Chapter 36

The newly scheduled wedding was drawing near. Now the date was set for November 11. Sirius had gotten increasingly better after his argument with Lily. Lily explained it later as sometimes it just took a rousing discussion to get a person better. Whatever it was that had gotten Sirius well, James was extremely happy. He hated it when the person he loved was ill or hurt.

Now, however, they were once again approaching the wedding which meant nerves once again were being pressed, pulled, and stretched past toleration. In the week before the wedding James and Sirius had gotten into quite a few heated arguments that resulted in one of the storming out of the house and coming back about an hour later to apologize. Sirius had decided to take Anastasia to James's parents' house so she wouldn't be subjected to loud arguments while she was trying to sleep. Not to mention their profanity was rather bad.

Remus and Lily came by frequently, as they had the week before the wedding when it was in October. Now, however, the main reason of their visits was to reassure them that everything was going to be alright. James and Sirius had had way too much time to dwell on their upcoming wedding and it was terrifying them that something might go wrong. Dwelling on something was generally a bad thing.

"Something bad is gonna happen," chanted Sirius while he was pacing in the hallway. It was the day of the wedding and it was the most beautiful day that they'd seen in a long time. Typical November happy day. Sirius, though, was not dwelling on that. "I can feel it. Something bad is gonna happen."

Lily came out of the side door and watched him for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "Sirius, calm down. What could possibly happen?"

Sirius stopped and looked at her. "I don't know. The cake could blow up, the food could taste bad, the rings might be wrong, the guests might be rude and loud, the napkin colors could be off, the flowers could die, James might change his mind, the-"

"Sirius," she interrupted sternly, "stop right there. Chances of the cake blowing up are slim to none, the food is excellent because I made it, the rings can't be wrong because Remus got them and he's a perfectionist, the guests are your friends and James's family with your cousin, and I doubt they'll be rude or loud, and if the napkin colors are off, who cares? The flowers are fresh so they won't die. And lastly, James wouldn't change his mind ever. Why, after putting up with you for the last month, would he change his mind now? It's not even logical."

Sirius looked at her strangely. "Things didn't sound so implausible until you gave logical reasons against them. Hmm, very well. Maybe a disaster won't happen, but what if my family comes? It would be so typical of them to come and ruin a day that was very important to me."

"I highly doubt something like that would happen," Lily said, looking at Sirius with a small frown on her face at the thought of his parents.

"Maybe," he sighed and then glanced at his watch. "Oh shit! I have to go get dressed and make sure that Mrs. Potter has Anastasia all dressed. And then I have to get directions to the church and make sure the food got there alright-hey wait, did you say that you cooked it?"

Lily smiled and nodded. "Yes I did. Don't worry, unlike you, I happen to be an excellent cook. Now go get dressed and I'll wait down here. I know where the church is and I was told to give you a lift there. James and Remus should already be there. As for Anastasia, Mrs. Potter is possibly the most reliable woman I've ever known. She'll have Ana ready and beautiful. You however, are still in your pajamas. Go change now."

Sirius nodded and rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. About fifteen minutes of impatient waiting later, Sirius rushed down the stairs and grabbed Lily by the arm. "We're late, we're late, we're late," he chanted over and over. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Sirius, we're on time. In fact, we're a little bit early. Get in the limo now," she ordered, pushing him into the long black car.

"A limo?" he asked as he sat down inside.

"Yes, now let me fix your neglected hair." He turned around and Lily pulled out a brush from her bag to straighten up his tangled locks. "Is it alright if I tie it back?" she asked. He nodded slightly and she did as she asked. "There, if I wasn't in love with Remus and if you were straight, I think I'd marry you myself."

Sirius laughed at that. "First of all, you and Remus look perfect together. Second of all, I'm as bent as a snapped toothpick."

Relieved that she was able to calm Sirius down a bit, she laughed along and the rest of the limo ride went along smoothly.

Remus, however, was having a harder time trying to calm James down. He was pacing as Sirius had, but instead of just chanting something's going to go wrong, he was naming every little problem that could occur in excruciating detail. The problem was that Remus had far less patience than Lily had and James was driving him crazy.

"You know," he said, shaking his head, "when I get married, you're going to be my best man, if only so you will experience the torture that you're putting me through."

James stopped for a moment and looked at his friend apologetically. "I'm sorry, I just can't stop thinking that something will go wrong. You know, Murphy's law: 'everything bad that can happen will happen'."

Remus nodded and sighed. "James, you need to calm down. I'm surprised that you haven't bolted from the room on account of your nervousness. Really, I don't know why you're so worried."

"He could say no," he retorted.

"You proposed, he said yes. He's not going to say no now, after all of the amazing things that you've done for him. It's just not conceivable," reassured Remus while trying not to blow up at the stupidity of one of his best friends.

"He could have said no then too."

"BUT HE DIDN'T!" shouted Remus, finally losing it. Calming himself, he pat James on the back. "I'm sorry, James, but I can't even imagine him saying no. The odds are like one to 500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000."

James looked at Remus and then nodded abruptly. "You're right, I'm being foolish. Things are just fine. Things won't go wrong. Everything's going to be just fine. Nothing bad will happen." He sat down in a chair slowly, breathing in and out deeply as if meditating.

Remus watched him and then shook his head. It was hopeless. James was a lost case. The door opened and Lily walked in looking stressed but composed. "Everything alright in here?"

"Nothing bad will happen. Everything's going to be just fine. Things won't go wrong. Things are just fine. Nothing bad will happen. Everything's…" James muttered over and over again.

Lily looked at him in concern, but turned to Remus for an explanation. "You'd think he was marrying into royalty the way he was so nervous, instead of his best friend."

Lily smiled. "Sirius was like that too. I managed to calm him down. He's waiting out in the hall for the wedding to start."

James bolted up. "Start? Now? The wedding? I'm not ready. What do I say. What if he says no? What if the cake explodes? What if the flowers are roses? What if the colors don't match? What if I trip and fall and embarrass myself and Sirius? What if I forget what I'm supposed to say? What if-"

"What if Chicken Little was right and the sky fell down, aye?" asked Remus in frustration. Lily smiled at that. James, however, seemed to be pondering it.

"Then we'd all be dead," he answered slowly, "and then I wouldn't have to go through with this."

Lily groaned. "You are the one who proposed. This is your wedding day. You're supposed to want to do this."

James nodded at that comment. "I want to do this. Everything will be okay. Nothing bad will happen."

"Oh come on," Remus snapped, grabbing James by the shoulder and lead him out the door. Sirius was standing right there and seemed to be calm enough. James looked at him but didn't get the chance to say anything as Remus led him right by his fiancé. Lily came out behind them and glanced at Sirius.

"What was that?" he asked her.

She smiled. "Let's just say he was slightly worse off than you," she replied and then hooked her arm around his and went the direction that Remus and James had just gone.

They went to the front of the church where everyone was sitting, now waiting for Sirius and Lily to arrive, as James and Remus were already at the alter. They paused at the closed doors. Sirius glanced at Lily. "I'm escorting you," Lily said, a laugh in her voice. "Remus walked up with James, so I'm walking up with you." Sirius laughed. "Ready?"

A nervous look crossed across his face again, but he quickly shook it off and nodded. "Bring it on," he muttered and she pushed open the door. Everyone turned to look at them and he smiled brightly.

"Smile, this is a happy day," she mumbled through gritted teeth.

"I am smiling," he retorted the same way she had.

Before long they were at the alter. Sirius stepped up with James while Lily and Remus went to the side. The priest watched them approach and cleared his throat. The wedding was underway. Then they got to the vows.

"Do you, James Potter, take Sirius Black as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in help from now 'til death do you part?"

James took a deep breath and then nodded. "I do."

"Do you, Sirius Black, take James Potter as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in help from now 'til death do you part?"

Sirius smiled brilliantly and nodded as well. "Of course I do."

The priest grinned at Sirius's answer and then said, "I now pronounce you man and…well, man. You may now kiss each other."

James and Sirius laughed, but moved together and kissed, short but meaningful.

la la la-

"See, did one bad thing happen?" asked Lily as they sat down together to eat. James shrugged in response while Sirius shook his head.

"No, nothing did happen, but that doesn't mean that something couldn't have happened."

Remus and Lily laughed. "So what's it like, being married?" asked Remus.

James shrugged again. "Not really different, except now I have a hunk of metal around my finger."

Sirius smiled. "You chose it."

"It was either this or an even thicker one!"

Sirius laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Be good."

"So, when are the newlyweds going to dance to their carefully chosen song?" asked Lily playfully.

"When the music comes on," responded Sirius.

James laughed. "Good answer."

"You two will never change will you?" a disbelieving Remus exclaimed.

"Never," they responded simultaneously.

Just then music sounded and someone said over a loud speaker, "If the newlyweds would like to come and dance to their song, the rest of the party can begin."

Sirius and James laughed. It was a recording of Remus's voice. "Why'd you do a recording?"

He shrugged. "I was hungry. Now go dance."

James and Sirius stood up. James offered his hand to Sirius, who graciously accepted it and they walked gracefully out onto the dance floor. As the song began, they started dancing, the lyrics flowing around them.

They spun around in circles, letting the music drift over and between them. They were both completely engrossed in each other, neither wanting the moment to end.

The song ended and Sirius and James looked into each others eyes. For some odd reason, that song was perfect.

"We should send Switchfoot a letter, thanking them for that brilliant song," whispered James. Sirius nodded against James's shoulder. He loved being there in James's arms. It was the most perfect place to be.

"Thank you James," he whispered into his ear.

James backed up slightly. "Why?" he asked, dumbfounded. What had he done?

"For everything. For the way you love me, for the way you make me feel, for…for being all that I need." He smiled. "You are enough."

A.N. I'm such a sucker for romance…and pain. Sorry that the wedding wasn't really accurate. I have no idea as to how long weddings are or what happens other than the vows. Please forgive me for that and review. Thanks!