maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

159. the wedding

THE WEDDING CEREMONY between James and Lily was to be held in the garden at Potter manor. It was of the most appropriate fit, because James and Lily adored home; and that place was as much home as it could get.

The morning of the wedding, Claudia, Remus, Hope and Lyall arrived at the manor, where chaos was going on, if one were to put it plainly.

The girl was barely even able to let go of Remus' hand as Marlene arrived, took Claudia's other hand and dragged her away without saying a word.

Claudia looked Remus' way with a small and gentle smile as she was dragged up the stairs, and Remus returned it with an ever bigger one, butterflies fluttering in his stomach simply because she was looking at him like that.

It was a strange thing, Remus thought, that she still had that affect on him. That affect that made him feel completely weak in the knees and all flushed and giddy.

He would normally excuse it by using the simple little fact that there was soon to be a wedding, and weddings had the tendencies of making people feel more in love than ever, but Remus knew that it was like that every day.

Up the stairs, however, Claudia's smile quickly sunk.

Evan hadn't responded yet. And, well, the time was pretty much up. So, she had decided that she would stay a little while longer.

Just a few short days.

Because what harm could it cause?

Claudia, however, was as anxious as one could be. Think about every horrible emotion of regret, guilt, sadness and anger mixed together in a disastrous bowl of hell.

That was basically how Claudia felt.

And it affected her so. Every night, she couldn't sleep. She would simply lay in Remus' arms as she watched his chest heave up and down, which reminded her of how badly she wanted him to keep breathing, as silly as it sounded. She tried to eat, but it was rather difficult since she was constantly dealing with a lump in her throat, and she also had to disappear every now and then to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down or even cry.

She was hanging on by a thread. And that thread was, well, nearly broken.

"And there's the bride," Claudia said with a plastered on smile, walking towards Lily who was sitting in a chair in front of a vanity. Claudia kissed her on the cheek and allowed that smile to only grow. "You look so beautiful!"

Lily chuckled, "I haven't even began getting ready yet."

"But you still look perfect!" Claudia smiled, receiving a hug and a thank you from Lily, before it was time for the large group of girls that consisted of Lily, Claudia herself, Marlene, Mary MacDonald, and Alice Fortescue to get Lily and themselves ready.