Hey, lovelies!
Long time no see! Actually its been 2 weeks... which unfortunately is going to become apart of our schedule! It's at that point of the year when school is peaking and exams will soon begin, as well as everything that comes with Christmas, leaving me with a lack of updating time and writing time! I am so sorry about this, but I promise that there are some very exciting things coming soon!
Anyhow, Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed, especially, Beetle126, raven that flies at night, and Love. Fiction. 2017! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart." - Haruki Marukami
"I cant believe there's one week until they get married." Elizabeth muttered, a pen in her mouth as she was perched on a sand dune at a serene beach she had stumbled across whilst exploring one day.
"You're telling me." Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair, and scowling when the wind blew once more causing his hair to whip his face, "You have got to be kidding me."
Elizabeth let out a musical laugh which carried itself through the wind, and held a hair tie out in his direction, "I told you that you should've put it up!"
He rolled his eyes and grabbed the hair tie, avoiding her smug grin and trying to hide his upturned lips, "Yeah yeah, you always know best, we get it."
"It only took you two years!" she snorted, watching as he put his curls into a low bun, her eyes darkening as she watched him put his hair up, Merlin she loved when his hair was away from his face "See, now you can actually write the speech you should've started a month ago without your hair getting in the way!"
"Yes Lizzie, I'm sure you've written so much of your speech!" he drawled and leant over and snatched it out of her hand, "Hello, and a major welcome to all of you who have made it tonight, it warms my heart to be in a room filled with people, who I know love and care for James and Lily as much as I do- This sounds so cheesy and fake!" Sirius snorted and mimicked gagging, Liz rolled her eyes and snatched the piece of muggle lined paper out of his hands.
"It does not!" she laughed, her cheeks flushing slightly and her teeth clenching, "As if yours is any better Dog boy!"
"Alright, you've got me." He laughed and wrapped an arm around her, "I don't know what to write now that Lily's given me a massive list of rules to follow, no exes mentioned, no dangerous pranks, no drunken debauchery, no Voldemort, no death eaters! I have nothing to write about!"
Liz sniggered, burying her head in his chest, "You have plenty to mention."
"Like what?" he interjected raising an eyebrow, Elizabeth stuttered for a moment,
"I-I…" she took a deep breath, a triumphant grin spreading across his face, "His your best friend, not mine!"
He shook his head and let out a bark of laughter, "That's low Gilmore, unbelievable! At least help me start it!"
"Well…" she bit her lip, gazing at him through her peripheral vision, "It only mentions that no drunken debauchery is allowed, nothing about sober debauchery."
"If Remus was here he'd tell you that you made no sense!" he laughed causing her to nudge him in his side,
"Look, what I'm saying is that just be yourself, add in some dirty jokes, some funny stories, be yourself and make sure to show James and Lily in a flattering light." He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow,
"Dirty jokes are my speciality."
"Is that literally all you got out of what I just said?" He bit his lip to muffle his onslaught of laughter causing her to roll her eyes, "Just be charismatic, make people want to listen to you."
"I'll just be really loud and then they won't have a choice."
A smile spread across her face as she choked down her laughter, she was looking forward to Sirius's speech, it was going to be a banging good time.
Mary rolled to her side and snuggled up into Remus's side as they basked in post-coital bliss. She traced her index finger around his nipple as they lay in silence, chests heaving. She looked up onto his relaxed face and a smile spread across her face.
She was blessed.
She couldn't remember when she last felt at peace like this, a sort of serenity she hadn't experienced for an eternity; her heart feeling light and joyful; the last time she felt such hope for the future, such optimism. It felt like years since she had felt so alive, and so in love. She felt as though with Remus by her side, she could take on the world, and that with a single wave of her wand, she could miraculously end the war.
It was surreal to think it had been eight years since they had met, that somehow on one day she met so many people that had become the very centre of her universe, and the thought of losing any of them made her heart crush and stomach churn.
"Remus." She whispered, watching as he shifted his head on the pillow so he could watch her, "Do you remember in third year when we were walking to our first divination class and you predicted I would walk into a door and-"
Remus laughed, the shuddering movement vibrating he entire bed, he interjected, panting through his laughter, "And then you walked into the door and split your head open!"
Mary bit her lip as she unsuccessfully hid her giggles, "And you had to walk me to the hospital wing and I had a massive crush on you and was so red you had to ask if my face was covered in blood!"
"How embarrassing!" Remus ran a hand over his face, and laughed, "I can't believe I said that! Do you remember when you were tying up your laces in fifth-year in front of me and someone pushed you and-"
"And I fell face first into your crotch!" She snuggled closer towards him, her body shaking with laughter, "I spent that entire night crying into my pillow whilst Bev fed me the fattiest salted caramel ice cream she could find and told me I should've spent longer with my face in your crotch!"
Remus shook his head and continued to laugh mirthlessly, tightening his hold on her, "Man I'd forgotten how funny Bev was! Do you remember when she was trying to get us together so she polyjuiced herself to look like you and flirt with me!"
"She told me I had the flirting skills of a dead slug!" she wiped the tear that had escaped her as a result of her peals of laughter, "Were you there when she was smashed and she offered to trade me for a bottle of Odgens?"
Remus pushed himself up slightly and looked at her, his laughter, dying down, "You're joking?" she shook her head giggling,
"I'm not! Madam Rosmerta laughed in her face and told her that a sobering potion was 4 galleons!"
Remus lay, basking in joy, his arms behind his head, when he started laughing once more, Mary looked up curious as to what he was laughing about, his face started flushing crimson from his laughter as he laughed hysterically,
"Remus?" she questioned, leaning up on her elbow, he looked into her eyes and began to laugh once more, "What the hell? Is there something on my face?" she frantically asked, he shook his head and continued to laugh.
"Do you remember in the sixth year when we were all sharing our stories from the summer and you stood up and told us about the watersports in France! And that you guys went on a-"
"Remus!" She groaned, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, she buried her face into her pillow, not even wanting to look at him,
"Banana so big that you could fit four girls on there and you all got-"
"Remus!" she flashed him a pleading look causing him to continue laughing, "I forgot to mention it was a boat!"
"We were all laughing so hard and you didn't even notice that you made it sound like you and the girls had a-"
"Remus!" she swatted him lightly, "Do I need to remind you that you and Sirius were once found in a broom closet?" she laughed causing him to scowl and much to her satisfaction, look abashed,
"We're not like that!" he groaned, a crimson blush sporting his cheeks, "We were planning a-"
"Not even a peck Remus?" she shook her head and tutted, "If Sirius was one of my best mates I would totally snog him." Remus looked down and raised an eyebrow,
"If Liz was one of my best friends I would've snogged her too!" he shook his head causing her to roll her eyes, boys were so dense.
"Whose to say I haven't?" she asked, raising her eyebrow sceptically, "And what about Lils, Bev and Ally? They were my besties too?"
Remus's jaw dropped, "You're serious?"
"No, I'm Mary!" she laughed and winked at him, "Cant you see the difference?"
"Mare!" he rolled onto his side and pulled her closer towards him, pressing her flush against him, "Well I don't know about other guys but we didn't-"
"James's first kiss was Sirius." Remus snorted and rolled his eyes
"Other than that."
"You are lying Remus, you guys shared a dorm for seven years!" she turned her face towards his,
"Okay so maybe I did snog Sirius once." Mary let out a strangled sound, "What you wanted the truth?"
"A snog? Before you sounded outraged at the thought of a peck with pretty boy."
He rolled his eyes and buried his face in her hair, "Now you're going to say you never actually snogged the girls and you just wanted to get the truth out of me."
"I was telling the truth and nothing but the truth!" she turned her body fully so their chests were touching and she was fondly running a hand through his hair, "We used to practice on each other all the time whenever we had slumber parties, we used to have pillow fights in our underwear, pee with the doors open, walk around naked…"
"You're playing me." His eyes were wide and Mary couldn't help but roll her eyes once more at his stupidity,
"Why would I play you Remus? Don't tell me you guys didn't do the same" she shook her head exasperated,
"Well we didn't have pillow fights in our underwear…" She shook her head and inhaled sharply, mocking him,
"Damn, you had them naked?" he nudged her softly causing her to let out a ring of laughter,
"No! We didn't have them at all! That's so-"
"So what?" she asked him, her eyebrow raised and a challenging tone in her voice,
"Girly!" she swatted him over the head, "We're far too masculine to have pillowfights!"
"How horrendous of me to accuse you of such a travesty!" She mock gasped causing him to snort and an evil smirk grew on her face as she remembered something, "Hey Remus?"
He looked down at her and pushed her hair away from her face, admiring her natural beauty,
"Yeah."
"Did you know that Marlene Mckinnon offered to shag me whilst you were gallivanting around with the werewolfs?" His head snapped up, if he was in wolf form his ears would've perked up,
"Did you?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked, before rolling out of his embrace and walking seductively to the bathroom. She couldn't help but feel her cheeks flush slightly and her heart speed up as she felt his piercing gaze raking up and down her naked body. She turned back as she leant against the doorway of their ensuite.
"I don't kiss and tell darling." She laughed as she walked into the bathroom, leaving him gaping in the middle of their bed and wondering how the hell he managed to bag someone so perfect.
"James! You're so loud!" she hissed as they slowly crept around the rocks, with their wands out and eyes cautiously watching their surroundings. "Don't they teach you stealth at the Academy?"
He looked up into her green eyes which were glaring daggers into his skull, "You know Lils, we're just starting that unit."
She raised an eyebrow and let out a breathy laugh, "It's obvious."
The pair continued to stumble through the rocky terrain, ducking behind larger boulders when possible.
Lily couldn't help but sigh in annoyance, this mission was ridiculous and she couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this. Every time she had been involved in a spying mission, it had gone sour, she was willing to bet all the hairs on her head that something would happen, to her luck Voldemort would pop out of nowhere.
"This is useless." James huffed as they situated themselves behind a large boulder. "Is this a spying mission, or is Dumbledore starting to think we're getting unfit and sending us on a goose chase?"
Lily turned towards him and threw him a cheeky grin, "Starting to rock a dad bod there hun?" she laughed as she mockingly patted him on the stomach. James exhaled and lightly nudged her in the side,
"And you're so hot I'm tanning." He winked at her charmingly causing her to let out a loud snort.
"Now you're making me feel guilty for jokingly telling you you're gaining weight."
"Jokingly?" James raised his brow, a questioning tone in his voice,
Lily laughed and leant her entire weight on the boulder, "Oh yeah." She nodded, "I could clean my washing on your abs."
He rolled his eyes, "Now you're playing with me!"
"I'm not!" she laughed, her cheeks flushing from laughter, "I'm not lying!"
He slowly pushed himself off the ground and extended his hand to her, "I'm going to pretend not to be hurt by your insults." She took his hand and stood up, brushing herself down before they silently continued on their trek.
After a while James who was leading stopped in the middle of the pathways, causing Lily to awkwardly stop right behind him with her face pressed into his back.
"James?" she questioned, carefully stepping away and moving to the side, to be face with his inqusistive gaze.
"Lils I swear that the boulder over there." He pointed towards the east, "Was where we took a break half an hour ago."
Her head snapped over to that direction and squinted, she opened her mouth and shut it before moving slightly closer to the boulder, inquisitively examining it.
"It-" She sighed and ran a hand over it and turned to face James once more, "How though, we've been walking north the entire time? It cant be?"
He walked towards her and leant against the boulder, running a hand over his face.
"I have no idea anymore." He muttered, "I have half the mind of apparating home."
She snorted, "Don't blame you James." before looking around and whispering "point me" as she placed her wand on her palm, asking it to direct her to the rock, and to her confusion it kept spinning, and never stopping, almost as if it was confused.
"I don't-" she muttered, her face contorting in confusion, "Why isnt it working?" James looked towards her hand and stood up, before walking around the area in confusion, his heightened senses spiking.
"It looks too familiar." He muttered, before his eyes widened, "Lily."
Lily noticing the change in his tone and how he addressed her looked up, and she frowned as she watched him raise his hand and move around,
"Can you feel the wind?" he whispered, causing her to furrow her brow and shut her eyes to feel the soft spring wind blow through her hair as it had done as they had sat laughing at the boulder. She opened her eyes startled with her face contorted into confusion, as she felt the absence of natural air,
"What the hell?' she whispered and stared into James's eyes, "I-I don't understand how?"
They both let out strangled gasps of shocks as the rocky terrain suddenly disappeared and their surroundings blended into the room they were standing in. A cottage made of brown wood, a fire burning and worn down couches with torn pillows.
"You figured it out." A silky voice startled them causing the pair to jump on the spots in surprise. "I under estimated you both, but how could I not, a Mudblood and a blood traitor."
Lily felt as though she could vomit, the voice, oh that voice… it haunted her nightmares, it made her wake up in cold sweats… it was the voice of a man who would take everything away from her. She slowly turned around, feeling her heart beating erratically in her chest, her palms clamming up and the colour draining from her face. As her emerald eyes caught the bloody gaze of Lord Voldemort, the memories of their last encounter flooded her mind.
"Spare me the pleasantries Mudblood." He growled and lifted his wand, "Avada Kedavra!"
His high pitched laugh as her flung the killing curse towards her.
The malice in his red eyes, the urge to kill tattooed within…
She forcibly shook herself out of her reverie, not wanting to be sucked into the endless abyss of memories, she couldn't let herself be weak infront of him. James voice suddenly caused her to look up, suddenly aware of her surroundings.
"How did you?"
Voldmeorts cold laughter caused the hairs on the back of her neck to become static, "Its old magic Potter, nothing you would've heard of." He spat, waving his wand around to enunciate his words. "Since you're not going to leave here alive, I feel no qualms in telling you what it was since your pathetic order will never find out." He hissed, James clenched his fists together as he felt them clam up, "It was an illusion young one, only the most powerful of wizards are able to conjure one."
Lily felt her stomach churn as he heard Voldemort sentencing them to certain death. She wanted nothing more than to squeeze James hand, to embrace him, to run her hands through his perpetually knotty hair, to inhale his scent… She felt anger bubbling within her, and hate… she wanted to rip off the mans annoyingly charming head, she wanted to push him to the ground, she wanted to feel his life drain from beneath her hands. The world around her blurred and no longer could she hear the hateful banter, all she could see was Voldemort and feel the hate she had for him. Without thinking, she lunged forward, startling both James and Voldemort and knocked him to the ground, her hands wrapped around his neck and squeezing it tightly. The shock on the older mans deformed face was evident, obviously nobody had tried strangling him before.
The man gasped and quickly summoned his wand to his hand, gasping under her tight grip, James ran forward and grabbed her from underneath her armpits, pulling her off the man and behind him. James wished for nothing more than to leave Lily there and let her strangle him, let her kill him in a mundane way; but he wished even more for his beloved to not be hurt. He would rather live in a world with Voldemort in it then a world that did not have Lily in it.
"JAMES!" she shrieked trying to dislodge herself from his grip and back onto Voldmoert, her hate was blinding her, it was poisioning her very being.
"Lily!" he struggled to keep her behind him.
Voldemort stood up to his full height, seemingly towering over the pair, his red eyes glowing with anger and his hand tightly clamped around his wand. He moved forward, eyes fixated on James and Lily. He moved closer towards the pair, becoming so immersed in his magic that he lost control of his surroundings.
Lily watched as he slowly moved towards them and felt fear begin to seep into the river of poison that was running through her bloodstream. She felt her brain begin to slowly gain its functions back, but she still felt the hate, and the anger, the craving for his blood… She felt herself reach out to the deepest recesses of her mind and try to recall any spell, she didn't care how dark or light it was, she just needed to maim him, and Merlin if he could feel it, she wanted him to hurt.
"Sectumsempra!" she shrieked, unsure if she'd done the wand movement correctly or if she'd pronounced it right, she could barely remember what the spell did… she hadn't thought of it for years, she just remembered that Severus had created it to use on enemies. Her arm clamped around James's forearm as she watched Voldemort's passive face contorted, and for the first time, Lily saw an expression other than hate, anger or bloodlust on the monsters face; she felt deep satisfaction when she saw pain tattoo itself on his features, and his hand immediately went to the lacerations that began to litter his body, and she relished at the fact that rich red blood poured out of his body.
The man looked up at her, anger burning in his eyes and she couldn't help but stagger back at the ferociousness in his gaze. She felt herself come to and fear begin to churn in the pit of her stomach.
"You'll pay for this!" the man hissed, spittle spraying in front of him. Before surprisingly apparating away, leaving James and lily panting in the middle of the cottage. They both collapsed onto their posteriors, chests heaving and nausea churning in the pits of their stomachs as they realised what had just occurred.
Lily took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair, shakily pushing it away as she placed her face between her knees, as the realisation of what happened dawned on her.
"I tried to strangle Voldemort." She whispered shakily, her face paling. "I just threw a dark curse at him."
James looked up at her, his own face bloodless and chest heaving. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his chest, his body trembling,
"We'll be fine Lils." He whispered, running his hands through her red locks, "I just don't know if we'll make it to the wedding at this rate." She looked up at him, her bloodshot eyes glaring at him.
"I will come back from the dead." She muttered before burying herself back into his chest. "I just want to go home."
I hope you guys enjoyed reading that as much as I loved writing it! I can 100% guarantee that you guys are going to love next chapter, Probably one of the cutest and most adorable! Down below is a sneak peek!
"Today we are gathered here to celebrate the union of marriage between James Potter and Lily Evans…"
You guessed it! At last our favourite cinnamon rolls are getting hitched!
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please don't forget to favourite, follow and leave a nice review! I'm coming down with a cold and reviews will be equivalent to infinite tissues and strepsils!
Goodnight lovelies!
Ruby xx