Come Home
By Sharon
Prologue: The Wedding
"… Then I declare you bonded for life".
James looked into the eyes of the woman he loved most in the world, as tinsel was thrown all over the place. Her eyes were greener than ever. Her smile widened at the look on his face, which he was sure was foolishly happy and they both leaned in and…
"Snap out of it, mate"
And suddenly James was back in reality. As people shouted cheerful congratulations at the newly-weds, James blinked and pulled himself back together. He was at the wedding of the minister's niece and was stationed there as an auror; he had to keep his head in the job. His best friend, Sirius Black, was there with him; not on duty as it was, more that he felt like gate-crashing the wedding and keeping James company.
He continued searching for potential threats in the perimeter and his eyes caught on to a suspicious bloke in black that didn't join in the celebration, rather stood back alone. James was about to approach him when he noticed the bride catching sight of him. The two stared at each other for a moment, before the bloke looked away, grabbed his glass and disappeared from sight.
James observed the spot where that bloke had disappeared for a moment before turning back. He then caught the bride's eye, she in turn shook her head, indicating that the man wasn't a threat and then she looked away, her face slightly red. Women really were untruthful creatures.
"Anything interesting?" Sirius asked, observing the scene.
"The bride's on-the-side boyfriend attending her wedding", James replied sardonically.
"That's not interesting, that happens all the time", he replied with a smile.
"I hate women", James growled, continuing his observation of the perimeter.
"No you don't", Sirius said easily, his smile gone.
"I do, they are all deceitful and manipulative and…" he trailed off, not eager to say the next word on his mind – evil - though women really were evil. She certainly was…
"You hate Evans, Prongs" he said. "That doesn't mean you have to give up on women entirely".
James didn't reply, his headache from that morning's hangover worsening as the music grew louder.
"I'm certainly not going to", he continued, draining a glass of firewhiskey. "Try enjoying the party, mate". And he walked away towards a table of bridesmaids that have all been eyeing him since he arrived. Women… ridiculous.
Disclaimer: characters – not mine. Plot – mostly mine. I got the idea for this fic from one of the characters in 'Enemy of the State'. You can't guess which one this early on in the story, but you might in three or four chapters.