Epilogue

"Never regret something that has made you smile."

Lily flushed the toilet, disgusted with the reappearance of her lunch yet again. The stomach bug she's been battling has been a tough one, and she would need a visit to St. Mungo's if it didn't get any better soon.

She exited the bathroom and entered the living room. James grimaced at her expression, "Feel any better now?"

Lily shook her head miserably and sat on his lap, "Why couldn't you have gotten this stupid sickness?"

James shook his head, "I don't know, love. What could have you eaten that I didn't?"

She shrugged, "I don't know."

The married couple was silent enjoying the serene snow falling gracefully onto the ground. James was trying to come up with a solution when an owl pecked at the window. Lily opened the window, and the couple realized the owl belonged to Alice and Frank Longbottom. Lily quickly detached the letter and unfolded it while James read over her shoulder.

"Alice and Frank are having a baby!" Lily exclaimed with pure joy in her eyes.

James smiled, "I know! That's fantastic!"

Lily continued to stare at the letter even after she finished reading it. "James," she said cautiously.

"What?" he said distractedly.

"I think I know the reason for my stomach sickness," she said with panic evident in her voice.

"What?" he said now concerned as well. But Lily didn't answer. She pulled a charms book out of the bookshelf and began to flip through the pages rapidly.

"What's going on, Lily?" he asked again worried.

She still didn't answer, and once she found the page she was looking for, she directed her wand towards her belly and said, "Aperio infan."

The charm was an apparent success as Lily's abdomen glowed golden, but it didn't calm Lily. Instead, it seemed to have an opposite effect and worried her more.

"What was that charm, and why did your stomach glow?" James said seriously concerned now.

She looked up at him, visibly shaken, "We're having a baby."

.:.

Mary and John Corner were sipping their tea one morning when their one-year-old child, Michael Corner, began crying and wailing. He was born with similar looks to his mother, but in demeanor, their son was parallel to John. They agreed to have a child once they moved and settled in America. John cleared his throat, "I'll go and get him."

"Thank you," Mary said as she continued eating. The delivery owl swooped in and dropped the morning Daily Prophet off as John re-entered the room. Even though they lived on a different continent, it was nice to know what was going on back home, even if the news was morbid. They had learned of Marlene's death, the Longbottoms' capture and insanity and countless other witches and wizards were reported missing or dead whose names were familiar.

But on this day, November 1, 1981, the headlines blared across the front page. Mary dropped in shock. Lily and James were dead? Voldemort died too? Lily and James had a son? The son survived? Sirius Black was the reason for the attack?

There were millions of questions of swirling around in Mary's head. The son of Lily and James, Harry Potter, was the Chosen One? The boy who lived? Sirius was on the other side now?

A pang of sadness hit her, John rubbed her shoulders consolingly. She turned to him tearfully, "We need to go back home. We never should have left."

.:.

Sirius looked around the room with a daze. The room was foggy and misty for some reason, but he couldn't be bothered why. He was much too preoccupied with the two people sitting at the table. He hadn't seen in them years.

It was James and Lily Potter sitting at a table together, and James motioned him over quickly. In the back of his mind, Sirius knew something was wrong, but he pushed it away. He was glad to see his best friends.

"Padfoot! How's it going?" James said as Sirius sat down.

"Good," he said, but for some reason, he was still uneasy.

"We missed you, Sirius," Lily said, placing her hand on top of his. "Tell us how you've been."

Sirius shrugged, "It's been better, Lils."

With a sudden realization, Sirius realized what was wrong. He was asleep, and Lily and James were dead. They've been dead for years now. He felt himself waking up, and he began to panic. He didn't want to lose them, not again. He reached out to Lily and James, but their fingers turned into wisps.

He desperately called out, "No! Don't leave me again!"

They continued to disappear into the fog, but James yelled out, "We never will!"

Lily added on, "We'll always be in your heart!"

Sirius woke with a start and tears covering his face. Why couldn't it ever be more than a dream? Not one day, one hour or even one minute passed by Sirius didn't miss his best friends.

.:.

Mary, John and their son Michael walked through King's Cross. It was Michael's first year at Hogwarts, and it was evident he was nervous. He looked around nervously at the passing Muggles and moving trains.

Once they arrived at Platform 9 ¾, Michael eyed the brick wall nervously, "Are you sure I'll be able to run through?"

Mary smiled, "Of course you will." In front of them, a large group of redheads and one young boy whose looks were eerily familiar passed through to the platform single-filed. "See, Michael? You'll be okay."

But Mary's was wandering away from her son's worries and towards the young boy who looked familiar. He had to be around Michael's age by the looks of him, and Mary had a sinking suspicion to who the boy could be.

Harry Potter disappeared from the magical world to unknown relatives, but it didn't make sense to Mary. The only living relatives could be Lily's sister, who hated everything magical. It made no sense whatsoever for the boy who saved the wizarding world to go into Muggle society.

Sure enough, as the Corner family entered onto the platform, Mary was able to get a look at him. It was a spitting image of her old, lost friend James Potter, but the eyes… They belonged to Lily…

Mary felt a lump form in the back of her throat and tears threatened to fall. Michael looked at his mother and grabbed her hand, "It's okay. I'll write you a letter as soon as I get there!"

Mary smiled at her son, "I'll wait for it!" She hugged her son while John put his luggage onto the train. Michael bounded onto the train excitedly and waved good-bye to Mary and John.

"It's the Lily's son. He looks exactly like James did," Mary explained.

John replied, "I know. It's uncanny how much they look alike. Have you seen the Longbottom's child?" He gestured to a young boy who also looked like a first year as he struggled to handle the toad who was trying to escape his grasp.

It was no doubt the child of Alice and Frank Longbottom. He had the nose and eyes of Frank and the lips of Alice. She felt the lump reform and tears again threaten to spill over.

She never should have left. Sure, she was happy with John and Michael, but she didn't spend a day where she regretted missing the fighting in the war alongside her best friends. The same best friends who were all dead now… Except for Sirius Black locked in Azkaban and Remus Lupin, who seemed to disappear off the face of the Earth.

Mary again desperately wished she had never left. Yes, there was a chance of her death, but it would've been better. She could've died with her friends rather than run away like a coward. But leaving was her choice, and she would have to live with it.

She now understood the saying, "Live without regrets." But it was a little too late for her.

A/N: I couldn't believe the amount of support of reader's for my last chapter, and I know this epilogue is extremely late, but as a high school senior, I've had my plate full, and besides, all these scenes are years or decades later, so maybe it's better if you read them later. I love each and every one of you, and I'm a little sad this is finally ending, but don't worry! I have a second story going now! It's called Forever and a Day, so go check it out :)

Cheers and happy reading :)

As always, my eternal thanks to:

I-Siriusly-Love-Black, xjustarandomreaderx, skaterofthebooks, CinziaTwut, percysis16, wink2dac, Saphy18, ., Sparkle_Ninja27, Cat-Rex, Paigeeykins, HPlilybethPJ and dementorskiss xoxo

Also, thanks to everyone who has ever reviewed or favorited/alerted this story as well :) All of you make me smile.

P.S. I'd like to a last thank-you to a girl who actually inspired me to write. She was absolutely hilarious in her stories, and when I reviewed them, she told me to write one myself, and surprisingly, I did, this story actually. I don't think you've read anything of mine or even wrote anything in the past year, but you were the person to inspire me to write anything in the first place. So just thanks. I owe this story to you.