James woke early the next morning. The room was still dark and it took a moment for him to realize he was in an unfamiliar hotel room and not his own bed in Gryffindor tower. He could feel Lily's steady breathing, warm on his chest and ran a hand down her hair. He had known Lily and her sister hadn't got along but Lily's vague references and half finished stories had made him think it wasn't anything beyond normal sibling rivalry. Not that he knew much about that either, the closest thing he had to a brother was Sirius but they hadn't grown up together, they didn't have that kind of history.

He felt Lily stir beside him, her eyes were still puffy and she she looked smaller, more subdued than normal. He placed a kiss on her lips and stroked her chin.

"Morning," she said, her voice still thick with sleep.

"Hey, he said, "How are you feeling?"

"Rotten, bet I look disgusting."

"You look fine," James replied, figuring a little white lie was needed about now.

"God, I'm starving, Lily said, getting out of bed and stretching. James watched as his t-shirt lifted up past the top of her knickers, revealing an inch of soft, pale skin. "We should find some breakfast," she continued. "Not here though, I don't...I don't think I ought to hang around this morning.

"Whatever you want," James said, following Lily's example and jumping out of bed.

The two dressed quickly and headed out of the hotel hand in hand, eventually finding a small cafe to eat in. They both ordered and settled in to wait for their food.

"How, um, how are you feeling?" James asked, tentatively.

"Alright, It's just a mess, you know? I didn't...I didn't mean to cause a scene. It is her day still..." Lily trailed off and James silently sipped his tea. He had no idea what to say, it did seem a bit of a mess and privately he thought that Lily hadn't handled the whole situation that well, he didn't even really understand why she needed to attend Petunia's wedding at all if he was being honest. Of course, even James had enough sense not to bring up his opinions and was thankful to see the food coming as it was a welcome distraction.

After they had eaten they returned to the hotel to find Lily's Mum. They travelled up the elevator and knocked on Lily's parents' door and were welcomed by a harried looking women who looked so relieved to see the two of them.

"Lily, oh thank goodness, I've been looking all over for you two!"

"Sorry, we went out to -"

"Yes, yes but you're back now and I need your help. No one organized delivery for the cake so it's still at the bakery, Petunia asked me to drive back and get it but, well, it will take at least two hours and the band's just called to say they're missing their guitarist so we need to find a replacement and well, I was wondering if you could do your appearing thing and collect it?"

"You mean apparate?" Lily asked, hesitantly. "You really think Pet would be okay with that?"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her, I've told her I've sent your father but he's actually sorting out the catering."

"Right, okay," Lily said, "Yea, yea we can do that, anything else you need from home?"

"No, no that should be it," Mrs. Evans said, scanning her rather long list. "Oh, but Lily dear don't, don't feel as if you need to rush back. Petunia told me about your little argument and well, it's best not to upset her, not on her wedding day. Just be back in time for the ceremony, alright?"

Lily nodded, hugged her mother and left their room, James following quickly behind.

"So Cokeworth, I guess," James could see how upset Lily was and moved towards her but she shook him off and instead masked her sadness with an almost manic smile.

"Come on, we can apparate from inside this store cupboard," Lily said, grabbing James rather forcefully on the forearm and dragging him inside.

"You know, I've spent a fair amount of my life imagining you dragging me into an empty broom cupboard, Evans," James said, in hopes of easing the tension slightly. "But it wasn't exactly under these circumstances."

A ghost of a laugh appeared on Lily's face, causing James to feel hopeful and slightly less useless.

"Yea, well, remind me to schedule us for rounds together we we're back, make up for this ruined weekend," Lily said, taking his hand.

"I'm holding you to that," said James, seconds before they disappeared from the dusty cupboard and into a deserted alleyway behind a chip shop.

To James, Cokeworth looked like of the most miserable places in the world. The rows of terraced houses and walls covered with graffiti depressed him, as did the thick smoke from the nearby factories and the footpaths covered in empty beer cans and cider bottles. He couldn't help but comparing it to his parents house in Godric's Hollow, surrounded by lush grass and other equally grand houses.

"Right, the bakery's over there. But knowing Petunia it'll be some gaudy thing that's three feet high and well..I think Mum's right about staying away until the ceremony so maybe we wait a bit to pick it up? It's Pet's day, you know?"

"Yea, alright. What's there to do around here?" James asked, glancing around the street.

"Erm, not much but it's better than all that wedding guff at the hotel, isn't it?"

James forced a smile, took Lily's hand and let her lead them away while he become lost in his own thoughts. He had been in love with Lily since he was 15 but actually dating her was completely different from what he had expected. Sure, he got to make her laugh and hold her hand and the sex was pretty bloody amazing but, if he was being perfectly honest he had no idea how to actually be a good boyfriend. He'd dated other girls over the years but he'd never stuck around long enough for it to mean anything and he was never interested enough to actually want to help them with their problems. Lily though was different, it hurt him to see her upset and while he was desperate to make her feel better but he was so unsure as to how he could actually manage it.

Without James realising they had arrived at a small park and Lily was pulling him over to what looked like a seat on two chains.

"Come here, Potter! I wanna show you something!" She had run off towards them and sat down, beginning to pump her legs so she moved back and forward.

"It's a swing, wizards don't have these, do they?" Lily was giggling at his confused expression as she flew higher and higher up.

"No, I don't get it, Evans. What's it for?"

"It's for little kids! Here, jump on and sort of bend your legs back and forth to start moving, it's fun!"

James hopped on, grabbed the two chains and began to wave his legs, unable to make himself move.

"No, look, you've got to sort of thrust yourself forward, see?" She demonstrated the movement and was soon flying past James as his legs flailed inches above the ground, giggling like a child, her eyes bright.

"You're saying muggles do this for fun?" James asked, a petulant note in his voice. He wasn't used to not being able to do something.

"Yea, little kids, wait, watch this!" Lily swung up so far she was almost vertical with the top bar and jumped off, floating down and landing with barely a thump. James stared, as a quidditch player he was well aware what of what it looked like when someone fell and even from that relatively short distance he knew it was never that graceful.

"I learned that when I was younger, before I got my letter on anything," Lily said, seeing the confused look on James's face.

"That's bloody brilliant, all that time I wasted on a broom when I could have just hopped on your back!" James laughed and pulled Lily closer for a kiss, his mouth moving slowly across hers, relishing the feeling of her lips on his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and could feel her melting into him, the tension fading away from her body. His hands slipped up towards her hair and he pulled her closer in order to feel her whole body flush against his.

Eventually they broke apart for air and James rested his forehead on Lily's, she smiled and ran a hand through his hair, the soft caress sending his head spinning. This girl was like a drug.

"I love you," Lily whispered softly, her eyes boring into him with more emotion than he had ever seen.

"Love you too, so much, Lily." He pulled her into a hug, his fingers playing with the red curls on her back.

"I should have warned you," Lily said, as she disentangled herself from James. I mean, I knew it'd be stressful, me and my sister I just...I don't know I guess I was just worried about scaring you off."

James blinked, he couldn't believe Lily would ever think she would ever do anything to make him want to leave.

"Lily...don't you remember how long it took me to get you to go out with me?"

"True, but you know a crush is different from a real relationship."

"Yea...but..." James paused, unsure of how to articulate his feelings. "You know how I'm an Appleby fan?" The sentence fell out of his mouth before he could stop it and judging by Lily's expression she wasn't too impressed.

"Yea, you've that Chaser bint on your wall," Lily's smile had faded and the steely note in her voice wasn't one he had fond memories of.

"Yea, Felicia Fladmark, but she's not the point."

"She better not be," said Lily.

"Yea, well for ages they were losing, ever since I was little but I stuck with them cos they're my team, you know, and my Dad's too. But anyway, the season before last they got a new captain and everything turned around and now they're top of the table, winning every match, even against the Wasps, it's incredible."

He was aware he was babbling and that Lily was looking at him like he was an idiot but he had a point and he wasn't about to stop now.

"Yea, so now there are all these people who are saying they're huge Appleby fans, just cos they're winning, you know? And they're the worst cos like, me and my Dad are sitting there like, we've been here from the beginning, where were you when we couldn't even beat the bloody Cannons?" And well, I guess my point is that relationships or friendships or whatever is just like supporting a Quidditch team. If you're gonna celebrate them when they're winning you've got to be there when it's shit, too or otherwise you're not a real fan...or boyfriend in this case."

"I...so you're saying you've got to be with someone for the bad stuff in order to really appreciate the good?"

"Yea...I am..." James could feel his face going red, "I mean, yea I would have rather spent this weekend shagging your brains out and drinking your sister's fancy champagne but you know, if you need...I don't know, whatever else I'm here. I'll always be here."

Before he could wish he had found a slightly more eloquent way to express his feelings, James felt Lily slam into him, embracing him with an intensity that almost knocked him off his feet.

"James, that was the sweetest, most convoluted thing anyone's ever said to me," she said, hugging him tighter than she ever had before.

"Yea, well, I mean it, Evans," James said into her hair.

Soon enough the two were due back at the hotel so after delivering Petunia's rather large and ostentatious cake the two dressed and made their way into the ball room.

James had been to several weddings before with his parents. When he was younger it was about how much dessert he could eat and a few years later it was about how much alcohol he could swipe without his mother noticing but now, as someone facing the world outside Hogwarts in only a few months time and with his hand tightly entwined with what felt like his soulmate the importance of the ceremony, which had previously skidded past, was now hitting him square in the chest. It didn't matter that it was Vernon and Petunia's wedding, what mattered for the first time were the words they were repeating were striking every cord possible and all of a sudden he couldn't stop picturing Lily standing in front of him wearing a white dress.

The rest of the night went smoothly. Lily didn't say anything when she noticed her and James had been bumped from the family table and moved to the seats beside the speakers, nor did she bite back when Petunia's bridesmaid commented that at least one of the Evan's girls had made a 'good match.' Instead she danced with her youngest cousins and chatted with her grandparents while skillfully avoiding Petunia at every turn.

"I think I'm done," Lily said, taking a seat beside James

"Done with what?" James asked, passing her a glass of champagne.

"Done trying to wind Pet up," she replied, pausing to take a sip and stare out towards the head table where Petunia was sitting. "I guess for ages I just wanted to make her pay for making me feel like I wasn't welcome at home or whatever but she's married, she's a real grown up so now all this sister stuff seems so...silly I guess."

"So you want to make up?" James asked.

"Oh, God no! What's the point? She hates me and even if she didn't our lives have pretty much gone in opposite directions, haven't they? She'll be sprogged up in Surrey by the time I finish school and I'll be well, fighting I guess so it's not like we'll have much in common, is it?

"Nah, guess not," James said, running his thumb over Lily's hand. She smiled and shuffled closer, leaning her head on his shoulder. They sat in silence for several moments as the band played and James fiddled with a lock of Lily's hair.

"I'm so glad I'm with you, James," Lily whispered finally.

James smiled and pressed a kiss into her hair. "Hey, Evans," James whispered, as he his fingers traced just below the hem line of her skirt. "You still got those special knickers you were talking about?"

A smile crept over Lily's face and she rose to her feet, pulling James up at the same time.

"You know, I might be wearing them," she replied, leaning towards James. "Not positive though, should we go check?"

James laughed and took her outstretched hand, letting himself be led out of the ballroom and back upstairs.

The couple weren't missed as they slipped away and left early the next morning with only a quick goodbye to Mr and Mrs Evans. James asked if she wanted to find Petunia but Lily declined, saying that it was simpler this way.

Being an only child, James never felt as if he could completely understand what happened between Lily and her sister. He did however know that sometimes people needed to pick their own families and over that weekend, Lily had chosen not only him, but the entire magical world over the possibility of ever reconciling with Petunia.

They may have been too young for vows or a white dress but James would always remember this weekend as the one where they became a couple ready to last forever.

A/N: Erm, so I know this took a few months longer than I said but I really hope it was worth the wait and please let me know what you think! Thanks so much for reading!