James had figured as much. He hadn't let himself get his hopes up very high, thankfully, although 'not very high' for James was probably higher than most. He liked to have hope about things, even if he knew they were unlikely. It was a nice feeling, and he was fairly good at bouncing back from loss of hope. There was always something else to be hopeful about.
"I thought as much," he said, lifting a hand to stroke her hair. As for the world righting itself while they were here - well, that always seemed possible to believe when he was with Lily. "And as much as I'd love that, I kind of doubt it."
It did actually seem possible to him at the moment, if he wasn't really thinking about it. The world felt right when she was around, even when she was upset, even when they were dealing with less than happy things. She was Lily. And when he tried to explain her that way, using only her name, it didn't only convey how beautiful he thought she was or how much he wanted to kiss her. He wouldn't have wanted that so much if she hadn't been such a damn good, trustworthy person right down to the marrow of her bones. Even when he had to leave her presence and go back out to the world to remember how messed up everything else was, he still felt that, held tight to that feeling. He was just going to have to hold onto it even tighter when he was at Hogwarts.
"Saturday night's a full moon, by the way," he said, almost drowsy from the scent of her hair and the smoke from the fire. He'd assumed from Moony's journal that it was Sunday night, which would have been worse - but even if he got to spend the very last night of his summer with Lily, he was still going to miss a night with her. He still had an explanation to give. "I always spend full moons with Remus. Have done for years now. It's easier on him that way, and he's going to need all the help he can get before having to get back on the train August 1st."