fic: face the music
title: face the music
prompt: Celebrate
pairing: James/Lily
words: 2755
rating: G
note: Oh gosh I'm sorry, Sarah (ghostofbambi). This would have been a lot better but I've been a bit pressed for time D: But anyway, happy birthday! Hope you enjoy! ♥
Face the music
You are cordially invited to celebrate
the wedding of
Petunia Evans
and
Vernon Dursley…
Many negative thoughts spring to Lily’s mind upon reading this invitation:
1) Cordially? When has her sister ever felt like warmly inviting her anywhere besides a pit of knives beyond a sign saying, ‘FREAKS, FALL IN HERE’?
2) Really now, what was there to celebrate about a horse and a whale getting together, if only to commemorate the very bizarre and unsettling breeding that would initiate?
3) Is there a way I can get out of this?
4) No. There isn’t.
5) Now, don’t be hasty. You could always-
6) No. No, you can’t give the excuse of grieving over your dead mother because you very well share the same mother as Petunia. And your mother is still alive. And will probably be attending the wedding.
7) Shit.
***
It’s been exactly four days since James has found the invitation to Petunia’s wedding in the pocket of Lily’s jacket, and, irksomely, she still hasn’t brought it up to him. James has tried everything - humming the wedding march, throwing bouquets of flowers at her face (she wasn’t best pleased about that), or even just bluntly bringing up in conversation, “So… weddings, huh? How’s that sister you loathe?” Yet she has still kept quiet.
One evening when they’re walking home late from dinner at a restaurant, (James likes to soften up his "victims" by stuffing their bellies with food and getting the truth out of them that way), he asks Lily offhandedly, “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“Only that I think I ate so much back there I may have accidentally swallowed a waiter,” she replies, looking bloated.
“Other than that.” James stops her walking any further. “Anything? Anything at all?”
Lily reckons he knows, but risks a lie just in case she can get away with it. “No?”
James sighs at her. “You’re a complete liar, but I still love you.” He brings out the wedding invitation from the back pocket of his jeans and waves it in front of her face. “Look what I found.”
“That’s where that went!” She tries to pinch it back but he holds it out of her reach.
“When were you going to plan on telling me about this?”
“Eventually…” She looks down at her feet. “Look, to be honest, I don’t think I’m going to go.”
James looks confused. “What do you mean you’re not going to go? This is your sister’s wedding.”
Lily stares at him. “Repeat that sentence and realize who you’re talking to and who exactly this involves.”
“Alright, so I can understand why you don’t want to go since you don’t get along with her-” Lily snorts derisively at the understatement “-but I’m sure she still loves you-”
“She hasn’t loved me since we were eleven years old, James.”
He falls for a silent for a moment, then -
“I’ve loved you since I was eleven years old...”
“Oh shut up,” she says for embarrassing her, smacking him in the shoulder with a smile.
“I’m sure there must be some love still there,” James goes on reluctantly, “since she is inviting you to this.”
Lily hates him for putting the idea of Petunia changing into a better person - a person that accepts her for the witch she is - into her head. “I bet mum made her invite me,” she mumbles stubbornly.
“Well, go for your mother, then,” James offers. Lily remains disgruntled. “Go, because if you don’t, your sister has won.” Lily looks less disgruntled. “Go to… outshine the bride?” Lily is no longer disgruntled in any shape or form.
“I like that idea.” She points at him. “I like that idea a lot, James Potter.”
He grins. “So it’s settled, then. You’re going to the wedding.” His hand automatically goes to the small of her back and they begin walking again. “I’ll even come with you, if you want.”
“Of course you’re bloody coming! If I have to go to this celebration of disgustingness then so do you.”
“Yes, I would love to accompany you to your sister’s wedding. Thank you for asking me.”
Suddenly, Lily stops moving, and regrettably to James starts emitting an anguished noise similar to a seal giving birth. “Oh no…” She bends over and puts her head in between her knees.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to… I’m going to have to wear a hat.”
James looks fairly bemused.
“An ugly wedding hat,” Lily goes on. “All women are forced to wear them for such a social event. It’ll probably be excessively large with feathers.”
***
The hat is excessively large with feathers.
Whenever James tries to kiss Lily he ends up poking his eye out with the rim of it. He sneezes whenever the feathers tickle his nose when Lily is standing close to him.
James is frowning at his reflection in the mirror - they’re getting ready for the wedding. James is wearing a suit for the first time.
“I look like a stiff penguin, Lily.”
“You can’t wear your robes, James,” Lily rolls her eyes at him. She notices he’s struggling doing his tie and does it for him. “Very sexy,” she comments.
“Better on your bedroom floor, though.”
Lily looks at him as though she doesn’t know what he’s talking about, until agreeing reluctantly, “Better on my bedroom floor, yes.”
A smirk spreads across his face as he checks his watch. “We might have a bit of time for a quick-”
“Don’t even think about it.” Lily hooks arms with a disappointed James and steers him towards the door. “Let’s face the music.”
***
Though apparently all the attention should be on the bride - and it pretty much is - particularly when she comes down the aisle, she’s grabbed everyone’s interest but one: James. Because as far as he’s concerned, Lily is the most beautiful in the room, even with that ghastly hat shaped like a spaceship. She’s wearing a summery yellow dress, and even though it strangely resembles the colour of custard, never has he wanted to touch custard more than now.
“James, face the front,” Lily whispers to him out of the corner of his mouth.
Yes, Professor McGonagall, he responds in his mind.
“Can’t. Must touch custard…” His hand drifts towards Lily’s thigh, but she slaps it away, reminding him her mother is sitting right beside her. Mrs Evans stares at James suspiciously.
He turns his attention back on the bride and groom settling at the altar. He supposes Petunia does look quite pretty… for a horse wearing a dress. He never knew such animals could stand on their hind legs.
“You would have made a good bridesmaid, you know,” James whispers to Lily, spotting one of Petunia’s bridesmaids and finding her rather plain in comparison to Lily.
“An exceptional bridesmaid,” she corrects him. “Now shhh,” she puts a finger to her lips -lips he wants to very much kiss right now rather than be shoved tightly in a pew in the House of God - and points to the front. “They’re starting.”
“Yes dear.”
“Dearly beloved,” a voice booms from the front. “We are gathered here today…”
The vicar’s speech goes through one ear out of the other though - Lily’s custard dress is just too inviting, and if he doesn’t kiss her soon he might explode. Unable to hold back any longer, he swoops down to kiss her quickly while Mrs. Evans isn’t looking, but he goes at such a clumsy speed he bangs his nose against the edge of Lily's wedding hat.
“If anyone of you knows of a lawful reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your-”
“NOSEBLEED!”
All attention is on James Potter who has promptly leapt out of the pew he was seated at with a hand covering half of his face.
“DOES ANYONE HAVE A TISSUE?”
Lily slowly sinks in her seat…
***
“I am never letting you out again, James Potter,” Lily tells him later at the wedding reception, almost spilling champagne on her dress as she shakes with laugher. She hiccups quietly into her glass of bubbly.
“How’s your nose, mister?” she asks, touching the tip of it with her finger.
“Alright, I suppose.” He watches her stroke his nose and playfully pretends to bite her hand. She giggles and snuggles closer to him. He tries to kiss her, but she’s still wearing that damn hat and nearly inhales a feather by mistake while bashing his forehead against the rim of it. “Ow!”
Lily rubs the sore spot, but he’s clearly miffed. “The hat goes,” he says before she can argue, whipping the revolting headwear off her head and over his shoulder. It lands on the dancefloor and someone steps on it by accident, much to James’ delight. Once the hat is gone, he kisses her like no tomorrow.
“James! My parents are watching!” Lily says embarrassedly, but Mr. and Mrs. Evans are too caught up in each other dancing to even steal a glance their way. “I think it’s time to dance,” she decides.
James has other ideas on his mind. “I’d rather just sit in this very dark corner with you and have drunken snogs.”
“Dancing. Now.”
“Yes dear.”
They get to the dancefloor in the middle of a slow song, but clearly Lily doesn’t want to wait for the song to finish so they can dance to the next one. She’s always been a good dancer; she doesn’t move to the music, the music moves to her. James just does whatever he can with his feet and hopes for the best. She hooks her arms around his neck while he slides his arms around her tiny waist as they gently sway.
“Thanks for convincing me to come, James.” She smiles into his chest. “I’ve surprisingly had a good time.”
“It’s the champagne talking,” he jokes.
In the reflection of James’ glasses, Lily spots Petunia sidling up to them on the dance floor from behind, lifting up the edges of her dress so they don’t drag across the floor. She spins round at once, letting go of James’ shoulders, quick to sincerely apologize. “Petunia, I’m sorry again about what James did earlier. He’s such a silly sod sometimes-”
“I wish you’d never come.”
Splashes of colour from the disco lights keep illuminate Petunia's skin with different shades of glow. Lily finds it distracting and wishes someone would turn them off, because she’s finding it hard to take Petunia seriously when she’s blue, and then green, and then red. She certainly doesn't look like she cordially invited Lily at all. Is she angry because of James’ accident back at the church? She can feel James’ hand on her shoulder.
“Petunia, I thought you wanted me here.”
No longer is anybody dancing. All you can hear are the soft keys of the piano that almost seem inappropriate right now. This moment needs drums of aggression; piercing vocals; noise. As Petunia inches near Lily, it’s almost as if she’s eleven years old again with the Hogwarts letter in her hand.
“I invited you out of pity,” her sister snarls.
“Petunia!” Mr. Evans says crossly. “Don’t say such a thing! Stop this!”
Petunia goes on a vicious whisper, ignoring their father. “I invited you out of pity because this is as close as you’ll ever get to witnessing and being part of a perfect, normal wedding. God knows that when you have a wedding with that-” her eyes drift on James for a second and she scowls “-freak of a fiancé of yours, it won’t be anything in comparison to this-”
Petunia’s words hit her like a slap in the face, which is exactly why Lily does the same back, except the satisfaction of her hand connecting hard with the pale skin of Petunia’s cheek (blue from the disco light, but now a startling red) is much better than low name-calling.
Lily bends her knees in a courtesy, before storming from the hall, her shoes clanking against the expensive wooden floor. James swears she’s trying to purposely create dents in it. He is quick to follow her.
He finds her outside soon after, rubbing the chills in her exposed arms, muttering angrily to herself words that dissolve in smokey clouds of cold air.
“She makes me so bloody angry, James.” She needs another drink, or ten, to warm her up and make her forget about what just happened, but settles for James’ arms wrapping around her instead.
“I’m sorry for making you come to this, it was a stupid idea,” he apologizes. “And don’t you listen to what Petunia said back there. Our wedding is going to be the best wedding in the Wizarding world, you’ll see.” He hugs her tighter. “You'll look so beautiful in your dress guests will be fainting at your feet. There’ll be the best wizard band, a chocolate fountain...” He tries to think of other fancy things to list, then realizes he wouldn’t really mind a wedding without the lavish, pricey extravagances. He just wants Lily as his wife.
“I’m not angry because she said that, James. I could marry you in a toilet and I wouldn’t care. This - showing people how much money you can waste in a day - isn’t what weddings are about. I just…” She exhales. “I just want my sister back.” The sad reality is she knows she never will. “That sister I had when I was little who would braid my hair and put daises in between the plaits… The one that loved me.”
James doesn’t quite know what to say, until -
“I could braid your hair. Actually, that’s a lie. I have no idea how to braid. But Sirius does! Though he oddly only knows how to do it when he’s drunk.” Lily smothers a laugh. “And as for loving you-” he tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear “-I can, and pretty much always will, love you until my dying day.”
“Oh shut up.” She hits him in the stomach for making her blush. “Merlin, you are so embarrassing.”
“You wanna go home?”
She hugs his midriff. “Yeah.”
They get ready to leave, but someone clears a throat behind them: it’s Petunia, her cheek now a faint pink.
“Your hat.” Petunia holds Lily’s battered spaceship of a headwear for her to take. James looks displeased at its reappearance.
“Thanks,” Lily says roughly, snatching the hat from her sister’s hand. Not being able to stand the sight of her any longer, she Disapparates.
When she’s back in her own living room, she expects James by her side, but he hasn’t arrived yet. After a few more seconds, he enters the room with a pop. She’s about to ask what took him so long, but the giant wedding cake in his hand provides an explanation. Lily gawks at James.
“You stole their cake?!”
“Yep.” James takes the small icing figurine of a groom at the top of it that supposedly represents Vernon Dursley, and bites off his head. “You want some?”
Lily considers her answer. “I’m too hungry to scold you for your tomfoolery,” she says, taking the bride figurine and intending to decapitate it in a similar fashion to its husband, until she spots something out of the corner of her eye: a napkin in her hat. Looking closer, there’s writing on it - Petunia’s.
I’m sorry.
Lily breaks into a watery smile, then she replaces the bride figurine back on top of the cake next to her headless groom.
prompt: Celebrate
pairing: James/Lily
words: 2755
rating: G
note: Oh gosh I'm sorry, Sarah (ghostofbambi). This would have been a lot better but I've been a bit pressed for time D: But anyway, happy birthday! Hope you enjoy! ♥
Face the music
You are cordially invited to celebrate
the wedding of
Petunia Evans
and
Vernon Dursley…
Many negative thoughts spring to Lily’s mind upon reading this invitation:
1) Cordially? When has her sister ever felt like warmly inviting her anywhere besides a pit of knives beyond a sign saying, ‘FREAKS, FALL IN HERE’?
2) Really now, what was there to celebrate about a horse and a whale getting together, if only to commemorate the very bizarre and unsettling breeding that would initiate?
3) Is there a way I can get out of this?
4) No. There isn’t.
5) Now, don’t be hasty. You could always-
6) No. No, you can’t give the excuse of grieving over your dead mother because you very well share the same mother as Petunia. And your mother is still alive. And will probably be attending the wedding.
7) Shit.
***
It’s been exactly four days since James has found the invitation to Petunia’s wedding in the pocket of Lily’s jacket, and, irksomely, she still hasn’t brought it up to him. James has tried everything - humming the wedding march, throwing bouquets of flowers at her face (she wasn’t best pleased about that), or even just bluntly bringing up in conversation, “So… weddings, huh? How’s that sister you loathe?” Yet she has still kept quiet.
One evening when they’re walking home late from dinner at a restaurant, (James likes to soften up his "victims" by stuffing their bellies with food and getting the truth out of them that way), he asks Lily offhandedly, “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“Only that I think I ate so much back there I may have accidentally swallowed a waiter,” she replies, looking bloated.
“Other than that.” James stops her walking any further. “Anything? Anything at all?”
Lily reckons he knows, but risks a lie just in case she can get away with it. “No?”
James sighs at her. “You’re a complete liar, but I still love you.” He brings out the wedding invitation from the back pocket of his jeans and waves it in front of her face. “Look what I found.”
“That’s where that went!” She tries to pinch it back but he holds it out of her reach.
“When were you going to plan on telling me about this?”
“Eventually…” She looks down at her feet. “Look, to be honest, I don’t think I’m going to go.”
James looks confused. “What do you mean you’re not going to go? This is your sister’s wedding.”
Lily stares at him. “Repeat that sentence and realize who you’re talking to and who exactly this involves.”
“Alright, so I can understand why you don’t want to go since you don’t get along with her-” Lily snorts derisively at the understatement “-but I’m sure she still loves you-”
“She hasn’t loved me since we were eleven years old, James.”
He falls for a silent for a moment, then -
“I’ve loved you since I was eleven years old...”
“Oh shut up,” she says for embarrassing her, smacking him in the shoulder with a smile.
“I’m sure there must be some love still there,” James goes on reluctantly, “since she is inviting you to this.”
Lily hates him for putting the idea of Petunia changing into a better person - a person that accepts her for the witch she is - into her head. “I bet mum made her invite me,” she mumbles stubbornly.
“Well, go for your mother, then,” James offers. Lily remains disgruntled. “Go, because if you don’t, your sister has won.” Lily looks less disgruntled. “Go to… outshine the bride?” Lily is no longer disgruntled in any shape or form.
“I like that idea.” She points at him. “I like that idea a lot, James Potter.”
He grins. “So it’s settled, then. You’re going to the wedding.” His hand automatically goes to the small of her back and they begin walking again. “I’ll even come with you, if you want.”
“Of course you’re bloody coming! If I have to go to this celebration of disgustingness then so do you.”
“Yes, I would love to accompany you to your sister’s wedding. Thank you for asking me.”
Suddenly, Lily stops moving, and regrettably to James starts emitting an anguished noise similar to a seal giving birth. “Oh no…” She bends over and puts her head in between her knees.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to… I’m going to have to wear a hat.”
James looks fairly bemused.
“An ugly wedding hat,” Lily goes on. “All women are forced to wear them for such a social event. It’ll probably be excessively large with feathers.”
***
The hat is excessively large with feathers.
Whenever James tries to kiss Lily he ends up poking his eye out with the rim of it. He sneezes whenever the feathers tickle his nose when Lily is standing close to him.
James is frowning at his reflection in the mirror - they’re getting ready for the wedding. James is wearing a suit for the first time.
“I look like a stiff penguin, Lily.”
“You can’t wear your robes, James,” Lily rolls her eyes at him. She notices he’s struggling doing his tie and does it for him. “Very sexy,” she comments.
“Better on your bedroom floor, though.”
Lily looks at him as though she doesn’t know what he’s talking about, until agreeing reluctantly, “Better on my bedroom floor, yes.”
A smirk spreads across his face as he checks his watch. “We might have a bit of time for a quick-”
“Don’t even think about it.” Lily hooks arms with a disappointed James and steers him towards the door. “Let’s face the music.”
***
Though apparently all the attention should be on the bride - and it pretty much is - particularly when she comes down the aisle, she’s grabbed everyone’s interest but one: James. Because as far as he’s concerned, Lily is the most beautiful in the room, even with that ghastly hat shaped like a spaceship. She’s wearing a summery yellow dress, and even though it strangely resembles the colour of custard, never has he wanted to touch custard more than now.
“James, face the front,” Lily whispers to him out of the corner of his mouth.
Yes, Professor McGonagall, he responds in his mind.
“Can’t. Must touch custard…” His hand drifts towards Lily’s thigh, but she slaps it away, reminding him her mother is sitting right beside her. Mrs Evans stares at James suspiciously.
He turns his attention back on the bride and groom settling at the altar. He supposes Petunia does look quite pretty… for a horse wearing a dress. He never knew such animals could stand on their hind legs.
“You would have made a good bridesmaid, you know,” James whispers to Lily, spotting one of Petunia’s bridesmaids and finding her rather plain in comparison to Lily.
“An exceptional bridesmaid,” she corrects him. “Now shhh,” she puts a finger to her lips -lips he wants to very much kiss right now rather than be shoved tightly in a pew in the House of God - and points to the front. “They’re starting.”
“Yes dear.”
“Dearly beloved,” a voice booms from the front. “We are gathered here today…”
The vicar’s speech goes through one ear out of the other though - Lily’s custard dress is just too inviting, and if he doesn’t kiss her soon he might explode. Unable to hold back any longer, he swoops down to kiss her quickly while Mrs. Evans isn’t looking, but he goes at such a clumsy speed he bangs his nose against the edge of Lily's wedding hat.
“If anyone of you knows of a lawful reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your-”
“NOSEBLEED!”
All attention is on James Potter who has promptly leapt out of the pew he was seated at with a hand covering half of his face.
“DOES ANYONE HAVE A TISSUE?”
Lily slowly sinks in her seat…
***
“I am never letting you out again, James Potter,” Lily tells him later at the wedding reception, almost spilling champagne on her dress as she shakes with laugher. She hiccups quietly into her glass of bubbly.
“How’s your nose, mister?” she asks, touching the tip of it with her finger.
“Alright, I suppose.” He watches her stroke his nose and playfully pretends to bite her hand. She giggles and snuggles closer to him. He tries to kiss her, but she’s still wearing that damn hat and nearly inhales a feather by mistake while bashing his forehead against the rim of it. “Ow!”
Lily rubs the sore spot, but he’s clearly miffed. “The hat goes,” he says before she can argue, whipping the revolting headwear off her head and over his shoulder. It lands on the dancefloor and someone steps on it by accident, much to James’ delight. Once the hat is gone, he kisses her like no tomorrow.
“James! My parents are watching!” Lily says embarrassedly, but Mr. and Mrs. Evans are too caught up in each other dancing to even steal a glance their way. “I think it’s time to dance,” she decides.
James has other ideas on his mind. “I’d rather just sit in this very dark corner with you and have drunken snogs.”
“Dancing. Now.”
“Yes dear.”
They get to the dancefloor in the middle of a slow song, but clearly Lily doesn’t want to wait for the song to finish so they can dance to the next one. She’s always been a good dancer; she doesn’t move to the music, the music moves to her. James just does whatever he can with his feet and hopes for the best. She hooks her arms around his neck while he slides his arms around her tiny waist as they gently sway.
“Thanks for convincing me to come, James.” She smiles into his chest. “I’ve surprisingly had a good time.”
“It’s the champagne talking,” he jokes.
In the reflection of James’ glasses, Lily spots Petunia sidling up to them on the dance floor from behind, lifting up the edges of her dress so they don’t drag across the floor. She spins round at once, letting go of James’ shoulders, quick to sincerely apologize. “Petunia, I’m sorry again about what James did earlier. He’s such a silly sod sometimes-”
“I wish you’d never come.”
Splashes of colour from the disco lights keep illuminate Petunia's skin with different shades of glow. Lily finds it distracting and wishes someone would turn them off, because she’s finding it hard to take Petunia seriously when she’s blue, and then green, and then red. She certainly doesn't look like she cordially invited Lily at all. Is she angry because of James’ accident back at the church? She can feel James’ hand on her shoulder.
“Petunia, I thought you wanted me here.”
No longer is anybody dancing. All you can hear are the soft keys of the piano that almost seem inappropriate right now. This moment needs drums of aggression; piercing vocals; noise. As Petunia inches near Lily, it’s almost as if she’s eleven years old again with the Hogwarts letter in her hand.
“I invited you out of pity,” her sister snarls.
“Petunia!” Mr. Evans says crossly. “Don’t say such a thing! Stop this!”
Petunia goes on a vicious whisper, ignoring their father. “I invited you out of pity because this is as close as you’ll ever get to witnessing and being part of a perfect, normal wedding. God knows that when you have a wedding with that-” her eyes drift on James for a second and she scowls “-freak of a fiancé of yours, it won’t be anything in comparison to this-”
Petunia’s words hit her like a slap in the face, which is exactly why Lily does the same back, except the satisfaction of her hand connecting hard with the pale skin of Petunia’s cheek (blue from the disco light, but now a startling red) is much better than low name-calling.
Lily bends her knees in a courtesy, before storming from the hall, her shoes clanking against the expensive wooden floor. James swears she’s trying to purposely create dents in it. He is quick to follow her.
He finds her outside soon after, rubbing the chills in her exposed arms, muttering angrily to herself words that dissolve in smokey clouds of cold air.
“She makes me so bloody angry, James.” She needs another drink, or ten, to warm her up and make her forget about what just happened, but settles for James’ arms wrapping around her instead.
“I’m sorry for making you come to this, it was a stupid idea,” he apologizes. “And don’t you listen to what Petunia said back there. Our wedding is going to be the best wedding in the Wizarding world, you’ll see.” He hugs her tighter. “You'll look so beautiful in your dress guests will be fainting at your feet. There’ll be the best wizard band, a chocolate fountain...” He tries to think of other fancy things to list, then realizes he wouldn’t really mind a wedding without the lavish, pricey extravagances. He just wants Lily as his wife.
“I’m not angry because she said that, James. I could marry you in a toilet and I wouldn’t care. This - showing people how much money you can waste in a day - isn’t what weddings are about. I just…” She exhales. “I just want my sister back.” The sad reality is she knows she never will. “That sister I had when I was little who would braid my hair and put daises in between the plaits… The one that loved me.”
James doesn’t quite know what to say, until -
“I could braid your hair. Actually, that’s a lie. I have no idea how to braid. But Sirius does! Though he oddly only knows how to do it when he’s drunk.” Lily smothers a laugh. “And as for loving you-” he tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear “-I can, and pretty much always will, love you until my dying day.”
“Oh shut up.” She hits him in the stomach for making her blush. “Merlin, you are so embarrassing.”
“You wanna go home?”
She hugs his midriff. “Yeah.”
They get ready to leave, but someone clears a throat behind them: it’s Petunia, her cheek now a faint pink.
“Your hat.” Petunia holds Lily’s battered spaceship of a headwear for her to take. James looks displeased at its reappearance.
“Thanks,” Lily says roughly, snatching the hat from her sister’s hand. Not being able to stand the sight of her any longer, she Disapparates.
When she’s back in her own living room, she expects James by her side, but he hasn’t arrived yet. After a few more seconds, he enters the room with a pop. She’s about to ask what took him so long, but the giant wedding cake in his hand provides an explanation. Lily gawks at James.
“You stole their cake?!”
“Yep.” James takes the small icing figurine of a groom at the top of it that supposedly represents Vernon Dursley, and bites off his head. “You want some?”
Lily considers her answer. “I’m too hungry to scold you for your tomfoolery,” she says, taking the bride figurine and intending to decapitate it in a similar fashion to its husband, until she spots something out of the corner of her eye: a napkin in her hat. Looking closer, there’s writing on it - Petunia’s.
I’m sorry.
Lily breaks into a watery smile, then she replaces the bride figurine back on top of the cake next to her headless groom.