"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Lil?" Belle asked Lily a year later. Belle carefully took Lily's wedding dress off the hanger, and laid it over the back of the chair and turned to look at her best friend.

"Of course I do, Belle! I love Amos." Lily laughed, as she brushed her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror. "You know, I think I'll wear my hair down…"

"Yeah. I think you should." Belle said, walking over to Lily. "But I mean, it's not too late to back out…"

"I don't want to back out, Belle." Lily said forcefully. "Do you think you could lace up the back of this under dress thingy? The lady at the dress store said I should wear it."

"It looks like a freakin' corset." Belle said, pulling the strings taught, and tying them in a knot. "Too tight?"

"No." Lily told her. "Have you heard from Remus, James, and Si?" She asked anxiously. "I invited them, but I never heard back." Lily replied as she pulled on her woolen sweater over her head for warmth.

"You invited them? When I talked to James about it, he said that he hadn't heard from you in over two years." Belle said, taking the brush from Lily and helping her re-brush her hair after her sweater mussed it up.

"Of course I invited them!" Lily said, scandalized.

"Well that's weird." Belle shrugged. "Well, I told them to come anyway. I knew that you'd want them here. They were all disappointed when you stopped writing to them."

"I didn't stop writing to them, Belle." Lily said, turning to look at her friend. "I gave the letters to Amos to mail, and the Marauders never wrote back."

"Maybe Amos got rid of the letters!" Belle declared.

"Oh, come on. What do you have against Amos?" Lily asked her touchily.

"Nothing!" She lied, placing Lily's brush on the table. "I just don't think he's a good match for you."

"Right." Lily giggled. There was a small, undecided knock on the dressing room door, and Lily moved to answer it.

"I'll get it. You sit." Belle said, pushing Lily into a chair. Belle opened the door, and Lily tried to unzip the back of the wedding dress that Belle had laid out.

"Well, isn't this a surprise!" Belle exclaimed with a laugh. "Lily, it's James!"

Lily turned so fast her neck cracked, and she instantly felt her stomach drop. Standing in the doorway was a very uncomfortable looking James Potter. He gave her a weak grin, and she scrambled up to hug him.

"James! God, it's been too long!" She said, as a huge smile flooded her features. "Look at you. You're taller!" She said, holding him out to look at him more closely.

"Look at me? Look at you!" He said, his smile growing. "Your hair's darker now—not the flame-head I remember." An uncertain silence overtook them as they stared at each other. Lily felt her heart rise to her throat as their eyes locked.

"Oh my goodness." Belle said suddenly, sounding very fake. Lily missed her meaningful glance to James. "I appear to have left my purse in the car. I think I'll get it now."

"You Apparated here, Belle." Lily reminded her. "You don't have a car."

"I—oh. Well, uh… I left it at home, then. I'll be back. Just, er, get reacquainted… or something." With that, Belle disappeared with a loud pop.

"So how've you been, James?" Lily asked him, pulling him to a chair.

"I'd rather stand." He said, his eyes resting on Lily's wedding dress. "But, uh, I've been pretty good."

"Glad to hear it." Lily replied. Her heart was thudding fast in her chest. It reminded her of the feeling she got in seventh year whenever she looked directly in James's incisive eyes.

James cleared his throat once or twice and looked around the room. His shoulders were tense, his strong hands in a constant, skittering motion.

"Are you… okay, James?" Lily asked him, trying to get him to look at her again.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Why would I be? I mean—wouldn't. You know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah. You just seem really jumpy." Lily said with an awkward smile.

James cleared his throat again and took a deep breath. "All right, Lily. Ever since… no… Remember when… wait. Okay. Damn it." He said, redness creeping up his neck.

Lily laughed at his stumbling. Somehow it was cute. "What are you talking about, James?"

"Nothing," James spluttered. "It's just… man, you're beautiful."

Lily looked away, "Thanks, but I think we've covered how much we've changed in the past three years…"

"No! No, Lily—you were always beautiful," James said, taking her hands in his own. They were warm, comforting, but trembling.

"No I wasn't," Lily snickered, as color crept into her own face. Her heart was fluttering, but she couldn't understand why.

"Yes you were. You were the only one who could make me nervous," James smiled.

"Oh honestly, you don't have the capability of being nervous," Lily laughed.

But James suddenly had a strange look in his eyes that Lily couldn't remember him having before— which was odd, since she knew his eyes so well—every hazel speck, every crawling blue line.

"Lily, I…" James, for once in his life, seemed to be having a hard time formulating words. He dropped her hands. "I can't go on like this."

Lily suddenly had a horrible feeling in her stomach that seemed strangely welcome. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"I don't even know how to put this." But he suddenly smiled, "I had this perfect last night."

"James—"

"No, please, just… just listen to me," he said, instantly very serious. James was staring into her eyes, but then quickly broke away and turned his back to her. "Okay," he took a deep breath and turned around to face her. "I had a huge crush on you all through school—even before I knew you personally. I could never bring myself to tell anyone—Remus knew, of course, but," he smiled shyly, "that's besides the point, isn't it? Anyway… I didn't hear from you for a long time and I—"

"I wrote to you!" Lily interjected, grabbing his arm. "I swear, I wrote to you all, all the time!"

But James shook his head, "It doesn't matter anymore; the point is I had to talk to you again. I… I tried to stop by when you were living with Amos, but Amos said you were never around. And, well," James tenderly put his hands on her shoulders, "after not seeing you for so long… I realized I couldn't live without you in my life."

Lily was silent. She suddenly found it hard to breathe. She knew now what was coming, and deep down, she wanted to hear him say it so badly.

"I love you, Lily."

Lily closed her eyes, at first to bask in the glory of those simple four words. But then it hit her. It didn't matter. The words had come too late. And still her head was reeling: he loved her. All those years that she had been weak in the knees, he had felt the same.

"I know—I know it's crazy, but please," James said, his hands sliding off her shoulders. "Could you please just tell me I should go jump off my broom, or something? Just clear the air—tell me to go away. Say something… anything…"

It took Lily a few tries before she could finally form her mouth to ask, "Why are you telling me this? Now?"

"Because… well, it's the truth," James said, his eagerness falling. "And I know I couldn't live with myself if you never knew—if I knew that I'd never have the chance to tell you and… and to find out if you ever felt the way I do…"

"But, it's… it's too late, James," Lily said, twisting the engagement ring on her finger. "I'm getting married in an hour."

"I—I know that. I know all that," James looked down to the floor. "But you… you had to know. It's you—it always has been."

Lily was suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. Her mind was churning with thoughts. Amos had asked her first. He had been forward about his feeling for her long ago. But then why was it that she never felt quite so alive with him as she did with James? Why was it that even now, after almost four years, James could make her insides squirm in delight in a way that Amos never could?

"What do you want me to say, James?" she begged him in a whisper. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know," James murmured helplessly, watching the ring on her finger glint in the cold light.

"I love Amos," Lily stated, more trying to assure herself than convince James. "I'm getting… I'm marrying him. There's nothing I can do now…"

"I know, but Lily…"

"No, James," Lily voice wavered dangerously close to tears. "I can't… I—I just can't…"

James straightened, trying to regain his dignity. "Okay. Fine. I… I understand." He looked disappointed, embarrassed, and even angry as he started to leave. It wasn't until his hand was resting on the doorknob that he stopped and turned to look back at a heartbroken Lily. "I'm going to walk out this door, and if you don't stop me, I'll sit quietly in the pew and watch you marry a man I know you don't love," he said heatedly, before adding bitterly, "Fair enough?"

The tears that had been clawing behind Lily's eyes finally broke loose and streamed down her face. Something melted behind James's eyes that were burning with humiliation and frustration. He took a tender and apologetic step toward her, but he seemed to think better of it, for he shook his head and brought his hand up to his eyes and left, slamming the door closed behind him. Lily sunk to the floor, leaning against an armchair, allowing the searing tears to tumble out of her eyes. The thought of stopping him slid through her mind again and again, until she forcefully told herself that Amos would never forgive her and that she must love Amos, or she wouldn't have accepted his proposal. And besides, Amos had always been there for her—he was safe.

A few minutes had passed before Belle Apparated back into the room. Lily's hand jumped to her eyes and she wiped her face clean of tears, but there was no disguising her red eyes.

"It's about to start raining!" Belle was saying, peering out the window, where dark clouds were driving in.

"It usually does in January," Lily said flatly, still fighting to collect herself. But as soon as Lily spoke, Belle turned to see her best friend looking more pitiful than she ever had before.

"What happened?" Belle asked, kneeling down beside Lily. "Didn't he come?"

"He's gone," Lily said quietly, not at all surprised to learn that Belle had known about James's confession all along.

"But didn't he tell you? Didn't James ask—?"

"He did," Lily sighed. "But I'm marrying Amos today. I… I love him too much to do that to him—to hurt him like that. I love him. That's all there is to say."

Belle watched Lily carefully and Lily had the strong impression that Belle was studying her. But after a moment she nodded and reached over to wipe away the tracks left by Lily's tears. Lily couldn't understand why this was so hard.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, and Lily rubbed her face in her sleeve. Amos pushed open the door and leaned in. He was already in his tuxedo.

"Hey, baby," he said with a smile, coming over to Lily to kiss her forehead. "You okay? You look like you've been crying."

"Pre-wedding jitters, that's all," Lily shrugged.

"It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," Belle snapped, peering up at Amos with a glare.

"Right, well, I just came to let you know the ceremony would be starting in about fifteen minutes. You should finish getting dressed," Amos advised. He kissed Lily again and strode to the door. Before leaving he turned to ask, "You're going to wear your hair off your neck, aren't you?"

"She was going to wear it down," Belle said bitterly again.

"I don't care, Belle, I'll wear it up," Lily said, if only to silence the maid-of-honor.

"Great. See you… well, see you at the alter, huh?" Amos beamed excitedly, before leaving the room.

"I don't believe you," Lily said, elbowing Belle. "Talking to him that way—like he was—"

"—Like he wasn't the one you're supposed to be marrying?" Belle said seriously.

Lily felt her heart drop. "Please, Belle… don't."

"Fine; I tried," Belle shrugged.

"Today's my wedding day, Belle. Could we please just…"

"Yeah, of course," Belle put on a smile and helped Lily to her feet.

Belle picked up Lily's frilly dress off of the chair, while Lily pulled off her sweater. Belle helped Lily step into her dress and they looked in the mirror at Lily.

"Why did I let that woman at the store persuade me into buying this hideous dress?" Lily asked Belle, staring into her reflection.

"I think you look gorgeous, Lily," Belle said, squeezing Lily's shoulders. "You're amazing."

"Thanks, Belle," Lily replied, staring into her own bright green eyes. "I wish I could believe you."

Lily avoided the eyes of the crowd as she marched slowly down the aisle to the throbbing organ music. Somehow, she felt as though she couldn't face them after what James confessed to her. As though those three words could make her heart unworthy of Amos. But she shook herself out of it and kept moving. The high stained glass windows scraped the ceiling of the church and the floors were carpeted in a deep red. Outside, Lily could hear the wind beating up against the small church. And the further she walked, the closer Amos became. Lily let her thoughts drift to the life that awaited her after this ceremony.

Surely they would live in a big house, and Lily probably wouldn't even have to work; Amos made enough at his Ministry job to support both of them. But would she be happy? Would she wake up every morning, turn over to see his smiling face and feel a glow about her? Could she stand to share the Prophet with him every evening over mug of coffee for the rest of her life? Would her day-to-day activities be that much more bearable because he was there to share them with her?

"We are here today to join Amos Diggory and Lily Evans together in holy and magical matrimony…" The priest began monotonously. For some reason, he reminded Lily of a living Professor Binns. She smiled to think of the ghostly teacher and the times that James had begged her for her notes, since she was the only one who had bothered to take them most times.

"Do you, Amos Diggory, take Lily Evans to be your lawfully wedded wife—to have and to hold, to care for in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" the priest asked Amos expectantly.

"I do," Amos said instantly, glancing at Lily.

"And do you, Lily Evans, take Amos Diggory to be your lawfully wedded husband—to have and to hold, to care for in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" he asked Lily.

She was distracted by a creak from the pews. She looked out to the crowd of family and friends to see James walking back the aisle and out of the church. She bit her lip.

She turned back to look into Amos's eyes, and the only thing she could see was James's stimulating blue eyes looking back at her. Those times when she and James had laughed together… the intimate moments that they had shared… and the difficult and even scary events that they had faced side by side. And for the first time, marrying Amos just didn't seem like the right thing to do.

"I can't," Lily whispered.

"Excuse me?" Amos breathed.

"I'm sorry, Amos." Lily said quickly. She pulled the diamond band off her finger. "I can't go through with this."

"Lily…"

"No. You deserve better," Lily assured him. She placed the ring in Amos's hand, and folded his fingers around it. "I'm sorry."

And to the amazed silence of everyone in the church, Lily smiled, hiked up her skirts and rushed out of the chapel. Sirius jumped out of his seat and started to applaud for Lily. Remus quickly pulled Sirius back down, but Lily saw that he was wearing a delighted smile. Her heart was pounding against her chest as the guests all gaped after her. She pulled open the double doors with effort and saw James stick his wand arm into the air to call for the Knight Bus.

"James!" she called, allowing the church door to clunk closed. He looked over his shoulder, his glasses glinting, and saw Lily hurrying towards him. There was a loud bang and the Knight Bus appeared on the street corner, it's motor humming and clacking.

"Hold on a second, could you?" James asked the bus driver, as the doors squeaked open. Rain slowly started to sprinkle downward, but Lily hardly noticed. James turned to Lily. "Why aren't you…?"

"Believe it or not, you saved me back there," Lily interrupted. She looked into his inspiring blue eyes, and murmured, "Thank you."

"You comin'?" The bus driver called out impatiently, looking at the stormy clouds overhead uneasily.

"Just… just another minute," James told him, pulling Lily aside. His deep eyes were pouring into her as the rain began to fall harder and harder. James touched her arm. "What does this mean?" he begged.

Lily felt her emotions boiling up inside of her. There was so much she wanted to say—so many things that he had to know. So many times that she'd wanted to confess all the things she'd felt since she was sixteen. Tears began to fight against her poignant green eyes again, wanting desperately to explode. But even with all the eager words twirling around her brain, the only thing she could bring herself to say was, "It's you, James. It always has been."

James must have been holding his breath, for he exhaled into a beaming smile. Thick rain droplets speckled his glasses, but Lily could see that behind them his eyes were glittering. All he could manage to whisper was her name.

James put his hand behind Lily's head, and pulled her into the long-awaited kiss. The thunder that crashed passionately overhead wasn't thunder, but an approving stadium of angels; the lighting that forked through the clouds became fireworks that blasted before Lily's eyelids. Rain tumbled over her like buckets of water, ruining the monstrous wedding gown and washing away any remorseful thought about Amos. Having James's hands embracing her tightly was the most reassuring feeling in the world. He was everything she had been waiting for.