A/N: My sincere apologies for the errors on the first two tries of uploading this. And now, here it is for real. The idea of the marriage charm was inspired by something in Lissanne's wonderful fic, "Love is a Battlefield" on schnoogle.
His best friend was getting married today.
And he was going to kill said best friend in about a minute if he didn't stop his frantic pacing.
"James! If you're trying to drive me barking mad, you're succeeding remarkably well," Sirius finally snapped.
James stopped, looking startled. "Oh, sorry, Padfoot. Just nervous." James sat down in a chair, visibly trying to calm down.
Tap tap tap.
Sirius sighed and glared at James's foot, now tapping restlessly on the floor. "Great Merlin, James, I never saw you happier than when Lily said yes. What in the name of magic are you so nervous about?"
James sighed, running a hand through the messy black hair that he never could get to stay flat. "I don't know. I guess I'm just nervous that things are too perfect. I mean, what if Lily decides she made a mistake? What if -"
"Prongs, don't be an ass. Lily loves you, for some godforsaken reason I have yet to figure out. She's just as eager to get married as you are. Believe me. Anyone who's been forced to be around the two of you lovebirds knows that."
James opened his mouth but before he could speak, the door opened and Remus stuck his head in.
He grinned at James, before saying, "It's time! Come on, the moment of truth has arrived!"
James promptly turned so pale that Sirius was surprised he didn't pass out. He rolled his eyes before pushing James out the door, none too gently.
"James, stop fidgeting!" Sirius hissed to his friend, who was now standing in front of the altar, of sorts, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and opening and closing his hands restlessly.
Then the music started and everyone turned to look at Lily, who had appeared at the far end of the aisle cutting through the rows of chairs. It was time.
And he knew that things were going to be fine.
He watched as Lily walked forward, her green eyes shining with happiness and so much love that he felt uncomfortable just watching her staring at his best friend. Already, there was an aura about them, an aura that spoke of unconditional love, trust, understanding and faith.
Lily arrived at James's side and they reached out to join hands, turning to face each other as the presiding Wizard spoke the words that would bind them.
He wasn't listening to the words. He watched his best friend as he declared to the world his devotion to the witch standing in front of him. He watched as the girl he'd come to love as a sister also declared her love for his best friend. Both of them spoke with a calm certainty, all of James's nervousness had vanished as if it had never been when he saw Lily in her glittering white robes.
Vaguely he remembered handing James the ring and watching James slide it onto Lily's slim finger and then watching Lily slide another identical ring onto James's finger.
What he did remember clearly and always after that was the moment when James and Lily held up their hands, palm to palm, their rings glinting in the light, as the wedding Wizard pulled out his wand and spoke the words of the Marriage Charm.
He remembered the glowing white light that came out of the wand's tip and then settled around the rings, glowing a bright deep blue, then an equally bright, deep green, then red, then purple, then gold, before becoming a silvery-white and then fading.
Lily Evans had officially become Lily Potter.
He watched as his best friend and his best friend's wife turned to accept the hugs, well-wishes and congratulations of all their mutual friends, thinking about the Marriage Charm.
He remembered what he'd read about it years before. That the brighter and the deeper the colors, the better, as it reflected the strength of the love going into the marriage. Blue for fidelity, green for growth and change over the years, red for passion, purple for laughter and happiness, gold for trust and silvery-white for love until death. He remembered and he smiled to himself.
Everything was going to be fine.
Lily and James. They belonged together; everyone who watched them together for any length of time could see that.
And on that one day, for that one space of time, everything was perfect. He forgot about Voldemort, he forgot about the threat to the wizarding world, he forgot about everything else that could happen.
Lily and James were married and all was right in their world.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Twenty-five years later
An older Sirius Black watched as his godson, Harry Potter, married Hermione Granger, remembering another wedding he'd been to so many years ago.
Harry wasn't nervous, unlike his father. He was calm and his own certainty that he was doing the right thing shone out of his green eyes, Lily's eyes.
He caught his breath as he realized. That was it! The expression in Harry's eyes was the same as the expression in Lily's eyes when she had been married so many years ago. The same love, the same calm certainty, the same hope.
Harry and Hermione turned to face each other, their hands together, palm-to-palm as the words of the Marriage Charm were spoken.
Sirius held his breath, waiting.
And there it was, the same white light, as bright as it had been at that other wedding, 25 years ago. The blue, green, red, purple, gold, and silvery-white all followed in succession, each one seeming to be brighter than the last.
And Sirius smiled through the tears that welled up as he remembered that other wedding that had been the beginning of such a short period of happiness.
He couldn't predict the future. Merlin knew his last prediction of happily-ever-after had ended tragically, when James and Lily fell as the last victims to the Dark Lord. But as he watched his godson's wedding, one thought stood out clearly in his mind.
Everything was going to be fine.