Disclaimer: I am not in fact JK Rowling, therefore I have no rights to anything. (Sadly.)

She pushed back a strand of hair from her sweat-slick forehead, and let herself sink against the wall. It had been a long night – the longest in awhile – and her entire soul seemed to ache from it. It was one of those days where she questioned her intelligence in fighting this War (never her actions, though). She wondered if it was truly the best thing for her, and for James, and for her son. Ultimately, of course, she knew it was. Because how could she raise Harry in a world where Death Eaters murdered at random? How could she raise a child in a world plagued by the death and destruction wrought on by Voldemort and his men?

She had to stop them from hurting her son.

She was panting heavily, and releasing a weary sigh, she slid down the brick wall until she came into contact with the cool concrete beneath her. Her pounding head fell into her quivering hands, and she tried to force her heartbeat to achieve a normal rate.

And then she heard footsteps, and it seemed like all of the pain had dissipated in an instant. The adrenaline returned, and she was on her feet, her wand poised and ready to fire in all of about three seconds. The footsteps came closer, and suddenly she heard, "Oh, bugger this," before a soft glow lit up the black alleyway.

She let her arm drop as the figure emerged, a sizable gash across his forehead and his untidy hair even more messy than usual. "Shit," she hissed between her teeth, falling back to the ground again, as the energy pulsated out of her.

"Lily? Hey, Lily, are you alright?" James asked worriedly, hurrying towards her. He gently tilted her chin upwards and forced her to look at him, his eyes searching her face and body for any wounds. "Did they hurt you?"

"No," she muttered. "No, no, I'm fine." She smiled a little bit then, touching his cheek softly. "You're hurt. And your glasses are cracked."

He waved away her concerns, taking a seat next to her in the alley. "They've all gone," he said firmly. "They all Disapparated to Godric knows where."

Lily sighed. "Casualties?"

"Not so many. Lupin's injured, and Sirius got himself banged up a bit, but I reckon the other guy looks worse," he said with a cocky smile. Lily dropped her head onto his shoulder, intertwining their fingers. "Dorcas got hit by a rather nasty hex, too, but she'll be fine," he finished.

They were quiet for awhile, sitting in the darkened silence, both of them thinking the exact same thing. Lily furrowed her brow, and then, clearing her throat, whispered, "James, do you ever regret it?"

"Regret what?" he asked, mimicking her hushed tone.

"Us. Asking me out and getting married and having a kid with a Mudblood."

She said it so quickly, as though she were afraid of his response. He paused for a fraction of a second, because it took him some time to actually process the fact that she was asking him that question, before he spun around and clutched her face in his hands again.

"Lily Evans Potter," he stated firmly, enunciating her new last name. "I do not regret a single second that I've spent with you, okay? It's been worth all of the fear and the pain and the work. All of it. Every damn minute I spend with you is worth all of it." A few stray tears fell in soft lines, and he wiped them away with his thumb.

"We made a pretty great kid, huh? And he's going to get to grow up in a world where there isn't any Voldemort or Death Eaters. He's going to get to be a kid. And I'm going to get to grow old with you, and watch him be that great kid. And it's going to make all of this worth it. You understand me?"

She was trembling violently, her eyes never leaving his, and the tears were falling heavier, now. She nodded fervently, dropping her forehead against his, and he wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders. She was afraid – that was natural. She was afraid for her husband and for her son and for her friends, and, secondarily, for herself. But James was right (he was often right).

It was going to be worth it.

A/N: Hope you liked it! This is a sort-of-sequel to my other one-shot, "Dawn," and the idea for making it a two-part one-shot comes from the ever lovely 4-eva-bookworm (although it's slightly edited from her idea).

Thank you for reading, and don't hesitate to review!

xoxo, Hannah