"James?" Lily whispered, coming to sit next to him as Transfiguration was starting.

He turned and smiled weakly at her, "Hullo, sweetheart."

She clutched his hand and opened her transfiguration textbook waiting for Professor McGonagall to start the class.

He kissed her cheek, "Lily, I'm okay, you know that?"

She nodded, "I know."

He shook his head, "No, I don't think you do. You always seem worried about me, but I just want you to know, that...I'm ok. I won't ever be the same again. My parents died when I was young and I loved them very much, so I won't be the same, like I said, but I just want you to know that I love you and that I couldn't have gotten through this if not for you."

She smiled and kissed him back, "I love you too, and I'm so glad that I could help."

His eyebrows furrowed, "You know we only have a few weeks until school is out."

She sighed, "I know. I'm so worried. I'm so scared that I won't ever see Dorcas or Em or Sirius or...or.." she broke off to wipe away a stray tear, "or you,"

He turned worriedly towards her, "Sweetheart, I promise I'll never leave you." but he couldn't say more because Professor Mcgonnagall walked into the room and started the class so they couldn't talk anymore.

"James?" asked Lily as the two of them lay in the grass side by side. It was the end of a long friday and the prospect of three more weeks of school stared them in the face.

"Yes?" he asked, not questioning anything else.

"Do you think we'll ever see each other again after school?" asked Lily a note of worry coloring her voice.

"Of course," he replied without a doubt, his voice full of nonchalance.

She smiled at him, "You think so?"

"Definitely. I plan on seeing my wife everday, but if you think that's a farfetched dream then maybe we should discuss this."

She looked at him in a mingled look of alarm and surprise, "What?!"

"You don't plan on us getting married?" he asked, evidently surprised.

She looked unsure if she should grin or look worried, "You do?"

He laughed, "Not immediately, but...I hope so. I mean, I love you. I want to be your husband, I want you to be my wife."

She sat up, her back hunched over her cross-legged form, "Well, I never really thought about getting married."

"You don't want to get married? Well, not to me, but to anybody?"

She shrugged, "I just never really counted on, on being a wife." she crinkled her nose at the term as if it smelt bad.

He smiled, "What's wrong with being a wife?"

"It's so...so confining!" she exclaimed.

"Confining? I don't understand." he wore an expression of utter bemusement.

"Well...I just don't like being someone's property, being joined so closely with someone." Lily shook her head, her long red tendrils flying.

He slid his hand into hers, "Well, Lils, I would never consider you my property. You're your own person! You know I would never be that sexist! And, to the being closely joined, don't you want to have companionship, to have never-ending love, to always have someone there for you no matter what? I don't see what's wrong with being joined with someone as long as you love them."

She shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, James, I love you, I do," she added at James's skeptical expression, "But I just can't see myself as a wife."

"Okay, Lily, picture this. You and I, in a house in the future, my hair is greying, your face is lining. We've both put on weight. You reach down into a crib to pick up a beautiful baby with my black hair and your green eyes, and as I watch you with it, and as you watch me laugh at its antics, we both know, that no matter that we've lost our charms and our looks, it doesn't matter, because we will always love each other." he cut off and stared at her, waiting for her reaction, "What do you think of that?"

She hung her hand down, keeping her eyes trained on her hands in her lap, her long red hair covering her face from view, "I think...I think that I hope that our baby will have my hair instead of yours."

She turned and smiled at him, and as he understood her words, an expression of heartfelt delight spread across his face, "Lily?" he asked, breathlessly, "Do you really mean it? Do you want to marry me?"

She smiled and squeezed both of his large hands in her long ones, "Yes, yes I do. Because I love you."

Emmeline sat down next to Gideon in the great hall, "Hi, Gideon."

He turned and smiled at her, "Hi, sweetheart." he pressed his lips to her forehead than turned to finish eating her breakfast.

Something as simple as that. As simple as a peck on the forehead, sent a curious sensation through Emmeline. It was nothing like the things she had read about in the books or seen in the movies. She did not think that she was in love. It was just that, every time Gideon did something affectionate, Emmeline felt repulsed. And it hurt her so much to feel this, because Gideon was handsome, and sweet, and wonderful. He just didn't send her heart racing, and her blood flowing. And she beat herself up for that because so many people would kill to have a boyfriend as wonderful as Gideon, and she didn't appreciate him nearly as much as she knew she should.

Sirius walked into the great hall and sat on Emmeline's other side. She knew it was on purpose. He had been flaunting himself in front of her on purpose the whole week ever since she had rejected him. She felt shivers fly up her spine as she felt his warm arm pressed next to hers, and she felt traitorous feelings permeating her mind. She hated herself and she couldn't stand that she was feeling this way about Sirius whom she had professed to not care about because he was too late and Gideon had stolen her heart. But that wasn't true. Gideon had never stolen her heart. Her heart had been and remained, as always, Sirius's.

A/N: hey hey hey! end of chapter 9...yes, i know it's short, but there wasn't enough content to put in, whatevs...i hope you liked it! Please read and review more! and watch out for Chapter 10!