In Love and War

3. A Wedding

It'd been a week since Ellie and Sirius' talk in the kitchen, and life was moving quickly. Ellie had turned down a job at the Ministry to stick with Sirius and Dumbledore in the Order of the Phoenix, and the team was coming together. While Ellie was at Sirius' house most of the time, members filtered in an out of the safehouse, Alice and Frank's, near the coast. Alice and Frank had been married a couple of months after the group graduated Hogwarts and had been happily together ever since. Other Hogwarts graduates included Lily, James, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and Ellie, whom Alastor Moody, an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, had hand selected. Other folks Ellie knew included the McKinnon's and Emmeline Vance. Besides than that, the extent of her knowledge about the depth of the organization was limited. The less you knew, the better, especially in these times.

Ellie was sitting on her bed, pouring over a blueprint of her next building infiltration, when Sirius burst in the room, looking alarmed. Ellie immediately stood and drew her wand, spinning around on the spot.

"What's going on?" She asked quickly, and Sirius took a minute to respond.

"Prongs is making me reconsider my pact not to kill my enemies." Sirius said, and flopped onto their bed. Relieved, Ellie pocketed her wand and folded up the print, going to sit next to him and laughing lightly.

"It's the night before his wedding, Pad, give him a rest. Merlin, I thought something horrible had happened."

"SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAS HAPPENED." Sirius nearly shouted, "James wants me to wear DRESS ROBES to stand next to him as best man." Ellie prodded him in the side, and he yelped.

"Would it help if I told you I thought dress robes were dashing?" She asked, laying in the crook of his outstretched arm and staring at the ceiling with him. He muttered something under his breath, and she turned to face his side profile. "What was that?" She said, prodding him again.

"I said, you already find me dashing as it is." Sirius said, now turning to face her, too.

"You wish!" Ellie said, standing up and losing her pity for the boy, "Sirius Orion Black, you will wear dress robes to your best mate's wedding!" He grunted and sighed, sitting up and pouting at her. "That's not going to work today, or any day, Black. I'm not in the mood! I was in the middle of working. If I can just finish this, then I'll take Lily out for her Maiden's Dinner." In the Wizarding World, a Maiden's Dinner was the equivalent of a bachelorette party. Ellie had spent quite some time planning it for her fiery friend and hoped it would calm her nerves about tomorrow.

"But..." Sirius said, clearly playing for time, "Don't I get a kiss goodbye?" He looked so sorrowful, sitting on the bed, Ellie sighed and walked over to him. She put her hand on his cheek and stroked it, leaning in. At the last second, however, she swerved, cuffing Sirius on the back of the head.

"WEAR YOUR DRESS ROBES." She called as she left, winking over her shoulder at him. He sat on the bed in disbelief as she left and shook his head as the door slammed behind her. Even after three years, she never ceased to surprise him. He stood up to take James to his Warlock's Feast.

*****

"Keep them closed!" Ellie said, leading Lily to the backyard of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. She had spent a good deal of time on the party. Ellie held a finger to her lips as she saw Alice, Marlene McKinnon, Cecelia West, and a couple of other members of the order and former schoolgirls with whom she and Lily had been close. The backyard was decorated spectacularly, with lights dancing all around and a big picnic-style table in the middle with a gorgeous white linen cloth covered in an assortment of Lily's favorite food from Hogwarts, which she had commissioned from a begrudging Kreacher. The big tree was draped with streamers and there was a big chair at the head of the table with a crown in front of it. "Open!" Ellie commanded, and on cue, all of the girls shouted, "SURPRISE!!" Lily covered her mouth in shock.

"For me? El!!" She hugged her best friend tightly and squealed as the other girls approached her and began showering her with compliments.

"You're glowing!" Alice gushed, "Are you just over the moon?"

Lily's eyes shone as she responded, "I found my forever." The other girls sighed with happiness and Alice looked about ready to melt.

"Alright!!" Ellie clapped her hands together, "Let the activities commence!" The girls shouted and all ran to the table, raising glasses of firewhiskey.

"TO LILY!" They chorused, and Lily beamed.

*****

"I look ugly." Lily said, looking at herself in the mirror.

"That," Ellie said, coming to stand behind her and admiring Lily's silken dress in the mirror, "is the most ridiculous thing that I've ever heard. You're beautiful."

It was true, Lily's dress was gorgeous, with a strapless bodice hugging her upper figure and flowing into the bottom with a short silken train. Her hair was curled and set around her face, making her look like a real-life angel. She turned to look at Ellie. "Are you sure?" She asked anxiously. Ellie laughed.

"For goodness sake Lil, it's your wedding day! You're marrying the man that you love! You're practically glowing." Lily smiled bashfully, picking up the bouquet on the table next to her.

"Ok," She said, and with one last fleeting look in the mirror, she closed her eyes and faced the door, "Here we go." The doors in front of her opened, and Ellie stepped out, followed by Alice and Marlene. They walked down the corrider and stopped at the veiled doorframe, looking back at Lily and smiling at her. Her father was there, kissing her hand gently.

The two girls stepped through the veil and Ellie almost stopped breathing. The venue was breathtaking. Beige foldout chairs were set up in rows and Ellie looked down, stepping carefully in her light blue floor length dress, watching the white carpet and rose petals beneath her high-heeled feet. She looked up and saw James smiling at her from the altar. He gave her an almost imperceptible wink, and she grinned at him. Then, her eyes traveled to Sirius. Anyone in the room would've thought they were the two getting married. His eyes raked up her dress and settled in hers, his smile stuck to his face in shock. She saw his eyes widen slightly as he took her in, and it looked like it was taking him a great effort not to rush forwards and embrace her. His dress robes did look awfully handsome, she reflected, and she winked at him, smiling as she mouthed, I love you. He returned the gesture, adding, you are beautiful. Ellie blushed and averted her gaze, feeling rather warm. She took her place opposite Sirius and glanced at him again to find him still looking at her.

"All rise for the bride." The minister said, and the guests rose obediently. The door veil was pushed back, and Ellie heard James' sharp intake of breath. She couldn't blame him. He was marrying the love of his life. Ellie looked back to see his face, and noticed a tear tracking down his lovesick face. Her gaze, magnetically it seemed, tore back to Sirius, and, with slight surprise, she noticed he was still gazing at her. She shook her head slightly, smiling, and returned to Lily, who was gliding down the aisle with her father, her eyes lit up and her smile as broad as Ellie had ever seen it, staring at James as if they were the only two people on the planet. Everything in this moment was perfect.