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Dandelions

Chapter 6: Me And You (Part 2)

James was a strange boy. He'd made odd jokes before, laughing insanely at things that were completely unfunny, but Lily couldn't imagine what had possessed him to take a stab at levity and pretend to propose to her.

Lily pushed herself to her feet. She tried to tame the lines of her face into the semblance of an annoyed scowl, although she had a sneaking suspicion that it resembled resignation rather than ire. "Look, I don't appreciate the stupid jokes, okay? I thought maybe- well- I thought you might have grown up a bit. Obviously I was wrong."

As she strode towards the exit, he stopped her with a single word.

"Lily."

He looked shocked with himself as he stood there saying her name like it was an everyday occurrence. She was always Evans and he was always Potter. It had been like that forever.

"I wasn't joking. We could elope."

She silently opened and closed her mouth a few times.

"Listen to me," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was calmer than he had any right to be. "I know it sounds insane, it is insane, but just think about it. It makes sense."

"Sense?" she felt her voice raise an octave. "You've never encountered the word before. I just spilled my guts out to you, and you have to turn it into a joke at my expense." She gulped and hoped that he couldn't hear the hurt in her voice. "What is wrong with you?"

"Lily, I'm serious," James said, gently.

She wanted to laugh, she wanted to scream at him for teasing her, and she would have done, if it hadn't been for the fierce, burning expression in his eyes. As bizarre and insane as it was, she suddenly knew with certainty that he meant everything he was saying. She rapidly went from frustrated and hurt, to utterly astonished.

"Why?" she choked out. Her heart was beating unnaturally fast and she felt like her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

"Think about it. Next week you're going to be out there all alone and-"

"You think you can protect me?" She raised her eyebrows. "Just because you can do the Flame-Freezing Charm and I can't does not mean that you are a better wizard than I am a witch. I can protect myself."

"We could protect each other." He shrugged. "I need protecting too, you know, I'm under no illusion about that. We'd watch each others backs."

She scoffed. "Somehow, I don't think that's a valid reason for marriage, Potter. What about your friends? Don't you all look after each other?"

"They've got their own families to worry about. I'm like you, Evans. I'm alone in the world." He smiled sadly at her and his shoulders drooped as though he had a weight hanging on his shoulders, a weight heavier than it should have been at his young age. "My parents are dead. I've got no other relatives. I've only got this school and once it's gone from my life, I don't know what I'm going to do."

He wasn't invulnerable. He was the same as her; he was alone in the world. She had been so self-involved and self-pitying that she had completely bypassed the fact that he might be just as scared as her. She could feel herself softening as she tilted her head and asked, "And how do you think that eloping might possibly make any of that go away?"

The corners of his mouth quirked up slightly. "I wouldn't be alone anymore."

She frowned and tried to pretend that she didn't melt just a little at his words. "This is not the answer, Potter. We don't even like each other."

"We don't dislike each other." He took a step forward. "Think of it like a business deal."

"Excuse me?"

"Look, you haven't got anywhere to go when we graduate. I've got a house. I've got money and no one to share it with."

Lily blinked. "You want to share it with me?"

"Why not?"

"Why not? Because I'm Evans and you're Potter. Because we're only eighteen years old and we barely know each other-"

"We've known each other for seven years."

She waved her arms in frustration. "You're completely insane-"

"Certifiable," he agreed.

"-And marriage is a lot more than watching each others backs. It involves actually having a functional relationship rather than one full of pure unadulterated hatred. It involves-"

"- trust and friendship and respect," he cut in. "I think if we worked at it we could have those things. It's not outside the realm of possibility, is it?"

"But what about- what about love and kissing and-" Unbidden, an image forced itself to the forefront of her mind, of an empty Transfiguration classroom, of the echo of flames dancing in dark eyes, of hands brushing and lips almost touching. She fought the blush that threatened to parade itself across her face and choked out, "-and- other things-"

"Well, we'd be like partners. We don't need to complicate it with any- any- funny business." James scratched his head and studied the tiled floor intently.

"But why marriage? Why couldn't we just- I don't know- help each other out now and again?"

"Because it's not practical," he said in a tone that suggested she was being rather dim. "This way we can look after each other, protect each other, all the time. And," he swallowed and his face fell into grave lines, making him appear older than his meagre years, "if I should die fighting, then I'd know that my worldly possessions would go to someone who deserved them."

For the third time that night- a record for Lily- she was left speechless. His words left her with a confusing ache deep inside her chest and she felt unbearably honoured.

"And, you know, two incomes. I might get a break on paying taxes." The old James Potter, the one she knew, made a brief cameo then as he grinned at her the sure, beautiful smile that had driven her to righteous fury on so many occasions.

"But," she said, gently, "what about your parents? What about finding a love like theirs? You can't just give that up."

A strange, unreadable expression flashed across his face, and he looked away from her. Lily wondered whether he had finally realised the ridiculousness of what he was proposing; she ignored the vague flutter of disappointment that danced for attention in the bottom of her stomach.

"Look," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "if Voldemort had his way, we'd both be dead within the month." His dark eyes met hers. "What have we got to lose? Why can't we take a chance to really live, even if it's just for a little while?"

She stared at him, something she'd done an awful lot of that night. "We can't hide away from the war forever."

"No. But we could find something to fight for."

His eyes burned into hers. She didn't think she'd ever seen him this serious. He'd been the bane of her existence; the loud, obnoxious, arrogant scoundrel who had driven her to the edge many times. Now he was calm, collected, and sensible. Wasn't he Potter, the one person who she couldn't bear to spend any prolonged amount of time with? Maybe he wasn't who she'd believed he was, a voice whispered to her. Maybe she'd never really known him at all.

She bit her lip and thought about what life with James Potter would entail. By herself, she knew that she'd lead a dull life, full of beige, and lacking in any sort of excitement, until the one day when her life would explode into colour and she would be murdered by Death Eaters for being a 'Mudblood'. It was a sad probability, but one she was resigned to. However, if she agreed to his proposal there would be laughter, light, and, yes, arguments, but passionate ones, before the darkness came. There was a chance that it would work the way he had said it would, that they would protect each other, save each other. And she wouldn't be alone.

Lily raised her head, met his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay," she said.

A/N: I'm so sorry its taken me absolutely ages to update this chapter. Its because I've now decided to scrap everything I'd pre-written and start again, which means that I wrote this chapter completely from scratch. And, unfortunately, I can't give any spoilers because I'm not 100% sure of what's going to happen myself!

I want to say thank you for the wonderful reviews. They really have spurred me on and made me write when I had zero inspiration. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review if you did!