AN: Sorry, if this is a bit rough. It's late and I've been struggling to finish this chapter for a few days. It ended up different than I pictured it going and got a bit on the emotional side. I hope you understand everything that the characters are saying, if something's unclear feel free to let me know if I can clarify it any better. I'll have a note at the end of the chapter to explain some of the content.

"Mum I passed!" James shouted as he ran through the house searching for Agatha. Behind him trailed a grinning Sirius and a frowning Lily. "So did Sirius, isn't that great?"

"What about Lily?"

"First test I failed," she muttered as she came in. "I'll be the only one who can't apparate now."

"Don't worry," James said as he wrapped an arm around. "The Examiner said that I had the best side-along apparition he had ever seen."

"Thanks," Lily muttered as she pulled out a chair and flopped down. A plate of chocolate biscuits was on the table and she grabbed several. "It was even that bad. A bit of my hair got pinched off, I just couldn't concentrate."

"I can help, and you can retake the test in a few weeks. Until then you can just make do." Agatha passed them a smile before flicking her wand to get a cup and bring over the tea pot. "I take it you want some?" She looked at the boys. "Sit down."

"Allow me." Lily cast a quick spell to pour the tea into their respective cups. "We're no longer underage Agatha. We can all do magic now." The tea was sloshed around a bit, but it was mostly alright. Lily lifted the cup to her lips and took a drink. "Where's Mopsy?"

"She's tidying the rooms upstairs, poor thing is so nervous. She worries about you lot constantly." Agatha set her cup down. "Don't worry I'm not going to get all teary eyed again, it's just your last real summer I'll have with you." Her voice was strangled as she looked down at her tea cup. Taking a deep breath she looked back up.

"We'll make it great," Lily said. "You know how you said that you like chaos and lots of people...I wanted to see my friends this summer, I was wondering if they could come over."

"Of course, we have spare rooms and I would love to meet your friends." Agatha took a drink of tea. "Perhaps, it would be best if you two visited Remus. You know to..."

"Why?" Lily asked.

Agatha lowered her eyes, coloring forming on her cheeks. "To prevent any more...incidents. We love having you in our home Lily, but there are ground rules."

"I think I should make my exit," Sirius said. "Thank you for the tea." He got to his feet and grabbed several biscuits and fled the room before

"Mum, we're not doing anything," James said.

"Now, you aren't. Over Winter Break you two spent every night in James' room." Agatha looked at the teens who had guilty expressions on their face. "I know darn good and well you don't do that at school. Until you two graduate I would like you to refrain from engaging in certain activities." The older witch scanned the faces of the two teens in front of her. "I know it's easy because loving someone feels safe. Right now that's not something that can be taken for granted, I understand that."

The teens didn't say anything for a few moments, just nodded before murmuring there affirmations.

Lily was putting a pin in her hair when the door swung open. "You should learn to knock, I might have been undressed."

"That was the point," he said as he sat on his bed.

"Aren't we supposed to refrain from engaging in certain activities?" she asked as she sat beside him before sliding on the pair of sandals that rested beneath the bed.

"Watching you doesn't count." He reached over and moved her hair away from her shoulder. "Neither does this." James leaned in to kiss her neck, but she pulled away from him. "What's wrong?" he questioned as she pulled his hand away. "I thought you liked that."

"I'm not in the mood," she said as she got to her feet, glancing down at the floor. "Can we please leave? I just want to go to the cemetery and come back home."

James stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't pull away, just hugged him back. "I'm so stupid," he muttered. "I knew exactly what we were doing and where we were going, it didn't register to me that-"

"It's been a year I should be over it. I shouldn't cry-"

"It's up to you to decide when to stop crying. If I lost my parents I…." He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, just held Lily a little tighter and ran his hand through her hair. "Listen, we're going to leave and head to a flower shop for a bouquet of flowers. Then we're going to go to the cemetary and I don't care if you want to stay for two minutes or two hours. After that we can head to Diagon Alley to go to Honeydukes, Remus is always telling me that chocolate helps."

Lily let out a chuckle and took a step back, her hands resting on James biceps. "You are amazing. If I knew you were like this I would have fallen in love with you sooner."

It was then the pair bid goodbye to Sirius before apparating to Cokeworth, England. When they opened their eyes Lily looked around and let out a laugh. They were on the edge of the town, the main drag only a block away. "This is the best I could do, sorry," he said.

"This is probably better, no one saw us. Come on."

"Don't you want to get flowers first?" James asked. "Isn't there one around here?" He looked around. Before one caught his eye.

"That one is good, not very expensive either," Lily said.

"I'm paying, so the money doesn't matter."

"Do you have any muggle money?" she questioned and James frowned. Charles had approached her the day they came home to ask if they would need any money. Lily had given him her own money to exchange, but she suspected that he merely deposited it into her account and changed his own money because there was quite a bit extra. "Come on," she said and opened the shop door. A bell jingled and they were hit by a wave of perfumed air. "Hello?" The place was organized chaos, there was a maze work of shelves covered in potted plants, vases, and various small gift items.

"Welcome to Petals, how may I help you?" They heard the exuberant voice before they saw the woman who possessed it. She was quite a bit younger than James anticipated, around their age with a perky ponytail and a quirky apron over a sundress. "Lily? Lily Evans is that really you?" The woman said as she rushed forward to envelope the redheaded witch.

"Yes," she stammered out as she took in the woman trying to place her.

"It's Bobbi, Bobbi Middleton? I was the year between you and Petunia." She just stood there beaming while Lily tried to process the information.

"Wow, you look fantastic! The last time I saw you, you had blonde hair and-"

"Wore too much makeup, I know, but that was two years ago. I'm even going to uni now, just helping mum out at the shop during the summer. It's going to be busy, what with the wedding and all."

"Wedding?" Lily questioned. "Anyone I know?"

Bobbi eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Lily with concern. "I thought you knew. Petunia's getting married on the thirtieth."

"What?" she said as James hand found its way to her shoulder. "I knew her and Vernon were engaged, but...why wouldn't she tell me? Why wouldn't Amanda tell me? I've been writing them."

"I dont' know, I really am sorry Lily. How about a bouquet on the house? Mum won't mind when she hears it's for you."

"It's for my parents," Lily murmured. "Today was the day…"

Bobbi just nodded and led them to the front counter. James arm drifted to their waist as they walked and when they stopped she interlaced her fingers with them. "What type of flowers would you like?"

"It's cliche, but mum's favorite flower was the rose. Dad didn't really care much, he actually liked yellow flowers."

"Do you have yellow zinnia's and those dark crimson roses?"

"Yes," Bobbie said. "You really know your flowers."

"You can thank my mum for that," James said. "I haven't introduced myself, I'm James Potter." With his free hand he reached across the counter to shake hers.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'll prepare the bouquet."

Lily looked at him with raised eyebrow. "Why those flowers?" she questioned.

"Dark Crimson roses are a symbol of mourning, yellow zinnia's mean daily remembrance. My grandfather puts them and forget-me-nots on my my grandmother's grave. They mean true love."

"Oh, you're mum taught you that?"

"She said if I ever sent a girl flowers they had to be the right ones. She might not be able to interpret the meaning, but it might be a sign of something if I want to send a girl a flower that means 'disappointment' instead of 'you're cute'."

"You never cease to amaze me," she said softly. "And you know what else? Agatha has raised you to be the perfect boyfriend."

"Don't remind me," he muttered. "You know how much crap Sirius gives me?"

Lily just laughed as Bobbi reappeared with a large bouquet wrapped in white tissue paper. "It's beautiful, really I insist on paying."

"No, it's what friends do." She passed the bouquet over and James took. Lily just smiled and pulled her wallet out of her purse and dropped a few pound notes into the little cup that only had coins in it. "Thank you, and don't be a stranger Lily. Petunia might be awful, but you still have friends here."

"I know, at least I know that now."

James sat on the bench that resided next to the sidewalk between the church and the short fence of the cemetery. He went with Lily to lay down the bouquet, but she asked to be left alone. It had been nearly an hour, Lily was sitting on the ground with her legs folded beneath her off to one side. Her vibrant hair fluttered in the summer breeze as she kept a hold on the hem of her dress. She looked so beautiful, so fragile, in this moment. James wanted nothing more to walk over their and scoop her into his arms.

"Good afternoon, young man," a deep voice spoke.

James turned around and saw a man clothed entirely in black except for the white collar around his neck. "Hello," he replied slowly, stiffening a bit as the man sat beside the bench.

"I haven't seen you around town before, are you new?" he questioned. "You know we have a youth group that meets every Tuesday, but if you want to talk before then my door is always open."

"Um...I'm only visiting. My girlfriend wanted to…" He didn't want to finish the sentence and gestured to Lily who was now kneeling beside the headstone, pulling up any weeds that accumulated around it. "I couldn't let her come alone."

"She's never alone," the priest said and turned to James. "Is that the Evans girl?"

"Yes, why?"

"I haven't seen hide nor hair of either of them since the funeral. They just up and left."

"Lily's been at school most of the year, and staying with my family at breaks. My mum works for the Ministry to help kids that have lost their families, and she's been staying with us."

"How kind of her."

"Yeah, I think I'd go mental without her," James said. "She just has a way with people."

"Her mother was like that. Why don't you wait for her, but before you leave stop by my office I have something to give her."

"Sure…" James trailed off, realizing he did not know how to address the man.

"Father John," he told him.

"James Potter," he replied and stuck out a hand. The priest took it before bidding him goodbye, leaving James alone once more.

It wasn't much longer before Lily rose from her spot next to the gravestone, wiping away tears with the back of her hand before moving her hair to one shoulder. "Can we just forget out about the plans from earlier? I just want to go home and be alone for a bit."

James reached for her hand, squeezing it tightly before looking her in the eyes. "I understand, but the pastor-"

"He's a priest," Lily corrected.

"Priest, said that he had something to give you and wanted us to go to the office before we left."

Lily shook her head. "I don't know what. I haven't even been here since the funeral, the last time I went to church was Christmas." She tugged free from James hand and wrapped her arm around his side, resting her head on the shoulder. "I'm bad at religion James. The only reason I agreed to go to church with my parents is because it's a tradition."

"You don't have to explain," James told her. "We don't have to go."

"Isn't a sin to blatantly ignore a priests' request?"

"You fell in love with a sinner." James leaned into kiss her. She let go of his waist to grip the sides of her face, bending James forward as she bent backwards ever so slightly.

"I'm no saint," she whispered. "And I'll go in as long as you're with me."

James just laughed, pecking her on the check before bring down her hands, taking the left into his right as they walked toward the church. Lily led them through the tiny entryway and into the sanctuary, skirting past the pews to the back behind a wall and down a small hallway before coming to a door. She wrapped on it softly.

"Come in," the voice said.

The couple tentatively opened the door seeing the man at a plain desk. "You wanted to talk to me," Lily said.

"I just wanted you to have this." He slid a slim leather bound book across the desk that was obviously worn. "One of the members found this a few days after the funeral, I hadn't seen you or Petunia since."

Lily's eyes filled with fresh tears as she released James hand, grabbed it, and held it tightly to her chest. "Thank you," she said. "I thought everything was destroyed in the fire and now…" Lily let go and looked at the front cover, tracing her fingers over the imprinted words. James leaned over her shoulder to see the words Bethany Crawley in the lower lefthand corner.

"What is it?"

"Mum's Bible, Crawley was her maiden name. She got this as a gift for her for First Communion."

"I don't understand," James said.

"Bethany Evans was a very active member of the congregation. I knew that her daughters would like to have this. I called Petunia to ask her and she thought that you would appreciate it more." He looked at Lily who was doing her best to not cry. "Perhaps try reading that, your mum underlined her favorite verses. You know that it is never too late to seek guidance, He will help those who open their hearts to Him."

"I know and, um, I will consider what you've said. I don't mean any disrespect Father, but the fact that it's a Bible has no impact on me. To me it's a part of my mother and a sign that her spirit lives on." Lily sighed and wiped away her tears. "My mother had a lot of faith and I wish I had a thimbleful of that faith, but if you knew what I knew...I think you would understand the doubts I have." James hand want to her back, rubbing small circles in an attempt to comfort her. "There is so much evil in this world. I have seen good people do horrid things and people that I thought were dreadful human beings do amazing acts of kindness." With this she looked at James. "I believe in love. I think it is our most powerful weapons against hate, but love is more delicate. I can't put all my love and hope and faith into something or someone that I have even the slightest mistrust or disbelief in. Can you understand that?"

"You don't need to explain yourself to me," he said. "I respect what your telling me, but Lily there is a verse in there that I think would help you. It goes something like this: you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

"Once again, no disrespect, I may have faith, just not in the same things you have. For me it's not about church or religion or God...My mum had a few a quotes from this." She held up the Bible. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, conviction of things not seen." At that she reached for James hand again.

"We need to go," he murmured as Lily tugged his hand towards the door. They said nothing as they walked down the lane to a secluded spot. Soon enough they were back at the Potter house, by then Lily had tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "Tell me exactly, what you're thinking."

She inhaled a shaky breath as he used his thumbs to brush away tears. Lily looked at her feet and walked to the edge of the house, leaning against the side of it. A little more than a year ago James and Charles apparated here after the Quidditch game and she thought they were intruders.

"Lily," James whispered, his hand had moved to her hair. He was gently stroking it as he bent down to look her in the eyes.

"You can feel the breeze, but you can't see it or taste it or smell it…And the ocean may be controlled by the moon, but there is nothing more breathtaking than the way the waves keep on coming towards the beach even though it's continuously pulled away…" She squeezed her eyes shut, and bit her lip before taking another shaky breath. "Love is something that you can only feel and we all search for it no matter how many times we're sent away...Do you understand? Am I making any sense?" She opened her eyes again, the startling green iris standing out against the tearstained face, her lips red from being bitten.

"Yes," James replied.

"I believe in people. I believe in good triumphing over evil. I believe that death….you can't fear it because it's inevitable and...well, it's like the tale of the three brothers, you have to welcome it like a friend…" Lily tilted her hand back, to look at the sky, then back at James. "I don't even know what I'm saying...Todays been crazy."

"That's alright." He didn't pull her in for a hug, even though it was the only thing he could think to do. She wasn't finished, he could tell by her slight movements.

"I believe in you and us…Isn't that enough?" She stepped forward, embracing him tightly as she muttered the last sentence a few more times.

Finally, James wrapped his arms around her when he was sure she wouldn't pull away. "Yes and you want to know something?"

"What?" The words were muffled by her face buried in his shoulder.

"I believe in you and I have faith that you will help stop the war."

Her head moved to the to look at him and he smiled as he lifted the hair clinging to her wet cheeks off her face. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," he murmured. "And you want to know something else? I promise to be by your side every step of the way. I love you Lily Evans."

Her face crumpled with tears, but James could swear he felt the corners of her lips tug upward as she pressed her head into his chest once more and embraced him tighter.