Ch. 3 - The Waltz

The autumn sunlight passing through the altar's prismic window bore witness to the Potters' tender declaration of "till death do us part." Their friends and relations in the pews were moved by the ardent vows exchanged by the bride and groom, and even Sirius-"getting married is for sods"-Black became misty-eyed. Remus tried desperately to be present and enjoy the service as much as the others, but could not stop thinking about the ring he had failed to notice before:

"-You are my light, Lily, in a world that seems to offer only darkness, and I vow-"

"How could I have missed that?"

"-from this day forward, to give you the very best of myself,-"

"And who could she possibly be married to that quickly?"

He snapped back to reality when it came time for "You may kiss the bride." The little organ started up in a pitiful fanfare, accompanied by the applause of the sparse congregation as James and Lily kissed for the first time as husband and wife. They paraded back down the aisle, happily greeting the few attendees as they passed, and when the bridal party began to file out behind them, Emmeline watched wistfully as Remus made a swift escape through the side door behind the altar.

She processed out behind the rest of the bridal party alone.

Remus hoped that, in the bliss of the moment, James and Lily hadn't noticed him slip out to the graveyard. He was back in front of the church in time for a picture, after having speed-smoked the emergency cigarette he had stowed in his lapel pocket.

...

The wedding party and the guests eventually trickled into the reception, which was held at the Potter's new house in town. Seeing as James and Lily were high-level targets for The Dark Lord's followers, and given the risks of throwing a big, raucous wedding reception (which they otherwise might have done), the guest list had to be kept fairly small and was limited only to immediate family members and colleagues in the Order (or, in Emmeline's case, former colleagues; but more on that later). There were the Longbottoms, Frank and Alice, recent newlyweds themselves; Alastor Moody, who had parked himself in an armchair and was nursing a dram of whiskey; Dorcas Meadowes and Benjy Fenwick had come, as well as Sturgis Podmore; James' parents were there of course; Lily's sister Petunia had, unsurprisingly, declined her invitation. Other than Marlene, Emmeline, and the rest of the Marauders, that was it.

After grabbing a necessary gimlet from the enchanted bar set up in the kitchen, Remus tried to take his mind off things by studying the new house far more intently than it needed to be studied. "That's some lovely crown moulding," he thought to himself, as if he was actually interested in crown moulding. It must have looked concerning that he was concentrating so hard on the curtains in the dining room, because James and Peter sensed his stratagem and pulled him out of his solitude.

"Moony!" James announced himself as Remus realized too late that he was about to be subjected to giving James a piggy-back ride. "I'm married! Can you believe it?" As he was pounced upon, Remus dropped his cocktail, but an anticipatory levitation charm from James prevented the glass from shattering on the floor.

"We know, we were there, and you've only said it about fifteen times," Peter reminded him, snatching the glass out of the air and setting it down safely on a nearby shelf.

"How much has this tosser had to drink?" Remus asked, adjusting his stance to support James' weight.

"The scary thing is, he hasn't had a drop since before the ceremony. He's just like this."

And by "this," Peter was referring to the fact that James wore a smile wider than any he had ever donned before, for he had just married Lily Evans, and what could be better than that? "Someday, when you're having the best night of your life, you'll understand," James informed them. "Every time my wife walks by, I remember that she's my wife, and that we're married, and why are you both looking at me like I'm barking?"

"Incoming!" shouted Sirius, who seemed to come out of nowhere as he took a running leap onto James' back even as he was still on Remus'. Poor unsuspecting Remus' knees buckled under the sudden addition of weight, knocking Peter over as they came crashing down in a pile on the floor, all of them still in their tuxedos and laughing hysterically.

And for a fleeting moment, Remus forgot that Emmeline was there.

This may also have been because Emmeline had spent the last half hour hiding in the spare room upstairs. Out of sight, out of mind.

She had been terrified to see Remus since Lily invited her to the wedding. So terrified in fact, that it had been difficult to get any sleep in the days leading up to the rehearsal. After forty-five minutes, she emerged from her hiding place to creep into the adjacent bathroom, locking the door behind her. Emmeline examined herself in the mirror, disappointed by her own reflection and the state of her makeup: the thick layer of concealer hiding the dark circles under her eyes had begun to melt from all her nervous sweating. She withdrew her wand, muttered "Reparo," and the makeup re-coagulated; useful thing, magic. Emmeline stashed the wand back in her dress and furtively exited the bathroom, only to be caught by Marlene, who had just ascended the stairs.

"There you are! Have you been hiding up here this whole time?" Her light and lilting Scottish accent somehow made the question sound even more accusatory.

Emmeline looked at her contritely. Marlene was a petite witch with flaxen hair that always did what it was supposed to, and large blue eyes which rivaled those of Botticelli's Venus. She looked utterly marvelous, and Emmeline felt like a melting candle. "I feel like I'm going to be sick," she groaned.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "There are not enough people here for you two to avoid one another properly without it going unnoticed, you know."

"Marlene, he walked away at the end of the ceremony. He left out the other door. I thought it was going to be fine, but then he couldn't even bring himself to process out next to me. Not that I blame him, I just-"

"Can you not just coexist in the same room and ignore each other?"

"No- I mean, yes, but..." She sighed, gathering her fragmented thoughts. "I don't want to ignore him. I just have no idea how to initiate a conversation with him after this long."

"Just...say hello. Start with small talk," Marlene suggested optimistically, giving her friend a comforting pat on the arm. This time, Emmeline rolled her eyes.

"Yes, brilliant. Hello Remus, nice weather today. By the way, how have things been since I up and left you?"

"...Okay, perhaps not like that."

Emmeline let out a grunt and ran her hands through her hair, loosening the neatly styled bun.

They were startled by Lily, who had just come out of her bedroom. She had released her hair from its pins and it was now cascading effortlessly down her shoulders in waves like a burnished bronze tapestry. "Oh, everything alright?"

"Fine," Emmeline lied, faking a smile as she came to the conclusion that she was the only melting candle present. "What are you doing up here? Aren't you supposed to be downstairs doing bride things?"

"Truthfully? I came up to sit and smile to myself like an insane person for a few minutes." She leaned her head back against the wall like a smitten Austen heroine. "Why, what have I interrupted?"

"Em is trying to figure out how to talk to Remus," Marlene tattled matter-of-factly.

"Marley!" Emmeline shot her a warning glance. She didn't want to burden Lily on her wedding day.

Lily straightened back up. "I thought you two seemed to be getting on fine before we processed in."

"Fine is a strong word. I don't think he's pleased that I didn't warn him I was going to be here."

"Not to add insult to injury Em, but I think there may be several things he's not quite chuffed about," added Marlene, holding up her left hand and wiggling the ring finger.

"Thanks, Marlene." Emmeline took a few steps back towards the spare room, but the door shut in her face. She turned incredulously to find Marlene putting her wand away.

"Hiding isn't going to solve anything."

"Wait a minute, how long have you been up here?" asked Lily.

"Shall I go get Alice and Doe? We can make this a right-proper girls meeting," Marlene proposed excitedly.

Emmeline was not particularly interested in having this snowball, and decided in an impulsive moment of courage that it would just be better to get it over with. "You know what, I'm just going to do it." With that, she walked purposefully downstairs and back into the party. Lily and Marlene looked at each other, then dashed down behind her to spectate.

Remus was in the middle of a rather lackluster conversation with Sturgis when he spotted Emmeline approaching.

"So then I said to him, I said-"

"Do you want to dance?" Emmeline asked breathlessly, interrupting Sturgis.

There was a long, awkward pause in which Remus stared blankly at Emmeline while Sturgis slowly crept away. Emmeline was about to give up and retreat when:

"Sure."

Remus gently took her hand and led her to the front room where the Longbottoms and James' parents were dancing - Frank had enchanted the upright piano Lily inherited from her late parents, and it was twinkling Chopin nocturnes in the corner. Even Alastor was tapping his prosthetic foot. Emmeline supposed they were doing this to make it feel like a proper wedding reception, and at the time a dance seemed like a good way to get Remus close enough to initiate a conversation without having to pull him away from the party. It wasn't that she was afraid to be alone with him; she was, however, legitimately afraid that Remus might get upset and leave, and Emmeline didn't think she could bear the humiliation of having to tell James and Lily that she had chased him out of their celebration. This way, the others in the room acted as a sort of buffer.

The piano was playing some sort of slow waltz; not that it made any difference since neither Emmeline nor Remus were proficient dancers. Alice and Frank, who were twirling gracefully close by, watched them with mild intrigue as they cautiously paired up and began to sway together. One by one, people who knew the both of them noticed their awkward promenade. Emmeline began to realize that perhaps this was less inconspicuous than she had hoped.

They were silent at first, each looking over the other's shoulders to avoid their eyes. Remus could feel the smooth metal of her ring against the side of his palm. He couldn't wonder to himself any longer. He had to know.

"You got married," was the most eloquent thing he could muster at the moment.

"Engaged, actually," Emmeline corrected him. Remus felt a massive tension leave his body that he hadn't known had been there.

They were silent for a few more seconds, and had drawn more eyes.

This clarification begged another question. "...Who are you engaged to?" he asked, actually managing to form a proper inquiry this time.

Emmeline was afraid to say, but didn't see a way out of his query. They had certainly skipped small talk. "Erm...you remember Tiberius McLaggen, don't you?"

Remus stopped swaying and pulled away. Oh no.

"McLaggen?!"

The other couples stopped dancing. Even the piano was shocked by the outburst and ceased its tune.

"Remus!" she hissed. But it was too late. He was already walking away.

Emmeline stood frozen in the middle of the room, too embarrassed to move. That had definitely backfired. She soon came to the sickening realization that a half dozen people were watching her, while half a dozen others watched Remus walk briskly out the front door. Her face felt hot all of the sudden.

Sirius started after Remus, but Marlene and Lily held him back. They were debating whether or not to send James to get him when Emmeline dashed past them.