Catch Me If You Can
Epilogue
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Lily laughed merrily as she picked baby Harry up from his crib. He gurgled happily, and grinned at his mother. Lily grinned back.
"Aww, sweet Harrykins, come flying into your godfather's arms!" Sirius said with a bark-like laugh. He stretched his arms open and Lily handed Harry over to him.
"The boy's going to grow up wishing he never knew you," Anna chuckled, wiping a strand of brown hair from her face.
Sirius stuck his tongue out at her, and made aeroplane noises as he whizzed Harry around, who was giggling gleefully with every jolt and twist.
"Careful Sirius, he just had his bottle. So if you don't want him to throw up on you, stop treating him like a Quaffle," Lily warned, getting up from the kitchen table and moving towards the sink.
"As if Harry will ever chuck up on me! Right Harry? Right, boy? Yup, there's a good little boy. Oh yes he is! Oh yes--"
"You sound like you're his grandmother," James snorted as he came into the kitchen, "And what's this I hear about my son becoming a Quaffle?"
"James!" Lily exclaimed happily, running up to her husband and hugging him, "I didn't expect you home so early, so dinner won't be ready for like -- a couple of hours."
"It's fine," he said, waving his hand off. He kissed the top of her head, and then took Harry from Sirius. James groaned heavily as he lifted his son up.
"You're going to become a big boy, Harry," he said to Harry with a grin, jiggling the baby in his arms, "A real ladies' man, just like I am, right?"
Lily and Anna snorted. Remus laughed and Sirius made a cross face.
"I thought I was the ladies' man," he said as if it really mattered.
"You are, Sirius, you are," Anna assured, patting his shoulder. She laughed.
A few hours later, Harry was plopped down in his playpen while his parents and their friends settled down to a nice dinner.
"Remember the time James stuck bubblegum in Lily's hair?" Remus snorted, evidently trying not to laugh.
"That was horrible," the redhead said solemnly, as the boys roared with laughter.
"Hey, at least I apologised," James protested.
"At least?! Excuse me mister, you're supposed to apologise every freakin' time you speak to me!" Lily said playfully.
"Oh, really? Sorry Lily. It's just this spaghetti is really nice -- sorry," James said seriously.
Remus grinned at the pair, "You're acting as if you're back in first and second year. Ahhh, those were the days. Did it ever occur to you that you would end up together back then?"
"No." -- Lily.
"Yes." -- James.
"Well, I didn't," Lily spoke for herself, pouring herself some juice.
"Everyone kind of saw that you were perfect for each other," Anna said, straining her memory, "But neither of you would accept it."
Lily and James stayed silent as the other three began to voice out the story for them.
"They disliked each other for a whole year," Sirius said reminiscently, "Then Prongsie gained interest in our little redhead in second year. Do any of you remember that?"
"Oh yeah!" Remus said, his eyes shining as he remembered, "He kept asking for hugs."
Lily tried not to smile when she remembered the cute way James asked for hugs.
"And in third year," Anna said, as if this was the finale, "They finally got together at the ball. Wasn't that so sweet?"
"Not on my wager, I lost six Sickles on a bet with Peter," Sirius muttered, poking at his mince with his fork.
"Oh yeah? What was the bet?" James asked interestedly.
"I said you and Lil would become a couple in seventh year, but you ended up doing it like four years earlier."
Lily sighed, and dully twirled a strand of spaghetti on her fork. It was awfully strange to her that she had ended up getting married to James. She never would've expected it before... But she loved him more than anything else, except for her beautiful son, Harry.
"Yup, I was just so good," James winked and pulled Lily over, his arm wrapped around her neck. He grinned.
"Get off, James!"
"Aww, you're just saying that now, but I know you love me."
Without saying a word, she stood up and picked up her plate, storming out of the dining room.
"The best thing is," James chuckled, "She actually does love me now, and it irritates her how she can't do anything about it."
Five minutes later, Lily returned. The others greeted her as if they hadn't seen her in years.
Sirius made a comment on that, and the conversation topic turned towards not having seen Peter in awhile.
"He's real busy, you know," Remus said conversationally, "Never really would've expected it, but just goes to show."
The others nodded slowly, just to be polite. Anna sighed, and dropped her fork.
"Do you guys... remember Di?"
"How could we ever forget?"
"Yeah, that was such a traumatic time."
And there was some more silence.
"And of course, could we ever forget Paige?" Anna said mournfully.
No one said anything.
"Bless her soul," Lily said quietly, feeling rather sad. Paige had become diabetic in their fourth year, and her condition grew steadily worse as the time passed by. There was something wrong with her sugar levels; they were alert and jumpy, and no one knew what was wrong with her. Her condition wasn't like any other diabetic patient. In sixth year, there was nothing the doctors nor Healers could do for her. She simply left the world... it had scarred the lives of Lily and Anna very much so, having already lost Di.
Sirius sighed deeply, "Sometimes if I'm quiet... I can still hear her."
James nodded miserably, "She was a wonderful person."
Remus also nodded slowly in agreement.
Later, during dessert, some more happy conversation came up. They chattered away, oblivious to the time.
"I still can't believe you did that to your hair!" Lily exclaimed, as she handed a plate of apple crumble to Anna.
Anna laughed; she had recently cropped her long fair hair and dyed it dark brown. It made her look rather spunky.
"Well, I felt like a change," she said softly, "My hair was just long and boring."
"It was pretty hair," Remus insisted.
Finally, it was time for them to go. Anna, Sirius and Remus all had their special goodbyes with little Harry, before they left Godrics Hollow.
Later that night, Lily crept up to Harry's bedroom and smiled absently.
James came up behind her and wrapped his arms protectively around her waist. She turned her head and smiled at him, kissing his nose.
"He looks so peaceful," she whispered, looking down at Harry, who was asleep in his cot.
James nodded, tightening his grip on his wife, "I love you."
"And I love you too."
They stood there lovingly, staring at their son, appreciating the lives they had.
Then Lily bent forward, stroking Harry's tender face. She slowly sang and hummed a lullaby James had taught her in Hogwarts.
"If only, if only,
The moon speaks no reply,
Reflecting the sun and
all that's gone by.
Be strong, my weary wolf, turn around boldly,
Fly
high, my baby bird,
My angel, my only."
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---->A/N: I just love that little lullaby. It's so pretty. As many of you know, it's from the book Holes by Louis Sachar. It's also a movie. We're reading it for English, and we're going to watch the movie tomorrow. So yeah, I don't take any credit for the lullaby thingy. I hope you liked the epilogue. I just wanted to round everything nicely, so readers will know what happens. I don't quite know why Paige dies... I thought it might seem ... logical? I dunno... I'm just strange. Lol. Farewell... and thank you for reading. I love, love, love, love you all sooo much and I will REALLY REALLY MISS YOU! --cries-- Aww, I actually do feel teary-eyed. =[ So tons of hugs and kisses for all!! Goodbye for the last time. --MSQ.