Title: Glass Hearts

Rating: PG-13

Summary (of chapter): Petunia's wedding - James and Lily get ready, talk about Snape, and fall in love a little more.

When they Apparated into Lily's room, things seemed calm enough. Her room was still, untouched for a month now. Lily heard voices downstairs. She took the suit from him and hung it up in her wardrobe. It had some of her clothes and shoes, but most of her things were at Hogwarts.

"I've never been in here," James said. He looked around, trying to appear nonchalant. He walked over to her desk. She had a few Muggle books and a cork board with pictures of her friends. Some photographs moved, others didn't. There was a picture of the two of them from when Lily had gone to his house to meet his parents. It was one of the only pictures she had of the two of them here at her house. She had only been home twice since they had started going out.

Her bed was neatly made. She had a framed picture of a painting of a lily by her wardrobe, a poster of The Bee Gees, a collection of frog figurines on a shelf above her window. "This is a very nice room," James said. He put his arm around Lily's waist. He smiled down at her. "It's very. . .Lily like."

"Oh, really?" Lily asked. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the place she swore her arms and hands were made for.

James leaned down to kiss her on the lips. The two of them stood there for a moment. A thrill ran through her veins at the fact that she was kissing a boy in her own room. She thought back to sleeping at James's house overnight, and the butterflies in her stomach flew faster. She pulled away after a bit, then smiled up at him. "Well," she said. "I'm glad you like my room."

"I think I like kissing in your room more," James said.

"Come on, let's go eat lunch," Lily said. "I'm hungry."

She walked to her door and opened it slowly. She peeked out into the hall, straining her ears for voices downstairs. Petunia walked out of the master bedroom. "Petunia!" Lily whispered.

Petunia gasped, her hand flying to her heart. "What are you doing?" she hissed. She ran over to the door, looking towards the stairs. "Vernon's parents are here!"

Lily opened her door a little bit. Petunia's face fell when she saw James. "You actually brought him?" she asked. "I thought you were joking."

Lily rolled her eyes, coming out to hug Petunia. Her sister awkwardly patted her back. "It's nice to see you," Lily said earnestly. "We'll be back - we'll knock on the door in a moment, okay?"

"Are you sure you don't want to come back at four?" Petunia asked, glancing warily at James.

"We'll see you in a jiffy," Lily said before shutting the door.

"She's happy to see me," James said with a grin.

"Come on, we've got to find a way to get to the front door without being seen," Lily said.

Meeting Vernon's parents was bearable. The two of them were as ordinary as Vernon. His father talked of drills while his mother chatted about the wedding. They had a green salad and a soup from Lily's mother. She was grateful to be home, even if it meant she was around unfamiliar people. Much to her surprise, James stayed silent for most of the dinner. He would whisper jokes to her and compliment her parents, keeping her from being too on edge.

They had a chance to talk about the rehearsal dinner while sitting in the living room. Lily's mum stood up and announced that Lily could try her dress on now. Lily's stomach sunk. Pink. She hated pink. Petunia left with Mrs. Dursley, the two of them headed for the church and then to the store for last minute things.

"Would you like us to wait to see if you'll need anything for Lily's dress?" Mrs. Dursley asked politely.

"No, it's all right," Rose said. "I'm pretty sure I've got enough."

"All right, we'll see you in a few hours," Mrs. Dursley said.

Petunia kissed Vernon on his fat cheek before leaving with his mum. Vernon and Mr. Dursley left next, probably planning to sleep the rest of the afternoon away.

"All right, come on," Rose said.

"Mum, why did Petunia choose pink?" Lily asked miserably. "I look horrible in pink."

"Lily, you'll look just fine," Rose said. "We'll be back, boys."

Lily looked over her shoulder at James, giving him an apologetic look as her dad turned on the telly. He made a horrified face at her, making her giggle. She followed her mum up the stairs to her parents' bedroom. Hanging in their closet was a pink dress with white lace for trim. It was a pretty dress, and it would have looked wonderful on anyone other than Lily.

"Just put it on," Rose said. "It's your sister's wedding day."

Lily rolled her eyes, taking the dress into the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror with the dress on a few moments later. It fit her figure well, but the color made her skin looked washed out. Her hair clashed horribly, too. She sighed. Well, her mum had done a good job with the measurements. It made her chest look bigger than it really was – which was always good, especially in Lily's case.

She left the bathroom, calling for her mum. Rose came out, grinning. "Lily, it looks great!" she exclaimed. "We'll have to do something with your hair, but it's great, really."

The rest of the afternoon was full – Lily saw James a few times over the next few hours. She spent quite some time putting favors together with her mum and Petunia's maid-of-honor, Yvonne, who didn't like Lily just as much as Petunia didn't. Then she penned reception cards after Petunia and Mrs. Dursley came back. She didn't know why each person needed their own place card. . .why not just let them sit wherever?

"What's his name?" Petunia asked, looking at James with a disgusted look on her face.

"James Potter," Lily answered. She wanted to say something nasty, but she knew it was better not to fight with Petunia. Her wedding day was tomorrow.

Petunia sighed, writing his name messily. Lily wondered who James would have to sit next to. Hopefully not the Therins with their noses up in the air or Yvonne's brother who smelled like cabbage. She looked over at James; she wanted him to enjoy himself, not break up with her after realizing her sister was crazy.

Around six o'clock, they were finally finished, and Rose said they'd be leaving for the rehearsal dinner in ten minutes. Lily let James come up to her room while she got ready. Petunia had refused to let him come, so Lily apologized profusely to him. She gave him a map of the town, pointing out her favorite places. She also showed him her records and made him promise not to get into any trouble while they were gone.

James couldn't believe he was so lucky. He sat on the end of the couch in Lily's living room, her feet in his lap. She wore a t-shirt and pajama shorts. She let out a yawn. Her dad was flipping the channels on the telly, but James was tired of everything on the telly. It had intrigued him the first three hours, but now he wanted to talk with Lily.

"So, how was the dinner?" he asked.

"It was all right," Lily said. "I had to sit next to Vernon's sister Marge." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "The woman got drunk on the wine, and she was being so loud and embarrassing."

James smiled at her. "You're not happy about your new family members?"

Lily shook her head a little bit. "I'm happy for Petunia, I'll put it that way," she said. "What did you do?"

"I walked around the neighborhood," James said. "I visited that park down the road."

"You want to know something?" Lily asked, looking over James's shoulder. "That's where I first met Severus."

"Really?" James asked, surprised she had told him.

"Why aren't the two of your friends anymore?" her dad asked from his armchair.

Lily looked sad for a moment. "It's hard to explain. . ." she trailed off. "In the wizarding world, a lot of people classify people based on their blood – whether they have wizarding parents or not. He's prejudiced about it."

"Isn't his dad nonmagic?" Edward asked.

"What?" James said. "Snape's halfblood?"

"Don't you tell anyone that," Lily said quickly. "Especially not Sirius."

"But you're kidding me, right?" James asked. His blood started to boil. "How the hell can he want to be a Death Eater and call you and other people Mudbloods –"

"Don't say that word," Lily snapped.

"That's ridiculous, though," James said.

"I know," Lily said. She fell silent. "There are other things, too. . .in our world, dad, there's light and dark magic, and he's fascinated with dark magic. And it's not good – it's magic people use to rule over others and to cause pain."

"That's what the war's about, isn't it?"

Rose came into the living room and sat down in the second armchair. "Yeah," Lily said.

Lily's mum looked at James. "Can I ask you about the war, James?"

"What are you going to ask him?" Lily said in a defensive tone. James knew Lily hadn't told her parents too much about the war because she didn't want them to worry, but he didn't know what exactly she had told or didn't.

"It's a Dark wizard, right? How dangerous is he?"

"Mum," Lily said.

"Hush, Lily, I'm talking to James," Rose said.

"Don't pester him," Lily said.

"It's all right," James said, patting her on the legs. "You-Know-Who – I mean, Voldemort. . .most people are afraid to say his name. But anyways, he's pretty dangerous. He's got a big group of followers and all that, but he's only human. Someone will take him down eventually."

Rose nodded, looking thoughtful. "And I've heard all about this prejudice," she said. "How they don't like Muggles or Muggleborns."

"Yeah," James said, starting to feel uncomfortable. Both of her parents were looking at him intently, hoping for answers about their daughter's well-being that Lily herself wouldn't give them. Of course, he knew how much danger Lily and other Muggleborns were in. Lily would go to become a Healer, and then what?

"Well, is that really bad?" Rose asked.

"No, it's not that bad," James lied. "I mean, it's a. . .it's a driving force of the war, but it's not, you know, huge."

"It's one of the driving forces of the war, but it's not huge?" Rose repeated.

"Mum, please, leave him alone," Lily said.

"Lily told me you want to be a. . .an Auror, was it?" Rose asked. James nodded. "A Dark wizard catcher. You'd be fighting against this Voldemort fellow and his followers."

"Yeah," James said.

"So, you could die," Rose said.

"Mum."

"Yeah."

"And you're all right with that?" Rose asked, her green eyes staring into his soul.

"Yeah," James said. He could die fighting against Voldemort – he would either die fighting or die an old man after Voldemort had been killed.

"Are you done yet?" Lily asked.

Rose nodded, looking away from James. "I'm going to go to bed," she said. "You should, too, Lily. We've got a big day tomorrow."

She left the room in silence. Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry," she told James.

"She's just worried," Edward said. "We both are."

"Don't worry, dad," Lily said. "Everything's fine."

Thirty minutes later, Lily was still sitting with James, the two of them laughing. Edward was trying not to doze off in his armchair. "He's watching me with you," Lily whispered.

James grinned at her. "Good thing, too," he said. "Who knows what I would do to you if he left."

Lily smiled, kicking him in the knee. "I would hex you."

"I'd like to see you try," James replied.

"Oh, really?" Lily asked, reaching for her wand on the nightstand.

James started tickling her feet. Lily squealed, pulling her legs off of him and her feet out of reach. Edward began to snore. "Dad, go to bed," Lily said.

Edward sat up quickly. "Are you going to bed soon?" he asked.

"Yeah, in just a minute, dad," Lily said.

Edward cleared his throat, standing. He stretched and gave Lily the remote control. "You've got a big day tomorrow," he said.

"I know," Lily said. "Goodnight, dad."

"Goodnight," Edward said, kissing her on the forehead. "Goodnight, James."

Lily and James pulled the bed out of the couch. Lily Summoned down a pillow and some blankets for James. They tested out the mattress. "It's pretty nice," James said approvingly. He rolled over onto his side, wrapping his arm around Lily's waist. He kissed her softly.

"I've got a big day tomorrow," she said, smiling.

"I know."

The stained-glass windows let the afternoon sun shine over the waiting guests. James held back a yawn, holding his program up to his face. He didn't know a thing about weddings, only attending a few here and there over the years. This one seemed nice enough. There was a right amount of flowers. He was lucky he didn't have allergies.

The man sitting next to him looked like an elephant. He was talking to his wife in low tones about what he'd heard about the Dursley's. James glanced over at the Dursley's side of the aisle. He spotted Vernon's sister sitting in the front pew, wearing a maroon dress.

James rubbed at his eyes. Why had he stayed up so late last night? Every time Lily said she needed to go to bed, he had talked her out of it. Now, he was going to fall asleep during her sister's wedding.

The four parents came in to music, then the bridesmaids started to walk down the aisle. Lily was definitely the prettiest. Her red hair was pulled back, showing off her elegant neck. James winked at her, and she met his eyes for a moment, smiling. She stood with everyone else, and Lily's sister came down the aisle, wearing a white dress with poofy sleeves. James wondered what it would be like to see her trip.

The ceremony passed by uneventfully, James holding back yawns. Why didn't Lily look dead tired? She had probably used an Awakening Charm without him. . .maybe he could reach his wand without the Muggles noticing. He decided against it – that would be the last thing they needed.

At the reception, James sat by a family with a two small boys. He introduced himself as Lily's boyfriend. "Oh, do you go to that boarding school up in Scotland?" the father asked.

"Yeah," James said.

"I thought Petunia said it was an all-girl's school," the mother said.

James shook his head, smiling. "Nope, there's lots of boys," he said. "Some think there's too much of us."

He poured little piles of sugar onto his plate while they were making toasts. The boys thought this was immensely interesting and started doing it themselves. Their mother slapped them on the hands, telling them to stop wasting the sugar, so James smoothed it out over his plate so she wouldn't see. The father caught his eyes, though, smiling.

After a bit, they were eating lunch. James had to shake his sugar onto the white linen tablecloth for the salad. He looked over at Lily, who sat by two other girls in pink. She was listening to the conversation politely, a curl falling down over her neck. She seemed to feel James's eye on her and glanced over at him. She gave him a smile before turning away.

James decided he was never going to a wedding again unless he could sit by Lily. Preferably if she had a white dress on. He let his mind wander a little bit – marrying Lily. What would that be like? Where would they go for their honeymoon?

Finally, everyone started dancing, and Lily approached James. "It's nice to see you," James said. "It's been quite a while!"

Lily laughed, taking his hand. "Come on, let's dance," she said.

Two hours later, the bride and groom were gone. The family and friends were left to clean up. Lily had taken off her shoes, complaining that they hurt after she had danced so much. James followed her around, doing what he could to help. He wished he could just wave his wand so they could spend all afternoon together in the warm sun, her in her dress, her hair down, her feet bare, and him the happiest guy in the world.

"When are they supposed to get back?" Marlene asked.

"I don't know," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

Marlene sighed. At first, she had applauded herself for being able to sit with them, even with Remus present, but now she was starting to think they were quite boring. Remus and Peter were playing their fourth game of Exploding Snap. Sirius had sat staring into the fire for at least thirty minutes now.

She looked around the common room. Mary was laying on one of the couches, reading a Quidditch magazine. Marlene thought about joining her, but Sirius suddenly asked, "You talked to Regulus lately?"

Marlene looked at Sirius in surprise. "No," she said.

Sirius fell silent, turning his attention back to the flames in the fireplace. "Why?" Marlene asked.

"I just remember what the prat told you the last time he talked to you," Sirius said.

Marlene glanced at Remus out of the corner of her eye. He was smiling while Peter tried to think of a move to make. "Yeah," she said. "I've pretty much avoided him since then." She wondered if Sirius was really part-vampire or if Lily was actually the daughter of a banshee.

The common room portrait swung open, and Lily and James walked in. Marlene grinned, waving at Lily. "You're alive!" she said.

The two of them came over with their bags. "Hey," Lily said breathlessly. "Have a good weekend without us?"

"Of course not!" Marlene exclaimed.

As soon as James sat down next to Marlene, Remus and Peter's game exploded on them. Marlene winced. Peter started laughing, his eyebrows singed. "Best three out of five," Remus said. He looked at James and Lily. "Have a good time?"

"Yeah," James said, grinning.

"What color was your dress?" Marlene asked.

"Pink," Lily made a face.

Marlene let out a laugh. She knew Lily didn't like pink clothes. Lily rolled her eyes. "I didn't think it was that funny," she said. She looked at Sirius. "What did you do in Potions?"

"Nothing exciting," Sirius shrugged. "Started our Ageing potion."

"Oh, no," Lily said in a disappointed tone.

Marlene laughed again. "You should have just stayed here," she said matter-of-factly.

"I've got pictures to show you," Lily said excitedly.

"Really?" Marlene asked, sitting up.

Lily took a bundle of pictures out of her bag. Some were nonmoving, but most of them moved. "I took my dad's Muggle film and used a potion to make them move," she explained. "This is all the wedding party."

"Oh, that pink looks nice on you."

"Don't lie."

There was a picture of Lily and her sister, their smiles obviously forced. Her sister was taller than Lily with brown hair and a long neck. "You two have the same chin," Marlene observed.

"That's pretty much all we have in common," Lily said with a laugh.

There were pictures of the girls with their parents, Lily with the other bridesmaids, Lily and James. "That's cute!" Marlene exclaimed. "You should make me a copy of this picture."

A lot of them were of Lily and James. They were eating, dancing, sitting on her couch. There were Muggle girls posing with Lily, Lily and her mum, just her parents. Some pictures didn't have any faces; one was a pile of dirty dishes, another Lily's backyard, another her feet, another James's hands. "Don't show anyone this one," Lily whispered, glancing over at James. The camera was at a funny angle, but Marlene could see Lily and James kissing.

Marlene smiled, pinching Lily's cheek. "Adorable," she said.

"Shut up," Lily said, rubbing her cheek.

A/N: I just love them! Please review! Thank you for all the reviews :)

Next up: James asks Lily an important question, and the gang get ready for the end of their seventh year.