Epilogue

Friday June 24th 1978, 2:34 pm

JAMES

It doesn't even weigh a pound and yet it feels like a boulder is currently resting in my pocket.

I pace the space in my small apartment as a means of distracting myself. Honestly, how long does it take for a girl to shower? It seems like Lily has been in there for hours, days even, what could possibly detain a girl for so long in a shower? With a sudden pop I am pulled out of my pacing and look to my left.

"Did you ask yet mate?" Sirius asks, leisurely strolling over to a chair and taking a seat. I envy his calm right now, I think I've forgotten what it feels like to be calm. I think I may forever be trapped in a world where I am antsy and ready to jump at anything.

"No," I said agitatedly, glaring at the bathroom door. "She's been in the bloody shower for ages now, I think she may be dead."

"Tough luck," Sirius says breezily.

"Why are you here mate?"

Sirius shrugged and sighed, "Avery is going mental I think. She just lashed out at me for absolutely no reason again and she keeps eating the oddest-"

"Sirius?" Came a voice from behind me. I whirled around to see Lily out of the shower, a green towel draping her body and her red hair plastered to her back. "I didn't know you were coming here." She looked quizzically between me and Sirius before cocking an eyebrow. "You two are planning something."

"No we're not," I said in a voice that was far too high for my liking.

Lily's eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. "Yes you are James Potter, it's written all over your face! What are you two planning and why are you lying to me about it?" Absentmindedly I petted my left pocket, a motion she immediately noticed. "What's that you've got there in your pocket? Another secret is it? Give it to me," Lily said holding out her hand and standing in front of me defiantly.

"No Lils, it's not what you're thinking."

"Bloody hell it isn't, give me whatever is in your pocket James Potter."

"No," I said turning around and running away from her, desperate to hide the object.

"James Potter," Lily cried as she followed me, chasing me like mad in her towel. "We are living together now, you promised me no more secrets! Ugh that's it, I've had enough! Petrificus totalus!"

My entire body was seized and I could no longer move. Like an anchor I fell to the floor with a dull thud. Lily hovered above me victoriously, I shifted my eyes over to Sirius for some sort of help but he was sitting in the chair laughing his arse off and pointing at me. Where did she even get a wand? She's in a towel for Merlin's sake.

"Let's see what you were hiding James Potter," Lily said bending over and fishing in my pockets.

I wanted to scream no but couldn't do so. Lily pulled the little box out of my pocket and inspected it. "What does it do then? Is it going to shoot out something that will harm me? I swear to Merlin James Potter if I lose an eye over this I'll never forgive you." Lily held the box out at arm's length as she slowly opened the lid. Her eyes were pressed shut and her face was turned away in anticipation for what could come out of that box. When the box was fully opened and nothing had exploded she slowly opened her eyes. What she found in the box wasn't a prank of any kind but a ring, a ring with a diamond.

"Oh James," Lily breathed. Her eyes began to water as she looked at the ring. "Is this for me?"

I tried to make any sound but I still still frozen. Lily seemed to remember the situation I was in and hurriedly searched the floor for her wand, instantly relieving the spell. I stood up and shook out my body, my joints were cracking from only the few minutes from the bind.

"This wasn't exactly how I planned it going," I said plucking the box from Lily's hand and getting down on one knee. "Lily, I know I've been a down right prat half the time I've known you but one thing was for certain from the first moment I laid eyes on your fire red hair; that I would always love you. This is the one promise I can keep for the rest of my life, that my affection for you will never waver or end. So please, before you hex me again, will you marry me?"

"Yes," Lily gasped, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around me. "It's not going to explode or anything, right?" Lily asked as I slipped the ring onto her finger.

"No," I laughed. I looked up at Lily who was beaming as tears slid down her face.

"What's Sirius doing here?" Lily asked, darting her eyes towards Sirius's direction. "Is there something else that I'm missing?"

"Nah," Sirius said casually. "Avery and I got into another row."

"Another one?" Lily asked, straightening up and adjusting her towel. It was then I became acutely aware that Lily was in a towel while Sirius stood by us just after we became engaged. This is not exactly how I imagined the rest of the moment playing out. I imagined it somewhat along the lines of Lily ripping off her clothing and shagging me senseless until I couldn't walk. Peter had told me that putting a ring on a girl's finger meant sex whenever I wanted. Peter was obviously lying and I'm going to kill him.

"Yeah," Sirius said shrugging and running a hand through his hair. "Instead of putting a stack of books on top of a table I put them next to the fireplace and she went mental saying I never listen to her when she gives directions. I don't know what's gotten into the girl. The first month of living together was great, we've never gotten along better, but the last week and a half she's been flipping out on everything. Some of the time she's crying, the other is spent yelling at me, and then some times she acts completely normal and jumps my bones every two seconds. The last one I don't mind so much," he said with a sly smirk.

"I'm sure she's just really stressed out," Lily said diplomatically. "Between working for the Venislew Restoration Society and training for the Order with Marlene she's got to be stressed out. The Order has been time consuming for all of us so far, we haven't had any assignments yet but the training has been murder and we're all sleep deprived. Just give it some time, eventually you'll both get into a routine and things will go back to normal."

"I hope so," Sirius said with an exasperated sigh. "Well, I better get back to her, she'll be wondering where I've been. Congratulations on the engagement, I've already got the bachelor party planned out." And with a pop Sirius was gone.

"Well then, now that he's gone I think it's time for a celebration." Lily said with a smirk as she unfastened her towel and let it fall from her body.

I've got to remember to thank Peter.

SIRIUS

I land in the apartment and it's empty. No sign of Avery is evident and with a sigh I sink down into the soft grey couches in our living room. The past week and a half has been draining, Avery hasn't been the only busy one. Training with Frank Longbottom has been educational and I admire his skills when it concerned dueling but the tasks he asked of me were time consuming and drained all the energy from me.

The first month and a half Avery and I lived together had been next to perfect. In the mornings she would go for her internship at the VRS and at night she and I would train for the Order. Usually she would finish before me and I would come home and she would have dinner waiting.

Dinner had been somewhat of a trial and error process, Avery had never done more than boil tea in her life so teaching her how to cook was a bit of a chore. The first time I tried to show her how to make lasagna she had left an oven mitt in the oven and it caught on fire. She used tongs to get the oven mitt out and went to throw it into the sink, however I had been standing in front of the sink and instead of hitting the sink, the on fire oven mitt hit me and my shoulder caught on fire. The fire was quickly extinguished but after that we both decided that Avery shouldn't be allowed to cook anymore. Instead we get take out almost every night unless I'm home early and am able to make dinner for the both of us.

Weekends were a treat, we often had them off so everyone would get together and usually drink. It was surprising how all of us easily got into the routine of our new lives. Though none of us were willing to admit it, we all had a bit of hesitancy when we moved out of the comforting walls of Hogwarts.

Cassi and Nial had moved in together and surprisingly made good roommates. Neither Peter nor Lelani were thrilled with the idea of them moving into together but Cassi always tended to get what she wanted. Cassi had gotten an internship for Witch Weekly and already had an article published in the magazine. She was constantly bringing over sample clothing for Avery and Lily and luckily for me, lingerie. Nial was working for the ministry in law enforcement which Cassi was constantly making fun of him for, saying he was now a stuck up pawn for the ministry.

Peter and Remus were living alone. Peter had found a small apartment near Cassi and was working for the Order. Remus found an apartment farther away from the rest of us near the outskirts of London, a little house in the woods. Remus had become more withdrawn since we left Hogwarts, I think he felt like the odd man out in most situations. All of us were in relationships while he had no one, not that there hadn't been any contenders. Mary McDonald was particularly keen on Remus but he paid no mind to her, although I can't understand why. Remus tended to have a bit of difficulty opening up to women because he was a werewolf, he was afraid of rejection more than any of us.

A pop drew me out of my thoughts and Avery appeared in front of me. Her face was pale and even though she was ten feet away from me I could see her hands shaking. Her eyes were fixed on the ground for a few moments and when she looked up at me her eyes were expressionless.

"They've found him," she whispered. "They found my dad," and like a rag doll she crumbled to the ground.

A/N: Short epilogue, I know but I didn't want to make it long. I just wanted to give a brief description of where they were a month and a half after Hogwarts and set up the sequel. I know the ending seems...dramatic because wouldn't she be happy if they found her dad? Well, wait until you see what's actually happened ;) And why is Avery such an emotional wreck?

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS IS THE ACTUAL END? 33 chapters and 1 epilogue, it's crazy! I want to thank every single person who has read this story reviewed it, favorite it, alerted it!

I want to give a special thanks to the people who have been there since the beginning of this story (though this does not exclude the others): Maddie Black for reviewing every chapter and being amazing, Solitaireclay07 for listening to me gripe over every chapter and helping me out, Rue-The-Marauder for being the first to review and sticking with my story, Twinzlover for always reviewing, Lily Orange for being so encouraging all the time, The Violet Queen for always leaving me with a review that put a smile on my face, and Naflower05 for always being supportive and reminding me that she likes my story and keeping me going even when I think it's crap. And thank you to everyone else! I wish I could thank you all but I can't :( Look out for the sequel THIN ICE, it should be out in the next few days!