Thicker than Water (Marauders Era)

20 May, 1979 - Wedding Bells

Staring into the mirror, Lavinia tugged unhappily at the short, flowy sleeves of her burgundy bridesmaids dress. It was really very pretty and if she just tucked her arms behind her back she would freely admit that she loved it. Lily had very good taste. But she couldn't well spend the entire day trying to hide her arms.

She groaned and glanced at the clock on her desk. She was wasting time and she knew it. But she also knew that Sirius wasn't finished getting dressed yet either, so at least she wasn't holding anyone up. Yet. She really didn't want to step out of her bedroom with her arms exposed like this.

Over the course of the last month and a half Lavinia had spent time in her room, wearing short sleeves or with her long sleeves pushed up to expose her forearms. She knew she'd had to get used to it, knew that the last thing she was going to let herself do was ruin James and Lily's wedding with her own insecurities. But now, on the day of the ceremony, Lavinia was faced with the stark reality that wearing short sleeves in her room was very different than wearing them to a wedding ceremony.

She huffed and readjusted the shoulders of the dress. At least people wouldn't be looking at her too much, though if she was honest, she'd rather have just been part of the crowd. But, Lily had insisted over her protests and here they were.

A knock sounded on the door to her room and Sirius popped his head. "Are you -?" he broke off, staring at her and Lavinia resisted the urge to cross her arms. She had to get used to this. She had to get used to people seeing her like this. She had hours and hours of it to endure.

Sirius stepped into the room fully, still staring. "I've never seen you in short sleeves," he murmured as though he was just realizing this.

"I hate it," Lavinia groaned, pulling a face and turning back to the mirror. Then she sighed and pivoted to face him. "Can you see... anything?" she asked with a little grimace, holding her arms forward slightly and inviting him to inspect them.

His eyes stayed on her face. "Vin," he murmured and Lavinia saw hesitation there and wondered if he too didn't want to see her scars. She couldn't decide whether or not that hurt and, thankfully she didn't have to because just then he sighed, took her hands in one of his and looked down at her exposed arms. For a moment the fingers of his free hand hovered over her wrists as though he wanted to touch them, but he dropped the hand and it joined his other, sandwiching her fingers between his.

"Maybe if I was really trying," he said finally. "And no one there will be looking that closely." He looked like he wanted to say more and didn't know where to start, so Lavinia headed him off. She didn't want to think about this too much right now.

So she merely nodded her thanks and took a deep, steadying breath. "Then we should get going," she reminded him. "I'm supposed to help with Lily's hair."

Sirius nodded but didn't move, his eyes on her face and his jaw working slightly as though chewing on his next words. Finally he shook his head and offered her a soft smile. "You look beautiful, Vin," he whispered. "Scars and all."

Lavinia blushed and glanced down at her arms. They had a bit of a strange sparkle to them, the result of what was probably a slightly overzealous cosmetic charm, but they looked mostly normal. The scars weren't really visible, which, she supposed, was the important part. Nevermind that it made her skin look a bit blurry if you really bothered to look for any stretch of time.

"Come on," Sirius added, leaning his head down as though to kiss her. Lavinia put a finger to his lips to stop him.

"I am not letting you ruin my lipstick just yet," she informed him with a small smile as he frowned at her.

"Just yet?" he repeated, a playful grin spreading over his face.

Lavinia offered him a coy little smile, then snorted at his slightly incredulous expression in response. "Come on," she repeated, still laughing slightly. "Remus is probably waiting."