Chapter 24
Lily quickly filled her old school trunk with clothes and other things she knew she would need. She also put in some mementos. A picture of her parents, birthday cards she kept since she was a child, and things of the like.
James watched as she carefully considered each item before placing it in her trunk.
Last to go in were Lily's books. All of her schoolbooks and other spell books made their way into the trunk, along with some of her favorite Muggle literature. Hemmingway, Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, and other classics of the like.
"You act like you're packing up your entire life in that one little trunk," James observed, smiling softly.
Lily looked at him, surprised. Her eyes were still unnaturally bright and red-rimmed.
"I am," she said simply. James looked at her curiously. "I don't intend on coming back here again. This was my parents' house, you know, and now it's Petunia's. But we'll make out own home somewhere else, right?"
James was speechless.
"It's not my home anymore," Lily said, shrugging her shoulders. "It hasn't been for a long time. Ever since Mum and Dad died, it's just been the place where I lived. Now that I have you, you are my home. I don't need to come back here again."
"W-what about your sister?" James asked. He was touched and confused. She seemed so nonchalant, yet it was almost as if she was throwing her entire childhood away. She was totally prepared to forget her past and move on to a new life with him.
Lily smiled sadly. "Petunia won't mind. She's married now. She didn't even write to tell me." She shrugged again. "She has her own family, now. And I have mine. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, yeah, I guess so. I mean, if you are."
Lily smiled and let out a little giggle. "Don't seem so shocked. Trust me, this has been a long time coming. I've been ready for years."
She murmured a spell and pointed her wand; her trunk shrunk to a pocket-sized form.
Lily smiled again and reached for James' hand. He took it, and they walked out of the room together.
Petunia was in the kitchen, tidying up. Vernon had left early for work that morning.
"I'm leaving, Petunia," Lily said softly.
Her sister looked up, seemingly agitated by the interruption.
"Fine," she said uninterestedly.
"She won't be coming back anytime soon. She's coming to my manor to live," James prompted, certain that the woman hadn't quite grasped the situation.
"I realize that," Petunia said coldly. Lily took a bold step forward, and held out her arms to hug her sister. The older of the sisters returned the embrace, grudgingly.
"I love you, Petunia," Lily all but whispered. "We'll always be sisters, no matter what happens." She pulled away and grabbed James' hand again.
They Number Four Privet Drive together, ready to face the new life ahead of them.
James' father's funeral was set for the next day. He was a complete wreck the rest of the afternoon.
As soon as she had unpacked her things in her bedroom, Lily latched herself to James' side. She spent every moment with him, holding him when he cried, talking to him when he wanted to talk, or letting him simply sit in silence and think.
Emily invited Lily to sit with the family when it came time for the service. It was a joint funeral, held in conjunction with Brian Prewitt's. Sirius was seated with the family as well, along with Remus.
The service was beautiful, as most are. Dumbledore spoke first, honoring both of the valiant men. Then, others were invited up to offer their memories of the dearly departed.
James stood hesitantly, knowing he was expected to speak. He turned back to look at Lily who gave him a sad, but encouraging smile.
James held his hand out to her. She was surprised, not knowing whether or it would be appropriate for her to accompany him to give his eulogy.
"Please, Lilyflower. I need you," James said softly, tears streaming down his cheeks.
She stood and took his hand, leading him to the podium. James, who was not, by nature, a powerful orator, gave a beautiful speech. He sobbed his way through a good bit of it, and Lily held his hand the entire time.
When they returned to their seats, she wrapped both arms around him, letting him cry silently into her shoulder for the rest of the service.
Weeks passed quickly. The wedding was approaching more quickly than anyone had expected it to. Lily had been inducted into the Order of the Phoenix several days after Jason's funeral. Things were bustling constantly at the Potter Manor, which had become the permanent headquarters for the Order.
Emily Potter insisted on paying all expenses for the wedding. Lily had tried to protest, claiming that she had some money saved up in Gringotts. Emily would have none of it.
"You keep your savings, love. I hope you'll use them to spoil my future grandchildren when they come around. If I know my James, he'll keep a tighter fist around his money bag than his wand!"
Emily had also insisted on making Lily's wedding gown herself. They stood in an upstairs parlor, completing some of the final fitting, James sitting on the couch.
"This is so beautiful, Emily. I absolutely love it." Lily said softly.
"Well, it isn't nearly finished, but we've plenty of time before the wedding."
Lily grinned across the room at James, who was staring openly at his bride.
"Do you like it, baby?" she asked.
"Huh?" he asked, giving a startled jump. "Did you say something?"
"Honestly, James," Emily admonished, barely concealing a smile. "Will you please stop drooling over how beautiful Lily looks in her dress and tell me whether it needs to come up any further?"
"No, Mum. It's… it's gorgeous." James was staring at Lily just as he had done when they were alone together at Hogwarts.
"The hem is down there, love," Lily murmured, her face heating up under his gaze. In private, she didn't particularly mind when he gaze wandered to restricted areas; however, being in the same room and in close proximity with his mother… that was a different thing entirely.
James stood and walked over to her. "I was… riveted by your beauty, my love," he said, kissing her cheek.
Lily giggled. "You need to shave. You're all scratchy."
"Alright, now, out with you. Lily needs to change back into her clothes so I can take this upstairs and finish the hem. " Emily said, straightening up. There were several seamstress' pins hanging out of her mouth.
"Okay," James said, then frowned. "I've got to hunt down Sirius and talk to him about his best man's speech. He's got some very vulgar jokes planned, apparently. Thank Merlin Remus had the sense to warn me."
Lily laughed as James went to find his friend. Emily performed a simple charm to conjure a changing screen for her. When she had her normal robes on, Lily ran down the stairs to find James.
"Sirius, no," James said exasperatedly to his best mate, who had obviously just said something extremely vulgar. They sat on the sofa in the living room.
"Oh, alright, I'll keep it clean and boring if you like," Sirius whined.
Lilly ran down the last flight of stairs and into the living room. Still running, she leaped into the air, landing right in James' lap.
"Hullo," she said brightly.
"Alright, that hurt," James grunted.
Lily made a pout-y, almost sympathetic face at him.
"Poor baby," she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
"Just for that…," James said, before leaning over and starting to tickle her mercilessly.
"No, stop it, James. Really, please stop!" Lily shrieked, laughing.
Sirius sighed and shook his head as her walked into the kitchen.
James had stopped tickling his bride and was now hugging her tightly as she continued to sit in his lap.
In Lily's mind James was the perfect person to cuddle with. His strong arms made her feel safe and protected. At the same time, his touch was warm, gentle, tender, loving. Loving, because he loved her. Lily sighed contentedly and buried her face in his chest. He tightened his arms around her.
He grinned down at the redhead. He grinned, loving the way she felt nestled against him, the way her unruly hair fanned out behind, and, most of all, the way her face lit up when she looked at him.
"You know, Lily flower," James said thoughtfully. "I think this is the first time we've had a minute alone together in over a week." Lily nodded, her head still buried in his chest. James grinned and laughed.
"What's so funny?" Lily asked, her voice muffled. She raised her head to look at him. James moved his face closer to hers and-
"James? Lily? Are you in he- Oh I'm sorry." Remus had entered the room.
"That's alright, Remmy," Lily sighed, struggling to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "What did you need?"
"The caterer's here. He wanted a word."
"Oh, alright," Lily said with another sigh. She started to get up, but James held her tightly to him. "Lemme up, baby," she giggled, kissing his cheek.
He complied, watching as she stood and followed Remus into the kitchen.
James groaned as she left. What Lily often called a "perfect moment" had just been ruined.
He stood with another frustrated groan and ran a hand through his tousled hair.
"Damn that caterer."
A/N: Well, I finally returned to my pathetic fluffy self. LOL. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! I know it's a long time coming, but… hey what can I say? Real life sucks, so I don't get to spend a whole lot of time in my fantasy land. /sighs/
I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed in places. I was having a hard time with writer's block and I basically just got fed up with it and decided to go ahead and post it as it is. I hope it's not as bad as I think it is!
Thanks so much to all of my reviewers. I'm sorry I can't do a review response, considering they aren't allowed any longer. If you send a signed review, I promise I will write back, though. I'll try to e-mail those of you who give your address on anonymous reviews, but I can't make any promises on that. Again thanks, I love you guys!
I didn't get to respond to a few people who reviewed last time because was messing up, but I promise I still love and appreciate you guys tons and tons!
Please please review! I don't care if you just say "This was a stupid story. I hate it." or (hopefully) "Cute story. I liked it!" PLEASE REVIEW!
Love from
Lyny Angell
