Author's Note: Note the chapter title, EARLY proposal. This chapter is
rushed, but I had to do it, so, please don't hate me *smiles nervously*
BIG FAT DISCLAIMER THAT IS INCREDIBLY NECESSARY: Not only are these not my characters, but there is a passage that I DID NOT WRITE! JK Rowling wrote it. It's copyrighted, don't give me credit for it. I have a mortal fear of lawyers. *runs and hides*
~~~
"Photographs?" Emmaline Vance asked incredulously.
Caradoc Dearborn cocked his head to the side, "Are you meaning to tell me, Dumbledore, that we met here for photographs?"
Dumbledore nodded cheerfully, and left the room.
"I thought we were actually going to do something useful for once," Moody growled.
Mrs. McKinnon smiled soothingly, "There's nothing wrong with taking a few pictures, now is there?"
"Certainly not," Frank Longbottom declared. His wife nodded, "It makes it. official." She added a friendly smile as Dumbledore walked back into the room they had assembled themselves in.
Peter really wished they'd rather not make it official. Everything seemed to be so official nowadays. So binding. He felt obligated to absolutely everything he contributed to.
Remus was smiling, positively cheery.
Sirius was tirelessly flirting with Dorcas, and James and Lily were rolling their eyes at him.
"Everyone ready?" Dumbledore asked, bringing out the enormous camera.
Everybody got into position, gave their brightest smiles, and waved at the camera.
FLASH.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Original Order of the Phoenix," growled Moody. "Found it last night when I was looking for my spare invisibility cloak, seeing as Podmore hasn't had the manners to return my best one. Thought people might like to see it."
Harry took the photograph. A small crowd of people, some waving at him, others lifting their glasses, looked back up at him.
~~~~~~~~~~
FLASH.
Sirius blinked incessantly. "Oy, that was bright."
Edgar Bones snorted, "Honestly, it wasn't that bad."
Sirius held his arms out in front of him, and started running around blindly.
"Oh, stop complaining," Dorcas said with a sigh.
Sirius stopped when he ran into a tall man with a long white beard. "Oh, sorry Dumble - " He fell silent when he realized it wasn't Dumbledore.
The man eyed him strangely before finally saying, "No worries, I have young people bumping into me constantly." The old man gazed at the wall and stroked his beard as if deep in thought, and Sirius slipped away to avoid conversation.
Sirius walked over to Remus quickly. "Er. have you the slightest clue who that is?" he asked, indicating the tall man who was still gazing at the wall nonchalantly. Remus shrugged.
"That," came a booming voice from behind them. They both turned around and saw Dumbledore watching the man as well. "is my dear brother, Aberforth," he said.
"Best to avoid him if you can," he added with a smile at the two.
They nodded, and took his advice.
"Are you two married, my dears?" Mrs. McKinnon asked James and Lily.
Lily opened her mouth as if to say something, and James gave her a sidelong glance. Abandoning her attempt to use words, Lily shook her head.
"Oh," Mrs. McKinnon said, laughing to herself. "So sorry."
James frowned thoughtfully. "We should be, though."
Lily started, and turned to James, astonished. "We should?" she asked dazedly.
"Yep," he said confidently.
Lily blinked, and the corners of her mouth twitched. "Are you proposing?" she asked him surreptitiously.
James turned to her slowly. "Should I?" he asked her casually.
"Er."
"What's this?" Sirius asked, noticing James's intent look, and the look of blank surprise on Lily's face.
"Sounds like a wedding to me," Remus said, smiling slightly.
Sirius beamed. "Wedding? I love weddings! Free drinks!"
"Er." Lily seemed to be frozen, and James wasn't looking away from her - the smallest trace of a grin fluttering across his face.
~~~~~~~~~~
"For heaven's sake, Lily, you're only eighteen!" Rebecca exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.
"I thought you'd be happy for me," Lily mumbled miserably.
Rebecca dropped her hands to her side and smiled. "I am," she said teasingly.
She plopped onto the couch next to Lily. "So, he just flat out asked you? Right there?" she asked.
Lily shook her head with a funny sort of half amused, half bewildered look on her face. "No, someone brought it up, and. well. I guess he sort of - egged it on."
Becca snorted.
Lily rolled her eyes. "And then Sirius started talking about free drinks, and Remus started saying that we should decide on a date for it, even though I hadn't even said yes yet!"
"Did you?" Becca asked excitedly.
Lily rolled her eyes again, "How could I not? Sirius would die of heartbreak because he didn't get any free drinks!"
"Oh, I don't know about that," Becca said thoughtfully, "He'd probably bring drinks anyway, even if there was no occasion."
Lily laughed, and Becca continued her interrogation. "So, do you know when it's going to be yet?"
Lily glanced down, avoiding her eyes. "Well, you know James. He doesn't want to wait for thirty years."
"How soon?" Becca asked, a hint of worry creeping into her voice.
Lily bit her lip. "Now, don't jump all over me," she began.
"How soon?"
Lily swallowed guiltily. "Next week?"
Becca looked as if she'd been hit in the face by a hippogriff.
~~~~~~~~~~
Everything was prepared in a rush, although nobody knew why they felt they had to rush it.
Lily was fretting over bridesmaid's dresses and magical streamers and doves and food and (much to Sirius's delight) free drinks and where oh where to put them?
Lily jumped when two hands slipped around her waist. She turned around and heaved a relieved sigh when she saw it was James.
"Sorry," she muttered. "Just a bit jumpy, you know? What, with all this planning to do, and people to invite, and decorations, and arrangements, and invitations - oh wait, I already said that, didn't I?"
Lily kept rambling on and James smirked. "Just calm down," he told her.
She smiled wistfully, "You're really nutters, you know that?" she said conversationally.
James nodded. "Hope you don't mind."
Lily got back to the work she was doing and James frowned. "We can postpone it if it's too soon."
"No, it's alright."
"You're not okay with it, I can tell."
"I've already told people the date, we can't just go changing it!" she cried, exasperated.
James nodded.
Lily dropped her shoulders and laid her head on James's shoulder. "I'm sorry, it's just. oh, I never thought it would happen this soon. I'm just so. young!"
James smiled slightly, his eyes dancing, "In case you haven't noticed, so am I."
Lily gave a frustrated sigh. Why did he have to make a joke out of everything? It really was frustrating when she tried talking to him, and he was laughing his head off.
She smiled suddenly, and brought her head up. "You know my parents would have a fit about this!" Her smiled faded slightly when she realized what she'd said.
James nodded thoughtfully as he remembered his own parents. "So would mine," he said, forcing a smile - for her sake.
Lily shook her head, "They'd be happy, though."
James turned to look at her. Her eyes were as green as ever, and filled with so much love. Love for him. He marveled at how anyone could love him, but then told himself not to complain.
He smiled, "Let's hope so."
~~~~~~~~~~
"Is Peter coming?" James asked with a note of anxiety in his voice. He was nervous, but constantly reminded himself he was getting married - which was a good thing. It was supposed to be a happy day, but he couldn't help feeling jumpy.
Sirius scratched his head absently. "Actually, he said he couldn't. He didn't say why. I'm sure it was unavoidable - he would have come to his friend's wedding if he'd had the choice."
James narrowed his eyes, "I don't know. He has seemed a bit dodgy lately. Do you think he might know something we don't?"
Remus and Sirius looked at each other momentarily, and then eyed James incredulously. Remus was the one to speak up. "Wormtail? Honestly, Prongs, are you alright? This is Peter we're talking about." He turned to Sirius. "You didn't spike the punch, did you?"
Sirius threw up his hands. "I would never!" he cried in mock innocence. James ran his hand through his hair, and with a sigh of frustration, walked back to the mirror to flatten it out again.
"Sirius, do you think you could find Lily? I don't think it's natural to take this long to get ready," James said without looking away from the mirror.
Sirius spun around dramatically, "She did come, didn't she?" James finally looked away from the mirror and his eyes widened in panic. Sirius laughed, "Don't worry, I know she's here - she's just a little superstitious about seeing you before the wedding. I'll go find her." He was still laughing when he left.
As Sirius left the room, Remus went to follow him out the door, but then stopped and whispered, "Don't drink the punch."
~~~~~~~~~~
The wedding went according to plan. Lily was relieved to find that James wasn't having one of his mischievous moments. Over the past chaotic week, she'd been having the biggest fear that James would do something completely awful.
Although, Lily had seen Sirius with his wand out next to the punch bowl, so she steered her guests away from it when she could.
Other than that, she found she could breathe easier knowing everything was going to be perfect.
Of course, Lily's relief was only temporary. Leave it to Padfoot to crack a joke when Prongs failed to.
Just when the couple said their 'I do's and James squeezed her hand softly, lifted the veil from over her face and went to kiss her, Lily heard a whistle and a cat call from the back.
Rebecca heard this, and strained to keep a straight face while Remus turned his head.
Lily, however, kissed James and tried desperately to ignore it.
She would kill Sirius later.
~~~~~~~~~~
No, she doesn't really kill Sirius. *rolls eyes*
I'm sorry that this was so rushed, but I had to do this early to fit with my timeline. Okay? Oh yes, and there should be a small passage that looks familiar. That's because it was in the first chapter of "Like an Open Window".
Subliminal message: Review or suffer horrible torture involving spoons.
BIG FAT DISCLAIMER THAT IS INCREDIBLY NECESSARY: Not only are these not my characters, but there is a passage that I DID NOT WRITE! JK Rowling wrote it. It's copyrighted, don't give me credit for it. I have a mortal fear of lawyers. *runs and hides*
~~~
"Photographs?" Emmaline Vance asked incredulously.
Caradoc Dearborn cocked his head to the side, "Are you meaning to tell me, Dumbledore, that we met here for photographs?"
Dumbledore nodded cheerfully, and left the room.
"I thought we were actually going to do something useful for once," Moody growled.
Mrs. McKinnon smiled soothingly, "There's nothing wrong with taking a few pictures, now is there?"
"Certainly not," Frank Longbottom declared. His wife nodded, "It makes it. official." She added a friendly smile as Dumbledore walked back into the room they had assembled themselves in.
Peter really wished they'd rather not make it official. Everything seemed to be so official nowadays. So binding. He felt obligated to absolutely everything he contributed to.
Remus was smiling, positively cheery.
Sirius was tirelessly flirting with Dorcas, and James and Lily were rolling their eyes at him.
"Everyone ready?" Dumbledore asked, bringing out the enormous camera.
Everybody got into position, gave their brightest smiles, and waved at the camera.
FLASH.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Original Order of the Phoenix," growled Moody. "Found it last night when I was looking for my spare invisibility cloak, seeing as Podmore hasn't had the manners to return my best one. Thought people might like to see it."
Harry took the photograph. A small crowd of people, some waving at him, others lifting their glasses, looked back up at him.
~~~~~~~~~~
FLASH.
Sirius blinked incessantly. "Oy, that was bright."
Edgar Bones snorted, "Honestly, it wasn't that bad."
Sirius held his arms out in front of him, and started running around blindly.
"Oh, stop complaining," Dorcas said with a sigh.
Sirius stopped when he ran into a tall man with a long white beard. "Oh, sorry Dumble - " He fell silent when he realized it wasn't Dumbledore.
The man eyed him strangely before finally saying, "No worries, I have young people bumping into me constantly." The old man gazed at the wall and stroked his beard as if deep in thought, and Sirius slipped away to avoid conversation.
Sirius walked over to Remus quickly. "Er. have you the slightest clue who that is?" he asked, indicating the tall man who was still gazing at the wall nonchalantly. Remus shrugged.
"That," came a booming voice from behind them. They both turned around and saw Dumbledore watching the man as well. "is my dear brother, Aberforth," he said.
"Best to avoid him if you can," he added with a smile at the two.
They nodded, and took his advice.
"Are you two married, my dears?" Mrs. McKinnon asked James and Lily.
Lily opened her mouth as if to say something, and James gave her a sidelong glance. Abandoning her attempt to use words, Lily shook her head.
"Oh," Mrs. McKinnon said, laughing to herself. "So sorry."
James frowned thoughtfully. "We should be, though."
Lily started, and turned to James, astonished. "We should?" she asked dazedly.
"Yep," he said confidently.
Lily blinked, and the corners of her mouth twitched. "Are you proposing?" she asked him surreptitiously.
James turned to her slowly. "Should I?" he asked her casually.
"Er."
"What's this?" Sirius asked, noticing James's intent look, and the look of blank surprise on Lily's face.
"Sounds like a wedding to me," Remus said, smiling slightly.
Sirius beamed. "Wedding? I love weddings! Free drinks!"
"Er." Lily seemed to be frozen, and James wasn't looking away from her - the smallest trace of a grin fluttering across his face.
~~~~~~~~~~
"For heaven's sake, Lily, you're only eighteen!" Rebecca exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.
"I thought you'd be happy for me," Lily mumbled miserably.
Rebecca dropped her hands to her side and smiled. "I am," she said teasingly.
She plopped onto the couch next to Lily. "So, he just flat out asked you? Right there?" she asked.
Lily shook her head with a funny sort of half amused, half bewildered look on her face. "No, someone brought it up, and. well. I guess he sort of - egged it on."
Becca snorted.
Lily rolled her eyes. "And then Sirius started talking about free drinks, and Remus started saying that we should decide on a date for it, even though I hadn't even said yes yet!"
"Did you?" Becca asked excitedly.
Lily rolled her eyes again, "How could I not? Sirius would die of heartbreak because he didn't get any free drinks!"
"Oh, I don't know about that," Becca said thoughtfully, "He'd probably bring drinks anyway, even if there was no occasion."
Lily laughed, and Becca continued her interrogation. "So, do you know when it's going to be yet?"
Lily glanced down, avoiding her eyes. "Well, you know James. He doesn't want to wait for thirty years."
"How soon?" Becca asked, a hint of worry creeping into her voice.
Lily bit her lip. "Now, don't jump all over me," she began.
"How soon?"
Lily swallowed guiltily. "Next week?"
Becca looked as if she'd been hit in the face by a hippogriff.
~~~~~~~~~~
Everything was prepared in a rush, although nobody knew why they felt they had to rush it.
Lily was fretting over bridesmaid's dresses and magical streamers and doves and food and (much to Sirius's delight) free drinks and where oh where to put them?
Lily jumped when two hands slipped around her waist. She turned around and heaved a relieved sigh when she saw it was James.
"Sorry," she muttered. "Just a bit jumpy, you know? What, with all this planning to do, and people to invite, and decorations, and arrangements, and invitations - oh wait, I already said that, didn't I?"
Lily kept rambling on and James smirked. "Just calm down," he told her.
She smiled wistfully, "You're really nutters, you know that?" she said conversationally.
James nodded. "Hope you don't mind."
Lily got back to the work she was doing and James frowned. "We can postpone it if it's too soon."
"No, it's alright."
"You're not okay with it, I can tell."
"I've already told people the date, we can't just go changing it!" she cried, exasperated.
James nodded.
Lily dropped her shoulders and laid her head on James's shoulder. "I'm sorry, it's just. oh, I never thought it would happen this soon. I'm just so. young!"
James smiled slightly, his eyes dancing, "In case you haven't noticed, so am I."
Lily gave a frustrated sigh. Why did he have to make a joke out of everything? It really was frustrating when she tried talking to him, and he was laughing his head off.
She smiled suddenly, and brought her head up. "You know my parents would have a fit about this!" Her smiled faded slightly when she realized what she'd said.
James nodded thoughtfully as he remembered his own parents. "So would mine," he said, forcing a smile - for her sake.
Lily shook her head, "They'd be happy, though."
James turned to look at her. Her eyes were as green as ever, and filled with so much love. Love for him. He marveled at how anyone could love him, but then told himself not to complain.
He smiled, "Let's hope so."
~~~~~~~~~~
"Is Peter coming?" James asked with a note of anxiety in his voice. He was nervous, but constantly reminded himself he was getting married - which was a good thing. It was supposed to be a happy day, but he couldn't help feeling jumpy.
Sirius scratched his head absently. "Actually, he said he couldn't. He didn't say why. I'm sure it was unavoidable - he would have come to his friend's wedding if he'd had the choice."
James narrowed his eyes, "I don't know. He has seemed a bit dodgy lately. Do you think he might know something we don't?"
Remus and Sirius looked at each other momentarily, and then eyed James incredulously. Remus was the one to speak up. "Wormtail? Honestly, Prongs, are you alright? This is Peter we're talking about." He turned to Sirius. "You didn't spike the punch, did you?"
Sirius threw up his hands. "I would never!" he cried in mock innocence. James ran his hand through his hair, and with a sigh of frustration, walked back to the mirror to flatten it out again.
"Sirius, do you think you could find Lily? I don't think it's natural to take this long to get ready," James said without looking away from the mirror.
Sirius spun around dramatically, "She did come, didn't she?" James finally looked away from the mirror and his eyes widened in panic. Sirius laughed, "Don't worry, I know she's here - she's just a little superstitious about seeing you before the wedding. I'll go find her." He was still laughing when he left.
As Sirius left the room, Remus went to follow him out the door, but then stopped and whispered, "Don't drink the punch."
~~~~~~~~~~
The wedding went according to plan. Lily was relieved to find that James wasn't having one of his mischievous moments. Over the past chaotic week, she'd been having the biggest fear that James would do something completely awful.
Although, Lily had seen Sirius with his wand out next to the punch bowl, so she steered her guests away from it when she could.
Other than that, she found she could breathe easier knowing everything was going to be perfect.
Of course, Lily's relief was only temporary. Leave it to Padfoot to crack a joke when Prongs failed to.
Just when the couple said their 'I do's and James squeezed her hand softly, lifted the veil from over her face and went to kiss her, Lily heard a whistle and a cat call from the back.
Rebecca heard this, and strained to keep a straight face while Remus turned his head.
Lily, however, kissed James and tried desperately to ignore it.
She would kill Sirius later.
~~~~~~~~~~
No, she doesn't really kill Sirius. *rolls eyes*
I'm sorry that this was so rushed, but I had to do this early to fit with my timeline. Okay? Oh yes, and there should be a small passage that looks familiar. That's because it was in the first chapter of "Like an Open Window".
Subliminal message: Review or suffer horrible torture involving spoons.
