Marital Bliss?

Lily talks to her parents before her wedding and about her plans to go into hiding.

QLFC Round 3: Isn't it Gothic?

Tutshill Tornados, Chaser 3

Prompt: Write about someone who ignores an important warning.

Words: 2366

Optional prompts:

- (plot point) a wedding

- (relationship) father & daughter

- (object) locket

Lily had never been the sort of girl who spent her childhood years planning her wedding. Sure, she knew that it would probably happen at some point and that she would no doubt enjoy it; it's just that she never really thought about the specifics.

Even now, while ironing out the kinks in her dress in her room, she didn't entirely know what would meet her when she stepped foot outside. Her wonderful bridesmaids Mary and Marlene had taken her plea to heart when she had told them that she wanted a surprise. No doubt that James was also feeling excited by the mystery that his own groomsmen were keeping him in.

The girls had put up white sheets over the windows hours ago so she couldn't look out at the sprawling gardens of Potter Manor where the ceremony and reception would be taking place. With or without the sheets, Lily could already hear the guests beginning to gather and they did nothing to block out the sight of clear blue skies and the bright sunshine.

Of all the things that had been left up to her friends and her parents to decide about the wedding, Lily had been adamant on three things; the venue, her dress, and the food. So far the only problem had been the uneven numbers of bridesmaids to groomsmen but Peter had said he hadn't minded and had become an usher instead.

The man in question knocked quietly on the door and popped his head in, "Ladies, it is almost time to go, are you ready?"

Before anyone could utter a word, Lily's mum began to sniffle, causing Peter's eyes to widen as he quickly backed out of the room.

"I can't believe that this is finally happening," she began, "First Petunia, and now you. Whatever shall we do without you both around?" Mary hastily shoved a handkerchief into her trembling palm.

"Come on Mum," Lily consoled, reaching out to hold onto her empty hand, "You know that James and I aren't going anywhere really, we can still call all the time."

Fiona Evans continued to sniffle, blowing her nose against the handkerchief, "Of course not, if that Dumbledore fellow says that it's necessary then I trust him. It's just that I'll miss you so much!" As if she had flicked a switch, the Evans matriarch began crying again.

Lily just brushed her arms aside and hugged her mother, whispering words of comfort in her ear, "Careful mum, you spent ages on your makeup, you don't want to get any marks on my dress."

It was finally this that caused the woman to flinch away and attempt to dry her tears, before realising where she stood and who stood with her, "Oh hush you," she chuckled and smacked teasingly at her daughter, "It's not as if you couldn't just charm that away anyway, it's a good thing that you became a witch with such an accident prone mother."

They both smiled at the comment, which she had made multiple times in the past, before the older woman reached into her handbag. "I know that there are all sorts of magical traditions and whatnot surrounding weddings, but I was hoping that we could keep this one muggle one. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue"

As she finished this well known rhyme Lily smiled, knowing that it would eventually come up, seeing as she only had three of the items needed to secure good luck. "I know you borrowed your hairpiece from Petunia, got yourself some new matching bracelets with the girls and they have also assured me that you're wearing something blue under there…"

Lily blushed slightly, remembering the garter that they had given her earlier in James's favourite colour of cerulean blue. Her mother's raised eyebrows implied that she already knew what that 'something blue' could entail but she just let the sentence hang. Instead she lowered her hand above her daughters and dropped the final item into her palm.

At first, Lily was confused considering the weight of such a small item, and yet when she opened her palm it all made sense. "I thought that it was about time that you got a family heirloom, and seeing as I always saw you admiring it when she was alive, I thought that my mother would want you to have it on your wedding day."

Fiona's explanation was not needed to determine the origin of the locket that Lily now held, seeing as she had so often admired it clasped around the neck of her late grandmother. The metal was tarnished slightly with years of good use but still shone brightly enough to see her reflection in, broken apart only by the intricate designs of a simple floral pattern engraved on the front.

Lily met her mother's watery eyes with her own which were quickly filling up with tears and whispered a quick "Thank you!" before they fell into eachothers arms yet again.

Before the room at large could become too emotional, a deep voice called from the doorway, "I'm not interrupting am I?" Lily's father made sure to not open it fully before continuing, "Is everyone decent?"

"Yes Dad," Lily replied as he lumbered in, a large smile breaking across his face at the scene that he was met with. "Wow sweetheart, you look amazing," he complimented Lily whilst sweeping her up into a hug of his own.

His wife rolled her eyes, "Well of course she does, that dress was practically the only thing she chose for this wedding, obviously it would have to be perfect."

Before Lily's parents could begin to bicker she glanced towards Peter who was still standing hesitantly in the doorway, she silently begged him to dissolve the situation with her eyes. He took the hint and began to usher the mother of the bride and the two bridesmaids from the room.

"Of course dear," Mrs Evans agreed, looking down at her watch, "Now make sure you're not late Lily, you know how your father is." Frank Evans rolled his eyes and Lily giggled while their mother left the room, complementing Peter on his "dashing suit' on the way out.

"She'll be the death of me one day," Frank murmured as he stood backwards to take in his daughter's wedding dress again, "Though I'm sure you know the feeling with that boyfriend of yours."

Lily chuckled, "Fiancé, Dad. When are you going to get it into your head, he's already the father of my unborn child and pretty much my husband and yet you still haven't started to call him my fiancé yet."

Frank just huffed out a breath of air, "Well can you blame me? This is all happening very fast."

Already expecting this conversation, Lily couldn't do much else other than sigh, "We've been over this, we had to get married quickly because we need to go into hiding. Now will you help me tie this around my neck."

She handed him the locket, which he took without a comment and proceeded to do as she asked. They both stared at her in the mirror for a second in silence.

"You can't blame me for asking though; you come home one day pregnant, with a new fiancé and proceed to tell us that you have to get married quickly and hide away in order not to get murdered. I am your father, you can't expect me to take this lying down."

Lily only sighed at the usual turn in the conversation, similar to how all conversations had ended up for the past couple of weeks. "I still think you should reconsider. You can stay with us, or go abroad on an extended holiday, I even think Petunia would be glad to have you."

"Dad…" Lily attempted to cut in, but he had seen how her body flinched when her sister was mentioned.

"No Lily." He reiterated, voice rising, "She would take you in if you only asked, we all would. I understand that you feel safer in this magical world of yours, but I'm warning you. People are people at the end of the day, and if you put your faith in the wrong ones then you may be in trouble."

It was this final statement that made Lily frown, "Are you talking about Dumbledore, because he is actually very…"

"No," he interrupted again, "I trust that man, even though he looks like he is ready to keel over any second." Lily smiled briefly at the description, remembering thinking the same when she had first met him. "All I mean sweetheart, is that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket and don't turn away from help when it's offered."

By this point, Lily would usually have shut the conversation down with some vague comment or by scampering away, but with a glance into her father's eyes she saw how serious he was. His eyes, which were always calm and steadfast, were filled with some sort of terror, a darkness on them that spoke of truly wishing to help but of not knowing where to start.

Up until this point, Lily had made sure to not mention the war around her parents, especially anything surrounding her. It couldn't be helped that they knew the general facts about blood prejudice thanks to quite a few tearful letters home in her younger years. But other than that and the bare minimum of why she had to go into hiding, Lily was determined that her parents would not be afraid for her.

However, with one glance at her father she knew that her attempts had been for nothing. The fear that reflected back at her was fresh, heartbreaking and chilled her to the bone. This man would give up anything and fight in this fight against forces that he had no comprehension of, just so that he could keep his daughter safe.

Her eyes were wet as she replied, "You know I can't ask that of you, we have no idea how long we'll be in hiding for and even then, it will be dangerous for you. Just know that of all the people that know my location, I would trust every single one of them with my life."

"Are you sure that I can't…" Frank attempted to intervene.

"No dad." She cut him off, "What you're suggesting is far too dangerous and besides, we've got Dumbledore personally protecting us so we'll be fine."

This didn't seem to drive away any of his fears and in some way only seemed to anger him more, "The way that you all fall at the feet of that man is eerie. I don't care what you may think, but no man is invincible. Not even that one."

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to the mirror, shaking off the end of her father's warning, "Other than you, don't you mean?" She replied cheekily.

It was enough to rouse a small smirk but it quickly disappeared, "It doesn't look like we're going to change your mind then and you're determined to ignore me…?" He left the sentence hanging while she shook her head in the mirror before sighing in acquiescence, "Well in that case, it looks like I might not be seeing you for the foreseeable future."

Unlike the previous conversation, the topic of her estrangement from her Muggle family had not been touched upon by her dad, and so it was this comment that made her hold her breath.

"You've told us that we can call using that mirror thing that James got us but I thought that you would quite like to see our faces more often than that." Lily's eyebrows crinkled in question, but her father just smiled and gestured down at the locket around her neck. "I might have made a few adjustments."

Lily's hand flew to her sternum where the locket still dangled, "Are you sure Granny would have wanted that dad?" She mumbled out as she attempted to clasp open the two faces of the locket that she had assumed to be fused shut.

Frank grumbled some comment about his mother in law always hating him before clarifying, "I'm pretty sure that she'll like this alteration."

At this statement, the tiny hinges on the locket gave way and she was left looking down at herself. Well it wasn't just her. On one face of the locket stood her parents smiling back at her with matching looks of love in their eyes, and on the other was one of her and Petunia, captured in a rare moment when they were acting civil, smiling slightly stiffly at the camera. It wasn't until she saw them blink back at her that she realised that these were wizarding photographs.

"How…?"

Her question was quickly silenced when her dad replied, "Your fiancé took them at our garden party last summer and when I told him I had this in mind, he helped charm them to move and fit or whatever."

Frank seemed to be flustered at her lack of reply and wet eyes yet again, and it was probably that which caused the slip of the tongue. Lily looked up at him, "You called him my fiancé."

Her dad looked speechless for a moment before rolling his eyes, "Well I am giving you away in five minutes, I may as well call him it at least once."

Lily's only reply was a watery laugh before she launched herself at her dad for a hug. He staggered back slightly before they both turned their heads towards the doorway which had been knocked open by Peter again.

"Is it time?" They both asked simultaneously.

Peter only nodded while they passed him, but before they began their descent to the grounds, Mr Evans turned to him, Lily remaining just out of earshot. "Thanks son. Tell you what, but it doesn't look like I'll be getting the chance to see my daughter for a while after this. Would you mind keeping an eye on her, making sure that she's safe for me?"

The usher only gulped slightly and nodded, replying with a whisper, "I'll protect her with my life."

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