A Wedding Story

1. My Girl

"I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May.
I guess you'd say, 'What can make me feel this way?'
My girl.."
-My Girl, The Temptations

Part One

The May morning dawned bright and beautiful, and the first rays of the sun entered the flat bedroom and landed on the face of the soon-to-be Mrs. Lily Evans Potter. She closed her eyes again and cuddled closer into the arms of her soon-to-be husband.

He reached over and turned her head so that he could kiss her, wet and sensually. She gave a slight moan and sunk deeper into the pillows, her mouth lax, allowing him to kiss her the way she liked it.

However, when her nightgown started slipping up her waist, she rolled her eyes and smacked him atop the head.

"Lily!" James growled, glaring at her. "I'm about to explode!"

"You are not, you little drama queen," Lily said, shoving him off of her. "You did not spontaneous combust seventh year, or when you were an idiot," as she termed the point when they had broken up, "and you won't combust now. Two days more will not kill you."

James watched her, sadly, as she got out of bed and set to getting ready for the day. She went into the bathroom and he got out of bed to follow her in there. He stood behind her and held her by her hips, pressing her body to him.

"You're cranky," he said, quietly.

"I am not cranky-"

"You're sexually frustrated, aren't you," he nibbled on her ear. "You know you want me."

"Potter, you're really pushing it this mor-" He kissed her again, and inwardly, he felt victory when she moaned. It didn't last long because she turned around in his arms and stared at him.

"Baby-"

"James, do you know why I don't want to do this now?" Lily said.

"Because you want it to be special," he recited. "But we can make it special even if we do have a quickie right here-"

"Baby, do you remember how good it felt when we made up?" she asked cupping his face. "And in seventh year?"

"Yes," James said, nodding.

"I want it to feel like that on our honeymoon," she said, blankly. "And I'm cranky because somebody took his sweet time in proposing to me, and we have to rush the wedding before anything else happens. If somebody had proposed when he meant to, we would have been married, and there would be no abstinence."

James grinned and pressed his forehead to hers. "You still love me though?"

"I stil love you," she said, closing her eyes and kissing him lightly. "Though it's very hard to like you sometimes."

The two of them got ready without much more incident, but James gave Lily a longing stare when she was dressing. He kissed her as he headed off to work, and she off to go do more wedding plans with James' mother.

Moody was charitable enough as to give Lily the week before the wedding to do "woman things," as he termed it, as well as the two weeks off for their honeymoon. But only, he said, because Voldemort and his cronies were being quiet as of late.

Mrs. Potter, happy with her son at last, had been planning the wedding while Lily remained at work. She had bombarded Lily with owls with fabric swatches and things of that nature. Lily, who had been planning the wedding ever since James first tried to propose, and put it on hiatus when he had his "stupid time," had a lot of ideas.

As it turns out, compromise was a wondrous thing. The bridesmaid dresses were a lovely pale blue, and the groomsmen's robes were trimmed in silver. James was so happy, he nearly cried.

But there were still a few things left to get ready. The wedding and reception were going to be at the Potter's house in Godric's Hollow, and it was just going to be a small affair. In fact, there was only going to be a best man and a maid of honor, Sirius and Emmeline, respectively, and Lily had asked Remus, as the closest thing she had to a brother, to walk her down the aisle. He was touched.

So there was only a few things left to figure out, which was fortunate because the wedding was in two days.

Lily sat waiting in a small café. She was going to meet Mrs. Potter and James for lunch to smooth out a few more details, and they were due to arrive any minute.

Suddenly, she felt someone behind her and lips press against her cheek. They weren't familiar lips though.

"How's my favorite girl?" Sirius said, sliding around to sit in the chair opposite of her.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked, her eyebrow quirked. "Where's your mate?"

"Your future husband decided that he needed to skiv off lunch to finish up all of his paperwork, and your future mother-in-law could not make it to lunch today."

"Oh really?" Lily asked, knowing full well why. "And why did you ask them to cancel our meeting?"

"Because," Sirius said, grinning and slamming a giant black book that was overflowing with ribons and lace onto the table. "You and I need to discuss the bachelor party."

"Excuse me?!" Lily blinked.

"Well, love," Sirius said, opening up the book and handing her a pamphlet of a stripper. "As you and James are two of my very favorite people, I want to make sure that you approve of everything that goes on."

Lily nodded and put the pamphlet face-down, clearing her throat. "Well, I thank you for your concern, but I don't really want to know-"

"I'm not going to tell you what's going to happen," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I just need to know how far you want me to push him?"

"Push him?" Lily asked.

"Well, I don't want him to show up on your wedding night having slept with a girl the night before..."

"No, nuh-uh," Lily held up her hands and shook her head. "There will be no sleeping with other women."

"I thought you'd say that," Sirius snickered. "What about other forms of sex? Would you be averse to a stripper slobbing his nob?"

Lily stared, "Sirius, this is not the conversation I want to be having right now. I don't want to know what goes on!"

"But I don't want you to be mad at me!" Sirius said, half-whining. "I need to know what your boundaries are! You know me!! I don't know the meaning of boundaries!"

"All right," Lily sighed. "I guess..." she seemed to be having difficulties putting into words what she wanted. "I guess he can be...." she flushed, "‘pleasured' by whoever you get. Just not...too much..."

"Great!" Sirius grinned, writing that down on a list. "And by ‘pleasured', you mean-"

"Let's not get into details, all right?"

"Taken," he said, looking down his list. "Now, about the stripper....would you be terribly freaked out if I got a red-head?"

"Sirius," Lily said, closing her eyes and trying not to picture a woman with red hair and green eyes but much, much different than Lily dancing on top of James' lap. "Please, can we discuss something else?"

"Right, right....about how drunk do you want him?"

"When are you planning on doing this little party?" Lily asked.

"Night before the wedding. He's not supposed to see you, so I figure the only way he can keep his mind off of being separated from you is to get him drunk. Which is why I was asking about the redhead, because if he gets completely gone, he won't know the difference..."

Finally, Lily had heard enough. She reached across the table and took Sirius' hand in hers.

"Sirius, darling," she said, smiling.

"Yes, love?" Sirius replied, looking at her sweetly.

"I trust you to not screw him up too badly," she said, squeezing his hand. "So can we please stop talking about it?"

"All right, all right," Sirius relented. "So, everything all set?"

"Yes," Lily said, biting her lip.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noting her expression.

"Nothing," she said, quietly. "Just me being silly."

"Lily....love...." Sirius said, laughing a bit. "Don't tell me...after all of this...you've cold feet?"

"No, no," Lily chuckled a bit subdued. "I am getting married to James the day after tomorrow unless the world ends."

"Oh, that's good to know."

"I just..." she sighed and cleared her throat. "Never mind me, I'm just being silly."

"If you're sure..."

"Positive," Lily smiled. "Now, run along and book your strippers and spare me the details."

Sirius, still concerned about Lily, stood up and kissed her on the forehead, packing his overflowing black book into his arms and walking away.

When he was gone, Lily pulled out her wallet to pay for her meal and her eyes fell on the small family picture that was nestled in-between two twenty pound notes. She swallowed and quickly pulled out the note, trying her best to ignore the happy, smiling faces that stared up at her.

2. What a Girl Wants

In my heart was a picture of us
Holding hands, making plans
And it's lucky for me, you understand
What a girl wants
What A Girl Wants - Christina Aguilera

Part Two

Lily peered into the oven and eyed her casserole. It was golden brown on the top, but she still wasn't sure. Opening the door, she stuck a knife inside and tasted. It wasn't half-bad. She grabbed some oven-mitts and pulled out the casserole, putting it on the stove and letting it cool a bit.

Leaving it to cool, she turned off the oven and went back into the bedroom. She was packing for herself and James' honeymoon, as they were leaving tomorrow for Tortula. She smiled sadly, and thought of Marlene. But it had been James' idea, and Lily wasn't going to remind him that's where one of their friends died.

Speaking of deaths...

She shook her head and looked in her closet for anything that she had missed packing. It was going to be quite warm, as it was May, and she had even gone out and bought James a few pairs of shorts (quite small, and tight), though she wasn't too sure if he'd wear them, as he wasn't used to them.

Smelling her casserole, she waved her wand and the two suitcases zipped up and rolled themselves to the wall. She returned to the kitchen and took out a plate and silverware, and cut herself a piece. She eyed the piece and then the giant rectangle that was left.

Maybe she made too much.

She heard familiar laughing down the hallway and knew exactly how to get rid of it. Although, he wasn't supposed to be here...

"Lily! Lily, my darl-ow! Padfoot! That's a wall!" James said.

"No, that's your door," Sirius grinned. "Lily-love, let us in."

Lily walked to the door, plate in hand and slowly ate her meal. "Can't, Sirius. You know the rules."

"Don't worry," Sirius said, laughing a bit. "I've got it covered. C'mon, open the door."

Lily cracked the door and then began laughing, opening it all the way. James was wearing a black satin blindfold that Lily was sure had come from her private stash. He also had a giant grin on his face and was reaching out to the darkness.

"What do you want?" Lily asked, toying with James' outstretched hand. She would lightly brush the side of his hand, so that he knew she was there, but when he tried to grab her hand, she'd sweep the other side of his hand. She put her plate down on the table near the door and started confusing him further by using both hands.

"Is that food?" Sirius said, looking quite like a dog that had just scented a rabbit. "Is that...casserole?"

"Yes," Lily said, still quite enjoying her game with James. "I seem to have made too much."

"Well not any-" He saw what was going on and stormed over, putting his hands in between theirs and breaking them up. "No prelude to shagging here."

"Padfoot," James whined.

"So, you're hungry?" Lily asked, picking up her half-eaten casserole square and walking back into the kitchen.

"Most definitely," Sirius said, following her. James, still blindfolded, edged forwards, but tripped over a carpet in front of the door and landed face-down.

"When did we put a carpet here?!" he yelled.

"James, honey, your mother gave that to us when we moved in," Lily said, walking over to help him up. "Sirius Black, don't you touch that casserole until I get there!"

Sirius, who was halfway to cutting a large chunk, cringed and put the knife away.

Lily got James to his feet, when he pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you tonight," he whispered into her hair.

"I'm sure you'll get over-SIRIUS! DON'T TOUCH!" Lily said, fighting off James' hands.

Sirius pouted and put down the knife. He came back into the living room to find Lily fighting off James, who was winning by several hands.

"Sirius is watching," she hissed, prying his hand away from her rear.

"Don't mind me!" Sirius whistled, turning around. "I'll take him when you're through with him."

"Hear that?" James snickered, kissing down her neck. "He'll wait while we go have a quickie in the kitchen."

"Potter, are you fifteen?" Lily asked, trying half-heartedly to push him off. "Sirius, make sure he gets whatever has gotten into him out of his system before tomorrow," Lily said, breaking out of James' arms. "Otherwise he'll be humping my leg in front of the alter tomorrow."

"Will do, Lily-love, will do," Sirius said, grabbing James by the scruff of his neck and hauling him off of his wife-to-be. "Now, while we're here and all hot and horny, what's say you to giving two boys a giant piece of that casserole you made."

"I supposed you want me to, stop it, Potter!" Lily cried, swiping away his hands, which had found their way under her shirt. "What has gotten into you tonight?"

"I have no idea," James said, rubbing his hands and grinning devilishly. "But I rather like it."

"Casserole!" Sirius whined, hovering over the steaming food.

"I swear, the two of you are like children," Lily rolled her eyes. She glared at James, who was hovering close again. "I have a knife, Potter. I would go sit down."

Sirius gave a cry of happiness when Lily gave him half of the casserole. He took the plate with both hands and ran into the living room, fork in hand. Lily cut James a piece and handed it to him with a fork, and put her hands on his shoulders, guiding him into the living room. She sat him down on the couch and sat next to him.

"I suppose you need me to feed you as well, hm?" Lily asked, picking up a fork. James smirked and opened his mouth.

"Now, now," Sirius said, mouth full. "None of that!"

"Practice for tomorrow," Lily grinned, carefully put the fork into James' mouth.

"You look like you're feeding a baby, Lily," Sirius pointed out. "Oh, oh damn! I didn't mean it!!" he started looking quite horrified. At the mention of the word ‘baby', James reached forward and took Lily's hand in his, leaning in to press his nose against her cheek. She giggled softly and reached up to stroke his cheek gently.

Sirius knew that any mention of child or children resulted in sickening looks for the next ten minutes. He threw a pillow at them.

"I'm eating," he said.

"We aren't married yet," James whispered into Lily's ear. "And you started it..."

"Stop!" Sirius groaned, turning the other way. Lily giggled softly and James kissed her fingertips.

"The two of you are going to be disgusting when Lily gets pregnant," Sirius grumbled. "I hope you aren't planning on doing it soon."

"As soon as we get on that island," James said, sing-songingly. Lily reached up and cupped his face lovingly, placing a kiss on his nose.

"Moody know about this?" Sirius asked.

"We don't have to have his permission to get pregnant," Lily glared at Sirius. "If I do, then I do."

"But we're going to try awfully hard," James whispered into her neck.

"Right," Sirius said, shoveling the last bit into his mouth, and letting out a small belch. "I've had enough of this newlywed-fest."

He grabbed James by the spiky black hair and tore him away from Lily's neck, dragging him towards the door.

"Bye, Lily, darling," Sirius waved to her. "See you tomorrow morning."

"Bye," Lily said, rubbing her neck slightly. It was still tingling from where James had kissed it.

Sighing gently, she stood up and cleaned up the mess. After finishing the dishes and throwing the rest of the casserole away, she returned to sit in the living room and laid down on the couch. She looked around the flat and her eyes stopped at the picture table. There, amid moving pictures of James and her, along with all of their friends, was a still picture.

She stood up, quite mechanically, and walked over to the picture, picking it up and looking at it. She lightly touched the faces which did not move, and felt tears well up in her eyes. She quickly slammed the picture down on the table and walked back to the couch.

If she could make it past tomorrow, she would be fine.

"Bright...ug..."

"Morning sunshine!" Sirius said, way too chipperly.

"I'm going to be sick..."

"Aw, come on Moony!" Siris said, stretching. "You only had...what was it? Ten shots?"

Remus' only reply was throwing up in the nearest circular receptacle.

"Ssh!" Sirius said, frowning. "You'll wake up our groom..."

"I don't remember anything," Remus said, blinking over the flower pot he had thrown up into. "What happened?"

"Well, let's just say," Sirius sniggered, "that you made sure that James didn't get laid last night."

"Whaa?" Remus said, blinking. "How's that?"

"Because you hogged all three of the strippers," Sirius said. "But lucky James was gone by that point."

"I whaa?" Remus said, not comprehending anything that Sirius was saying. He turned his head to vomit again while Sirius was explaining what had happened.

"Mate, you might want to stop that before the wedding starts. I doubt Lily wants you puking all over her pretty white dress."

"Where's James?" Remus asked, rubbing his sweaty face.

"Asleep on the couch," Sirius pointed. Remus couldn't turn his head for fear of vomiting again.

"Where are we?"

"Your flat," Sirius said. "And it's nine in the morning, so you have four hours until you have to stop throwing up."

"I feel horrible," Remus whined.

"As well you should," Sirius threw a wet towel at him. "But you have shit on your chin."

Remus took the towel and pressed it to his face. It felt good against his face.

"Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiily...."

"Ah, there's 'Prongs," Sirius said, taking another towel out of Remus' eye-line.

"Where are you?" James called.

"Your darling isn't here, Prongs," Sirius said, filling James line of sight. He lightly put a towel on top of James' face. "You're getting married to her in four hours."

"I am?"

"Yes, and then you can get to making tiny Prongs babies."

"We can?" James blinked.

"Mm-hm..."

"But I don't want to make tiny Prongs babies. I just wanna screw her-"

Sirius resisted the urge to laugh, and he just nodded. "Yes, Prongs, you can do that too."

"I don't feel good, Padfoot," James winced, and put his hand over the towel on his face.

"Well, just lay there," Sirius patted him on the forehead. "You'll be feeling better soon."

James rolled on his side, taking the towel with him and then he lightly began to snore.

"Ah yes, sleep sleep," Sirius smiled.

There was a light knocking on the door and Remus groaned, holding his head. Sirius hopped over him and opened the door, smiling when he saw Emmeline.

"Morning darling..."

Remus retched. James began moaning.

"Pleasant night last night?" Emmeline asked.

"Quite," Sirius said, closing the door to Remus begging someone to kill him. "So, how is our blushing bride?"

Emmeline shifted uncomfortably. "How about you go find out, and I'll stay here..."

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked. "She's still there, isn't she?"

"Yes, but..." Emmeline sighed. "You need to go see for yourself."

3. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

""Wishing you were somehow here again
Knowing we must say goodbye
Try to forgive, teach me to live
Give me the strength to try
No more memories, no more silent tears
No more gazing across the wasted years
Help me say goodbye."
-Phantom of the Opera, Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

Part Three

"Hello?" Sirius said, poking his head into the kitchen. "Mrs. Potter?"

"Sirius, dear!" Mrs. Potter said, juggling three pots on the stove. The wedding was to be held at Godric's Hollow, and she was busy playing caterer.

"Where's Lily?" he asked, walking inside.

"Oh..." she said, quietly. "Oh, she's upstairs...don't tell James, you know how he'll worry-"

Sirius, now very concerned, slowly ascended the stairs. He heard talking coming from down the hall and headed towards that direction. He paused in front of James' old room and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Alice Longbottom said. Sirius cracked the door and she stood up, hurriedly.

"What's wrong with-"

"Oh Sirius, she's been like this since she saw her dress," Alice said, wringing her hands. She lead Sirius over to the joining room where he could hear light crying.

"Lily, honey?" Sirius said, walking inside. He saw Lily, wearing her white slip, and holding a tissue to her red-rimmed, tear-stained cheeks. She had the puffy and red appearance of someone who had been crying for several hours, and hiccuped when she saw Sirius walk in.

"S-Sirius," Lily said, wiping her eyes hastily, but it did no difference.

"What's wrong?" Sirius said, rushing to her side and brushing her cheeks. Lily shook her head and leaned against him, sobbing, and wrapping her arms around him. He rubbed her back soothingly and lifted her head up to look at him. "Do you not want to get married?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm just b-being silly..."

"You're hardly being silly if you're this upset," Sirius said, smiling lopsidedly. "Is this about James?"

"N-No," Lily hiccuped.

"What's wrong, then?" Sirius said. Lily just continued to sob, as if it hurt her so deeply to talk about it. Sirius turned his ear towards her; he could almost make out what she was saying.

"I-I-I w-want my M-M-Mum..." she sobbed, eyes squeezed shut in pain, her chest racking with each breath.

It all suddenly clicked into place and Sirius held her tightly to him, suddenly at a loss at what to do. If she was upset about something fixable, he would have spared no expense to make it right, but this...about this, he could do nothing.

"It's not supposed to h-happen this way," Lily said, pushing away from him, and still hiccuping. "D-Daddy was supposed to walk me down the aisle, and M-Mum was supposed to m-make my dress, and Oliver was..." she trailed off into incoherent sobs.

Sirius rocked her gently.

"P-Petty wouldn't come!" she whispered. "I wanted her to be my m-maid of h-honor, and she wouldn't t-talk to m-me!"

Sirius looked at her and brushed away her tears. Now this was something that he could fix. "You stay right here, all right? Just leave it to me. And no more tears, all right?"

In response, Lily continued to sob.

"Er...Alice!" Sirius called, brushing the wetness off of his robes. Alice came running in. He made a motion as if he didn't know what to say and then motioned to Lily and said, "Make sure she doesn't do anything..drastic, all right?"

"Oh....hello baby," Sirius said, eyeing his motorcycle lovingly. He had wheeled it out of the Potter's storage shed and gave it a light dusting. He really needed to use it more often, but he'd been so busy that he'd nearly forgotten about it. Now that he had a second look at it, his love reemerged.

"Right, now," Sirius said, sitting on top of it and turning it on. "If I were a boring bird and had an overlarge husband, where would I live...?"

He revved it a bit, listening to it purr and released the clutch, the tires making a squealing sound as they left the dirt. He rode for a few seconds on the ground before lifting off into the sky.

Mrs. Potter had given him a bit of help, saying that Lily had mentioned that Vernon Dursley had just bought his wife a new house in Little Whinging in Surrey. So Sirius headed in that direction to see what he could find. He had exactly three hours until the wedding, and damned if he was going to let his best mate's woman down. Not after all the times she fed him.

All of his determination slowly started to ebb when he looked down and saw Little Whinging. Every house looked the bloody same, with the same cars, same roof, same everything. It was so normal, it almost made him gag.

"Right, there has to be an easier way to find the house," Sirius told himself. "Think, Black, you took Muggle Studies...how to locate a Muggle..."

"I'm looking for a Mu-err...a woman by the name of Petunia Dursley," Sirius said, clearing his throat. He had remembered hearing something about "policemen," Muggle law enforcement, and he thought maybe they would help him out.

"How long as she been missing?" the man said, taking out a form and a pen.

"Err...she's not missing," Sirius said, scratching his head. "I need to find her."

"Are you being difficult on purpose?" said the policeman, looking quite angry.

"No, no!" Sirius said, waving his hands. "I don't think she's missing, I just need to locate her house!"

"Well then, try the bloody phone book!" the policeman said, grumbling. "And stop wasting my valuable time!"

"Erm...what's a phone book?" Sirius asked, quietly, knowing that it must have seemed a stupid question.

The policeman stopped and stared at Sirius. "Did you just ask me what a phone book was?"

"Where!" Sirius corrected, holding up his finger and looking a bit triumphant. "Where is your phone book!"

"It's right here," the policeman said, handing him a giant book, and eyeing Sirius' clothes. "What the bloody hell are you wearing?"

"....it's the new fashion.... in Paris," he nodded and winked slyly. "You know the French, always odd duckies they are..." He turned his attention to the phone book. "Vernon Dursley, Dursley..."

"Vernon Dursley, you say?" the man said, eyeing him. "What do you want to do with him?"

"Do you know them?" Sirius said, head popping up.

"Yeah, they're my neighbors-"

"Well, for Merlin's sake man, where do they live!?" Sirius asked.

"They live over on Private Drive," he said, thumbing behind him. "I can give you directions if you like."

"I would like," Sirius nodded. The policeman began to write it down on the back of one of his forms. Sirius watched as the directions got longer...and longer...and longer...

"How far away is it?!" he asked, as the policeman started squeezing things into the bottom of the paper.

"Oh shoot, I forgot something," he said, balling up the paper and throwing it away. Sirius looked at the clock and started bouncing on his feet. He only had an hour and a half now.

"Could you maybe...hurry it up a bit?" Sirius asked.

"Am I rushing you?" the policeman asked, looking at Sirius haughtily.

"No, you see, I have a wedding I need to be at, and Petunia needs to be in it, so if you could please hurry with those directions, I would be most appreciative-" Sirius said, very quickly and very pointedly.

Finally, the policeman finished the directions and slid it over to Sirius who took them into his hand and thanked him as he ran out the door.

"Turn on Picadilly Square," Sirius muttered to himself thirty minutes later, turning his bike to go down another road. All of the similar houses were making him dizzy. He stayed on his course and turned down another road, Magnolia Crescent, until he finally saw Private Drive.

"Number four, number four," Sirius said, counting down the houses. A giant grin appeared on his face. Here it was.

Leaving his bike on, Sirius hopped off of it and ran to the door, banging on the door.

"Petunia Dursley! I know you're in there!" he called. "Get out here so I can take you to your sister's wedding!"

Silence.

"OI!" he banged more. "OPEN UP!"

More silence.

Statute of Secrecy be damned, there weren't any Muggles about. He pulled out his wand and unlocked the door to find...

...an empty house.

No furniture, no appliances. Sirius walked into the empty living room with a look of supreme shock on his face. Apparently, Vernon must have just bought the house for his wife. So "just" that they haven't even moved in yet.

Sirius felt his shoulders drop. All of this, and Lily wasn't going to have her sister in her wedding like she always wanted. He felt like such a failure....

"What are you doing in our home!" Vernon Dursley called from the door. He was holding something large and bulky, as if threatening.

"You!" Petunia hissed, peering over Vernon's shoulder.

"You!" Sirius said, a giant grin appearing on his face.

"You?!" Vernon said, looking between the two of them.

"You're coming with me," Sirius said, leaving no room for argument. Petunia gasped in indignation, and Vernon with aghastness.

"Says who?" Petunia sniffed.

"Says me," Sirius said, brandishing his wand. Now Vernon knew who he was, as he bristled, but fear shone from behind his eyes.

"You will put that away and leave our house at once!" he bellowed. "My wife isn't going anywhere!"

Sirius pointed his wand at Vernon whose eyes widened. "She will come to her sister's wedding and be a part of it, or else I'll use your head for target practice."

Vernon seemed quite unsure of himself in the minutes that followed.

"Her wedding?" Petunia said, coming out from behind Vernon. "You want me to go to her wedding?"

"Yes, as you're her only family left," Sirius said, lowering his wand.

"That's not my fault," Petunia sniffed, looking as if she'd rather not discuss the subject. Sirius let out a dangerously low growl and marched up to Petunia, grabbing her by the arm.

"If you ever say anything like that again..." he said, glaring at her with an intensity that made her tremble.

"UNHAND MY WIFE!" Vernon roared. Sirius pointed his wand once more and dark purple sparks came out of it.

"I'll bring her back when the wedding is over," he said, and with one grunt, he threw Petunia over his shoulder and walked out the door.

Lily looked at the clock and hung her head in shame. It was twenty minutes until she was set to walk down the aisle, and she could not stop bawling her eyes out. It just made her want to cry more, which was the original problem.

So there she sat, in a vicious cycle, in front of her mirror, looking at her white dress still on the hanger. The tears welled up in her eyes again. She was thankful for Mrs. Potter finding the dress and paying for it, but it would have been so much nicer if her Mum had made it, like she made Petunia's...

Speaking of Petunia, Lily blinked. She thought she must have been crying so hard she was hallucinating, because she thought she saw Petunia in the doorway.

"Well, aren't you just a sight," the hallucination sniffed. Lily turned around slowly and stared, not wanting to believe her eyes.

"P-Petty?" she hiccuped.

Petunia was carrying a large bag under her arm, which she promptly hung up over Lily's wedding dress. She walked over to Lily and picked up a tissue, wetting it with her tongue, and wiping the tear stains off of Lily's cheeks, ignoring the stunned look on her sister's face.

"W-What are you doing here?"

"I'm your matron of honor, idiot," she said, simply. "Now, do your...magic..thing..and get rid of your red eyes."

"Y-You are?" Lily said, feeling the tears well up in the back of her eyes again.

"Yes, oh, stop-" Petunia rolled her eyes as Lily flung herself onto her and started sobbing again. "Stop crying, for goodness sakes!"

Lily stood up and for the first time, a watery smile appeared on her face. Petunia offered a small one in return, although it was strained.

"Now, you need to get into my old dress. I don't think it will fit you, but you can do your...ab- magic ..thing...to make it fit."

"You brought your wedding dress?" Lily asked, following her over.

"Well as Mum...." she sniffed. "As Mum isn't around to make you a new one, this is the best I can do."

A smile adorned Sirius' face as he listened to the sisterly sounds from within. Feeling quite proud of himself, and having ten minutes to spare until the Moaning Bitches had to be ready to meet Lily at the church, he Apparated back to Remus' flat.

Where he found James and Remus already dressed, and looking fresh as daisies.

"W-What did you do?!" Sirius asked, blinking at them. Emmeline, who was fussing with Remus' light blue tie, smirked.

"I happen to know a few hangover remedies, Mr. Black-Hold still, Remus!" she slapped his hand away when he tried to fix it himself.

Remus sighed and let her fiddle with his tie. It looked fine to Sirius, and Emmeline seemed to be messing it up on purpose just to fix it.

"Where've you been?" James asked, jumping a bit. "Your robes are dirty-"

"Let's just say, when you see who's on my arm, you're going to get a bit of a surprise," Sirius winked at Emmeline who finished with Remus' tie.

"I suppose I'd best go give up my dress then-"

"That you should," Sirius grinned. She disappeared and both Remus and James looked over to Sirius, confused.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius said, walking over to James and fixing his lop-sided tie. Apparently, Emmeline had been more focused on Remus' tie (Sirius noted this in his memory). "Just think about the hot sex you're going to be having in a few hours."

SGR's Note: All right, time to answer some questions.

Yes, AWS is complete. No, I won't write a wedding. I don't write weddings well, and as nearly every aspect of James and Lily's life is being showcased, I wanted to give them a bit of privacy.

So, why did I do a mad posting session? Well, the answer is simple: This has already been posted on FF.N for a few weeks, and I just wanted to post it on portkey. So why so quickly?

I will be posting the first chapter of the LAST BOOK on January 21, 2005 simultaneously.

Well, that's the plan at least. We'll see how Astronomy Tower behaves.

So, I'll see you in two weeks!