Chapter 5 – The Wedding

23rd December 1978

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" James asked.

He was dressed in a grey muggle suit and smart shoes, and was tugging at the striped tie around his neck uncomfortably.

"I don't want things to be awkward at the wedding," Lily hissed back, "we can clear the air tonight."

They pushed their way through the large glass door of the restaurant, finding themselves immediately assaulted by an array of Christmas decorations, from a large tree in the centre of the room to garlands of tinsel hanging from the ceilings.

"Okay," James said, "I just think that -

"Hush," Lily told him, stopping in her tracks and pointing to a table in the corner of the small dining room. "There they are. "

Petunia Dursley had spotted her sister at almost the exact moment that Lily gestured to their table. Dressed in a long black dress with a white shawl that hung around her shoulders, her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail that made her severe cheekbones stand out against her face. She rose as Lily and James approached, sparing a moment to regard James with suspicion before pulling her sister into an awkward embrace. "How are you?" she asked, in an almost business-like fashion, as James and Vernon shook hands.

"Fine, fine," Lily said, sitting down beside her sister. "Excited, with the wedding only in two days! We were so glad that you could make it tonight, really."

"Of course," Petunia said, though her gaze wavered uncertainly. "You're my sister."

Lily smiled, feeling some of the nerves that had been stirring in her stomach all day settle. Petunia was right - they were family. She wanted them to get along.

A waitress came and took their orders, and they made jolted small talk while she fetched their drinks. Lily thought longingly back to the time when she and Petunia had talked about everything, before there was so much tension between them.

"So how's..." Petunia hesitated, shooting a look at Vernon, as she tried to think of a topic that was unrelated to magic. He knew nothing about the wizarding world, and she intended to keep it that way. "How's work?" she finally asked.

"It's good," Lily replied. "Tiring, and I'm always on my feet, but I love it. Healing - I mean, being a nurse - is worth the hard work."

"Nursing is a good job for a woman," Vernon said approvingly. "Caring jobs always are. But you'll be giving up your work when you have children, of course?"

Beside him, James choked on his drink.

"It's a bit early to be thinking about children," Lily said hurriedly, holding back her irritation. She would not ruin this dinner, she just wouldn't.

They managed to stay on safe ground for a while, talking about Lily and James' new flat, Vernon's job and each of their plans for Christmas day. But just as they were digging into their meals, after telling them in excruciating detail about his new car, Vernon asked James what kind of car he drove.

"Er," James said, "Lily's parents gave her a car when she moved out."

"But you have one of your own, surely?"

"Surely," James agreed. He was starting to look harried, chasing peas around his plate as he tried to think.

"What's the make and model?"

"It's a... Comet 290." This, of course, was the model of his broomstick.

Vernon was frowning at him. "I've never heard of it. Some foreign company, is it?"

"No, completely British." Lily held back a sigh as James ploughed ahead. "It's the fastest Comet model yet. Great acceleration, and the steering is much smoother than the 260."

"And you're still trying to work as a magician, are you?" Vernon sneered. "Living on unemployment benefits, I assume. It's no way for a man to support his family, if you ask me."

"Vernon-" Petunia began, but Lily interrupted.

"James is actually training to be a - a police officer," Lily said, forcing a smile. "So there's no need to worry about us not having enough money. We're doing just fine."

"Yeah, and my parents have a small fortune of Galleons in Gringott's," James added, entirely unhelpfully.

"Galleons?" Vernon repeated incredulously, "Comets?" He slammed down his fork, which clattered noisily to the ground, drawing the attention of the other tables around them. "Are you trying to be funny?" He asked James. "To make me look like a fool? I came here because Petunia asked me to - because she wanted to try again with a sister who, clearly," he regarded Lily with disapproval, "has bad taste if she's marrying you. I won't sit here and be made fun of!" He punctuated the end of his sentence by pushing away his, mostly empty, plate.

"I didn't mean -" James started, but Lily held up a hand to quiet him.

"Bad taste?" she demanded. "What gives you the right to insult either of us that way? Maybe you don't like him, or me for that matter; Petunia is my family, not you. I don't care what you think, but the fact that you're arrogant enough to sit here and insult us is astounding."

"Lily!" Petunia gasped.

"No," Lily said shaking her head. "I want us to know each other, Tunie, I do. But I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not."

"He's my husband," Petunia told her, putting down her wine glass so hard that Lily was surprised it didn't break. "Maybe you think my life it boring compared to -" she threw up her hands, "whatever it is you get up to with him, but it's my life. And I don't -" she looked from Lily, across to James who was merely staring at her. "I'm sorry," she said, standing up. "I thought I could do this, but I can't. I just - can't."

"Well said Petunia," Vernon said gruffly. He too was on his feet, and had started pulling on his coat.

"Have a nice wedding," Petunia said flatly, before hurriedly grabbing her own jacket and leading the way out of the restaurant, Vernon muttering behind her about how she'd done the right thing.

Lily stared after them, feeling the catch in her throat as the tears started to come.

James was beside her in second, his arms around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," he said urgently. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"It's not your fault," Lily managed to say, wiping her eyes furiously against the sleeve of her top. "I guess we're just too different now."

24th December 1978

Getting married on Christmas Eve was the best idea James had ever had. The church was decorated with holly and fairy lights, everything white and green – all muggle decorations, since many of Lily's guests didn't know about magic – and there was a light frost coating the roof. It was all perfect, like something out of a fairy tale.

James was with his parents, listening to the bustle of the church filling up with his and Lily's friends and family.

"You look very handsome," his dad said, straightening James' bow tie. He was in black dress robes with just a hint of green along the lining.

"I'm so proud of you." His mum wiped away the tears brimming in her eyes, careful not to smudge her make up.

"Thank you," James said, squeezing her hand. He could barely contain his happiness, beaming at both of them. "I can't believe this is really happening."

"It's a wonderful day for both of you," his dad replied. He took his wife's hand and said, "Our wedding day was one of the best days of my life."

"This is one of the most stressful days of mine," Sirius said, slipping into the room and shutting the door behind him. "Mary and I were just accosted by Lily's great uncle, who thought we were a cute couple." He pulled a face.

"Well, there was that one time that -

"Everyone's ready now though," Sirius said, cutting him off. "It's almost time."

James felt a thrill of excitement run through him.

"We'll leave you to it, then," his mum said. She hugged James, and then hugged Sirius for good measure. "You've got the rings?" she checked.

"Yep, right here." Sirius tapped his pocket.

James' dad hugged the two of them as well and wished James luck, before he and his wife left to find their seats.

"Nervous?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, a bit, but in a good way. It's like - like the feeling you get before a Quidditch match, only ten times better. The anticipation before that big rush of excitement."

"Only you would compare your wedding to Quidditch." Sirius grinned at him. "Now are you ready to do this?"

"I've never been more ready for anything."

"Lily, you look amazing."

Lily was standing in front of a full length mirror, Mary by her side clutching a bouquet of roses. Her dress was beautiful - the result of a five hour shopping trip with Mary and her mother. It reached all the way down to her ankles, where her silver heels were barely visible in front of the short, lace train that pooled around her feet. The neckline of her dress scooped downward so that Lily's necklace - a single pearl that had belonged to her grandmother, sat perfectly against her chest. Watching her reflection, Lily lifted up an arm experimentally, and grinned when the fabric of her long, lace sleeves floated downwards in a ripple of thin material.

"Thanks," she laughed nervously, turning to Mary. "So do you."

"It doesn't matter how I look," Mary said sternly, picking up a single silver pin from the table beside them. "This day is all about you and James." She slid the clip into Lily's hair, pushing back the short veil so that it fell neatly in a line down Lily's back. "I bet if I told you in 5th year that you'd be marrying Potter you'd have wanted to slap me."

"Quite possibly," Lily laughed. "I definitely wouldn't have believed you, that's for sure."

"Lily!"

The door opened, and Lily turned to see her mother filling the doorway, her arms open as she stepped into the room, her face a picture of delight. "Look at you," she said, stopping just short of Lily, unsure whether to touch her and risk creasing her dress.

Lily though, was quick to embrace her mother. "I know," she said breathlessly, "this is all so surreal."

"I'll let you all have a moment," Mary said as Lily released her mum. "Check how things are going out there."

"You make a beautiful bride, Lily" her father told her as Mary left. "I'm so glad that I can be here with you today."

The question of whether or not her father would be able to attend the ceremony had been a real one - with his health becoming worse and him sometimes struggling to remember simple things. She was glad that today seemed to be one of his better days, despite the worried look that her mum shot him when his stare briefly became vacant.

"Roger," her mum prompted. "Are you ready to walk Lily down the aisle?"

"Aisle?" he asked, glancing around, then he caught sight of Lily again, and his smile was instantly back. "Oh, of course! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Lily could feel her emotions starting to get the better of her, looking at her parents' proud, smiling faces. She wondering for a second if Petunia regretted her decision to stay away but was spared dwelling too much on her sister's absence by Mary's reappearance.

"It's time!" she said, excitement so obvious that she could barely stand still.

"Oh goodness!" her mum exclaimed, "I'd better go and sit down."

She rushed out, and on queue, Lily heard the swell of an organ start to play from inside the nave. Immediately, her heart started to beat faster, and a small swell of panic began to rise inside her. She wanted to marry James, of course. She loved James, but the weight of what this meant - that she was choosing to spend the rest of her life with him, suddenly felt overwhelming.

Then her father hooked his arm through hers.

"Deep breaths," he said quietly. "You're going to be just fine."

"Yeah," Lily agreed, laughing, her nerves dissipating almost as quickly as they had come. "Thanks dad."

They stepped out of the room together, Lily's father by her side and Mary following close behind.

James was standing at the front of the church, rubbing his hands together nervously while Sirius watched him with a curious expression. Remus and Peter had come over briefly to wish him luck and were now sitting on the front row beside James' parents.

The last person to enter was Lily's mum, who gave a quick nod to the vicar to say that they were ready and whispered to James, "She looks gorgeous!" on her way to her seat.

The organ began to play and James' heart leapt. It was exactly like the start of a match, kicking off from the ground and soaring into the air, only so much better.

The doors opened and Lily stepped through, arm in arm with her father. James turned towards her, and the smile on his face could have lit up the room. He thought every day that Lily was beautiful, but now, seeing her in her wedding dress, that felt like an understatement. She was the most amazing woman he'd ever known.

It didn't take long for Lily to make her way towards him, but he cherished every second. When she reached the front, her father kissed her on the cheek and nodded to James before taking his seat next to his wife.

And just like that, it was time. They stood facing each other, neither of them able to stop smiling. As the vicar spoke and they said their vows, James didn't take his eyes off Lily for a single moment. It felt like all those years at Hogwarts had been leading up to this, like he'd been waiting his whole life to say those two words:

"I do."

By the time it was his turn to give his speech, Sirius had already drunk two glasses of wine. He wasn't drunk, but had been sat beside Mary - since both Remus, and her girlfriend, April - were at another table with Peter, and after the relief of getting their friends through the day, both of them had felt they deserved a chance to relax. It was nice, to whisper quietly to her while James and Lily's father gave their speeches. Sirius missed her company, he realised, having barely seen any of his friends from the quidditch team since leaving school.

He had been laughing at a joke Mary had told him when a muggle device - something called a microphone - was pressed into his hands, and a round of applause urged him to his feet.

Sirius had been working on the speech for weeks, practically since the day James had asked him to be his best man. At first, he'd thought it would be easy, but he'd soon realised that it was difficult to put into words exactly what he wanted to say - to make a speech that Remus insisted should be both funny and heartful, and, most importantly, not make any of them sound like completely idiots.

"Right then," he said, as their friends quietened down. "What a day. I'm sure we can all agree that James and Lily make a staggeringly amazing couple. Even though it seemed pretty unlikely for a few, well, years that Lily would agree to go out with him at all, never mind marry him."

He turned to smile at Lily, who, like her husband, was shaking her head at him. When their eyes met, she shrugging innocently at his comment.

"The first time I remember James mentioning Lily was in our first year at school," Sirius reflected. They'd all been different people then, him in particular, and the idea of being a Gryffindor at all had still been something that filled him with dread. "It was our second week at school. We'd just come out of class and we see this girl in the corridor arguing with a teacher who was trying to give her a detention for shoving some fourth year. But they'd been bullying this younger kid, and Lily wasn't having that. This eleven year old girl just demanding to know why the teacher didn't want her to stand up to people. I didn't really think much of it before, we all just thought it was funny that even at eleven, Lily had the guts to lay in to a teacher like that - it really should have told us all we needed to know about the kind of person she'd become. James turned to me that day and he said, 'that girl's crazy,' which of course, meant he was absolutely besotted by her.

"We wouldn't find out until much later that as well as being ballsy as hell, Lily's also a girl who knows how to have a good laugh. For a long time James, and I say this with love," he glanced at his friend, who raised an eyebrow, "was too much of an idiot for Lily to consider dating, but we've all done a lot of growing up recently, and I know we're all glad that in the end, they worked out. I mean, they're kind of gross to be in a room with, but in a good way."

There was laughter from the people in the room, particularly from their friends who had been at Hogwarts, and Sirius caught Remus' eye, watching him with a smile from a nearby table.

"In all seriousness," he said, "and we all know I can't be anything else."

This joke earned quiet a few groans, but Sirius pressed on.

"I know James will make an excellent husband, because despite being an idiot half of the time, he's the best family I've ever had. Before I met James and his parents, I didn't know what a real family was supposed to be. Now I do, and that's thanks to him. James," he said, looking at his friend through eyes that were becoming slightly misty with emotion, "you're the best person I know, and I couldn't be prouder to call you a brother. I know Lily makes you happier than I've ever known you - even when we won the Quidditch cup in sixth year, which is saying something." He paused. "I know that with the two of you together, you can't fail to make a family that's just as full of all the love and courage that you both have plenty of."

He shook his head, laughing at himself. "And with that, I suggest everyone enjoys another glass or two of wine. I know I will!"

He waved slightly awkwardly at the crowd, who broke out into a thunderous round of applause as he started to return to his seat, but before he could sit down James caught up to him.

"Mate," he said, voice low with emotion. "You're ridiculous." He pulled Sirius into a tight hug.

Laughing breathlessly against James' shoulder, Sirius grinned and said, "well, I'm not your best man for nothing."

Peter had been put in charge of photography. He'd taken a handful of photos of the wedding ceremony, of Lily walking down the aisle, of them standing together before the vicar, of their kiss. He thought they were pretty good, if he said so himself. And as the reception started, he'd insisted they take some more photos before everyone's clothes got rumpled from dancing and they spilt food from the huge buffet on themselves - James' hair was already sticking up in all directions.

"Sirius and Mary, you should be in this one," he called, having done several of the bride and groom with their parents. Everyone was talking and joking as they arranged themselves, and Sirius was laughing as the picture was taken.

"Peter, Remus, you've got to be in one!" James insisted. Sirius dragged Remus over, and Mr Potter took the camera from Peter. And there they stood, the four of them and Lily, all smiling at the camera. Peter wondered whether they would ever take another picture of them like that - all of them together, happy. With the war coming, and with everything changing, he wasn't so sure.

Once they'd taken one more photo of James and Lily drinking from tall champagne flutes, James shouted over to the band, who started playing a soft, slow melody. Everyone cleared out of the way as James and Lily took to the floor for their first dance, to a chorus of whoops and wolf whistles. It wasn't long until other couples joined them: Marlene Mckinnon and Gideon Prewitt whom Peter had heard were dating, Mary and April whom he'd met at dinner, and James' and Lily's parents.

There weren't a huge amount of guests, but their families, school friends and new friends from the Order added up, and the room was quite full. Peter found himself some space in the corner and went back to taking photos. Nearby, he could hear Benjy Fenwick and Fabian Prewitt talking; he took of shot of Fabian with his arm on Benjy's shoulder, and wondered whether they were flirting, but he didn't know either of them well enough to tell.

It was a surprise when Dorcas Meadowes came over to him; they'd met a few times at the Order meetings they'd all been attending recently, but she was a skilled dueller, practically a legend, and they'd never properly spoken.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked bluntly. "It doesn't seem fair for you to be all alone over here."

"I - um - but the camera - "

"I'm sure they don't need you to document every single moment." She held out a hand. "Come on, have a little fun. You look too gloomy for a wedding!"

Peter took her hand and soon they were whirling around with the other pairs, Peter getting lost in the music despite his uncertainty.

Sirius and Remus watched from a small table nearby as Dorcas and Peter danced together, waving their hands and swinging their hips so that, despite Sirius knowing that Peter had been distracted with taking photographs all day, it seemed like they'd had a few too many butterbeers.

"That's unexpected," Sirius commented. Nearby, Professor McGonagall was dancing with Slughorn, both of them bobbing in time to the muggle music that Sirius very much doubted they knew.

"Was Slughorn even invited?" Remus asked, watching in bewilderment.

"As far as I know he just found out about it and assumed he was," Sirius laughed. "No one wanted to argue with him."

Remus smiled and shook his head, "I'm still traumatised by him suggesting me and Lily make use of the common room while you were all away for Christmas."

"Don't remind me," Sirius said, "obviously you only wanted to make use of the common room with me."

"Obviously," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

They were quiet for a few minutes, watching the couples dance around them. James and Lily were still spinning each other around in a largely uncoordinated manner, laughing every other minute. James' parents on the other hand had stopped dancing, and Mrs Potter was sat at a table, rubbing her feet while her husband got them drinks.

"Do you want to dance?" Sirius asked abruptly, "I've been wanting to ask you but - James' parents are here and I don't know if Lily's muggle relatives will have a problem with it but – it's not right to not ask you, for all I know you could be a skilled dancer."

"I am, clearly," Remus told him. "I doubt any of Lily's relatives are stupid enough to punch the best man," he reasoned, but cast a worried eye over to James' parents, who were now sipping champagne. "Are you sure you don't mind them seeing?"

"I don't know," Sirius said. He reached across the table to take Remus' hand, linking their fingers together. "I do care, but I don't want to, if that makes any sense. Maybe it's about time they knew I'm probably not going to settle down and marry some girl."

"Probably?" Remus teased.

"Maybe one day you'll leave me to run off and join the circus or something," Sirius smirked.

"Or meet someone handsomer who wants to whisk me away to live in luxury in Paris."

"Handsomer? Than me?"

"More modest then."

Sirius grinned. "Come on," he said, squeezing Remus' hand. "Let's go and talk to them."

Remus seemed rather alarmed by this idea, but Sirius couldn't quite make out his complaints over the music. They crossed the room to James' parents hand in hand, Sirius' feet carrying him forward despite the growing urge to turn around the closer they got. By the time they reached their table, Sirius was bouncing on his heels, pangs of fear making him feel edgy.

"Hey," Sirius said loudly.

Fleamont and Euphemia turned around, looking from Sirius and Remus down to their linked hands.

"Hello dear," James' mum smiled. "Enjoying the wedding?"

"Yes," Sirius said, nodding a little frantically. "I was thinking of going to dance."

"Oh?"

"With Remus," Sirius clarified. "Because he's my boyfriend."

Remus nodded certainly beside him, squeezing Sirius' hand reassuringly.

"Oh Sirius," Mrs Potter said, shaking her head at him fondly. "Did you really think we didn't know?"

"Um," Sirius said, letting go of Remus in confusion. "You did?"

"You may have noticed that your brother has a big mouth," she laughed. "He accidentally let it slip months ago."

"Oh," Sirius said, nudging Remus, who was laughing quietly, in the side. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I knew you'd tell us when you were ready," she shrugged. "Besides, it took Fleamont here a little longer to work it out."

"Moving into a one bedroom flat was a bit of a giveaway though, son," Fleamont added, raising an eyebrow at Sirius. "Even I'm not that daft."

"I did tell him that," Remus said helpfully.

"And... you're alright with it?" Sirius asked, gesturing to Remus. "Us?"

"We've told you before Sirius," Fleamont said firmly, "there isn't anything you or James could do that would make us think any less of you. We're your family."

"Right," Sirius said. His emotions had settled somewhat since the ceremony, but now they were catching up with him again. "Good."

"Off you go then," Mrs Potter smiled at him, "don't keep that boy of yours waiting."

Sirius glanced at Remus to see that he was smiling expectantly, clearly amused by Mrs Potter's comment. "That would be rude of you," he laughed, holding out a hand for Sirius to take.

"Of course," he agreed, and led Remus a few feet away, to where the other couples were dancing. Although Sirius had been taught to dance when he was very young, he'd never danced with another man before. It set his nerves on edge to know that people were watching them. Not the same kind of nerves he'd had when approaching the Potters, but a heightened awareness of where Remus was touching him, and how close together their bodies were pressed. Remus was wearing a waistcoat, his suit jacket long forgotton on the back of a chair, and Sirius could feel the outline of the material through his own clothes, and could feel quickness of his boyfriend's breath against his neck.

He and Remus had been dating for almost a year now, and although they had been intimate plenty of times, something about dancing together in front of so many other people, some of whom they knew, and some of whom were complete strangers, was a completely new, and wonderful feeling.

"I love you," he told Remus certainly, circling his waist with his hands and bringing them both to a stop, "you know that, right?"

"Yeah," Remus said, looking at him in amusement. "The wedding has turned you into a soppy git," he said, leaning forward to kiss Sirius softly, "I love you too, idiot."

Sirius grinned and started to kiss him back, but was interrupted by someone knocking into his side, making him lose his balance.

He momentarily panicked, but opened his eyes to see James and Lily dancing right behind them.

"Oi," James said, "this is our wedding, not yours you know."

"Jealous of the more attractive couple, Prongs?"

"Impossible," Lily argued, "we're adorable."

"Whatever Potters."

James winked at him, and the two of them were soon swept away by the crowd, showing no sign of tiring.

"I thought they hated dancing," Remus shouted over the music, which had grown loud and fast.

"I think they just like clinging onto each other at every given opportunity," Sirius laughed. "Come on, let's see if we can out do them. I know some excellent dance moves."

"We'll see about that," Remus replied sarcastically, but he was happy to join in as Sirius started to jump up and down in time to the beat of the music.

Towards the end of the night, Lily sat down to rest her aching feet, watching Sirius dance with Mrs Potter and James pluck up the courage to ask Professor McGonagall to dance. After a few minutes, Remus came over and held out his hand.

"Can I have a dance with the bride?"

"Sure. I've barely seen you all night."

Remus pulled her to her feet and span her around as a new song began.

"So how's it feel - being married?" he asked.

"Weird," she laughed. "It hasn't quite sunk in yet that I'm James' wife."

"Hard to believe you hated him three years ago."

"That's what Mary said," Lily replied. She stepped out the way as Alice and Frank almost bashed into them, dancing rather exuberantly. She thought they might have had quite a few drinks. "I didn't hate him, though. He was annoying and arrogant and I was furious with him a lot of the time, but I never hated him. I never thought he was a bad person."

"I don't think he'd have believed in fifth year that you'd go on a date with him, let alone marry him. Remember when he came back after Christmas and thought we'd been sleeping together?"

Lily laughed. "I'd forgotten about that. He looked so horrified."

"And then in sixth year you went to -"

"- the Slug Club. We didn't even get through one date -"

"- because he punched Snape," Remus finished.

Lily's smile wavered. "I've been thinking about Severus, him not being here - not that I want him to be, I don't want anything to do with him now, but we were friends for so long that it's weird to not even invite him to my wedding. And with Petunia not coming either, it's - I don't know. It's like I keep losing people."

"I'm sorry," Remus said gently. They had stopped dancing now. "I wish you could have nothing but happiness today."

"I am happy," Lily said firmly. "I really am. Today has been - it's like a dream. And I know I have so much to look forward to with James, living our whole lives together. I won't let anything spoil this day."

"Lily?" It was Mary. "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah - I'll see you later, Remus."

She followed Mary over to the side of the room, which was mostly empty.

"Is everything okay?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. Well, sort of. I know I should have told you this ages ago, but I didn't want to ruin the wedding - I was going to wait until tomorrow but - maybe it's the wine talking - I just need you to know. I'm leaving after New Year."

"Leaving? What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to Spain," Mary said. "To live with April, near where her family are."

"What?" Lily asked. She didn't know what she'd expected Mary to say, but it wasn't this. "But - why?"

"It's not safe here, Lily," Mary said, her voice pained. "Not for muggleborns. People are dying and going missing. I got attacked at Hogwarts which is meant to be the safest place of all, and I'm scared all the time that it'll happen again. I can't live my life being afraid all the time."

"But - but we can change things! That's what the Order of the Phoenix is about. We can fight back, make it safe again." Lily could hear the edge to her voice, the panic that came with the idea of losing someone else she loved. Mary, who had been her best friend ever since they'd been partnered together in first year potions.

"And how many people are going to die in the process?" Mary asked. "I can't take that risk, especially when it would put April in danger because she's a muggle."

"But..."

"You could come with me," Mary suggested. "I hate the idea of leaving you, and you and James, you don't have to stay here. Being in the Order is dangerous, Lily - I don't want you to get hurt. "

Lily looked at her friend - she'd taken her hair down from the complicated style is had been in for the ceramony, and had her girlfriend's coat wrapped around her shoulders to ward of the cold, December weather. It was Christmas eve, and Lily wanted nothing more than to tell Mary that they could all stay together, but she could tell that Mary didn't really expect her to go with her.

"I can't go, you know that. I have to fight for what I believe in."

Mary sighed. "I know. You're too brave for your own good. You're more of a Gryffindor than I am."

Lily just shook her head. "You know that's not true. You have to do what's right for you."

"Yeah," Mary nodded, blinking away her tears. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

"It's okay, I understand." Lily hugged her fiercely. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Mary said, pulling away. They were both crying, and they laughed at themselves.

"I hope you'll be happy - with April. When I spoke to her earlier she seemed really sweet."

"She is. And I know you'll be happy too."

Lily was wiping away her tears when James came over. He'd had several drinks and hadn't stopped grinning all night.

"Hey, you. Are you alright?" he asked, taking her hand.

Lily almost told him, but their day had been so great - she didn't want to spoil that when she could have a few more hours of happiness before thinking about what Mary had told her.

"Everything's perfect," she said, knowing that when she looked at James, she really did mean it. "Ready for another dance?"

"Lily, I could dance with you forever."

She smiled up at him, laughing as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he momentarily lifted her from the ground, spinning her around wildly.

There was a smattering of amused applause from their nearby friends and family, and Lily felt her heart swell. As long as she was in James' arms, she thought, she really could believe that everything would be okay.