We sat around the house after the funeral. Everyone spoke but no one really said anything.

Finally, Peter cleared his throat and said something with the desired significance we’d all needed to talk about what had happened. “I… I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t do anything about it.”

“What was there to do?” shot back Sirius. “She didn’t want help. You were there for her, though, and that’s all that matters. Don’t blame yourself.”

“I can’t help but to,” he sighed, obviously in much more need of consolation. “She slept all day and was wide awake at night… she barely ate and she’d sleep so deep…”

Remus abruptly stood up and left the room. I followed him up the stairs and came in a room just in time for him to slam the door.

He was mad, and that became more apparent ad he began to yell. “Why’s she have to leave me? Why didn’t she tell anyone that something was wrong? I thought she loved me- she said she loved me!”

Remus ripped the note out of his pocket that Marie had written a week before. He stared down at the prescription paper, his eyes sliding in and out of focus. “If she was so sick, how could she write this? She could’ve taken that energy to fight this!”

“No,” I cried, taking Remus’ head in my hands. “She didn’t mean to leave you. She didn’t want to, and you know it. She had an allergic reaction to the medication.”

“And it’s my fault,” he answered, trying to pull away.

“It’s not.” I didn’t let him leave. Finally, he gave up and buried his head in my neck, sobbing. “It’s not your fault. She would’ve died anyway. You did the right thing- you did the only think that you could do! She loved you, and you loved her. Her love for you made her so strong, Remus… strong enough to write you her farewell note while physically… so physically exhausted. She doesn’t want you to be sad that she’s gone. She wants you to cherish all the times that you had together, move on with your life, and be happy.”

He nodded slowly, and then looked up at me, blinking through his tears. “Thank you, Lily. Thank you for putting Marie and I together in the Room of Requirements together so long ago… If it weren’t for you, I never would’ve fell in love with the most amazing girl in the world.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, wiping the tears off of his cheek. “You’re more than welcome.”

****

“Three days, and my big man will be one whole year old!” I laughed, picking Harry up and swinging him around.

James grinned. “Can you believe it Lil? He’s already grown up. He makes me feel so old!”

I sat Harry down. He walked over to his toys and instantly pulled out his favorite car.

“Vroom vroom!” he giggled, his eyes twinkling. “Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroooom!”

I sat down next to him and he used my arms as a racecourse, sliding the car up and down my skin.

James sighed. “You know, people always say that kids are a pain… but honestly, I’ve never been happier. We’re a good family. It’s just going to suck when he hits his teenage years and he hates us.”

“Well, he’ll be at Hogwarts, so maybe he won’t have time to hate us. We’ll only get to see him on the holidays… It’ll be a bit hard, don’t you think?”

“Ahh, he’ll survive, and so will we.” James said confidentially. “He’s strong, just like us…”