Chapter Four: Pretty in Pink

(A/N: This is a continuation from Chapter Three. Combined, they were a bit too long so I separated them. Enjoy!)

"Petunia, dear," Mum smiled angrily before continuing. "What you have failed to realize so far is that your father and I are paying for your wedding. Like it or not, Lily will be one of your bridesmaids. Otherwise, you and Vernon can simply go and elope. Now go and get ready."

That was below the belt. My sister had dreamed about her wedding her whole entire life. She wouldn't throw it away to elope and my mother knew that. Smart woman. I was glad she was on my side for this battle. My sister fumed as she stomped up the stairs. It was amazing how much drama she created. My mum sat down at the table as soon as Petunia was out of hearing range.

"Honey, I'm sorry you had to hear that," my mum said as she frowned. I could tell my mum had been aging. Her hair had quite a bit more grey in it, and there were creases in her face I swore hadn't been there before. When had she gotten this old? She reached back to smooth her hair. "Petunia is just being so stubborn. She's so jealous of you and of whom you are that she's trying to isolate herself from it." My mum took a small sip of tea before she continued. "She's attached to normalcy. But since the type of relationship your father and I had resulted in us having a magical child, she's looking at extremes to find normalcy. Honestly, I worry that she's only marrying Vernon because of his projected averageness and his loathing of everything different. His intolerance has only made this worse. Your father said he would kick Vernon out, but that would only tear the family apart."

I think that was the first time anyone ever admitted that Petunia wasn't normal. It would kill her to hear that. She worked so hard to be the normal child. That type of hate wasn't typical though. I'd known she had hated me for quite some time. I'd fought it though. I'd always hoped that she and I would be the sisters we were when I was younger. I knew that could never be. So I made one of the toughest decisions I had ever made before.

"Mum, if Petunia doesn't want me to be a bridesmaid, I don't need to be one." That one little sentence cost me a lot. It was the end of a childhood dream. It was the end of trying to make things right between us. It was, essentially, the end of me trying to be the sister she didn't want to be. But at the same time, I knew it was the best thing for her. It was her wedding, after all. It was her life.

My mum's eyes shone with tears; I knew it killed her to see us fighting. She had always hoped that her two little flowers would get along, that we would thrive and blossom side by side. There would always be a barrier between us. We would never grow in the same garden.

"It might be best, dear," Mum choked out.

Just then, Petunia came bouncing down the stairs.

"Ready to go, Mother? What might be best," she asked, looking surreptitiously at me. Oh well. There would be no love lost from her over this.

"Petunia, I'm not going to be a bridesmaid in your wedding," I said, waiting for a reaction from her. I was still hoping she would stop me and tell me she wanted me to be in it.

Instead, she turned to Mum and squealed, throwing her arms around my mum. I watched as my mum stiffened.

"Oh thank you, thank you Mother," she gushed. "Oh this is going to be the best day ever."

My mother frowned, if possible, even more. "Don't thank me," she told Petunia. "Thank Lily. She offered to give it up for you."

My sister turned to glare at me. "So does this mean you won't be coming to the wedding as well," she asked spitefully. That was more than I could suppress; I felt my temper creeping up on me. For once, I didn't care.

"Don't think you'll get that lucky," I said coldly. "I'll be right up front to watch your special day." Inside I was fuming. Nothing was ever enough. Having me away nine months of the year didn't suffice. Having Mum and Dad all to herself didn't cut it. She wouldn't be happy until I was permanently gone. I could let my sister go, but I would never let my parents go.

Mum hated our bickering, so she was quick to hustle us both out to the car. Even if I wasn't going to be a bridesmaid, I would still need a dress for the wedding. I had a feeling my dress robes just wouldn't work. Muggles just didn't understand that custom. The drive to London was a long and quiet one. Petunia sat in the front with Mum, and I sat in the back, as always. I stared out the window and watched the scenery fly by. This was one of the things that muggles had down better. Sure, you could apparate or floo, but you'd miss out on all of the scenery along the way. Taking the trip by broom wouldn't be too bad, but you would be too far up to see very much. No, I enjoyed driving the best. There was a certain simplicity to it. I couldn't wait to learn how. Soon enough, the sights of London began to colour my window.

It wasn't long before we pulled into our favourite shopping center. My mom and sister were quick to get out of the car. I trailed behind. I knew exactly which store they were headed to, the same store Petunia had been eyeing ever since she was a little girl. Mind you, I had been eyeing it too, so I knew exactly where it was. It was as I was stalling, waiting to go to the store that I knew would consume my day, that I saw a familiar face.

"Mark," I called, heading over to the dark skinned boy I hadn't seen in a year. He had been a seventh year Gryffindor prefect in my fifth year, when I first became one. Mark Rivers had been one of my favorite people to do prefect rounds with. He had a great sense of humor and knew plenty of amusing ways to keep you up during long rounds. After working with him for a year, I was surprised that he hadn't been chosen for Head Boy. He never made a student feel bad about their families or anything in their lives that they couldn't control. He was brave and tended to look at things in a different sort of way than others.

"Hey Lily, how have you been?" he asked. He looked different since I had last seen him. His eyes held a bit more knowledge, showed signs of seeing more than they had the last time that I'd seen him. It was quite intriguing, really.

"I've been pretty good," I told him. It felt like we were in the prefects lounge again. I told him about what had occurred last year at Hogwarts, and he told me of his past year at the ministry. He was actually scouting to get some inside knowledge as to a undercover job he would be working on later this year. He had to impersonate a muggle in order to find out the image they held of witches and wizards, as well as to determine what the masses thought of a few very public wizard blunders and misdeeds. He was supposed to be studying how normal muggles acted in everyday life. It actually wasn't a bad place to study muggles. The shops were normally packed, and muggle boys dressed and behaved the same way there that they did anyplace else.

After about twenty minutes, I bid him farewell so as he could return to his "research". I quickly turned and walked across the shopping centre toward the bridal shop I expected Petunia and Mum to be in. I wasn't disappointed. I found Petunia in a very frilly gown with piles of more sophisticated gowns crumpled on the floor. It was obvious that she had made her mark there. My mum, naturally, was holding up a more elegant gown and trying to convince Petunia to try it on.

"No Mother," Petunia screeched, her nose high in the air, "I will not try on that gown. I like this one. It becomes me."

I'm not quite sure what Petunia found becoming about the gown. It had huge, puffy sleeves, far too many sequins and beads, a rather unbecoming neckline, and looked far more adequate for a girl playing dress up than for a woman about to be married. But then again, my taste had always differed from that of my sister. Still, my mum spent twenty ill wasted minutes trying to talk Petunia into a different dress. Petunia had her mind set, so she got the gown she wanted.

"This is my dream wedding dress," Petunia delightfully told the salesclerk who placed her dress on the sales bar. While Petunia kept a careful watch on her beloved dress, my mum and I walked over to the bridesmaid dress section of the store. There were hundreds of dresses, sorted out by colour. I felt as if I should stick close to Petunia's wedding colours though. That wouldn't be easy, though. She had selected various odd shades of pink for her colours. My red hair didn't exactly work with that color very well. It took some considerable time, but near the end of my search, I found a gown tucked and hidden behind others on the rack. It was perfect. The fabric was satin but delicate, with an open back. Better than that, the pink was more of a dusty or ancient rose than a true pink. It enhanced my red hair rather than clashing with it. As soon as my mom saw me in it, I knew it was a go. The dress was actually fairly plain, except for the back. It wouldn't hog any attention away from Petunia, yet I knew I looked marvelous in it. That was enough for me.

Mum paid for our purchases, and we all piled into the car (with me in the back seat again, mind you) heading for home. After a peaceful drive home, apart from Petunia constantly bringing up her bloody dress, we were finally at home. Mum and Petunia were quick to head inside, for they had a photographer to book. I would have hurried in, but I saw Hecate perched in a tree in our backyard. That wasn't at all normal for her. She knew she could fly around as much as she wanted during the night, but during the day she might be seen. Even more strange, she would have just returned from a lengthy flight. I was surprised she wasn't in her cage sleeping. Carrying my new dress carefully in my hands, I strode across the yard, pulling my wand and hiding it under my purchase. I don't know why I had been so wand happy lately. Perhaps it was due to all of the "random disappearances". Even so, I was ready. I crossed the grass and moved closer to the tree.

Even though I was looking up at Hecate, I didn't miss who stepped out from concealment behind the tree, though it startled me. A certain James Potter had decided that now, in broad daylight and on a muggle street, was an acceptable time to respond to my letter… in person.

(A/N: Finished this during study hall. Sorry that the last two chapters took so long to post. I started up college again, and am currently balancing school, writing, and my sorority. Now that study hours have started back up again, I should be able to continue posting at a normal rate.)