25 June, 1978

The Beginning

Sirius Black awoke with a start the morning of his brother's birthday. He forgot for a moment, why the day seemed important, before realisation clouded his dark eyes and he let out a loud groan, throwing his arm up to block out the day.

The bedclothes beside him stirred, and as he chanced a glance from underneath his arm, he realised that he had little-to-no chance of a sleep-in owing to the fact that he was not in his own flat, and there was an unknown witch in the bed (also not his own) next to him. Oh yes, and in addition to being his brother's birthday, it was also the day his best mate would marry the love of his life.

"Fuck." He mouthed, spotting the clock on the wall reading 10.30am.

It wasn't that he was against "the morning after" in principle, but a sense of urgency shadowed his need to leave without being caught, simply because he didn't want to be caught up for too long – Prongs would murder him if he was late.

His head throbbed unpleasantly as he sat up, taking care not to disturb the blonde woman, who let out a tiny but inelegant snore. He quietly collected his belongings, pulling on his trousers and shoes, and closing the door with a click.

And ran almost directly into Remus Lupin.

"Moony!" Sirius shouted, a little more jovially than he perhaps felt, wincing as his head pounded in unhappy response.

"Hey Pads." Remus had a vial of Hangover Potion in his hand, which was passed to and swallowed by his wayward friend in short order, "Bad night of it?"

"Dunno, can't remember. She wasn't a troll by any means, though. What the hell are you doing here?"

"A direct quote from you as you were manhandled from the bar last night: 'Moony, I'm going to need a double dose of the Hangover Brew in the morning.'"

Sirius threw a glance back at the closed door, as the fierce pounding behind his eyes ebbed as the potion took effect. He had a number of questions pertaining to how exactly Remus had known where to find him, but the werewolf had a number of abilities that had yet to be explained, and he somehow thought today wasn't the day to argue the point.

In any case, they were due at the Potter estate in under an hour, and Sirius had to pick his robes on the way, so there was little time for dalliance. He noted, with a little surprise, that Remus was already dressed in formal robes, his hair slicked back and face shaved.

He offered his arm to his friend, who took it as they spun on the spot and were drawn into temporary non-existence.

Marlene McKinnon didn't have a whole lot of experience with being friends with other girls, and even less with calming down a panicking bride.

"Marlene, we've only been together a year, I thought I hated him before then." Lily Evans was normally a very sensible woman, so how she had been reduced to tears at the thought of marrying a man she was so clearly in love with was completely beyond Marlene.

"Lily Evans, if you don't stop this nonsense this minute, I'll break up with James for you and snog him at the altar myself."

Both girls jumped at the sudden intrusion of Sirius Black into their conversation. He had leaned into the room unbidden, and was currently flashing them a blinding grin, somewhat marred by the smell of cigarettes and whiskey being emitted from his person.

Lily wrinkled her nose, and bustled over to him with her wand aloft, forgetting her previous panic as she cast several charms to put his clothing and features right, his belt doing itself up.

"You smell like a brewery Si. What have you been into?"

"A blonde witch twice my age."

Simultaneous groans from the two witches, Lily rolling her eyes.

"You're welcome, by the way," Lily said, "Can't have you holding James up at the altar when he faints if you're busy holding your pants up."

He blew them a kiss and left the room, considerably less rumpled than he had entered.

"You ready, Lil?" Marlene smoothed her own dress over her knees, suddenly nervous for her best friend.

"Never readier." Lily smiled, and she suddenly became radiant in the simple white dress trimmed in lace.

Marlene, who was a fan of dark eyeliner and red lips herself, had applied a light dusting of makeup to Lily's face for her special day, not wanting to conceal her friend's features. This had been the right choice, she realised now as her friend glowed with happiness.

"C'mon McKinnon." Sirius was back, offering his arm to her, and then they were walking down to aisle, some steps in front of Lily. They both turned when they reached the altar, and watched as Lily appeared in the doorway.

James Potter's eyes were suspiciously damp as the piano accompanied his fiancée down the aisle, and then she was in front of him, their hands linked, and the ceremony began.

Later, when Lily was asked, she could not recall a single detail from the ceremony, which passed in a blur, except the overwhelming feeling of love.

From the back of the crowd, unnoticed by all, a curly haired witch of nearly 19 watched the proceedings.

Authors Note: Hi all, welcome to my SBHG time travel fic. I'm really into this type of fic right now, and I thought I'd give it a crack. Let me know what you think of it.

~ Alycat