Title: Connecting the Dots

Author: the-sparky-scribblings

Disclaimer: Sparks does not own Mister Harry Potter, sir. Sparks is only a house elf!

Summary: On her wedding day,Lily Evans spends a while thinking about what her life could have been like if she'd taken different choices.

Author's Note: I'm writing the third chapter of The Temporary Roommate, after which I shall finally get around to the fifth chapter of Shine of a Ruby. In the mean time, I'm giving you this, which spun itself in my head while I was practising eighth grade algebra for my math exam.

First Year

I could have listened to Petunia.

I could have listened to my older sister, my role model, and stayed home with her, playing together like the sisters-cum-best friends we were, the perfect relationship we shared until Sev came into my life.

I could have preserved that relationship, dropped everything to be at my sister's side, even though now, at nineteen, ready to walk down the aisle, I realise she'd never have done the same for me.

I am so, incredibly glad I didn't, so glad I followed my gut and came to Hogwarts, the best place I'd ever been, the place where I'd form unexpected friendships and find love.

Second Year

I could have taken one for the team.

I could have accepted the blame for not finishing Professor McGonagall's essay, but I chose, instead, to (falsely) blame Marlene for spilling juice over my essay, when I was actually busy staring at my first crush, Amos Diggory, fifth-year Hufflepuff Prefect.

As I watch Marlene now, arguing over the shade of lipstick I should wear, I realise how incredibly lucky I am for having a friend who does not keep grudges.

Third Year

I could have ignored Severus' insistence that my housemate, Remus Lupin, had something to hide.

I could have kept quiet when I confirmed my suspicions.

I could have told Severus about how he was right all along.

But I didn't.

I talked to Remus about his lycanthropy, and we became firm friends. My first actual Marauder friend.

I kept quiet about it to Severus, knowing that he'd probably announce it to the whole school, and poor Remus would, once again, be ostracized for something he couldn't be blamed for.

I hear Remus, telling Sirius and James to shut up and stop their food fight, speaking to James, "You are about to get married to the girl you've been after since you first saw her, and the poor girl has enough on her plate to worry about without having to get married to a beef-and-mayonnaise covered wanker!" and I realise, again, how lucky I am that I took the right decisions when I was young.

Fourth Year

I could have been the girlfriend of a fourteen-year-old sex god

I could have just ignored how big a prat he was, focusing more on the snogging and reputations bit.

I could have just let him assume I loved him the way he was, that I loved the fact that he was a huge obnoxious bullying prat.

I did fancy him a little bit.

I said no, because even at the tender age of fourteen, I valued personality over reputation, unlike my dorm-mates, who let their adolescent hormones take full control.

Eventually, he did work out that I expected him to change into a person I could fall in love with.

Even now, I still secretly encourage the pranks, as long as they weren't centered on unfair targets, because, truth be told, I found them endearing.

Fifth Year

I could have re-established my friendship with Snape, accepted the apology he offered for calling me that foul word.

I shudder to think what my life would be like if I did.

I would be walking down the aisle to become Lily Anna Snape, the trophy wife of a murderer, instead of Lily Anna Potter, the bride of the most adorably handsome prat in the world. (Not that I'd ever admit it to James, as unfortunately he still retains a little bit of male ego)

Sixth Year

I could have declined James' offer of friendship.

I could have stayed out of the fight over what Sirius did to Snape that full moon, but I chose to mediate.

I surprised everyone, including myself, when I took Sirius' side.

I'd seen how Sirius reacted to his brother joining the Death Eaters, and I'd seen how my ex-friend had jeered and taunted him till he reached breaking point.

In my first year, if someone had ever told me that I'd hate my best friend one day, I'd never have believed them.

That year, I deeply and truly loathed the boy who'd introduced me to the magical world.

The next time he crawled back, begging for forgiveness, I hexed him, slapped him, and called him Snivellus for good measure.

It felt so good.

Seventh Year

They say a crush lasts four months, and if you like a person for longer than that, you are already in love.

It took me many, many years to realise that I was hopelessly in love with James. He, apparently, realised it far, far earlier.

December 31st, 1977 was the last time he ever asked me out.

I would have been stupid to say anything but yes.

We kissed for the first time just as the new year started.

It was truly magical

During Christmas in 1978, he got down on one knee and proposed to me.

This would have been extremely romantic, but the poor fool tried to snog me while draping mistletoe across my shoulders.

That day, he realised I was allergic to it.

So, it was with a red nose that I sneezed "Yes"

And today, I'm getting married.

Present Day

My mother is fussing with my hair, tears of joy streaming down her face as she tells me how she feels like her own wedding was in progress just yesterday.

Dorea, my mother-in-law-to-be, is applying a Temporary Sticking Charm to fuse her veil with my mother's.

My father pats me on the back, gruffly, and remnicises about me being a bridesmaid for many of my cousins, and now some of them are bridesmaids at my wedding.

And finally, it is time to go.

The wedding march starts playing the moment I enter.

My attention is only on James.

I didn't know it was possible for a human jaw to open so wide.

Sirius lightly socks his jaw, and James has to hold it shut.

Am I really that beautiful?

I don't hear the preacher talk, but when he finally asks James, Sirius has to kick him in the shins before he stops staring at me long enough to say the words which I'll repeat, the words which signify the beginning of our new life together.

"I do."

And there you have it. My mind does work in strange ways, and I needed a break from math.

Read and review!

Love,

Sparks