“We’re getting married.”
Lola screamed and ran forward to hug Lily. Sirius clapped James on the back, in a ‘Man-Hug’.
“When?” cried Tara, a huge grin on her face.
“A months time,” Lily declared, and paused. “Will you be one of my bridesmaids? And Lola of course?” They both responded by screaming and running forwards again.
The Marauders stood around awkwardly while the girls squealed and hugged, although they were each grinning.
It was around a year after the visit from Voldemort and his followers. They were all stuck into working for the Order, and had quickly become important members “ although this did mean there was more danger involved.
Which, James told Sirius later, was the reason he and Lily were getting married at only just twenty.
“Life’s just too short, mate,” he had said.
“Life,” Sirius replied, smirking, “is the longest thing you will ever have to endure.”
Sirius had taken over the shop, and kept Jack and Penny as partners “ he still didn’t know everything about running a shop, but the two of them were showing him, and he was learning fast. In fact, business had been better than ever, and pretty soon they would need to hire someone new to help out.
“And when I say soon ...” Jack told him, biting his lip, “I mean soon.”
“Can we afford an extra wage?” Sirius asked Penny. They were in the office at the back where she mostly worked.
She ran an expert eye down the accounts, and after a moment said, “Just. And since “ if we pick well “ they will bring sales up even more, then easily.”
“So, why do you want to work here?” Sirius asked. He was in the back office for the first interview of the day. It was with a young woman named Lisa.
“Well ... I guess it seemed like a good idea ... I mean, I don’t have much to do, you see.”
“Right. So you don’t have a job already?”
“Ha! No! I hate working, really, I just need something to do, and this had the best pay.”
“Uh huh ... Do you play Quidditch yourself?”
“What? Merlin, no! Do I look suicidal?”
Sirius paused, and looked at her, sceptically. “We’ll be in touch.”
“My name is Morgan, and I would like your job.”
“And why do you think I should give it to you?”
“Well, I like Quidditch.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. Then looking the interviewee up and down, asked, “How old are you?”
“Twelve, Sir. Are you a Marauder? The Professors at Hogwarts talk about you and your friends like you’re all the devil or something. But they always seem a little bit proud, too.”
“Really? Wait, I mean, get out, you’re underage!”
The next person, Cassie, Sirius was hopeful about. Third time lucky.
However, when she had sat down and talked for fifteen minutes (apparently without drawing breath), Sirius decided that it was futile.
“Okay! Thank you, we’ll be in touch!” he said loudly. Penny came in once she had left, trying to stifle her giggles.
“There’s only one left, so cross your fingers,” she said, handing him the completed form. He glanced at the name of the next person, and groaned. There, in spirally, over the top writing, was “Gilderoy Lockhart”.
“Someone’s trying to punish me, aren’t they?”
Penny smiled at him, in a motherly fashion. She stepped outside, and ushered him in.
“Hi, Sirius, old pal! What have you been doing? Any pranks lately? Oh wasn’t it fun when we were all Marauders together? Ah, those happy days ... You know, I was thinking of writing a book ...”
Sirius fell forward and banged his head onto the desk a couple of times. Lockhart didn’t notice.
James was in hysterics as Sirius was telling him about the interviewees.
He calmed down a little once the tale was told. “Well, luckily for you, Peter told me earlier that he was fired yesterday,” he said, grinning, as if he himself had arranged Peter’s convenient unemployment.
“What for?” asked Sirius.
“Being a prat, probably,” James snickered, good humouredly, and Sirius laughed.
“I’ll ask him later on then, once we’re done with this palaver.”
They were in Madam Malkins’, waiting to be fitted for matching dress robes “ the groom and his best man.
Two young boys were being fitted currently, and one of them wouldn’t stay still. His fitting witch was getting frustrated, and had to keep re-pinning him. Sirius smiled, remembering when he and James had first met.
“Remind you of anyone, Prongs?” asked Sirius, grinning. James looked up and saw the two boys, as the hyperactive one started jumping up and down, pulling all his pins out of place.
“Absolutely not, Padfoot!” James replied, also grinning.
When it was their turn to be fitted, Sirius asked James if he was nervous about the wedding.
He thought about it for the briefest second, before saying, “Not a bit. The only thing that I’m worried about is if ...” he faltered.
“What?” Sirius prompted, expecting him to say ‘she doesn’t turn up’ or ‘I lose the rings’. Something ordinary like that.
“If You-Know-Who and his band of Merry Men decide to gatecrash.” His voice was light, almost joking, but it didn’t match his face, which was deadly serious. But it was just for a moment, before he masked it with a grin. “Still, we can fight ‘em off, can’t we?”
But Sirius wasn’t fooled by his light heartedness, and it immensely saddened him. What kind of world do we live in?
That evening, Sirius and Lola (who had recently moved in with him to the flat above the shop) were having dinner, and talking casually.
“Lily, Tara and I went looking for our wedding outfits today too. Oh, you should have seen Lily, she was glowing!”
“Never thought I’d see the day when Lily Evans was glowing at the prospect of marrying James Potter. I mean, he saw it, but we always just humoured him.”
“I know. And Lily ... Lily was always moaning about him, especially during fifth year. And now they’re getting married, neither seem to be having any doubts ...”
Sirius remembered James’s comment earlier. “Yeah. None at all.”
Lola gasped involuntarily. Her eyes were wide, darting about, afraid. “Sirius! Sirius, where ... where is James taking Lily?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.
“On their honeymoon, where are they going? Do you know?”
He frowned. “Well, yes, but James told me to keep it secret ... it’s meant to be a surprise.”
“Is it Italy? That famous Wizarding town near Naples? Dammit, Sirius, I need to know!”
“Alright, yes it is! What’s going on?”
“They shouldn’t ... He knows, he ... waiting ... unless they switch ... or maybe ... to our advantage ... turn it around ...”
“Lola! Tell me what’s going on! Did you see something?”
She stopped muttering, and looked at him. “Yes. I think he knows that’s where they’re going. He’s going to wait for them there, get them when they arrive.”
“Who? You don’t mean ... Lola, do you mean You-Know-Who?”
“Of course I do,” she snapped, irritably, rubbing her temples. “We have to tell them!”
“No, wait! Did you ... Did you say we could turn it around?”
None who went to the wedding of James Potter and Lily Evans would forget it for a very long time. It was a grand occasion, taking place in a church near the Potter Manor. There were tears in people’s eyes as Lily entered, in a grand white dress, followed by Lola and Tara, who both had pale blue dress robes. Sirius smiled. James winked, and Lily gave him a demure smile. The service was over quickly, and everybody was soon having fun at the reception, before the big meal.
It was a celebration, but there was also a tense atmosphere in the air. James and Lily, unaware as to what was happening, did not notice “ they were so wrapped up in each other, that they wouldn’t have noticed if all the other guests suddenly disappeared. But as the Order members mingled, talked, and laughed, they couldn’t help but check their watches, even when they knew there were several hours to go. Eventually, once speeches had been made, and everybody was full, all the guests who were not in the Order began flit away.
“Are you ready, Lola? Sirius?” Dumbledore asked. “Everything depends on you.”
“Wait,” James said, looking away from his wife and towards Dumbledore, “What’s going on?”
Sirius stepped forward. “I hope you don’t mind, but I changed your hotel booking. You’re staying in the country tonight, and you can make your way to Italy tomorrow.”
“We’re going to Italy?” Lily squealed. Everybody looked at her, and she blushed. “Sorry, wrong moment. James insisted that it was a surprise, and I’ve been wanting to find out for the past ... a long time. Carry on, Sirius.”
“No, don’t carry on,” James said, looking annoyed. “What did you change it for?”
Normally, Sirius would have teased him about contradicting himself, but today, for once, it was not the time. “To protect you. Nobody wants you getting hurt today. The hotel I booked is a good one, nice location. Like I said, go to Italy tomorrow. Just apparate to this address.” He handed each of them a slip of paper. But when they touched them, however, they both disappeared.
“What did you do?” Lola cried, whipping around to look at him. “What did you DO?”
Sirius shrugged. “The papers were Port-Keys. They never would have gone otherwise, you know them. Most stubborn pair I’ve ever met, why do you think it took so long for them to get together in the first place? And I put Anti-Apparating charms on them both earlier.” At Lola’s disapproving look at the way he had tricked them both, he grinned, and said, “I was a Marauder for seven years. Still am, technically. You learn things.” He checked his watch. “We’d better be going. Ready?”
Sirius ran a hand through his hair, to make it messier, conjured a pair of glasses, and put them on. Lola also took out her wand, and used it to turn her dress white. She let down her hair, then coloured it red, the exact shade of Lily’s. “Ready,” she said.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Dumbledore told them. They stepped towards each other, and began to kiss, and were transported like that to a small but elegant hotel room, in the little Wizarding town near Naples. They drew apart, and dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding several green lights.
“Game on,” Sirius muttered, leaped up, and began to fight.
AN: Ooh, danger! I hope you liked it, please leave a review!