Lily Evans was frightened and ecstatic and nervous and ready for the rest of her life. She had just finished her last exam at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and she knew James would be waiting for her back in the common room. For some reason, though, she just wasn’t ready to go back there yet. She wandered outside. She wandered down to her quiet spot next to the lake. Her mind wandered back in time to when she’d first received her letter from Hogwarts, to her first day at Hogwarts, to the first time she met James Potter and his friends, to the friends she had made at school, to the dances, the classes, the professors, to the beauty of this world of magic that she didn’t even know existed eight years before.
After a few minutes her mind drifted towards her family. Her sister, Petunia, hadn’t talked to her in a long time. Lily wondered if she would ever be forgiven for what happened a few years before, but Petunia had the memory of an elephant and was as forgiving as the desert sun in the middle of summer. Lily knew it would take a miracle for her sister to ever speak to her again. Lily worried about her parents, who were not in as healthy as they used to be. Lily worried that her parents would continue to struggle with Petunia, to try to get her to forgive what she saw as the unforgivable. Lily worried that soon they would be gone to the next life.
As she contemplated family, her thoughts turned towards James Potter. A lightness filled her heart as she thought about how much he had grown up the past year. James Potter had become more responsible the past year. He had started to speak out against the darkness that was starting to corrupt the world the past year. He had become a leader the past year. Even his friends saw the changes that James was undergoing. Perhaps he saw his parents aging, just like she did. Perhaps he saw the world changing, just like she did. Perhaps he felt the love growing between them, just like she did. Lily saw a future with him, but she also saw darkness coming.
The wizarding world was being threatened by that man who called himself Lord Voldemort. There was going to be a battle ahead, and Dumbledore had already taken aside a few of who he considered the more trustworthy students including herself, James, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Frank Longbottom, and a few others to begin fighting that darkness. No formal plans were made yet, but he was recruiting for The Order of the Phoenix, as he called the group. Lily did not know what he expected of them yet, but she knew that she needed to be a member.
As she contemplated the commitment her conscience compelled her to make, her thoughts shifted towards Severus Snape. At first her friend, he had forsaken her and forgotten her. She missed him, but it had been his decision. She hoped that he did not fall into the darkness. He was very close to Lucius Malfoy and other Slytherins. She worried that his obsession with Dark Arts would also lead him down the wrong path.
The sun had sunken slowly over the solemn water of the lake and Lily realized it must soon be dinnertime. She pulled herself up and strolled back towards the castle. She felt almost like she had fallen asleep like Rip Van Winkle, awakening to find the world changed. Change was in the air and Lily faced it with hope in her heart. Change was inevitable. Lily knew that her afternoon of thinking was just her way of holding the past in her heart while preparing for the many changes that were bound to happen now that her time at Hogwarts was over.
Celebrating had started up at the castle and Lily soon joined in the festivities, finding James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus at dinner. It was a late night, but gladness filled her as she performed her duties as Head Girl.
********
The next morning at breakfast there had been an excitement in the air for all the seventh year students, but James and Sirius seemed nervous. They were nervous and secretive about something, they kept whispering to each other when they didn’t think she was looking their way.
After breakfast James took her hand and led her back down to the lake. Peter, Sirius, and Remus followed them at a distance, as if they were waiting for something. Down at the lakeshore James seemed even more nervous.
“What on earth is the matter with you, James? You have been acting funny all week. I thought it was nervousness about what to do after graduation, but now that exams are over you are acting even more crazy,” she confronted him.
“Nothing! Well, er, to say…you can’t make anything easy can you!” he spewed at her.
“What on earth are you talking about, James Potter?” she asked, starting to get stumped by his strange behavior.
He swallowed hard, let down his guard, and marred his handsome face with a frown. He turned away from her a minute as if to compose himself. Then he turned to face her one more time. Taking her hands in his he looked her straight in the eye.
“Lily Evans, you were sent to me from the heavens. My star in the dark, I would like to embark on life’s path with you as my wife. So would you agree to marry me?” he blurted out and then held his breath as she gasped.
“Do you mean it, James?” she stuttered in shock. Her gorgeous green eyes gleamed in the sunlight.
He knelt at her feet and pulled out a ring. “With all of my heart, Lily,” he whispered as he placed the ring on her right hand. She knelt in front of him and brushed his lips with hers.
“Yes, James. Yes, I will marry you,” she whispered back as she embraced the man who had somehow managed to steal her heart away. The kiss flooded both of them with heat. Both longed for privacy to show the other how strongly they felt about this commitment, but three other sets of arms surround them as Remus, Peter, and Sirius came to congratulate the engaged couple.
“This calls for a feast!” Sirius exclaimed. “Good thing I visited the kitchen elfs before following you down here,” he said as he pulled butterbeers for them all. “Here’s to James and Lily! May they have many happy years together!”
“Save the toasting for the reception, Sirius. The Best Man always gives the first toast to the Newlyweds!” James informed his incorrigible friend.
Sirius looked shocked and then honored at the prospect of standing beside his friend as his Best Man.
Lily was so happy. She longed for some time alone with James to plan their wedding, but it felt right to share these moments with his best friends. All aglow, she did not know how long they celebrated but stars shown high above as they made their way back to the common room. She would have the rest of her life to find alone time with James. Their futures may be tenuous, but together they would face any danger that came their way. Their years at Hogwarts were ending, that door firmly shut, but soon she would be Lily Potter and that just rang right within her heart and soul.
