❃.✮:▹ ◃:✮.❃
Easter Holidays 6th Year
❃.✮:▹ ◃:✮.❃
"HEY, ARE you nervous?" Eloise asked as she rushed into the grand room in which Fabian was getting prepared. Her brother turned and looked over, there was a happy smile on his face as he shook his head. "Nope. I'm marrying the love of my life, what's there to be nervous about?"
Gideon looked up from the tie he was fumbling with. "She could say no," He pointed out. Fabian gave him a death glare, making his twin burst out laughing.
"Are you three about done?" Molly asked as she entered the room, she wore a long lavender and peppermint green dress and in her arms rested baby Percy who was looking at his aunt and uncles with wide eyes. Molly's eyes morphed to match her son's at the sight of Eloise's wild hair, Fabian's tie and Gideon's socked feet. "Will you ever grow up?" She muttered, pulling out her wand.
Fabian's tie tied itself, Gideon's feet were attacked by shoes while Eloise's hair was partly pinned back. "Thanks, sis."
"We really ought to get going now," Molly said, pushing the double doors open with her back. "Wait!" Eloise called out. "Do I have to wear this dress?" She groaned, gesturing to the pale yellow dress she wore. Molly gave her a scolding look. "Yes, sparkly jumpsuits are no wedding attire."
The eldest sibling left the room, and Gideon wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulders and pulled her into him so he could whisper in her ear. "If I have a wedding the dress code will be sparkly jumpsuits." Eloise turned up to show him her toothy grin before she wrapped her arms around his waist.
The wedding took place at a castle near the Prewett manor, on the Welsh countryside. The green hills stretched far and there were enough streams and flowers nearby. A wooden wedding arch was set up with green leaves, purple, red, pink and blue flowers. Decorative veils were pulled from trees to trees and in between poles that had been set up. Chairs were set up on both sides of the makeshift aisle, which was marked by yellow flowers.
Remus brushed off his father's dressing robes. With a simple spell they nearly fit perfectly. They were a little old and a little worn, but they did the job. James and Sirius both wore elegant black and white dressing robes that were clearly tailored to fit them. For the occasion, Sirius had dialled down his eye liner, and smoothed his hair back into a low bun except for a few stray locks. James had even styled his hair with gel. Peter, much like Remus, wore old robes, his however were a dark red matched with off white.
Lily wore a one shoulder orange gown. The one sleeve brushed the floor. Her hair had been curled with a spell. One of James' arms was around her waist and she rested her hand on his shoulder while chatting away with the Marauders. Ever so often James would glance down at Lily, a faraway look in his eyes. It was clear he was imagining their wedding.
"Hello!" Eloise called, jumping onto Remus' back. The boy stumbled before reaching back and holding her up. "Hey Foxy." The girl hopped off of Remus.
"Shouldn't you be rescuing Valentina? I thought it was Welsh tradition for the bride to be kidnapped by her own family on her wedding day," Lily piped up, she tried to hide the disproval of the tradition and failed. Eloise shook her head. "Val's family wasn't keen on the tradition. The whole event here is a blend of Argentina and Wales, quite fascinating if I do say so myself." Eloise grinned to herself. "You're weird," James commented, making Eloise stick her tongue out at him.
"Good morning." The Marauders and Lily turned to see Benji standing by them in all his awkward glory. "You made it!" Sirius exclaimed, Benji offered a timid smile. James looked around. "Now we're an uneven number...." James trailed off, his eyes met Eloise.
Eloise's honey sweet lopsided smile played on her lips. "Where's Quinn?" Peter couldn't answer as he became very flushed, so Sirius swooped in. "Wormy was too scared to ask her to a wedding," Sirius said. Peter nodded sadly. Remus put a hand on Peter's shoulders and caught the boy's gaze. "Luckily for you, Foxtail, Padfoot and Prongs have no shame," He was interrupted by James, Sirius and Eloise's hollers of protests which made some people give them disapproving looks. "Here." Remus turned Peter around by his shoulders.
Quinn Chang stood a small distance from the group, she wore a red floral qipao and her hair was carefully pulled back into a bun with delicate silver pins. The smile on Peter's face was contagious and his friends' lips mirrored his.
☆——⍟——☆
Music played and Bill and Charlie Weasley walked down the aisle throwing petals. Fabian walked out first and stood by the wedding arch awaiting Valentina. The music started and Valentina and her father started walking down the flower path. She held a bouquet that contained some myrtle leaves and various flowers, the lace on her dress had been carefully made by her mother and her tias. Ever so often the blue petticoat Valentina wore was visible under her white dress. Valentina's mother had insisted on making adjustments to Fabian's new dress robes and had ended up working in some lace of Valentina's veil into Fabian's tie.
A priest spoke some words in Spanish and continued in English, he mentioned God on various occasions before proceeding to the wedding ceremony. All the while, Valentina and Fabian held hands and looked at each other with a pure look of adoration.
They had met on the Hogwarts Express and a friendship bloomed between the two. Merry laughter and hugs made way for blushes and stuttering, until Gideon got tired of it and impersonated his twin to ask out Valentina and took polyjuice potion to ask Fabian out as Valentina. Of course the couple found out but their romance only grew from their first date on. Until Valentina and Fabian had both decided to ask each other to marry them, resulting in an awkward moment when both dropped to their knees at a Christmas party with Valentina's family.
When it was time for the vows, they were filled with anecdotes and love. Once more, both Fabian and Valentina had the same idea. Valentina finished her vows in Welsh, saying she loved Fabian. Fabian in turn had done the same but in Spanish, which had resulted in some chuckles from the crowd.
The union between Fabian Tristan Prewett and Valentina Luiza Cabrera Santos Caceras Luna Sanz was sealed with a kiss. As a married couple they turned to run down the aisle while their friends and family threw rice in the air. When a shovel was set up over a fire and the two grains of wheat jumped off together, signifying that the marriage would last, everyone cheered and the festivities could commence.
Music played in the background and Eloise was dancing with six year old Bill, as he had started calling himself, and four year old Charlie. While she had no real competition for the title of best aunt, Eloise was determined to be the best aunt in the world. She was young, but they were even younger and already the dark clutches of war had started to grasp at them.
As the upbeat folk song turned into a waltz, Lily approached Eloise and her nephews and started dancing with Bill. Charlie giggled happily and his brother joined in. Lily and Eloise would share looks while trying their best to waltz with two children, who while tall for their age were still small next to the two older girls.
Peter and Quinn were trying to waltz, alas they were both clumsy and continuously tripped over each other's feet. They continued to laugh it off, they had no need to dance, they had each other. And that was enough, at least to them it was.
Remus and Benji were deeply engrossed in a conversation with Alberto, Valentina's older brother. They were chatting away about magical creatures. Benji had known that Remus was a werewolf for quite some time, the scars and his sickly state every month had given it away. While Alberto did not know that Remus was a werewolf, he spoke kindly of them. After all, werewolves were not inherently good or evil, they were living and breathing beings like people were. People weren't inherently good due to being people, and werewolves weren't evil solely because of their heritage. It was quite clear that Benji and Alberto were wizards who either worked alongside Newt Scamander or had written a thesis based on works by Newt Scamander. They made Remus feel as safe as he did whenever he woke in the Shrieking Shack.
Yes he would always be in terrible pain, but his eyes would flutter open to see a dog, rat, fox and stag hovering over him. Within a blink the animals were gone and had been replaced by a handful of British teenagers. All of their chaotic energy gone as they pulled a blanket over Remus' bare body and gave him some chocolate. They would share their fond memories of the night, sitting on the wooden floor as they awaited Madame Pomfrey.
That left Sirius and James, who were sitting on two chairs. Their bow-ties undone and hair messy. Both were watching the people bustling around the wedding and Fabian and Valentina who simply swayed to no music in the middle of the dance floor. Just then, Lily burst out laughing and spun Bill through the air as Eloise heaved Charlie onto her shoulders. A content smile that showed how deep James' affections ran for Lily, was displayed on the Potter boy's face. His hazel eyes flickered to the newlyweds.
"One day, I'm going to marry her," James breathed out. Sirius glanced over at his best friend and held a finger up to James' face. "I call best man," He said in all seriousness, making James giggle. Which proceeded to make Sirius narrow his eyes at James. "And because you're being a git, I also call godfather to your first child."
That made James stop laughing and he nodded. "Of course, Pads. That was never in question." His mind wandered off. Him and Lily, getting married, buying a house, getting two or three kids, a cat, grow old together.... His heart felt like it would burst. James was just about ready to get up and go to Lily, if he did not hug her soon he feared his heart might actually explode.
He didn't walk away however.
Because, just as James was starting to get up he had noticed the lost look on Sirius' face. A look directed at a familiar young man. James settled back down and reached out, resting a hand on Sirius' knee. "Sirius," Said boy turned to his best friend, his face morphing into a blank expression the way only the Black sons could do so. And like, James could read Sirius' mind, James predicted just what Sirius was thinking. "Marriage will be in the question for you. If the queen and ministry don't take care of it, I'll personally march down to their offices and hex them into oblivion."
Tears pricked Sirius' eyes as he desperately tried to hide his feelings. "What do you mean...." A look from James made Sirius shut up and a silence fell over the two friends. Which was very rare. "Since when have you known?"
James leaned back into his seat. "Can't speak for the rest, but I have known since second year. As for Benji, I have known since I was about nine," James confessed, while starting at his best friend. For a few moments the Sirius Black was speechless, he had been terrified about telling anyone. To find out that one of his best friends knew all along eased his fears. "Do...do the others know?" Sirius voice trembled and he kneaded his wrists. "I'm almost sure they do," James took a second before sharing some knowledge that could comfort Sirius. "I have also seen Elo make out with another girl, if that helps." James and Sirius turned and looked at Eloise for a second.
A relieved sigh left Sirius' lips as well as a laugh. Finally a weight that had been wrapped around his throat since birth, had disappeared, he had only known about the weight since he was eight. He could finally breathe. Like a bird set free and finally allowed to fly up to the blue sky and white clouds. And the ones who had opened his cage had been his best friends. Like the wind wrapping around his wings, James' arm surrounded Sirius and they hugged tightly. The one barrier that had stood between them had been teared down.
"I love you mate," James whispered.
"I love you too, Brother."
After what felt like a thousand years, James and Sirius pulled apart with a few chuckles and tears in their eyes. "Go get him." James clapped Sirius' shoulder and the older boy smiled and nodded before waltzing away and asking Benji if they could speak in private. The bird took flight, getting away from his cage that had influenced a lot of his life.
Charlie meanwhile yawned loudly and doubled over, trying to sleep on his aunt's head. "Are you sleeping?" Eloise called up to the young boy, startling him awake. "No," He mumbled, blinking lazily.
As if Charlie's yawns had been a beacon, Arthur appeared by Eloise's side and carefully took his son off of her shoulders. Charlie turned over in his father's arms, face disappearing into Arthur's shoulder. "I should go put the boys to bed."
Eloise saw Molly and Arthur's slight sad looks at the thought of having to cut the party short. So then she did a mature thing. "Nonsense Arthur," Eloise reached over, taking the redheaded toddler into her own arms. "I'll put them to bed, you enjoy the party."
A grateful smile spread on Arthur's face and he thanked her and went off to return to Molly before Eloise called him back. "Be sure to ask Lily about muggle things, she won't mind!" Arthur gave her a thumbs up.
In the meantime, Bill had curled up on one of the chairs by the fireplace. Someone's dressing robes had been put over him to serve as a blanket. Now, Eloise was okay at charms, she could easily take her wand out and charm the two boys to float up with her to their shared room in the castle, but there was also a simpler solution. Besides, Eloise had been having a few too many drinks and she didn't want to accidentally drop one of her nephews, that would not make her the best aunt in the world.
"Mooniekinsy!"
Remus let out a breath and rolled his eyes affectionately before approaching one of his best friends. "Yes, Foxy?" Eloise chuckled, she had long put Charlie down beside his brother so her arms were free. Reaching up, she wrapped an arm around Remus' shoulders and poked him to in the chest. "Take me to the moon?"
A frown appeared on Remus' face. "I think that would mean I'd be a constant wolf, so that's a no." He smiled as Eloise had already started to massage the place between his two brows. "What did I say about frowning!" He laughed before she could continue. "Now, if you won't take me to the moon, can you at least take one of my nephews to his room?" She gave him puppy eyes and Remus nodded before prying Eloise off of him and carefully picking up Bill.
Laughs were shared as the two friends walked up various flights of stairs before finally arriving at the bedroom that was meant for the two Weasley boys. Charlie and Bill were quickly tucked in and wished goodnight before the two teenagers crept out of the room, careful not to wake the young boys.
By no means was it late in the night, but Eloise had been partying the previous night with her siblings and a full moon was not too far away so Remus was a little more drained. So they both took their sweet time walking down the stairs to return to the party.
"Why don't you paint anymore?" Remus suddenly blurted out. The past few years Eloise's love for painting had chipped away like the paint on her hands. When they were younger her hands were always an array of blues, greens, pinks and oranges, but the older they got the less paint stained Eloise's hands. Eloise had to think before she could answer. It was quite odd, she had always found comfort in watching her brush glide over the canvas and forming a picture. But as the world grew darker and Eloise found herself thinking more about the brewing war, her brushes and paints seemed unimportant.
Besides she had other things that needed her attention, friends, dates, pranks, family and school. So she told Remus exactly that, sprinkling in the fact that most people grew out of their childhood hobbies. In turn Remus had told her to start painting again, the world after all could use some goodness.
Finally arriving at the ballroom, Eloise and Remus found a slow song playing as all the couples just held each other and swayed. A moment's rest in the lively party. Peter and Quinn were looking at each other with a goofy young love look. Molly and Arthur were still spinning each other and enjoying a moment without their kids. Valentina and Fabian had their foreheads pressed together. Lily and James were resting their heads on the other's shoulder and ever so often would press a kiss to the other's hair. In a dark corner, out of anyone's sight, Benji and Sirius were dancing together as well. Their faces still flushed at their new found relationship.
Gideon noticed that Eloise and Remus had rejoined the party and sauntered over to them, champagne glasses in hand. "Welcome my fellow single people!" He passed the two a champagne glass before waving his around. "Or did you meet anyone at the single's table?" His dark eyes flickering between Remus and Eloise who both shook their heads.
☆——⍟——☆
Many hours later, Lily and James found themselves at a small table chatting away when a group dance started. They watched amused as the Welsh attendees did the steps perfectly while the other's struggled. Eloise was cackling at Remus, Peter and Quinn's failed attempts at the dance steps she did perfectly.
"Why has nothing ever happened between Eloise and Remus?" Lily suddenly asked. Poor James who had been eating a alfajore chocked, resulting in Lily patting his back and asking if was alright. Still coughing and gasping for air, James started to speak. "El-Eloise....and Remus? Wha-what makes you say that?" He heaved, his cherry red face slowly returning to it's normal colour. Lily rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's obliviousness. "She's always talked the most about Remus and just look at their interactions." Almost as if it had been timed, Eloise leaned her head onto Remus' shoulder.
"She also does that with me, and the others...." James trailed off, not getting Lily's point. "Oh James, you're lucky you're cute," Lily muttered, which made James gasp dramatically and do the pose he always did before launching into a pointless speech about something. His speech however was intercepted by a quick peck from Lily and her voice. "Just look at their faces while they do it."
James, still giddy over Lily's peck, turned his attention back to his two friends. Eloise had closed her eyes and was complaining to something while resting her head on Remus' shoulder, who in turn had wrapped an arm around Eloise's shoulders. Looking a few inches to the left, Peter and Quinn stood in a very similar position. Then, the gears in the Potter boy's head started turning and he thought back on Eloise and Remus' interactions.
"Merlin's bloody balls, Remus and Eloise are in love with each other!" James exclaimed. "Why did no one tell me?! Sweetheart, why did you not tell me before?" James rambled. "I just did, love," Lily mused. James jumped up from his chair so fast that it flew back. Then, with all his trained muscles, James picked Lily up effortlessly and swung her around. "I love you!"
The words had left his lips before he realised what he had said, and as quickly as James had whisked Lily off of her feet, he sat her down. An apology started to form in his head, but fell short as Lily cupped his cheek and made him look at her. "I love you too."
If someone was to tell eleven year old James that he would one day date the Lily Evans, he would've been ecstatic. Had you then proceeded to tell him that at the age of seventeen, the Lily Evans would have said that she loved James Potter, the young boy would have had a heart attack.
Hazel eyes flickered between Eloise and Remus, and Lily before they met green. "They can wait," James swooped down, pressing a kiss to Lily's jaw. "You can not." James leaned down and grabbed her hand, pulling her along. Lily reached down with her free hand and hiked up her orange skirt as she and James ran to their room for the night.
☆——⍟——☆
The sky had been engulfed by darkness and the clear sky showed off the moon and all the starts, they could even see milky ways. The time for a small wedding tradition from Argentina had come and thus all the unmarried women were gathered around the fancy wedding cake. Each woman and girl had been given the end of a blue ribbon to pull.
On the count of three they all pulled and their trinkets were revealed. Quinn had gotten a fish, which stood for fertility. Eloise had gotten a claddagh, which meant friendship, love and loyalty. Finally, Lily had been the one to receive the ring, meaning that Lily was supposedly the next one to get married.
James had taken a the ring from Lily's hand as a joke and slid it onto her finger. The rest of the attendees clapped. Valentina offered some silver chains and leather cords for the ladies who wanted to use their charms as necklaces, anklets or bracelets. Both Quinn and Eloise took a silver chain and wore their charms with pride.
☆——⍟——☆
The castle where the wedding was held, had been a Prewett home once upon a time. Eloise's great-grandparents had still lived in the castle before they moved into the Prewett manor. Technically the castle was still Prewett property, but the family had allowed for it to become a public venue to be used for events or for people to just walk in and see.
The interior was generously decorated, red tapestries covered the floors, grand oak furniture filled the rooms, rich green wallpaper covered most of the walls and paintings were displayed. Family portraits showing many generations of Prewetts. One of the most recent paintings showed Judy and Percival side by side, they were smiling at the viewer before they turned to look at each other. Next to their paintings hung a painting of Molly and Arthur and then individual ones for Eloise, Fabian and Gideon.
If one were to walk into the large library of the castle, they would find one wall that showed the entire Prewett family tree. It was enchanted so that all the Prewetts were automatically added. Little Percy Weasley was the newest addition.
When the festivities had settled down and everyone had ventured off to their respective bedrooms, the Prewett siblings huddled together in the far left corridor that led to the stairs to the wine cellar. On the floor they had settled down so they could enjoy the last few minutes of Fabian's wedding with their parents.
Meanwhile, Lily and James had settled down in their shared bedroom, Quinn and Peter were still chatting away on their shared bed and Remus was snoring in the room he was sharing with Sirius. Sirius himself was taking infinity to say goodnight to Benji.
☆——⍟——☆
Morning came with music, the guests who had spent the night were awake and participating in a group dance. They were not prepared.
The first spell hit one of Valentina's distant relatives in the chest and he fell back, dead. Chaos erupted as people scrambled to get to safety and get to their wands. Molly and Arthur had managed to get Percy Charlie and dive behind some tables. "BILL!" Molly cried, she clutched a crying Charlie in her arms. "BILL!" Arthur shouted, he looked at his wife and two youngest sons before jumping out from under the tables. "Arthur!"
A diffindo spell hit Quinn and crimson blood spilled from the deep cut in her leg. Peter sent a stunning spell in the direction of the Death Eater before dragging Quinn to safety. He applied pressure to the wound and tears chased down his cheeks as he watched Quinn in so much pain.
"BENJI!! PRONGS!! FOXY! MOONY! WORMY!!" Sirius called as he avoided and blocked spells while shooting some back. He looked around frantically, just before the attack he had ventured inside to get a drink and now he had lost sight of his friends.
Multiple poles with veils fell down, and one landed in between James and Eloise. The Prewett girl quickly jumped over the pole, wand in hand and spells flying. Lily had summoned her wand and it landed in her hand just in time to block a red flash. Remus and Benji stood back-to-back, neither of them were particularly good duellers but they held their own.
The crying of a little child caught the attention of multiple people, three people were worth mentioning. One was Arthur Weasley who was doing his best to get to his eldest son. The second was James Potter, who was nearest to the child. The third was a Death Eater who started to march towards the young boy. Arthur started to sprint, but he was too far away. His screams, caught the attention of Eloise, Molly and Lily, who were all preoccupied fighting off Death Eaters.
The Death Eater raised his wand. "Sectumsempra." The spell left the Death Eater's wand and flew at the redheaded boy. The spell hit a mark, but it wasn't William Weasley. Blood seeped through James' clothes as deep gashes opened up over his body. Bill stood safely in James' embrace.
The Death Eater had started to mutter the killing curse but halted when a fiery redhead jumped in front of her boyfriend. Spells flew from her wand relentlessly, she drove the Death Eater back until he disappirated.
Eloise, Benji and Remus had found their way to James and sat on their knees beside him. Eloise was busy applying pressure to as many gashes as she could while the two boys tried to use healing spells that didn't appear to work.
"Li...Lily," James whispered, stray tears falling from his eyes. Lily dropped to her knees beside him and looked over the damage and desperately tried a few spells while muttering. "I'm not letting you die, Potter."
Sirius, Peter and Quinn had approached their friends and stood there helplessly as nothing seemed to help James Fleamont Potter. He was loosing too much blood. Way too much. "Lily," He moaned again, trying to get her attention. She leaned over and cradled his head in her hands. "No, you-you can't," She sobbed. "It's alright," James said a small smile on his face as he tried to comfort Lily. He reached out and cupped her cheek, his bloody palm leaving an imprint on her freckled skin.
"Wait!"
Molly Weasley all but shoved her youngest son in Sirius' arms and pushed Peter aside before dropping to her knees beside James. Her wand hovered over his body and she closed her eyes in concentration and started to mutter a spell. Before she had Bill, Molly had been studying to become a healer. When she became a mother, she chose to become a stay-at-home-mother. Now her training came in handy.
Healing spells could not fully heal wounds inflicted by dark magic, but James' wounds closed enough to stop the bleeding. He would need many properly trained healers to fully recover.
Lily hugged Eloise tightly while crying. "It's my fault." Eloise shook her head at Lily's words. "No it's not, Lily," Eloise replied which made Lily protest. "It is! I know who invented that spell."
"Who?"
The Marauders and Quinn already knew the answer, but Lily's words still felt like a deafening blow.
"Severus Snape."
a/n:
poor james, all he wanted to do was protect
a kid. i honestly loved writing this chapter! i had a lot of fun,
i cried a bunch too, but that's fineeeeeee. what did you think?
things are finally starting up between elo and remus and unfortunately so
is the war. elo, sirius, remus, lily, james and quinn were 17 here, peter was 16.
they were too young to face this war. but also, sirius' coming out scene had me
full on sobbing. i tried to channel some of my feelings that i experienced when
coming out and i think i managed to do so. and you can't tell me that eloise and james
wouldn't march down to buckingham palace to demand equal rights for the lgbtqia+
community while peter and remus go along and hand in an official paper
and keep their two friends from threatening the queen (too much).
this chapter is on the longer side for me, but i think i'll start doing
more chapters around this length. i like this more, i think. what do you think?
be sure to vote and comment!
remus, sirius & james, peter ^
eloise, lily, quinn ^
funny text post
literally all the marauders and eloise especially
date published:13 august 2021
word count:5032