Final Days

May 1978, Hogwarts Grounds

It was one of those perfect days, one where the promise of summer seemed like it had never been closer. The sun was at its richest, in the days approaching the solstice, and stepping into it felt like sliding into a warm bath.

Lily stopped at the edge of the courtyard, where the cobblestone gave way to soft green grass, and leaned her back against the doorway. She turned her face up toward the sun, her eyes closed in bliss, basking in its soothing glow. The shadow of the war weighed, heavy as ever, in her mind. But today she resolved to cast it from her thoughts. Today, the sun was shining, and Hogwarts was as untouchable as ever, its high stone walls casting long shadows, its hallowed grounds kissed by the rich and vibrant sunshine.

"You're smiling," A soft, low voice from behind interrupted her thoughts, and she felt her heart give a flutter of recognition, but kept her eyes closed. "Does that mean you're thinking about me?"

"Classic Potter ego." She sighed. "The one thing I can't seem to train you out of."

James chuckled darkly. She felt his arms slide around her, his head dropping to land on her shoulder. She hadn't held him properly in what felt like ages, what with NEWTs taking up all of their time and the full moon being yesterday. She missed being held by him, missed the security of it. She sighed contentedly, finally allowing her eyes to flicker open. His breath caught for a moment as he looked up at her.

"Those eyes," he murmured softly. "Those damn green eyes will be the death of me."

She bit her lip and wriggled her arms out from his vice-like grip, tossing them around his shoulders and winding her fingers through his ever-tangled hair. His hands settled onto her waist.

"This stupid messy hair," She sighed resentfully. "It's like it knows it's your best feature and intentionally taunts me with it."

"It's how I won you over, after all." She rolled her eyes at that remark. James just grinned lazily, sliding his fingers down her chin and tilting her face up towards his with agonizing slowness. When her mouth was inches away, he paused. "I'm going to marry you Lily Evans," he whispered softly.

She scoffed, but as he pulled her into a deep kiss, she felt her heart spring to life, thumping wildly in her chest like a Boggart contained.

"Do you two ever do anything other than snog?" gleefully taunted Sirius Black, as he rounded the corner, butterbeer bottles clinking in his hands. He was followed by a slightly wheezing Peter Pettigrew, who was lugging a basket piled high with goodies, no doubt pilfered from the kitchens.

Lily frowned at the two boys as she pulled away from James, who whined a little at the loss.

"Honestly, Black. We have less than a week left in this bloody castle, and I do believe you are desperate to break any and every rule in your repertoire."

"Exactly!" Sirius beamed at Lily as he sauntered past the two lovers. "Glad to see you're finally starting to understand the Marauder spirit, Evans. There's hope for you yet!" he called over his shoulder, strolling down the wide green expanse toward the lake. James grabbed her hand and followed at a jog, catching up with Peter and lifting the other side of his heavy basket with his free hand.

Lily smiled kindly at the shorter boy. "Alright, Pete?" she asked, "Happy to be done with NEWTs?"

Peter huffed, trying to catch his breath to respond. "I guess so." He looked at Lily, grateful for the attention, as always. "I thought I'd be less stressed after they were over, but now I can't stop worrying about my scores! I just know I butchered my Charms practical, I can't see why Flitwick even let me continue- "

He prattled on until they reached the little party already gathered at the base of the willow tree at the lake's edge. James, who was showing remarkable restraint in the face of Peter's rambling, reacted with a loud whoop when he saw who was there.

"Moony!" He hollered excitedly, dropping both his side of the basket and Lily's hand as he bounded over to his friend. "Good old Poppy let you out after all, then?"

A very pale and drawn Remus was perched on a smooth stone, leaning back against the tree, eyes heavy, but his face lit up as he saw his friends approaching. He nodded happily.

"Free as a bird," he said hoarsely. Lily helped Pete deposit the basket safely, then swooped to place a kiss on Remus' cheek. He beamed at her.

"Must have been my desperate pleas this morning," grinned Sirius, as he placed the bottles down on a large, checkered picnic blanket he had conjured out of nowhere. "Always knew dear Poppy had been harboring a thing for me all these years."

Mary MacDonald snorted as she smoothed a corner of the blanket and sat on it. "Dream on, Black." She said cheerfully. "I persuaded Madam Pomfrey that the sunshine and fresh air would do Remus some good. You lot are lucky I'm her favorite pupil."

Mary's close shadowing of the healer had been how she discovered Remus' secret, midway through sixth year, and the two had grown very close in the year since. Mary was muggle-born, so she didn't harbor the same inherent distrust and hatred toward werewolves, and she also happened to be uncommonly kind. She had enlisted Lily's help in whipping up several potions and balms of their own design to help Remus with residual aches and pains from his transformations. Lily knew, because Remus had confessed to her in low tones, voice breaking with emotion, that he had never imagined anyone having such a response to his condition. Her heart still broke when she remembered how he first came to Hogwarts; that tiny, frail boy with scars peeking out from under his collar, terrified of making friends lest they discover his terrible secret. As she looked out on the circle of people doting on Remus – Mary uncorking a purple potion she had created for aching joints, James and Peter reenacting a near escape from Filch the night before for Remus' amusement, Sirius conjuring a series of increasingly frilly pillows and forcing Remus to lean against them – Lily sent up a silent prayer of thanks to the fates for sending that scared little boy this group of exceptional people.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a shout of hello, as the last two to join their impromptu picnic ambled over, hand in hand. Lily and Mary's dormmate Marlene McKinnon had met Ravenclaw seeker Dorcas Meadowes after she pelted a bludger at her during a game in sixth year and gave her a stunning concussion. Marlene didn't leave the other girl's side in the hospital wing for days, and nursed her back to health with a tenderness that left her friends exchanging knowing glances. After finally admitting she was smitten, a desperate Marlene recruited her friend and Quidditch captain James, fresh off yet anotheryear of spectacular failures to get Lily on a date. Together, they planned an ostentatious display that involved singing cupids, at least three species of exotic birds, and several homemade heart-shaped firecrackers. Luckily, Lily discovered the plan just in time and quickly squashed it. The next day, Marlene had nervously approached Dorcas in the library with just a whispered question on her lips, the other girl had beamed, and the rest, as they say, was history.

After exchanging merry greetings with the rest of the group, the two girls plopped down on the blanket and marveled at the spread, which had grown to rival the end-of-year feast. As they all tucked in, Mary piled sweets high on a plate and handed it to Remus, tucking a napkin into his collar jokingly as he swatted at her. James and Dorcas fell into their now-familiar routine of competitive House-based taunting.

"Alright, Meadowes?" Lily's boyfriend gleamed with ill-concealed triumph as he swigged his butterbeer. "Hope you lot aren't too sour at coming second to Gryffindor for the second year running! I imagine it must sting."

Dorcas sniffed at him before reaching for a berry tart and nibbling at it elegantly. "Don't count your occamies before they hatch, Potter," she responded primly. "Still a few days left before the end of term, and those rubies are looking well-within striking distance. It'll be a close race."

James scoffed, but Sirius looked up, an expression of faux concern on his face.

"The lady's right, Prongs. Embarrassingly close this year. I mean, Head Boy and Girl in our house, and we still almost lose the Cup! Talk about humiliating."

"Maybe that has something to do with said Head Boy and his lackeys sneaking around causing all manner of mayhem." Dorcas retorted with a smirk.

"Watch who you're calling a lackey, Meadowes." Sirius waggled a sausage threateningly at the Ravenclaw girl. "And for your information, we are reformed pranksters. You haven't heard a peep from us all term!"

"It's true," James chimed in, tossing a wink at Lily that made her heart skip a beat. "Miss Evans here keeps us in check. Radio silence on the pranking front. Quiet as church mice, we are."

"Absolutely," replied Sirius with a mischievous grin. "We even got rid of all our extra Zonko's products."

Marlene snorted. "Didn't you give them all to Peeves?"

"Well yes, with explicit instructions to dispense with them liberally around the dungeons." Sirius spoke around a huge bite of Yorkshire pudding. "And that sort of backfired…"

"Yes it most certainly did!" Peter piped up indignantly, ears bright red.

"How were we supposed to know you and Remus were going to pick that same day to test out that Waddiwasi spell on the little git? We're not omniscient, you know."

"Worked a treat though, didn't it?" said James, his grin growing. "I mean Peeves' reaction was a bit unfortunate…"

"Ah what I'd give to relive the memory of Moony and Wormtail coming into dinner with great prickly thistles growing out of their…"

"Ahem," said Lily pointedly, desperate to steer the conversation into less immature waters.

Sirius ignored her, turning to Remus, who was steadily turning as red as Peter. "What was the plant called again, Moons?"

Remus, halfway through a chocolate éclair, attempted a pompous air but couldn't maintain it as he croaked out, "Knobweed." The group dissolved into laughter.

Lily smiled. She looked around at her closest friends in the world. James and Sirius were now close to tears, guffawing helplessly. Remus was burying his face in his knees, resisting Mary's gentle tug on his arm as she attempted to console him, eyes gleaming with contained laughter. Marlene was snorting, leaning against Dorcas' legs, their hands intertwined. Even Peter had cracked a smile, despite his reddening ears.

Lily's gaze moved beyond the small circle of people, onto the surrounding lawns. They were filling with hordes of chattering teenagers spilling out of the castle to enjoy the last few days of post-exam freedom. Lily closed her eyes contentedly and let the warm afternoon sun wash over her again. She resolved to hold the memory of this day in her mind forever.

Epilogue

Three years and some months later, a very tipsy Horace Slughorn stumbled into his suite of rooms in the dungeons of Hogwarts. That fourth glass of Madam Rosemerta's finest mead really did him in, he reflected, rubbing his temples as he leaned against the cold stone doorway. Why did he let Flitwick talk him into the staff Hallowe'en party? All that talk about companionship and fraternity during wartime, and now all he would have to show for it was a pounding head tomorrow morning. He frowned. Something was nagging at the edge of his mind. Slughorn wearily re-opened his eyes, scanning the room. What was it? Something was off, something in here. He was looking for booby-traps set by Peeves, or maybe a particularly mischievous ghost. When his eyes passed over the empty fishbowl on his desk, he thought nothing of it at first. Then his eyes flickered back, and he was suddenly cold with realization and dread. He tried to walk toward the desk but found himself stumbling, falling to the floor. He collapsed, a trembling wreck of a man, and heard himself murmuring frantically. "No, no no no no no not Lily please not Lily". His trailing voice gave way to a wail of grief that filled the dungeons, echoing off the stone walls and floor so that the castle itself seemed to be mourning.