Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters that are in the Harry Potter books. J. K. Rowling does, like everyone already knows.
Author's Note: Thanks to ellieo, sugur-huny-bun, Brilover, Holly-Short-Evans, Harry and Ginny 4eva, MagikMischiefMaker, Percephone, babi-gurl8907, Faith Forever in Harry, Lady Vampyre, Idancer, evahyoung, Chelles, -Scp-, i-LuV-cHaRmEd18, xxquidditchjunkiexx, Fiery Flower, Hollabulooooooooo, Gilmoregirl7878, Sue, bluejeanmistress, i luv Daniel, x0x-Mystique-x0x, Shelby, LaughingManiac, Precious421, wizemunkee006, Rosey, banny, Miss Myrtle360, famousindafuture, phantom girl 759, Snowflake Prongsette, xXfiRePhoEnixXx, lily and james xoxo, LilyandJamesLover, and Katie for reviewing! You are all incredible!
Hours after Dumbledore left, James found himself back in Lily's room. She still hadn't woken up yet, nor was she expected to until very early tomorrow morning. James looked down at his watch, it was now 7:30 p.m., and the doctors suspected that Lily would wake up at around 2:00 in the morning. He felt his heart sank a bit, not wanting to wait any longer to hold Lily in his arms and tell her how much he cared about her.
Gently, he took Lily's hand in his own. Her skin was as smooth as it always had been; her touch the same touch that he could clearly remember waking up to. James shut his eyes and the memories that he and Lily shared together came rushing to his mind.
He could perfectly vision Lily's sweet face, her smile, her eyes, her hair, everything. With just the touch of her limp, resting hand in his, he could feel and see his favorite look of Lily's, the look that told him she cared about him, without needing any words. It was the look where her eyes seemed to clearly sparkle, not the sparkle that people use to over-exaggerate things, but truly sparkle. It was as if a light was in her eyes, one that only appeared when they were together. Her lips were always smiling, not a fake, toothy grin, but a genuine, beautiful smile. Her face was always soft too, not only in texture, but in her expression as well. Her face was always inviting, as if she wanted to share herself with him forever.
When James opened his eyes, Lily's sweet memorable face flooded away from him and he was left with the gloomy hospital setting to admire. He glanced out the window and saw that the sun had fully set and the midnight sky was overhead.
He turned his attention back toward the slumbering woman in front of him. He watched as she took each breath, her chest slowly moving up and down. He placed her hand back into its former position and moved his own hand back toward her face. He traced the outline of her lips, cheeks, forehead with his fingers, wanting to absorb everything about her.
Slumping back into his chair, he gazed at Lily for quite sometime before the words of Albus Dumbledore reentered his mind. The Hemming saved Lily's life. If it wasn't for the Hemming, James would never have known to rescue Lily, it wasn't for the Hemming, Lily would have been murdered.
As James stared intently at her, he wondered what it was that Lily was destined to do that would have made such a creature interfere with what should have happened. Was she going to make a life-altering discovery? Was she going to make a difference in the war against Voldermort?
What intrigued James the most, however, was the puzzling suggestion that Dumbledore made: her future children, or as Dumbledore actually said, both James and Lily's children. Was it possible that he could be the father of an outstanding wizard that would change the society as they knew it? Was it possible that his child would make a large impact in the world, one so great that a Hemming would be involved?
He wasn't able to answer those questions though, or even think about them any longer. For at that moment, he heard a gentle knock on the door followed by Carina's voice, "James, are you in there?"
James instantly got to his feet, and before opening the door, took one last glance over at Lily. He then refocused his attention on the door and opened it. "Hey Carina."
"Hi, um, Sirius Black is in the waiting room. He said he'd really like to talk to you," she informed him.
James was shocked to hear this. True, Sirius was his best friend, and true, best friends were known to be there to support their friends whenever needed, but James hadn't expected this at all. For starters, James wondered how Sirius even knew about Lily or where to find him. Secondly, James knew for a fact that Lily and Sirius didn't get along very well at all. In fact, they rather detested each other. Why would Sirius be here?
Carina could easily see James's emotion written on his face and said, "I was surprised to see him down there too."
"Why didn't he just come up?"
"I don't know, my guess is that he wasn't sure if Lily would want to even see him," Carina replied, and a few seconds later added, "But when he saw me, he asked if I had seen you at all. When I said you were probably up in Lily's room, he got kind of squeamish, so I volunteered to come up and find you…Besides, you've been hogging Lily, and its my turn to visit her."
James smiled at Carina's last comment. Not only was it completely true, but the way she said it reminded him that Lily was okay and was going to be okay.
"Well, I better get down there and see what Sirius wants," James said and then proceeded to make his way down the long hallways and into the waiting room.
The first thing that James noticed when he got down there was Sirius standing by the door. He had his usual outfit on, loose jeans, a t-shirt and topped with a black, leather jacket. However, in his hands, he held a bouquet of flowers; bright yellow daisies.
"Hey Sirius," James said as he approached his friend.
"Hey," he responded, "how're you holding up?"
"I'm okay," James answered, and then asked, "Despite this being a hospital, they've got pretty good coffee in the cafeteria, you want to go down there?"
"Sure," Sirius replied and the two men made their way down another two flights of stairs toward the cafeteria.
Once they were both seated and each had a steaming cup of coffee resting on the table in front of them, Sirius asked, "Are you really okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"James, I've been your best friend since the first day at Hogwarts, don't lie to me," Sirius said, making sure that James knew how sincere he was being.
He looked up at his friend and shut his eyes to push back the tears. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."
"You really love her, don't you," Sirius stated, as if he had seen Lily and James interact with each other constantly, yet never saw the connection until now.
James just stared at his friend, unsure what to say. He knew he loved Lily, had known it since Hogwarts, but it had never been said before. He never told Lily that he loved her, nor did she ever tell him that she loved him. Yet, the emotion was present, even Sirius could tell.
James felt his heart swell with pride; he loved Lily Evans, loved her more than life itself. Love: downright, true, absolute love. What he felt for Lily, he had never felt for another woman, ever. Even when he was dating Emmy, he never cared about her half as much as he did for Lily.
It felt good to have that emotion out in the air, it felt amazing to have figured out and been mentally able to think about how much he loved her. Just the word "love" made him feel jittery inside. He loved Lily Evans, always had and always would.
"I love her," James said, finally saying the words aloud.
Sirius smiled at him. He was happy for his friend, despite the fact that he and Lily didn't get along. He could truly tell that James's heart was in the right place. He could tell that Lily was the one girl that James needed in his life, the one girl that could make him content.
"When I found her, I'd never been so scared in my life," James confessed. "And when I was opening the door to her apartment, I was really afraid that I'd be too late."
Sirius looked at his friend and saw pain written over his face, making how hard it was for him to talk about this crystal clear. "James, don't think about. Just remember, she's going to be as good as new."
"I know," he replied, blinking his eyes to force the tears from drizzling down his cheeks.
Silence passed between the two men for a moment before Sirius pulled the flowers from the seat next to him and handed them over to James. "These are for Lily; give them to her for me, would you?"
"Yeah, sure," James answered, pulling the small bouquet closer to him.
"I didn't know what flower she liked, but the lady at the store said these were a popular hospital choice," Sirius said.
James smiled for a second before laughing. Sirius Black proved once again just why they were best friends. Even in times like these, he could make James laugh, not unlike the effect that Lily had on him. The best part of it all though, was that this laughter wasn't intended. It was obvious that Sirius didn't see why this was funny, and most people wouldn't find it humorous at all. James, on the other hand though, knew Sirius better than anyone in the world and knew just how sincere his friend was. Not to mention he also knew Sirius's lack of good taste, which was the true reason for his comment to be laughed at.
"Hey, you would've done the same," Sirius said, trying to defend himself.
"Nah, I would've just picked something up and bought it, not actually go up to some lady and ask what kind of flower was appropriate for a hospital," James joked.
Sirius gave him a dirty look for a moment, but then joined his friend in smiling and laughing. It was the perfect remedy for James.
---
Two hours later, James found himself looking down at his watch and being surprised to see just how late it was getting. He turned his gaze toward the large windows, the darkness confirming the late hour.
Noticing James's expression, he looked down at his own watch and said, "Wow, I guess I'd better get going."
"Yeah," James agreed, "I should get back to Lily's room."
"Wait, before I go, I've got a question."
"Shoot," James said, looking at his friend expectantly.
"How many years is Emmy in Azkaban for?"
James's expression hardened for the first time that night and he bitterly replied, "She's not going to Azkaban."
"What?" Sirius asked, his voice and face both conveying the shock he felt.
"The doctor's say she's mentally ill, and isn't suit for Azkaban," James explained, "Instead, they're sending her to some mental institute in Scotland."
"That's fucking nonsense, mentally ill my ass," Sirius remarked.
"No shit," James agreed.
"Seriously though, she almost bloody committed murder, she should be sent to Azkaban immediately…I mean, what kind of fucked up system do we have here? They send the death-eaters to Azkaban without trial, even the innocent ones like Samuel Park, but they won't send some chick that was caught red-handed," he ranted.
"I know," James bitterly said. He hated the fact that she wasn't suffering a great deal by this. He wanted Emmy to have to endure the Dementors; he wanted her to go through something that was considered worse than death.
"Did they say how she was considered a psycho?" Sirius asked.
"Yes," James reluctantly said before going into detail everything that the nurse told him. When being questioned, Emmy had said that the sole reason for her attempted murder was because of her love for James. She figured that if Lily was out of the picture, then he would come running back to her, and she was willing to do anything to have James by her side once again. She claimed that she needed James, and without him she couldn't bare to live, she needed him like the human race needs oxygen. She said that even if she had to kill to be with James, she would do it. She said that she couldn't help it, said that any woman who tried to take "her Jamie" away from her didn't deserve to live.
"She's one fucked up girl," Sirius said as James finished his story.
"Yeah, I know," James agreed, cracking a smile while he spoke. The content of which he talked about was very somber, but the expression on Sirius's face and the tone of his voice while he talked would have made anyone smile.
"Well, on the bright side of things," he began to say, "Well, actually, there really isn't anything bright to say."
James only smiled at that.
"Or, actually, there is something bright to say, she's off the streets now and locked up in a room that hopefully has lots of padding," he joked, picturing the white walls with padding on all sides in his mind.
"Very true," James agreed.
"Ah, okay then, I really do have to get going now," Sirius reluctantly said. If it were up to him, he would have preferred to stay here with James, but knew that although James was having a good time, his heart's desire was to go see Lily Evans once again.
"See you later," James said.
"Oh, wait a second," Sirius said and turning his wand toward the flowers, which had been dieing from their lack of water, rejuvenated them back to life again.
"Thanks."
"Well, tell Lily that I hope she's okay," Sirius sincerely said. Despite how he previously thought about Lily, he knew that any girl special enough to be loved by James, was special enough to get a second chance.
"I will," James said, and then as a second thought, added, "Thanks, thanks for everything."
Sirius looked him straight in the eye and replied, "Don't mention it."
---
With Sirius's flowers in his hands, James headed back toward Lily's room. Once there he found a note taped on the outside of door and he quickly snatched it off and read it.
James,
It's about 10:00 and I haven't showered in a while, so I'm heading home for the night. If Lily wakes up, owl me and I'm there in two seconds flat. I'll stop by tomorrow bright and early otherwise though.
-Carina
James sighed and opened the heavy, oak door. Once inside, he flipped on the light switch and made his familiar track over to the table that sat opposite of Lily's bed. He added the flowers to the several other bouquets and smiled at the numbers of people who were concerned about Lily.
"Hey stranger," came a soft voice from behind him.
James could feel butterflies in his stomach and his heart felt as if it were made of feathers it was so light. He turned on his heel and to his delight saw the woman of his dreams sitting across form him. She was still pale and very thin, but otherwise looked perfectly healthy. She wore her infamous, gorgeous smile on her face which only made her eyes sparkle more than ever.
"Lily," he whispered.
"Well, are you going to stay over there or are you going to come over here?" she asked, beaming at him.
Instantly he snapped out of his daze of amazement and made his over toward her bed. As he came closer, she moved a bit to the side to make room for him to sit beside her.
"How're you feeling?" he asked as he draped an arm around her, as if to tell her he was never going to let her out of his arms again.
"A little weak, but other than that, I'm okay," she answered.
"Did you just wake up, or were you just watching me put flowers over there?" he teasingly asked.
"Yeah, just admiring you," she joked back, leaning toward him and laying a small kiss on his cheek.
With his free hand, he reached over and took her own hand in his, feeling the softness and weakness in it. "God, Lils, you don't know how glad I am that you're okay."
She could only smile at him, unsure of any thing to say.
"I mean it, I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you," he told her.
"I know, I know," Lily whispered. "But I'm here, so cheer up."
He let out a small chuckle, and he knew his list of reasons for loving her grew each moment he was with her. Lily's bright attitude about this whole event was incredible. Where most people would be depressed and scared about what happened, she was putting it behind her. She was moving on with her life and wanted only happiness and joy.
"Can I get anything for you?" he asked, realizing now that he should have asked a long time ago.
"No, just stay here with me," she answered.
In assuring her that he would never leave, he repositioned himself on the bed so that they were both under the warm covers of the hospital bed. His arm remained behind her, holding her tightly to his chest. And she comfortably fit in his grasp.
"See all those flowers?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Those pink and yellow ones over there, they're from your office. And the daisies are from Sirius. And Dumbledore left the ones over there," James informed her pointing at each one as he spoke. He told her the rest of them as well, including telling her about the ones that Jason had sent.
"Well, they're all beautiful," she commented.
"Almost as beautiful as you," he quickly remarked.
She blushed a light shade of pink, but loved to hear his compliments.
"You know, you weren't supposed to wake up for another three hours," James told her.
"What you want me to go back to bed?" she jokingly asked.
"Oh, shut up," he teased before leaning over and laying a light kiss on her rosy lips.
She continued to smile up at him as he lips departed from hers, "So, you said all these people brought flowers, but did anyone other than you and Carina come to actually visit?"
"Well, Karen from your work said she'd be stopping by once you woke up. Jason left you a note, but I swear, I didn't open it. Dumbledore wanted to see how you were doing as well, I talked with him for a while, and he says he'll be back later as well. Sirius and I talked for a while as well. A couple other girls from Hogwarts came too, and they dropped off cards and said they'll owl you soon," James recited, trying his best to remember everyone.
"What did you and Dumbledore talk about?" Lily asked, obviously just trying to make conversation.
James thought about it for a moment, recalling the events perfectly in his mind. Instantly he thought of the Hemming story that Dumbledore informed him of, a story that could have changed everything. Instead of talking about the Hemming though, James replied, "Not too much, just catching up with each other."
"Okay," was all Lily said. James looked at her and wondered if not telling her was the best idea. And as he saw how peaceful she looked, he knew he didn't want to disturb that. Someday he'd tell her, someday when the moment was right.
"Anything interesting happen?" she asked.
"Just one thing," he answered.
"What's that?"
"I'll tell you later," he said right before yawning. He hadn't slept in what seemed like forever, and now that he knew that Lily was safe, all the sleepless hours seemed to catch up with him.
"Fine then," she said, and then added, "You know, one would think that I wouldn't be tired right now, but I actually am."
"What? After sleeping for so long?" he teased, once again adding a yawn at the end of his sentence.
"I know, it's hard to believe."
"Well then, good night Lily," he whispered, magically switching off the light switch with his wand.
"Good night, James," she whispered back.
"Do you still want to know the interesting thing that happened?" he questioned.
"Sure."
He paused a moment, staring into her face. Although the lights were out and he couldn't define her every feature, he could still see the glimpses of her face from the moonlit sky peeping through the window. He could tell she looked gorgeous, even with a sleepy face.
"I love you," he whispered.
He could see her lips curl upward as she whispered, "I love you too."
---
The End
Author's Note 2: Hi guys! Okay, so I'm really sorry that this took so long to do. I hoped to have this chapter up by the end of my Thanksgiving Break, but as bad luck would have it, I entered a small writer's block then! But here you are: the last chapter of Love Affair. I hope you all enjoyed it, because I certainly loved writing it and reading your reviews. Also, I am planning on writing a sequel to this, but I will not post it/ write it until this summer. I don't want to make anyone who wants to read it wait and wait like this story. Also, if anyone has any suggestions on titles for it, I'd love to hear them! Anyways, thank you to anyone who has ever reviewed or read this story, it means the world to me.