The Next Great Adventure (A Marauders Fan Fic)

Epilogue

"Dying? Not at all. Quicker and easier than falling asleep," Sirius said.

"And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over."

"I didn't want you to die. Any of you. I'm sorry-" Lily smiled; he didn't understand, he was so young, and yet he wasn't that much younger than she had been. If she could, she would die for him every single day of his life if it meant that he could live happily, if it could excise all his worries about Voldemort from his mind.

She could feel the end drawing near; it already felt as if their grasp on Harry's world was weakening. Lily stayed silent, focusing instead on remembering it all; his hair still stuck up at the back like it had when he was a baby, and she would recognise James' lanky frame anywhere. Harry wasn't looking at her directly, but she refused to look away from him; if this was all she had for eternity, she had to make it count.

"You'll stay with me?" Harry asked.

"Until the very end," said James. They had always been there and none of them would leave now, when it mattered most of all.

Harry looked properly at Lily one last time and she gazed back. "Stay close to me," he said quietly and she did. She wanted to tell him that she always had, but her darling son had more to worry about.

Lily and James Potter vanished as Harry stepped into the firelight which surrounded Voldemort's camp. At the same moment that Harry left the shadows of the Forest, those of the other world melted behind them.

The light was blindingly white after the gloom that lay under the trees; when the tears had cleared from her eyes, Lily turned to James and smiled wordlessly. He moved towards her and cupped her face, returning her smile with exactly the same one she had just seen on Harry's mouth. "It's over," he said, reaching down to take her hand.

Remus and Sirius walked up behind them and, as they all smiled at each other, Lily leant her head against James' shoulder.

***

There are far, far worse things in the living world than dying

Do not pity the dead Harry

I felt too mean leaving it so sad on Christmas Eve, so here's your bonus (which is still sad, but maybe a little less brutal!) which I had written anyway!

Here we are, finally at the end, and I hope you've enjoyed the rather long journey!

If you are interested, these are the songs I listened to while writing this, and which I think make a pretty good soundtrack to it!

Lily's Theme

Song for You - Alexi Murdoch

Corner - Allie Moss

I Found; Spark; Shiver; 5AM - Amber Run

In My Veins - Andrew Belle

Santa Monica Dream; For You - Angus and Julia Stone

Choose Choose; Pull Me In; Home; Photographs & Manuscripts; No Turning Back - August York

Stay With Me - Black English

Holocene; Perth; Towers; Michicant - Bon Iver, although pretty much all their stuff is amazing

Oh Boy - BOY

Calliope; Denim Boy; Birch Trees and Broken Barns - Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps

A Thousand Years - Christina Perri

You Got Me - Colbie Caillat

Fix You - Coldplay

Any Other Way - Daniela Andrade

Trasatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie

Weights & Measures - Dry the River

Almost Lover - A Fine Frenzy

Starts & Ends With You - Finn Butler

Still Love; Holiday - Great Caesar

Comes and Goes (In Waves) - Greg Laswell

Down in the Valley - The Head and the Heart

Maybe; Sort Of; Men of Snow; You and I - Ingrid Michaelson

Elation - Isbells

I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz

You Can't Hurry Love - Joe Janiak

Grow Til Tall - Jonsi

Picking Oranges - Leddra Chapman

I'm Alive - Michael Franti and Spearhead

Eyes Closed - The Narrative

Start A War; Sorrow; I Need My Girl - The National (pretty much every song)

Vesper's Goodbye - Nick Jonas and the Administration

King and Lionheart - Of Monsters and Men

St Clarity; Young; Never Heard A Sound; Tenenbaum; Mortal Boy King; Leopold Street; Paint - The Paper Kites (basically everything by them too)

Nightclothes - Radical Face

The Call; Samson - Regina Spector

Regretless - Richard Walters

I Choose You; Get Over You - Sara Bareilles

You Are Enough; Sun; Umbrellas; Masquerade; Green Screens; Tethered; Land or Sea; Learning Curve; Aperture; The Sea of Atlas; Silhouettes; Emphasis; Next to Me - Sleeping At Last (although again everything is good)

Christmas TV - Slow Club

Sigur Ros

Paper Sails - Stu Larsen

Be Good; Forgets Slowly - Tom Rosenthal

Beautiful Girl - William Fitzsimmons