Chapter 49:

Authors note: I'm sorry guys, but I'm going to have to start this chapter on a rant… As I have previously done, I will once again deal with the issue that is Alice's last name. But firstly, I'd like to reiterate that this is my fanfiction, I write it for my own enjoyment and can call my characters what I like. I did carry out research into what Alice Longbottom's maiden name was, but when I didn't find one, I took the name from my favourite fanfiction – as I have already explained. If you don't like what I've called her, replace it in your head or don't read it; it's very disheartening to read when people leave such rude comments telling me I've got her name wrong, there is absolutely no need, provide me with canon of another last name and I'll change it, until then, she stays as Alice Prewitt, not Fortescue, Brown or any other name which people believe. I try to stick to canon, but I don't know everything so sometimes get things wrong and I'll admit where I do, but in this instance there is no canon name available. Additionally, the driving licence law in England is that you can receive one from being 17 years old - I should know this considering I live in England and I've got one. In this story, Lily is 17 at the beginning of the school year and 18 from the January, well old enough to hold driving licence – in my mind she completed an intensive course over the summer to keep herself out the house and earned her licence, you may not agree but that's how I decided to have my story, I know not everything is canon perfect but I do try and when someone leaves a very rude review, which has no factual basis, it makes me to want to not carry on (that does not mean constructive criticism – that I welcome!), but please don't tell me I'm wrong just because you don't agree.

I'm sorry if that comes across as rude, that's not my intention, but I'm fed up with people telling me I'm wrong when they have no factual basis and are just being rude for the sake of it! If you don't like what I've written, don't read it! Now anyway, I've been looking forward to this chapter for some time, you'll see why! And I've enjoyed writing it, even if I did struggle with writer's block, so I do apologise if it's not up to par! But hope you enjoy, and be sure to leave a review

Recap: the group finish with their last charms exam, and collectively don't think it was as bad as it could have been. They then look forward to the ball; the ball get dressed and meet their dates, Jessica goes with Benjy Fenwick and they kiss, but Benjy admits he doesn't feel strongly enough about Jess to see this through as he's still not over Emmeline. Remus' date: Meghan Daley tells him she likes him and tries to kiss him, but he freaks out and heads off up to the astronomy tower to brood, where he is found by his friends who help to cheer him up. (I left it quite open at the end, sorry about that, I wouldn't have posted it if I'd tried to write anymore…)

"It feels wrong not planning something to celebrate the end of our time at Hogwarts doesn't it?" Peter mused, idly twisting his wand between his open palms, to which faint green sparks shot from the end.

"What? Like something at graduation?" James replied with a raised eyebrow, pulling something at their graduation ceremony two days later could be risky, with all the staff, and parents – both magical and muggle - and of course, the increased security, with the current climate no risks were being taken.

"We'd never be able to keep that secret, someone would be bound to find out our plan Pete… and we've got no time to prepare." Remus added, all three boys sighed, it would be very un-marauderish to not leave the school with a bang, literally and metaphorically.

"I don't know, I think we could pull something off…" Sirius said after a moment's pause, Remus stared at him wide eyed.

"Are you mad?! Have you not seen how much extra security Dumbledore has drafted in, I doubt you'll be able to sneeze without setting off a security alert!" Sirius mused for a moment.

"Well, it should be simple then, nothing too fancy, just one spell, something to make people smile, like they did at the sorting ceremony." He added. James shook his head.

"But that was far from simple Padfoot, making a lion out of fireworks that exploded in confetti took weeks to prepare, we've got less than two days now." Sirius looked let down, his bubble burst, then he perked up.

"You know what, I've got it!" he beamed, before taking off out the door, muttering to himself and leaving three very bemused friends in his wake.

Lily hadn't slept; she couldn't believe this was it, graduation day. Her alarm clock read twenty past four, but she couldn't sleep, thoughts were whizzing around her head at a million miles in hour. Firstly, she couldn't quite believe that her seven magical years at Hogwarts were over, she had loved every single moment, even when things went wrong and got her down, it was still tinged by magic, and that she had loved; she was forever grateful for the people she had met, what she learned and how she had grown as a person throughout the years and course she had met James, and she would never have ever met had she never found out she was a witch! Although then, there was all the things that worried her, first there was the trivial things, the answer she might have got wrong on her charms exam, her speech at the graduation ceremony, but hiding behind the trivial things were the things that scared her even more… How would she cope in the wizarding world beyond Hogwarts, would she be safe? Would just being with her put James in danger? The thought of anything happening to him, especially on her part, made her feel sick.

"Lily?" a small voice said into the darkness. Looking up, Lily was shocked to find Jessica sat upright in her bed and looking towards her.

"Jess?" Lily replied, unsure of why Jess was awake at this time.

"I'm scared, can I get in your bed?" the blonde witch asked sheepishly, twirling a strand of her long hair around her finger.

"Of course." Lily answered, peeling back the covers and allowing for her pyjama clad friend to climb in. "What's wrong?" she asked once Jessica was settled.

"I'm just scared…" Jessica answered quietly. "Tomorrow we leave here forever, and we have to go out into the proper world, where people want to hurt us and people don't want us and we don't have teachers to protect us. Lily I don't want to leave..." She added. Lily wasn't sure in the darkness but she was pretty sure there were tears slipping from Jessica's eyes. The red head hugged her friend tightly.

"I'm scared too…" she trailed off, there wasn't anything else to really say, they were all aware of the world in which they would be entering, a world of corruption, prejudice and hate, a world in which Lily and Jessica would be judged on the purity of their blood, turned away from jobs, shunned in the street and discriminated against. She wanted to say something to comfort Jessica, but frankly, there was nothing she could say that wouldn't be a blatant lie.

"Promise we'll always be together though?" Jessica asked a moment later, "We'll always have each other?"

"Promise." She answered. Lily felt her own racing heart calm slightly at the thought, she had her friends and the boys, she had James and James' parents, she had people that loved and cared about her, people that would keep her safe, the thought calmed her slightly. Jessica seemed appeased too, as only a few moments later her breathing had slowed and was snoring quietly. Her breath slowly inhaling and exhaling was almost hypnotic, lulling Lily to sleep until the next thing she knew was the sunlight streaming through the curtains and her other roommates beginning to stir.

The shower clicking into life in the bathroom next door pulled Lily out of stupor and into a sitting position, from which she could see Hestia's bed empty and the clock on her bedside table that now read twenty to nine. Lily wasn't sure what time she'd finally slipped off to sleep, but it was far too late for her liking she decided and she stretched and yawned widely.

"Morning." Alice greeted cheerfully from her bed across the room, to which Lily returned. Jessica twitched in her sleep and Lily remembered her friend was still there, gently shaking her awake; Jessica opened her eyes sleepily and too stretched herself awake.

"I wondered where you'd gotten to!" Alice laughed when Jessica too sat up.

"We couldn't sleep…" Jessica replied groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, but before she could say another word, Hestia breezed back into the room, filling the room with the floral scent of her shampoo.

"I'm just so excited!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together before unravelling the towel from her hair and drying it with a flick of her wand until her dark curls cascaded down her back. "I just want it to be twelve o'clock already!" she added, throwing away her towel and pulling on a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Twelve o'clock was the start of the ceremony, and Lily sighed, the beginning of the end, she wasn't looking forward to it quite as much as her friend.

"We'd better get dressed then, and grab some breakfast!" Alice added, slowly getting out of bed and heading towards her wardrobe to choose what to wear. With distain, Lily did the same, quickly followed by Jessica; the only thing keeping her going was the thought of hot chocolate and bacon at the breakfast table.

"Anyone know what Sirius is planning?" Peter asked James quietly as they pulled on their black Hogwarts robes for the final time. James shook his head, and began rearranging his hair in the mirror on his bedside cabinet. "He's just been awfully quiet since he had that idea, and I think that's a bad sign..." he added as an afterthought. Remus, eaves dropping from across the dormitory too was worried about what Sirius had planned, it would surely be something stupid that was likely to get him arrested by the swarms of Aurors they'd seen arriving that previous evening and since neither of the remaining marauders had any clue what he had concocted, none of them could act as his conscience and deter him from his plan.

"You never know, it might just be harmless?" James replied with a hopeful smile, although with Sirius he highly doubted that, it could be a spell to remove the clothing of every female in the vicinity and get himself arrested, but you never know it could be something nice… Remus raised an eyebrow but kept his mouth shut as Sirius emerged from the bathroom.

"You nearly ready?" James asked his best friend, who in response shook his hair in a distinctly dog like manner and with a flick of his wand, it was dry. Pulling on his robes and straightening the red and gold tie, he nodded and the boys filed down the dormitory steps and out towards the outer courtyard where they would meet their friends and then head off to say hello to their parents before the ceremony started, however it seemed Sirius had other plans.

As the boys entered the courtyard, Lily grinned, they all looked so smart in their uniforms, but her heart sunk slightly when she realised she probably wouldn't ever wear her robes again, however she was soon distracted by a mysterious tingling sensation all over her body. The other girls seemed to feel it too as they all looked at their bodies in surprise, Hestia inhaled sharply. Furious she looked up to see her boyfriend pocketing his wand and a satisfied smirk crossing his face. She was about to shout when Lily cut in:

"Black?!" she exclaimed, gesturing to her attire. "What is this?" she added, gesturing to the customised robes she seemed to have donned without her knowledge. With a wave of Sirius' wand he had managed to change every single one of their robes from black to striped shimmering gold and red, and the Gryffindor lion crest had bursting into life, jumping around the confines of its badge.

"It's called style Evans, should try it sometimes." Sirius replied with a wink as the boys finally met up with them. Jessica laughed out loud.

"I love it!" she giggled, "It's showing our house pride!" Alice nodded.

"Me too, they're kinda funky!" she added, twirling around so the gold and red blurred into one. Remus seemed to be doing his very best Lily impression, a stiff upper lip and a frown so deep it nearly obscured his eyes. James just looked astonishedly at himself.

"This is what you were planning?" he squeaked. Sirius looked at him disappointedly.

"Yeahh, do you not like it?" it was then that James burst out laughing, and not just run of the mill giggles but a full belly laugh. The rest of the group, approving or not of Sirius' costume change, stared at James in disbelief.

"Erm, Prongs you alright?" Sirius asked, even he was unsure of what James sudden onset of hysteria meant. Wiping a tear from his eye, James managed to steady his breathing until he could finally talk though the giggles.

"I was convinced you were going to do something stupid, this is tame compared to what I was expecting! I don't know why that's so funny, but it is…" he trailed off, still struggling to regain his composure.

"Well I don't want to get arrested!" Sirius replied, a few giggles breaking out. "And I warned you it was something small!" Remus' expression softened a little.

"I don't know what we were expecting, but it was not this!" Remus shook his head; the edges of his mouth pulling into a small smile as he once again inspected his new robes, they were rather dashing.

"I like it!" Peter chipped in with a grin.

"As do I Mr Pettigrew, however, I do not believe Professor McGonagall will share the sentiment." A voice behind the group interrupted. They twirled round to be met with the smiling face of the headmaster himself and Sirius' face fell. "I do believe you should return your robes to their original colour Mr Black, however, I will consider the change for the new September intake." Professor Dumbledore added with a wink. Sirius sighed and with a flick of his wand, the robes returned to a jet black, Lily found she was almost disappointed, although she'd never let that show. "Oh, and one more thing-" the headmaster said, peering at the group over the edge of his half-moon spectacles. "There are some people who wish to say hello." And holding his hand out to his left, Lily was shocked to see a group of adults enter the courtyard, including her parents staring disbelievingly at the world around them.

"Mum, Dad?!" she exclaimed, rushing towards them. Arthur was first to look up but her mother was the first to react.

"Lily!" her mother called out and enveloped her daughter in a hug. "I can't believe this is where you go to school!" Rose added a moment later, holding Lily at arm's length and still attempting to take in the breath taking views of the castle, the towers and turrets.

"When you said it was a castle, I didn't think you meant literally!" Arthur said a moment later. "It's just so…"

"Magical?" James interrupted, appearing to their left. Arthur nodded enthusiastically.

"James!" Rose exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck, taken by surprise James stood still for a moment before returning the sentiment. "There are some people you should probably meet…" he added sheepishly once Rose had finally let go of him. It was only then that Lily noticed two other people stood beside them. "These are my parents, Edward and Sarah Potter."

"How fantastic to meet you!" Sarah gushed, rushing forward to greet Rose as Edward and Arthur shook hands. "I see now where Lily gets her hair from!" She grinned, admiring Rose's long auburn hair and Lily's mother blushed.

"This place is fantastic, isn't it?!" Arthur cut in. "Why haven't we ever come to visit before!" he laughed.

"It is pretty spectacular." Edward agreed, "Hasn't changed since we were here either, has it Sarah?" he added, offering his wife a small smile.

"Not one bit." His wife smiled, squeezing her husband's hand lightly.

"You must tell me all about it!" Arthur replied excitedly, as the two men took off towards the seating area, more interested in each other than their children.

"We should probably go find them." Sarah added "Who knows what they'll get up to!" she laughed, taking Rose's arm before following their husbands. Lily and James stood dumfounded in stunned silence for a moment.

"Well, that went well!" Lily mused, unsure quite what to make of the encounter. James exhaled deeply, and nodded.

After a few moments, they were joined by Jessica and her brothers Jake and Dylan, who flashed the pair a dazzling smile.

"Sirius is being grilled by Hestia's mum." Jessica laughed, gesturing towards where Kathryn and Emrys Jones were stood with their daughter and Sirius. "She wants to know how his exams went and what he's planning to do after graduation, am I the only one who thinks he looked nauseous?" She grinned. It was true, Sirius did look rather queasy, however even Lily was slightly scared of Kathryn jones, and she'd met her best friend's mother hundreds of times, but the woman was rather scary! At noticing Lily watching, Emrys Jones flashed her a smile and a small wave before ushering his wife off after Alice's parents who were too heading towards the seating.

"The woman scares the pants off me James!" Sirius hissed once they were seated waiting for the ceremony to begin. "I mean she's a psycho!"

"I'm sure she's not, you're just overreacting." James soothed, but to no avail.

"She wanted to know all about the house and whether we'd have separate rooms and said that I shouldn't even look at her daughter inappropriately until we're married!"

"Too late for that." Remus breathed, to which Peter snorted laugh. James was about to retort a sarcastic reply when he cut off by the beginning of the orchestra and the entrance of Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall onto a small stage erected at the front of the seating area out on the lawn in front of the school. There was a small round of quiet polite applause.

"Welcome!" the headmaster addressed the crowd of students and parents. "It is my utmost honour to welcome you all here today, to see our seventh year students as they graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and venture out into the world beyond the castle. We hope we have equipped our students with the creativity, knowledge and organisation that are needed for a life beyond school, and although the journey is never easy, we believe that our students will enjoy a long and fruitful career in whatever profession they choose." Another round of polite applause.

"Now we continue by handing out certificates of graduation to each of our seventh years and announcing he highest grades for each subject." Professor McGonagall added, unfurling a script, quite similar to that used at the sorting ceremony.

The first few names were called; Sirius was the first Gryffindor.

"Sirius Black, Gryffindor, highest Muggle Studies grade." Professor McGonagall called out, there were a few snorts from the crowd, but Sirius couldn't contain the smile that spread across his face.

"Be sure to inform your mother." The deputy headmistress said with a small smile under her breath as she shook hands with her student, to which Sirius beamed before retaking his seat amongst his friends, certificate held protectively in his hands. Reginald Cattermole next took the highest divination score, to which Peter seemed annoyed to have been pipped to the post but clapped for his friend. Meghan Daley took the care of magical creature top score; Remus looked into his lap and sheepishly wouldn't meet Meghan's eye as she looked out into the crowd in his general vicinity before taking her seat alongside Reginald and Bailey. Lily was next from Gryffindor and was suitably annoyed when she was neither announced as top student in either charms or potions, her best subjects.

"Bet Snape gets top in potions." She seethed, retaking the seat next to James.

"You'll have still got an O," James soothed, pressing a kiss to her temple. Lily nodded and was appeased for a moment or two until Benjy Fenwick was announced as highest scoring Charms student.

"Are you joking me?" she hissed into James' ear. "I mean Benjy's good, but he couldn't produce a patronus!"

"Shush you." James teased, leaning into her ear. "You will have done amazingly, and so what if you're not top, you did those exams to get the grades for you, not to beat Fenwick or Snape." Lily nodded.

"I guess so, I did kick ass on that Charms paper though." She smiled smally and squeezed James' hand lightly. "Thank you." She added, pressing a kiss to James' cheek before returning her attention to the roll call of names.

Honestly, seeing the pair of them made him want to vomit, sat several rows in front of him, Severus Snape was forced to watch to displays of affection between the Head Boy and Girl as they whispered to each other and showered one another with affection. It made him want to hex the hell out of Potter and scream at Lily for what a massive mistake she was making trusting that prat, but he sat on his hands and bit his lip to keep quiet. Stellan Avery in the seat next to him, nudged him sharply in the ribs with his elbow.

"Stop fidgeting, you're annoying me." He hissed under his breath.

"Sorry." Snape replied, but he didn't mean it and continued to sit on his hands, the sooner his name was called, the sooner he could escape this hell and sulk back off to his dormitory to be alone. Instead he was forced to sit through the roll call of his fellow seventh years; the rest of the Gryffindor students were called out within the mix of seventh years, Hestia was first, shortly followed by Frank and Remus, who were announced as top Herbology and Defence students respectively. Then Peter Pettigrew and James Potter who of course claimed the top spot for Transfiguration – but only because McGonagall loved him, Severus sneered, nothing to do with actual skill! Pathetic lowlife might be good at school, but wait until they were out in the real world, Potter wouldn't stand a chance against Snape and his friends, the thought amused him and helped him cope through Alice and Jessica's names until his was called.

"Severus Snape, highest scoring student in potions." The Gryffindor head of house called and Snape rose from his seat, and nonchalantly made his way towards the steps to the raised platform, accepting his certificate, all the while Lily's eyes threatened to bore a hole in his skull. Shaking the Professor's hand, she held on a moment longer than he expected. "I will remind you to remain in your seat Mr Snape." before releasing his hand with a polite smile as it nothing had happened. The Professor's eyes followed Severus back to his seat so he had no chance to escape out the back and was forced to return to his seat and endure the rest of this insufferable fiasco.

"I knew he'd get top in Potions." Lily pouted. James shook his head, there was no reasoning with her now, and instead he left her to sulk. Professor McGonagall threw James a knowing smile, to which James was quite unsure of what to think, instead he focused on his lap quite intently and tried to still the nerves that were slowly taking over him.

"And lastly," Professor McGonagall said "we have collected all the scores from our students over their seven years at Hogwarts and analysed those to reveal the highest scoring student over their whole Hogwarts education. I would like to award that honour to our head Girl Miss Lily Evans." A massive cheer broke out amongst the Gryffindor's, but Lily couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Rose thought she might cry with pride as Sarah squeezed her hand; Sarah too was so proud for Lily, during her time at Hogwarts, she had dealt with so much and overcome it all, tears pricked at the witch's eyes, almost overcome with how proud she was of her future daughter-in-law.

Shaking and completely in shock, Lily rose from her seat and returned to the raised platform to once again shake hands with the two Professors.

"Very well deserved Miss Evans." Professor McGonagall smiled and congratulated in her Scottish lilt. "While we have you here Miss Evans, I do believe the Head Boy and yourself have few words you'd like to say?" the Headmaster said after a moment. Lily forced a smile and nodded, a lump formed in her throat, it wasn't really as she'd been given a choice, Professor Dumbledore had informed her and James several weeks ago that they would be expected to make speeches but she'd barely even thought about it until the day previous. She also hadn't been particularly nervous until she was on the stage, now she thought it singularly the worst thing she'd ever been asked to do. Gritting her teeth, she attempted a smile towards the crowd, but to be honest she thought it resembled a grimace more than grin. James strode onto the stage, and she felt slightly calmer, but the nauseous feeling of standing up in front of so many people refused to budge.

"Mr Potter, the floor is yours." The headmaster offered, to which James put his wand to his throat and by use of the sonorous charm his voice extended over the entire courtyard, although frankly it wasn't needed as the whole place listened intently to what he had to say.

"Thank you Professor." He answered, nodding courteously towards the headmaster, which professor Dumbledore returned. Sarah though she might cry with pride at seeing James, her baby boy stood up there so smart and grown up, it was beyond all reach of the imagination when she'd first seen him board the Hogwarts Express seven years ago. "I'd just like to say, when I received this badge," he motioned towards the red HB badge which was pinned with precision onto his robes. "I didn't think I deserved it, and I think many others would agree." He paused and there were a few small chuckles. "But I'm glad you did give it to me, trust me with the responsibility – it's allowed me to do many things this year that I never thought would even be possible, for one, I can definitely say I'd never have believed I'd ever have to fill out a detention slip, I was usually on the other end of those!" Sirius clapped loudly and cheered, to which James laughed quietly. "But more seriously, I've done a lot of growing up this year, I'd like to think I've become a better person but I don't think I could have done it without this amazing woman at my side." Squeezing Lily's hand, James swelled with pride; together they'd overcome so much this year, they'd beaten off the critics, they'd worked efficiently and as a team, they'd worked hard and played hard, planning an amazing ball whilst keeping the prefects in check, and he couldn't have done any of it without her. "Back in September," he continued. "I had no idea what I was doing and Lily took me under her wing and showed me the ropes, showed me how to be a Head Boy, and for that I'm forever grateful, but I'm more grateful that she allowed me into her life." Squeezing her hand again, he leaned in and kissed her cheek, the crowd cheered and Lily blushed. James nodded encouragingly as her held his wand to her throat so she could be heard.

"I don't think there's much more I can say that James hasn't already;" Severus rolled his eyes; it was utterly ridiculous that he was being forced to sit through this blatant romantic drivel. "I just want to add that I was apprehensive when James received the badge, but over the year he has proved himself as a worthy candidate and has worked tirelessly to improve this school and I'd like to think together, we did a pretty good job." She grinned, which James mirrored.

"Thank you Miss Evans and Mr Potter- " Professor McGonagall began, intending to dismiss the courtyard to meet in the Great Hall where the house elves had lovingly prepared food and drinks for the parents and students, however she was cut off most unexpectedly by the headmaster.

"I apologise for interrupting Professor McGonagall, but James, I do believe there is something else you would like to say?" the courtyard suddenly fell very quiet, so much so that James truly believed you could hear a pin drop, or the beating of his heart which was thundering inside his chest. Sirius and Remus exchanged confused glances with Hestia and Alice, Jessica and Peter quizzically tried to work out what James would have to say, surely he'd covered it in his speech? Rose and Sarah too looked curiously towards each other; however, Edward and Arthur exchanged a knowing grin, sitting back knowing what was about to come next. James, looking decidedly pale, turned to look at Lily face to face, nodding to the Headmaster as the audience waited with bated breath.

As James took both of her hands, she offered him an inquisitive look, to which James returned with one of his usual lopsided grins, all feeling of apprehension or anxiousness leaving his body at the sight of the brilliant smile which spread across her face.

"Lily Evans, from the moment I first met you, I knew you were the love of my life, and I know that sounds so stupid coming from an 11 year old, but I just knew it." He paused, shaking his head, not quite believing what he was about to do… Professor McGonagall, covered her mouth with her hand, looking towards the headmaster he nodded, to which tears pricked at her eyes. "And this last year with you, has truly been the happiest time of my life. You are the most beautiful, amazing, funny, intelligent girl I have ever met and there is no-one else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with."

The vomit rose in Severus' throat, he wasn't about to, surely he wouldn't, no, he wouldn't…

"So…" James continued as he pulled a small black velvet coated box from the pocket of his robes and held it loosely in his fingers, before delicately opening it to reveal a simple silver band with a single diamond in its centre, surrounded by a coronet of emeralds. Rose promptly burst into tears, Sarah wasn't far behind. Lily's eyes widened, not quite believing this was really happening. Then James got onto one knee and it was Lily's turn to feel faint. "Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" the courtyard was silent, a pin drop would have been deafening over the silence of the entire year and their parents waiting to hear what Lily would say in response.

But as James' hazel eyes gazed up at her, sparkling and full of adoration, the woozy feeling melted away, every tiny fear or worry, apprehension or sense of uneasiness that she'd ever had about what the future held for them blew away in the soft breeze that ruffled his hair making it more unkempt than usual but he was still the most handsome man she'd ever met, and she wondered what else could be more perfect than this moment.

"Yes, yes I'll marry you!" Lily grinned, throwing her arms around James neck and only pulling away to kiss him as the watching students and parents burst into rapturous applause, Sirius wolf whistling and Alice handing tissues to her two friends who were both on the verge of tears as James slid the ring onto Lily's slender finger.

But as James slipped the ring onto her finger, she was too preoccupied to notice her former best friend stand abruptly, roughly push his way to end of his row and leave the courtyard, storming back towards the castle. She had done it, she had said yes, that was enough to kill him, she was going to marry Potter, and she looked so bloody happy. It was sickening. The Gryffindor's may have not noticed his exit, but his fellow Slytherin's certainly had.

"What's wrong Snape?" Avery sneered, quickly making up ground behind his housemate. "Jealous?" his lip curling in satisfaction. Severus turned on his heel, leaving him face to face with Avery and Wilkes.

"No. It's just pathetic." He answered curtly and shortly.

"I don't believe you." Wilkes countered, pushing the larger Slytherin boy against the exterior castle wall, by way of a smirk Avery seemed to approve.

"I don't care what you believe Wilkes." Snape spat, still overcome with rage he attempted to push off the smaller boy, but was silenced by Avery's wand pointed at his throat.

"Prove it then." He dared. "Curse her, show us you have no feelings towards the pathetic mudblood, show us where your true loyalties lie." Anger clouding his judgment, Snape once again pushed off Wilkes, ignoring the threatening manner in which Avery's wand hand twitched as if ready to hex his housemate should he put a toe out of line.

"Fine." Severus answered, ignoring the satisfied smirks crossing the faces of his two accomplices as he continued to storm towards the castle.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Sarah exclaimed, roughly throwing her arms around her son's neck, almost knocking him off balance. "You only went and bloody proposed and you didn't even tell your own mother!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" James laughed as his mother finally let go.

"I'm sorry, it's just all so much." She replied, fanning her face with her hands to stop herself crying once again. "I'm just so proud! My baby boy is going to get married!" she added, promptly bursting into tears once again. Edward shook his head and laughed.

"She just can't believe she's old enough to have a son who's getting married." He teased, to which Sarah shoved him lightly.

"I can't believe I'm going to get married!" James exhaled, he hadn't dared think past popping the question, he hadn't expected the amount of congratulations which had been thrown his way, or the amount of people who were already asking if they'd be coming to the wedding! Speaking of the wedding, his bride to be appeared at his side.

"Mums still crying." Lily grinned. "She can't believe dad didn't tell her after you asked his permission, he's taken her off to get a cup of tea, but I think she's scaring the house elves." she giggled, as James curled his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"I think that's a good idea." Edward replied. "Come along Sarah." He teased, pulling his wife off towards Arthur and Rose, giving Lily a quick hug before letting Sarah and Rose share their sentiment. For a moment, everything was calm, parents and professors alike conversed and caught up with old friends with Lily and James stood alone in the middle of the hall, finally able to breathe for a moment, but it was quickly broken.

"POTTER!" came the shout cross the Great Hall. James, taken aback, almost lost his balance as he turned so quickly to see the tempestuous face of Sirius Black storming across the floor towards him. "How dare you ask Lily to marry you, I thought we were getting married?!" he demanded, leaving James momentarily speechless. "I'm joking Prongs." Sirius laughed, his face breaking out into a brilliant grin when James remained dumbfounded. The Head Boy managed to gather his wits and grin back.

"I had no idea what was going to come out of your mouth then." James admitted, as he clapped Sirius across the back by way of a hug.

"Nah, we'd never be able to get married, you're far too emotional Prongs, you'd cry as walked down the aisle and make a fool out of yourself." Sirius teased.

"You are a little bit married though." Remus added, appearing alongside the trio with the rest of the Gryffindor's, Hestia throwing herself at Lily.

"Just a little bit." James winked to which Sirius barked a laugh.

"Congratulations guys." Remus grinned. James thanked him and hugged him in response, Lily gave thumbs up, as Hestia still hadn't let go and she was being suffocated by the curls of her best friend's hair. Finally, Hestia let go of the death grip she had around her friend's neck and Alice and Jessica gave the head girl a squeeze.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so bloody happy!" Hestia grinned "My best friend is getting married!" to which Lily shook her head.

"I can't believe it." She breathed, exchanging grins with James.

"But I'm going to be bridesmaid obviously?" Hestia questioned and the other girls laughed.

"Give her a minute Hest!" Alice giggled "She's only been engaged five minutes!"

"I know, but it's a serious question." Hestia replied deadpan.

"Of course you will be Hestia, and you two!" Lily replied, gesturing between Jessica and Alice. "I want my girls with me!" and she was once again promptly taken over by a group hug.

He couldn't believe she'd done it, she'd said yes. Couldn't believe she'd pledged, on stage in front of hundreds of witnesses, that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with the wretched James Potter, did she not realise what a fool of herself she was making? He just couldn't believe it, what had happened to the Lily Evans that had told him she detested James Potter, that she thought he was an awful human being, this wasn't the same girl who'd stood on stage and declared how amazing he was, something must have happened to her, hit her head, maybe Potter had her under a love potion, Severus wouldn't put that past Potter.

He had to tell her, he had to tell her what a mistake she was making.

Undrawing the curtains around his bed, he wasn't surprised to find the dormitory empty, his housemates must still be down in the Great Hall with their parents, but he hadn't even bothered to tell his mother, she'd have only made him look like an idiot anyway. Crossing the room with barely a sound, he silently made his way down the stairs and towards the corridor outside, the cold air hitting the bare skin of his forearms with knives. Shaking off the cold, he stalked across the dungeons and in a moment he was up the stairs and towards the main school. All Severus Snape had to do now was find Lily Evans.

Desperate to avoid the festivities still going strong in the Great Hall, he decided to check everywhere else. He managed to break into the prefect room with relative ease, then the library, even daring to cross the corridor outside the Gryffindor dormitory, but to no avail. As the clock struck ten, he was about to call it quits, but as he skulked back towards the dungeons, a tinkling laugh brought him out of his thoughts. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but even from the muffled tones he knew it was her, tucking himself into a cove into a cove where he was virtually invisible from the corridor he heard her footsteps soft against the stone floors, but she wasn't alone, another set of footsteps fell in times with hers. Severus cursed himself for even thinking Lily would ever be alone on such a day like today.

"It's just so beautiful." Lily gushed. Daring to sneak a look from his hiding place, Lily had her hand out in front of her face, quite obviously admiring the ring that now adorned her second finger on her left hand. James Potter, stuck to her side, his arm curled protectively across her small shoulders.

"I'm glad you like it!" James replied, offering her a grin as he looked adoringly up at him. "And I'm so glad you said yes!"

"Of course I'd say yes you big idiot!" she teased, pushing him playfully, to which he attempted to look affronted, but failed as the corners of his mouth tugged into a wide smile.

Now, Severus thought, now was the moment, he had the element of surprise, he could jump out and stun Potter before he even knew what was happening and beg with Lily to see the error of her ways and she'd have no choice but to agree. As she crossed into his eyeline, the perfect time arose, but she opened her mouth and stopped Severus dead in his tracks.

"I've never been so happy." She beamed and pressed her lips against James' as they walked past his hiding place, and Severus couldn't help but agree. She just looked so happy, she literally glowed, she glowed and it was all for James Potter.

Slumping back against the bricks behind him, Severus let his wand clatter to the floor through his loose fingers. She had truly done it this time, she had made her choice, she had chosen James Potter over him, she was going to marry him and he was nothing more than a faded memory and there was nothing he could do to change her mind because she was so bloody happy.

Authors note: I hope that was okay! I really enjoyed writing it and I hope that comes across! Let me know what you think