Everlasting Love
By Misha

Disclaimer- Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and is not mine, however much I might wish differently. However, I am not making any money off of this, so please do not sue me!

Author's Notes- This is a James/Lily, Severus/Lily piece. It's Lily's thoughts on her wedding day. There is some angsty S/L, but there's also some happy J/L. I'm a bigger S/L fan, than J/L, but I do like both pairings. This is kind of sappy. Well, that's all for now, enjoy!

Pairing- James/Lily, Snape/Lily.

Summery- On Lily's wedding day she thinks about the love of her youth and about the love that lasted.

Rating- PG

"Do you Lily take James to be your lawful wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, 'til death you part?" The wizard officiating the ceremony asks.

To my amazement, the wizard and Muggle ceremonies are pretty much the same, there are just more rituals involved with the wizard way. But the vows are the same.

I look at James for a long moment. The man I had chosen to marry. The man I loved.

Oh, he might not have been my only love, but he was the one that endured and that was what mattered.

"I do." I say softly, looking into the crowd as I do so.

I caught sight of Severus in the crowd and our eyes meet for a second as it is James' turn to say "I do".

A part of me hates Severus, but another part of me will always love him. Can't help but love him.

Which is why I've never exposed him. No matter everything that's happened between us, no matter how much he's hurt me, I can't turn him in.

No, if he gets caught, it won't be because of me. I won't betray him. Because it would be like betraying myself.

Severus will always be a part of me. I cannot wipe away the fact that we were once in love.

But, I can move on. And I have.

I love James, so very much.

Not in the way I loved Severus, but in a different, better way.

Severus was my passion, James is the one who I can always count on, the one I will grow old with.

I turn my gaze away from Severus and focus on the ceremony.

I have missed a good portion of it.

Now it's time for us to exchange rings.

I smile at James as he slips his ring on my finger and then it's my turn to do the same.

The wizard priest says a spell of blessing and then pronounces James and I husband and wife.

We are married.

James cups my face with his hands and leans down to kiss me gently.

"I love you." He whispers against my lips.

"I love you." I whisper back.

And I do. Not with all my heart, because part of it will always belong to someone else, but with most of it.

James is my life now. No matter what went before, he's the one who I wish to spend the rest of my life with.

My eyes meet Severus' one last time.

For a long moment, we just stare at one another.

We have both changed. We are no longer the teenagers who fell deeply in love. He went his way and I went mine.

And now there is a lot separating us, both physical and mental. We are now light years apart.

He is no longer the boy I loved and I'm no longer the girl who loved him. A part of me will always be that girl and will always love that boy.

But that was a long time ago.

I've grown up. I've moved on.

I tear my gaze away and smile at James.

He is not second best. He is not a replacement for Severus.

He is just James. He is what I want. He is the man I love now. Not as a child, but as a woman.

The love that Severus and I had could not last. But the love James and I share has just grown stronger. It keeps on enduring.

Severus may have been my first passion, but James is my everlasting love.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

The End