Sorry the chapter's so short, I wanted to get one posted once I realized it had been about 8 months since the last one...whoops.

Chapter 10: I Give In

A few hours later, James trudged up to his dormitory, where he found Lily Evans distractedly attempting to do her charms homework. Her head whipped around when she heard the portrait hole open, and she let out an audible sigh of relief upon seeing that James was still in one piece. He smiled and laughed. "Missed me already, Evans?"

She huffed, and grumbled, "Just glad you're alive."

"That's a first!" James' face lit up, despite his obvious exhaustion. I think she's finally starting to warm up to me! Could this be the start of what's to come for us? "Now, Evans, I do believe I made you a promise, and I intend to make good on that." He made his way to the couch and settled in on one end, motioning for her to join him.

Lily was waging an internal battle with herself. I should go sit with him, and hear what he has to say. I'm so curious...but I'm so tempted to kiss him, now that I know he made it out unscathed! What if I can't hold back? Ugh. Curiosity killed the cat, hopefully it won't kill me... She slowly walked over to the couch and sat down at the other end, settling in sideways to face James as he spoke. "Alright, Potter, spill."

James immediately launched into a detailed explanation of the horcruxes and their progress and ideas relating to them so far. At Lily's insistence, he started to explain how he knew all of this. When he got to the part about his son, he faltered. "So these books were essentially the story of my future son's life during his Hogwarts years..."

"Your son?" Lily exclaimed. "...Do they say who you married?"

James sighed, and looked away from Lily's eyes. "Now, Evans, don't freak out or anything. You asked the question, you have to figure out how to deal with the answer." She nodded, and he continued after letting out another sigh. "You."

Lily's eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped, as she let out a small, 'oh.' She sat, unmoving, for a few moments until the meaning of his words sunk in. She shook her head, launched herself at him with a declaration of, "I give in," and kissed him.

James, for his part, was stunned, and sat stock-still for a few seconds until his brain caught up. He immediately started kissing her back, thinking that as long as she was willing, he'd enjoy the moment.

"I'm sorry!" Lily shouted, pulling away. "I didn't mean to just throw myself at you. I've just been fighting this so hard that when you told me of our future, I just snapped."

James chuckled. "Hey, you won't find me complaining. I've been waiting for that to happen for over six years!" He winked roguishly at her before continuing. "So does this mean you'll finally agree to be my girl?"

Lily sighed. "Yes, under one condition: we take this slow. No ridiculous declarations to the entire Hogwarts population, and minimal public displays of affection," she responded. "Can you handle that?"

James nodded eagerly, with a wide grin. "Whatever you're willing to give me, Lily, I'm happy to take. Now, back to the task at hand. Your brain would be an immeasurably useful asset to this undertaking, would you like to be a part of it?"

Lily leaned back in her seat beside him and nodded. "What can I do to help?"

"Well, for starters, I think you should read through the books to get a full understanding of the situation, and hopefully find a few things we might have missed so far. Once you're done reading them, you can sit down with me, Remus, Dumbledore, and Frank, and we'll compare notes to determine our next plan of action. How does a little cuddling by the fire while we both read sound for tonight?"

Lily blushed, and let out a light giggle. "Oh, alright, I suppose I can deal with that. You go get your reading material, and the first of the books for me, and I'll get the fire going."

James ran up the stairs, grabbed his Advanced Arithmancy textbook and the book for Lily, and then ran back down to the common room. He sat himself down on one end of the couch, and patted the seat next to him. "C'mere, Lily."

She padded her way over to him hesitantly, and gingerly sat beside him. She wasn't sure how to go about this; she'd spent so many years keeping him away from herself that she didn't know how to let herself get close to him. Luckily for her, he had no qualms about getting close to her. Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her to sit sideways and lean against him as his arm rested across her waist. He handed her the book, and opened his own up to start reading.

About an hour passed with only the sounds of quiet breathing, pages turning, and the crackling of the fire. James paused in his reading and leaned over to kiss Lily on the cheek. "I'm so glad I finally have you, Lily. I promise you won't regret this." She smiled and squeezed his hand with her free one, snuggling herself deeper into his hold.

Posted: 21 November 2011
Word Count: 901