Inspired by a tumblr post.

Book Club: How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Prompts:

(object) sword

Word Count: 621

Lily looked at the sword hanging on her wall. Petunia had gifted it to her on her eighth birthday back when they were still relatively friendly with each other. Lily knew Petunia had saved up for the sword, and although it was a replica and wasn't even sharp, Lily still loved it.

Now, as Lily put on her wedding dress, smoothing the cloth over her waist, nervousness began to creep up on her. What if James didn't want to marry her anymore? What if the reception was terrible? What if something went wrong? What if she forgot her vows standing at the altar?

To silence her intrusive thoughts, Lily adjusted her dress and walked over to pick up the sword. The black hilt was soft yet firm, and the sword was made of shiny silver metal, which was emblazoned with a red dragon. Lily ran her fingers over the blunt edge, closing her eyes to just feel.

She was still standing there breathing in and holding the sword in her hand when Sirius walked into the room. He took one look at the sword and squealed. "A sword! Can I hold it, Evans?"

Lily opened her eyes and slowly blinked at Sirius. "You're not even going to ask me about the sword?"

Sirius shrugged. "Doesn't matter where it came from and why you're holding it. Can I hold it?"

Lily smiled and handed the sword to Sirius. He immediately began to swing it around in elaborate motions, a huge grin on his face. With the grace of a ballerina, he pivoted on his heel and brandished the sword at Lily. "En garde!"

Without warning, he poked Lily's arm with it, and Lily burst into peals of laughter. "It's blunt, Sirius."

"Damn! And here I was thinking I could kill you with it," he teased, still swinging the sword around. He looked like a child in a toy shop, and Lily couldn't help but smile. Sirius asked, "So… now, you can tell me why you were holding a sword when you're supposed to be getting ready for your wedding."

Lily sighed and leaned back against the dresser. She explained, "My sister gave me the sword on my eighth birthday. Just holding it in my hand and walking around the house makes me feel really confident before important occasions. And… getting married to James is sort of nerve-wracking."

"Oh, yeah, the confidence I'm feeling holding it is indescribable. It's like I can do anything I want in the world and no one can stop me!" Sirius added. He looked at the sword and said, "Man, I have got to get Remus and Peter one of these! Dibs on these being their Christmas presents!"

Lily laughed and said, "That's a great idea. Just don't buy this for James. He's already so confident, and if he gets this, I'm sure he'll be undefeatable."

Sirius scoffed and said, "That's not a bad idea. I'll be buying James and myself these, too! We could all have a swordfight! It will be our annual tradition."

Lily's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter as she imagined the five of them running around the house with their swords in hands. Truthfully, it didn't seem like a bad idea to Lily either. She reached out to take the sword from Sirius' hands and said, "I'll join in the swordfight… if you manage to get the others to wear the most hideous ball gowns."

"Oh, you're evil. I love it! If I can wear a dress that's better than theirs, then you've got yourself a deal!" Sirius extended his hand to shake hers, and Lily smiled and nodded.

Married life didn't seem so bad when she had such great friends by her side.