September 15th, 19796,060 Grains of Sand LeftJames and Sirius stood at the end of an aisle beneath the orchards of Potter Manor
completely hungover. The green in James's face clashed terribly with his robes. Sirius had
sent Remus off to wait for the ceremony to begin, and Peter had been shoved away in an
attempt to search for a Sober-Up Potion for each of them.
The night prior to the wedding found the Marauders all gathered inside of the flat,
drinking into the early morning. Not in celebration, but rather to keep James from having
an absolute mental breakdown. He had not been away from Lily for one hour before
panicking over the fact that she had less than twelve hours left to decide whether or not
he was actually worth marrying. It had taken all three of them to subdue him enough to
get the first shot of firewhisky down his throat. Remus had suggested a Calming Draught,
but Sirius had hoped that once the panic attack passed, James would be up for celebrating.
Unfortunately, they had been forced to keep James drinking all night long until he
collapsed on the sofa, at which point Sirius finished off the bottle. When they woke, Sirius
had a nasty headache, and James had gone right back into panic mode, but this time with
a hangover.
"I can't breathe." James gasped at the end of the aisle, ignoring the way that many
of the guests were staring at him, hands gripped in his hair as though he were attempting
to yank it out by the roots. "Pads, I can't breathe." He released his hair and turned to grip
Sirius's robes, hazel eyes frantic. "What if she doesn't show up? What if she ran away with
Diggory?"
"Amos?" Sirius laughed. "Mate, she went on one date with him like... forever ago."
"Maybe he's just been waiting for a moment like this to strike," James said with a
grimace. "Oh fuck. I'm gonna lose the love of my life to a Hufflepuff!"
His screaming attracted attention from the front row of wedding guests, all of
whom were gaping at the display in front of them, none with more disapproval on their
faces than Minerva McGonagall, who glared when Sirius turned and winked at her.
"Better than a Slytherin," Sirius suggested.