AN: Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend!

Enjoy!

Lily heard from two more places that she had applied to before noon the following day, and she was feeling a lot better all around. Did she still want to work for The Hallows? Of course she did, but the world didn't end at The Hallows. There were a lot of other places where she would be happy to work.

Emma had rubbed her that wrong way, but she felt better about it when Mary validated her feelings when she called her the night before.

Mary had also threatened to hunt Anthony down and kick his ass if he didn't leave Lily alone. Which she thought was very nice of her friend.

With her date still hours away, Lily decided to bring her mum lunch at work and then visit the library. She used to spend almost every afternoon at the library, and she hadn't been back since she'd been home. James had been a bit of a distraction.

They had done a lot of updates since she'd been here about a year ago.

It was a lot brighter, but still cozy. They had finally updated the computers, which was a relief to see. Lily had spent her secondary days beating the side of a windows 98 and praying that her homework would print before the machine shut down.

The carpet was new too, there was no longer a nineties pattern under her feet. There were new couches and tables and chairs and lights. The entire place looked as though someone had dragged it into the twenty-first century.

She looked along the aisles, noticing that there was no longer tape peeling up over the authors' names along the wooden shelves. She reached out and ran her finger along a few of the spines and took a deep breath. Everything looked different, but it smelled the same.

"Lily?" She turned around, a big smile already on her face as Ms. McGonagall came into view. "I thought that was you! Oh, how lovely to see you!" She started toward Lily.

"Ms. McGonagall, I was hoping to run into you!" She rushed toward the older woman and threw her arms around her. Minerva McGonagall did not seem surprised and hugged her back tightly. "Look at this place," Lily pulled back and looked around again.

"Yes, it finally got some much-needed upgrades," McGonagall looked around and smiled. She looked the same as ever, her hair primly and pristinely pulled back, her clothes pressed and matching perfectly. Despite her somewhat cold and hard appearance, she was one of the warmest people in Cokeworth and she had been there for Lily when her father had passed. "So, you're graduated now?"

Lily smiled. "I am. I have my degree in English Literature and now I'm looking for a job in publishing. I had quite the horrible interview yesterday, and I just scheduled two more. One on Thursday and one next Monday. Hopefully they'll go better."

"I find it hard to believe that you interviewed horribly."

Lily smiled. "I didn't, they had already hired someone else for the job they had me interviewing for and then offered me a terrible job in New York. I felt a bit like they had played me."

"New York? I never got the appeal for that place."

Lily grinned. McGonagall didn't much see the appeal of London or Oxford or any other big city either. "Yes, well, I didn't take it. I have no desire to move to New York. I'd like to visit one day, but London is where I want to be." She tilted her head, "Or at least just outside of London."

"Yes, this is close enough for me."

"We are pretty close." Lily agreed.

"Would you like a tour?"

"I would!"

They walked around the library and McGonagall showed her all the new additions and improvements. She wasn't a fan of all of the changes, but she told Lily that she did like how much more popular the upgrades had made the library.

"We're looking to start a lot of new programs this summer. Book clubs for different age groups, writing classes, technology classes, we want to get speakers to come in, maybe local authors can come in and host read ins. Pomona and I have a lot of ideas, but there are a lot of changes for us to get used to and I think we might need some help. Someone from another library suggested that we get a Twitter? I don't know the first thing about that."

Lily smiled at her. "That all sounds great! I'd definitely join a book club if only so I have a reason to hang out here all the time again."

McGonagall smiled and nodded her head. "I'd like that, Lily. I'm so proud of all that you've been doing and where you're going, but I have missed you."

"I've missed you too," She reached out and hugged her again.

They talked about Mary for a while, and then McGonagall's new raised flower bed and before Lily knew it, it was nearly four o'clock.

"Oh, wow." She shook her head, looking up at the clock. "I didn't realize it was getting so late!"

"Where are you headed?"

Lily bit her lip and pushed her hair back. "I've got a date this evening, actually."

"Oh? And who is the lucky young man?"

Lily felt her cheeks flush, "James Potter."

McGonagall's eyebrows rose and a small smile appeared. "James? Well, I think that's long overdue."

"Yes, that seems to be the general consensus." Lily laughed. "I'll come back tomorrow. Will Ms. Sprout be in too?"

"Yes, yes, and she'd love to talk to you as well. She had a few things she wanted to finish up with the raised beds, otherwise she'd be here now. But go on now! I don't want to make you late for your date. I'll be here tomorrow." She reached out and squeezed Lily's hand.

"I'll see you both tomorrow!" Lily promised and then headed toward the door.

When she got home, she went up to her room to go through her entire closet. At five, she facetimed Mary and Marlene and made them help her pick out something. James still hadn't told her where they were going, but she didn't think they would be headed anywhere fancy.

They all agreed that she should wear her black, corduroy, miniskirt, but Marlene and Mary couldn't agree on a top. Lily made the final decision on a soft, yellow, and orange t-shirt. She was pretty sure that she'd left her jean jacket in the back of his car, so she didn't need to worry about picking something out. She put on black ankle boots and then hung up on her friends so she could do her hair.

When she was done, she hopped on her bed and pulled out her phone again.

Lily: I saw Ms. McGonagall earlier and I told her that we were going on a date

Lily: She said that it was about time

James: Was I the only one that didn't know that you fancied me in secondary?

Lily: I'm beginning to think that it was just you and I that were in the dark, yes.

James: I mean

James: At least we were in the dark together

Lily: One of us should have turned on the light

James: I tried. Couldn't find the switch

James: Are you ready?

Lily: I am

James: I'll bring the car around

Lily: You are ridiculous

Lily: Our driveways are less than two meets apart

James: I'm still gonna do it though

Lily: I'll wait on the porch then

Lily grabbed her bag, slid her phone into it and then headed downstairs.

"You look lovely," Her mum was leaning against the wall near the front door. "Is he going to come in and say hullo? Shake my hand and promise to have you back by ten?"

Lily rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, "He might if I don't get outside first. He's already bringing the car around." Rose laughed and reached out, pulling Lily in for a hug. "Have fun."

"Will do," Lily kissed her cheek before she pulled back and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Love you!"

"Love you too!"

Lily walked out just in time to see James getting out of his car, that was now in her driveway. She took a step down from the porch, "Wait!" He called out. "We've got to do this the right way."

Lily tilted her head to the side, but put her foot back on the porch. "What does that mean?"

James grinned at her, one side pulling up a bit higher than the other and Lily pressed her lips together.

James pulled a small arrangement of flowers from behind his back, still smiling that boyish smile of his. "I got these for you," He stopped at the edge of the porch and held the flowers up to her. She looked down at him, unable to keep her smile in check.

He was wearing an olive-green shirt that brought out the greens and golds in his eyes. His hair was still a mess, as normal, but it was tamer than it usually was. He looked really good.

Though, Lily always thought that James looked really good.

She took the flowers, a simple arrangement of daisies and little blue flowers that Lily didn't know the name of. "Thank you," She said, bringing it up to her nose.

"They're from mum's garden. She was excited when I asked if I could pick some."

Lily heard her front door open and then Rose was stepping out onto the porch. "I know, I know," She spoke up before Lily even opened her mouth to say anything. "But I want to get a picture of the two of you," She held up her phone and gave them both a sheepish smile.

Lily felt the first rush of butterflies go through her.

This was a real date. They had been hanging out every day for the last week, but this was an actual date. She hadn't been thinking of it as being different, but clearly everyone else thought it was different.

She looked back at James, who was still smiling, even as he reached up his hand to muse his hair. "Of course," He stepped up onto the porch, stopping his hand just before it reached his hair and reaching out for Lily instead. He put his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her against his side. He was nervous. Even the way he was touching her let her know that he was nervous.

Lily leaned her head against his shoulder and smiled at her mum. Should she feel a bit more nervous? Was she at all nervous? She didn't feel nervous.

Her mum looked thrilled that they were going along with her plan and quickly snapped a few pictures. "Thank you!" She looked at the pictures. "They're perfect. You both look so good. Do you want me to put the flowers in a vase, Lily?"

James dropped his arm from Lily's shoulders and stepped away.

"Oh, thank you!" She handed the flowers to her mum, pulling a single daisy out of the arrangement.

"Not a problem. Alright, I'll let you two be on your way now." She looked between the both of them and then reached out and gave James a quick, one-armed hug. "Have fun!"

Lily laughed as her mum hurried back inside. "Ready?" She asked, turning back to James now. His hand was in his hair now, but he nodded, his smile still in place, though it looked as though he might have been a bit dazed now.

"Yeah," He nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready."

Lily stood on her tiptoes and kissed James' cheek. "Then let's go."

She took his hand and they walked over to his car.

He opened her door for her, and then closed it when she was sitting inside. She checked to make sure her jacket was in the backseat, and then tossed her bag back there too, though she kept the daisy in her hand, twirling it in her fingers as she turned back to the front.

He got into the car and Lily reached over and mused his hair. "Why do you seem like you're nervous?"

He looked over at her and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I am nervous. Are you not?"

Lily shrugged. "I feel like I should be. I got a wave of butterflies when my mum came out, but I don't know. I've spent every day with you for the last week. Today isn't all that different, is it?"

He looked at her for a moment and then shook his head. "I know that you're right, this isn't that different, but it is at the same time." He started the car. "I mean, this is the big leagues."

Lily laughed and leaned back against her seat. "The big leagues? Could you be projecting perhaps?" She felt like it was more a natural progression of things.

"This is our first official date, Lily."

"Right," She nodded. "It doesn't matter if I kissed you three days ago, or that you climbed in my window the other day-"

"No, that matters a great deal," He interrupted, with a smile. He looked over at her and let his shoulders drop. She leaned toward him with her brow raised and he laughed as he met her in the middle and kissed her, as she'd hoped that he would. It was sweet and perfect and the butterflies came back to Lily.

He pulled back, but stayed close. "I don't know why I'm nervous, but at the same time, of course I'm nervous. I'm finally going on a date with you. I feel like the expectations are pretty high. I've been waiting for this chance since I was a kid. I want everything to go smoothly. I want you to want a second date at the end of the night."

That seemed a little ridiculous to Lily, because of course she already wanted a second date. She wouldn't have agreed to the first one if she wasn't sure of her feelings, because James still moved on Friday, and she wasn't going to get to see him every day. She had already made up her mind when it came to James.

She hadn't fully realized that until just now. She and Sirius had talked about things on Saturday, when he'd given her the 'be nice to my best friend' talk, and then somewhere between then and now, she had made up her mind.

"James-"

"No," He interrupted again and then shifted the car into gear. "At the end of the night." He repeated.

"Okay, but my expectations are no higher than they have been all week. And I have gone to bed each night still wanting to see you again the next day. I mean, we're on a roll here."

He backed out of the driveway. "We are on a roll," He grinned at her, looked as though he was relaxing a little bit. "Any guesses on where we're going?"

Lily tilted her head back and forth. "I know that we're having dinner, but I don't know where. That little bistro off of Sunset?"

He glanced over at her and shook his head. "Nope, not the bistro."

"That new place near the theater?"

"No," He shook his head again, and he looked a lot less nervous now.

"Are we going to a restaurant?"

"No." His grin grew.

She nodded. "Well there isn't any food in the backseat," She checked again, but there was still only her bag and jacket.

"I hid it in the trunk."

"So a picnic then?"

"Maybe," His hand raked through his hair. He turned down a side street that Lily was familiar with and she was pretty sure that she knew where they were going. They were headed back to the park, back to where he'd told her they would have spent a lot of time if they had dated in secondary.

"Maybe," She repeated, leaning forward in her seat as they traveled down the side street. "You're so secretive-"

A strange sputtering sound started coming from the front of the car and Lily clamped her mouth shut as she turned to James and watched his eyes go wide in horror. The car slowed down and the sound got worse. "No," James muttered, rubbing his hand up and down the steering wheel. It didn't seem to help though and the car stalled out.

"Dammit!" He hit his hand against the steering wheel and then let his head droop until it was resting against his hands.

This wasn't just a hitch in his date plans, this was his car. His very old car that he was very attached to. She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"Maybe it's something small."

"I know nothing about cars," He said, turning his head to look at her over the tops of his glasses, which had slid down his nose. She pushed them back up. "I should, my dad keeps telling me that if I want to keep Edith then I should learn, but I know nothing about cars."

"I also know nothing about cars. What do you want to do? Call a tow truck?"

He blinked while looking at her for a moment and then nodded. "Yes. I'll call a tow truck, but we're still going on our date."

"Of course," Lily grinned as he sat up, determined now.

"We're practically at the park already, we can walk."

"The park? Is that where we're going?"

He gave her a look, trying to keep the grin from his face. "Yes, but I wanted to go down to the river. It's a bit further away." He considered her for a moment and then looked down at her shoes. "Are you alright with walking?"

Her smile grew, "Yeah, we can walk."

James called a tow truck and retrieved the basket of food from the trunk of the car and Lily pulled her phone out of her purse and tucked it into her skirt. She left the flower on the dash and then got out and stood on the concrete. He wouldn't let her carry anything, and somehow still made sure that he had a hand available. He held it out to her with a smile, still looking nervous and now a little anxious as well.

"I'm sorry about Edith." Lily said, tangling her fingers through his.

"She just needs a tune up, I'm sure she's fine." He started leading her away from the car, which he had managed to get off the road before it stopped entirely. He was upset, but he didn't want it to derail everything.

"I remember when you got that car," Lily looked over her shoulder at the rusty, blue, tin bucket.

"Let's not start to reminisce like she's dead, Lily." James gave her a look.

"I'm not! I just remember you were far too overzealous when you got your license and your parents said they weren't going to buy you a car, so you spent all summer doing every odd job you could. Dad asked you to paint the back fence and clear out the gutters."

He squeezed her hand. "I emptied the entire street's gutters. Sirius was so mad at me for picking the first car that I went to look at." He laughed. "But she's a good car and I just had a gut feeling."

Lily laughed, "You seem to stand by a lot of your gut reactions."

He kept his eyes on her. "What can I say, I've got excellent intuition."

He was talking about her. The way he was looking at her, the light in his eyes, the way his fingers were tracing over the back of her hand, he was telling her that he had always been right about her, that he had always known that this is where he wanted to go with her. To the park, hand in hand, on a date.

"I mean, I'm not going to argue with you," She grinned, bumping her shoulder against his.

"No? What if I ask nicely?"

Lily laughed, leaning against his shoulder now. "I mean, I am rather good at arguing, so I suppose I could humor you."

James laughed and tugged on her hand, using the leverage to plant a kiss on the side of her head. "So accommodating."

"Of course," She leaned into him.

They reached the river and James nodded toward a beautiful elm tree, drooping branches that danced in the wind above the water and the embankment. He had really put some thought into the exact location of where they were going to have their picnic.

She wondered if he knew how much Lily loved this particular tree somehow, or if it was just a lucky guess.

They reached the tree and James dropped her hand and set down the basket, pulling out a blanket. Lily grabbed the corners and her and James laid it out near the trunk of the tree. She took a seat while James pulled the basket over and started pulling out their meal.

"Mum helped me cook," He said, glancing at her. "So you don't have to be too impressed,"

"I'm always impressed with your mum," Lily looked over all the food as she teased him.

"Right, well these I made myself." He pulled out an insulated container and handed it to her. "For you."

Lily took the container and unzipped it, she knew what it was before she pulled open the lid because the smell gave it away.

"You made me bread?" She looked up at him and he was pulling chocolate candies out of the basket now. "Bread and chocolate?" She laughed and reached out to squeeze his hand before she picked up a bun and ripped it in two. She knew that he had brought bread and chocolate because of the comment he had made back in London, saying she was easy to please if that was all it took. He hadn't been wrong.

"They're still warm," She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and James chuckled. "Thank you, James." She looked back at him and he was shaking his head, still nervous.

"Of course."

After she finished her bun she forced herself to pay attention to the rest of the food, which should have been easy since she knew that Mia helped make it, but she had always been easily distracted by bread. Especially warm bread that smelled as good as this did. Warm, delicious smelling bread that James had made just for her.

It was all excellent of course. She ate much more than she should have, but her stomach being full couldn't convince her not to eat third helpings of the red curry.

"Do you think that your mum will let me come over for dinner? After you move to Canada?"

"I'm not moving-" He shook his head but then nodded. "Yes, she'd be thrilled to have you over for dinner. Mum and dad both."

"Right of course," Lily laughed, scooting over to James' side and leaning against him. He leaned back against the tree and put his arm around her. "Because of the paper airplane proposal."

"Yes, but they also liked you before they started planning our wedding. They have always liked you."

"Well, I can't blame them really."

He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. "Me neither."

"Hey, is your mum-" Thunder boomed around them, interrupting Lily's question. Her and James both looked up at the very blue sky at the same time. Through the bright green leaves of the elm, and saw the dark storm clouds that were quickly moving toward them, dimming the bright evening.

"It's not supposed to rain," James cursed at the sky.

"James, we live in England, it's always supposed to rain. But maybe it'll pass."

She wanted it to pass, if it didn't, they would be stuck in the rain. They didn't have a car anymore, and their houses were a good twenty-minute walk from here. She also didn't want their date to be cut short because it was raining. She knew that James had put a lot of thought and planning into today and she didn't want the rain to ruin that for him.

Thunder cracked again, the sound vibrating in Lily's chest and she let out a sigh. "Or not."

James closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he started packing everything up. "I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." She said, moving to help him.

"My car broke down and so now we're going to be stuck running through the rain. There was an umbrella in my car, and I looked at it, then left it there." He threw their plates into the basket and then closed the lid and stood up. Lily stood up as well.

"I promise, I won't melt." Lily grabbed the blanket as she stood up and handed it to James to put in the basket. He looked at her for a moment and then tilted his head, a small smile stretching across his face.

"Are you sure? You are awfully sweet," He held out his hand.

Lily rolled her eyes, even as she accepted his hand, "And you're a sap." She tugged on his hand, pulling him close and kissed him.

They hadn't made it halfway back to the trail when it started raining. It was a warm summer rain, but it was coming down awfully hard and obscured Lily's vision. She doubted that James was faring much better with his glasses coated in rain.

"Should we-" Another clap of thunder drowned James out. "Should we head back to the road?"

Lily nodded, "It's faster!"

When they were back on the concrete, it was a little easier to walk, but Lily's boots were filling up with water, making her heels pop out every time she took a step. She tried to walk more on her toes.

They had been walking for a good long while now, both of them completely drenched. Lily peeked over at James and his hair was laying flat against his head and she laughed. He couldn't hear her over the rain, but he happened to look over at her at the same time and offered her a contrite smile. She laughed again and squeezed his hand.

From up the road a ways, someone was honking and flashing their lights and Lily recognized her mum's car. She waved at her then flinched as lightening brightened the rapidly dimming sky. It wasn't that late, but it was starting to look like it was the middle of the night.

Rose pulled up to the side of the concrete and James pulled the back door open for them, which Lily's mum had thrown a bunch of towels in. Lily let go of James' hand as he moved around to put the basket in the trunk.

"Thank you, mum!" Lily called over the rain.

"Hurry up! Get in!" Rose called, fiddling with the wipers.

As she went to step off the concrete, down onto the road to get into the car, the heel of her foot popped out again and when she stepped down with her full weight, her ankle twisted painfully, and she gave out a yelp.

"Lily?" Her mum twisted around in the driver's seat, trying to look at her.

"I'm fine," Lily said quickly, climbing into the car and grabbing a towel. James pulled open the opposite door as Lily was pulling her door shut. Her ankle was throbbing and she kept herself turned toward the door in an attempt to compose herself.

"What happened?" James asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing, I'm fine," She pulled her hair over her shoulder and attempted to squeeze the ends of it with the towel as she avoided looking at anyone.

"Lily, I heard you yell, what happened?"

"I just twisted my ankle, I'm fine," She looked at him. "How badly is my mascara running?"

Her mum hit a bump in the road and she felt her ankle throb again. She felt a bit lightheaded and leaned back against the seat.

"Lily?"

"I'm fine," She repeated.

"You're extremely pale." James said.

"She's never done well with pain." Her mum spoke up, rather unhelpfully.

"I just twisted it. People twist their ankles all the time!" Lily argued and then went back to drying herself off.

"I'm so sorry, Lily." James started.

"James, this is not your fault. My boots got full of water and they're slippery."

"You can't blame yourself for the rain, either. It wasn't supposed to rain tonight," Rose was a little helpful this time. "I was going to do some gardening before it got dark."

Lily really wanted to rub the towel over her face, but she didn't want to smear her makeup even more and make herself look worse. It was a strange detail to be focused on, but it did distract her from the pain in her ankle.

They pulled into their driveway and Rose hopped out of the car with an umbrella. She opened the door for Lily, who turned to James. "Text me when your phone is dry, yeah?" She offered him a smile, but she was still feeling a bit lightheaded and the look he was giving her let her know that she wasn't convincing. "We still had fun."

"Right," He nodded. "Yeah, we had fun. Do you want help getting into the house?"

Lily shook her head. "I can manage. I'm fine, I promise." She knew that it was going to hurt, but she didn't want to make him feel any worse about how poorly this date had ended. And they really had been having a nice time before the rain had come.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." And then he opened his door and moved to get the basket out of the trunk. He forgot to kiss her, and she was about to tell him that when he spoke up over the sounde of the rain, "Thank you for coming to rescue us." He said to Rose as Lily handed her mum the damp towels in an attempt to stall a moment longer.

"Of course! We haven't had a storm like this in a while! Go wash up and get into something dry."

Once all the towels were out of the car, she stepped out of the car with her good foot and grabbed her mum's shoulder when she felt a rush, and then a whooshing sound in her ears.

"If you hadn't just handed me all of these towels, I could help you a bit better."

"Mum, I'm fine."

"He's halfway back to his already, there's no need to keep fibbing."

"It hurts so much," She leaned against her mum's shoulder and then put some weight on her foot so she could close the door.

"I know, let's go prop it up and get some ice on it."

Lily looked back over her shoulder to make sure James had gone in his house and then quickly hobbled up to the front door with her mum, swearing all the while.

Once they were inside, Rose dropped the towels onto the floor and quickly closed the umbrella. "Let's get you into my room so we don't have to worry about the stairs. I'll help you into the bathroom so you can rinse off and I'll bring you down your pajamas."

They made it into the bathroom, and Rose had to help Lily out of her boots and socks, which almost made Lily faint. She couldn't look down at her ankle and she couldn't ask her mum what it looked like either.

"It's not broken, Lily." Rose said, taking her boots with her out of the bathroom.

Lily pulled her shirt off, then carefully shimmied out of her soaking wet skit. Wet corduroy was not easy to get off. She took a quick shower, mainly sitting on the floor of the shower with her foot sticking out.

Getting out was tricky, but eventually she was on the couch in the living room with her foot propped up on three pillows and a bag of frozen peas on top of it. Her mum had put her phone in a bag of rice and made a pot of Lily's favorite tea while she'd been struggling to pull on her pajamas.

"I feel so bad," Lily let her head fall back against the sofa. "His car broke down, and then it rained like it hasn't in years! And he kept going on like it was all his fault. He's probably blames himself for this too," She nodded at her ankle. "I don't have to go in, do I?"

"I don't think so. It's not too swollen. We'll see what it looks like in a few hours."

Lily nodded. "Did you toss my shoes?"

"No, I put them in the dryer to see if they could be saved."

"They're traitorous. I'm not sure I want them anymore."

"Then I'll donate them." Rose laughed. "Would you like some Motrin?"

"Yes please." Lily took a sip of her tea.

She desperately wished that her phone wasn't in a bag of rice.