Chapter Text
A few years later, their own wedding would be much less insufferable than Petunia and Vernon’s.
Their closest friends and family gather outdoors on a warm summer evening, a white canopy above them, the lake glowing in the sunset as a backdrop. Sitting at their table the newlyweds kept their hands clasped tightly, not a cell phone in sight, the devices an unnecessary distraction from the pure joy of the occasion. Sirius is spouting off some exaggerated tale of longing and miscommunication and ridiculously named group chats (surely they hadn’t been quite that ridiculous before they had gotten together…), but Lily and James are hardly listening. The glint of a plan sparks in their gaze and James presses a smiling kiss to the back of her hand as Sirius finishes up his speech and the tables before them are erupting with applause and the tinkling of glassware.
The slow strings of their first dance song swell behind them as James leads Lily to the center of the paneled dance floor. The lights suspended from the peak of the tent twinkle above them as they pull each other close. Their friends and family watch as the couple sways, James even managing not to step on Lily’s toes as they dance. After a minute of saccharine lyrics, the couple slows and the music comes to a stop, confusing all of the guests. Then the familiar drums kick in and James spins Lily out, his mischievous grin beaming at her as she twirls, her wedding gown’s skirt detaching and flying off to the side to reveal a stunning white jumpsuit beneath. The cymbals of “Escape” crash and the two of them groove back to the center to meet each other. The bouncy low piano guides their dorky swaying and they grab hands, leading into the slightly-choreographed chaos of a first dance that was so very them .
Sirius guffaws at the sight of them, Remus swatting at him as he stifles his own chuckle. After a very outdated arm-bridge-slide, the newlywed Potters wave their friends and family onto the floor. Sirius needs no more of a cue and pulls Remus up with him, chest to chest in a mock-tango to the beat of the ridiculous 70’s anthem. The guests flood the floor in pairs and small groups, joining in on the inexplicable mesmerization of The Pina Colada Song. Marlene and Dorcas have their foreheads pressed together and their fingers intertwined as they sway, Alice and Frank are holding each other close in a bouncy partner dance, and Peter has shyly pulled an Evans second cousin onto the floor. It feels the perfect full-circle of their relationship, and yet it is simultaneously the beginning. Grinning and incandescently happy, Lily and James bask in the oasis that is this moment, pure and full of everything and everyone that they loved.
Laughable that their peak happiness included a man named Rupert and a yacht rock song about intended infidelity, but it was their peak happiness nonetheless.