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eastwindmlk · 10 days ago

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Another follow up? Why yes! Partly because I have always felt like this AU did not have a good ending. (IDK if this is the right one either, but we are closer to something)

Obviously written for @sunshinemarauder and @kay-elle-cee's Jily week. Prompt: You should have warned me! And I decided to make it fluffy.

This one, unfortunately, does not make all that much sense without the two previous chapters found here. Or read the new one on Ao3

1.3k under the cut!

Never in a million years had Lily Evans thought that she would be eating a croissant in Paris with James and Sirius while wearing her wedding dress. Or, what would have been her wedding dress had she not fled from the church the moment that James swooped back into her life. He’d been gone—saving the world as a doctor—for the past five years; which had been two more than she’d been willing to wait for him. And yet, here she was on wedding day in Paris, not having her first dance to Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Now, she loved the song, she really did, but it wasn’t a wedding song—yet, somehow also massively overplayed at weddings for some inexplicable reason. Lily listened to it when she needed a good cry, and she’d mostly hoped that they would be mistaken for happy tears because her husband-to-be was smitten by the song. She had not had the heart to tell him no, not after he’d agreed to do a destination wedding and massively limiting the guest list.

It should have been a dream, getting married in a chapel, in the city of love surrounded by only their nearest and dearest.

Distracted as she was, Lily spilled cherry marmalade on her pristine white gown and cursed under her breath. Sirius handed her his pocket square to dab away the deep berry-coloured stain now marking the modest neckline her mother had been so in love with. She had felt like a princess; but one stuck in a tower. Another compromise she had made to make people happy on her wedding day.

Lily sputtered, doing her best not to curse, it felt inappropriate somehow; using any sort of profanity in her virginal white. Like it really mattered or something.

“Oh, tosh,” Sirius started and leaned over to scoop up a splotch that she missed, his pinky skimming the smooth fabric before he popped it in his mouth. “It isn’t like you’re wearing that again,” he commented causally, finger still in mouth.

“I could,” she argued, and both the men chuckled, making her cheeks tinge red with frustration. “I could!” she repeated and looked down at her dress—which she did think was absolutely stunning, just not for her.

James leaned over to catch her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Not for our wedding,” he assured her. “You should get to pick something you love.”

Even after being apart for five years, somehow he still just knew; like he always did. For a moment she wondered how he did it, how he just got her, when so many of the people she’d held closest didn’t seem to. Not even the man she had chosen to marry had noticed. The worst thing was that she never even considered that he ought to have.

“I’m sorry, our wedding?”

“Yes, our wedding. I proposed, remember? Twice in the past two days, actually,” James pointed out, just a little too smugly.

She could not just let this slide, not without just a little poking, a little pressure. No matter how relieved she was, it did not excuse his coming in at the eleventh-hour. Besides, she had always enjoyed making James sweat just a little. “Ah yes, at my actual wedding to someone else. Because you had to be dramatic.”

There was more underneath that, things they would need to address before going through with a wedding or even a serious relationship. He’d left her. He’d asked her to wait a year, maybe two, and then disappeared for five; he’d broken her heart. She couldn’t just forgive that—she shouldn’t, even if it was hard to remember the pain as she gazed across the table. It was almost too easy for her to simply ignore the entire ordeal and bask in the fact that he was actually back, that he did actually love her.

But not now, not while people were staring at them like they were some piece of performance art or an haute couture fashion shoot.

“I’d say sorry, but I would do it again,” James replied simply, brushing a handful of crumbs off his sleeve. “I will be the first to admit that I messed up, I should have never let it get this far.” There was a pained edge to his tone, genuine regret lacing his words. “I don’t know what I would have done if I had been too late.”

Sirius scoffed and shook his head in disapproval. “You could have warned me!” he told James, offering him a tired look. “Then maybe I would have objected earlier.” She wasn’t sure why she was shocked at this confession, she’d heard the gasps, seen him standing there. In the heat of the moment, it had not seemed all that signification, but of course she would have. “I wasn’t going to in the first place, I was going to be a good friend and be happy for you,” he said and turned fully to Lily, grabbing her other hand. “But then you,” he pressed his eyes closed, like he was picturing the moment. “, then you looked at me and… You looked so miserable, I could not let you go through with it.”

Lily could feel tears sting at her eyes, her lip trembling; touched by the fact that he had noticed. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this,” she said, her thumb brushing along his knuckles. “I just wasn’t sure if anyone else had-“

“The balls to speak up?”

“I suppose that is one way of putting it.” She couldn’t help but giggle at that. “I do apologise for not personally thanking your balls for that, could you pass on the message?”

The three of them snorted, shaking their heads in amusement before heaving a collective sigh.

“Tomorrow is going to be a shitshow, isn’t it?” Lily asked mostly rhetorically after a moment of silence.

“Today, tomorrow and likely the next few weeks, too. But we’ll get through it,” James responded, his lips pressed together into a tight line. “But we’ll get through it.”

Lily pressed two fingers between her brows, massaging the tense spot that threatened to form there. “Lovely,” she mumbled, clicking her tongue. She let the dread settled for only a moment before nodding to herself. “Let’s just not think about that today. We are in Paris, we have croissants, I am not married to Owen-“

“Owen? I thought his name was Sven,” Sirius interjected, sounding genuinely confused.

“I thought it was Stephen,” James agreed with a shrug.

“He doesn’t look like an Owen,” Sirius agreed and tilted his head. “Stephen fits him though, with the PH, not even the normal V. Because he's posh.”

“Right!”

“Oi! I am trying to be positive here, can we not?”

“Sorry,” they sounded out in unison, though she could see their mischievous smiles from the corner of her eye and knew this was far from over.

Lily decided to ignore potential future antics and drew in a deep breath, the smell of baked goods and the distinct unpleasant odour she’d started to associate with the French capital and the city filled her nose. “The city is our oyster, and- and… We’ll make the best of it. Come what may-“

“Oh, can we go to the Moulin Rouge? I’ve always wanted to go,” Sirius interrupted again, earning him a glare and an affectionate smile, the obscure reference tickling her, and she wondered if he remembered it used to be her favourite film.

“Sure, why not? As I said, come what may, today there are no rules, only hedonistic escapism.”

Both the boys raised their orange juices in cheers. “Here, here!” they cried, drawing the attention of everyone around them. Normally, Lily would be mortified, but today she could not bring herself to care much.

Not when she was finally free.

#jily #james potter #lily evans #sirius black #jily week 2025 #day 6 #No the jilypad vibes were not intentional but deal with it #Yes Owen will forever be Lily's ex I refuse to make a different OC Deal with it.

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eastwindmlk · 12 days ago

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So, this might get a little update soon! If anyone needs a refresher. Find it here on Ao3

Look! Something happened here and idk. It got away from me. Anyway for @jilytoberfest day 24 we revisit Bigger Fish. Prompt: 🎶Then I know everything is gonna be fine, Because you are mine🎶 -You Shine from Carrie - The Musical

Word count: 3.606... yeah I know.

Waking up in a small boutique hotel on Paris’ Place de la Bastille on the day of your wedding should feel like waking up in a dream. Lily knew that. Still, she sat up in the Egyptian cotton sheets, bleary-eyed and hard-hearted.

Everything should have been dreamy, from the French breakfast waiting for her on her balcony with a view of the courtyard and the muffled uproar from the square rising over the building. To the incredibly fluffy tear-stained pillows she’d cried herself to sleep on and all because of one man.

James Potter, who had ran back into her life at the eleventh hour like they were in some sort of soap opera. Where he returned just in time to confess his love for her and steal her away to the future they were always meant to have.

He almost did. Showing up at the airport, begging her to not do it. The only difference was that she wasn’t the heroine. She wasn’t going to blow all of this off just because he swanned in at a ta-da nick of time to swoop her off her feet. That was not who Lily Evans was.

Lily Evans was sensible and steady, she went through school and dated the footie captain and when he eventually broke her heart, like everyone said he would, she moved on. She found a dependable, unremarkable colleague who brought her coffee and complimented her hair even if he never noticed when she cut it.

He wasn’t a big fish and that is what made him right. Right?

She gripped the edges of her goose feather duvet and peered into the glaring sun, wondering if maybe she was making a mistake. Her eyes lifted to the clock, it was a little before eight and the make-up and hair team would be there in half an hour. Which should be long enough to warm up her cold feet.

Lily took a quick shower, getting dressed in her wedding lingerie and a silk robe before settling herself on the balcony. She was intent on enjoying the view, the sun, the breakfast and staunchly ignored the humdrum of the touristy city below her. Just as she was ignoring the doubt swirling in her chest.

All she had to do was get through today – and the rest of her life – wondering what would have happened had she been brave enough not to board that plane.

She was sipping her morning coffee when the door to her room burst open, the hot drink dripping onto her fingers. It was at this moment that Lily regretted giving the front desk permission to let her mother in.

“Lilykins! Darling! Are you alright?” She asked and without looking Lily could tell that she was frazzled and red-faced. “Are you not bothered by all the ruckus? The receptionist said that ‘ze are protesting ze new work low but ze won’t burn down anyzing ‘ere’,” her mother scoffed and Lily suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at her mother’s abysmal imitation of the French accent.

The bride-to-be turned her torso to offer her mother a sympathetic smile. “You know that sounds awfully mean when you do that right?”

“Do what?”

“The accent,” Lily pointed out, her lips pressing into a thin smile.

Her mother sighed dramatically, her whole torso rising and falling with it. “Don’t be so soft, Lilykins. I am sure they know I don’t mean it that way,” she said, her forehead wrinkling while she gestured vaguely around herself before plopping down on the edge of the bed. Seemingly to catch her breath.

“Oh I don’t know, the French aren’t renowned for their sense of humour,” she pointed out now just trying to get a rise out of her mother. A little thing to distract herself from the restlessness that still brewed in her chest like a storm at sea.

Ruth Evans tutted and shot her daughter a playful glare before letting her expression soften. “It’s a nice room,” she started trying to make small talk. Her mother hated small talk.

“Just spit it out, Mother,” Lily huffed, not wanting to pussyfoot around whatever her mother had to say. She felt like, today of all days, she was entitled to an expedited process. She simply did not have it in her to take her mother’s delicate sensibilities into account today.

Ruth’s lips pursed while she levelled her youngest daughter with a disapproving look that bounced right off of her. “Don’t call me ‘mother’ in that tone,” she sniffed and shifted in her seat before coming right out with it. “I was just… See. I heard that a certain someone might be back in town.”

Lily grimaced and placed her coffee back on the cast iron table, the thought of consuming anything suddenly making her feel ill. “He is, not that it is of any consequence to me,” she dismissed as blasé as she could manage while her heart threatened to burst from her chest and tattle on her.

“Right, of course, it isn’t. I just- It made me wonder how you’re feeling about all of this,” she said while she gestured around her vaguely in an attempt to indicate the whole situation. Or, at least, that is what Lily assumed she meant.

She turned fully in her seat and away from the food and the view to look her mother squarely in the face. That was the plan, but she could only drop her eyes to her hands when she answered her. “It’s beautiful. Every girl dreams of getting married in Paris.” Her voice sounded distant and tight, very much unlike her. Even more so, very much unlike how you’d want any bride to sound on her wedding day.

There was a moment of silence, patient and expecting. There was something extremely unsettling about it. Her mother was never silent, not like this. It made the words she did not want to say rise to her lips nearly instantly. Her secrets fought their way up her throat to see which one was going to fill the emptiness her mother’s silence left.

Lily nearly confessed to what happened at the airport when she was saved by a knock on the door. Her mother stood up in a flurry to open up for the beauty team. Which, hopefully, meant that her mother would let the situation rest for the sake of keeping up appearances.

After all, she would probably die of embarrassment if these total strangers knew there was trouble in paradise.

For a glorious thirty minutes while she was poked with brushes and having her hair pulled and twisted in every which direction, Lily enjoyed her mother’s chatter on how the venue was coming along. Ruth didn’t like small talk unless it would earn her praise.

The end of her peacetime was rung in by Petunia stomping into the room, her blonde hair in her signature, braided twist - which had made an appearance at every formal event after she’d perfected it at age sixteen. - the aubergine maid-of-honour dress still on its garment bag. Lily had no time to ask her if she wanted to use the large en-suite bathroom to change before her sister’s shrill shriek rang through the room. “Seriously, Lily! The airport!”

If her face had not been slathered in foundation a quarter inch thick, she might have flushed. The redhead just wasn’t sure if it was in shame or frustration. “Did something happen at the airport?” her mother chimed in and it was like watching the spark that started the great fire catch.

“You haven’t told her?”

“Tuney,” she cautioned and hoped that a withering look was just as powerful through a reflection.

Not that they had often worked on her sister, who barrelled on with her usual amount of consideration for her younger sibling. Next to none. “The Potter boy showed up at the gate,” she informed their mother, her nose turned up to drive home her superior tone.

Ruth gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth in shock. “Lily Josephine Evan! Why did you not tell me?” The use of her full name made Lily cringe even at age twenty-eight.

‘Because of that reaction’ Lily thought to herself, but she wouldn’t say that now. “I didn’t think it mattered much,” she lied and closed her eyes to let the make-up artist apply another layer of powder and hoped she was done now.

“No? I would think that the other man showing up means quite a lot,” Petunia’s snide remark burned away the remaining cringe and her glare turned deadly.

Her perfectly painted lips disappeared into a thin line when she turned around to look at her sister. It was their mother that interjected. “Petunia!”

“Well, I don’t have some fancy man show up at my gate, begging me to marry him instead,” she said with an indignant sniff and an upturned nose. “’S all I’m saying. “

That is when she started to regret flying with the airline her sister worked for, even if the tickets had been free. The gossip train was clearly very effective and she would not be surprised to see that her sister was a little too well-informed on things.

The news shocked their mother into silence for just long enough that her sister could shoot Lily a look, Superior and satisfied with ruing a perfectly peaceful morning. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Her mother’s voice trembled with emotion and she almost worried that she was going to burst into tears. Grateful that she’d already done her make-up and would not want to ruin it with tears.

“Because I knew you’d make a big deal out of it all when it really isn’t,” Lily pointed out, her voice gentler now. Mindful of her mother’s fraying nerves.

“Well, what did you tell him?”

“I am here, am I not?” she answered, her toe pushing up her sock and hoped the answer was enough to soothe her mother.

Ruth sighed in relief, her smile appearing from behind the clouds. Another crisis averted. “That you are and you will be such a beautiful bride,” she cooed, her hands clasped together. “I’ll go get changed. Petunia, help your sister into her dress. It’s almost time,” she said with more enthusiasm than she thought she could muster for her own wedding.

Lily stood, facing the mirror while her sister laced her into the bodice of her white gown and while she felt like she looked like a princess with the Tudor-style bodice and the puffed skirt. She was Cinderella on her way to the ball, all she was missing was her glass slippers.

“What are those?” Petunia’s disgust was evident in her voice when Lily lifted her skirt to slip into her low-heeled slippers.

Her eyes travelled down to look at pastel blue, fluffy socks she’d worn from the moment she stepped out of the shower. “My something blue?” Lily replied, her tone questioning while her sister yanked the warm socks off her feet.

Her sister tutted, not unlike what their mother had done before. “You’re so strange sometimes,” Petunia complained while she fuzzed over Lily’s veil for a moment. “All done. Now smile, this is the happiest day of your life.”

The words echoed in her mind. The happiest day of her life. Lily knew it ought to be, but all she could focus on were the clouds that had rolled in earlier, the restless sea that roiled in her chest. She forced the corners of her lips up into a smile and was grateful that Petunia did not care if it reached her eyes or not.

Lily told herself that she was just nervous, this was a big day for everyone involved. It was only natural to feel a little nauseous. Especially when your mother reappears in the room and just so happens to also be dressed in white.

“Mother,” she started and the words stuck in her throat when Ruth looked up at her. “Mum,” she tried again, tempering her tone. “Why are you wearing white?”

Her mother laughed, her fingers caressing the string of pearls that she wore on every important occasion. “I’m not wearing white, darling. This is crème,” she said defensively, tracing her fingers along the taffeta silk fabric that had a similar sheen to that of her wedding dress.

Despite feeling like she should be offended by her mother’s actions, she couldn’t help but also be grateful for the distraction it offered. The more she could focus on this, the less she would think about her doubts.

More importantly, she won’t think about him.

By the time Lily made her way across the hotel lobby on her way out, the protest had indeed moved on without as much as a rubbish bin lit on fire. It was all that her mother talked about on the way to the venue, more distractions.

Lily’s storm seemed to finally break while she stood waiting in the wings as the stragglers filed in minutes before the start of the ceremony. Her hands were wringing in front of her nervously when Petunia grabbed her shoulders. “Breathe, Lily,” she commanded sternly and took a few deep breaths with her until she was satisfied. “Remember to smile when you see him.”

Her eyebrows brew together at the remark she blinked at her sister before asking. “Who?”

“Your fiancee, Lily. I know you’re nervous but smile for him when you see him, he won’t know the difference from when you feel better after the ceremony,” she explained and pushed a stray lock of hair back into her up-do before lowering the blusher over her face. “Happiest day of your life,” Petunia reminded her once more and handed her the bouquet of flowers. She scowled at the Baby’s Breath she’d explicitly said she hadn’t wanted.

So, this is where her mother chose to be traditional then. It was fine, she supposed.

Lily wrapped her hands around the ribbon-bound stems while she rocked from her heels to her toes a couple of times, hoping that the chapel was warmer than this side room. If only she could have kept her socks on. It wasn’t like anyone would notice.

All thoughts of socks faded to the background when their father opened the door, right on cue. The first notes of Pachelbel’s canon started to float their way. This was it. The start of the rest of her life.

John Evans was the opposite of his flighty and erratic wife. He was solid and calm, a rock that Lily would cling onto all the way down the path of pink petals. Like her sister before him, her father took a deep breath with him and pointed to his cheek. Smile.

Lily clutched her father’s arm and the storm had run its course when she clutched onto his arm. She knew her father would not lead her wrong, he only wanted what was best for her. This was what was best for her. A steady, dependable man and a quiet life.

She’d almost convinced herself of that as she slowly walked down the aisle with a smile on her face. When her eyes were drawn to someone sitting in the fourth row, almost all the way in the back. Dark hair and grey eyes. Sirius Black, one of the only mutual friends of her and James she still felt close enough to to invite to the wedding.

She’d thought that seeing him there would make her happy. Perhaps it would have if he’d looked happy for her, but his face was blank, only the hint of a smile and a nod sent her way when they locked eyes.

This was not approval, this was surrender. The smile on her face turned apologetic before she rend her eyes away from him and back to the front, the future waiting for her.

A future that was already suffocating her. The idea of a white picket fence and charity bake sales weighed down on her chest like a tonne of bricks. Lily dug her fingers into her father’s arm and hoped he would notice her panic, he would get her out of this.

Before John could look at her, they were at the end of the aisle. Her hand was placed in a limp, sweaty palm. All she wanted to do was pull her hand back and run, but instead, she froze in the realisation that the moment of quiet, of acceptance, had only been the eye of the storm.

Her body moved when it was prompted to by her groom. They stood, face-to-face when the priest started the traditional opening words. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to…” The rest of the words were drowned out by the blood rushing through her ears, and the pounding in her throat.

Lily knew that the priest would be reading a passage from 1 John 4 that they’d agreed on and she couldn’t help but see the passage in a different light now. While she knew it spoke of God’s sacrifice, she related to that more now than ever that he was promising her life to a man she was not certain of.

The whole church was silent, leaving her to drown in her waves of panic when she heard the rattling of the door. Something tugged inside of her and it took her concentrating on the words being said to not turn around. To not be hopeful.

Lily’d had her chance yesterday at the airport. It would be too much to ask for another one. Everyone knew that the words that would follow were just for tradition’s sake, no one ever actually spoke up. She kept her eyes on their hands while she grimaced her way through the silence that would undoubtedly follow the priest’s words.“Before we proceed with the vows, should anyone here present know of any reason why these two should not be married? If so, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

One heartbeat and there was a quiet cough, a shuffle and Lily’s breath caught in her chest. Would her rescue come from an unexpected place? A murmur started to rise through the guests and the door rattled again. But no one spoke up.

The priest drew in a deep breath to continue the ceremony when two things happened at the same time. Someone cleared their throat from her side of the church and the door crashed open, the rush of relief nearly bringing her to her knees when she heard an echo from the day before.

“Stop!” James’ voice echoed through the decorated columns of the church sounding breathless and desperate as he had at the gate.

Lily only took a moment to take in the shock on the priest’s face before turning to face him, just like everyone else. Everyone but Sirius and James were still in their seats, craning to see the man slowly making his way down the aisle towards them.

“I will not hold my peace,” James said, loud and clear this time and before Lily knew it her hands were in his. “Lily, please,” he pleaded literally dropping to his knees in front of her.

The whole church was collectively holding their breaths and Lily could feel the tension mounting. She knew she should turn him away, it would be the right thing to do. “James,” she choked out while she looked down at him but the words wouldn’t come.

“I know that this is a little too late, but I cannot let you go without making damn sure that you know how much I love you,” he spoke so evenly, so sure of himself. Like he had rehearsed the words over and over again. “I have been an idiot for ever letting you go. I should have asked you to marry me before uni but we were young and I thought I would have you forever because I could not imagine sharing my life with anyone but you.”

Lily rolled her eyes at him and received an apologetic smile in return. When she pulled her hands back from his, he didn’t resist. He did not drop his hands either, waiting expectantly while she pushed the veil back to uncover her face and placed her hands back in his.

“I love you, Lily Evans. I always have and I always will.” James paused to cast a quick glance at the groom beside her, still processing the shock. “If you truly, in the depths of your heart have no love left for me then I will step back. Resign myself to having the one constant person in my life being Benjy bloody Fenwick.”

She giggled, actually, giggled at that. Lily knew it was inappropriate but she couldn’t hold it back. He’d always had that effect on her. His smile was dazzling and yet anchored her in this bonkers moment. This impossible, larger-than-life moment.

It was just so… James. Her James. Who, even after all these years, she loved so much that she could burst. Even standing here, dressed in white to promise herself to another man, she couldn’t help but love him, to admit that she’d hoped he’d swoop in and save her from making the biggest mistake of her life.

“This is not the time or place, I am very well aware of that. Still, I need to ask one last time. Marry me instead?”

Lily felt her lips move before her mind even had time to properly process the words, tears spilling down her cheeks. The guests reacted before she realized herself that she, in a well of emotion, said yes.

#jily #james potter #lily evans #jple

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