The Rise And Fall Of The Stag And The Doe

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Here it was, the day before graduation and a surge of anxiety built up inside of her stomach. It was a ball of emotions, swelling up inside of her. She tried to remember everything, all the little moments, that happened in the past seven years. All the things she wouldn't remember in three years or five, lingered in her mind. They were small things, things not even worth telling anyone else, things that wouldn't even register with anyone else. When she woke up twelve hours earlier, there was some relief for a moment and then a crushing realization of how much responsibility was coming and how many friends she was about to lose. Everett, Esmee, Cas and Dorcas were all headed to the states. Alice was going straight into the Auror department, Marlene the Healer program and Lily herself had gotten a job at the Ministry. She'd still see Sirius often; marrying James had unintentionally secured that, and being in the order made it possible for her to stay in contact with most of them, but it still unnerved her.

She had gone from seeing all these people every day to losing track of most of them. It was a growing pain, you get older you lose things. But Lily wasn't quite ready to give up the life she had worked for, the one she was used to living.

"You shouldn't be out by yourself." Remus told her, strolling into the greenhouse with a smile on his face.

Lily let out a pathetic laugh, "Yeah, I know. I'm well aware of what happens to people when they go off alone in the castle. I just...I needed a second."

"Well you are more than capable of handling yourself." Remus said, sitting down next to her. "You've gotten a lot better in Defense."

"Yeah...I used to get good grades, but struggle in the practical. It used to be hard for me to get in that mindset," Lily admitted, clutching the edge of the desk. "I'd always thought that if I practiced enough I'd get it, but then I guess I missed the point."

Remus smiled at her. "You do that a lot."

"HEY!" Lily laughed and pushed him. "Arse!"

He sat back up from the position she had pushed him and said, "You turned out alright."

"Yeah," Lily sat bringing her feet up on the table. "So did you...Would have believed it five years ago?" Her dark wavy red hair fell into her eyes as she spoke. "Would you believe we'd be here?"

Remus leaned back on his hands. "I would have believed we'd graduate, but I never thought you would be engaged to my best friend and I'd be in love with yours."

"I can honestly say I'm just as surprised as you are." Lily said, tilting her head back. "I never thought I'd like James Potter and I never would have pegged that you and Dorcas would like each other."

"In my experience, you are not always the best judge of character off the bat."

"Excuse me," Lily said hotly, "I seem to remember that you are my oldest friend. So what does that say about you?"

Remus gave a short laugh. "I suppose you have me there."

"I remember I was friends with you, then Mar...Alice, Mary and then Dorcas." Lily said hanging her head in a laugh. "We fought for a month about The Beatles."

"That sounds really petty."

"We were eleven, of course it was petty...How about you?" Lily bumped his shoulder, "How did you become friends with the boys?"

A nostalgic grin spread across his face, and for a moment he looked exactly his age. "They didn't really give me a choice. I talked to Peter first, and he seemed nice, but once I sat down at the Gryffindor table Sirius leaned over the table, informed me of who he was, introduced me to James, and arrogantly informed me that we were now all friends."