Thanks to my lovely reviewers: zenon-92793, lil pink pixie, zippingzephyr, szabatka2, messyblackhair66, marauders rox, Issa1711, Lady Potter of Tortall, apple-ali, Messrs Padfoot and Prongs and iridewithsanta. I hope you all had a great Christmas!

A couple of reviews commented that Lily's reaction was a little underestimated and surprising which it was but I did have my reasons for doing that. While Lily isn't always rational and reasonable (as demonstrated by her anger at James not telling her) she loves her friends more than anything. With no family left their friendship means everything to her and she would go to any lengths to help them. Despite her natural reaction to be angry at the dangers the Marauders put themselves in, she manages to see past that and recognise James' deep loyalty to his friends which is not only something Lily admires in him but also something she can relate to in her own friendships, especially with Marly, for despite their ups and downs she is the sister Lily never found in Petunia. I hope that gives a slightly better explanation to Lily's reaction.

Also, sorry to drag on the authors note, also sorry if this chapter kind of sucks. I know what I wanted to happen but it wasn't being particularly cooperative in being typed out. I wrote it out quickly so I also apologise for any mistakes, I didn't really get time to edit it, but I wanted to post it asap so I can get on with the end of the story. Anyway, enough of my drabble and please read and review.

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Ch 26: Who Ever Said Impossible?

NEWTs were fast approaching and tension and stress amongst the seventh years were running high. The teachers were far from settling any anxiety with their constant rants of 'how important your NEWTs are!' and 'how they will affect your whole futures'. The mound of work and revision was piling up drastically and all in all, most of the population seemed to be rather on edge.

One beautiful day in April, the lush Hogwarts grounds were a popular study spot. Lily, James, Sirius and Peter all sat comfortably under their favourite willow tree each finding something to occupy their minds.

Surprise surprise, Lily was rewriting notes with frantic speed that made everyone around her feel dizzy as they watched her. James was unusually reading a book on Charms. Sirius was planning a prank feeling supremely confidant in his abilities and feeling no need whatsoever to be studying this far away from exams. And last of all, Peter was attempting to write… well something. Possibly his herbology essay but from an outsiders view it looked rather like a whole lot of scribbles and crossing out.

"Where are the others?" Sirius asked to his quiet friends. They looked up from their separate activities not quite sure if they were pleased at the distraction (being hugely sick of studying) or nettled that it would now be harder to refocus.

"Marly is allergic to studying so she's probably off doing whatever it is Marly does." Lily said thoughtfully. "But I have no idea where Remus could be. Maybe he went to the library?" She suggested but Sirius looked sceptical.

Finding it all too much effort to worry much more about, Sirius shrugged and began picking idly at the grass in a bored fashion.

Putting down his book, James turned to Lily who was also struggling to regain her concentration.

"I think we've done enough studying for today." James said confidently.

Lily looked at him and then back at her work. "I dunno. I still have so much revision to do. NEWTs are in less than two months!" She was sounding slightly panicky and James couldn't help but give a slight smile at his stress-head girlfriend.

"Can we at least have a well deserved break?" He asked. Lily seemed to relent and nodded. She was exhausted from so many late night study sessions and was in desperate need of some relaxation which she never seemed to have time for.

Putting away her notes so they wouldn't blow away in the wind, Lily lay flat on her back on the grass and closed her eyes contentedly. Unable to resist, James leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Seems like they'll be busy for a while." Sirius said with a smirk as he stood up to stretch his legs. Lily laughed and James kissed her again, ignoring Sirius.

"Wormtail please. That's disgusting. Stop watching them so avidly. It's weird." Peter looked away embarrassedly and Sirius looked slightly disturbed.

"Right, let's leave these two love birds alone. Let's go to the kitchens!" Grabbing Peter's arm, and making him squeal like a girl, and yanking him up, Sirius marched back up to the castle.

Lily, who had been looking around, felt herself being pulled back down on the grass by James trying to kiss her again. Deciding she deserved the distraction from her school work, and a damn good snog, she didn't protest in the slightest.

"What's going to happen when we leave Hogwarts?" Lily asked, pulling back from him suddenly and looking pensive.

"I don't know. We take on the big bad world?" James laughed. Lily however still looked slightly worried, scared. "Don't worry about it Lil. Let's just get through exams first and then worry about the future." Lily nodded and became quiet.

James was right. She didn't need to worry about where she was going to live, what she was going to do, how she would support herself, what she wanted, if she would still see all her friends. A slight bubble of panic rose inside her. The reality of leaving Hogwarts had only recently set in and it scared the living daylights out of her.

"But what about us?" Lily asked quietly. That more than anything had been worrying her the most. The thought of leaving here and never seeing James again. She didn't even know where he lived for God's sake. What if she was nothing more than his High School girlfriend? Sure, he told her he loved her, but what did that mean in the real world? Would that be enough to keep them together outside the safe walls of Hogwarts? Especially when Lily didn't even know what she wanted in her life.

James looked at her. She could see the impact her words had had. His face was suddenly serious. They had never talked about what would happen when they finished school. It had always seemed so far away but now with people applying for jobs and finding places to live, they couldn't avoid thinking about it any longer.

"Will we still see each other when we leave Hogwarts?" Lily asked again.

"Of course." James said forcefully although his face held traces of worry and uncertainty. He was just as confused and worried as Lily (although a little less inclined to show it) about what would happen to them after school.

"But what if you go away? Or I do? What then? When will we see each other? How? Where? Will you come and see me or will I go to you? What if we're both really busy? Will we make time?" Her voice was growing squeaky and high and her panic was escaping her as much as she tried to keep it under control.

James took her hand and squeezed it gently. "We'll work it out when the time comes. Let's not worry about it now, okay?" He gave her a smile but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

He didn't say that they would stay together. He didn't tell her that he would work around anything to make it work. He didn't tell her that he would stay with her. He didn't even tell her that he loved her.

He stood up and reached out his hand to help her up. Giving her a light kiss on the forehead they walked back up to the castle, both lost in their own thoughts and concerns. Why did growing up have to be so hard? Why did it suddenly seem that everything she had known for the past seven years was hanging by a thin thread? Why did everything have to become so complicated?

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The days sped by with incredible speed and the panicked seventh years grew closer and closer to breaking point. Small tiffs were breaking out with increasing regularity and meltdowns were becoming common place.

James and Lily hadn't spoken about leaving school since. They seemed to have reached a more or less mutual agreement to simply wait and see. That was all they really could do and for now that had to be enough. They carried on as normal but the uncertainty of the future put a slight dampener on their relationship.

"You'll never guess who I busted in patrols last night." Lily said suddenly to Marly looking excited.

Marly looked up from her food with interest. She loved her castle gossip Marly did. "Who?"

"Marty Franklin and Gertrude Kirk." Lily said with a smirk. Marly gasped in shock and a grin spread across her face.

"Oh my God. You are joking!" Marly exclaimed, a bubble of laughter threatening to escape. Lily shook her head with a grin and Marly lapsed into full on giggles.

"Poor girl. She was nearly in tears when I caught them. And believe me it wasn't because of the house points." Lily said matter-of-factly.

"Gosh, I'd be more than nearly in tears if I was caught with Marty Franklin! I'd be full on blubbering." Marly said in horror at the very idea. "Although, I would never go near him in a million years." She added as an afterthought, a repulsed look on her face.

The girls continued to swap gossip and bicker over what was truth (not much) and what was complete balderdash (almost all of it).

"Oops, I've gotta go." Marly told Lily as she stood to leave. Lily looked up at her in surprise. They still had half an hour before after lunch lessons.

"Where are you going?" She asked interestedly.

"Never you mind." Marly answered mysteriously with a suggestive wink before departing. Lily was left dumbfounded but with the startling conclusion that Marly was going off with a snog buddy. While Lily didn't doubt that it wouldn't take Marly long to get back out into the dating, or snogging rather, scene after her disastrous relationship it came as a slight shock when it did.

Shrugging it off, Lily returned to her now slightly cold sheppard's pie. After the Will incident she was sure Marly would tell her if or when things got serious, and before then Marly liked to be rather secretive.

"Oi, where do you think you're going?" Sirius asked, rather loudly, and curiously to Remus who had suddenly gotten up from the table and was showing all signs of being about to leave.

To her dismay Remus blushed slightly and looked down at the floor. "Umm. I was… er… going to the… library." He said awkwardly. Without the stutter and sever blush, this wouldn't have sparked anyone's interest. But now, Remus had more than the necessary pairs of curious eyes glued to him.

Without further explanation, Remus hurried out of the Great Hall leaving a bemused Sirius behind.

"I think Moony is hiding something from us!" He exclaimed to James in shock.

"Really?" James replied dryly, not bothering to look up.

"Do you think Moony's met a girl?" Sirius questioned.

"I'm sure he meets them every day." Sirius looked unimpressed at James' attitude.

Looking sulky, Sirius turned to Lily. Suddenly noting Marly's absence too, Sirius' eyes widened.

"Geez, where is everybody these days?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Marly had something to do." She didn't feel like voicing her suspicions about Marly and a possible snog buddy before she actually had a chance to ask Marly.

After a much quieter lunch than usual without Marly and Remus and much contemplation as to their exact whereabouts, everybody began to move off to their next classes.

Walking to transfiguration with James and Sirius the quidditch conversation between the boys drew to an end and they continued in silence. It was as if a light bulb suddenly went off in Sirius' head and a look of wonder suddenly appeared across his handsome face.

"Oh my God." He breathed in a state of shock. When he continued to utter the same three words over again without a change of expression, James butted in.

"What is it Sirius?" James asked in exasperation.

Sirius turned to him slowly, his eyes still wide with astonishment. "You know how Marly and Moony have both been going off a lot lately?" He asked slowly. James nodded. "Do you think maybe they… er… they're together?" Both Lily and James watched him blankly. "As in snogging or seeing each other or whatever." He explained.

Lily and James both burst out laughing and Sirius look put out. "What're you laughing at? They could be." He added defensively.

After they had both calmed down a bit and their breathing slowed, James turned back to his friend. "Sirius, you really think Marly and Moony… together?" Sirius nodded slowly, as if contemplating whether it was a trick question.

"They are so complete opposites, they would never go for each other!" James explained with a grin. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard."

Sirius looked deeply offended and turned to Lily for support. She however was still reeling from the shock of Sirius' suggestion and was clutching her sides in laughter.

Muttering 'gits' and looking slightly pink around the cheeks, Sirius hurried into the transfiguration classroom, leaving chuckling Lily and James to follow behind.

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"It's cold down here." Lily muttered, rubbing her arms to try and keep herself warm. It was past curfew and the two Heads were patrolling the corridors.

"Here." James took off his cloak and draped it around Lily's shoulders to keep her warm.

"Won't you be cold?" Lily protested slightly. After a few minutes of James insisting and Lily protesting she finally relented and kept the cloak, grateful for the extra layer and noting the faint smell of cologne and peppermint. James' smell.

A faint scuffling and the sound of voices could be heard nearby and Lily's ears perked up at the sound. Students out of bed. Quickening their pace, Lily and James rounded the corner, nearly barrelling into two people.

"Marly?" Lily asked in surprise.

"Moony?" James queried in even more shock.

Remus promptly turned red and muttered something incoherent. Marly simply grinned.

"What are you doing?" James asked eventually after silence ensued.

"Just going for a late night walk." Marly said airily. Remus blushed even redder and watched the wall and muttered 'kitchens.' Before either could be interrogated by the Heads, Marly and Remus walked quickly away in the direction of the common.

After a long silence, a very shell shocked Lily and James turned to each other.

"Do you, er, think Sirius might be right?" James asked tentatively. Lily shook her head disbelievingly.

"It's impossible." She uttered incredulously.

"They do say opposites attract." James pointed out doubtfully. Lily shook her head again. Neither seemed to be able to say much.

"It can't be." Lily proclaimed.

"But… I always thought… if any of the Marauders… it would have been Marly and Sirius. At least they have stuff in common." James contemplated.

For a few minutes the two of them stood there in silence.

"Do you really think… Remus and Marly?" Lily asked eventually, her uncertainty creeping into her voice. James simply shrugged. He didn't know either.