Deception and Disguise

Negotiations

Disclaimer – Any character you recognize is JK Rowling's. But the plot and idea completely and truly belong to me.

Lily stared down at the man still kneeling before her.

She saw the blood relentlessly pooling at the grass near his knees, the ghastly pallor of his skin which grew worse as second after second ticked by.

Fights continued raging around her in the courtyard, and yet the princess could not bring herself to shift her eyes away from the dying king.

Unable to bear his own weight any longer, Riddle's body gave out under the pain, and he fell sideways onto the ground. Lily didn't bother moving away the sword that had dropped from her hand even as the king's head met with the silver pommel harshly.

Those black, lifeless eyes finally met hers.

And he smiled. A cold, hideous thing, which reminded the princess of her worst nightmares as his teeth pulled back to reveal blood stained teeth.

Lily wanted to spit on his dying body.

"I will let Charles know that his daughter at least had more spine than he did," Riddle wheezed, and immediately coughed up more blood onto his chest.

Lily stepped forward, face expressionless except for the tears that continued to run down her cheeks noiselessly. She stopped when she was close enough to the king to crouch down and stare right into his abyss of a soul. "You're not going to meet him, uncle," she promised, "for all your sins and acts, only the darkest depths of hell await you."

Riddle's smile disappeared at those words, only to be replaced by an expression of utter loathing.

But before he could say another word, or lift so much as a finger, he felt the darkness engulf him in its clutches, forever etching a mark of hatred on his cold, lifeless face.

Lily felt a shudder rake through her at the sight, and she raised a hand to cover her mouth as she stared down at the dead man. It was over.

Riddle was defeated.

She had killed him.

She had killed him.

Lily's eyes closed shut tightly, a few more tears leaking out from the corners as she let the realization, the true impact of what she had done, sweep over her. People were still fighting around her. Had their world not shifted beneath their feet like hers had? Did they not feel the absolute difference in the air that she could not ignore? How did they not realize that the king was dead? Finally finally dead?

"L-lily," the weakest of sounds carried through the air.

Her green eyes snapped open.

"James," Lily turned around immediately, looking towards the man as he lay a few feet away from her. He was in such a horrible condition. How could she have entertained Riddle while he was lying there like that? When it was him, when it was the very fear for him that had pushed Lily to pick up the abandoned sword in the first place?

She rushed towards him then, white gown shredded and dirtied as it brushed over the courtyard. Lily dropped to her knees beside the man, her hands reaching up to push back his thick hair from where it had gotten stuck to his sweaty forehead. "Oh, James," she sobbed, running her fingers over his hair again and again.

His entire face was all but covered in blood. Some of his own, and most of it someone else's. His right arm was gory, and looked so motionless that Lily was too scared to even touch it. His shirt was torn open, and ugly bruises marred his neck and more parts of his body than Lily could bear.

Shredded as the dress already was, Lily didn't think twice before tearing away another thin strip of cloth from her skirt to gently wipe away some of the blood from James's face. Her eyes never left his even as she stroked over his nose, his lips, his chin. In return, he didn't say anything either; simply watched her.

She was scared.

She was so so scared and the goddamned tears just wouldn't stop.

"Shh," James lifted his good arm—even though the small action felt like it was draining him of all his remaining energy—and brushed it across her wet cheek. "It's okay, Lily. He's gone. You did it. You were so brave, so beautiful."

Lily shook her head, still crying as she caught James's larger hand between both of her own, dropping the soiled cloth away. "It was you," she sobbed, placing a sloppy kiss on the back of his hand. "You made me brave, James. I'm nothing without you—I love you."

Even in his bloodied, half-conscious state, James felt warmth stir beneath his rib cage as those words left her lips. She'd said them only once before, almost dismissively, and this time she didn't sound like she wished she weren't in love with him. She sounded like she was glad—despite her tears—that he was near her. "Lily," James whispered, his thumb brushing over her bottom lip ever so gently.

He saw her mouth open slightly at his touch, heard her sharp intake of breath, and shifted his hand to the side of her neck, pulling her forward slowly.

Lily, understanding his gesture, scooted closer to James on the ground, her small palm flattening against his chest while the other reached up to touch his face. She traced her fingers gently over the cuts on his lip, his nose, the bruises on his cheekbones, and felt tears prick her eyes again. "You're so hurt," her voice broke on the last word.

James didn't say anything; he simple pulled her closer, and Lily—making sure she didn't put pressure on his bruised ribs or limp arm—let him.

Her fingers left his chest to clench at the fabric of his torn shirt when her lips finally found his.

James heard Lily gasp softly as her lips slid against his own, and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. He felt the sting of the cut on his lip, and wondered for a second whether Lily minded that he was bleeding and entirely covered in grime. But then her fingers wound into his hair and he felt her tongue enter his mouth, and decided that she probably didn't. She was being very cautious though; shifting her weight carefully around so as to not hurt him, and James loved her more for it. Loved her so much that his heart ached at his body's inability to do anything more than move one arm.

But suddenly, she was being taken away from him. Her body left his, and the surrounding wind unwelcomingly breezed by him instead.

James opened his eyes—a frown on his face and a question on his lips ready—when he took in what was happening around him.

Lily hadn't been pulled away from him. She had done it on her own, and now stood beside him, her back to him as she stared ahead at what seemed like all of the royalty from Slytherin.

Bellatrix Black was at the head of that group, her eyes rimmed with black kohl as she stared at Lily with deep resentment. There was a small, but noticeable bump on the side of her head. Her eyes momentarily flickered down to James, and he saw a grimace curl around her mouth, her palms clenching into fists beside the skirts of her elaborate dress.

Before he could process what was happening, James felt the rush of a body as it dropped to the ground beside him, and then his head was being lifted up, carefully, to be placed onto a lap. His eyes looked for the face he knew he'd see. "Sirius," he choked, glad his friend was okay, even as he stared down at James with a worried expression on his face.

"You stupid tosser," Sirius greeted him, "Kicking the bucket so soon?"

"Not a chance," James grinned.

"Well, certainly looks like it," the grey-eyed man frowned, and poked James's right arm to accompany his statement, earning a loud gasp of pain in response.

"Sirius, you stupid sod, my arm is in shreds!"

"My bad,"

"Oh my God, James," Dora whimpered as she wobbled into their little group along with Remus. Dora's right knee was slightly bleeding, and Remus had his arm wrapped around her waist to help her. The light-haired marauder looked down at James and blanched.

"Mate, are you okay?"

"I think I may live as long as Sirius doesn't go about poking at my wounds again," James offered. "What's going on over here, by the way?" he asked, eyes jerking towards Lily as she still stood facing the crowd before her.

"What do you mean?" Remus frowned, "Bellatrix found Riddle's body and started howling and gathering everyone. Were you unconscious through all of it?"

James then realized that he had been so lost in Lily and their kiss that he had all but tuned out the rest of the world around him. The tips of his ears turned red as he felt Sirius shake with laughter.

"More like drugged with love," he heard Sirius say, and sincerely wished he had his mobility back so that he could smack his best friend over the head.

"Step aside, Your Highness," Bellatrix's voice carried over to Lily's ears. The voice belonged to a deranged woman who sought revenge.

Sirius, Remus and Dora had arrived a few minutes ago to take care of James, and now Lily could give her full attention to the woman in front of her. Lily had had enough of hiding behind her friends, always depending upon them to help her, always crying. Now she would fight for them, protect them, stand before them to make sure nothing harmed them.

"No," Lily answered, her own voice high and unwavering as she faced everyone. She could feel the eyes of the commoners on her as well, could sense their confusion as to how King Tom Riddle's lifeless body now lay on the ground beside them.

"Step aside, silly girl, you cannot save him after what he has done," Bellatrix gritted, taking a step forward towards James, only to have it blocked a second later by Lily moving to stand in front of her again.

"Don't take that condescending tone with me," She warned the older woman, "Riddle made that mistake, and he died at my hands paying for it."

That got Bellatrix's attention, Lily thought smugly, as the princess's heavily hooded eyes widen noticeably, a derision filled sneer curving her lips. "You?!" she scoffed, eyes flying down to look at James again before lifting back, "you killed the king? And you expect me to believe that? You can only go so far to protect that boy."

"She's not lying," a voice interrupted what Lily had been about to say. She frowned, turning her head to look at the man that had spoken, and her eyebrows lifted in surprise. Sharp grey eyes and a brooding face stared back at her. He had such an uncanny resemblance to the man she had come to love as her own brother that Lily couldn't believe she hadn't connected the dots when Sirius had told her about having a younger brother before.

"And what makes you say that, Regulus?" Bellatrix snapped at her cousin.

"I saw it happen, that's what," Regulus Black informed her, an irritated tilt to his voice.

"Was this before or after you let Sirius turn you soft again?"

Lily frowned. She didn't particularly harbor warm feelings for Prince Regulus Black, but he had always been a sight more tolerable than any of the other Blacks. And now, knowing what she did of Sirius's history with his brother, she wanted to punch Bellatrix in the face for throwing it around like that in front of everyone.

"Not now, Bella," Regulus growled, stormy eyes pinning on the woman.

Bellatrix simply scoffed, an ugly expression on her face as she turned back to look at Lily. "Be that as it may, do not think that being a princess allows you to get away with this. You murdered a king!"

"That's rubbish!" Dora shouted, and Bellatrix's face twisted in disgust at having being addressed by the petite girl. "No one in this goddamned kingdom has a problem with that!"

There were unanimous murmurs and exclamations of agreement at her statement. Lily allowed a small smile to grace her face even as she stood facing the royalty, her back straight and head held high. "You've gotten your answer," she said in a calm voice.

"Their silly cries of vendetta do not make the law, princess," Bellatrix informed in a silky voice. Lily heard Rabastan Lestrange snicker behind the woman, and felt very much like hurling out her guts. "The law of this kingdom, written down by your very ancestors, marks you as a traitor to the crown. And as a murderer to be hanged."

"You can't hang the crown itself," a raspy, overpowering voice spoke up from behind them, filling Lily's lungs with air again. She turned around to look at James, for it was he who had spoken, and saw him struggling with something in his boot. She frowned in confusion, waiting along with everyone else, as Sirius helped James pull out a roll of worn parchment from the footwear.

Lily's heart thudded.

She knew in her bones what it was. She refused to consider what they had done to get their hands on it though.

"What is that?" Bellatrix snapped, seemingly irritated at having being interrupted in her attempt to crush Lily's spirit. "A piece of parchment cannot overrule the law."

"Actually," James smirked, his mouth twisting into a cold smirk that Lily recalled from a time long ago, "you will find that it can."

Having said what he wanted to, James collapsed back on to the ground with an expulsion of breath, passing on the parchment to Sirius to read. Lily's skin flushed, the blood in her veins singing and humming. He had done it again. Gone and saved her life even as he bled out on the grass. She wanted to hold his hand, rush to his side and kiss him again—damn the audience around—and her lips tingled merely at the thought. But Sirius's loud, firm voice kept Lily from doing anything of the kind, even as her green eyes never left the man lying with his head on Sirius's lap.

"I, Charles Henry Evans III, King of Gryffindor, head of the royal family of the Evans'," the marauder's voice boomed across the courtyard, and the beloved king's name was enough to make even the wind become silent in anticipation, "hereby hand over all my properties and holdings to my lone daughter, Lily Catherine Evans, princess of Gryffindor, after my death. This will should only be brought to effect when Princess Evans crosses the eighteenth year of her life—"

"Let me see that!" Bellatrix demanded, her rattled voice drowning out the buzz of conversation and gasps around them.

Lily blushed even harder as the parchment was handed over. She still kept her eyes trained on James though, his soft smile reining her in and preventing the ground from completely disappearing beneath her feet.

"He is right," Regulus's soft voice confirmed what the commoners were daring to hope for as the prince read the will over Bellatrix's shoulder. Grey eyes glanced up at her skeptically. "Are you eighteen?"

Lily found herself raising her chin slightly, and finally looking away from James to regard the prince. "I turned eighteen today," she replied.

He would forever live denying this moment whenever questioned about it from then onward, but Regulus Black found his lips pulling back from his teeth into an impressed smile at Lily's answer. His voice remained cool and aloof, however—an act that both brothers were adept at—when he said, "That makes you the queen of Gyffindor then, your highness."

A brief moment of silence passed over the courtyard at that title before James's single bark of laughter cut through the air. And then it was all a flurry of movements.

A thunderous cheer arose amongst the citizens, and Lily suddenly found herself being swarmed by widely grinning faces and happy tears as the people around her rejoiced. She momentarily caught Bellatrix's stormy expression within the throng of faces, but couldn't help herself from smiling and laughing along with everyone else as jubilant emotions flooded the courtyard. Amongst the celebrations, she could have sworn she saw Sirius smiling at Regulus, but found herself being passed from person to person, hug to hug, before she could confirm anything.

"You're our queen," an old woman sobbed, and Lily found herself tearing up too as the woman touched her face lovingly.

Hagrid's huge frame and broad smile greeted her next, and Lily shrieked in delight as he picked her straight from the ground effortlessly, and his arms wrapped around her in a warm hug. She laughed and hugged him back, feeling her throat clogging up with emotion.

"Thank yeh, Lily. Yeh're the best queen this broken kingdom could have found," Hagrid told her, setting her on her feet.

Lily simply squeezed his giant hands in lieu of a response, not trusting her voice, and was soon surrounded by joyous faces again.

"James!" She heard someone's panicked voice shout, and the name pierced straight through her senses. Lily immediately broke away from the crowd, politely but firmly excusing herself as more well-wishers stepped to greet her, and walked towards where she had last seen the man who held her heart in the palm of his hand.

"Lily!" Sirius breathed her name with relief as soon as his eyes found her face. He then looked down towards James, whose head was still propped up on his lap, and Lily followed his gaze. Something painful clawed inside her chest as she took in his shallow breaths and drooping eyelids. Immediately her knees hit the grass and she moved to hold James's hand in her own. The cold, clammy skin scared her to no end.

"James," Lily whispered, choking on a sob as she squeezed his fingers. His hazel eyes shifted languidly until they rested on her, and he smiled slightly.

"Lily," he rasped.

"I'm here," she promised, bringing his hand up against her cheek.

"You're the queen now," James sighed, tucking some strands of auburn hair behind her ear. "I wish I could have seen you rule."

"You will," Lily scolded, her voice hard as granite even as Sirius's throat bobbed tellingly at James's statement. "You're going to be fine—"

"We've already sent for a healer. She'll be here in no time," Remus panted as he came forward. Lily assumed he had gone to do just that, and would have chastised herself for not noticing his absence earlier were she not otherwise preoccupied.

"See," she gave a watery smile to James, her fingers ghosting over his cheekbones, "everything will be fine."

"I don't know how I ever believed you before," James chuckled, and Lily frowned in confusion for a second, before panic seized her heart when his eyes shut completely. "You're such a bad liar, Lily."

"James!"

"You should rest, Your Majesty,"

"I'm okay," He heard her say. Her voice was soft, tired and beautiful. Lily.

"You haven't slept at all, and the medicines can only work if you give your body rest—"

"I'm not leaving him," Lily cut off the unknown voice. She spoke with such a sense of finality that it made James want to smile. But he still wasn't conscious enough to do much more than listen. The dull burn he felt on his right arm was the only pain he could immediately identify. It seemed like the healer, whoever she had been, had known exactly what she was doing.

James heard the soft sound of shutting doors, and realized with acute excitement that he was alone with Lily. He still didn't move, however, even when Lily's fingers started combing through his hair, brushing back the strands from his forehead.

The gesture alone comforted James enough that he almost fell asleep again. But then she sighed heavily.

"How much longer do you intend to torture me for?" Lily whispered, and James felt his heart tug painfully at the emotion in her voice. "Wake up so that I can shout at you for your stupid bravado," she continued.

Before he could give any indication of his state of consciousness, however, James felt something heavy being gently dropped onto his stomach. After a fashion, he allowed his eyes to flutter open. The first thing he noticed was the canopy of the bed he lay on. He next noticed the large balcony to his right that spilled in generous amounts of sunlight into the royal chambers he had already seen a few days ago. And finally, his eyes settled on the beautiful girl whose head rested on his stomach, her long red hair sprawled over his bare torso as she slept.

She was dressed in a simple, elegant gray silk dress, and the cut on her lip was now clean and dry. The bruises near her cheekbones were also almost faded, but the darkness around her eyes told James enough about the rest she was allowing herself to get.

"I had something else in mind other than shouting when I woke up," he found himself saying in a hoarse voice, and tried to control the thunderous beat of his heart when Lily's emerald eyes snapped open immediately, "would you be open to negotiation?"

James watched carefully as she lifted her head off of him, and her trembling fingers reached up to cover her mouth. Her eyes shone with barely contained tears, and he gave her a sleepy smile. With a strangled noise that James would always remember, Lily all but threw her arms over his shoulders and buried her face into his neck. "I was so worried," her muffled voice sobbed.

James breathed her in deeply, turning his head slightly to place a kiss on Lily's ear. His good arm reached up to stroke her hair soothingly. "We made it, Lily," he whispered in awe, bumping his head against hers gently so she would look up.

Sniffling slightly, Lily raised her head to look at James. She lifted her hand and ran her fingertips over the cut on his nose gently. The healer had set it back into place, and Lily had been glad for James's unconscious state during those painful seconds. He now looked up at her with a brightness in his eyes and a smile on his face that made her skin flush happily.

"We made it," she repeated his earlier words, and a giggle burst from her lips suddenly, "how long were you awake for?"

"Not long," James grinned back at her. Lily seemed to now have a light in her eyes that he couldn't get enough of, so he unabashedly tugged her closer. "What do you say about that negotiation?"

It was not like she would disagree anyway, given that James's nose was almost touching hers now, but Lily humored him nonetheless. "I think I'm quite inclined to agree. Shouting requires too much ef—"

But then his lips were on hers, and Lily decided she had humored him more than enough.

She was still careful as he kissed her though; keeping her hands only on his face and brushing her lips softly over his. James didn't seem to like that however, because soon he was pulling her on top of him, bruised ribs and arm be damned. Lily made a disgruntled noise at the back of her throat and pulled back slightly to look at him with a frown.

"You're not yet healed completely," she admonished.

"The kisses help," he shot back happily, and Lily rolled her eyes despite the amused smile tugging at her lips.

"James—"

"You're depriving me of treatment," he insisted and pulled her head back down to his.

Lily chuckled lightly against his lips, but otherwise allowed him to take advantage of her already waning self-control. She opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, and wound her fingers into his soft hair. James's hand glided down to her hips, and Lily breathed a little harder when his fingers dug into the skin there. A surprised little squeak escaped her when he suddenly flipped them over so that she was pinned underneath him.

"I'm kissing the queen," he told her, a giddy sort of smile on his face. Lily's face felt like it was burning as her head flopped back onto the pillow behind her.

"So it would seem," she bit her lip, heart fluttering slightly when hazel eyes followed the movement.

James shook his head slowly before looking into her eyes again. His grin softened all of a sudden, and Lily's heart tugged at the loving expression that shone on his face. "I'm kissing you," he emphasized, as if that fact had completely escaped her.

Lily giggled again, and placed a soft, chaste kiss on his lips before gently pushing him back down on the mattress beside her. "That's enough out of you for now, I believe," she told him, squashing down the objections her own body made at that idea.

James released a long suffering sigh, but didn't complain much as she resumed running her fingers through his hair. Lily smiled when he hummed in contentment, and allowed herself some much needed rest when his eyes closed and his breathing evened again.

The next time James found himself pulled back into consciousness, Lily was absent. This displeased him quite a bit, before he realized he was accompanied by his two best friends instead.

"Stop drooling on the bed, Sirius," Remus was hissing, sounding like he was quite tired. There was a white bandage around his forearm, and a fading bruise near his temple, but otherwise—James was relieved to note—Remus looked quite jovial.

Even as he chided the third marauder who was indeed drooling abundantly as he slept near the foot of the bed.

"Mmnnn," Sirius moaned, frowning sleepily as he wiped at his cheek. The subtle moonlight streaking in from the balcony let James know that he'd slept for much longer than he had expected to. Sirius's grey eyes eventually fluttered open, and then immediately rested on James. A wide grin split across his entire face. "Good evening, Your Majesty," he greeted.

Remus whipped his head around, and upon seeing James awake, smiled too. "Finally! You've been asleep for more than two days," Remus informed him, propping up the pillows behind James to help him sit up.

"That long?" James scratched his head before realizing that there was a light throb in his arm from the movement. He looked down at his bandaged wound with wonder. "What did that healer use? This is working like magic."

Sirius laughed, nodding. "I know! Apparently she came from Hufflepuff, and was visiting her sister here. What luck! Pomfrey, they call her."

"Lucky indeed," James murmured, deciding he would find the woman and thank her personally at the earliest. He licked his lips, blinked a few times and then cleared his throat. "Where is, umm, Lily?"

Remus smirked, and Sirius slapped a hand to his knee, guffawing. "You lasted a whole five minutes! I'm impressed, mate," he teased.

James huffed in annoyance and turned to the light-haired marauder instead. "Remus?"

"She's in the library somewhere, taking care of some preparations…for tomorrow,"

"What's tomorrow?" James tilted his head inquiringly.

"The coronation," Sirius said. The answer would have been not too out of place—and James wouldn't have given it a second thought—were it not for the maniacal grin that his best mate accompanied with the answer, or the pointed stare that he received along with it.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" James asked, narrowing his eyes.

"The coronation," Sirius emphasized again, and James felt a sense of foreboding when he noticed Remus trying to look anywhere but at him, "for you."

"WHAT?" James roared, gob smacked as he shot up from the bed to stare at his friends incredulously. Sirius's eyebrows momentarily rose at his outburst, before the marauder dissolved into a fit of chuckles. Much to James's chagrin, Sirius put his palm out to Remus, upon which the latter dropped a handful of coins dejectedly.

Brilliant. Now his reactions were being wagered on.

"What you just said…" James began hesitantly again, trying not to panic. Good evening, Your Majesty, Sirius had said. James had foolishly assumed it to be some witty remark of his. "Wha—what did you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounded like, mate," Sirius sighed cheerfully, still grinning much too widely for James's liking. "It's your coronation tomorrow."

James pinched his eyes shut, and ran his hands through his hair in agitation. "How could it be mine? I'm not even—"

"Do you remember the last part of the old king's will?" Remus put in softly, pointedly. "The part where it read that the will was valid until Lily dies or passes on the ownership to—James! Where are you going?"

But Remus's question remained unanswered as James all but flew across the room and out the door, not looking back even once. After the doors of the chamber closed, Sirius gave a light chuckle and rolled himself into a more comfortable position on the bed.

"I give it two minutes before he forgets his temper upon seeing her," he said, and Remus, despite himself, laughed along with him in agreement.

"Are you absolutely barking mad?"

Lily's eyes lifted in surprise when a tanned hand loudly slammed down onto the pile of parchment she had neatly stacked beside her on the table. James's face was red, his hair disheveled, and a frown rested between his eyebrows as he glared at her. He was still shirtless, she noticed, her cheeks turning slightly pink. And the rapidly healing gash on his arm made him look all the more rugged.

He really was quite handsome, Lily found herself thinking.

"You're awake," she told him unnecessarily, a bright grin spreading across her face.

James's scowl faltered for a second at her warm expression, but he soon reined it back in. "Lily, Sirius and Remus told me about the coronation," he said pointedly.

"Oh?" Lily simply smirked, "and what are your thoughts on the matter?"

"I think you're out of your mind," James groaned, dropping into the chair beside hers. Lily's smile never wavered even as he continued to grumble, "what are you thinking, you daft woman? Making me the king?"

Lily sighed, reaching out and dropping her hand onto his on top of the table. James couldn't help but turn his palm upward to intertwine their fingers. He was marveling at how perfect their hands looked together when Lily replied.

"Remus and Sirius, and practically the whole kingdom, agree with my decision," she informed him softly.

Surprised, James's hazel eyes shot up again. "Everyone already knows about this?"

"Of course," Lily replied easily, "I announced it on the same day in the courtyard after you had lost consciousness, James."

"Why would you not tell me about it?" the marauder found himself asking, whining. "Shouldn't I be the first person to know?" Already, he could no longer locate the embers of anger he had entered the library with. The girl drove him absolutely mad.

Lily chuckled at his tone. "I knew you would never agree to it outright. So I had everyone's approval first so that you'd see how much everyone looks up to you. How much they adore you. I adore you."

And that was that. How could he possibly be expected to remain angry with her when she was saying things like that?

"What do the other kingdoms have to say about this?" James sighed, bringing up their adjoined hands to rest his forehead against the back of Lily's hand. "I'm sure the Slytherin royalty isn't too pleased by your decision."

"What happens inside Gryffindor isn't any of their concern," Lily told him firmly. "Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have already been informed about the incident, and of the upcoming coronation. There seems to be no objection. They are our neighbors, and important for the trade, but honestly James, even if they didn't approve, none of their opinions truly matter."

"And what about you?" James whispered uncertainly, tugging on her hand until Lily was pushing back her chair and walking around it to stand in front of him.

"Oh, James, I'm doing this for the most selfish reasons," she traced the lines of his face with her free hand, "haven't you figured that out yet? Seeing you—the noblest person I know, and the man I love—on the throne, it will be like a dream come true for me."

James simply stared at her for a few moments before pulling her onto his lap in a swift movement. Lily acquiesced happily, a smile curving her lips upward when he dropped a quick kiss on them.

"I can't believe you were thinking of killing yourself," James frowned after a while, dropping his head onto her shoulder. Lily bit her lip, her stomach rolling uncomfortably at the reminder.

"I'm sorry I scared you," she told him meekly, and then rested her cheek on the top of his head. "I can't believe you walked back into the palace, either."

"You can't?" James's voice was amused against her skin.

Lily snickered at his answer. "I suppose I can," she allowed, "probably knew you would, too, deep inside. Just didn't want to believe it. But I'm glad you came back for me."

"I'll always come back for you," James kissed her shoulder, "How could I not?"

"I love you," Lily told him, and James lifted his head to look at her, brushing his hand across her cheek in a caress. "And I believe you will be the best king this kingdom has ever seen."

"What if I mess up?" James asked, sighing uncertainly. "I have no clue as to the first thing about ruling a kingdom."

"I'm always here, James," Lily reminded him softly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Will you be here as my queen?"

"What?" Green eyes widened in surprise, her mouth dropping open at his question.

James's arms around Lily's waist tightened instinctively at her question, as if afraid she would bolt straight from the library. He need not have worried though, for Lily felt like she had frozen in that position for all of eternity. With his face turning red, and flustered, James rushed through with what he had to say.

"I mean—not that I'm expecting you to, but certainly hoping. Of course, we haven't even courted yet, and it's really all just crazy. I didn't mean to—I mean, I meant to—but not like this. I should have asked properly first, it's only manners, but well, I thought we were way past the courting period, and now you're going ahead and making me the king—"

"Yes."

"What?"

"What?"

"Did you just—"

Lily grinned, "I did just."

"Oh," James blinked once. Then a few more times in rapid procession. "I—wow."

"Yeah," Lily's smile widened, her face practically being eaten up by the grin, "yeah, I'll be your queen, James Potter. I'll marry you."

That word seemed to do it for him, for James finally released a rush of breath, his smile mirroring hers. "In hindsight, I probably should have gotten a ring first."

"I'm willing to compromise," Lily leaned towards him, her forehead coming down to rest against his as she hummed softly, "would you be open to negotiation?"

The familiar words, the sudden surge of happiness, and the warmth of Lily's breath mixing with his own had James feeling giddy and a little light-headed. His lips touched hers, and he smiled.

"Negotiations are the best," the young king-to-be admitted.

The End

A/N – Omg! *sobs* four years and approximately two months after I started writing Deception and Disguise, I find myself finishing this fanfic. It has been a great journey for me, and I have made many friends, and gotten such lovely reviews from the best of readers because of D&D. I cannot thank you guys enough for the love and support you have shown me, even when I went through the humongous hiatus which we all hated.

This chapter, in particular, I loved writing because it had more Jily fluff than any of the others in the story. I might, perhaps, sometime in the future, add an epilogue to it, but for now this is the last chapter. I hope all of you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. It has been a pleasure. Signing off with lots of love.

Claudia.