The Story of Lily

The Story of Lily

Chapter 5: The Christmas Holiday

Ever since that History of Magic class on Lily's first day, she had been stopping in the library whenever possible to find out more on her aunt. It all seemed to be the same stuff - and she couldn't find the Staff of Metrusia anywhere. On one such day, after she had just had her first flying lesson (which ended with a very bruised and bloodied knee for Lily) she made a noise of frustration and slammed the huge book closed. She stomped out of the library, and the minute the doors closed behind her, Sirius Black jumped out in front of her and hugged her tightly.

"Sirius! What are you doing?! I need oxygen, you know!" He stepped back and grinned.

"Sorry Lils," he said, not sounding sorry at all, "but I'm just so excited!"

"Why?" she asked irritably, starting on her way to Gryffindor Tower.

"Because of this!" He waved a piece of parchment in front of her. She snatched it from him and read:

Dear Lily and Sirius-

We are so thrilled that you are in the same house! And Gryffindor, too! We've more exciting news- we're getting married! Of course, both of you are in the ceremony. We have arranged for it to be on January first. Dumbledore will be marrying us, of course. We are inviting the Potter's, Lupin's, and Watson's: Mrs. Watson is to be the Matron of Honor and Mr. Potter is the Best Man. Gwen is also in the ceremony - she'll be partnered with James. Minister Watson and Mrs. Lupin are partnered. Mr. Lupin and Mrs. Potter are our ring bearers as well. Little Celeste is the flower girl. The ceremony is taking place in Orion's back yard, and we sincerely hope that you are all right with this. We love you, darlings, and we'll see you first day of Christmas break!

Lots of Love,

Violet and Orion

Lily's bad mood was gone quicker than a flash of lightning.

"Oh goodness! Sirius! We're going to be related!" They hugged each other and skipped back to Gryffindor tower. "We have to tell the others!"

They arrived in the common room moments later and found James, Remus, and Gwen sitting on a couch in front of the fire doing homework.

"Sirius! You're back! You left in such a hurry, we were afraid something was wrong!" exclaimed James, looking up from whatever he was writing.

"Nope, old buddy, nothing's wrong! My dad and Lily's aunt are getting married!"

"Oh my heavens!" squealed Gwen as she jumped off the couch and the two eleven year old girls danced around in happiness.

"Yeah, and that's not all of it! You all are all in the ceremony! Gwen is a bridesmaid and so is Lily; James, me, and Remus are all groomsmen; James, your dad is the Best Man and Gwen, your mum is the Matron of Honor; Remus, your dad and Mrs. Potter are ring-bearer's; Minister Watson and Mrs. Lupin are partnered as well! Oh, and Celeste is the flower girl," he added as an afterthought.

"Oh, I can't wait! This will be so fun! And it's set for New Year's Day!" Lily exclaimed happily.

~*~*~*~*

"Lily!" Lily rushed to Violet and they hugged tightly. It was the first day of the Christmas holidays, and the students had just gotten off the Hogwarts Express. Lily turned to Orion and smiled brightly.

"Hello, Mr. Black," she said politely. To her surprise, Orion lifted her off the ground in a big bear hug.

"Hello, Lily! And, please," he said, while smiling at putting her back on her feet, "don't call me Mr. Black. It makes me feel old. Call me Orion, or Uncle Orion, whichever." He grinned at his fiancée charmingly. She laughed and they kissed briefly.

"Now, come on kids! We're all going together out to dinner. You must be starving!" said Orion as he led them to the limousine. Sirius clutched his stomach and rolled his eyes. He had had quite a few Bertie Bott's beans on the train. Lily scanned the crowd quickly and immediately spotted her best friend rushing towards her.

"Bye Lils! I'll look in my library for anything of the Staff of Whatshisface, kay?" The two girls hugged and Lily pulled back with a stern expression.

"Gwen, it's the Staff of Metrusia, for the thousandth time! How are you going to look if you don't even know its name?!"

"Oh, I would recognize it if I saw it," Gwen shrugged innocently.

Lily smiled in spite of her self. "Gwen, you're so silly. I'll see you on the twenty fifth for Christmas dinner, if not before."

"Yeah, okay. I'll owl you!"

"Lily!" came her aunt's voice.

"Coming, Aunt Violet! Bye Gwen!" they girls hugged again and Lily raced to the car. She didn't notice the disappointed expression on James Potter's face when she didn't hear him bidding her goodbye.

~*~*~*~*

"Mademoiselle Lilee!" Ella's voice sounded in Lily's ear. "You 'ave to go bee fitted for your dress!" She rolled the blinds up in her room and sunlight poured through. Ella was a wedding planner, trained in both Muggle and magical weddings. She would, of course, be in charge.

Lily sat up a bit dizzily. She got dressed quickly in her Muggle clothes since they were going to a Muggle wedding shop. Violet insisted upon her wedding being Muggle-style because she had grown up dreaming and planning her wedding that way, even after she knew about magic. She was adamant about it, even though the entire guest list was witches and wizards.

Lily, Ella, and Violet ate a quick breakfast and drove into downtown London. They stopped outside a bridal boutique called Wedding's by Isabel. It was a very expensive shop, but money really was not an issue for the Black's and Violet.

"Gwen!" Lily cried as she rushed to her friend.

Gwen spun around and smiled. "Lily! Would you look at that?" she lowered her voice to a whisper and pointed to a phone that was on the wall. "Dad says they're called helliphones!"

Lily laughed at her friend's awed expression. "Gwen! There not called helliphones, there called telephones!" she burst out laughing again. Gwen looked disgruntled.

"Well, whatever," but she too couldn't resist the urge to laugh. "This is so neat," she burst suddenly. "Look at how pretty the dresses are! Definitely prettier than any old wedding robe."Lily agreed and they looked at all the dresses in the large shop. Members of the wedding party arrived one-by-one, and finally all were assembled. They had decided that, since Violet's father was dead, that Orion's father would walk her down the isle.

"Alright, everyone! We will bee fitting ze men first so we can fit ze bride wizout ze groom seeing! It iz a Muggle tradition, by zee way, and I want to do it all zeir way!" There were nods of understanding from the people gathered around her. She immediately set to work. All of the males would be in smart black tuxedos with a red rose boutonniere. Lily privately thought that James looked most handsome in his suit. When they were finished, Ella shooed them all out and told them to meet at a fancy restaurant in downtown London for dinner at around seven o'clock, in costume (dressed as a Muggle).

Finally, all the women were alone. With two sharp claps of her hands, Ella had their attention. "Alright, ladieez.We will begin with ze bride since she is most likely to take ze longest, and deepending on her dress, we will zen be able to determine ze colors of ze bridesmaid's dresses. Now, Mademoiselle (soon to bee Madame) Violet, pleezestand on ze stand and I will get dresses for you to try on."

Ella really was a professional, and anyone could tell she loved her job. Her brown eyes sparkled with each dress Violet tried on. Finally, after many gowns, they found the perfect one. Even picky Gwen fell in love with it.

It was white satin embroidered with little white flowers on the top. It had off the shoulder sleeves. It was tight to her waist and then flowed down gracefully in a three-foot trail. The veil was like a crown that rested on her head and flowed down almost as long as the trail. It truly was perfection.

They all decided that the appropriate bridesmaid color would be violet. It took a few inconspicuous taps of her wand on some dresses to make it the perfect shade. Lily, Mrs. Potter, and Gwen were the models; they tried on at least five dresses each. Finally, they found the best dress.

It was made of the same satin material as Violet's dress. I had thin straps and a tight top. It looked stunning on the three of them, as it did on Mrs. Lupin and Celeste. Mrs. Watson's dress was a little bit different - it had flowers embroidered in the top like Violet's. They were the same color violet as the dress. All the bridesmaids were wearing violet veils that had a silver base, but Mrs. Watson's base was gold like Violet's. They found shoes - spiked violet pumps that matched - and a little basket with violet and white colored ribbons decorating it for Celeste to carry.

Dinner was a very enjoyable affair, what with the children sitting by themselves at one table and the grown ups at another, giving the eleven year-olds a sense of freedom that they rather enjoyed. They parted very late that night, but they would all be seeing each other in two days for Christmas day dinner at the Potter's. This time Lily and James hugged, causing them both to blush crimson. Luckily only Remus noticed, and he just gave the two a knowing smile and walked away.

~*~*~*~*

Lily woke up on Christmas morning very early. She had not been able to sleep the previous night because it was her first Christmas with a family. With someone who loved her.

She jumped out of bed excitedly and opened the heavy drapes and looked outside. It was mostly dark except for a faint pink tinge on the horizon, and her smile faded a bit. There was no way Aunt Violet would be up. She still had a nasty habit of sleeping until two o'clock in the afternoon, but she rarely had that privilege. Lily pulled on her yellow fluffy bathrobe and matching slippers. She silently padded down the hall and peaked into her aunt's room. Sure enough, there was a large lump that was Aunt Violet in the middle of the large bed. Lily shut the door quietly and went downstairs. The magnificent twenty-foot tall Christmas tree faced her from inside the large living room. Lily herself had helped decorate the tree. Well, the branches she could reach, at least.

She wandered into the kitchen to find Cookie busily fixing Christmas breakfast. It smelled delicious.

"Morning, Cookie," she said as she sat down in one of the tall chairs facing the counter.

"Oh, Lily! My, you gave me a fright! Happy Christmas, dear." She hugged Lily tightly. "Oh, look now, I've got flour on your nose!" Lily giggled and Cookie rubbed it off. "Why in the world are you up so early, anyway? It's not even six thirty yet!"

"I couldn't sleep," Lily said simply.

Cookie nodded her head in understanding. "Ah," she said as she turned back to frying eggs.

"Good morning, Mademoiselle Lilee, Cookie!"

"Ella!" Lily hugged the brunette. "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas to yoo!" Ella fastened on an apron and began frying bacon.

About thirty minutes later, Lily made an impatient noise. "How long is it going to be until she wakes up?!" she complained.

"Until who gets up?" came a female voice from the door.

"Aunt Violet!" Lily jumped of her chair and hugged Violet.

"Well, Happy Christmas to you too!" she laughed.

"Can we go and open presents now?" Lily pleaded.

"Actually, I think we should wait until tomorrow," said Violet with a straight face.

Lily grinned. "Aunt Violet!"

"Yes, I think that is an excellent idea." Violet smiled and they walked into the living room. Lily immediately went to her stocking first. Inside were five Galleons, a small teddy bear, and a lot of candy.

"Here, Lils, open this one. It's from me." Violet handed her a long, thin package wrapped in brightly colored paper. Lily eagerly tore it open, and a shiny new broomstick fell out.

"Oh, Aunt Violet! It's perfect!" It was the latest model, a Shooting Star. Lily hugged her aunt tightly.

Her presents kept getting better and better. Violet cried when Lily gave her the scrapbook overflowing with pictures of the two of them. She had been working on it for weeks. It ended with a copy of the photo taken of them before the Ministry Ball.

She got a golden ball from Gwen that, if you tapped it with your wand, would show you the person you thought the most of. Lily tapped it, and to her surprise, saw a picture of James. She quickly tapped it again; her cheeks stained red, and let her aunt have a try. Violet, of course, saw a picture of her fiancé. Lily had to tap it with her wand to stop Violet from staring at it with a dreamy expression for the entire day. She got a do-it-yourself prank book from Zonko's from Sirius. From Remus she received a box of Chocolate Frogs and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Even Peter, the small boy that had been following the group around had sent her a bar of Honeydukes Best Chocolate. Her favorite present, but not by far, was from James.

It was a gorgeous silver frame engraved with lilies, and it held a picture of all five of them on the Hogwarts grounds. Lily was in the middle with James and Gwen on each side. She had her arms slung around both of them, and James's arm around her waist. She remembered clearly the tingling feeling that had given her. Sirius was on the other side of Gwen, and when she wasn't smiling and waving up at Lily, she was hitting Sirius. Mary Katherine was there with her arm around Sirius and Hayley. Remus was on the other side of James, looking weary and pale because he had been with his sick mother until late the night before. Even little Peter was jumping up and down in the background, trying to be seen by the camera. Lily almost cried at the sight of all her best friends, together and happy. She knew exactly where it would go - on her nightstand where she could look at it before she went to bed and when she woke up the next morning.

The Black's came over for lunch. Orion and Violet kissed sweetly until Sirius yelled, "Get a room!" and they broke apart, their eyes shining.

Orion gave Lily her gift first. It was in a small package tied with a green ribbon. When she opened it, she gasped. It was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen.

From top to bottom, it was a little under an inch long. It had a thin, emerald stem set in gold, which even had a wee leaf on it. Then it blossomed into a cut lily made of a single diamond. She sat there, stunned, until Orion gently took it from her and fastened it around her neck.

"Oh, Orion, it's gorgeous!" Violet exclaimed breathlessly. Lily just got up and hugged her soon to be uncle tightly.

"Thank you so much! It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" she exclaimed as she pulled back. Orion's eyes were twinkling.

"I knew you would like it. I saw it in Diagon Alley and immediately thought of you."

Lily's afternoon passed in total bliss, and soon the Black's left. Lily and Violet had to race upstairs to get ready for the dinner at the Potter mansion because Orion, Sirius, and Celeste had left a lot later than they planned.

They managed to be ready in time. Lily was wearing her newly bought red dress robes. Ella pulled her curly dark red hair halfway up and tied it with a green ribbon that matched her eyes perfectly.

They set off with only moments to spare. Luckily, it was only the Lupin's, Watson's, Black's, and Potter's, so none of them would care if Lily and Violet were late.

They stepped out of the limousine, their breath coming out in great puffs of steam. Violet rapped on the large front door and it was opened immediately by a House Elf. Lily had never known they existed until one night when she took a trip to the kitchens with Gwen and James at Hogwarts because they missed dinner.

"Happy Christmas, misses," the tiny creature said eagerly while beckoning them inside.

"Why, thank you, Sarie!" Violet said gratefully, happy to be out of the cold. "Bye the way, this is my niece, Lily Evans," she gestured to Lily.

Sarie peered up at Violet with her purple, tennis-ball-sized eyes. "Would you be Miss Violet?"

"Why, yes I am," Violet said, smiling, while hanging her and Lily's coats up on the rack.

"Miss Violet! Sarie hasn't seen Miss Violet in a long while!"

"Yes, I know, and I apologize."

"Oh, no, no, not Miss Violet's fault, no, no. Miss Violet is a busy lady!" Sarie said while backing up, with her hands up in a surrendering fashion.

Violet laughed, used to the House Elf's antics. "Are they in the living room?"

"Oh, yes Miss Violet, they is in the living room. Sarie must go. Goodbye Miss Violet! Goodbye, Miss Lily!" And the little green creature rushed off hurriedly.

Violet chuckled quietly and led Lily into a large room furnished with a huge fireplace and many items of furniture.

"Violet!" Mr. Potter got up from his position on the couch and kissed her.

"Hello, Harry. Happy Christmas!" Mr. Potter was a tall man with dark hair. He looked very much like James, minus the messy hair and glasses.

"And how are you, Miss Lily?" he asked kindly while holding Lily's small hand in his large one.

"Fine, thank you, Mr. Potter," she replied politely. He grinned and Lily got a very big sense of déjà vu-his smile was exactly the same as James'.

Katharine Potter, a tall, thin beauty with raven-colored hair and brown eyes, also hugged Violet. "How are you dear? Not nervous about the wedding, I hope?"

Violet smiled and looked at Orion. Without breaking her eyesight from his, she smiled contentedly and said, "No, not at all." Katharine smiled knowingly and greeted Lily.

"My, goodness, Lily! You've grown so much!" She gave Lily a motherly hug and whispered in her ear, "My James talks about you all the time, you know." Lily blushed scarlet and looked away. Unfortunately, her gaze rested on James, which made her go even redder, if possible. She turned away quickly. Katharine smiled at her and walked away.

Mrs. Watson then hugged Lily and wished her a Happy Christmas, followed by her husband, who did the same. Finally, after greeting the Lupin's, Lily made her way to her friends; they were all sitting in a corner of the room.

"Hi," she said brightly. Gwen turned to her.

"Oh, Lily! I love the bracelet! I'm wearing it!" She pulled back her white dress robe sleeve to reveal a gold bracelet with 'Best' written in fine script on a plate. Engraved next to it was the cursive letter 'L' that was carved out of emeralds - the exact shade of Lily's eyes.

"Oh, I'm glad you like it!" Lily exclaimed while pushing her robes back, also revealing a gold bracelet with a plate. Except, her script read 'Friends' and she had a small cursive 'G' carved out of a light blue sapphire, which was the exact same color as Gwen's eyes.

Lily turned to Remus and smiled. "Thank you very much for the candy, Remus!"

"Oh, it was nothing. Thank you for those lollipops. My hair turned bright green, with the first lick. Then it turned pink, and finally yellow. I stopped eating it after that. You know, I think I'll go give one to Sirius!" He grinned mischievously.

"You're welcome." She turned finally to James and gathered up all the courage she could muster. "Thank you very much, James, for the picture." She looked down and nervously began twisting her fingers in knots. "It, er, means a lot to me." Then, blushing scarlet, she reached up on her tiptoes and gave James a peck on the cheek. She turned away to find Gwen immediately, leaving a very stunned James behind her.

~*~*~*~*

Finally, New Year's Day came. Lily was awoken around nine o'clock by Gwen, who was looking very frantic. "Lily!" she shrieked. Lily looked around blearily and saw her best friend looking at her anxiously. "Lily, you have to get up, NOW! The ceremony is in two hours! They let you oversleep!" Lily jumped out of bed in alarm. She noticed with a started expression that Gwen was already in her gown. She rushed into her bathroom to brush her teeth with Gwen chattering on behind her.

"And I just got here two minutes ago, and Ella, poor thing, had forgotten all about you. So when I asked where you were, she went all pale and really almost fainted. She said she had forgotten to wake you up, so I offered to come up here and get you. I haven't got my hair or makeup done yet, so we have to hurry!" She followed Lily to her wardrobe where Lily carefully pulled the violet gown out and slipped it on, getting Gwen to zip the back for her. She slipped on her tights and her violet heels. The two girls rushed down the stairs to see chaos in the front hall, and in the middle of it all, looking very calm while everyone else was hurrying around, was Violet.

She was dressed in her beautiful wedding gown, and her blonde hair was in a bun with the veil over it. Her makeup was done, and she looked totally and completely composed and ready.

When they stepped off the stairs, the girls were hurtled in two different directions by two different witches who were obviously makeup artists/ hairstylists. Lily had no idea where Gwen went, but she herself was taken to the large powder room and was plopped down on a tasseled stool in front of a large mirror. Then the makeup artist/hair stylist went to work. When Lily faced the mirror again, she gasped.

The make up artist had done a brilliant job. No one would ever guess that she was eleven. Lily looked to be at least thirteen.

Her hair was in its ringlets, pulled into a looked-to-be-messy-but-really- wasn't bun, with pieces falling out artfully around her face. Her face had a light foundation that matched her skin perfectly, and there were no lines because it had been put on magically. She had on black eyeliner and violet shimmer eye shadow that went with her dress wonderfully. Her lips were pale pink. The witch motioned for her to stand up (Lily hadn't yet heard her speak) and she placed the silver-based veil on her head and thrust her a bouquet of violets and pushed her out the door.

Lily wandered around, trying to find Gwen. Suddenly, a door to her left opened and someone came out and stumbled. Lily caught her and they turned to face each other with identical looks of shock.

"Lily?!"

"Gwen?!"

They exclaimed at the same time.

"Whoa, Lily! You look twenty!"

It was true for Gwen as well. Her long, thick, shiny black hair was back in a bun like Lily's, with ringlets surrounding her face. She had the exact same make up on as Lily, and it looked stunning on her. "Wait until James sees you! He'll fall flat on his face!" Gwen grinned and the two girls went to find Violet.

"Wait - what?! James? Why do you say that?!"Lily demanded, facing her friend, a tell-tale scarlet spreading over her cheeks.

"Well, it's obvious he likes you!" Gwen started walking again.

Lily dragged behind, mulling this new information in her head. No, no, she thought, he doesn't like me. Gwen doesn't have any idea as to what she's talking about.

They found Violet by herself, looking out a window, evidently lost in thought. When she turned around and spotted the girls, she smiled, but she had a strange faraway look in her eyes, like she wasn't really seeing Gwen and Lily.

"Oh, hello, girls... you look lovely..." and she moved rather dizzily back to the window and resumed her staring.

"D'you - d'you think she's drunk?" Gwen whispered to Lily behind her hand.

"I dunno...Let's go find your mum..." Gwen nodded and the two set off to find Mrs. Watson.

They found her with a glass of wine sitting in the kitchen. "Gwendolyn! What in the world did they put on your face?!" Mrs. Watson nearly dropped her wineglass.

"Mum," she replied impatiently, "it's called makeup. You have it on your face! But that's not why we need you...We think that Violet's drunk or something."

"Violet? Drunk? Of all the ridiculous-" she trailed off at the serious looks on their faces. "You really do?" she asked wearily. They nodded their heads. "Oh, alright, take me to her."

They found her in the exact same spot as before. "Hey, Vi? Violet? Violet!" Mrs. Watson waved a hand in front of Violet's face. The bride-to-be suddenly sprang to life and looked around, startled.

"What?! Is it my turn?! Where's my bouquet?! I need my bouquet! I can't get married without a bouquet!" Violet began sounding hysterical.

"Vi, it's okay! We still have about a half an hour before we leave. And don't worry, Ella has your bouquet," Mrs. Watson soothed.

"Oh, alright...as long as I have my bouquet..." Violet suddenly burst into tears, alarming all around her. She slid down the wall and sat with her knees up to her chest, sobbing hysterically.

"Violet!" Mrs. Watson flung herself down next to Violet and put her arms around her best friend. "Go find Ella, Gwendolyn! Now!" she commanded, and Gwen didn't hesitate in running to find her.

"Vi, Vi, what's wrong?" Violet suddenly put her knees down and wiped her eyes on her dress.

"Where - where's Lily?" she asked feebly.

"I'm right here, Aunt Violet!" Lily sat down next to her and Violet smiled through her tears and took Lily's hands.

"You look so much like you mother, it's painful. Your eyes...they're the same. Lily, I want you to know that I loved your mother very much. When she died, I - I didn't think I could live. We always planned our weddings together, and each time, we would be each other's maids of honor. I was at her wedding, and it's just empty without her!" She began sobbing again, and Lily began crying as well. They hugged each other for a long time, neither wanting the other to let go. "And, I just remembered how Iris had lilies for her flowers instead of irises, and how I said I wanted to have lilies too, or at least irises! And, I don't! I have stupid violets! Stupid, stupid violets! Where's Ella?"

"I am right 'ere, Mademoiselle," said Ella, stepping forward from the crowd of women watching, water streaming from her eyes.

"Will you change all of my bouquets flowers into lilies and irises?" Violet sniffled.

"Of course, Mademoiselle. Right away." And she rushed away to get the bouquets and change their flowers.

"Lily, your mother was the most wonderful, kind-hearted, brave, and most determined woman I've ever met. And if she was alive, I'm sure she would be extremely proud of you, just like I am." This brought forth-another wave of tears. "And she loved me, even though I was horrible to her sometimes, her love never lessened; just increased for me. Promise me you'll never change, Lily. Please."

"I won't. I promise," Lily said solemnly, and they hugged again.

"Mademoiselle, yoor bouquets..." Ella interrupted quietly.

Violet smiled. "Thank you, Ella." She took the elaborate arrangement of lilies and irises from Ella. Ella handed Lily and the rest of the bridesmaids their new bouquets.

Violet stood up shakily and offered her hand to Lily. The woman smiled. "I suppose my make up looks horrible now?"

"No, it doesn't. Violet, you've forgotten it's magical, haven't you?" Mrs. Watson mock-scolded.

"Oh, I suppose I did!" she laughed nervously.

"I 'ate to be ze voice of reason, but I'm afraid someone 'as to bee. It iz time to go, ladiez."Said Ella. "Now, most of you will bee Apparating, and of course, ze little girls can't, so we will be taking zemby car. Now, everyone out!"

The female part of the wedding party plus the female guests trooped outside. Many disappeared with a small 'pop!'. Violet, Mrs. Watson, Gwen, Lily, and Celeste climbed into the car and in a few moments, they were at the Black's.

"Are you nervous, Vi?" Lily heard Mrs. Watson ask Violet as they were getting out of the car.

"Nope, not at all. I know I'm doing the right thing. There's no doubt in my mind about Orion. He's perfect; everything I could ever want, and I love him with all my heart," she declared confidently.

"I wish I had had your attitude when I was getting married," Mrs. Watson joked.

Soon, they were at the front door and Ella opened it. She shooed Mrs. Watson and Violet into a back room with Mrs. Lupin and Mrs. Potter so they could have a heart-to-heart girl chat.

"Now, girlz, yoo know who your partners are, do yoo not?"

"Yeah, I'm with James and Lily's with Sirius. Although I bet she wishes it were the other way aro-" Lily clamped her hand over Gwen's mouth and gave her a look of venom as Gwen dissolved into giggles.

"Alright, I must bee off! Ze minute you see yoor partners, please go and stand outside so I know where yoo are. Ah, and 'ere are our young groomsmen now! Go and geet een line! We start een fifteen minutes!" Ella shooed the four outside.

"Yes, James, it is Lily! Now put your eyes back in their sockets, please, and do stop drooling!" Gwen grinned evilly at the bright magenta color that James turned and he looked away. Lily blushed and stepped on her friend's foot.

"Ow! Lily!" Lily sent her a look that clearly said, "There's a lot more where that came from, so shut up if you know what's good for you".

"Oh, there's Remus! Oy! Remus!"Sirius called over the heads of the guests. Remus shook his head and pointed to a sour-looking woman next to him. Sirius gave him thumbs up to show he understood.

"Oh, honestly! Sirius, could you be ruder?" Lily demanded.

"Actually, I probably could. Sorry," he added, not looking very sorry at all.

Suddenly, the band began playing the song that Orion and Violet had picked out for the first part of the procession. Lily didn't know the name of it, but it was very sweet and beautiful.

Celeste, with a nudge from Ella, began walking down the isle, throwing petals everywhere, amidst the 'ooh''s and 'how cute!' 's from the audience.

Out of nowhere, Mrs. Watson and Mr. Potter began walking down the isle. Then, right after, Sirius and Lily were supposed to go. Lily forcefully dragged Sirius over to the edge of the red carpet and they began walking slowly down the isle. Mrs. Potter and Mr. Lupin followed them. After they had gone about ten steps, James and Gwen walked down, followed lastly by Mrs. Lupin and Minister Watson.

Mrs. Watson and Mr. Potter parted so Lily had a clear view of the altar. Old Professor Dumbledore, in black dress robes with a gold wand embroidered on the breast (which signals that he could lawfully wed two people) was standing next to Orion, who had never looked more handsome. His face was lit with joy and there was a sparkle in his eyes that was unmistakably undying love for Violet. Lily and Sirius parted and Lily stood next to Mrs. Watson, who had tears streaming down her face.

Soon, Mrs. Potter came to stand next to Lily, also with tears streaming down her face. Gwen who had a large smile on followed Mrs. Potter, and lastly, Mrs. Lupin joined them with - yep, you guessed it - water streaming from her eyes.

Then the band played the wedding march, and the whole church got on their feet. Lily knew what Violet looked like, so she tried instead to see what Orion's facial expressions would be when he saw his fiancée.

When she came into sight, his face turned to shock; then after the shock wore off, it was amazement; followed lastly by immeasurable love.

Lily could hear someone bawling in the front row and saw it was Cookie, like she had thought. She turned her attention back to the ceremony, just in time to see Orion's father lift Violet's veil and kiss her. Lily wasn't surprised to see the silvery tear tracks on her aunt's face. He then handed her over to Orion and they joined hands. Then Dumbledore began to speak.

"Witches and wizards, we are all gathered here today to join Violet Mackenzie Wellington and Orion Marcus Black in holy matrimony..."

Finally, it was time for the vows.

"Violet Mackenzie, do you take this man, Orion Marcus Black, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," she replied confidently. Mrs. Potter stepped forward, holding a rich red velvet pillow that held the golden wedding band and the wand. Violet picked up her wand and said "Adorus Totalus!" while tapping the ring. It emitted a golden light and flew into the air. It stopped and hovered in front of Dumbledore. He turned to Orion.

"And do you, Orion Marcus, take this woman, Violet Mackenzie Wellington, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," he replied just as confidently, and then turned to Mr. Lupin. His back was turned to her, but Lily knew he had done the same thing as Violet, because soon, the gold wedding band emitted a golden light and stopped in front of Dumbledore.

"Ius Coniubium!" Dumbledore cried, and the wedding bands molded together as one and then sprang apart, and slid onto Violet's and Orion's fingers.

"Now, with the power vested in me by the Ministry of Magic, I pronounce thee, Violet Mackenzie and Orion Marcus, man and wife! Yes, Orion, you may now kiss the bride," Dumbledore said. The two leaned in for a tender and sugar sweet kiss; a kiss the one only can experience on one's wedding day.

"I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Orion and Violet Black!" Dumbledore raised his arms and everyone applauded. The band struck up a lively tune, and the pairs followed the newlyweds out to the waiting limousine. The two climbed in after one last goodbye to Lily, Sirius, and Celeste before they set off on their honeymoon to the French Riviera.

Sirius and Celeste stayed at Violet's and Lily's house for the time their father and new mother were on their honeymoon. Then Violet, Lily, Cookie, Ella, and the other servants would be moving into the Black's mansion. Lily was glad to go back to Hogwarts, even though she was having a good time with her aunt and new uncle and cousins. Sirius and Lily got back onto the Hogwarts Express on January fifth, ready to start their next semester at Hogwarts.