CHAPTER SEVEN: Here Comes the Bride, but there go the Potters
Holly's first week back a school could only be described as pure hell. The nasty Ravenclaw girls had spread through the school that she thought Sirius Black was her boyfriend, she'd had no word from any of the Marauders and who knew what her status was as far as Sirius went? The only contact with the outside world was a quick note from her mother saying all was well with her and Holly's younger sister, Carie. However, Holly doubted this. Nothing was ever well when her father was concerned. All she could hope for was that Carie stayed the quiet girl she was and did nothing to anger their father; Carie had always been his favourite so he had never laid a finger on her.
Holly had taken to sitting out on the grounds and watching the sunset alone. Just as she always had done before Sirius came storming into her life in full swing last year. So this is where she sat, thinking over her fight with Sirius. It had been all over Regulus. But she could not have turned him away. She couldn't have not helped him.
Someone sat next to her just as the last of the sun's rays left the sky. She turned to see one of the objects of her thoughts sitting beside her.
"Good evening, Regulus. What can I do you for?" she asked with fake cheers.
"What happened?" was all he asked so she found herself telling him the whole horrible sob story and then added,
"But don't worry about it. You have bigger issues."
"Maybe I do, but if I had come to you that day with no more than a love crisis, would you have shut me out?"
Holly stayed silent, knowing full well she wouldn't have.
"That's what I thought," Regulus replied, "So, even if you needed a healing charm on a paper cut I wouldn't lock you out, got it? You've been more of a support post than my own family."
"Thanks," Holly replied and she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. She knew how he felt.
Regulus stood to leave but stopped suddenly and looking Holly straight in the eye he said,
"He'll come around, I know him, even though he'd never admit it. He loves you. Sirius is still a Black and Blacks never give up what they cherish. Goodnight Holly."
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
This was the first noise Sirius heard when he woke on…what day was it?
He hadn't been in contact with anyone since he had left the Potter's on September first. Was that last week or last month? He didn't remember.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
'Whoever the bloody hell that is, is definitely persistent.' Sirius thought to himself as he dragged himself up off the couch.
"SIRUIS BLACK IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR, I'LL KNOCK IT IN!"
'Harold. Merlin, what does he want?'
Sirius opened the door to see Harold Potter standing on the doorstep looking about ready to Avada something.
"For heaven's sake, Sirius! What the hell is the meaning of this?" Harold said, stepping into the apartment, "No word for a month. You left Anna in such concern she's got her little mother hen wings fairly flapped off, you smell like the Hog's Head and when was the last time you showered?! What in Merlin's name has happened with you? None of the boys will speak of it and all Anna can put together is that it's something about Holly."
Sirius sat back down on the couch silently as Harold pushed again for the truth,
"What happened? Please, Sirius, you're like a son to me. I want to help."
"I hurt her, Harold. I told her she didn't understand about my family. Now I realize she's the only one in the whole world who would know how I felt. She's cleared out her bedroom and I don't know what to do. She even took her soppy romantic muggle books, see?" Sirius said pointing to a bookcase which held only old Hogwarts text books, presumably his own.
"Whats done is done, Sirius," Harold said soberly, "what you need to figure out now is how you're going to fix it."
Sirius sighed loudly and looked from the older man to the last remains of a bottle of firewhisky.
"And that stuff won't help a bit, boy. Take a shower and sober up."
"I don't think I can face sobriety right now." Sirius said looking at his hands.
"For Merlin's sake, boy, listen to yourself! If Holly is worth moping about for, she's worth fighting for! Now get up, get cleaned up and figure out a plan. You're cowering in this apartment like a bloody Slytherin, not the Gryffindor I know you are." Harold said forcefully to Sirius, prompting him into action.
Sirius had no plan, no grounds for argument and no idea what he was about to do. He did, however, have his newly located sobriety, love and Gryffindor courage. As well as the threat of being murdered by Harold if he couldn't repair the damage he had caused to Holly. With these thoughts in mind he apparated to Hogsmeade and marched straight up to the school to find Hol.
As Sirius walked across the grounds he once loved as his home he saw her among a group of girls. 'Way to go, Hol!' he thought happy that she was making friends. However, this happiness soon faded when he got nearer and could hear the conversation, or berating, that was taking place.
"Come on. You can tell us."
"Yeah, come on. You dating Sirius?"
Sirius saw her face now. She looked pale and terribly sad. He barely heard her when she quietly answered the taunting girls.
"I don't know."
To this the group began to laugh hysterically at her.
"Oh my god! She doesn't even know!"
"She's obviously been lying!"
Sirius couldn't hold back anymore. He was going to show this bunch of bitches exactly how perfect he thought his Holly was. He walked straight up to the group, spun Holly around, pulled her flush against him and kissed her harder and with more love than ever before. They both heard the girls gasp. Holly was so shocked that it took her a few minutes to respond and kiss him back but when she did he held her tighter and deepened the kiss until they were both out of oxygen. Sirius pulled away and looked down into her blue eyes and said,
"I am so sorry. I'm sorry. I love you, Holly."
Holly could hardly believe what she was hearing. Anna had told her he loved her. So had Regulus. But for him to say it was pure bliss to her.
"I love you too, Sirius." She said before kissing him again. She felt complete again, as did he. All was right in the world during that moment until Holly came back to earth realizing what day it was. She pulled away from the kiss and shrieked,
"SIRIUS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! AUROR TRAINING STARTS TODAY!"
"SHIT!" Sirius kissed Holly quickly and ran off to get to his training…late.
Holly turned around to see the group of girls were still standing there. She smirked at them and said,
"Actually, I do believe that I am dating Sirius Black. In fact, he loves me." Holly sauntered off towards the entrance hall, Regulus bumping into her on the way and depositing a note in her pocket as usual.
I told you so.
R.A.B.
Sirius rushed as fast as he could to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's training room and burst into the class. At the front of the room Alistar Moody stood lecturing on the importance of constant vigilance. With both his normal eye and magical one on Sirius the head auror said,
"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Black. Harold said you'd be late. Take a seat quickly."
'Nice one, Harold.' Sirius thought to himself as he found a seat next to James and started taking notes, hanging on every word the older man said.
As soon as they broke for lunch Sirius turned to James and said,
"She loves me, Prongs!"
"Hmm, I know." James replied distractedly looking through his satchel for the sandwiches Lily had made him.
"What do you mean 'you know'? This is major stuff! A break-through!"
"A bweak-frew?! Pweese!" James said with his mouth full before swallowing and continued, "We've all known it. Ever since she showed up at my place looking like she'd gone ten rounds with a Hungarian Horntail. You were the one she wanted. She only told you what happened and you were the only one to calm her down. We went shopping the next day and the reactions she was watching were yours. But most importantly, when her father tried to take her home, you saved her. The way she looked at you…we all knew." His friend's endearing speech made Sirius remember all those times over Christmas that he would look up from whatever he was doing and see Holly silently watching him with those beautiful awe-filled blue eyes. A man could get lost in those eyes like crystal clear waters of hope in a world where racism and hatred were quickly becoming a part of wizarding daily life.
"Oh, well, she still said it and it was perfect." Sirius said stealing a sandwich from his friend, "Cheers."
At breakfast one morning Holly sat alone at the Gryffindor table quietly eating her toast when the post arrived. She was bombarded with letters which was rather odd as she mostly only received the occasional letter from Anna or her mother or a sweet little note from Sirius. She opened the note she recognised with Sirius' writing first.
Hey Beautiful,
He's finally done it! James proposed. I'm best man. You should see him walking around the office looking like the cat that ate the canary. Mind you, Lily doesn't look displeased either.
Here the writing changed into another familiar script, James'.
Padfoot struts around like an idiot too, but he always has.
Shut up Prongs. Sorry about that, Hol. I have to go – another attack.
Love you always,
Sirius.
Holly was in rapturous laughter, so rapturous in fact that she didn't notice the whole table of Gryffindors watching her. The next letters were more expressions of joy at the engagement as well as a wedding invitation with a note enclosed from Lily.
Dear Holly,
I was hoping that you could do me the honour of being one of my bridesmaids. Mum and Dad have made me ask Petunia and they made her accept, but I would like for you and Natalie to be my choices. As you've probably noticed the wedding is on the next Hogsmeade weekend. I'll send you a dress and organise Sirius, no, wait, Remus to pick you up. I enclose photographs of the dresses. They are so perfect!
Much Love,
Lily Evans (soon-to-be Potter)
At reading this Holly squealed that girly squeal that is full of excitement and bliss, and promptly ran off from the Great Hall to reply in the affirmative to Lily.
On the morning of Lily and James' wedding Holly woke up reluctantly as usual to a wizard's alarm clock just before dawn. The dormitory was bathed in the orange glow of early morning as she made her bed quietly, making sure that she didn't wake the girls sleeping in the other beds. Holly donned a pair of jeans and Sirius' old Gryffindor quidditch shirt which she had stolen before returning to Hogwarts. She silently made her way to the kitchens for an early breakfast, making sure she had a good couple of hours before Remus came to get her to take her to the wedding. Holly casually ate her cereal and drank her coffee (which was nowhere near perfect as Sirius had not made it; his coffee was always the best to her).
Holly's next step towards getting ready for the gigantic event of the wedding was to retreat to the bathroom off her dormitory. By the time she was finished she had perfect curls down her back, the most immaculate make-up (courtesy of her make-up kit from the Potter's) and her dress looked ideal.
Holly checked her watch and left to meet Remus, oblivious to the stares she received from people as she passed them as the only two things on her mind were the wedding of two of her dearest friends and seeing a certain grey-eyed man she loved beyond all.
As she entered the entrance hall, she spotted Remus standing alone waiting for her in his suit.
'If Sirius looks half as handsome as Remus right now, I really don't think I'll be responsible for my actions,' she thought to herself as she approached the werewolf.
"Natalie had better watch out. Every girl there is going to want a piece of you, Remus." She said jokingly.
"You look lovely, Holly, and there is nothing but a mutual liking for dusty books between Nat and I. Get in the car, Sirius will die if I spend more time with you than he does."
"I'm sure he'll live." Holly responded as she climbed carefully into the car which was parked right at the doors.
Lily paced the room in the church, her hair immaculate, dress beautiful and make-up making her look nothing short of a goddess. There was a knock on the door that she recognised as Natalie's.
"Come in, Nat."
Upon seeing her friend, Natalie knew she was frightened.
"What's wrong Lil? It's your wedding day!" Natalie said encouragingly.
"What if this is all just a prank and James has really gotten over me and wants revenge?"
"He's been set on marrying you since we were eleven. It is not a prank, Lily."
"How can you be so sure? It would be the perfect pay back!" Lily said clearly hysterical.
"Stay here. I'll be back with proof…or an angry marauder, not sure which yet." Natalie laughed as she raced from the room.
Natalie found Sirius in amongst the pews of the church checking over the programs for the ceremony.
"Sirius, I need your help with something. Lily has blown a gasket and thinks the whole wedding is a prank."
"SHE WHAT?! WHERE IS SHE?!"
"Looks like an angry marauder is it then." She said as she followed him across the church.
Holly walked into the building just as Sirius was setting off.
"Sirius!" She exclaimed with pure bliss as she set eyes upon him, only to be answered with,
"Not now, Hol. I'm going to kill the bride."
Curious as to the drama, Holly followed Sirius and Natalie down the hall.
Sirius slammed into Lily's dressing room, startling her.
"What's all this about the wedding being a prank?" he asked sounding near to boiling point.
Lily remained silent in the presence of the enraged marauder.
"Well?! I have spent the entire morning trying to convince my best mate that you really do want him and when I finally get the concept through his thick skull you start accusing him of it all being an elaborate prank! Haven't you realized that there's no time for pranks anymore, Evans? Merlin, you saw me and James last week! Do you think it's a joke when we land ourselves in St. Mungo's?"
When Lily remained silent again Sirius roared,
"WELL?! DO YOU?!"
"No." Lily squeaked feebly.
"Well this is just as serious. Happy, but serious. He cried the day you agreed to marry him. You didn't know, but he did. James has never given the time of day to another girl since he pulled your hair on that first trip to Hogwarts." Sirius walked over to Lily and grabbed her shoulders making her look up at him, "He loves you, Lily."
She nodded and Sirius hugged her hard.
"Now, get ready. Your about to get married," Sirius walked to the door saying over his shoulder, "See you down the aisle, Evans."
Sirius exited the room with Holly hot on his heels.
"ST. MUNGO'S! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DONG IN ST. MUNGO'S?" then she paused in her tirade as realization dawned. St. Mungo's. He'd been injured. "Sirius, are you ok? What happened? You'd think that their training would be a little more safety conscious."
"It didn't happen in training, Hol. The ministry pushed the new recruits through fast. They need more numbers against Voldemort. I haven't been in training for three weeks now. I was going to tell you later. I wanted to talk about it face-to-face."
"But how did you get hurt?" holy persisted, a worried expression staining her face.
"We were trying to bring in a Death Eater. Dolohov I think it was. And I was hit with a hex that broke a few ribs. No huge disaster. James got a broken leg and concussion. The head auror demanded we stayed in observation for a few days. That's all it was. A bit of a jolt into reality really." Sirius said laughingly, but Holly looked anything but happy.
"You could have been killed." She said simply.
"Yes, I could have." He stated as simply back to her.
"I have to go to Lily. Wish James all the best." Holly turned to leave, but Sirius stopped her.
"You were all I was thinking of." He said seriously.
"I know." Holly answered before continuing on the see Lily.
This was it. Lily Evans and James Potter were going to be married. The famous pair had all but blown up Gryffindor Tower in James' efforts to get her to go out with him but finally he had succeeded.
Standing at the back of the church with Lily, Petunia, Natalie and Mr. Evans, Holly could see James and Sirius standing at the end of the aisle, both looking nervous but James more so. She could tell by looking at him that those nerves were not a fear of commitment but a fear that his fair lily-flower would revoke her consent to marriage after changing her mind. Holly smiled to herself as she knew that Lily would do nothing of the sort.
Sirius looked the most handsome she had ever seen him standing there in his black and red suit. She couldn't help but wonder if one day she would be the one in the bridal gown and Sirius the man waiting nervously to marry her. She gave a small giggle at this as she found the concept of life-long commitment clashed terribly with the reckless and free image Sirius portrayed himself as.
'One day…maybe.' She thought to herself silently.
Just as Holly thought this music began to play and Petunia began to walk down the aisle. She could almost feel James' apprehension and excitement as she watched him silently communicating with Remus who sat in the second row beside Peter. It still amazed her how they could read each other like open books.
Sirius watched as Lily's hideous sister walked down the aisle, waiting to see Holly, knowing that she looked simply stunning. The next woman to come down the middle of the elaborately decorated church was Natalie. Sirius looked towards Remus, who had audibly gulped upon seeing the slender blonde walking towards them. It had been common knowledge among the Marauders for some time that the lycan had strong feelings for his studious friend and whilst at Hogwarts he, James and Peter had often sniggered at the blush that graced his scarred cheeks when she sat by him in the library or lent him her muggle literary classics, such as Pride and Prejudice, which Sirius knew now held the residence of Remus' bedside chest in his small London bed-sit. He often wondered if the brainy girl knew of the theft, but knew better than to ask either party.
What slapped Sirius out of his musings was the vision of an angel waling down the aisle. Holy looked heavenly in the rich red gown with her curls delicately falling around her goddess-like face. As her eyes met his she blushed visibly which in Sirius' opinion made her even more beautiful. He couldn't help but smile at his love admiringly before those damned hormones kicked in and he had decided that no matter how delicious she looked in that gown she would look infinitely better out of it. But before these thoughts got too out of hand the wedding march filled the church and a beautiful Lily began her own treck down the aisle on the arm of a proudly grinning Mr. Evans.
As Sirius watched his best friend's girl take her last steps as a single woman James leant over and whispered to him,
"She's too good for me, Padfoot."
Sirius smiled and replied,
"We've known that for years, Prongs, but she wants you so just get on with it and marry the girl."
After the vows were said and James had kissed his new wife passionately for the entire world to see, the wedding party and guests moved on to the Three Broomsticks for a reception party. For the first half hour Holly hadn't seen Sirius. She was a little nervous due to finding out that he had been in St. Mungo's. She spotted him after a while speaking with Professor McGonagall, or rather being spoken to.
"You had better have her back to the castle no later than two pm tomorrow, Sirius. I will not have her grades suffering. You understand?" The professor said.
"Yes, Mame." Sirius answered before noticing the object of their conversation coming towards him, "Hello, love." He said with that wink that sent her knees weak.
"Hi, Sirius, Professor." Holly responded as she was pulled into his lap and a kiss planted on her jaw.
"Mr. Black has requested your presence overnight, Miss Maywater. I have agreed with the stipulation that you return to school no later than two p.m. tomorrow."
"Thankyou, Professor. I swear I won't be late."
"Enjoy yourself then dear. Merlin knows we need some fun in these times." She said as she walked off to chat with fellow guests.
Holly immediately turned her head and kissed Sirius hard and passionately. When she pulled back Sirius looked as if he'd been stunned.
"What was that?"
"A kiss. If you didn't like it then I swear I'll never kiss you again." She replied with a devious smirk.
"Don't you dare. If I had my way I'd steal you away from everyone right now. However, Anna is here and she'd murder me if she didn't get to see you. She's very scary when she doesn't get her way." Holly giggled at the frightened face Sirius was pulling. It looked so out of place upon his aristocratic and brave features.
Later on that evening Holly found herself sitting quietly alone in one of the stalls silently watching the Marauder's raucous conversation on the other side of the room when a glass of champagne was suddenly sat in front of her. She looked up to see a smiling Anna Potter taking a seat opposite her.
"What Rosmerta doesn't know won't hurt her," Anna said with a wink, "How are you? You look stunning."
Smiling back Holly Relied, "I'm fine. It's wonderful to see everyone so happy."
"It is indeed but I couldn't help noticing you sitting here alone. Anything bothering you?"
Holly laughed, "No. Just spying on a certain dark-haired hero."
Anna laughed loudly, "Have you caught any of his glances yet?"
"What glances?"
"The ones that make him look like a hungry wolf."
Holly giggled at this. "No! Of course not. And before you ask, we haven't, you know, done any of that yet."
"Just because you haven't done it doesn't mean he doesn't want to."
Holly blushed and sipped on her drink.
"I'm staying here tonight. Sirius arranged it all. I just hope he doesn't get too drunk."
Anna looked at the younger woman soberly and stated,
"He's drinking butterbeer. He only had a glass of wine with the toasts."
"Oh! That's…unusual." Holly said with surprise just as there was a flash of red light outside.
"I didn't know there would be fireworks." She said to Anna who replied,
"Me either. Let's go take a look."
So the two women exited the pub with many other guests only to walk straight into the path of a group of Death Eaters.
"Oh shit." Anna said dryly.
One of the masked figures spoke in a high, cackling voice,
"Black, you have the Maywater girl as per your request. ATTACK!"
Spells and curses of all different colours flew through the night air of Hogmeade and Holly was caught around the waist by a man. A whisper in her ear brought tears to her eyes as she recognised it.
"Holly, it's me," it was Regulus, "kick me and run." When holly remained still he growled, "NOW!"
She did as he instructed and she could hear Regulus' footstep behind her. She ran through the streets as fast as she could until she ran into a dead end. Regulus caught up with her and removed his mask. Tears graced his blue eyes and he said,
"Look at me. LOOK AT WHAT I AM!"
"I only see a man fighting for what he believes in. Are you going to kill me?"
"No. We are going to wait here, together, until I'm called back. It will be safe for you to go back to the pub then."
Tears were streaming down Holly's face now, but what made her sob was Regulus grabbing her and hugging her as she has never been hugged before. As if Holly was his only lifeline. And in that moment as she hugged the troubled man back and heard the sounds of battle in the distance, she realised that she was.
