"Okay, I think I have everything packed!" I said rifling around our room for my favourite shirt.

"Have you remembered your wedding dress?" James asked, lounging leisurely on the bed.

"Yes, don't worry," I said, turning around, "What are you doing?"

He blinked for a few seconds, looking a little taken aback, "...lying down, why?"

"How the hell am I meant to leave with you looking like that," I said with a small grin on my face.

"Solution, you don't go," He said, rising from the bed and putting his arms around my waist, "Don't tell Marlene I said that, she will not be happy. If she asks who suggested it, I will blame you."

"James! She'll kill me too!"

"She's your best friend!"

"Which will make my murder even more gruesome!"

"Joint blame?" He suggested. It was very tempting but I knew, as tempting as it was to stay at home all weekend, I needed to go and stick to plans. Our wedding was only in a few days time and it was bad luck to see for the groom to see the bride in her dress, which in Marlene's eyes meant I should be taken away to a spa hotel for the weekend before my wedding. Although I did want to stay with him, part of me was really looking forward to getting pampered for a whole weekend. War really did stress you out and as trivial as it sounded, I missed having pretty painted nails.

"As tempting as it sounds, I probably shouldn't," I said, closing my suitcase with a struggle, "I'm going to miss you."

I wrapped my arms around him, expecting a sweet response but instead getting, "You're daft, Lily, It's only a weekend."

I pursed my lips and sighed, "True, it will be nice to be pampered for once."

"Hey! We pamper you!" James said, defensively, "Remember when I made you toast?... and Peter made you that hat?"

"The hat was a tea cosy that went wrong!" I exclaimed, "It has a weird hole for my ear, I look deranged!"

"But the toast thing..."

"You forgot the plate and just sort of lay it next to me." I replied, folding my arms.

"We're in a war, Lily, if I could make you a gourmet meal everyday, I would but it's the effort that counts..." James held his nose in the air, "Besides, I don't feel very pampered either."

"I pamper you!" I replied, "What do you want to me do?"

"Lily, I want the whole deal, pretty painted nails, my hair nicely done - Lily, where are you going?!" I rolled my eyes and began to stride out the room, my suitcase in my hand.

"I can't keep the girls waiting!" I replied, "I'm apparating there but still."

"I think you're just scared to give me painted nails because you know they'd suit me better than you - " I whipped around, "What? I think I'd rock it."

"Not as well as me!" Sirius called up.

"Did you even hear what we were talking about?" I called back.

"No," He looked up at us on the stairs, flashing a charming grin, "But I'm right aren't I?"

I rolled my eyes, getting increasingly happier to be in the company of girls for the entire weekend before my wedding. I glanced into the kitchen to see Remus in an apron, rolling dough of some sorts. I bent down to Sirius, whispering, "Don't let Remus do all the cooking and cleaning, okay?"

"Remus, doing all the cooking and cleaning?" Sirius said in disbelief, "That's rude, who do you think makes breakfast? Who do you think makes everyone's bed?"

"Remus?"

Sirius opened his mouth to respond but closed it, "Yeah, maybe, I was just playing Devil's advocate."

Unsurprisingly with the amount of sass the three boys had stored up, goodbyes took a little long to the point where I was almost going to be late. Although I would miss them all, I was looking forward to the weekend. Marlene had apparentely got a recommendation from Dumbledore about the hotel which was odd but I guessed that it probably meant it was Order safe... well, I hoped so anyway. The hotel was a large, fancy building, something that I seemed to have seen a lot more of since dating James. It was nestled away in the Hills, hidden away from the sight of almost all nearby civilisation and I could see why Dumbledore had recommended it.

As I walked into the lobby, I was pleased to see that the others were there already. Marlene was arguing with the man at the desk, Dorcas and Mary were sat down (Mary looked half dead, apparating from America was hard apparentely) whilst Alice looked weirdly intrigued by a plastic pot plant. At first none of them noticed me but Alice quickly darted over, throwing her arms around me.

"Lily! It's so good to see you not in a hospital bed!" She said. As always, her enthusiasm and cheeriness was contagious. Mary and Dorcas noticed me as well and followed Alice's lead, Mary shuffling alone as if she were half asleep.

"Lily! Bet you're glad you need a spa weekend, you look like you need it!" Dorcas said.

"Dorcas!" Mary exclaimed, lightly slapping her arm.

"What?"

"She's the bride, you can't just say that!"

"I'm not saying she looks bad," Dorcas defended herself, "I'm just saying she looks tired, war is draining!"

"Yet you still look fabulous, Dorcas," I said with a small smile, giving her a hug, "Mary, you look fabulous too."

"Don't lie, Lily," Mary said with a wry smile, "I know I look like a bedraggled corpse."

"Don't worry, Mary, you don't look bedraggled," Dorcas said, giving her a pat on the back and walking towards Marlene.

"What the hell, Dorcas!" Mary yelled, her tiredness making her easily annoyed, "Are you saying I look corpse-like?"

To be fair, Mary had just described herself as a corpse but was clearly not expecting Dorcas to agree. I held back a small smile, I didn't want to be the next to get snapped at. It didn't matter if I was the bride or not, that didn't mean I was exempt. Eventually, Marlene came over with our keys to our rooms and the five of us left, Mary purposefully ignoring Dorcas who seemed to be completely oblivious. I sensed that this weekend might not be peaceful as I'd first hoped.

Although Marlene had said that for budget reasons, it would probably be best for everyone to share yet somehow Dorcas had managed to get a room on her own. I would never be able to understand her. I tried to argue that as the bride I should get a room by myself but all she said was, "Yeah, but I'm Dorcas." and vanished with the keys so there was no negotiating. I didn't mind sharing a room with Marlene that much anyway, although she did snore a bit.

"Isn't this nice?" Marlene said, lying down on the bed, "Lily, you are literally going to be glowing after this."

"Literally glowing?"

"Figuratively," Marlene corrected, "Although, given that Dumbledore recommended this place, I wouldn't be surprised if all of the spa specialists are actually the members of the Order in disguise."

"Imagine if you were just casually getting like a hand massage and you feel something brush your hand and you look over to see that it's Dumbledore's beard - "

"Oh gross!" Marlene said, falling back on the bed and scrunching up.

"What? I'm sure he washes it!" I said as the two of us crumpled into laughter, "I wouldn't mind seeing James though - "

"No." Marlene sat bolt upright, "Lily, this is a girl's weekend, a final break from James before you guys spend all of eternity together!"

"I could just get him to apparate here or maybe just a quick chat on the phone - "

"Lily! No!" Marlene firmly instructed, "Trust me, it will make it even better when you see him at the wedding... now come on, I've booked us all for a six thirty pedicure and facials."

My thoughts of wanting to see James disappeared as I lay back in the spa chair, letting my cares disappear. As I lay there, surrounded by the laughter of my friends, it was easy to forget that we were in the middle of a war, it felt like we were just five teenage girls hanging out a spa. Dorcas kept stealing Marlene's cucumbers off her eyes which was amusing seeing Marlene run around the room after her, whilst trying to avoid getting her newly painted toes smudged. Although it would have been nice to stay with James, this was a good idea, we all needed some time off to relax.

Eventually, we walked out of there and even Mary looked refreshed and happy. The five of us went to supper and annoyed the hell out of the other, annoyingly refined guests. Still, it didn't matter and we embraced out position as the annoying teenagers, laughing, clinking our glasses excessively and trying to convince the waiters that we weren't completely drunk.

Eventually after supper, we retired upstairs to our rooms, all of slightly staggering. I was glad we were staying here for a few days, I wouldn't want to go to my own wedding with a hangover. I flopped down on the bed whilst Marlene staggered over to hers, laughing giddily.

"Marlene."

"What?" She said, throwing her shoes of clumsily and lying on the bed, holding her toes in the air, "Lily, look at my toes, they're pretty..."

"Marlene." I groaned, "I miss James."

"No... no, no, no!" She wagged her finger at me, "Lily, you can't... it's not good for you!"

"But I haven't said goodnight..."

"Then say it three times when you next see him!" Marlene said, giving a dazed smile as if that were the solution to everything.

"That's dumb."

"You're dumb," She repeated, giggling slightly as she lay down, "Lily, I feel like a princess right now, can we just stay here? Never leave?"

"Can we bring James and the others?" I asked.

"No," Marlene replied, "Not Sirius."

"But I thought you guys were sort of fine."

She sat up again, this time a look of distress etched on her face, "Lily do you remember when you had a crush on that boy in Choir? Then after you found out he liked that other girl and didn't ever want to see him again?"

I nodded, "But that's a different situation - "

"It's worse," She sighed, lying back down again, her eyes sad, "It meant a lot to me. It lasted a long time and it's just... sad that it's over. He's a good guy but he wasn't my guy, not really. So that's why I don't want him here... it's a girls' weekend, okay?"

I nodded although I made a big point of keeping my fingers crossed behind my back. Marlene was clearly exhausted and was asleep within minutes which was exactly what I was hoping for. I stayed a few minutes to check she was asleep before sneaking out to my one friend who would support me on my drunken crazy schemes.

I knocked on the door, constantly checking the door to my room in case Marlene followed me out of the door. If she knew I was calling James, she would probably give me another rant about it and I just wasn't feeling it right now. Eventually, Dorcas answered the door, leaning against the door frame with a dreamy look on her face.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" She said, evidently trying to act as sober as possible.

"Dorcas, I need your help - "

"Of course, because Dorcas is the best," She said modestly before moving her hand in a long sweeping gesture, "Come in, come in. What can I do for you?"

"I want to call James - "

"Call him? Oh no, no, no, NO!" She said, shaking her head, "That's for muggles, we're witches! We can do it the witchy way!"

"The witchy way?"

"I'm talking, sticking your head in the fireplace and having a little chat," Dorcas said, "I saw one downstairs, it's late, nobody will know!"

"Dorcas, our house doesn't have a fireplace!"

"Yet," She said which vaguely reminded me of James's love of 'so far'.

"Maybe but we can't make one in the next few minutes!" I argued, glancing over at her room on the very small chance that she might be hiding a phone here, even though hardly anyone did, much less an old fashioned spa hotel in the middle of nowhere. As we were speaking, a large thump sound suddenly happened causing both of us to jump up. Dorcas leapt onto the bed, looking around startled.

"Was that a ghost?" She asked and I tried to conceal my laughter. I wasn't sure if I preferred drunk or sober Dorcas. Part of me wanted her to go and see what it was but I knew that the Dorcas standing on the bed in fear was not going to be as brave as usual. I crept towards the wall where the sound came from when I saw something in the window. I crept slowly over to see what had made the sound and was surprised to see a small, white owl that I didn't recognise.

"Dorcas, where are the keys to the door?" I asked.

"It's unlocked, try it, you idiot."

I pulled at the door and it slid open with ease. A small letter was attached to the leg of the owl which promptly flew away after I had taken the letter off.

"Ooh, who is it from?" Dorcas asked, sitting up on the bed.

A small smile crept over my face as I instantly recognised the handwriting, "Guess."

"Secret admirer?"

"No, James!"

"Oh... I guess that counts," Dorcas said, dreamily, lying back down. I opened the letter which reminded me that James was just as sappy as I was.

Hey Lily,

Sirius told me that by doing this, I am officially accepting that we are one of those annoying, sappy couples but hey, we are so screw it. Good night and can't wait to marry you! So yeah, I'm going to help Remus with spaghetti now (we're only eating late because we forgot, nothing more!)

Love you, James x

I held the letter to my chest whilst Dorcas rolled her eyes, "God, you two are so damn co-dependent."

"Damn right we are," I replied, "Night Dorcas."

"Night Pot-girl," I looked at her in shock as she sleepily said, "James and Sirius told me... sweet dreams."

I've started a new one shot book which will have Jily and stuff in so stay tuned! Also, I have decided that Jily's wedding will be four parts and will include a bunch of cameos so that's happening. Also, I have extended the book again from four parts to six parts, it's over one hundred chapters, I think so there's a hell of a lot more coming your way - E x