Petunia Evans did not have the body shape to be wearing a tweed pencil line skirt, but there she was. Ankle socks, loafers, and a button up blouse with actual shoulder pads sewn in rounded out her librarian look - in more ways than one.

When Lily stepped off the muggle bus in London by Piccadilly Square, Petunia's eyes swept her sister top to bottom and back again. She was relieved to see her arrive in such a normal mode of transport. The irrational side of her had half expected Lily to fly up on a broomstick in a full set of witch's robes, pointy hat and all. Instead, Lily looked to be Petunia's exact opposite, dressed in slim fitting denim overalls with colorful daisies embroidered on one thigh, and a t-shirt of red and yellow stripes beneath. Even Lily's bag, which looked like it was just a sack made of patches of different patterned cloth and covered with little badges, was cooler looking than Petunia's. Petunia hugged her smart leather bag closer and held her chin higher, feeling her clothes to be utterly lame compared to her sister's.

"Tuney!" Lily smiled, hurrying over just as she would have done when they were children, running, her long ginger ponytail flapping behind her.

"Oh, don't run like that in public, Lily! Really! You're a grown woman!" Petunia said, but she returned the hug that Lily had caught her up in when the gap between them had closed. Petunia flushed a little, feeling how tiny Lily's waist was compared to her own, and wondering what sort of cruel trick genetics had played on her half of their embryonic eggs. When the hug parted, Petunia said, "I could never wear overalls."

"Sure you could," Lily replied, "They're dead comfortable once you break them in."

"If you've the figure for it," Petunia muttered. She reached up and fixed a flyaway hair over Lily's ear.

"Well you look very nice, Tuney," Lily said, "I love this colour." She indicated the burnt orange of Petunia's blouse, which brought out some of the specks of color in the otherwise plain grey wool skirt.

"I worried it was a bit bright," Petunia replied.

"No, not at all, it's lovely," Lily said.

Not sure what to say, Petunia didn't reply. She was fairly certain Lily was only complimenting the shirt because she, like Petunia herself, knew she had gained quite a bit of weight and it showed about the waist of her skirt. Instead, she consulted her watch - a gold and diamond encrusted thing that Vernon had gotten her in France, which sat upon her bony wrist (the only bit of her that was bony, currently). "The shop doesn't open for another hour," she said, "Shall we go and have a cup of tea?"

"Sure!" Lily smiled, "Or even a late lunch - there's a pub 'round here that James and I went to once and they've got the best roast sandwiches and chips."

Petunia made a face. She imagined a run down rubbish hole that served cheap booze and food to go with which would fit the tiny budget of a man whose roots tied him to Spinner's End.

(Really, the place Lily had suggested was one of the best in London, which Vernon Dursley was having a lunch meeting at that very moment, selling drills to an outfit in Wales.)

Lily laughed, "Never mind, Tuney, let's find a tea room. I'll warn you though I may clear them out of those dainty little sandwiches while we're there! I'm positively famished."

They found a charming little cafe a couple blocks away, overlooking a small garden, and was quite cozy once they'd been served. Lily, true to her word, piled several of the little sandwiches onto her plate and mixed some milk and honey into her tea. Petunia sipped hers black and bitter and watched as Lily excitedly ate a two little salmon and cucumber sandwiches.

"So, have you ideas what sort of gown you'd like to get?" Lily asked, dabbing her lips with her napkin.

Petunia held her cup daintily and sipped in a proper manner, while Lily held her cup in her palms, extracting the warmth from it.

"I'm not sure, I want to feel like a princess, though, like I am a heavenly cloud, billowing of lace and gossamer." Petunia's eyes got that wishful expression in them which they'd had the night with the French wine and the magazines, and Lily felt her heart burst with excitement at the thought of her sister in a billowing gown of lace.

"Oh that sounds lovely, Tuney," Lily breathed, starry eyed. "Vernon will be so taken with you."

Petunia smiled, "Yes..."

Lily smiled, "I'm so happy we're getting to do this together. It's been such a long time since we shared something like this, hasn't it?"

Petunia nodded. The word share catching in her ear like a spike.

"I think I want something simple," Lily mused. "And not full length, something - oh, I know, something like that one we saw in that magazine that Audrey Hepburn wore in Funny Face. That tea cut but with a bit more pomp."

Petunia nodded. Lily certainly had the shape to pull off something like that, she thought. She could never do it herself.

Lily ate one of the little macarons on the second tier of the tea tray, having finished with the sandwiches she'd taken. "Aren't you going to eat, Tuney?"

"I'm not hungry," Petunia replied. She sipped her tea some more.

Lily flushed and refrained from eating anymore of the tray herself, feeling rather rude for having engulfed nearly half of the service already, and picked her tea back up, holding the cup in her palms again, sipping the tea a bit louder than Petunia thought proper.

"James and I are thinking Christmas," Lily blurted out. "Not on it exactly of course, but we talked about either the 23rd or the 26th."

"Do the 23rd," Petunia said. "Most people will still be on holiday for Christmas on Boxing Day. Plus the 23rd is on a Saturday this year."

"Is it? I had no idea."

"Yes, so your guests will be available for sure and the champagne won't be wasted as they'll all be able to have a lie in the next morning. You should book your venue quickly though or you'll risk not getting the place you want."

"Oh we won't have that problem," Lily replied, "We're having it in the woods."

"What?" Petunia put down her tea cup in shock. "An outdoor wedding in December? Are you mad? You'd best be getting a thermal wedding dress!"

Lily laughed, "No, Tuney, it's alright -- we can..." Lily looked about. "We can do a bit of climate control, don't forget." She let Petunia see her wand, tucked safely at her hip in a pocket sewn into the overalls.

Petunia blinked, realized what Lily was saying, and felt her face grow warm. She had been so busy trying to forget about Lily's magic that she had actually succeeded at it, and the recollection of her sister's ability returning with a claim to control the weather was startling. "Right, of course," Petunia said.

Lily smiled, "We could do that for yours, too, should it rain or anything that day."

"I'd rather let nature take her course," Petunia said, though she didn't know why, even as the words came out of her mouth she thought how lovely it would be to be able to guarantee a cloudless day.

Lily looked hurt, but she didn't say anything, she simply turned her gaze to her tea and took another sip, tamping down the feelings inside of her.

When the hour was spent and the girls had finished their tea, Petunia insisted upon paying for the bill. "Vernon makes quite enough money to pay for our tea, Lily," she said, chuckling and waving for Lily to put away her coin purse.

What Lily wanted to say was that James had enough gold in his vault in Gringott's to pay for all of the tea in London, but she bit her tongue, knowing this would not do a thing to ease the tension. Above all else, she wanted to get along with Petunia. This simply had to go well, and whatever words Lily had to bite back to make it so would just have to be be done.

The pair of them walked through the crowded London streets to a small side road that passed by a garden and there in the brick facade was a small shop with a sign shaped like two ringing church bells. "Le Belle Wedding Boutique," Petunia read aloud loftily, dreamily. She peered into the window with starry eyes and breathed, "Isn't it just Heavenly?"

Lily looked at the gaudy plooms of chiffon and taffetta in the window, the hideously cut and coloured bridesmaid dresses, on stiff mannequins with terrible hair cuts, and thought to herself that it was a bit less enthralling than Petunia had led her to believe. She was about to open her mouth to as such when a loud voice burst from behind her.

"Well whoever thought I'd run into you lot here!"

Lily turned around.

It was no coincidence that Sirius Black was tromping toward them, his leather jacket slung about his shoulders over the coveralls he wore while at work degnoming. He had his hair hanging down rather wildly and a cap perched upon his head with the slogan "Gnome More Gnome Problems!" embroidered upon it.

Lily's face flushed. "Sirius, hello."

Petunia stared at the dirt stained knees of the man approaching them, and thought that he looked vaguely familiar before recalling the summer he had spent vacationing with them at the beach. She scowled.

"Whatever are you doing here?" Sirius asked.

"Wedding dress shopping," Lily said, her voice a bit pinched. He bloody knew full well what they were doing. She wondered if James would hate her if she murdered Sirius Black for the intrusion.

"OH! Was that today?" Sirius grinned, eyes sparkling evilly.

"Yes," she replied. "Now I'm sure you're busy so -"

"Actually just off on my lunch!" Sirius answered. He looked at the gowns in the window. "Oh how marvelous! Let's go on in and have a look-see, shall we? Let's shall!" He bound forward and wrenched open the door.

Petunia's smile waned, but she stepped through, careful not to allow Sirius's dirty coveralls within a meter of her, ducking awkwardly under his extended arm.

Lily stepped forward, "You're a dead man, Black, I'll see to it."

"Oh come now," Sirius grinned, "That isn't at all the proper way to speak to your bridesman!"