Sirius stood outside of Lily and Cait's room, his hand raised to knock. Somehow, he couldn't quite make his hand travel the final distance to the door. He swallowed hard and gathered his courage. When he finally knocked, it was a quiet sound, and part of him hoped Lily might not hear, but footsteps quickly approached the door.

The door opened, and Lily faced him, her surprise evident.

"Sirius." If she was angry, her voice didn't show it. She spoke with a careful politeness.

He walked in without waiting for an invitation, and Lily sighed before following him.

"You can sit down, if you'd like," she said.

He waved her away, pacing across the room. There was no way he could sit still at a time like this.

"Where's Cait?" he asked.

"She got called away to help a wizard with the sniffles. I imagine she'll be back soon," Lily said. "We're going to have breakfast together, if you'd like to join?"

Sirius shook his head. "I already ate with James."

His voice caught a little on his friend's name, much to his embarrassment. He glanced at Lily, who was now watching him with pity. She had sat down on a wooden chair, her hands clasped in her lap. She was dressed in a plain white nightgown and Sirius had to look away, because her wearing white just reminded him that she was getting married today.

Unless he stopped the wedding.

"Evans, I thought I should warn you. James doesn't want to marry you, not really," Sirius said. "He just wants to sleep with you. I didn't want to tell you, but-"

Lily's eyes flashed. "Enough, Sirius. You may be able to trick James, but you aren't going to trick me."

Sirius sighed heavily. "It was worth a try."

Lily eyed him severely, in a way that reminded him of Professor McGonagall. Still, she didn't say anything; she just waited.

Sirius continued pacing, running a hand through his hair, which was fortunately out of a damned hair ribbon for once.

"Why didn't you tell James that I lied?"

Lily frowned, and he stopped his pacing.

He raised his voice. "Why?"

"Don't you dare shout at me," Lily said, her voice quiet but firm.

Sirius took a shaking breath and forced himself to speak at a normal volume, although he spoke through gritted teeth. "I just want to know. You could have told James that I lied about you not having feelings for him, but you didn't. Why?"

"You're his best friend," Lily said. "It would kill him to know you lied, and I didn't want to wreck your friendship. Not when it would hurt James."

Sirius was hit by a sudden surge of shame. How was it that Lily had been thinking more of James's wellbeing than he had?

She considered him. "Sirius, I feel sorry for you. I do, but-"

"Do you love him?" Sirius interrupted.

"I-"

"Do you really love him?" Sirius continued hotly. "Would you do anything for him? Would you die for him? Because I would. And if you don't love him like that, why would you lead him on?"

His voice was steadily rising again, and Lily stood to face him.

"I'm not leading him on."

Sirius's heart sank. He had thought that perhaps he could live with this wedding, if he knew for certain that Lily truly cared for James. In reality, hearing that she cared for him was painful.

"I'm not," Lily repeated firmly. "I do love him. Can that be enough for you? I want to get along, so can you live with this?"

No, Sirius thought.

"Yes," he said.

Lily's mouth twisted unhappily. "I really hope we can be friends eventually, Sirius."

It was a dismissal, and Sirius stalked towards the door.

"One more thing," Lily said.

He stopped.

"I feel sorry for you." She said it as a fact, as if this was a kindness, rather than a slap in the face. "But you've got to stop trying to keep me and James apart. If you really care about James as much as you say you do, can you let him be happy?"

Sirius bit back an angry retort.

"I'll see you later," he said.

Once the door was closed again, he slid down the wall, leaning his head back against the stones. Not for the first time, he considered leaving all of this behind and going back to the stones at Craigh na Dun. As usual, he knew he couldn't leave James, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Do you love him?" Sirius muttered under his breath. "I bet you don't. Not the way I do."

There was nothing to be done. He picked himself up the floor and walked back to his and James's room to get ready for the wedding, feeling a bit like a man on his way to his own execution.

As James waited for Lily to walk down the aisle, he tried to commit as many details as possible to memory. He wanted to remember this moment forever.

He was marrying Lily Evans in 1743. He wasn't sure which part of that statement was most surreal.

Considering they knew very few people in the Ferguson castle, it seemed as though every inhabitant of the castle had shown up for the ceremony. The hall was packed with witches and wizards, all beaming up at him, their faces bright from the multitude of candles overhead. From the front row, Anne, Brian, and Graham sat together in a line, with expressions ranging from friendliness to cold detachment. James forced himself to look away; he didn't want to consider that one of them might be a traitor, not on his wedding day.

Sirius stood beside him, solemn and oddly morose. But soon, he forgot to think about Sirius, and traitors lurking in the castle. How could he think of anything else once he saw Lily?

He could have sworn he heard the entire room inhale as they saw her, and how could they not? James hadn't thought it was possible for Lily to be anymore beautiful, but somehow she'd managed it today. Her dress caught the candlelight so that it shimmered, or else perhaps it was a spell in the fabric. She wore her red hair up in an elegant arrangement. But the most beautiful thing, he decided, was her expression when she saw him: one of excitement and happiness.

He knew they'd agreed it was a trial marriage, something that didn't have to last, but as he vowed to love her until "death do us part," he meant every word. He slipped the gold band onto her graceful finger, and then he kissed her soundly. As the crowd cheered, it seemed to be echoing the cry of James's own heart. Lily Evans was his wife now, and he was going to do whatever it took to hold onto her.

With all of the witches and wizards congratulating them after the ceremony, James barely had the chance to talk to Lily until dinner. It was agonizing, to be standing so close to her, but not being able to kiss her or talk to her. Instead, he stole glances at her when he could, and whenever she noticed, she smiled brightly back at him. When she didn't notice, he couldn't help but think she looked a bit sad.

They sat with the Fergusons at dinner, with Cait and Sirius there as well.

"Are you okay?" James murmured to her as they sat down.

"Yes."

"Really?"

Lily hesitated, then whispered, "I just wish my parents could have been at my wedding. It was nice of Duncan to walk me down the aisle, but I miss my dad."

James felt a twinge of sadness. "I know," he said. "I was feeling the same way this morning. My parents would have loved to be here. But I also think they would have wanted me to enjoy my wedding. I know yours would too."

Lily nodded, her eyes bright.

"And if you can't be happy, that's okay, too," James added quickly. "Just so you know… I don't mind."

It was a slight lie. In his dreams of this wedding—and yes, there had been many—he'd always imagined Lily being as happy to marry him as he was to marry her. But he couldn't resent her for missing her parents. He missed his, too.

Lily didn't say anything for a moment, and he worried he'd said something wrong. Then she kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks, James."

He felt himself blush. On Lily's other side, he could see Cait laughing at him.

Some minutes later, Lily's hand found his under the table. James froze in surprise, and then he tentatively squeezed hers back. Lily kept talking to Cait as if she hadn't just made James's dinner ten times better, and grinning like an idiot, James turned back to his food. He could eat left-handed, he decided.

Dinner passed in a flurry of conversation, delicious food and wine, and toasts.

"To your new safety," Brian had said to Lily, tipping his goblet in her direction.

"To your safety," Sirius had said to James, prompting a few laughs from the others at the table.

"To your love and happiness," Cait had added, squeezing Lily in a sideways hug.

Graham, James noticed, stayed silent, sipping at his drink as if they wine had gone sour.

After, musicians played lively music while the witches and wizards danced, and though James and Lily didn't know any of the steps, they joined in as best they could. When they gave up on the steps, they just danced normally—albeit a bit stiffly, in James's case, thanks to his still healing injuries—while the others in the room shot them strange looks.

"That must be how they dance in England," James heard a woman say, sounding scandalized.

James caught Sirius's eye, but Sirius quickly looked away. He turned back to Lily to see she was watching Sirius too.

"He really seems off," James said, a bit sadly.

"It's because he isn't dancing," Lily said. "Wait here."

James watched as she ran to Sirius and pulled him to his feet. She said something to him that James couldn't hear over the din, and then she dragged him back to James. Soon, they were all dancing, and it was so much fun that James forgot about Sirius's strangeness throughout the day.

Finally, James got up his courage. "Do you want to call it a night?" he asked Lily.

She hesitated, then nodded. "Okay."

After thanking Duncan and Aoife, and saying good night to their friends, they left. A cheer followed them out the door. James felt his cheeks flush, and Lily was also blushing.

It took them some minutes to find their new room, finally having to ask a house elf for help. When they walked in, Lily whispered, "wow."

Candlelight and filled the room with a flickering, rosy glow. A four poster bed was against a stone wall. Other than that, their furniture included two chairs and a small table, two nightstands, and a chest of drawers. As rooms in the castle went, it was on the less-grand side of the scale, but there were certain loving touches; a wine bottle sat in the middle of the table, a vase of flowers sat on the chest of drawers, a knitted blanket sat at the bottom of the bed. A chest that James had never seen before sat against one wall.

"Is that yours?" he asked Lily.

"It has your wedding presents inside," the house elf said.

"Wedding presents?" Lily repeated.

"Yes. Lots and lots."

Lily thanked the house elf, and the small creature left with a bow. All at once, James and Lily were alone.

Lily sat down on the edge of the bed, avoiding his eyes. He sank down beside her, and she stiffened.

"What a day," he said, grinning at her.

"Yeah."

She ducked her head and pushed her hair behind her ear, and it was so cute that he had to lean in and kiss her. It was different than the other kisses they'd had, more tentative. He tried to deepen it, and she pulled away.

"We don't have to," James said. "Not if you don't want to."

He'd never wanted anyone more, and it took all his restraint not to kiss her again. But if Lily didn't want him, he knew he would stop.

Lily hesitated. She brought a hand up to cup his jaw, running a thumb along his cheek.

"I want to," she said softly.

His eyes were hazel, and being so close to him, she marvelled at how many colours were in hazel: browns and greens and gold. She had only a moment to think about that before he was kissing her again, more passionately, this time.

His hands had found the laces at the back of her dress, and he pulled away to swear quietly.

"How the bloody hell do you get this off?"

Lily laughed and turned around. "With patience."

"Damn patience," James muttered. "Can't I just make it disappear?"

"No, James Potter, you are not allowed to make my wedding dress disappear!"

Now they were both laughing, perhaps from a combination of wine and nerves. Soon, though, he went quiet in concentration as he unlaced the back of her dress. By increments, her bare back was exposed to the cool air of the room, and she shivered, although less from the cold than his touch as his fingers brushed across her skin. James placed a warming hand on her skin before helping her slide out of the dress, which pooled at her feet. She took a deep breath and turned around to face James. He was wearing an odd expression that made her feel self-conscious.

"What?" she asked, resisting the urge to cover herself with her hands.

"You're just so beautiful," he breathed.

Suddenly, the room felt quite warm. She moved towards him, batting his reaching hands away with a quiet laugh.

"Your turn," she said.

Together, they helped him shed his clothes remarkably quickly. As his white shirt slipped off, revealing bare skin, Lily paused. James was leanly muscled, and now she was the one who had to resist the urge to touch. Slowly, she circled around to his back, James turning with her at first.

"Stop," she ordered.

He stayed still as she quietly looked at the damage on his back. A week and a half later, the scabs were almost healed. Angry red lines crisscrossed over his skin, some wrapping around his torso to his ribs; even with the magic here, it would take time for them to fade to white.

"I know it's probably pretty ugly," James said, a bit nervously, Lily thought.

He trailed off as she brushed her lips between his shoulder blades.

"You're beautiful, too," she murmured.

He turned and captured her lips with his. This kiss was electric, his hands travelling over her bare skin sparking a need that she'd never felt before.

"Take off your bloody pants," she gasped.

He quickly complied.

Later, as Lily lay in bed, James's arms wrapped around her, she thought there was only one word for what she and James had together. It was pure magic.