cowboy like me

we could be the way forward

A couple years down the line, Lily finds herself invited to a very special wedding.

Petunia and Peter had finally sent out the announcements, she supposed. She tacked it to the fridge in her and Regulus' apartment. He was graduating in a couple months, but they'd gotten a place together as soon as he turned 18.

They've told everyone important to them the reality of their relationship, except for Regulus and Sirius' extended family. James had started seeing a girl on and off, but she wasn't someone that he'd introduced to anyone. Sirius told Regulus in private that it was because she looked like Lily.

Lily could confidently call James a friend now that she didn't feel humiliated just by being in his presence. They were a sight to behold, the two of them, and Regulus sometimes pitied James for not having his old feelings reciprocated, because they would have been a power couple. Aside from that, he was glad she didn't, because his small circle of people had grown so much.

She was already on track to graduating a little early for her degree because she's taking a few classes online alongside the ones she has in-person lectures for. She's almost never seen without her laptop nearby, but she wouldn't trade it for the world. She loved school.

Regulus was not in college, but instead was taking an internship at his father's job now that he knows what it is. Lily would've been in the same one were she not prioritizing her education first. Orion had generously donated a college fund for her, because he wanted her to work for him that badly apparently, and she was doing her best to make him proud. It was working more efficiently than anything Regulus or Sirius had ever done, but Regulus was proud of her too.

Sirius and Remus had their own apartment together as well, and it was in the same complex as Regulus and Lily. They had dinner together every Friday, and oftentimes invited Peter & Petunia and James. James was almost always there, because he was Sirius' brother too.

Tonight was Friday, and Lily and Regulus were supposed to be heading downstairs to Sirius and Remus' apartment this week. Regulus and her had fallen into a little set of rules for themselves in the apartment, mostly because their previous home lives had been so different.

They alternated doing dishes, and they did their own laundry, and Lily always had to knock on Regulus' door if it was closed, but she didn't mind him barging in. Little things like that became routine, and they decorated it together, and it was homely in a way that Regulus couldn't begin to describe. He knew Sirius felt the same way about living with Remus, but more romantic.

Petunia and Peter weren't moving in together until they got married, because Petunia didn't have time to move just yet while she was in her second year of college. They were getting married in the summer, according to the invitation as well as the wedding planning that she was privy to as the maid of honor. Peter had planned their honeymoon, and enlisted Lily's help so it was perfect.

As a little "fuck you" to Vernon, Petunia had invited his parents to the reception. They had always treated her so nicely, but they didn't know what was going on behind the scenes of her relationship with their son in the slightest. She kept in touch with his mother, mostly because her and Mrs. Evans were friends, but she steered very clear of Vernon. After her drunken confession that night when she met Sirius (or having the displeasure of meeting or hearing about him), no one could blame her.

The wedding was in about 3 months, though Lily, Petunia, Peter, their parents, and Sirius had been planning it for about a year now. Regulus, James, and Remus had tried to help, but were ultimately useless other than Regulus' weird knowledge on flower symbolization and meaning. Lily, Petunia, and Peter had all looked at him oddly, because he was right. (They, having heavy plant knowledge, found it weird he knew so much on that topic, when he knew nothing else about flowers.) He'd just shrugged and claimed it was a rich person thing, but once he was gone, Sirius admitted he had, quote, "no fucking clue what he's talking about."