Chapter 26 – Something New

Lily smoothed down the hem of her lavender skirt and hesitated with her hand half way to the doorknob. Even from upstairs, the chatter of the people currently occupying her house was loud, but she'd been in her room for almost an hour now, inventing pressing letters she had to answer from friends as an excuse to escape.

Since she'd seen James and the others only two weeks ago when they got back from their caravan holiday, and Mary had come to visit barely a week ago, she had very few letters to actually write. The ones she started just ended up being a page of her whinging about the wedding, so she hadn't sent them, and now she really couldn't stay in her room any longer. It was approaching evening and she knew it would almost be time for dinner, so had finally rolled off the bed (where she had been drowning out the noise with her cassette player) and vowed to go back downstairs.

As she made her way towards the living room, she spotted her father and some other relatives from their side of the family gathered outside in the setting sun, sipping beers and laughing. She longed to join them rather than be forced to endure the presence of the soon to be in-laws who had taken up residence in the living room, but knew she ought to be spending the evening with her sister.

Vernon Dursley's family had turned out to be just as unpleasant as Lily had expected. His sister, Marge, sat in a stiff dress with a haughty expression and had taken to constantly telling Lily about the bridesmaid duties that she would be performing. Lily was pretty sure that Marge enjoyed reminding her that Petunia had not wanted her to be a bridesmaid. Vernon's mother on the other hand was quite old, and other than trips to the bathroom, Lily was fairly certain that she had been sat in the same chair with a constantly topped up glass of sherry for hours now.

But there was only another day of this. All she had to do was get through tomorrow, then it would be the wedding day, and Petunia would officially be moving out of the house, possibly out of Lily's life for good, and really, she wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it. A selfish part of her was longing to not have to endure the painful lulls in conversation when Petunia mocked her for talking about magic, or the awkward stares the two of them seemed to share whenever they were in the same room alone. Another part of her, though, was sad. She and Petunia had shared a rare moment of bonding only on one real occasion since she'd returned home for summer; when she'd first tried on her wedding dress, and had turned to Lily with a brilliant smile that simply made her glow. It had reminded Lily of how much she had once looked up to her sister, how as girls they had talked about weddings and boys and how they thought their lives would turn out when they grew up.

Now, though, Petunia was back to acting aloof when Lily was around, proven by the deliberate way she averted her eyes when Lily stepped into the room.

"Oh, there you are darling," her mum smiled, waving her over to the sofa and immediately putting a glass of wine into her hand. "Marge was just asking about your school."

"Oh," Lily said, taking a large sip of wine and attempting a smile in the young woman's direction. "What did you want to know?"

"I was just surprised that they let boys and girls mix at a boarding school," she said distastefully. "You don't often hear of places like that, children could get up to all sorts."

"Well, there's a number of staff and student prefects that make sure everyone's doing what they're supposed to."

"Codswallop," Marge said, waving her glass in a violent manner that quite took Lily by surprise. "You can't trust 'prefects' with that sort of thing, not when they're just as likely to be causing trouble themselves. You see, Petunia and our Vernon met in a normal way, courted properly. In places like that it's all rampant hormones, I'm surprised you don't hear of more teenage pregnancies!"

"Now, now!" Lily's mother said, alarmed, but Petunia interrupted.

"It's funny you should say that Marge, because Lily doesn't even have a boyfriend."

"You don't have a boyfriend?" Vernon's mother put in from her chair. "How old are you now? In my day if a girl didn't have a fella by the time she was 16 we'd think there was something the matter with her."

"Actually," Lily said, annoyed by the sudden outburst, "I do have a boyfriend."

She immediately regretted it, as her mother and Petunia turned to stare at her.

"Why didn't you say anything?" her mum asked, sounding genuinely hurt, while Petunia scoffed and said "oh, of course you do."

Ignoring her mum, Lily rounded on Petunia, "His name is James and he's the captain of our qui- er, football team, and he's really very handsome." She folded her arms over her chest defiantly, added, "and funny" and stared at Petunia, whose false smile wavered only momentarily.

"Fine," she said stubbornly, "although if you were too ashamed to invite him to the wedding..."

"I am not ashamed." Lily argued, standing up. "Maybe I will invite him!"

"Good!" Petunia spat, "we can all have a good laugh then."

"Girls!" Their mother tried to interrupt, "Lily, please sit down. Petunia, you've already arranged all the tables and..."

"She can do what she wants," Petunia argued, "like she always does. She's probably making him up anyway-"

"Why would I-"

"Because you always-"

"ENOUGH!"

Lily's mother rarely shouted, so when she did, it was enough to stop both of her daughters mid-sentence. She looked angry but quickly regained her composure in front of the scrutiny of their guests and said as calmly as she could manage, "Lily dear, if you want to invite James I am sure we would be glad to meet him. Petunia, why don't we all head outside to see what that finance of yours is up to."

"Alright," Petunia obliged, shooting Lily a last cold look before getting out of her seat.

"Fine," Lily agreed, which is how she ended up returning to her room not half an hour after venturing downstairs, writing a letter to invite James Potter to her sister's wedding.

Normally over the summer holidays, James was eager for letters from his friends; weeks spent apart from Remus and Peter - and now Lily - tended to make even the most mundane letter from them seem interesting. Now, though, every letter came with a feeling of dread.

"I bet that's from Moony," Sirius said when a barn owl landed on the kitchen windowsill. They had just finished eating dinner and were helping Mrs Potter take the dishes through from the dining room - despite her protests that they'd drop something, which did admittedly happen as often as not.

James and Sirius exchanged a glance; it meant 'I hope this isn't the one'. Remus' mother was growing more and more ill each day, and his letters sounded more resigned each time. They all knew that it wouldn't be long until he had to write a letter telling his friends about her death.

"Doesn't look like Remus' handwriting to me," Mrs Potter said, untying the letter from the owl's leg and glancing at James' name written on it in handwriting that was much too loopy for Remus'.

"Must be Lily," James replied in relief, taking it from his mum. He read it while she and Sirius watched him, the latter clearly resisting the temptation to read it over his shoulder.

"She, er." James looked up in a mix of surprise, elation and terror. "She invited me to her sister's wedding. It's in two days."

"How sweet of her," Mrs Potter replied. "I wonder what muggle weddings are like."

"Didn't she say her sister was marrying some rich git with a huge moustache?" Sirius asked. "Oh - sorry," he added when Mrs Potter shot him a stern look that he had come to know as her pretending-to-tell-you-off look. "Are you gonna go or what, mate?"

"I don't know. I've not been to a wedding since I was about four - let alone a muggle wedding. And I've never met Lily's parents or her sister and I bet they'll have all their family there and won't want me - I'd just be intruding, right? I wouldn't know what to talk about or what to wear or anything."

"Oh, hang on," Sirius said abruptly, leaving the room. James and his mum looked at each other in confusion.

"No idea what that's about," he said. "But do you think I should go?"

"Of course!" Her certainty surprised him. "Never mind who her sister is marrying. What matters is that Lily invited you, James. It's an important step in your relationship, you know. She'll be introducing you to her relatives - that practically makes you one of the family."

"Mum! No it doesn't. I'm not - I really don't think we're at that point. It's not our wedding."

"Well, true, but it's still a very important occasion to bring a date to. You should feel privileged."

James could feel himself turning red, so he was relieved when Sirius returned - carrying a muggle suit, no less.

"Look at this - I've had it for more than a year but barely ever worn it. You can wear it to the wedding, yeah? We're about the same size."

"Pads, why do you even own a muggle suit?" James asked, bemused. "And why'd you bring it? I mean, you could only bring a suitcase full of stuff here when you left home, and you thought a muggle suit was a top priority?"

"Well I was right, wasn't I? It's perfect! I think I wore it to some family thing because my dad told me to get wizard robes so, of course, I had to do the opposite." He grinned. "Now come on, try it on!"

"But - I -" He looked at his mum for help.

"I think it's a lovely suit, Sirius," she said. "Needs ironing, perhaps, but it'll be like new soon enough. You're going to look very handsome, James."

"Merlin, do I really have to do this?" he asked, looking from Lily's letter to Sirius' crumpled suit.

Sirius and Mrs Potter spoke at almost exactly the same time: "Yes, you do."

Lily had really half expected James to turn her down. It was spur of the moment, and a big occasion, and now he'd not only agreed, but would be arriving at any minute, she was nervous and self conscious in her pale blue dress with its frills and puffy sleeves. Petunia had been screaming the house down for half the morning as her mother tried to contend with doing both her and Marge's hair, and Lily had barely seen anyone long enough to say two words to them since she'd woken up.

Now it was nearing 11. , almost time for them to make their way to the church, and she was stuck outside waiting for James. She was stood by the tall trees at the side of the front drive that stopped them being overlooked by neighbours, and would hopefully also hide the sight of James appearing from out of thin air. Glancing anxiously back at the large clock on the wall in the hallway, she noted with a pang of annoyance that he was late.

Apparating to somewhere he'd never been before was difficult at the best of times, but when James had only passed his test five weeks ago and was half-wishing he'd end up in Wales and not have to go to the wedding, it was very hard to get the precise location right – which is why he'd ended up apparating into someone's garden fountain. Luckily nobody had seen him, but it had left his smart shoes so full of water that he could hear it moving about with each step, along with a distinct squish when his foot met the ground.

He wasn't far from Lily's, as it happened, and after wandering around an estate and through a park full of children who looked at him strangely, he found himself on her street.

She looked relieved to see him. Her dress matched the summery blue sky and her hair was pinned up so delicately that taking one pin out would probably destroy the whole thing.

"There you are - what took you so long?" She then frowned and added, "Sorry. Everyone's stressing out and I guess I'm picking up on it. You ready for this nightmare?"

"Hello to you too," he said, self-consciously kissing her on the cheek. "You look lovely, but aren't weddings meant to be happy?"

"You've not met my sister," Lily said simply. "Now come on - my parents want to meet you, Petunia thinks you're not real and Vernon's horrid sister keeps going on about how I must be ashamed of you because I didn't mention you before."

"Why didn't you mention me?"

She paused. "I don't know. I guess this - us - still feels kind of private. It feels weird parading you in front of all my relatives."

"Well, I'll try not to disgrace you too much," he said, grinning.

"Honestly, with this lot, I wouldn't mind if you did. Just charm the pants off my parents and don't bother with anyone else - they're not worth it."

She led the way into the house; as soon as they stepped through the door, James could hear a dozen different voices shouting. It wasn't that they were fighting, exactly - just snapping at each other like Lily had. With too many people under one roof and the wedding only an hour away, it was a stressful place to be.

"James, this is my dad," she said, grabbing the arm of a tall man with greying hair as he hurried past. "Dad, this is James, my boyfriend."

"Oh, are you now?" He looked down at James over his glasses, reminding him worryingly of Professor McGonagall - which explained where Lily got her penetrating glare from. "And what are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Oh, er, well," James spluttered, "She's very, you know, pretty, and er smart, I like her and-"

"He's kidding, James, calm down," Lily said, smiling. Her dad winked at her.

"That I am - couldn't resist! It's a pleasure to meet you, young man."

He held out his hand and James shook it. "Thanks - nice to meet you too."

"A pity it's such a busy day or I'm sure my wife would be desperate to get down here and meet you. She's busy with some last minute mayhem or other - something about perfume, or maybe it was jewellery." He shrugged. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll get sorted, and then we'd better be off. In fact, I think that's the car pulling up right now."

Lily had to admit that the ceremony actually tuned out to be quite nice. Petunia looked beautiful, her mother cried and James kept whispering to her about strange muggle traditions.

Then they were all cramming back into cars to head to the reception. The tables were made with the lilac coverings and orchids that Petunia had chosen months ago, and despite originally being placed at the main table with her parents and the rest of the family, due to James' presence Lily found herself being relegated to the middle of the room with distant family members, most of whom she didn't recognise.

She didn't complain, because Petunia was waltzing around grinning and twirling in her dress, and her parents were so happy for her that making a scene would just be selfish.

"This whole thing cost a fortune you know," she told James as they took their seats beside an elderly couple who Lily was fairly sure were great something-or-others. "Vernon's family offered to pay but my dad's too proud, says he has to pay for his daughter's wedding." She frowned at the expensive flowers in the centre of the table. "I know what he means but if he'd just let the Dursleys pay half it'd have been much easier."

"Weddings must be expensive," James agreed, grabbing two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, who didn't complain. "I think if I ever get married I'll do it outside, that way you don't have to pay for a room or whatever."

"I'll bare that in mind," Lily laughed, shaking her head at him. The old woman to her left was smiling at them and whispered to Lily a little too loudly, "if I were your age I'd happily marry that one," at which James almost choked on his drink.

"His head is big enough as it is," Lily told the woman with a smile, and thumped James on the back to help him breathe again. "Seems like you're quite a hit with the family, even though mum's barely had time to say anything to you."

James smiled and was about to reply when Vernon Dursley stood up at the front of the room, clinking the side of his glass loudly with a spoon to get everyone's attention. As the silence descended, he undid the last few buttons of his suit jacket and bent down to kiss Petunia on the cheek before smiling out at all his family and friends.

"Well," he said, taking a deep breath. "I can't thank you all enough for coming, it means the world to us to have all of you here."

"Oh, here we go with the speeches," Lily muttered.

"I'd particularly like to thank my new in-laws, Carol and William Evans, for organising such a wonderful reception, my sister Marge who makes a wonderful bridesmaid-"

Lily scoffed louder than she'd meant to, and quickly had to hide her disdain behind a cough.

"-and of course my beautiful wife Petunia. You make me a better man."

"Why weren't you bridesmaid?" James whispered as Vernon droned on.

Lily shrugged non-committedly, tapping her fingers against the edge of her glass. "She didn't ask me."

"But you're her sister."

"I'm a witch, she thinks I'm a freak." Lily hissed, then shook her head defiantly and tried to smile at James. "It doesn't matter, she should be happy on her wedding day."

She tried to turn her attention back to Vernon, who was saying something about commitment. He must have made a joke because the room was suddenly filled with quiet, chuckling laughter, but Lily was too busy refusing to meet James' eye to catch the punch line.

James had decided several hours ago that he didn't much like Vernon Dursley, right from the moment he'd heard him boasting about the rich and important guests who would be coming to the wedding; anyone who cared more about impressing people than about their actual marriage probably had poor priorities. James had something of a grudge against anyone who valued money or power more than family.

He had therefore decided not to waste his time listening to Vernon's speech, and was instead trying to figure out what to say to Lily. There were plenty of times when James had spoken without thinking and it had ended badly, and he didn't want this to be one of them.

After the applause had died down – and after an encore speech that Vernon insisted on despite the evident boredom on everyone's faces – James leant close to Lily's ear and said, "Lily, you're not a freak."

She smiled tightly. "I know that, it's just – it feels like I'm being attacked from both sides, you know? At Hogwarts there are purebloods calling me 'mudblood' and at home my own sister thinks I'm weird. It's like I have to defend my own existence over and over and it's exhausting."

"It doesn't matter what they think," James insisted. He took her hand and slipped his fingers in between hers. "The way I see it, at home you have your parents who're so proud of you for everything, including being a witch, and at Hogwarts there are a dozen teachers who count you among the best students they've ever taught. Who gives a damn whether some purebloods with their heads stuck up their arses think you're not as good as them – you're just as talented a witch and a much better person. As for your sister, I know you love her and you can't help but care what she thinks of you, but just because she's family that doesn't make her right."

She'd been avoiding meeting his eye, but now she looked at him and he was worried to see her blinking away tears.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, "actually I am. Thanks, James I needed to hear that."

He smiled, relieved. "See, you aren't entirely mad to have chosen me for a boyfriend."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," she said with a small grin.

The food was served soon afterwards, and while they ate they made conversation with the relatives sitting at their table. They were, thankfully, related to Lily and Petunia and not to Vernon, so they were perfectly friendly. James was grateful to have avoided Lily's new in laws and pitied her for having to tolerate them – but his relief was spoilt when Vernon and Petunia came over after dinner. They seemed to be doing the rounds, talking to the guests, although James had noticed they'd missed out a few tables they deemed less important. James had the worrying suspicion, based on the way Petunia's shrewd gaze rested on him, that he was the reason they'd come over.

"You look beautiful," Lily said to her sister, "I didn't get the chance to tell you before."

Petunia smiled, but before she could reply, Vernon said, "Yes, haven't I got the best pick of them all?" He turned to James. "Petunia tells me you're her sister's boyfriend. What do you do, then?"

"Well, er, you might have noticed I'm only 17, so I'm still at school."

"Oh, and what school is that?"

"He goes to the same school as Lily, Vernon," Petunia put in. "The boarding school in the middle of nowhere in Scotland."

"Never liked the Scots," Vernon said. "Now, what are your plans when you leave school? I hope you're an ambitious sort of man, I wouldn't want anything less for my sister in law."

Since James had decided he didn't care what Petunia or Vernon thought of him, he thought he'd have a little fun. "I'm going to be a magician," he said.

Lily was clearly growing irritated at being talked about but not addressed, but this made her smile slightly. Petunia, on the other hand, had gone quite pale.

"A magician?" Vernon repeated dubiously. "What sort of career is that?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised how successful a profession it can be. And I happen to be quite talented at it – see?" Glad that Sirius had installed a ridiculous wand pocket in the suit James was wearing, he surreptitiously closed his hand around it while reaching behind Lily's ear – and he produced a single white lily.

"Bravo!" said the old man sitting across from them. "That's quite a trick!"

"You're impressed by that?" Vernon said incredulously. "No amateur trickery is going to get you very far, young man, and you'd be better off following a much more stable career. I, for one, work in a company that produces drills, and-"

"Vernon, dear, we have lots of other guests to speak to," Petunia said hurriedly. She was looking at James worriedly, having noticed one of his hands was still inside his jacket holding onto his wand. "Come on, let's go to another table."

"Very well, Petunia darling."

"I think that went well," James said cheerfully once Petunia and Vernon had reached another table, where they spoke to a man and a woman in matching pinstripe suits. Petunia was shooting him angry looks and James felt a little bad for winding her up on her wedding day, but Lily's smile was more than worth it.

"Well, I don't think they're likely to speak to us for the rest of the night, which is certainly a good thing," she said. "A lily though, really?"

"I'm not one for subtle romantic gestures. But look, it suits you." He slid the flower into Lily's hair, careful not to dislodge any of the many pins holding the complicated style in place.

"I didn't think you were one for romantic gestures at all, to be honest."

"I'm insulted," James said, putting his hand on his heart in pretend shock. "Do you not remember that poem I wrote for you in third year? I'm sure a more romantic poem has never been written."

"Shakespeare might disagree with you there," Lily said, smiling.

"Speaking of romance…" James took a deep breath before standing up and holding out his hand. "Would you like to dance?"

A small band had set up in the space where the wedding vows had been taken earlier, and they had just started playing a slow song. Judging by everyone's enthusiasm, James suspected he was the only person there who didn't know the song, but he didn't much mind; he didn't need to know the song to be able to dance to it.

"I don't really dance," Lily said cautiously. "You know that."

"Weddings are different," James shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea how to either and I'm fully prepared to look like a complete idiot in front of everyone. Care to join me?"

"Well, if I must." She took his hand and allowed James to pull her onto the small wooden dancefloor, which everyone was streaming onto from the tables scattered around the edge of the venue.

"This is a terrible idea," she told him with complete certainty as they turned to face each other. They were still holding hands, and for a moment they awkwardly tried to figure out what to do with their other hands, eventually copying the other couples; James put his arm around Lily's waist and Lily put her hand on his shoulder. They stepped back and forth a bit, not knowing who should be leading and often pulling in opposite directions. They frequently bumped into other people, and as the dancefloor was becoming more and more crowded this became almost inevitable.

The old couple who had been sitting at James and Lily's table span past, perfectly co-ordinated and managing to avoid bumping into anyone at all, and at a pause in the music the old man dipped the woman, who laughed uproariously.

"We're so out of our depth," James said, shortly before they collided into a couple of Lily's second cousins four times removed or something along those lines.

Thankfully, the song eventually ended, and this felt like a good time to excuse themselves. It was warm with so many people crammed into one building – half of them in suits – in the middle of summer, and the cool breeze outside was a relief.

"We are a terrible excuse for a couple," Lily said in good humour.

"Absolutely," James said. "We should break up immediately or sign up for dancing classes."

"Or maybe just avoid situations where dancing is expected."

James considered this. "Well as long as no one we know ever gets married again, that should be fine."

She smiled. "Hey, James?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming to this. It means a lot – really, I don't know if I'd have got through today without you."

"You would have," James replied, speaking softly as a large group of people joined them outside to share the breeze. "You're stronger than you think. But I'm glad I could be here to make it bearable. Consider my abundant charm and wit to be readily available whenever you need them."

With an amused smile, Lily leant forward and kissed him, at which some uncle or other wolf-whistled. Rolling her eyes, she stepped back. Inside, a new song began, to a chorus of half-drunk cheers. This song was much faster, and a few people were singing along to it.

"Sure you don't want another dance?" James asked innocently.

"Pretty certain, yeah. But that doesn't mean we can't watch everyone else make fools of themselves," she said, smiling as she pulled him back inside.