In the Afterlife, there was much to do. However, there was also the possibility of going through a Door; an entryway to the world before. If you stepped through a Door, it enabled you to see those you had left behind. Your sons or daughters, your friends or relatives. If you stepped through a Door, you could not be seen. You were merely there to observe.
James and Lily would not miss this day for anything, for it was their only daughter's wedding, and so as soon as the day dawned they were out of bed and on their way to the Room of Doors where they could visit the world they had once inhabited. However they came across a problem - the room, surprisingly for so early in the day, was full, and officials were directing the visitors.
"Why are there so many people here?" wondered Lily to her husband, but he could only shrug, as baffled as she was. Someone next to them overheard, however, and turned to them.
"It's Lyra Potter's wedding, we all want to watch!" The stranger immediately realised that she had made a mistake when she noticed the expressions on their faces and blushed as she realised who she had spoken to. James pushed his way forward to the nearest official, and when he spoke it was with a hint of anger in his voice.
"May we pass through? We wish to attend our daughter's wedding." The official, a thin man who had been dead for centuries, snapped to attention when he saw who they were.
"Of course Sir, Ma'am, please come through." Lowering his voice, he added, "don't worry, we won't allow all of them to come through - celebrity though she is, Miss Potter (I've heard) was very selective on her guest list, we don't want the entire Afterlife shadowing her. If you wouldn't mind though, before you go, telling us a few people that should be allowed through we would be very grateful."
Lily grinned at the man, relief shining through her eyes at the thought that Lyra's wedding would be treated respectfully.
"Of course, err.." She paused, and both James and Lily quickly scanned the crowd for people who they would be happy to attend.
"Dumbledore, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, err.. Dorea and Charlus..."
They only managed to name a few more family members before someone ran up to them through the crowd.
"May I go? Please?"
Both the Potters' eyes softened as they took in Cedric Diggory, standing before them. There was no hesitation in nodding to the official that they wished for him to attend, and Cedric thanked them gratefully before stepping through the Door. Colin Creevey and Alastor Moody soon joined as well, until both the original and reformed Orders of the Phoenix had all their loyal members, both alive and passed on, present.
Finally, James and Lily stepped through, but instead of emerging in the cottage at Godric's Hollow they arrived in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place from where they made their way up to Lyra's bedroom, where she still lay asleep. Lily made her way immediately to sit at Lyra's side, while James stood at the foot of the bed, smiling at his daughter, who now roused herself.
Lyra couldn't see them, didn't know that her parents were there, but Sirius had assured her that they wouldn't miss her wedding for the world, and so with her experience with the Resurrection Stone, she was inclined to trust that they would be.
The proud parents followed their daughter down to the kitchen where she met Sirius and Remus, the last surviving members of their group. Words could not describe how happy they were that after years of separation, their daughter had created her own family with the people that they had always wanted to be a part of her life. Standing with them was the woman who had made Remus happier than they ever thought he could be and their son, Lyra's godson, little Teddy.
Lily beamed when she saw Teddy, whose hair was black and his eyes green - the exact shade of Lyra's and her own, standing next to Dudley, who had grown up and was now friends with her daughter, a stark contrast from the bully who had terrorised Lyra's childhood. Dudley was patiently listening to Teddy extol Lyra's virtues, nodding along and agreeing whenever the babbling toddler paused for breath.
A group of Lyra's friends were also gathered, and once Lyra has eaten breakfast with them all, they all followed her back upstairs to help her get ready. Lily stood by, hands shaking and with tears in her eyes as Lyra's future sister in law did the job that she should have done, should have been there for. Her eyes were sparkling as she watched her daughter get ready to be bonded, and the smile - proud but a little bit wistful, never once faltered, never left her face.
James remained downstairs with Remus, Sirius, Dudley and a wriggling Teddy, who Remus had to hold to stop him from following his mother and godmother upstairs. Remus was as natural a father as he was an uncle, James thought, and he had been brilliant with Lyra as an infant, but had always sworn he would never be a father. But now here he was, his son in his arms, his niece getting ready for him to escort her down the aisle.
James turned as his daughter's friends and his wife came down the stairs and joined them. At the sight of the smile on Lily's face and the tears shining in her eyes, his heart simultaneously leapt and fell. He always considered his daughter beautiful, and he was often considered the world's proudest father - a title he carried with pride, and he was well known among his fallen friends for tearing up when Lyra had done something spectacular. If Lily was in tears for the reason he thought she was, James knew he was going to be an emotional wreck for the rest of the day.
He was right.
Lyra, his beautiful Lyra, walked into the room and James, Sirius and Remus' jaws all dropped as they looked at the radiant bride standing before them. James' eyes immediately welled with tears as his daughter stood before him, looking to Sirius and Remus for approval. His own eyes, blurry though they were through the tears that clouded them, took in her appearance, engraved the image upon his heart so that he, Lyra's father, could never, ever, ever, forget this day.
Suddenly, Teddy was in his daughters arms and James and Lily watched as she effortlessly swung him onto her hip. The dress allowed her to do so, did not impede the movement or constrict it, instead it appeared to welcome Teddy, who nestled into it and Lyra as she held him.
Lily and James followed Lyra as she led the way to the living room where her friends and family talked amongst themselves. But they couldn't take their eyes off their daughter, who looked radiantly happy as she sat quietly, listening to the many conversations surrounding her and conversing with Dudley.
Eventually, it was time for them to head to the cottage that James and Lily's lives, and effectively Lyra's as well, had ended. The cottage that Lyra's new life would begin. The past met the future as Lyra and her entourage portkeyed into the living room of the cottage in Godric's Hollow, and the Potters stared in amazement as they looked around the room which had been brightened since the last time they had visited. A fresh coat of paint adorned the walls, a new rug decorated the wooden floorboards. Flowers sat upon the mantelpiece, and were surrounded by pictures of not just James, Lily and Lyra as they were, but old and new photos of Lyra, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Teddy and Charlie as well. The room did not look as if it had been abandoned to die eighteen years before, but looked lived in. It looked happy.
A few of her friends left Lyra to find their seats, leaving James and Lily standing with their daughter, her godson, their friends, and her closest friends. They turned as Ron suddenly came in, and watched as his jaw dropped upon seeing their daughter, who merely grinned and hugged him. As he left, they hurried after him, wanting to see Charlie and see Lyra walk down the aisle towards him from the other end of the aisle.
He was smiling joyfully, which made both of them smile. They could tell just from the smile that he adored their daughter, loved her as she deserved to be loved.
The ceremony began, and Lily and James impatiently watched as Teddy, Ginny and Hermione walked down the aisle, before the music swelled and their daughter came down the aisle, arms linked with two of the three men alive who loved her most. All three of them looked radiantly, ecstatically happy, and the parents of the bride couldn't help but shed a tear when she finally joined Charlie and cast a blazing, joyful look that he returned.
Maurice Prune bonded them, just as he had James and Lily twenty years before, just as he had Molly and Arthur eleven years before then. It made an already perfect ceremony, right. As he had bonded the Potters, as he had bonded the Weasleys, he linked the two families and bonded their children. Thin tendrils of gold pulled Lyra and Charlie into their future, caressed their wrists, joyfully blessed their union.
Tears brimmed in Lily's eyes as she watched her daughter kiss her husband, as they stared at each other, oblivious to those moving aside to move the seats, settle the tables and create an area in the centre. James watched them startle as people suddenly surrounded them, exuberantly wished congratulations upon their lives and drew them back into reality.
The party went on for hours, after the food was eaten and Lyra had danced with everyone, returning instinctively to Charlie's side between each dance. James and Lily danced too, with each of the guests from the Afterlife. They swirled around the dance floor, as they would have had they been alive, the parents of the bride present in a way they so desperately wished they could be.
They didn't return to the Afterlife until they had watched Lyra and Charlie portkey away to their honeymoon. Their daughter had made a life, had created a future with the same magic that had woven her life since they had left her. As they returned home with their deceased friends, Lily and James could only hope, bittersweet though it was, that their daughter would not see them for a very long time. They wanted her to enjoy the life she had created for herself. That was, after all, what they had died for, and they couldn't be happier that she had done it.
Sorry this took such a sombre turn! I think we all know what today is, so rest in peace James and Lily.