A/N: Here it is! The long awaited mini-chapter fic of Lily Marjorie Dursley's wedding! While it is not necessary, I highly recommend reading the two oneshots the precede this story, it will help make some things clear. On that note please enjoy!
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is JKRs the rest is mine
The Problem
Derek was worried. It was the day before his wedding and everything was ready to go. The members of the wedding party had all arrived, the cake had been delivered, the flowers picked up, the center pieces prepared, and the guest list completed and given to the catering crew to prepare the table settings. All that was left was the rehearsal and dinner, followed by the actual wedding and reception the next afternoon. Yes, everything was perfect.
If you didn't count the fact that his bride-to-be was nowhere to be found.
Derek had spent the better part of the day searching for his fiancée, but he always seemed to be one step behind her. The florist had sent him to the baker, who had sent him to the wedding venue, where the cook had sent him to the hotel where the guests were staying, where the hotel manager then sent him to the bridal shop. Since he knew better than to go there—some muggle tradition about not seeing the dress until the day of the wedding—he headed back to his flat to wait out the remaining hours until the rehearsal that night. Derek sighed and hoped that this wasn't an early sign that his fiancée was getting cold feet.
As he reached into his pocket to retrieve the key to his flat, he was surprised to see that someone had beaten him to it.
A young woman of medium build and height with long blonde hair stood with her back toward him muttering under her breath.
"Stupid anti-burglary charm," she muttered, "Now I'm stuck here until Derek gets home. I can't believe him; going around making a fuss about doing some things the muggle way and insisting on us both having house keys but refusing to get a mobile so that when I leave my key here I can call him. It's not like I can send him a patronus or anything. What if he's in muggle London and a big silvery raven lands on his shoulders? I can just imagine the reaction of the people there, not to mention what the ministry would do."
Derek smiled as the young woman continued to vent her frustration, unaware of her audience. Clearly the stress of planning a wedding was getting to her. Quietly, he snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist in a loving gesture.
It had the opposite effect as she elbowed him in the chest and whipped around to face him, wand at the ready. Her big green eyes widen in surprise as she realized who it was who had come up behind her.
"Oh my goodness, Derek!" she cried quickly placing a hand over where she had elbowed him. "I'm so sorry, I didn't expect anyone and when you grabbed me I panicked, did I hurt you?"
Derek grunted a little and rubbed the spot on his chest that would probably be a bruise by tomorrow.
"I'm fine," He said, "You didn't get me that hard."
She smiled before bringing her hand around and cuffing him on the back of the head.
"Merlin woman!" he cried, clutching his head, "What was that for?"
"Don't you 'what was that for' me, Derek Thomas!" she admonished. "I am at my limit making sure everything is ready for tomorrow and you nearly scaring the pants off me does not help!"
"Hm, a pant-less Margie, there's potential there."
She cuffed him again before giving him her fiercest glare, the one that clearly said you-don't-want-to-mess-with-Lily-Marjorie-Dursley-if-you-want-to-live-to-see-tomorrow.
"You have exactly ten seconds to open the door before I completely lose my cool, Derek," she warned as he fumbled for his keys.
Derek loved his fiancée, he really did, but he also had a healthy sense of self preservation, and crossing Margie in her current mood would ensure that he wouldn't make it to his wedding tomorrow.
As soon as he heard the lock click, Derek swung the door open and quickly let Margie in. She promptly flopped onto the large red sofa in the living room and roughly removed her shoes. Stretching out like a cat, she gave a large sigh and allowed herself to relax. As he studied her, Derek felt his previous worry returning.
Margie had large bags under her eyes that revealed how little sleep she was getting, her hair looked like it had seen better days, and her clothes were worn and stained. Normally her appearance was of no particular interest to him, he would love her regardless of how she looked, but Margie liked to look 'nice and put together' as she had explained it to him once, and the fact that she didn't right now indicated that something big was on her mind.
Knowing better than to try and sit on the couch with her, he settled himself into a cushy red armchair they'd gotten to match the sofa when they'd first moved in together. He smiled as he recalled the day. Her parents had been less than thrilled that they were going to be 'living in sin' as they put it, and wanted them to get married, or at least engaged beforehand, but Margie held her ground and refused to budge until they eventually gave in. Neither of them were ready for something as big as marriage yet, but they both hoped one day they would be. Looking back, he was convinced that that was the moment when he realized that he actually did want to spend the rest of his life with her.
"What are you so happy about?" the woman who currently occupied his mind asked from her position on the couch.
"Just remembering when I decided I wanted to marry you," he answered.
Margie rolled her eyes, "Derek love, you've been telling anyone who would listen that you were going to marry me since we were twelve."
Derek grinned, "C'mon now, Margie, I'm being serious here."
"You're never serious," she grinned, "But indulge me, tell which particular time was it that I did something utterly amazing that made you fall head over heels in love and decide that you wanted to marry me, huh?"
"Easy," he replied, "The day you told your parents to sod off, because we were moving in together whether they liked it or not."
Margie blushed, "Right, and do you remember what happened after that?"
"Of course, as soon as we left you burst into tears and were convinced that they'd never forgive you and that your family would completely disown you, and then went on to apologize for getting my shirt wet."
"Exactly," Margie said, her face turning a darker shade of red, "To this day I am sure I've never been more embarrassed in my life, and that, of all our memories; that, is the one that made you realize you wanted to marry me?"
"Sure is, what guy doesn't want to play the hero and snuggle up to his hysteric girlfriend in order to… let's say, distract her from all her worries?" He ducked as one of the couch cushions went whizzing by his head.
"You prat! You just want to marry me for sex!" Margie cried, trying to hide her laughter.
"Well love, you do have a nice arse." He wasn't quick enough to dodge the next pillow which sent Margie into full blown laughter and soon he had joined her. Once they had both clamed down, Derek was relieved to see that Margie looked considerably more cheerful than she had when they'd gotten home.
"So how are you feeling about tomorrow?" he asked, sorry to ruin her good mood but desperate for an answer.
Margie's face drooped at the mention of tomorrow and Derek felt his heart rate speed up.
"To be honest, I'm so nervous I feel sick."
Derek grimaced. It wasn't the reaction he was hoping for. Margie must have noticed because before he knew it she was sitting in his lap snuggled up against his chest.
"Not about us," she said with conviction, "If nothing else, I'm sure about us and you better believe I'll be there ready to spend the rest of my life with you tomorrow, but…well… Derek I think I did something incredibly stupid.
Her words put him somewhat at ease, but he was still tense as he replied, "What incredibly stupid thing have you don't then?"
"James, Albus and Lily are coming to the wedding tomorrow," she sighed.
Derek grinned and gave her a squeeze, "Well that wonderful! You all were pretty close in school, especially you and James. Why would them coming be stupid?"
"Well, I invited all the Potter's actually," she admitted.
Derek took a deep breath and tried to come up with something encouraging to say, but his mind had drawn a blank. Harry and Ginny were also coming to the wedding. So this is what had been causing his fiancée so much stress the past couple of days.
"Maybe inviting them was a bad idea," Margie continued when he remained silent, "I mean, yeah I know James and Albus and Lily, but it's not like I know Harry; or Ginny for that matter. I mean, I'm not sure they even knew I existed until I sent them an invite, and it's not like I know the whole story on why him and Dad never see each other. There's obviously a reason for it and it might be something they just can't get past. Not to mention the fact that my grandparents go all funny at the sound of his name and I still haven't told them or dad that he's going to be there tomorrow. I mean I was trying to do the right thing, they're still family after all, but that really only goes so far and even though I was trying to make this work what if it just blows up in my face and everything turns to shit? Then the wedding will be ruined and everyone will be upset and it'll be all my fault and it will be the worst day ever even though it's supposed to be one of the happiest of my life and then you'll never forgive me and we'll end up hating each other and things will just go completely out of control, and—that's it!"
"What's it?" he asked, struggling to make heads or tails of what she had said.
"Screw the wedding! Let's elope!"
He fixed her with a bewildered stare and weighed his reply before speaking, "Margie, love, you know that's not really what I had in mind when I asked you to marry me. And I know you're completely bugged out over the whole situation, but I think if you calm down and think about what you just suggested, you'll realize that it's not really what you want either."
Margie let out a long sigh and slumped against his chest, all traces of her previous energy gone from her body.
"I know," she said, squinting at something he couldn't see, "I know that I don't really want to elope, as much as I love you, but I just can't stop thinking about what a mess I seem to have gotten myself into."
He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a light squeeze, "Alright then, let's go over the facts."
"Hey that's my line," she said playfully.
He snorted, "Just because I wasn't in Ravenclaw doesn't mean I don't know how to use my brain. Besides, eloping is a very Gryffindor-like thing to do; very spontaneous."
Now it was her turn to snort, "More like cowardly."
"True," he grinned, "But you didn't go through with it, and I know you; you'll feel much better about the whole thing once you've gone over the facts."
"Alright," she said, pushing her self off his chest and turning to look at him, "The facts, Harry and my dad don't get along."
"Why?" he asked, falling into their old routine of question-and-answer. It was a good way to communicate for them; he could learn about what was going on and she could puzzle out the solution to whatever problem was currently occupying her mind.
"Apparently my grandparents mistreated him, and Dad was rotten to him as well," she said, frowning, and he could understand why. He'd met Mr. and Mrs. Dursley senior, and while they weren't the nicest people he knew, he had a hard time picturing them as cruel or hurtful. Margie's Dad on the other hand, still looked every inch the bully he had apparently been as a teenager. Although his face was lined and he'd plumped up a bit over the years, it wasn't hard to see that he'd used his size to his advantage and although he'd never been thin, he'd been muscled, and still was to some degree. But the real killer was that he could fix you with a glare so intense that it made you shake. Derek would know, he'd been on the receiving end of that glare the first time Margie had brought him home.
"Ok, we know that your dad used to beat him up as a kid," Derek said, "But from what he's told us, most of the physical stuff fizzled out when they were young teens."
Margie nodded, "Yeah, but Dad still feels responsible for letting his parents treat Harry the way they did."
"Didn't you say that they largely ignored him?"
"Only for the last few years he lived with them, before that they were supposedly really awful to him," Margie said, biting her lip and momentarily distracting him before continuing, "But then Harry and Dad kind of reconciled when Harry left."
"Reconciled how?" he asked, encouraging her to go on.
"Well, essentially Dad said that he didn't think Harry was a waste of space and thanked him for saving his life when they were fifteen," she said, "Harry told Dad that that was very decent of him and then they shook hands and parted."
"And that was the last time they saw each other?" Derek asked.
"As far as I know," Margie replied, "To be honest, it's not really Dad and Harry I'm worried about. Sure, it's going to be awkward, they haven't seen each other in twenty years or so, but overall I don't think it will be much of a problem."
"Then what's really making you squirm?"
"My grandparents," she admitted, biting her lip again and forcing Derek to remind himself to focus.
"What about them?" he prompted.
"Well it's just…" she paused, searching for the right word, "Everything, I guess. Like when we decided to go with something closer to a magical wedding than muggle one; sure they didn't say anything, but Gramps got all purple in the face and Nan froze and nearly dropped her Venetian flower vase. Or when I told them that a wizard was going to DJ the music, but would throw in some muggle songs so they wouldn't feel uncomfortable; gramps broke his mug. And when I told Nan that Headmaster Carter from Hogwarts was coming, she nearly fainted. I don't know what it is, but something about our world completely freaks them out and it just… I don't know. It just makes things hard I guess."
"Margie, they're your grandparents," Derek said, "They might not be the best people in the world, but they're always there for you. They adore you."
She gave a small smile, "I know that, really I do, but I want them to accept me. I know they love me, but I've never felt comfortable in my own skin around them, y'know?"
Derek grinned, "Well maybe this wedding will loosen them up a bit, especially if we can get some firewhiskey in—"
Margie cuffed him before he could finish.
"Oi! What'd I do now?" he demanded, rubbing the side of his head.
"Derek Thomas, you are not going to get my grandparents drunk at our wedding," she warned, her eyes narrowed, "Especially if you want to live to enjoy the wedding night."
"Hmm, the wedding night," he muttered, pulling her closer, "I'd almost forgotten about that."
"Liar," she said, trying hard not to smile as he leaned in towards her.
"Maybe," he said, before capturing her lips with his. He slid his hands to her back as she twisted towards him and buried her fingers in his hair, allowing his fingers to slip under the edge of her t-shirt and caress the bare skin of her back. Margie pulled his head closer as the kiss deepened. Derek's fingers slowly left her back and traced their way to her stomach, causing her breathing to speed up. This was exactly what she needed to take her mind off her worries, now all they had to do was try to make it to the bedroom.
Tap.
The sound startled the both of them, causing them to break apart.
Tap, tap.
They both looked over at the window and saw a familiar eagle owl sitting on the sill.
Derek groaned. "Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away," he said, kissing her neck.
Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
"And maybe not," Margie said, untangling herself from Derek and making her way over to the window.
"Damn James," Derek muttered, running a hand through his hair.
Margie smiled as she quickly opened the window and took the letter, allowing the owl to fly inside and get a drink from Freya's dish as it waited for a reply. She broke the seal and scanned the letter before letting out a snort.
"I swear, James is such a girl sometimes," she said.
"What'd he do now?" Derek asked.
"He wants to know if he should wear dress robes or muggle clothes," she replied.
Derek frowned, "Didn't the invitation say either would be fine?"
She grinned, "It did, but Mr. Prima Donna can't decide which makes his figure look better and wants a second opinion."
Derek lat out a full bodied laugh before responding, "Excellent! I'll make sure to bring that up when we see him tomorrow."
"You do that," Margie said, rolling her eyes at her fiancée's foolishness, "In the meantime, I'm going to write a quick reply, then we need to get ready for the rehearsal dinner."
"Is it that time already?" he groaned.
"Yep," Margie said, kissing his cheek before heading towards her desk, "You might want to take some time to compose yourself though."
"Tease," he growled, getting up and heading into the bedroom to shower and change.
"You know it!" he heard her call, from the other room and he couldn't help but smile.
One step at a time, that was the key. This afternoon they'd gotten to the root of the problem, the next step was the rehearsal dinner. If they could get through that the battle was half won. But he'd worry about that after tonight. One step at a time.
A/N: Yay for chapter 1! I hope you all have enjoyed it so far cause the fun is just beginning! So the stage is set and the Potters are coming, and now Margie gets to explain to the Dursleys about some new guests that will be attending the wedding. The Rehearsal is up next and I'll be posting a chapter every weekend until the end so look forward to it! Remember this is a mini fic so don't expect more than about 5 or 6 chapters and please REVIEW! Constructive criticism is always welcome and encouragement is great fuel for the ego and creative senses ;-) Until next time.
-Iris