13 August 1978
After seven long years of fights, threats, and downright pandemonium, James Potter married Lily Evans on a beautiful mid-August afternoon—and sparks flew, tectonic plates shifted, and worlds collided as the deliriously happy couple exchanged vows.
For the sake of safety, it was a quiet, private affair. Sirius was best man. Mary Macdonald, whom Lily hadn't seen since June because of how busy the Order kept her, looked delighted to be maid of honor. Professor Dumbledore himself had graciously offered to officiate the event, which was attended only by about thirty well-wishers in total—consisting almost exclusively of Order members and their families. In fact, the ceremony itself was held in the garden of Bryce and Marlene McKinnon's peaceful, seaside bungalow on the Isle of Skye.
After walking Lily down the aisle, Remus took his seat in the front row, between James's parents and Peter. Mrs. Potter, who had started crying the moment the wedding march began, was now openly sobbing into her husband's robes—much to the amusement of James's uncle Caradoc, who was seated on his sister's other side.
"Do you, James Charlus Potter, take Lily Joanne Evans…?"
Remus glanced sideways at Peter, beaming, as James—sporting the same stupid grin he'd worn the first time Lily had kissed him—said, "I do." Peter returned the smile, punching Remus's shoulder affectionately. Meanwhile, trumpet-like sobs from the back row told Remus that Hagrid had pulled out his blanket-sized handkerchief. Sure enough, glancing over his shoulder, Remus saw Professor McGonagall patting Hagrid's enormous arm comfortingly—but even the ever-stoic deputy headmistress looked to be fighting back tears.
"…then, I declare you both bonded for life," Dumbledore finished softly. He turned to James, smiling as he raised his wand. "You may kiss your bride."
And with a piercing wolf-whistle from Sirius and an enthusiastic round of applause from the guests, led by Remus and Peter, James Potter kissed Lily Potter under a cloudburst of golden sparks.
It was nearly midnight. Remus, Sirius, and Peter were all lounging around the sitting room of James and Lily's cottage in Godric's Hollow, which James's parents had bequeathed to them as an early wedding present after they'd moved into the old wizards' home in Upper Flagley. Peter was snoring in the armchair by the fireplace with Lily's cat Snuffles curled up on his stomach. Sirius and James were seated on the rug, sorting through wedding presents while nursing glasses of mulled mead. Remus, meanwhile, was cross-legged on the sofa, carefully soaking the long roll of photo film that he'd used up at the reception in a tray of developing potion.
Just then— "Petunia sent a letter," Lily announced in a flat voice, striding into the sitting room from the kitchen. She was still wearing her wedding gown, though she'd long since disposed of her makeup and tied her auburn hair into a messy knot at the back of her head.
Remus watched James glance up from the pile of wedding presents, his expression wary as he spotted the envelope in Lily's hands. "What did she say?" James asked slowly.
"Oh, just that she's terribly sorry she and Vernon couldn't make it to the freak show today," Lily said scornfully, tossing the letter onto the coffee table and joining James and Sirius on the rug, her expression furious.
James sighed, setting down the present he'd been in the process of opening and putting his arm around Lily's shoulders. "Sorry," he murmured, pulling her close and kissing the side of her head.
Lily's expression softened slightly, and she relaxed against James's shoulder. "It's not your fault," she said quietly. Then, she swallowed, looking up at James. "We should visit my mum tomorrow, see how she's doing. Tuney said that they might have to take her back to the hospital soon."
Remus looked up, exchanging somber grimaces with James and Sirius. Barely three years after Lily's father had passed away, Lily's mother had fallen seriously ill.
"Of course we'll visit your mum," James told Lily firmly. "We—we can visit her every day, if you want."
Lily sniffed but beamed at James, leaning up and pressing her lips to his in a lingering kiss.
"Oi, get a room," Sirius complained, crumpling up a ball of wrapping paper and tossing it at James's head. Remus snorted as James jerked back with a yelp of surprise.
Pulling away from James, Lily turned to face Sirius, her arms crossed. "You know, Padfoot, you seem to be a bit confused about how wedding nights work," she told him sardonically. "Usually, it's just the bride and groom—not the bride and groom and all his friends."
"Ah, come on, Evans, surely you knew that marrying Prongs meant marrying all of us," Sirius said in an earnest voice, his eyes gleaming.
"That must be why I don't seem to have a single picture from the reception of the newylweds by themselves," Remus told Sirius in an exasperated voice from the sofa, where he was now organizing the freshly developed photographs. "Honestly, Padfoot, you even made it into the one of their first dance."
Sirius threw his head back and let out a bark-like shout of laughter. The noise startled Peter out of his slumber—he jerked awake and sat bolt upright in his armchair, causing Snuffles to fall off of his perch. With a disgruntled hiss, the fat black cat slunk away to plant himself in Sirius's lap instead; Sirius reached out and scratched its ears.
"Whuzgoinon?" Peter mumbled, blinking around the room blearily.
"Nothing, Wormy," Lily said with a sympathetic smile, while James and Sirius both snickered at Peter's bewildered expression. "Go back to sleep. You look beat."
"No, 'mup…'mawake," Peter said groggily, rubbing his eyes and straightening up in his armchair. James grinned at him from the rug, reaching up and ruffling his blond hair.
The five friends lapsed into a comfortable silence, smiling lazily at one another. It was a rare moment of peace, Remus knew. A stolen hour of freedom. Tomorrow, they would wake up to a newspaper full of poorly hushed up deaths and disappearances, as they always did. In the next few days, they would all receive their weekly reconnaissance assignments from Moody, which would keep them busy until the next Order meeting. It was for this that James and Lily hadn't even bothered to plan a honeymoon. When Marlene McKinnon and Alice Longbottom had questioned Lily about it, she had shrugged and told them quietly, "If we leave town, who knows what we'll come home to?"
A small lump formed in Remus's throat, but he swallowed it quickly, turning back to the stack of photographs on the sofa in front of him. Gingerly, he picked up the photograph at the top of the pile. James was grinning broadly at the camera, waving occasionally, while Lily, her face glowing with happiness, swung from his arms. Sirius was roaring with laughter at something outside of the frame, and had one arm slung around James while he punched the air with the other.
"All right—one last nightcap, and then time for bed, I reckon," James announced, stifling a yawn behind his hand. Drawing his wand, he flicked it in the direction of the kitchen, and three wineglasses soared into the sitting room to join the two that were already on the coffee table. Snatching up the bottle of mulled mead (a wedding gift from the Prewett twins) from under the table, James poured a respectable amount into each glass before passing them around.
"A toast," Sirius said, flicking his hair back and smirking, as he raised his glass in the air, "to unconventional wedding nights."
James rolled his eyes but raised his glass nonetheless, turning to grin at Lily. "To Lily Evans coming to her senses about a certain arrogant toerag."
Remus and Peter chuckled as Lily narrowed her eyes at James. Raising her own glass, she said tartly, "To the Giant Squid. I'd leave my husband for you any day, darling."
Sirius guffawed heartily, and Lily's lips twitched. James, looking sheepish, buried his face in his wife's hair. Then, they all looked expectantly at Peter.
Peter cleared his throat, lifting his glass. "To…staying safe," he whispered. "A-and having a future."
Remus's heart clenched. Sirius groaned, "Wormtail, don't kill the bloody mood."
Lily swatted Sirius's shoulder, her jaw tight. "He's right, Sirius," she said sharply, green eyes blazing. "This is war. We shouldn't take anything for granted."
Sirius looked like he wanted to argue, but James quelled him with a look. A slightly more subdued silence fell over the sitting room this time—broken only when Remus, swallowing, finally lifted his own glass.
"To us," he said quietly, and all four of his friends looked at him. Remus smiled tightly around at them all, trying to etch every detail of the moment into his memory—Lily's gentle smile, James's arm snug about her shoulders…Sirius's twinkling eyes and cool, casual grace—even with a cat curled up in his lap—and Peter's grateful expression, and the slight quiver of his chin as he clinked his glass with Sirius's.
"To us," they echoed.
