Chapter Forty Seven
Lily woke up unusually early on this not-so-average morning, one single thought consumed her mind completely as she stretched, yawned and opened her eyes.
"I'm getting married today." she whispered to herself. A thrill of excitement traveled up her spine and all the way to her mouth, causing a grin and a giggle.
She jumped out of bed and ran to the window, throwing open the curtains. It was a glorious morning, the sun shimmering through the faded leaves of the late fall trees. There was a peaceful content feeling that was settling over her heart as she thought about James, her dear love.
Sometimes, like now, Lily wondered if it really was the right thing to do, the right thing for James. Of course, she loved him with all that she was and more. And she knew that he loved her. His undying devotion and faithfulness was a confirmation of his love. But always and forever in the back of her mind was that damned prophesy...
Shaking her head, she turned and grinned towards the bedroom door. She ran down the hall and burst into Jenny's room, making her sit up in surprise.
"Lily!" she exclaimed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "What are you doing?"
"I am dancing around the house in my pajamas, because today... I am getting married!" Then Lily jumped onto her bed and the girls enjoyed a good excited shriek.
"Oh, Lily. I can't believe you're finally marrying James." Jenny sighed.
Lily laid her head on a pillow with a dreamy sigh. "I know, it's almost... surreal."
Jenny grinned. "That tables sure are turned , aren't they?"
Lily looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Remember back at school? I had James and you had Travis. Now its totally backwards and Nancy-Alice is a humble housewife."
"This is true." Lily agreed. "I never knew that Alice would be the first of us to be married. Just thinking of the way she used to be..."
"Or that it would be a man like Frank she'd marry." Jenny pointed out.
"Indeed. But he brought out her better side, the Alice Longbottom that we know and love."
"And you're marrying the boy that you hated in school, though he loved you all along?"
"Yup," Lily grinned. "But what about you?" Are you getting any closer to a pretty little ring on your own finger? Travis hinted as much to me."
Jenny sighed wistfully and looked hopefully down at her hands. "He's also hinted to me as well, Lily... though he's been acting uncharacteristically odd lately..."
"It'll be soon, I'm sure." Lily said soothingly.
"Well, what are we talking about me for? This is your big day. We need to be getting you ready!"
"Indeed." said a voice from the doorway. They both turned to see...
"Alice!"
Both jumping from the bed, they attempted to tackle her, but she dodged them swiftly and effectively.
"Girls, girls... easy now. I can't have you tackling me. I actually have some new for you." Alice stammered as she greeted her friends with gentle hugs.
"What's wrong, Alice? Is everything all right?" Jenny asked.
"Where's Frank?" Lily said, noticing a calm uneasiness in Alice's eyes.
"Oh, Frank is downstairs talking with James and Travis," Alice said with a wink, "But this isn't about him."
Lily froze. "Is something wrong with you? Are you ill?"
"Well, not exactly..." Alice said with a grin.
"What do you mean by 'not exactly?'" Jenny said emphatically.
"Girls... I'm pregnant!"
After some ear-piercing shrieks and tearful hugs, they led Alice to the bed and gathered together in quiet conversation.
"When is it due?"
"How far along are you?"
Alice laughed. "Well, I'm due sometime in July, because we're not quite sure when the conception date is." she said with a face as red as a tomato.
After more giggles and squeals, Alice shook her head. "I know we're all excited, but this is Lily's special day and I'm not going to steal the spotlight from her."
"Oh, hush, Alice. I'm just so excited that both of you are here. I get to share my special day with my two best friends." Lily smiled, tears gathering again in her eyes. She pulled her two friends close for a warm affectionate hug.
"Oh, enough of this." Alice said with a chuckle, wiping her own eyes. "We've got a wedding to prepare for - let's get going!"
---
James couldn't help the grin that tugged on his lips as he looked down at Lily. His arm was wrapped gently around her waist as they all posed for pictures. His three faithful Marauders were on his right, and on the left of Lily was Alice and Nancy. Petunia was supposed to be there also, but she never showed. Go figure, right? Some excuse about being pregnant made her feet hurt.
But the thing that James found so amusing was Lily. The back of her dress was low cut and was on the edge of revealing the tattooed marriage seal on her left shoulder. A warm content feeling overwhelmed his heart as he realized that it was done. After so many years of fighting and arguing, persuading and coaxing, flirting and romancing, he finally had the woman he loved. She was now his wife, by his side forever. And that thought made him happier than he ever thought he could be.
Then Lily looked up and flashed a dazzling smile in his direction. His heart melted, he felt his whole body ease from the wedding tension. He smiled back at her and pulled her closer. Ah, this is purely heaven, he thought. Was it really right for me to feel this happy?
"We need to leave, James." was her quiet whisper. James couldn't help but chuckle.
"Is that so?" he whispered back, but it was quiet enough. Sirius was now listening intently, trying to look uninterested.
"Yes, James. You're my husband now. I want to get away from all these people to have some alone time with you." She tried not to move her mouth much as the photographer was still taking pictures, but James could still hear the low connotations of her voice.
"You mean quality study time?" James said with a grin.
Sirius then burst out laughing, loudly and heartily as ever, as if a young 17 year old boy back at school.
"What's so funny?" Lily inquired of the two snickering men.
"Nothing, Lily flower." James said, kissing her sweetly on the forehead. "Don't you worry, we'll get our quality alone time soon enough."
James looked around at all his friends and felt his heart swell with gratitude. What an odd group they were; the Marauders, Lily and her friends. Each being separated by their family by death or abandonment. And yet, they were all here, all healthy, all more than happy. They had survived, conquered the trials of life, and they were happy. They were each others family.
"Okay, we're done here." said the photographer, shaking James hand and walking away. "I'll have them owled out soon." he said as he left the celebration.
James then saw Remus' face, pale and stricken with fear. James looked out the window, knowing full well that there was no full moon outside, but still wondering what could weaken him so.
"You all right there, Moony?" James asked throwing an arm over his shoulder.
"Huh? Yeah, fine. Just, uh..." his voice trailed off as James turned to see what Remus was staring so intently at. There by the punch table, was Joselynn Bonafede.
"James, um, did you..." he stammered nervously. "You didn't invite... her... did you?"
James smiled with a nod. "No, I didn't."
"Well, then what the bloody hell is she doing here?" he whispered.
"Lily invited her."
"What?!" Remus looked like he was ready to scream, but the fact that Joselynn was within shouting distance kept him quiet. "She knew I was going to be here. Why did she do that?"
"Because we had a deal, Remus."
They turned to see Lily, in all her wedded glory. But she was angry. Her lips in a thin line and her brows furrowed, her arms folded across her chest as she walked to James and Remus.
"Lily, you know I-"
"No, Remus. You promised me. All those years ago, we had a deal. I kept my promise and I told James that I loved him, which was the best decision of my life. I know you have reasons for fear and apprehension, but-"
"Are you telling me to go confess my undying love for her, drag her off to get married so I can eat her on my honeymoon?" Remus said in a whisper.
"Hey, you can do whatever you want on your honeymoon, just keep it to yourself, mate." James chuckled.
"James, this isn't a laughing matter, I'm trying to be serious." Remus said with an irritated sigh.
"I thought we had a deal, Remus. I'm keeping my part. I'm marrying him, for crying out loud! What about you?"
"If I remember correctly, our words were 'You give a little, I'll give a little.' Well, I gave a little and I see no reason to put her in danger or break my heart further. What, do you want me tortured the rest of my life?"
Lily opened her mouth, the shut it. "James, could you excuse us for a minute?"
James shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, just don't make a move on my wife, Remus." he joked, then walked over to where Sirius was standing with Frank and Alice.
"Okay, Remus. You wanna talk? Let's talk."
"There's nothing to talk about, Lily. I'm keeping her safe and happy. What more do you want from me?" he said.
"What about your happiness, Remus?" she asked, and he looked away. "I want you to be happy. Why are you denying yourself the happiness that comes with love?"
"You think I love her?" he said, looking at Joselynn painfully.
"I think that you admire her and respect her, and that's two things that love is based on." Lily said tenderly. "She's smart, pretty, caring and she obviously cares about you."
"How would you know that?" Remus said, shaking his head. "You haven't seen her since school."
"That's not true." Lily said, and he looked up. "She's in my Advanced Potions class at the College and we study together sometimes. She's a very nice girl, Remus. But she always asks about you, how you're doing, what you've been up to."
Remus looked up hopefully, but didn't say anything.
"That's why I invited her, Remus. I wanted to give her a chance to see you, to see if there could ever be anything there..."
"But it can't, Lily. Why can't you see that?" he said in a hurt voice. "There can never be anything. I am keeping her safe and happy. That's what I want."
"But you're not happy." Lily pointed out.
Remus sighed and shrugged. "I'm willing to give up my happiness to give her a long lived happy life."
"But you're not giving her a choice."
"What do you mean?"
"She cares for you, Remus!" Lily said quietly. "I see it in her eyes whenever she talks about you, and though she never said it to me before, I think she wants a chance to see if things could work out with you two. But you won't let her even try."
"Lily, I... I don't want to hurt her." Remus said. "That would break my heart. I would learn to live with it if she left me after she found out what I really am. But if I let her love me and I hurt her or... worse, I would never forgive myself. It would be my fault entirely, I'd have the blame. I couldn't live with that. Then we're back to the Astronomy tower."
"Remus John Lupin, I told you I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again and I mean it!" Lily said, restraining herself from slapping him soundly across the face. "Now listen to me, Remus. If there's anything I've learned from all my years with James, it's that love is never one sided. It has to be two people, willing to work, willing to sacrifice. I am so lucky to have the love that I share with James. He is willing to sacrifice his safety and possibly his life, he's willing to work for our love."
"That's right, you are lucky to have such a wonderful guy like James." Remus said bitterly.
"Only because I finally gave in, I actually gave him a chance." Lily said pointedly. "You said so yourself, you would eventually get over it if she left. But you'll never know if Joselynn is worth it if you don't try."
Remus was just sat there, looking at the floor. Lily sat back and waited for a reaction. When he sighed and stood, Lily smiled.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I'm going to step outside for a moment." he said calmly.
"Remus," she said in a warning voice, but he offered a small smile.
"Don't worry, I just want to sort out my thoughts. I'll be right back."
"Fine." Lily smiled hopefully at him and then turned to go find James. Wandering over to the drinking table, she wrapped her arm around James' waist.
"Yeah, you're just lucky Lily was there to save you."
"Save me? You're lucky Lily came up when she did or I would have clawed your eyes out." Alice smiled. "You had made me so mad, with all your 'royal ho-ness' remarks."
James, Sirius and Frank all laughed. But after it had died down, Sirius smiled softly at her. "But we're okay, right? I didn't do too much mental damage, did I? After all, you did marry this nut." he said, pointing at Frank.
"Hey," Frank said in defense.
"No, there's no harm done. You were one of the reasons I... stopped being like that." Alice confessed.
"What?" Sirius said. "I thought it was Frankie-poo."
"Well, after my little flying lesson with James, you really set me straight. You kinda opened my eyes. So even though I acted unaffected by what you said, it really bothered me. I wanted to change. That's when Lily started going out with Travis, so then I met Frank and... and the rest is history."
"Man, we really do all have a lot of history together, don't we?" James said in awe.
"Yup." Sirius said with a smile, holding a hand out to Alice. "But we're all good friends now right?"
Alice stepped forward and gave him a quick hug. "Of course. The best."
Sirius patted her back sincerely and pulled back to look at her. But that made Frank nervous. "All right, lets keep the goo-goo eyes in this direction." he chuckled, pulling Alice back.
"Oh, don't worry, sweet heart." Alice said, eyeing Sirius playfully. "We may have a lot of history, but you have nothing to worry about when it comes to Sirius Black." Then they all laughed. Lily looked up and gasped at what she saw.
Remus had just walked up to Joselynn. She greeted him with an anxious hug and an excited smile. His smile was genuine, and Lily knew she was right. They were happy together. Why did Remus have to have such a doubting heart, not to mention the horrible curse that was his to bare alone? At least Lily had James... Lily smiled as Remus led Joselynn to the side of the room with chairs for a quiet conversation. James caught her gaze and smiled too.
"It's about time, huh?" he said quietly.
"I just hope he doesn't turn her away," Lily said. "It's obvious that she cares about him, he just needs to let her."
"Why does that sound so familiar?" James whispered in her ear. Lily smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying his breath on her skin.
"What were you saying about leaving sometime soon?" Lily whispered back, melting at his touch. James then kissed her mouth quickly, too quickly for her own liking, then turned to his large group of guests.
"May I have your attention, please?" James said loudly, his voice echoing through the dance hall, and everyone grew silent. "I thank you all for coming to help celebrate this special day with Lily and I. But if we're to make our appointment in Paris this evening, then we need to bid you all farewell."
After everyone gave their hugs and congratulations, Alice and Jenny then came forward, hugging Lily tight. The Marauders each shook James' hand, ending with Remus, hugging the both of them.
"Thank you, Lily." he said as he hugged her.
"What are friends for, Remus?" she smiled.
"Lily and James, alone in Paris for a whole week. How ever will they occupy themselves?" Sirius mumbled to Peter, and they chuckled quietly.
"Now, if you will excuse us..." James said, sweeping Lily off her feet from behind her, they disapparated.
After most people went back to chatting and snacking, Sirius didn't. "Wait a minute. Who's going to clean all this up?"
---
"At last," James mumbled with a smile. He left soft, tender, almost teasing kisses on Lily's lips as he pulled her closer to him. He didn't bother lighting the room, his only thoughts were of his new wife.
They became lost in each others kiss instantly. Soon clothes were removed, all pretenses gone and they were all but consumed with the love that they had for each other. Sweet kisses, burning caresses, overwhelming desire passed between them as they became one, never again to be separated.
---
"So... how was it?"
Lily smiled and lifted her eyes to her husband. He was standing behind her while she sat on the balcony, sipping on a cup of pumpkin juice the next day.
"James, what do you think?" she chuckled, taking his hand in her own.
"Well, there were many things that I heard last night... all the moaning and screaming, but never really an evaluation of the entire experience."
Lily laughed and pulled his face down to kiss him tenderly on the mouth. "It was amazing," she assured him. "A little awkward for me considering that was my first time, but amazing, beautiful and wonderful nonetheless."
"Well, I'm sure you'll find this hard to believe, but it was my first time, as well."
"Now that's the biggest lie I've ever heard, James Potter." she said arrogantly. "You are far too... experienced in physically pleasing a woman for that to have been your first time!"
"Oh, come now, Lily flower. Just because I am a suave, charming rouge doesn't mean I'm not a gentlemen."
"Really?" Lily said disbelievingly with raised eyebrows.
"Really. I can't believe you actually thought that of me, Lily." he said offended.
"Well, you did have quite the reputation back at school, James." Lily pointed out.
"Well, of course. I didn't snog any girl that offered, and I would never put out just because the opportunity presented itself. I'm a man of substance, Lily. I have morals, values."
Lily only laughed.
"Hey, just because I don't live by them all the time, doesn't mean I don't have them."
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry." Then James knelt before her and took her hands, looking up into her eyes with a smile.
"Listen to me, Lily. I want you to hear this so you can understand that I'm serious about you, about us. My mother taught me a long time ago to be a gentleman, to always respect women. I may talk big, act big... but on the inside I'm just this gentlemanly little boy, waiting for my princess charming." And this caused Lily to smile.
"I may have made out with a few girls in the past, Lily, but I never crossed that line. I was waiting for you. I wanted to cross that line with you, and only you. I wanted you to understand how completely loyal I am to you. I am so in love with you, I can hardly see straight."
"And that has nothing to do with the great sex?" Lily commented but she was grinning with tears in her eyes.
"That may be so," James smiled. "But that doesn't change how much I love you."
After Lily smiled at him for a few minutes, she smirked. "You probably planned that whole thing, didn't you?"
"What? I'm offended, Lily. That came straight from the heart."
"Of course it did." Lily said, pulling him down beside her. "And I guess you wouldn't feel right unless I told you how much I love you and how you complete my life and that we indeed had great sex last night."
James nodded in approval. "Yeah, that just about sums it up." He said, as he pulled Lily close to him.
"That still doesn't explain your masterful skill of lovemaking." she commented.
"Oh, that just comes naturally, baby." James chuckled, and Lily's heart melted at the sound of 'baby.' "You've won yourself a true sex god here."
"Is that so?" Lily questioned. "Are you prepared to prove that to me?"
"Any place, any time, Lily flower." he said seductively, leaning towards her.
"All right then, bring it on." Lily giggled, standing and walking slowly back into the room.
"Oh, you're asking for it now. I'll have you screaming, 'James is the God of sex,' in no time."
"We'll see," she said in a wicked grin.
---
A/N: We're not going to talk about why it took me so long to update. And no need to rub it in, I feel awful that you all had to wait so long. But with school starting up again and work and... wait, I said we're not going to talk about it. So you guys review (I'm trying to get 1000 reviews before the end of the story... so I'm serious when I say REVIEW!!!) and I'll try to post again someday. Thanks! I love you guys!!
