The next 3 days went
by rather quickly. James would get up in the morning, go to work, and come home
in the evening. Lily would spend her days with Marilyn going over wedding
details, making sure that her dress would be ready on time, and things like
that. In the evening, Lily and James would spend quiet nights in front of the
fire, or playing cards with Sirius and Remus or Peter. Aaron also came over to
visit a few times.
And then it was Wednesday. The morning that both James and Lily had been
dreading. The day that they would have to say goodbye to each other until the
next time they would meet: at their wedding.
Lily woke up before James did, and got up and got dressed. She then sat down on
the bed next to him and tried to pat is untamable hair down.
"Don't go," he whispered. "Just come back to bed and we'll
pretend that it's yesterday."
Lily smiled. "You know we can't do that. Your mother is coming soon to get
me. It won't be so bad... only two nights, really."
"No, three."
"James, I know that Sirius and Remus have planned a bachelor party for you
on Friday. We weren't going to see each other then anyhow..."
James rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. "I know, I know. I'm just
gonna miss you, that's all."
"Well, I promise you that I'll meet you down at the alter, Saturday at 2
o'clock. Provided you'll be there, of course."
"I'll be the one in the black tux who won't take his eyes off you or stop
smiling."
"And I'll be the one in the white dress, with the veil."
They both smiled. Lily then kissed James goodbye. "I love you with all my
heart," she said.
"I love you too," he told her. "Bye."
Lily had just barely
finished her morning coffee when Marilyn arrived.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked.
Lily smiled and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."
"Alright, let's get going," Marilyn told her.
The two then disapparated.
"Hello, my darling!" Victoria said as Lily apparated in front of her.
She gave Lily a quick hug and then stepped back to look at her. "You miss
him already, don't you?"
Both Marilyn and Lily smiled. "Yeah, a little," Lily admitted.
"Don't worry, my dear, it shan't be much longer..."
"I know, Gran. It's just a strange feeling because, well, ever since we
met we've never spent more than a day apart."
Marilyn looked a bit taken aback by this, but smiled through it. "He'll be
fine, Lily. Actually, I'm just going to go and talk with him now. I will be back
later."
"Thanks, Marilyn. I really appreciate everything you've done."
Once Marilyn had
left, Lily and Victoria sat down to have a cup of tea.
"You know, Lily," Victoria began, "there was a time that I hoped
you would join me here. I hoped that you would follow my choices and live by
the prophecy. I know now, though, that this is what is best for you."
"What do you mean?"
"You have the gift, child. You possess a stronger gift than many of the
Sisters here could ever wish for. But even so, you are different from them. You
strength comes not only from within yourself, but from James as well. Together
you can find the will to survive. When I realized that I knew that a life here
would not fulfill the destiny fated for you. You will do great things as Lily
Potter."
Lily blushed. "Don't say that. What can I do?"
"You will see, dear. You already know part of it, with the Sorcerer's
Stone."
"I still don't understand how though..."
"You will, it will present itself."
After their
conversation, Lily was left feeling a bit confused about her future. She didn't
say anything though, well aware of the fact that Victoria wouldn't tell her
anything anyhow. Instead, Victoria and Lily spent the rest of the day
overseeing the initial wedding set-up.
Satisfied with what they found, Victoria led Lily to the room she would be
staying in for the next few nights.
"Thank you so much for taking me in like this and everything..."
"Think nothing of it, dear. As I told you before, I consider it a great
honour."
The next two days
were completely devoted to wedding preparations. Marilyn, Jem, Claire, and
Virginia all came to help Lily with last minute things. Jem, Claire and
Virginia also had to make sure that their bridesmaid dresses were perfect and
ready along with Lily's wedding dress.
Before they knew it, it was Friday morning. Lily was excited to have received
an owl from James, saying that he missed her and couldn't wait until the
following day. He also pleaded with her to have fun but not do anything she
would regret at her bachelorette party. This made Lily laugh, and she sent him
a return owl requesting the same of him at his bachelor party.
James was very
excited when he woke up Friday morning. This was mostly due to the fact that he
woke up to Scarlet, Lily's owl, nipping at his nose. Under any other
circumstance, this would have angered him greatly, but he knew that she was
only there because she had a note from Lily for him. "Thanks, girl,"
he said, petting her head before pulling out a treat from the nightstand for
her. She took it gratefully and then flew off to her cage for some water. James
then opened the note.
My Soon-To-Be Husband,
It won't be much longer now... just over 24 hours to go. I love you, and I know
you love me. You had better remember that tonight when Sirius and everyone
tries to convince you to do things I wouldn't approve of. I'm only kidding.
Have a good time, and please don't do anything you will regret or that I will
make you pay for later on...
Love Always,
Your Lily
James smiled to
himself and shook his head. Little did he know what Sirius had in store for him
though...
Not 10 minutes later, Sirius burst into the room. "Get up, shower, shave,
get dressed and for god's sake, brush your teeth. You have 20 minutes and then
we're taking off." He then ran out of the room to get himself ready
leaving a bewildered James sitting on his bed.
James shrugged and then got up to get ready. He did what he was told, and was
ready with 5 minutes to spare.
Fifteen minutes
later, Sirius came strolling down the stairs and into the kitchen where James
was waiting.
"What the hell is that all about? You rush me so that I'm ready and yet
you arrive 10 minutes late?"
"Chill! It's not like I never came downstairs or anything..."
James rolled his eyes. "So, what's on today's agenda?"
"You'll see," Sirius said, with a gleam in his eyes.
Jem apparated into the Palace
of the Prophets around noon on Friday to pick Lily up. "Are you
ready?" she asked when she found Lily.
"Just about," Lily answered, putting on some lip-gloss.
"Don't worry about that! Today is spa day!"
"What are you talking about?"
"It's part of your wedding present from me and the girls. A day at the
spa! Manicure, pedicure, massage, facial, sauna, the whole deal!"
"You really don't have to do that," Lily insisted.
"Oh pish! Of course we do! We want you to be nice and relaxed for
tomorrow, don't we?" Jem winked at Lily, who smiled. "Now come on,
we're going to be late! Everyone is waiting on us..."
The two girls
disapparated after Lily said goodbye to Victoria. Where they apparated to
though, Lily had no idea.
"Where are we?" Lily asked, looking around.
"The spa, of course! Now, where is everybody... there they are!" Jem
led Lily to the group of girls waiting for them. It was Claire, Virginia,
April, Leigh, Melanie and Grace (the last two having graduated from Hogwarts
the year before Lily, and who were also on the house quidditch team with her,
Sirius, James and Remus).
"Hi!" everyone said when they saw Jem and Lily.
"Oh my god! I can't believe you're all here!"
"As if we'd miss this," said Melanie.
Just then an older woman, who was a muggle, came out carrying a clipboard.
"Are we ready to get started, ladies?" When everyone agreed, she
continued. "Well, you will all find robes in your lockers, and if you can
get changed, we'll begin."
Everyone changed
quickly, chatting excitedly. "I cannot wait for that
massage..." said Claire.
"Oh, I know what you mean! But I'm really looking forward to the skin
treatment... my skin has gotten so dry recently!" Leigh said.
"Where are we?" asked Lily, still confused.
Just then another muggle walked back toward them, also carrying a clipboard.
"Welcome to the Luxor Spa, the only 24 hour spa that Las Vegas has to
offer," she smiled. "Now that you've all gotten changed, if you would
please follow me. Before we begin, I would like to point out a few things. Down
this hall, we have the showers. Each shower has a different scent. For example,
our most popular ones are the mint and lavender. Towels can be found to the
right, and then you can ask at the desk if you need anything, such as a face
cloth or razor. Through here we have the massage rooms, and then down here is
the hot tub and steam room. Near the entrance you will find a refrigerator
stocked with different juices and water, along with coffee, tea and fruit. Feel
free to help yourself at any time. Are we all ready to begin?"
"We sure are!" said Claire.
The woman smiled. "Lily Evans?" Lily stepped forward. "I
understand that you are our bride-to-be." Lily nodded, blushing.
"Well, your friends have arranged this to prepare you for your wedding, so
if there is anything at all that you need, do not hesitate to ask."
"Thank you," Lily said.
"And now, ladies, if you would. Feel free to hit the showers, and we'll
begin in just a few minutes."
Lily's day couldn't have been better. She enjoyed a lavender shower, had a full body massage, relaxed in the hot tub, sauna and steam room. She had her facial, got her nails done. After all that, she took another shower, mint this time. It was the best she had ever felt. And, judging by everyone else she was with, they all felt pretty much the same way. Everyone was disappointed that the day was over, but they were all excited about where the evening would lead them. Lily, of course, was still clueless.
Sirius took James out
to a local pub for lunch. Remus and Peter were already there waiting for them.
"It's about ruddy time," said Remus, glancing at his watch.
"Chances are we would have been on time if this big git hadn't taken
forever to get ready," James told him, pointing to Sirius.
"Oh, sod it. I'm starving," Sirius added.
"So, am I stuck with just you three for the rest of the day?" James
asked.
Remus snickered. "No, everyone else is meeting us later. They would have
been here, but, unlike you, some people do actually work for a
living..."
James punched Remus in the shoulder. "You're one to talk... at least I
have a job."
"Not for much longer, at this rate," Remus stated, grinning from ear
to ear.
"Oh, would you two just stop it? There's no point in ruining the day by
fighting," Peter pointed out.
"Yeah, he's right," Sirius chimed in. "Besides, we've got lots
ahead of us..."
After lunch, the guys all decided to stick around the pub for a few rounds
before heading back to the house where they would lay low for a couple hours
until everyone else could meet them.
Peter glanced at the
freedom countdown clock. "Well, James," Peter started, "only 20
hours left..."
"And you will use them all wisely," Sirius told him.
"Oh will I now? And just how do you figure that?"
"Because we won't allow you to do otherwise!" exclaimed Remus.
"Actually, I supposed we'd best be going. Everyone is meeting us in a bit..."
Sirius said, getting up. "I'm going to have to blindfold you, James."
Before James had a chance to protest, Sirius had zapped a blindfold on him. He
also gagged him. Remus gave Sirius a puzzled look. "Well, why the hell
not? When else can we do this to him?"
"Works for me!" Remus agreed. Peter smiled.
"Let's go!"
They all disapparated.
"So where are we
going now?" Lily asked. She bit her lower lip in anticipation.
"First, we've got to go outside. Our ride is waiting for us," Jem
said, leading everyone out of the spa, through the casino and out the large
front doors.
Lily couldn't believe her eyes. There was a white stretch limousine parked
right in front of them. The driver was smiling and holding the door open for
everyone to climb in.
"What are you waiting for, Lil? Get in already!"
Lily eagerly jumped into the limo and was followed by all of her friends. The
girls all giggled as Jem told the driver where they wanted to go. The stardust.
They were going to begin their night at the infamous VooDoo Lounge.
When James & Co.
finally apparated at their destination, James wondered where they were. He
could tell that it was significantly warmer than England, and could hear that
it was very crowded with lots of traffic. He tried to ask where they were, but
couldn't because of the gag. All of the guys were laughing at him though, and
he could tell that there were more of them than just Sirius, Remus and Peter
now. Then, suddenly he could see.
"James, my friend, welcome to the original Sin City!" Sirius shouted.
James looked up and saw the infamous neon sign, recognized the world over
"Welcome to Las Vegas" it said.
"First stop, Caesar's Palace!" shouted Sirius. He led the rather large group of guys down the famous Las Vegas Strip and into the palatial casino-hotel. They were greeted at the door by several scantily clad women who linked arms with James and a few of the other guys.
"First time in Vegas?" one of the women asked James. He could only nod in response.
"Our boy here is getting married tomorrow," Remus told her, gesturing toward James. "We're out to show him a good time tonight!"
"Well then, you've come to the right place!" another girl said.
"There's no place in the world better to sow those wild oats than Las Vegas," another chimed in, eyeing James as she smiled.
James and his crew were led into a small room in the back. "Here we are," Sirius told them.
"What are we doing here?" James asked.
"You'll see… the show is just about to begin."
James sat down with a beautiful woman on either side of him. There was a stage in the front of the room, and he noticed that all of the guys were staring at it expectantly. And then he saw why…
The girls were sitting at a table out on the balcony of the VooDoo Lounge sipping martinis and admiring the view of the Strip.
"Finish your drinks, girls," Claire told them. "We're about to move on!"
"That's right… we've still got quite a night ahead of us," Jem added.
Lily, who was already feeling the effects of her 1 lemon drop and 2 sour apple martinis was caught in a fit of giggles. "Can you believe it? I'm actually getting married tomorrow!"
Everyone just had to laugh with her, they couldn't help it.
"Come on, let's go… it's off to the Mirage for us!"
Lily was careful to get the very last drop of her martini before getting up. Everyone, Lily included, had to laugh because she could barely stand on her own.
"Honey," Virginia said, "you have got to pace yourself!"
They all made their way to the elevator, making sure to take a picture in front of the VooDoo Lounge sign in the lobby. They then returned to the limo and set off for the Mirage.
When they arrived at the Mirage, everyone had to marvel at its splendor. It truly was amazing to look at. Lily only did this for about 30 seconds though, because that's how long it took her to spot a bar. She ran right up and ordered a drink.
"Sex on the beach, please!" she ordered.
The bartender, who was rather good looking, smiled and winked at her before saying "Any time you want."
Lily giggled. "Thanks for the offer, because I think that tonight is my last chance…"
"And why might that be?" he asked.
"Because she's marrying my brother tomorrow!" Claire butted in, grinning.
"Well, that's too bad," the bartender said, winking at Lily again. "But as long as you stay here, drinks are on the house!"
All of the girls cheered. Lily was very pleased with herself. The bartender then introduced himself as Topher, short for Christopher.
"Well, Topher," Lily started, "what would you recommend for a bunch of girls like us to do tonight?"
"I think you should stick around here for about another," Topher glanced at his watch, "30 minutes, drinking and waiting for me to get off work, and then let me show you around the real Las Vegas."
"Sounds good to me!" Lily exclaimed.
"Me too!" said Jem.
Everyone else smiled and nodded as well.
James couldn't believe his eyes. The lights went out and the curtains on the stage opened causing all of the guys to start yelling and cheering. Then the dancers came out. There had to be at least 20 of them, all dancing for this private audience. The performance went on for about half an hour, and it included more than one lapdance for James. Several of the other guys had one as well. Needless to say, they were all pretty pleased by the event.
Once the dancing was over, and the guys had a few more girls hanging on them, and a few more drinks flowing through them, they made their way to the closest bar. After a few jager shots, James decided it was time to try his luck at some of these muggle games. So, he decided to shoot craps. Craps, being a game of luck and chance, proved to be very interesting for him. At one point he was up about $2000 in American muggle money, but then he crapped out and lost it all.
"Oh, well," James said, smiling and shrugging his shoulders. "Not like I had any use for it anyhow."
"James, you idiot," Peter said, "You could have used the money on your honeymoon, since you are coming back here and all…"
"That's true. Sirius, can I have another $20?" Sirius handed him the money and he immediately found a roulette table. By the time James was pried away from the table, he had turned that $20 into $800. "It's a start," he said proudly.
Lily and her party waited patiently for Topher to get off work. He continuously fed them drinks, so they were doing pretty well. Things started looking even better for everyone when some of his friends came to join them. "This is Grant, Doug and Dave," Topher told them. "Guys, this is Lily, she the one getting married tomorrow, Claire, Jem, Virginia, Leigh… no wait, don't tell me, you're Leigh, and you're April, Grace and… Melanie! Right?" Topher smiled.
"You got it!" Grace told him, taking the shot of tequila that Topher had just handed them.
Everyone hung around laughing and drinking waiting for Topher to get off work. When he finally did, he jumped over the bar, put his arm around Lily's waist, and said "Shall we?"
Lily smiled. "Where are we going?"
"I dunno, what do you think guys?" Topher asked.
His friends all looked at each other and smiled. They then turned back to him and said, at the same time, "Aladdin."
Topher grinned and nodded in agreement. "Good call," he said.
Topher and his friends joined the girls in heading to their car. They had quite a shock when they saw it was a limousine, but they weren't about to complain. Topher told the driver where they were going, and took a seat next to Lily. "Ready to have some fun?" he asked playfully.
"Always," she answered.
They pulled up at the Aladdin and got out of the limo. "Who's up for some games?" Grant asked.
"Sure, why not?" Claire said, taking his arm.
The Aladdin was not as extravagant as the Mirage, but nobody was complaining about that. It seemed to be more fun.
Sirius and James's group was finally ready to move on from Caesar's Palace. "Where to now?" a slightly inebriated James asked.
"Should we try for something slightly closer to home?" Eric, a friend from Hogwarts, asked.
"Well, the closest thing to that around here would be the only place with a magical theme… the Aladdin," Sirius said. "I can't believe that muggles actually believe those stories of genies granting wishes…"
"Shh!" Remus said. "We'll just go and have a good time."
"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said.
And the boys headed across the Strip and over to the Aladdin.
Grant had finished giving the girls a general tour and overview of the Aladdin when they all decided to settle down for some fun with slot machines. Topher sat with his arm around Lily, giving her advice on how much to put in the machine and everyone else surrounded them at various machines. Waitresses came by, and after greeting Grant, who explained that he worked there and that was why everyone knew him, they brought everyone drinks. Lily and Topher, who were whispering and laughing together, decided to take a celebratory shot because Lily had hit a small jackpot of $100. "This is my machine!" she declared.
Jem got up to move to another machine when something caught her eye. Well, someone. "I'll be right back," she whispered to Claire, nodding toward the door.
It took Claire a second, but then she saw what Jem was gesturing toward. Her eyes grew wide and she nodded. "Hurry!" she said.
Jem practically flew to the aisle of slot machines closest to where the boys had entered the casino. "Sirius!" she hissed.
Sirius looked up, not sure if he had heard his name. He then heard it again, and when he saw Jem, his eyes almost popped out of his head. "I'll be right back," he told the guys, rather awkwardly. He rushed over to where Jem was hiding. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here, more like!"
"I told you we were taking James here for his bachelor party!"
"No, you said you might take him here, and I said it sounded like fun and that I might take Lily!"
"That you might take her!"
"Well, we decided to! You can't be here! Get him out of here!"
"What? I don't think so… you all leave!"
"We can't do that! They'll know some-" Jem was interrupted by a scream. It was Virginia.
"James!" she shouted.
"Oh, no!" said Jem, rushing to rejoin her group. She was followed by Sirius.
When Jem made it over to them, she was relieved to see that James hadn't actually seen Lily, or Topher for that matter. The girls had been quick to respond and formed a sort of wall around Lily.
James, however, was making a drunken fool of himself. "Oh, come on, I know she's in there. Lily? Can't you people just move for a second and let me see her?"
"James, go away!" Lily shouted. "It's bad luck!" She giggled.
"So that's the guy?" Topher whispered to her. Lily giggled again and nodded. "Interesting…"
Remus was trying to pull James away from the scenario. "Come on, James… you only have like 15 hours left anyhow… let's go."
"But I just want to see Lily!"
"Well, you can't right now," Lily yelled.
"James, just go and have fun," Claire said. "Don't make me beat you up like I used to…"
Everyone laughed at this. Everyone except James. "Lil…" he was starting to whine.
"James, that's very unattractive!" she giggled. "Hey, April, what's he wearing?"
"That blue t-shirt you got him for Christmas and black pants," she answered.
"Which ones?"
"The chinos," said Jem.
"Does he look good?"
"Other than his drunken state, yeah," Jem told her.
Topher couldn't help it. He burst out laughing at that. Unfortunately, so did his friends. Even more unfortunately, the sound of male laughter seemed to annoy James and his crew.
"Who was that?" asked Sirius.
"Nobody," April said quickly.
"Yeah, because we're that stupid," said Peter.
At that, Topher, Grant, Doug and Dave stood up, grinning, and waved.
"Who's that stupid?" Topher asked, displaying a stunning smile.
"Who're you?" asked James.
"Their bartender, and you, I take it, are the groom?" James nodded. "You've got quite a girl here," Topher told him.
"Thanks, I know," James replied, suddenly in a good mood. Everyone looked around quizzically, and then Jem noticed Sirius was quickly stuffing his wand into his pocket. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Come on, James, let's go somewhere else," Sirius said, starting to lead him away.
"Oh, okay, I guess. Lily!" James called.
"Yeah?"
"Don't forget about tomorrow!"
"You either!"
"Love you!"
"I love you too!"
All the girls giggled as they realized what had happened. The guys left them still standing around Lily. Topher and his friends looked confused, but no one seemed to notice, or care for that matter.
The rest of the night came and went without any further encounters. James and his friends went to another casino and had only a few more drinks before calling it a night. Lily and her crew stayed at the Aladdin with Topher and his friends for about another hour before Lily accidentally forgot where she was.
"Guys, I'm tired," Lily told them. "I think I need to go to bed. G'nite!" Then, much to the horror of everyone she was with, she disapparated back to the Palace of the Prophets.
"Okay, am I the only one who just saw that?" Doug asked, stumbling over Dave.
"I dunno. What did you see?" Dave asked.
"I think I saw what you might have seen… but maybe not," Topher said.
"I've definitely had too much to drink tonight… I'm going home," Doug decided.
"Yeah, me too," Topher said.
"Good night, ladies," Grant said, looking around.
"Nite," all of them replied, trying hard to hide their giggles.
Once the guys were safely out of view and earshot, the girls burst out laughing and each disapparated to their own homes.
A/N: How about some more reviews before I let you all read about the wedding… that sound good? I thought so!