(AE : MY TRUE LOVE IS GROWN . . .
TO SUCH EXCESS)

(THE ALTERNATE ENDING)

✧࿐ ཾ✧

31ST OCTOBER 1981

     JULIET WAS SPENDING YET ANOTHER Saturday night alone when a sudden knock at the door startled her. Her body tensed at the sound, knowing that it couldn't be Sirius or Regulus as they were both keyed into the apartment's apparation wards. Immediately reaching for her wand, she remained wary as she approached the door and peered through the peephole.

     At the sight of the person on the other side, she threw open the door. "James?"

     Sure enough, James Potter stood there, soaked from the rain. The Gryffindor's face was flushed bright red from having to run up several flights of stairs to reach Sirius' apartment. Still breathless, he leant against the door frame for support and proceeded to wring out his damp t-shirt, causing a small puddle of water to form at his feet.

     "James?" repeated Juliet, a little harsher this time. "You're meant to be in hiding. Did something happen?"

     Behind the redhead, an unfamiliar owl swooped in through the window and knocked her wine glass to the floor. It had a letter ominously addressed to 'J' hanging from its beak. Before she could approach the animal, James caught her wrist and spun her back around. Juliet stared at him expectantly, but his mouth ran dry when her bright blue eyes met his and he was suddenly sixteen in the halls of Hogwarts again.

"Five years," James eventually spluttered, his fingers gently brushing over the pulse point on her wrist. "It's been five years since I crashed that stupid Slytherin Halloween party with the boys and you're still on my mind. Nothing's changed. I'm— I'm as hopeless and lovestruck as I was back then. And I just wish we could go back, go back to that night and do it all again."

Reluctantly sighing, Juliet beckoned him into the apartment and slammed the door shut. "You shouldn't have come here. Voldemort wants you and your family dead. This is dangerous and reckless and so completely, totally, utterly —"

"I ended it with Lily." As if it was an afterthought, he grimaced and then added, "Not that I'm sure we ever even began."

Her breath hitched. "What?"

"If I'm honest, it was over before I even said it was," he admitted. "I tried to fix it, but we were beyond broken. All we ever did was argue and the only thing that has been keeping us together is Harry. It wasn't — it wasn't what either of us wanted from a relationship. Both of us were doing it to please other people. Lily did it for her parents and then they — they passed, and I was doing it because I thought it was the noble thing. I fell in love with the idea of Lily and I messed up what was already our reality in the process." James hated himself for it, for once again being too caught up in his own rigid sense of morality. The self-loathing in his voice was palpable. "Juliet Isabelle Fawley, I am begging you for one more chance."

"You broke my trust. I don't think we can ever go back to what we had." Her soft voice cracked from the weight of her honesty. "But maybe we could start again?"

And so they talked all night, the mysterious letter unopened on the side.

✧࿐ ཾ✧

31ST OCTOBER 1982

     Kneeling before Lily Evans' grave, James blinked away fresh tears. A little emotional herself, Juliet remained further back as she nudged Harry — now two years old — closer to the headstone. The toddler waddled forward and unceremoniously dropped a bunch of lilies on the dirt, glancing back at Juliet for her approval. Paired with one of her softer smiles, she shot him a thumbs up.

     "It wasn't your fault," Juliet quietly murmured, placing a reassuring hand on James' shoulder. He had spent the past year trapped in a vicious cycle of grief, endlessly blaming himself for Lily's death.

     James refused to lift his head up. "I should never have left the safe house. I was an idiot —"

     "The only difference is you would currently be a dead idiot if you had stayed that night," she interrupted, unmoving in her stance. "The only person who is responsible for Lily's death is Voldemort. It's not okay or fair that she's gone, but she would want you to live. For Harry. And I know that is easier said than done, I know how the guilt festers until you feel sick and can barely stand to look at yourself in the mirror, but we'll get through this." Juliet recalled how she had blamed herself Anna's death and how James had been the one to comfort her in the Astronomy Tower. Gulping, she recited what he had once told her, "You can replay what happened a thousand times and it won't change anything."

     "Thank you," he forced out. "Just give me a minute, yeah?"

     "Of course." On impulse, her lips brushed over his cheek — it was barely a peck, but it managed to make James blush. Juliet shook her head and extended her hand to Harry. "Come on, H. It's freezing. How about we find some hot chocolate in the town to warm us up?"

     Once Harry and Juliet were out of sight, James touched his cheek and sighed, unsure where to begin in saying his final goodbye to his first love.

✧࿐ ཾ✧

10TH MARCH 1984

"You know what I don't get?"

"Personal space?" Juliet remarked, pushing Sirius away as he scooted towards her on the couch.

Sirius snorted. "No. I don't get why you and Prongs still aren't back together. He's acting like a total git right now and you're looking at him like you want to rip his clothes off. If that isn't love, I don't know what is."

It was Remus Lupin's 23rd birthday and had James taken it upon himself to liven up the party with some karaoke. Thus far, a rather drunk James had serenaded the birthday boy with 'Dancing in the Moonlight,' 'Bad Moon Rising' and 'Howlin' at the Moon,' all whilst refusing to let anyone else sing. Throughout the entire ordeal, Juliet had been nursing the same bottle of butterbeer, unable to resist the magnetic pull and infectious laughter of James Potter.

Juliet could feel her friend's gaze burning into the side of her head, so she jumped up and declared, "Because I'm scared of getting hurt again. Happy now?" The redhead huffed. "I need a drink."

"You can't have a fear of falling forever, Fawley!" Sirius called after her retreating figure. "What's life without a little risk?"

Not that she'd ever admit it, but that question ended up haunting her for weeks.

✧࿐ ཾ✧

27TH MARCH 1984

     Even though it was actually his birthday, James was painfully sober. Juliet, on the other hand, was drunk, which made the usually guarded woman become much more carefree and giddy. After the embarrassing events of Remus' birthday, James had opted for a quieter celebration with Remus and Sirius watching Harry for the night. Perhaps the only positive to come out of Remus' party was Sirius' talk with Juliet. Somehow, the boy had gotten through to her, which once again allowed the pair to start up a somewhat tentative romance.

     "Jamieeee?"

     Chuckling, James mimicked, "Julieeee?"

     "I like that I might even love you," she teased, remembering how he had once confessed his love to her when drunk. "And I like that I might even want to marry you. I liked. Is it past tense? Because I still want to. Wait, what are we?"

Unsure what to make of her slightly slurred words, he raised an eyebrow and brushed her comments off. "Are you mocking me?"

"No! This would be mocking you." Juliet leaned over his lap and stole the thick-framed glasses from his face. For a moment, she was disoriented upon realising exactly how blind he was. Once she was used to it, she cleared her throat, ran her fingers through her hair and solemnly imitated, "Moons, Pads, I have to —"

He cut her off with a kiss, grinning into it. Just like that, the words died in her throat and the heavy fog in her mind temporarily cleared. Without the constant threat of war, maybe they would be alright after all.

✧࿐ ཾ✧

28TH MARCH 1984

     "You want to marry me, huh?" was the first thing James said when he knocked on her bedroom door the next morning.

     From her place in bed, Juliet groaned and tossed a pillow at him. "Shut up."

     Easily dodging the attack, James feigned offence as he took a seat on the end of her bed, offering her a hangover potion. Grateful, Juliet accepted the drink, her nose wrinkling as she forced the bitter tasting liquid down her throat.

     "No, but do you really want to?" James shifted in place, pulling a velvet-lined box from his pocket. "Mum left me her ring on strict orders it would be given to you and only you."

     And when James dropped down onto one knee, Juliet rushed out of bed and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl, leaving him without an answer.

✧࿐ ཾ✧

2ND SEPTEMBER 1984

     "YOU ELOPED?"

     James winced. "Don't overreact, Pads."

     "Both of us have m already tried the whole white wedding ceremony thing before and it wasn't exactly for us," explained Juliet, thinking of how they had both almost married Regulus and Lily respectively. "And we have lots of pictures! James met this muggle dressed like —"

     "I've been betrayed!" Sirius yelled, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath as he dramatically collapsed to the floor like he had been stabbed. "By my own best friends as well."

     Juliet deadpanned, "Pity."

✧࿐ ཾ✧

15TH DECEMBER 1984

     On the 15th of December, Leo Sirius Potter was born with Regulus Black being named as the child's godfather. Although extremely tired after the birth, she found it impossible to stop smiling when James and Harry promptly burst into the hospital room, an excessive amount of colourful balloons in their wake. James had purchased so many that they didn't even fit through the door and the elderly matron tutted at him every time he showed his face.

"How does it feel to be a big brother, Harry?" Juliet prompted, looking at him curiously. Sometimes he would have play dates with Neville or the Weasleys, but the couple otherwise didn't know anyone with young children and so they weren't sure how Harry would react to the latest addition to the Potter family.

The four year old pulled a face. "Weird. Do you like him more than me now?"

At the implication, James bristled. Of course Harry knew Juliet wasn't his birth mother and the topic of Lily was something they discussed quite openly in case a time did come when Harry grew curious. He was still a little young for that though. Still, James was overly conscious of how hesitant Juliet had initially been to step up for Harry out of fear of replacing Lily. In fact, both of them were quite surprised by how maternal she ended up being for someone who was generally more standoffish with people.

"I could never!" Juliet exaggerated her response. "I love you both equally now. But, do you want to know a secret?" When Harry bobbed his head, she bent over and whispered, "I like you a lot more than your dad. Just don't tell him."

By the time their visit was over, Juliet distantly heard Harry's announce in a somber tone, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but Julie likes me better than you, Daddy."

✧࿐ ཾ✧

18TH JUNE 1986

Less than two years later, Lucy Euphemia Potter was born and James Potter instantly melted at the sight of the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen in his life.

✧࿐ ཾ✧

1ST SEPTEMBER 1991

"You're embarrassing me," hissed Harry.

"That's kind of in our job description, Haz," James replied, ruffling his son's messy hair that was identical to his own. "Now, you have the cloak and the map, use them both wisely. And remember, cause chaos, befriend Peeves and make sure you're in Gryffindor!"

Harry paled. "What if I'm not in Gryffindor?"

"You're disowned," James stated in a serious manner before failing to keep a straight face.

"I've endured a decade of your temper tantrums, Harry Potter. Believe me, you'll be in Gryffindor," Juliet assured him, sarcastic as ever. "But, if you aren't, all the better. If you ask me, they're all a bunch of a self-righteous, little —"

James threw his arm over his wife's shoulders and clamped a hand over her mouth. "You best get on the train or we'll never hear the end of it."

At this, Harry shook his head. He really didn't understand love.

"You'll write, won't you?" Leo piped up from behind Juliet.

"So much. By the end of the year, I bet you'll be absolutely sick hearing how boring my life is," Harry promised, pulling his little brother into a suffocating hug and then repeating the gesture with his sister. "Right, I think I spotted Ron and Neville over there. I should go. I'll see you at Christmas."

Amused by his eagerness, Juliet pushed him towards the Hogwarts Express. "Do you think you can take your father with you? I've been dying to get rid of you two for a while now."

"Love you too, Mum!"

✧࿐ ཾ✧

A.N: I really didn't know how to go about this alternate ending because there was so much I wanted to fit in without it being too long, but I hope you all enjoyed the little snippets into their life and the development of their relationship had James decided to leave Godric's Hollow the night Voldemort showed up. I'll be updating with sequel information very soon, but otherwise I'll be marking this fic as completed. I'm fully aware I might need to brush it over at some point for any small errors and typos though. Thanks for sticking with me through it all, I appreciated every vote and comment so much!

Question, what's one ship that wasn't end game that you think should have been?