DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me, they are the inventions of J.K. Rowling. Although I have added my own ideas, the story is hers.

Chapter 7

James

"Married? Married?" Sirius says with disgust, "Why would you want to do that?"

"Fine then. Remus will be my best man."

"I thought I was you best friend."

"No, Mooney's my best friend. That's why he's going to be my best man."

"Fine." Sirius crosses his arms and looks absentmindedly out of the window, whistling quietly.

"Oh for goodness sake! Sirius, James and I are getting married, and we would love you to be the best man!" Says Lily, sighing, "That's why we told you first, that and the fact that James knew that you would kick up a fuss."

"I'm not kicking up a fuss Evans; I'm not eight years old."

"Well you could have fooled me!" You know, I'd always presumed that when people announced engagements, there were a lot of teary eyed, smiling people hugging each other. Or a mental red head and I arguing with my best friend because he didn't approve of marriage. The two situations aren't that different really.

"Well I'm very happy for the two of you." Says Sirius sarcastically, still gazing out of the window. Lily's right, he is, very convincingly, portraying a sulking eight year that didn't get his way. Which is really rather pathetic to be honest.

"Anything else I should know? Are you pregnant Lily?"

"No! Of course not! Why would you- do I look pregnant?"

"No, love."

"Good." If I was Sirius, I would be bloody terrified.

"Well that's a relief. Imagine if you had… And out of wedlock as well… Dear me. At least you aren't like those other youths; it's disgusting, sinful behaviour if I'm honest with you. No, you can wait until after marriage for that sort of thing."

"So you'll be my best man?"

"Of course. I'm not letting Remus ruin your wedding because you're thick enough to consider giving him the responsibility of being your best man."

"Well that settles it then."

Sirius

Blimey, Evans looks scary when she's angry. I hope James knows what he's getting into, because she is not the sort of person that anyone in their right mind would want to settle down with forever. Marriage though, marriage. He must really love her. And he does, I can see it in the way he looks at her. Devotion, adoration, loyalty. Love. Huh. It's all very strange if you ask me.

"Well that's a relief. Imagine if you had… And out of wedlock as well… Dear me. At least you aren't like those other youths; it's disgusting, sinful behaviour if I'm honest with you. No, you can wait until after marriage for that sort of thing." A smile plays on James' lips and he's fighting laughter at my speech on propriety and decorum.

"So you'll be my best man?" Well, yeah, of course. Anything. Marriage, yuck, but he's my best friend. So yeah, I'll be his best man. Hell, I'd jump in front of a killing curse for him. Though I wouldn't tell him that, of course.

"Of course. I'm not letting Remus ruin your wedding because you're thick enough to consider giving him the responsibility of being your best man." No, that's not what I wanted to say, that's not what I wanted to say at all. I was going to say something about how he's like a brother to me, about how much they love each other. I wanted to tell him that I hoped the war would be over soon, so that they could be a family. But no, I'm just incapable of saying something remotely sentimental. So I hug him instead. It's a bit awkward, but he understands what I can't say out loud. Then I kiss Lily's cheek and she blushes, probably due to my dazzling good looks and charisma.

"So when will it happen?"

"Geeze, Sirius, we're getting married, not putting a dog to sleep," James laughs as he realises what he said, "Well we might put a dog to sleep if he doesn't start pretending to be happy about this." Lily looks puzzled, but decides that it's probably some weird inside joke that's too complicated to explain.

"Next winter, probably."

"Yeah, my Great Uncle's only got another six months, and the money he's promised me will pay for the wedding." Lily elbows him and hisses his name; obviously this wasn't something that they were telling people. She had probably decided that they would tell people "winter's just such a beautiful season, isn't it?" Instead of "well, my parents are short on cash, and Mr Potter's just lost his job, so we're going to wait until James' great Uncle Albert pops his clogs, so that we can pay for the ceremony." It just didn't have quite the same romantic ring to it.

I turn to leave, places to go, people to see, but there's one more thing I have to say.

"I'm happy for you guys, you're like family. And I'm sorry I asked if you were pregnant, Lily, it must be the jumper." And I think I here James laugh, though it's probably the last noise he'll ever make. But then I hear Lily laughing too, and I realise that I really am happy for the two of them.

James

"Oh, that's wonderful, dear, I'm so happy for the two of you. It just seems like yesterday when you received your Hogwarts letter, and now here you are, engaged to a wizard. Oh, it's just so surreal. Would you like another brownie, James dear?"

"No, thank you Mrs Evans."

"Mum, is Petunia here?"

"No, she's on a date, actually. What was his name again, dear?" She asks her husband, who is blissfully eating a chocolate brownie.

"Oh, Vernon something, I think." I know how much Lily misses her sister. It's not just that they rarely see each other, but she also misses having Petunia as a friend. She gained so much when she found out she was a witch, but she also lost her best friend. I don't know whether she'll ever get over that. But I hold her hand a little tighter, so that she knows I understand, and she smiles gratefully.

Here's the thing. There's a war on. We could be dead tomorrow, anything could happen. So why not? Yes, we're young, but we're not immortal. Life's too short to sit back and wait until tomorrow. So we'll live for today instead.