Chapter: 8
Chapter: To Live Happily Ever After
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it.
And they lived happily ever after…
"Enter." Snape's dry voice echoed through the hall. The castle he lived in was one you would see in a fairy tale, it was dark and dank and excitement didn't enter you when you walked but fear and uneasiness. The castle was dirty and there were suits of armor all over the castle. By far the prettiest thing in the castle was Lily. She had chains around her ankles and wrists to ensure she didn't run away. She carried a bushel of swords and laid them on the table for Snape. He ran his hand through her hair and Lily's body tensed, "I do hate to see you in those chains my dear." Snape sneered in her ear.
"I will ask you to keep your distance, sir." Lily said coldly but Snape continued to play with a lock of her auburn hair. Lily's fingers slowly wrapped around the handle of one of the swords; she spun around quickly, putting the sword's blade between herself and Snape. Snape looked amused but Lily looked determined. She backed him into a velvet-lined chair.
"I could have you killed for this." Snape told her.
"My father was a master swordsman; I could kill you before you had a chance." Lily cut a small gash on his blotchy white skin; blood began to trickle down his cheek. He smirked at a Lily and handed her a key.
She freed herself and made her way out of the castle. She laughed at the man inside as she walked out of the door. Just arriving on the dirt drive as Lily walked out was man she never thought she would see again. She smiled timidly and ran her hand over her dirty auburn hair. The Prince jumped off his horse and ran to Lily. Lily looked at him a little confused.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, "Your highness." Lily added with a small curtsy.
"I came to…rescue you." He said embarrassed. Lily's heart raced.
"Rescue me?" She asked still afraid that she might wake up from this dream. She walked down the steps past him, "A commoner." She added remembering that she was supposed to hate this arrogant pig.
"I'm sorry. I promised you the world and at the first test of trust I betrayed you…" James said to Lily's back as she walked away from him, "Lily Evans wait." James said pleadingly. Lily stopped dead in her tracks, her gaze still to the floor and her back to him.
"Say it again." James sighed; he didn't think she would forgive him.
"I'm sorry." Lily chuckled.
"No, the part where you said my name." Lily said turning around to face him with a smile dancing on her lips.
"Lily Evans." He said passionately, "I was wondering if you knew where I could find the women who this glorious shoe belongs to. She is my match in every way." James pulled out the creamy white beaded shoe from his cloak. Lily couldn't believe she was seeing the shoe but she remember who that belong to and that women wasn't real. Lily turned away and sat on the small stone wall.
"It belongs to a Peasant, your Highness, who only pretended to be a courtier to save a man's life." James stood before Lily neither discouraged nor angry.
"I know, and I believe I told you to call me James." James said with laughter dancing in his voice. James knelt before Lily and her breath caught in her throat, "I kneel before you not as a Prince but as a man in love. And I would feel like the king of the world if you, Lily Evans, would be my wife." James slipped of her worn dirty shoe, never losing eye contact. Tears began to well up in Lily's eyes, she was at a loss for words, and all she could to is nod. James slipped the beautiful shoe on her foot. Lily threw her arms around her neck and James lifted her up and held her tightly.
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The Baroness and her daughters sat at their dining table, eating in a room full of tension. Jacqueline merrily ate her dinner while her mother and sister fumed over their plates; stabbing viscously at their food. The Baroness slammed her silverware down and turned her eyes full of fury on Jacqueline.
"What were you thinking?" She asked her voice cracking. Jacqueline didn't recoil, she had no regrets.
"How was I suppose to know that he was going to leave? He was suppose to be getting married?" Jacqueline said innocently. Marguerite leaned over the table, staring her down like a cop interrogating a suspect.
"People said he talked to you, what did he say?" Marguerite asked wanting to strangle her sister. Jacqueline pretended to look distraught.
"Oh, it happened so quickly but I think he said something like 'I shouldn't have chosen a foreigner over your sister'". Jacqueline could tell that that satisfied her sister and mother. A knock on their door pulled the Baroness and Marguerite out of their royal fantasies. Marguerite and her mother raced to the door while Jacqueline calmly followed; the Baroness reached the door first and pulled it open. She was face to face with Sirius Black.
"The King requests an audience with the Baroness De Ghent and her daughters." Sirius said professionally.
"Is there anything wrong?" The Baroness asked. Sirius's body loosened and he leaned in slightly.
"He demanded that you arrive in style." He said motioning to the white horse drawn carriage. The Baroness smiled in conquest.
"Then in style we shall be." The Baroness said before she and Marguerite rushed into the house. Jacqueline lingered at the door for a moment smiling mischievously at Sirius who winked at her before she closed the doors. Moments later the Baroness opened the doors in an emerald green velvet dress with a white a sheer headpiece, Marguerite was in a burnt orange dress with gold embroidery and Jacqueline was in a simple navy blue dress with silver embroidery.
The Baroness and Marguerite tried their best to glide gracefully into the hall full of courtiers and the King, Queen and Prince; Jacqueline calmly entered the hall. They all fell to their knees in front the King, Queen and Prince. The Baroness looked up at them with her sweetest smile that looked forced. Neither the King nor Queen rose to address the Baroness.
"Baroness De Ghent, did you lie to her majesty, the Queen of France?" The King asked. The Baroness's smile faltered.
"Choose your words wisely, Madame; for they maybe your last." The Queen warned.
"A mother would do anything for her daughter." The Baroness said. Marguerite jumped up right.
"Mother!" She screeched, "You Majesties, I am a victim here as well. In fact I am ashamed to call her family." The Baroness pulled back Marguerite.
"You ungrateful ingrate." She said.
"See, see what I have to put up with." Marguerite exclaimed.
"Silence, both of you." The king roared. He turned to Jacqueline, "Are they always like this?"
"Worse, your majesty." Jacqueline said amused. Marguerite huffed.
"Jacqueline, darling, I do hope you didn't have anything to do with this." The Baroness said through gritted teeth.
"Of course not mother, I'm only hear for the food." The Baroness lost her high and mighty look; she looked like a deer in the head lights and Marguerite was shacking in fright. The Queen stood.
"Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent, you are here by stripped of you title and you and your wretched daughter are to be shipped off the Americas on the next ship." The Queen said, "Unless someone here will speak for you." The Baroness looked around the room but only found satisfied smiles. She turned back to the Queen with a pleading look.
"I will speak for her." A heavenly voice said from behind the Baroness. In one swift moment the room bowed gracefully, "After all she is my stepmother." The Baroness turned around, saw Lily standing in the back of the room with a good crown atop her head, and dressed in a luxurious red velvet dress. The Baroness regretfully bowed and as did Marguerite and Jacqueline bowed with warm smile on her face. Lily walked up to the Baroness who was in disbelief.
"Marguerite." The Prince whispered, "Have you met my wife?" Marguerite growled quietly while she turned away from the Prince.
"All I ask your Majesties is that you show her the same curtosy that she has shown me over the years." Lily had her eyes on the humbled form of her stepmother at her feet. She spoke with regal and warmth, "I want you to know that after this moment I will never think of you again but you will think of me for the rest of you life."
"And how long will that be? You highness." The Baroness spat out the last words.
"Forever, I hope."
The Baroness and her despicable daughter were stripped of their lavish clothes and given gray cotton dress and head dresses. They were brought to the laundry room where they were given orders to clean and wash the sheets. The Baroness and her daughter weren't too eager to be given orders until they pushed into a pool of dirty water and humiliated in front of the other maids.
In a lovely sun room in the Castle, Prince James, Princess Lily, Remus, Sirius, Jacqueline and Dumbledore were gathered. Dumbledore wanted to unveil his wedding gift to the happy couple. He pulled the veil off the oil panting, reveling a portrait of Lily. Lily's face light up and James stepped up to examine it. He scrunched his face.
"I don't think it looks anything like her." Lily laughed taking her husband by the arm and leading him to the window.
"You, sir, are suppose to be charming." Lily told him tapping her finger on his chest. James took her hand in his.
"And we, Princess, are suppose to live happily ever after."
"Says who?" James opened his mouth to speak but found he had no words.
"You know I don't know." James said before he kissed her. The sunset outside the window lighting up the grounds in reds and oranges in a picturesque scene more beautiful then any painting anyone could ever paint.
"Though Cinderella and her Prince did live happily ever after, the point is that they lived."
A/N: A beautiful ending to a beautiful story. That last quote is my favorite one in the whole movie. I hope you all enjoyed my story and I am thankful to all of my loyal readers and I hope you guys will enjoy my next story. Thank you for all your constructive criticism and encouragement. The only I realize that I should have done was make Marguerite Petunia but the story is just as good as it is. Until next time…later.
-socal4ever.
P.S. A/N: I have started another story that should include the ships of James/Lily and Sirius/O.C. Its going to start in their sixth year and end with the death of James and Lily and Sirius's arrest. I am going to include the three times James and Lily escaped Voldemort. A story of action, love and sorrow. I hope that it will get just as a warm response as this story did.