"The nurses are whispering in the potions closet, Potter," Mason Dechamp laughed as he met James in the hallway at St. Mungo's. "The one you scared that dropped the beaker is crying."

James growled in response.

"You know, I had forgotten what today was, so I couldn't figure out why you are so out of sorts. Then I thought to myself, Mason, why would James be upset? That list was entirely too long, so I thought, what was suppose to happen today? And then I remember, Hogwarts students come home today! That means today James was supposed to reunite with the wonderful Lily, but instead, you are here looking over a Healer's shoulder at St. Mungo's!"

"And you're terribly upset about the situation, aren't you, Dechamp?" James asked.

"I hurt when you hurt, James. I was just thinking that it's really slowed down, so I could perhaps handle working the two hours left of your shift since mine was over fifteen minutes ago."

"You've already been here since two. That's ten hours."

"And you were already here when I arrived. You better not give Lily too long to figure out what she's doing there, or she might pack her trunk and leave. Go home, Potter."

"I…thanks. Are you sure?"

"Definitely."

"Bye, I'll see you tomorrow, Dechamp."

Mason laughed softly and watched James walk briskly down the corridor. Mason turned away and went back to the potions closet. He had a nurse to console.

James had Lily to get home too. As he was walking toward the staffroom, he calculated he could be home at one if he hurried. A quick shower and a last minute check of the little boy in room 612 should have him at the apparition point at one. He thought briefly of skipping a shower; he smelled his robes and quickly changed his mind. He must have fallen in a vat of broomspur.

Surprisingly, everything did go as he planned, and he was standing outside the door to his house at 12:58. He contemplated rushing through the door to find her and then reconsidered that plan too.

Surprisingly, that plain white door looked a lot better when he knew Lily was on the other side. James wondered what the house would look like now that she had moved in. Undoubtedly she had rearranged things. There was no way two people could combine homes without some redecoration, especially not Lily. She came equipped with enough Christmas decorations to decorate three houses the size of this one.

James sighed as he tapped his wand against the door for entry. She would probably be in the living room, sitting in that big armchair watching television or napping. He could tell her about the miserable day he had, and she would definitely be sympathetic. Most likely things could progress from there quite nicely. The day was definitely looking up.

When James walked in, the sconces on the walls flared to life, illuminating the room in shaky candlelight.

The room looked exactly the same. James felt his chest tighten and he felt a terrifying moment of panic before he spotted a pink cardigan draped on the back of cozy armchair. He checked the kitchen for any other signs of her before going upstairs. He walked in the bedroom to find her sleeping soundly. All he could see of her was a pale arm dangling of the side of the bed and red hair strewn across her pillow.

James groaned. He had ended his shift early only to find Lily asleep. Wonderful. Seeing no way around it the situation, at least no way that didn't make him look like a complete prick, he changed and crawled into bed next to her.

At least they were sleeping next to each other. Something had to be said for at least being in the same room, James supposed. He was definitely going to kill someone if he got a call from the hospital to intern the next night.

Lily more or less slept like a rock. She woke up once when James's flailing hand hit her shoulder, and again when a terribly loud beeping noise ripped through the silence. Automatically, she hit the table next to her, expecting to hit her alarm's off button. Opening her eyes, she realized the alarm was on James's side. She made an odd groan and rolled over to squint at the alarm. When she didn't see a button clearly labeled 'off', she began pushing buttons and sliding switches until it finally quit ringing.

Then, she flopped back and stared at the ceiling.

She could handle getting up in the morning when it was her alarm, but when it was someone else's, she was dealing with an entirely different situation. She turned to look at the clock, and after she squinted enough, she could see that it read 6:45.

"Fifteen minutes before my alarm. Beautiful." The only thing more annoying than an alarm was waking up just a few minutes before you were really supposed to get up. There wasn't enough time to go back to sleep, and there was definitely a feeling of being cheated out of a few minutes of rest.

She gave up on the idea of napping for a few minutes, and rubbed her eyes and fished her glasses of the night stand on her side. She looked around and noted James had thrown some clothes on the floor and she heard the sound of water running in the bathroom. She was supposed to meet Millie for the apparition test at eight thirty, so she decided to go ahead and get haul herself out of bed.

Lily grabbed her bathrobe and groaned when she realized everything she needed to get ready in the morning was in the bathroom. She had to admit, she did want to check him out in the shower, but she didn't really want to be caught doing it. With a firm resolve to not noticeably stare, she knocked on the door and called, "James? Can I come in? I need my stuff."

There was no reply.

"James? Are you alive in there?"

Still nothing.

She sighed and wondered what weird thought was going through his mind now. Maybe he was going to fly out of the shower and have his undoubtedly wicked way with her at six fifty. If so, she really wished she could have brushed her teeth first.

Drawing up some resolve, she cracked the door open enough to peek inside and check that he wasn't sprawled dead and naked on the floor. Seeing neither situation, she stepped in. Through the glass of the cloudy shower doors, she could see a big, tan lump.

She assumed that was James.

Lily got her contact case, toothbrush, and shower supplies, and waited for him to say something. Then a thought crossed her mind: maybe he had fallen asleep. She was known to doze off once in awhile when she was especially tired. Perhaps he had too.

That was definitely it. An evil thought crossed her mind, and a split-second later, she rapped on the shower glass. The tan lump jumped and nearly fell. "Awake now?" she asked.

"Lily? Oh. Yes, I'm awake now. Thanks."

"Anytime. It's six fifty if it matters."

"Thanks," he muttered.

Lily grinned and left for the downstairs bathroom. It was just too bad those shower doors were frosted.

She was still smiling when she emerged from the bathroom thirty minutes later, dressed and prepared for the day. Lily found James in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal reading the newspaper.

"Good morning. It's nice to see you awake, James."

"I don't normally sleep in the shower. I don't know what came over me."

"My guess would be drowsiness."

James smiled and rose to get her a bowl. "Porridge or flakes?"

"I'll risk the flakes. They don't have mold, do they?"

"No," he answered while adding milk, "but the milk looks a bit lumpy."

"What?" Lily snatched the milk carton out of his hand in unmasked horror and looked inside before cautiously smelling it. "It is not! Lumpy milk is gross, James."

"I'm not a complete clod. I stocked up on bread, cheese, meat, milk, and cereal before you came. Oh, and eggs. I figure if nothing else we can eat them raw."

"If we get that desperate, I'll wait until you die and then turn cannibal."

"Morbid in the morning describes you perfectly. You know, though, since I'll be eating the raw eggs, I'll live longer. You'll be the first to go."

"Then we'll have to wait for Sirius to kick it."

"Remus would be better. He'd have more of a wild game taste."

Lily laughed and walked to the table with her bowl of cereal. "He'd have to go before the full moon, or he'd devour us all."

"Good point. That leaves Millie and Peter. My vote it to let Peter live."

"I'm not surprised. What time do you have to leave?"

"I have class at nine. What are you planning on doing today?"

"Millie and I are taking our apparating tests today, and then I have to get some stuff from Petunia's."

"Oh."

"Will you have to be gone late again tonight?"

"No. At least, I'm not supposed to. I normally only have to work in the hospital three days a week, and I generally do it on Monday, Tuesday, and Tuesday. Yesterday wasn't my day, but they were understaffed, and we poor peons can be stuck with the crappy jobs nobody else wants to do. Some of it makes lumpy milk look good."

Lily grimaced, "That sort of thing would not be my cup of tea."

"Ummm, Lily?"

"Yeah?"

James ducked his head and stirred his cereal around. "I'm really sorry I didn't get home before you went to bed last night, and I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you like I promised. I would have, and I had planned on it, but we were told we had to stay in class, so I didn't have a choice." He finally looked up, "I'm very glad you're here. If I had been you, I might've left."

"Then I suppose we're lucky the situation wasn't reversed. I understand you couldn't help it."

"It's not a very good way to start out."

"Me hitting the shower door and scaring you out of your skin probably wasn't an exceptional way to start either."

"At least I didn't fall and hurt myself."

"That's true. I imagine that would hurt."

"You look like you would rather cut off your own arm than go to Petunia's," Millie observed.

They had both passed their tests a few minutes ago, and now they were standing near the authorized apparition point at the Ministry of Magic. Millie would be going home, and Lily felt like she would be going home for the last time. She was going to explain her choice to Petunia and gather her things. Most likely, Petunia would be furious. Lily was fairly certain her sister would allow the incident to blow over once she realized how much Lily loved James.

"I've never dreaded anything so much. I feel sick."

"If it makes you feel better, your hair looks cute today."

Lily tried a weak laugh. "I'm going to go and get this over with. Bye Mills."

"Good luck. I'm sure it will be fine."

"Thanks"

Lily's apprehension at her first time apparating without supervision was very minor compared to the sick dread that balled in her stomach about her visit with Petunia.

She knew Petunia's home well, and appeared in a part of her garden that was completely masked by a few trees. As she walked to the front door, she felt immense fear. After a few moments, Petunia answered the door in old work clothes smudged with dirt.

"Lily! Just in time to help me move furniture."

"Perfect timing, I see," Lily said weakly.

Lily helped her sister rearrange the furniture, and afterward she collapsed on the sofa.

"What's wrong, kiddo? I thought you were staying with a friend?"

"I was…am. Petunia, I need to talk to you."

Petunia sat quickly and looked worried. "Lily, why are you so upset? Did something happen?"

"I haven't been completely honest with you lately. I'm sorry about it, but it was easier when I didn't tell you." Lily closed her eyes and ran a hand over her face. "The friend I am living with is James." She looked up and saw Petunia frozen in horror. "I'm going to marry him, also. He asked me a couple of weeks ago."

Lily heard the quiver in her voice and she felt like sobbing. "I'm sorry if you feel betrayed, but I love him. I love him so much. Please understand."

"You're not just betraying me; you are betraying our parents, Lily."

"They would want me to be happy."

"Not with that beast! They would want you to be happy with a decent man!"

"He's a good person. If you only knew him, you would see that."

"I do know him, Lily. I cannot stand that creature. He isn't like you. You will never be happy with him."

"Then let me find it out on my own. If it's puppy love, I'll need time to figure that out."

"God, Lily, what are you trying to do to yourself?"

"I'm trying to be happy!" she screamed. Her breathing became more ragged and tears were flooding her voice, "The only times I've been happy since Mum and Dad died are those when I've been with James. Even if you don't agree, it's how I feel. When I'm with him, I feel how I did before the wreck. He needs me and I need him. I need him so I can be me. I'm not going to change my mind on this."

"I can see that. You are being unreasonable, Lily. You're a smart girl. Why won't you take off your blinders so you can see what you're doing?"

"I can see and I like it. Can't you just give up your stupid idea that big sis knows best? I want the opportunity to be happy, and you're trying to stop me. You and I are not alike; we don't think alike and we don't want the same things. I want James. I wish you could understand that. I don't want you to hate me or him. I wish you could accept him."

"I will never accept a person like that, Lily. Never."

"Then you will never accept me. I'll just get my things and leave. Where are they?"

"The cupboard under the stairs. That's where I would like to stash that monster you think you love."

Lily looked at her sister with hurt in her eyes. "You don't mean that." She saw equal amounts of hurt in her Petunia's eyes mingled with anger and resolution. Lily shrunk all the boxes before dropping them in her pockets. "Please don't, Petunia."

"Leave and go back to him. I'm going to watch Lily Evans walk out that door and I'm never going to see her come back. I will never know a woman called Lily Potter."

"Goodbye, Petunia. I love you," Lily whispered and hugged Petunia. She knew it was the last time.

"I used to love you."