Author's Note: THE LAST CHAPTER. I know. It's insane. I have a sad feeling (:) that a lot of you may be disappointed with this chapter. I'm not saying it's bad…I'm not going to give my opinion on it…it's just that it may seem inconclusive, vague. Like, there may be a lot that you feel hasn't been settled. I don't know, though…because it seems pretty done to me. I'm being annoying and confusing lol. I suppose you'll have to read to find out, so please DON'T LEAVE because of this author's note. Read and see for yourself. This is the way I wanted to end it. I planned it to end…mostly…this way, so it's not like I just gave up. Please review. I thank all of you for reviewing and being so kind and helpful, and I hope that you will take the risk of reading one of the other stories I have on here. (Just a tip: Sick and Just Passing Through are my favorites.) This story was the first Harry Potter story I wrote since…wow…a long time ago, so I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it. I hope you all are too. On a completely different note: I found out that my best friend has started cutting again. Keep her in your hopes and prayers.

"Shh," said James, holding Lily as she cried into his shoulder.

"I'm fine," said Lily, through tears. "I'm just…"

"You're allowed to cry," said James.

Since James found out about Lily's self-abuse, he new and strong fear she had of showing her emotions. She did not like people to know when she was unhappy, and she especially did not like to be seen crying.

"You are not fine," said James. "And you shouldn't be."

"It's okay," said Lily.

Lily took her face away from James' neck, moving her body closer to the pillows on his bed.

"It's okay," she said again. "In fact, it's good because now everyone knows I lie for attention."

"Lily," said James, taking her hand tenderly. "Lily, they don't know what they're talking about."

Lily ignored him. "Now, I'm the one with the bad reputation. I'm the one who has done something wrong."

"No," said James. "Evidently, the muggle criminal justice system just sucks. That's all this proves."

"And, you're allowed to cry," he added, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

"I don't want to. I just really want to kill someone."

"See, that is not okay," said James, smiling slightly. "No killing."

Lily nodded, looking as if she had not heard him.

"Lay down," said James.

Lily moved in closer to James, letting him wrap his arms around her. She rested her head against his chest, focusing on his heartbeat.

"I cannot promise to fix that damn muggle court. I cannot promise to kill your father…as much as I really want to. I can't promise to fix all these insecurities and fears that you have."

"I know," said Lily. "I never—"

"But," James interrupted, "I can promise you that I trust every word you have ever said. I can promise you that I will never give you a reason to not trust me. I can also promise you that I love you. I promise to do everything I can to make you happy. I won't rush you to get better because we have a long time ahead to do that, consider the fact that I'm in this forever. Always."

Lily did not reply, but she took one of his hands from around her back, held it in front of her, and kissed it.

"So, she lost her case?" said Sirius.

"Yeah," said James. "It's unbelievable. He had this amazing lawyer, got Lily to look like a desperate attention seeker."

"And a lawyer is…"

"I don't know. They like help the people get off or something," said James, shrugging.

"That's stupid," said Sirius, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

James nodded slowly. "I guess, but I get it. I mean, they have different methods from us, and they don't want to send an innocent person to prison."

"Lily didn't have any proof?"

"She waited so long to come clean, you know? Plus, the bruises that she did have were all healed magically. At that time, she wanted no one to know."

"How is she?" said Sirius.

"Well, she finally started to fall asleep. She spent the last three nights crying."

"I know," said Sirius. "We've been up with her."

"So, I told her she could stay in there. She doesn't want to deal with hr roommates. I really hope she's sleeping."

Sirius agreed. "She needs it."

James pushed his soup around with a spoon, uninterested in eating. It was very hard for James to accept the fact that his girlfriend was in so much pain. She had gone through s much, and though she told James she probably would not win her case and that she had accepted that, he could tell she had truly been counting on winning. She had been hoping the trial would make everything better. That was why she decided to go through with it.

James was glad that his friends were not interrogating Lily about her situation. They didn't ask why she spent three nights in their room. They didn't seem to care that she kept them up by talking tearfully with James because she couldn't sleep. James was so thankful for them.

James still had no idea what had gone on with Remus and Lily, but when Remus heard she had gone to court, he knew that she must have been going through a difficult time when it—whatever it was that happened between them— happened. He seemed to have forgiven her for her transgression.

"So, Alice isn't talking to Frank," said Sirius conversationally

"Oh?" said James, half-listening.

Sirius took another bite of steak. "Please don't not eat because of Lily," Sirius whined. "You're making me feel insensitive for stuffing my face."

James laughed. "I'm going to eat. I'm just thinking."

Sirius smiled. "You two seem better than ever."

"We are," said James. "And you and Lindsey?"

"Well…" Sirius looked away, a sure sign that he wasn't going to give the whole truth. "We're okay. I decided that I had wanted that baby for all the wrong reasons."

"Which were?"

Sirius put his fork down. "When we were really young, my brother used to depend on me," he said. "I guess I really wanted that back."

James smiled sadly. "If you're looking for dependency, wait until I have my own kids. You're going to be forced to watch my baby every day when Lily and I go out on the town."

Sirius laughed. "Or I could just have my own."

"True," said James.

The next morning, James woke up to an empty bed. After only a few nights, James had gotten used to having Lily by his side. It didn't take him a very long time to find her. He saw that the bathroom light was shining from under the door.

James knocked on the door softly. "Lily?"

She opened the door immediately, beckoning him in.

James walked in, feeling extremely confused. Lily was breathing strangely, but she wasn't crying. "I need a reason," she said.

James rubbed his eyes. He was barely awake. "What?" he asked.

"A reason," said Lily. Frustration was evident in her voice. She didn't seem to be in a patient mood. "I need today's reason now."

James looked more carefully at her. She started to roughly scratch her stomach.

"Oh!" he said, realizing what she meant.

"I want to…you know," she said, pointing to her stomach. "Tell me you love me."

"I love you," said James.

She nodded. "Remind me why."

James understood that she was not feeling good about herself and needed something to keep her from punishing her body. This reason was going to have to be a big one.

"Lily," she said, mainly to get her attention.

"James," she said, looking anxious.

"Lily, when I look into your eyes, I see everything. I can see everything that has been, everything that is, and everything that will be. Kind of amazing, yes? The future honestly looks dark, cold, and unhappy with Voldemort's rise. But, aside from that, it looks like pure bliss because I know that while you're by my side, everything will just be better."

Lily was shaking her head, obviously not agreeing with his words, but James made sure she was listening. He pulled her hands away from her stomach and held them tightly in his own.

"You don't know how wonderful you are, and that sometimes bothers me. When you think of hurting yourself, it hurts me. It really does. I love the way you walk."

Lily laughed quietly. James could tell she was letting herself relax.

"I know it may seem too crazy to be on the list of reasons, but it is. I guess it's not just the way you walk. It's also the way you hold yourself. You walk as if you know the way. We could be walking through Paris in the dead of night, and even though you've never been there before, you would look as though you knew exactly where you're going because you never let anyone see your fear.

I suppose I'd always been one of those people that really believed you did know where you were headed in Paris, but you didn't."

"What?" said Lily, starting to laugh again.

"I know this is not coming out poetic," said James. He sighed. "What I'm trying to say is I always fell for the front you put up. Now I know that you never had any idea where these paths were leading you. I love the journey I had to take to break your façade. Most of all, I love that one of your winding paths somehow led you to me."

Lily took her hands out of James'. She smiled tearfully, throwing her arms around her boyfriend, holding onto him more tightly than she ever had before.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I'm not done," he said. "I told you, it's like five for the price of one. You're upset, so my reasons are on sale today.

"This reason may not even be worth it. You may even feel cheated." He stopped to take a deep breath. "I am such a sap, but here goes nothing. There was this day back in second year—by then you had already decided I was nothing more than a nuisance. I ignored my crush on you because I thought you were bossy. Anyway, we were in Transfiguration, and you were having trouble turning your damned rabbit into a goblet. I asked if you wanted my help, but you snapped at me."

"I don't see where this is going, but that does sound like me."

"So," said James, "I decided I would keep bothering you until you allowed me to help. Eventually, I gave up, but you thanked me at the end of class. You said it was really sweet to offer help, and you smiled. Sweet Merlin, Lily…that smile."

"You've told me about my smiles before," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"Not this smile," said James. "That was when I knew I was in love. That smile was for me. Your mouth could never twitch into that exact same position again, so even if someone got a bigger and better one, I still had my own. That was the first smile you ever gave me."

"You remember this?" said Lily, looking skeptical.

James nodded vigorously. "Of course…because it was the first and…one of the last. Then, other people got to receive your smiles, but one day you stopped smiling altogether. I guess I know why now, but all I ever wanted was to see that smile again."

"James…"

"And that's why I'll never regret these years I spent chasing you. They were worth it. You smile at me like that—even just a bit like that—once a decade, and I'll never frown again."

"James…"

"Too much?" said James. "Okay, once every fifteen years work for you?"

Lily punched him playfully on the arm. "Stop," she said. "Just don't go anywhere."

"I can't," said James. "I have to stick around for another fifteen years at least."

"Stooop," said Lily, laughing.

"See, that's sort of the smile," said James.

Lily closed the gap between them with her lips. No words could show how she felt about the man kissing her.

"I hate to break up the party, but I want to shower."

Lily pulled away from James. "I think I'll go to class today," she said.

"Good," said James. "Go to your room and get ready."

Lily and Lindsey worked together in Charms, switching things up a tad.

"Five months left of hell," said Lindsey, running her hand through her hair. "I think that I'm going to dye my hair. Change is good."

Lily laughed. "School isn't hell. I guarantee you'll miss it when it's gone. Yes, change is good, but don't dye your gorgeous locks."

Professor Flitwick was eyeing the two girls, so they got back to work.

"Am I doing this right?" said Lindsey.

Lily repositioned Lindsey's hand for her, making it easier to flick the right way. "I think that should work," said Lily.

"I was just trying to make it look like I was doing something," said Lindsey, laying her wand back down. "So, we're breaking up again."

"What?" said Lily, shocked.

Lindsey didn't seem too upset. "Well, we were mainly together for the baby. I think we both wanted to hold onto something that just wasn't there."

Lily looked away from her. "Oh," she said, feeling uncomfortable. "This was a mutual decision?"

Lindsey nodded. "It was for the best."

Lily looked over at James, sitting a few desks behind her. He was laughing with Sirius, flipping his wand around in his fingers.

James seemed so transparent. To a passerby, he would seem like any other irresponsible, easily amused, immature goofball, but in reality, he was so much more than that. James was a sweet and caring individual. He liked to have fun, but he knew where to draw the line (usually). He had a big heart along with a slightly inflated ego, but one could learn that by speaking five minutes with him. Lily had learned so much by spending her seven years with him. He had truly always been there by her side, whether she wanted him there or not. Lily knew how lucky she was.

"There's still five months left," said Lily, laughing.

James was sitting by lake with his girlfriend, eagerly planning their life after Hogwarts.

"I know. I just want to know that you'll be well taken care of," said James, putting his arm around her.

Lily laid her hand on his shoulder lazily. "You're sweet."

"I'm serious, though," said James. "After school is over, you and I will move in together."

"Will we?" said Lily, raising an eyebrow.

"Just for your protection," said James quickly.

"Of course," said Lily, chuckling.

"Yes," said James, "because I already told you I'm not going to rush you into anything. I mean—"

"I know, James," said Lily calmly. "I'll tell you what. I promise that I'll move in with you when school is over if you promise me we won't discuss this again until school is over."

"Deal," said James, tightening his grip on her shoulders.

"Crazy couple of weeks, eh?" said Sirius.

"You're walking too close to my girlfriend," James teased, squeezing into the space in between Lily and Sirius.

Remus rolled his eyes. "You're being just a tiny bit possessive," he said.

"But I agree with the first statement," said Lindsey, not quite sure what had gone on between James, Lily, and Sirius. "It has definitely been a crazy time."

"I found out what they're doing," said Lily, taking James' hand. "They're going to keep the school open until Easter. When they send us all home for the holiday, we won't be coming back. They're going to close it until summer for investigations and such. If things go well, they'll reopen for September…for the younger students, I guess."

James squeezed Lily's hand. He grinned. "Well, I guess school is over sooner than we thought."

"No exams or anything. This is so ho…" Lily caught onto what he was saying. "I guess we'll talk in April."

James smiled brightly. "That's what I wanted to hear."

Author's Note: Wow…can't believe it's over. Pleease…it is very important that you review this particular chapter. I don't care if I've never heard from you before if you just review now. Thanks in advance.