"And that my friends," Sirius Black laughed, "is why James Potter is a Chaser and not a Seeker."

James turned red as Remus and Peter roared with laughter. "Hippopotamus," he muttered to the Fat Lady (who had just that week returned from a visit to the painting of an African jungle on the fourth floor). The four boys stepped through the portrait hole still laughing and in generally pleasant moods. As it was early afternoon on an unusually warm March Saturday, the Common Room was mostly empty with the exception of a few students catching up on homework or reading.

Why anyone would want to sit indoors on a day like this was a mystery to James when one could just as simply take his/her books outside, but he could understand wanting to avoid other students in order to focus better. In fact, the four Marauders themselves were only returning to Gryffindor Tower for the sole purpose of returning their brooms and retrieving their books.

Upon returning from the seventh year boys' dormitory however, James heard sniffling coming from one of the couches. He noticed an unusually pretty redhead reading a letter on floral Muggle stationary. She wiped her eyes.

"Um," James said, "I think I'll hang back."

Sirius and Remus, following his eyes, shrugged and left while Peter looked a little disappointed, but followed the other two nonetheless.

"Hey," James said, resting down next to the girl.

"Oh!" Lily Evans looked up startled. She quickly wiped her eyes and faked a smile. "I didn't see you there."

"What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing really," she put on brave face. "It doesn't matter." Seeing that James was craning his neck to see the letter better, Lily sighed. "It's just my sister. It's not a big deal."

"What's she done now?" James asked sympathetically. "Is it something she's said?"

"No, it's not that…its' just that…" Lily sighed once again. "She's getting married."

"What's wrong with that? Don't like the guy?"

"No, it's not that…well, I don't like him, but that's not the point." Lily frowned and James scooted closer to her.

"Did she say that you can't have a plus one? Or did she explicitly say that I can't come?"

Despite herself, Lily grinned. "It's just that I got an invitation today."

"And what's wrong with that?"

Lily shook her head sadly and smiled. "It's just that you don't have any siblings that you don't understand. We haven't really been close since I was nine, but still. I'd always thought I'd be a bridesmaid. It's not like I thought I'd be the maid of honor or…" she stopped and hung her head.

James put a comforting arm around her. "Hey, it's alright."

"I just wished she would have told me sooner. Our parents sent me this. And that's how I found out," she closed her eyes and bit her lips. "You tell your family months before the wedding. You don't just send them an invitation."

"I understand," James nodded. "If Sirius got married and just sent me an invitation, I'd be pretty upset too. In fact, I would demand to be the best man."

Lily sighed, but didn't say anything.

"Besides, think on the bright side," James said, "if you're not a bridesmaid you can wear whatever you want. And," he grinned, "you don't have to walk down the aisle with an ugly cousin of the grooms. In fact," he sat up a little straighter, "you can attend with the handsomest man there on your arm."

Lily sniffled and laughed a little. "I didn't think Sirius would want to attend a Muggle wedding to people he doesn't even know."

James glared at her, but was glad that she was feeling up to joking around with him.

"Thanks, James," Lily gave him a peck on the cheek. "You're the best."

"I am, aren't I?" And with that, the two of them, headed out of the Common Room, hand in hand, towards the Lake.