This is the final chapter to this story. I'm sorry that it took so long. At first I couldn't figure out how to begin the end, ha. And then I got sick, so that factored into it. Even later I got a beta, and so had to send all my chapters to her. This chapter is currently un-betad, but I really wanted to get this out there for you.

This chapter has 6,417 words. I'm very proud of myself for finally finishing a story (something I'm notoriously known for not being able to do, ha!).

I want to thank every single one of my reviewers for making this chapter possibe! Thank you so much for staying with me, and please enjoy!

Lily entered her seventh year of Hogwarts a confident young woman. She was excited for her NEWT's, excited that this year was her last-freedom from her parents!-and she was excited because how well she did in her last year would ultimately affect any jobs or career choices in her future.

Yet beneath all this excitement was also a feeling of dread and what she suspected was fear. She was dreading leaving Severus and she was afraid of life after school. What would her life hold in store for her once she graduated? Wouldshe be able to go on to get her Potions Master degree? What if she wasn't good enough? What if all this was for naught?

Many questions such as these poked and prodded at Lily as she lay in bed at night. They were hard to push away when she dreamed of scenarios involving her not being good enough for a potions master to apprentice; nightmares in which she never graduated Hogwarts (one such nightmare was sweetened by the appearance of Severus).

This feeling persisted in the days leading into her school year.

The years sorting was interesting-many first years had been sorted into Slytherin and Hufflepuff, with only a fourth being sorted into Gryffindor. There had only been 12 students sorted into Ravenclaw, making the Ravenclaw house seem small.

Lily had watched as her own table filled up. She had to make room by scooting almost to the end of the table. Several first years sat down next to her and Lysander, even though they had made room for enough first years to settle as far as midway.

It was insane and Lily wondered why there were so many first years. She had glanced at Hufflepuff and saw they weren't off any better. There table was completely full.

Dinner started shortly after the Sorting Ceremony and Lily talked to Lysander about her summer, especially with the experimental pot.

Lysander had seemed surprised but expressed his own interest in the herb, and Lily promised to share with him when her brother had finally managed to owl her a large amount.

"How large are we talking?" Lysander asked, shaking his shaggy blonde hair out of his blue eyes.

"I'm...not entirely sure, actually. I expressed interest in using a bit in my potions. I'm not even entirely sure if I would be allowed to use it on school grounds. If that's the case, I'll have to find somewhere in Hogsmeade to do it."

Lysander gaped at Lily. Lily flipped her long dark red hair over her shoulder, and smiled brilliantly.

"Lys-I want to become a Potions Master. I want to do something with potions that could help people. There are experimental potions I want to try out and perfect. I doubt the making will be dangerous-Cannabis is really safe as is. Don't worry about it," she added, lifting several forkfuls off mashed potatoes to her mouth.

"I'll let you know when the stuff comes in, either way."

Lysander had nodded and sat silently eating his dinner for several minutes before launching into an extremely hilarious and rather long winded story of his mother went off hunting for non-existent magical creatures.

Lily had always done well in school. Yet she had never actually enjoyed going to her classes. Sure, she enjoyed getting good grades and being praised for her hard work. But that was just it-it was always hard work.

Lily had to work hard at her studies because she had never truly been interested in any of them, aside from Potions and Herbology.

Her NEWT level classes were nothing like the boring standard ones she had taken near all her life at at Hogwarts. They were fast paced, lot's of brewing when it came to Potions, lots of discussion and experimenting with seeding and plant life in Herbology.

When it came to Charms, things were a bit slower, but much more complex. Where Slughorn had been instated to teach both Basic and Advanced Potions, Professor Flitwick had not been chosen to teach Advanced Charms.

A tall brunette by the name of Professor Liggins was teaching. Lily vaguely remembered seeing her maybe a few times in the halls during her prior years, but had never really noticed her before.

The class was difficult, yet extremely satisfying.

Lily's days were filled mostly with studying with Lysander, classes, and the occasional visit with Severus. As the days went on, she felt the need to see Severus more and more.

One evening, about two months after school had started, Lily decided she was going to see him after dinner.

She ate dinner in a hurry. Lysander, who had been sitting next to her, asked if she wanted to meet up in library after dinner for studying.

"No thanks," she replied, shoveling food into her mouth. The Weasley genes seemed to be most prevalent in her when it came to food.

Lysander had asked her something after that, but Lily had really listened and instead left the table as soon as she was full.

"Sorry," she said absentmindedly, shooting him a weak smile as she stood up. "Maybe tomorrow? See ya!"

Lily was down at the boathouses in record time, and Severus appeared almost instantly. She dropped her bag onto the wet boards with a thud, her breathing ragged from running through the halls.

"What-" Severus started, eyeing her appearance. He seemed somewhat alarmed.

"It's nothing," she said breathlessly, walking towards him. She put her hand out and stroked it through his form.

"I..I just wanted to see you, is all. Feels like it's been forever...can-I mean. Shrieking Shack tonight? Maybe?"

Lily felt her face become hot with her propositioning.

"I wish I could actually touch you," she muttered before lifting up and pecking the cold form of his face. Severus himself tried to touch her heated face, and it several affects on her body, the first being that it cooled her down.

The second affect lit her nether regions on fire with want. Lily's heart jumped in her chest, and she gave a weak shiver. She opened her eyes, wondering when she had closed them. Severus was staring at her intently, nostrils flaring.

Lily wanted so badly to kiss him. She almost attempted to, but caught herself. Lily forced her legs to take a step back, lowering her gaze to the floor. She took several short breaths before looking back up at the see-through form of the man in front of her.

He was staring at her heavily, eyes dark. His hands were clenched tightly into fists, back ramrod straight.

"Erm," Lily said, blushing. She didn't know it was actually possible to rile Severus up while he was intangible. She had never managed to do so before, and wondered what exactly was causing his reaction.

Lily giggled out of nervousness and then asked in a hopeful tone, "Soo..tonight, then? After curfew, I mean? I have to wait for everyone to..."

Severus nodded stiffly, saying nothing. Lily gulped and grinned involuntarily-she hadn't felt this excited in a while.

"Okay, cool," she responded lamely, feeling like she was in Third year once more. He just continued to stare her down, mouth open just the tiniest bit.

"I've, er, gotta go back to-to the common room now," she giggled out, taking a step back and Severus smirked as she did so. It gave her butterflies.

"Until then, Potter," he spoke, finally, and Lily darted out, laughing as she did. She wasn't quite sure why she was acting so giggly and awkward, but she found she sort of liked the way her heart was thumping in her chest.

Lysander ended up not letting her out of his sight nearly all night. Lily had stuffed the Invisibilty Cloak in her bag, planning to take it out once everyone had left the common room. Yet Lysander, who had caught her reading up on her Advanced Potions book, had sat down next to her on the couch and offered to help her study. Lily had screamed inwardly-she loved Lysander, he was a great friend, really. But she was not in any mood to be kept waiting for Severus, even for Lysander.

But she said none of this, only smiled weakly and shifted the book so it was lying in both their laps. Lysander decided to quiz her after sometime and they separated to opposite ends of the couch. He threw questions at her until nearly 1:00, and finally Lily yawned.

Lysander seemed surprised at the time after glancing at his watch.

"Oh, damn! Sorry Lily, you know how I am about studying!" he exclaimed, grinning with embarassment.

"Why didn't you say anything? I would have stopped, you know!" he then said, standing up and closing the book.

He handed it to Lily, whose response was to shrug and say, "I didn't want to be rude. Besides, I always like to study with you, Lys. It's easy, and I dunno...it feels comfortable."

Lysander was now scratching the back of his head, cheeks pink and a lopsided grin on his face. Lily raised an eyebrow before standing up, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

Lysander's face wasn't quite so pink anymore, and he was now just smiling at her.

"Okay...well," she said, turning towards the staircase. She planned on throwing the cloak on as soon as she was within her dorm.

Lysander stuttered out something that sounded like a goodnight, which Lily responded to with a smile and a small wave.

She then hurried up the stairs to get ready.

When she finally arrived at the Shrieking Shack it was nearly 1:30, and Lily hoped Severus didn't think she had forgotten.

She strode quickly up the stairs, ripping the cloak off of her halfway down the hall, before turning into the room.

Severus was standing there, leaning against the wall. He seemed to be in pain, but as soon as he spotted Lily hovering in the doorway all signs of pain disappeared.

He was in front of her within seconds, and suddenly Lily felt very embarassed. She blushed and grinned and looked at the floor before telling him why she was so late.

When she was finished and she had received no reply, Lily turned her face upwards at Severus who was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, wondering if it were to late.

Severus shook his head slowly, before reaching out and cupping her face. Lily smiled gently and closed her eyes, turning her face into his palm. She kissed his calloused hand, and with her eyes still closed, reached out and grasped the rough material of his clothing.

Lily opened her eyes, face flushed and eyes bright. Severus brought his other hand up to rest on her waist.

"You-" he started gruffly. But instead of finishing his sentence he leaned in and kissed her.

Lily sighed as they kissed. The feeling he ignited in her whenever he touched her was magnificent. She couldn't get enough and pushed him forward a bit so she could walk fully into the room.

They broke off for a moment, just so Lily could close the door behind them.

"I doubt anyone will come up here, Potter," he murmured, pushing her back against the now closed door. Lily almost retorted but decided against it when Severus captured her earlobe in his mouth.

They lost themselves in one another that night.

The year progressed rapidly-Halloween was almost a blur, mostly due to the amount of Firewhiskey she drank at the Slytherin party held in their common room. The morning after that fiasco was confusing and hellish.

Confusing because she woke up on top of Lysander; hellish because she had to go to classes. As soon as she had seen the position she had woken up in, Lily had jumped up.

That was a bad idea, she found out nearly three seconds later as her stomach tried desperately to climb up her throat.

"Ohhh, fuuuck..." she groaned and slid down to the floor. Lysander, still passed out on the couch behind her, didn't stir. Lily grasped her head in both hands and rested her elbows on her knees.

Several minutes later, Lily finally raised her head up and brought her elbow back to dig into Lysanders leg.

"Lys...Lysander! Wake up..." she croaked, elbowing her friend as hard as possible.

Lysander snorted and grunted before raising his head up off the couch.

"Waz gone on...what happened?" he mumbled, eyes squinted against the firelight.

Lily turned to look over her shoulder and blurted out, "Why was I on top of you?"

Lysander at first didn't react, his head having returned to it's previous position.

"Oh Merlin," he ground out, grimacing.

"I'm never touching Firewhiskey again," he muttered, slowly bringing himself into a sitting position.

"Why was I on top of you?" Lily repeated, this time with much more urgency. The thought that she could have done something, anything, with a man who wasn't Severus...well. It scared her more than she cared to admit.

Lysander, whose eyes were closed, shook his head. His brow was creased in confusion.

"That's a pretty good question there, Lils," he finally responded, running a hand through his hair.

"Last thing I remember was trying to get you to your room...maybe we passed out before that happened. You hungry at all?"

Lily grimaced but stood up slowly with Lysander steadying himself with a hand on her shoulder.

They staggered to the exit, and both had to take a breather before exiting.

It felt like it had been decades since they left the common room, but they finally made it to the Great Hall. There were a fair amount of fourth years and below, but Lily noted that most of the older students had yet to make it down yet.

"Seems we're not the only ones who had a good time last night," Lysander muttered, making for the Slytherin table. He sat down slowly, resting his elbows upon the table and head in his hands.

Lily basically mimicked Lysander, with the exception of covering her whole face.

"Fuck," she groaned out, grabbing her head.

"That's what I'm screamin'," Lysander replied bringing one hand down heavily upon the table in front of them. Lily took a deep breath and reached for a plate half-heartedly, putting some toast and jam on her plate.

A pumpkin juice appeared on the table in front of her and Lily eyed it distastefully, but picked it up and sipped it anyways.

She was pleasantly surprised to feel her mental fog clear up a bit, and her stomach start to feel less like a tornado. She instantly recognized the effects of a Pepper Up Potion.

"Drink the pumpkin juice, Lys, there's Pepper Up in it," she mumbled before taking a larger drink.

Lysander did as she said, but Lily paid him no mind as her Weasley genes kicked in. She suddenly found herself ravenous, and filled her plate up to the brim.

Lysander looked on in disgust as Lily scarfed the food on her plate down.

The day after Halloween happened to be a Saturday, and so Lily left Lysander after breakfast to visit the boathouse. Severus was not there when she entered, but appeared several minutes after she had slipped her shoes and socks off, dipping her feet into the water.

"Potter," he said in acknowledgement, and Lily gave him a small smile. His throat looked exceedingly bloody today.

"Hey," she replied, watching as he sat down against the wall. The position he took up reminded her so much of the way he looked that day at the Shrieking Shack, when she stumbled upon his form.

"You look...tired," Severus stated as he eyed Lily, who yawned as if proving his point. Lily nodded and brought her feet up out of the water, crawling over to where Severus was lying.

"Halloween party last night...I had a little to much fun..." And woke up with Lysander, she thought. Her heart jumped in her chest at the memory of waking up on top of her long time friend.

Severus only nodded, saying nothing. Lily talked of the party, her classes and how much she missed him. She talked enough for the both of them.

Sometime around midday, Lily had stopped talking. Her and Severus had been exchanging ghostly kisses. They weren't true kisses, but Lily didn't care. The icy cold feeling on her mouth left her lips tingling.

It was on this day, a bright Saturday on November 1st, that Lily and Severus were finally discovered.

Lysander had borrowed the Marauders Map from Lily a week earlier. Once he had recovered from his hangover, he opened that map and instantly spotted Lily on the grounds outside, by herself.

Lysander Scamander had always been raised to treat women right and be there for his friends. And so, thinking Lily was lonely, he traveled outside and to the boathouses, where Lily's dot was wavering on the page.

He was surprised though, when he heard Lily's voice. Even more surprised when he heard the voice of another male.

Concerned and a bit confused, Lysander walked into the boathouse-and saw Lily sitting next to a man. Not only sitting, but leaning in as if she was about to kiss him. He tried to say something, but the breath seemed to have been sucked out of his lungs.

He watched as their lips met, and the man raised his hand to cup her face-but his hand went through her.

Lysander pushed his back up against the outer wall of the boathouse, his mind reeling.

So this is where Lily had been all through school. Why Albus had gotten so mad at her all those years ago.

Down here, with this ghost. They were obviously involved...but for how long had they been doing this? And furthermore, how was something like this even possible?

Lysander heard muffled voices and peeked back into the room. Lily was now standing. The ghost was also standing, and Lily was looking up into his face with a smile. She was positively glowing.

Lysander felt something tear at his chest and he took off for the castle. She would never look at him like that. He would never make her look that happy. He had loved Lily since nearly 5th year.

He decided to wait for her to come back from the boathouse. He needed to know what was going on. And maybe, he thought, he would tell her how he felt.

Lily did eventually come back, just before dinner. Lysander had mumbled a hello, and handed her back the Marauders Map. Lily thanked him and started off for the Great Hall.

All through dinner, Lysander tried to ask what she had been doing, trying to kiss a dead man. But he never got a chance.

Finally, when they were walking back to the common room, Lysander couldn't hold back anymore. He stopped walking, and grabbed Lily's hand.

"What's up?" she asked, looking over her shoulder back at him. Lysander's eyes darted between his hand holding hers and her green eyes.

Finally he said, "I saw you at the boathouse today."

Lily opened her mouth as if to say something, seemed to think better of it and closed her mouth again.

She turned full to face Lysander and stepped closer to him. He didn't let go of her hand.

"I...saw you on the map. And decided to go down and keep you company. And I...I saw. I saw him and you. Together."

Lily's face paled before violently turning red.

"H-how much did you see?" she asked, her voice wavering. Lysander stared into her eyes, his heart aching.

"I saw enough," he responded simply, squeezing her hand tightly. Lily worried her bottom lip with her teeth, her hand clenching and unclenching into a fist at her side.

"So then, you know he's not...not alive, right? He's a ghost." Her voice was sad.

Lysander nodded,

"Lily, whats going on with you? Why couldn't you have told me about this...this mystery guy? I thought we were friends!"

"We are friends, Lys! I just...do you have any idea how hard and ridiculous I would've sounded if I told anyone, let alone you? I love him, Lysander! And I don't care that he's a ghost!"

Lysander was string at her hand, still resting in his.

"Lily...I-I love you. I have for a long time, now. It would've been much better if you had told me from the beginning. Here I was, thinking there might be a chance between us! I waited all these years, and for what? For you to fall in love with a fucking ghost? A dead man?"

Lysander now found himself angry and let go of Lily's hand. She herself was staring at Lysander with wide eyes

"Y-you love me?" she squeeked out, before clearing her throat.

"Who is he? Rather, who was he?"

Lily bit her lip again, this time lowering her gaze to the floor.

"He's...Severus Snape," she muttered.

If Lysander had been at all confused beforehand, he was now flabbergasted. Of course Lysander knew about Severus Snape; his father talked very highly of the man. Albus was named after the guy, too.

"The Severus Snape?" Lysander asked, trying to confirm whether or not he had heard correctly.

Lily nodded.

"He thought I was my grandmother the first time we met. I always meant to tell you guys! But there was never a chance! I had just met him, I didn't want to bring so many new people around him. I didn't want to scare him off...he acted like he didn't like me when we first met..."

Lily trailed off, her eyes seeming to plead with Lysander.

"I want to meet him," Lysander said quietly. He wasn't sure why he wanted to meet him, but he was tired of Lily sneaking around.

Lily nodded, before grabbing Lysander into gruff hug.

Lysander did not return the hug.

November rolled around, in all it's wet and cold glory. Lily had made excuse after excuse as to why Lysander wasn't allowed to meet Severus, until finally Lysander gave her an ultimatum.

"We can either be continue being friends and I get to meet him, or we can stop being friends and I owl Albus and your parents about this...relationship." It seemed almost like he was in pain when he said the word 'relationship'.

Lily had finally relented and had taken him with her one night to the Shrieking Shack, which Lysander was confused about initially.

When they finally made it to the house, Lysander found himself nervous.

"Okay," Lily said, letting out a huge sigh.

"We are here, because this is where Severus is in physical form. I don't know why this spot makes him coalesce physically; he doesn't know either. We just know that this is where we can actually touch eachother-"

"Okay!" Lysander said loudly, grimacing.

"For the love of Merlin, do not continue that sentence. Just lead the damn way, please," he mumbled, cheeks turning red. He wondered what she meant by 'physical form'. Lily didn't notice his reaction, instead turning to lead the way like he had asked.

When they came upon the room, Lily stopped him and told him to wait outside. Lysander agreed to it, wondering what the hell he had been thinking when he had told Lily that he wanted to meet this ghost.

After a couple of minutes, Lily peeked her head out the door and nodded at him to come in.

Lysander did so, bracing himself.

The first thing he saw was...nothing. Blackness enveloped most of the room, which had an old beaten up couch in the middle of the dusty and old wooden floorboards. Far across the way from the couch was a wall with large bay styled windows. He caught just the barest glimpse out the windows of the grounds that the house sat on.

"Well?" he asked, staring around the room.

"Where is this guy?"

Lily turned towards the darkest part of the room, and Lysander almost shit himself when the ghost stepped out of the shadows. He did not go any further than the edge of the shadows, however.

He did indeed look less grayed and more solid, Lysander thought to himself as he eyed the man before him. Now that he was more solid and more in his line of sight, Lysander could see that Severus was bleeding heavily from his neck.

"What happened here?" he asked brazenly, gesturing to his neck. Severus narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring.

"Lysander!" Lily chided, nervously glancing at Severus.

"I'm sure you've heard of the Dark Lord," Severus drawled. Lysander nodded slowly, watching as the man before him took several steps forward.

"His...familiar, Nagini. A giant snake, the length of this room and nearly the size of that couch there. She delivered the killing blow. The Dark Lord always was one for theatrics."

Lysander studied the wound carefully, before looking back into the tall mans eyes.

"I'm sorry," Lysander said, meaning it. "I'm sure it was very painful to endure."

They stood there in silence for several seconds, Lily bouncing from foot to foot, biting at her nails. A habit Lysander hadn't seen her participate in since she was a first year.

"My...my father, s-sir. He speaks very highly of you," Lysander admitted. Anything to break the awkward tension that was mounting.

"Your father," Severus repeated, turning his gaze to Lily.

"Please tell me he's not another bloody Malfoy."

Lysander grinned at the ghost and shook his head frantically.

"No, sir! No, no. My mother is Luna Lovegood-Scamander. My father says you were one of the best heads of house Slytherin had!"

Severus seemed surprised at this and lifted an eyebrow.

"Scamander...married a Lovegood? Thank Merlin I'm dead." His voice was dry, and the humor almost undetectable.

Lysander outright laughed at that one, and Lily felt her thudding heart slow down. She had been so nervous about this meeting that she had arranged. As if Lysander had been her father and she was finally introducing her boyfriend to him.

They all three chatted (Severus deigned to stay out of most of it, listening instead and offering up his opinion once in a while) for some time in that room, before Lysander decided he was going to go.

"I'll be right back," he heard Lily say as he left the room.

Lily came out the room after him, giving him a huge smile.

"He's not so bad?" she asked, and Lysander begrudgingly shook his head.

"He's not so bad," he replied, parroting her.

"I just...Merlin, Lily. I really really wish you had told me about this guy before I fell for you. What are you going to do when we graduate?"

Lily smiled coyly, before asking him why he thought she decided to major in Potions. It all made sense then, and Lysander sadly shook his head.

"Lily," he murmured, placing his hands gently upon her shoulders.

"You can't be with him forever. It's not possible. Eventually he's going to move on to the next life. You're going to have move on with the rest of your life. You can't-you can't do this. But," he added before she had a chance to say anything.

"But, I support...whatever this is. I've never seen anyone make you smile the way he does. I've never seen you glow. I'll never be able to make you feel the way he does. It hurts, but I'm more happy that you're happy."

He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and Lily took in a sharp breath involuntarily.

"I'll see you tonight...or tomorrow. Whichever. Goodnight Lils. And thanks. For letting me in, that is."

December came, and Lily realized how close both her and Severus were to their relationship ending. Lysander continued to act as one of her closest and really only friend. They spoke of Christmas and classes, gifts and money. What they each wanted; what they were going to get their other friends and family.

They said nothing of Lysanders confession, nor of the coming graduation. Not of Lily's fear of losing the only person she had truly ever fallen for; not of Lysanders hope that one day Lily may be his.

They spoke of ordinary things, and the month progressed on.

Christmas hols were spent with her family. She received a new cauldron, one of the highest quality available.

Scorpius and Rose also announced that they were engaged, causing Lily's uncle Ron to go beet colored. Harry rushed him out of the room at the earliest opportunity.

The rest of the family was equally excited and concerned. Had she met Scorpius' parents yet? ("Yes, mum,") Did they like her? ("Yes, mum.") Did she like his parents? ("YES, mum,") Was she prepared to get married? She wasn't pregnant was she? ("YES, MUM, I'm prepared to get married!" and "Why would you ask that?! I thought you'd be happy!")

Lily had to seperate herself away from the main group for a while. She went up to James' old room and climbed out onto the roof, staring at the stars.

She wondered if he was sitting in the Shack, looking at the stars as well.

James showed up a day after Christmas Eve, Reggie in tow. Reggie came bearing gifts for everyone. No one was more excited than Lily's grandpa Arthur, whom Reggie had bought several American muggle gifts-one such gift being a disassembled muggle clock. It even came with instructions on how to assemble it.

Arthur declared to the whole room that James had his approval to marry this woman. Reggie blushed profusely.

Lily also received some money from James and Reggie. He then winked and said in a whisper, "Don't worry, sis, we have more presents for you. Ones that you shouldn't open here!"

Lily had nodded, and nearly four hours later received the most beautifully blown glass pipe along with a new bag of marijuana. They were in James room once again, and Lily felt a wave of deja vu hit her.

"That bowl has an unbreakable charm on it," James bragged excitedly, and then dropped it on the hardwood to make a point. Lily grinned widely and picked it back up. Not a scratch was on it.

"It's also been charmed to be smokeless and odorless-no more worry about being caught!" He then grabbed the bag of weed he had given his sister and opened it, inhaling the smell that came from the bag.

"Ahh! Nothin' like fresh green!" he said, breaking some up into the bowl. Lily's mouth watered in anticipation.

"They call this stuff A New Beginning. Pretty strong shit," he added, passing the packed bowl to Lily.

"It's your present. You spark it," James murmured, before putting his arm around his little sister and squeezing her tight against his side.

"I miss you, sis," he muttered, cheeks pink. Lily smiled up at her big brother and lit the bowl with her wand.

James and Reggie stayed all Christmas and even into New Years. Albus came home from his school a couple days after James had and all three siblings, along with Reggie, Scorpius and Rose, all got wasted off a bottle of Firewhiskey that Albus had brought.

Lily drunkenly declared this year to be a success, right before expelling the contents of her stomach off the edge of James roof.

She wasn't sure how she got to bed that night.

The happiest holiday yet ended all to quickly for her. She almost cried as James left for a new semester of college. Reggie and James both told her to write if she needed more of A New Beginning. Albus left the same day James and Reggie had, along with Scorpius and Rose leaving later that evening.

Lily was left with just two days to do some schoolwork.

The year was going by much faster than Lily would have liked.

She received an owl the day before school started up again. It was from Lysander, and the owl came bearing to gifts. One small, and a much larger one.

She opened the largest one first, and felt very touched when she saw it was a new edition of Experimental Potions and How To Brew Them (A Guide For Not Getting Your Face Melted Off), by Jeremiah Wickers.

The second, much smaller present held a necklace. The chain was thin and silver, with a small snake dangling from the end.

Again, Lily felt touched and smiled as she gently caressed the small snake pendant. It's eyes held dark red, almost black, rubies.

She sent her gift for Lysander back with the owl. She also scribbled out a note, thanking him for the gifts and apologizing for hers not being as grand as his to her had been.

Lily had then put the necklace on, and gone to bed.

She returned to the school the next evening. Lysander saw the necklace about her neck and had smiled.

January. Cold, cold January. Lily did not see Severus all of January, due to the snow. It only meant more schoolwork for the students.

Lily and Lysander took this time to get as much as they could done for their end of the year Charms project.

"I know that right now this is very annoying and frustrating to deal with," Lily grunted, dropping a large stack of books onto the table her group was seated at.

"But if we get most of this crap out of the way now, then we won't have to deal with scrambling for minute details later! You guys will thank me at the end of the year," she added before plopping down next to Lysander.

They set to work and almost finished their project before the end of the night.

February came and with it, Valentines Day. Both Lily and Lysander avoided the Great Hall that morning, missing breakfast. Neither wanted much to deal with silly cupids and the chance that one of them would be slipped a love potion. So they skived off, and visited Severus at the boathouse.

Lysander, although he was now much more accepting of the Lily and Severus duo, still felt apprehensive about going down to visit the ghost. He felt like a third wheel most of the time.

He never stayed more than a couple hours, knowing in his heart that Lily wanted to be alone with her...lover. Whatever he was.

Lysander tried not to dwell on it to much.

The rest of the year seemed to fly by. It was May, all of a sudden. Lily felt the trepidation in her chest, anticipating the day that she would have to leave Severus. She was excited about going to study for her Potions Master degree.

But she was equally just as saddened about having to leave the man she loved.

Lysander knew she was excited, upset, happy and sad all at once. He didn't know how to comfort her, and instead of trying to do what he wanted most, he left her alone.

Alone with Severus.

It was the most he could do.

The end of the year Charms project was a success, and each member of the group received an Outstanding. Lily was ecstatic, but disappeared soon after class ended. Lysander knew where she had gone.

The closer the end of the year approached, the less Lysander saw of his friend. It seemed like the only times he ever saw Lily was during breakfast, classes and (occaisonally) dinner. She no longer seemed to care about food, which struck Lysander as odd.

She was a Weasley, after all. Even if her last name ended with Potter.

They graduated and Lysander watched as Lily put on a brave face at the ceremony. She received her certificate of graduation with smiles and waves to her family. She took being hugged and congratulated with smile and nods, with laughter and kisses on the cheek.

But when she looked at Lysander, he saw nothing but fear. Fear, regret. Maybe a bit of anger.

While the graduation took place two days before school officially ended, students who graduated were still required to spend the last two days at school. They had no classes, no supervision. They were free adults and the professors treated them as such.

Lily was no where to be seen that night, nor the next.

When she finally appeared, ashen faced and ready to leave school, essentially forever, Lysander felt his heart break in sympathy for his best friend.

It turned out that both Lily and Lysander were accepted to the same training for potions and herbology. The place they were to go to was unknown. All they knew was that they had to make the journey by broom halfway there and walk the rest on foot. The place they were supposed to go was a village and had long been kept secret by a series of Secret Keepers.

Lily packed her belongings in a giant trunk-enough clothing and books and knicknacks to last her the trip. No one was sure how long the journey would take. She owled James before her trip was to take place and received an owl back from him in the early hours of the morning the next day.

He had sent her her largest bag of cannabis yet, and Lily had smiled before placing it in her trunk.

She sighed as she sat down on her bed in her old room. She already missed Severus. She knew she would be missing him for a long time, too.

She pushed the thought of him out of her mind, reminding herself that she was going away so she could come back to Severus at some point.

She just didn't know when that point was.

Lily and Lysander met up at her house the next evening. Lily said goodbye to her family members, who gave her many provisions-food cooked by her mother and aunts, and one of her favorite dishes that had been tripled so as to last for several months, perhaps even a year.

"Owl me when you get a chance?" her mother sniffed before kissing her daughter on the forehead.

Lily nodded and hugged her mother before walking back over to where Lysander was. He placed the food gently into his trunk and shrunk it down. Then he threw one of his legs over his broom, and Lily did the same.

"I love you guys," Lily said, smiling at her family members. They said goodbye once more.

With a nod at her long time friend, both Lily and Lysander soared up into the cold early morning sky.

Lily did not look back.

There WILL be a sequel!