This story was written for the House Competition by Moonlight Forgotten (Year 3)
Round 9
House: Gryffindor
Position: Year 1
Category: Short
Prompt: Mason Jar
Words: 1020
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" asked Sirius. "It's not too late to back out now. I'll help you sneak out the window."
"Sirius," said James incredulously. "As my bestman, you're supposed to be dragging me down there even if I had cold feet. And to answer your question, I'm absolutely certain that Lily is the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with."
"Sure, that's how men feel before they get married, but more often than not, it ends up being a whole different story once they're married."
"Well, not all marriages end up that way. My parents were happily married for sixty years. Your parents were happily married for almost twenty-five years. Remus's parents were happily married for twenty. And Peter's parents were happily married till his father passed away," James tried to appeal to his best friend.
"James has a point. Give it a rest, Sirius," Remus rebuked.
"Mr. Potter, you're a married man. You agree with me that marriage only adds to a man's misery, don't you?" Sirius asked Fleamont.
Fleamont patted Sirius on the back with a knowing smile before turning to James.
"Son, there's only one main rule every man has to follow to maintain a happy marriage," said Fleamont.
"What's that?" asked James.
"Yes, dear," said the Potter family patriarch.
"Yes, dear?"
"It means, you do whatever she says and every time she asks for something, you respond with 'yes dear', no questions, no arguments," Fleamont explained.
"But that's not fair," said James indignantly.
"See, this is why it's not a good idea to get married," said Sirius.
James looked helplessly at his father as his father pulled out a mason jar with a gold clasp and handed it to James. The jar was empty except for a single marble in it.
"What's this," James asked curiously.
"Every time I won an argument with your mother, I put a marble in this jar," said Fleamont.
"There's only one marble in it," the soon to be wed groom pointed out.
"That's the amount of times I won an argument with your mother in over sixty years," Fleamont shrugged.
"Quite an achievement, dad," said James amused. "Out of curiosity, what argument did you win?"
"The one about sending you to Hogwarts instead of Beaubatons. Your mother wanted you to attend the school that she went to, but I insisted that you attend Hogwarts. She wore down when I argued that it was what you wanted and you would be closer to home at Hogwarts," said Fleamont.
"Think you can beat your father and win two arguments in sixty years, James?" Sirius teased.
"Look James, my point is that when you truly love someone, losing to them doesn't feel like losing. And objectively, wives are usually the ones in the right," said Fleamont.
"It doesn't make you unhappy?" asked the hazel eyed Marauder.
"Not in the least. I would happily lose to your mother everyday than unhappily lose her," said the Potioneer.
"Thanks dad," said James throwing his arms around his father who returned the hug.
"It seems like just yesterday, you were a little boy. Now you're a grown man about start his own family," said an emotional Fleamont.
"Dad, now you're about to make me tear up," James gently teased.
Remus nudged James and pointed to Sirius who was now sulking in the corner.
The messy black-haired groom went to his effortless handsome best friend and attempted to console him.
"Sirius, what's really going on," asked James.
"I'm afraid I'd lose you to Lily, alright," Sirius admitted.
"Padfoot, that's ridiculous. You know you'll always be my best friend."
"I know, but what if things change because you have a wife?"
"Maybe we might end spending a bit less time together than usual, but I promise you that there's always room for you in my life. Do you really think I'd ever give you up? Don't you trust me?"
"Of course, I do. But James, promise me that you truly, whole-heartedly want to get married and you're not just going through it despite your aversion because it's the honorable thing to do," asked Sirius.
"I promise."
And James meant it too. He didn't need many words to understand the point his father was making. He fell in love with Lily for the wonderful person she was. It wouldn't matter if she won most of their arguments. There was a lot more to marriage than that and he was not about to lose the love of his life because of some silly and immature reason. When he saw his soon to be bride walk down the aisle towards him, his heart skipped several beats as he took in her angelic appearance and he knew that he was making the right choice. All he could think about at that moment was spending the rest of his life making her happy, even if it meant losing every argument they ever have.
Two years later
Lily was arranging the dresser in her room, when she found an empty mason jar in one of James's drawers.
"James, why is there an empty mason jar in your drawer?" asked Lily.
"Oh, my dad used to keep one where he put in a marble every time he won an argument with my mum. I thought I'd do the same for us," James explained.
Lily put the mason jar down before walking towards him.
"So it's empty because you never won an argument with me?"
James nodded.
"How many marbles did your father have in his?"
"One," admitted James.
"So, what makes you confident you'd fill up your jar?" asked Lily teasingly.
"I figured that if I showed you an empty jar years after we were married, you might let me win whatever argument we were having in that moment out of pity," James said cheekily.
"You never fail to amuse me, Potter. But that's one of the reasons I love you," said the red-head earnestly as her husband wordlessly communicated that he loved her too by affectionately taking her hands in his and kissing them.