minnow // sirius black

thirty-four

34 ;  lily potter

I didn't expect the pain of knowing that they weren't going to be here to be so intense. It felt like my heart was being strangled. It felt like someone was squeezing the life from my heart, letting it go just before it stopped, and then squeezing again.

It was awful.

I smiled at James when he arrived. The deal was that Sirius and I would get everything ready, James and Lily would take turns seeing the gazebo, and then they'd go into seperate parts of the park. They would not see each other until Lily walked to the gazebo.

Today was not about me, so I smiled. I did not let my heartache disrupt a happy day for my brother, and bestfriend.

So, when James arrived, before Lily did, and took the first look at his wedding venue, I could see the tears. Whether they were from happiness, or sadness, I didn't know. Whether they were caused by getting to marry the girl he'd loved for nearly 9 years, or because our parents weren't here to see it, I couldn't tell. I just knew his eyes watered, and he hugged me tightly. One hand was on the back of my neck, the other around the middle of my back.

He and Sirius left shortly after, not before I made sure they knew that they had an hour and a half to get their nerves in check.

Lily arrived shortly after they left, this ridiculous cloak covering her entire dress and most of her head and face. She wore no makeup, and I could barely see the disaster of hair she hid under the hood of her cloak. She quickly jogged to me, her eyes frantic and guilty.

"I overslept."

"Of course you overslept on your wedding day," I snorted quietly as I wrapped an arm around her. Remus popped up just then, his face immediately lit up as he saw Esme sitting in her stroller beside me. "Hey, Moony! Keep an eye on Esme, and when people start arriving, take her to Sirius and James."

"Yeah, sure," He said, a small smile on his face as he said hi to Esme. She grinned as she realized who it was. "Go and get sleepy head ready."

Lily frowned, and I snickered.

As soon as we were on our side of the park, Lily removed the robe and frowned. I held back a giggle as I looked at her.

Her fiery red hair was messily knotted in what resembled a bird's nest at the crown of her head. There were dark bags under her eyes, and she had a large black smudge across her cheek. I asked what that was, and she said she slept with a nearly empty -- but open -- pot of ink. She joked that her pillow looked worse.

I asked why she had a pot of ink, and she blushed as she said she wrote something for James. I smiled as she pulled an envelope from her small bag.

"I fell asleep right after I finished it, but before I put the ink pot back on my nightstand."

"So, let's get you fixed up," I smiled, my heart hurting. Mum would have loved to see this. "I hope there isn't anything wrong with the decor, because now you can't fix it."

She frowned deeply, but sat on one of the concrete benches in the area. It was one of three, which sat against the edge of the cobblestone circle. All around us were trees, with a path out of the little clearing on the opposite side. It was beautiful.

I started by using magic to clean the smudge off of her face as well as untangle her hair. I used a similar spell to get her hair to smooth itself, so it wasn't frizzy. Now, she had sleek hair with a small amount of curl. Using magic again, I made the loose barely there curls a bit more defined, a bit more curly.

I went to the front of her, a tube of mascara from my bag in my hand. I handed it to her, procuring a mirror from my bag as well. As she applied the mascara, I swiped the pale pink blush I had onto her cheeks. Just enough to make her seem like she was lightly blushing all the time. I then gave her three tubes of different lipsticks, a red, a nude, and a pink.