The Elusive Lily Evans

By Headupintheclouds

A/N: Alright…. We all know the first version of this ending didn't go so well…. My solution? Wipe it clean and start again…. Here is the much longer, much improved, and entirely unrecognizable ending to TELE. It's been an absolute pleasure to write….. Perhaps a sequel? This leaves room for one :)

Strolling around Hogwarts' expansive grounds, hands clutched loosely and fingers interlocked, Lily and James were taking a short break from studying. Drawing ever closer were the middle of the year exams, but James had gently coaxed Lily away from her books long enough for this time together. Although she looked regretfully back towards her dormitory every few minutes, she tried to keep her mind off of the excessive amount of material she would be responsible for when exams began.

The exams, alternately, seemed to have no effect whatsoever on James, as he had spent the weekend gallivanting around with his friends, and Lily was nearly positive he didn't even know where his books were. She had a sneaking suspicion they'd disappeared the first week of classes.

The sky was streaked with fiery-colored clouds, a veil to the setting sun. Long shadows were cast, giving a surreal feel to their surroundings. James felt completely and totally at ease, his typically rocket-powered brain had slowed to the level of his peers. Lily, however, was experiencing a disorienting array of emotions, all of which had moved from her head into somewhere in the depths of her stomach. In a matter of seconds she could be catapulted from extreme excitement to nervousness to confusedly euphoric. James often made her feel this way, and she liked it, despite herself. For so much of the day she was in control of everything that went through her brain, of all the feelings she had. It was nice to feel so utterly unchained, but safe at the same time.

Knowing she had a long night of studying before her, Lily was struggling but trying to keep her studies off her mind. Sadly, little tidbits of information, both fully formed and partially finished, kept shooting through her mind, increasingly persistent. "Goblin Rebellion of 1210, thirteen thousand lives lost, took place in…. was it Yorkshire? No, that was the Banshee Kidnapping….. could it have been…. Wilshire? No, that sounds wrong…." thought Lily.

Looking down at her troubled face, James could see that she was worried. Sitting them down, he began to quiz her. At first Lily was reluctant to answer him, trying not to ruin their little time together. However, he kept prodding her until they fell into a comfortable pattern: he would ask a question and she would respond back with the answer. His questions were all incredibly detailed and exacted, and her answers were almost always complete and unquestionable. This relaxed her intensely.

About an hour later, with the sun fully below the horizon, James took Lily's hand and pulled her to her feet.

Pulling her into a tight hug, he appreciated how her head came up perfectly to rest on his shoulder. He bent down to whisper in her ear, "You're ready," to which Lily smiled up gratefully.

James broke the hug and took her hand, and they walked jovially back to the castle.

After the impromptu study session, Lily felt comfortable going to bed at the reasonable hour of four in the morning, giving her exactly three hours of sleep before breakfast and her first two exams: Potions and Herbology. Potions, Lily was sure, would be quite simple: Slughorn was an amiable man, and would probably give an easy exam. His popularity with his students was much too valued by him to actually challenge them. On the one hand, it irked Lily. Adversely, she was glad to have a break. Herbology, on the other hand, would be difficult but manageable: histories of some of the herbs would be hard, but practical identification should be easy.

Five hours later, Lily was holed up in the Common Room again, preparing for the next day of exams. This time, James just smiled and sat beside her, holding her hand. Every few minutes, he would peer over her shoulder at the book she was reviewing from. He would skim the material; it was the nearest he'd ever come to studying.

During the rest of his time, he would joke around with whichever Marauder occupied the room at the time, or sometimes just sit and look at Lily. It made her a little uncomfortable, but the tension probably gave her an adrenaline rush that would help her perform. Or at least that's how she justified it to herself.

The hours slowly ticked by, her Astronomy and Ancient Runes exams looming closer. Finally, around 3:30 AM, she passed out on the couch in the common room, pinning James there along with her.

Groggily awakening as students fluttered around them, Lily was glad that they were all too nervous and busy to bother teasing her and James about their sleeping positions: she was also glad to have time to re-arrange herself before James woke up.

After breakfast, she hurried up two flights of stairs to make it to the Ancient Runes class on time. James, coincidentally, had the same class. He walked her there, except his route took them at least ten minutes longer than it should've. He seemed to choose stairways intent on changing location right after they got on.

After they eventually made it, the exam commenced. Lily thought it went well, and James, as always, was spectacularly confident.

A short lunch followed, but Lily found herself caught in the middle of studying… food didn't appeal much. So she pored over her Astronomy charts with renewed intensity.

Before going to the Astronomy Tower, she briefly wondered how the exam would happen without the aid of the night sky. It was a little after noon, so stars weren't visible at all.

Arriving at the Tower, she and her class were redirected to a classroom. It turned out that the teacher gave them all blank charts and told them to locate a number of galaxies, stars, and planets on them. It wasn't entirely difficult, but a much more tedious assignment than Lily had planned for. She used nearly all of their allotted two and a half hours to complete her chart.

When she was finally released from the classroom, she realized she only had three exams to go, followed by a three-day weekend. The exams she still had were: Transfiguration, Charms, and History of Magic.

History of Magic was probably the biggest class she needed to study for, because loads of dates would be on the test. It was, in fact, comprised entirely of the test-taker writing in the year, and possibly date of certain happenings.

Transfiguration was nearly impossible to study for, considering that the exam would consist of each student being asked to transfigure one object into something else. All Lily could do was look over the various spells.

Charms, her best class, also didn't produce much of a challenge.

The next two days went by quickly and uneventfully; now all Lily had to do was wait about a week to get her results. They would be owled both to her and to her parents, and she felt confident overall. James, predictably, was positive that he'd scored off the charts. Although Lily was a little annoyed by his arrogance, she found it equally endearing.

The night they finished, Lily and James met up in the Common Room at ten PM, and went out onto the Grounds once more. The night sky stretched over their heads, and they got comfortable in the warm air. Curled up next to James on the grass, Lily felt content.

"Eighty-four more days," James whispered in her ear.

Confused, she looked up at him.

"Until we're done with Hogwarts," he clarified.

She grinned, but then her face fell. "What about after that?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"I mean us. What's going to happen after graduation?" Lily asked, avoiding James' gaze.

"We'll stay together, of course," James said. He sounded a little surprised she'd even ask.

"What if I don't want to?" she retorted playfully.

"Then I guess I'll have to make you," he responded.

Lily just grinned up at him, comfortable to lock eyes again.

"Forever?" she asked softly, her words almost lost on the soft breeze of the night.

"Forever," he replied just as softly.

A/N: 1353 words….Not the best ending, I know, but a hell of a lot better than the previous one :) I hope you all enjoyed this fic, especially this (new and improved) ending. Sorry I mucked it up so much the first time…. I really didn't mean to. I got caught up in trying to tie up all the ends and such…. Major mistake. Won't happen again, Scout's honour. Until next fic, headupintheclouds.