Twenty thousand years later, I decided I needed to get going on this story. I've left it abandoned, collecting dust in the corner, on the darkest, farthest pages of James and Lily fanfiction. I have failed my reviewers, as well as myself. I've failed James and Lily. I've failed Sirius. I've failed Remus. I've failed Peter. So, I apologize profusely for my misdeeds.

In case you've forgotten, I do NOT own a thing.

All You Need Is Love

Hogwarts isn't safe anymore.

He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. So much had gone on in the past few years that it only made sense, but his mind just couldn't wrap around the idea of this beloved place being anything but the perfect sanctuary he had always thought it.

James watched Lily as she brushed her hair at her boudoir. Her eyes were still red and raw from crying and the emerald light of them that always seemed so perfect was dull. He wanted, more than anything, to go over and comfort her. To tell her everything was going to be okay. But he couldn't. Not when he, himself, wasn't sure.

His parents were dead. Muggleborns were being rounded up, slaughtered. Families who dared to defy him, the Potters, were being destroyed. The ministry was in complete chaos. No one had any idea what to do. The false facade of peace and tranquility that Hogwarts held had been broken. Students had dropped out, left to join the masses of purifiers.

Looking at her, James couldn't understand how anyone could look at muggleborns withsuch disgust. She was so perfect. So beautiful. So brilliant.

He moved toward her, placing a hand at her shoulder and kissing the side of her neck. Her hand immediately flew to his. As he trailed his kisses up her neck, she whimpered. Whether it was from excitement or sadness, he couldn't tell. But the voice in side his held knew that nothing could change what was happening to them. No matter how much they pretended, the world outside the castle walls had gone to hell, and the walls of Hogwarts were crumbling.

"Cheer up, love," he whispered in her ear. He straightened up and glanced at their enveloped hands. The light glistened off her ring. The ring that had belonged to six generations of Potters. It was his parents' ring, and their parents', dating back one hundred years. It was a small gold band with a ruby in the center, the Potter crest engraved into the sides, and the words Pro Infinito carved around it.

He remembered the day he had proposed with the ring. The initial proposal hadn't gone as planned. He had just done it-sporadically, out of the blue. Then he remembered the ring, tucked safely in a secret compartment in his trunk.

He had waited until she was asleep, slipped the ring on her finger and then left for his routine morning jog. When he returned she was sitting up, examining it. She turned to him, and his heart skipped a beat. The smile on her face was beautiful. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

It was perfect.

"We need to get out of here." Lily said, huffing loudly. James blinked and stepped away from her as she rose quickly from her seat.

"Get out of here? Like, out of Hogwarts?" He asked in surprise. Lily snorted and shook her head.

"No. Get out of here, as in out of this dorm! I'm sick of moping around. I need to do something to get my mind off all of this."

James nodded slowly. "Oh...well, sure. We can go downstairs, I suppose. Go on a walk, or something...?"

She smiled at him. "That sounds nice."

James led her down the staircase, hand in hand. It was nearing dusk and the air had grown cool. Most of the students seemed to be enjoying the rest of the day, equally thrilled that the end of the semester was approaching. In less than two days, they would graduate.

He tightened his grip on his fiance's hand as they walked toward the lake. Truthfully, he was ready for the year to be done. With all that had happened, he couldn't wait to get out and make something of himself. He felt so useless cooped up in the castle. What was the point in essays and quizzes when their were actual people dying?

He wanted to get out and live up to the infamous Potter name. He wanted to get the revenge his parents deserved.

James knew Lily would be horrified if she heard him now. While she, too, hated being able to do nothing about the war, she wouldn't think too kindly of James rushing in to get himself killed. Not that that would happen, anyway.

He looked over at her sidelong and smiled. He was ready to marry her. Ready to complete what had been his secret fantasy since he was fourteen. Lily had always insisted that James had only enjoyed the chase, that he wasn't as honest about his feelings as he said he was. But truth be told, it was all real. At first he hadn't seen her in that light. How could he? He was fourteen. He just remembered that one day, sometime in third year, after they had just won the final match against Slytherin. He had looked down from where he sat on his broom and saw her laughing, cheering with the rest of their House, and he remembered being struck by her brilliant smile and the way her cheeks flushed while she hugged her best friends Alisha and Marquisha.

And since that day, he knew she was the one. She was kind, beautiful, brilliant. She radiated with a perfection he couldn't fathom. He remembered telling his mother all about her that summer; the girl that had stolen her son's heart. His parents laughed lovingly, his mother and father bemused at the thought of young love.

In fourth year, he began asking her out. He had made it his quest to win her over. She said no. He remembered how much it stung. How the kids around him laughed as she hurried off, her head tucked. She had been embarrassed! Humiliated, himself, he asked her out every day after that. Soon, the purity of his quest became mangled.

Fifth year, everything changed. He had grown out of the awkwardness of his childhood. Girls noticed him. He was taller, more handsome. He was the best Chaser Gryffindor had had seen in years, and was a sure candidate for Captain. But still, Lily wanted nothing to do with him. She said he was a bad influence. That he took nothing seriously. And that he was cruel to her best friend, the slimy git that he was.

Three years he poured his heart and soul into obtaining her heart, and three years he was met with rejection and disgust.

But that was forever ago. Now, Lily gripped his hand tightly and enjoyed the cool Spring air. She waved at Sapphira Higgs.

That little girl that embarrassed him four years ago had agreed to marry him, the egotistical-bullying-toerag.

Looking at her, he knew why he was there. He would take care of her, no matter what happened around them. He would fight for her, just as he had all those years. He would make the world safe for her. For them. For their family.

"James, you haven't been listening to a word I've been saying." Lily said crossly, ripping him from his reverie. He smiled easily at her, moving his arm so it hung around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, love. What were you saying?"

Lily rolled her eyes but smiled. "I was talking about that." She said pointing straight ahead of them, and for the first time, he had noticed that they were heading toward the Quidditch pitch.

He raised his brows in confusion. "What about it?"

"Are you going to miss it?" She asked sincerely. He didn't have to give it a second thought.

"A hell of a lot. I've spent the past six years on that pitch. My entire childhood is there-here in this castle, but most importantly, there."

"Ever thought of going professional?"

He smiled. "Tons of times. I even have the team picked out-Montrose Magpipes, of course. Best team Quidditch has ever known! If not them, I would like to play for the Fitchburg Finches."

"All the way in the United States?" Lily asked, surprised.

James smiled, "I've never been. Besides, the Magpipes are all the way in Scotland."

She pouted. The idea of James being anywhere but by her side was enough to make her want to tie him up and lock him in her broom closet, but the smile on his face told her he wasn't going anywhere. She smiled back, squeezing his hand tightly.

"I want to get married." She said promptly and James laughed.

"Well, then I guess its a good thing I proposed." And he laughed again.

Lily shook her head. "I want to get married soon. At the end of the school year."

James paused, staring at Lily wide eyed.

"Are you pregnant?" He asked seriously. Lily smacked his arm and pulled away from his grip.

"No! I just," the paused for a moment, staring at her hands, "With everything going on, I just want to hurry up and get our lives started."

He was smiling again, smiling so warmly it made her heart jump in her chest.

"Love," he said, reaching out to her and running his fingertips down the side of her face, "We have our whole lives together. I told you, I'm not going anywhere. And I sure as hell won't let you go anywhere." He kissed the top of her head. Lily molded herself against his chest, breathing in his scent, taking in the moment and fixing it into her memory. When the war would rise further and when their world would crumble apart, she would remember this moment. This perfect moment when none of it seemed to matter.

James held her, stroking her long red hair.

"If you die, James Potter, I swear I will never forgive you." She muttered into his chest, fearing the tears that were brimming her eyes. She felt his chuckle and held him tighter. Half of her wished he would become a professional Quidditch player. Maybe then his life wouldn't be so on the line. She had spent every day of the past seven years with James Potter in her life and she wasn't about to give up now.

She wanted to spend the next eternity with him. And she planned to.

Sirius stared blankly at the lake. The day had been dull. James was nowhere to be found. Remus decided to spend the afternoon with Sapphira and Peter never really had anything interesting to say these days. He felt loss without his friends, who had become his brothers in the past seven years.

He leaned back against the hard bark of the tree and breathed deeply. He reckoned he would be cheerier, what with it being the final day of finals. He had looked forward to this day since he was eleven. But now, the day had come, and all he felt was a strange longing and emptiness that he couldn't quite place.

Sitting there, his mind slipped deep into thought, as it usually did here on the hill. How things had changed. Seven years ago, he walked through the large doors of Hogwarts the eldest son of the most noble Pureblood family in Britain. He became a rebel, a playboy, a god among the hapless, youtful females of Hogwarts. He was a noted troublemaker, the right hand man of the greatest Quidditch player to come to Gryffindor house, best friends with a bookworm werewolf with a soft spot for loony girls and the oddball who's blond hair and baby blue eyes drew in girls all over.

Lily Evans had fallen for James Potter.

Although it shouldn't have come as a surprise, Sirius was shocked to realize that they had grown up-a lot, in fact. Most definitely in the past year, which had been crazy enough to make him thankful for graduation. He was ready for it all to be over: James' suicidal tendencies, his family's wicked actions, the heated war that had already killed thousands-including the only real parents he had ever known.

A voice stirred him from his thoughts. He looked up and smiled at the dark haired angel that smiled back down at him. She lowered herself to sit next to him, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I think I'll miss this place most of all." She said in a soft voice. He reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.

"Me, too."

And for a moment they sat in silence, listening to the water crash softly against the rocks and the wind howl through the branches above. She sighed dreamily and again, it dawned on him how much she, too, had changed. The strange antisocial girl that he had met nine months before became the beautiful woman by his side. He had never thought it possible for him to love someone, and still, he wondered if it was just pure infatuation, but when she smiled shyly at him and when she laughed as he cracked a joke, he knew he was as deeply in love with her as could ever be.

"What are you doing when you graduate?" He asked, breaking the silence. She spoke, keeping her eyes on the rushing lake water.

"I suppose I'll become an Auror. That's what I tested for, anyway."

Sirius smiled. "Good. We're on the same page." She giggled.

"Its almost funny," she began, stiflingly a laugh that he desperately wanted to hear.

"What's funny?"

"All my life, all I've known was sadness and loss. I've lost my family. I've been abandoned. Now, I've finally found friends. I've finally found where I belong, where I'm wanted. And the whole world has turned to shit." This time, she actually laughed. He couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

His fingers laced with hers.

"I think its the same for all of us. I mean, look at James and Lily. He's been chasing her for six years, and now they're going to get married."

"And World War II is taking over." Drusella replied, shaking her head and running her other hand through her hair. "How ironic."

But that was alright, Sirius thought. As long as everyone was happy, they would be okay. This war-this genocide of an innocent race-would end. He and his friends had the conversation thousands of times. They would make sure of it.

"Oh, and contrary to popular belief," Drusella said, turning to face Sirius with an amused look, "I'm a pretty good dueler. McGonnagal says I have the making of a great Auror."

He blushed at the memory of insulting her Auror abilities.

"I was mad." He replied, looking ashamed. She only laughed.

"We seem like completely different people now. I started off, infatuated with a darkness I didn't truly understand. Now I know where I stand. I know who I want to fight by, and what I want to fight for."

He smiled and squeezed her and again. "I'm glad you've had a change of heart."

Silence stilled over them again, as they sat under the darkening sky.

"-and they're really beautiful! Oh, really really beautiful, Remus." Sapphira Higgs said in her dreamy voice. The mousy haired boy smiled at her, for once completely intrigued by her story. The brunette girl was waving her arms animatedly, describing her first meeting with unicorns.

Well, he thought with a grin, at least these creatures actually exist.

He was going to miss this; sitting with her in the quiet, empty library. It was, after all, where they met. It was where he first kissed her. Where she first told him that she really really liked him. Where he thought, for the first time, that he could be happy and be loved by a woman, even for what he was.

Of course, she didn't know. The thought sadden him, but something inside him insisted that Sapphira would be okay with it. She just had to be! She loved all kinds of creatures, even the slimy, monstrous Basilisk. Surely, for her, a werewolf wouldn't be so bad.

He ran a hand through his hair and tuned back into her wild story. Sapphira loved unicorns. She thought them the most beautiful creature. If she could, she said, she would live out in the middle of nowhere, and take care of a family of unicorns. She didn't need people.

"I need you." He replied, leaning close to her. She smiled brightly, pushing her honey colored hair over her shoulder.

"Well, you'll come with me, of course!"

Remus smiled mischievously. "What about our friends?"

"Well, Remus," she said with slight annoyance, "You do know how to apparate, don't you?"

With another laugh he pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"I do."