Disclaimer: See previous chapters
A/N: I'm really running out of things to put here… I've already covered what the series is about and what this part of this covers. And since it's Lily and James' relationship as seen through the friendship of Lily and Remus there's only a few parts left: one which you'll see in this chapter and then there will be the final chapter. I'd offer virtual cookies to people who can guess what the last chapter will cover, but I doubt they'd taste any better than my real cooking.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the second-to-last chapter of this story. I'm also grateful for all the positive review's I've gotten, especially to the reviewers who have constantly given me feedback (you know who you are). I appreciate feedback of all sorts and would love to hear if there are any particular aspects of Lily and Remus' friendship you think I've missed and would like to see covered.
I'm not sure if James' parents are alive or not, so just assume they are and that's why they aren't here. I also admit that some parts of this a little clichéd, but it just wouldn't work any other way. Enjoy the wedding!
The Wedding (And reception)
"Calm down! And breathe for Merlin's sake. You'll be fine. You're marrying the man you love. There is nothing to worry about."
Lily was in a frenzy, not hearing a word he said. Her long, red hair flowed past her shoulders in gentle curls, and her brilliantly white dress, with delicate straps, ran down her frame. She lifted one of her hands towards her face, only to have Remus slap it away.
"No biting your nails!"
"I can't help it. I always bite my nails when I'm nervous."
Remus groaned. Lily, his sister in every sense of the word minus the blood relation, was terrified. Why of all days did she have to choose this one to panic?
"Where is Alice when you need her?" he asked himself.
Unfortunately Lily heard him.
"What if she doesn't show up? I won't have a maid of honor. What'll I do?"
"She'll be here, don't worry," Remus tried reassuring her again. Ever since they had arrived at the small, muggle church, Lily could not calm down.
Fortunately, Remus was sure Sirius was going through something just like this with James.
After the wedding, he would invite Sirius out for drinks and they could share horror stories of helping the couple through the day.
Looking at the clock, Remus was relieved to see that there was only an hour until the ceremony.
"Which side are you sitting on?" Lily asked.
"Which side of what?"
"The church. Are you sitting on the bride or groom's side?"
"Please don't tell me I have to choose."
"Okay, I won't. You'll just have to decide at some point. You know, if you were part of the ceremony, you wouldn't have to choose,"
Remus decided the glint in Lily's eyes was not a good sign. Although, it was probably a good thing she was in a better mood. But why did it have to be because she was teasing him?
"You and James decided on a small ceremony: one best man and one maid-of-honor."
"I know. But if we hadn't, I'll have you know that you could've been one of my bridesmaids."
Oh yeah, Lily was definitely feeling better. He should be used to this by now, but Lily's wacky sense of humor tended to arrive during odd situations.
"In traditional weddings, the bridesmaids tend to be women. Not men."
"But if we gave you a potion to grow your hair and put you in a dress, you'd make a very pretty girl."
"Thanks Lily. I feel so good about myself right now."
Lily smirked at him, "And we wouldn't want to burst your overly large ego now, would we?"
"I thought you decided I had no ego."
"You don't," she admitted, "You need to find one."
There was something off, Remus wasn't quite sure what it was, but something else was bothering Lily. They had already resolved the "James" issue, so what else was left?
Remus decided it would probably be best if he just asked her, "What else is bothering you?"
Startled, Lily turned away from him, "Nothing."
"Would that mean nothing as in something?"
"No. It means nothing as in nothing," she stressed.
Of all the times for her stubbornness to kick in. Why couldn't she choose to get mad and blurt it out?
The standoff was broken as Lily's mother, Violet, chose to burst in, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Is something wrong, mum?" Lily's voice squeaked, afraid something would ruin what should be the best of her life.
Violet sniffed, "I'm fine, dear. It's just… my baby's all grown up and getting married."
"I'm twenty-one, not two mother," Lily's shoulders relaxed. Everything would be fine.
"It's good to see you again, Remus,"
"You too Mrs. Evans,"
She smiled at him, "You're far too polite Remus. I'm sorry Petunia couldn't make it today. I'm sure she wanted to."
Wincing, Remus realized what was going on. Once again, Petunia had to make Lily miserable. First she put Lily down as they grew up, then she neglected to invite Lily to her wedding, and now she refused to be there for her on her own wedding.
"Yeah. I'm sure she did."
Violet, though a loving mother, refused to believe that her daughters could not get along and missed the pain and sarcasm in Lily's voice.
She blew her nose on a lacy handkerchief and gave Lily a teary kiss before heading to the sanctuary, "Your father will be here to walk you down the aisle in a little while," she added.
With a thin smile, Lily waved good bye, feeling sorry for that handkerchief: it would drown by the end of the day.
"You know, it's not fair for Petunia to miss the chaos of your wedding that she helped create."
"Remus, what are you talking about?" Lily asked wearily.
Proceeding with caution, Remus continued, "Well, if she hadn't forgotten to invite you to her wedding, you and James wouldn't have gotten together. Remember? You were upset, I found you and then James showed up and you two confessed your feelings,"
"You're right," she smirked, "I should send her a thank-you note. I'll even put a picture from the wedding on it."
"A magical picture?" Remus suggested.
"Naturally."
Perhaps it was cruel to suggest such a trick against Petunia, but she deserved it.
"When you told me, years ago, that you and Lily pranked her sister I didn't believe it. I can't believe you just proved me wrong! How could you destroy this perfect picture I had? You've destroyed the fragile balance in my mind! I don't know what to think, how am I supposed to be a supportive best man if I don't understand my best friend's future wife?" Sirius ranted.
"What are you doing here?" Lily's almost-famous eyebrow arch appeared.
"I need Remus."
Remus' brow joined Lily's, "What?"
"Wait a minute! Let me rephrase that, Prongs needs Remus to reassure him Lily doesn't have cold feet," he looked over at Lily, "You don't do you?"
"No Sirius. I wore socks all morning. My feet are perfectly warm."
"I'm sure Alice will be here soon," Remus reassured her, "you'll be fine."
"I know that Remus. And we both know if Alice doesn't show up, I have a back-up."
Remus hastily tugged Sirius out of the room Lily was preparing in, knowing Lily, she'd be all too willing to explain that to Sirius.
"What did she mean by that, Moony?"
"Nothing Padfoot. Absolutely nothing." He could tell Sirius didn't believe it, but he couldn't come up with a believable white-lie to tell him at the moment, "So, what's wrong with James?"
"He thinks Lily's gonna call the wedding off as soon as she reaches the alter,"
In some ways, the church was more complicated than Hogwarts: the walls didn't move and you actually had to know where you were going instead of taking a path and knowing you'll reach your destination eventually.
The room James was situated in was on the other side of the church. That morning, Sirius and Remus had spent an hour putting wards up preventing James from sneaking out to find Lily. He'd only managed to escape once, but Sirius managed to track him down just as he'd reached Lily's room. Lily poked her head out to find out what was going on. Luckily, Sirius had stunned James by this point and was carrying him over his shoulder, away from Lily.
Banging heralded their arrival: James was pounding on the door, demanding to be let out.
Sirius groaned, "I gave him a calming drought, but I guess it wore off."
"After you," Remus motioned towards the door.
Sirius glared and cautiously knocked, "If I come in, will you promise not to hurt anyone?"
A thud (probably James banging his head) was followed by his answer, "I promise. When do I get to see Lily?"
With a deep breath, Sirius opened the door, knocking James over. Remus stepped in behind him.
James looked up from the floor, "Hi Remus," he jumped to his feet, "Have you seen Lily? Is she okay?"
"She's perfectly fine," Remus reassured, "A little upset, but otherwise fine."
"Why is she upset? Did something happen?" James made a run for the door, only to find his path blocked by Sirius.
"Petunia tried to ruin her day."
"How'd she do that? She's not even here."
"Exactly."
James had met Petunia on a previous vacation, after he and Lily had graduated. The encounter had not been pleasant. Petunia and her husband, Vernon Dursley, had also been present at the dinner. Fortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Evans liked James and ignored the…incident. Lily and James enjoyed recounting the different shades of red Vernon turned when he learned Lily was not a criminal delinquent as Petunia had told him.
James' eyes lit up for a moment before dimming, "It's illegal to send a Howler to a muggle, isn't it."
"Unfortunately," Sirius answered. Because they were both aurors, Sirius and James were less likely to break laws than they had before. Of course, using their illegal Animagus forms once a month was the exception.
"Is Lily going to be all right?"
"She'll be fine. She was fondly remembering the moment you two got together when I left."
"I remember than night," James sighed, "do you remember how she told us we would get married three years after that?"
"Following your proposal on your one-year anniversary and two years of being engaged? Kind of," Sirius smirked.
"Well, Lily and I have been together three years as of today."
"Wait!" Remus interrupted, "You mean that even though Lily was joking when she said that, it ended up being the truth?"
"I know, isn't it romantic?"
"We've lost you Prongs," Sirius looked at Remus, "Our little Prongsy is getting married. His mind's been snatched by the sappiness monster. Of course, now we have the apartment to ourselves, Moony. What'll we do without Prongs' snores to wake us up?"
"You could buy an alarm clock," Remus suggested dryly.
Sirius frowned, "That would involve me being responsible."
"How long until it starts?" James blurted. He impatiently tapped his foot.
Sirius checked the clock, "It's ten minutes. I guess we should head down right about now."
"Sirius, remember that the maid-of-honor, Alice, is married, and just because you have similar functions does not mean you can flirt with her,"
"But Moony,"
"No. No mischief." James reinforced Remus' advice.
"Fine. I promise to behave during the ceremony."
With a sigh of relief, James thanked him.
"But the receptions fair game," Sirius said with a determined nod.
Remus was scared. There would be drinks at the reception. A drunken Sirius hell-bent on embarrassing James
As soon as the door opened, James was out. Sirius chased after him and Remus followed at a more sedate pace. Absently, he wondered where Peter was: Peter said he'd show up, but Remus hadn't seen him since.
By the time Remus arrived, James and Sirius were at the front of the church. The ceremony planned was essentially muggle, since some of Lily's relatives didn't know about magic, but the "pastor" for the ceremony was actually their old headmaster: Albus Dumbledore.
Remus settled into a bench near the front, behind Lily's parents, across the aisle from Peter, who looked more ragged than ever.
James' eyes shone brighter when he saw Lily. Gone were the tears of sadness from her eyes and a look of pure happiness shone from them. Remus watched his little sister walk down the aisle towards James; she flashed a brief smile at him, before her attention was drawn back to her soon-to-be-husband.
Lily and James' hands met when Lily reached the alter; nothing existed except for each other.
During the vows, Sirius fidgeted and sent Remus a pathetic look saying, "save me from the sappiness."
Remus shook his head slightly knowing the ceremony was almost over.
Shortly, Lily and James were kissing, and forgetting there were people in the room aside from themselves. Professor Dumbledore coughed and the pair separated, blushing.
Remus wasn't quite sure where they disappeared to; he'd promised James that he'd make sure Sirius and Peter made it to the reception in one piece.
The reception hall was only a block away, but he could never be sure what Sirius would do between the church and there.
Walking over was less chaotic than he'd expected; Sirius rambled about his "speech" and Peter wondered about the food they would serve.
Out of the guests, they were some of the first to arrive. Alice Longbottom, Lily's already-married, best friend was there, helping assemble the buffet.
Peter dashed towards the food and Sirius was right behind them. However, Alice was not about to let them get any food until the bride and groom arrived. They returned to Remus empty-handed.
After all the guests arrived, Lily and James entered and music began to play. James was reluctant to let go of Lily, even if it was traditional for the bride to dance with her father.
Lily managed to get away from James when he went to talk with Sirius.
"Dance with me,"
"I don't know, your husband might not like it," Remus teased.
"Doesn't matter. I want a dance with my brother,"
"If you insist,"
His sister laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Thank you,"
"What for?"
"Helping make this day. I got too focused on Petunia hurting me, and forgot about the good things. You reminded me,"
Why was it that Lily would share her feelings easily now, when he'd been trying to pry them out of her earlier? He'd never understand her, and he wished James the best of luck trying.
"May I cut in?" James finally finished with Sirius. Hopefully he'd been able to prevent Sirius' plot to embarrass the couple during the best man's speech: Sirius would not be allowed alcohol until after he gave his speech.
"Take good care of her, James. You hurt her, and I will hurt you."
Lily looked puzzled, "I thought you did the protective older brother speech years ago."
"He did," James looked at her, "and I intend to make sure he never has a reason to go through with any of the threats."
Remus joined Peter and Sirius in a corner of the room. Sirius was flirting with one of Lily's cousins who was on the other side of the dance floor.
"Isn't it sickening how in love they are?" Sirius complained.
"Yeah," Peter jumped at the chance to agree with Sirius, "I can't believe they finally got together."
Simultaneously, Sirius and Remus shot Peter strange looks, "They got together three years ago," Sirius said candidly.
"I know that," Peter explained, "I just didn't think it would actually last."
"Me either. Here we are and out best friend is lost to us, and we're celebrating."
"James isn't lost, Sirius. He's just married."
"To Evans."
"Potter," James interrupted, Lily right behind him.
"Come on," she gestured towards the tables, "unless you plan on not eating."
Peter raced to the table closest to the buffet. Remus and Sirius were dragged, by Lily and James respectively, to the table reserved for the wedding party and family.
After food was served, Sirius stood, knocking a fork against his glass, "Can everyone hear me?"
Pityingly, Remus looked at James and Lily. Given Sirius' descriptions of the speech, he knew they were about to be embarrassed.
"I know why you're all here," Sirius began, "and it's because of my best friend James and the love of his life, Lily. But what must of you don't know is how they ended up together."
James whispered something to Lily, who blushed.
"James met Lily their first day at Hogwarts. He stole her book and she wanted to kill him. Well, maybe not kill, but I could tell she wanted to kill him."
Lily's face flushed; Sirius would mention the times she'd gotten mad at James.
"In truth, she had every right to. As we got older and realized girls were not the plague, James fell for Lily. Lily, however was not in love with him…yet. James tried everything he could to get her attention, some of the better ideas came from me, but nothing worked. Eventually we came up with a foolproof plan: make sure Lily noticed him, by being everywhere she was."
James winced. Stalking Lily was definitely not one of the high points of their relationship.
"And then, seventh year comes and James is acting all responsible. James and I were wandering and we came across Lily and Remus. All of a sudden, they're staring into each other's eyes and being sickeningly sweet."
This time, the pair shared a secret smile, because only they knew that part of the story.
"No relationship can be perfect. I would need four hands to count the number of times Lily and James have gotten into a screaming match. Though, to be fair, most of these times were when James was a prat and Lily hated him. Personally, I think she disliked him because she was already in love."
Remus nearly laughed, sometimes, he agreed with that sentiment.
"Anyways, now they're still together after three years and we wish them the best of luck. To James and Lily!" He raised his glass.
"To James and Lily," the room echoed.
"And if anyone wants to hear the stories they don't want me to tell, you know where to find me," Sirius concluded.
"Sirius," James hissed and pulled Sirius down in his seat, "I am going to kill you."
"You wouldn't kill your best friend, would you?"
"I don't know. Lily, would I?"
"He deserves it, but he did say some nice things."
"He's just jealous he'll never get married," Remus joined the teasing.
"That's so not true," Sirius defended himself, "I will always be a free man."
"If you were in a steady relationship, you might get slapped less,"
"But it wouldn't be fair to all the women who wouldn't get to be with me,"
Ironically enough, James said, "You are so full of yourself,"
"Isn't that what Lily used to tell you?" Remus asked.
The couple leaned close together, reminiscing on the days long gone. Thankful that the anger and tension between the two was long gone.
Remus watched Lily and James, grateful that his sister had someone to look after her. James loved her above all else, and Remus knew he would make her happy.
A/N: Done! I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written, I kept trying to end it but it wanted to keep going. There's one more chapter left, and I'm going to try keeping it short. I know this is listed as angst/romance, so I hope I managed to get a little sadness in, but not too much.