Yeah, same in my classes." James said. Lily and James actually had about three classes together even though they were getting different jobs.

"Was it you and Sirius who made Whipple's cauldron explode?" Lily said accusingly, teasing him. He gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged.

"Maybe,"

Lily laughed and shook her head.

"Is Remus taking Kelsey to the Hogsmeade trip this weekend?" Lily inquired.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure, but I don't think he's asked her yet. He still thinks we're going to play a prank on them again." He said. She looked at him seriously.

"Are you?"

James shook his head genuinely and Lily nodded.

"Well, if he's nervous to ask her, tell him she would love to go with him again. She told me." Lily said. James grinned.

"I'll tell him," He said. They were silent for a while until James got the courage to ask.

"What are you going to do at Hogsmeade this weekend?" he asked. Lily stopped.

"Because if you want, how about hanging out with me this weekend?" he asked and immediately looked away to scold himself.

I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT. DAMMIT...

Lily sucked in a breath ever so slightly so he couldn't hear and closed her eyes for a split second. A 7th year Ravenclaw named William Fortson had asked her to Hogsmeade already and she accepted. James was her friend now, so she hoped he wouldn't get upset. But at the moment, she regretted ever saying 'yes' to William. For some reason, after all this time and all these nights patrolling with James, something had surged through her. But Lily knew she had no choice.

"James, I..."

DAMN, SHE'S GOING TO TURN ME DOWN RIGHT NOW.

Lily suddenly caught herself gazing at him and cut off the eye contact.

"William Fortson already asked me. And I—um..."she stuttered. James knew where this was going

"Oh. Right, okay." He said quietly, now clearly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I-"
"No, you don't need to apologize, Lily." James said softly. "I guess I'm just really embarrassed at the moment. I-I really don't want you to take it as if I'm asking you out for the heck of it like I used to. So, if anything comes up...I'm still here." He said generously. Lily looked down, ashamed of herself. James gave her a small smile.

"I hope you two have fun." He said and when he realized that they stood in front of the Fat Lady, he hurried inside, leaving Lily standing there, dumbstruck.

---

"LILY! You really are going to have to get up!" Cecily said. Lily hugged her knees and lay in the corner of her bed and shook her head.

"I can't face him."

I stopped making my bed. Kelsey and Alice looked up.

"Who? William? Seriously Lily, I don't think he's—"

"Not William. James."

Alice blinked and widened her eyes.

"James? James Potter? Why?" she asked. Lily let her head fall to her knees.

"He asked me to Hogsmeade." She said. I sighed. She had already accepted William.

"He's asked you before. Why is this so different?" Cecily inquired. Lily looked up.

"I don't...know."

I walked over to the bed and sat down.

"You're in love with him." I said quietly so no one could really hear. I said it so abruptly only because I knew it. Of course she loved him. It's seventh year! It wasn't a statement or a question because I knew the answer. She was in love. Lily looked back at me silently.

"Am I?" she said, confused with her own heart.

"I think you are. But he's the one person who you'd never let in and you've convinced yourself of that. But now here he is and you can't help it." I said. She looked down.

"You know what? You're right." She said. I smiled. But now she looked at all of us, eyes wide.

"But I'm going with William! And I had to tell him that and it was awkward and he said he hoped I had fun with him and if something came up, he was still there! But I can't break my date with William..." she said hysterically. She ran hand through her hair.

"I couldn't bear to face him...not after that."

"What are you going to do?" Cecily asked.

"I'll have to go with William." She said and got out of bed and hurried into the bathroom.

James shifted in his seat trying not to look at Lily. Last night was awkward but he didn't want her to feel bad about it. After all, he was the one who asked her. When the bell rang at last and Whipple dismissed them, he glanced at Lily walking out the door. Taking a breath, he hurried after her, telling Sirius he'd see him in a second.

"Lily! Hey! Lily!"

Lily seemed to hesitate for a second, and then turned to him. He smiled at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I—I need to talk to you actually..." he said. He looked around at the bustling students around him. "Alone."

Lily chewed at the inside of her cheek.

"Alright."

Taking her arm, James led her out the front doors into the open September air and down to the lake.

"Wow. Is it that private, James?" she asked looking around at the empty grass. He nodded seriously.

"Lily, I don't want you to feel bad about last night. Of all people, you shouldn't feel ashamed."

James paused for a second.

" I was serious about what I said, Lily. I don't want you moping around on a perfectly good date because you feel bad for me. You never have to feel bad for me. I...I want you to be happy, alright? Really, this guy might be THE guy and you'll find the right guy one day so I want you to know I will always be there. He said. It sounded really sappy to him once he realized what he said but it was too late. James stood there to see Lily's reaction and also hoping that she would realize what he really meant by 'finding the right guy'. It was some speech and Lily thought she was on the verge of tears. It was all too much for her. Now she knew she loved him. All she could do was nod. James smiled and slowly, he leaned down and kissed her, pressing his lips to hers. He lingered for only a moment and then came up as quickly as he had come. Lily did not want him to leave, but he looked down at her, gave her one last smile and left. Once he was out of sight, Lily let out a breath she had been holding in the entire time.

"Good Lord, he's good." She thought.

It was Hogsmeade Day and Lily dreaded it more than ever. She looked out the carriage window the entire time and didn't say anything. When we finally arrived, Kelsey hurriedly went off to meet Remus who had asked her again-to her joy and Alice went off to meet Frank, who I was dying to meet eventually. Cecily and I were the only ones left when Lily went to go meet William Fortson, who I thought was a bit flaky, but it wasn't my business. Cecily wandered around, looking in stores and talking (which the two of us hadn't done alone in awhile)

"It's so strange with Lily and James now." Cecily said. I nodded.

"I mean it just came out of no where and then BOOM, Lily's all overwhelmed with emotion." She added.

"Well, I knew for a long time that they were meant to be..." I said, sounding quite sappy. Cecily nodded.

"I know. I hope they get to it soon before I clunk their heads together!" she exclaimed laughing.

"I heard Bertha Jorkins saying that Bellatrix is engaged to Rodulphus Lestrange. Remember him? He's a year older I think."

I didn't remember him, but I nodded anyway because I knew who he was.

"Yeah...he used to harass me when I was younger..." she said. I looked at her.

"Are you kidding?!"

"Of course not. I'm surprised you don't remember. You used to stand up for me."

"I-I did?"

Cecily nodded and gave me a smile.

"C'mon, let's get some ice cream." She said.

"It's so cool how you're becoming a Healer." Remus said as he and Kelsey walked along the street.

"Yeah! It's fun. A lot of work, but hopefully Lily and I will begin working at St. Mungo's together." Kelsey said.

"I never saw you as becoming a Healer."

Kelsey laughed.

"Yeah? What did you think?"

"I don't know. I always saw you as a designer or something."

Kelsey raised her eyebrows.

"Well, that's still cool. I should have thought of that before..."

Remus smiled.

"Nah, keep training to become a Healer. It's better." He said. Kelsey gave him a look and shrugged.

"Alright then." She laughed. She glanced at him profile noticing the curve of his nose, his lips, and the strands of light brown hair falling against his forehead. He was better than she ever expected him to be.

"You want to know a secret?" she said, stopping. He turned to her and grinned.

"What?"

"You're the sweetest guy I've ever known."

Remus smiled and gazed at her.

"Right back at you."

Kelsey blushed (she has a tendency to blush).

Remus's smile grew wider and he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers for a long moment. Kelsey's heart leapt to her throat and her arms automatically went around his neck to keep him there.

'Good Lord, he's good.' Kelsey thought.

Sirius and James walked the streets bumping into people they knew as went.

"Oh damn. Hold on, Prongs. I have to go pick up something at the Quidditch shop. There's probably going to be a line, but I'll get through it.

"Okay," James said. Sirius noticed that he had been a bit spacey lately, but walked briskly away to pick up his ripped Quidditch arm guards none the less.

James wandered out of the main part of Hogsmeade and went by the forest looking out into the sky. He stopped, sat down and took a breath of fresh air. He had kissed her. He had kissed her and she didn't pull back or slap him or whatever he thought she would do. He had never felt so good in his entire life besides the fact she was a damn good kisser. James sat there for a while just looking down at the lake.

Lily sat in front of William and looked out the window. William was talking to her, but she wasn't listening. She kept thinking about James. About his eyes and the way his hair fell into his eyes and his smile. The true one, not the cocky grin. The genuine smile with amazing teeth...

"Lily?"

Lily jumped back into reality. William was looking at her with a quizzical expression.

"Are you alright?

"What? Oh yeah. I'm fine."

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, no."

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out again next time."

Lily paused.

"No..."

DAMN, THAT SOUNDED INSENSITIVE

"I-I mean...I have to go."

"What?" Flustered a hurt William. "Where are you going?!"

"Er... I don't know at the moment, but I have something I need to do."

She smiled and gave him a light apologetic hug before hurrying out the door.

James was still looking out in front of him, deep in thought, but there was a crack of a twig behind him and he whirled around instantly (Quidditch reflexes), gripping his wand.

"Lily," he whispered with a sigh of relief. "You really have a tendency to sneak up of people." He joked. Lily smiled.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You know when you said that if anything came up, you would still be there?

James nodded slowly. Lily smiled.

"Something came up."

James curved his lips into a smile. It was that smile. Lily smiled wider back. That smile. She looked down for a second, trying to think of what to say. HOW to say it.

"The other day...when you said that I'd find that one guy...did you---"Lily started, but messed up. Finally she shook her head to start over.

"Were you talking about...?"

James knew where this was going and he finally snapped. In one swift movement, he threw his wand to the grass, stepped toward her, pulled her to him and covered her mouth with his.

Lily arched her back and wrapped her arms around his neck. If she was shocked at his abruptness, she didn't show it. Her right hand slid into his hair intertwining into the thick strands. James, at long last, deepened the kiss and and his lips slid against against hers until they finally ran out of oxygen.

James pulled apart from her slowly just enough so he could look into her eyes. Their noses still brushed each others. Lily was breathing heavily, trying to regain the breath she had lost.

"I uh...whoa, I—"he began but Lily stopped him and began to laugh.

"There doesn't need to be an explanation," she whispered. James smiled and leaned down and kissed her again.

"So, you're saying," James began when they stopped again. Lily smiled and shrugged.

"You've got a way, Potter. I must say I was surprised at how much you've changed since last year and you just pulled me right into all of it. Merlin James, you've been driving me crazy this entire year. I can't get you out of my head!" she exclaimed. James laughed.

"You've done that to me for more than five years, Lily. You have no idea what I go through everyday." He said. He looked down at the ground.

"I love you, Lily. I always have." He said deeply. Lily blushed and looked down at the ground as well, biting her lip.

"If what I'm feeling isn't love, James, then I don't know what it is..." she said. She looked up at him and grinned.

"But what I do know is that now, after all these years and the past 18 days...I do love you." She added. James's face lit and his hand rose to her face.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?"

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed at his chest.

"Shut up," she said laughing. James grinned.

"What?" he teased, holding onto her as she pushed against his chest, laughing.

"C'mon James..." she pleaded, laughing. She pulled at his collar and brought his head down to hers.

They stayed like that a long time until James heard Sirius yelling for him clear the way from Hogsmeade. Good Lord, men are good.

A/N: AHHHH!! YAY! Finally I go them together. Took 20 chapters, but I got it! Wow, long gap since I last updated and I'm soooo sorry!!!!!!!!!! I've been busy w/ high school and all that good crap. I swear I'll keep updating quickly! I have soo many ideas!! Love you guys!!!