Humming softly to herself, she bent down to retrieve the final object inside of the box at her feet.

It was a simple silver frame whose former residence had been her bedside table in the 7th year girls' dormitory. She placed it beside the others on the shelf, smiling to herself as she stepped back to observe her display. Her grandmother, the sole occupant of that particular frame, was frozen in a moment of distinct sternness—the picture in question having been snapped at Lily's baptism, an event the elderly woman had taken quite seriously. It was amusing and quite fitting that her grandmother's picture was the only one on the shelf that wasn't moving. Stuck in her ways, indeed.

"I reckon," Lily mused, tilting her head so that her voice would carry over her shoulder, "that my Gran would consider this 'living in sin'."

She didn't bother to turn around; instead, went about adjusting each frame to a more fitting angle as she awaited a response. When several moments had passed, though, and continued work on her shelf display might have entered a territory regarded as anal, she stepped back to seek out an answer.

She needn't have, for this step led her directly into another solid body, her back coming up against a lean torso. Before she could react, a chin nestled into her hair as a pair of arms wound firmly around her waist. Instinctively, she leaned back, just as the pressure on top of her head ceased and lips grazed her earlobe.

"I'm not much for cults, so correct me if I'm wrong," he drawled. "I can't seem to recall participating in any particularly sinful activities just yet." A brush of lips against her collarbone. "But, I'd hate to prove you false, love."

Smirking in spite of herself, she turned in his arms.

"Really, James—in front of my grandmother?"

He nudged his nose gently against hers. "Just acquainting myself with my new flatmate. Did the same thing with the lads first year. Must say, different results."

"Sirius is rather opposed to Eskimo kisses."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Heximo? Sounds dirty."

She laughed softly and stood on her tiptoes to rub their noses once more. "Trust me, it's not."

He growled. "Stop deviating, Evans. You haven't answered my question."

Shooting him a coy grin, she pulled away and curled her finger inward, trying her best to appear casual as she sauntered into the kitchen. When she reached her destination, she spun around and noted in satisfaction that he had dutifully trailed her. Placing both hands against the dining table, she hoisted herself into a sitting position on top of it.

He regarded her, his lips quirking upward for just a moment before they pulled down again into a carefully composed line.

"What exactly would dear Gran have to say about this?"

Lily flicked her eyes away from his gaze, which was growing to be quite smoldering. "She'd think it very much a scandal to be living with a boyfriend. Especially one I've been seeing for scarcely a year. She'd say I'm naïve; that I don't know what I'm getting myself into."

He stepped forward to stand between her legs and slid his arms down so that they came to rest on her hips. He rested his forehead against her own.

"But you know everything about me." His voice was soft; the gold in his eyes over-bright.

She cast her eyes downward, placing her palms on the front of his shirt. She had undid nearly all the buttons before she looked up again.

"Do I?"

He nodded and pressed a chaste kiss on her mouth. Feeling her frown, he grinned again and bent his head to nip at her neck, one hand sliding halfway up her shirt and caressing her ribs.

"And you, thief of my innocence? Any deep, dark secrets that naïve blokes like myself should know about?"

If Lily were to really think about the query, she may have answered differently. But in that moment, with James's hand moving to trail down her stomach and her heart feeling too large for her chest and those damn gold flecks in his eyes positively blinding, she really wasn't thinking at all.

Wrapping her legs around his middle, she tugged him forward by the waist of his trousers and undid the buttons there as well.

Chuckling, he leaned her down so that her back hit the table and then placed a palm on her cheek, gently inclining her head so that her eyes locked on a broomstick that had been placed rather auspiciously on a prominent shelf on the far wall.

He stood again, his smirk overtaking every inch of his face.

"Really, Lily—in front of the Nimbus?"

—

As this memory drifted away, Lily felt her cheeks flush. She wasn't entirely sure why, upon her arrival at Spinner's End, her mind would drift to such a…erm…heated moment.

Guilty?

She quickened her footsteps in response to her traitorous mind. She refused to acquiesce to guilt. She wouldn't have to keep secrets from him—wouldn't flush so powerfully at a mere memory—if it weren't for the fact that her fiancé had barely even spoken to her in weeks.

James…

What she did know was that she was exhausted from carrying the constant weight of him on her mind. What she was exceedingly positive of was that the ache summoned by the mere thought of him was draining nearly all of her energy.

This resolve carried her all the way to the uneven sidewalk that lined the street opposite the Snape home. Sighing, she steeled herself against the realization of what she was about to do.

She was prepared for the idea of seeing Severus, of looking into those dark eyes that she had carefully avoided at graduation and finally saying something. Telling him how very badly he had hurt her, but that it wasn't too late. She had told him once that they had already chosen their paths, but she had truly only meant that for herself. She had chosen her path, but that didn't mean he couldn't change his. Because these things that others said about him—the whispers that seemed to follow her around—they just couldn't be true.

She was unprepared for the reality of actually being there. Tobias Snape haunted his household even in death, it seemed. The grass was still lifeless and spurting up in patches at best. Several tiles were missing off the roof. The bushes were wildly overgrown, overtaking the windows and making the first story appear sunken. The brass knocker on the front door was hanging askew, swaying in the wind.

A part of her wanted to believe that Tobias Snape really had committed suicide, having realized the tremendous grievances he had caused his family in life. Lily had encountered the man numerous times, though, and he had never struck her as the remorseful type.

Yes, she decided, she was most certainly of the mind that Severus himself had had a hand in this. But did she fault him?

Vengeance was becoming more and more tolerable in their world as of late, but Lily, for one, did not yet feel she had the right to an opinion on it.

A concealment charm would not do—she did not think it would benefit either of them to take him off guard. She would have to remain visible. Taking a deep breath to steady her mind and frantic pulse, she pulled her wand out from beneath her robes and approached the house slowly. Relative darkness would have to be her ally.

As she crept closer, her eyes darted from one window to the next, taking a swift mental inventory of every detail she observed. It had occurred to her many times in the past several minutes that there was a chance Severus had not come back alone. She had decided firmly every time that if she had ever really known him at all, she was safe in the knowledge that he would never choose to bring anyone to this place. She also recognized that the fact that she even considered such an option meant that she had also considered the whispers more than she was willing to admit. This, however, she refused to dwell on.

It was the very moment that she stepped foot on his property, though, that a sudden chill leaked through her clothes, creeping up her arms and back. Some witches and wizards never grew familiar with the feeling of being tracked by an invisible presence, but she was well versed in the sensation. She was not alone.

Another steadying breath gave her courage. She turned back toward the street.

"I know you're there and I just want to talk." She hoped she'd kept her voice even.

"Expelliarmus!" The deep voice caught her off guard and she just barely managed to spit out the countercurse. Her wand remained protected, but her lack of focus had only halfway blocked the spell; the force of it catapulted her backward several feet. She landed with a clatter on the front stoop of the Snape house.

Massaging her head, she raised her eyes toward her attacker and groaned. "What the bloody fuck was that about?"

"Constant vigilance, Evans." Alastor Moody, clad in a mismatched Muggle jumper and trousers, mumbled several charms under his breath as he pointed to various points in their perimeter.

Moody frightfully intimidated many of her peers and elders alike, but even as the wizard's magical eye spun in circles while the good one honed in on her, Lily found herself mostly relaxed, albeit a little annoyed.

Brushing off her coat, she stood up, wobbling slightly and massaging her temples.

"Constant headache is more like." She grumbled. "Mind explaining what you're doing here, Alastor? Save for attacking me, that is."

"Mind explaining what in blazes Potter think he's doing, quitting my program?" The magical eye stopped spinning for a moment and both focused intently on Lily.

She bit her lip, incensed. "I'm not his keeper."

"So be it. Off with you then, girl."

Merlin. Again, that word.

Lily strode forward, hands on hips. "I happen to live here."

"Evans, you happen to live approximately 700 meters from here. If you would like to be listed In my report as hanging about at the scene of a murder, then by all means continue to waste both our time. Otherwise, you are best suited hanging off the arm of the Minister, as per usual."

She considered him for a moment, then sighed. "Alastor, the Junior Undersecretary position straight out of Hogwarts was a privilege not many would turn down. Minister Sloper has spoken more on behalf of Muggleborn rights than any who had ever held the position before, so forgive me if I—."

"Spoken." Moody's scarred face looked skeptical. "Anyone can speak up, Evans. Taking action is for a braver sort."

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you calling me a coward?"

He strode past her, making his way up the steps of the house. "I'm calling you a nuisance, possibly even an impediment to a sanctioned investigation."

Murder. How had she let that slip by?

She cleared her throat. "So, it was a murder then?"

He'd begun to test out several jinxes on the home to ensure a lack of protective spells, but he paused in his work. He grunted and turned around. "Evans, I don't wish to relay your presence here to my superiors, but if you keep questioning my presence I'm going to have to start questioning yours. "

"I told you, I live—."

"Spare me the shite, Evans. Sloper be damned, your presence is required at the Ministry." He hesitated. "Lupin got cut today."

Her mouth went agape, but she only allowed her surprise to reign for a moment before letting the anger wash over her. "Why would you—how…how could you? You knew how much he wanted this! He's more than capable a-and he…he was so bloody nervous about this! How COULD you?"

Moody drew himself up and blew a stream of air out his nostrils. "Not my call, Evans. Final cuts are run by Law Enforcement and Crouch overruled."

Lily faltered. "B-but you told him he'd be fine. He was so sure that he wouldn't be and you told him he could trust this! He doesn't have an easy time—."

"Merlin knows I'm aware of that, Evans!" His tone had a note of finality. "Like I said, it-was-not-my-call. Might want to ask Sloper about his grand plans for civil rights, huh? I'm sure he'd love to talk it out."

This silenced her. Annoyed, partly by that awful inclination that he may have a point, Lily allowed a sound of disgust to leave her lips before turning around and storming away from the house. She didn't trust herself to apparate just yet.

Before she could even reach the other side of the street, however, an idea occurred to her. She whipped around.

"Moody!"

Now crouched down in front of the door, Moody spun his head around.

"Do you believe in self defense?"

Even from this far away, she could see his shoulders tense in frustration.

"Get on with, Evans!"

She hesitated, but plowed on. "The man who lived here…he used to beat his son to a pulp. Would you call that self-defense?"

He paused as well. "Empathy is out of my jurisdiction."

She sighed, her anger seeping out of her along with that faint glimmer of hope. Ready to apparate, she pulled out her wand.

"Evans, tell Potter he's no good to me chasing a ball around for a living."

Despite knowing this assumption to be false, she shrugged, then mumbled. "He's out of my jurisdiction."

She lent a reluctant thought to going into work on her day off, but almost automatically pictured Remus. Without another word, she was gone.

—

He was sitting near the grand statue depicting magical cooperation and tolerance. The irony was not lost on Lily.

When she sat down beside him, she placed her hand softly on his knee. "This is utter shite, Remus."

He looked up, hardly registering any surprise that she was there. His lips quirked into a sardonic smile. "More like business as usual, I reckon."

She squeezed his leg. "These people…they aren't half the human being you are."

He looked at the floor. "Nah, Lily. They-they're right. A werewolf as an auror? It's ludicrous. It's my fault that I keep fooling myself into these childish fancies."

She frowned, her eyebrows drawing together. "Risking your life for others—a childish fancy? Don't be a git, Lupin."

He smiled again, but this time it transferred to the rest of his face. "Don't be an idealist, Evans."

"I wish there was something I could do."

"You're here, aren't you?" He answered mildly.

She studied him for a long moment. "And they aren't."

Remus seemed to have noticed the sudden shift in her voice and quickly hurried to amend. "I haven't told them, Lily. It—quite literally—just happened. Barely a quarter of an hour."

Lily, agitated, raised her left hand to run it through her hair. It was a miserable habit she'd picked up.

Remus's brow furrowed and he reached to grab the hand in question, catching her unaware.

She noticed he was frowning at her, an odd crease forming around his eyes. "What are you—?"

He lifted up her hand and Petunia's wide eyes flashed in her mind. She flushed, quickly tugging her arm away.

They sat in silence for several long moments.

"We haven't quite gotten around to telling everyone and I didn't want to be…" She trailed off., then decided, "Ostentatious."

"Lily, he—."

"Probably wouldn't even notice." She cut in, averting her eyes. That all-too familiar pressure was clogging her chest, the ache swelling and filling her up.

Remus sighed. "He would."

She chuckled lightly, her heart hardly in it. "Now, look who's the idealist."

Remus smiled very slightly and pulled out his wand. He tapped Lily's finger and murmured quietly. The ring shone brilliantly against her pale skin.

He looked her straight in the eyes. "Still you."

She shifted uncomfortably on the bench, swiftly changing the subject. "What do you say we go get pissed, yeah? Woe is us and all that?"

The strange look returned to Remus's eyes. He considered her very carefully. "Lily, where have you been today?"

Feeling her skin heat up once more, she fought the urge to turn away. How could Remus possibly know about Severus? Was it written so plainly across her face?

"Listen, Remus, it's not what you think…" She began.

He cut in. "I know that the two of you are…well, it's not my place to get into it—."

It was her turn to break in, slicing fiercely through his words. "The two of us aren't anything, Remus. I was at my Mum's and I heard that his father committed suicide, so naturally—."

"Wait, what?"

Lily paused in her raging, taking a deep breath. "What?"

"Graham didn't—he would never have done something like that. Why would you think of that…It was back in sixth year and…entirely natural causes."

"Graham?" Lily thought for a moment. "Graham Potter?"

Remus seemed to be catching up. "We aren't talking about James's dad, then?" He hesitated. "And we aren't talking about James?"

Lily bit her lip, debating her options. She didn't want to keep secrets from Remus, but she had the distinct feeling that this was not the time to share.

"Sorry, I…it's been a long day. Just got some bad news about a…childhood neighbor earlier." She paused, then added awkwardly, "Been at Mum's."

Remus was studying her again and for a moment she was positive he was going to press for more information.

"Lily." He looked her squarely in the eyes, his voice gone soft.

Something about his tone turned a light on in her brain. Remus was not the one who was missing the point—she was.

Suddenly anxious, she squeezed his knee again; this time was less of sympathy and more so unbridled impatience. "What is it?"

"Jane…James's mum," Lily glared as he paused here—for Merlin's sake, she was up to speed now! "She met with the healers today."

She heard a sharp intake of breath. It took quite a few moments before she realized it was her own.

Remus looked pained. "Lily, it's not as long as they thought. Months was…a presumptuous guess."

If the ache grew stronger, she was sure she might break.

Silence, and then, "Days."

Remus was suddenly fuzzy, but it didn't immediately register that it was the moisture in her eyes that was to blame. All that occurred to her was how in a matter of days, the aching might overtake her altogether. In a matter of days, he would certainly break—and how could she not, as well? In a matter of days, the charade of perfection would be over, but what would it be replaced with?

In a matter of days, privileged James Potter, treasured only child of Graham and Jane, would be an orphan.

A/N: Feedback greatly appreciated :) Thanks for reading!