Enormous thank yous to the amazing reviewers who reviewed my last chapter: ThatStrangeJilyShipper, pixies114, Go . Marauders . And . Lily, Cynthia, Ginny, and IllusiveButterfly.
I really feel like I'm not fully coming across how grateful I am to have such amazing reviewers such as all of you, so please understand that I love you so much. You all motivate me to write more, faster and better! So thank you.
On with this super-long (but super-quick update, no?) chapter :)
"So James," Lily began, sitting cross-legged on his bed, watching him get ready for the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw that was starting in an hour. "I received some mail this morning."
"Oh yeah?" James deadpanned, searching frantically for his shin guards. "Lil, you haven't seen my shin guards anywhere have you?"
"Yeah. It was from my mum. And my sister."
"My shin guards?"
"The letter."
James snapped his fingers. "Right. Seen my shin guards anywhere yet?"
"You know how Petunia's been dating that bloke I told you about... Vernon?" Lily continued.
"Right. Vernon. Petunia. Shin guards?" James tore open his trunk, throwing things out desperately.
"Well, they've been dating quite a while now..."
"Shin guards, shin guards..." James muttered, looking around the room until finally deciding to duck under the bed in search for them.
"James, I get the feeling you're not listening." Lily said, hanging her head over his bed to watch him look.
"Where'd you get that?" James said, coming out from under the bed and shooting her a quick grin, before tearing into the bathroom. "Found one!" He screamed a second later, holding it up like a trophy. "Now where's the other...?"
Lily hopped off the bed and grabbed James by the shoulders. "James." She said firmly. He looked up at her finally.
"Yes?"
"Petunia and Vernon are getting married. We're invited to their wedding."
James raised his eyebrows. "I thought Petunia hated us."
"She did. She does. My mum probably forced her to let us come. Will you?"
"Will I er... what was the question?" James said distractedly, looking around the room again.
Lily groaned, still holding on to his arms firmly. "Bloody hell James, it's hanging on the back of your door!"
"The wedding?"
"The shin guard!"
James whipped around to the door, then looked back to Lily, kissing her forehead and grinning. "Yes, I will come to the wedding. And yes, you are my everything and I do not know what I would do without you."
Lily smirked. "The wedding's tomorrow, by the way."
"Sure." James said distractedly, putting on his shin guards. He stood up and put out his arms, smiling at her. "How do I look?"
"Like a champion, darling."
"Looking the part is half of the job."
"Meaning I have to look good for tomorrow because I'm the maid of honour?" Lily groaned into James' shoulder.
"Hey congratulations! Maid of honour, what an honour!" James said, then paused. "But what do you mean 'tomorrow'?"
Lily smiled. "I knew you didn't catch that bit. The wedding's tomorrow, champ." She patted him on the back, pushing him out of their room with her.
"Alright. I''ll be ready." James said, not missing a beat as he swung his broom over his shoulder. Lily was impressed.
"You'll be ready, huh?" She crossed her arms over her chest, walking down the stairs with him by her side. He was smiling to himself in a way that Lily did not like.
"Yep. I'll be sure to wear my dark blue dress robes with the dancing gold stars on it." He said.
"Don't forget the pointy hat." Lily deadpanned.
"It just completes the outfit, doesn't it?" James joked, then frowned. "Am I actually allowed to wear that to a Muggle's wedding?"
"James dear," Lily said, walking out of the common room. "You can wear whatever you like."
James smiled to himself. "Great."
"Because I already rented you a suit." She finished, smiling.
James exhaled, disappointed. "That's no fun, I won't stand out at all."
"That's sort of the point." Lily said. "But you'll have to be good if you're coming, alright?"
James groaned. "Then I don't want to come. I hate weddings and Petunia hates me. It's a win/win deal if I just don't show up at all."
Lily gritted her teeth. "Oh no. You're not leaving me all alone at this crazy thing. I'll be warding off my creepy cousins all night as they try to ask me to dance." Lily snuck a look at James from the corner of her eye, wondering if her plan worked. It was James' turn to grit his teeth now. Lily smiled. Her plan worked.
"Fine." James grumbled. "But I'll be grumpy all day."
"You and me both, partner." Lily threw back. "Thanks, by the way." She took his hand in hers.
James looked at her desperately. "I'm going to regret this tomorrow, but you're welcome."
"Quite the match you had last night, huh?" Lily said, patting a bag of ice to James' forehead, where he now sported a huge, purple goose-egg bump.
James winced aloud. "What time is the wedding again?"
Lily checked her watch. "It starts at one. We've got plenty of time."
"We're apparating, I presume?" James said, wincing some more as Lily pressed the ice bag onto his forehead some more. "I'm cold."
"Yes, we're apparating." Lily kissed his injury gently. "Poor Sirius. He feels like this is all his fault."
"It's just a bruise. Nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix in seconds." James frowned. "Not that I'm going to go to her. She's got enough troubles with half the Ravenclaw team in there with injuries and Justin and Alex from our team." He shook his head. "Intense game. Thank Merlin Justin managed to get the snitch before that Bludger knocked him off his broom or who knows how many injuries there would have been in that game by the time we finished."
Lily blew her hair out of her face as she watched him carefully. "You sure you're okay? I don't want you to faint or something at the wedding."
"Actually, I do feel sort of faint..." James grinned.
"You're fine." Lily said firmly, realizing her mistake. James just chuckled, laying his head down in his pillow.
"We really have to go?" James groaned into his pillow. "Just pretend you didn't get the invite." James snapped his fingers. "Blame it on the owls. Say they're known to eat the letters sometimes."
Lily rolled her eyes. "My mum would kill me if I missed Petunia's wedding. But James, you have to promise not to use magic. Seriously, Petunia would never forgive me."
James rolled his eyes now. "Oh come on! I could make her wedding so much cooler if she wasn't so jealous of the fact that she can't."
"I think she mostly just wants a life like any one else." Lily said quietly. "And we've got to respect that. So if I see your wand at any time at the wedding..." Lily warned.
James raised his hands defensively. "I won't, stop worrying!"
"Alright." Lily relaxed somewhat. "We'll leave at eleven, we'll get dressed at my house—"
"In my suit." James grumbled.
"Oh, and you should do something with your hair."
"What's wrong with my hair?"
Lily gave him a look. He fell back, muttering about how he hated weddings as she paced around, suddenly feeling anxious. What if she messed up the whole wedding for Petunia? Her sister would never forgive her. And if Lily did a good job and acted normal maybe Petunia would give her a chance to be actual sisters again. Lily sighed at the thought. Maybe they could go back to the way things were before Lily had gotten her letter from Hogwarts. This was her chance. She wasn't going to screw it up.
"And then maybe Petunia can come to our wedding!"
James sat up, eyebrows raised. "We're getting married now?"
Lily blushed. "It's a thought."
"A damn good one." James said, smiling.
"Really?"
James nodded. Lily walked over to sit on his bed with him.
"Look, maybe we should talk about that—" Lilt started, before James cut her off.
"Not today, okay? You're excited about the wedding and you want to have your own—which is great, and also totally predictable. See if by tomorrow you still want to get married and then we'll talk about it."
"Lily!" Lily's mother ran straight to her daughter with open arms, embracing her as soon as she stepped through the door to the kitchen. She let go, smiling at her daughter, then turned to James. "And you must be the famous James Potter." She said knowingly.
"Anything she told you is a lie." James said quickly.
"Oh I doubt that. The hair is exactly how she described it." Lily's mother said, patting his head. He heard Lily groan quietly from beside him. He ran a hand through his hair nervously. As Lily's mum swooped in for a hug, she whispered in James' ear, "Don't run your hand through it. Lil hates it." She pulled back, smiling coyly, then walked to the stairs.
"Derek!" She called up the stairs. She turned back to James and Lily. "You two better hurry up, Lily you have a practice wedding in a half-hour. Your shoes, dress, makeup and James' suit are laying on your bed in your room." She spoke very quickly. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "I'm Eleanor by the way." She said to James.
"And I'm Derek." Said who James presumed was Lily's father. "And you're the famous James Potter."
"And everything Lily told us is true." Eleanor stage-whispered to her husband.
"Oh I don't doubt that. Look at the hair." He said back. He held out his hand.
James shook it, smiling. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both."
"He's polite. How nice." Eleanor said to her husband.
"And a firm handshake." Derek commented.
James was smiling at Lily. Lily groaned. "I told you two to keep the strange comments to yourselves! Normal parents don't do that sort of thing!"
"We're not like normal parents, James." Derek said quietly, looking around. "But that mustn't get out. It's our best-held secret."
"I won't tell a soul." James crossed his heart. He threw his arm around Lily's shoulders. "I like your parents." He told her.
"As we like your boyfriend. Her last one was a right prat, wasn't he Derek?" Eleanor stuck out her tongue.
Derek nodded as James stifled a laugh. "John was perfectly nice!" Lily argued. "He just didn't understand your strangeness—as most people wouldn't!"
"Well James is the exception to the rule." Eleanor said to her daughter.
"I think you'll find with most things I am." James said mysteriously, chuckling.
"Enough lollygagging! Get moving!" Eleanor said suddenly, looking at the clock above the stove. "Oh, guests will be arriving in mere minutes!" She fretted around the kitchen as Derek followed her. Lily grabbed James' hand and led him up the stairs, taking two at a time. She pushed him into her bedroom quickly.
He took it in quickly, noting the colour of the walls and how messy it was. He smirked at her as she smiled sheepishly. "No time to make fun of my room. We've got to get dressed."
"Together?" James raised a suggestive eyebrow.
Lily rolled her eyes, ignoring him. "Take your time. I'll be in the bathroom, getting ready. Holler if you need me."
She grabbed her dress and makeup and headed for the bathroom, closing the door behind her. James shrugged out of his clothing and got dressed. He grabbed his tie and looked at the plain red with disgust. It was not his style, but he could fix that.
With a plan in mind to transfigure it to dark blue with dancing gold stars, he pulled out his wand and pointed it to the tie in his hand.
"Lily I need to talk to you about the wed—" Said a female voice as she stepped into Lily's room. She jumped at the sight of James, then her eyes narrowed on his wand. "You're not Lily." Petunia said accusingly.
"Observant, aren't you?" James said, watching as her eyes were steadied on his wand hand. "I know you don't like it so I'll just put it away then..." He lowered his wand and slipped it into his pocket.
"I thought you weren't allowed to do magic outside of school." Petunia crossed her arms over her chest.
"And it's nice to meet you too. I'm James Potter."
"I know who you are." Petunia shot back. "What I want to know is why you're using m-m-magic in my house on my wedding day. I was specifically told numerous times that you're not allowed to do magic outside of school. That was the only reason you were invited."
"I'm seventeen now and so is Lily."
"Good for you." Petunia deadpanned.
James rolled his eyes. He could suddenly understand why Lily hated her sister. "Once you're seventeen you're of age. You can do magic outside of school." He sighed.
"No, that's wrong. You're not of age until you're eighteen."
"That—as most everything else—is different in the wizarding world."
"Keep your voice down!" Petunia hissed.
"There's no one else up here."
"You never know! A guest could be using the bathroom!"
"Lily's in the bathroom."
Petunia glowered at him, then stopped. "Good. That's who I wanted to see anyway." She turned on her heel and marched out of Lily's bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
"Grouchy Muggle." James muttered, pulling out his wand again. The door burst open again, as the wand slipped form his hands in surprise.
"And if I see that thing anywhere near my wedding I'll have your head for it. Are we clear?" Petunia demanded.
"Crystal." James said sourly, bending down to pick up his wand. The door slammed behind him as he decided to go for a little more extravagant tie... just to piss off Petunia.
This wedding would be torturous.
"Nice tie." Lily commented on his flashing rainbow tie, walking into the room, putting on her earrings. "Do me up?" She turned her back to him as he zipped up her zipper.
"Nice dress." James commented on her pale pink dress, giving her a once-over. "You look beautiful, as always. I like your hair down better though." He frowned.
Lily frowned as well. "Me too to be honest, but Petunia says all the maids of honour have their hair up so I can't be the only one with it down."
"Or she thinks you'll be prettier than her on her wedding day. Which you will be." James muttered.
"Met her, did you?" Lily said, applying lipstick in the mirror.
James choked on a laugh, nodding. "I had the pleasure."
Lily groaned, capping the lipstick. "S'pose you never want to come back, huh?"
"'Course I do. Your parents are brilliant. Your sister's a little mad, but now she'll be living with Vernon won't she?"
Lily brightened. "Hey, that's right! You can come all the time now!" Lily could imagine James and Lily's parents at the dining room table, eating dinner beside her, all like one big happy family. Or once James and her got married... they could inivte Lily's parents and James' parents to their house and have dinner all together. She smiled. She couldn't imagine a better future.
"Who has their wedding in April anyways?" James groaned, complaining for the umpteenth time that day. Lily stood beside him as she realized she should probably be with all the other bridesmaids, helping Petunia get ready. She shrugged; Petunia would probably shoo her away anyways.
"It's probably the wettest time of the year. What terrible planning." Said James, rolling his hazel eyes. James gasped suddenly, grinning evilly. "This isn't a shotgun marriage is it? You don't s'pose she's..." He mimicked a huge belly.
"What?" Lily gasped. "No! No, James!"
"Are you sure?" James taunted her.
"It's not." She said firmly. "They've probably been planning for months and months and they wanted an April wedding. Besides, it's late April and look, there's not a gray cloud in the sky. They're seem like pretty good planners to me."
"Sheer luck." James muttered to himself, slouching in his chair.
"Lily! Where are you?" Lily's mother's voice rung through the crowd that sat in the white foldout chairs that were placed in their backyard.
"I'm here, mum!" Lily said, standing up to see over the crowd. James squeezed her hand. "Don't leave me. Please." He pleaded. She leaned down and kissed him hard.
"I'll be back before you know it. I promise."
"I'll hold you to that."
"I know you will." She winked, turning to run to her mother, who was shaking frantically, fixing all the bridesmaids dresses and hair, running back to Petunia after every fix. Petunia was smiling so widely that Lily felt genuinely happy for her older sister.
"Mum, calm down. It'll all be fine." Lily told her mother as she fixed her daughter's hair.
"I'm not sure about that, but just keep telling me and maybe I'll start to believe you."
Lily chuckled, walking up to Petunia. "You look beautiful, Tuney."
Petunia turned, looking surprised. "Wow. Tuney. Haven't heard that name since... forever."
"Are you nervous?" Lily inquired, brushing invisible dust off of her sister's shoulders.
"Are you kidding? I'm about to explode!" Petunia laughed nervously and it was the most human thing Lily had heard from her sister in a while.
"But you're excited, right?"
"Extremely." Petunia smiled. She was positively glowing. "I'm so glad I chose pink for the bridesmaids dresses. I was afraid to choose anything else incase is clashed with your hair but pink seems to go perfectly with it."
Lily was speechless. "You p-planned to have me as your bridesmaid?"
Petunia giggled. "Of course, you're my sister! Who else could I have chosen for my maid of honour?"
"I thought Mum forced you to invite me!" Lily admitted.
"To be honest, she did." Petunia giggled and Lily giggled with her. "But I was always going to invite you, no matter what."
Lily brushed away a tear that fell. "Oh my God. I can't cry, I'll ruin my makeup." She giggled again. "I've missed you so much, Tuney. We never talk anymore."
Petunia's eyes filled and Lily laughed out loud. "No! Don't cry, your makeup's perfect! I won't let you!" Lily said crazily. Petunia burst out laughing at her sister's crazy antics as their mother walked over, smiling.
"Petunia, darling... It's time to start."
Petunia's face drained of colour, but she swallowed and followed her mother, turning around once to wave to Lily. Lily waved back, shooting thumbs-ups, and followed the other bridesmaids to their spots.
"That was uneventful." James said to her at the reception after the wedding. They danced to a song called 'Stairway to Heaven'.
"She was beautiful, don't you think?"
"Speaking in third person again, Lily?" James said, squeezing her waist as they moved along the dance floor together. Lily giggled, shutting her eyes and leaning into him.
"I love you James." Lily sighed into his neck, swaying with him to the song. The moment was perfect. She couldn't wish to be with anyone else right then and there.
"I love you too, Lily."
Suddenly, they heard a loud crash. Lily looked over to see a lot of people who had stopped dancing to see what had finally gone wrong with the wedding. Lily mentally groaned. The wedding had been so flawless up until this point. What could've gone wrong now?
"Stand aside! All of you! I only want to see Evans and Potter!" A dark, voice hissed to the crowd. The crowd gasped in unison, parting until there was a clear pathway to where James and Lily stood. A cloaked figure began walking slowly, and Lily froze, taking James' hand. They both trembled at this foreign but familiar sight. They knew who it was. They knew—as several more cloaked figures appeared by his side, and the crowd was completely silent—what had come for them.
It was Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters. And they wanted them.