Disclaimer: All the characters that you recognize belong to J. K. Rowling.

Author's Note: Thanks to lOvEiNhEaVeN, cilverblood, acatm, MissMrprk, J.E.A.R.K.Potter, sblomie, SevenPeach, RawBean, Jessie xxx, strawberryshortcake23, miss-mags-ak, little-angel123452000, and Jutey for reviewing! Wow, I think that's the most reviews for this story that I've ever gotten!

James read the letter over and over again. He was trying to figure out what she needed to tell him. James figured that Remus could easily tell him what he wanted to know, but for some reason, James didn't feel that this was any of the Marauders business. This letter from Lily was addressed specifically to him, and he didn't want anyone else to read it.

He sat on his bed, and listened as the clocked 'ticked' as every second past. It was driving him crazy, he just wanted it to be midnight. But the ticking noise was always there to remind him that there was still 30 minutes left.

James tried to focus on something else, anything else. He even tried doing some of his potions essay. But nothing worked. He was too anxious for the clock to read 12:00 a.m. He wanted to know what was going to happen, he wanted to know what was so important that it couldn't be said in a letter.

James searched his mind for possibilities. It could be that she wanted to talk more about Remus being a werewolf, or James becoming an Animagus. Those were too risky to say directly in a letter, after all, if someone else had read that letter, the Marauders would be in big trouble. But James didn't think that it was that. Lily wouldn't ask him to meet her over something like that.

His mind suddenly went to the worst case scenario. 'What if Lily decides to dump me?' he thought to himself. After all, it would make perfect sense. In the letter, she never actually said that she had gotten over the lying. She had said 'I don't know if I could handle feeling that like that again.' That could possibly mean that she wanted to dump him.

"Shit," James whispered. He just knew it, that was exactly what Lily was going to do. She was going to break off the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Or, maybe that wasn't going to happen at all. After all, Lily had just apologized for being harsh toward him. 'But what does she need to talk to me about?' James wondered.

Curiosity was truly getting the better of him. He was just like an anxious seven year old on Christmas Eve.

Luckily, James didn't have to wait any longer. It was two minutes until midnight, and James was heading down the stairs toward the common room.

When he got down there, he saw Lily sitting by the fire, her red hair glowing from its light. Her skin looked illuminated against the darkness of the room, only the fire to shed light.

"Lily," he slowly said as he walked over to her.

James saw her eyes light up when she saw him. Her green eyes were sparkling, and James couldn't help but think that they looked somewhat mysterious.

"You read it," Lily stated.

"Yes," he responded.

Lily didn't say anything after that. She just gazed into the fireplace.

James took this opportunity to get a good look at her. She was wearing her nightgown, with a light pink robe over it. He could see the silver necklace that she wore around her neck. It was a simple, delicate chain, with a small 'L' attached to it. She wore it everyday, but James had never really noticed it until now. It was simple, yet elegant, just like it's owner.

"James," Lily began, her eyes finally leaving the comfort of the fireplace to meet his hazel eyes.

"Yes," he said, assuring her that he was ready whenever she was.

"I meant every word of that letter," she told him.

"I know you did," he answered.

"It was hard for me to do it. I like to handle everything on my own, I don't like it when I depend too much on other people," Lily admitted.

James was at a loss for words. It wasn't that what she had said stunned him, but he just didn't know what to say next.

"James, please don't go out on full moons anymore," Lily said.

"What?"

"Please, I mean, I know you're doing it for Remus, but please don't," Lily begged. Her eyes showed that she was sincere.

"Lily, I have to, and I want to," he responded.

"James, you can't go anymore, please don't," she pleaded.

"Lily, you're not going to change my mind," he responded.

"But, I fell asleep for a little while this afternoon, and I had a horrible dream again. But this time You-know-who was murdering you in your stag form. It was awful, and there was nothing I could do to save you," Lily told him, her eyes becoming a little puffy.

"Lily, that was just a dream. You-know-who is not coming after me, especially not in my Animagus form," James told her.

"But it was so realistic," she said.

"You said that about your other dreams too," he commented.

"God, you're right… but still, please don't go out anymore," Lily begged.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't. And you can't say that you're afraid I'll get hurt, because that's a chance that I'm willing to take," said James.

"Because, because, I love you."

James could feel his entire body tense up when he heard those words. 'Maybe I was hearing things,' he silently suggested to himself.

"What?" James asked.

"I, I love you," she repeated, this time a little bit stronger.

"You do?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"James Potter, I love you," she told him with a smile.

James smiled as he walked over to the chair that she was sitting in. He pulled her into his strong arms, holding her tightly. They stayed that way for a few moments, but then made their way back to a chair. And was sitting in James' lap, looking down at the hand that clasped onto her own hand.

They didn't say anything to each other for a while, just sat there in the silence. Lily's head was resting against James' shoulder, and she could feel her eyes becoming heavy.

"Are you still going to go out on the full moons?" Lily asked him softly. Her eyes were barely open, but she was listening.

"Yes," he whispered.

Lily didn't say anything after that. She didn't like his response, but there was nothing she could do about it.

About ten minutes later, James felt Lily's hands loosen their grip. And her breathing became quieter. 'She must be sleeping,' James silently told himself.

He stared at her for a moment, taking in the deep red hair that fell to her back. Her skin looking like porcelain, delicate and beautiful. He smiled at her, thinking how much he cared about the girl resting in his arms.

"I love you, Lily Evans," he whispered before placing a kiss on the top of her head.

And James didn't know it, but the girl in his lap was smiling. She was smiling at his words, thankful for those three little words.

Author's Note 2: Okay everyone, I hope you guys all like chapter 25! And I am so happy! I put the entire story in one word document, and it's about 90 pages! (Not including the author's notes and disclaimers and stuff like that!) Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review!