Epilogue
Despite everything, the train ride home was peaceful.
Deep down, Lily was still full of anguish over the events of the past week, but as their train pulled out of Hogsmeade station and they crowded around the window to watch as Hogwarts disappeared behind them, she allowed a sense of calm to take over.
It was easy, when she was sitting in a warm train compartment with her friends, watching the countryside roll past the window, to imagine that everything was just how it should be – to imagine a future where she and James went home to their new flat and lived a long, contented life together. She knew that they were both Gryffindors at heart and wouldn't be happy without a little bit of excitement, but right now she longed only for quiet.
Usually, the journey home from Hogwarts seemed to drag, and Lily would waste time playing chess with Mary or talking about what the next year at school might bring. But this was the last time she would ride on the Hogwarts Express, and every minute that passed took her further from the life she had known for the past seven years and closer to the future looming ahead of her. She had been accepted as a trainee healer, knew where she would be living with James, knew that the other boys would be close by – yet the future felt more uncertain than ever, and she wasn't sure that she was ready for it.
Her parents were getting older, her father was growing more unwell, muggleborns were being targeted more and more, and the shadow of death was hanging over all of their heads like a storm cloud just before a downpour.
Only time would tell how their lives would turn out, she thought, as James turned to look at her, his messy hair falling into his eyes. He was engrossed in a conversation with Peter, who, she noticed for the first time, looked much more tired than she remembered seeing him before.
She smiled at James and glanced across the compartment at Sirius. He was looking out the window, preoccupied with watching the glint of sunlight off the water as they passed a large lake. He had his arm draped casually around Remus' shoulders, who had dozed off next to him.
Mary was in the next carriage down with Alice, and Lily felt a sudden overwhelming rush of affection for all of them. She hadn't expected to end up with the group of friends she now had – she certainly hadn't thought she'd end up moving in with James Potter – but she was thankful that they were all in her life and that they could all simply be together on a beautiful day and feel so comfortable in each other's company.
Moments like this didn't make the sadness they all felt go away, but they made it possible to see a future where the ache of grief wasn't quite so strong.
There was darkness surrounding them, she knew that, but they were together, and as long as that was true, she thought there was still plenty of light left too.
A/N: This is the end of Fairytales of Yesterday! Thanks to everyone who's read our fic over the three years it's taken us to write it, your comments are always appreciated!
We'll be writing a sequel called Darkness Takes the Day which follows directly on from the end of Fairytales of Yesterday, and we'll post the first chapter of that at the end of this fic in the next few weeks to let you all know about it. Hopefully you'll all read and enjoy the sequel too. :)