Chapter 35: Abroad

Springtime brought more attacks. Now they were not directed at Lily and James but more than once members of the order found themselves to be targets.

Weeks after announcing his engagement to Alice´s cousin Pam, Fabian Prewitt and his brother were killed. The order was petrified. The Prewitt brothers had been two of their best duellers. If they were not safe, nobody was.

This was why Lily was more than willing to accept Myra´s invitation to her wedding in France.

"Are you sure we can go?" she asked Dumbledore at an order meeting. "I don´t want to abandon my duties."

"You have done more than most of us," the latter reassured her. "You deserve a break. Take your husband and attend your friend´s wedding. Enjoy yourselves. We can manage for a while without you."

James was not too happy with neglecting business, but in the end his longing to move freely won over his sense of duty.

-x-

Although May was only beginning, the air was hot in southern France. The crickets were loud as ever, only the scent of lavender was absent from the landscape Lily knew so well.

"Isn´t it beautiful?" she asked letting go of James and stretching her arms.

James looked round. "It is," he agreed. "Where do we have to go?"

"Just down the hill," said Lily. "Myra said we were to come to the Duponts´ summer house." She pointed at the familiar farm house at the foot of the hill. "You´ll love it," she promised.

"I´ll love it because you are there." James put his arm around Lily´s waist and kissed her.

Lily laughed. "What are people to think about us? Stop it, you monster!"

She led the way down the hill. On their way she told James how she had walked down the path the first time with Albus Dumbledore.

"Did I ever tell you how much I missed you that year?" James smiled.

"Don´t you dare lie to me! You hadn´t even noticed me by then!"

"I solemnly swear I had!"

"Charming liar!"

The door of the summer residence was opened before Lily even got a chance to knock. "Lily!" Myra fell on her neck and laughed happily. After a long hug she stepped back and eyed her friend. "Marriage does you good," she laughed and turned to greet Lily´s husband.

"Hello, S..." the word never came out. "Hi, James, nice to see you again."

Lily slowly breathed out. Oh, stupid, stupid girl. She had totally forgotten that Myra still thought she had married Severus. Please, don´t let James suspect anything. But James had been far too occupied with taking in the details of the landscape and the house to notice Myra´s slip. Lily couldn´t believe her luck.

"Pierre," cried Myra back into the house over her shoulder, "Lily and James are here!"

Pierre came to greet the guests. "Hallo, we have not met, I´m Pierre," he shook James´ hand. "I´ll show you your room and we can get your luggage upstairs."

-x-

"You married James Potter?" Myra cried in a hushed voice as soon as the two men had disappeared. "I had no idea! I thought Severus was the one!"

"I´ll tell you in private what happened. For now only one thing: James has no idea about me and Severus. To him Severus is nothing more than my foster-brother. Please, please, please, let it stay this way."

"Wow, that´s quite a secret you´re keeping from your husband."

"I didn´t tell him in the beginning and he would be angry I didn´t if he learned now. There´s no need to upset him."

"So he has no reason to be jealous?"

"Of course not! What do you think of me!"

"Only the best, dear. Your secret is safe with me. But mind you, I hope it´s not too late to warn Pierre."

-x-

"Ah, I always loved this place!" Lily stretched in her chair on the patio. They were having a late breakfast with café au lait and croissants. "It´s so beautiful in spring with all those flowers."

"You´re a bit late for all the flowers, it´s already too hot for most," said Pierre. "So tell us, what have you been doing for the last two years. Where did you meet your husband? I want to know everything!"

"Actually we´ve known each other for a long time," said James. "We were in the same house at Hogwarts."

Lily could tell that Pierre was doing some thinking. "James? Not James Potter!" he cried, his eyes round as saucers. "Ooops, sorry!" Pierre closed his mouth.

"It´s alright, Pierre," laughed Lily and took her husband´s hand in hers. "He´s aware that I thought he was an idiot."

James looked scandalized. "You never told me! You married an idiot?" he cried teasingly.

"Right after discovering I loved the fool!" Lily leaned over to receive a kiss.

Pierre and Myra laughed.

"Well, boys," said Myra after breakfast, "why don´t you entertain yourselves for a while? The bride needs to consult with her best friend. You know, boring stuff like dresses and hairstyle."

Obediently the two men got up and left. The last thing Lily heard was Pierre suggesting a look at a bookshop in Marseilles.

-x-

"They´re gone," said Myra after a minute. "Now tell me everything. How could you end up married to James Potter? I mean, of all idiots at school he was the worst! What became of Severus? Why did you dump him?"

Lily´s expression darkened. "I didn´t. He was acting the idiot. Refused to talk to me. Accused me of being involved with James."

"But you are! As involved as you could possibly get!"

"I wasn´t then. James was courting me, but he had been doing that for two years. I still don´t know what gave Severus the idea that I´d suddenly prefer James over him."

"So he was jealous. Well, there´s nothing wrong with a bit of that."

"A bit? He was so cruel! I must have been crying my eyes out for months and he was so unforgiving. There was not even anything to forgive. At last I gave up and tried to be more open for James."

"It worked, obviously."

"James is a real sweetheart. He´d fetch me the moon if I asked him to."

"Thinking about Severus must be hurtful, though."

"Not as much as you´d think. I don´t love him anymore. I´d like him as a friend, but my love is all James´s. So, do you have a dress already?"

"No, we´re going to Paris tomorrow. And don´t try to change topic! I still can´t believe you. You and Severus had mastered so many difficulties and then you end up in the arms of the reason for most of those difficulties! Am I mistaken or was it James Potter who made your live miserable for years?"

"You´re absolutely right, but it was also James Potter who was there for me whenever I needed someone. Never demanding anything. Never expecting anything. But always there. Like the air or the sun. He didn´t ever mean to cause me misery. He meant to protect me from the very beginning."

"I can´t believe that you believe that."

Lily sighed. "Look, can´t we just say that I´m happy the way it turned out? Very happy?"

Myra laughed. "Of course we can. I wasn´t going to blame you for anything. It´s just so unbelievable. Well, you could have married Sirius Black. This would be weird."

Lily grinned. "It might interest you that he was best man at our wedding. And he comes to dinner every Sunday. It was I who invited him." Lily giggled. "He even brings me a box of sweets every time he drops by."

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Myra pressed her hands at her heart. "I´m going to faint! Sirius Black, worst ass in Gryffindor house, buys you sweets?"

Lily laughed and slapped Myra´s arm playfully. "Stop it! You can´t help who you fall in love with and even less who his friends are!"

Myra hugged Lily. "All that counts is that you´re happy," she whispered. "though I never would have guessed that Severus would ever let go of you!"

-x-

The girls spent their day discussing the wedding. Myra described the dress she was hoping to get and they tried some hairstyles. Lily had brought some of her wedding photos. Myra examined them closely.

"I like what you´ve done with your hair," she said. "Do you think this would suit me, too? And the veil was gorgious! Where did you get it?"

"Borrowed it from my mother in law."

"Is she nice?"

"She´s dead; and she was very nice."

"Sorry to hear that she died."

"She died peacefully in her sleep and she was very old. She knew that she was going to die. It had become too much for her. All the fighting."

"Fighting?"

Lily sighed. "I´ve been a target for the dark side for more than a year. James and I are hiding. We even had an encounter with Voldemort himself. It was a narrow escape."

Myra looked at Lily fearfully. "The encreasing number of attacks was one of the reasons why my family moved to France. So you´re right in the middle of the whole mess?"

Lily nodded. "You don´t need to be frightened. They don´t leave the island. They didn´t follow us here. You know that I´d never expose you to danger, don´t you?"

Myra shook her head. "I wasn´t thinking of that. I was thinking of my best friend being on the run."

"I can't tell you details, but be assured we are not alone. We have friends who protect us."

"I´m glad to hear that."

-x-

They were joined by Angelique and her boyfriend, a very handsome blond, in the afternoon. Myra came to the point right after the introductions.

"Angelique, just a quick word before the boys return," she said casually, "we both were mistaken a bit last summer. Lily married James Potter."

Angelique nearly dropped her cup. "You must be kidding!"

"I´m serious. James doesn´t know about our little mistake and he´s not to find out."

Angelique looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh," she exclaimed at last, "of course not."

"What was this about?" asked André.

"Nothing, dear, nothing," Angelique ensured him with a broad smile. "Just a little joke between friends."

André followed the girls´ conversation with polite interest. As topics like wedding dresses kept coming up, there was not much he could contribute. So he looked quite relieved when Pierre and James returned from their trip to the city.

-x-

Supper was served on the patio by a house elf.

"Uncle Aureus´ wedding present!" Myra explained happily. "He gave her to me early because he thought I could do with some help concerning the preparations. Her name is Muddy."

"Muddy?" asked Lily when the elf had left. "That´s a cruel choice of name!"

"I know," said Myra. "I tried to change it, but it can´t be done. I´ve been told that once an elf is named it has to keep and obey the name."

"The choice of name – or lack of it – is part of their liability," said André.

"He works at the ministry. Something with magical creatures," explained Myra.

"Muddy is a good cook," James pointed out.

"She is," said Myra proudly. "She´s a good elf."

"How was your afternoon, Pierre? I was a bit late to join you," André changed topic.

"You missed a lot!" cried Pierre. "James turned out to be an expert on old books. We had a great day at Marseilles. It was so nice for a change to be in a bookshop with a person who will not nag you to hurry and go on to a robes shop."

"So perhaps James will marry you, if you ask him." Myra said teasingly.

"Ah, non!" cried Pierre. "I´m sure James is not as good a kisser as you, love!"

"Hey!" James exclaimed in protest. "I´m a great kisser. Ask my wife!"

"Be careful, sweetheart, or Pierre will ask for a proof!" Lily laughed.

"Urgh!" Pierre and James cried in unison.

The group stayed up till well past midnight. Lily hadn´t felt so free and easy for months.

-x-

The next morning they went to Paris. The three men kissed their girls good-bye as soon as they entered Ruelle des Secrets. Pierre and André planned to introduce James to the finer points of French cuisine. The girls headed to a robes shop where they spent hours searching for Myra´s wedding dress.

"I´m not sure I like the laces," said Myra and turned in front of the mirror for what must be the hundreth time.

"They suit you very well. It looks a bit playful," the shop assistant tried to be helpful.

"I liked the plain one better," said Lily.

"I prefer this," Angelique pointed at another set of robes.

At last Myra took the laced dress. The shop assistant was right. It looked playful and cute and it went well with her long curly hair.

-x-

The girls were charged with bags when they met the boys. They had not only bought the dress, but also a veil, two pairs of shoes (Myra could not decide) and a bag full of accessories like hair-clips.

"Oh my god," cried Pierre, "tell me you´re not going to wear all this!"

"Well," said Myra, "I was not going to wear the bags."

Pierre moaned. "Was Lily like that?" he asked James.

"Nooooo!" James cried, "not at all!" He ducked to avoid Lily´s hand.

"You didn´t get more of that red wine Pierre keeps drinking than is good for you, did you?" the girl scolded.

-x-

As the wedding day drew nearer, the little group became more busy. Pierre, James and André started to put up the decorations in the garden. André also organized the band. Myra, Lily and Angelique were occupied with the buffet. Muddy was a great help for them.

Two days before the wedding the Duponts arrived.

"Hello, aunt Rose!" Lily hugged Angelique´s mother. "It´s so good to see you again!"

"Lily, dear!" Rose Dupont hugged the girl in return. "You look radiant! So this is your Severus! Nice to meet you, dear."

"Actually this is my husband, James," said Lily after an awkward pause.

James shook the proffered hand. "Nice to meet you, too, Mrs Dupont," he said smiling. He shot his wife a calculating look.

-x-

"What did she mean by ´Your Severus´?" James asked coolly when the door of their room closed on them some hours later.

"How am I to know?" Lily answered evasively.

"Lily, stop insulting my intelligence. I want to know why your auntie thought you had married your brother!" James was shouting now.

Quickly Lily cast a muffliato charm.

"So we have something to hide!" James stated.

"Well, of course. Or would you rather discuss this in public? So why did you wait until we retired in the first place?"

"I´m waiting for an anwer."

"What would you like to hear?"

"Had you or had you not a thing going on with Snape?"

"Well, we..." Lily hesitated. "...were an item for some time."

"You snogged Snivellus?"

"It sounds undecent the way you say it."

"My wife snogged this...!" James struggled for words.

"I wasn´t your wife then. I wasn´t even talking to you then."

"So this was why I always had the feeling you were not an entire novice to kissing!"

"You didn´t complain then that at least one of us knew how to kiss properly! And I never claimed to be a saint!"

"No, you´re no saint! Snape was right. You married me for my money!"

"Take that back, James! You know it is not true!"

"Isn´t it?"

"I had no idea you even had money!"

"How long has this been going on between you and Snivellus?"

"Two years, and stop calling him this name!"

"Two years! I can´t believe it! And I invited him to our wedding!"

"That was so cute of you. I loved you even more!"

"Loved me? If you loved me, you would have told me!"

"Why would I? To nurse your ego? ´Darling, I not only love you, I broke another man´s heart to be with you?´ Would you have liked to hear that?"

"Broke his heart? So it wasn´t over before we got involved? Is it over at all?"

"Of course it is! I won´t discuss this any longer! I´m going to bed!"

Lily changed into her night dress and went to bed. James nestled in an armchair.

"Aren´t you coming?" Lily asked.

"I have to think things over," James growled.

-x-

Two hours later James was fast asleep in his armchair. Lily could hear him snore softly.

Silently she lit her wand and slid out of bed.

"I´m sorry, love, I´m not strong enough to stand this," she whispered.

She pointed her wand at her sleeping husband.

"Obliviate!" she murmured softly.

-x-

Lily woke very early the next morning. The house was very quiet, the only sounds came from the birds in the garden and James, who was snoring softly in his armchair. Lily got up on her elbow and scrutinized her sleeping husband.

Had she been right to erase his memory of their conversation? It certainly wasn´t right to keep this secret from him but having seen his reaction Lily knew she would never tell. Strange, how two men so different from each other could react exactly the same way when confronted with the existence of a rival. Lily smiled. James wouldn´t like the thought he had something in common with Severus.

James groaned in his sleep.

Poor darling, spending the night in an armchair must be hell. Not to mention the headache the memory charm must have given him. Lily sighed. It had to be done. She was not going to risk losing James. Not after her experience with Severus. Not after James performance of jealousy and unreasonableness in the evening.

There are no rules in love and war.

-x-

Lily sat gently on the arm-rest of James´ chair and stroked her husband´s untamed hair. He moaned and opened his eyes a bit.

"Why are you waking me? It must be well before sunrise!"

"We both fell asleep in the evening, love, and when I woke I thought you were very uncomfortable in this chair. You´d better have a nap in bed. You´ll feel better."

James groaned and stretched. "You´re right. Ouch! My back is killing me and where did that head-ache come from?"

Lily leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Poor you! Stretch out a little on the bed. It´s early enough to get an hour of sleep."

James got up from his armchair clumsily and walked over to the bed, where he sank to his stomach unceremoniously. "Oh my god," he groaned, "stop the hippogriffs in my head!"

Lily sat beside him and started massaging his shoulders. James moaned comfortably. "This feels good, don´t stop!"

"I won´t," Lily whispered into his ear. "Did I tell you recently that I love you?" She bent forward and kissed her husband´s ear.

"How am I supposed to sleep when you do things like that?" James complained lazily.

-x-

Lily went downstairs for breakfast alone. James had fallen asleep and given his head ache Lily thought it better to let him rest for a while. When she stepped outside on the patio, she was greeted by a cool morning breeze and the scent of fresh coffee. Aunt Rose and Myra were already discussing the wedding over breakfast.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Myra cried cheerfully. "Where´s that handsome husband of yours?"

"Asleep," Lily smiled and chose a roll and marmalade, "he says he has a head ache. Obviously he´s getting too much of Pierre´s favorite Beaujolais."

"I have to apologize for yesterday," said aunt Rose. "This was such an awkward moment. I thought I´d die!"

"Never mind," Lily smiled feebly. "We sorted it out and agreed to never mention it again."

"I thought I heard shouting," said Myra.

"A fight now and then is not the worst. It ensures life doesn´t get boring."

"I won´t let Pierre shout at me," said Myra.

Lily and Rose laughed. "You will, niece," said Rose, "and you will be shouting back and then you´ll make up. And you´ll both enjoy it a lot."

-x-

The day before the wedding was spent with some last preparations, but mainly used to relax. Nobody wanted to see a tired bride, aunt Rose pointed out. And nobody wanted to attend a wedding tired. So they spent most of the day lazily chatting and having delicious meals in the patio.

In the evening James, who had finally recovered from his head ache, and Lily went for a walk. They hiked the soft hills of the Provence first and apparated to the mediterranean sea later. On the beach James transfigured some rocks into a blanket and some pillows and they sat beside each other and watched the sunset.

Lily leaned on James´ shoulder and purred contently. "Why can´t it always be like this? Why do we have to fight and hide and run and care for poisons?"

"Because neither you nor I are the runaway type of person. We are Gryffindors." James placed a gentle kiss on Lily´s hair.

"If we are true Gryffindors, why did we leave Britain? What are we doing here?"

"Having a break. Gryffindors are brave, not undestructible. We will recover and enjoy ourselves for a while. And then we´ll go back and go on fighting. This is what Gryffindors do."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

-x-

Myra´s wedding day was perfect. It was sunny, but not too hot. The air was perfumed with the scent of various flowers. Lily and Angelique helped the bride with her dress and hairstyle. The two of them both wore green dresses which went well with their dark red hair. (Lily had magiced the original color of her wedding dress back.)

Lily and James sat side by side and watched the making of vows and exchanging of rings hand in hand. When Pierre swore he´d love Myra for the rest of his life, James squeezed his wife´s hand gently and she returned the gesture.

On an overall view, Lily enjoyed Myra´s wedding much more than her own. She danced once with Pierre because it would have been considered rude not to, but the rest of the day was spent with James.

They had small plates full of delicacies from the buffet together, they shared some quiet moments sipping red wine, but what was most important, they danced until their feet hurt. Lily enjoyed being in James´ arms and moving together to the music. When they were having a pause to have some juice, aunt Rose joined them.

"It´s difficult to tell," she smiled, "who is more in love, the young couple or you two. I´m glad you´re so happy."

"Thank you," said Lily. "It´s easy to be happy with this wonderful man." She leaned back until she felt James at her shoulders.

"A compliment I can easily return," James said with his boyish smile and kissed Lily´s hair.

-x-

Myra and Pierre left for their honeymoon the next morning. Lily hugged her best friend good-bye and off they were. Both refused to tell where they were going.

"Somewhere, where it´s warm. She packed summer clothes into her suitcase," said Angelique.

"Wherever they go, I hope they have a wonderful holiday," said Lily and smiled. "I´ll pack our things then, too."

"You aren´t going to leave today, are you?" asked Angelique.

"We have to," said James. "We promised to be back within a month and there are so many places we want to go."

Back up in their room Lily packed their bags, while James wrapped the books he had bought in brown paper. D´Artagnan was to take them to Sirius and meet them later in Crete.

-x-

"Look at that landscape!" cried James.

"It´s beautiful!" Lily confirmed without stopping to pick little blue flowers.

"You´re not even looking!"

"I´ll be looking as soon as I have picked enough of these gentian flowers."

"What are they good for?"

"They are poisonous. So they will be useful for antidotes."

"I thought the book we bought said the muggles use them. Do muggles brew antidotes?" James asked without drawing his eyes from the breathtaking view of the Austrian alps.

"They make schnaps from them. It´s as magical as a muggle brew can be."

"Stop picking now and come here!"

"Not before I´m finished. You could help me, you know!"

James sighed and started picking flowers.

-x-

The gondoliere sang ´O sole mio´ on the top of his lungs. Lily cuddled in James´ arms and enjoyed the sight of the historic buildings along the Grand Canal.

They had spent the whole day exploring the many churches of Venice. In one Lily had found ancient runes in the upper part of a pillar. She had magically copied them on a piece of parchment when she recognized the symbol for protection in the semidarkness. James watched out to prevent the muggles from noticing Lily´s use of magic.

"Riding this boat with you is very romanticc," said James. "I only wish he´d stop wailing."

Lily chuckled. "He´s singing and you payed him extra to do it."

"Did I? In this case it´s my right to use a silencing charm on him."

-x-

Crete was colorful in spring. Lily had seen it during Easter break. Whilst the green had been light and fresh then and dotted with first flowers, the colors of May were more intense. It seemed as if the island wanted to make use of all colors before becoming dry and gray in the summer heat.

Lily and James spent some days at the beach, visiting small fishing villages in the evenings. The Greek cuisine was rich and delicious. Lily couldn´t get enough of souvlaki and tsatsiki. James enjoyed mousaka very much. They had found a small taverna near the beach, where Georgios, a huge Greek with a beard reminding of Dumbledore´s, prepared the dishes in an old traditional wood-burning stove. The tables stood under a roof of tendrils of wine. The leaves rustled when the wind touched them or when one of Georgios´ cats climbed on the roof.

"Are you sure this was a school?" James looked doubtful. "This sign says it was a palace."

"It´s a muggle sign, love, of course it doesn´t say this was a wizarding school."

"Why are we here? There´s not much left to see."

"Do you remember the photos with the ancient charms? I took them here when I visited with the Duponts. There must be more runes. I want to copy them all."

-x-

"Merlin! Look at this! Those Egyptian wizards were so inventive!" James was bent over a wizard map of the great pyramid.

"Stop looking at the map! Have a look at the real thing!"

"Look at those curses!" James was beside himself. "It says the burial chamber is protected by no less than two hundred spells."

"Two hundred? Are you sure?"

"It´s on the map. It also says there are at least ten to which the countercurses are not known yet."

"Wow! Do you want to go inside?"

"Of course. Right after the ride on a camel."

"That will be soon. Look we are next."

James folded the map and payed attention to the Egyptian´s explainations on how to ride a camel.

-x-

It was raining. James swore. Lily magiced a huge umbrella out of thin air, but it was too late. They were wet to the skin. James was charged with bags, so it was Lily who sent her patronus up to Hogwarts castle.

Five minutes later the headmaster himself came down to open the gates for them.

"Come in quickly before you are seen!" he ordered.

They hurried up to the castle and up the stairs to Dumbledore´s office as fast as they could. It was past curfew, so they met no students.

"Is our house safe?" asked James after putting down his bags. He removed his hood and rumpled up his wet hair.

"It is," said Dumbledore. "But we need to talk before you go home. I suggest you stay here over night."

James and Lily agreed.