Don't worry about the future;

Lily Evans had never before seen James Potter in such a state.

On Monday she had found him and Sirius scouring the library for any books they thought would help with their exams. This plan was flawed from the start when they had no idea how the books were stacked or what rows to look in. 7 years of avoiding the place like it had the plague virus (except when planting dung bombs) will do that to a person.

On Tuesday afternoon she had watched, amusedly, whilst James and Sirius tried to beg Remus for his notes so that they could study from them. They were not having much luck.

"You guys are idiots. I told you to start studying earlier and besides I need them to study from myself. Go and find some books or something." With that he had stalked off to the boys' dormitory to get some peace and quiet.

It was a Thursday evening when Lily stumbled across her boyfriend in the Heads' common room in a state she could only describe as 'freaking out'. It was a peculiar sight and one that had her quite perplexed. He was sat, cross legged on the floor with his head in his hands, surrounded by textbooks of varying subjects and even a few spilt ink wells. He appeared to be muttering to himself and Lily watched, partly in amusement and partly in concern. It was when he sighed and tilted his head back with his eyes closed that she decided to step in.

"James?" His eyes snapped open and he turned to look at her. She went to him instantly when she got a good look at him; dark circles hung below his eyes and there was an entirely too forlorn look on his face. "What's wrong?" His tired arms reached out to her and she sunk onto the sofa so that he could rest his head on her lap as his arms circled her. She stroked his hair, her fingers running through it like silk, her nails against his scalp lightly as she waited for him to get comfortable. He mumbled something against her lap and she breathed a laugh.

"What? I can't hear you." James raised his head somewhat meekly and rose his voice ever so slightly.

"Nothing is going in." His head flopped back into her lap and his arms tightened possessively around her.

"I take it you mean your N.E.W.T revision?" He nodded wordlessly. "You'll do well anyway; you always do. Don't worry about it."

His head lifted sharply from its cradle and he was in danger of knocking their heads together until Lily moved swiftly out of the way. He spluttered incoherently for a few seconds until he could form an intelligent sentence.

"What do you mean 'don't worry'? That's alright for you to say; you've been revising since Christmas." She raised an eyebrow at him as if to say 'I told you that you should have started earlier' but he pushed on regardless. "These are the exams that decide my future. Whether I'll get to train to be an Auror or not. I can't 'not worry'." He threw his hands about as he spoke, clearly impassioned and exasperated with the infuriatingly calm redhead. In fact, she seemed almost amused by his predicament. "I'm having a complete mental break down here and you're smiling?"

"I've just never seen you like this. It's new." Lily replied with a shrug as she slipped from the sofa with an elegance James would forever be jealous of, and settled next to him. This had the effect of immediately calming him down because she was pressed right up against him and he could smell her jasmine shampoo which made the situation instantly more manageable.

"I just...I've never really had to worry about anything before. Not school work anyway. OWLs were easy and nowhere near as important as these are. I'm...I'm freaking out." He buried his head in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. He pressed a kiss to her neck as she patted his leg consolingly.

"Okay, look. Your first exam is tomorrow yes?"

"Yes." He replied warily, withdrawing from the curtain of her hair to look her in the face as she delivered her pearls of wisdom.

"Right. So there is no point in worrying about it now." He began to argue and she cut him off as she held a hand in front of his face. "There is no point worrying because you have learnt everything you are going to learn. There is nothing that you can read tonight that will help you remember any more than you are going to already. The best course of action would be to have a hot shower and go to bed at a reasonable time so you are fresh for your exam." She looked him dead in the eyes and enunciated clearly. "Do not cram. It will not help."

"But I can't help it! I am worrying."

Lily smiled and kissed him briefly on the lips.

"You can worry all you want but it won't help. And it won't help you get to sleep." She stood up and stretched languidly, his eyes following her every move. "I'm going to bed. Some of us have exams in the morning that will decide our future." She winked at him with a teasing smile and held out her hand. "Come on. I'll tuck you in."

He scrambled to his feet, revision forgotten as he hauled her flush against his body by her proffered hand.

"I like the sound of that." There was a pause. "You know, you could always help me with that whole hot shower thing. I can never wash my back properly." She laughed, a delightful sound which made him smile for the first time in days.

"I rather think you are pushing your luck, Mr Potter."

"Ah, but fortune favours the bold, Miss Evans." He grinned wolfishly at her and stroked her hair tenderly.

"Yeah, unfortunately, fortune doesn't favour the bold that much." She stood on her tip toes to kiss him good night and was unsurprised when he deepened her chaste kiss into a slow, toe-curling, more dangerous good night than she had planned. When he finally drew away, Lily flushing a pretty pink, he smiled at her.

"Thank you, Lily."

"For the advice or the kiss?"

"Would I be a cad if I said both?"

"Not at all. You are quite welcome, James." She slipped from his embrace and headed towards her room. "Now go to bed and don't worry about tomorrow. My mother always says 'what will be, will be'."

"Yes ma'am." He mock saluted her and headed for his own bed.

or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

"What if someone has a nut allergy?"

"What?"

James looked up, distracted from the paper he had been reading in amiable silence and glanced amusedly at his fiancée. She looked at him pointedly and gestured animatedly.

"What if one of the wedding guests has a nut allergy? We didn't check that with anyone and the caterers won't know and now someone will go into anaphylactic shock and we'll have to call an ambulance because there are muggles there too and..." It was when she started gulping in air and almost hyperventilating that James interrupted.

"Lily don't worry; it will be fine."

She glared at him from across the room.

"I'm freaking out here and all you can say is 'don't worry'?"

He smirked at her and came to sit beside her on the sofa.

"I believe someone much smarter than I once told me some advice her mother gave her: 'what will be, will be'. Seriously, Lils. It will be fine. And besides, we're getting married tomorrow; not a lot you can do about it now."

"Okay. You're right. Thank you." She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "You know, the person that told you that advice must be a pretty clever lady."

He chuckled deeply, a laugh that rumbled in his chest and she could feel reverberate though her.

"Yeah, she's pretty awesome."

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

"Did you change the security password this week?"

"No. Did you?"

"No."

James looked at his wife as she worried her lower lip between her teeth. She stared back at him and he ran a hand through his hair. Harry gurgled articulately from his seat on her lap.

"I'll do it tomorrow."

"Maybe we should just do it now." Lily suggested as Harry grabbed a hold of her finger and tried to put it in his mouth.

"There's no point. I'll have to floo to see Sirius and Peter and tell them the new one and the traffic through the Ministry is going to be a nightmare because it's a holiday. Halloween and all that."

"Right." Lily nodded and pried her finger away from her son, only to have him latch onto her necklace. She sighed and looked at her husband wearily. "I know we've already talked about this but do you really think this switch is necessary? Peter is.."

"A good friend of mine who would never betray us." James insisted firmly. "I wouldn't risk the lives of the two people most important to me. Not on something like this."

"I know, dear. I'm sorry I just....I worry, okay?" He wrapped an arm around her and she relaxed slightly on the sofa.

"I know. I do too, love."

They both searched for words of comfort but fell short. Silence engulfed the Potter household, broken only by the soft murmurs of a content, unaware Harry.