Lily was not the type of girl who dreamed about her wedding day. There were too many other things to think about – like whether that stream was too wide to jump over, or whether Mummy would be too terribly angry if she came home with frogs in her pockets again. Tuney did, even though Lily would rarely listen.
(“Imagine it Lily,” Tuney would sigh, “me in a beautiful white ballgown, absolutelydripping in diamonds. I’d have a diamond tiara and diamonds in my gown and a huge diamond on my finger.”
“Why not petunias? They’d be a lot less heavy.” Plus Lily always privately thought that if anyone had that many diamonds they should do something more interesting with them than put them on a dress. Make a giant magnifying glass or lazer perhaps.
“Oh Lily,” Tuney would roll her eyes at her poor, unimaginative sister. “You only get one wedding day. It needs to be perfect.”
“Why though?” Lily always ended the conversation the same way, “If you don’t like it, just do it again.”)
But even if she had been the type of girl to imagine her wedding, she would not have imagined this.
“Are you ready?”
Lily smiles wanly at Remus, who’s sporting a few fresh claw marks to go with the tattered dress robes he borrowed from James. It’s just a few days after the full moon. Remus had insisted that James stay home with her, just in case. He’d have Sirius, he’d insisted, and it was more important they make sure they had enough cutlery for everyone. After all, he’d laughed, wouldn’t want any evil witches coming to ruin the party.
It wasn’t until Sirius had come over for lunch the next day that they realized that Remus had gone through the night alone. Both of them had been lied to.
Lily looks at the boy who had walked first-years to class with her, prefects badges shining on both their chests, at the boy who had huddled down and let his robes swallow him whenever his friends got too loud. She looks at a man and isn’t quite sure what she sees. But today is her wedding day, and if she can’t let go of her fears this one day when can she?
“Yes,” she said softly.
She's going to be happy today if it kills her. It probably will. It probably would even if she wasn't happy though, so why not be happy?
“Wand at the ready?”
She touches the crown of flowers in her hair carefully. White petunias. Tuney had always been more excited about their weddings that Lily ever was.
She'd looked up the meaning of petunias a few days ago, when her head was so heavy from reading about her friends' deaths that she thought she'd break apart if she had to read one more line of death. Petunias were peculiar flowers. They could mean anger and resentment, but they could also be a lifeline against those same emotions. They could also say don't lose hope for us.
Remus lifts a newly scarred eyebrow. “Transfigure your own wand? That’s clever.”
“I wanted it somewhere I could have it in a second, just in case.”
Remus nods, as though fearing for your life on your wedding day was only to be expected.
“We’d better hurry, before James thinks I’m trying to steal you away.” He offers her his arm. She only hesitates for a second before taking it. She thinks he notices anyway.
When she walks up the aisle, it’s with a werewolf on her arm and her weapon in her hair. Before her eyes meet her soon-to-be husband’s, they scan the fields for black cloaks or flashes of green. When James dips her to lay a smacking kiss on her before Dumbledore can even finish marrying them, she feels the tension in James’ back as he shields her with as much of his body as he can – just in case.
“We’ll do it again,” he whispers in her ear as he pretends to put her back together after the kiss. Sirius hoots with laughter as James gently touches the weapon in her hair. “After.” He puts his hand on the small of her back, directly opposite her stomach. “We’ll do it again together.”
Dumbledore smiles benevolently down at them. “Then I do declare you bonded for life.”