Wowsers thank you to everyone who reviewed and voted on the last chapter! Truly that made my day(s) and I was overwhelmed by the response! Thank you to aira nabihah, chinadoll, the-clumsy-one, Guest (thanks again!), alexandria15, lady delphinea :), sereniterose!, morethanbooks, beanche, Smithback for their amazing reviews!

You voted for both Sirius's best man speech and their wedding dance, so I included both :D

Special thanks to sereniterose who gave me some amazing music recommendations from the 70s! I really loved discovering and listening to Jackson5, Minnie Riperton and the Carpenters!

**If you haven't listened to The Carpenters, their songs "Close to You" and "We've only just begun" are amazing, and I used "We've only just begun" as their wedding song! Listen to it now so you can understand their dance because the lyrics match James and Hermione perfectly :)**

10. Best Man

Somebody pinch me, Hermione thought, as Sirius stood up from their table with a giant smirk on his face.

Sirius was here, alive, and about to give his best man's speech for James. At her wedding.

It was almost too much to take. She blotted at the corners of her eyes with a well worn tissue and cursed herself that she hadn't studied anti-smudging makeup charms better. All that studying and she hadn't even learned the basics of applying magicked makeup. Beside her, James caught her hand as she tried to fix the mascara on one of her eyes. "Relax," he mouthed the word and smirked at her. "If Sirius is going to embarrass anyone with his speech, it's going to be me, not you. No one has any dirt on you." He pressed her hand reassuringly.

She just stared wide-eyed at him, wondering when he had become more mature than her, that he was the one who reassured her emotionally.

And didn't he look a bit worried despite what he said?

She shook her head.

No, if they knew, well there might not be a wedding at all and James might hate her for it.

"Ahem, can I have your attention?" Sirius smirk was wider than the Cheshire cat's as he stood up in front of the some 500 guests.

Hermione stole a glance at James and noticed that he actually did look somewhat worried now what his best man, and friend, would say about him. In front of everyone, including his elderly parents.

Oh dear. She really hoped Sirius didn't push the envelop too far.

James gripped her hand tighter.

Sirius cleared his throat. "It is traditional, for the best man, as the groom's long suffering best friend, to humiliate him as much as possible." He winked at James and Hermione thought she caught some kind of panicked hand gesture pass between the two marauders.

"However," Sirius added and lifted his champagne flute in the air. "What kind of friend would I be, if I really dug up the dirt on my longest and eldest friend?"

James shifted in his seat and Hermione stared uncomfortably between him and the crowd, wondering what he would reveal next.

"You see, James being James, I could probably sit here and talk all night about all the stupid things James has done...like carve his name on the whomping willow, genius James well done, playing quidditch during a thunder storm, riding a hippogryff without a helmet, pantsing the Slytherins and a whole list of other reckless things that almost cost him his life...and which were a lot of fun. Yet I like to think that James stopped making stupid decisions at some point." Sirius's voice became more sober. "And I think the proof of that is here tonight." He pointed at Hermione. "Hermione. You're the reason, James stopped being a prat and grew up a little. And I don't think it's an exaggeration to say, that in many ways, you've helped turn things around for him. And I have to thank you, because as much as it pained and amused me, I don't think I could've watched James stalk Lily Evans for any more years. I mean she clearly hated him! Nice to see he finally got the message! After seven years!"

The crowd jeered. No one louder than Lily Evans herself, who hollered that she still preferred the giant squid over him.

Hermione fell politely silent, knowing what she knew. While James looked crossed between humiliation and wanting to kick Sirius.

Sirius could barely continue his speech for all the ruckus he had stirred up. But finally the crowd simmered down enough and he was able to continue. The animagus swiped back his long hair from his face and his grey eyes met hers with true endearment in them.

"You see, I really am thankful to you Hermione. You showed James what love is and it's not always about what's convenient or what we want, but what happens. If it weren't for you, James being the thick prat he is, would still be chasing after Evans. Despite how hopeless the situation was."

The crowed erupted into angry boos again and no one looked more angry than Lily and Snape. Snape especially looked like he wanted to storm out of there, though the corner of Lily's lips were twitching.

Sirius screamed over the crowd and their booing died down a bit and his trademark smirk returned to his face.

James's parents looked scandalized when Sirius added that he was tired of listening to the sound of James wanking off to the sound of Lily, my lily flower, in the Gryffindor dormitory. "It's called a silencio spell, James. No one needed to listen to your cries for your Lily flower while slogging off."

James covered his face with his hands though he appeared to be shaking with laughter.

"It's true and you know it," Sirius bellowed.

"Fuck you," James muttered back.

"Oh god," Hermione whispered, going red for James's sake.

"Fortunately he fell madly in love with you Hermione and didn't have a choice but to move on...Of course he didn't have a choice, I mean look at you-" Sirius waved a hand at her and wolf whistles broke out. Hermione blushed, especially when she noticed one of those whistling was Remus Lupin, her former professor. He also looked embarrassed when she caught him whistling and looked down quickly at his cup.

"So thank you Hermione for showing James what it's like to finally be with a woman who doesn't despise him. You're one in a million...I mean, you'd have to be to put up with James!"

"Padfoot enough! Cut it out," James warned.

The guests started clapping.

"Why are they clapping?" James asked in panic.

More embarrassing anecdotes about James were shared until finally Remus had to drag Sirius off stage and rip the microphone out of his hand.

"That was humiliating," James whispered to her.

Hermione just laughed wildly, she couldn't stop laughing. Though Sirius had actually gone pretty easy on James considering the amount of nonsense and shenanigans James had gotten up to as an adolescent. What Sirius said wasn't the half of it. Not the least.

Sirius walked over to their table and wrapped his arms around James in a bear hug. Then with everyone cheering him on, Sirius hollered at the band to start playing.

.

The crowd erupted into wild cheers as "We've only just begun" by The Carpenters began to play.

Hermione covered her face with her hands.

"Oh my god."

But James tugged at her hand and pulled her on the dance floor as the lights dimmed.

Everybody cleared the space so that it was just them in the center.

Hermione felt as shaky as a leaf, blown away by the wind, if not for James's strong arms holding her up. She leaned onto his sturdy chest for support. He was her anchor.

"I'm so happy," she dared to say. Her fingers nervously pulling at the hair at the back of his neck where his short hair ended.

"We've only just begun," James mouthed the words of the song to her and stroked a curl of her hair back.

Hermione covered her mouth, beginning to cry again, her bottom lip trembling. James cradled her in his arms and slowly swayed them to the music. She clung onto his shoulders for dear life.

"We've only just begun, I promise Hermione. We'll make it. I will protect you." He whispered a bunch of sweet nothings she could barely catch over the loudness of the music and her own beating heart.

But somewhere in between the music and James sturdy shoulders, she knew it would be alright. It would be okay. She hadn't ruined everything. She hadn't chosen this but they would make do.

"So much of life ahead. And yes we've just begun."

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OKAY so this is not the end, there'll be one more chapter! I just have to edit it! Thanks so much to everyone for the support! :D :D and if you haven't already listen to "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters, they're seriously amazing! Did anyone think Sirius went too far in his best man speech?

Question: How many children do you think James and Hermione should have? 10? 1? Harry jr?