The Arrangement

Chapter 1

Lily Evans gaped, her green almond shaped eyes wide and disbelieving as she sat at the long dining table.

"Darling, close your mouth, you'll catch flies. Besides, it's not as if we had a choice!" Amelia, Lily's mother, tried to explain. Her father, George, the King of their Kingdom, meanwhile gazed out the window, awaiting the tempest about to wreak havoc.

"Of course you had a choice! You always have a choice!" Shrieked Lily, her arms flying wildly, trying to find some way of venting her frustration. Her untameable red curls quivering with anger.

"Look, love," her father spoke this time, as his wife opened her mouth to answer their daughter. "The kingdom of Gryffindor is failing. There's no denying, and there is only one way to save it! We must get you married to secure the future of our home, and the home of hundreds of others I might add."

"Then let me decide! Let me fall in love and secure the kingdom then!"

"Love, we don't have that much time. You know troops are preparing to march in the east. Lord Voldemort will show no mercy and we need allies! I'm afraid it's the only way." George looked at his shining leather boots.

"But father-" Lily protested, but as she said this a lump of realisation rose in her throat.

"Darling the wedding is in a week. We must get this moving and must send a letter to your match's kingdom."

"Please..." Lily begged quietly before seeing the stern look in her fathers eye. Her head drooped and hands fidgeting in her lap.

"Seriously? That's mental..." Sighed Marlene, Lily's friend who had been visiting for a couple of weeks from her parents castle in the kingdom of Ravenclaw. Marlene was quite a pretty girl, with brown hair to her shoulders (cut herself) and dark mischievous eyes that matched her cheeky grin.

"I know! And I don't even know what his name is!"

"Lily, that is so unlucky. You'd better write and tell Samantha."

Samantha was Marlene and Lily's friend, whom also lived in Ravenclaw, despite both their families descending from Gryffindor. Samantha was a tall black girl with wide doe like eyes that Lily had envied since she was young. Truth be told, neither Marlene's nor Samantha's families really embraced the Ravenclaw culture and they visited Gryffindor regularly.

"Yeah, and I'd better tell Sev too."

"Oh shit, that's going to kill him Lils."

"I know," Lily groaned as she thought of the poor stable boy, who had fancied her from the moment he first met her. Her head sank onto the vast dressing table in her chambers, and accepting a state of melancholy self pity.

"I wonder who he is..." Pondered Marlene.

"Oh be quiet I don't want to think about it!"

"Ooh wouldn't it be bad if he was all pompous!"

Lily moaned into her arms.

"Marlene! Shut up!"

Lily's conversation with Severus went as bad as it could have gone. Lily thought Severus was going to cry. He was the same age as Lily, 17, but still, she thought she saw a distraught glimmer in his eyes.

He had very abruptly told her he had some work to do and Lily backed awkwardly out of the stables. She liked Severus, he had been a wonderful friend to her when Marlene and Samantha could only be contacted by letter. She had spent most of her childhood with Severus, but she wasn't sure that she really liked him. She had kissed him once, or rather he kissed her. It had been her first kiss and rather than think it had been a stepping stone, she rather felt it had been stolen from her. They had been twelve and one winters evening, huddled by the fire, Severus had uttered the words; "I really like you Lily," and Lily, naïve as she was had replied, "Oh, I really like you too Sev." And, taking this as a password, he leant over and kissed her determinedly. It had lasted only two seconds and Lily only had time to register what had happened once he leant back. Seeing the look on her face, he apologised profusely and went a deep shade if scarlet that momentarily blotched his sallow cheeks, before he hurriedly said goodnight and went down to his quarters.

Remembering this now, lying in her bed, Lily touched her lips. It was now three days before her wedding. A strange thought came to her, those lips had only ever been kissed by her family and Severus. And in a few days time, that would change. A stranger would have tainted them, made his mark. She was then meant to cherish him. In sickness and in health. Moonlight filtered through the heavy velvet curtains. Yesterday had been her dress fitting and as she tried it on the cold silk made her skin shiver and her heart clench like a sort of ogre was grabbing it. It was then that she had realised that this was forever. She could never find love of her own, never marry and never look this man in the eye and say I love you with peace in her heart.

Lily's toes curled under her down duvet. She had a few days. Samantha would be arriving tomorrow and her and Marlene would know how to make the most of those last few days.

Over the next few days, Lily had little chance to actually make the most of her last days as a single woman. It was mid December and the halls of Gryffindor Palace were icy and draughty, yet flurries of servants kept making preparations, running like urgent mice over the marble tiles. Lily, Marlene and Samantha probably would have found this amusing, if it weren't for the fact Lily was getting married in a couple of days. Instead Lily's mood had brought down the other two and due to the cold weather, they spent a lot of time just lying around in Lily's chambers and talking about the days when they were young and who they thought Lily's fiancé was. They had many a giggle about fantasy husbands from rotund princes to snooty lords.

The day before the wedding, there was a small complication that Queen Amelia almost had a panic attack over. It was snowing.

The delicate little flakes that were only sprinkles on the thick blanket that coated the grounds fell as a sort of tease to the poor queen who was already worried that the cake wouldn't get there in time. Servants hurried carrying letters and messages as well as baskets of confetti and long strands of creamy white ribbon through the now busy corridors. A large amount of guests had arrived over the week including prestigious families like the Greengrass family, the Shacklebolt family and the McKinnons, whose families went back generations, and were spending their hours either socialising in coffee chambers or taking strolls through the large castle. Lily found this quite unnerving as she knew that all of these people would be at her wedding, even though she didn't recognise half of them. Strangely, she thought this suited the occasion rather well; strangers at her wedding to a stranger.

On the day before her wedding, which was a Wednesday, Lily, Marlene and Samantha had made plans to have a small celebration in Marlene's chambers. Lily wasn't terribly excited and could foresee it being more like a funeral than a celebration. Marlene and Samantha were trying their best to stay upbeat and keep Lily's mind on the party tonight.

Night fell and at 8 o'clock after she had eaten her dinner, Lily snuck out of her chambers, her bare feet stinging on the cold marble. Marlene's chambers were only a few corridors away, but Lily ran just to keep her toes from falling off. She knocked lightly on the door and Samantha's face peeked through the crack. She hastily let Lily in and Lily was greeted with the sight of Marlene downing a glass of champagne.

"Well I see you've already gotten started!" Giggled Lily.

"Couldn't wait, sorry," smiled Marlene. "Besides we've got at least four bottles to get through, we need a head start!"

"Right pour me a glass and pass me the peanuts," exclaimed Lily grinning at the prospect of a night in with her friends.

There was a set of exploding snap cards on the table and a set of gobstones (no doubt Samantha's idea).

"I thought we could play some games," laughed Samantha as Marlene passed Lily the bowl of peanuts and her glass. "Just like the rainy days when we visited each other!"

"As fun as that sounds Sam, I'm sure Lily would rather just drown her sorrows. Besides, you always cheat!" Marlene smirked, and as she had guessed Samantha would, she scowled at her. Marlene loved winding her up.

"I never cheat!" Cried Samantha, taking a gulp of champagne.

"I'll drink to that," agreed Lily.

"I think you'd drink to anything tonight..." Sighed Marlene also clinking her glass. They refilled their glasses and slumped into the sofas around the fire. The night went on and as the bottles slowly emptied, so did their heads of any rational thoughts. It was about 12 when Samantha, who under any normal circumstances would have refused the idea completely, thought of sneaking down into the grounds to play in the snow. Being a little hazed and delirious, the other two agreed and all put on Marlene's thick winter cloaks and heavy boots. Marlene being much smaller and petite than Lily and Samantha, who were both quite willowy, had much a smaller cloak size, which came to about Samantha's knees. They had a hysterical giggle fit as she strutted the chambers in the too small boots and tiny cloak.

They finally made it to the sweeping staircase that led down to the grounds. As the three girls rounded a corner, whispering excitedly, they collided with a very solid someone and all let out drunken shrieks before shushing each other urgently. They looked up at the person (or persons, depending on from what angle they looked at them) they had run into. It was a young man, very tall and lean with very dark hair, wrapped in a fur cloak and hiding his face with his collar. Lily could see wrinkles appear under his glasses around his eyes, a sign he was smirking.

"Sorry!" Marlene cried in a loud whisper. The young man shook his head, as if to say, 'it's nothing', before he walked swiftly passed the three giggling girls who ran down the steps before guards could come running after them.

Lily blinking groggily as sunlight streamed in though the curtains of Marlene's room. Marlene's room! Shot thought Lily and crashed off of Marlene's bed and stumbled to the small gilded clock on Marlene's desk. 6:37. Thank god. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't relax for long though, as she knew her servants would be coming to wake her up at 7 o'clock. She gathered a few things like her dressing gown and a hair ribbon and dashed out of the door after leaving a little note for Marlene and Samantha who were still sleeping on Marlene's bed too to tail. As lily ran through the corridor, despite it being busy with servants, none of them really noticed her presence. It dawned on her that they must have all realised she had had a celebration last night, remembering the noise they had made. She groaned as she pushed open the door and crashed onto her perfectly made bed. Just as long as her mother didn't find out, thought Lily imagining how purple her mothers face would be. The servants wouldn't tell though. It wasn't their place firstly, but Lily thought more that they had covered for her before. When she had spent evening with Severus when she was little, and spontaneous sleepovers with Marlene and Samantha when they had come to visit.

Lily quickly changed her pyjama bottoms, which were muddy and still slightly damp from the girls' escapade in the snow last night, and then hopped under her covers, trying to ignore the faint throbbing in her head.

At precisely seven o'clock, there was a knock at the door. Feigning a just-woken-up voice, Lily called to the servants to come in. At her reply, half a dozen maids in their starched white aprons came marching in, carrying towels and hairbrushes and flowers and boxes, no doubt full of makeup. Lily say up in bed, rubbing her eyes as she observed the organised maids place their equipment down. She obeyed them as two of them bid her to the bathroom to the empty bath tub. One of the younger maids, he must have been fourteen or something, filled the tub with steaming buckets of water she had brought up with her. Scented lotions and soaps where added and the room was soon filled with overwhelming smells of lavender and roses. Lily sat in the tub as they scrubbed her and massaged her head with shampoo. The two girls nattered away about the upcoming event. Lily ha to take some large gulps to stop her from being sick. Her stomach, filled with the fumes from the bath (also worsening her headache) felt like it was being churned by a milkmaid, who was ferociously trying to make butter out of her intestines. Lily climbed out the bath and was wrapped in a fluffy white dressing gown before her hair was immediately brushed and whipped into curlers. Once she had exited the bathroom, Samantha and Marlene had arrived. They two had bathed and were being attended to, having powder and rouge smothered onto their faces. Lily was sat in front of her mirrored dressing table. Some mysterious sweet smelling cream was rubbed into her skin and so began the transformation of Lily's face. She watched in distant interest, whilst her two friends chatted excitedly. Every now and again Lily would nod or give a small "Mh-hm" in agreement. In truth, Lily did not know what to feel. One part of her brain seemed to be whispering to her to be excited, be pleased. She was helping her kingdom after all. She was saving the kingdom a great disaster, and she didn't have to go through all of the meeting and getting to know before she married this man. It was already sorted. It was the half enjoying how her makeup was highlighting and perfecting her face. But the other half of her, (the part more closely related to her heart, Lily deducted) was telling her that this was mad. This half was the side that was causing her hands to shake uncontrollably and her to sit in a kind of trance as everyone around her seemed as if they were at the end of a long tunnel. She couldn't get her mind around the idea that this was for the rest of her life. This was until she died.

Soon her makeup was finished.

"Lils, you look beautiful!" Smiled Samantha. It was a sad smile. A goodbye kind of smile. It made her nose twinge uncomfortably and the corners of her eyes to wrinkle in an attempt at being a dam. Marlene grinned at her. There was a sense no sense of finality in that grin. Lily felt like frowning. Marlene didn't seem to understand that this was the end of a story. Lily told this to her.

"Oh Lily, it's not the end of the story! It's the end of the chapter!" As carefree and insensitive as Marlene was, some of the stuff that came out of her mouth was very wise.

After two hours, Lily's hair, makeup and undergarments where on. Lily shivered in her lacy white petticoat and boned corset. The petticoat was short and a garter was fastened around her thigh. Lily shivered again, but not because she was cold. She hadn't thought about the night after her wedding. She knew what was expected of her, but she wouldn't let this man touch her. However nice he might be, she didn't love him, so he would be sleeping on the sofa.

The layers of Lily's wedding dress were brought through and her cage was the first thing to go on. Made of thick wire, it was designed to keep the skirt full, but not to be comfortable. Layers and layers of pure white silk were fastened around her small waist and at last, the top layer was done up with buttons at the base of her back. The dress was all rich snowy white silk and the back swooped down to the small in her back. The dress then frothed out in cascades of silk and lace. The sleeves were three quarter length and a small fur caplet draped over her bare shoulders. A long veil was placed on her red ringlets, styled into a half up half down. The time was now 9:30. It was time to make their way to the cathedral where Lily was to be united with someone in marriage. Samantha and Marlene led the way in their bridesmaids dresses of clear blue, also full and impractical. They were followed by five other bridesmaids whom Lily had only met briefly before, and a flower girl who had a permanent scowl on her face.

They took a roomy carriage pulled by four white horses to the cathedral in the centre of the town beneath the Gryffindor castle. The carriage struggled up the icy roads but made it just in time. Before Lily could register what was happening, the large doors opened and a thousand people stood to attention watching her enter. In a daze, Lily's eyes accidentally grazed the sight straight ahead of her. The back of a dark haired man standing at the altar. Even from this distance beneath his thick woken soldiers trousers, she could see his leg wobbling nervously. His scarlet coat shine as though a beacon from the end of the aisle. 'Just make it to end' thought Lily. She wasn't sure herself whether this meant the aisle, or... But with each step she came closer to the priest standing at the end. Before she realised, she was standing at the altar. Closing her eyes, Lily tilted her head up to see her soon-to-be husband.