Author's Note: I had a much better speech planned for Sarah, but alas, I did not write it down, and now I can't remember it. This chapter sounded a lot better in my head and this story would be a lot better if it was a movie, but… that's not happening anytime soon, so imagine it like a movie and it might work better for you.

Title: Role Reversal

Rating: PG

Spoilers: There aren't too many spoilers in chapters 1-12. The whole story has some spoilers, but how else do you write a fanfic? The chapter with major spoilers is "Old Friends".

Summary: James and Lily make a bet. Lily has to pull a bunch of pranks and James can't do any.

Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own Harry Potter or its characters. If you're reading this, you should already know whom it belongs to anyway.

Setting: This story is set in MWPP years. If you don't know what that means, you probably shouldn't be reading this fanfic.

!!! = setting change

= begin flashback

= end flashback

[…] = time

italics = emphasis

italics = thoughts

-Lost Loves a.k.a. The Other Wedding-

[4 months later]

"So you're getting married tomorrow," Sarah said.

Veronica replied, "Yeah."

"That's so great for you."

"Mm-hmm."

"Are you nervous?"

"No."

Sarah gave her friend a knowing look.

"Maybe a little. Okay, a lot."

"It'll be all right."

"I know, I know. Lily wasn't like this at her wedding."

"You're not Lily. Besides, James was nervous enough for the both of them. I remember Sirius told me something about James being very jumpy right before the wedding…"

"Speaking of Sirius, how are you doing? Do you still miss him?"

"Everyday."

"Oh. Hey, um, do you know if Remus is coming?"

"No, I don't."

"I sent him an invitation. He hasn't replied, and the wedding's tomorrow."

"I don't know if he can handle it. I mean, you're marrying some other guy. He thinks you've forgotten about him."

"A girl never forgets her first love," Veronica said, "and I will never forget Remus Lupin."

"He was really special to you."

"Of course. You know how we were back then."

"Back then, huh? Well, why aren't you marrying him now?"

"It wasn't meant to be."

"I've told you before. He still loves you."

Veronica had a sad look on her face. "I know. I still love him too. I'm just not in love with him anymore."

"Gabriel's a great guy and everything, and I'm happy for you. Really, I am," Sarah said, noticing the skeptical look on her best friend's face. "I just… I still picture you walking down the aisle to Remus."

"That's not going to happen."

"I wish Lily could be here."

"So do I."

"I miss them. All of them. God, this just… sucks. Everything. It sucks." (AN: Blunt, isn't she?)

"Sarah…"

"I hate it. I hate him. I hate Voldemort. Look what he's done. All the pain he's caused. All the people he's killed. The people he took away from me. It still hurts, and I don't think it'll ever stop hurting."

"Sarah, I realize you miss Sirius a lot—"

"Yeah, Veronica, unlike you, I'm still in love with him. He didn't break up with me. He was taken away from me."

She started pacing around the room. "Sirius was a good man. He loved me. He was mine. Whenever I hear someone saying something bad about him, I just want to go over there and slap them." Her voice took on a slight note of hysteria. "You know, all our lives have been ruined. I mean, Lily and James and Peter… they don't even have lives anymore. Remus is a werewolf who is unemployed and miserable because he's not with you. You're sad because you two aren't together anymore. Sirius is in prison for something he probably didn't even do. I lost three of my best friends years ago, Remus still won't tell me where he is, you I'm losing because of Gabriel, and I should be married now, but I'm not… Oh, and poor little Harry has to live with those wretched people… Oh… God, this is just bad. Bad, bad, bad. I can't take this anymore! I'm just, I can't—"

"Sarah! Calm down." Veronica started shaking her friend. "You're freaking out again."

"I'm sorry. I just… I need… I want them back."

"You can't bring them back. No matter how good a witch you are, you can't bring back the dead. I'm sorry. I miss them too, you know."

"I know. But you—you have Gabriel. I have no one. Sirius was so full of life. Ever since that night, I've just felt so alone and empty."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. Nothing's ever going to be okay again. I just want everything to be back to normal. I want to be happy again."

!!!

The minister, Gabriel, and his best man Phillip were at their places at the front of the room.

A mysterious brown-haired man was in the audience.

The procession began. The ushers came down the aisle in pairs. The bridesmaids followed them. Sarah, as the maid of honor, came in next. The ring bearer was after them. The flower girl appeared and threw flower petals as she traveled down the aisle.

Now Veronica appeared. She proceeded down the aisle alone, because she didn't have anyone to give her away, and she didn't really care either way. The guests stood as the bride passed them.

Veronica joined Gabriel at the front of the room. The minister began the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony."

"Therefore if any man can give any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him speak now, or forever hold his peace."

Remus stared at the couple and struggled to stop himself from screaming out that he had a reason.

The minister turned to Gabriel. "Do you, Gabriel Anderson, take this woman to be your wedded wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"And do you, Veronica Kent, take this man to be your wedded husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

The minister placed Veronica's right hand in Gabriel's.

"Repeat after me," he said to the groom. "I, Gabriel, take thee Veronica to be my wedded wife—to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live. I give you this ring as a sign of my promise."

Gabriel repeated what the minister said.

The minister turned to the bride. "Repeat after me. I, Veronica—"

"I, Veronica, take thee Gabriel to be my wedded husband—to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live. I give you this ring as a sign of my promise."

Gabriel placed the wedding ring on Veronica's ring finger. "With this ring I thee wed." She did the same for him.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

At that moment, a man named Remus Lupin felt his heart break. (AN: I think my subconscious wants me to torture the poor werewolf or something… I keep making him feel bad. -starts kicking self again-)

!!!

At the reception, the new Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were dancing together. Sarah was dancing with Phillip.

"Sarah, you look amazing."

"Thank you," she replied, rather uncomfortably. The last man she had danced with was Sirius, and it felt strange to be dancing with someone else (AN: Wow, not dancing for years…).

"Do you think maybe we could get together some other time? Like maybe somewhere that isn't a wedding?" Phillip laughed a little. "Seriously, I'd really like to get to know you better. Maybe we could go out or something."

Sarah looked at her shoes. I can't. I can't. I just can't. I'll just think of Sirius when I'm with him, and that hurts so much. I couldn't do this to Sirius. Not without knowing if I have his permission or not. She looked up into the handsome face of Gabriel's best man. "Look, Phillip, I'm sure you're a nice guy and all… But I just can't. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Well… All right, then."

"I really am sorry. I wish I could, but I can't. It just wouldn't feel right."

"I understand."

No, you don't, Sarah thought. No one does.

"Excuse me. Can I cut in?"

Phillip moved aside to let Remus dance with Sarah, who smiled when she saw who it was. "Remus! You came!"

"Yeah."

"Oh, did you see the ceremony?"

"Mm-hmm."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. I made the decision to come here. I guess I'm a bit crazy. I knew it was going to hurt, but I came anyway."

"Well, I'm glad you're here. Does Veronica know you're here?"

"No."

"Well, come on then." Sarah started dragging her friend across the dance floor.

"No! No, Sarah. Stop. Please."

"What is it?"

"I don't want her to know I'm here. At least not 'til it's over."

"But—"

"Sarah. Just do this for me, okay? I don't think I could deal with talking to her right now. I'd probably go insane and beg her to come back to me, and I don't want that for her."

Sarah sighed, but stopped moving at the look on her friend's face. "Remus. She still loves you. But she says she's not in love with you anymore."

"I understand."

She looked around at everything. She looked at the people and the decorations and the food. "I miss them, Remus. Peter and James and Lily. And Sirius, most of all. God, he must be wasting away in Azkaban."

"Maybe we'd better go outside," Remus suggested. His friend looked like she was going to vomit.

!!!

"Harry's about four and a half now, isn't he?"

"Must be."

"I haven't seen him in years. He must be a beautiful little boy," Sarah said. "I mean, with parents like that… I still can't believe they're gone. It's been three and a half years, and I still can't believe it."

"No one wants to believe their best friends are dead."

"Sirius. He was Harry's godfather. He was so excited about it too. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah."

!!!

"He's kind of quiet for a baby," Remus said.

"A little," Lily responded.

"And I'm his godfather!" Sirius announced in excitement.

Remus turned to him. "That's great, Padfoot."

!!!

"Do you think Sirius thinks about me? Or have the dementors already messed up his memories?"

"I hope that somewhere inside him, there are memories of you in there that no one can get to, not even the dementors."

"Hey, how are you feeling? The love of your life just got married. And not to you."

"I think I'm okay with it. I didn't think I would be, but I am."

"No, you're not. You are so not okay with it."

"Darn. I forgot you were as surprisingly perceptive as you are strong."

Sarah laughed softly. "She's not in love with you anymore, but you're still in love with her, aren't you?"

Remus bit his lip, then nodded.

"I hate this. I hate it. Everything. Everything is just so… not right." Sarah looked out at the stars. "Which one is Sirius? The star, I mean. I've never been much good at Astronomy."

"That one." Remus pointed it out to her.

"Wow. It really is the brightest star in the sky. Just like Sirius was the brightest part of my life."

"I'm sorry. Padfoot… He was my best friend, you know? So were James and Peter. They were there for me. They helped me when we were in school. I just… I just don't understand why all this had to happen."

"We have the saddest lives ever. We're both separated from the people we love. We have almost no friends to speak of. And we're just sitting here, feeling sorry for ourselves."

"We have to grow up."

"I think we've grown up quite a bit since all this happened. Having to deal with so many losses… I just… I've had a few moments of hysteria. Sometimes I feel like just destroying stuff."

"Me too."

"I still have his motorcycle. It reminds me of him. I wish… I wish everything was back to the way it was before. I want Sirius to be here. I wish we were married and you and Veronica were married. I wish Lily, James, and Peter were alive. If only wishes could come true…" Sarah said, looking up at the night sky.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: Well, this chapter turned out completely different from what I expected… So, tell me what you think.