A.N. This is a continuation, (of sorts) of a short ficlet that I wrote a month ago, called, 'Graduation and Declarations'. However, you don't need to read that to read this. It's also an installation of my Falling 'verse, but it can be read as a stand-alone.

Disclaimer... these characters belong to JKR.

I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my

hands and wrote my will across the sky in stars

To earn you Freedom, the seven-pillared worthy

house, that your eyes might be shining for me

When we came.

- Seven Pillars of Wisdom, by T. E. Lawrence

"Lily," he said slowly. "What are you trying to say?"

Lily turned her head so her forehead rested on James' shoulder and she squeezed her eyes shut, frustrated.

"I'm trying to say – actually I don't know what I'm trying to say. This is ridiculous."

"Slow down," James suggested. "Just take a breath."

"You take a breath," Lily snapped, but breathed deeply anyways.

"I'm trying to say that – I love you. And I'm going to love you for as long I live, and that won't change. Sometimes you'll drive me mad and sometimes you'll probably want to hex me, but I think that we're going to be a part of each other's lives for a very long time. I've known you since I was eleven years old and sometimes I hated you but mostly I loved you. So – James Potter-"

(At this, Lily lifted her head and shifted back so she was looking into James' eyes)

"-James Potter – will you marry me?"

Two months later….

It had been a very short engagement. Lily knew that. James knew that. Everybody and their dog had reminded them of it, multiple times. After being given a lecture on the issue by little Fabian Prewett, who had been recalled from Hogwarts specifically for the event, Lily realized that her eyes had glazed over and she was just nodding in a dazed manner. She shook herself.

"Stop!" she cried, holding up her hands. "Fabian, shut up. Your sister got married right after Hogwarts, after a one month engagement. Go bother James about the flower arranging."

After Fabian had sulked off, muttering something about sunflowers, Lily half fell into a chair in the smallest parlour in the Potter mansion. It was papered in light green and it reminded Lily of her room in her old home. A huge vase of sunny daffodils sat on the end table, brightening the room. She buried her face in her hands, massaging her temples.

In some ways, it seemed absurd. She felt young. She was young. No one had been shy about reminding them of that. And maybe it was idealistic stupidity, what they were doing. Maybe they were being too reckless. Maybe they were tempting fate. Probably. But maybe not.

Lily took a deep breath. She'd always been the more logical one. James was all emotion and heart. And she was too, but she could be cold, and clear-headed when she needed to be. Right now it was hard. It was hard because she was eighteen years old, and in love, and there was a war on and either her or James or both of them could die tomorrow.

"I want to do this," she whispered into her fingers as she covered her face.

"Lily?"

Lily jerked her head up to see Euphemia Potter smiling down at her in a kindly way. "Are you alright?"

"Yes –" Lily said, taking a deep breath. "Yes, I'm fine, Mrs Potter, thank you."

"Nerves?" the older witch asked, settling herself in the pale yellow armchair opposite Lily.

"Yes." Lily said again, staring at her hands that were folded together in her lap.

Euphemia was in her sixties, but it didn't show on her face. Tall and dark haired, like her son, she shared his hazel eyes. Her hair was shot with silver, catching the light like pale fire. Her good looks were more elegant than his boyish charm, and her face was fine boned and delicate.

"Not cold feet?"

"Never," Lily said quickly, meeting Euphemia's eyes. "Never."

Euphemia considered her thoughtfully for a moment, before shaking her head. "No," she said. "No I don't believe you would get cold feet. You know your own mind very well, it seems."

Lily lifted one shoulder. The summer sun shining through the window warmed her back, and she relaxed an infinitesimal amount.

"I suppose so," she said quietly.

"Get some rest," Euphemia suggested, standing up. She was straight-backed and tall and Lily envied her her confidence and surety for a moment.

"You have it too, you know," Euphemia said, pausing at the door.

Lily blinked at her, confused.

"The same as James. When you love someone, you love them forever. He's like that too."

Lily almost shook her head but remembered herself in time and forced a smile. "Yes. Yes, we do, don't we?"

Euphemia smiled back before turning away, and closing the door gently behind her.

Lily shook her head. She wasn't like that. Look at her and Sev. Look at her and Tuney. All drifting away and apart. Always moving outward.

She rose from the overstuffed cream couch and moved to the window, forcing open the stiff shutters.

Outside, there was a gentle breeze that hummed through the willow tree in the corner of the huge yard. Its trailing fronds skimmed the surface of the pond lovingly, slipping under the silver water. The huge red climbing roses were blooming and they created spots of dark colour amongst the green of the tall hedgerow.

James and Peter Pettigrew were in one corner, whispering about something. As Lily watched them, James reached out and cuffed Peter across the ear. Peter whacked him upside the head in response, and the two of them tumbled to the ground, arms whirling and good natured curses flying.

Lily smiled, and then bit her lip. Maybe they were being childish, believing this could work. Innocence and naivety were the provenance of the side that they were on, after all. Cynicism belonged to the Dark side. But, Lily thought stubbornly, there was a difference between wisdom and over-thinking something.

She pushed away from the window with a sigh. The Potter mansion was crowded with wedding guests, but not as full as it would have been had James and Lily had a longer engagement, or had it not been a wedding taking place during a war. Most of the guests had arrived the week before the wedding, for a prolonged vacation. It wasn't as stressful as Lily had anticipated – mostly, it was just nice to have her friends around.

Marlene McKinnon and Mary MacDonald were her two bridesmaids, and they were staying in the upstairs attic bedroom. Petunia of course, was not there.

Peter and Remus and Sirius were all camped out on cots on the floor of James' room, and as annoying as it was not to be with James, Lily was almost glad of the privacy that her small blue room on the third floor afforded her.

A few of their year mates from Hogwarts – Lark Rivers, who had arrived smiling and holding hands with Caradoc Dearborn. Bliss Bones, who was tall and tanned and lovely. The Prewett family – or what was left of them, after the death of Mr Prewett. Marlene's younger sister Sammie, who had immediately been befriended by Fabian. The two of them were off causing havoc in the kitchen.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were arriving in six days, just in time for the wedding, and Lily had reserved two of the nicer bedrooms for them, on the second floor.

Lily shut the window, letting cool shadows envelop her. She was getting a headache. Six days to go. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She could smell roses and fresh cut grass. Taking another breath before moving, she turned round and flung the window back open, forcing the stiff hinges to move.

"James!" she called, waving out the window.

The yard was slowly being corralled into shape. James and Sirius had de-gnomed it that morning, and James could still see a line of gnomes, heading towards the forest in search of new lodgings. James' father, Fleamont, had been cutting the roses back, so they didn't fill up too much space, and his mother, Euphemia, with the help of Remus, had constructed a dainty gazebo in one corner of the garden.

He and Peter were pulling weeds at the moment, and whenever James found a particularly pretty wildflower nestled in the grass, he'd save it for Lily.

James was excited. And nervous. And, if he was being honest, he was completely terrified. He and Lily had only been together for five months. Despite having been half in love with her for most of their Hogwarts' career, he was discovering that he didn't actually know his bride-to-be as well as he thought.

Lily, it turned out, hated Quidditch. He always thought it was more of a purposeful disinterest, rather than an actual dislike of it. But on one of their first dates, he took her to a Quidditch game and she fell asleep on his shoulder five minutes in. The balls hadn't even been released yet.

She loved peanut butter. He couldn't stand the taste. She thought that Muggle music was far better than wizard music and she couldn't understand why he'd wanted to be a dragon trainer at one point, instead of following his father into the potions business. James vividly remembered a conversation that they'd had on the topic.

"Your father is Fleamont Potter," Lily had said, her quill pausing above her parchment scroll. She was lying on her stomach on a rug in the Common Room, James resting his chin on her back as she worked and he listened to her heartbeat.

"Yes," he said patiently. "I know."

He could almost feel her roll her eyes.

"No, it's just-"

She seemed to be struggling for words.

"Y'know how you told me that if you weren't going to be fighting Voldemort, you'd want to be a dragon trainer?"

"Yeah?"

"Well – your dad owns the most successful potions business in Britain. You wouldn't want to take that over?"

"Not in the slightest," James said breezily. "And I'll still get the inheritance."

Lily sucked in her breath. "Merlin, you're morbid."

"Well, it's all academic, isn't it? I'm going straight to the Aurors, if they'll have me, you know that."

She said nothing. "It's just… It seems like you're throwing something amazing away."

James sat up so he could see her face, and took her face in his hands. He tipped his head forwards so their foreheads bumped together softly. "I have everything I want," he told her gently, and some of the worry in her eyes faded away.

"Ok," Lily said. "Ok, I get it."

He could see in her eyes that she was still confused, and still slightly disappointed.

James came back to Peter stuffing a handful of grass down his shirt and cackling.

"Prat!" James shouted, as Peter took off across the lawn.

"Tsk tsk!" Remus called across from where he was festooning the gazebo in roses. "You're about to get married, Prongs, I thought you were more mature!"

Sirius snorted in an inelegant manner. He was carrying an armful of jam jars that had tealights in the bottom, and the ones at the top of the stack looked rather precarious. James hastily removed the wobbling ones and set them down on the lawn.

"James," Sirius informed Remus. "Will never, ever be mature. Not even if he lives to a hundred and eleven."

Remus hummed thoughtfully, waving his wand again. A thick garland of roses spiralled carefully around one of the gazebo posts, and he stepped back to survey the effect, pleased.

"Excellent," he said. "That's that done."

Sirius and James clapped dutifully.

"So," Sirius said, unburdening his arms of the jam jars. "Any wedding jitters?"

"None," James lied, busying himself with the tea lights. His stomach lurched as he noticed Remus watching him with a small frown.

"It's ok, y'know," Remus said, still watching James beadily. "This all developed awfully quickly – it would be natural to have… reservations."

"Lily and I are fine," James said, more snappishly than he had intended. One of the jam jars fell over and shattered on the soft grass. He frowned. That was the first time he'd done accidental magic in years. It was unsettling, and he felt a stir of unease as he stared at the sharp shards.

"James?"

"I said I'm fine."

James stared at his feet. When he and Lily were together, it was easier. Everything felt right, but when they were apart… the doubts started to creep in. They were young, and even though they were in love, (he thought) they barely knew each other, really. Sometimes when he looked at Lily he felt like he was looking at a stranger.

In a way, they'd been closer when they were just friends.

"James!"

James whirled around, eyes scanning the house for a moment before he caught a flash of red in a window on the second floor. It was Lily, half falling out the window and waving at him frantically.

"James!" she yelled again.

"I think someone wants to talk to you," Remus said, starting to smile.

James hurried up the stairs, gripping the worn handrail. His childhood home was more crowded and warm feeling than he'd ever seen it. It was the Potters' summer home – they spent the Christmas holidays at the townhouse in London, and that's where his parents spent the rest of the year. James had always thought of the house in Godric's Hollow as home, though. He only saw the London house at Christmas, and it was pale and cold, the polar opposite of the rambling mansion filled with golden light and the smell of flowers.

Lily seemed to consider it home too. She was more relaxed than he'd seen her in a long time. It was good to see.

"Lily?" he called. "Are you up here?"

A red head stuck out over the bannister at the top of the tall flight of stairs.

"Come on!" she urged.

Grinning, James hurried up the stairs.

Lily stopped him at the top, standing a step above him, and putting a hand on his chest.

"Hi," she said, sounding almost nervous.

"Hi," he said, reaching up to rest his hands at her waist.

"I want to tell you something," Lily said. James could feel her take a deep breath. They were pressed chest to chest, her as tall as he was, standing on the stair above him.

"Yes?" he asked patiently. Standing with her, now, he could remember all the reasons that this felt right. They fit together, like puzzle pieces, and looking into her eyes, James could see that her nerves and worries were starting to ease.

"I love you," Lily said simply, letting her hands fall so that they rested by her sides. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," James said, wondering.

"It scares me sometimes," Lily continued. "I'm scared right now, James. Are we making a mistake?"

"Hey-"

James took a step up the stairs so they were on the same level. The second floor landing was papered in dark gold, and it felt like they were standing in honey.

He took her in his arms, gently, and Lily relaxed. Her arms came up, looping around his neck, and she tucked her face into the crook of his neck. James held her around her waist, balanced on her tip toes.

"I don't know Lily," he whispered. "Some days I feel – I feel like I don't know you at all."

She pulled away from him slightly, eyes narrowed.

"James," she said. "We've known each other since we were eleven."

"We've only been dating for five months," he pointed out. "I love you Lily, but there's so much we don't know about each other. I guess I assumed we'd figure it out, after we were married…"

"Like what?" Lily said. "What don't you know about me?"

"What's your favourite song?" James asked at random, caught off guard.

"'Can't Help Falling in Love,'" Lily said with a small smile. "Elvis Presley."

"A Muggle singer?"

"Yes," Lily said. "What's yours?"

"'Amortentia'" James said. "By The Curses."

"A love song. Interesting."

"Lily – d'you think this is the right time?"

"For marriage?" Lily asked, and when he nodded, she sighed.

She dropped her head back to his shoulder, still caught in his arms. Her fingers threaded through his hair at the nape of his neck, pulling them closer together.

"I don't know," she said, bluntly. "I just don't know James. But we love each other, and we know we can be honest. If it wasn't the right time… would this be it? For us, I mean?"

James tightened his grip for a moment, and Lily inhaled sharply in surprise.

"Would it be the end for you?" he asked, something cold unfurling through his heart. He was terrified.

"Maybe," Lily whispered, like she didn't want him to hear. "I love you James, so much, but I don't know. Do you know?"

"Maybe," he whispered back. They were holding each other so tightly that it felt like they might break, but the other would hold the pieces in place. "Maybe, Lily."

A.N. Thanks so much for reading the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review, and let me know what you think. It would be greatly appreciated.