A/N: Hello there! I hope you're having an amazing start to the week! To make matters even better (I hope), here's the 15th (sans prologue) and final chapter of Talk Me Down.

Writing this fic has really been a dream come true. I've learned so much from writing it and made so many friends along the way, that parting with it is actually sort of bittersweet. But I'm excited to move on to different things!

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I loved to write it.

Carry on!

(To my friends: Bon, Nai, Gracie, Vic, Chloe, Linds, Kristina, Rhi. I have learned so much from you. Thank you for sticking by me even when I'm being a bit dense, for always coming to my rescue when I'm having one of those days, and for making me laugh and feel more loved than I've ever had. Special thank you to my wonderful beta, Charlotte, without whom this fic could never have been so true to the story in my head.)

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own any of this, though I totally wish I did.


Chapter Fifteen

Or

I Have A Dream


The rest of Lily's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry flew by unnervingly fast and, in the end, while the Quidditch cup went to Slytherin, it was Gryffindor who was awarded the House Cup.

Despite the victory, Lily couldn't say that she felt sad about going back home; in fact, she revelled in anticipation.

During that last part of term, she had been so incredibly busy that seven weeks of classes had felt much more like a fortnight. Between the Slug Club dinners and Prefect meetings, the shifts at the Hospital Wing, and, of course, studying for her final exams, Lily hardly had any time left for trivial things such as feeding herself or sleeping more than five hours a night.

It was only natural that she'd be excited about going home, catching up on her reading, and spending some time with friends and family—yes, even Petunia. Indeed, not even the possibility of running into Snape dampened her mood.

She spent her summer bouncing from place to place; first, she went home, then off to Marlene's, then to James' for a week, then back home, and finally, to Marlene's again.

When her Hogwarts letter came and brought with it a shiny new badge, Lily could hardly believe it.

She was at home when it happened and, upon reading the actual letter and realising it was realand not just a prank, Lily had squealed so hard it even woke Petunia up. That, of course, meant she'd be given the silent treatment for at least two more days, but Lily didn't care. In just a week, she'd be back at Marlene's house, where she'd stay until September first.


It was November now and James had proven himself a much more capable Head Boy than most people had anticipated. Lily, of course, had had no doubts, especially considering the way that he'd cleaned up his act back in April.

All the Quidditch had definitely helped, too. Indeed, having been Captain for the past two years had given him an insight into leadership, delegation, and people management that Lily herself envied.

As a consequence of the inescapable war, rounds ran longer than ever before, point-docking regulation was much tighter, and the bureaucratic work was absolutely dreadful. Somehow, having James Potter as her partner made it considerably more bearable.

Indeed, being Head Girl was hard work, but it did come with its privileges; not only did they no longer have to abide by a curfew, they were also granted private offices! Of course, those were both meant to be used for head duties… but there was nothing in her Hogwarts letter discouraging them from the odd visit to the kitchen and Lily would be lying if she said she didn't usually have company during such outings.

If Lily thought that she and James had been close before, it was nothing compared to their current relationship and, though her group of friends was most beloved, even she had to admit, it was James Potter's company that she sought after the most.

No, they weren't dating yet. Not officially, anyway.

They didn't kiss—hadn't even once since Easter—or hold hands, but they led prefect meetings as a united front, napped together when patrol reports got particularly gruelling, and she had worn his scarf to the Quidditch match the previous month.

As James was particular to waking up early, he always saved Lily some porridge and toast, and in turn she made sure that he always had pudding for after Quidditch practice. She proofread his Charms essays, he helped her with practical Transfiguration.

Neither had brought dates to the latest Hogsmeade visit.

They weren't dating— not yet, Lily reminded herself—but already James was completely hers.

And she was his.


It was precisely eight-fifty-one in the morning when a letter landed in Lily's pumpkin juice.

She fished it out and, after shooting a nasty look at the owl responsible for such a wrongdoing, dried off the envelope with a flick of her wand.

Her first lesson of the day was Transfiguration and, not wanting to tempt fate—or, rather, McGonagall's ire—she stashed it inside her bookbag for after class.

Today they'd be working on human Transfiguration, and Lily couldn't say she was very much looking forward to it. Just last week, Eloise from Ravenclaw house had been stuck with a pig's nose for an entire day. James, however, was nearly bouncing in his seat with excitement. All the Marauders were.

Professor McGonagall entered the classroom at exactly nine o'clock and that was that. Fortunately, no accidents transpired and mostly everything went smoothly. Sure, at one-point Sirius charmed one of Peter's arms into a boa constrictor, but he fixed it so quickly that, by the time McGonagall turned around from the board, everything was back to normal.

Their good behaviour was rewarded, and class ended ten minutes earlier than usual. Lily seized the opportunity and, after saying goodbye to her friends, who had History of Magic without her, she stalked off. After all, the Head Offices were only two corridors away and, whatever post she got, Lily always preferred to read it in private.

She placed her bag atop the desk and sat down in one of the wooden chairs. As soon as Lily opened the envelope and pulled out the letter, she immediately recognised her mother's handwriting. It read:

"Dear Lily,

I hope you're enjoying your last autumn term at Hogwarts! How was the Halloween feast? Was it as lovely as you remembered?

I'm writing to remind you of Petunia's wedding gift. She assured me that she'd already spoken to you about it but, still, I wanted to make sure. After all, no proper wedding can be planned based off word of mouth alone. Everything's happening so quickly—just four more months, can you imagine? —and Petunia's insisted on doing so much herself, but I wanted to talk to you about it.

She's really sorry that you can't be maid of honour, but Yvonne—do you remember Yvonne? She's the one from Petunia's English class—made your sister her maid of honour and so Petunia simply has got to return the favour. She told me she spoke to you and you didn't mind. I know you wouldn't, you've always been such a dear.

Please let me know when you'll be back home so we can get you a dress! None of that dress robe business. I was thinking of a green perhaps, for it always looks so beautiful with your complexion.

Lots of love,

Mum"

Lily dropped the letter on top of the table.

Petunia? Wedding gift? Maid of honour? What?


Predictably enough, Lily never made it to Ancient Studies. Instead, she holed herself up in the offices for the whole morning, where instead of writing back to her mother, she attempted—and failed—to get started on her Potions essay.

Why had Petunia not told her she was engaged? And why had she told their mum that Lily already knew about it? She'd been at home for a full three weeks that summer, and neither of them had mentioned a thing…

Lily racked her brain trying to figure it out and in the end was left with the only possible conclusion; her sister hadn't wanted her to know.

With poorly disguised puffy eyes and a runny nose, Lily made it to the Great Hall just in time for lunch. Taking one look at her face, her friends quickly realised that something wasn't right, but they didn't push her and for that Lily was glad.

She didn't want to talk about it, at least not for the time being. Not only was she hurt, Lily felt embarrassed… Her own sister was getting married and she didn't want Lily there. She'd always known that Petunia despised her, and everything related to magic, but not once did Lily think that she'd actually be completely cut off from Tuney's life. If only she wasn't too bloody proud, Lily would write to Petunia and demand to be involved in the wedding, if only as a guest.

Oh well, Lily sighed. Long gone were the days that she'd pine for her sister's attention. Instead, she silently ate her lamb chops, barely looking up from her plate.

The rest of the day followed in a very similar fashion. It was a good thing that Lily didn't have any more classes because she didn't think they'd be very fruitful. Alongside Mary, Marlene and Lizzy, she marched up to the library and forced herself to do some work because, even if not for the sake of her sanity, it was still N.E.W.T year.

They worked the whole afternoon and, by the time they let out for supper, Lily had put Petunia's letter on the backburner. Still there, of course, but not nearly as bothersome as it had been earlier in the day.

Later that evening, the group made a cocoa run to the kitchens, after which they finally sauntered over to Gryffindor Tower. It was dark outside by the time they got there but Lily didn't want to head upstairs just yet.

Assuring her friends that she was okay—and accepting their offer to take Lily's bookbag up with them—she sat in her favourite armchair by the fire, her mum's letter dancing between her fingertips. Oh, how Lily itched to just throw it in…

Everyone had mostly gone up to bed but, despite the ridiculously late hour, Lily was still wearing her school robes. If she went upstairs to get dressed, there was no way she'd come back down and there was still someone Lily wanted to see before going to bed.

She was lucky, then, that it didn't take him long to show up. The last Gryffindor left in the common room had just gone up to their dorm room when James Potter climbed through the portrait hole.

"Sorry I took so long," he breathed. "Patrols with Goshawk took a lot longer than I was expecting… Hey, what's wrong?" James asked, after only having glanced at Lily for a second. It was incredible how well he could read her.

Instead of explaining, Lily simply handed him the envelope, now crumpled from all the re-reading she'd done throughout the day.

James sat down next to Lily, eyes quickly darting across the letter. He drew a sharp breath and turned back to her.

"My sister's a real piece of work, isn't she?" Lily chuckled humourlessly.

James shook his head, hand jumping to mess up even further his already unruly hair.

"We don't need her," James urged. "We'll have our own wedding right here—"

This time, it was Lily who cut James off with her lips.

He pulled away.

Fuck, Lily thought. But then, she looked at James and he was laughing.

"We have to stop doing it like this," he said.

Lily grinned, her heart like a beating drum.

"Any other preferences I should know about?" she teased, as James gripped her ankles and pulled her closer to him.

"When I kiss you," he started, briefly connecting their lips before pulling away once more, "it will be deliberate." Another kiss, though this time he allowed Lily just enough time for her to gently tug at his lower lip. "You won't have to wonder whether I did it on a whim or whether I actually meant it—"

He kissed Lily again, slowly, this time taking her cheeks in his hands, bringing her even closer than before. His lips were soft and gentle - Lily could taste the vanilla pudding he loved so much - but they moved with purpose too, experiencing Lily in the same way that she was savouring him.

James let go and, still with his eyes closed, he took Lily's hands in his.

"—You'll know."


When Lily awoke one particular December Sunday, she found a note underneath her pillow. It was written in gold ink on glossy navy-blue card.

"Six p.m., the Headmaster's office. Speak of this to no one."

She hid it inside her pillowcase and went on with her day, hoping that at least for the next few hours she'd be able to push the cryptic memo out of her mind.

Her boyfriend—her boyfriend! —of course, had other plans.

"Did you get one too?" he asked, anxiously running one hand through his hair.

"I thought we weren't supposed to tell anyone," she whispered.

"Well, I've never been much able to keep things from you, have I?"

Lily laughed. "No, you fool, you haven't." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

How wonderful was it that now, she could do it whenever she wanted to?

At five-fifty, Lily made her way to Dumbledore's office. When she arrived, all her friends were there already, as were Lucinda and Bertha Jorkins. Professor McGonagall opened the door and ten or so witches and wizards were already roaming the room, mingling and sipping warm Butterbeer.

"Welcome," Dumbledore started, "to the Order of the Phoenix."

Though they'd be doing it for different reasons, leaving Hogwarts and fighting in a war so close to the front lines was scary. In just a few months, whatever pain and despair they'd felt when those Death Eaters had attacked Hogsmeade would become routine. Long nights on missions, days on end, weeks even separated, working undercover… and yet Lily couldn't imagine herself doing anything else.

She'd told James back in the beginning of their sixth year that she'd love to become a teacher someday, but not in a world like this. She wanted it to be in a reality where all the wars that she'd tell her students about were fiction.

Their life outside of Hogwarts would be so different from anything Lily had ever known. There would be dark days, of course, but Lily was certain there would also be light. Even if they had only been dating for a month, there was no doubt in Lily's mind that she and James were both in it for the long haul.

If anything, at least they had each other, and somehow it was enough.


A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please please please let me know how you liked it. It's been a pleasure writing Talk Me Down, and I hope you stick around for future works (though not in the TMD universe. For now I'm planning to leave it as is.)

I'll see you soon!

Adriana x