A/N: Hey guys... *Insert nervous giggle*

I know I don't deserve your love. I don't. But things the past while have been bad, and I wish I could explain everything, but this is a fanfiction website, not an excuse website.

Here's the final chapter for this story. It took forever, and I'm not sold on it, but it is something I'm very proud of nonetheless. I hope it was worth the wait.

I'm working on an epilouge and I will have it posted tonight, and then that's the end of this story. I might do some Hinny things, and maybe even try Desperate. It was hard to try to continue to write that, I had two full chapters, two full and beautiful chapters of that story that I was so immensely proud of and I don't think I could ever duplicate. I think I'm going to try though. I might have some inspiration left for it.

As always, I don't own the characters in here, they belong to our Queen Joanne. I just manipulate them and make them do my evil bidding.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

UPDATE: Thank you for the wondrous guest reviewer who pointed out I used two different middle names. I'm so stupid, I really do apologize. That's embarrassing. I fixed it and now this is the same middle name as the one I used in the third chapter. I apologize. :/

I've been in James' house for 2 days now, and yet I still couldn't get over the sheer size of it. It could fit my entire block of Spinners End in it, and then have some room to spare. With 12 bedrooms –each equipped with its own bathroom-, none of us had to double in rooms, as would be the situation if we'd have stayed in someone else's house. Sure Marlene comes from a famous pureblood family as well, and while they were rich as well, I knew they weren't this rich.

I swear, every time I entered a room, I noticed something new and fancy about it. Like in his dining room, there were at least a dozen gold framed pictures of dead Potter ancestors. Fortunately, most were painted before the moving picture charm was invented, because I was pretty sure some of the older Potter ancestors wouldn't be too keen on the idea of a muggleborn and the future heir of the Potter name.

Why would they be worrying, you ask?

Because James is picking the WORST possible moments to make snide comments about the 'sexual tension' thing. It's driving me crazy. And as I'm trying to make these cookies, I can't help but be distracted by the thought if not being enough for him.

"Hey, Mum, where did you put the laundry, Sirius stole my trousers-"

James immediately stops when he notices the person in the kitchen is not his mother, but rather me.

"Well, well," he says smirking, "Evans, have I ever told you how sexy you look in an apron?"

"Ha-ha, Potter," I say, though I'm blushing furiously. That makes him laugh. Nevertheless, I continue. "Your mum went into town to get some stuff for the party next week. She entrusted me with the task of making cookies."

"What in the world was she thinking?" he asks, a serious look on his face.

I gape at him. "What is that supposed to mean? I'll have you know I'm a great baker," I say, brandishing a cooking spoon at him, the spoon I had been stirring with. He takes the opportunity to annoy me as I present it and yanks the spoon out of my hand and promptly licks it. All over.

"James Charlus Potter!" I exclaim, grabbing the spoon back and beating him with it lightly. He laughs and takes the beating a little, but when I show no signs of stopping, he starts to get the picture.

"Oh we're playing that game, are we?" James raises his eyebrows, a mischievous smirk forming on his face. I watch as he steps back carefully and grabs the red rubber spatula I had previously been using and raises it a little. "Two can play at that game."

He comes at me so fast, I have no time to react. He whacks me right in the stomach, not hard, but not exactly soft, either.

My eyes wide, though with a wide grin across my face, I hit him back in the arm, as hard as I can. He actually flinches.

And then he smacks me again, though with the same gentle force as before, and I hit him back as hard as I can and soon it becomes a game. Just the two of us, back and forth, and with me in a fit of laughter as he chases me around the kitchen, it's almost like the raging war above our heads is completely forgotten. There in that kitchen, we become just Lily and James. Not the Lily and James that struggle to control multiple Student Death Eater attacks and plan on joining the Order of the Phoenix when we graduate, just Lily and James. Just two seventeen year old children, flirting carelessly without a worry in the world expect who is being more obvious.

And Merlin it feels good.

Finally, I can feel both of our energy draining, and I'm about to call a truce when suddenly, like the last time he almost kissed me, he shove me up against the wall, every breath of air leaving my body as I force myself not to squeal.

He grins down at me. "Well that got you to stop, didn't it?"

I attempt a famous Lily Evans glare, but when he just laughs, I know he is either no longer afraid of me, or I can't glare in this predicament. I opt for both answers. "You're a despicable person, Potter."

"Doesn't mean you aren't still attracted to me, Evans," he retorts, staring straight into my eyes. I am so mesmerized by the thousands of colours in his eyes, I just can't speak.

I feel him step a little closer to me and press his body up against mine. I notice him lean his face closer to mine, and I mimic him. I feel his breath on my skin, giving me chills despite the warmth in it. The moment leading up feels like ages and our lips are just barely touching, a light brush-

"Hey, James!"

Marlene yells loudly from the other room, completely ruining the moment.

James groans, thoroughly annoyed.

I giggle lightly. "So much for that."

"Talk about poor timing…" James sighs and kisses my cheek slowly, then slowly trails his lips up to my temple, leaving a soft kiss there. Shivers run through my body.

"James!" Marlene yells, getting irritated.

"I'm coming, Marly, relax!" he yells back. He pulls away from me and smirks a little and my heart races. He dips his head, calls to Marlene that he was coming, then leaves me in the kitchen, pondering if what we really want to happen is what should happen.

It's been a two days and a few suggestive comments since the incident in the Potter's kitchen, and honestly, I wouldn't trade it for anything. The six of us children spent all day played mindless games James and Sirius had come up with over the years, and now that dinner is over and done with, I'm exhausted.

On the way to my room, I hear a faint "Psst!"

I whip around quickly, but nothing is there. Or rather, no one. I squint my eyes at nothing, and turn back around and walk towards my room. Just as I'm about to go past James' room, an arm reaches out from the door and yanks me inside.

Before I can scream, James' hand covers my mouth. "Sssh, Flower. My parents are right down the hall. Wouldn't want to give ourselves away, would we?"

I giggle against my better judgment and James' eyes light up. "No, I suppose not."

"Sorry about what happened a few days ago. I mean we got so close," he says into my ear and grabs onto my waist and pulls me right up against him.

"That was only our fifteenth try at actually kissing," I snort.

"We've kissed before!" he protests quietly. He was referring to an incident back in September when I was rounding corner when he comes running at me.

"You ran into me and our lips accidently touched," I roll my eyes.

"Lily, that wasn't an accident. I mean I'm good, but I'm not that good," he chuckles.

I gap up at him and push away from him lightly. "James Potter! The only reason I didn't hex you was because you told me Sirius was in trouble and that's why you were running!"

"And you believed that? Wow, I gotta get Sirius into trouble more often," he grins widely.

"Prat," I mutter, I can't put much heart into calling him names, he was getting dangerously close to me.

"You're beautiful, you know that, Lily?" he whispers, looking deep into my eyes. "Your eyes… I could stare into them forever…"

"You're a lying prat, James Harold Potter," I laugh, but it's shaky and I can't stop myself from looking into his eyes, too. A fantastic mixture of a warm brown, striking blue, and captivating green.

"And you're the most beautiful girl in the world."

Suddenly his lips are on mine and my heart explodes with joy. They say when you really love someone and you kiss them, it's like fireworks. Well they're wrong. It's more like a fire itself, starting at your feet, traveling up through you slowly. It ignites your skin, alights your veins. It's like a shock coursing through your whole body. Your brain can think of nothing except the energy radiating from you and from the lips of whom you're attached to.

I wrap my arms around his neck tightly, pulling him closer to me, as close as I can I get him. His hands grip my waist firmly, tugging on me. In a split second, I get a falling sensation and my back hits what I quickly assume is his bed. James props himself up and continues to kiss me. It's deep and full of passion that I've previously thought I could only have dreamed of. We kissed for what seems like forever.

At some point, the heat gets hotter. Before I know it, I'm half naked straddling him, snogging the hell out of him.

A very loud radar goes off in my head and I come up gasping for air. "Wait, wait. We shouldn't-"

"I know, I'm sorry…." We're both silent for a moment, trying to settle our racing heartbeats. The electricity in the room is outrageous. James breaks the silence in a way only he knows how.

Awkwardly.

"Well… That was…" James trails off with a nervous laugh and I giggle. "I promise I didn't mean for it to go that far-"

"James, I know," I say, a smile on my lips. "It's ok."

"I never want to pressure you or anything, I'm not like that," he says softly as I move off of him and he sits up. He leans over the side of the bed and picks up my shirt and hands it to me. "Uh… Here you go."

"Thanks," I say with a laugh.

He rolls over carefully and presses a soft kiss to my lips. "I'll be ready when you are," he whispers softly. "However long that takes, I will wait as long as I have to for you, Lily Evans."

I pull his face to mine and kiss him softly, running a hand carefully through his hair.

"Thank you," I whisper back, a grateful look on my face.

"Stay with me tonight," he says, though it sounds more like a question than a statement. "I won't try anything, I promise."

"Yeah, sure," I reply and curl myself up next to him.

He wraps his arms around me, pulling me close to him. He places a soft kiss on the top of my head. "Goodnight, gorgeous. Try not to dream about me too much," he says with a smirk in his voice.

"Don't push your luck, Potter."