AN: Thanks for the positive comments, especially on Narcissa/Remus. So few bother to say anything anymore, your words are so precious. Be warned this is the wedding chapter and I think I keep it T but everyone's tolerance levels are different so proceed carefully.

James woke up on his wedding day, alone in his narrow bed in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory. The rest of the lads were still asleep, and he took a moment to prop himself on his elbows, find his glasses, and look at each of them in turn. He would never wake up here to the low rumble of Sirius's dog-like snore again, or to the sight of Remus's hand trailing on the floor, as if his arms were too long to fold up into the bed, or to the quaking mound of blankets where Peter slept curled into a ball.

He had expected to feel sadder about it than he did, but...Lily. She hadn't slipped out of his bed and back to the girls' dormitory until after he'd fallen asleep. She had stayed until she was well past crying, and they'd grown quiet, content and peaceful.

"James," she'd whispered as he was just about asleep. "I want to tell you something else. Something good."

His lips brushed her forehead. "What is it, love?"

"It's another prophecy. About our child," she'd said. "He'll be a boy, with dark hair, like yours. And there's something about his head, his forehead. A mark, like a birthmark."

James had opened his eyes in the dark. "You saw him?"

"I think I did," she'd nodded. "Or at least, I felt him so strongly it was the same as if I'd seen him. The morning you proposed, on the sofa in the prefects' lounge. He was in my mind, like a sign of the question that was coming, and how I was supposed to answer it."

James's hold on her had tightened. "I owe him one then." He kissed her for the final time that night. "Thanks, son."

In his room now, James glanced at the clock. Lily had more to get ready and would be at the manor with Marlene and his mother already. Remus's alarm clock was sounding and he was swiping at it as Sirius howled curses and Peter's head poked out from beneath his blankets.

An hour later they were landing at the bottom of the stairs in the Entrance Hall, about to leave through the Floos. For once, they didn't want to attract attention to themselves. They were dressed in unremarkable weekend clothes, and they were uncharacteristically quiet as they approached the Floos. Remus was trying to hand out scones for everyone's breakfast, but James was too nervous to eat. He left first, flaming out of sight calling "Potter manor" just as Severus Snape swooped up behind the lads.

"What are you doing, sneaking about this early in the morning?" Snape demanded.

"Who's sneaking?" Peter said, his hand over his heart, spooked by Snape's sudden appearance.

"Mind your own business," Sirius said, shoving Peter toward the Floo.

As Peter left, he whispered his destination into his hand.

"Too late for subtlety," Snape said. "I've just heard where you're going from Potter himself. You're off to his estate. Now where is Lily?"

The lads didn't blink. "No idea," Remus said. "I'd check the Head Girl office, but maybe not until after breakfast."

"I know what Potter has planned for her," Snape said, his voice rising. "And I suspect I also know when. It's today isn't it?"

"Look, I don't know why you're so bothered about a senior student going home to visit his ailing parents on the weekend," Remus said. "There's nothing ominous here. Now move along."

"Yeah, makes me wonder if it's you there's something wrong with," Sirius added, nudging Remus toward the Floo. "You look sick, Snape. That's for sure. Go get some tea and a shower and maybe you'll feel better."

Remus was gone and it was just the two of them, Sirius and Snape. Sirius smirked. "You've lost her for good, Snape," he said. "Stop embarrassing yourself chasing after her and get on with your life."

Snape was frantic enough to grab Sirius by the front of his jacket. "This is so much greater than you imagine, you nitwit. You will soon learn to respect the Dark Lord and his lieutenants - "

"Please. You're stalking a girl, not fighting a war - "

Snape drew his wand but Sirius swept his foot beneath Snape's robes, knocking him down at his ankles. "I don't have any more time for this. And frankly, after seven years, it's boring," Sirius said, backing away from where Snape scuttled across the floor after his dropped wand. He shook his head, and disappeared into the Floo.

Effie's fingers weren't as nimble as they used to be, so she hired a witch to come from a salon in the city to do Lily's hair. It was still the 1970s, so she wore it loose and long, brushed with a hundred strokes by Marlene before the hairdressing witch wound it into soft ringlets around her face. With no veil, no hat like Petunia's, the only thing on her head was a beaded white ribbon, tucked behind her ears.

"I'm so glad you invited the whole Order, Madam Potter," Marlene said. "It'd be a crime if no one saw Lily looking this pretty."

Effie beamed, smoothing the long gloves Lily wore with her short sleeved dress on the February day. "Yes, our sweetheart is a beauty of a bride. And it's nice to have the ballroom full again," she said.

There was a knock at the door, Remus. Sirius was James's best man, Peter was standing up as a groomsman as well. Of the lads, Remus was the best friend of Lily's, and the one she and James had asked to walk her into the ceremony. He was willing, but looking sheepish about it, knowing what a poor substitute he was for her Dad.

He offered his arm. "They're ready, Lily."

Marlene led Effie away first, Lily and Remus hanging back to let them get settled. "You look dashing in dress robes," Lily said, flicking his fancy white tie with one finger. "James is done up like this too?"

He smiled. "Yes. And he's dying to see you."

Lily flinched.

"What? What's wrong?" Remus hurried.

"Nothing, just taking 'dying' too literally," she said, trying to laugh at herself. "Wedding days are too much about omens and luck."

Remus held her by both her arms and stooped to speak into her face. "It's alright to be nervous. But I hope you can be happy. This is all meant to make you happy. If anything here doesn't make you happy, we'll send it away."

As they stepped out of Effie's bedroom, Lily heard music, a piano playing from the ballroom. She wondered who was playing it. Someone from the Order she hadn't met yet? Her heart reached out to it, to this whole world of love and support waiting for her in this new life she was beginning today.

The music changed as she and Remus appeared in the door of the ballroom, getting louder, grander, more serious. If they were Muggles, the guests might have stood up, but they weren't. They merely watched, smiling as she moved toward James standing in front of a spectacular wall of leaded windows. He and Sirius and Peter stood with their hands clasped in front of themselves. They were meant to look stoic and still, but there was something active, vibrating in James's posture, the way he'd been vibrating the first time he kissed her, in the cellar of this house.

Remus passed Lily's hand to James before he took his place beside Peter. Marlene took Lily's bouquet from her, an awkward thing full of petunias freshly picked from Effie's greenhouse, but which were already wilting and sloughing their pink and purple petals onto the wooden floor.

Dumbledore was officiating, dressed in long robes made of a heavy, dressy midnight blue velvet. James's hand had closed over Lily's, and Dumbledore had just cleared his throat to begin when a voice rang out from the entrance to the ballroom.

"Lily Margaret Evans - what in the bloody hell are you doing?"

Lily gasped, jumping to stand in front of James, as if to protect him. "Mum!"

Everyone in the room reacted with a colossal, collective cringe.

Mitch was standing in the door next to Cheryl Evans, in denims, a Leicester Tigers rugby shirt, and a corduroy jacket. "Jim? What's all this then, Jim?"

"A word with you, Lily," Cheryl called across the ballroom. "Out here. Right now."

Cheryl Evans stood in the library at the Potters' manor with Effie and Monty, James and Lily, and Mitch. Her hands were planted on her hips, and she was well past ready for answers. "Tell me," she said. "Tell me, Lily, that this isn't what it looks like. Because it looks like my schoolgirl daughter marrying a boy she's been dating for less than two months."

"We were going to talk to you about it," Lily began. "Weren't we James?"

He sputtered behind her.

"I mean" Lily said, "when we came home for my birthday, it was in my mind to raise it with you if the evening went smoothly. Only it didn't. You remember, Mum. That was the night Petty sacked me as her bridesmaid. I was gutted and ran out before I could even think to talk about my own wedding."

Cheryl slammed her purse on the table in front of her. "That's no excuse." She waved at Mitch. "Will you please say something?"

"Right," he said. "Shocking, Lily. Shocking and - say, is this place a rental, Jim? Just for weddings?"

James was still stunned but managed to say, "No, we live here. These are my parents, and this is my house."

"You hear that, Cher? This is their house," Mitch said. "The old folks and Jim's. No disrespect intended, Madam."

Effie dismissed it with a wave and a smile.

Lily snagged Mitch's hand, "Dad, how did you get here? You didn't come magically, did you?"

"She's leading you off the point," Cheryl warned.

"No, it's alright," Mitch said. "Yes, we came on some mad bus. The lonely vampire boy from down the lane - what's his name - Scissors or something?"

"Severus?" Lily chirped.

"Yeah, that's him. He came to the house raving about you having an emergency, about your future at stake and we needed to go to you that instant. Right convincing he was, enough for us to let him put us on that wild bus ride here," Mitch said. "I've no idea how we're getting home, but it won't be the same way. Never again."

"Lily will get us home herself," Cheryl said. "Since she's coming back with us, right now."

"Mum, I'm not," Lily said. "I'm in school, but I'm eighteen, an adult. And I'm staying with James."

"So you're pregnant," Cheryl said.

"I am not," Lily wailed in answer. "In fact, I'm still a virgin."

Cheryl gave a loud scoff. Mitch winced, as if embarrassed for James. Effie nodded, but Monty looked sceptical, clicking his tongue.

Lily tossed her head, defiant, and linked her arm through James's. "It's true. It sounds mad, but I'm here because I want to get married to this man. It's my own choice."

Cheryl sneered up at James. "Fine, but what kind of rich, fit eighteen year old boy wants to be tied down to a wife?"

"Lily's my soulmate," James said, unaware what would sound most ridiculous to Muggles and going ahead and saying it. "It doesn't matter how old we are. We're cosmically, magically bound together, and we want to seal it with a marriage. Right Mum? Dad?"

"That's right, Jimsy."

"There's all of that and," James said, folding his hand over Lily's where she held his arm. " And the fact that I love her."

Cheryl spun away from him and his parents. "Oh, lovely. They're soulmates, Mitch. Did you hear that? Nothing to worry about here."

"Mum, please," Lily said. "You can't stop me. So please don't make this unpleasant. I want to be glad you're here."

"Oh, do you - "

"Cheryl, love," Mitch said, interrupting, taking her hand and leading her aside. "Excuse me everyone, we just need a quick word." He towed her between two high bookcases, whispering. "Look, Cheryl, this whole big place is going to be Jim's as soon as those two old duffers kick it. He's got no brothers and sisters so it'll be all his. And that means half Lily's. Even if she divorces him, he'll still be stuck keeping her in style for the rest of her life."

Cheryl frowned. "You're advocating gold digging now, are you Mitch? That's the future you want for our girls?"

He sighed. "No, love. What I'm advocating is making the best of it. She's going through with it no matter what we say, so don't think of this as the shutting down of Lily's future. Think of it as the opening up of her future. Once she's tied to all of this, she'll be able to afford whatever choices she wants. And if it turns out she's not as in love with her school boyfriend as girls her age are prone to think they are, she'll still have all those choices."

Cheryl squirmed inside her coat. "That's so vulgar."

"No, it's natural Cher," he said. "Think of our Petunia and Vernon. If he didn't have a job and a car, would she have ever taken a man like him on? It's what girls are still driven to do in this cruel world. If you won't admit it, then the most hopeless romantic in this story is you, Cher."

She let out a long breath. "If we don't break it up, Scissors is going to be furious with us."

There was a pause, a beat before Mitch realized she was joking. He muffled his laugh in his shoulder. If she was joking, it meant she was coming around.

"One question," Cheryl said, stepping out from between the bookcases, addressing James. "Do your people have divorce?"

"Mum!"

"Yes," Effie said. "It's rare, but it has crept in from Muggle culture. More and more all the time."

Effie had said it mournfully but Cheryl tossed her head and cried, "Excellent. Let's carry on."

They were back in the ballroom, all the guests re-seated with Mitch and Cheryl sitting uneasily but resignedly on the front row, Lily's discarded gloves folded in her lap.

Dumbledore cleared his throat again.

"We are honored today to witness the sealing of the prophesied soul bond between James Euphemius Potter and Lily Margaret Evans. It is an occasion of joy and hope for us all." He paused, his eyes looking out over the tops of his spectacles, at the assembled Order of the Phoenix, at Augusta Longbottom clutching her son's hand.

"James and Lily," he resumed, "take each other by the left wrist…"

He spoke of promises, of futures and posterity, eternity. As he spoke, bands of bright, white light emerged not from his wand, but from their flesh itself as they held each other's wrists. It curled up their arms, over their shoulders, trailing down, over their hearts.

Lily's blood hummed in her veins. This was powerful magic, pure and beautiful magic, that was familiar to her from other times when she and James had been close. She stood in its glow, and knew it would be part of her life forever.

"Now your right wrists, please," Dumbledore said.

They reached for each other, their bodies forming a ring. The white light raced toward itself, like a circuit completed. The hum in Lily's being became a roar. And as she closed her eyes and sank into it, she saw James closing his eyes as well. Behind her eyelids, she could still see him, and knew it was the same for him.

Dumbledore's voice was calling through the roar of pulsing light.

Do you accept this union?

Yes, in every way, yes.

The vow spoken, the light faded. With their eyes now open, Dumbledore declared them married. James stepped forward and kissed her, sweetly, as their friends, parents, teachers, and a room full of Order of the Phoenix strangers working to save their lives looked on.

There were Monty and Effie, holding each other as they cried. Cheryl and Mitch, sitting dumbfounded and unsure what they'd seen. Alice was dabbing her eyes, pressed tight to Frank's side. Marlene stood throttling the nearly disintegrated bunch of petunias. And standing closest to them were the lads, Sirius and Peter beaming, Remus looking pale, but working to smile.

After the cake was served and James and Lily were introduced around the room, Mitch and Cheryl left with Fabian and Gideon Prewett in the modified Muggle car they'd borrowed from their brother-in-law.

"Did you see the way James was stuck to her after the ceremony?" Cheryl remarked to Mitch sat with his nose all but mashed against the car window. "Right clingy. All hands. I reckon Lily was telling the truth about them being virgins. And poor old James has had enough of it."

It was mid-afternoon, Effie's dainty wedding luncheon was over and most of the guests had gone. Eventually, only the young people were left, slumped at a table in the ballroom, sipping at the wine that had been left unattended - everyone but Remus, who was still reeling from the whiskey incident, and James and Lily who hadn't been able to eat or drink much of anything the entire day.

"It's alright," Marlene said. "You'll be plenty hungry later."

Hooting and whistling went up from the rest of them.

"What are you doing still here, Mr. and Mrs. Potter?" Sirius crowed. "Go on. Go honeymoon."

"Yes, disappear," Peter said, shoving James's shoulder.

"But, I thought," James began. "I thought we had to - Mum, she said to - "

"Your mother is napping upstairs," Marlene said. "This was a busy day for the old girl. I guarantee she won't want to see you again today."

Lily laughed at James as he took the news, blinking, his mouth working. "So there's nothing to wait for? Nothing left for us to do but…"

"Exactly," Sirius said.

James sprung to his feet, grabbing at Lily, turning on the spot with her feet still in the air, and disapparating to the sound of his friends' cheers.

Lily had broken into a squeal as he snatched her and it sounded through the Hogwarts grounds as they emerged just outside them. The newlyweds were off balance, too much momentum, James stumbling to catch them just before they would have toppled onto the ground.

"James Potter, you nearly grass stained your mother's antique wedding dress," Lily laughed, batting his arm.

"This dress," he said, tracing its V-necked collar with his forefinger. "It's lovely but I've had enough of it. I've been puzzling over these tiny buttons down the back all day. It's going to take me ages to get through them."

"They're false buttons," she said. "There's a zipper underneath."

On learning this, his smile bent rather wickedly, and he pressed her even closer.

"If you're in that much of a rush," she said, grinning at him, "I don't understand why you brought us to the edge of the quidditch pitch instead of the main gates."

"Because I refuse to sneak into my honeymoon suite under an invisibility cloak," he said, leading her to the field house where his gear was stored. "No, we're flying home, triumphant."

Lily was a decent flyer but she'd never made a tandem broom flight. What's more, she was a leisure flyer while James was competitive, his movements ballistic and fast, not as careful as she liked.

"No game flying, I promise," he said, coaxing her onto the broom. "Nothing but romantic honeymoon flying. Trust me, I can be gentle. Sit in the front and I'll close my arms around you, like a safety belt in a Muggle car, one that loves you more than anything and would never let you fall."

She stepped over the broom, white satin and lace everywhere, and eased her hips backward, between James's thighs. He leaned over her, hIs face at her shoulder, taking a moment to graze her cheek with his lips before planting his hands near where she held the broom between her knees. His thumb stroked the satin covering her thigh.

"James, you said 'gentle.' This is more like - like," she said.

"Desperate?" he tried.

She turned a little more toward him, to whisper in his ear. "No, seductive."

He growled and kicked off.

She lost her breath as they rose, but there were no more complaints about him taking them home too fast, up across the fields and hills, through the brisk February air to the top of Gryffindor Tower.

They were at the pinnacle, and she used her wand to swing the glass windowpane out of their way as they arrived. As she closed it behind them, James floated farther into the room, hovering over their bed. She had hardly noticed where they were when he spilled them both off the broom and onto the mattress. She was squealing again as they crashed into their bed and he gathered her into his arms, the broom drifting to stand neatly against the wall.

"Why did you do it like that," she laughed, batting at his chest. "You're supposed to elegantly, romantically carry me into our suite, aren't you?"

"Fine, let's get up and I'll lug you around the room for a bit," he said, moving as if to stand.

"No," she said, pulling him back onto the mattress, on top of herself, peppering his cheek with kisses. "Now that you're here with me, you stay."

He settled onto her, his body between her knees, the dress rumpled and bulky between them. He was held back further by her hands, tangled in his fancy wedding tie.

"Nevermind my buttons," she said, tugging at the knots and loops in the yards and yards of fine white fabric around his neck. "How are we supposed to get you out of this?"

"Oh," he said. "They said it would be easy. You just…" He was feeling for the end of the tie that would undo the whole thing in a single, elegant swish. "That's not it. Neither is - ow, don't strangle me before we even - Lily, what have you done?"

"I'm helping - "

"Helping? You've gone and made this thing into a chastity charm of its own."

"Oh, hold still," she said, reaching for her wand and Vanishing the tie altogether. It was gone and James was lying on top of her, his shirt open now, her hands on his hot skin, moving up over his shoulders to push his sleeves away. His hand was beneath her, tugging at the hidden zipper below the pretty buttons.

She sighed through a smile as she tossed his shirt away, his arms and torso bared for her. She was sensing his low, soul-bound vibrations again, reaching out for her own. "I don't know why I didn't imagine it this way," she said. "I expected it to be all embarrassingly passionate and intense, when it's really more like you as you always were before, all love."

"This is new though," he said, his hands on her skin now, his voice low and husky but his touch eager and sure, as if they'd known each other, even like this, forever. "I knew you'd be like this all over. The same sweetness, only more and better. And now," he said, his lips touching hers, "now all mine."

"Yours," she said.

And then it was all as passionate and intense as either of them had ever imagined. The sun was setting on their wedding day, the dress was a heap on the floor, and as far as they knew, their soul bond was truly complete.

One of the intraschool message owls roosted on the back of Narcissa's chair in the library. The afternoon was dragging on painfully slowly. She hadn't seen Severus all day, and had no idea what kind of trouble he might be up to. She had been watching for Remus to warn him Snape had wrung the news about Potter getting married out of her, but there'd been no sign of him either. It annoyed her more than she would have cared to say.

And now here was this owl, calling her to the courtyard. She summoned her cloak as she crossed the Entrance Hall and went outside to meet her visitor, already suspecting who it was. She was not wrong.

"Cissa, darling," his voice drawled.

"Lucius," she said, taking the hand he offered her. "What a nice surprise."

"Yes, well, I won't be available tomorrow for Valentine's Day, so I've come a day early." He handed her a small wrapped box.

She'd forgotten about blasted Valentine's Day. What could she give him? There was that book of Centaur love poetry she'd picked up. It was brand new. Did Lucius read poetry? Did he read anything but polemics on purity?

"It's not Valentine's Day, exactly, but it is a romantic occasion here at the school after all, isn't it?" he mused. "We got word at the manor that Hogwarts' Head Boy and Girl were married today. Unusual, to be sure. But then, these are unprecedented times we live in. You look surprised, Cissa. I thought you knew already. Severus said it was you who told him about it. Heard it from a Gryffindor friend?"

"Well - well, yes," she said. "I'd only just learned the wedding was coming, but I certainly didn't expect it so soon. It must have been a very private affair. I wonder how Severus found out the details."

Lucius laughed. "Our Severus is not to be underestimated. Do so at your peril," he said, as if joking.

She laughed along, looking away to unwrap the box, diverting his attention. Inside was something lovely, as always - a hair clip covered in pearls. "Thank you, darling," she said, clenching her eyes shut as he bent to drop a slow, wet kiss on her cheek. "I've got your gift inside. I'll fetch it now."

"If you like," he said. "It's such a fine day for February. I'll wait here."

As soon as she was out of his sight, she skipped into a run, hoping he wouldn't notice the extra time it took to wrap the book.

She was finished and hopping back up the stairs to the Entrance Hall when the Floo flamed. Sirius had stepped out and stood fluffing his hair, waiting for someone to follow. Narcissa bit her lip and braced herself. Lupin, it had to be him coming next. She hadn't seen him since she'd nearly pressed a mad, hot kiss on his neck after he'd drunkenly told her - he'd said - oh, had he really said it?

The Floo flashed again. Remus emerged hardly recognizable as himself, wearing perfectly tailored dark dress robes. She stopped, looking from him to the doors to the courtyard, then back at him. For all her fancy trimmings, Narcissa's tastes in menswear were simple. She liked long, clean lines. She liked...

"Stars help me," she said as she trotted toward where Remus stood waiting at the Floo. It was flashing again as Peter arrived, and the commotion meant Remus hadn't seen her coming. She announced herself with a hand laid on his arm.

Sirius frowned openly at the sight of her. "Oh, what now?"

"Can I have a word, Lupin?" she said. "In private?"

He stared at her hand on his arm, and without looking her in the face, nodded. "Yeah, alright."

"Stay in sight," Sirius called after them.

"Lupin, it's Severus," she began.

"He knows about the wedding," Lupin finished.

"Why, yes. How did - "

"He sent Lily's parents to the Potters' manor to break it up. No harm done though. But we were wondering how he came to know," He narrowed his eyes, as if steeling himself for something unpleasant. "It wasn't - wasn't me, when I'd been drinking the other night, was it? I remember Snape was there, and so were you. I don't remember telling him, but did I?"

"It wasn't you alone," she said, her head in her hands. "You accidentally told me about the wedding, and then, when Snape realized I knew something, he threatened me and forced me to tell him too."

Lupin bent toward her. "Snape threatened you?" He swore, scanning the Hall.

"Just with gossip," she said. "And a weak attempt at Legilimency. I wasn't harmed at all."

"A weak attempt at Legilimency?" he repeated. "That's something like a weak attempt at rape. Or at least a serious violation of your mental personhood."

"Which I rebuffed easily," she said. "Now stop being so gallant and tall and looking so lovely dressed up and listen to me. I didn't come to you to be rescued. I came to help you with - whatever it is the lot of you are trying to do."

Remus looked like he was listening extremely intently, but all he said was, "Stop looking - looking - what?"

"Listen," she said, shaking his arm. "Severus didn't just go to Lily's family. He went to - to their Dark Lord. If it was supposed to stay a secret from him, it hasn't. You have to let Potter know."

But Remus wasn't listening. He was straightening his posture to its full height and glaring across the Entrance Hall at a beautiful, shining blond man stepping in from the courtyard. Remus tugged his arm out of Narcissa's grip. But she'd already read his face, its complex expression of anger, fear, and sadness, before he spun around, and walked back to the lads without a word.

"Lucius," she said as he reached her, holding the gift of the book in front of herself. "Here it is. Happy Valentine's Day."

He nudged the book out his way with the end of his walking stick and stepped so close to her she had to tip her head to see his face. He felt for her free hand, bending her arm between them and raising her hand to his face. "Thank you, my beloved girl." He kissed her hand, one knuckle at a time, making slow, languid progress, his eyes on hers, as if daring her to try to look away at anything or anyone else.

"You are too sweet, Lucius," she said as he released her hand, breaking their eye contact, backing away.

"I can be," he said. "Until next time, darling." With a smirk and a wave, he left her there, in the Entrance Hall, alone.

She stood for a moment, her hand wiping away Lucius's kiss in the folds of her cloak, her eyes trailing up the staircase Lupin would have climbed to leave her. Perhaps she only imagined the flutter in her back, like wings about to unfurl themselves to fly her up and after him. Her feet were moving instead, following, climbing toward Gryffindor Tower.