Nobody was more surprised than James when Lily agreed to a Hogsmead date. Sirius and I decided to take the opportunity to go on a date as well. Usually on a Hogsmead weekend we go as a large group, and we rarely have time to ourselves. We also agreed to find a seat in the Three Broomsticks so we could spy on James and Lily.

The date seemed to change Lily's perspective on the boy. We didn't sit close enough to hear what they talked about, so we don't know whether it was something James said to her, or if it was something he did. Either way a routine seemed to develop after their first date.

She would eat breakfast and lunch with her friends, but dinner was spent with us. She sat across from me, beside James; while I sat beside Sirius. Remus and Peter always alternated which side of the table they sat on. Another surprise came when Marlene and Remus fell into a quick friendship. Sirius and James happily teased the werewolf about having a crush

James and Lily went on another Hogsmead date. Then another, and another, until it was apparent to the entire school that Lily Evans and James Potter were in a very happy relationship.

Lily managed to have an entire change of opinion about the boys. She spoke with me about it one day, and confessed to me about how wrong she was about them. She always assumed they were arrogant toe-rags. Something I knew since it was a favorite insult of hers.

Now we both called them arrogant brats, but it was with an edge of fondness that allowed the boys to laugh it off.

The end of the year rapidly approached. Students either panicked about their finals or brushed them off. Lily was the type who panicked and read any book she could get her hands on. All of us laughed about it because she always roped James into studying with her. Sirius teased the stag animagus about how this was the most amount of studying he ever did since he started Hogwarts.

Sirius and I helped each other study. Sometimes I would study with Remus and Peter, or join James and Lily in the library. Sirius was more the type to just take the test and accept whatever grade he earned. He never worried about failing, and I envied him for it.

It was the night before finals, and I had left the library to go to the Ravenclaw common room. On my way out of the library I ran into none other than Severus inside the doorway. We stopped to stare at one another for a long moment. His dark eyes narrowed, and I cleared my throat. "Do you have a moment?"

He tilted his head then nodded slightly. We had to leave the library so we could talk somewhat privately. Now that I was known throughout the school as the Wizarding Worlds Savior it was difficult for me to get any privacy. After the last couple months of non-stop staring I no longer remembered what privacy felt like. More than one person asked for an autograph, but I declined every time. I had no doubt if I agreed to one it would be a wave after wave of people asking for autographs.

Severus and I ended up talking in the Kitchens. We took our seat at the bench where the Houselves reverently asked me if I needed anything. Once I managed to shoo them off I folded my hands and leaned forward on the table.

"Severus," I stared at him until he made eye contact with me, "we both know I only managed to kill Voldemort because I had a considerable amount of help. Everyone knows James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius were there the day Voldemort died. After graduation I plan on arranging an interview with the Daily Prophet to get out the true story."

"And what does any of this have to do with me," he drawled smoothly with a raised eyebrow.

"We both know you're a part of the true story, Severus. Without you I may have never gotten the diary horcrux from the Malfoy's, and Voldemort would still be at large."

"You plan on telling everyone Voldemort had horcruxes?" He asked curiously.

I sighed tiredly. "I think it would be better if I didn't mention them. For starters I would have to explain how I know about them, and it also might make other people want horcruxes of their own so they can be immortal."

He crossed his arms. "If you don't mention the horcruxes then there's no need to mention me."

"Severus, you deserve recognition," I pleaded. "Why don't you want it?"

"It isn't about want, Palmer. It's about protecting myself," Severus snapped at me. "If the other Death Eaters found out I had a part in our Lords demise they would hunt me down and slaughter me."

I leaned away from the table in shock. "What?"

"Are you so idiotic as to think my actions wouldn't be faced with consequences after the Dark Lord was gone?"

"Well, no, I just figured you wanted people to know you were a part of his downfall," I said defensively.

He sighed roughly through his nose. "The only thing that would do is bring about my own downfall. It would be better for both of us if we pretend I was never involved."

I sighed as well. "Then I suppose there's nothing more for me to say. But," I held up a finger as he stood up, making him pause, "if you ever need help with something feel free to send me a letter. Or if you're having trouble finding a job you can use me for a reference."

Severus looked amused. "I'm grateful. Your name will open many doors." His words were obviously teasing, because he knew how much all of the fame and attention irritated me.

I smiled sarcastically. "Anything for a friend." As he was walking out I stood up from the bench. "Severus?" He stopped right before opening the portrait to turn back to me. "Nobody will know about what you've done, but I'll know. And I'm more grateful than I think you realize."

The seventh year Slytherin nodded sagely before carefully slipping out of the Kitchens.

With our meeting over I could head up to my dorm room. When walking through the common room I made sure to keep my head down and draw as little attention as possible.

My dorm is where I kept all of my fan mail. Every morning since the week of Voldemort's death I received a pile of fan mail. The Marauder's got some as well, but I always managed to get the most. I enjoyed reading them, but after an incident involving a love potion I tried avoiding any letters that looked like it could be a love letter.

Thankfully the event happened while I was with the Marauder's. We always meet in their dorm in Gryffindor tower to open our mail together. James usually got a kick out of the love letters, so I would read them aloud to the group. Some of them were so ridiculous I couldn't help but laugh, while other letters were co calmly persuasive they made Sirius huffy.

Sirius was the main reason I rarely read any of them. He was my boyfriend and didn't deserve to hear how much strangers wanted to date me, and many times even marry me. It just figured that one of the letters would be laced with a love potion.

The boys immediately knew something was wrong with me. Once they figured out what happened they rushed me to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey gave me the antidote. She had to test the letter before figuring out which antidote I needed. Then we had to send a letter to the DMLE because it was against the law to give people love potions.

Naturally the incident made its way into the Daily Prophet. Based off of the article it sounded like the entire magical community was in an uproar over it.

Dumbledore asked me if I wanted him to screen my mail. I politely declined, as the Marauder's and I would be prepared for any more letters. In truth we should've been testing them already, but we learned from our mistakes. Now all five of us try to ignore the love letters entirely.

During finals I finally found respite from all the scrutiny. Everybody was so focused on their tests that they barely looked at me.

Afterwards I waited by the tree next to the Black Lake so I could meet up with the others. Lily found me first, and when she sat down it was with an agitated sigh after dropping her head into her hands.

My eyebrows rose as I set aside the book I'd been reading. "You okay over there?"

"I failed," she moaned. "My potion wasn't the right color!"

"What color was it?"

"It was orange!" She looked at me as if the entire world was ending.

"Lily, the potion was supposed to be orange."

"Yes, yes, but it was a light orange!"

I laughed at her worry, and male laughter joined me. "You worry too much, Lils." James swooped down to give his girlfriend a peck on the cheek. Sirius did the same with me as he dropped onto the ground next to me.

"How did your finals go?" I asked the boys.

They grinned cockily and simultaneously said, "Aced it."

We smacked our respective boyfriends in the chest. They laughed at us, and Sirius caught my arms so he could pull me into his lap.

The four of us sat there in peaceful quiet. I allowed myself to breath freely, and compared the experience to the rimes I graduated high school. "We're graduating in a few days."

Lily nodded. "I know. It's surreal to think about."

"What are we going to do?" I asked all of them.

"Sleep in," Peter commented as he joined us. Shortly followed by Remus.

We all laughed at his answer while nodding in agreement. I ruined the moment by noting, "We all have to get jobs now."

James scoffed, "I don't. I'm going to live off my family fortune for the rest of my life."

Lily immediately glared at him. "James Fleamont Potter, if you think for one moment that I will let you sit around your house and waste away, I will flay you alive and feed you to trolls!"

Our group went silent after Lily's small rant, then Sirius snorted and broke the heavy atmosphere. "No worries, Evans. Prongs and I an on joining the Aurors."

Lily nodded, looking pleased. "I think I'll go for a mastery in charms, maybe potions; and after that I'll have to see. Teaching sounds like it would be nice."

I thought about my goal to become an unspeakable. It seemed impossible considering how unnoticeable they're supposed to be. "I think I'll do the same. Maybe get a masters in Defense or Transfiguration. I don't know how good I would be at teaching."

Sirius threaded our fingers together. "You could be an Auror with us," he suggested. "That would be pretty cool."

I hummed in disagreement. "I don't much fancy the idea of chasing down bad guys. Getting Voldemort was enough to last me a lifetime."

"You'll figure it out, Swift," Remus reassured me. "Peter and I don't know what we want to do either."

The six of us sat by that tree for the rest of the day. We made plans to stay together after leaving Hogwarts. Sirius decided he would stay at the Potter Mansion for one last week before moving in to Fox Manor with me. Our plan made James wiggle his eyebrows and tease us about our flourishing relationship. I just smirked and said, "At least he doesn't still live with his parents."

The teasing made him pout, and it grew deeper when he saw how hard his girlfriend was laughing at him.

May swiftly turned into June, and graduation was upon us. They called us up in alphabetical order to get our diplomas. Everyone wore black robes, with black hats, but the hems of our robes were colored by the main color of our House.

The cheer that went up when my name was called threatened to hurt my ears. After shaking Dumbledore's hand I turned to the student body and waved the diploma in the air while smiling. Whistling and hollers of my name joined the cacophonous noise. It lasted several minutes, even after I returned to my seat.

After the ceremony all of us used the Floo in Dumbledore's office to go to St. Mungos. James' mother apparently caught a case of Dragon Pox. The sickness was usually only seen in children, and it was dangerous for adults who never dealt with the illness as children.

We surrounded the woman's hospital bed; all of us still wearing our graduation robes. I had to keep my distance since I'd never had dragon pox either. I had chicken pox in my previous lives, but they were fairly different.

James' father showed up, and when he saw me we shook hands. As a retired Auror he had to deal with a few cases involving Voldemort. He expressed how grateful he was for defeating him, and then followed up with a scolding for putting myself in danger. A teenager against the most dangerous Dark Lord in history was a stupid thing to do.

After our visit to Lady Potter everybody went their separate ways. When I was in the privacy of my manor I allowed myself to jump for joy. I finally graduated from Hogwarts, and I didn't have to go back. Of course, I would miss the school terribly, but I also couldn't wait to enter the workforce.

The first week alone was spent relaxing with Tasha. The German Shepherd was always happy when I came back home. Her only company during these school mop this came from the elves. I contemplated getting another companion for her, but decided to wait and ask Sirius when moved in.

When Sirius finally came over, he apparated to the gates of the property. He couldn't get closer because the wards prevented it. That allowed me to watch him sprint across the lawn towards where I stood at the front doors.

I called for Mandy to collect his trunk, which helped him run even faster. He didn't slow down at all when he shot up the stairs and rammed into my body. We stumbled into the foyer, and my laughter got cut off when he smashed his lips against mine. He picked me up by the waist while I threaded my fingers through his pitch black hair.

We kissed for several long minutes. Neither of us had to run to class, or worry about grossing out our friends. It didn't lose any of its intensity until we had to part for breath. I sucked in lungfuls of air while Sirius buried his face against my neck.

Unwrapping my legs from around his waist, I couldn't remember when I put them there. "I missed you, too."

I felt his smile on my neck. He placed a quick kiss there before gently putting me down. Now free I could give him a small tour of the manor to remind him of where everything was. My bedroom was last on our stop, and I frowned when I didn't see his trunk.

"Mandy?"

My reliable elf popped into the room. "Yes, Mistress?"

"Where is Sirius' trunk?"

She tilted her head curiously. "Mandy be putting it in the guest bedroom."

"Please bring it in here. We'll be sharing this room." I looked at Sirius.

When she did as I told Sirius smirked roguishly. "Sharing, Ms. Palmer?"

"We are a couple, Mr. Black." I walked further into the room and sighed with fake melancholy. "Unless you'd like to sleep somewhere else?"

"I think not." His arms slipped around my waist from behind me. "In fact, I'd say we go to bed right now."

I yelped in surprise when he pulled us onto the bed. He crawled on top of me and began a slow exploration of my mouth. Carefully dragging our lips against each other's until he boldly nipped my bottom lip. I was more than ready to allow him access when Tasha suddenly jumped onto the bed.

She tackled Sirius' side with happy barks, trying to get him to give her attention. He cursed at the excitable dog and tried pushing her away, but it didn't work. I rolled away from them with a breathless laugh, and I laughed even harder when I heard Sirius call her a "cock blocker."

The dog eventually settled down, but she ended up laying right in between us. I scratched behind her ears while Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. "This reminds me: I wanted to ask you if you wanted to get a dog."

He looked up at me with raised eyebrows. "What? Why ask me?"

I shrugged. "Cause now you live here, too. I was thinking about getting Tasha a friend, since she'd been alone during our seventh year. I suppose now is too late, but we won't be home all the time, so she should have a playmate."

Sirius thoughtfully ran his fingers through Tasha's dark fur. "Yeah, all right. I think it sounds like a brilliant idea."

I smiled excitedly and leaned across my dog to give him a quick kiss. When I pulled away he stared at my lips with a forlorn expression. It made me smile. "Soon, darling. Once we get the kid out of here."

Once I said that Sirius practically kicked poor Tasha off of the bed. I shouted indignantly, upset that he might've hurt my dog, but she ran out of the room with nothing more than an angry bark. He closed the bedroom door, and I huffed at him, "You're a horrible step-dad."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'll work on my parenting skills with the new dog." His clamber onto the bed had little-to-no grace.

When he tried to swoop down for a kiss I pressed my hand against his chest. His annoyed look went ignored. "Okay, but we aren't having kids for a while. Right?" I tilted my head. "Do you want kids?"

Sirius rose both of his eyebrows in surprise. "Little you's and me's running around here? Bloody hell, of course I do!"

The thought actually seemed to turn him in even further, and I narrowed my eyes. "I don't plan on having kids unless we're married, and we aren't getting married for a while."

He nodded. "Fair enough. Now can we please–"

I happily interrupted whatever he wanted to say next by surging forwards and claiming his mouth with mine. Our conversation left me very happy with our stance on our relationship.

Of course, leave it to James to propose around a year and a half later. We all went to a nice restaurant on the anniversary of Voldemort's death. He stood up to make a toast to the table, and at the end he got down on one knee to propose to Lily. As we all suspected she said yes. They loved each other so much it would be baffling if she refused.

Whatever the lead Marauder does, the second-in-command is sure to follow. I'd seen the look on his face after the newly engaged couple retook their seats. The look of contemplation paired with determination. I pretended not to see it, but I knew I'd say yes no matter when or how he asked me.

Kids, on the other hand, were another matter. They were a responsibility I wanted to wait on.

When James and Lily had little Harry James Potter, Sirius looked ready to melt. One look into baby Harry's eyes, green like his mother's, and Sirius was wrapped around his little fingers. That's not to say none of us weren't wrapped around his finger. The baby was already being spoiled rotten no matter how much Lily and I argued with our husbands.

Three months after baby Harry's first birthday Lily happily announced her second pregnancy. This time all of us heard the news at the same time, and we all had the pleasure of seeing James fall into a dead faint.

Sirius got the familiar look of determination, and I knew he would bring up the subject of children within the following days. My physical age was only 21, and I didn't know if I felt ready to have kids.

Leave it to Sirius to sweet talk me into giving it a try, because two months after my twenty-second birthday I hired a private healer to check me over. Lo' and behold I was pregnant. I waited for Sirius to get home from his Auror job before telling him. As I knew he would be he was over the moon when he heard the news.

We immediately flooed to Potter Manor. James and Lily moved in after his parents passed away. We found James entertaining Harry with small magic tricks. The almost two-year-old, just reaching twenty three months, took his first steps not that long ago. Lily sat on an armchair with their two month old son cradled to her chest. The healthy baby boy was named Auberon Quincy Potter.

Lily knew I was pregnant before we even said anything. She beamed at me as soon as she saw our excited expressions, and offered her congratulations. James didn't know until we outright told him, and the young father immediately congratulated his friend. We let them go off to get Peter and Remus to go our for celebratory drinks.

As I sat there in Potter Manor, watching Lily interact with her two children, I couldn't help but think of how perfect everything turned out to be. My hand moved to my abdomen without me realizing, and it made me smile. I couldn't have asked for anything better.