Wedding Planning

Wedding Planning

By Matthew W. Quinn

Author's Note: Thanks to Sindie for explaining the finer points of female wedding planning and serving as a beta reader.

March 10th, 1979

12:30 PM

"Li-ly," Petunia Evans protested as her sister handed her the wedding dress. "This is the sixth dress you've tried on today!"

Lily Evans, her sister and mother, Mary Macdonald and Marlene McKinnon were shopping for wedding dresses at a shop in the Manchester Arndale. They had been at it all day.

"Honestly, this whole thing is way too fast," Petunia continued. "Snape" — she barely hid her dislike — "proposed to you in January and you're getting married in April. You two have barely dated two years and…"

"We've been friends for ten," Lily said. "Tuney, you don't need to worry."

"All right," Petunia said. "Just looking out for my little sister."

Is she sincere or just engaging in her usual Sev-bashing?

Lily decided to ignore her. She picked up and examined another dress.

It was white — as generally expected — and the bodice was heavily sequined. The shoulders were puffed.

This one seems promising.

"How about this one?"

Petunia scrunched her face as she examined it.

"Too many sequins," she commented. "But I think it would fit well around your shoulders. Of course, there's no way to know for sure unless…

"You try it on," Mary finished.

Lily returned to the dressing room and put the new dress on. She posed a little in the mirror, examining how she looked.

Wow. I really like this one.

She leaned forward, examining how the dress accentuated her chest.

Sev will love this, she thought with an impish grin. Still, it'd be best to see what the others think.

Lily emerged from the dressing room wearing the new dress. Mary and Marlene cheered.

"This is the best one yet!" Mary exclaimed.

"Yeah," Marlene said. "Lily, you look lovely."

Lily turned to her mother and sister.

"What do you think?" she asked. She turned around once.

Got to give them a good view.

"I agree with them," Mrs. Evans said. "This is the best one."

Lily smiled.

Glad she likes it.

"It's nice," Petunia said. "Took us awhile to get there..."

Gee, thanks, Tuney.

"But I think it looks very nice on you."

Wow, she's not being critical? This is an improvement.

"The fact that this is the seventh dress is a good sign," Marlene said. "Seven is a very significant number in magic and…"

"Magic," Petunia declared disdainfully. "I thought there wasn't going to be any magic at the wedding, so we Muggles wouldn't see and…"

"Petunia," Marlene said. "If your other relatives see too much, they'll have to be Obliviated and that would risk damaging their minds. It would be best to…"

Petunia huffed and Marlene rolled her eyes.

"At least we've got all the arrangements made at the church," Mary said, clearly trying to change the subject.

Yep. Father Harrell was most accommodating.

"I don't see why we couldn't have the wedding at our church," Petunia said.

"Where we hardly ever go," Lily interjected. "Sev's family has been more involved at their church than we've ever been at ours."

Petunia muttered something about being on relief from that church.

All right, Lily growled mentally. Enough is bloody enough.

"Tuney, you've been a proper stick-in-the-mud all day. If you can't be pleasant, why don't you just leave?"

Mary and Marlene winced.

"Lily," Mrs. Evans interjected. "I think…"

"Have it your way, Lily," Petunia said. She turned to leave.

"Petunia," Mrs. Evans said. "It's you who's been unpleasant. You ought to be happy for your sister and if you're still upset you didn't get to go to Hogwarts too after all these years…"

Petunia turned beet red, scowled, and stalked off.

"Tuney," Lily said sadly. Mary stepped over and comforted her.

"I'm sure she'll come round," Mary said. "Dad told me my uncle was upset he didn't get to go to Hogwarts too, but they're the best of friends now and…"

"You know," Marlene said. "If Petunia won't make a proper bridesmaid, I'm sure we can find…"

"No," Lily declared. "Tuney is my sister and…"

"Girls," Mrs. Evans said. "Now is not the time." She paused. "What do you think of the dress?"

Lily looked down at herself.

It really is quite lovely.

"Let's go with this one," Lily said.

The women all nodded. They made their way to the counter and paid for the dress.

"All right," Mrs. Evans said. "We've still got a few more things to buy."

She handed some pound notes to Marlene and Mary.

"It would be faster if we split up and purchased some of the items we've already agreed upon. Let's meet up at the food court at 1:15 or so."

Mary and Mrs. Evans set off towards their shops.

Only Marlene lingered.

She probably wants to talk about something.

She frowned.

Is it about Petunia acting up?

"Is there something you'd like to talk about, Marlene?"

Marlene nodded.

"Is it Tuney?"

She shook her head. Lily felt her heart sink.

Is this about Sev?

Although many of Lily's Hogwarts friends had been skeptical of her friendship with Snape — particularly after he started hanging around with Avery and Mulciber — they'd come to accept him later. None of them — with the early exception of the Marauders, of course — had objected to their dating at all.

Marlene, having graduated a few years before, was not as familiar with the situation. All she saw in Snape was a Slytherin who loved the Dark Arts.

This might not be fun.

"However shrewy Petunia was being, she did have a good point," Marlene said. "This is pretty quick."

She swallowed. "Have you discussed all the things you need to discuss with Severus?"

"Well, Marlene, we've already discussed most of the important ones. We're not planning on having kids anytime soon, with the war on and all."

Marlene nodded.

"A wise decision. Okay, you've discussed children, where you're going to live," she said, ticking the items off on her fingers as she went along. "What about families? How much will your future children see of their grandparents?"

Lily swallowed.

That could be tricky.

She was not sure how much Marlene knew of Snape's familial situation, but she obviously knew enough to be concerned.

Sev loves his mother, but I don't want our future kids getting the notion that how Mr. Snape treats her is right and proper. It would be wrong to deny them access to their grandchildren, but it would also be wrong to allow their situation to be a bad influence.

She thought for a moment.

Perhaps they can visit us, but we won't leave the children with them. Or at least not with Mr. Snape.

Sometimes when her own parents needed a babysitter, her grandmother would come help out. Grandpa Evans loved his granddaughters, but he also had concerns of his own, so Grandma Evans was the one who did most of the babysitting.

"I've got some ideas on how to deal with that," Lily said.

Marlene nodded, then thought for a moment.

"What about his interest in the Dark Arts?"

Lily frowned. She knew how helpful Snape's knowledge of the Dark Arts was to the war effort, how brutally effective Sectumsempra was and how Snape could heal victims of curses since he knew so many of them himself.

It's true it makes me uncomfortable, even now, but it's not my place to tell him what interests he ought to have.

Her frown deepened.

Marlene is older. She probably knows more about these things.

"I've known that Sev has been interested in the Dark Arts since we were little," Lily said. "I don't see how that's a problem."

"But what kind of person is into the Dark Arts? What might you be getting yourself into by marrying him?"

Lily sighed.

"Sev's mother taught him a lot of that magic when he was a kid, to protect himself from Muggle criminals. Surely you remember the Moors Murders?"

Marlene nodded.

"Furthermore, since you seem to know so much about his family, you know that he's Half-Blood, right?"

Marlene nodded.

"A poor, Half-Blood Slytherin. You think that maybe he wanted to impress the other members of his House, get them to respect him? You don't know half the crap he went through with the rest of them after he fought Mulciber, Marlene."

Marlene stepped back.

"Hey," she said. "I'm just looking out for a friend."

Lily sighed.

I understand that, even if it is somewhat annoying.

"Thanks, Marlene."

The older woman turned and left, leaving Lily alone with her thoughts.

You know, it really is best to get these matters out of the way before the marriage.

She swallowed.

Hopefully we'll be able to discuss the matter soon.