Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.

Hey readers, sorry this took so long; I've been really busy lately. But to make it up to you, this one is really long and extra fluffy!

Also, I've decided to add an additional feature to my postings. My writing is often inspired by songs, so now I'm going to tell you which ones coordinate with each chapter. I suggest listening to these songs because I think it will add another dimension to the action.

Song Inspiration: "Love Story" by Taylor Swift and "Shadows of the Night" by Pat Benatar

"Lily," he moaned between kisses. "Will you marry me?"

"What?" asked Lily instantly shocked out of the moment. She pushed James away and sat up.

"Will you marry me?" James repeated, his roguish grin still firmly in place.

"James… James…" she whispered as she reached out and stroked his cheek gently.

As her silence grew his smile faded.

"We can't get married; I only turned eighteen this morning," said Lily softly.

"We don't have to get married now; we could wait a few years," stated James.

"Then why ask me now? Why not leave things as they are and ask me in a few years?"

James looked away from her and said, "Well, you're going away… I don't want you to fall in love with someone else."

Lily would have laughed if James didn't look so sincerely scared and vulnerable. "I'm in love with you James, and ring or not I'm not going to forget that no matter how far apart we are."

"I don't want you to go," confessed James. "I want you to just stay here with me in England."

"I know, but this is something I have to do for me, and I really hope you understand that," Lily trailed off.

"But you're going to go no matter what," finished James stonily.

"James I love you dearly, I really do, but I'm not any more ready to settle down than I was at the beginning of this year. I finally figured out a way to get out of being married off by my evil step-mother, so I'm not really interested in committing to getting married right now. Ask me in a couple of years, when I have things figured out," explained Lily as gently as she could.

No matter how gently she let him down, a rejection was a rejection and James was crushed.

"I understand," said James finally in a defeated tone. "Just don't tell anyone okay?"

"Sure," agreed Lily. She would have promised him the moon if it would take the hurt look out of his eyes.

"It's getting late," said James as he picked up his broom and stood up, offering a hand to Lily. "We should go back inside. Oh, I almost forgot, happy birthday," he added as he took a badly wrapped box out of his pocket.

"They're beautiful," gushed Lily as she opened the box that contained a pair of gorgeous emerald earrings. "Thank you. I love them and I love you too."

James smiled, though it wasn't his usual confident grin, and pecked her on the cheek. "You're welcome."

James put his arm around Lily's waist and pulled her close as they walked back to school as usual, but they both knew things were different now. James had crossed a line and no matter how much Lily wished it, they couldn't go back.

-----

Sooner than they wished their N.E.W.T. results arrived and then the rest of the school was gloating over the sad faces and disappointed groans. Another week passed, the rest of the school had their final exams and the seventh years gloated about being finished with tests and school.

As he had expected, due to his "furry little problem" Remus was declined by every program and Ministry job to which he had applied, despite his high grades and excellent test scores.

Marlene was given her pick of a couple of Ministry positions because she also did very well on her exams.

James and Alice both passed with flying colors and were accepted to the Auror Academy, much to their excitement and Lily's worry.

Receiving remarkable N.E.W.T. scores, Sirius was also accepted to the Auror Academy, but as the attached note said, it was only because Mr. Potter, Professor Dumbledore, and all of his teachers had vouched for his character, yet they would still be keeping a cautious eye on him due to his family background and their dark affiliations.

Peter received average scores and was welcomed into the same office at the Ministry that his father had worked in for twenty years.

And Lily, well she had received many offers due to her outstanding scores, but she only had eyes for one university, much to James' anxiety.

Soon it was time for all of the seventh years to part, but they all knew it was only temporary because they would all meet again at the grand graduation ball that the Potters were throwing for their only son and his class. However, a whole week was much too long for James and Lily to be separated, so that is why James could be found on the grounds of Lily's home one evening in mid-June throwing pebbles at her bedroom window.

James's ego was severely crushed by Lily's rejection, but he had rebounded quickly when Gryffindor won the House Cup and he had been accepted to the Auror Academy. Things between the two of them returned to normal and none of their friends had any clue that there had been a brief disturbance in their relationship.

Because it was after nine Lily was in her bedroom. As they had previously arranged, she came to her window seat and flung the window wide open. James' heart skipped a beat as he saw the wide smile that he had put on her face.

"If I jump will you catch me?" called Lily coyly.

"Of course," boasted James.

Lily jumped right out of the window, catching James very much off-guard. He didn't think she was serious! But, as always, Lily had a plan. She transformed into a falcon mid-way through her jump glided to James' spot and then transformed back to herself, landing expertly in his outstretched arms.

James just shook his head in disbelief. "Honestly, I have no idea how I keep up with you."

Lily scrambled out of James' arms and said, "Come on, I want to take you somewhere."

Then she seized his hand and started running toward the woods at the edge of her family's estate.

"Where are we going?" asked James as he finally fell into stride with his athletic girlfriend.

Lily looked over at him and then noticed how their strides were perfectly in sync. She listened to their soft and harmonized footfalls for a moment and smiled. "You'll see."

"Okay," said James as he smiled in return. He was glad to see Lily, but at the back of his mind was his father's threat about breaking up with Lily or else; running felt good.

"Where are we?" asked James breathlessly as he turned around looking at his surroundings.

Lily, who was laying down on the grass, looked up at her astonished boyfriend and said, "This is where I go when I'm upset or I need to think, so pretty much every day that I'm home."

"How far did we run?" wondered James as he settled down on the grass next to Lily.

Lily rested her head on James' chest and told him, "Not too far, we went a direct route so only two or three kilometers."

"So this is where you come," thought James aloud.

Lily hummed in response.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Because I am making an effort to include you in my life and this place has been a huge part of my life for the past few years. Do you know I have spent a lot of time out here thinking about you?"

"Really?" asked James with a roguish grin.

"It was that bush over there that convinced me that I had been in denial and I really did fancy you."

James laughed. "I told you every day for two years that I fancied you and you secretly fancied me in return, and yet it was a bush that convinced you?"

"It's actually a really embarrassing story," admitted Lily.

"All the more reason you should tell me," reasoned James.

"No way," said Lily firmly.

"Please," said James with his best impersonation of Sirius' puppy-dog eyes.

"No."

Then James proceeded to try to convince her. He tickled her mercilessly as her peals of laughter echoed throughout the small clearing.

"So are you going to tell me now?"

"Never!" gasped Lily between chuckles.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! No! Fine! I'll tell you!" Lily gasped when she couldn't take it anymore. "But you're going to laugh at me."

"You laugh at me all the time; I never get to laugh at you."

"True," Lily laughed as she and James got settled again. "Well you'll laugh at this one for sure. It was the spring holiday of sixth year, and I was out here late at night after my step-mom 'sent me to bed,' and I was thinking about you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you had just won the Quidditch cup two weeks before, not your first or last as we found out this spring, and you had looked so incredibly attractive as you were celebrating with your team on the field. I couldn't stop staring at you and your stupid windswept hair. For the next week I stared at you all the time in class, and I watched you all the times in between."

"Finally the tables turned! And I can't believe I didn't even notice!"

"You were busy," said Lily sullenly.

"What was I busy with?" asked James in confusion.

"Better question: who," said Lily snippily.

"I knew it!" shouted James triumphantly.

"Knew what?"

"I knew that me dating Christina made you jealous," he stated smugly.

"Of course it made me jealous," grumbled Lily. "You kissed her right in front of me whenever I came into sight."

"But you never said anything."

"I didn't want you to know," admitted Lily. "But that's not the point of this story. I was here raging around because I was finally admitting that I liked you. And when I say raging, I mean raging. You see that fallen tree over there? I felled it with a spell."

"How?" interrupted James. "You weren't seventeen yet. What about the Trace?"

"I was never on the Trace," said Lily shrugging. "People like me aren't."

"Oh."

"That's not the point of the story either. Once I exhausted all of my anger because I liked you and I had always sworn I wouldn't, I let myself imagine that you were here," she finished in a small and embarrassed voice.

James scoffed and tried not to laugh.

"I told you that you would laugh at me."

"Please keep going; I love this story."

"You would."

"Come on Lily, you and the whole school got to see my feelings for you, but no one, including me, ever knew that you liked me back."

"Fine. I was imagining that I was dancing with you because at the Quidditch party you were dancing with Mary and for the first time I noticed that you were a really good dancer." Despite James' overly satisfied and rather smug look, Lily continued, "And I tripped over a rock or something and fell backwards onto that very dense bush over there. My head knew it was just a bush, but in my dream I imagined that you had caught me because in my heart I knew that you would have caught me.

"Do you remember that time I slipped in the hallway after class and you caught me just before I hit the ground?" finished Lily as she ran her hand lightly over his chest.

James hummed in agreement and then said, "I had Sirius charm the floor right in front of you so that you would fall."

"I knew it!" said Lily exuberantly. "I knew it couldn't be a coincidence."

"You didn't yell at me that day. You just blushed and stormed away. I didn't realize it then because usually I made you blush with anger, but you fancied me then didn't you?"

Lily blushed just like in sixth year and muttered yes. "I'm going to change the subject now. I have a huge favor to ask."

"What is it?" asked James as he glanced down at Lily's serious expression.

"I've finally decided to leave my family and I was wondering if I could stay with you until I leave for school in September."

"Of cour-," began James until he remembered his father's lecture.

"What's wrong?" asked Lily as he hesitated. She sat up with a concerned look on her face.

James chose to remain on the ground and looked up at her as he said, "You know how you sneaked out to be with me tonight? Well I had to sneak out as well because my dad doesn't want us to be together anymore."

Lily looked off into the distance and coolly stated, "It's the muggleborn thing isn't it?"

James ran a hand through his hair and confirmed her fears.

"So when were you going to break up with me?" asked Lily, still refusing to look at him.

"Lily- Lily- Lily look at me," tried James as he became more and more frustrated. Finally he sat up and gently guided her face to his. After ending a very soft and tender kiss James continued, "I didn't come here to end things with you; I faced my father's wrath because I want to be with you."

"Really?" asked Lily softly as she peered through the darkness to try to read his expression.

"Really," repeated James as he sealed his promise with another kiss. "To hell with what my father says; I love you."

"Don't scare me like that again," Lily begged him as her voice quavered. She threw her arms around him, knocking him off balance.

"Now this is what I call a compromising position," said James grinning. "And I intend to take full advantage of it," he added as he pulled the rest of Lily's body to match his.

Soon after he rolled over, making sure that he didn't squish Lily, so that he was hovering over her. Lily only dimly registered this because her entire being was consumed by the feeling of James' lips on hers. And just when things were getting really good there was an interruption that neither of them could ignore; the sounds of a rather large search party stomping through the woods and calling Lily's name reached their ears.

After ending the kiss Lily looked up at James with an expression that was a mixture of fear, excitement, mischief, and annoyance. "I say we escape. Go be Prongs and I'll meet you back here once they go somewhere else."

James wasn't altogether sure that that was the best plan but he wouldn't have refused Lily anything at that moment. They separated and James sprang into the woods as Prongs just as Lily soared into the treetops. Moments later a few men including Lily's father, the butler, and the local police chief, tramped through the open meadow shining their flashlights and calling for the missing teenager.

Shortly afterward Lily glided down from an upper branch. After glancing around and seeing that James had not yet returned she sighed deeply. Then she got a devilish look on her face that would have made Sirius proud. Slowly she crossed her arms over her abdomen and grabbed the hem of her shirt. Her shirt was about halfway off when larger hands enveloped hers and aided in the effort. The second half of the mission was completed in twice the time.

Lily grinned as James, still standing behind her, wound his arms around her waist, and started kissing her bare shoulder and neck. Lily moaned and melted into the warm embrace. But finally she couldn't take it anymore; she turned around and led his lips to hers.

Moments later James's shirt joined Lily's as it was discarded. The couple had never been closer. Lily was having an extremely difficult time breathing as James traced patterns on her back with his skilled and sure fingers. James couldn't string a single coherent thought together; he wouldn't have even been able to state his name because Lily's nimble fingers roaming all over the broad and flat planes of his chest totally distracted him.

Neither had been aware that they had been moving, but suddenly Lily's back brushed up against the rough bark of an old tree. They didn't mind of course, not that they really noticed.

They also didn't notice the jealous and silent being standing on the edge of the glade with mouth agape. She had never seen anyone kiss with such raw emotion; she had never been kissed with such love and passion, and yet her freak of a younger sister was being kissed with awesome intensity. Petunia was seeing green. Then when she acknowledged that the green-eyed monster was welling up within her, she realized that really, the green-eyed monster was in front of her!

For the billionth time Petunia cursed her looks. Just once she wished she could trade in her average beauty for Lily's exotic and entrancing features. She would give anything for red hair to look natural on her and she would kill for green eyes to match. Maybe then she would attract some man whom she would sneak into the woods to see, a man who would kiss her like that, who would love her… a man with rippling muscles, a charming grin, and luscious hair…

It wasn't fair that Lily, the younger sister, got everything she ever wanted and more. Lily was a freak! Freaks don't deserve to be nearly half-naked with an attractive man in the moonlit woods; that was not how the story was supposed to go! And Petunia knew how the story was supposed to go; she had read more fairytales as a child than anyone else, and as an adult she thrived on trashy romance novels. In the end the hot jock was supposed to fall in love with the plain and slightly geeky ballet dancer, not the brilliant, gorgeous, charming, and athletic Head Girl! Petunia refused for the plot to be reversed; Lily didn't deserve a happy ending. Therefore, Petunia set out to right the wrongs of the universe thinking herself to be an incredibly brave and intelligent hero, the defender of the humble and lowly (a.k.a. herself).

James and Lily weren't disturbed by the rustling leaves one iota. It was extremely difficult however to ignore four flashlights being shone right at them and an authoritative voice commanding James to step away from Lily.

James, being the decent individual he was, refused to step away from Lily because he was the only barrier between his bra-clad girlfriend and the male search party. "Turn your lights off first," he replied steadily, still bracing himself with his palms against the tree trunk.

"I don't think so son," returned the police officer. "I'm only going to ask you one more time: step away from the girl."

"No," said James sternly. "Not until you turn the lights off and give her some privacy. I won't run."

"Do what he says Jonathan," requested Mr. Evans quietly. He had picked up on James's protective demand.

The police chief and the others obeyed Mr. Evans' request. Once there was darkness James backed away from Lily and grabbed his shirt while she snatched hers from a bush, that was thankfully far from her father, and donned it.

"If you must you can turn the flashlights back on now," said Lily with a haughty and bored tone that sounded foreign to James's ears.

"Darling! Are you hurt?" asked Albert Evans as he stepped away from the victorious Petunia, once again leaving her in the dark.

"I'm fine," stated Lily as she rolled her eyes. She allowed her father to wrap his arm around her and lead her to the "safety" of the search party.

"Officer, arrest that man!" declared Albert.

"For what?!" asked James.

"For kidnapping and God knows what else if we hadn't arrived in time!"

Lily laughed and questioned her dad, "You're really going to arrest my boyfriend for kissing me? Oh and by the way, he didn't kidnap me, I sneaked out of the house."

"Oh ah well then," said Mr. Evans gruffly. He cleared his throat and continued, "Well thank you gentlemen, I'm sorry for your trouble, but you know how women are. Clarice got a little excited when Lily was missing and then one of the maids said she saw a shadowy figure leading another off into the woods… we'll just be off now. But just you wait missy until we get back to the house; your mother is going to have quite a few things to say to you."

"Can I at least say good-bye to James before I'm grounded for the rest of my life?" pleaded Lily with her big green eyes.

"I never could say no to you," said Albert softly. "But just one minute."

"Thank you daddy!" gushed Lily with a level of gratitude she didn't really feel.

She ran the short distance to James and hugged him tightly. Then in his ear she whispered, "Not tomorrow, but meet me the day after at the same time; Clarice and the rest of the house will be out of town then so you can use the front door. I love you James."

"Bye Lily," said James as he released her.

"Come along now Lillian," said Mr. Evans sternly when Lily paused to look into James's eyes for a little longer.

She smiled softly and then averted her gaze and followed her father. James instantly lost sight of her because she was surrounded by the men of the search party. Once he could no longer see the lights of the group he let out a deep groan and punched the nearest tree out of frustration. Soon afterwards he returned home.

After taking a very long and very cold shower, James was drying his hair with a towel while he walked into his room. When he could see again, he jumped because Sirius was silently sitting on his bed with a huge grin on his face.

"So how did it go lover boy?" he asked joyfully.

"Great," said James with a grin. "Until her dad showed up, with a search party."

Sirius snickered. "Bad luck there mate."

"I really kind of hate that man," admitted James lightly.

Sirius laughed and then said, "But at least you had a good time while it lasted right?"

"Yeah," said James suspiciously.

"That's good because I think your dad might possibly know that you sneaked out to see her," said Sirius hoping that his smile would James think that things weren't as bad as they really were.

"You were supposed to cover for me!" shouted James.

"It's two in the bloody morning! Where was I supposed to say you were?" asked Sirius defensively.

"Anywhere! Dismantling Big Ben! Causing revolutions in Peru! Skiing in the Alps!"

"Well, sorry I didn't think to tell your dad that you were skiing in the middle of June or starting wars," said Sirius sarcastically as he reclined on James' bed. Once James started making ridiculous suggestions he knew the worst was over. "I don't even understand why you needed to sneak out; your parents know you're dating Lily and they adore her."

"Correction, my mum loves Lily; my dad told me I had to stop seeing her," said James as he began to pace. "And to complicate things more she told me tonight that she's leaving home, for good this time."

"And she asked to stay here," guessed Sirius.

"Yup," said James worriedly as he ran a hand through his hair. "How can I tell her no?"

"Where would she go?" asked Sirius. He frowned with concern.

"I dunno; she told me before the school year ended that she thinks it would be dangerous to hang out with any of her muggle friends because the war's been getting so bad lately. She doesn't want them to become targets," James informed Sirius.

"And she can't stay with Marlene because her parents are taking her on that cruise for the rest of the summer as a graduation present. What about Alice?"

"Her house is full enough already. She has her younger sisters and brothers, plus her aunt and uncle were killed in March, so her three cousins are living at her house as well," answered James.

"And Remus's parents are far too traditional to let Lily stay with them."

"And she is definitely not going to stay with Peter," added James.

Sirius actually laughed at the thought. Then he sobered up and asked, "So what are you going to do?"

James sank to the ground and leaned against his bed. "What can I do? I can't just let her live in some random flat or something; there's no way she would be safe. But I can't let her stay here either because I'm not even supposed to be seeing her much less living with her."

"Your mum would let her stay," stated Sirius.

"Yeah and?"

"Get her on your side, and maybe together you could change your dad's mind," suggested Sirius. "And you know that I'll help however I can."

"That might work; mum can be very persuasive."

Sirius chuckled. "Like the time she locked us all in a room last summer until we were friends again?"

James laughed. "Let's just hope she doesn't lock my dad and Lily in a room together until they resolve their differences."

"It'll work out; stuff like this always works out."

"I hope you're right," said James gravely.

"I always am," said Sirius reassuringly.

James reached up and yanked a pillow off of his bed. Then he proceeded to hit his best mate with it. Soon it was an all-out pillow fight and the two young men were able to temporarily forget that their world was growing darker by the minute.

So, what did you think? I surprised you didn't I?! Yup, she said no. This is pretty much where the story goes AU; I figure that if I was sticking to canon she would have said yes. But it's me, so it couldn't possibly be that easy!

Anyway, thank you all for the reviews last chapter; it may not seem like it because it took me so long to write this, but they really did inspire me to write and update for you. So keep up the good work! Also, I'm sorry if I didn't respond to your review; I'm going to try to be better about that!

Now to help you with your reviewing, some questions:

What is you favorite moment for this chapter? The whole story up to this point?

Were the jobs what you expected?

How do you think Mr. Evans reacted to finding Lily in such a compromising position? How will Mr. Potter react to the knowledge that James sneaked out to see Lily? How will Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Potter react?

Is there anything you would like to see in the next chapter?

What do you think will happen at the Graduation Gala?

I'd love to hear your feedback!

~ AAA