A/N-Thanks to everyone for your reviews!

Disclaimer— J.K.R. owns anything you recognize

A Day in the Sun

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lily woke promptly at 6:00. She had an internal clock that rarely allowed her to sleep late. Some mornings it was a dreaded inconvenience, but this morning it was a blessing since she had so many things she wanted to do before the rest of the household awoke. Her first order of business was to get dressed. She skipped makeup and placed her hair in a ponytail that sat high upon her head. With that job completed she could start with a couple of fireplace calls. The first was to Marci, who she knew would already be awake as well.

Marci had been up since 5:30. She'd been unable to sleep. She was one of the few people at Hogwarts who had yet to become engaged or married. Very few females were still going to school. The boys had been lucky. They were in control according to wizard law, but in a few short months she would be losing her freedom. The hardest part for Marci was David. He'd been asking her out ever since third year. She had finally said yes before she'd been back to school and learned of the law. By that time things were so messed up that she'd even forgot that she'd agreed to go to Hogsmeade with him. It came as a shock to her when he showed up at the portrait to pick her up, but she'd spent the day with him and she'd really liked being with him. They had continued going out in secret, neither one wanted to tell anyone because they were both muggleborn and unable to wed according to the law. She had no idea what she should do about it.

She was so engrossed in this thought pattern that she hardly noticed Lily's face in the fire.

"You look like you're wrestling with something heavy." Lily began the conversation.

"Nah, no biggie." Marci deflected. At the harsh look she recieved from Lily she amended, "Ok, it is big, but Belle's problems are more pressing. We'll worry about me next, okay?"

"I guess," Lily was still not convinced. " The dress turned out better than I expected. How are you coming with gifts for the party?"

"I've bought a couple of negligees and a whip to round out our gifts." She smiled, "It looks like it's going to be you, me, Alice, and Belle. Not a real party by any stretch of the imagination, but something at least."

"Belle will appreciate it anyway. Are we sure we've got her undivided attention this evening?"

"Yes, I convinced her that you and I needed to have her approve our dresses."

"Great! Which one are you wearing?" Lily asked, still unsure of what she was supposed to wear. She'd only had one set of dress robes that she'd transfigured before every dance to give her a new dress each time and to help with her transfiguration skills.

"I bought a new one while I was out getting the negligees. It's pink. You can see it when Belle comes over tonight. What are you going to do to your dress robes?"

"I'm tired of transfiguration. I think I'll wear them like they were supposed to be worn. I'll just do the spells that make them fit." It wouldn't be pretty. The dress was most definitely out of style, but it would work.

Marci understood. "What else have you got going on today?"

"I need to get a hold of someone to take care of Ariel during the ceremony, and then I need to get a hold of Belle and find out if she needs anything done, and if I have time I'll floo back here to pry out of you what's actually on your mind. I have to go. I'll see you tonight at 7."

"Tonight at 7." Marci agreed as she watched Lily's head disappear from the fireplace. She needed to end her relationship with David. The longer this went on the more it was going to hurt both of them. She grabbed the floo powder she kept by the fireplace and threw it into the flames and followed it in muttering David's name as she went.

Lily waited a moment for her stomach to settle. Sending her head through the fire always made her sick, but it was so much more convenient than sending her whole body through. She didn't have to worry about being covered with soot! Then she picked up the floo powder and said, "Sirius Black." before she plunged her head in to the flames.

"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed. She was so happy that he was up. This was turning into a productive morning.

"That's me, love. What is your pretty little head doing in here this early?"

She smiled. Sirius was really good at calming her. "I was wondering if you were free tomorrow to watch Ariel?"

"I've got to go to Kingsley's wedding tomorrow, Love. Otherwise I'd do it in a second."

"That's the same reason I need someone to watch her. You don't happen to know if Remus is planning on going to the wedding, do you?"

"Yes, I'm in charge of finding him a date!" Sirius winked. "You and Snape are close, right? I don't believe he'll be there."

"He's visiting relatives in France." The lie was one she was used to telling and slipped off of her tongue easily, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that Sirius knew that she was lying.

"Sorry, Hon. I don't know who else you could ask that wouldn't be going."

"Oh no, Sirius! You don't have to be sorry. I'll find someone. Worst case scenario Petty takes care of her. I don't want to ask her because of her boar of a husband, but she'd be happy to do it." In actuality she was planning on asking Reggie next. She knew that he and Sirius weren't exactly on speaking terms so she wouldn't mention it just now.

"Still wish I could have been of some help. You're right your sister would be the best person for her to stay with." Petunia Dursley was not a target of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as far as he knew.

"Thanks, Sirius! You have been of help." She wasn't lying this time. Sirius really did calm her down just by being around.

Sirius smiled as he watched Lily's head disappear from the fireplace.

Lily interrupted Reggie with his breakfast. It was getting late. "Reg, you are my only hope! please tell me that you are not going to Belle and Kingsley's wedding."

"Can't think of any reason why an auror would invite me to his wedding. Why, love?"

The endearment caused her mind to go blank for a moment. She was struck with how alike Reggie and Sirius were. It was really too bad that they didn't get along. She was brought out of her thoughts by Reggie's voice.

"Everything okay, Lily?"

"Yes, of course. I was just wondering if you could babysit Ariel while James and I go to the wedding."

"I don't have a problem with it at all. You know I love spending time with Ariel. You are allowed to bring kids to weddings though, dear."

"I know, but she'd be bored. And the reception won't be over until well past her bedtime."

"So would this be worth a date? Say dinner the day after around 7?" He winked.

Lily laughed. "Why not?"

"Is that a yes?" He asked shocked.

"Of course. We haven't spent much time together since..." Her voice trailed off. She knew that he would know that she was referring to her miscarriage. She still wasn't able to talk about it freely.

"Lily, I..."

"Anyway, James and Ariel will love to hang out with you, too. We'll be one big happy family!" She giggled when she saw the immediate change in Reggie's face.

Once he got over the fact that she'd tricked him he replied, "It still counts as an acceptance! I told you I'd get there before 500!"

"Ok, Reggie. You win. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much you are helping me. I'll see you tomorrow night then."

"Bye, Lily." Reggie watched her head remove itself from his fireplace. He spent a few more moments sipping his coffee before pulling out his wand to do some cleaning. No. 12 Grimmauld Place hadn't been cleaned since his parent's untimely death a few months ago. That good for nothing elf was too busy stage whispering threats to rat him out to his cousin Bella to do his job. One of these days he was going to see Kreacher's head on the wall. He couldn't wait.

Lily looked around quickly. She didn't want to run into Belle's parents. They did not like Lily at all. When she saw that the coast was clear she stepped out of the fireplace. "Belle! Where are you?" Lily yelled as she patted soot off of her clothes. A full body appearance was required for this visit.

"In my bedroom!" Belle shouted back.

Lily walked from the kitchen to the bedroom still scouting for Belle's parents. She luckily found only Belle sitting on her bed staring at one of her old dresses. Immediately, understanding as only someone who had experienced the exact same feeling you're having can, she spoke up. "You'll be fine. It's not as terrible as it seems right now."

"I'm fine." Belle lied. She was so frustrated with Lily's constant need to tell her what to expect.

Lily married a good man. She didn't know enough about Kingsley to know if he was too. What if he wasn't?

"Don't lie to me." Lily wanted to help her friend. There had to be something she could do.

"Well sure it turned out fine for you. James was about the best guy on the market." Belle's eyes were continually downcast. She did not want to walk down that aisle tomorrow. Why would she? She barely knew Kingsley. She knew she was taking out her frustrations on Lily, and that it was wrong, but she couldn't help it. Not today.

Lily didn't know what to say. She'd thought that Belle had gotten over her crush on James. Perhaps she had. Perhaps she was just bringing him up now because she was worried. That had to be it, right? "James works with Kingsley. They spend a lot of time together. That's got to be a plus for him, doesn't it?"

"I guess." Belle admitted grudgingly.

Lily sat next to Belle on the bed and put her arm around Belle's shoulders. "I'm here for you, Belle. You can come to me no matter what. Whenever, Wherever."

"I know. I just want it to work. I didn't want to get married until after I'd graduated and had a stable job. I certainly didn't want to have children until then." Her voice was unsteady. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to cry about something she couldn't change, but it looked as if that might be a promise she would have to break. "More than that. I want to be loved!" Here the tears began, "I want to love someone. I want the passion!" By the end of her speech her face was buried in Lily's sweater.

"Love isn't always immediate. First comes acceptance, then that acceptance turns to respect, the respect turns to admiration, and the admiration turns to love. Just because you don't feel anything for him now doesn't mean that you won't in the long run." Lily thought that she might have remembered reading something to that effect once before.

"Have you and James fallen in love with each other?" Belle pulled herself up from Lily's shoulder to look her in the eye for this answer. She wanted to be sure Lily wasn't just throwing crap out there to make her feel better.

Lily's eyes went wide at that question. She thought about it a minute. "Well, James says he loves me a few times a day. I don't know if that is because he does or if it's because he thinks he should and if he says it often enough it will make it true."

"What about you?"

"Have I fallen in love with James?" After Belle's nod she answered her own question. "No." She was not going to lie about that. There was no sense in faking her feelings. Had it been last year this time she would have gone into great detail about the way her stomach sometimes did flip-flops when he walked into a room. But last year that would have been the biggest worry any of them had had. Today. It was so far down on the list that it didn't even count as a problem. Just a small quirk of life.

"See! You've been married forever! I'll never get to feel that way. Or what if I do? What if I do feel that way about someone, but I'm married to Kingsley? What do I do then?"

"Forever? Four months is nothing close to forever. Lets make that plan after you fall in love with someone other than Kingsley, okay? We've got too much to think about right now to worry about the future."

Belle let out a humorless laugh. "You're right. Does this dress look okay for tomorrow?" She gestured to the one on the bed.

"It looks wonderful!" Lily exclaimed. The lie wouldn't matter. She already had Belle's perfect dress made and waiting for tonight.

Belle could tell that her friend was lying. Lily was a terrible liar. As she thought that she remembered the big lie Lily had told them all. Perhaps she wasn't so bad at it after all. "I've got a bunch to do here," She gestured to the room in general, "So if you didn't have anything important to talk about I'll see you tonight to approve your dresses."

Lily recognized a dismissal when she heard one. Belle wanted to be alone. That she could handle. "Okay. I'll see you then." She made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen where she walked directly into Belle's mother. "Hi Jean." Lily said. She hadn't seen Belle's mom since September (Thank goodness.) and wondered how she was taking the news of Belle's impending nuptials, so she asked. Big mistake.

"What do you mean, What do I think about Belle's wedding? She had better not be getting married. You may have ruined your life by getting knocked up and married young, but MY daughter has more sense than that. BELLE!"

Lily winced as she heard her friends name shrieked in such a shrill tone. She wished she hadn't said anything. She hadn't told her father for obvious reasons, but she'd assumed that Belle would have told her mother. They were very close. In fact, Lily was pretty sure that she was the only thing the two fought about.

Belle came down the stairs with red rimmed eyes. "Yes, Mum?" She asked.

"Tell this little harlot that you are not getting married tomorrow!"

Belle turned to Lily and said, "You told her! How could you?"

"I assumed that you had told her! I'm sorry. I will talk with you about this later." Lily said to Belle. There was no point in arguing with her now. She felt terrible. She then turned to Jean, "If you'll excuse me now I must return to the bordello. Wouldn't want to keep my Madame waiting." She grabbed the floo powder and threw it into the fireplace and spoke Marci's name clearly.

As she stepped into Marci's parent's kitchen she immediately felt a wave of tears come on. Belle's mother had always been less than enthused about Lily, but this was the first time that she'd outright called Lily a whore. It wasn't the first time she'd been called that, not even remotely. But it still hurt. She knew that it was true, but did that vile wretch of a woman have to say it out loud?

Being with James had made it easy to pretend, but this visit had brought her back to earth. She was nothing more than a common trollop. The illusion had been nice while it had lasted, but she was grateful to Jean for telling it like it is. There was no way she could change it now.

"Would you like some tea, dear?"

Lily looked up to see that she'd been having her crying jag in front of Marci (who's eyes looked no dryer than her own) and Marci's mom, Dolores.

"Yes, please." Lily said. "I'm sorry about that." She added after sitting down. The tears were still falling and sobs were coming occasionally, but she did her best to keep from letting them loose.

"What's bothering you dear?" Dolores asked.

Dolores had to be the nicest woman ever made by God. Lily was sure of it. She always seemed to know what was right and was always there to help. Dolores was everything that Lily wasn't. She had been brought up in a very religious household. She'd lost her virginity on her wedding night and was still shocked by the wickedness in the world. Naive though, she was not. She and Lily had gotten into some serious debates about religion and God. Lily got the same calming effect around her that she did when she was with Sirius. All in all, Lily felt as though she made an excellent role model and therefore brought Ariel to Marci's house often. "I just let something Jean said get to me."

"What did she say?"

"She called me a harlot. I don't know why I'm letting it get to me."

Dolores wore a scandalized expression. "Why would she say something like that to you? You're such a lovely person, Lily."

"I assume she was referring to the fact that I ended up having Ariel before I was a teenager."

"What were you supposed to do?" Here her voice dropped like a small child's would when he or she was saying a bad word, "Have an abortion?"

Lily had to work to keep the smile off of her face. She was certain that that was exactly what Jean thought she should have done. She was equally certain that if Belle had found herself in the same situation Jean would have taken her to a clinic faster than it would take to say the word abortion. "Probably."

Dolores was aghast. "Sweetie, you had no control over what happened to you. None at all."

"What happened to me?" Lily repeated. She looked to Marci who had the grace to look contrite.

"I told her. It happened on accident. I'm so sorry, Lils."

"Telling me isn't the right way to say it. She merely confirmed my suspicions. Don't be angry, Darling."

Lily wanted to be mad at her friend for telling her secret, but couldn't. There was a dejected look in Marci's eyes that Lily didn't understand. "What's going on, Marci? Is this about what you were thinking about this morning?"

Dolores answered the question when it became obvious that Marci wasn't going able. "Marci and I are discussing her relationship problems."

"Relationship? Marci! Who is he? When's the wedding?" The last was asked only half jokingly.

"We just broke up." Her tone was forlorn.

"Who is he? I'll kill him for breaking up with you." Lily responded.

"Lily, violence doesn't become you." Dolores broke into the conversation.

"I broke up with him. Not the other way around. Would both of you just leave me alone?" Marci stood up to leave, but her mother grabbed her arm and forced her back into her chair.

"We went over this before, young lady. You are staying here until we've talked this through. You always feel better after I make you do this, so start talking." Dolores's words were clipped.

"Who is it, Marci?" Lily asked again.

"You know David." It was a statement, not a question.

"David? The one that has asked you out like a hundred times? David Attwood?" When Marci nodded she continued, "He's muggleborn."

"That's why I broke up with him. There's no future for us. I need to be spending my time in a relationship with a pureblooded person. Finding someone I'm happy with, so I'm not stuck marrying a stranger like you and Belle." Her speech was delivered in a monotone that was as unattractive as it was heartbreaking.

"Were you two serious?" Lily asked, an idea forming in her head.

A/N-Anyone want to take a guess as to Lily's idea? Hope you all are enjoying your summer. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon.