Chapter XXIII
At Peace
((James's POV))
Before we knew it, we were boarding the Hogwarts Express for one last time.
It was a finished chapter of my life. Ever since I had been eleven, I had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and now, eighteen, I was ready to take on new things.
Or was I ready?
At the time, I hadn't been sure. But I had Lily, and that was all that mattered.
After we had finished talking to the prefects, we went back to our own cabin. She slept, her head in my lap, as the train cut through the countryside. A book was lying in her lap, titled Being an Auror for Dummies. Sirius and Remus were on the other bench, and Peter was on the floor, chewing thoughtfully on a Licorice Snake.
Her hair was curly that day. She must have done something with it. I twirled it in my fingers absently, looking into her face. She was at peace.
At one point she had woken up, and began reading again, but then became frustrated and lowered her book to look at me. Sirius, by that point, had left to find another girl, and Peter had followed. Remus, feeling strange with us sitting across from him, also left.
Lily took his old seat to better look at me. We were silent for a moment.
"I'll miss it," she said, sighing, and placing her chin on her arm that was propped up on the window sill.
I nodded. "We can always go back and visit."
She lowered her eyes. "Will we have time?"
I knelt in front of her, took her hands in mine, and kissed them. "We'll find it."
She sniffed.
"I have a question," I said after a moment, looking to her again. She raised her brows curiously.
I drew in my breath. "Well, there's a little favor I need to ask of you."
Lily sighed. "You want another Chocolate Frog? Gosh, James, you're going to get fa—"
"I want you to marry me."
She coughed. "Sorry. I thought you just said…"
"I did."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "Is this a joke?"
"If it was, you'd be laughing by now."
There was a long, painful pause.
"Well, in that case, no," she replied. I felt my heart stop.
"Um," I said, making deep red look like a mere shade of pink.
She laughed. "Gosh, and I thought you had a sense of humor!" Lily leaned to kiss me. "Of course I'll marry you. I was wondering when you'd ask."
A number of things happened in that instant, and it would be dangerous to list them all at once, but I'll try my best to recount it. I stood and picked her up to kiss her. I then kicked open the door to our cabin and marched down the hallway, Lily still in my arms, shouting, "I'm marrying this girl!"
The Marauders were first to come. Each of them poked their heads out of various cabins to stare at us. Remus stepped out and began clapping. Sirius ran to us and kissed us both on the cheeks, strangely enough. Peter fainted.
Lily's friends, Rose and Pansy, came next, and each began crying. Several other students came out and raised their eyebrows curiously, one of them Sylvia Bones. Before long, the aisle of the Hogwarts Express was filled with people, I, James Potter, and Lily Evans (soon to be Potter) standing in the middle of them, kissing.
Since the invention of the kiss, there had been six kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. That one left them all behind.
The end. (In case you were unsure.)
A/N: Huzzah for the shortest chapter in the world!
I like it, though. I mean, I spent a whole ten minutes of my time working on it, when I could be doing more productive things, like yoga or reading the dictionary.
So, I'm finally finished. I'm starting upa new one (probably tonight, since I usually have nothing to do on Saturday nights, like most cool people), but it'll be under a different name. My new name will be! (drumroll):
flyingostriches
Unless someone already has it. Then it will be a variation, like flyingostriches223 or something. But you should see my new fic up soon anyway.
Hee, my stomach just made a funny noise. It must be all of that yummily scrumptious manticotti me muzzer made for supper. Yes, I still live with my parents. You all don't know how old I am anyway, so it shouldn't matter. Oh! But my birthday is on February 23rd, so leave me some love on that day.
So, I hope you enjoyed the story, and I promise that fics to come will be better. I really appreciate all of my reviewers, because you all made me feel like something special. Without you, this story wouldn't exist.
Please stick around for my new story, and Have a Very HARRY January!