Hero of the Story || James Potter x Hermione Granger Fanfiction

42 | they've seen things that you never quite say

xxxxii.

they've seen things that you never quite say

(You Matter to Me by Sara Bareilles)

__________

July 14, 1979

Hermione warmly smiled at Lily when she opened the front door.

"Ready for today, Hermione?" her best friend asked, as she linked arms with the brunette and pulled her out of the house.

"I mean, I don't really have a choice, do I?" the younger witch asked with a laugh.

"No, you don't," Lily simply replied, leading Hermione towards the Apparation point near the Pettigrews' House.

Hermione rematerialised near the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron and trailed behind Lily as the redhead meandered through the throngs of patrons inside the busy pub, towards the brick wall separating the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley.

As Hermione went through the opened brick wall, she paused and stared at the dreary streets. She half-expected Diagon Alley to be bustling with people, seeing that it was summer. But what greeted her was an almost empty alley, with only a few shuffling wizards and witches hastily going to their destinations.

"After the attack at Hogsmeade, business has been down," Lily lowly whispered, hooking her arm around Hermione's once more to pull her towards Twilfitt and Tatting. "Some shops were forced to close due to lack of customers. It's... it's a bit worrisome. I think people are starting to realise that Voldemort's threat over the Wizarding World is going to cast a dark shadow over all of us."

Her heart clenched at the unfiltered fear on Lily's face. "We should just get this over and done with so that we can go home and you can rest," she softly replied.

A hollow laugh escaped from Lily's lips. "Don't you think it's a bit silly we're shopping for bridesmaid dresses when we're in the middle of a bloody war?" She gloomily tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear and frowned at her feet. "Maybe Sev was right. Maybe this isn't the right time to get married when there are far more important things to focus on."

Hermione squeezed Lily's arm and sighed. "No," she said. "I don't think it's silly. Sev told me you wanted to marry him because, if things went downhill, you'd at least want to spend your remaining months by his side."

"I did say that," she said, a small, forlorn smile appearing on her face.

"So, let us focus on our agenda for today," she insisted. "Let's pretend there's no war, that we're just two friends stupidly excited for your wedding."

Lily expelled an unladylike snort. "I can do that, I guess," she replied. "I am stupidly excited for my wedding." Her face brightened amidst the dreary, empty streets of Diagon Alley. "I haven't been properly sleeping for the past few days. Did I ever tell you that? I just—I can't believe I'm actually marrying Sev soon! I only have a few weeks to go and it's silly, because we've been living together for almost a year already. But I've been a little giddy." A pretty blush dusted her pale cheeks. "I'm sure it's going to be one of my best days ever."

Hermione sadly smiled at her excited chattering, her heart clenching once more due to an entirely different reason. With Lily's open excitement at her wedding with Severus Snape, her last ditch effort to get her together with James seemed stupidly farfetched now. Lily's feelings for Sev had never subsided; instead, they mightily grew, unswayed by all of the atrocities that were happening in their world right now.