It was raining and cold at 6am on 24 December, 1978. The rain fell and made pools in the street out front of the curry shop in East London. The gentleman that owned the shop looked out and frowned, but he still hung the paper poster he and his daughter had worked to make the day before in the window - a great sheet of paper that read congratulations Lily and James on it in big thick marker ink.

Upstairs, Dora Potter was humming tunelessy as she lay plates of bacon and toast before her son, who was in his quidditch pyjamas. She ruffled the hair on his head, making it even messier than he'd woken up with it being, and kissed the top of it, and for once he did not complain.

He was too nervous and excited to complain about anything.

He wondered if Lily Evans was awake yet and if she was if she was as nervous and excited as he felt, and if she was thinking of him, too.

She was.

"Oooh this dress is to die for Lily!" Marlene gasped as she looked at the gown hung on the back of the closet door in her bedroom. She stared dreamily at it, her thick blonde hair a mess of bed curlers and bobby pins, which Emmaline was struggling to undo. "Ouch!" Marlene gasped.

"Hold still, then," Em said around several pins sticking out from between her teeth.

The four girls had had a slumber party at Marlene's, where they also planned to prep before going to the wedding.

"I love these sleeves!" Alice said, running her hand over the gauzy fabric that would soon hang from Lily's elbows. Alice was working on Lily's ginger hair, brushing it out before she would style it to look like the folded open page in Witch Weekly they had balanced on Marlene Mackinnon's vanity table. "You're going to look like an absolute angel!"

Lily blushed as they all four giggled with excitement.

"Oh I hope I look half as pretty when Frank and I are married," Alice whined, looking at the page of the magazine and holding it up next to Lily's face to imagine the style. "If we ever finally get married!"

"You will," Lily promised.

"I reckon he's waiting until graduation," Em said around the pins. It was getting harder for her to speak around them the more she plucked from Marlene's head.

"Yeah, and he'll make it up for all the waiting I'll bet!" Marlene said, "As he should with all the time you've hung in for -- Frank's a good bloke like that."

Emma pursed her lips around the pins and pulled a little too hard on the curler she was unravelling.

"Ouch!" Marlene squeaked.

"Sorry," Em murmured.

Ali glanced at Marlene and Emma and then turned back to Lily's hair. "Today's not about me and Frank anyway," she said, "It's about Lily and James! So. Lily. Can you believe you're less than twelve hours away from being Mrs. James Potter?"

Lily shook her head, "I can't believe it, no. It feels so surreal..." She paused and sighed happily, staring up at the dress. "We wrote our own vows, you know."

Marlene sat up straight instead of reclining as she had been and Emma nearly tore off a whole chunk of hair that was wound up in the curler she was unpinning. "OW!" Marlene shouted again. "Em, I'll do it myself, alright?" she said and Emma held up her hands in surrender and got up off the bed, tossing the pins and rollers she'd already taken out onto the pillow. Marlene immediately rerouted again, "You wrote your own vows?! How did you ever get him to agree to that?"

"It was his idea," Lily answered.

"Oh gods could James Potter be more perfect, seriously?" Em asked. She'd sat down on the cushion in the window seat, hugging a stuffed Paddington Bear tight.

"Seriously!" Marlene said, shaking her head. "None of those other lads would ever..."

"Remus would," Alice said matter of a factly. "And Sirius if he thought he could get enough stage time out of it." She was thinking of the speech at the stag party.

"TRUE," Marlene said, "Alright, but no boy that wasn't a bleeding Marauder would ever dream."

"My boys are special," Lily said.

James was pacing in the bedroom, he was dressed in his tux trousers and button up shirt, his feet in only stockings. He had his notes for his vows out in his hands and was muttering, reading them over as he walked back and forth.

There came a knock at the door.

"Oi?" he said without pausing his pacing.

"Is it alright for an old mum to come talk to her baby?"

James stopped and turned, "Yeah mum, come in."

Dora pushed the door open and stepped into the room. She looked him over, "You're not even halfway dressed."

"I'm working on it," James replied.

"Well, Remus and Sirius went to do the last minute preparations - it's still raining."

James looked at the window. "Yeah, but Remus has plans for everything... I'm sure he's got it already quite under control."

"I'm sure he does, too," Dora nodded.

She stood in the doorway.

"Mum? Is something the matter?"

"Your father would be so proud, honey."

James froze. "Yeah."

"He really would."

James bit his lip. "He was going to walk Evans down the aisle for her."

"I know," Dora answered. She walked over to the chair at Lily's desk. "I really miss your father a lot," she said.

"I miss him too, mum. A mighty lot." James sank into his own desk chair.

She took a deep breath. "Well, since Charlus isn't here... it's up to me to give you the speech."

"The speech?"

Dora nodded, "James, there comes a time --"

"Mum? If this is the sex talk... you don't have to do this, I'm -- I know about birds and bees and all that... We've done this talk before. Me and Dad."

Dora flushed. "That's not - no, James... There comes a time when a boy becomes a man, and you've become one under my very eyes. I'm proud of you, and I know you'll be a good husband, just like your father was good to me. I see so much of him in you." She reached out and stroked his cheek with the back of her knuckles softly. "I remember when you were an ickle little thing." She drew a deep breath and reached into her dress pockets and drew out a golden key with a long burgundy velvet strand tied to the ornate end of it. "I want to officially give you the key to the Potter family vault at Gringott's."

"Oh mum, I --"

"Your father was going to do it on your wedding day, and here we are. I've taken enough to stay comfortable for whatever time I've got left - and really, I'm quite comfortable in Hogsmeade... Min and Elphie have been so kind to allow me to stay with them. They've added a small cottage in the back of their home there and I'm very comfortable. You and Lily have to visit me after you're back from your honeymoon."

"We will, mum," James nodded. "And you have to visit us, too." He told her about the house in Godric's Hollow, all about the work he'd done to it and the care he'd taken to be sure that he did it all the muggle way, with true hardwork and sweat, rather than magic.

Dora's eyes were all soft when he'd finished. "Lily Evans is a lucky girl, James. A lucky girl to have you."

"Thanks mum," he said.

"But never let that go to your head, now, you understand? She is lucky to have you, and you are lucky to have her, and that should never be taken for granted. The love that the two of you share is rare and beautiful, and --" she paused, her eyes falling on the books on the desk. She looked at James. "Is Lily studying Magique Amore?"

James looked at the books, "Oh. Yeah, she is mum. She's been working right hard on it... I reckon she's really very good... She - senses - all sorts of things and it's right impressive."

Dora stared at the books. "Where did she get these?"

"One of her professors," James shrugged. "I dunno the bloke's name. Why?"

Dora shook her head. "A story for another time."

"Something to do with Ottalie?" James guessed.

"Yes," Dora replied.

"I want to know about Ottalie, mum."

"When you come for tea."

"Promise?"

Dora criss-crossed her heart. Then continued on her original thought, "Love like what you and Lily have only comes once in a lifetime. Remember that. Wake up every single day, look each other in the eyes and remind one another of how much you love each other. Do the same every single night before going to bed. No matter how the day went, no matter the circumstances in life, no matter what. Every day, remind each other."

James nodded, taking in the advice.

"Don't forget anniversaries. Though I bet it'll be a bit hard for you - Christmas Eve and all."

"Yeah," James laughed.

"And - this one is very important, dear -" Dora said, "One day, when Lily is pregnant... be the husband who goes out in the middle of the night to buy chocolate pudding... and don't judge her when she uses it to dip crisps."

"What?" He blinked in confusion.

"Trust me."

"Okay." James laughed, shaking his head.

Dora smiled, "That's the stuff true love is made of, James."

James smiled back.

She put her hand on his. "Here; let's get you finished up." She stood and went and got his tuxedo jacket, holding it up so he could slouch and shrug it on. She ran her hands over the damask fabric. "This is a very nice suit..."

"Thanks mum. I thought it looked rather smart." He grinned.

"Very. Oh - your father would want you to have his cuff links for it! Do you have his trunk?"

"Yeah - just over there."

Dora went over and moved a pile of blankets Lily had put on it, pushing it open and she dug about. James glanced over - he'd always loved that old trunk. Dora came over a moment later with a small jewelry box, and opened it up. She paused, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Mum?"

Dora held out the box wordlessly.

The cufflinks were shiny and gold, engraved with a lion's head, it's mouth open, and a large letter P clutched in its open maw. And beside them was a tiny balled up paper.

James took the paper out and Dora held the box, looking on as James unfolded it, smiling when he saw Charlus's handwriting:

Go get'er Jamesy.

Dora laughed, and so did James. "Thanks Dad," he said, and he took the cufflinks out. "Mum?"

"James?"

"I've never worn cufflinks before. What the hell're they for?"

"They're instead of buttons, dear," she said, and she took his arm and attached the links onto his shirt cuffs expertly. "I told you he would want you to have them."

James nodded.

Dora smiled, "He'll be there in spirit, my love."

Meanwhile, in the forest at the Ashridge Estate, Sirius stood under the tree line at the entrance to the forest. Remus had set a warming spell on the ground to make a path in the snow that led off into the woods, and now he was coming back, having run to make last minute checks on the magic he had worked so hard to set over the last few hours - including a surprise even the bride and groom were not expecting.

Sirius looked down it. "All set?"

"Yes, thankfully, some of the spells were a bit trickier than I thought they would be. But I got them done."

"Nice one, Moony."

"Thanks," Remus answered. "Oh gosh, I've tested them all a thousand times but I'm still terrified. I want everything to be perfect for them."

"Me too."

"The only thing I wanna see hitched today is James and Lily."

Sirius stood up straight suddenly, pointing at a bowl full of charmed gemstones that served to alert them to the guest's approach by portkey. "Our first guest is coming."

Remus looked and stood up straight too. He shook his wand into an umbrella and ran to the spot they'd set the portkey arrival to, Sirius right behind him.

"Odaaaaaaair you are!" Sirius shouted as Remus arrived at Jasper's side and held up his umbrella wand. "Welcome to the Potter wedding!"