Remember when I said I was going to update soon?
Heh.
Thank you for the outpouring of support I got in the reviews last time, all of you were so kind, especially since it wasn't even a good enough chapter to merit that amount of reviews. It means so much to me, you have no idea how much it helped me. My life has been a little dark lately, and that was honestly the kindest thing anyone could have done.
This is the last chapter, guys! ANd it isn't even good! Endings have literally neverr been my forte. Ever. I'm so bad at writing them. But at least I'm not leaving it unfinished, right?
After I finish this, I'm going to take a small break, finish the other story I've been working on, take another small break, and then start a new one. If you want to read it, consider putting me on author alert! It's going to be another Marauders' Era tale, probably an AU, because that's what I like to write, but I haven't really decided what on yet.
Again, thank you guys so much. You have no idea what everything you have done means to me. From something as small as a follow to telling me what you think in a review, you guys have gotten me through one of my toughest years. Thanks for everything. Now, here's the end you've been waiting on.
She had to find him.
Ever since the ceremony, she'd felt that she might finally be able to tell James how she felt. But every time she made it close to him, something got in the way.
Immediately after the ceremony, Lily was searching for James in the reception hall where the dinner was to be held. Instead of finding a messy-haired, shoeless football player, however, she was quite literally swept off her feet by a tweed-clad whale.
"I saw you trying to sabotage Vernon's wedding," Marge hissed.
"What?" Lily said, still trying to locate James amongst the crowd of wedding guests still entering the wedding hall. Maybe he got lost on the way here?
"Well, do you deny it?"
Lily's eyes snapped back to the hulking monstrosity in front of her. "Sorry, what?"
"Are you insolent enough to deny what is so clear to all of us?"
"You think I was trying to ruin Petunia's wedding?"
"I don't just think it."
"Look, Marge, I have no idea where this is coming from, and honestly, I don't really care."
"You and that freak boy of yours were making faces all throughout the ceremony, and you came down the aisle wearing no shoes!"
"Yeah, well," Lily stuttered, struggling for an excuse, "shoes are capitalist propaganda."
Marge spluttered. "What?"
"Shoes are a vessel used by large corporations to make money."
"Where on earth did you get that idea?"
Lily looked at Marge with a completely straight face. "I got it from an underground organization at my university where we work to overthrow the government. It's one of our five key mantras."
Marge moaned. "I'm related to a radical. Oh, the shame-"
Lily slipped under her arm, chuckling to herself. Imagine my luck, rid of Marge and establishing my reputation as a revolutionary in one go.
Now, where the devil is James?
-x-x-x-
Lily finally caught up with Marlene and Alan after supper.
"I didn't even know you guys were coming," she said, hugging her two friends as she sat down at their table.
"Of course we came, dearie, your dad sent the invitations ages ago, but he asked for us to make it a surprise. I guess he didn't want you to be all alone at your sister's wedding," Marlene said, smirking. "I guess you have made some friends, though."
She nodded over at the dance floor, where Sirius, James, and Remus were dancing around Mr. Evans' recklessly rotating wheelchair, now bedecked with peach flowers and white string lights in honor of the wedding ceremony.
Lily smiled. "Yeah, they've really taken to one another. The four of them were talking about starting Dad's old band up with Remus on bass, Sirius on guitar, James on drums and my dad on piano."
Marlene scrutinized Lily. "Your dad's going to have a hard time letting go when the time comes, popkin."
Lily stared out at the dance floor, then stood up. "Yeah, well, he might not have to. Excuse me, I need some air."
Marlene grinned. "It's chilly out there, bring a wrap, love."
"Yes, mother," Lily said, rolling her eyes at Marlene as she headed towards the deck. Marlene watched her go, then held out her hand to Alan. "Pay up, you."
Alan grumbled, but pulled a ten dollar bill out of his wallet.
"This isn't fair. I didn't think she'd fall for him."
Marlene laughed. "I guess I'm just an old romantic."
-x-x-x-
James couldn't get her out of his head.
He could see her in the moonlight, standing outside on the freezing cold deck with no sweater and no shoes. The soft glow of starlight was reflecting off her pale skin and bright eyes- two eyes that had seemed to look straight through him during the ceremony. She had seen him- his hopes, his desires, his loftiest wishes. He knew she had finally seen what he wanted, after ignoring it for three years.
He had heard what she said in the church- that she wanted to be with him. He'd suspected before- Sirius had told him that he had heard her talking to Marlene over the phone their night in York, that she'd confessed she like him. He hadn't allowed himself to hope that.
And then all the stolen moments over the course of the trip- the times they had kissed (mostly by accidents, or by necessity) and all the times his breath had been stolen away by her nearness alone. And the moment on the castle.
He knew that he was her knight in shining armor, and that it was time to come to claim his fair maiden at last.
A loud whoop came from behind him. Remus and Sirius had both found young ladies- presumably cousins of Lily's- and had begun to dance. Sirius was scandalizing Lily's elder relatives and the entire Dursley party with his dancing, getting unnecessarily close to his partner. Remus, on the other hand, was leading his lady in a four-part box step that seemed part waltz, part square dance, and was mostly theatrical in nature. Smiling cheerily, James walked out to the balcony where Lily was standing.
"Hey, you."
She turned around and looked at him, her expression troubled. James frowned. "What's wrong?"
She looked over the town, then took a deep breath. "Have you ever felt like everything is pushing you one way, and you know it's good, and it might even be meant to be, but you're scared you'll wreck something that's already wonderful?"
He looked at her steadily. "Every day of my life."
Without warning, she reached up and kissed him, her arms winding around his neck. Her lips, smooth and satin-soft, fit his perfectly. She tasted like strawberries, bringing a summery feeling to his heart in the middle of a winter night.
Breaking out of his shock, he kissed her back, putting one hand on her waist and curling the other into her hair.
He broke away, and gave her a suspicious look. "You know, there's no one out here who we have to pretend we're dating in front of."
From inside the reception, Van Halen's "Top of the World" began to play. They heard more whooping and hollering, and caught sight of Remus and Sirius dancing wildly. Sirius had tracked Marlene and Alan down and dragged them onto the dance floor, where Marlene was matching Sirius and Remus' exuberant and exaggerated dance moves. Alan, on the other hand, was bobbing around uncomfortably, laughing at Marlene's antics.
She smiled at him. His hair was a mess, his glasses were crooked, and he had switched ties so he was wearing his abominable, woolen, yellow one again.
She had never been so happy to see him in her entire life.
"I know." She kissed him softly. "Now, aren't you going to ask me to dance?"
-x-x-x-
One day later, Lily was alone in a beat up red roadster on her way back to university. As it turned out, the journey did not take three days, especially when she was driving without two impulsive teenage boys who pulled off at every other exit looking for something to do. She fingered the necklace James had given her in Birmingham a couple of days ago and thought about what had transpired after the wedding.
They were dancing in the reception hall late, nearly everyone had gone home.
"What do you want to do tomorrow?" Lily asked, her head resting on his shoulder. She felt James' body stiffen.
"You know, of course, that there is nothing I would rather do more then spend New Year's Eve with my exquisite, fantastic girlfriend, of course-" he began nervously.
Lily laughed and laid a hand on his forearm. "James. Whatever it is, it's okay. You had no idea any of this would happen. I mean, hell, you were just supposed to take me home, you had no idea you'd spend your holiday in Cokeworth."
Lily rolled her windows down, letting Chopin's Nocturne blast out of her car windows. The wind whipped through her hair, and although she knew it would tangle her red mane in unsightly knots, she really couldn't bring herself to care.
"See, the Marauders have a gig at the university on New Year's Eve," he continued. "I would really love to spend the whole day with you and snog you senseless at midnight, but-"
Lily laughed. "James. It's okay. We still have two more weeks of break left after this, we can spend as much time together as we want."
"I'm going to fly us back tomorrow, I'll drive Bertha back to St. Ives, and I'll take the Cessna back to uni, and I'll be back before you know it. Promise."
She smiled up at him. "Have fun."
She sipped a caramel milkshake, taking the exit off the freeway towards her college. It felt so good to be driving again, after nearly a year of being away from her roadster. She no longer wanted to drive quickly or recklessly, she just wanted to get back to the university in time to hear James play.
She pulled up in front of Kellynch Hall. It seemed so long ago that she had been reluctantly dragging her purple suitcase out to Bertha, dreading what she thought would be a horrible experience. Instead, she had finally rid herself of any guilt about Severus, had wonderful adventures, found peace with her sister, and made a bond that would last longer than a high school romance.
She still had problems, certainly- Ava and her brother, guilt about her mother, and the threat of a felony from kidnapping Sirius hung over her head. But for the first time since her mother's death, she didn't feel completely alone.
When she reached the commons, it was nearly midnight, and the Marauders had already started to play, covering Van Halen's Can't Stop Lovin' You as she approached the bandstand. She pushed through the crowd to excited students to find a spot where she could see James play, and her heart swelled with what unhampered affection.
She thought about the most important change from this trip- she was going back into music. It was an incredible feeling- before, when she played her horn, she felt guilty because of Petunia's opinion of music. After she switched to education, playing her horn gave her a sense of melancholy, like she'd never be able to play the same way again. But this morning, after James had left for St. Ives and Petunia was gone for her honeymoon, Lily took out her horn to play Haydn's Concerto No. 2, she felt unmixed joy. She was going to be able to do what she loved and honor her mother.
And it wouldn't have happened without the boy on the bandstand.
"It's approaching midnight, folks!" Peter said into the microphone. "Count down with us! Ten... Nine... Eight..."
Lily looked up on the stage to Locate James, but couldn't find him. How could he have disappeared so quickly?
"Three… two… one… Happy new year, folks!" Peter said from behind the piano.
Lily felt two hands on her waist from behind her, and someone spun her around and kissed her directly on the lips.
She opened her eyes and was face to face with messy black hair, crooked glasses, and six feet of flannel-clad, smiling pilot.
"I thought I'd surprise you," Lily murmured after he broke off the kiss.
"I noticed, and I decided to return the favor," James said, chuckling and tracing his thumb along her lips.
"You're lucky, if I hadn't opened my eyes to check who was kissing me, I might have punched you in the nose."
"That certainly would have made for a good story to tell your dad," James said. "Thanks for coming tonight. It means a lot."
"I wish Dad could have come, but he really doesn't do long trips anymore. Especially not with me driving."
James pressed his forehead to hers. "It means the world to me that you're here, Lily. I mean it."
She smiled and closed her eyes. "I know."
"Now, tonight, we're going to release our newest song, Change of Heart! Are you ready, guys?" Sirius's voice barely cut over the excited roar of students in the commons. Remus cut in. "Hold on, Sirius. We're missing the songwriter himself."
Sirius chuckled. "Jamesy, get your sorry ass up here or we'll get a new drummer."
James smiled slightly, his eyes still closed. "I have to go."
"I know."
"I'll meet you after the show. Maybe we can road trip in that roadster of yours?"
Lily smiled at him. "You know what, James? Nothing would make me happier."