-Chapter Four: Sex On The Beach -
-By Natali-
You're keeping your word to someone to whom you gave it, James repeated, over and over and over and over again, hoping that he'd faint or something-anything to stop this.
"Do you, Erica Egbert Christina Emily Robinson, take James Potter to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the pastor droned on.
"I do."
"And do you…?"
Lily was clutching her purse wildly, unsure of what to do. This wasn't going to work. What had she been thinking? Was she mad? Most likely, but she should've realized that this is utter, unmitigated madness! She should never have come. He didn't deserve someone like her. Someone who always put things off. She should've told him what she had to say earlier, not at his bloody wedding!
"Excuse me," she whispered, getting up and heading for the door. The entire church glared at her, and she begged that James would not turn around. Keep looking ahead, she prayed. Don't turn around. Not now.
And for once, things went just as she wanted them to; she'd escaped.
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(-Later…-)
"Mmm, you look terrible," Joe remarked, fixing Lily a glass of her favorite hard liquor-Scotch. "What, are your bloomers all in a bunch?"
Lily smiled bitterly. "That's one way to put it. Only one problem though-I'm not wearing any."
"Naughty bitch," he laughed. "Seriously though, what's the problem? You haven't looked this bad since… Oh. Is he back again?"
"No. He's gone for good now." She didn't drink her Scotch, but instead stuck a straw in it and twirled it around, just for the hell of it. It was something to do with her hands instead of balling them and crying into them. "Very for good, actually."
Joe nodded, slipping the receipt in front of her, then snatching it back. "No, I think this one should be on the house."
"Heaven knows I need liquor," she sighed, but still didn't drink it. "He's got married now. Today. I was invited, and I went-to mess up the whole thing, mind you."
"And… What happened? He rejected you?"
Lily shook her head adamantly. "No. In fact, if I'd asked him to come and marry me, love me, be with me, I'd bet a whole bushel of galleons that he would've accepted and left that ugly, hideous-in-purple bitch faster than you can say Snitch."
"Galleons? Snitch? Have you lost your marbles?" Joe asked.
"No, never mind."
"Purple is a nasty color," Joe said randomly, wiping down the bar. "I mean, it's the color of puke for fuck sake."
"Joe, I don't need a description of the color. As it is, I'm planning on getting rid of this thing"-she indicated her purple cocktail dress-"just because it reminds me of her."
"Then why'd you wear it?"
"Men are idiots. I wore it to show her-and James-that I don't look bad in purple."
Joe looked at her soft lavender dress. "Lily, I don't think you look bad in anything. Or nothing, as I'd prefer it."
Lily laughed, waving over Emmy, who'd just arrived. "Yes, well… You aren't really the one whose opinion I care about. At least, not like I care about his."
Joe shrugged. "If you ever need a shag, I'll be more than happy to offer myself as a sacrifice."
Emmy sat down, smiling. "Sex-On-The-Beach, Joe. And I'll vouch for him. He's a good shag, Lils. I bet he'll be able to help you get over your little slump here."
Lily glared at her. "I've been caught up in this `little slump' for a year now, Ems. Somehow, I don't think a good shag-and I know Joe is one, trust me-is going to help any." She downed her Scotch now, all at once. "Glad you're here," she gasped. "You know I don't like drinking alone."
"You missed a good wedding, Lily," Emmy practically sang, paying for her drink. "Marvelously good, truth be told."
Lily growled. "You're a cold-hearted bitch."
"Don't I know it!" she laughed, sucking the juice off a cherry. "Why don't you go on over to his place and congratulate them, since you were unable to stay for the whole thing?"
"Because I'm leaving," Lily snapped, getting up and gathering her stuff.
Emmy's face clouded over with worry. "What do you mean you're bloody leaving? Where the hell would you go?"
Lily slammed money down on the bar mat, and ignored Joe when he tried to give it back. "Who cares? But I'll owl you when I find out."
"Owl?" Joe echoed. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to be, code?"
"Shut up, Joe," they chorused, and Emmy jumped off her seat to go after Lily.
"Lils, you're mad!" she exclaimed, attracting several stares. "Why on earth are you leaving? Which brings me to my next point! Why did you leave today, during the wedding? I thought you were in love, I thought-"
"Guess what, Ems!" Lily bit out, cutting her off. "I guess I was wrong. Love isn't everything, and now it's too late. It's over. Fucking hell, it was over four years ago, and I'm just too much of an idiot to let sleeping dogs lie!"
Emmy stopped as Lily gathered her umbrella; it was raining outside.
"Lils, there's something you should know about him," she whispered, noticing that everyone was trying to hear their conversation. "Something happened today. After you'd left, he-"
"I don't care anymore, Emmy!" Lily interrupted again, straightening up. "I left that church because I knew it wasn't right, and it's still not right now! Except, it's only more wrong now than before. I'll talk to you later, Emmy, I will. Give me two days. I'm leaving town. I should've done it so long ago, and I should've given up this silly fantasy of `true love'."
She'd said the words with such disgust that Emmy balked in surprise, and didn't stop her when she tried to leave. Lily had never believed she would fall in love, but she knew "true love" existed. It was a slap in the face for her best mate to hear that she'd given up on it.
"Whatever it is that you did to upset your ex-girlfriend there," said a fifty-something year old bloke from the table to her right, "it sure must've been something terrible if she deserted you at the altar. And I didn't even know homosexuals could marry here…"
Emmy was breathing fire. "Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you, you disgusting old pervert! Bastard! As if Lils and me would date. Please, she's not my type."
"And then just what is your type?" asked a masculine looking female from the same table as the fifty-year-old perv bastard. "Something like me, would you say?"
"Depends. Do you have testicles and a large penis?" Without waiting for an answer, Emmy said, "No, I didn't think so. And if you do, then I still wouldn't go out with you, `cause you're uglier than the shit on this place's toilets!"
With a loud, frustrated sound, she exited the place, came back in, grabbed her drink, and then went in search of Lily.
She never did find her.
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(-Four days later…-)
"Hello, Dumbledore," Lily said brightly, pushing open his office door. "Here, I've got those papers you wanted me to fill out. I hope you don't mind I did them in pink ink-I'd run out of black, and that's my letter writing ink."
"Not at all," said the Hogwarts Headmaster. "You remember James, right? Of course you do… You two were all the thing back in the old days."
Lily whirled around, shocked to find James there. Without a wedding ring of any sort. Or any other jewelry. Except for that adorable little earring he had, which she'd always loved…
"How's your wife?" Lily asked calmly. Oh, thank God I am so high on magical pills…
James quirked his eyebrows. He looked like shit, quite frankly. "Haven't you heard?"
"Obviously not," Albus chuckled, picking off a piece of lint. "James didn't go through with it. Maybe if you'd stayed long enough, Miss Evans, you would've known that." His eyes twinkled mischievously. "I did like that dress you were wearing though. You look very nice in purple, my dear."
"Thank you," Lily said absently. "Why not, James?"
He gave a casual shrug, continuing to look through Dumbledore's massive bookshelf. "Love someone else, I suppose. Great party after though. We got so drunk that we couldn't move for a whole day. Slept there at the banquet hall and everything. Too bad you didn't stay."
She nodded, glancing back at Dumbledore. Her old headmaster didn't need to know that she wasn't a virgin-hadn't been for eight or nine years-and that she would willingly shag James just now. It was awkward.
"I should, um, go then," she muttered. Does he know? Should I have told him?
"No, Lily. Maybe you should stay. There are a few things I'd like to say to you. James, sit down. There's something I want you to join…" Dumbledore commanded, locking his door magically. "James, how do you feel about fighting Voldemort?"
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-A/N: Guys, I'm so very sorry! I've just been in a slump! I know this chapter is short, but that's how I get over my writer's block, in tiny chapters. Forgive me? I'm so sorry… I'm hoping that it wasn't completely predictable.
Thanks to everyone.
I'll try to update faster guys. Please read and review, and don't hurt me.
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