How I knew
By Pupparoux

The umbrella thing I saw in a commercial, but I tweaked it to my own purposes…haha.

Disclaimer: I own nothing…except the ideas that float about in my head.

Chapter One: Lily

I sat at the vanity mirror, looking at my reflection. My long hair was piled on top of my head and I'm wearing a delicate tiara. My veil was pulled back and trailing behind me, as I was getting ready. The white dress I had on was beautiful, as all wedding dresses are. It was like the typical fairy-tale wedding: a lovely, poofed dress, a tiara on my head, delicate shoes. I tilted my head to the side, looking this way and that, trying to see what it is that my husband-to-be sees in me.

I am pretty, I suppose. But that's only if you consider red hair, huge green eyes and freckles pretty. I continue looking in the mirror as Audra laces up the back of my dress. And I just keep coming up with my faults. I'm not overly tall and I have hips and thighs.

What does Potter see in me?

"Oh Lily! You look beautiful! Are you nervous?" asked Audra.

I turn to look at her, her long curly blonde hair trailing free along her shoulders and I smile. "No," I said, truthfully, though I surprised myself.

"Really? Wow. I would be."

"You know…" I paused. "I'm really not nervous. I mean, if he stayed after me this long…then we're meant to be, aren't we?"

"Yeah, he's been after you for ages. I was even surprised you finally said yes."

I giggled.

"I know. I think I did it to see if he would have a heart attack and then leave me alone because he'd died…but then I suppose he would have come back as a ghost and haunted me forever." I shrug, it probably would have happened. He'd never have left me alone…why did I say yes?

She laughed. "Lily," she asked. "How do you know he's the one? I mean…" she started quickly. "The one you want to spend the rest of you life with."

I smiled. I sit back in my chair and close my eyes remembering, why did I want to live my life with the infuriating, annoying git that had relentlessly hounded me for six years before I decided to go out with him. Why did I want to be with the prankster of the year, the troublemaker extraordinaire?

When was it exactly that I decided I actually wanted to be with him…forever?

Forever is an awfully loooong time…

And then it hit me…I knew the exact moment I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life with James Potter.

We were on a date in Muggle London. We had decided to go shopping and then out to supper. It was nearing the end of November, it was cold and it was pouring. I was huddled as close to James as was humanly possible and we were under a huge black umbrella, keeping dry. He was holding my hand as we looked in shop window after shop window. All around us the busy streets teemed with people who were hauling their shopping bags; the cabs and Double Decker buses zoomed and whooshed by, sending up puddles of street water in tidal wave proportions.

We had stopped to admire some jewelry. James turned his head away from the display and looked out to the corner of the street. I looked up at him to ask him something, but he wasn't there. The next thing I knew I was getting soaked. He had run off with the umbrella. I looked after him, annoyed and followed him. I was getting drenched; the cold water was running down my neck and soaking my sweater beneath my coat and plastered my hair to my head. He continued to run with the umbrella until he came to a woman, standing in the rain, laden with grocery bags and two small children, trying desperately to hail a cab. None would stop and she was getting wetter and wetter by the second. Her poor children, who couldn't have been older than four or five, were crying and sniffling, clinging to her skirt.

James gave the woman his umbrella and whistled for a cab, which immediately stopped. He opened the door for her and she got in with her two boys. Then James handed all of her bags to her and the umbrella, telling her to keep it for later, she would need it.

She thanked him and he smiled.

I stood watching this in awe. Then he came back to me with a smile on his face. He took my hand and we continued out walk to the restaurant in the rain, the water dripping down our faces and making our clothes cling to us. We'd be sick for days…but as long as we were sick together, none of that mattered. We began to cross the street when a car slammed on its brakes, right as we were crossing. James grabbed me and pulled me out of the way, using his body to shield me.

The car came to a screeching halt and stopped five inches before us. I was huddled in James' arms, shaking; we had almost been hit by a car. He looked down at me in his arms and smiled.

I love his smile.

He cupped my dripping face in his hands and looked into my eyes. "Lily," he said. "Are you all right?"

I mutely shook my head yes, my eyes were huge, I could feel them. I hated it when my eyes got huge when I was scared. I always felt like I looked like a goldfish or one of those muggle toys…those strange dogs that have elongated faces…? You know? Anyway…

He smiled down at me. "Good," he said. "I love you."

And he kissed me, right in the middle of a London street! In the rain! In front of a car that almost hit us!

He wrapped his arms completely around me and pulled me closer. I threw my arms around his neck and returned the kiss. It was the first time he'd told me he loved me since we'd been going out.

I looked at him…well no I didn't. I was too busy being kissed by him. I thought about him. I didn't love him for his body or his handsome face (although that helped). But rather for his kindness and his caring; for the way that his hair always sticks up at odd angles and never lays flat; for him letting me eat all the chocolate at the movies; for him calling just to say good-bye…

And that was when I realized that I, Lily Evans, loved James Potter. All it took was a little rain (well torrential downpour), a woman with two children who couldn't get a cab, an umbrella, and almost being hit by a car for me to realize it. (even though I had known it all along and was just too blind to see it.

I open my eyes and look at Audra. "Oh you know…I just got that feeling."

"Yeah…" she sighed. And she looked at me, her blue eyes twinkling with laughter. "I've never been in love…I wouldn't really know."

"Well…you will, Audra." I could hear the organ starting up. Audra looked toward the door.

"I think it's time for us to get ready," she said.

So it was finally time. Well I was ready. I stood up and Audra helped me straighten out the absurdly long train behind me, that she would only have to fix again before I walked down the aisle. She placed the veil over my face and we headed out.

I am in the archway of the church, waiting before I take the plunge: the walk down the aisle. There is no turning back now…only forward.

Remus stood waiting for me, in replacement of my dear father. He had passed away a year before. I still miss him.

Remus smiled at me and took my arm, just as Cannon in D started up. "You look beautiful Lily."

"Thank you Remus," I said, my throat starting to tighten.

"You know," he said as the entire people in attendance jumped to their feet, "oohhh"ing and "Ahh" ing. "It's still not too late. I have a broom waiting out back, we could easily slip you out…"

I smiled. I knew he was joking, just as my father would have done, had he been there, to make me more at ease. "Thank you again Remus." I said as we took our first steps forward. "This means so much to me…"

"I know." Was all he said.

I looked straight ahead, focusing on James. Oh James, my knight-errant, my one and only. He looks so handsome in his black coat-tailed overcoat and top hat. And there was Sirius, beaming as though James was his son, his hair in its shaggy perfection, his dark eyes sparkling.

Remus and I finally made it to the altar. He pushed my veil back and kissed me on both cheeks, taking my hands in his. "Good Luck Lily. Or should I say, Mrs. Potter. We all love you. Congratulations." And he stepped back, giving my hands a final squeeze.

I turned to James. He looks ecstatic, as though I have just made him the happiest man in the entire world. He gently takes my hands; his are shaking slightly, as he leads me up the two steps to kneel before the priest. He's so nervous. What was he expecting? That I was just going to leave him at the altar and run away?

Probably.

Well…here's to our future together!

Wish us luck!

The next and final Chapter is James' view on the subject…tell me yes or tell me no!

Review please!

Until next time

Keep a sharp eye ;)

Ciao Pupparoux