Regulus POV
This music was terrible. It sounded like a death march. The organist at the back of the church should really stick to funerals.
It was a good thing Regulus wasn't getting married, she would have hated to have to walk down the aisle to this music. And Lily's dress looked like a pastry. It had so many layers that he didn't know how she walked without tripping on some piece of fabric. Regulus was lucky he wasn't Lily, he told himself as he adjusted his purple best-man tie. Regulus was lucky that he wasn't a groom, he was perfectly fine being just James's best man. Even though he shouldn't be James's best man. Sirius should have been James's best man. But Sirius and James were barely talking and when they were talking, James wasn't allowed to bring up Lily.
Ever since Lily last minute made James choose to do his internship in New York instead of Chicago, Sirius had hated Lily. James had followed Sirius to college and had decided to stay in New York with him while James finished med school, so he had assumed that they were always going to live together. But apparently Lily had different ideas. She didn't want to move to Chicago, she didn't want to move at all, and so she made James stay in New York too, even though Sirius and James's family lived in Chicago.
It wouldn’t have been a big deal if Remus hadn’t already accepted his dream job of being a professor at Northwestern. Sirius never would have asked him to turn that down and James had understood that. Which was why his top choice of residency was at Northwestern Hospital. However, Lily had told James that she had absolutely no intention of moving outside of New York if she could help it.
If Regulus was being completely objective, he could see that it wasn’t fair for anyone to just expect Lily to move because James’ friends moved. Lily also had friends and they all lived in New York. Plus even before the moving situation happened, Sirius had never liked Lily. Which was probably all Regulus’ fault. Sirius could be irrationally protective of his little brother, and somehow he came to the conclusion that Lily was hurting Regulus. Which she technically was, but even Regulus could tell that it wasn’t Lily’s fault for marrying the man who Regulus loved. She didn’t owe him anything. However, Regulus couldn’t bring himself to tell Sirius to give her a chance. He needed someone who was on his side.
Regulus also couldn't complain about James not moving away, but he could see how much James missed his best friend. James had always planned on Mark being his best man. He had decided his best man before he had found a wife.
But neither Sirius nor Remus were even at the wedding. He had been invited but James had never gotten a response. They would call each other semi-often, but any time James brought up anything involving Lily, Sirius would just hang up. And Regulus could see it was killing James. Regulus wanted to tell Sirius to get over it, but he also wanted Lily to prove that she loved him enough to make sacrifices for him because James deserved the best. Regulus, once again, knew was completely unfair to ask of Lily. Regulus had been the one to talk to Sirius and convince him to start talking to James in the first place. He had told Sirius to tell James that Lily was the one to convince him.
Lily had finally finished her walk down the aisle.
She kissed her father on the cheek and then walked up to James. As the minister gave his long speech about how James and Lily were a perfect couple Regulus felt his eyes fill with tears. That was normal, crying at a wedding was normal. Making your guests cry was a sign of a good wedding. And this was a good wedding. It showed how Regulus was so fucking moved by the love those two shared. He was just exploding with emotion watching this wedding.
It was the perfect wedding. A magazine wedding. The one wedding venues use as an example of how great a wedding could be.
Lily was in the perfect giant wedding dress with the perfect giant engagement ring. Everything was purple, silver, and white. By any standard, it was the perfect wedding.
And people were supposed to cry at weddings, especially perfect weddings. They weren't supposed to throw up but Regulus was pretty sure he would be able to not to do that. Though a dark part of him sort of wanted to. It would be the perfect revenge. No wedding could be perfect if the best man vomited all over the perfect bride’s perfect wedding dress. It honestly took Regulus a lot of effort to continue being even remotely a good person
"Do you, Lily Jane Evan’s, take James Fleamont Potter to be your lawfully wedded husband, to honor and respect, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
Say no, say no, say no, Regulus chanted repeatedly in his head. "I do.” Of course, she does, who wouldn’t/
"Do you, James Fleamont Potter, take Lily Jane Evans to be your lawfully wedded wife, to honor and respect, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
Please say no .Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.
"I- I do." Regulus shut his eyes in pain as he felt his world crash down around him. He hadn’t even realized how much hope he was still carrying until it died. Regulus and James were never going to be together. It had all been just a terrible daydream. Regulus regretted ever falling for the man. Nothing was worth this pain. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.
"Now by the power vested in me by the state of New York, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Regulus no longer felt like throwing up. He felt nothing. The whole world was melting away before his eyes. He was just floating in a pit of nothingness. Nothing mattered. He had nothing to hold onto anymore. All of it was just over, with two words.