War, Love and Peace
Celestia0909
*** Prompts displayed at the end of story to avoid giving out spoilers ***
Outside her window the sky had turned into a watercolour medley of pale pinks, purples, oranges, and reds. It was the middle of fall and the trees were shedding their leaves, preparing for the harshness of winter, and she had marvelled at the crisp sound of her feet hitting them earlier that day. The outside world was peaceful and the second floor of the Potter's mansion was anything but that.
'Where are those bloody things anyway,' on the other side of the door she could hear the bustling and mutterings of her best friends, all of whom were running around like headless chickens trying to look for their things. 'HAS ANYONE SEEN MY SHOES?'
'ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?' a deeper huskier voice boomed from further away, it could be nobody else but Marlene. Mary's quiet voice muttered a spell and Lily felt something whizzing past her left ear; glancing quickly at the object, she rolled her eyes at the cognac coloured platforms flying out her bedroom door.
The blonde witch to her left flicked her wand at the door and the arguing voices outside were silenced as the door shut and the locks clicked. She pocketed it into her sleeve and finished putting flowers in Lily's hair. A whiff of lavender attacked her senses as Dorcas slipped a sprig atop her right ear.
'You're awfully quiet Red,' Lily glanced at Dorcas and both of them smiled at her old nickname; she had been christened with the name after James Potter had asked her out for the first time in fourth year. She had never felt more embarrassed and what had made the whole thing worse was the fact that he'd done it right after the Halloween feast in front of the whole of Gryffindor house. Apparently her face turned as red as her hair, and thus her nickname had been given.
'Do you think this is all completely pointless?'
Dorcas' fingers stopped arranging the flowers in her hair and she placed the small stems on the vanity in front of Lily. Her small smile grew into a wide grin and she leant her back against the vanity, facing Lily and clasped her hands atop her yellow satin dress.
'I think that you're just letting the nerves get to you,' Lily would've glared at the girl had she not been feeling so jumpy. Dorcas' face softened and she held the girl's hands in hers, 'He loves you Lily, there's nothing else that matters.'
At the mention of James, she felt a wave of calm wash over her. In the time that they had been dating, James was a constant in her rapidly changing world. He made her feel a spectrum of emotions that she didn't know she could have towards one person. She loved him fiercely and the greatest luxury in her life was that he loved her with just as much gusto. A boy doesn't ask you out one hundred and forty-eight times for just a quick shag.
'It's not that…' she struggled to find words to explain the storm of emotions and thoughts running through her thoroughly stressed head. Certain doubts had formed inside her mind and resurfaced every few days.
What they were doing had seemed like a romantic idea when they'd been living together for a month and had just bought a cat together; but now it didn't seem like one at all. They were young and they were hopeful, and those were dangerous qualities to have when there was a war raging.
'This'll all be a waste if one of us dies tomorrow, or the day after, or next week…' the uneasiness in her stomach travelled upwards and clenched her heart in a vice grip. 'We spend more days apart from one another than together… Sometimes we don't even know who we are, we're fighting a war and sometimes we don't even know why. I'm sick of it Dorc, sick of all of this. We're too young to be getting married and having kids, but Molly Weasley had another one last month and we're doing this. Dumbledore's always harping on about love being the answer but fuck that; love didn't stop the Lestranges killing my parents, love didn't save Gideon or Fabian, love isn't going to make You-Know-Who stop any of this -'
Lily sobbed violently into her hands and she felt Dorcas' hands rubbing her back soothingly, murmuring words of comfort and cradling her head against hers. They stayed like that for a while, and the sobs dissolved into quiet sniffles as she tried to take deep steadying breaths. They stayed silent for a few minutes, afraid to pierce the tranquility in the room with words.
'You're right Lily,' Dorcas pulled back and crossed her arms against her chest. 'You're way too young to get married, and sometimes I don't even know why we bother fighting. Love does bugger all and it can't save anyone, so why bother with any of it right? Why not just go into hiding and grow old; who gives a rat's arse about the war, we probably aren't going to win this anyway.'
Dorcas, more than any else that she knew, was unconditionally optimistic and saw the good in everything and everyone; so hearing her agree with her own bleak sentiments was like a breath air because it sounded so unbelievably ridiculous coming out of the girl's mouth. Hearing Dorcas speak made her see that she was being a prat, a gigantic tosser of a prat to boot. Glancing at the small alarm clock on her bedside table, Lily realised that she was half an hour away from the biggest moment of her life and she was whinging about it.
Glancing at the window, the pale pinks and purples of the setting sun had disappeared entirely and only the small floating orbs of light, the moon, and the stars shone outside. She could hear the muffled sounds of people gathering and chatting with one another and the odd clattering of wood, no doubt someone knocking over a chair as they settled into a seat. The band that James loved so much was crooning softly downstairs and she felt peace seep into the pores of her skin.
There was a war going on and they were far too young to be getting married and having kids, but with death looming over their heads there may never be another chance to do it. Life couldn't stop moving forward and fear couldn't rule over their lives. Love wasn't going to stop Voldemort and it wouldn't bring Gideon, Fabian or her parents back but it was the only reason worthy of fighting a war for. Love for her friends, love for her fiancé, and the shining possibility of a life spent with those she cared most about. Love, amidst a life of war, offered them peace and it was worth fighting for.
Looking down at the twinkling dark green ring on her left hand, Lily thought that if tonight was the last night of her life, it would be worth it. She was marrying James Potter, and he was probably shaking with nerves of becoming her husband. Staring at herself at the mirror, Lily flinched and was horrified with the possibility that James would see her with red rimmed eyes and smeared lipstick.
Glancing back at Dorcas, she smiled and held her hand; 'Think you can get this fixed in twenty-eight minutes?'
130. Event: Wedding
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130 - Wedding
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