A/N: All right, in response to the reviews I received for Chapter Ten- you know, the ones that said "No! Lily can't be with James! Put her back with Remus, now!" Well, I'm sorry, guys, but it had to happen sometime, really. It was inevitable, James and Lily. Sorry… anyway, if you want to keep reading, here's the penultimate chapter! It's short, but enjoy.

Lily pushed through Hogsmeade's crowd, tears streaking, forming brown rivers on her damp cheeks. She was attracting attention again, but somehow, she much preferred the staring when she was snogging James Potter.

She winced, just thinking about that. She'd kissed James! James, who she swore after fifth year that she'd never touch. And worse, much worse, she'd cheated on Remus. Remus, her perfect, beautiful boyfriend, Remus who she loved. Remus who she may have lost. Well, she had lost him. He'd left her with James in the Three Broomsticks, and was nowhere to be found. But was he lost to her forever, or only for a little while?

He wasn't in Hogsmeade, she decided, only after searching ever building and street four times. He was back at school somewhere, and Lily was going to find him.

He wasn't in the library. He wasn't in Gryffindor tower. He wasn't in the Room of Requirement. He wasn't in the Great Hall for lunch, or in any of the classrooms, or in the Forest, or with Hagrid, or by the lake. He wasn't anywhere- unless- Lily frowned, looking over to the angry thumping tree a few hundred feet behind her. Unless he was in the Whomping Willow.

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"Remus?" Lily called to the figure looking out of the Shrieking Shack's window, "Remus, I know you're mad, but just let me explain…"

"I'm not angry, Lily." He answered, his voice terrifyingly even and calm. "We always knew you'd end up with James."

"I am not 'with James'!" she said, her voice quivering.

"You looked pretty 'with James' last time I saw the two of you." Remus reminded her, sounding bitter, angry this time, despite what he'd say to the contrary.

"I'm not! It was- it was just a kiss. It was a mistake, Remus."

He only laughed. "Just a kiss, eh, Lily? Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

Lily remembered, suddenly, her first kiss from Remus- her first kiss ever- and how her first kiss with James was undeniably similar. "That's different," she protested, pushing the hair out of her eyes.

"Is it?" Remus asked, smiling placidly. Apparently the bitterness had slipped beneath the surface for a while. "Did you and James kiss?"

"Yes." She said. There was no point denying it, after all, he'd been there.

"Was it a two-sided thing, Lily? Did you kiss him back?"

Lily closed her eyes. "Yes," she said quietly.

"All right." Remus looked her straight in the eye, but hesitated, almost as if he'd prefer not to know the answer to the next question. "Did you enjoy it?"

Lily stared at him, and her eyes welled up with tears. Finally, she bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Yes," she whispered, "But- but no, Remus- just because it was a nice kiss- It wasn't like you, Remus, nothing like you!"

Remus shook his head. "Lily- You're aren't mine anymore. You were never all mine, really… I'm not enough for you. It's not your fault… You, Lily, are whole and beautiful and precious, and I don't deserve you. I can't give you what you want."

"But you can! I want you!" She grabbed at his robes, shaking him, "Remus- I am yours, don't you see! I have been, this whole time, and James- James isn't the one I want, it was just a kiss, and I love you, I love you with my whole heart, and I don't love him."

"You will." Remus said quietly, "You will love James, and he'll love you, and you'll forget you ever had any feelings for me."

"I'd never forget you. I couldn't if I wanted to."

He shook his head again. "You will, Lily."

"Why? Why do you have to be so goddamn noble all the time? Can't you do something you want, for once? You want me! I know you do, you love me, you said you loved me, remember?" she cried, hysterical now.

"It's better like this, Lily," he said, holding her wrists. "James deserves you."

"You deserve me!" she cried, "And I deserve you! Why does he deserve anything?"

"James fought for that kiss, Lily, he fought for it for six years, long and hard. And that kiss- it's probably the highlight of his life at this point, Lily. James loves you, and he'll give you everything- anything you could ever want. James will take care of you."

"I can take care of myself!"

"You shouldn't have to, Lily," he said softly, stroking her hand with his thumb, "I love you, and- and that's why I have to let you go, all right? It's been great, really, but it's done now. We're done, now."

Lily shook her head. "For always," she protested angrily, "You said you'd love me for always. You promised."

Remus gave her a sad little smile. "I will, Lily," he pulled her towards him, hugging her as if he was never going to let her go- as if that wasn't what he was doing at that very moment."

She sobbed into his chest, clinging to him for dear life. "And I'll love you," she cried, "I'll never stop."

"Lily- Listen," he said to her, "I just want you to be happy, and James will make you happy, believe me. Just- just promise me you'll give him a chance."

Lily pulled away from him, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Is that what you want?" she asked softly.

"Yes." He said, barely whispering, "Yes, that's what I want."

She nodded. "Then I'll have to do it, then, won't I." She murmured.

Remus smiled, gently, and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. She kissed him on the lips, her last desperate plea, and he returned the kiss but pulled away, and Lily swore she saw a tear fall out of his warm golden eye.

"Goodbye, Lily," he whispered, and then Remus Lupin left her heartbroken for the last time.