Chapter 7: Another Ending of Sorts

This is the last little chapter, which I finally updated, haha. The second half of the chapter goes into third person, I know, but it was that way on purpose. I hope you like it. :P Review at the end!

Disclaimer: This is all J. K. Rowling's, not mine. Remember that.

Once we were home and Petunia was safely upstairs whining about how her life sucked, Mum took me into her room and sat me down on her bed, and looked at me fondly. I found myself remembering sitting on James's bed this very same way not even two hours ago, and I discovered that I wanted to be back there again; he could hold my hand, touch my face, kiss my cheek, whatever he wanted really, so long as he was there. There had been a time when I wanted to get rid of him, and never see him again…how stupid I had been. How stupid I was being right now too. Would I ever stop being stupid? I had the knack for doing exactly what I wanted when it was the wrong thing to do, for which James is prime example. There must be something wrong with me.

"So I guess you've found that there is more to James Potter than you thought," Mum said, smiling as she broke my reverie. "Didn't you loathe him before?"

"I thought I had, but I guess I hadn't," I said with a sigh. "Why am I like this? Why do I have to fall in love with him?"

"Are you sure it's even love?" Mum asked. "Sometimes we confuse love and lust when we refer to loving someone."

"I'm positive that it's love," I said. "It has to be. My stomach always twists, my throat has this enormous lump in it, and I have trouble breathing whenever I see him. When I talk to him, I feel myself put my guard up as high as it can go so that he won't see me, but he always manages to break it. That's not lust."

"Remember that you're only fifteen," Mum said gently. "It's your first crush – it's going to feel like it can go on forever when it really won't."

"I've had other crushes before," I said. "None of them were like this."

"Well, you just be careful with your heart now, Lily Evans," Mum warned. "I don't want it flung out to every half-baked boy that will almost certainly break it."

"James won't," I said before I could stop myself. "I know he won't." How strange; there had been a time when I had been positive he would tear me apart in a few years, yet here I was, telling my mother that it would never happen. What a world we live in.

"Okay," Mum said a little too kindly; she obviously didn't believe me. "I'm going to smack that sister of yours now, so I'll leave you to your thoughts. Get into bed and sleep some time soon, all right, Lily Bear?" She smiled and kissed the top of my head before leaving me alone in my room.

I sighed and flopped back onto my pillow; it had been a very weird night.

&&&

"So you really like her?" Mr. Potter asked James the moment the Evans family was out the door.

"Yes, Dad," James said warily. "I do like her. A lot. If I didn't, I wouldn't have kissed her in front of you."

"Have you kissed a girl before?" Mrs. Potter inquired. "You seem to have done it with ease."

"Well, yes, but it's only easy if you really love a girl," said James. "I love Lily more than any other person in this world could love anyone else."

"Awww, Jamesie, you're growing up," Mrs. Potter said, hugging her son.

"I told you never to call me that, Mum," James complained. "It's so embarrassing!"

"Well, it's just us now, isn't it?" Mr. Potter laughed and ruffled James's hair. "We didn't call you Jamesie in front of Lily, did we?"

"I would have used the Cruciatus Curse if you had," James informed them. "I know you're my parents and the curse is illegal, but the humiliation! Lily would never speak to me again."

"James Potter, you are not going to talk to us like that," Mr. Potter thundered. "And as for Lily never speaking to you – it's unlikely. The girl likes you, and she won't care if your parents call you Jamesie. Her mother probably has a weird name for her too."

"I know, but I want to look absolutely perfect to her," said James with a sigh. "I love her."

"No one's perfect," said Mrs. Potter. "She isn't, and neither are you."

"She is perfect," James corrected. "She is the closest thing to perfect that we have here in England. Or the entire world."

Mrs. Potter laughed. "She has her faults like anyone else does, James. Now go upstairs and go to bed please."

James shrugged and trudged up the stairs, unwilling to let the day end. Lily Evans had admitted to loving him! He had kissed her! Too bad it was over. For now, anyway. They could always date at Hogwarts, where their parents couldn't stop them, but the summer was far from over. He had never thought the day would come, but James wished he could go back to school – back to the faraway castle where he could do whatever he wanted with Lily. But until then, the sweet, sweet memories made tonight would satisfy almost satisfy him. Almost.

Resignedly, he brushed his teeth and bounced into bed. On his bedside table was the picture of Lily laughing; he smiled at it for a moment before turning on to his other, more comfortable side. He turned out the lamp and settled into the darkness.

'I love you, Lily,' was his very last thought before sleep carried him away.

If only he had known that, at the very same moment, Lily herself thought, 'I love you, James,' before falling asleep as well.

A/N: Oh, the mush of the last two sentences/paragraphs! Yes, I know; it's quite overwhelmingly sickening. But I hope you liked this long-overdue ending! Thanks for sticking it out!